Walking Distance

Heartland 100 Race Report

2008-10-13T17:58:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted on this blog in a while, but I have a new blog and a new project. You can read about the Heartland 100 here.

Last Big Weekend Before Capt'n Karl's

2008-07-07T10:52:00.003-05:00

This weekend was a three day weekend and my family was out of town so I had plenty of time for some good training.

On Friday I went out to Flower Mound to train on roads. I walked a potential new course for our TNT group (I didn't like the new course so we'll have to keep looking). The route was about ten miles. I returned to my car to refill my pack and then went out to do 11 more miles on the South Course. I stayed steady most of the workout but started dragging on the uphills at the end. I wanted to stay below a 12:00/mile pace and ended up with an average 11:58.

On Saturday I coached the team. I walked and ran with various people on the course and ended up doing seven miles. My pace varied from running 8:00/mile to walking 17:00/mile. As always, training was fun and it was great to be out with the team. The parents of one of our mentors made pancakes after training, and they were delicious.

Sunday morning I went to Rowlett Creek Preserve to get some trail and hill training. I started in the dark with my flashlight, and I got turned around on some of the new trails. I eventually found my way out and did a little over a 10 mile loop of the north side of the park. I stopped at my car to refuel and then headed out for another loop. The problem with RCP is that ten miles is a little too far for me to go without refilling my fluids, and there is no place to do that except the parking lot. So on my second loop I ran out of water and got a tad deyhdrated. I had planned to do one more loop but I was just beat and it was starting to get hot. I didn't want to run out of water again so I called it a day. My pace on the trails and hills was about 13:32 for 21 miles, which is pretty good for me walking on trails.

Now it's time to taper and get ready for Capt'n Karl's All Nighter (12 hour). I would like to get 50 miles but I'm not sure that's realistic right now so I'll just play it by ear. Also, that would depend on how they handle the end of the race. In some timed races with large loops there will be a short loop that can be used for the last hour of the race. That way you don't have to worry about being in the middle of the long loop when the 12 hour limit is reached (you wouldn't get any credit for the miles you completed on the partial loop). I don't know if Capt'n Karl's will have a short loop at the end. The course is seven miles long which means I would have to do 49 or 56 miles. I don't think 56 is realistic. So, long story short, if there is no short loop at the end I will try to get 49 miles. If there is a short loop, I'll go for 50+. I don't know if my current level of training is enough to get me there, but it's worth a shot.

Double Negative Split

2008-06-29T21:36:00.002-05:00

Today was a great day! My goal was to complete three laps of White Rock Lake. The lake trail (pavement, asphalt) is about 9.25 miles, so my final mileage would be around 27.75 or so. My goal was to do the first two loops in 12:00 per mile, then maintain whatever speed I could for the last loop.

I got up at 4:00 AM and was at the lake and ready to walk at 5:30. The first loop went well: 9.26 miles in 1:50:38, an 11:57 pace. Right on target. I was taking in calories every 30 minutes: Jelly Belly Sports Beans, a Vanilla PowerBar Gel, and part of a Clif Bar. I was carrying water in my Camelbak.

I stopped at my car to refill my pack. I ate some potato chips and drank some gatorade.

The next loop went even better than the first: 1:49:29, an 11:53 pace. The lap felt a little more labored than the first but overall it was relatively easy and smooth. Again I ate every 30 minutes: half of a PB&J sandwich, some more Sports Beans, then the other half of the sandwich.

Again I stopped at my car to refill. I finished the gatorade, ate half of a PowerBar, drank some water, took two Advil and then started my final lap.

Surprisingly, this loop was the best of all. I walked 3.75 miles in 44:18, an 11:49 pace. At this point I ran into some friends and a fellow coach from Team in Training, Dave and his wife Meg. We chatted very briefly (I love seeing people I know at the lake, especially TNT folks - it's like a big family). I started up again and felt faster than ever. I was doing a 10:30 pace and realized I needed to slow it down. I finished the rest of the loop 1:02:38, an 11:34 pace! Overall my pace for the day was 11:50, and I felt great. I was tired but not exhausted, and I wasn't sore at all.

A big part of today's success was the weather. A mild cool front and rainstorm came through early this morning so the day was slightly cooler and overcast. The temps were in the low 70s when I started and were in the low- to mid-80s when I finished. I don't think I would have finished as strong if the weather had gotten warmer faster.

Today's workout gave me some needed confidence going into my next race, Capt'n Karl's All Nighter (a 12 hour race starting at 7:30 PM on Saturday night, July 19). I still don't know how well I'll do, but I feel like if I control my pace I can feel strong throughout most of the race. I don't have any mileage goals for the race - I just want to stay on my feet the whole 12 hours and avoid any "death march" loops at a sluggish pace.

Distance: 27.65 miles
Time: 5:27:03
Pace: 11:50

I'm back

2008-06-08T19:03:00.001-05:00

Not sure why, when or for how long, but for now I'm back walking.

Big news

2007-06-27T18:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I've decided to make a change. I don't know if it will be a permanent one, and I don't know if I'll be successful, but I feel the need for a new challenge. I've created a new blog to chronicle my new endeavor; you can read about it here. I'll be making all new posts to that blog, so if you are interested please subscribe to the feed there. Thanks to everyone who's read my posts and offered support and encouragement.

Brief Race Report: FANS 17 Hour

2007-06-04T09:51:00.000-05:00

Wait, 17 hour? Wasn't this a 24 hour race? Umm, yeah, it was supposed to be.

FANS was a Centurion race and has a walking division, so I was excited about this race. I was on track for first place and 105 miles (and a course record) when the wheels came off on lap 30 (about 12:30 am). I just lost all energy (and will) and slept in my car for a while, then decided I couldn't go on (I was chilled and had no energy at all). So I went to get some food and went to the hotel to sleep.

I was disappointed, but at the same time this is the second longest I've ever gone in my ultra career, and up to the point where I crashed I held a good pace (13:40 average). I was leading the entire race and was two laps ahead of the second place walker.

I reached 50 miles in 10:52:22, and I reached 100k in 13:50:38. If I had been registered in the 12 hour I would have won and I would have set a course record. If I had been racing in a 50 miler or 100k I would have been very happy. Unfortunately it was a 24 hour race, so I'm a little bummed. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now but figure out what to do next. Not sure what that will be, but once I recover physically and mentally I put together a plan for something.

This is a great race if you are looking for a fixed time event. Here are a bunch of pictures of the race from Julie Berg's blog:

http://julieberg.blogspot.com/

My only suggestion to improve the race would be to have a greater variety of food, and to have more hot food available at night. Other than that, a very well run and well supported race with a lot of great "crowd support" from the crews and families of other racers, plus the timers and event volunteers.

I'll post more later, and I'd like to mention the great performances by other walkers. But I've got to get to work and then fly out later today for a business trip, so my lengthier report will have to wait.

It's time to do it

2007-06-01T08:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I leave for FANS in four hours. Up to Minneapolis and the pre-race pasta dinner, then hopefully a good night's sleep before the race starts at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. My hotel is less than 15 minutes from the race, and I've found a Starbucks within a two minute drive of the hotel, so all the key logistics have been worked out.

It took me a while to pack all my gear. I have a full suitcase and a half full backpack. The scary thing is that the only "street" clothes in there are a T-shirt, socks and underwear; everything else is race gear. Here is what I remember packing:

2 short sleeve shirts
1 long sleeve shirt
1 sleeveless shirt
2 pairs of shorts
2 hats
2 bandanas
3 sweat bands
4 pairs of socks
3 water bottles
2 bottle packs (one single bottle pack, one double bottle pack)
my usual medical kit (band aids, foot repair, sunscreen, bodyglide, extra shoe laces and zip ties and safety pins)
sunglasses
flashlight and headlamp (part of the course is not well lit at night)
lightweight shell in case I get chilled at night
2 pairs of shoes

I think that is everything, but I'm probably leaving something out. Right now there is a chance of rain with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Hopefully we won't get the rain, but the overcast weather would be wonderful. The worst thing would be lightning because they will suspend the race (for our safety - I won't argue with that) but any time that elapses during the suspension will be lost. So that could kill my 100 mile hopes. But I'm thinking positively right now. A little rain won't bother me, just keep the lightning away.

I'll post results as soon as I can. I'm out of here!

Growing the Online Racewalking Community

2007-05-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy reading blogs, especially racewalking blogs. I've found a small number but I'm sure there are others out there. I'm going to post all of the blogs I know of; check them out, there are some great reads out there.

If you know of other blogs on racewalking, please post in the comments and I'll add them to the list. I used to have a list on my sidebar but I screwed up the HTML. As soon as I've fixed it I'll post all the links on the left.

Thanks!

Ollie (fellow ultrawalker and all around great person)
Journeyman Phil (racewalking and ultrawalking in Australia)
Sarah (fast racewalking up in Canada)
Daniel (another fast racewalker)
Ray (elite US racewalker)
Rachel (elite Canadian racewalker)
Steve (asthma-challenged racewalker making incredible strides in his marathon performances)
Racewalker55 (couch potato to marathon racewalker)
Karen (training for a marathon in California)
Tammy (another inspiring couch potato to racewalker story)
Phat Girl Walking (racewalking in the bay area)

Added 5/25/07:
Race Walking Record has a news feed dedicated to race walking

Added 5/26/07:
Chris (another ultrawalker!)

Who else is out there? Make yourself known!

The Bad, The Ugly and the Good

2007-05-21T14:53:00.000-05:00

This post will be about my workout two weekends ago and my workout yesterday, thus the change in the traditional order of the title:

The Bad and The Ugly
Last weekend I did some long training at White Rock Lake. I normally start my long walks around 4:00-5:00 am, so I get many of my miles out of the way before the sun comes up and it starts to heat up (I would say most weekends I'm finished by 10:30 or 11:00).

This weekend I had to start later, around 9:15 (we had our first Team in Training training session that morning). I did three loops of the lake (including an out-and-back on the spillway) so about 10.25 per loop. First loop 1:59, second loop 2:09, third loop 2:36 (last few miles were a death march, 16:00 - 18:00 minutes per mile, and that time does not include pauses to rest or vomit/dry heave).

I thought I was drinking a lot (I carried two bottles and I drank at the water fountains from time to time). I stopped at my car every loop to refill my bottles, drink a bottle of Yoohoo (a member of the North Texas Trail Runners introduced me to that and it is so good!) and eat some potato chips. I also used three packages of Clif Shot Blocks (I don't think I'll do that again, they made me queasy and I felt like I needed to belch or vomit but couldn't) and two Succeed caplets every hour. I don't think I ate enough because of mild nausea and lack of desire, a result I think of the Clif Shot Blocks and HEED, which I can tolerate in cooler weather but which makes me sick to even think about in warm weather.

After I finally stopped I couldn't keep any water down for a few hours (anything I drank would come back up a little while later). After I finally had some food I started to feel better and could eat and drink without problems. But I was sooooo tired, more tired than I ever remember being after any races I've done. That afternoon and evening I had the worst leg cramps of my life (and I don't usually cramp). I had them in both calves, causing me to scream out in pain. It was not very fun.

I posted this information to the e-mail group for the North Texas Trail Runners and got lots of advice, most of it conflicting. The two things that stuck out were that I probably had too many electrolytes, not too little, and I probably shouldn't push so hard this early in the hot season. My body still needs to adjust to the heat.

The Good
This weekend my wife and daughter went out of town so I took advantage of their absence to do my last long training walk before FANS. On Saturday while I was shopping at Central Market I went to their prepared foods area and bought some macaroni and cheese and a twice baked potato. I also bought Gatorade and more Yoohoo. Finally, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I got up early Sunday and started walking by 5:00 AM. I walked a 3.2 mile loop at Breckenridge Park. Every two loops (or 6.4 miles) I stopped at my car to eat and drink. My goal was to maintain a 12:30 pace for as long as possible since this is the pace I plan to maintain for the first 30 or so miles at FANS.

Surprisingly, I was able to maintain a 12:02 average pace for almost 42 miles. I was slowing in the final miles, but I was slowing to 12:30 - 13:00, so I didn't slow that much. I ate and drank successfully without any sickness, and I felt good most of the time, even when the temperatures crept into the low 80s. I only used one electrolyte cap when I felt some "crampy" feelings in one calf. Other than that it was: Gatorade, Coke, Yoohoo, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, Mac & Cheese, Twice-Baked Potato, Pringles. I always try to eat real food during ultras, so this seemed like a good test of that strategy. Things seemed to go well.

I'm still getting some blisters on my left heel, but I seem to be getting blisters on my old blisters and they don't hurt; I can tell they are there, but they don't bother me. I probably had blisters for 20 miles yesterday, with no issues.

The Rest
I did get some new shoes and they are working well. They are the latest version of the Asics Gel Speedstar (I've used this shoe before and decided to return to it). I wish it had a little more forefoot support, but other than that I'm very happy with it. I'm going to bring three pairs of shoes to FANS; I plan to start in the Speedstars and switch to a more supportive shoe if I feel the need.

So I guess now it's time for FANS. I plan to stick to my normal weekday training schedule this week, then do 10-15 miles next weekend, then no walking all week until the race. I hope we have good weather, that's all that's stressing me out at this point! I hate waiting for the race - this is the worst part of training and racing!

Speedy Walking!

2007-05-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

Big Congrats to Sarah who broke 30 minutes racewalking a 5k! Good job. My PR is 31:06 so I'd be eating her dust.

Big Weekend

2007-05-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

This weekend was my last final "big weekend" of training for FANS. I would have like to have done it next weekend, giving me a three week recovery and taper, but my schedule forced me to peak a week early. I'll still do some good miles next weekend, then lower the intensity and distance gradually.

On Saturday I went to a local park where I mapped a 3.2 mile loop (FANS is a 2.4 mile loop). I repeated the loop 10 times for 32.1 miles in 6:20:23, an 11:51 pace. On Sunday I went to White Rock Lake and did the "long loop" (standard 9+ mile loop plus the spillway addition for about 10.3 miles per loop) three times for 30.84 miles in 6:30:10, a 12:40 pace. Saturday I walked in new shoes and got some big blisters on my left heel. Sunday I switched to older shoes and the blisters only got a little worse. Both walks went pretty well and were fairly even in terms of splits; no major crashes. Now I just have to recover and maintain for FANS.

Yesterday was the kick off for the Fall Team in Training season. As I mentioned previously I am a coach for the DFW Metro Walk Team. I'm really excited about the opportunity to coach. We will have 35-40 walkers on the team, so it's going to be a big group and hopefully a lot of fun. Training starts Tuesday, but the real hardcore training will start on Saturday. I'll let you know how we are doing as the season progresses. My team is training for Nike Women's Half/Full Marathon, Dublin Marathon and the Dallas Half Marathon, all in late October/early November. It's great to be able to help people achieve their personal goals and do things they never thought possible! I can't wait to get to know the team.

Les Jeux Sont Faits

2007-05-01T20:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I've made a slight change in my race plans. I was having trouble getting Laurel Highlands to fit in my work schedule right now (it's a long story, and I'd just as soon forget about it), and I'm still intrigued about doing another 24 hour race, so I've decided to race in FANS on June 2 in Minneapolis, MN. I've booked my travel and sent in my registration so I'm all set. FANS will be a Centurion event this year so I will have the opportunity to re-qualify as a Centurion. My goal is to hit 100 miles again. My stretch goal is to hit 105. I think it is a realistic goal if I can stick to my race plan. I've estimated a pace for every lap, including the inevitable slow down that will occur as it gets later, and I've allowed myself an extra minute every three laps (except for the first lap, every lap is about 2.4 miles) for aid. Based on my experience at Ultracentric I think this is realistic. I only stopped twice at Ultracentric - once to change shoes, once to use the port-a-pottie. Other than that, I paused for less than a minute at the aid station from time to time. So hopefully I will have a good day and we will have good weather and I can add some miles to my 100 mile Ultracentric finish.

This weekend I had a bad training experience and a great training experience. On Friday night some members of the North Texas Trail Runners were going to the Cross Timbers Trail on Lake Texoma (site of my only DNF) to do night hill training. The goal (for some of us, myself included) was to run/walk from about sunset to sunrise, around 8:40 to 6:30. I got there a little late and started walking around 9:15 PM. The weather was so humid and muggy that within 30 minutes I was totally soaked to the bone. I repeated the short (2.5 mile) extra hilly section three times, pausing at my car each lap to replenish fluids and snack. After a few hours there were only two of us left on the trail, then the last guy decided to leave. I sat in my car a while eating a snack when I realized that I wasn't having fun and didn't want to be there any more. It was about 2:00 AM. I made the one and a half hour drive home and crashed into bed. It felt good to sleep.

Saturday I made all my FANS plans and decided to do some FANS-specific training. I mapped a 3.2 mile route in a local park and planned to repeat the loop for 30 miles. I got started around 4:30 AM on Sunday morning and did ten laps. It got pretty warm and very sunny and by the end I was very tired, but I was able to turn in my fastest ultra distance training ever: 32.1 miles in 6:10:30, an 11:33 pace! I've never broken 12:00 minutes per mile in an ultra distance race or training, so I was very excited. I don't plan to go this pace at FANS, but this gave me the confidence I needed to go into FANS. So Sunday was a great day.

While you're visiting my blog, go over and give Steve a big shout of congratulations for setting a TWO HOUR marathon PR. Way to go, Steve!!

Yes, I'm Here: New Challenges

2007-04-23T16:45:00.000-05:00

It's been almost a month since my last post. I'm doing well and getting ready for new things.

My ankle seems to be 95% better. I still get a little soft lump on the front of my shin and I can feel it, although there is no pain. But I've been putting in some decent miles at a decent speed and feel good. I recently bought two new pairs of trail shoes (since New Balance discontinued my beloved 781s), Merrell Overdrive and Merrell Octane. So far they've both performed well. The octanes got a good workout their first time out of the box - mud, mud and more mud, but not slippery mud - sticky mud that gives you platform shoes and occasionally flies off in a big chunk. Plus some creek crossings (actually, many creek crossings). The insert of one shoe was moving around so I'll have to watch that.

I also bought a double-bottle pack, the Nathan Elite 2v. Recently my Camelbak FlashFlo bladder got funky and smelly, and I decided to try a bottle pack instead of buying a new bladder. I've always loved the FlashFlo (I bought it when I joined Team in Training in 2003 and have used the same pack ever since, only replacing the bladder once) and thought it was a great pack. It has only one drawback - it's a pain to refill during races. I have to take the entire pack off, and it's hard to open and close the bladder. Also, you can't totally refill the bladder while it's in the pack, so you can't take full advantage of the 45 ounce bladder.

So for now I'll try the bottle pack. I used it for 24+ miles and 5+ hours this weekend with no problems. The Elite 2v has two removable pouches on the sides that I can't use because they interfere with my arm motion when walking; itdoes not have any storage in the rear, just a bungee cord to hold a jacket or something similar. However, I was able to take one of the side pouches and attach it in the back (whether this is by design or just good luck, I don't know). Then I attached my Amphipod pouch to the front and I was ready to go: Clif Shots, electrolytes, Advil and lip balm in the front; cell phone, toilet paper, ID/insurance card and spare Clif Shots in the back.

The big news is that I've been asked to be a Racewalking coach for the Team in Training DFW Metro Team this summer! I've never coached before but always wanted the opportunity, so I'm very excited. I've been attending the last training sessions for the team finishing their season now, plus I've been attending recruitment meetings. The season starts May 6 with Kick-Off, then training starts the following week. So far we have 20 walkers on the team and still a week of recruitment meetings, so it looks like we will have a great team. I can't wait to get the chance to share my love of racewalking and my support for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with the team. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

I'm currently trying to adjust some responsibilities at work so I can travel to my next race, Laurel Highlands Ultra in Johnstown, PA. I did this two years ago and loved it. Unfortunately it conflicts with some scheduled work activity, but I'm trying to get the schedule shifted around.

After that I plan to do three summer runs in Texas (UGH!):

Capt'n Karl's Run - June 30, a 12 hour all night race starting at 7:00 PM
El Scorcho - July 15, a 50k on a flat asphalt 5k loop, starting at 12:00 AM (midnight)
NTTR Night Run - a prediction run on the rugged North Shore Trail at Lake Grapevine

After that I'll be training hard and long for the Heartland 100, my first 100 mile race. Then hopefully the Ultracentric 24 hour, then hopefully the Texas Double: SunRock - SunMart 50 miler on Saturday, December 8; White Rock Marathon on Sunday, December 9.

Of course things can change at any time and life intervenes, so I'll just take it one mile at a time and see what happens.

If you are still here, thanks for reading! I hope to post more in the near future, especially on the progress of the TNT Walk Team.

Three Days of Syllamo and Injury

2007-03-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

Well, a week and a half ago I completed the Three Days of Syllamo stage race. I completed all three stages within the cutoffs, 93.5 miles in 25:10:27. The course was tough, LOTS of climbing (the RD estimated there was 12,000 - 15,000 of elevation in the 50 miler), lots of tough terrain, some creek crossings, etc. But it's a wonderful race, some of the best times I've ever had on the trails. Here are my final times:

Day 1 (50k): 8:39:34 (course was a little long, about two miles longer)
Day 2 (50 miles): 12:51:33 (course was a little short, maybe three miles)
Day 3 (20k): 3:39:20

In my last hard training two weeks before Syllamo I had some weird pain in my right ankle and shin, along with a raised soft bump on my shin. After about five days the pain and bump were gone so I decided to go ahead to Syllamo and see what happened. My ankle hurt some on day 2 and hurt a lot on day 3, and after the races my ankle and foot swelled up a lot. Yesterday I went to the doctor and everything looked normal, so he said it might have been signs of an impending stress fracture. He said I should take it easy for a couple of weeks (cycling next week, then elliptical trainer, then easy walking) and it would probably be fine. I had hoped to do a half marathon this weekend with my family, then a 50 miler in two weeks, but I will skip those two races and give myself time to recover.

I might try a 100k in Kansas at the end of April, the Free State Trail Ultra, but I'm not going to count on it. I'd rather recover fully than do something that causes the injury to linger. So for now I'll take it easy.

Here are pictures from the race. This will give you a good idea of the course.

You can't search by bib number, so if you want pictures of me you'll have to click on the links below:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634031&image_id=51
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634031&image_id=160
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634033&image_id=121
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634033&tcount=126&scount=123
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634033&tcount=126&scount=124
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634032&image_id=169
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634032&tcount=293&scount=171
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634032&tcount=293&scount=172
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=philipwalrod&gallery_id=634032&image_id=281

It Had to Happen: My First DNF

2007-02-25T10:23:00.000-06:00

Well, it happens to most people, and now it has happened to me. Yesterday I had my first DNF at the Cross Timbers Trail Run 50 miler. Here's the story.

I rode there (TX/OK border) with my friend from North Texas Trail Runners, Deb. I woke up at 2:45 AM, got to Deb's house by about 3:30 and we hit the road. We got to the race start about 5:15 to prepare for the 6:30 start. The weather was really unpredictable; they were saying we were supposed to have rain that night and possibly severe storms during the day. It turns out we had a little mist and light rain at night, and a little rain about 20 minutes into the race, and then the sun came out.

So we all started with flashlights but only needed them for about 15 minutes. After the rain parts of the course got pretty muddy and slick, so of course at 35 minutes into the race my feet slid out from under me on a turn and I landed on the right side. My leg was covered with mud, my shorts had mud in them, and I had some small cuts and nicks. Nothing major, and I wasn't hurt, so I just hopped up and moved on. My hand was soon covered with blood from a very small cut on my thumb, but eventually it stopped bleeding and dried up.

The course is very challenging, probably the most challenging course I've ever raced on. It has lots of hills (10,000 feet of elevation gain over 50 miles) and the hills are generally steep. The race has a tight cutoff: 12 hours. I've done four fifty milers; my first one was about 12:45, the others were under 12:00. So a 12 hour cutoff on difficult terrain would be a major challenge. And this is where I made my most significant mistake.

I planned to do a 13:30 pace for the first half of the race, then 14:30 for the second half. This would give me a little cushion for finishing under 12 hours. Unfortunately, I made a stupid beginners mistake and went out way too fast. My pace for the first ten miles was 12:22, over a minute faster than plan. I tried to hang with some of the runners from NTTR (Lynn, Rochelle, Bill), and I pretty much did for the first 10 miles. But I had no business being up there with them. I'm not sure I could have finished this race at all, but burning up all my energy on the first 10 miles sealed my fate.

After the turn around and aid station I headed back the way I came. There were some confusing intersections on this part of the trail, and I was walking alone, so unfortunately I made a wrong turn somewhere. I saw people on the trail through the woods, but I couldn't seem to get to the trail. Also, I didn't want to "cheat" the distance so I didn't just cut through the woods and get back on the trail; I tried to track back the way I came. Instead I made a big loop and got back on the trail about 0.25 - 0.50 miles before the place where I made the wrong turn. So I wasted time being lost and then repeated a short section of trail! As a result, my second 10 mile loop was a 14:29 pace.

By now the sun had come up and dried up most of the trail. The mud on my leg had dried, and the mud in my shoes had turned to dirt and grit that was irritating my feet. So I changed socks when I got back to the race start at mile 20, then headed out for the 2.5 mile out-and-back that everyone talks about. This is a short section, but for many people it takes twice as long as it normally would. It has many, many hills, all very long and steep. That is the most difficult thing about this course - hills that are both long and steep. If you've ever trained on the North Shore Trail at Lake Grapevine, it is like all of the most difficult sections of that trail crammed into 2.5 miles and lengthened. I struggled through this section with dead legs, not thinking I could climb another hill.

I saw a few of the NTTR people ahead of me, most looking good on their way back to the start area and another loop. By this point the wind was incredibly strong! Strong gusts were rocking the trees and raising up sand and dust. It was tough on a few narrow sections of trail with a sheer cliff dropping off to one side and the wind battering you around.

At this point I was debating what to do with the rest of the day. I was certain I would miss the intermediate cutoff (10.5 hours before starting the final 2.5 mile out and back) so I knew I would DNF. I was tired and slightly dehydrated and didn't know how I could keep going. I finally got to the turnaround and the aid station and headed back to the start area. I saw a few people behind me and tried to offer them whatever encouragement I could. The whole time I was thinking that I would drop at the start area, giving me a total of 25 miles for the day.

A little before I arrived at the aid station I ran into Deb. She was almost five miles behind me. Her main goal was a good 12 hour training run (she's training for Umstead 100) so she was planning to do as many miles as she could in the twelve hours of the race. She encouraged me to just stop worrying about the DNF and think of it as a good training run. So I decided to stop at the start area and have some food, rest for a bit, then head back out and do the final twenty miles, getting 45 miles for the day. I had a coke, a cheeseburger and some chips, then filled my bottle and went out for the 10 mile out-and-back. Again the wind was blowing strongly and everything in the start pavilion was blowing around.

The next 10 miles were uneventful, except for the sandstorm. Literally. The sky was a weird brown/green color, the air was gritty, and you could no longer see across the lake. It was really weird. My wife said they had the same thing in Dallas about 1.5 hours away. It lasted about 30 minutes, then cleared up and the sun came back out.

I was slow; sometimes I racewalked, sometimes I slow walked, once in a while I stopped on steep hills. But I kept going, and I was in relatively good spirits. I stopped to eat and drink at the aid stations. I was pretty sure that I was slightly dehydrated because I wasn't sweating much (I tend to sweat A LOT, even in cold weather) and I always felt thirsty. My wristband was dry and when I would wipe the little sweat from my face it would hurt. I had grit in my eyes and mouth and my face was covered with salt, so that was all uncomfortable.

I made the turnaround and headed back. About seven miles from the finish I ran into Deb. She was planning to turn around there and not do the full ten, so I waited for her at the aid station and we headed back together. This made the final seven miles much more enjoyable as we talked about other races and experiences. It really made the time pass quickly.

Finally we were on the last section and headed to the finish. We were actually passed by two runners who had gotten their second wind and were trying to make the cutoffs (I don't think either of them had time, but I think the RD let them go on anyway). Deb and I finally left the trail for the quarter mile on road back to the start. We turned the last corner, made it to the finish and stopped. I sat down, and Antje from NTTR brought me a hot, delicious hamburger. Oh, it felt good to sit.

Deb and I almost immediately got in the car and headed home. After the quick drive home Deb dropped me off at Campisi's where I met my family for a big dinner (fettuccini alfredo and cheese toast never tasted so good). The other diners at Campisi's must have been confused - I was still wearing my race clothes (minus shoes - I had switched to flip flops) and number, and still had mud on my leg and arm and little bloody wounds. The defeated warrior....

All in all, I'm glad I did this race. It was great hill training, and it taught me something about race planning and sticking with the plan. I don't know if I'll do this race again, but I probably will. I don't know if this will ever be a race I can finish as a walker unless the cutoffs are increased. So maybe next year I'll do the marathon, or I'll do the 50 again but just consider it as a training day. I might see if I can get a group together to go to this trail once every month or two for training - in my limited experience, this is the best hill training available in Texas (I've heard Bandera is the other).

If you're looking for a challenging trail Half Marathon, Full Marathon or 50 miler, this is a great choice. Some of the trail markings could be improved, but other than that it is a typically well-run race with good aid and a beautiful and challenging course.

Final results:

Loop 1: 2:03:34 (10 miles)
Loop 2: 2:24:47 (10 miles)
Loop 3: 41:26 (2.5 miles)
Loop 4: 53:51 (2.5 miles)
Loop 5: 2:42:36 (10 miles) (includes break and meal at start)
Loop 6: 2:48:30 (10 miles) (includes backtrack and aid station with Deb)
Total Distance: 45 miles
Total Time: 11:44:47

A little update

2007-02-06T10:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted in a while so I probably have very few readers left. For those of you diehards, here's a quick update.

I've had a great year so far. I've been doing some good training and getting in some good mileage. I've been doing some back-to-back long walks to prepare for Three Days of Syllamo. I also did the Houston Half Marathon with my brother and his wife (his first half, her second) and I paced someone last weekend for the last forty miles for Rocky Raccoon 100. She was injured but wanted to finish so the forty miles took us 15 hours! But she finished and got her buckle, so I was very happy for her. It took a lot of guts for her to stay out there and push herself to finish, especially since she is a fast runner and it was hard for her (mentally) to walk.

So here are my plans for the rest of the year:

02/14/07 - Cross Timbers (50 miles)
03/16/07 - Three Days of Syllamo: 50k
03/17/07 - Three Days of Syllamo: 50 Miles
03/18/07 - Three Days of Syllamo: 20k
04/01/07 - Texas Half Marathon (with brother and sister-in-law)
04/15/07 - Rocky Hill Ranch (50 miles)
06/09/07 - Laurel Highlands Ultra (70.5 miles)
07/07/07(?) - Capt'n Carl's Night Run (12 hours)
10/13/07 - Heartland (100 miles)
11/17/07 - Ultracentric (24 hours)
12/08/07(?) - SunMart (50 miles)

I'm excited about the year, especially about Heartland and Ultracentric.

Hope to see some of you guys on the trails!

New Music Goodness

2007-01-09T09:29:00.000-06:00

New to me, at least. I'm in love with Deerhoof:

2006 Year in Review - A Year for Rebuilding

2006-12-31T12:50:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time again, time to review what happened in 2006. (Here are my summaries of 2004 and 2005).

Miles walked: 1,347.1
Time spent walking: 11 days, 2h 24m 19s.
Average pace: 13:24/mile

Number of races: 5
Shortest race: Bunny Boogie Fun Run 5k
Longest race: SunMart 50 mile
Fastest pace: 10:01/mile (Bunny Boogie Fun Run 5k)
Slowest pace: 13:27/mile (SunMart 50 mile)
PRs: 5k, Marathon, 50 mile
DNFs: 0
DNSs: 2 (Rocky Raccoon 100 [flu], Houston Ultra Weekend 24 hour [death in family])

Miles cycled: 914.4

Well, this is not a great report, but it is what it is. I had a hard time getting my year started and encountered some difficulties early on that made my training suffer. In 2004 and 2005 I walked over 1,800 miles, but this year I only walked 1,300.

But I was able to turn it around and got in some good miles in the last half of the year. I also PR'd at the marathon and 50 mile distances. And, as I had hoped, I got a bike and rode almost 1,000 miles, most of them to and from work. So this was a year to regroup, refocus and rebuild. I feel good about my results in the second half of the year, and I look forward to seeing what the new year brings. My big goal for 2007 is to finish my first 100 mile trail race, the Heartland 100 in October. This was also my goal last year but I just couldn't train for it the way I needed to, so I never registered.

I hope everyone had a great year and has an even better 2007!

SunMart 2006 Race Report

2006-12-10T23:17:00.000-06:00

Super Long! Make sure you've had your morning coffee:

This was my third SunMart, and only my second ultra since last year's SunMart. Winter was hard on my training (serious case of the flu, two deaths in the family, extremely busy at work) and I had decided for a time to give up ultras. But eventually those thoughts faded and I realized how much I enjoyed the distance, the trails and the camaraderie of ultras. I completed my third Rockledge Rumble 50k in November, then geared up for SunMart.

I had to attend my company holiday party the night before the race (I'm not a big fan of office parties and was dreading the event). I had hoped to leave Dallas around 9:00 PM for the three hour drive to Huntsville. Unfortunately that was unrealistic and I didn't leave town until about 10:45, arriving in Huntsville around 1:45.

On the way I was bored and didn't feel like listening to any music so I scanned the AM frequency looking for interesting or weird talk radio. I found it: Coast to Coast. I picked it up during a call-in segment, and here was a typical quote from a caller:

I know you've always said that you wouldn't use the collective mind-power of your audience to influence the weather, but....

And more of the same! Looks like I missed a great show Saturday night:

In a special 5-hour show, Art Bell conducted a 4-hour interview with Jim Sparks, who discussed his eighteen years as an alien abductee.

I was rooming with TO, a member of the North Texas Trail Runners; in November TO completed three marathons and one 50k on two back to back weekends, qualifying him for a Rutehnium Level membership to Marathon Maniacs! TO finished the SunMart 50 miler on Saturday, then finished the White Rock marathon on Sunday! He's a running machine!

Another NTTR member, Don, had picked up my packet for me and dropped it at the hotel. So after getting my room key and my packet, I chatted with TO for a couple of minutes and then fell fast asleep.

But only for three hours. The alarms went off at 5:00 AM. I got dressed and threw on my race clothes and gear, threw my stuff in my bag and headed for the car. I arrived at Starbucks at about 5:45 for a coffee and donut, then to the gas station for Gatorade and water, then drove the five miles to the race headquarters at Huntsville State Park. It was 32 degrees at this point, a little too cold to stand around, but perfect weather for racing.

I met up with some friends and ultrawalkers from my first SunMart, Becky, Vicki and Patty (Patty is a local DFW racewalker and a racewalking coach). I chatted with them and dropped my bag with their gear, then chatted briefly with TO and another NTTR member, Bill, then the race started and we were off.

Interestingly I encountered two other walkers at the beginning of the race. They said they were from Idaho and had walked the American River ultra in 12 hours and were hoping to do SunMart in 11 hours. This was too fast for me so I didn't make any effort to stay with them. We passed each other a few times in the beginning, then I pulled slightly ahead and would see them on the two long out and back sections (one at about 2.5 miles into the 12.5 mile loop, and one entering and exiting the Start/Finish area). This out and back is one of my favorite parts of SunMart. I love seeing my friends several times during the race, and I also enjoy seeing the front runners and greeting the other racers. I made a real effort to shout out an encouraging greeting to almost everyone I met on the trail.

The first loop was uneventful and I was ahead of my race plan the whole way. I gained three minutes over my goal time of 2:39 and didn't feel like I was pushing too hard. I saw TO and Bill and they both looked strong.

The second loop turned out to be a good loop, but it felt labored. I felt like I was pushing myself, and I worried that I was going to use up everything I had and not leave anything for the second half of the race. I purposefully slowed down (I planned for the second loop to be 45 seconds slower per mile than the first loop) but I still gained three minutes, so at the end of the second loop I was six minutes ahead of plan but a little bit concerned. TO and Bill still looked good, but Bill had passed TO, who appeared to be struggling a little bit.

I promised myself that I would take a little Advil at the halfway point, so after I crossed the timing mat and stopped at the aid station, I popped two Advil. I noticed my hands and wrists were a little swollen. This usually means too much or too little electrolytes, and since I hadn't taken any electrolytes caps I assumed it was too little so I popped two. During the first two loops I took a few Clif Shots, and I ate small handfuls of snacks at each aid station and drank soda or water (for some reason some of the aid stations had diet Pepsi - Yuck! What's the point??? I wanted the sugar). Someone had the brilliant idea of spreading peanut butter on Oreo's, then topping the whole thing off with M&Ms; I started referring to it as Redneck Gu!

Loop three felt good, but it turned out to be my slowest loop and far below my goal. I had planned loops two and three to be at the same pace, but loop three was nine minutes slower than loop two; I lost all of the six minutes I had gained, plus an additional three minutes. I wasn't worried because I was still well within the cutoffs, but I was a little discouraged, and I wondered how bad loop four was going to be. What was really weird was that loop three felt pretty good and felt fast. But at least I was only three minutes behind my race plan, and I had more than enough time before the cutoff.

About three miles before the end of loop three the two racewalking women from Idaho passed me. They looked good, and while one of them stopped at the aid station the other powered ahead and cruised up the hills like they were nothing. Then her friend passed me trying to catch up. As I entered the start/finish out-and-back I again saw TO and Bill. TO had passed Bill, but they both looked great. I also saw a few other NTTR members on this loop, plus some familiar faces from past SunMarts.

After I crossed the timing mat I said Goodbye to Becky (she wasn't racing due to an injury, and her friends were doing the 50k, so I wouldn't see them again), grabbed my flashlight and headlamp and moved out for the last loop. I always love starting this loop as a back-of-the-packer. People are always so encouraging (and a little sympathetic) since they know we are probably in for a darkness finish and some physical suffering. You can also cheer in the back-of-the-pack 50k racers that are less than half a mile from the finish.

Loop four is a strange mixture of suffering and excitement. There is a lot of physical pain, and there is usually a look of disappointment on some people's faces (I'm assuming their day did not go as well as expected). But there is also excitement because we all know that we are almost finished and that we won't be seeing each other again. There's a strong sense of camaraderie since the only people left on the course are the back-of-the-packers, who I refer to as the Flashlight Finishers since we will be finishing in the dark. It's a good way to finish the day.

I felt good on loop four. I took two more Advil just to keep everything moving smoothly. I watched my watch closely and saw that I was making great time. At each aid station I was moving ahead of my planned time for the loop. As I was walking into one of the aid stations I heard one of the volunteers yell at some racers that were departing, "Enjoy the dance tonight!" and I burst out laughing. It felt good to know that every step brought my closer to the finish.

At about four miles from the finish (at the long wooden bridges) I saw off in the distance the two racewalking women from Idaho. They were pretty far ahead so I didn't think I could catch them, and I was interested in trying. I just wanted to stick to my plan and finish feeling good. I was on track for a PR so "beating" someone didn't seem important.

At this point the 50k and 50 mile races merged, and I spent a couple of minutes talking to a 71 year old man in the 50k who was coming back from an injury and had recently completed the Vermont 100. He told me his goal was to finish in eight hours, and after a few quick calculations I told him I thought he would do it easily (looks like he finished in 7:54). He was a cool cat, decked out in black with an earring in his ear. His accomplishment was quite an inspiration!

Then I chatted briefly with two runners that I passed (one of whom seemed to be having some leg problems) and she said, "I just want you to know that I've really enjoyed your smile all day." I said back, "I figured if I kept smiling I wouldn't cry." She replied, "Yeah, but you were smiling the whole time." That made me feel good - I always try to enjoy the experience, otherwise why do it?

Right before the last aid station I passed Bill who was powerwalking but said he was fading fast. Then right at the last aid station I saw the two other walkers! They stopped at the station, but since it's only 2.79 miles from the finish I didn't see any need to stop; I waved at them and kept right on going. Since I was ahead of plan I hadn't had to turn on my lights yet, which also explains why I was ahead of schedule for the loop.

I cruised up the hill out of the aid station and passed one more racer. Then I turned on my lights and walked from glow stick to glow stick, and didn't see another soul until I heard the cheers, whistles and cowbells of complete strangers cheering for me at the finish. I crossed the line, gave up my chip, got my medal and my finisher's afghan, then headed straight to the car and straight to the nearest Mexican restaurant. I arrived home at about 10:45 PM, so the whole trip lasted about 24 hours and I was only in Huntsville for about 17.5 hours.

My official time was 11:12:55, a little over 14 minutes faster than last year, and about 35 minutes faster than 2004. I was faster than last year on three of the four loops, and walked my fastest loop ever (2:36, a 12:28 pace).

I really enjoy SunMart. Sometimes it is criticized because of the inconvenient Packet Pickup (which is about an hour away in Houston, and there is no early pickup or race day pickup), and sometimes it is looked down on because it is one of the biggest ultras and attracts people of all abilities. These things are both true. But it is a well supported race with lots of pre- and post-race food, awesome freebies (this year: large gym bag, race logo polo shirt, race logo technical shirt, race logo technical hat, race logo water bottle, two Hammer Gels, plus the following "cheap" freebies: nail care set, rain poncho, gloves, disposable camera, stuffed bear, sunglasses), a beautiful course, and the wonderful opportunity to see your fellow racers numerous times during the race, to receive and give encouragement, and to enjoy being outdoors and pushing yourself toward new accomplishments. The course is relatively flat but very rooty, sometimes muddy (not this year), portions of jeep road and portions of wonderfully twisty single track. I think SunMart is a great race, and would make a great first 50 miler. The aid stations are almost sumptuous, even at the end of the race, and the whole experience (excluding packet pickup) is positive. I look forward to doing it again in the future.

	2004			2005			2006
	Time	Pace	Time	Pace	Goal	Actual	Pace
Loop 1	2:42:00	0:12:57	2:42:00	0:12:57	2:39:00	2:36:00	0:12:28
Loop 2	2:59:00	0:14:19	2:48:00	0:13:26	2:49:00	2:46:00	0:13:16
Loop 3	3:06:00	0:14:52	2:49:00	0:13:31	2:49:00	2:55:00	0:14:00
Loop 4	2:59:00	0:14:19	3:06:00	0:14:52	3:01:00	2:54:00	0:13:55
Total	11:47:50	0:14:09	11:27:04	0:13:44	11:18:00	11:12:55	0:13:28

SunMart PR

2006-12-10T16:19:00.000-06:00

I had a great day at SunMart yesterday. I'll post a report soon, but for now my finishing time was 11:12:55, about a 14 minute PR. I beat my goal time on three of the four loops. The weather was great and I couldn't have asked for a better day to race.

More soon.....

Tom Waits and SunMart

2006-12-07T08:31:00.000-06:00

No, Tom Waits will NOT be at SunMart (but wouldn't THAT be cool!). It's Tom's 57th birthday. Happy Birthday to the most innovative musician in American music today!

Tomorrow night, after my company Holiday party (uggh!) I'm heading to Huntsville, Texas for SunMart. This will be my third year in a row. My training has been spotty so I don't have any major goals for the race other than making the cutoffs and finishing (and having a good time). My bags are all packed, my flashlights are tested, my gel is ready, my Advil is stashed in my pack, all is ready. Just need to make the drive, then get up early and hit the trails. I'll post my results on Sunday.

Good Luck to Ed at the White Rock Marathon, and to anyone else racing this weekend.

Is Wal-Mart Green?

2006-11-21T14:03:00.000-06:00

"It makes scant difference whether Wal-Mart starts stocking organic food or not, because the real problem is the imperative to ship products all over the world, sell them in vast, downtown-destroying complexes, and push prices so low that neither workers nor responsible suppliers can prosper. (In fact, Wal-Mart's decision to sell organic food will almost certainly mean the final consolidation of the industry into the hands of a few huge growers that ship their produce across thousands of miles -- not to mention that the people ringing up the organic groceries will still make below-poverty wages and taxpayers will still be footing the bill for their health care. There's something gross about buying a healthy carrot from a sick company.)"

~Bill McKibben, Hype vs. Hope, Mother Jones Magazine

Good Day to Rumble

2006-11-11T19:25:00.000-06:00

Man, what a race. It was about 45 degrees at the start, which was freezing while waiting for the race to start but was perfect racing weather. At first my legs felt like lead because I was so cold, but I eventually warmed up.

Since I did a marathon two weeks ago I didn't have any goals for this race - just finish and have a good time. I half-heartedly used my watch but didn't obsess - just eat, drink, and be merry (and keep walking). Turns out I had a GREAT, GREAT race. I've done this race three years in a row and this was my fastest time ever - by 39 minutes! That's right, I beat my fastest time on this course by 39:39, and I walked my second fastest 50k time ever (although I don't trust my 50k PR, I think the course was short). I broke 13:00 per mile (12:57) which makes me very happy because this is a very rugged course with lots of ups and downs.

So tonight I'm on cloud nine. And I don't feel sore at all, just tired!

It was a great day, and I saw a lot of good friends at the race (I got hugged at all three aid stations, which is always nice!). And my race number was 69, which got me lots of ribald comments, especially at the aid station staffed by the Harley riders. And as I was finishing they announced me as the first racewalker (there wasn't a racewalking division) and mentioned I was a member of the club (North Texas Trail Runners). I got a nice marble finishers award and a custom-made ale (Mud and Guts Ale) specifically for finishers of this race (for the expiration date, it says "Drink Before Western States").

So yes, a good day, a great day. Now I'm going to drink some Shiner Hefeweizen (if you're from Texas, you'll know), watch a movie and drift off to sleep.

Distance: 50 km
Time: 6:42:08
Pace: 12:57

Are you ready to Rumble?

2006-11-09T07:43:00.000-06:00

Rockledge Rumble 50k, that is. I wasn't planning to do this race, but at the last minute I changed my mind and registered last night. As long as it didn't fill up before I registered, I'll be out on the trails Saturday morning for a nice little walk in the woods.

I know Ed will be there, and Susan was considering it. Anyone else? Hope to see you there - it's a great race!

Things that make me feel.....

2006-11-08T12:35:00.000-06:00

Happy:

Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.

Change in leadership of the house (and possibly Senate); I'm not a huge "capital-D" Democrat, but of the two national parties the Democrats most reflect my priorities.

Six states had minimum wage increases on the ballot; all six passed.

It appears that Arizona will defeat the anti-Gay marriage proposition.

All of the anti-choice measures were defeated.

Sad:

So many states approved anti-Gay marriage or anti-Civil Union measures (WTF! Why do you care if homosexuals have civil unions. Butt out!).

Arizona adopted English as an "Official Language" (they should receive the Failure to Face Reality Award!).

That in Texas not a single Democrat running for National or State-wide office received more than 39% of the vote.

Oh well, all in all the results are good and hopefully we will have a new national dialog and new priorities.

I was researching new quotes for my e-mail signature and developed a nice list that I feel summarize my social and political views. So, for what it's worth:

"Our modern industrial economy takes a mountain covered with trees, lakes, running streams and transforms it into a mountain of junk, garbage, slime pits, and debris."
~Edward Abbey
%
"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment."
~Ansel Adams
%
"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered. A nation can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy."
~Dr. Martin Luther King
%
"The essence of the problem is about consumption, recognizing that a society that consumes one-third of the world's resources is unsustainable. This level of consumption requires constant intervention into other people's lands. That's what's going on."
~Winona LaDuke
%
"Anarchism is not a romantic fable but the hardheaded realization, based on five thousand years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners."
~ Edward Abbey
%
"The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun."
~Ralph Nader
%
"Economic advance is not the same thing as human progress."
~John Clapham
%
"Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it."
~Henry David Thoreau
%
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death."
~Rachel Carson
%
"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."
~Mahatma Gandhi
%
"In today's integrated world economy ... eradicating poverty may contribute as much to U.S. security as eradicating terrorism."
~Lester R. Brown
%
"Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."
~William Sloane Coffin Jr.
%
"Take any group of nice people on a trip; if five bad things happen to them in a row, they will end up as cannibals."
~Edward Luttwak
%
"Civilization is tissue thin."
~Iris Chang

You HAVE to Watch This

2006-11-08T09:54:00.000-06:00

All runners and walkers, you have to see this trailer for a new documentary about the marathon (it follows three "ordinary" runners and two elite runners training for the Chicago Marathon).

I'll be honest, I've got tears in my eyes remembering the challenges and the satisfactions of my marathons and ultramarathons. It's really awesome!

Miracle Match Marathon Quick Report

2006-10-30T16:34:00.000-06:00

Well, I got my PR, but not by as much as I was expecting. My unofficial time from Garmin is 4:49:27 (my old PR was 4:56:57). It was pretty warm (average of 68, high of 78 during the race) and really hilly (numerous long hills that required a slow walk). I enjoyed the race and had a great time, and I'm happy with the PR. I was hoping to get below 11:00 per mile but that didn't happen (11:02 actual). I might have done it if the course was a little better marked (more on that later) and a little less hilly.

You can relive the race and see the elevation gain and loss at MotionBased by clicking here.

My friend Frances also beat her goal. It was great to see many old friends and make some new ones!

I'll post a more complete race report later.

A Great Sunday

2006-10-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

Today was my last long walk (18.5 miles) before the marathon in two weeks, and it was a great walk. The forecast called for "tons of rain" (literally) but luckily most of the really heavy rain stayed away until the second half of the walk. I was able to beat last week's pace (10:54), so I now feel like last week wasn't a fluke but was indicative of my capabilities. This makes me even more confident that I can PR in two weeks if I race a good, smart race.

Here are my splits:
11:26
11:19
11:04
10:19
10:33
10:48
10:33
10:38
10:42
10:49
11:21
10:37
10:51
10:38
10:17
10:47
10:42
10:18
11:40 (half mile)

Now it's time to taper and get ready!

Distance: 18.5 miles
Time: 3:19:42
Pace: 10:47

Dilemmas

2006-10-14T13:32:00.000-05:00

For the last year I've been mentally switching between being a road walker and an ultra/trail walker. Back in March I mentally switched gears to roads. Then in early summer I switched back to ultras. Then in September I switched back to roads. Here is my basic dilemma: Time.

I love my family, and I love to spend time with them, especially my seven year old daughter. She gets upset when I take a one night business trip, and usually on the weekends we are inseparable.

My problem is that when I train for ultras it takes so much more time. Here is a typical long training day for ultras:

1. Drive to Lake Grapevine, at least 45 minutes.

2. I try to do 27 miles most long walks (I'll ramp up before a longer race, like 50 miles). My pace is always slower than my road pace, maybe 13:00 - 14:00 minutes per mile. If we split the difference and assume 13:30 per mile, then that is 6 hours and 4 minutes.

3. I usually take a brief break at my car every nine miles (I park in the middle and go out 4.5 and back 4.5 miles). Maybe ten minutes per break, so 20 minutes.

4. Drive home, at least an hour because I usually stop for a Starbucks Latte or a drink somewhere.

So not including prep. time and cleanup, that is over eight hours! If I get up at 3:00 AM and get to the lake by 4:30 (I usually get up at 3:00, but have a bad tendency to dally and not get on the trail by 4:30), that means I get home around 12:30 or 12:45. That's about half of my Sunday with my family shot.

If I stick to roads, here is a typical long training day:

1. Drive to White Rock Lake, about 20 minutes.

2. I vary from 15 to 24 miles, depending on what I'm training for. Let's assume 18 miles. I'm also much faster on roads, anywhere from 10:45 to 11:30. Let's assume 11:20 (my marathon PR). That adds up to 3 hours and 24 minutes.

3. I usually only take one break and it is much shorter, about five minutes.

4. Drive home, getting a drink on the way: 30 minutes.

So again, not including prep. time and cleanup, this is only about 4 hours and 20 or 30 minutes, roughly half of the ultra training time. I can easily get up at 4:00 am and be on the trail by 5:00, which means I would get home around 9:30. Some days I get home before my daughter is even out of bed, or while she's having breakfast, so I really haven't lost any time with her.

I started this post with the intention of arguing for a way to do ultras again. I love the natural aspect of ultras; I love the smaller races, the people, the trails, the lack of fanfare and hoopla, the beautiful places I've been (I'll never forget Cassoday, Kansas, Syllamo Trails in Arkansas, Laurel Highlands Trail in Pennsylvania), etc. I really want to do ultras. But I don't see how I can; I just don't think it's feasible right now. Maybe down the road as my daughter gets older and has more activities of her own things will be different. But right now family is much more important, so I guess I've made my decision. I'll stick with roads and marathons for now and then see what the future brings.

On another topic, I'm going to start biking to work heavily again. I was doing it very regularly in the winter, then in Spring and Summer work got too busy and hectic (and I was traveling a lot) so I did it rarely. But my wife and I want to really reduce our spending and be more responsible. My car is seven years old and needs some maintenance, and the gas mileage is not as good as my wife's car (and, of course, is nowhere near the miles per gallon of my bike!). It's also good exercise, it's also good for the environment. I've seen a lot more bike commuters in Dallas lately; I think that is partially due to higher gas prices, and partially due to my increased awareness because of my own interest in cycling.

I need to get a new bike sometime in the future (my cheap Target bike is not going to last long) but I think I'll ride my current bike until it dies. I've seen some really nice commuter bikes at REI for $300 or less (I can't believe how LIGHT they are compared to my Target clunker) so when the time comes I'll get one of them. I have lights, bottle holder, mountable rack, etc., so really all I need is the bike.

That's all for now. 18 miles tomorrow, then I start tapering for the marathon two weeks from tomorrow. I'm excited to race again; I haven't done a long race since last December, and I haven't done any races since my disappointing performance last May at the Memorial Day 20k.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

Breaking My Vow of Silence

2006-10-09T08:13:00.000-05:00

Well, I wasn't planning to post any more, but yesterday's training was too good so I had to share.

Yesterday was my longest walk before the Miracle Match Marathon on October 29. Next weekend I'll do 18 miles, then the following weekend no miles, then the marathon.

On Sunday I planned to do 24 miles. I got to the lake early and started walking about 5:30. It was nice and cool and felt great out. I started out very slow and struggling. I rarely do 12 minute miles, but both of my first two splits were over 12:00, and my third mile was 5 seconds over my marathon PR pace of 11:20:
12:11
12:07
11:25

After that I did a few more miles in the 11 minute per mile range and finally felt like I was loosening up:
11:05
11:22
11:18

After that, I somehow turned on some speed and was able to keep all of my remaining miles below 11:00 per mile (except one) and I even clocked one mile at 9:59! I was shocked - my normal weekday six miles isn't normally this fast and doesn't feel this good:
10:47
10:52
10:59
10:38
11:11
10:46
10:24
10:35
10:47
10:28
10:38
9:59
10:39
10:36
10:52
10:46
10:51
10:37

I didn't really do anything differently except focus on the hip swing and getting my whole body into the racewalking motion. I could tell when I wasn't focusing on my form, I slowed down and the walk felt more labored.

Also, I started using Clif Shots again. I used to use Clif Shots exclusively, then I started trying out Hammer Gel, Clif Shot Bloks, Honey Stinger Gel, etc. But I really feel a boost when I use Clif Shots (I alternate between Mocha Mocha, which has a little caffeine, and Very Vanilla). I used one every six miles; during the marathon I will probably use one every five miles.

So now I'm feeling very confident about setting a PR at the marathon. I haven't raced in a marathon since March 2004 so I'm really excited about going this distance again!

Distance: 24.00 miles
Time: 4:21:44
Pace: 10:54

Bye bye, blogosphere

2006-09-23T12:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't posted in quite a while, and that's because I haven't had anything to say. This is my official au revoir to all the walkers and runners that might have visited this blog from time to time. I just don't feel like blogging any more so I'm signing off.

Things have been so busy and my training has been so sketchy that I am again planning a hiatus from ultramarathons. I just don't have the personal time to commit to the training. I'm fighting some allergy-related problems right now, and as soon as those are over I'm going to focus on marathons and shorter, and speed. I can do this without having to get up at 3:00 AM on Sunday morning and get back home at 1:00 PM. So maybe I'll see some of you guys at a race in the near future. I'm planning on completing a few races this fall and winter with my goal being to win the Mardi Gras Marathon racewalk division. So if you're interested, keep an eye on those results.

I've got some good racewalking, ultrarunning and cycyling blogs linked on the left, so please visit these folks. I visit them frequently but can't find the time to comment.

To everyone: good luck, have fun, be safe, enjoy life. Hopefully our paths will cross someday.

Almost bought the farm today...

2006-07-31T09:46:00.000-05:00

...because I was almost killed by an idiotic, impatient, selfish driver. I haven't commuted by bike in a while due to work and travel, injury, etc. I was really excited about getting back into my commute every day possible, and today was my first day back.

I was heading south on Audelia Road north of 635 (here's my commute). I stay off major roads as much as possible, but sometimes you have to use them to connect. As I approached a light, I was riding in the right hand lane, but I was riding about where a left car tire would go (one thing I've learned from resources like the DORBA Commuter Forum and commuting websites is "Own Your Lane," don't cower near the curb and invite people to share your lane). So I'm about 100 feet from an intersection with a light and suddenly, out of nowhere, this car passes me on the right, trying to get between me and the curb!!!! He was so close that his side view mirror hit my handlebars; it must have passed inches from my leg, elbow and side! Luckily it was a folding mirror and it actualy folded all the way back to the car door.

If he had driven a couple more inches to the left, or if the mirror had not been a fold away, I would be sprawled in the middle of the road, hopefully not run over by the other traffic.

What is wrong with people!!?? Why are they so impatient?? Why are they so inconsiderate?? Even hateful?? I'm going to continue to ride, dammit, because I like it and it's the right thing to do. But how long before someone is injured or even killed by an idiot (I know it happens every day somewhere!).

The ironic thing is that at the time of the incident I was thinking of a T-shirt idea that might keep people from honking at me. On the front, I would like the commie logo of the fist breaking a car (see above). On the back, in big letters, it will say, "Honk if you're helping the planet" or "Honk if you're reducing our dependence on foreign oil" or "Honk if you're fighting global warming." I think that should silence the honkers! (I posted this on the DORBA Commie Forum and now one of the members has spearheaded an effort to make these jerseys or something similar a reality!).

One thing I have to admit--the accident was partly my fault because I was daydreaming and lost my focus. I have a rear view mirror clipped to my helmet, so I should have seen this idiot coming and taken evasive action.

So ride safe out there and stay focused. Don't let 'em take you down!!

Night Walk

2006-07-30T11:44:00.000-05:00

Last night my trail running club, the North Texas Trail Runners, hosted their annual members and guests Night Run. This was a race I might actually win because it is a prediction run - no watches or cell phones or MP3 players, just guess your time and see who is closest.

The race is on the rugged and wonderful North Shore Trail at Lake Grapevine. It's probably the most popular trail for running (and mountain biking) in the Dallas area. We started in the middle of the trail at the MADD shelter; the course went south out and back (little over 9 miles total) and then north out and back (little under 9 miles) for an 18 mile course. It's a pretty low key affair and largely self-supported except for water, gatorade and food in the middle.

We started at 8:00 and I quickly dropped back to almost last place. I had predicted 3:54, a 13:00 per mile pace. I haven't trained or raced on trails since March, and I've only walked 18 miles or farther once since March, so I really didn't know what to expect.

It was light for about 30 minutes, then dusk for about twenty, then it was time to turn on my flashlight and headlamp. Some of the fast runners passed me on the way back, then I hit the turn around and on the way back in I passed a few runners.

I love walking at night and think that I'm relatively fast in the dark, so I was enjoying myself immensely. I was alone, which is how I prefer it, just enjoying the experience. It was HOT! At 8:00 pm it was 97 degrees; when I got home around 1:45 am it was still 84! So I had to stay hydrated. I drank about two bottles of fluid on the first out and back, and about three bottles on the second out and back (I wasn't carrying bottles; I was wearing my Camelbak FlashFlo, which holds two bottles worth of fluid).

I hit the halfway point at MADD shelter and refilled my Camelbak and headed right back out. The north half of the trail is more rugged and hilly, so I knew it would be a challenge. But so far I was feeling great and felt like I was going fast (for me). On the north out and back I fell twice. The first time I put my right foot out and stepped on a stick. The other end of the stick was pointing back toward me and when I stepped on the far end, the near end lifted up. I caught the toe of my left foot on the end of the stick and couldn't get it dislodged in the milliseconds it took to fall. I wasn't hurt at all, but I was covered with dirt and sand because of the drought we are having in Dallas; the trail was dusty like a desert.

The second fall was similar except I was just getting tired and lazy climbing up a hill, caught my left foot again and fell on my left side. Again, no injuries but I was laying there in a cloud of dust and dirt, and my whole left side was filthy. The mouthpiece of my Camelbak was dirty, too, but I had to just suck it up and drink out of it anyway after a cursory cleaning.

I saw runners in front of me pass by on their way back in, and then I passed runners behind me on my way back. I could tell there were a lot of DNFs because I passed very few people, and some people that I knew should have been behind me were nowhere to be seen.

When I finally got back to the MADD shelter I was welcomed back by the RD, then I drank some water and had a seat. There were a lot of members sitting in a circle sharing war stories, but I was tired and really didn't feel like chatting. So after sitting for a while I headed home, stopping at the store to get milk and a bite to eat.

Unfortunately I forgot to ask for my time so I don't know how close I came to my prediction. They will post the results on the NTTR website (last year's results) so I'll post again when they are there.

I was pleased with this race because, as I mentioned above, I haven't done this distance or any trails in quite a while. I really want to get my ultra legs back, and I now feel like I'm well on my way. This has been my best training week in a long time (36 total miles, some good speed work) and I'm really starting to feel good again. I'm also very motivated to start biking to work again (for health reasons, political reasons, environmental reasons) and plan to bike all week except the two days I'll be out of town.

So if you plan to be in Dallas next July please join me at the NTTR Night Run as my guest; it will be hot, but it will be fun!

Ultracentric 2006

2006-07-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

Ultracentric has a new Race Director, and the race has changed quite a bit. It's now a 48/24/12/6 hour race. It's moved up one weekend (it used to be the weekend after Thanksgiving). It's no longer on a high school track, it's on a 2.4 mile paved loop. And the 24 hour race has been designated the 2006 National 24 Hour Run Championship by the American Ultrarunning Association. For you speed demons, there's actually prize money, "the largest in ultramarathon national championship history in the United States" according to the AUA website.

Here's the new website. I'll miss the old race format, but change is part of life. I didn't have this race on my calendar this year, but since it is moved up one weekend and since there is a twelve hour option, it might be a good training race for SunMart.

Nike+iPod without Nike

2006-07-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

I don't have an iPod, so I'm just passing this on for those that do. As many of you know, Nike has released an iPod enhancement that fits in Nike shoes, the Nike+iPod Sports Kit. As far as I can tell, this only fits in one model of Nike shoes. So if you don't wear that model (I think they are hard to find right now) or if you don't wear Nikes at all, this guy (the Podophile) has found a good solution.

It looks to me like this is a fancy pedometer; I've never trusted pedometers. If I ever want to know my distance, speed and pace, I use my Garmin Forerunner 201 (although the 205 looks pretty tempting).

Happy running/walking!

Sunday: It's still hot!

2006-07-16T10:18:00.000-05:00

It's still really hot, especially in the sun. In the shade it's not too bad (85 degrees at 8:00), but in the sun it is painful and feels much hotter.

Anyway, the good news is I took my knee out for a walk today and all went well. There was no pain, even after yesterday's 60 mile bike ride. I had hoped to do 8-10 miles but I was walking on the track with no shade and I ran out of water. I decided there was no reason to push it today and stopped after a little over six miles.

I'm just glad I can finally get back to training. Sitting around idle has been agony, but now I can focus on my goals again.

Thanks to everyone for the supportive comments during my convalescence!

Saturday: OMG, It's Hot!!

2006-07-15T18:34:00.000-05:00

8:00 am - 86 degrees
9:00 am - 90 degrees
10:30 am - 92 degrees
12:00 pm - 96 degrees
3:00 pm - 101 degrees!

Damn, it's hot out there. I made the crazy decision to go for a long bike ride yesterday that turned out to last all day. I dropped my family off at the airport for a trip to visit relatives, and I was back home and on my bike by 8:30. I rode around North Dallas and Plano on streets and paved trails. The sun was brutal. Last night I froze two water bottles for the ride. They were 100% melted within one hour - not a hint of ice at all.

After riding for a couple of hours I grabbed some lunch at Which Wich, my new favorite sandwich place. If there is a Which Wich near you, I highly recommend that you go. I always get the same thing: Black Bean Patty with buffalo sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and extra onion on a wheat role. It's awesome!

After that I rode to my haircut (she washed my hair with cold water twice - it felt soooo good). The I rode back into Dallas and caught the White Rock Creek Trail down to White Rock Lake, but I didn't go around the lake. I rode west through neighborhoods to Borders and bought a new book (The Assassination Business - there's a little too much conspiracy theory in the book, but it's still a good read on the tools of state that no one wants to admit we use). Then I headed to Starbucks for a Iced Venti Soy Latte and some water. I read for a while, then headed home at about 4:30, when the heat was just unbearable!

I got home and jumped into a cool bath. I was starving and exhausted. And I lost three pounds.

If you want to see my route you can check it out here on Motion Based. The final mileage was over 63 miles (MotionBased is slightly under, my Garmin says 63.48.

Best of all, my right knee felt great! Sunday is the big day when I try to walk again!

Almost ready

2006-07-12T07:17:00.000-05:00

My knee is much, much better. Just little hints of pain from time to time, like I might feel after a hard workout or a few days after a race. I took the dog for a slow, easy walk the other night and felt little twinges but nothing serious. I also rode my bike a little and it was fine. But I'm waiting to start my training. I'm really, really, really anxious to get back at it, but I know that starting too soon will just make it worse.

I'm going to see how I feel Saturday night. If all is OK, I will do some easy training Sunday morning and see how that goes. If that goes well, I'll start some of my daily training. If Sunday doesn't feel good, I'll wait longer, but it's going to be hard.

I have a tentative race plan for the next year. Things could change (with me, they often do). But here is the plan right now:

October 29: Miracle Match Marathon, Waco, TX. This will be only my second marathon ever. Why do it? I have friends and family in Waco, including some of my ultra friends who are doing it. I also used to live there, so it will be like a race down memory lane.

November: I'd like to do a 50k, but I haven't found one yet (there is one in Dallas but it is only two weeks after the marathon).

December 9: SunMart 50 miler. This will be my third year in a row to do SunMart. I really like the race and I'll see lots of my ultra friends and acquaintances there. It should be lots of fun, as usual.

January/February: Train, train, train. Maybe a 50k.

March 16/17/18: Three Days of Syllamo (20k, 60k, 50k). I did this race two years ago and it was, without a doubt, the best time I've ever had doing ultras. Great races, beautiful course, great camping and food. Just an awesome time!

April/May: Train, train, train. Maybe some 50ks.

June 9: Laurel Highlands Ultra. This is another race I did in the past and loved. This one will depend on finances. It's a much longer trip (if we drive) or more expensive (if we fly and rent a car) so we'll have to see if it's in the budget.

July/August/September: Train, train, train.

October 13: Heartland 100. Finally, the Heartland 100. I've wanted to do this race for a while (I've done the 50 [it was my first ultra], and I've paced for over 62 miles) and now hope to make Heartland 2007 my first 100.

So this is the plan. Seems very reasonable and not too aggressive. I may throw in some shorter races here and there as it seems appropriate. I've let my ultra conditioning slip for a few months so I'm going to get it back. I'm also going to do more hill and speed work. During ultra training I tend to forget about speed, but I'm going to do more intervals and tempo walks during my weekday training to try to prepare me to go faster.

I'll let you know if I'm able to train this weekend. Thanks for reading!

Unbelievable!!

2006-07-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

Scott Jurek is going to try to break 24 hours at Badwater. Incredible!!!

Linked from the Hill Country Trail Runners blog.

Injury Update and Music News

2006-07-06T09:01:00.000-05:00

First, an injury update--it's better, but it's not good. Monday I actually used a cane to get to work (my wife has had two hip replacements and one knee replacement, so we have all the orthopedic equipment you could ever want). By the end of the day the cane wasn't necessary, but I was still hobbling around. Today I can almost walk with a normal gait, but not quite. Still quite a bit of pain, but it does seem to get better every day. Next week I have my annual physical so if it is not significantly better by then I will ask my doctor for his advice. I'm hopeful I can get back out walking in another week, but I also don't want to push too hard and prolong the recovery.

On the music front, I have great news and sad news.

The sad news is that Sleater-Kinney is on "indefinite hiatus." Their album The Woods was one of my favorites from last year (and is widely considered to be their best). I've bought a couple of their other albums (I really like One Beat, too) since I first heard The Woods. They've been making music for almost 20 years but I just discovered them, and now they are going to break up! There's some great running/walking music on this CD, so have a listen.

The great news is that I have a new love, Murder by Death. Their new album, In Bocca al Lupo, is amazing--guitars, drums and a cello create a really ominous, sometimes melancholy sometimes sinister mood. There are pirate sea shanties, prison songs, songs about broken families and murders. A lot of reviewers have compared the album to Johnny Cash (probably because of the themes) but stylistically I think it is much closer to the work of Tom Waits, my favorite artist of all time and my adoptive father (well, not yet, but I'm trying). Some of the songs remind me of the wonderful innovations of Rain Dogs or Swordfishtrombones.

Anyway, if you like Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Camper Van Beethoven, Johnny Cash, try this album out. It's GREAT!

Have fun!

Decision Time

2006-07-02T19:21:00.000-05:00

Today has not been a good day. My run this morning was terrible. I got about six miles in and had some bad knee pain. I walked a long time and then tried to run some more, but the pain kept coming back. I ran a mile here, a half mile there, but ended up walking most of the way home. I soaked in a cool tub (there's no cold water to be found here in Texas right now) and put an ice pack on it, but it didn't help. Now the pain is so severe that I've been hobbling around all day in pretty constant pain.

I went to Runner's World to try and diagnose the problem. Look what I found:

Q: Is the pain in the front of the knee below the kneecap? Does it get worse as you run? Have you recently added more mileage?

If the answer is yes you could have Patellar tendinitis, see [C] below.

...

[C] Patellar tendinitis is inflammation of one of the knee-joint tendons. Tendinitis occurs when tissue breakdown outpaces regrowth, and is caused by increased mileage, hills (especially downhills), and pace. Running through tendinitis will make it worse and prolong your recovery, says Davis. But treated early, it can heal in a few weeks. Here's how: cross-train, ice, wear a patella strap, take anti-inflammatories, stretch, and do exercises to strengthen the joint and quadriceps, such as leg extensions.

This is a perfect description of my pain. And yes, I have increased my mileage (like going from zero to 8 miles a day, and trying to do 15 today). So I have no one to blame for this but myself.

So I'm in pain, I'm frustrated, and I'm at a crossroads. I'm trying to decide what makes sense for me in terms of exercise and obsessions. Ultras have become a really important part of my life, and when I took some time off, I immediately started missing the training and the racing. But I now realize that if I really want to become an ultrarunner, I have to start from scratch. Some of my walking fitness will make a transition to running easier, but I have to face the fact that I will have to start small and build, like it's a new sport to me (which it is). Ultimately, at this point in my life, this is the question:

Is ultrarunning important enough to me that I'm willing to put in a year or more of effort, or is ultrawalking satisfying enough to make it the more appealing immediate option?

The other question is, can my body withstand the rigors of ultrarunning long term (I don't have great knee history) or am I better off sticking with the low impact ultrawalking?

So this is where I am. I've really been at sixes and sevens the past few months due to my job (too much unsatisfying work) and my lack of a training plan. I seem to change my training goals from week to week. But I know, without a doubt, the following:

I love ultras. I love going really long and spending all day, or longer, on the trails. I love the people the atmosphere, the outdoors, the challenge.

As far as racewalking and ultrawalking, I sometimes feel a little out of place or odd. But then I saw a couple of things today that made me feel that maybe being a little out of place is OK; who really gives a *&*# anyway.

Today I took my daughter roller skating again (yesterday she had a roller skating birthday party, and today she and a friend wanted to go back). There was a middle aged woman at the rink in roller blades doing some very nice moves--graceful like an ice skater, waving her hands around, turning around in circles, etc. There were also some younger kids (late high school age) who were dancing on their skates, I mean really dancing--they were learning moves from each other, practicing and studying and trying, not just goofing off.

Then on the drive home I saw a guy riding a unicycle down the street.

It reminded me that our passions come in all shapes and styles. What I think is absolutely the stupidest thing I've ever heard of, a complete waste of time, might be someone else's obsession. Who am I to judge? Diversity is what makes us interesting.

So basically I'm going to take some time to consider my options, but you can probably tell which way I'm leaning. The trails are calling.....

Be Happy

2006-06-30T18:04:00.000-05:00

I received an e-mail today with a long story. At the end were these five simple principles:

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Have a good weekend, everyone. If you are racing, have fun. If you are training, have fun. If you are slacking, have fun. I'll be at my daughter's 7th birthday party tomorrow, then running on Sunday. It's going to be a great weekend!

Back from Vacation

2006-06-26T10:58:00.000-05:00

We just got back from a 16-day driving vacation through the Northeast US. We drove from Dallas through Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville to Washington DC where we stayed for a few days with my Dad and visited some of the monuments and museums, Mt. Vernon, and we saw Love's Labours Lost (wonderful production, based loosely on the Beatles' 1960's visit to the Maharishi). We then drove to Philadelphia, where my wife and I lived for about six years, and stayed there for about six days. Again we visited historical sites, museums, visited with old friends, and soaked in the ambiance of the city. We then drove to New York City for a quick two day visit, then the long drive back home. It was GREAT to be away from work for so long (no cell phone, no e-mail, no worries)! It sucks to be back :(

While on the road I had the chance to walk quite a bit, and only once on a treadmill. I did three long walks in Philadelphia, from downtown (Rittenhouse Square) through Fairmount Park up to Manayunk and back (about 16 miles). I also walked in Central Park, although it wasn't a great walk because the Chase Corporate Challenge was being held that night so the park roads were packed with thousands of runners. I did a nice run (yes, run) in a lovely neighborhood West of Knoxville, and I ran (yes, ran) along the River Trail in Little Rock, AR.

Now it's time to get back to training. My thoughts are all over the map right now--I've thought about focusing on 12-hour and 24-hour races and racewalking; I've thought about switching to running and building up to ultras as a runner (I'm getting a little bored with walking and am looking for a change). One thought I had was to repeat my first season of ultrawalking as an ultrarunner, which would mean a 50 miler in October (either Heartland or Palo Duro), then the Rockledge Rumble 50k here in Dallas in November, then SunMart 50 miler in December, then train for the Three Days of Syllamo race in Arkansas in March, then maybe a few 50k races. I still want to do a hundred miler, maybe Heartland in 2007.

I want to train hard and feel excited again, but right now I'm just feeling a little lost. I'm also very burned out on work, and the vacation only made that more apparent. I'm going to try some running this week and see how it goes; I'll let you know how this turns out.......

My New Ride

2006-06-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

I bought these this weekend. Nice ride, very lightweight, pretty good heel support, nice roll. I got some small blisters under some callouses on my heels, and the bottoms of my feet were sore the rest of the day, but I think that is because I didn't lace them tightly enough and I needed to wear thicker socks.

I did 21 miles (85 laps) on the track this weekend at a 12:02 pace. Did I mention I'm training for Ultracentric 24 hour? I've been all over the map with my training and racing plans, but I've decided to throw myself fully into training for Ultracentric in November and the Houston Ultra Weekend in February. I might do a twelve hour or another 24 hour as a training race before then; we'll just see how things go. I never realized how much I would miss the ultra distances, and the ultra people, when I took my little break. So I'm back. For now. ;)

Big Disappointment!

2006-05-29T11:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I wasn't even close to my goal. Hell, I wasn't even close to a PR at all. What a disappointing race. I was slower than two years ago, and that was also a disappointing race. Except for the marathon I did in 2004, I haven't walked this slow (in a non-ultra) since 1/1/2004. I don't know what the root cause was, but I have several ideas:

Not enough training
Irregular training
Hot, muggy weather and a bright, brutal sun
Weight gain (I'm over 10 pounds heavier than I was two years ago)

So I guess it is time to get serious. I've got to get back to my regular training routine, and I've got to get my eating under control. That will be hardest since I haven't been as strict as I once was, and because I have a vacation coming up and it is always hard to eat well when you are on the road. But if I want to race faster, and if I want to do better at my next 24 hour race, then I have to get real.

My next race will be the Flagpole 8k on July 4th. I've raced this race two of the last three years. I intend to PR this race by working on speed until then. We'll see what happens.

Race Summary:
Distance: 20k
Time: 2:19:07
Pace: 11:11

Plans for Weekend, and beyond.....

2006-05-28T12:43:00.000-05:00

Well, again I haven't posted in a while. Things have still been very busy at work but they are starting to settle down.

My walking training has been better but still not as consistent as it should be. I've been biking more (last weekend I rode 64 miles, and I rode to work several days during National Bike to Work Week) and doing more speedwork. My speed is better than I expected, but I've got to get more consistent.

This weekend I had 11 miles on my training schedule. I've decided to do the Memorial Day 20k on Monday instead of a long walk today. I did this race two years ago and had a bad day; my pace was 10:50, slower than my half marathon pace at that time. Tomorrow I'm confident I will beat that pace; I would like to get close to or even beat my current half marathon PR pace of 10:13 (which would mean faster than 2:06:58). I'm not sure I can maintain that speed for that distance, but I'll try.

I've slightly adjusted my long term training plans. I still want to focus on road and track races, but I miss the ultra distances. I've decided to try to train for both marathons and fixed duration ultramarathons, like 12 hour, 24 hour and 48 hour races. I'd like to do some fast marathons, and I'd like to beat my Centurion time at last year's Ultracentric. So what I plan to do is alternate long weekends; one weekend I will build toward the marathon distance (first marathon on the schedule is in October, then December) and focus on speed; alternating weekends I will do longer distances (20, then 30, then 40 miles) and focus on distance and time on my feet, not speed. There are two races I will train for, Ultracentric again and the Houston Ultra Weekend, which will be a Centurion event (not sure about Ultracentric yet).

This will be an easier training schedule because I won't be going long every weekend, and because I will train on the track near my house, cutting my normal 45 minute commute to the lake down to 10 minutes. I miss the ultra distances and the extra challenge they present, so I think this will be a good compromise.

In other news, Friday was my 15th wedding anniversary!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day holiday!

Hey there

2006-04-21T08:36:00.000-05:00

Well, believe it or not a couple of people have asked for updates from me so I guess one or two of you still read this blog! So I will provide an update for those curious readers.

I'm doing well, but it's been a tough first quarter. I've only done one race all year, and it was a 5k! But I'll get to that in a minute.

In January I missed my first race because I had the flu. I missed my next race because of a death in my wife's family, then I missed my third race because of a death in my family.

In addition to this, my company won a large contract with a large company to provide services in North and South America. Since the account is in my region, I've been traveling to Austin, Texas almost every week since the beginning of March. So my training has been a challenge, and family time has been a problem!

As a result of all of this, I'm taking some time off from ultras. I'm having trouble balancing the work-family-training activity, and it is getting harder and harder (both physically and personally) to spend 8+ hours on the trails every weekend. A couple of weekends ago I got up at 3:00 am on Sunday (as I usually do), got dressed, ate breakfast, loaded my gear in the car, drove 40 minutes to Lake Grapevine, strapped on my pack, turned on my headlamp and flashlight, walked up to the trailhead, and suddenly realized I didn't want to be there. I got back in the car, went and got a cup of coffee and headed home.

Since then I've been doing some road walking at shorter distances. Last weekend I did my first 5k in about two years and I PR'd by 24 seconds (31:06, which surprised the heck out of me). I've also been cycling quite a bit when I can.

So my plan is to train up and rebuild my base for some fall marathons, focusing on speed. I'll return to the ultras someday but right now I need a break. I want to feel like a 15-20 mile walk on the weekend is an accomplishment, not a "light training weekend"! ;)

On the work front, yesterday I hired the Program Manager who will be the onsite manager of our services and employees, so now I can manage the account from Dallas with fewer and shorter trips to Austin. I'll still be traveling for a few more weeks and then things should settle down.

So I'll try to update the blog periodically. Thanks to everyone who visits and comments. I've been following a lot of other blogs when I can and enjoying reading about your accomplishments. Good luck training and racing!

Pimp My Ride

2006-02-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted any pictures of my bike, so I thought I might post a few. For you bike purists out there, be forewarned that this is an inexpensive "mountain" bike from Target. I don't plan to ride down Pike's Peak; I just want to ride to work and ride with my daughter, so I didn't feel like it made sense to spend $500-$1,000 for a bicycle (not to mention that I can't afford to pay that much at this time). Here she is:

Here is a closeup of the handlebars. The light on the left was the first light I bought. It really isn't bright enough, but it has a flashing mode that I use to get the attention of automobile drivers. The light on the right is my new one and is very bright, appropriate both for seeing where I'm going and making me more visible to to drivers. You can also see my "rear view mirror," the little round Texas flag attached to my helmet:

Here is the back of the bike, where you cah see my underseat bag for carrying small items, my new bike rack for carrying my backpack or larger items, and my bright red blinking tail light (for saying to the cars, "Please don't hit me!").

I'm very happy with my bike! Maybe down the road I'll see a need for a more expensive bicycle (and luckily all my lights/racks/bags can be mounted on any bike) but for now this meets my needs and is lots of fun! If you ride, be safe and follow the laws! Get a helmet, get lights, get seen!

I Saw a Bright Light.....

2006-02-05T09:30:00.000-06:00

OK, it wasn't that bad, but it was pretty bad. I haven't been this sick in years. Last Monday I woke up at 8:15 AM, moved to the couch, went back to sleep at 8:30 AM, slept until 4:30 PM, woke up and drank some water, then went back to sleep until 8:15 PM, then got in bed and went back to sleep at 8:30 PM for the rest of the night. I don't normally even like to take naps, so this is really unusual for me. My head was killing me, my back and arms were sore, my throat felt like I had been drinking acid, I was coughing, etc. You get the idea. It wasn't pretty. I missed an entire week of work and missed Rocky Raccoon. Oh well, that kind of thing happens. Today I'm about back to normal. I have a slight, infrequent cough and a little bit of sinus drainage. Today I'm taking my daughter ice skating (she's started taking lessons and loves it) and then tomorrow it's back to work and back to reality.

On Friday I felt well enough to go shopping at REI with a gift card I received for Christmas. I bought a rack for the back of my bike so I could strap on a backpack with clothes, my laptop, etc. I also bought a much brighter front light, a "multitool" so I can do some of my own bike maintenance, and a bike maintenance and cleaning kit. And I bought a basket for the front of my daughter's bike. I'm planning to ride in to work tomorrow for the first time in two weeks.

Other than that, I'm not sure what my long term plans are. My wife and I are trying to save money and pay off some debt, so I may not do any official races for a while. I've been thinking about doing a "My Own Personal Ultra" series of self-supported races at locations I choose. Here are some places where I would like to do some all day self-supported "races":

Cameron Park
Dinosaur Valley
Cross Timbers
Isle du Bois and the Lake Ray Roberts/Lake Lewisville Greenbelt Corridor

There are other places, of course, but I could drive to all of these, do my own "event" and then drive home. I guess you could consider them all "Fat Ass" races: no entry fee, no T-shirt, no support, just fun. I might still do the Heartland 100 in October because I love this race and I still haven't done a trail 100. I'm also toying with the idea of the Ultracentric 48 hour in November (although the future of Ultracentric is in limbo because the RD is looking for a replacement and hasn't found one yet).

I also might see if I can get some work travel to coincide with an ultra. I have a new customer in Madison, Wisconsin. There are two Wisconsin ultras, one in May (Ice Age 50) and one in June (Kettle Moraine 100). Hopefully my customer will require some on-site services the week before either of these races.

So I'm planning to play things by ear. For some reason I'm really motivated to keep walking, but I don't care so much about races. Maybe that will change, but for now I'll just do my own thing. I'll also continue biking to work as often as possible, and biking with my daughter for fun.

I hope everyone who raced Rocky Raccoon had a great time and achieved their goals. I can't wait to hear some race reports. Take care--see you on the trails (or on the bike!).

Down and Out

2006-01-31T13:38:00.000-06:00

I've got the flu! No Rocky Raccoon for me this weekend. I haven't felt this bad in a long, long time.

I'm pretty disappointed. I've been looking at the race calendars to find my next race but nothing seems to work with my schedule. I'd prefer a 50 miler or longer.

I'll let you know if I find anything. Good luck to everyone who is racing this weekend.

Update on Things

2006-01-24T10:28:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't had much to say. Here's a quick status of things going on:

1. Bicycle Commuting: This has been great. I've really been enjoying the ride and the extra workout. I've been able to ride three days a week so far, although this week I will only ride one day due to my travel schedule and visits to customer sites. Next week I probably won't ride at all because I'm tapering for Rocky Raccoon.

I found a slightly different route that crosses I-635 at a different place and is much safer and more pleasant. It's also slightly shorter. The Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association (DORBA) has a Bike Commuter forum and an online tool to track everyone's commuting mileage to use for advocacy purposes. So far I am the #2 commuter, although since I can't bike much this week or next I will probably drop in the rankings. So far since January 1 I've biked about 237 miles; 224 of those miles were commuting.

To help with commuting I took a week's worth of clothes up to my office so I didn't have to carry a backpack every day. That made the ride a little more pleasant and less effort; I will continue to do that when it makes sense.

2. Ultra Training: My training has been a little spotty this month. I went through a period where I was having trouble getting up in the morning to train. I rode my bike most of those days so I still got a good workout, but I would have preferred to walk and ride.

I did a 27 mile trail walk on January 8th, and a 24 mile paved trail walk on January 21st. I tried to do a long trail walk the next day (January 22nd) but it was raining and cold and the trails were so muddy and slick, and I was so wet and cold, that I couldn't complete my planned mileage; I only did seven miles. For the month I've only walked 93 miles.

My next race is less than two weeks away: Rocky Raccoon 100. This will be my first 100 mile trail race and I'm very excited. Even though my training has been slow this month, I feel ready for the race. I've developed a very conservative race plan that gives me plenty of time to finish under the cutoffs (30 hours) and I feel confident that if I don't have any injuries (and the weather is not wet) I will be able to finish.

That's all for now. I don't know when I'll have something worthwhile to post so my updates will be infrequent. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their training/racing/resting/whatever.

My New Commute

2006-01-05T09:57:00.000-06:00

I've always wanted to bike to work, but I never knew if it would be realistic (and I didn't have a bike!). Well I bought an inexpensive mountain bike at Target on New Year's Day. I bought it primarily to ride with my daughter since she got a new bike from Santa. But I decided to take advantage of the new wheels and see if a bike commute would be feasible.

Dallas has very few bike trails, but like most cities it has designated surface bike routes on city streets. So I did some research and found an interactive map where you can see the bike routes (current and future). I then used the excellent Gmaps Pedometer to find my own route and map the distance. My route turned out to be about 9.5 miles one way, so for me about 50 to 60 minutes of riding. Perfect! An extra two hours of working out should help with weight loss and leg strength.

My first ride in was great. There are some significant hills on the route so it's quite a work out. There's only one area that's really scary, and that's riding on Audelia and crossing Interstate 635; lots of cars and merging traffic. You can see the route and the hills on Motion Based. If you have a Garmin Forerunner you should check out Motion Based; it's pretty cool!

My ride home was good but I didn't realize how dark it would get. I felt pretty unsafe during the last 20 minutes because I didn't have any lights on my bike. So after getting home last night I ran over to a bike store and bought a red tail light, a head light and a rear-view mirror for my helmet.

Today's commute in was also great. So far I really like the bike commute. To make up for the extra time I've been skipping my morning latte (saves me some calories!) and eating a really quick breakfast. I don't want my commute to affect my time with my family.

I don't think I'll do it every day, and I don't know what I'll do as it gets warmer, but right now it's awesome! And I'm saving money on gas and making one teeny tiny contribution to helping the planet. If you have the opportunity, give it a shot.

2006 Plans and Goals

2006-01-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

I've been struggling with my 2006 race plans. I've decided to race less and train more. I had a great year last year, but I raced too much and wasn't able to train like I should. I want to train hard this year and improve my speed and endurance. So I may only do seven races this year (compared to 10 in 2005 and 16 in 2004). In general my races will be well spaced to give me time to recover and train (the February/March races are a little close together, but they are "must do" races so I'll make it work).

Here are my racing plans for 2006:

2/4/2006 - Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile. Goal: First trail 100

3/17/2006 through 3/19/2006 - Three Days of Syllamo stage race (20k, 60k, 50k). Goal: Have fun!

5/6/2006 - Prickly Pear 50k. Goal: 50k PR

10/14/2006 - Heartland 100 Mile. Goal: 100 mile PR

12/9/2006 - Sunmart 50 Mile. Goal: 50 Mile PR. Fantasy Goal: Break 11 hours

My personal goals for 2006 are pretty simple:

1. Lose 12-15 pounds.
2. Get a bike and cross train.
3. Work on speed.

That's it. Keeping it simple.

Since I'm talking about goals, I'd also like to state my long term goals and my fantasy goals:

Long Term Goals:

2007 - Badwater

2008 - Trans-Texas Run

2009 - Gobi March

Fantasy Goals:

Thru-Hike the Appalachian Trail
Walk Across America
The Grand Slam

Other Races I'd like to do:

Desert R.A.T.S.
Trans Korea Ultramarathon (308 km)
Trans-Gaule
Sahara Stage Race
Pikes Peak Marathon
Hard Rock

That's all for now. Good luck in the new year! I hope 2006 brings everyone happiness and success.

2005 Year in Review

2005-12-31T11:27:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time again, time to review what happened in 2005. (Here's my summary of 2004).

Miles walked: 1,808.7
Time spend walking: 16 days, 17h 20m 57s. I spent about 4.6% of my year walking!
Average pace: 13:24/mile

Number of races: 10 (if you count Three Days of Syllamo as three races)
Shortest race: Three Days of Syllamo: Day 1 (20k)
Longest race: Ultracentric 24 Hour (100.24 miles)
Fastest pace: 10:13/mile (Lake Benbrook Half Marathon)
Slowest pace: 18:33/mile (Laurel Highlands 70.5 Mile Ultra)
DNFs: 0
DNSs: 1 (White Rock Half Marathon, day after Sunmart)
Pacing: 60 miles at Heartland 100

I walked fewer miles than last year (probably because I did too much racing late in the year and had to reduce my training mileage). I also did fewer races than last year (because for most of last year I was doing 5k, 15k and half marathons).

But I feel great about this year because I now feel like I am an ultramarathoner. Last year it was all new and scary and I was still trying to see what I was capable of accomplishing. There are still many things I want to accomplish, but I feel like 2005 was the year I proved to myself that I could be an ultramarathon walker. As I go forward into 2006 and beyond my goal will be to solidify my base and push myself toward new challenges. I'll describe those challenges in my 2006 Goals post.

Hope you all had a successful and fulfilling 2005! And Good Luck in 2006!!!

Am I back?

2005-12-30T12:07:00.000-06:00

Ever since I started this spate of racing back in October my training has been very, very spotty. When I have trained it hasn't been very satisfactory--slow, achy, frustrating. I've trained several times after Sunmart and they've all been frustrating or disappointing--I even cut some short, which I almost never, ever do.

Well, maybe those days are behind me. I finally had a good training walk yesterday. I went out to the paved trails near my house (the other night my daughter and I saw a beaver here when we were walking our dog). I was determined to do some speed work so I did an Acceleration Tempo walk, my favorite form of speed work.

I did 6.26 miles and here were my splits:

11:40
11:20
11:04
10:47
10:41
10:20
9:50 (.26 miles)

Now for you speed demons out there this probably seems slow. And even for me these are slow (as a point of reference, my half marathon PR pace is 10:13 and my 8k PR pace is 9:49). But this is the first time I've gotten below 11:00 in a long time, so I feel like I'm finally recovering from my excessive race schedule.

My plan for the coming year will be less racing and better training.

Tomorrow I want to do 2 to 4 hours at a new trail, Arbor Hills. I'm going to shoot for four but if I start to have any pains or problems I'll scale back. I don't want to push too hard too soon.

Rocky Raccoon is only five weeks away!!

Almost Famout....From the Back

2005-12-29T14:56:00.000-06:00

Remember in October when I paced my friends in the Heartland 100? Well we all made Ultrarunning magazine, sort of:

At least Frances and Marla got a mention!

2005 Goals in Review

2005-12-28T10:04:00.000-06:00

Ooops! I didn't do very well on my 2005 goals:

1. Complete the Heartland 100 Mile Endurance Run in October.
Nope. I successfully paced my friends in the Heartland 100, but I didn't feel I was ready so I never registered.

2. Get a bicycle and do some cross training.
Nope, but I got some money for Christmas and have already started shopping for a bike, so I will accomplish this one (a year late).

3. Stick with an exercise routine--primarily just situps and pushups, but I want to stick with it to improve my strength and reduce my gut.
Nope. It's hard to stick with my walking training, much less add in additional time and effort.

4. Lose about 10-15 more pounds (about 5 of those pounds were added this month!).
Nope. I've gained about 12-14 pounds compared to my lowest weight, so I really failed here.

Oh well, I had a great year in many other ways so I'm not too worried about this. Soon I'll post a recap of 2005 and goals for 2006.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is ready for an exciting 2006!

New PR at Sunmart!

2005-12-11T20:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I completed the Sunmart Texas Trails 50 Mile Endurance Run (walk). This was my second Sunmart, and it was a great day!
This race reminded me why I do ultras. Except for the pain, it was a great experience from beginning to end.

For some details on the race (map, logistics, etc.) see my report from last year. The race goodies were pretty much the same, same hotel, same course, etc. After picking up my packet we went to visit my new two month old cousin and have dinner, then drove to our hotel in Huntsville.

I slept well and the next morning my wife and daughter drove me to the race at around 6:15. I had them drop me off (they went back to the hotel and to sleep) and I wandered around getting pysched up for the race and visiting with friends. Joe Prusaitis of the Hill Country Trail Runners had offered to let NTTR members drop their bags in their tent so I looked for their tent and found a place to drop my bag. In the tent I ran into Jennifer who was running her first 50k that day and who had a great race.

I ran into my walking friends from the marathon walkers Yahoo! group that I had dinner with last year. They are a great bunch of friendly, hard walking women and it was great to see them again. They were all doing the 50k. I was chatting with them when I realized it was almost time to start so I headed over to the start area. After the National Anthem the race began and we were off. I quickly dropped to almost last place, but that never bothers me. I need time to warm up, plus I'm slower on the flat pavement at the start of the race than most runners. I usually catch people on the trails and the hills.

After about 1/4 mile I saw a familiar face on the side of the trail. My good friend Frances, who I met at last year's Sunmart, was looking for me and gave me a big hug and some encouragement. She was also doing the 50k and appears to have had a great day judging from the results.

After that it was into the woods. The Sunmart trail is great--very scenic and wooded, at times straight and easy, at times twisty and rooty. This year there were only two muddy patches and after the first or second loop someone had placed a temporary wooden sidewalk and hay over them so we could keep our feet relatively dry and clean.

There are three features that I like a lot about Sunmart:

1. It's a loop course. Normally I don't like loops, but it's nice to see people several times on the loops. You get to know your comrades in this effort.

2. There is a long out-and-back after about 1.2 miles that is 1.2 miles out and another 1.2 back. It's a little boring, but again you get to see people, make temporary friends, commiserate, encourage, etc.

3. There is a portion of the trail at the start/finish area that is shared by incoming runners and outbound runners, so again you get to see people ahead of you who have finished their loops and offer them words of encouragement.

During loop one I found all the hidden pains that hadn't fully recovered from Ultracentric. My left ankle started hurting but it wasn't sharp or severe, it didn't affect my pace or form and it didn't seem to be getting any worse. But my hips were really hurting, and it was getting worse. I kept pushing the pace and tried not to worry about it. When I'm having pain I try to "draw in" from the pain: I imagine myself as smaller than my physical body and not really attached; I'm just sort of floating around in there. So I tried to ignore the pain and keep the pace.

I ate and drank well at all the aid stations and periodically sipped on my bottle. I took an electrolyte caplet every hour but after two loops I noticed some swelling so I stopped. I tried to switch between sweet and salty foods so I wouldn't get sick to my stomach; I didn't have any nausea problems at all that day.

I finished loop 1 in 2:42, exactly the same as last year and a 12:57 pace. I was very happy with that. I stopped at my bag to drop off my gloves and then headed back out. I continued to keep moving at a pretty quick pace. The cutoff for loop 3 is 3:30, and I can't take that cutoff for granted. Although the overall race allows a pace of 14:24, I had to maintain a pace of 13:36 to make the cutoff. I knew I had to push myself hard for three loops and then, if necessary, I would have 3:30 or more to complete the last loop so I could take it easy.

My hips were really screaming at me during the second loop. I promised my body some Advil after the second loop if it got me where I needed to be. I gradually got to know my fellow racers (I started thinking of us as the "Flashlight Finishers" because the back-of-the-packers would finish in the dark). I finished the second loop in 2:48, giving me three hours to finish loop three. As long as I didn't have any crises I should be able to make it. My concern was my hips.

As I promised, I took two Advil as I left for loop three. After a while I started to feel markedly better. I was able to walk mostly pain free and started to really enjoy the race. This was probably one of my favorite times in ultrawalking. Again I got to chat with my fellow racers, aid station personnel, etc. We enjoyed sharing stories, talking about the cutoffs and the pace, and the camaraderie of doing something hard. I started saying "Good job" or "good work" or "looking strong" to everyone I saw. At one point I was getting ready to pass two slightly slower women. As I came up on the right I said, "I'm about to zip by you on the left; don't be alarmed." As I slowly crept by them one of them said, "What was that yellow blur?!" (I was wearing my yellow Ultracentric shirt) and the other said, "I have wind burn on my face!" It was a great day to be alive and out on the trails.

I exchanged places with several people and groups of people. Everyone was suffering but most were still able to joke and enjoy the experience. As I got close to the end of loop 3 I started to really push, and I ended up finishing in 2:49. Now I had 3:41 minutes to finish the last loop. I knew I could do that, even if it was death march.

As I left for loop four I gave myself the luxury of an easy walk (and two more Advil). I knew I would finish and started to think I would PR so I decided to give myself a little break. As I was walking back out I saw lots of people coming in, some finishing the race and some finishing loop three. Again there was lots of encouragement shouted around, especially to those of us heading back out for our final loop.

I chatted a little more with some of my fellow racers and again enjoyed a great loop. I can usually finish strong if I've paced myself, and I can also walk fast in the dark, so I felt I would pass some people on the last loop (like I did last year). I don't care about "beating people," but it is motivating to be able to pass people. So I was able to keep up a nice pace and pass quite a few people. I don't think anyone passed me on the last loop, but I probably passed at least ten people. At about 5:30 I had to turn on my lights. Not long after that I got to the last aid station. Only 2.8 miles to go! I shouted, "104 coming in, and I'm going home" and skipped the aid station. I took one more Advil so I could stay strong to the finish.

I started to realize I would finish ahead of plan. Unfortunately I had told my wife and daughter to be there at 6:30; I didn't think there was any way I would finish earlier than that. I was afraid they wouldn't be there when I finished and I really wanted to see them.

I picked up the pace as best as I could and started to take it home. It was really hard to see the trail in the dark since the trail and the surrounding land were almost indistinguishable. Luckily they had more glow sticks than last year so that helped. I had to slow down a little but I tried to push as hard as I could. I started to think I could beat last year's time (11:47) by 20 minutes. Finally I emerged from the woods onto the leaf-covered asphalt trail to the finish. Push, push, push. I came out of the woods and had trouble seeing the path to the finish line but found it with the help of a race volunteer. Finally I could see the race clock: 11:27 and counting, so I pushed hard and finished at 11:27:34 (chip time 11:27:04). I beat last year's time by a little over twenty minutes.

And best of all, my wife and daughter had arrived early and were cheering for me as I crossed the finish line. A volunteer clipped off my chip, I collected my medal (afghan to follow by mail) and we headed to the car and to Chili's for a big meal and a Shiner Bock. After that we made the long drive back to Dallas to a warm shower and straight into bed.

So I feel like I had a good race, and I wonder what I could have done if I hadn't just completed Ultracentric two weeks ago. Could I get to 11:00? I'm not sure if that's possible, but I might try to find out next year. I've definitely decided to take a break from racing and give my body time to recover. I've done three ultras in five weekends, and although it's been fun it's also been painful and it's totally wrecked my weekday training. I'm always tapering or recovering so my training has suffered. So I've decided to skip Bandera in January and focus on Rocky Raccoon 100 miler on February 4.

Here's an analysis of my splits compared to last year. I had the same slowest split and fastest split, but I was able to maintain a faster pace on the other two loops.

Loop 1: 2:42 (12:57 pace) Last Year: 2:42
Loop 2: 2:48 (13:26 pace) Last Year: 2:59
Loop 3: 2:49 (13:31 pace) Last Year: 3:06
Loop 4: 3:06 (14:53 pace) Last Year: 2:59

And here are this year's official results.

Ultracentric 24 Hour Race Report

2005-12-11T10:35:00.000-06:00

I was very excited about this race. I had my bags packed and my gear all picked out almost a week before the race. I felt like I was going to be successful and I was ready for the challenge. My family was out of town visiting relatives the two weeks before the race so that gave me plenty of opportunity to sleep late, relax and reserve my energy for the race.

The night before the race I slept well until about 1:30, then fitfully until about 4:30, then I went ahead and got up and read (Swimming to Antarctica, a fascinating book and a perfect choice before an ultra event). Since the race didn't start until 10:00 AM (unusual for races, especially ultras) I had the luxury of taking a shower, making a latte and eating a leisurely breakfast, then going by Starbucks for a second latte on the way to the race.

I got to the race area (Greenhill School, a private school in Addison just North of Dallas, Texas) about 9:00 and met some of my ultra friends and the other walker in the event, Ollie Nanyes. Ollie is very involved in the racewalking and ultrawalking scene. He approached the Ultracentric Race Director last year and this year about co-hosting the Centurion event, so it is largely because of Ollie that we even have Centurion events in the US right now (they are more popular in Europe and Australia). Ollie introduced me to Dave Gwyn, important figure in the Texas/Houston racewalking scene, and Scott Demaree, ultrawalker and ultrarunner who became US Centurion 60 at the 2004 Ultracentric. Dave and Scott would share judging duties.

For those of you not familiar with Centurion events, it is very simple. To be a Centurion, you must walk 100 miles in 24 hours at a judged event. Judges must establish rules in advance and must ensure that all entrants adhere to the rules. In standard racewalking there are two rules (no bent knees and no loss of contact). In ultrawalking the bent knee rule is usually not observed, and that was the case with Ultracentric. Basically, you couldn't run. You had to have one foot on the ground at all times and could not run at any time.

It was overcast and cool when I arrived at the race, and right before the time to start a light rain began to fall. I put on a long sleeve running shirt and jacket and was wearing shorts. After the race started I quickly changed into my short sleeve shirt and took off the jacket.

So the RD, Scott Eppelman, told us it was time to start and we headed out to the track. We all lined up, he yelled "Go!" and it was time to start walking.

One small thing that annoyed me was that the walkers were required to walk in lane 5. This worked well in many ways because I had solitude to focus and concentrate, which is how I like to train and race. But the problem was I had done all of my time and lap estimates based on lane 1. You might not think this was a big deal, but over the course of 100 miles it makes a big difference:

In lane 1, 100 miles is 402.336 laps
In lane 5, 100 miles is 377.062 laps

To maintain a 13:30 pace (my goal pace to allow time for breaks at the aid station, changes of clothes/gear, etc.) in lane 1, each loop needs to be 3:21.3; in lane five each loop needs to be 03:34.8.

So at first I was concerned, but once we got into the race I estimated how fast I needed to go and then stuck with my pace as much as possible.

In the early miles Ollie and I switched leads a few times, usually when one of us stopped for aid, port-a-potties, etc. After a little while I pulled ahead of Ollie and was ahead for the rest of the race.

So we went around. And around. And around. The main way I occupied myself was by calculating my splits and estimating my pace. Occasionally I would get a chance to talk to one of my friends, or one of the judges, but mostly I just walked alone in a circle. Every two hours we would change directions (they placed a little bobbing hula girl dashboard decoration on the track and you had to walk around her). Every loop I would wave at my lap counter and he/she would wave back (over the course of the 24 hours I think I had five lap counters--what a boring job! I appreciate their help). Once or twice the walking judge would ask me my laps and then go verify the official lap count, and once or twice it was wrong.

In general I felt pretty good most of the first half. I promised my body that we would have some Advil after six hours, so that was a milestone to aim for. After I hit six hours and had two Advil I felt almost like I was starting the race again. My legs felt stronger and fresh and I was able to do some nice splits. My goal was to maintain a very even pace, and I was mostly successful. I slowed down, naturally, but I wasn't all over the map in terms of lap time. In fact one of the volunteers started calling me "Metronome Marshall" because of my even pace.

I lapped Ollie a few times after about eight hours and I could tell he was struggling. His race report confirms this. Ultracentric was his goal race for the year so I could imagine his frustration and disappointment as his chance at the Centurion slipped away. But the whole time he kept at it, had encouraging words for me, and maintained the best possible attitude.

I decided to change to some more cushioned shoes at 50 miles. My feet were sore and I felt like I might have been getting a blister on the heel of one foot. So I stopped (the only time in the whole race that I sat down) and changed shoes and socks. It turned out that the blister was under the rough callouses on my heel, so there's not much you can do about that. I did go ahead and change shoes and socks, grabbed a bite to eat and then got back on the track. My 50 mile split was 11:21 (a PR for me) so I was in good shape. If I could keep up a decent pace I could make it!

I ate and drank regularly all day. I took one electrolyte cap per hour during the first 60% of the race; I ate Clif Shot Bloks (I highly recommend them) and at the aid station I ate peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, cookies, hot potato soup, etc. It was great having an aid station every loop because I could stop by and ask if they had a grilled cheese, for example. If they didn't, they would start one and I would walk a loop and then pick up my order and eat it while walking.

Sometime after 12 hours Ollie pulled off the track and threw up. I thought that would be the end of his race but I was wrong. He did leave the track and go to the heated locker rooms to clean up and sleep. But he would be back.

During the evening and night time hours there were lots of friends and families on the track. Husbands would walk with wives (and vice versa), brothers, sisters and fathers would come out and support their runners. It was really a great atmosphere. Some people had pitched tents in the infield and would sleep there while coming out periodically to offer encouragement and support. Many of my friends struggled with this race. Although you would think a track ultra would be easier than a trail ultra, there are several things that make a track ultra very challenging:

--Mentally the track loops can be very stressful--you never make it anywhere, and every lap you can see your car, your gear, your escape

--Because there is no variation in the terrain, your body gets very fatigued of the repetitive motion. I ended up with blisters, which is somewhat unusual for me, simply because I did the exact same thing for 24 hours

--The track surface is soft but also very springy, and after a while that bounce takes its toll on your muscles

There were some awesome accomplishments. One person who had never run beyond a 50k completed 100 miles. Another good friend who had never run beyond a 50k toughed it out for 24 hours, in spite of a lot of pain and discomfort. A few people decided to do 50 miles and then call it a day (or night). As in every race there were some great accomplishments and some disappointments. But it was great to see friends and family out to support their runner. By this point I hadn't seen my wife or daughter in two weeks so I got very sad and a little lonely. I was ready to be with them again.

Back to the race. The night time was nice and cool. There were no lights on the track but there were lights on the adjacent soccer and football fields. That was nice because we had light but it wasn't bright and harsh. People came and went on the track. People took breaks, even naps, and then came back out. I'm too slow to stop so I kept moving. I know I slowed down but worked hard to maintain my racewalking form. Around and around and around I went.

Eventually the sun came up but it wasn't noticeable at first because it was grey and overcast. By this point I was very tired and I think I even took a couple of "micro-naps" on the track because I felt like I slept on my feet for brief moments.

Gradually the clouds cleared and the sun came up. Unfortunately, the wind that had been blowing all night got a lot stronger. I was really feeling tired and starting to doubt if I could keep up the pace. Turning into that wind every loop was really difficult. I had some new blisters, everything was sore and tired, and I knew I was slowing. I really wanted to finish because I knew if I didn't I would feel compelled to try again, and I really didn't want to try again. So I kept pushing as best as I could.

Then who shows up but Ollie! He was fresher and rested and ready to get in some more miles. He came up and offered me words of encouragement. I was honest with him and told him I didn't think I could make it. I'll never forget his words: "You won't have to do it alone." He got in front of me and set a great pace. I struggled to keep up with him, and that helped me keep an acceptable pace. When we turned the corner and headed into the wind Ollie would get directly in front of me and charge into the wind! It was one of the most moving moments I've experience in my racing--Ollie had no chance to become a Centurion this day but he wanted to help me make it. It was a perfect example of sportsmanship and real class.

Eventually Ollie moved on but his presence on the track was inspirational. I had slowed significantly since yesterday morning but I was still moving. Scott Demaree, one of the judges, was helping me calculate my laps and splits and I was still in good shape to get to 100. Eventually I had 15 laps left, then 10, then five, then one! I pushed as hard as I could (which I'm sure wasn't very fast) and did that last lap. During my last few laps lots of people in the tent were cheering and calling my name and encouraging me, and that really helped. I made the final lap and all I wanted to do was stop! I didn't feel much of anyting at this point, but I was proud. I pulled off to a corner of the track and Scott noted my time, 23:42. He then suggested I do another lap just in case there were any lap counting errors. So for the first time in 23 hours and 42 minutes I walked like a normal person. I happened to have my cell phone in my pack so I pulled it out and called my wife to tell her the good news. If you look at the pictures (below) you can see me on my "victory lap." After that last lap Scott noted my time and then I went and sat down. I probably should have done a few more laps in the time that was left but I was so tired I didn't see the point. So I walked to the tent and had a seat. Oh, it felt SOOOOOO good to sit down.

After a few more minutes the race was over! Some people lay down on the track, friends and family joined them, kids were running around, the sun was shining. It was a great moment. Gradually everyone made it to the tent for their gear, or to visit, or to rest. Here is a picture of Scott, Ollie and me after the race. There were no official finisher prizes for Ultracentric, but Ollie had purchased medals for the Centurions and had them engraved with "100 miles in 24 hours." He put it around my neck and congratulated me. It was a nice moment. After talking a little more, I packed up my gear and headed to the car. Ollie gave me a big hug, a race volunteer carried my stuff to the car and I headed home. I only live 15 minutes from the race but I fell asleep twice in the car, once hitting the median. I need to keep this in mind next time!

Official results haven't been published yet, but unofficially I finished 6th out of 23 starters, my best finish ever!

48 Hour
Mark Henderson TX 136.29
Paul Piplani AZ 116.71
Tim O'Rouke CA 31.10 (this guy wasn't here for the 48 hour race; his goal was to set a 50k record in his age group, and he was successful)

24 Hour
Mark Syring MN 121.01
Barbara Hitzfeld (f) TX 111.30
Fred Pollard CA 108.86
Letha Cruthirds (f) TX 101.36
Bill Rumbaugh TX 100.91
Marshall King TX 100.24 (walker)
Buddy Teaster TX 90.22
Sue Yates (f) TX 88.89
Marlin Howe MI 88.48
Shawna Brown (f) TX 80.77
Lisa Allen (f) CO 75.31
Ollie Nanyes IL 70.54 (walker)
Dave Emerson TX 69.09
Brett Mills TX 63.44
Davey Harrison TX 61.64
Tom Crull TX 57.91
Robert Jobe TX 56.42
Doug Ryan TX 50.20
Deborah Sexton (f) TX 50.20
Karen Riddle (f) TX 47.96
Michael Arredondo TX 42.50
Sam Livingston TX 40.01
Lorrie Dominguez TX 20.38

So that's my story. It lacks some of the drama of some of my trail ultras but I'm very pleased with the results. I don't have any plans to do another track ultra any time soon! I wouldn't mind to do a 12 hour some day and see what kind of mileage I could do. But I definitely prefer the trails to the track.

If you are interested in a track race I highly recommend this event. It was very well organized and very well supported. There was lots of encouragement and support and lots of great volunteers. In addition to the usual shirt and sample gels and electrolyte caps each racer received a pair of Injinji Tsocks, an "Ultracentric" glass, an "Ultracentric" pen, and a sample of a new Body Glide-type product.

Because it was a track race we passed the photographers many times, so for once there are actually some good pictures of me. I have my own page! Go here to see a bunch of pictures of me.

Go here to see some great pictures of the event. They really give you a sense of what the race was like.

Go here to see pictures of the other racers.

100 Miles in 23:42

2005-11-28T07:04:00.000-06:00

I did it, just barely. After hitting 100 I did another lap just to add a cushion in case the lap counters made a mistake, so altogether my mileage was probably 100.4.

I hit 50 miles in 11:21 (a PR for me), so it took 12:21 for the second fifty.

I am now US Centurion 61. I'll post more later. It's hard to walk and I've got many blisters. My body hates me!

Sunday Morning Coach

2005-11-13T09:55:00.000-06:00

Here's my analysis of what went wrong yesterday. I had a LOT of time to think about it and I'm pretty sure I know what happened. I made some classic beginner's mistakes, and I'm not a beginner, so that was frustrating. But at least I finished, and that's important to me.

Here are the mistakes I made:

1. Unrealistic expectations: although I told people I wasn't going to try to PR, I still had that thought in the back of my head. The problem is that my PR was set back in April on a cool day on a much easier course that I always suspected was short. I should have known that setting a PR on this much tougher course was not realistic. I also should have realized that the higher temperatures (starting in the 60s, reaching the 80s) would also affect my goals. I've always believed in having three goals for every race:

A-Ideal time given good conditions, good training and smart racing
B-Fall back goal in the event that goal A is unrealistic
C-Just finish the damn thing

I should have dropped from A to B before the race even started. I might not have been much faster, but I could have finished strong and felt much better if I had.

2. Going Out Too Fast: I can't tell you how many times we warn our Team in Training group about maintaining pace in the beginning and not going out too fast. Unfortunately I failed to heed my own advice. My 50k PR pace is 12:25. Here were my splits for the first 6 miles: 11:45, 11:56, 11:25, 12:21, 11:50, 12:11. This was way toooooooooo fast, given the difficulty of the trail, the weather, etc. I charged the uphills instead of taking them slowly and I pushed hard. If this had been a 10k I would have been thrilled. But this was a 50k; basically, I burned up my energy in the first 6 miles and still had 25 to go!

3. Trying Something New on Race Day: Again, this is something we always warn against in Team in Training. You don't know how it will affect you, so don't try it! Here's what happened to me: I've been using a new energy gel, Honey Stinger. I really like it--it's sweet but doesn't taste bad like other gels. Well recently I've been trying to eat more naturally and trying to save money, so I decided instead of buying a bunch of Honey Stinger gel I would just go buy some honey. I filled two gel flasks with honey and hit the trails. The first time I ate some honey I started to feel queasy, and the feeling never went away. I was nauseous for about 5 1/2 hours. Normally during ultras I eat a lot, and I need that energy to keep up my pace and finish the race. Yesterday I hardly ate anything--1/4 PB&J, a few handfuls of chips, some coke, some water. I tried to throw up several times but never could. So not only did I use up a lot of energy in the early miles, but I couldn't replace it as the race went on. For the last ten miles my paces were between 13:00 and 18:00(!!!) minutes per mile.

So, I relearned some hard lessons yesterday. It's no fun making mistakes like this and having to pay the price, but I will definitely remember them in my upcoming races. It was definitely a tough day: there were 86 people registered for the 50k, only 70 finished. Unofficially I was 58th.

An interesting fact: Of the top ten 50k finishers, one was in her 20s, one was in his 30s, the rest were in their 40s and 50s (the winner was a 45 year old male). There were only 4 racers in their 20s. The oldest finishers were 67 and 68 (and they finished ahead of me!). Ultramarathons seem to be a sport for the mature and the patient.

Ugh. Worst 50k Ever

2005-11-12T18:02:00.000-06:00

My slowest time ever: 7:24:10. It was not a good day for a 50k. Warm (it got over 80), windy, sunny. I'll post more later. The good thing is I learned a lot today. The bad thing is that I had already learned this stuff, but forgot it today and paid the price (Death March).

The two really good things are:

1. I finished. No DNF. "Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever."--Lance Armstrong.
2. I feel really good, all things considered. I'm super tired but have no aches or pains and am walking well. Two weeks until Ultracentric.

I don't believe in fate, but...

2005-11-08T20:27:00.000-06:00

For the last year I've been interested in thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. I love the idea of being away from civilization for months (with occasional breaks to refuel), and I love the idea of pushing myself to do something I never, ever, ever, ever would have thought was possible for me. For the last couple of weeks I've been so seriously considering it that I've started downloading maps, reading guides and personal accounts, rereading a book about the trail and buying another one. I've started trying to figure out a budget. The hardest thing will not be the hike, but being away from my family for three to four months and figuring out how they will be able to make it without my income while I'm gone (save, save, save). My goal is April 2008 or 2009.

Then today I came home and found the latest issue of Ultrarunning in my mailbox. The cover story? A thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Strange, no?

In other news, I'm about to have either a very exciting or very foolish month. I'm going to complete four races in four weeks, three of them ultras. This Saturday I'll be racing in the Rockledge Rumble 50k. Two weeks later I will race in the Ultracentric 24 hour track race (with a goal of 100 miles so I can be officially recognized as a "Centurion" racewalker). Two weeks later I will race in the Sunmart 50 miler. And then the next day I will join my Team in Training mentor group for the White Rock Half Marathon. I've registered for all races except White Rock. My plan is to take it easy and enjoy Rockledge, then push hard for 100 miles at Ultracentric, then stay under the cutoffs at Sunmart and just cruise slowly with the Team at White Rock. If I'm having any weird aches or pains, I'll skip a race; I don't want to get an injury.

After that it will be Bandera 100k in January, then Rocky Raccoon 100 miler in February. Assuming all goes well......gulp......

Another cool online run mapping utility

2005-11-04T14:29:00.000-06:00

Map My Run.

New Energy Options

2005-10-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

This weekend I did 27 miles at the North Shore Trail and I tried out two new energy food options: Clif Shot Bloks and Jelly Belly Sport Beans. This wasn't a scientific comparison but I'll give my thoughts below:

Clif Shot Bloks are intended to be a solid version of the Clif Shot Energy Gel. Right now they are offered in three flavors: Cran-Razz, Strawberry and Lemon-Lime (my choice). A single package contains six bloks; each serving is three bloks. The bloks are cubes a little bit bigger than a quarter. They have the consistency of gummy candy or candy fruit slices, not too sticky. The flavor is good without being too strong or sweet. A serving has 100 calories, 70 mg of sodium, 20 mg of potassium and 24 grams of carbs. For comparison, a package of Viva Vanilla Clif Shot gel has 100 calories, 40 mg of sodium, 25 mg of potassium and 25 grams of carbs. Bloks are also all natural and 100% organic.

I really liked the Bloks. They were easy to handle and weren't messy like gel. They were easy to chew and swallow and I didn't feel like I needed to chug a bunch of water to wash them down (I did drink sports drink afterwards). As far as I could tell my energy level increased after eating the blok (I also ate some Honey Stinger gel). The bloks are an easy way to take some calories with you and offer a not-too sweet alternative to energy gels.

The Jelly Belly Sport Beans have one serving per package, which contains about 14 beans. They have 100 calories, 60 mg of sodium, 60 mg of potassium and 25 grams of carbs. They come in two flavors: Lemon Lime and Orange (my choice). They had a pleasant flavor but were sweeter than the bloks. Also, since they are small and there were more in the package, it took longer to eat them and I almost dropped a few pouring them out of the package. A little while after eating them I felt a little queasy, and I didn't feel the same energy surge (I was still eating Honey Stinger gel). But to be fair this was the last 4.5 miles of a 27 mile training walk, so some of the queasiness and lack of energy could be due to this.

Both products seem like great additions to our endurance fueling options. I prefer the Clif Shot Bloks for the following reasons:

1. Good taste that is not too sweet.
2. Bloks are larger and easier to eat quickly.
3. There are two servings to a package so it easier to carry more calories.
4. They are all organic so they are good for you.

I don't think either of the other Blok flavors sound very good so I will stick with the Lemon-Lime. I'll post an update later after I've used them for a while.

They did it!

2005-10-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

Frances and Marla finished Heartland in 29:27 and 29:30 respectively. We ended up doing an extra two miles because we took a wrong turn during the night. I just drove all the way back from Kansas (seven hours) after 19 hours of walking and three hours of sleep. I'm beat! I'll post more details and some photos as soon as possible.

Off to see the Wizard!

2005-10-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

In a few hours I'll be on the road north headed to Kansas and Heartland. If all goes well, I'll meet Frances around 5:00 PM on Saturday and race with her until she finishes, between 7:00 AM and 12:00 PM on Sunday.

I love preparing for an ultra; it's like preparing for a small adventure. I've got four bags:

1. My race day clothes: shirt, shorts, shoes, socks, hat, bandana, wristband, Garmin, watch, bandaids, duct tape, BodyGlide.

2. My extra supply bag: to be carried by Frances' boyfriend in his car. Extra shirt, shorts, socks, bandana, wristbands, tights, hat, gloves, jacket, blister care kit, sunscreen, more bandaids, etc.

3. My Camelbak M.U.L.E.: I'm carrying the larger MULE so I don't have to refill as frequently. Since my primary goal is to help Frances finish, I need to tend to her needs at the aid stations, not get distracted filling up bottles or my smaller Camelbak. In my MULE I've got small BodyGlide, lip balm, Advil, extra batteries, toilet paper and baggies, 1 1/2 flasks of my favorite gel (Honey Stinger), flashlight, headlamp, Succeed caps, camera and race plan (aid stations, mileage, splits, etc.).

4. Clothes bag for pre- and post-race.

It's a lot for a two and a half day trip, but you can't be too prepared. I'd rather have too much than not enough, especially since something I forgot could lead to a DNF (blister problems, fueling problems, hypothermia, nausea, excessive pain). My job as a pacer is to make sure Frances finishes; I have to be prepared so she can focus on the race.

I'm really excited--I haven't raced since June and even though this is not my race I'm looking forward to the challenge, the frustration, the people, the aid stations, the stars, and the pride of seeing Frances finish her first 100! I'll let you know how it goes on Monday and try to get some pictures up as soon as possible.

Lots of people are racing this weekend. Good luck!

Today's "Gravity's Rainbow" selection

2005-10-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

Dr. Porkyevitch stands on deck. Below, Octopus Grigori, having stuffed himself with crab meat, frisks happily in his special enclosure.

Page 189.

Crosstraining.......80's Style

2005-10-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

My daughter recently joined the Brownies and last Saturday night there was a Girl Scouts roller skating party. Roller skating! I haven't roller skated in about 22 years! Man, did it bring back great memories! Some of my fondest memories of my youth occurred in a roller rink. Dark room, flashing lights, AC/DC on the speakers, video games, middle school girls.......those were the days. I even went roller skating the night my parents told me they were getting a divorce. Such escapism.

I had a great time skating! I skated the whole night, at first with my daughter because she'd never skated before. But after a while she became confident enough to tell me to "shoo shoo" so I just skated around goofing off with her and some of her friends. I can't believe how much fun I had. Lela said she wants to have her next birthday party at a roller rink and I think that's a great idea!

Last week and this week I'm tapering. I've only walked once and took it pretty easy. I'm going to do one or two easy walks this week, then Friday afternoon I'm leaving for Kansas and Heartland. I'm going to spend the night in Oklahoma City and try to get plenty of sleep because I'll be pacing Frances all night long (from about 5:00 pm until she finishes by noon on Sunday). I'm really excited about racing again, even though it's not my race. I'll be doing 57.5 miles with her and possibly one other friend, Marla.

So this week I'll be resting and reading and hanging out with the family. Then Saturday, it's show time!

Reading "Gravity's Rainbow"

2005-09-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

I used to love to read, but over the last few years I have been very busy and gotten out of the habit. But this month's Harper's Magazine had something that inspired me to pick up an old favorite, Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.

Harper's has several selections from Zak Smith's Illustrations For Each Page of Gravity's Rainbow. If you're familiar with Gravity's Rainbow you know that this is a pretty monumental project, due both to the length of the novel (760 pages = 760 illustrations) and due to the subject matter. But from what I've seen so far Zak Smith really captures the mood, tone, and subjects extremely well.

Below is the illustration for Page 6: "Far to the east, down in the pink sky, something has just sparked, very brightly."

It's interesting (given recent events) that the novel starts with an evacuation:

A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.

It is too late. The Evacuation still proceeds, but it's all theatre. There are no lights inside the cars. No light anywhere. Above him lift girders old as an iron queen, and glass somewhere far above that would let the light of day through. But it's night. He's afraid of the way the glass will fall--soon--it will be a spectacle: the fall of a crystal palace. But coming down in total blackout, without one glint of light, only great invisible crashing.
...
They have begun to move. They pass in line, out of the main station, out of downtown, and begin pushing into older and more desolate parts of the city. Is this the way out? Faces turn to the windows, but no one dares ask, not out loud. Rain comes down. No, this is not a disentanglement from, but a progressive knotting into...

Pynchon's gift for language, scene, paranioa, obscenity, disturbing beauty...it's all here from the very beginning of this impressive and frustrating work. I've started reading at night after everyone has gone to bed (and in spare moments when I can find the time) and then, the next day, I page through the illustrations for the pages I just read. It's a wonderful new way to explore the novel and also to be reminded of the scenes and "plot." If you're a Pynchon fan I highly recommend it.

Great Quote for Trail Runners and Walkers

2005-09-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

I stole this from the Runner's World Ultra Forum:

"The hills not only take men away from a complex mode of existence, but they teach them that to be happy it is only necessary to have food, warmth, and shelter. They bring them face to face with realities, and in doing so inculcate a valuable lesson in the association of simplicity and happiness.

For those reasons any development that tends to bring into close contact with the natural order of things is a value to mankind, inasmuch as it helps them to gain a sense of proportion. It is impossible for any thinking man to look down from a hill on to a crowded plain and not ponder over the relative importance of things. To take a simple view is to take a wider view. Whatever our beliefs, whatever our creeds from which we seek to extract happiness when we live on the plain, we find that things that have puzzled us are made clear when we stand on a hill. On a hill we are content to be content.

And so from hills we return refreshed in body, in mind and in spirit, to grapple anew with life's problems; for awhile we have lived simply, wisely and happily; we have made good friends; we have adventured well."

Frank Smythe, Mountaineer, 1930

Another Political Test

2005-09-23T21:56:00.000-05:00

Tests that reveal your political leanings are popular on the web, so here's another one.

Here are my results:

You are a
Social Liberal
(73% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(23% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Strong Democrat

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Sad, touching story

2005-09-19T21:42:00.000-05:00

Today on NPR I heard a commentary written by Darcy Wakefield, read by her sister, Betsy. Two years ago (at the age of 33) Darcy was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. The commentary was very moving, sad, frightening, gentle. It reminded me so much of our fragility and the inevitable nothing we will all face. I don't know why I found it so special, but for me it was what NPR calls a "driveway moment": I sat in my car in the garage until the story was over. You can hear it for yourself here. Anyone who reads this blog can appreciate her previous commentary for NPR shortly after her diagnosis, ALS Ends Running Days. This part of her story almost brings me to tears:

Even though I no longer run, I still have a runner's soul. It's trapped in a runner's body that won't run....It doesn't yet understand what has happened to us.

Darcy has also written a memoir about her diagnosis and experience, I Remember Running.

Austin Resident Runs Across France

2005-09-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

I posted previously about Russell Secker, the Austin resident who completed the Trans-Gaule run across France. Here's a great article about him in the Austin newspaper. At the end of the article there is mention of a stage race across Texas. That's us (it's not a race, more like an epic adventure)!

PS I found this link on someone's site, probably Zack or Jennifer, but I can't seem to find it again. Thanks to whoever posted it first!

Upcoming Plans

2005-09-12T17:02:00.000-05:00

I was planning to do the Heartland 100 mile race, but recently decided that I wasn't ready. So instead I've decided to pace my good ultra buddy Frances as she completes here first 100 miler at Heartland. I'll meet her at the halfway point and walk with her the second 50 miles. I'm really excited, although I feel a little bit of pressure since I have to make sure I finish the race strong for Frances. It would be terrible for Frances (and embarrassing for me) if I couldn't pace her successfully.

One great thing about this arrangement is that I'll get most of the benefits of a 50 mile race without the costs! No race entry fee. No hotel (I'll drive up Saturday, meet her Saturday night and pace her to the finish, crash in her hotel room for a few hours of sleep and then drive home Sunday). I'll just have to pay for gas and food (and I'll get several meals at the aid stations). I'll get to revisit the place where I completed my first ultra, a place that is dear to my heart.

The race is less than one month away so I'm trying to keep a good level of training to make sure I'm ready. I did 27 miles at the rugged North Shore Trail this weekend in a couple of minutes over 6 hours. I crashed for the last mile but felt very strong for the other 26. I need to get some new trail shoes; I have over 420 miles on my current pair.

That's about it right now. I'm excited about my pacing duties and about my upcoming races, and I'm so happy to be back out on the trails.

Rash Decisions Soon Regretted

2005-09-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

I recently posted a depressing post about some bad training, exhaustion and a retreat from ultras.

What was I thinking?!?!

Now, to be fair, much of that post is true. I am not ready for a 100 mile race and don't have the time to get ready and keep my health and sanity. It takes too much time for me to train properly and I would rather spend my time with my family and other involvements. So I'm not going to try for a 100 any time soon.

However, I love the trails and I love ultras. I was recently reading an article in Trail Runner Magazine and they had a picture of an aid station from an ultra; I immediately became nostalgic and sad. Any time someone mentions Kansas I think of my first ultra, the Heartland 50 mile Endurance Run. Any time I hear a radio story on NPR mention Big Bend National Park, I think about the new Big Bend 50 mile race I'd like to do. Whenever I see my dusty and dirty trail shoes in the garage I get feel twinges of regret and depression.

I think this break has been good for me, but having done some long miles on the paved trail at the lake I realize ultras and trails are in my blood and I can't give them up. I have a new resolution:

1. Stick to 50k and 50 mile races.
2. Stick with a reasonable training schedule. I'm not an elite and never will be so I don't need to kill myself on the weekends. I need to remember that it's supposed to be fun.
3. I can still help out with Team in Training. I'll have to do a fair amount of road walking but on the "On Your Own" training weekends or the weekends when I don't need to be at training, I'll be at Lake Grapevine.

So I will probably do the Rockledge Rumble 50k in November and then SunMart in December. I don't know what I'll do in January and February (maybe Bandera 100k?) and then I'd like to do Three Days of Syllamo in Arkansas in March. April and May I'll probably do the same as I did this year: Rocky Hill Ranch and Prickly Pear. If I can afford it, I'd like to tackle Laurel Highlands again.

So things are kind of back where I started except I acknowledge that 100 milers are not in my immediate future. I still want to complete one, but I have to be realistic about what I can fit in my schedule.

PS I'm still mad as hell about Katrina. The lies are flying fast and thick but I suspect that, as usual, Bush et al. will escape. If you are interested in following some of the disturbing details of this debacle, check out the following blogs:

Bitch Ph.D.
Crooks and Liars
Democratic Underground
Eschaton
The Light of Reason
Majikthise
Sadly, No!
Talking Points Memo
TBogg

Admittedly, these are left-leaning blogs, but you can check out many conservative blogs for similar perspectives. Here are two:

Andrew Sullivan
Michelle Malkin

Appalling

2005-09-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

I am so appalled by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that I can hardly think of anything else. There is so much blame to go around that I don't know where to start, but I truly feel this shows a colossal failure of American government, both parties, many administrations, federal, state and local. Because we elected these idiots and scoundrels and failed to properly guide their governance, this is ultimately our failure as a society. American social indicators have been sliding for a long time and this is the fruit of our inattention to our environment, our cities, our poor, our vulnerable.

This is a national tragedy and a national scandal. We've been fiddling while Rome burns and now we are paying the price.

If a hurricane hit on New Orleans was one of the top three potential threats to "homeland" security, why was our preparation and funding almost non-existent and why has our response been so incredibly inadequate and, to be frank, also non-existent. How many times can Bush say, "Help is on the way"? That's what you say in the hours after a catastrophe, but here it is days 4 and 5 and his response is to repeat the mantra, "Help is on the way," and ask his dad and Pres. Clinton to pass around a cup begging for handouts??!! What is wrong with this country? Michael Chertoff should lose his job before the Labor Day holiday! Why do we even have a Homeland Security agency?

Why does the PTA have to buy a CD player for the music teacher at my daughter's school because the school can't afford it? Why do poorly paid elementary school teachers have to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on school supplies for their classes? Why did we cut taxes for the rich and corporations if we had identified potential catastrophic threats to American cities but didn't have the funding to prepare for them? Why did lawmakers authorize over $200 million to build a bridge to an uninhabited Alaskan island but cut the Army Corps of Engineers' funding for New Orleans levee improvements from the requested $100+ million to $42 million? When you consider the size of the US budget, $100 million is less than nothing--it is the blink of an eye, it is a mustard seed. There are individuals in this country who have 10 or 20 times that amount for themselves, but we can't spare that much money to save a city and protect the lives of millions of people?????

Throw the bums out. Throw the bums out. Throw the bums out. Throw the bums out.

Let's rebuild this country. Let's help all citizens. Let's show kindness to the poor and the sick. Let's show our children we care. Let's show the world we are truly compassionate, that we truly love other people, that we really care, that the sufferings of my neighbor are my sufferings, that a starving, suffering person thousands of miles away is MY brother, sister, mother, father, child, friend.

One of my favorite quotes is from an interview with Iris Chang, the author of "The Rape of Nanking" about a horrible war crime from World War II:

"Civilization is tissue thin."

We have to hold our civilization together, and we have to remember that our government is us; we set the agenda, we elect the leaders, we hold them accountable. This is our failure, and it is up to us to fix it. Throw the bums out. No more politics as usual.

NOTE: To make it clear, I think Bush has failed miserably. But this problem spans administrations and parties. Our congress is not working. Our government is not working. I'm in favor of bipartisan housecleaning. We have mismanaged our country, and we need to fix it.

Catching up

2005-08-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

Lots has happened over the last couple of days.

Sunday
Sunday was the Team in Training Kickoff. I worked directions in the hotel lobby, attended the Kickoff rally and then met with the Dallas Walk Team and my mentor group afterwards. I met several of my group and they all seem very excited and motivated. Several of them have a deep "connection to the cause" that is very touching. I'm so lucky to have Angela with me and to be six years distant from most of her serious medical issues.

Sunday was my day off after my Saturday "long" walk (I only walked 10 miles compared to the usual 26-30, so it doesn't seem long!).

Monday
Monday I signed my daugther up for Marathon Kids. One of my biggest shames in life is that I signed her up last year and we never completed her miles! Here I am walking 50-70 miles per week and completing numerous ultramarathons, and I can't even walk/run 26.2 miles with my daughter over six months! Pathetic! This year will be different. Monday we took Lemon for a walk and walked to the park, played a while, then walked back (a full mile!). It rained on us all the way home which was kind of refreshing.

Monday I walked five easy miles in the morning.

Tuesday
Tuesday I did my first speed work in months! I couldn't do it at the track because of last night's rain; my neighborhood track is made up of dirt and crushed rock so it gets very messy after rain. Instead I did 1/4 mile intervals (with 1/4 mile rests) on the local paved walking/jogging trail. I did eight intervals and was pleased with the results, especially considering I haven't done any speedwork in ages. Here were my splits:

2:27 (9:50)
2:32 (10:08)
2:31 (10:05)
2:15 (9:03)
2:18 (9:15)
2:23 (9:32)
2:18 (9:12)
2:09 (8:38)

I really want to break 2:10 for my next Half Marathon (9:55 pace), and 4:30 for my next Marathon (10:17 pace) so I need to keep up the speedwork. My training plan is:

Sunday: rest
Monday: easy 5-6 miles
Tuesday: intervals, from 1/4 to 1 mile
Wednesday: easy 5-6 miles
Thursday: Tempo/Acceleration Tempo training
Friday: rest
Saturday: long mileage

Gotta run and take Lela and Lemon to the park again. Rack up the miles!

Back in the Saddle Again

2005-08-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

I took the week off to recover from the all night walk last Friday and to catch up on sleep and personal stuff. This morning I went back to White Rock Lake to train on the asphalt and paved running surface around the lake (at 4:45 am it was already 85 degrees!). I'm officially back in training for marathons and half marathons and will return to ultras and trail walking at some future date.

Today I decided to push myself to see just how much speed I lost during my long distance training. I've done no speed work in months (maybe as long as a year) so I wanted to do an assessment and start building my training plan.

My first miles were slow--I guess I needed more warm up and needed to get my body adjusted for fast walking again. As the morning progressed I picked up the pace and felt pretty good. Here are my splits: 11:51, 11:37, 11:14, 10:27, 11:02, 10:56, 10:50, 10:35, 10:15, 10:27. For reference my marathon PR pace is 11:20; my half marathon PR pace is 10:13. So I was pretty pleased with these splits. I wish I had been faster in the beginning but given the fact that all of my recent walking has been at a much slower pace I felt this was pretty good.

I got new racewalking shoes! They are pretty cool looking:

Unfortunately I got a blister on my left heel, something that never happens to me. It felt like the inside of the left shoe had a hard ridge that wasn't present in the right shoe so maybe the shoes are defective. I'm going to contact the company that sold them to me and try to replace them. Other than that I love the shoes--very flexible, very lightweight. They have a tapered or sloped heel that helps with the natural foot roll that occurs in racewalking. They seem to be well-designed.

Tomorrow is the Team in Training Kick-Off for the winter season. I already have 10 people on my mentor team and may get more tomorrow. We're going to have a big team, which is really cool. I can't wait to meet everyone and start the training.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and getting in some nice training or racing.

Distance: 10.4 miles
Time: 1:54:06
Pace: 10:58

Disappointment, Frustration and Change of Plans

2005-08-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

Friday night I drove to Waco to meet my ultra friends and complete a 100k all night training walk/run. It was miserable and none of the five of us got anywhere close to our goals (some people planned more than 100k, some less). We all had to quit early due to fatigue, heat, illness, etc. I was so sleepy (not physically tired but actually sleepy) that I stopped twice and slept in the car before finally calling it quits. It was a very frustrating evening.

That frustration got me thinking about my current plans and goals. I've decided that I'm not going to do Heartland. Friday night was discouraging, but that is not the main reason. The main reason is that I can't keep up this training schedule. Several times I've almost fallen asleep in the middle of the afternoon while driving because I'm so tired; I've had my daughter in the car so that is very scary. I'm spending between 10 and 16 hours training each weekend, and to do that I have two choices: sacrifice time with my family or get up at super early times and walk around like a zombie during the day. I don't like either of these choices. I've missed a lot of training during the week simply because I'm so tired, and I've almost fallen asleep at my desk at work.

I'm just burned out and although I love ultras I think I need to take a little break and get things back in balance. I'm going to spend some time training for half and full marathons and work on my speed. If you've read this blog long enough you know that I won the Mardi Gras Half Marathon racewalk division in 2004. I'd like to train for some marathons that have walking divisions (Little Rock, St. Louis, Mardi Gras, Portland, to name a few) and try to win them. So I'm going to go back to a more normal training plan. I'm not giving up ultras forever, but I really do need a break. I've been burning the candle at both ends, and with my wife's medical problems, my daughter's needs, a new puppy, being in the PTA, being a mentor for Team in Training, I can't keep up. Ultimately it's more important to be with my family and be involved in these other activities than to focus exclusively on ultras.

This was not an agonizing decision--it was pretty simple and I am already very excited about my future plans. I think I will do one or two half marathons, then do the White Rock Marathon in December as a training event. My big goal is a big PR and First Place in the Mardi Gras Marathon racewalk division.
-----------------
Here's another reason to switch to road/track walking for a while: I get to buy a pair of these!! Cool!

Great Article

2005-08-15T19:22:00.000-05:00

Here's an article on Russell Secker, the Texan running the Trans Gaule.

Thanks to Zack for the link!

Say Hello to the Newest Member of the Family

2005-08-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

This is Lemon, our new Miniature Pinscher puppy! I picked her up Friday night and we've been adjusting to having a baby in the house all weekend. She and my daugther have really bonded--she's a very sweet and playful little thing.

She's also tiny!

Texas Runner in the Trans Gaule 2005

2005-08-11T16:16:00.000-05:00

Watch this blog for updates on Russell Secker and the Trans Gaule 2005. Good luck!

2007???

2005-08-09T00:11:00.000-05:00

Another member of North Texas Trail Runners is really excited about a Trans-Texas Ultra. We are very, very, very tentatively discussing March, 2007. The route shown (which was used in 1993) would be about 670 miles; that's about 40 miles a day for 16 to 17 days.

I am so excited!

--------------------------------
Update: Looks like May, 2007, not March. A little warmer, but it works better with my partner's work schedule. Here is a different route that he suggests that looks great as long as we can avoid major highways.

First Team in Training Information Meeting

2005-08-05T17:04:00.000-05:00

I signed up to be a mentor for the Dallas Team in Training Walk Team. I did the Virginia Beach Half Marathon with TnT in August, 2003, and that's what got me started with racewalking and endurance events. I've always wanted to support the team again but have never had time, but I decided to make the time and sign up to mentor.

I went to the first information meeting of the season and it was really great. We completely filled a small hotel conference room with people and 21 people signed up that night! I was asked to speak about my wife and my reasons for joining TnT. I knew it would be hard because I tear up at every video about TnT, and I even teared up during a promo video they played about the Arizona Rock N Roll Marathon, a race I have never done and never plan to do; but I remember the incredible feelings of accomplishment as I finished my first half and then full marathon, then ultra, and so on.

Anyway, I only spoke for a few seconds before I started tearing up. I talked about Angela's diagnosis and recovery, about wanting to do something to help but feeling helpless, and about how TnT gave me a powerful outlet that has really changed my life. I talked about the privilege of walking "In Honor of..." instead of "In Memory of..." and how inspiring and moving it is to see people who are racing "In Memory of Dad," "In Memory of my daughter," "In Memory of a dear friend." Even though it's been almost six years since her diagnosis I still can't talk about it without tears. Hopefully we can all make a difference!

This weekend will be busy. Tomorrow morning I plan to do about 25 miles at the track near my house, then I have to be at my daughter's school at 8:00 am to fill holes in the school yard (our lack of tax dollars at work!). Tomorrow afternoon we are going to an 80th birthday party for a distant relative and seeing my Dad, brother and step brother (and their families) who are all in town for the party. Sunday I hope to do 27 miles at North Shore Trail. That means I'll probably get up at 3:30 on Saturday morning and 1:45 on Sunday morning! I hope I can make it.

Hope everyone is having good training and great racing. Keep up the good work and walk/run hard!

Centurion 2005

2005-08-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

In June of 2004 I announced my intention to walk in a Centurion race. A Centurion is a 24 hour judged racewalk, usually on a track or paved loop; anyone who completes 100 miles in 24 hours is designated a Centurion. There have only been 60 USA Centurions (not necessarily US citizens, but walkers who achieved Centurion status in a US event).

Well, there is going to be another Centurion event this year, and it is right in my back yard at the Ultracentric 24-hour and 48-hour race on the weekend after Thanksgiving (this was also the Centurion event last year; RD Scott Eppelman is a member of the North Texas Trail Runners and a really nice guy). So looks like I've got plans for after Thanksgiving; better watch what I eat!

Ollie Nanyes was last year's organizer and is also organizing this year's event. He's a great walker and is really dedicated to the sport of racewalking and ultras. Thanks to Ollie for organizing this again.

Outstanding Running Quote

2005-08-01T20:04:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite quotes ever and is definitely going on the Ultra Quotes page:

Running is no longer about life and death. It is about finding how large and lovely the nothingness is on the other side of self-preoccupation. Just run. Find nothing.
--Thomas C. Williams

That's from the most recent letters section of Trail Runner Magazine. Perfectly put.

Take care of your feet!

2005-08-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

Foot care impresario John Vohnof (who provides foot care and advice for many ultras and has several publications relating to caring for your feel during endurance events) now has a blog! Check it out for great advice on foot care and links to essential foot care products and reading.

Long Track Walk

2005-07-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

Today I did my long walk at the track. I prefer the trails but because I need to be home early to take care of my wife and daughter while my wife recovers, I didn't want to waste time driving to the trail (the best trail is 40 minutes away). So I hit the track at 5:00 AM to avoid the heat and get in as much mileage as possible.

My goal was to stay below a 12:00 pace, and I ended up doing 11:43. Because of the Garmin I was able to stay very steady throughout the whole walk. Here are my splits:

13:08, 11:56, 11:49, 11:43, 12:30, 11:42, 11:44, 11:44, 11:44, 11:39, 11:48, 11:49, 11:49, 11:43, 11:48, 11:52, 12:11, 11:14, 10:33, 9:47!

Again I only carried water in my pack. I took two electrolyte caplets. I drank half a Big Red soda at each "aid station" break (two). I ate a Mojo Bar at the first break and some peanut butter filled pretzels and lemon drops at the second. As you can see in my splits, I was able to maintain pace the whole time and I was able to push hard in the last three miles. So maybe this approach to fueling and hydration is going to work out well for me.

This weekend provides a good contast between trails and tracks. Yesterday I did 22 miles at a 15:03 pace; today I did 21 miles at an 11:43 pace, a 3:20 per mile differential.

Good luck to everyone racing today: Jennifer, Dianna, and Annalisa.

1:45 AM

2005-07-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

That's what time the alarm went off this morning. I dragged myself out of bed and was immediately glad I had prepared the coffee maker the night before. I started the coffee, performed my daily ablution, dressed, ate a granola bar, loaded my gear in the car, prepared the coffee and was driving out my garage at 2:05. Forty minutes later I was buying Big Red, water and ice. Ten minutes later I'm standing at the North Shore Trail at Lake Grapevine with Deb and Brett. I don headlamp, turn on flashlight, put on Camelbak and watch and hat. At exactly 3:08:30 AM, we hit the trail.

Why so early? Deb and I are training for the Heartland 100 and she is doing a 50 mile race in three weeks as a training race, so she wanted to start early to avoid the heat and get in 36 miles. I joined her to also avoid the heat and to get in as much mileage as possible before heading home to take care of wife and daughter (yes, wife is finally home from the hospital! More on that later). Brett (training for his first 50k in November) also wanted to avoid the heat and enjoys running with Deb. So we all three spent the morning together talking, running and walking, peeing, eating and drinking, and generally having a good time.

We had a good day on the trail. It was relatively cool in the morning and didn't warm up too much by the time I left (9:10). We saw some other members of North Texas Trail Runners and saw very few cyclists. We saw an armadillo, an adolescent skunk, a jack rabbit. We stayed together the whole time and didn't push too hard. I had to leave by 9:10 in order to get home at the agreed upon time, so I only ended up doing 22 miles in 5:30, a 15 minute pace. Brett's goal was to do 18, which he accomplished (he also did 18 last weekend). Deb went on to do her 36 miles and is still out there as I write this. It was a great way to start the weekend.

Angela finally got home Wednesday and is doing pretty well, all things considered. She is getting home rehab and is as active as possible around the housel. Her only problem is bending the knee--she can't bend it to the degree they would like. She will keep working on it and there are some options if she can't get it done herself. One option is that the surgeon would put her under and then force her leg to bend (OUCH!). Hopefully it won't come to that.

That's all for now. I hope to spend most of the day at home, working with my daughter on her reading and other skills so she'll be ready for school in two weeks. Tomorrow I'll do about 20-22 miles at the track (I don't have time to drive to and from a trail two days in a row).

-------
I forgot to update everyone on my nutrition and hydration experiments. I have been avoiding Gels and energy drinks because, frankly, I am sick of them. Today I carried water in my Camelbak. I ate half a peanut butter sandwich, drank half a Big Red and ate a few pieces of candy orange slices at nine miles. I ate the other half sandwich, drank the other half of the Big Red and ate a couple of peanut butter filled pretzels at 18. I topped off my water both times. I felt great for the whole walk. I never felt a bonk or crash. Also, I only took three Succeed caplets (in the past I would have taken between five and ten).

So far it seems that I can get enough energy and electrolytes from food and drink at "aid stations," supplemented with occasional electrolyte caplets. I still keep Hammer Gel and Clip2 on hand in case it is needed, but so far it has not been.

Speaking of Goals, Here is Fat Man Walking

2005-07-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

Speaking of walking across America, here is Steve Vaught, self dubbed "Fat Man Walking." Why is he walking across America?

I am going to walk across the United States from San Diego to NYC to lose weight and regain my life!

Normal people doing amazing things!

Goals

2005-07-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

I want to do something like this. One day.....
Run Willy Run
Run Across America 2004
Run Across America
Diabetes Run Across America
Run the USA
Running across America

Or a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail?
Or maybe a walk across Texas? I don't know if anyone's done that.

I'd like to have a big milestone goal out there staring me in the face, challenging me to push farther and harder. I'm going to pick something and work toward it....

Catching up

2005-07-23T10:06:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while because things have been so busy. Angela developed an infection in her knee and had to have a second surgery to clean it out. It was scary for a while watching her leg turn red and swell up, but now everything is back to normal and her leg looks good. The therapy is REALLY HARD and she's having to work extra hard to get back where she was before the infection. The bad news is that she is still in the hospital; the good news is that she should be home on Monday. She has already been in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks! I'll be glad when she's home.

Since I'm temporarily a single dad I haven't been doing any training. That has been very frustrating, but I know it's temporary so I'm just trying to watch what I eat so I don't put on a bunch of weight. I feel like my past training was strong so I'm not too worried about the 100 miler in October.

One thing I'm very excited about: remember the all night training I did a few weeks ago with some friends who are also training for Heartland? Well, we are going to do a 100k training run/walk in mid-August. It will also be an overnight session (it's so much cooler at night and you don't have to deal with the sun beating on you for hours) on the same gravel roads we used for our all nighter. A few more people are going to join us for part or all of the night. So if you will be in Central Texas (Waco area) on Friday, August 19th, please come join us for some fun. We'll have plenty of snacks and drinks at our "aid station," so just bring your gear (don't forget a flashlight or headlamp). We'd love to have you!

Today, my daughter is going to a birthday party, I'm hoping to get a haircut, and I've got to clean up the house--my daughter is a horrible slob and things are a wreck. Hopefully I'll be back in training next week and next weekend will put in some good, long miles.

Happy training!

Google Maps the Moon???

2005-07-20T08:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, you read that right. Google Maps on the Moon. Check this out. Very cool!

URGENT - Your Bone Marrow Is Needed

2005-07-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

I've just found out that Diem Tran, one of my customer's friends, has severe Aplastic Anemia and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately she does not have a matched sibling and there was no match in the Bone Marrow registry; she's Vietnamese, which dramatically reduces her chances of finding a match.

If you are Vietnamese I implore you to join the National Bone Marrow Registry. All it takes is a simple finger prick and a small amount of blood to register. Your simple act might save a life. If you have any Vietnamese friends, encourage them to join, too.

Here is a link with lots of good information on how to join the registry and what happens if you are found to be a match.

EVERYONE should register!!!! But if you are Vietnamese the need is URGENT! Please help!

Update on Angela's Surgery

2005-07-12T08:48:00.000-05:00

Angela's surgery was a success. She spent three days in recovery and then moved to the rehabilitation hospital. She should get out by Friday, and may even get out by Wednesday. She initially had a lot of pain and it took some effort to get it under control. We have to be very careful because she has lung/breathing problems as a result of her bone marrow transplant, and three times in the past she has stopped or almost stopped breathing due to excessive sedation/narcotics. So for a couple of days it was stressful, but now they seem to have a good drug combination that makes her tired but not "drugged."

Lela has been with relatives for almost a week, and I really miss her! Sunday I brought her home and she spent the day and evening with me. We went out to eat (Pei Wei) and got ice cream (Marble Slab), then we watched "The Two Towers" and spent time together. I can't wait until she's home again with us.

Today I did my first training since last Monday, and it sucked! I don't know why, I just had one of those lousy days. Even though I was walking on super-flat concrete it felt like I was walking uphill, and I had a lot of discomfort in my feet and ankles. I made the wrong-headed decision to walk on a concrete trail near my house; I wanted to walk ten miles and I thought it would be too boring to do it at the track. In retrospect, I wish I had gone to the track. Oh well, not every training day can be perfect.

Distance: 10.22 miles
Time: 2:02:05
Pace: 11:56

Reunited (and it feels so good)

2005-07-04T21:27:00.000-05:00

The family finally got back today from Corpus Christi. They were gone 11 days, way too long. Tomorrow is the day before Angela's surgery so we'll be busy getting things ready (packing a bag for Lela to stay with Mammy, packing a hospital bag for Angela, etc.). I'm working tomorrow and then I'm off the rest of the week. If all goes well she will be home by the weekend.

This morning I did a long walk at Rowlett Creek Preserve. RCP is the closest trail to my house; it is primarily a mountain biking trail maintained by the Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association. Because of the holiday it was packed; I had to keep stepping off the trail to let bikes pass. I don't really like this trail much because: 1. Too many bikes; 2. Tons of trash, the creek smells sometimes, it can be depressing and it makes you realize that one day we will destroy the Earth; 3. It has lots of short, steep up- and downhills that are probably lots of fun on bikes but not that great when walking/running. I enjoy long, challenging uphills, but these are not very satisfying. So I don't train on this trail very often but today I didn't feel like making the 35 minute drive to North Shore or the 45 minute drive to Cedar Ridge Preserve. That is my only dissatisfaction with our house; there are no trails nearby.

I'm revolting against gu (revolting is the perfect word in this context). I'm just sick of it and I can hardly bring myself to eat any (I normally use Vanilla or Espresso Hammer Gel during long walks). I hardly used any at all during my recent all night 12 hour walk, and I only used one serving during today's 4.5 hour walk. I also hardly used any electrolyte caplets. I've been eating and drinking more during the walk (I try to plan frequent trips to my car). Today I drank a Yoo-hoo, and I ate a Mojo Bar and some candy orange slices (I carried water in my pack, not energy drink). Friday night I ate a peanut butter sandwich, a pimiento cheese sandwich, lots of pringles, some jelly beans and candy orange slices, and I drank some Big Red and Coke (I carried some energy drink in my pack but refilled it with water during the night). I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but I don't seem to notice a lack of energy. I don't feel that I ever "bonked" and both today and Friday night/Saturday morning I've done some of my fastest miles in the last 1/3 of the walk. So I'm going to keep experimenting, but I may stop using energy gels.

Tomorrow I'll be up at 5:00 AM for the usual 6-10 miles.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. If you were racing, I hope you accomplished your goals and had fun at the same time.

Distance: 20.0 miles
Time: 4:31:37
Pace: 13:34

In the black of the night till the red morning light*

2005-07-01T14:44:00.000-05:00

Last night was the first of what I hope will become an annual event. We didn't have a name but we debated names during the run: The Swat and Squat, The Scratch 'N Sniff, The Eat and Run, and so on. So I will unofficially dub this the first annual Swat and Squat 12 hour Eat and Run.

I left work a little early on Friday so I could get down to Waco, Texas and meet my ultra friends Frances and Marla by 7:00 PM and start our all night training run. That's Frances on the left and Marla on the right at Three Days of Syllamo.

We had been planning this event for more than a month. The three of us, along with a few other people we know, are training for the Heartland 100 in October. We wanted to get in some really long runs/walks in preparation, and I suggested we do one at night to practice night running. Frances did some reconnaissance and found the perfect place to train. She found some dirt and gravel farm roads in Mart, a little town northeast of Waco. The old farm roads are just like Heartland, only a little less hilly: dirt, gravel, rocks the size of grapes to small potatoes. It was almost an exact duplicate of Heartland. Here's a map of the course:

As I pulled up to the farm road where Frances was waiting for me, I swerved to miss a turtle in the road. There was a truck behind me and fortunately he missed it, too. After I pulled up next to Frances I ran back and moved the turtle off the highway. I certainly didn't want the little guy to get run over, and I thought it might bring us a little good karma for our run (plus, I can really relate to turtles!).

Frances and I drove to a central point and set up our "aid station." The route is a large H and the plan was to park in the center of the H and do a series of out-and-backs, always returning to our aid station. I met Frances' boyfriend Jim, who was really nice, and then the three of us took off (Jim ran the first six miles with us; then he followed us on bike for a while before calling it a night). Marla was going to join us in about an hour.

We came back to the aid station after about four miles. We got some snacks, picked up our lights because it was getting dark, then headed back out. As the sun was going down I was reminded of these lyrics from Johnny Cash:

With the twilight colors falling
And the evening laying shadows
Hidden memories come stealing from my mind.
As I feel my own heart beating out
The simple joy of living
I wonder how I ever was that kind.

But the wild road I was ramblin'
Was always out there callin'
And they said a hundred times I should have died.
But now my present miracle
Is that you're here beside me,
So I believe it was the road I was meant to ride

Like a Soldier by Johnny Cash

After about an hour and 15 minutes Marla called to say she was almost here so we headed to the aid station to meet with her. We spent some time there saying hi and catching up (Marla's boyfriend Kenny came, too) and setting up our food. Our aid station was as well stocked as some of those at SunMart! We had all of the following:

Coke, Mountain Dew, Big Red, Gatorade, Water
Pringles, Cheetos, Pretzels, Peanut Butter-filled Pretzels
Jelly Beans, candy Orange Slices
Grapes
Peanut Butter Sandwich, Pimiento cheese Sandwiches (without Pimientos!), Turkey Sandwiches
Gel, electrolyte caps, etc.

You can see why I wanted to call it the Eat and Run! We had more than enough food, and we all agreed to stop frequently to refuel. This was not a race--it was an effort to get "time on our feet" and to have fun. If you count our aid station pit stops, the time we spent catching up and getting our final gear together when Marla arrived, bathroom stops and the occasional stop on the course just to get a breather, we stopped a total of 2 hours 9 minutes.

By this time it was dark so we all made sure we had our lights, changed the batteries on Frances' small light, then hit the road. We picked various legs of the H and did out and backs, coming back to the aid station about every 4-5 miles. The longest we were ever away from our cars was about 2 hours, and Frances and Marla both ran out of water shortly before we arrived back at our aid station, so I'm glad it wasn't any longer.

On the way back to the aid station a couple of guys in a pickup stopped to make sure we were OK (we only passed two vehicles the entire night). After we told them we were fine they told us to be careful because there are "hundreds" of wild pigs in the fields. After they drove away both Marla and Frances said they were full of &%$#! Frances lives in Mart, near our course, and both of them have lived in Waco for years, and they figured the guys thought we were city slickers and just wanted to scare us. Then I learned something about Frances I never knew: she won second place in a hog calling contest! So she regaled us with her best hog calls, piercing the night with "Soooooowieeeeeeee. Here pig, here pig, here pig, sooooooooooowieeeee!!!!" So if there were any pigs in the fields we would see them soon!

It was a moonless night for most of the evening, and the stars were just incredible. Being a ciy boy, I always forget just how impressive the stars really are. It just blows my mind to think of everything that is out there that we know nothing about.

Frances went through a manic phase at this point and just had so much energy. She would bound ahead and then walk and wait for us to catch up. She sang camp songs and Vacation Bible School songs. She skipped, she danced. It was some sort of crazy sugar high! Next we all told corny jokes. Here's my contribution:

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot his whole life, which created an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him frail, and with his odd diet, he suffered from very bad breath. This made him a super-callused fragile mystic vexed with halitosis.

We had a lot of time, so we discussed a lot of stupid things. Marla wanted to know which "Wizard of Oz" character we would each be (I can't remember the consensus). Then Frances impressed us with her "Wicked Witch" voice which was dead on. Next we started talking about horror movies, especially "Children of the Corn" (we were surrounded by cornfields with plants taller than us), which of course spooked us all. Then Frances, who was a little ahead of us, started telling us the plot of the movie "From Dusk til Dawn" (appropriate, don't you think?). Marla told me to turn off my light and we hid on the side of the road. Frances turned around to look for us and saw nothing but pitch black! So the two of us had a good laugh at Frances' expense.

At about the halfway point we stopped at the aid station to doctor a blister on Frances' foot and then headed out again. More of the same--we all stayed together, usually with Marla or Frances in front and me bringing up the rear. Finally, around 3:00 AM, the moon came out, a little orange sliver behind a few wispy clouds. It was beautiful.

Marla is a vet and had to work on Saturday so we had to get back to our cars by 4:00. We got there a little before 4:00, said our goodbyes, then Frances and I started another leg. We were getting pretty tired but still had about 4 hours to go. Finally, around 5:15, the sky started to lighten almost imperceptibly. A little after 5:30 I could turn my light off. We made it to dawn, and that realization gave us a little extra energy!

I did a little math and determined that if we stayed at or below our current pace we could do 42 miles within our self-imposed 12 hour limit. Frances and I stopped to look at a water snake coiled around a tree in a pond. It didn't look poisonous (it was a long snake but had a small head that didn't have that distinctive viper shape) but it had diamonds like a diamondback rattler (but no rattle). I'm not sure what it was.

We got back to our cars with about 50 minutes to go until 12 hours. I convinced Frances to head out two more miles; after that the two final miles back would seem fast and easy because we would be eager to finish. So we headed out for the final four miles. I got that final burst of energy at the turnaround and made it back to my car and stopped my watch: 12:11:46 and 42 miles.

We kept a pretty decent pace throughout the night. If you divide the course into 6 seven mile segments, here were our average paces for each segment: 13:43, 13:24, 14:13, 14:31, 14:50, 14:06. If you add in all of our rest time our average pace was 17:25. If you subtracted the rest time our pace was 13:37. As a point of reference, my 50 mile PR pace is 14:09.

So it was a great evening! I am very tired but do not feel as sore or beat up as I would expect. Maybe my body is finally adjusting to the stresses of ultras.

We're talking about doing a 100k training night in August. We all like the idea of starting a little earlier, maybe 6:00 PM, and then going all night to avoid the heat and the sun. I'll post more details later, and if anyone reading this wants to join us (for a part of the run or for the whole thing) the more the merrier. We'll have more than enough food, and we might even manage to find some beer!

*Red Morning Light by The Kings of Leon.

Interesting Blog Survey from MIT

2005-06-29T23:03:00.000-05:00

I found this on Caren's blog. It's an interesting survey, and the more responses there are the better the data. It only took me about 10 minutes. Check it out.

Walking Clinic

2005-06-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight I gave an informal walking clinic to some of the members of the North Texas Trail Runners, my ultra-"running" club. Several people in NTTR wanted to increase their walking speed since walking is very important for most ultrarunners, so they asked me to show them my walking technique. I set a date and time and seven people showed up. About 6 others said they couldn't make it but would like to do it again in the future. I don't think I'm much of a teacher but I did my best to show them the technique and share my tips and tricks. Unfortunately it was about 98 degrees! Thank goodness the sun went down and things cooled off to about 95.

Also, I e-mailed Team in Training and offered to volunteer as a mentor for the Dallas Walking Team. I can't attend the informational meeting because of Angela's surgery. I've been meaning to get involved with Team in Training again so I'm very excited. I really enjoyed my Team in Training experience and got so many benefits from TNT, so I would love to help others have a great experience. It's not an exaggeration to say that TNT changed my life by introducing me to racewalking and by giving me a means of fighting back against Angela's Leukemia!

Thanks to everyone for visiting my blog after my hiatus. It's great to hear from so many old "friends."

Train hard and have fun.