Norris Dam Hard 50k 2013

Chances are, if you don't get lost or injured, you will do pretty well at this race. Between the 25k and 50k races there were around 75 participants, more than a handful took a detour, a very small number ate dirt and needed stitches in unmentionable places. I managed to stay upright and avoid getting lost, so I ended up winning in a time of 5hr1min. Not a screaming fast race by any measure, but the course is unrelenting if nothing else.

For those considering running this race I would recommend it, if you're prepared to walk and have the race take a little longer than you expect. With the exception of one section ( photo below the course map) the course is steep and rocky in places but not unsafe. It is well marked and most folks that got lost I think did so because there were course changes this year, not because of lack of flagging. For the number of participants I did seem to here an inordinate amount of carnage stories, but other than the pictured section above I don't know exactly what to attribute that to. Overall, this is a challenging low-key ultra with very enthusiastic volunteers who help make the atmosphere of the race very fun.

New Pack Shakedown

Clingmans Dome-Bone Valley-Cades Cove
2 days 35 miles

Welch Ridge "trail" 

Tenkara fishing on Hazel Creek

Dad trying to maintain dry feet

Dry feet did not last

A steep piece of Jenkins Ridge

Spence Field

Tested out an exciting piece of gear on this trip. I picked up a Fluid 12 from Mountain Hardwear a few weeks back. Fully loaded with two days worth of food, water, and gear my pack weight came to twelve pounds even. The pack was perfect for this trip, but anything over three days would probably be outside its range. Eventually I'd like to whittle the overall trail weight to under ten pounds, making incorporating a little running into these backcountry trips a little more enjoyable. .

Back At It

April 9th I left work on my bicycle and headed South on US 441. It was a perfectly warm day, with wildflowers lining the road, and little to know traffic due to time of day, year, and the fact that US 441 was closed past Newfound Gap. Caitlin had engagements with friends, I had engagements with my bicycle and then the brewery.

I think about this ride a lot because the 15 miles I rode up to Newfound Gap were some of the longest miles of my life. Time was at a near stand still. I reached an empty parking lot at the Gap, save one other cyclist. We shot the bull and then rode down together averaging a speed that rivaled the fastest I've ever gone on my bike.

And the pace has been relentless since then. After a lost round of trivia at the brewery, I checked my phone and realized I had a missed call or two (phones are not allowed at trivia) from Caitlin. A weekly pregnancy check up at the doctor ended with the news that she could go into labor at any minute... and that evening she did. Two days later we met Silas Miller Worth.

Day 1

Since that time I've managed to run a little, but I think my training has been more specific to maybe running  barkley due to the continual sleep deprivation of raising a newborn. My big goal this summer/fall is to finish  out all the trails in Smokies ( or at least make significant headway). A few of these trips will require nights out so I've been putting together a new overnight setup that I think will allow me to hike and run without being totally weighed down. There are still a bunch of tweaks to be made but I'm shooting for a total of 7-10lbs for pack weight. Hopefully, a few long overnight trips combined with my weekly base miles will allow me to take on a few longer running projects this fall. There are never any guarantees though, especially now, with my energy often being diverted to more people and things than I'm accustomed to. At the moment, any day I can sneak in even the shortest of runs is a good day.

Hanging out w/ Grandad at 9 weeks old

Biltmore Marathon Race Report

I remember signing up for this race on a rainy early winter day in December after a six week break from running, eager to get going again. A home purchase, job change, and the pending birth of Caitlin and I's first child might of also had something to do with it. In short, I was freakin' out man and needed a part of my old life back. Inspired by Schwenk's successful efforts with his 1st marathon, I craved the simplicity of marathon training. I wrote up a training plan. Which was mostly... Wake-up. Run. Sometimes long, sometimes fast. A daily routine that makes the rest of whatever comes down the pike day to day a little easier to deal with.

Fast forward to race day, a cold snowy March morning on the Biltmore grounds. I'm getting geared up outside my car listening to The Gambler on the radio. A runner again. I'm feeling confident in a low or sub 3hr finish time. Mostly due to some recent early season 5 and 10k races that have gone much better than expected. Training has been adequate, but not perfect, primarily due to a cranky left foot and only one twenty plus mile long run. Low volume training for a marathon, but I tell myself that doesn't matter because I've got a few years of ultras and high volume running under my belt. In my mind I'm visualizing the last miles of the days race , picturing myself relaxed and fast; mostly just trying not to get too caught up with pre race anxiety.

The race is delayed to 7:15, and we finally take off eager to generate some body heat. It's predictable early on. A pack of about 5 front runners, a pack of 5 chasing the front runners. We spread out by mile 6 and I'm on the tail end of the front runners. Mile 11 the guy in sixth position steps to the porta-john and I move up a spot. Mostly alone, feeling good. I hit the 13.1 mark in 1:28:00, perfect for maybe dropping the hammer on the final flat miles and gaining a position or two late. My quads are a little fatigued, but no more than I'd expect. I have mentioned that it was cold, but not how much. Temps were low 20's with the wind chill somewhere in the low teens. With that being said, the only guess for what happened next is maybe mild hypothermia. Near mile 16, I zombie ran off the course by about a quarter of a mile. I stood confused and disgusted at a gravel cul de sac a few moments and decide there is nowhere to go but back. Positions 7 and 8 had just passed me prior to getting off track, position nine scooted by as I retook the course. Things were going to hell. My left foot started aching, then I started to favor it heavily, and then in some sort of spiral effect my right butt cheek and hip felt like it was being ripped off. I also realized I couldn't feel fingers or toes. I've been in bad spots before, I told myself to keep digging, knowing eventually I'd come out on the other side. But I never did.

Near mile 19 you get funneled back in with runners only a few miles behind. They ran by me like I was some lost walker just getting in their way. A guy in an angry birds beanie, old guys, women... all of which I ate their dust. This is when I decided to just endure the cold, slow down, and have as much fun as I could. The rest of the run I treated like any other day, not a race. I congratulated and rooted for people when they passed, shot the breeze with aid station volunteers. Stopped and ate numerous aid stations cookies.

How it looks on paper

Eventually I crossed the finish line in 3:30, not feeling any of the normal accomplishment or excitement that usually accompanies finishing a race of this distance. My only feelings were ones of relief that it was over and that I didn't have to take the shuttle back to the start. So to say this was no glorious return to the world of marathoning would be a gross understatement. What I will say about this race is that it reminded me that running can always surprise you, no matter how much or for how long you've been doing it. That what you think will be routine may, for better or worse, be nothing at all like what you expect. It's exciting to know that every time you toe the line at a race you may be in for a dose of either agony or nirvana.

What a day

More photos at Carolina Snapshot

Straw Plains 10k Race Recap: The importance of pacing

This race served as a final fitness test and speed building session for the upcoming Biltmore Marathon on March 3rd. My goals for the 10k weren't linked to a specific placement or finish time, but were focused on running equal or negative splits for the entirety of the race, meaning running the same speed or getting faster throughout the race. As a general rule, you will run your best time if you have paced yourself  to maintain the same speed or increase it slightly during a high intensity run, i.e, race. This sounds easy, but it is really hard to do, especially if you're like me and get really caught up in racing the people around you early on instead of racing within your means.

Picking a pace isn't especially easy either. To make the process smoother I used the race times predictor from runners world, a tool that can fairly accurately predict your race time based on other recent races. Based on my most recent race, a 17:52 5k on new years day, my predicted pace came out to six minutes per mile for the 10k distance. I lowered the pace slightly because my training has gone well since then and no one is really on top of their game on the morning of new years anyway.

Having a plan is good, but actually carrying it out is better. The final piece of the equation was making sure I stayed on pace. To help with this, I set my Garmin to alarm every half mile with the hope of looking down and seeing something in the neighborhood of 2min55sec for every half mile run. Surprisingly, I actually came really close to nailing that time for every half mile split. Here's the feedback from my watch.

My chip time for the race came out to 35:56, placing me 5th overall. Which for a Knoxville Track Club race ain't half bad. The rest of the TN Spine team also fared really well too, in team competition we landed in 2nd for the open division and 3rd for women and co-ed.

Trying not to get chic'd
Photo Credit: Knoxville Track Club

I feel a lot more confident coming out of this race than I did going into it. My overall speed is quite a bit better than I would have guessed at this point in the season. It's also really surprising to see how far a well researched race plan can have on your outcome. Planning can take a little of the spontaneity out of race day, which can be either good or bad depending on your personality, but ultimately helps you run a better race. Devising splits and target paces may not be for everyone, but no one is opposed to running a little faster on race day.

We Run These Streets

10 runners, 4 dogs, and lots of foolishness

This past Wednesday the inaugural Gatlinburg fun-run occurred, which consisted of 4 cold miles and fortunately no injuries or arrests. After appropriate time deductions were applied, Kevin Burke came in 1st place overall with a time of 31 minutes-ish. In the womens division, Caitlin Worth took 1st with a time of 41 minutes, with a generous time deduction for being 6 months pregnant working heavily in her favor.

The initial fun-run was viewed as a success by all, with credit belonging to Ben Lethco and his excellent race director skills. Next weeks course begins at 6:30 in front of NOC Gatlinburg. Fierce competition is again expected, as runners from throughout the East Gatlinburg area will again be vying for the coveted 1st place spot.

An ineffective stop

YOU CANT DO THAT HERE!

A failed attempt at five minute time deduction

Kicking the New Year Off Right-ish

A new years day race seems like a reasonable moderation mechanism for the holidays, until the holidays actually start to happen and the thought of pushing yourself plus all of your indulgences through three miles is supremely unappealing. This year made my second running of Knoxville's new years day 5k, and despite being more than a little worn out from the holiday grind I actually had a really good time. Meaning that I both had fun and ran fast.

I scooted through the course in a personal best time of 17:52. Pr's are always satisfying , but this one was especially so after the year of injuries and inconsistencies that marked most of my running year for 2012. No part of me would have guessed in October, a month where I accumulated a total of 9 miles, that I would set any kind of PR on January 1st.

Through Schwenk's inspiration, I decided to go back to plan based training this year. For the new years day race, I worked through Hal Higdon's Advanced 5k plan. I'll also be using a Higdon plan for the Asheville Marathon in March. Later in the year, I have plans by Matt Fitzgerald that I'll be using for different races. My goal in all this is to see what happens when I train specifically for something, versus running how and when I feel like it, and jumping into races last minute. Also, I'd like to maintain some consistency in my running and avoid another year of the boom and bust cycle.

My general success at this race is also exciting because I'm running for a team this year, Tennessee Spine has assembled a group to compete in KTC's team competition. For our debut we placed second overall, not bad in an environment as competitive as running in Knoxville can be.