Category: Running

RunLog Day 5

7.50 miles 1:07:28 9:00/mile 869 feet elevation gain

Easy and relaxed today. Couple hills. Blasted the last mile – downhill! First week in a month or so that I’ve actually run all the runs on my plan. So that’s good.

RunLog Day 4

15.01 miles today. 2:36:43. 10:26/mile. 1,654 feet elevation gain.

Early morning in Frick Park. First hour plus was in the dark. Everything felt great today. Spring Energy was amazing. Two week until Baker!

RunLog Day 2

6.66 miles today.
57:43, 8:40/mile average. 453 feet elevation gain.

Pretty easy effort today. Tagged a couple more streets for City Strides – officially over 10% of all Pittsburgh streets.

RunLog Day 1

I’m going to make an attempt at keeping a daily log of my training here on the website. I already track all my training in a spreadsheet and also by hand in a monthly calendar, but I thought typing it out might be a useful, brief daily exercise (dad joke!).

Today’s workout was as follows:

20-minute warm up
15 minutes at a decent effort (6-8 perceived effort, out of 10)
5-minute recovery period
15 minutes at a decent effort
20-minute cool down

I ended up covering 9.27 miles in 1:15:40, for an average pace of 8:10/mile, with 568 feet of elevation gain.

I felt pretty good overall; this was an enjoyable workout. I don’t always like the mid-week workouts, but today’s felt nice. Not too taxing on the system as I’ve got a 50-miler coming up at the end of the month.

2019 Baker Trail UltraChallenge – South

My First 50-Miler

On August 24, 2018 I ran my first 50 mile race. According to my Strava data, it took me 11:21:19 to travel 51.45 miles, for an average pace of 13:14/mile.

That’s not a particularly fast 50-mile time, but it’s my first one and I’m pretty proud of it.

Going into this race, I had a lot of doubts about my ability to even finish. Until this year, my history with running has been pretty sporadic. I went through a phase in 2012-2013 where I ran a lot and I ran fast. This is when I put down my best marathon time of 3:11:36. Since then I’ve been pretty off and on with running, more off than on.

At the end of 2018 I decided that I wanted to run an ultramarathon this year and chose Baker as my main goal race of the year. I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon in May as a nice long training run; I ran the Hell Hath No Hurry 50k (technically my first ultra) in June as a nice long training run; and I ran a couple other marathon distance training runs as well. Even with all of that mileage and training, I was unsure about my ability to complete 50 miles. 50 miles is a long way.

The race ends at a farm in Smicksburg, PA, not terribly far from where I grew up. After parking my truck at the farm early Saturday morning and eating a quick PB&J, I boarded a school bus for the hour-long ride to the starting line. I managed to sleep a little bit on the bus, which was great because I only got about 3 hours of sleep the night before.

After a few quick announcements from the race director, we were off and running. The thing to know about ultramarathons is that for most people, the running is slow. It’s way different than marathon running. My goal was to just feel comfortable all day – hopefully averaging somewhere around 12 minutes/mile. After an easy mile or so of downhill, we immediately came to a hill that everyone was hiking. It’s like that for most hills – generally you walk the hills in an ultra. Walk with a purpose, but still walk.

I fell in with a group of runners going about the same pace as me and we chatted as we made our way to the first aid station, roughly 8 miles into the race. I came into the station, grabbed a couple fudge stripe cookies and a gel, drank some water, and made my way back out onto the trail. The next several miles passed in the same manner, until we arrived at aid station 2. AS 2 had PB&J (my personal favorite food while running long distances), so I grabbed a couple of those, a gel, filled my water, and was on my way. Leaving AS 2 meant a gradual downhill on some roads and I found myself running way too fast around mile 15, putting down a roughly 9-minute mile. I forced myself to pull back and reminded myself that I’d be wanting that energy 25 or 30 miles later.

I managed to hang around 12 minutes/mile through mile 20, until around mile 27 or so. At that point, I caught my toe on a rock and stumbled. As I stumbled, my left leg went out in front of my body to catch me from falling and when it hit the ground with all of my weight on it, the leg completely seized up into a massive cramp from my ankle to my quad. Luckily I was alone in the woods at this point because I yelled and screamed some choice words while I sat on a log and waited for the cramp to calm down. After a few minutes, the leg started to come around and I decided to slowly make my way to the next aid station. About a quarter mile later I was feeling much better and was able to continue running, just a little slower. When I reached the next aid station (AS 5), I had some pickle juice, PB&J, ate a salt tablet, pirogi, and a kind gentleman rolled out my legs while I sat in a chair for a few minutes. This was somewhere near mile 29 or 30.

After that little break at the aid station, I felt like a new person. I knew I wasn’t going to hold 12 minute miles for the entire race, but I ran on feeling much better. At AS 6 my friend Ian was there to meet me. AS 6 is the first place runners are allowed to pick up a pacer and Ian was planning to run just a few miles with me to keep me company for a while. Well, as these things happen, we made it to AS 7 and Ian asked if I would mind if he just ran to the finish with me. Of course I was happy for the company but I don’t think Ian was expecting to do 18 hilly miles that day!

Aid stations 8 and 9 were relatively close to each other, maybe 4 or 5 miles between them. Getting to each aid station at this point in the race (40-45 miles) felt like a real accomplishment and something to be celebrated. Still, I did my best to get in and out of the aid stations in just a couple minutes.

The stretch from AS 9 to the end featured, for me, the hardest couple miles of the day. Mile 45-47.5 were really tough. Mentally, I was tired. Physically, I was tired but feeling pretty good. I was just ready to get to the end. Around mile 47.5, I started to feel like I was actually going to finish this thing and started getting excited. I got a real second wind and was able to run in the last couple of miles.

All in all it was a great day. I felt pretty good all day long and actually felt like I could have run more after I crossed the finish line.

Next up is the New York Marathon in November. After that I’ll start planning my 2020 race calendar. I’m thinking maybe 2 50-milers and a 50k. Gearing up for a 100k and 77-miler in 2021 and a 100-miler in 2022!

Here I am coming in to the finish line:

2019 Hell Hath No Hurry 50K

**Race information**

* **What?** Hell Hath No Hurry 50k

* **When?** June 29, 2019

* **How far?** 50k(ish) – my watch showed 33.53 at the end. Free miles!

* **Where?** Pittsburgh, PA

* **Finish time:** 8:03:11

**Training**

See as this was my first attempt at any type of ultramarathon, I wasn’t totally sure how to approach training. I’ve done a handful of marathons and I’m familiar with that training cycle, so I decided to do the same thing, just more of it. I used the Pittsburgh Marathon as a training run and two weeks before this race I did a 22 mile training run as my last long run before the race. I also mixed in as much trail running as I could, which usually meant early Saturday or Sunday morning trying to get out a long run on some trails in one of our city parks.

The distance running was helpful, but the long trail runs were really beneficial. They helped me mentally more than anything. Trail running is definitely slower than road running and that lesson sometimes takes a while to sink in. I also was able to practice my nutrition and hydration, which sounds boring but ended up being important and I’m glad I had the chance to work this into my training.

I did all of my long training runs wearing my vest (UD Ultra Vest 4.0) and so I wore it during the race as well. I’m definitely on the lookout for a better race solution, though. It’s not always fun lugging around up to 2 liters of water on your back. Any suggestions?

**Pre-race**

My pre-race preparation consisted of me showing up to the race and getting my bib/socks/shirt at the registration table. This race had a staggered start so that everyone completing the various distances (50 mile, 50k, 30k, and 10k) would finish at roughly the same time (give or take a couple hours) and be able to hang out for burgers and beer and whatnot.

After I got my bib, I spent some time going back and forth to the port-a-potties and wondering what I’d gotten myself into. Everyone else certainly looked more experienced and not as nervous as I felt.

**Race**

The 50k race started promptly at 10am. It had rained for the better part of a month in Pittsburgh so the course was particularly muddy, and it was in the 80s and very humid.

When we took off, I decided to tuck into the middle/back of the pack for the first lap since I had never run on these trails and didn’t know the course at all. Plus, I wasn’t going to be competing – I was hoping just to finish.

The first loop was very enjoyable. The course was definitely tough, but not impossible. The hardest part of the course was the ridiculous amount of mud. Sections that should have been super-runnable were reduced to being a glorified slip’n’slide. Some sections featured mid-calf mud levels. Needless to say, I learned on this course that sometimes slower is faster. There were definitely some super-fun rolling singletrack sections and my first time through I was really enjoying those. All in all, it was a great course and the first loop was terrific. According to [Athlinks](https://www.athlinks.com/event/81241/results/Event/852768/Course/1629959/Bib/4255), I finished the first loop in 13th out of 45 people that started the race.

The second loop was much like the first, only sloppier. I was still having fun and it was during this loop that I realized just how awesome aid station volunteers are. They were terrific. I finished loop 2 in 12th position out of 36 remaining runners for the 50k race.

During the third loop I started to doubt whether I would finish. I wasn’t feeling great and the heat and humidity were really getting to me. I started playing the game of “just finish this mile” or “just get to the aid station” or “you only have to see that muddy hill 2 more times”. It worked. I got through it and finished the loop in 11th position out of 35 remaining runners.

When I finished my third loop, I wasn’t entirely sure I was going out for my fourth. It was so hot and so humid and I felt like garbage. I’m not huge but I’m not a particularly slim runner either – the heat and humidity really get to me. I took some time at the main aid station and figured I could at least get to the next aid station and reassess. So I had some pickle juice, ate some beloved PB&J, followed with some potatoes and salt, washed it all down with some cold water and went on my way. This loop was really hard but I did fall in with a small group of 3 other runners to cover some of the miles which made for a nice mental break. I finished loop 4 in 8th position out of 29 remaining runners.

The fifth and final loop was by far the hardest. By this point in the day I was very tired and a little cranky. But I told myself it would be silly to not finish the damn thing at this point. So I set out for my last loop just hoping to get through it. I walked a lot on this loop – I would say I hiked, but it was probably too slow to call it hiking. I told myself to run when I could and walk when I had to, so that’s what I did. I remember the huge feeling of relief when I crested the final hill and started the last little downhill to the finish. I ended up in 7th position out of 23 remaining 50k runners that finished. I was very pleased with that performance even though there was lots of room for improvement.

**Post-race**

Immediately after finishing I text my wife and got a burger and a couple beers and sat down. My family joined me and we ate for a while and I just sat there, happy that I had finished.

Up next is some recovery this week, then back to it. I’m signed up for a 50-miler at the end of August so I’ll be getting back on the trails shortly, putting in the miles.

2019 Races

Tomorrow I will attempt to run my first ultramarathon. An ultramarathon is defined as any race longer than marathon-distance; in other words, any race longer than 26.2 miles. Some of the most common distances are 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 miles, and more. I’m signed up for a local 50k race – Hell Hath No Hurry.

My history with distance running is one of fits and starts. Inconsistency is probably the word I’d use to describe my historical approach to training. I’ve now run three marathons, but I’ve signed up for probably a dozen or more. Most of the time my marathon signs ups have resulted in me switching to running a half-marathon instead. See above for my approach to training if you’re interested.

That said, I’ve found myself this year able to hold to a consistent level of training and I think it’s because I committed myself to something of a ludicrous plan. Here’s my race calendar for 2019:
May – Pittsburgh Marathon (completed in 3:56, 45 minutes off my PR but a good day for me right now. This was used as a training run.).
June – Hell Hath No Hurry 50k. This is tomorrow. I’m feeling pretty good about this right now. It will be a challenge, no doubt. But I’m decently fit, have been running consistently, and am looking forward to it.
August – Baker Trail UltraChallenge. This is a 50 mile ultramarathon in Western PA. Fun fact: this year’s race is ending about 15 minutes from where I grew up in the middle of nowhere. I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about this race. Not that I can win or anything, but that I can actually finish and beat the cut off time, which is 14 hours. This is my true goal race for the year.
November – NYC Marathon. I’m super excited to run this marathon. I entered the race lottery on a whim, never expecting to have my name pulled. Well, lo and behold, they drew my name. So I’ll be running New York in the fall. I love New York and it will be a blast to run around the boroughs. My feeling is that after all my training this year and preparation for ultramarathons, this might feel a bit easier and will be a nice way to cap my official race calendar for 2019.

If you’re thinking that looks like a lot of racing this year, you’d be right. It is a lot, at least for me. I’m more of a “one marathon or half-marathon per year” kind of guy. But here we are. My body feels good and is holding up pretty well. I think I’m ready for it.

A reasonable question to ask right now would be “Why?”. Why run ultramarathons? Lots of words have been written on this topic and the answer is different for everyone. For me, it’s about wanting to see if I can do it. Setting a goal and making it happen. Ultramarathons seem to be about mostly being stubborn, not stopping, and making sure you keep putting one foot in front of the other. I can do that. Can I do it for 50 miles? I think so, but we’ll find out.