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!

Lake 2 Ocean 100K 7 June 2014

In the last blog post about the JW Corbett 50 Miler that ended up being a DNF, I mentioned being on the waiting list for a 100K on the same course.  Well the race director sent me a note and I was able to gain an entry into the first annual Lake 2 Ocean 100K.  The trail run that started in Port Mayaka, Florida on the east side of Lake Okechobee and ran point to point to Hobe Sound Beach.  After the disaster that happened on the previous 50 mile event along the same course, I really wanted to make sure that I had run the entire course prior to the actual race.  Over a few weekends, a group of us went and ran different sections of the course to reduce the chance of getting lost like last time to familiarize ourselves with the entire course.

There was a requirement for each runner to have their own crew so one of my good ultra-friends crewed for the run.  The starting point was in a small parking lot by the lake, and the runners then crossed a road, went over a fence, and on to single track trail.  The crew access areas were between 6 and 14 miles apart for the runners, but because of the remote locations for Florida, it took the crew a good 45 minutes to caravan from one station to the next at times.  I honestly believe that the crew had more fun hanging out and waiting for the runners to come through than the runners had on the course!

Most of the people in the race are members of the Florida Ultra Runner (FUR) Facebook group, and the race turned into a little bit of an East Coast vs. West Coast (of Florida) competition complete with old school east and west coast rap references and perhaps a couple of mildly inappropriate pictures posted on the Facebook event page.  The West Coast folks even had t-shirts made so they definitely won the team spirit award!

The race was also stacked with talent.  There were 3 or 4 race directors of other Florida ultras and the only 3 folks who finished the 200 miles at the crazy Wickham Park Marathon run a week and a half prior where the prize for the 100 mile male and female winners are fake pebbles, and the 200 mile winner gets a fake rock...

The race was close enough to home that we could get there without having to get a hotel room the night before.  We rolled up to the packed parking at 5:30 in the morning to hear Snoop Dog and other various west coast rap artists being played loudly in the parking lot.  After greeting friends and meeting a few new ones it was time to get going.  The race director had a pre-race meeting to talk about the course and safety issues.  It was required that all the runners carry a whistle in case they got off course.  If you got lost, you were to blow your whistle 3 times.  Anyone within earshot was supposed to blow their whistle one time in response, and then you could find each other out on the trail.  There were rumors of a recent runner getting lost out there and then found at 11:00PM up in a tree in a deer stand he found and where he figured he would have to hunker down for the evening until the sun came up the next day.  I definitely understood after getting lost on the course the last time I ran it, and was relieved to have ran the entire course over the last month or so.

After the safety briefing, the race got started and we were off.  The plan was to push a little harder on the easier course sections, and take it easy on the wet and hard sections, which were mile 20-30 (wet) and 50-60 (sandy+hills).  The biggest areas of concern were mainly the wet section followed by the longer sections without aid due to the heat.  The temperature got up to the mid 90's and the heat index was even hotter.

The first section of the course was relatively easy running with conversation and groups together.  There was a spot that was a little confusing and you could make a left or right.  When a group of us got to that intersection, we actually heard someone sound their whistle 3 times.  A couple of us sounded back but no response.  I hung back for a few minutes, and then saw a couple of other runners headed my direction who had run the course before.  If the person sounded again, they could pick him or her up.  Turns out that one of the runners got off course and ended up back at the starting point.

 The first crew area was 14 miles in.  Aside from a whistle and a crew, there was a requirement to carry between 70 and 100 ounces of water due to the heat and distance between crew access.  After running out of water on the first section I was very happy to get to the crew spot.

The next 7 miles to the crew spot was relatively uneventful, no major issues except that it was getting hotter out. The biggest mistake of the race for me was not taking in enough water at the first and second aid stations because of the heat.

I rolled out of the second crew area for a 9 mile run which had some water, and it was the section that had me worried the most.  The water wasn't too horrible but it was there, and this time no water moccasins.

 About 2 miles before reaching the 30 mile mark and main crew area at JW Corbett Wildlife Management Area, I had to stop, stretch, and take a rest on the trail and about 5 people passed me.  Arriving at the crew area was a huge relief.  I took a long break there to rehydrate and gather myself.  A couple of people had gotten off course and ended up passing the spot all together, and others had dropped there.

After a good half hour at the crew area it was time to head out.  I was able to pick up the pace for a while to get to the next two stops.  15 miles later we passed through Riverbend Park and arrived at a crew stop.  It was time to bring out the headlamp, and get ready for the last section because it was starting to get dark.  A few people had recently left the crew area so I was going to try and catch them.

For a comparison, the my last 100K trail time was 12:37 and if not for a few minor fueling errors it could have been closer to a sub 12 hour 100K.  The finish time for this one was exactly 4 hours longer, 16:37.  It was about 65 degrees warmer and the heat and humidity took it's toll.

To sum it up it was the hardest race for me to date and I was lucky to be one of the 7 official finishers.  The East vs West Coast rivalry was not settled, but next year I'm sure it will be just as fun and we will finally have a winner, I'm calling East Coast as of right now!

Andrew Barret won the race, he's a super fast West Coast guy and here is his amazing report also!

http://www.a2ultra.blogspot.com/2014/06/lake-to-ocean-100k-june-7-2014.html

DNF Report... JW Corbett 50 Mile Trail run

"How much time do I have to get to the next aid station?"  I asked.  The race director looks at me, tells me 2 hours, and asks if I have a headlamp.  One of my way more experienced buddies gave me the “it ain’t happening” look and head shake.

Calculations begin in my head as I walk to the car to grab another pair of shoes, wash the mud and sand out of my feet and get ready to head back out on the trail. 10 miles, 2 hours,  that's just a 12 minute mile, no problem.  Normally.  Only problem is that the last 4 that I just completed miles were 20 minute per mile death marches.

DNF.  Welcome to the JW Corbett 50 Miler!

It's better to be in the game than on the sidelines.  I was hoping to actually do OK in the race.  In February I'd completed my first 100K somehow managing 6th place and had been putting in the long runs every other weekend since then and was looking at this as a way to work on hydration/fueling strategy, and do a nice 50 miler.  Prior to the race I was playing around with time and distance between aid stations and posted a spreadsheet with distance/times between aid stations from 12 minute miles down to 9 minute miles on their Facebook page.  One of the guys who is really fast and runs there regularly said I need to put one out that has 15 minute splits.  Boy was he ever right. 

Should have gone up to 20 minute splits!

The course was 15 miles out and back, followed by 10 miles out and back on part of the Ocean to Lake Trail that goes from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean.  The 50K started at the trail head straight out and back. The 50 mile started with a 1 mile lollipop type loop before hitting the trail head then doing the out and backs.

Course map

I was the second closest to the starting point when we started so I ended up in second place for the first mile.  Once we got done with the lollipop, I pulled over to the side and let the pack pass me because I knew that it was going to be a long day and judging by the looks of the other folks out there I didn't want to be a bother when they passed me on the single track.  There were some really good runners there, some who had finished the Leadville 100 and others I had seen or met at other races previously. 

We are cruising down the single track trail at 70 degrees of a beautiful day for a couple of miles and then things get interesting.  The course opens up and there is about 100-200 yards of water.  Not deep, not too bad, just muddy.  I make it through that and back onto singletrack.  A while later I come up on some friends who are doing the 50K, so far so good.  Hit the second patch of water this time on the single track trail through the woods, about 50 yards or so not bad.  Walking through and see one water moccasin that fortunately heads the other direction.  Pass that water and back onto single track.

Note for people running this race in the future… If you find yourself running on a dirt road for more than say 25 yards, you are probably off course. I think the race director made a comment at one point that if you are looking for an easy 50K or 50M race, this ain't it!  I got off the course 4 times and knew I was off course when I no longer saw footprints or orange course markers.  Let me take that back, when I no longer saw human footprints.  There were plenty of animal footprints when I got off course for sure… mostly hog and small animal tracks probably raccoons, armadillos, etc.

Off course diversions!

I want to make it very clear that it wasn’t that the course was poorly marked. You just had to pay attention to detail and not get distracted.  Get into a conversation, or into a song on headphones (not a good idea for this one), you will get off course.  One of the times I got off course, then back on I caught up with this lady in front of me and she hit the dirt, there were lots  and lots of roots, and just about everyone hit the dirt at one time or another.  I tripped several times but was very lucky not to faceplant.  As I’m talking to her and ask her name, she says, “Jennifer”.  We are friends on Facebook from when I volunteered at the Skydive Ultra in February.  The thing that went through my head was the scene in Top Gun where they are flying with Viper…

Viper: Good morning gentlemen, the temperature is 110 degrees.

Wolfman: Holy shit, it's Viper! Goose: Viper's up here, great. Oh, shit.

Maverick: Great, he's probably saying, "Holy shit, it's Maverick and Goose."
Goose: Yeah, I'm sure he's saying.

Why would I think that?  Well Jennifer is an amazing runner and recently came in second in a 118 mile race beating some of the best runners in the state and top five in a really big 100K.  I immediately felt like I was in over my head!  We chatted a bit and then I think I went on ahead for a while.  I was happy to even be running with someone like that.  I can be competitive in my brain even though I'm not actually competitive...  It’s also one of the things that I really like about ultra-marathons and the community.  Normal people like me get to toe the line with some really good athletes.  Another thing I like about the ultra-marathons is that guys and gals in their 40's and 50's seem to be able to do pretty well and actually win them.  Not that I will ever win one but I can dream about it!

After getting off course and seeing some friends I finally made it to the turnaround point and my GPS said 17.8 miles.  I asked how many people were ahead of me, and only 5 people had come to the aid station.  Many of them had turned around at a sign on the trail that looked like the turnaround sign but actually wasn’t at 13.9 miles.  Kudos to the RD for making a rapid adjustment with the lollipop portion of the course at the end that got people to finish the distance.  He really kept it together when it could have gone really south!

Heading back to the previous aid station I started going along at a pretty good clip for the trail, 11-13 minute mile range, and then just ran out of gas, which seems to be a recurring theme for me.  I think this is where it gets back to my fuel/hydration strategy. 

Prior to the race I went over the Hammer Fueling Handbook (link at bottom of article), which is a series of articles that aside from promoting their own Hammer products, has some great information on the what and how much fuel, water, etc. to take in during a race.  Based on my weight, it recommended 20-25 oz. of water per hour and if you weigh more and its hot more water.  I was carrying two 20oz. handheld bottles one with water and the other with Hammer Perpetuem blended thick that I was planning on using as my calorie intake for the first 30 miles.  The plan was drink a bottle of water per hour, and at the aid stations drink some extra fluids to make up the difference.  It was 90 degrees out and I think the biggest mistake was not drinking enough extra fluids at the aid stations.  I should have downed an extra bottle each time, and taken in a few more calories I think I would have fared better.  I realized I was dehydrated around mile 23 when I went to the restroom and was peeing brown. 

It seemed like forever until the next aid station.  I was passed by a couple of people and Jennifer caught up with me again and I ended up keeping up with her for a couple of miles then slowed down.  She pulled ahead, and not surprisingly would end up one of the people who would finish the 50 mile race.

I pulled up to the unmanned aid station about 4 miles from the start line and had to try and gather myself.  I sat down and stretched, ate, drank, and think I knew at that point I was done, just had to get back to the start/finish.  The last 4 miles wasn’t fun, back through the mud and water this time with blisters, and knowing in the back of my mind that I was done.  Here are a few lessons learned:

1. Pay attention to detail.  Had I focused more and not got off course I believe I would have finished the race.   My GPS when it died shows 29.75 miles and still had 5 miles to go to get back to the start/finish.

2. Hydration strategy was flawed.  I should have been drinking much more water at the aid stations because it was 90 degrees out.

3. Should have planned the footwear strategy a bit better.  I got lots of mud in my shoes and didn’t take it out until about mile 22 and had about 10 blisters total on both feet in different spots.  For scale, the folks in my “normal” running group would probably freak out, but the folks in the ultra-running group wouldn’t really bat an eye and they are just normal blistering for a wet and muddy trail run. 

4. Don’t EVER underestimate the difficulty of a run.  I never imagined that a DNF would happen on a 50 mile race.  That tells me I should have taken it way more seriously and will definitely pay better attention next time.

5. I will prepare better before taking this on next year for sure!

It was great to participate in this event, and I love seeing my friends in the Florida Ultra Runner community.  Christian the Race Director did a phenomenal job.  If you are interested in a challenging, beautiful, different, swampy race you should definitely do this one! There is another one called Lake 2 Ocean 100K which crosses the course that we ran this past weekend but as of right now is sold out and has a wait list.  I think I’m number 6!

One mile in of what was a long day!

http://jwcorbett50.com/

http://www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/fuelinghandbook.pdf

Dear Hoka One One....

I love you.

You complete my feet.

Even though you didn't last very long the first time and I had to get a new pair of you, 

I still love you.

That is all.

Love,

My ankles

First overnight training run

This weekend we had planned on running 26 miles on the Broward Levee on Saturday with friends. On Thursday prior, the weather forecast went from 60% chance of rain to 100% chance so we cancelled.  Of course shortly after cancelling the report went down to 20% chance of rain and there were just a few sprinkles.

Now with no running plans I get the brilliant idea to run home from work in South Miami to the far end of North Broward or around 60 miles.  I asked my co-worker who lives right down the street to give me a ride in to work, and didn't need a ride home.  The second part of the brilliant idea was to do Bikram Yoga (105 degree yoga) right before the run home.

Well here's what happened and some lessons learned:
Meetings ran late and my ride to yoga had to leave so I decided to run 6 miles to the studio.  Did about a 9:10 pace and got there literally 5 minutes prior to class starting.  No time to catch my breath just straight into the 105 degree room.
It wasn't pretty.  I probably did about 30-40% of the poses and just laid there trying to slow my breathing the rest of the time.
Once class was over, I jumped in a cold shower to regulate my body heat and then hit the road.

Leaving from Coconut Grove running up the bike trail on Federal was nice, and cool, and easy going.  I then went up Brickell Avenue and towards downtown to the Ultra Music Festival.  It was about 10:00 or 10:30 at this point and the people watching was definitely worth running through the crowded streets.  There were people selling T-shirts that said "I heart Molly" and I imagine that there were one or two people in the area who were taking it.

After passing through downtown I ran under 395 and out the venetian causeway to South Beach.  I headed north on Collins and stopped at Primo's cafe and store and met up with another Florida Ultra Runner (FUR is a group on Facebook with 1600 or so Ultra Running folks) named Thomas who happened to be in town for spring break with his family.  He met me around Midnight and ran with me for about 2 hours.  It was nice to have company and  we ran from there to 163rd where he made a left to cross back over the intercoastal and head back to where he was staying.

I started feeling sore in the groin area and one of my ankles and stopped to stretch several times, and even took a 15 or 20 minute break stretching.  After that I started running again and picked up the pace a little but was still feeling pain.

Finally it was time to call it a night.  I stopped at a Marriott, hit the ATM and got a cab to the Tri-Rail station and took the first Tri-Rail from Hollywood to Deerfield Beach and another one of my FUR friends ended up taking me home at 6:45 or so in the morning.

All in all it was 33 miles and an hour and a half of 105 degree yoga which is the heat training I'm doing to get ready for the Keys50 in May.  Here is the RunKeeper map:

Lessons learned:
Don't eat like crap.  The burger at lunch didn't help things at yoga or on the run.  I've done that 2 or 3 times prior to long runs and it bit me in the rear each time.

If you are going to run 6 miles to yoga with no break before class starts, it may not be a good idea to try and run 54 more miles after that.

Perpetuem tastes horrible when there is still a bit of soap in your hydration pack.  I almost threw the thing away.

Aside from only getting 33 miles in, I'm happy that I stayed up all night to get used to the overnight running, and also glad to have done the yoga even though it sucked, and it was awesome to have company in the middle of the night.