Nutcracker 12 Hour Recap

I decided to jot down a few thoughts and notes from my final event of the year, the Nutcracker 12 hour run in Erwin, NC. Figured I'd do it now before I forget the details of this fun little event. This is mostly for my sake and trying to plan ahead for future longer ultra events and also to remember what I did right and what I can improve.

Training: None. I did my base mileage of 40-50 miles per week and signed up a few weeks before the race.

Goals: I based my tentative goals on a run I did in April. Basically, in April, I had decided to run the daylight portion of a 24 hour race that had similar smooth trails as Nutcracker. There I ran 71.25 miles in 11:10. Adjusting for a slight fade, I figured over 12 hours I could do another 5 miles. However, given the lack of training mileage, I honestly wasn't sure how feasible that goal was. In short, I figured somewhere between 75 and 80 miles was doable.

The race: My strategy was to start pretty slow and gradually speed up. The course consisted of a 5 mile out and back on the Dunn Erwin rail trail for a total of 10 miles per lap. The course had about a half dozen road crossing in each direction and near sunset we started half mile out and backs for a 1 mile lap. The starting temperature was a brisk 22 degrees at 7:00am, but allowed for a beautiful golden sunrise over frosted fields and neighborhoods. The daytime highs were in the low 40's, sunny with a slight breeze, and then dipping back down to 30 when the sun set.

(Running with the one and only Santa at the start. Photo courtesy of ROAM Ultras)

Miles 1-10: These were my warm up miles at an easy 9:17 pace. It was nice chatting with a few runners as I settled into the pace I hoped to hold for a half a day. By the end of the first 10 miles quite a few folks were infront of me, with some already ahead by a mile gap.

Miles 10-20: I continued to hold pace and resisted the urge to speed up, despite the fact the lead runner now had nearly a 2 mile lead. My mantra was to be patient and experience told me that slow and steady is the key to success in 12 and 24 hour events. 20 miles completed in just under 3 hours. Only 9 more hours to go.

Miles 20-30: With temps now in the upper 30's, I ditched my heavier jacket for a light running vest. During this stretch I figured I would gradually start speeding up a few seconds per mile just as other runners would be starting fatigue. I reached my marathon split in 3:53. Not too fast, but also not too slow. The runners ahead of me start coming back. 30 miles complete in 4:27.

Miles 30-40: Holding at a low 8:50's pace, I hit my 50k split in 4:36. I pass the lead runner around mile 37 and complete 40 miles in 5:51. Time wise, we're not even halfway done....

Miles 40-50: Nothing too impressive, just a bunch of nine minute miles, but in this kind of event, nine minute miles are good enough to spread things out. 50 miles complete in 7:25.

Miles 50-60: Fatigue starting to kick in and the legs are feeling a bit heavy. 9:00 pace starts slipping to 9:15 and 9:30, but overall it's not too bad given the cold. 60 miles complete in 9:00. 3 hours to go.

Miles 60-70: I finally get to switch to the one mile laps, which allows me to see the other runners on a more frequent basis. It's a much needed energy boost to see some familiar faces a bit more often. I reach my 100k split in 9:23. It's a half hour slower than my PR, but with over two and a half hours to go, I think it's right where I need to be. The cool darkness settles in and now there are 70 miles completed in 10:45. Mathematically, I had already won the race, but I really wanted to run as close to the full 12 hours as I could.

Miles 70-77: My legs are definitely feeling tired, but the night has brought a surprising boost of energy. With temps now back in the low 30's I switch back into my heavier jacket from the morning. Dang, the zipper somehow broke and I spend several costly minutes trying to fix it. The course is dark, but dozens of steadfast runners are still out there hammering away in the cold. The moon above sets aglow the earth below and the twinkle of local Christmas lights remind me how quaint and friendly this little town of Erwin has been today. Time check, 45 minutes to go. Looks like my zipper malfunction may have cost me the time to run an extra mile and I will have to settle for four more laps. 77 miles completed in 11:55.

Nutrition: 3,000 calories. Mostly Tailwind, 4 gels, a few handfuls of pretzels, gel blocks (bad idea in the cold), 1 ginger cookie
Gear: Hoka One One Clifton 1, North Face Torpedo Pants, long sleeve Nike compression shirt, Marmot Stride Jacket, Pear Izumi wind vest, Injinji mini crew socks

Afterthoughts: I was pleasantly surprised how well my legs felt given my relatively low running mileage. I think if I had been a little more confident early on, I could have gone a little faster for the first 50 miles and still had plenty in the tank for later. In addition, on a slightly warmer day, with a better training base, I could realistically foresee getting 80 miles on this course. Also, as a pleasant surprise, I found out that one of the Spartathlon qualifiers is completing 120k at a 12 hour race. 120k equals 74.4 miles, so my 77 miles actually requalified me for Spartathlon, which is nice because my qualifier from 2015 expires this year.


Anyway, in case anyone from the event reads this, thanks to all the volunteers and to Roam Ultras for this fun seasonal event.



Happy Holidays!

Wrapping up 2016

It's strange to think that it has been fall for several months now and another autumn running season is nearing a close. With temperatures still in the 70's, and even 80's, there have been times it hasn't felt like fall at all and yet here we are three weeks removed from Halloween and one week from Thanksgiving.

I remember how I used to wait excitedly all year for the fall running season to do my favorite races; the JFK 50, Mountain Masochist and the Marine Corps Marathon. However, with the price increases and politics of JFK, the price increase of Masochist and not being able to train in the mountains, and the logistical craziness and crowds of Marine Corps, I haven't had the desire to do any of the big three races that were typically the defining highlights of my year.

Things do change. My move to central NC has given me the wonderful opportunity to try many new events, but I've also realized I've been running much more than I had planned. The mileage and lack of any real training finally caught up to me in late October and forced an executive decision to pull back on several races in order to relax and rest my body. I also realized that in a two month span from September through late October I was essentially running an ultra or marathon every other week, or every third week. And though most of these races were done as casual efforts, there was no denying that doing an "easy" 103 miles at A Race for the Ages, followed by "only" 63 easy miles Hinson Lake taxed my legs more than I thought. Flashbacks to 2008 and 2009 when I severely over raced and hurt the potential of doing better at bigger goal races.

The misleading crux, and albeit also a pleasant surprise, came when I got 2nd place overall at the Medoc Trail Marathon, again on minimal recovery time. Granted, the field is typically not competitive, but I did run a 7 minute PR for the event, despite running an extra 3 minutes off course. This, of course, gave me the false confidence to proceed with the idea of trying to run a BQ at the fast downhill Peak to Creek marathon. Well, this is where I learned that a 4th straight race on minimal recovery, while running only 45 miles per week, was going to seriously backfire. Needless to say, I had all the signs of poor recovery and fitness that was okay, but not great. Quads were sore early, glutes were sore early, and typically comfortable marathon pace was far too laborious. I fought through it, slogging into the halfway mark in 1:33:40, but conceded at mile 15 that this was just going to have to be a pretty day in the mountains. No 3:05, no BQ, just a 3:19 long training run. I also had to remind myself how crazy it is that several years ago I would have only dreamed about running a 3:19, and now I was considering it a epic failure from a performance stand point.

Thankfully, the fall running season did not end on that sour note and I successfully paced a very strategically accurate 3:45 pace group for the 3rd straight year at the Richmond Marathon. We came in at 3:44:58, and for the second time were the closest pace group to goal time. Now time to rest up and maybe get in some actual training sans interruption by over racing. Who knows, there might even be a semi secret goal race in December I plan to run. But, who knows?

Just Missed Boston

By 6 seconds....

First world problems I know, but still a tough pill to swallow. I worked my butt off to get my first ever Boston qualifier a year ago. I ran a 3:07:57, which was 2:03 under my qualifying mark of 3:10. I admittedly did not think that would be enough, given that it required 2:28 under the previous year to get in. However, as fewer qualifiers came in, the statistics showed my time might very likely get me into the 2017 race.

I was about 99% certain going into the big notification day that I would be receiving an e-mail from the Boston Athletic Association congratulating me on my acceptance into the 2017 Boston Marathon. I instead, however, sat with a sinking feeling in my gut as I glanced at the message "All those who ran 2 minutes and 9 seconds under their qualifying time were accepted." Crushing...6 seconds. That's a big hill, a mile into a headwind, a few slow water stops, a few high fives, a missed workout, who knows. Not sure where I could have shaved the time, but I'm trying not to second guess. I ran as well as I could on a fast course in ideal fall weather. No complaints there.

It's the waiting that sucks. I had waited 11 months to apply to Boston, and now I wait yet another year to do it all over again. Back to train for yet another BQ in hopes that I can lower my time again and secure a spot. The reality is needing to run at least 3 minutes under the BQ time, and 5+ under for essentially a guaranteed spot. But, my talent is on the bubble. It's what makes it so much work just to get a BQ, no less a time a few minutes faster. It has literally taken years, if not an entire decade, to go from running a 5 hour marathon, to a 4 hour, to 3:33, a 3:10, and finally a BQ. But, the improvement margins are getting smaller and harder to achieve and I am getting older.

I admit, not running Boston was much easier to accept when I was a 4 hour marathoner or even 3:30 marathoner. I wasn't close enough to entertain the notion of running Boston for it to bother me. But, now that it's in reach, it's like getting a faint grasp of that starting line, online to get pushed back again. It tough being on the fringe, but rest assured when I finally do get into Boston, it will mean that much more knowing I didn't get it easy.

And worse case scenario, my BQ goes up to a 3:15 in five years, but only time will tell. Another good year of health and running is hardly a certainty these days. A heartfelt congrats to everyone on the other side of the looking glass that got in, and especially to those that got in by mere seconds. Here's to Boston 2018.

Running Against Cancer 10 Years Later

(2006 Rockingham County Relay for Life)

In 2006, I had been running for just over three years and running ultras for 18 months. As a long time supporter of the American Cancer Society and their Relay for Life events I found it fitting that my first true run dedicated to fighting cancer would be at their 2006 Rockingham County Relay for Life.

At the time, I had lost two grandmothers to cancer, one in 1994 and the other in 2005. I promised myself I would attempt to run 70 miles during the one night event, which would represent 10 miles for every month my grandmothers fought cancer. In short, it was a tough, but incredibly inspirational night of reflection and community support. I met a lot of people, made some new friends, and a few hours after sunrise I completed my 70th mile. It was by far the longest I had ever run and it took 13 hours and 35 minutes to complete, which included walking most of the final 5 hours. My body and feet were beat up for at least a week, but for a cause that made it all worth it. And even though it was a run, it was definitely not about running. That's a motto I would revisit a decade later.

In 2008, I stumbled upon George Nelson's Hampton 24 Hour Run for Cancer and wanted to test myself with the challenge of running for 24 straight hours. In short, I failed, and failed miserably at that. I ran for just over four hours and walked another eight for a grand total of 52.5 miles in 12:15. I didn't even match my mileage from the Relay for Life two years earlier. It was a rough humbling day of stomach issues and learning from a lot of rookie mistakes. Little did I know, but it would be a long 8 years until my next run at Sandy Bottom.

Enter 2016. Exactly 10 years after my 70 mile Relay for Life run from 2006.

(Photo credit Dean Wewetzer)

To be honest, I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to be at the 2016 24 Hour Run for Cancer. On top of that, the previous few months of "training" had consisted of modest 40 miles per week of running and 10-15 miles of hiking. Hardly enough to make a solid attempt at a 24 hour run, no less something like an ultra or even marathon. Given that, I decided to make a short term goal of running 71 miles, which would eclipse the 70 I had run 10 years earlier. The additional one mile would be in memory of my grandfather who passed away from cancer in 2008, ironically only four months after my first failed visit to the Hampton 24 Hour Run.

Needless to say the run was a pleasant surprise and it felt great to finally to put in some bigger miles again. It was my longest run in three years and strangely felt quite effortless and relaxed the entire time. I started out fairly slow and gradually picked up the pace to the point where my last 10 miles were the fastest of the day. At three hours in, I don't even think I was in the top 15 runners, but apparently by the time I had completed my 71.25 miles in 11:09 I had climbed to second place by a fairly large margin. Not that any of that was important, but it was nice to finish a run that had a lot of personal meaning feeling incredibly strong.

As far as performance, not that it was about that, but this may have been the best I have ever paced a run. I ran my first 31 miles in 5:00 and my final 31 miles in 4:42. My 50 mile split was 8:00 and my 100k split was 9:49. I also ran a 3:56 marathon split after mile 45, which was a total surprise, but proved that starting very slow really does pay significant dividends. In fact, my projected 100 mile time would have been somewhere between 16:40 and 17:00, which would have been a massive PR, though I still feel Like I was under trained to go for such an attempt. However, I think with a more appropriate training I may have figured out the best way to pace for flatter, longer races.

That said, it was great to spend some time on the trails with friends and run again for a the cause of fighting cancer. Cancer and running have had been almost synonymous and is one of the reasons I had run and survived some of my earliest ultras. I also think that I might be ready to test myself to run the entire 24 hours at the Run for Cancer and see what I can really do. I realize that yes running 71.25 miles was a solid run, but I also know I didn't come close to testing my body and mind the way it would have to run an additional 13 hours like many others did. In addition, though I have "run" for over 24 hours several times, there is something very different and mental about running as much as you can within the fixed time frame of a single day. That is something to think about.

Close, But No Cigars

I've been very fortunate to qualify for several big races in the past year; Western States, the Boston Marathon and Spartathlon. However, with the growing popularity of such races, the demand has now greatly outweighed the supply, which means that qualifying can now only guarantee, at best, a partial chance of gained entry.

The Spartathlon lottery for the 2016 event took place last week and I was not selected. I wasn't even close as I ended up 168th out of 172 on the waitlist. There were 21 slots, out of 390 total, reserved for US runners and nearly all 21 of the slots were filled by people who auto qualified. Automatic qualifiers had to run 20% faster than their qualifying standard to get in, so for me it would have required a sub 8 hour 100k or sub 18 hour 100 miler. It won't get any easier next year as the 100 mile auto qualifier will drop from the already challenging 18 hours to 16:48 for men. While my 8:53 100k from last year was a very strong time, the 20th fastest 100k in the US in 2015, it still missed the automatic entry by a lot. Without an automatic bid, my name, along with 12 others, was randomly selected for the US team's wait list.

That said, the lottery gods weren't very forgiving and I was selected 12th American, which means I am dead last for the US waiting list, and nearly dead last for all wait listed runners. In plain English, I basically have zero chance of running Spartathlon in six months. In the bizarre and highly unrealistic scenario I am moved off the wait list it will be far too close to the race date to make last minute travel arrangements, and of course, actually train. I am certainly not going to train my ass off for a 153 mile race I have 0.001% chance of getting into. On the bright side, I will have an extra ticket for the 2017 lottery, so if I don't auto qualify in 2017, my chances in the lottery will be a little better. The downside is that after 2017, I will need to re-qualify with either another 100k, or 100 miler.

As far as Western States, I don't really care that I didn't get selected for 2016. Qualifying for WS is probably the easiest out of the three big races I was aiming to get into, but it still required finishing a 100k or 100 miler on growing list of qualifying races that caters less and less to us East coast runners. Given that I've already completed the race, it's no longer very high on my bucket list, other than the fact I would love to run it when fully healthy and in shape. Considering I flirted with a sub 24 back in 2011 when I hadn't been running much and was 10 lbs overweight, my only real desire is to go back and see just how fast I can run it at an optimal level of health. Otherwise, Western States can wait.

The most recent race I qualified for was the Boston Marathon. Though I qualified two minutes under my standard, it also looks like I may miss the cut off for accepted entry. This was made even more frustrating by the fact that I recorded 26.53 miles on the course I qualified on. This was by no means an error in course measurement, but rather my inability to run the tangents more efficiently. I am typically used to getting 26.35 to 26.45 miles for most marathon course, even when not running all the tangents, so getting 26.53 miles may have cost me as much as an additional minute. Given that runners had to run 2:28 under their qualifying times to get into the 2016 Boston Marathon, it seems my 2:00 under, which could just have easily been 3:00 under, will likely miss the mark for 2017. If I want to run Boston in 2017 I will probably have to make another attempt at a BQ this spring and run faster than last fall. Personally, I'm not sure if it's worth the time and effort to pour into the training like I did last fall, only to potentially miss the cut-off again.

So, while I'm disappointed to put so much time and energy into qualifying for races I am not going to get to run, it's still just a first world problems level of disappointed. All the running and training has kept me relatively fit, when I otherwise might not be. I can also honestly say I never thought I would be doing the things I am doing athletically, on the verge of turning 35, that I couldn't come close to doing as a 20 year old college student.

Reflections of 2015

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone. Each time around the sun seems to be more fleeting than the previous one. 2015 seemed to be the year I did a lot, but it felt like a little.

The year started off with a pleasantly surprising 100k run, where I posted a huge PR for the 100k distance. During that same race I also set personal bests for the 50k and 50 mile distances. In addition, my 100k time was good enough to qualify me for the legendary Spartathlon Ultramrathon. I also served as a pace leader for 6 marathons and 3 half marathons, as well as finally qualifying myself for the Boston Marathon. Here and there I snuck in a few small trail races, but I still consider myself semi-retired from ultras and still retired from 100 milers. Yes, the 100k was an ultra, but in terms of races that could take 12-24+ hours, I am still mostly retired. Lastly, I volunteered at quite a few local road races and ultras and was forced to say farewell to one of my favorite races that traveled down the OBX.

In terms of total running, I finished 2015 with 3,127 miles, which is a new one year distance PR and also marks roughly 30,000 lifetime running miles. To be honest, this isn't really a PR I wanted to obtain, simply because I found myself running out of pure boredom much more than I would have liked. I'd honestly rather have a more active local social life and "only" run 2,000 miles per year. So, I guess I made lemonade out of lemons and figured running bored was better than sitting around. Anyway, 3,127 miles tops the 3,122 miles I ran in 2013 and the 3,100 miles from 2010. The strange thing is that it didn't feel like I ran nearly as much, and yet I still ran the most I ever have in one year. I can partially attribute this to a much more efficient and balanced approach to running, where in previous years my mileage would vary from 10 miles a week to over 110 any given time of the year. Needless to say, that approach didn't work.

My highest one week mileage total in 2015 was 95.6, but included a 100k race. In regular training weeks my mileage never went above 85.1, which was a peak build up week for the 100k race I just mentioned. The next highest output week was 76.1 miles, which again was a build up week for fall marathon training. My three lowest mileage weeks were 40, 41, and 42 miles respectively which were either recovery weeks, or taper weeks. The remaining bulk of my yearly mileage came from consistent weeks in the 55-65 mile range, and another dozen weeks in the 65-75 mile range. No real extremes in terms of super low or super high mileage weeks.

I guess I should also point out that about 90% of my total yearly mileage was on paved roads, which meant it required significantly less time to obtain my distances. In other years, the opposite was true when I spent about 90% of my time on trails, but often running a pace 1-2 minutes per mile slower than what I run now. If you factor that 2,700 of my miles in 2015 were run at a pace at least 1 minute per mile faster than in 2013 and 2010, I actually ran about 40 less hours in 2015, but covered more distance. So, I did in fact run more with less. Another common theme from last year. I will also conclude that 3,000 miles per year nearing 35 years of age is probably going to be the high end of what I can do without diminishing returns. While I felt pretty good and fresh up until my 3,000 mile mark in 2015, without fail I started feeling a noticeable physical burn out as I continued pushing my end of year mileage in an effort to break my previous PR.

So, what does 2016 have in store? Well, I probably won't run 3,000 mile again, and honestly I don't want to. I'd love to cut a few minutes off my marathon time, maybe get down to a 3:05, and secure a 2017 Boston Marathon entry. I don't really like being on the bubble for not getting accepted, but I'm not sure how much time and effort I really want to spend training again. It's hard work if you do it right. I'm also entertaining the idea of doing Spartathlon in 2016 or 2017, but there is no way on earth I want to put my body through the damaging training needed to get through Spartathlon's 153 mile course. Still, I can't deny how amazing it would be to represent the US in another country and raise the American flag across the finish line to the statue of Leonidas. It's all still a bit too early to know. I don't foresee doing any 100 milers, though I will likely show up to a few small trail races to get my fix of dirt and trees. If anything, hopefully 2016 will bring some fresh new adventures, life closer to mountains, and an item or two crossed off the bucket list.

Happy trails 2015 and cheers to an exciting 2016.