Train On The Same Surface You Will Race On

A question that I often see from newer ultrarunners  preparing to do some trail race is "Should I get some trail running in prior to this trail race?"

The answer is absolutely yes!  If you don't you could be and for a rude awakening on race day. 

Different surfaces use different types of muscles and if you're training on pavement or the sidewalk every day and then go try to run a tough trail race there's a good chance that you won't get the results you are looking for.  Different terrain like rocks, sand, and hills impacts your running.

Even if you don't live close to the course you will be racing on you can almost always find a little bit of something suitable to run on.  When training for the 100% trail Lake 2 Ocean 100K that is full of mud, water, and sand, I found a park close to my house that had an 8 mile trail loop with enough sand to make things interesting.  It was not exactly like the course but it got me ready.  I did several hard workouts on the trail and made a point to get there at least once a week.

It paid off because I ended up placing 5th and getting the best time I've had at the race!

The same thing applies if you're training for road.  Trails are fun, but they don't help you get fast for road races. After the trail 100K, I switched focus to the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and the Daytona 100 the back half of the year.  Most of my runs were on road and at a faster pace than they would be for trail race.  There are different physical challenges on the roads.  While a road 100 mile might be easier theoretically than a trail marathon, the surface is much harder and there's a lot more pounding so you have different things to worry about more along the lines of repetitive use injuries.  The amount of cushion in my shoes made a huge difference in the back half of the Daytona 100.

I got PRs in both road races as well, 3:29 at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and 20:54 at Daytona100.

I would still run trails occasionally but on an easy or recovery day just to get away from the pounding but most of my runs and hard workouts were on the same surface that I would be racing.  

Let me know what you are racing and and where, it's a small community it would be great to see you all out at some of the races!

2017 JW Corbett 50K

I've run the JW Corbett 50 aka "The Easiest 50 in Florida" twice before.  The first time I got a big fat DNF in the 50 miler, the second time got a personal worst in the 50K.  After deciding not to do any ultras in 2017 then receiving an invite to run the Lake 2 Ocean 100K in June, Corbett seemed like the right thing to do as the longest run leading up to L2O.  Rewinding a bit, in 2016 I ended up spraining my ankle pretty bad at the skatepark with my kids, which ended all racing after October.  After taking a 4 month running break, it was time to get back and see how things would work.  In March, I started with a new coach and got back into running some.  While injured, I had been doing some strength training at my Crossfit gym, but bypassed the normal classes for non-impact workouts, and when feeling stronger, began to add some deadlifting, rope climbing and other things in because I had also signed up for and did a really short Spartan Race in March.



The race plan was to go out easy for a while, and then find a comfortable but runnable pace, and see how long I could hang on there.  At the start, I went out at the very back of the pack and did a run walk keeping the heart rate very low for the first 5 miles to the un-manned aid station.  After that it popped in my head that this is a race and I should treat it like one, and actually see what type of shape I was in for L2O, so started running.  The comfortable but not dying pace turned out to be around 9:40, and I ended up maintaining that through the turnarount point.  I started to catch some people and the race leader passed me on the way back about 3 miles before the halfway point and was flying.


At the halfway point I caught up with one of my buddies who we had a friendly pre-race banter back and forth and he flew out of the aid station when he saw me pulling in.  After quickly refilling my bottles, I took off heading back to the start.  It began to get hot and I slowed down a bit but still caught my buddy.  He told me he was out of gas, and congratulated me on having a good race so I kept on going.  A few miles up I caught up with another runner who usually kills me at about every race.  It's not that she kills me, it's that I go out faster, and later on blow up, and she passes me on the trail half passed out.  We ran together for a bit, and I tried to pick it up a little more and eventually got past her.  The same thing happened with a few other runners.  I'd catch them, and settle in to a 9:30-9:40 and they'd fall back eventually.

About mile 26 I caught up with these 2 guys and was running with them for a bit, and they told me to go ahead, so I passed, and one of them just wouldn't leave and it seemed impossible to drop him.  It was getting hotter, and I decided I was going to keep it under 9:40 for that mile, and was running and when my watch split went off, I took a short walk break to look back and he had dropped back by about 30 yards and was walking.  At this point I figured if he saw me walking he'd just take off and drop me so I ran until I was well out of site, took about 10 steps to catch my breath and ran some more.  Finally felt like I caught a break for a second!


At mile 29 I caught up with the guy who was leading the race when he came past me prior to the halfway point.  I saw him up ahead walking, and I didn't realize that he blew up and was in really bad shape.  I took a second to pull myself together and then passed him again at a pretty good pace worried that he would just take off and drop me if he sensed any weakness.  It was at this point in the race that I realized there was only one male in front of me.  As is common in Florida ultras, there were 3 fast females who got 1st-3rd place.  I really didn't care about catching the girls but thought if the previous race leader blew up, maybe the other guy was having a rough time as well, so I tried to push it hard going in, but began getting some cramping in my right calf from kicking a small stump, so slowed down a bit and just tried to get in a reasonable time without anyone passing.

I finally ended up crossing in a 50K PR for me on a course that is a non-PR type course and had one of the better races that I've had to date.

Countdown to Badwater 135

Ultras for me started in 2014, except for that one anomaly that happened in 1999, where I ran a trail 50K on a whim with some buddies in the military, which means there's an ultrasignup result with my name on it from 2 decades ago, but that's a different story for a different day.  In 2014, there was alot going on.  I was and still am in the middle of building a technology startup running all over the country and going through a divorce, and trying to keep everything together and remain partially sane.  Long runs were the perfect thing to come along.  During that time there was a 3 part documentary that came on Uverse about the Badwater 135 and I literally watched the thing probably 50 or 60 times.  Yes I may have an addictive personality, but there are definitely worse things to do than watch and obsess over a documentary over, and over, and over...
I'm not yet running the race, but will be crewing my friend Jodi this year, who is doing it for her 3rd time.  It's part of the long term plan and crewing is one of the paths to get to the race some day.  I don't see myself winning the Keys100 and gaining an automatic entry, but I do plan on toeing the line one of these days.  It will be great to see old friends and make new ones out there and I can't wait to see what this adventure brings.

Skydive Ultra 26-29 January 2017

I think the first year of the race was 2013 and it was a social event called "Drop and Give me 50", where Eric Friedman, RD, Skydive addict, and founder of the FUR Florida Ultrarunners Facebook group which is 3000 members strong decided to get some friends together, jump, then run 50 miles.  It then became "Ultrasignup Official" in 2014, which is the first year I went out there to volunteer after a DNF at my first 100 attempt two weeks prior.  This race is like a family reunion for Florida Ultra Runners and being centrally located in Clewiston, people from all over the state show up to run, volunteer, and just hang out with friends.  Although a "local hangout" type race, due to the unique factor of having a skydive right before running anything from a 10K to 200 Miles, it has been getting a ton of people escaping the winter to see what the Florida Ultra scene is all about.

The course:

Right when you pull into the Skydive Spaceland Clewiston which is also the Clewiston Airport, you see the aid station for the halfway point of the 7.5 mile loop course.  The first part is actually at 3 miles, and the second part of the course is 4.5 miles.  The only reason I'm making that point is that people like the 3 miles MUCH more than the 4.5 miles of the back part of the course. More on that in a moment.
When you drive to the start finish area, there is a huge square field and a road that goes around it.  The start/finish is right next to the hangar and airport office where there is activity and skydives all day.  There is always a DJ and music pumping and also it's set up like pit row, where the runners come through and stop by the aid station always has bacon, and is almost always manned with seasoned ultra runners.

View of runner pit row from the hangar entrance

When the runners depart, they go down the road and make a right out into the sugar cane fields for the first 3 mile section.  It is basically dirt roads at that point with some rocks and very runnable.  You end up out by the highway on a levee separated from the road with a large canal as you are heading towards the aid station.  This section is also runnable but not level by any means, and it can wreak havoc on your ankles after loop after loop.

Garmin course view

You then arrive at the halfway aid station, that for the past few years has been manned by another ultra race director, and local kids from her town who participate in the kids outdoor camp that she runs.  They have the aid station on lock down and are attending to every need of every runner.  It's a great spot for crew also because they can drive out from the start finish, park and hand off things as needed.

Halfway Point Aid Statiom

Departing the aid station, there is a large lake on your left and the same canal and highway on your right.  There was an alligator chilling out about 25 feet off the shore near the aid station, and the only people who were worried were the out of towners.  After about a mile you make a left and run a long straight section for about another mile then start making your way back towards the airport.  Somewhere in this section is where you turn left and end up on very soft sugar sand, that is a fine mixture of sand and clay.  What's special about this is that when it's dry, it soft and slows you down, but when it's wet, it turns into mud and sticks to everything and slows you down.  Super fun!  You finally get past that, back onto a grassy trail, then hit the road for about 3/4 of a mile back to the start, but not before feeling like your life has just been sucked away.

Miscellaneous ramblings:

Weather was great for most of the race.  Florida folks were cold and bundled up like eskimos, and everyone from up north was dying from the heat.  The weather was perfect, until it wasnt... The rain came. 2-3 AM the drizzle started, then it got bad around 5-6AM on Sunday and it was just miserable.  There is a 24 hour walmart about 10 minutes away and  Jake and I almost cleaned them out of ponchos and hand warmers to give out.  People were very appreciative hopefully it helped save someone's race!

I had planned on pacing a friend doing the 150 and also offered pacing up to a couple of folks from out of town who didn't have a pacer.  I was crashing in my car at 2AM and there was a knock on my window.  Kristen the aid station caption told me that my runner was there and was asking for a pacer.  I geared up and paced the gentleman for 18.5 miles.  His name was Adam from NY and he ran like a boss, and after showing up at the HURT ultramarathon in Hawaii having to drop early because of a stomach flu, came out to Florida, and ended up with 3rd place in the 100 miler.  I was thankful that we made it in what seemed like moments before the entire sky opened up.

3rd place... Sub 24 buckle.  One. Bad. Man!

There were a number of people who got their first 100 mile buckle after several attempts.  Some of them had GREAT races.

Tony Mehta and Marcus Casiano both got their first buckles this weekend!

I want that crew when I race next!  Dusty had him on lock every time I saw him.

Dave Krupski, 200 Mile Winner, Sally Libonati 200 Mile first female 2nd overall: Both of them are just ridiculous and looked strong every time I saw them.  There are no words to describe what they did this weekend.  Pure insanity!

Cortland Wheeler, 150 Mile Winner: This time last year I paced him to his first 100 after he was having a little rough patch.  Since then He's won 100 mile races and absolutely become an ultra beast!

Dave Yancey, 150 Mile Second Place:  David and I worked the aid station at this race the first time I was here in 2014 all weekend long.  He was a consistent machine and seems to get faster and stronger with every race.

There were multiple reported sightings of a large cat, with a head about close to hip high on a relatively tall dude.  I thought he might have been seeing things, but 5 minutes later some other lady came in and said she saw a very large cat out there that was hissing at them.  That would have freaked me out if I was solo running at night!  Also heard that there was a bear sighting.  For you out of towners, be lucky it was cold, usually you get rattlesnakes too!

I think that's about it for now, it was so wonderful to see all my ultra friends and make some new ones this year.  I plan on jumping and toeing the line for some distance next year for sure!

In the meantime, I'll see you guys at the Dunes 100 on February 25th!

JW Corbett 50K 25 April 2015 Ball don't lie, and neither do training logs... and race results

Keeping this one short to avoid what has been happening with the past few entries, they stay in draft format never seeing the light of day.  Just did the JW Corbett 50K, which is the same race that gave me a nice big DNF this time last year.  The course was well marked, I had run it multiple times before the race, the conditions were nice, and the bottom line is I just didn't train properly and ended up starting the race fatigued perhaps.

Just arrived at the finish line getting checked in after a long day.

Looking back at training logs always brings a nice dose of reality back into focus.  In my mind I took all of February off of running after a 100K (Croom Zoom) and 50 Miler (Skydive Ultra) in January and slowly ramped mileage back up in march.  In reality it was more like 2 weeks off, then ran a couple hard runs that really killed me, so took off another week then jumped back into some 50-75 mile weeks with a few shorter weeks in between.

There was a duplicate on top so the 90.8 is really about 76M

There were 2 runs over 30 miles one on the 50K Corbett trail course almost completely unsupported, 4 runs in the 15-20 mile range, a few in the 10-15 range including some trail repeats and a half marathon.  Pepper in normal short runs and I think I was just a little too cooked.  Some people can handle that, and it looks like I'm not one of them.

On the positive side of the race: The first half of the race, I was able to go slow and easy, keeping my heart rate below 140, and the plan was to start pushing harder the second half.  No major spikes.  I was able to finish the race without getting lost unlike last year.  The course was wonderfully dry and almost "too easy" according to the race director for the L2O race.  What made up for the dry course was the heat, it was 90 degrees out, which in the big scheme of things, isn't too horrible, it could have been 95, like it was the next day.

The bad news is that after 2 harder miles on the way back I was out of gas.  It ended up being around 10 hours, not sure the official time but definitely a personal worst for a 50K, and I wasn't DFL.  It was a tough race and out of all the 50 mile starters, I think there were 20 or so, only 4 finished and I was very happy "only" to be doing the 50K.

The above video is about 3 weeks prior to the race.  A large chunk of the course was under water.  That section was still there but it was very runnable on race day!

Getting kicked out of the FUR Aid Station that was manned by FUC-ASSes... (entire other topic for that one!)

Post race with friends and an ultra-baby!  

When looking at my training logs over the last month or so leading up to the race, that's when "Ball Don't Lie" popped into my head.  Training logs don't lie and if you deserve to do poorly because how you trained, then you will do poorly :) There are some changes that should have been made and some silly choices for training runs, but that's what we call experience.  Next up is Lake 2 Ocean again in June, which during the race, I was sure that I was going to pull out because of being in such "horrible" shape but 24 hours later feeling a little more optimistic and starting to see why this one went a little south.  The intent for Corbett was to be a training run for L2O and it was a good wake up call and preparation.  It sure woke me up, and time to figure out the next 6 weeks to avoid a similar issue on a longer race.  Until next time...

8 November Wine and Dine Half Marathon aka Tutu Time

Well, it was a fun race last night at my first Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon, but it didn't go quite as expected.  Ended up with slower time than hoped for and can't can't blame the corral start location.  When registering for the race you can submit a verifiable half marathon time which would have put me in corral B.  I did that, but the mistake was accidentally typing 2:45 as the expected finish time instead of 1:45.  That landed me back in Corral "I", or as the t-shirt in the expo that my friends sent me a picture of...

They actually have t-shirts about corral location?  Yep!

The race started at 10PM and my buddy and I drove up in the morning, walked around the expo for a while, then went to Downtown Disney and met some of our other WeBe Running friends for lunch who got there Friday afternoon.  We then went to the hotel, checked in and grabbed a quick nap, because it was going to be a long night!

We arrived at the race site about 7:30 and did the bag check, saw some other friends there and eventually made our way into the corrals.  It turns out that there were about 14,000 runners signed up for the half marathon.  The weather was perfect at first, in the 60s with no rain and even when the rain started it wasn't a bad night to run.  It was pretty neat when each of the starting corrals began, they shot off fireworks, so people who started farther back got to see the fireworks several times and they were playing musing and pumping up the crowd.

Each corral got fireworks when they started.

It rained for the duration of the race at a pretty steady clip, but never really a downpour so it wasn't too bad.  My goal was to keep the pace as close to 8 minute miles as possible and speed up the second half of the race but that didn't happen.  It was very crowded at first and I was running in the grass and on the edge of the street passing a bunch of people.  The goal was not to get passed because I was starting so far back, and it was working but some dude passed me at about mile 2 and there was no way I could keep up with him, but I actually caught and passed him around mile 8  :)  Even though I was passing people it was a struggle to go fast at all, I just had no energy or kick.  The splits were in the 9:00 range and my legs couldn't go much faster.  It usually takes a bit to get warmed up, but the only sub 8 minute miles were miles 10 and 11 and they were just barely under 8 minutes.

The poncho was a lifesaver waiting for the start of the race!

The course left Disney's Wide World of Sports, then went through Animal Kingom and MGM Studios.  There were tons of volunteers encouraging people in the rain and handing out powerade and water.  There were Disney characters along the course that you could stop and take pictures with if you chose to do so.  At the end of the course at Epcot there were loads of cheering people and when you crossed the finish line they gave you a really cool medal.

After the race was over, the temperature dropped a bit more and the rain continued so it did put a little bit of a damper on the after party at Epcot, especially for people who traveled from out of state for the event.  We did enjoy some of the food and rode Mission Space, the boat ride in the Mexico section, and Soarin, so it was a good time although damp and chilly!

As far as the race goes there were 2 big mistakes leading up to it and they were both tactical and both in the last week of training.  They were both completely stupid and unnecessary, but you live and learn.  They won't happen again and I'm sure I'll make other mistakes to learn more lessons from!

Mistake 1: I didn't follow my plan.  I found a plan online that seemed to work with my pace, schedule, goals, and cross training efforts.  The plan called for the last long run to be Saturday before the half marathon, which I did.  It was a solid run averaging below an 8 minute mile pace for 11 miles, but was a little bit tired at the end.  That would have been fine had that been the last long run.

For some unknown and stupid reason I decided to run 9 more miles Monday and push it the last couple of miles, then do a some 400 meter repeats on Wednesday.  The only thing the plan called for was a short 30 minute tempo run on Tuesday.
 
I was out of completely out of gas on Monday after that run.  The repeats for this training round have been at a 6:18 pace on a treadmill, maintaining good form and have been doing up to 10 with no issues.  On Wednesday I was struggling to maintain good running form just with 4 repeats so stopped.  It was at that point I felt I had made a mistake and would pay the price on Saturday.

Lesson learned: Follow your plan.  If you are using the Jack Daniels Plan, or Hal Higdon, or Galloway, or whatever, don't deviate at the very end.  If you are paying a coach to train you, and you deviate from your coaches plan, you are probably wasting your money and your coaches time.  Don't do that!

Mistake 2: Don't walk around all day if you are doing a night run.  Sometimes you can't help it with the schedule, but between parking far away from the running expo and Downtown Disney and walking around to and from hotels it was just too much.

Lesson learned:  If possible I will get there the day before, or just chill out and skip the 3-5 miles of walking took place prior to the race.  The walking around likely burned off some of the energy that should have been used for the race.

Final outcome: The time was 1:51 and the goal time was between 1:35 and 1:45.  The fun part was that if I hit my fast goal time, my buddy had to wear a tutu in an upcoming race, and if I didn't get less than 1:45, I would be the one stuck in the tutu.  As a result, I'll be pacing the Coral Springs half marathon in a tutu... should be fun, for everyone else that is ;)

Which one do you like?

Next year I will be back hoping for not only a faster time, but better weather and a non cold and wet after party.  On a positive note, since Sunday is my diet cheat day we were able to have a nice breakfast on the way home....

There aren't enough of these in my area!

Next weekend I'll be pacing a friend for the second half of her first 100 at Wild Sebastian and up next for me is 50 at the Skydive Ultramarathon at the end of January.  Hope to see you at one of those events and now it's time to bump up the mileage a little bit!  Until next time...

San Lorenzo River 50K 21 June 2014

Last year I went to the bay area probably 15 times for work and not once stayed the weekend.  My co-worker and I were out there for a project and ended up having to stay into the next week.  What else is there to do besides find a local trail run?  After a quick search online the San Lorenzo River 50K made the most sense.  It was in Santa Cruz about 45 minutes away from San Jose where we were staying.  We drove out there and my buddy stayed for the start of the race, then decided it would be more fun to go down to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and ride the roller coasters while Florida boy learned what hills were, and these aren't even big hills, but much more than the old dumps and overpasses that we run in back home in South Florida.

My co-worker and chauffeur home before the race started.

The course was absolutely beautiful compared to anything I've run on before. 5100 feet of elevation gain in for the 50K and it was 60% single track, 40% dirt road.  The race was extremely well run, the race director was great, and everyone was friendly as is normal for the course for all the ultra runs I've done thus far.

From what people were telling me they filmed the old vampire movie "The Lost Boys" with Kiefer Sutherland all around there.  The humongous redwood trees were absolutely beautiful and I should have taken more pictures especially in the woods.  It started out in the 60 degree range and didn't get up past the 70's and the humidity was non existent compared to the muck we have in Florida around that time of year.

I was a little worried when the race started and was single track switch backs up the mountain for a while, but then it leveled out some.  You had to walk at first because there were so many people on the trail, then it opened up into some fields, then into the deep redwood forests.  There was a river the San Lorenzo River that you crossed 4 times during the 50K.  It was about 20 yards wide at the crossing and not too deep.  You definitely couldn't run through it, but you could walk across.  There were people who were taking off their shoes to cross, which I thought was a little bit of a waste of time especially after the wet running we've been doing back home.

After the crossing the trail went up and steep for what seemed like forever then back down a and around to the turn around for the half marathon.  The 50K folks had an additional little piece to do that went up to the top of another hill in the area.  After doing Wild Sebastian Marathon (and 50 and 75 and 100 Mile) back in the spring I thought I was done with the sugar sand.

You can tell by the look on my face I wasn't expecting to be running in sugar sand along with the almost mile of gain...

  

I felt like it was unfair and just mean that someone would bring the sand from Wild Sebastian and put it up on top of a mountain.  At the turnaround you had to grab a colored rubber band so they would know you made it up and back.

I think my only goal there was to not completely embarrass all the Florida Ultra Runners by falling apart in the hills.  The final result was 16th overall out of 40 something starters and 37 finishers.  The only bad part about the race was that I usually wear a compression shirt to avoid chafing, and didn't think to apply band aids, and I ruined my favorite shirt.  Yes, ouch!

If I happen to be in the area next year I will definitely try and stay the weekend again and do this race or any of the Coastal Trail Runs, it was a really fun day!