Marathon/Ultra Number 150 - Staunton 6 Hour

This past Saturday, November 7th, I reached another milestone number in my running career. I completed my 150th marathon, or longer, running event. It was also my 110th ultramarathon. I had reached marathon/ultra number 100 back in October 2014, which doesn't seem that long ago, but surprisingly now already six years ago. Since then, my participation in events, especially ultras, has certainly slowed down (probably to a healthy degree). As for ultra/marathon number 150, it was a welcome catharsis and just what myself and 56 other runners needed on a cool autumn morning. It was my first official running event since the pandemic started, and it provided a brief moment of our old "normal". It's been a long time, but it was exciting to get up before sunrise, do a chilly packet pickup in the dark and dart off into a day, or six hours, of running. Come to think of it, I hadn't run an ultra in the month of November since 2011, mostly because my Novembers were my Richmond Marathon pace leading months, but not this year. The photo below is the start of the Staunton 6 Hour with 56 others. I'm the blurry one on the far right (masks were worn just before the official start). Photo credit Staunton Road Runners.

So, let's be clear, I don't run much these days, so I knew several things right off the bat. I wasn't going to contend for a win and running for six hours was going to hurt. Nowadays, I run about 10 miles per week, consisiting of several runs of 3-5 miles, and an additional 10-15 miles of hiking. The rest of my time is focused on strength training, where the 7-8 lbs of muscle I've gained since June does nothing to help my running. Good, now I have all my petty excuses covered. That said, I expected far worse. The six hour course was repeats of a 1.34 mile loop that had one moderate hill section, some moderate downhill, and some flat around Gypsy Hill park in Staunton, VA. Despite living in the Shenandoah Valley for a decade, it was actually my first time visiting the park. The first 13.1 miles went by in 1:48, and then I hit the marathon mark in 3:52. My legs started feeling like bricks by mile 10, so it was my little ultra shuffle from there to the finish. 50k went by in 4:45, followed by an in-race announcement that Joe Biden had become President, and then I wrapped up my 37.5 miles in just under 5:54. For perspective on running fitness, when I ran my 100k personal best in 2015, I was at 42.5 miles at the six hour mark and still had 20 miles to go. All in all it was a good day with beautiful sunny weather rising into the low 70's. It was certainly nice to catch up with some old running friends and also reunite with some others I had not seen in years, including one that was running the 6 hour as her first marathon. 150 marathon/ultra stats: Age at the time of reaching 150 was 39 years and 139 days. Since my first ultra on November 20, 2004, at age 23, it took 15 years and 352 days to reach 150. About 50 of those were run between 2008 and 2010.

Recovering from Covid-19 and Looking Back

(Apologies, blogger won't let me space out paragrpahs) Yes, you read that correctly, I am now one of the 26+ million world wide that is officially recovered from covid-19. I would have documented my experience as it happened, but felt like I wanted it fully out of the way before sharing the story. In short, I was one of the lucky ones and experienced very mild symptoms, which were basically low level flu symptoms. This included a slight fever topping out at 101 degrees and some minor chills. All symptoms were gone within roughly 36 hours, and by the time my positive covid test came back four days after the onset of symptoms, I had already been symptom free for three days. I'm actually very glad to trust my gut and get tested, even when already feeling better, as I would have likely dismissed the short lived symptoms as a fluke cold and gone about my life as normal and visiting friends and family. I self isolated until getting my results and then quarentined until 10 days after my symptoms were gone, for a total quarentine of 12 days, just to be safe. I'm surprisingly thankful for a positive result, as I know there have been false negatives, and at least I had some closure on what I was experiencing. After, and during, my quarentine myself and the health department did a thorough contact tracing with people I had been in proximity to the past few weeks, including my one roomate. Thankfully, everyone eventually tested negative, and over two months later are still negative. I can attribute much of this to taking serious precautions during my quarentine, especially with a housemate I share a kitchen, fridge, sink, and laundry with. This included wearing a mask when leaving my bedroom, wearing latex gloves, and regularly sanitizing exposed surface areas for two weeks. The sanitation practices continue til this day. The toughest part of the whole journey wasn't the 24 hours of symptoms, but the fear that friends and family had about when it would truly be safe to be around me again. Thankfully, science has shown how safe I am to be around and I've now visited with family with nobody getting sick. The other thing was that during quarentine I watched a lot of videos of other people's experiences and none were very good. Many were healthier looking people my age, but who dealt with weeks, if not months of fatigue, low blood oxygen saturation and other long term symptoms. Because of that, there was always this little voice in my head that wondered if things were going to get worse any given day and that this couldn't possibly be it. And, yet, my only "long term" symptom was loss of smell and taste, both of which came back after two weeks. My running and strength training feel no different now, than before, with strength actually being slightly better post covid. That said, if anything is going to get people to engage in healthy lifestyles, knowing that it could drastically improve your covid expierence, should you get it, should be one of them. Anyway, below is some of what I journaled during my brief covid experience over two months ago, and I hope it provides a sense of ease and relief that while this virus can be fatal, for many, it's no different than my experience, or a complete non experience at all. Be safe, get tested, and take care! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Final week of July, 2020. About two weeks ago my family had a bout with what turned out to be a random viral cold. Within a 48 hour period several family members reported fevers, with the longest duration being about three days. Of course, in this day in age you can't be too careful, so of course covid-19 tests were taken and all thankfully came back negative.

Flash forward one week, and after a weekend of feeling great, I woke up on Monday morning with a fever of 101.3 (a newer thermometer read 101.0). And yes, those are Christmas themed pajamas #workingfromhome.

Well, that was a bit of a shock, and it's tough to say if this was the same cold that went around my family, as seven days had already passed before being exposed to it. It should also be noted, my immune system has always been pretty strong and I really can't recall ever getting sick or getting the flu. My immune system is what allowed me to NEVER miss a day of school from kindergarten to my high school graduation. Then again, I am now pushing 40, so let's not pretend I have that teen and college aged immunity anymore.

As Monday progressed, the fever stayed at 101, occasionally dropping every few hours. Other flu like symptoms were starting to pop up, including minor aches and pains combined with random chills, but again, not that unlike the flu.

But, alas, in this day in age, you can't be too careful, so I called Sentara Health Care and scheduled a virtual doctor's visit. After a five minute briefing, the nurse practitioner said I had enough symptoms to be approved for a drive up covid-19 test the next morning, something I was not eligible for when my family got sick, since I had no symptoms.

Recently, when a family member got their covid test, it was self administered and they only had to stick a swab an inch into their nose. I had seen and heard the "horror" stories of the long swabs being shoved all the way back into people's nasal cavities for testing, and was relieved that mine probably wouldn't be like that.

Wrong.

So, of course my covid-19 test turned out to be the dreaded nasopharyngeal swab. Admittedly, I had always been a little curious as to how this experience was, so part of me was really interested in getting to do this myself. I pulled up to a small Sentara parking lot, mask on, and called inside to check in. Within about five minutes a nurse comes out in full upper body covering with several 4-5 inch long swabs that look like mini pipe cleaners. In this particular test they have to swab both nostrils, so I get to have double the fun.

Some people suggest closing your eyes and holding your breath during the test. My curiosity got the best of me and I watched as this swab slowly disappeared into places in my face that I never knew existed. I wondered. Can they see my thoughts? Once fully inserted, the nurse spins the swab causing a burning sensation similar to when you accidentally breath water in through your nose. Some people's instincts can kick in and although this didn't happen to me, you might find yourself wanting to jerk your head away. Anyway, the second nostril was the same as the first. Immediately after the test I started sneezing, which is one of the reasons they hand you tissues before the test, and because in some cases it can cause a nose bleed. For those wondering about the long swab test, it certainly isn't pleasant, but rather uncomfortable. I also think getting a nurse with good experience probably makes a big difference. That said, a big thank you to all the medical staff for providing and performing these tests, and really putting themselves in harms way to make our community safer.

I will say, I was impressed with the ease of the process. It took only 15 hours between the virtual doctor's visit and the actual drive up test. It should take 3-5 days for results, and I am to quarantine completely until then. While, I hope that the result is negative, I do feel like a positive test could provide more educationally. As someone who is very diligent about wearing face coverings and sanitizing, it would make me wonder all that more where my best practices fell short. I really don't go out much, but the places I do are mainly grocery stores and the gym, again both places I take a lot of precautions.

The gym is the place that concerns me the most. You have a lot of people in a small condensed indoor space breathing hard, sweating, and not required to wear face coverings while actively working out. Despite a generally strong culture around sanitizing and wiping down equipment before and after use, I can't help but think of the things people still never wipe down. The biggest culprits are usually the free weights, but in retrospect, it's the actual weight plates that people use on the Smith machines that I can tell you NEVER get cleaned. I can't imagine the number of times I've touched those and incidentally touched my face, or wiped off sweat.

Well, I guess we'll know in a few days. And please stay safe, because quarantining is boring as crap and I'm tired of eating Hot Pockets.

Update: Wednesday morning, temp is already down to normal. All flu like symptoms are gone. I do, however, have a noticeable loss in my sense of smell and taste. I can smell about 10-20% of what I think things should smell like. This is a tell taled sign of covid, so my gut is thinking that I do have it, and my pharmacist sister strongly agrees. I'm not sure how much I would even trust a negative test result at this point. To be continued......

A Marathon on a Parking Deck

Sometimes it’s the little things that become big things just by igniting a spark.

You've probably read some of the stories and seen some of the videos. Someone running a marathon on their back deck, training on a 20 foot long balcony, running endless laps on a small rooftop or climbing the equivalent of Mt. Everest on a small flight of stairs. Despite the ways some of the world has shut down, runners and humans are finding ways to keep doing what they are doing and in the midst of a pandemic, discovering a new dimension of mental fortitude.

I consider myself lucky to still be able to run many places that I enjoy. My gym may be closed, but the trails and mountains are near.

However, as an act of solidarity, I felt the need to put myself in the shoes of those less fortunate that none the less are still pressing on. One. Step. At a time. I've had the idea of running a marathon on the upper level of my work's parking deck for several weeks now. It was important to incorporate UVA in some capacity into the run, so using our parking deck as a venue added a brief, but familiar place for those that came to watch. The parking deck was large enough for the laps to not be too cruel on my joints, but repetitive enough to still be a decent mental hurdle. Each lap was exactly 0.12 miles, just enough to be comfortable, and the abundance of space allowed for safe social distancing, should people come to watch. I actually bailed on the idea the previous weekend, but forced myself to inform my coworkers five days before this particular run to establish some accountability.

In reality, it was just an informal invitation that if the dozen or so members of my work team got bored enough, they could come watch me run circles, 219 of them to be exact, and leave whenever they got tired of the monotony. There wasn't much pomp and circumstance to it. I honestly figured there would be mild interest, but before I knew it the thought of getting out of the house, seeing coworkers for the first time in five weeks and doing something together, became the most exciting thing people had done in weeks.

(Just about to start. 52 degrees, rain tapering off)

“Race” morning finally arrived and I decided to have some fun and made a custom race bib. Afterall, you've got to make it official, right? I decided to go with the number 2420, which is the street address to our building. Coincidentally, it also represents the two classes at UVA most influenced by covid-19, the incoming class of ’24 and the graduating class of ’20. How about that unintentional symbolism for you?

So, I’ll keep the recap short. I started my run at 9:57am on April 18, 2020. It had just stopped raining and the parking deck was wet with several small puddles that I had to navigate around. 2 miles into the run my supervisor arrived and was the first one to cheer me on. Throughout the morning additional coworkers came with their children, spouses, with signs, snacks and goodies. The sun came out, the wind began gusting, but the energy was starting to grow. Familiar faces seeing familiar faces, and even with mouth coverings, you could still make out the huge smiles. People got to catching up, sharing their quarantine stories, and then that turned into singing, then dancing, then pure laughter.

(My coworker, Elizabeth, with sign her daughter made for me)

(passing by my aid station, aka car)

I had completed 5k, then 10k, then 10 miles, then halfway done. What I had planned to do as a casual 9:00 minute pace quickly derailed with the extra energy and enthusiasm brought on by my UVA family. The pace dropped to below 8:00 and then held steady in the 7:40’s for the next 20+ miles. It was suprisingly easy, it was conversational, and most importantly, it was fun. At mile 18.4, my coworker's husband, David, joined me, and despite hitting a few of those small “walls” and fighting a 25 mph gust around every turn, that last hour breezed by quicker than any final hour of a marathon. By now, I had memorized every slight change in camber of the parking deck, every drain, every little crack, that one pebble in the South West corner, that one puddle that still hadn't dried yet. With the end in sight, my pacer and I talked about doing a kick to end the run strong, so when my gps ticked over to 25.2, with one mile to go, I started to press a little harder. With music blasting from the car of our marathon “DJ”, I got a little boost of energy and knocked out a 6:50 final mile. My coworkers even put together a finish line, so despite the fact it was just a made up event, it’ll go down in my history books as a marathon finish. Believe it, or not, that last mile of 6:50 was the fastest final mile I have ever run during a marathon, despite being 14 minutes off my personal best. Still, who can’t stop and smile at running a spur the moment 3:21 marathon of the top of a parking deck.

(about to run through the finish line my coworkers, Diane and Erin, made)

When it was all said and done, the day had very little to do about marathons and running. It was about not allowing the challenges in the current world stop you from doing the things you enjoy and despite all the social distancing barriers, we can still come together as a community to rally behind a unified cause. I believe that cause was less about cheering on a guy running laps around a parking deck and more about being in all of this together. My supervisor and teammates all agreed that our three hours together on a random sunny Saturday was the most fun they have had since this all began five weeks ago. That, in itself, was worth more than any official marathon medal.

As the days went by, the story took off. That spark grew. I’m glad people felt inspired and that in a time of such uncertainty and fear, that I could do something small for the betterment of morale, to make people smile, and provide the momentary comfort of our old normal. I’m nobody special, and that’s proof that anyone can be a bright spot in seemingly dark times.

(the run was shared on UVA President James Ryan's Facebook page)

Lest we forget. I’m just a regular dude that sometimes runs and shamelessy eats Taco Bell and Digiorno pizza. UVA is the home of many heroes during these times. They include the University leadership, medical staff, doctors, surgeons, nurses, engineers designing 3-D PPE, our donors, our medical students, first responders, facilities management, fellow Virginia Medical Reserve Corps members, and countless others.

“Only in the darkness can you see the stars” – Martin Luther King Jr. (Mountaintop speech, 1968)

COVID-19 and The Spring Running Season

Like many of you reading, my spring running plans (and possibly summer) were completely turned upside down by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Virginia now has 49 known cases and now my place of work, the University of Virginia, has reported it's first known case. This March and April I had hoped to complete my 149th and 150th marathon and longer events, but it does appear that the time for reaching those milestones will have to wait.

That said, I am not upset. Yes, I am dissapointed that I will not get to run some of my favorite trail races, many of which I have waited 6-10 years to run again. Yes, I will miss seeing and reconnecting with old friends in the running community after much time away. Yes, like many of you, I have lost non-refundable entree fees due to cancellations.

But, let's keep all of this in healthy perspective. I support ALL of the cancellations and tough decisions made by race directors and local officials. I understand the logisitics of putting on races and the overhead costs that can't be returned to paying runners. Our running events are, in fact, first world luxuries and if not running, or not getting refunds is the worst of our problems, I will gladly take it. We should all strive to continue to support our loyal and hard working race staff, continue to take the proper precautions, and to use this time to strenghten our communities. Be calm. Be caring. Be compassionate.

Now, more than ever, is the time to continue running and be outside. Nobody has cancelled your ability to enjoy nature and even enjoy the same trails you could have run on race day. This is the time to remember that we don't always need to pay an entry fee to experience something of value from enjoying our hobbies in a less formal context. Without the rustling of hundreds of runners sifting along a singletrack trail, maybe you'll notice something new, or remember something you have forgotten. Perhaps just the simplicity of the sound of your breath juxtoposed with the barren late winter branches crackling together in the breeze. Maybe you'll notice wild flowers blooming that were still merely green buds on your run several days ago. Enjoy the silence and allow yourself to listen. Take time to look up, look down, look within, and see what you may have been missing.

Get outside. Get outside with your family and friends (with intelligent social distancing when needed). Get back to loving what you do in the absence of a finisher's medal, placement, official time or social media race post to share with your audience.

Be kind to those who had to make tough decisions for the betterment of socities well being, and yours.

We'll hit the trails together when the time is right. On the plus side, this fall running season will have the most options ever. Considering it a blessing rather than curse that it may interfere with your preplanned fall race schedule. Also, how cool is it that you might be able to run the same race six months apart, instead of having to wait a year to run it again?

Be smart and be safe. And again, be kind.

Has it Really Been 3 Years?

Yes, you read that correctly. My last post was over three long years ago. That said, since I am no longer on any form of social media, I'm pretty sure the viewership of this blog is pretty close to non existent. That's a big change from the glory days of Lost in the Woods Running, which was somewhere between 2009 and 2014. But, alas, life has a tendancy to throw us curve balls, and for me, right at the moment when I thought I was nearing the pinnacle of my running "career".

Flashback to three years ago. Ah yes, it was 2017, and 2017 was going to be a huge year! I had been in a groove since the fall of 2014 and the momentum was going strong. 4 ultra wins, a marathon win, a 100k state record, a 2nd place trail marathon and my first BQ.

I had qualified, again, for the legendary Spartathlon ultramarathon and I actually was selected to represent team USA. A dream come true!

Lastly, on the heals of a 77 mile 12 hour run, I was going to attempt to qualify for the US men's 24 hour team by running at least 140 miles in a 24 hour race.

....Oh, but did I mention those life curve balls? My 2017 curve was more like one of those cartoon baseball games where the pitcher throws a zig zagging, swirling, spinning curve that defies the logic of science.

That's when my running started to come to a halt, and over things I literally could not control.

But, I made my efforts here and there, so I was able to fake the funk through 2017.

September 2017 - I completed a casual 64.63 miles at the Hinson Lake 24 hour. It was one lap more than my previous year.

October 2017- I won a small, but unique road marathon, the Cary Firehouse Tour Marathon. Marathon win number 2.

October 2017- This was the beginning of the end. I "ran" the Medoc Trail Marathon the day after confirming my significant other had been cheating on me. This coupled with family health issues all bubbled up to a disapointing run/hike. It was nearly three hours slower than my 2nd place time from the previous year.

Then came the one year away from racing, and pretty much away from running completely. It wasn't planned or predictable. I made a poor job choice that seemed wise at the time, a very poor relationship choice(taking back the cheating ex and having history repeat itself), and I found myself pulled away from running and the running community by things I had placed a false value on, as well as things that truly did take priority over running.

My weekly mileage became non-existent and over a four month span from late 2017 into the spring of 2018, I literally did not run a step or even go to the gym. I gained 13 lbs, and none of it was muscle. I was roughly 10% body fat and a lean 150 lbs when I qualified for Boston in October of 2015. Although others said they didn't notice a difference, I could see and feel it all too well. I was 163lbs and over 15-16% body fat for the first time since my sophomore year of college. I realized if all that could happen in just 4 months, what would happen within a year? A 40lb weight gain? 50!? I didn't want to find out.

It wasn't until May that I cowboyed up and committed to getting back into shape. It was now or never. I hit the gym hard and the muscle came back quick. I went from barely being able to bench 175 lbs for one repetition (my pr is 260 from college) to repping 185 for five reps within six weeks. The running, however, was a bit different. I was getting in the mileage, but the speed didn't seem to come back. I remembered when I was running a brisk 8-10+ miles every day from 2010 through 2016, and now I was lumbering through 2-3 mile runs at a 10:00 pace. I couldn't even run my marathon pr pace for ONE mile. It was tough, but I knew it wouldn't be easy. My ego hurt more than my legs, and at times I didn't even want to enter any races, and although I have never been super fast, I was still embarassed of how slow I had gotten in such a "short" period of time.

(The Bell Buckle Summer)

It's funny how just a few months in the right place can change a trajectory.

(fire side evening with the Cantrells)

Remember that poor job choice I mentioned above? Well, I got laid off after three short months. At the time it sucked. I was living off a lousy $600 a month in unemployment, applying for work, trying to find someone to takeover a lease, but it turned out to be more a blessing than a curse. I got my apartment subleased and spent the summer of 2018 in Bell Buckle, TN. I spent some time with a family you may have heard of if you've ever heard of the Barkley marathons. I got back the hunger to run regularly, to run far, though the speed still hadn't come back. Although some of the people and relationships revolving around my Bell Buckle Summer have since moved along in their own directions, I still look back at it with fondness as the place that brought me back from the year away from ultras.

The Comeback.

September 2018- A Race for the Ages. My first race in nearly one year. My 2nd year running ARFTA. 115 miles. The most I've ever done in a running event. Some running, but also a lot of walking in the intense TN summer heat.

October 2018- High Bridge 50k. 4:22. Pleasantly surprised considering my typical weekday mileage was still in the 20-30 range, but again this was a pancake flat course.

November 2018- Paced the 4:00 hour group at the Richmond Marathon. Achieved the most consistent segment splits of any pace group. It was my 4th year pace leading there.

January 2019- Tideland 24 Hour. 63+ miles. Learned I could still run 50 miles in 9 hours on trails.

January 2019- Frostbite 15k. Finished in 1:11. Better than expected, but the 7:27 pace was still slower than my marathon pr pace and very close to my trail 50k pr pace.

February 2019- Colonial Half. Ran the entire event with a friend. Our 1:51 felt pretty easy, even on a cold and icy day, so that was a good sign.

March 2019- Dogwood 12 Hour. 58.65 miles. 1st overall. It was nice to finally win an ultra again, but truthfully, this was not even close to a competitive event. The 2nd and 3rd place runners were 14 and 17 miles back.

April 2019- Hampton 24 Hour Run for Cancer. 56.25 miles. This was almost entirely social to catch up with old friends. It was my 3rd running.

May 2019- Bust the Banks Half. 1:57. This was a nice challenging trail half that was part of Dominion Riverrock weekend in my home city of RVA. Definitely a reminder of my lack of running fitness, but at least I broke 2 hours.

September 2019- A Race for the Ages. 122 miles. New event PR, but my legs were toast only 20 miles in.

September 2019- Pepsi 10k. A local Charlottesville 10k. Legs were recovered from ARFTA 12 days earlier, but still felt slow, though fresh. Finished in 46:54. That said, even without ARFTA, I doubt my lack of speed would have let me break 46 minutes.

October 2019- High Bridge 50k. 4:36. Ran without a gps. The 8:51 overall pace felt fairly comfortable and I never walked. I could have definitely dipped under 4:30 if I knew what pace I was running, but likely would not have reached my 4:22 from the previous year (which was still 24 minutes slower than my 50k trail pr).

November 2019- The Richmond Marathon t-rex. Yes, I ran the entire FULL marathon in an inflatable t-rex costume. Logistically and physically very demanding, but worth it. My time of 4:15:03 was nearly two hours faster than the only other recorded full marathon run in the same costume.

(photo credit: Richmond Times Dispatch)

(photo credit: Richmond Times Dispatch)

February 2020- Icy 8 Hour Trail Run. Every year I've run this event, I have run less than the previous year. In 2009, I won the innaugural event with 50.3 miles. I ran 48.9 miles in 2012 for 2nd place and then 47.5 in 2013 for 4th. This year my small victory was just that I showed up and completed at least a 50k. I ran a controlled 28.5 miles in 4:50 followed by walking a final 4.7 mile cool down loop to finish 32.9 miles in 6:10. I volunteered in 2019, but it was nice to come back as a participant for the first time in seven years. I also become the first person to have run this event in three different decades.

February 2020- Sugar Hollow Bridges 10k. Signed up the day before and regretted it the moment I showed up. 30 degrees with a wind chill in the low 20's and light snow drifting over the Crozet mountains. My A goal was to break 46 minutes, which would have been nearly a minute faster than my 10k six months ago. My B goal was to break 45 minutes, which I hadn't done in three years, which seemed like a long shot. The end result was a pleasantly surprising 43:45. The course is a gradual uphill 5k, turning around with a gradual downhill 5k. Thanks to a fairly controlled first 5k, I left enough in the tank to really hit the downhill with a decent effort. While this was still well off a 10k pr, it was 30 seconds per mile faster than my last 10k (7:03 pace vs 7:33).

What's next?

Qulifying for Boston 2022. I BQ'ed in 2015, only to miss the acceptance cut-off by 6 seconds. I've now waited five years, and you bet your ass I've been itching to give a BQ another attempt. After a long layoff, I finally think my running fitness is turning in the right direction for it to be a possibility this fall. The one catch, five years ago my qualifying time was a 3:10 and now it is.....still....a 3:10 since the BAA once again lowered the standards two years ago. On the bright side, if I go sub 3:10, there is, knock on wood, a 100% of getting entry in Boston, as opposed to maybe getting in with a time 2:03 under the qualifying mark.

But, while I am already working to get that sub 3:10 leg speed back, I am doing several spring ultras to build up my core endurance. This spring will mark a long awaited return to trail and mountain ultras after really only doing flatter loop styled fixed time events much of the past three years. I will also be closing in on my 150th marathon, or longer, event with the Terrapin Mountain50k being number 149 and the Bull Run 50 miler being the big number 150. Bull Run being number 150 is fitting, since a Virginia Happy Trails event was also where my 50th marathon/ultra took place in July 2010. After that, I will likely cap off April by returning to the Promise Land 50k. Perhaps with the residual build up of endurance from the spring races, I may attempt a summer 100 miler (though not Old Dominion as it falls on my parent's 50th anniversary) before turning exclusively to fall marathon training in late July or August.

Well, whew! That was the quick recap of the long three year gap between posts, but I am hoping to be back semi-regularly with not as fast as before race reports, but reports none the less.

Happy trails and happy running in 2020.

-Mike Bailey