My heart, I can hear it beating like an ancient deep-bass ceremonial drum as I slowly move to the top of Pajarito mountain.

One…two…three…four…five steps…stop.

I breathe in deeply and breathe out with even greater intention and force as this seems to reduce my heart’s desire to blow through my rib-cage and escape its physical prison.

One…two…three…four…five steps…stop.

(beep) Glance at my Garmin. Last mile split – one hour.

sh*t

The Jemez Mountain 50 mile was my first race distance above the 50 km in over two years due to a gradual return to the longer distances after having to work through some knee tweak issues. While not the easiest adventure (especially for a flatlander) to test my return to the distance, I was so stoked to get back on the Los Alamos, New Mexico trails after a sweet 50 km adventure last year (race report).

The entire Hanenburg tribe came out this year and I was excited to see them at the Ski Lodge twice (mile 16 and 36) throughout the day.

A couple notes about the course:

• nearly 10,000 feet of gain for the 50 miles
• the entire course dances between 7000 and 10,500 feet
• the 50 mile and 50 km course changed this year due to last year’s wild fires that caused significant damage

Let’s play!

Race morning saw clear skies and mild pre-dawn temps in the low 50s.

After a few brief instruction by RD, Bill Geist, just prior to the 5:00 am start, we scooted for a short pavement section before filing onto the single and double-wide trail. I hung out near the back with no interest in pushing any kind of pace.

The start

Basic plan:

• easy effort through mile 36-40, then reassess if have any go-jo push to the finish
• ~250-300 cals/hr (Hammer gel and Perpetuem Solids), 5 gulps of water every 15 mins, 2+ Endurolytes per hour (starting after the first hour)

 Mile 0 – 16.4 (Ski Lodge) – The Climb up Pajarito

One observation during the early miles…silence. It was a bit strange. Often trail runners are a chatty bunch throughout the early miles. Maybe everyone was thinking about the challenging day ahead or forgot to have their early morning cup of java , but there seemed to be a bit more focus and attention to the task at hand.

Within the first few miles I noticed fellow Texan, Drew Meyer (and 2010 slam finisher!). We chatted periodically throughout these early miles.

The sun was gradually making her presence. The surrounding terrain was put on display.

Beautiful.

You couldn’t help but be grateful for this opportunity.

I had to chuckle to myself as Drew talked about his 70-100 mile training weeks and I my 30 mile training weeks.

Drew and I moving towards Pajarito

A fun little climb in the early miles.

After nine or so miles of gradual grade, plus a couple short and steep descents/climbs, the grind to the top of Pajarito Mountain began. It was also during this time, I enjoyed some good banter with the spunky 63 year old ultra athlete, Bobby Keogh. This dude radiates positive energy!

Up, up, up we went.

I remember Drew mentioning, “How are you able to climb with those skinny legs?!?” I just smiled to myself nor did I have the energy to respond since I was the person leading the three of us up the mountain.

After a 2000+ foot steep, dig-your-heels-in climb, we were sent down an equally steep ski run.

A steep downhill before heading back up (Drew Meyer in front (red) with Bobby Keogh (red/white))

Down, down, down you go.

Then a final 1500 foot march to the highest point of the course before bombing (or surviving) the two descents to the Ski Lodge aid station where I got a great boost of energy from my family.

Descent #1

Coach giving me some tips for the remaining miles.

Nutrition and hydration had been going well but my hands were a little swollen. Increased my Endurolyte intake to the 4-6 per hour…and my hands were normal the rest of the day.

This section was tough but I was still in a happy place.

 Mile 16.4 – 33.2 (Valle Grande) – Into the Caldera

After a fairly relaxed 3-ish mile run over to the Pipeline Aid Station, we drop down into the Valles Caldera National Preserve. On the way to Pipeline I did find a way to stab the front of my shoe with a dagger-like root that stopped me in my tracks and ripped through the top layer of my shoe. Nice.

Time to get ready for a sketchy drop into the Caldera.

Steep. Loose Rock. Fun descent.

This section of the course had the least technicality, flat-ish running, but most exposure to the sun.

It also was extremely beautiful.

One of the cross country sections in the Caldera. Follow the orange flags.

The vastness of the area made me feel like this little speck of dust. It was really a unique experience.

I continued to keep the effort easy and would toss in walk breaks where needed.

Towards the end of this segment, the legs had less and less go-jo which required more and more walking.

Hung out for a few minutes at the Valle Grande aid station (mile 33.2) to try and regroup before the final big climb – the backside of Pajarito mountain.

It was starting to get tough.

Mile 33.2 – 36.7 (Ski Lodge) – Pajarito Mountain’s final challenge

This section was definitely the low point for me.

After a slow cross country hike to Pajarito, it was a seemingly straight-up hike back to near the top starting at 8600 feet and peaking at just under 10,500 feet.

No switchbacks. No trail. Follow the flags.

The sound of my beating heart echoed in my head. I felt like my heart was pumping so strongly that it was pushing on the chest strap of my hydration pack.

Step by step. Breathing was a challenge.

Five steps, then another rest break to settle down my thumping heart.

Tried to turn around and look at the surrounding beauty during a rest break but felt vertigo instead.

Didn’t want to eat or drink.

Maybe I could grab a tree branch on the ground to help support my body on the climb? Not going to happen. Each branch I touched was charred black from the fires and brittle to any stress placed on it.

I was starting to feel like these branches. Charred and brittle.

The mind began to wonder to negative escapes from this challenge…Wendy and the car waiting at the ski lodge. We can escape this uncomfortable and painful madness.

Then I thought about Joe’s recent article on EB and had to laugh at myself…damn him!

I didn’t have a single acceptable reason to quit. None!

After my watch chirped and shared a painful reminder of the last mile (one hour split), I finally reached the highest point of this climb.

I was a bit of a emotional wreck at this point.

Down one steep descent before arriving at the final descent to the lodge.

Is that Wendy and Griffin down at the base waiting? I think it is. They are moving towards me up the hill.

I give a wave. I see nothing in return but “they” keep moving forward up the mountain. It must be them.

I try another wave, and my foot slides out from under me and I land on my backside.

But it’s Wendy and Griffin…Wendy and Griffin.

As I get close to the bottom of the slope I notice it isn’t Wendy or Griffin but a lady with her mountain bike.

Nut case.

At the bottom of the descent, it is a right turn to the ski lodge area. Right then, I hear a voice yelling in the distance, “Go daddy Go!…Go daddy Go….Go daddy go!” My eyes fill with emotion. Griffin had no idea how great that was to hear and he was also extremely enthusiastic in telling me about all the great big fish in the pond at the park in town.

"The fish were sooo big!"

After sharing my ass whoopin’ on the back-side of Pajarito, I walked my way to the aid station and briefly chatted with a dude (Kyle) that was running this event for the first time and was a flatlander from Louisiana. He sounded like he was going to drop. I told him the rest was all “runnable” and the toughest was behind us. That message actually was the spark that reset my mind to refocus on gettin’ it done.

Kyle and I discussing the journey ahead.

I hadn’t ate or drank for the last hour.

Banana, Watermelon, 16 ounces of Coke, Water!

Massage out my calves and legs.

See Kyle regrouping and getting ready.

I grab another flask of gel.

Headlamp. Got it.

A couple quick kisses to the fam, then Kyle, myself, and Marianna of Virginia joined in on the march to the finish.

Mile 36.7 – Finish

Being the only person that has finished a run on this course and being familiar with this final stretch of trail, I felt responsible in making sure they made it to the finish.

We basically had an unspoken strategy to the finish. Run most of the downhill grades, walk  the uphills and flats (if necessary, which they often were).

We make it to Pipeline aid station in good spirits – 11 miles to go!

Another female runner joined us for a short period before moving on. She was moving too strong for us.

A few rollers before arriving at Guaje Ridge aid station – Just over seven miles to the finish. Allen from San Antonio caught us at the aid station and joined our group to the finish.

I was at pole position for most of the miles from Pipeline aid station and once we started running, I would take periodic brief glances back and if someone started walking, we would all shut it down.

Finally arriving at Rendija aid station and two miles from the finish. We all grabbed a bit to eat and drink. I enjoyed a small glass of beer and enjoyed a nice chat with Steve Pero.

The next two miles is mostly an uphill grade, so we powered walked it to the finish, arriving together in 15:35:31!

Marianna, Kyle, and myself (Allen had already left)

Thanks to Bill Geist and all the volunteers for putting on such a great event. It was also great to be with my family and enjoy the area for a few days before their great race day support.

The H-tribe!

Post Race Thoughts

• The Race
• Simply a great event and great people.
• I really enjoy this unique area of the country.
• Training
• I knew I was arriving short on mileage with peak weeks at 30 miles. Planned to get in a few 40-50 miles weeks. Didn’t happen. This likely supported my fade towards the end of the Caldera as nutrition/hydration had been going well up to that point.
• Would likely add a handful of treadmill days in training to experience a few extended climbs at a significant grade (maybe ~20%).
• Race Execution
• Kept the effort easy all day. I feel like I simply ran out of endurance which required much more run/walk through the runable sections.
• Back-side of Pajarito was definitely the low point. It was a challenge to not drift to negative thoughts when moving about 10 feet before needing another break.
• Gear
• Dug the arm sleeves. Nice for the early morning start and when heading to the higher elevations when it got a little cold/breezy. Kept them on my arms all day. Simply slid them up or down.
• The INOV8 Roclite 315 were great on this terrain. The lugs on the outsole provided significant  control on the gnarly descents.
• Nathan Endurance Vest – A nice amount of storage space along with up to 70 ounces of fluid. I would use it again.
• TASC shirt – So comfy.
• Nutrition
• ~250-300 cals/hr besides that one hour stretch on the backside of Pajarito. Mostly Hammer gel, Perpetuem Solids and Endurolytes. No stomach issues all day. Worked well for me.
• Bonus bits
• The Pyramid restaurant - Tasty clean, some organic, Greek food in Los Alamos. We ate there three times during the weekend. There is also one in Santa Fe but didn’t visit.
• Baja Tacos (Facebook page) – Best Sunday morning breakfast burritos in Santa Fe. A little place with big food. Thanks to Matt Crownover for the introduction last year.
• Santa Fe Children’s museum – Griffin and Ainsley really enjoyed it.

Charred, brittle, but not broken!

Here’s to the next 50 mile adventure.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – 2012 50 km Course Flyover
• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – 2012 50 Mile Course Flyover
• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – Race Director Bill Geist Provides Wildfire, Community, and Course Update
• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – Wildfire Update and Trail Photos
• Jemez Trail Run 2011 50 km Race Experience Report – Video Style

Texan, Steven Moore, ran a 7:00:13 at the highly competitive Leona Divide 50 Mile Trail Run claiming top TALON athlete honors and a 10th overall placing! Did I mention it was competitive field. Btw, a new course record was set by Dylan Bowman (6:00:38)!

Leona Divide takes places a short drive, or a moderate run north of Los Angeles, California on a scenic out-and-back course that includes nearly 40 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Steven was super kind in sharing his weekend adventure pushing the pace with some of the best trail runners in the nation.

Enjoy!

Those of you who may have read a race report of mine know I focus on the experience getting to the race at least as much as the race itself. This time will be no different. If you want the race details, skip down to find them. If you have a few moments, keep reading.

Luckily plans fell into place for my ‘A List’ crew member and wife, Sandi, to join me for the three day southern California weekend while my folks covered for us at the homestead in Austin, Texas. Once we got airborne and settled in on the non-stop to Los Angeles, Sandi ended up chatting with the elderly woman next to her in the window seat. Her (the old lady’s) English was somewhat limited but occasionally she’d get on a roll. The odd part was when she asked if the flight we were on was headed to Rrrrreno (Spanish rolled R’s). Sandi explained that we were actually headed to Los Angeles but that the flight then continued to Reno. Me, being the OCD-slanted factual type, grabbed the in-flight magazine and showed her the flight graphic that depicted the Austin-to-LA-to-Rrrrreno flight path.

That settled that….right?

Well, no, actually. I won’t bore you all with the ensuing details of our ‘conversations’ but as it turns out, the women had no idea what time it was currently, what time it was in California (LA or Reno) OR where she had even gotten on the plane first that morning! Sandi seemed to be enjoying the absurdity of the moment while I pondered how remarkably different it would be to live without such constraints of schedule and planning.

And this story relates to my run how? Good question. The week previous and on the flight out I was reading a book about survival. Who survives and who doesn’t when bad or unexpected things start to happen? One interesting idea in the book concerns planning. The author postulates that to our brains, a plan is just a memory waiting to be proved. Our brains don’t have much distinction between something we’ve already done and something we’ve thought about (planned) thoroughly. In preparation for this race I planned as much as I could with the on-line information but still felt lacking in the weeks preceding. I read a little more about it from race reports and the RD’s description and began to visualize what it might be like. As it turned out, my future memory played out just about like I had already experienced it.

My single goal for the race was to finish top 10. That sounds kind of lame to me but with the stellar field lined up it seemed appropriate. I felt like I’d left a little in the tank the last few races and I wanted to be able to say at the end of this one that I’d given it all I had.

Race morning presented really nice weather conditions and a fantastic group of ultra-folks ready to run and host another gathering of the tribes. Temps were in the upper 40s and a decent breeze was blowing but the forecast was for full sun and warm temps as the day progressed.

The race started sharply at 6am and we were off, or up up up as it were. I couldn’t see trying to hang with the lead pack of (12-15) guys since I didn’t want to blow up on the first four miles of a 50. My heart rate was up pretty high and I was mostly anaerobic already. Plus, the 50km crowd went off with us and I wasn’t sure how many of them were included in the front groups. Anyway, I concentrated on my breathing and pushed up to the first aid station solo. It was more steady climbing on dirt road here until I finally got to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) access point. Here is where the single track fun began. The entire PCT portion of the trail was super enjoyable. Yes, even the climbing portions late in the race where I was suffering a little. It is possible to enjoy suffering.

I rolled more downhill (finally!) into the 16.4 mile aid station where crew and/or drop bags were allowed. Sandi was there for me with my waist belt and new bottle of nutrition. In retrospect I am very happy I chose to grab the belt with the extra bottle as I used it to douse myself with plain water to keep cool as the day progressed.

There was a big climb out of that aid station and I had memories of both R2R2R and Zane Grey with the dry desert heat baking my head as my feet made their way across the dusty rocks. Luckily this climb ended soon enough and I was back on some incredibly beautiful single track windy trail along the ridge line. Just after the 20.4 mile aid station I passed Dominic Grossman. I was a little surprised but running well and feeling pretty good. I kept the pace going and to my pleasure, found another runner, Dan Vega, just before the killer 2.5 mile downhill road to the 50 mile turnaround.

This road is also where I began to see all the leaders coming back up and was able to count my position in the race, at least at that moment. I blasted down the road and refreshed my supplies at the aid station. My concern about the climb back out was heightened by the mass of humanity I saw about the time I started back up myself. The two guys I had passed in addition to what seemed like 25 other people were screaming down the hill and hot on my heels. I couldn’t run the whole way up but pushed as hard as I could to keep ahead of the chase pack behind me. I had counted 10 on my way down so I stood in 11th place as best I could tell. I caught up with and passed Scott Jaime about half way up and that pushed me to the top feeling decent. I knew people were chasing me and I ran like it when I got back to the PCT single track.

It was overall downhill from here all the way back to the 42.6 crew aid station and I felt like I was really running strong and fast. All the runners I met head-on were super nice with encouragement and courtesy by stepping to the side of the narrow trail as we passed. As well as I was running, I knew still there was a good chance somebody from behind was coming on strong too. Sure enough, I couldn’t even get out of the 42.6 station before Dominic had arrived. He had recovered from a low point earlier and was rebounding nicely. I pushed hard on the climb out and saw Chikara Omine struggling a bit up ahead. No sooner did I pass him did Dominic pass me. I hung on to Dominic’s tail for a while but he was moving too well and gapped me.

The trail flattened just enough to run on in to the last aid station where I topped off my water bottle on the fly. More climbing on an exposed section of fire road left me running scared. I didn’t want anyone to see me and try to pursue. Luckily I crested the top and had enough juice left to blaze the last three miles to the finish without a chase.

The LD finish.

Sandi was there at the finish to catch a nice photo and the rest of the guys who had already finished had a few high fives ready. I felt great but enjoyed a recovery drink and some stretching in the shade for a few minutes before I found my flip flops and the will to socialize!

While I can’t say I’m satisfied, I can say I’m happy with my race and result (10th place, 7hrs13sec). I ran hard and did the best I could that day. I need more work on climbing, which was definitely the limiting factor for me at LD50. I’m very pleased with my nutrition and electrolyte results for the race too. I felt great the whole day and never felt like I was fading out or struggling excessively. A great crew, perfect weather and beautiful scenery probably helped too!

My sponsor, INKnBURN, is also a Leona Divide 50 sponsor and was well represented at the race. Lots of cool clothes on display, including the official race shirt this year!

The Race Director, Keira Henninger, and her crew of volunteers did a fantastic job of organizing and hosting the race. The course was easy to follow and the trails were fabulous to run on. Easy running in the sense of not kicking rocks or tripping on roots but certainly plenty challenging with all the climbs, descents and narrow ridge running. Logistics were pretty easy in/out of Los Angeles and Sandi and I even found some time at the beach in Malibu on Sunday.

Is my next flight going to Rrrrreno? I doubt it, but ya never know do you? I hope your future memories play out just the way you want them to. See ya there maybe….

- Steven Moore

A big congrats to Steven on his impressive effort on what seemed to be a really well executed run.

Talk some Dirt

• Do you have any questions for Steven about the LD scamper?
• Or his post-race beer choice, the book, or on future trips to Reno?

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Nueces 50 Mile – 2012 USATF 50 Mile Trail Championship Preview
• Steven Moore Maintains Life Balance and Sets Course Record at Cactus Rose 100…Again – Interview

Joel with his signature ultra fueling strategy: Beer in one hand, pizza in the other. (Photo: From Bandera 100 km)

100 miles – five loops. Or complete three for the 60 mile “fun run”.

A few have attempted, even fewer have finished.

Over 59,000 feet of climbing on some steep and rugged terrain. For reference Hardrock 100 has 33,000 feet of climbing.

30-ish runners started this year. It was the first year to have three finishers and a new course record of 52:03:08 by Brett Maune of California.

Enjoy as Joel recounts his Barkley adventure in a self-interview format.

Barkley 2012

I spent a few weeks thinking about how to write my race report. I often go into blow-by-blow reports because friends who are interested in the races or events I’m doing, want to feel like they were there. But no blow by blow would do Barkley justice. Or more precisely, I’m not a good enough writer to do an adequate job. Some of the other race reports out there are far more interesting than what I would write about my race. So I thought I’d ditch that stuff and just write about ‘the other stuff’ – stuff that’s interesting to a broader audience of my friends (many who have ADD anyway, and are going to tell me “tl;dr” anyway). In my lame attempt at keeping it from going too long, I turned it into a prompted interview (easier than thinking of segues).

What is Barkley?

There are dozens of races around the world that claim to be the hardest or toughest or most physically challenging or most mentally challenging, etc. Some have some right to claim difficulty, some don’t. The ones that are legitimate, I want to do. I like throwing myself against a wall over and over again to see how things will turn out.

A couple years ago, I heard about this race called The Barkley Marathons. Here’s the relevant statistic you need to know: when I signed up for the 2012 Barkley, 10 people had finished the race in the TWENTY FIVE (25) YEARS since the first running of the race. Wow! A serious challenge! I *had* to get in, I had to run this race. I know I’m fairly resilient, mentally, though I’m not in the world’s greatest physical shape. I can survive anything. I read that elite athletes had tried Barkley and after coming in from their first lap, they simply refused to continue onto their second lap. It’s a five lap race.

Well, back to reality. I’m not an elite runner. I run most of my races with a backpack full of beer and I tend to drink a lot of that beer during races. I recently ran a fairly tough 100k (Bandera) that had a good amount of climbing and was rocky difficult terrain. I fueled myself mostly with pizza and beer. I really enjoyed the almost 15 hours I spent in Texas Hill Country. If I was going to “do” Barkley in 2013, I had better get in shape. I contacted my racing partner and told him about Barkley. At first, he was uninterested. Then he did some reading… and had the same reaction as I did. He then suggested something retarded. “Why don’t we apply this year?” (2011 for the 2012 race) Really? But, I’m fat and out of shape, I think?

Fast forward to a mysterious day sometime around the end of 2011 (you’ll find that the details of the application process, the application timing, etc., are all somewhat closely held secrets… the field is required to be small and we’re all fighting for the same entry spots!). I got an email from the Race Director. I was in. Quick, Race Buddy, you in? Yes? OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! What the heck are we going to do now?

Here’s some more statistics for you: The race involves five laps, each of which is 20-27 miles in length. Each lap involves 10-12,000 ft. of elevation gain. If anyone gives you more precise numbers, they’re full of it – only small parts of the race are on trails (the rest of overland, though forests, in rivers, over rocks, etc.), there’s a lot of route finding involved, and you’ll rarely cover the exact same ground twice. The race course record holder got lost for TWO HOURS trying to find book #1 on his fifth lap. It takes little old me 40 minutes to get to that book.

Speaking of books, each lap there are 9 to 11 books. You have to tear a page (your bib number tells you the page, you get a new bib number each lap) out of each book to prove that you were there.

So essentially, think 11,000 ft. of gain, 25 miles, or thereabouts. Could be 30 or 40 if you get good’n'lost. Ask some of the folks who took almost 20 hours to finish their first lap. Mostly off trail. A good portion of the race goes through briar patches. Briars hurt. I got my ear pierced during the race. That look is not me.

So back to my training. I decided to hit the gym. I live in Austin, Texas, and while we have Hill Country, we don’t have those kinds of hills. Best I can find, in 20 miles of running, you can get 3-4000 ft of climbing, and most of that will be on shoulderless roads. At the gym, I spent some time on the stair mill. It’s kinda the same, right? (No. The angle of your foot is different; my calves were completely unready for the workout they got at Barkley).

What happened when you got to the race?

Barkley sounds hard, right? But I am who I am. I was 100% sure that I’d complete five laps and be one of the finishers. I was a little irritated to hear about all the super tough people who were coming to the race – I didn’t want to be one of the ten people who finished this year… That attitude lasted right up until I showed up at the park on the Sunday before the race. Well, ok, I was still sure of myself until the Monday. On Monday, I went to scout the portions of the route that you’re allowed to scout. I had maps from previous years (this is a breach of OpSec, and any current and future Barkley folks should be very careful with their race reports and pictures – don’t post anything that shows the map! I used images I found and translated the route to printouts from Google Maps Terrain). The area I scouted roughly covered 2011′s books 1 to 6.

The hills were so insane, and I was so destroyed after hitting the first 6 book locations, that I actually grabbed my phone and emailed my Racing Buddy and my Girlfriend, telling them both that I was thinking of dropping out of the race and allowing one of the wait-listers to get in, in my place. If you do that, the RD gives you an automatic “in” for the next year. At that point, I was sure I would not successfully complete even a (one (1)) single lap in a timely manner. The hills were THAT steep and the navigation was that hard. On Tuesday, I went out again and reviewed books 1-4. This further confirmed that I was totally out of shape. I knew from others that I would need to hit book one in under an hour (took me 90 minutes) and book three in fewer than 3 hours. I was at 5 hours for book 3. Way falling behind. Panic.

My girlfriend’s first email response was “who hacked Joel’s email and sent that message?” Neither she, nor my Racing Buddy, had ever heard words like those coming out of me. It was completely bizarro-world to them.

On Wednesday, my Racing Buddy showed up. He was so surprised and caught off guard by my email, that despite the fact that we should be resting a couple days before the race, he insisted that we should at least go jog over to the old book one. Being only 2 days before the race, we set out on an easy hiking pace to get up the first hill. We hit the summit of the hill in 40 minutes “taking it easy” and conversing the whole way. We ran down the back side, again conversing, and got to old book 1 in 20 minutes. AN HOUR! Exactly the time I’m supposed to take?!?!? My Racing Buddy said “that hill wasn’t thaaat bad!” That’s when I let him know that he had just crossed the absolute easiest hill in the race. However, both of us were feeling much better – some rest and a buddy made the one hour trip feasible. Ok, back to my normal self. I’m sure I can finish a lap, and I’m guessing I can aim for a fun run (3 laps).

What happened during the race?

During the race, everything was going well. We were on-track for a 12 hour finish and managed our navigation ok. I did the navigating, since I’d seen old books 1-6 already. We did ok navigating to the new book one, though I screwed the pooch on Stallion Mountain and we wasted 20 minutes being lost. I was slower on the climbs, but I could fly past many people on the descents and surprisingly, we collected a bunch of Barkley virgins. We caught a good number who were physically stronger at the start (maybe left the gate too quickly). We also eventually dropped many of the people we collected because we were moving faster than they were. Things were good. We picked up a French guy who didn’t speak a lick of English. A couple hours in, I finally screwed up the courage to try talking in French. It’s been AGES and I never was really good at it anyway. Spend 10 hours talking French, though, and you finally get comfortable with it… that was fun, and that guy stayed with us the entire time.

The race involves a hill, a decent, another couple of hills, another few descents, and then you get to Testicle Spectacle. This is a power line that goes up the mountain. Under it is a big fat ugly briar patch. About half a mile long. Yay, fun fun! I actually enjoyed going up that. The back side (Methlab Hill) is a great run down, too. A while later, you get to a really long ugly climb, called Rat Jaw. This is another power line – mile+ long, also briar patch. The briars had been cut down – they are trimmed every season so that workers can reach the power lines. Trimming, though, doesn’t mean removing. And falling into a billion chopped-down briars is NOT fun. I think I fell half a dozen times. I’ll post that video shortly…

After that, you get to the mysterious part of the race that you’re not allowed to see before the actual race start. This involves the two biggest climbs in the race. First one, I worked my ass off and only lost 10 minutes to some folks we’d seen. We caught them on the downhill. The last hill, I lost 30 minutes to the vets we’d run into and never saw them again. Because I was feeling slow, I told my Racing Buddy to charge up with the Vets. We’d heard the next book was hard to find and he was strong. He did charge up with them… and it might have killed him. I certainly died on that climb. And my feet hurt like hell. A couple other folks were throwing up. We started down the final descent to camp. It’s an hour long downhill run. My FEET KILLED. I felt good, otherwise, though, and put on some speed. Me and the French guy (incidentally, he won some pretty big name races, including a 300 mile Saharan desert crossing, so he was a pretty tough guy) took off at a 7-min mile pace down the trail. I’m guessing, I was tired, I might be overestimating, but I’m fairly confident in the speed. We really just let it all hang out and ran down the mountain. We ended up gapping my Racing Buddy by 20 minutes. That was probably a mistake.

As we all gathered together again and walked the last mile into camp, my buddy and I decided that if my feet were not bleeding, we’d go out again. We were already past 12 hours, so we missed our goal, but so long as we got in before 13:20, we’d be allowed to go out on lap 2. We knew the next lap would take us 16-20 hours with nighttime navigation issues, etc., but we didn’t want to quit.

If my feet were bleeding, though, I said I’d quit. The French guy said he was quitting no matter what – he was never going to come back to Barkley and in fact, he never wanted to see Tennessee again, even! Hahah… Barkley kills you, mentally. ? The one problem with our plan was that my Racing Buddy was physically doing ok. Unfortunately, he hadn’t done any of the navigating on the first lap, so, if I quit, he was pretty much going to quit, too, since there was no way to do the navigation on your own, for the first time, in the dark. More on this “no way” later.

We got into camp and turned in our book pages. Then we went to our camp spot and I pulled off my shoes and socks.

End of the race, eh?

12 hours, 35 minutes. That’s how long ONE LAP took. I was ready to go out and I felt strong (ok, and by that I mean I could probably do push-ups but I probably couldn’t squat a bag of M&Ms). However, my feet really hurt, so we pulled my socks off… blood. Well, sort of. Maceration. I’ll talk about that more in a sec since most people aren’t familiar. But yeah, my feet = nastiness. And that was that. No more race. I was pissed, but half-way relieved. At least I didn’t have to machismo up and do another lap!

What’s maceration?

Maceration – this is what happens when your feet get wet and then you put them through lots of pulling and pushing and rubbing. Think about how pruned up your feet get after you’ve been in a bath/jacuzzi/whatever for an hour? Now imagine what they’d be like after 12 hours. Now add a ton of friction from the extremely steep terrain (which causes your feet to slide around, and as the shoe is wet, it’s softer, so it allows more movement). That causes the really soft skin to fold over on itself. These folds are painful and as they get pulled and pushed about, big chunks of skin can tear. Mine started to tear inside the folds. Well, not really. The insides of the crevasses of the folds can sometimes become very thin, and then they become blood red, but no actual breakage occurs. It takes a lot (I’ve never been there) to have skin actually tear. It’s usually just extremely painful. That’s why I stopped.

After I quit, I cleaned up my feet, filled the cracks and folds with neosporin, and used witch hazel and foot powder to dry the feet. A bunch of skin ended up dying and sloughing off (a few days later). 12 hours after I cleaned and treated them, there was no more pain. 24 hours later, I took a crew member of another runner’s, and showed him some sections of trail. We ran together for maybe 40 minutes. At the end of that, I had blisters on both thumb toes and on both heels. I guess the macerated but now dried skin was still weak.

Ok, so what really ended your race?

Barkley is steep as fuck.

Seriously. I am not in shape to climb so much steep. People told me that it was going to be steep. Words don’t do it justice. The numbers on paper, though impressive (several hills greater than 35% grade), don’t mean anything until you’re stringing together “barely reasonable hill” after “barely reasonable hill.” You can climb and descend any one of the hills at Barkley and think to yourself “that’s not too bad” though inside, you’ll probably think “wow, that kind of sucked!” String together all the hills at Barkley, though, and “barely reasonable” becomes “absolutely insane.”

Physically, I was unprepared for this race. But mentally, everyone who knows me, *knows* that nothing can stop me mentally, right?

Two of the three finishers (yes, this year, 3 people finished, one breaking the course record AND becoming the first person to finish Barkley twice, now making it 12 people who have finished Barkley) had maceration. I had helped one of them treat his feet between laps 4 and 5. I’d also helped other racers treat their feet. I had heard that another finisher had massive maceration issues by half way through the race, and he wasn’t eating enough, so he was running lower on energy. Many people had maceration. A select few people chose to continue running on their macerated feet. It hurts. So what?

I probably would not have admitted this any time since the race until this week, but this week, I have come to accept the fact that Barkley not only beat me physically, but it also beat me mentally. I looked for, and found an excuse not to continue. C’mon, people ran another 40+ hours on macerated feet… In the very back of my head, I celebrated when I saw my Racing Buddy’s face when he saw my feet as I pulled my socks off slowly. He winced at how bad they looked. And somewhere in my head, I celebrated. Yay! My feet are jacked; we don’t have to go out!

What was a low point for you, and what was a high point during the race?

The low point of Barkley, aside from the pre-race mental defeat I suffered temporarily, was climbing that last big hill, when I said that I lost at least 30 minutes to the people who were near me. One of those people was Frozen Ed. He’s 64 years old. He’s the guy I was talking to, before the race, who told me “you’re too slow” when I told him how long it took me to get to various points on the course during my recon missions. As we climbed from the Beech Tree up the hill, Frozen Ed just dusted me as if I was standing still (I think I was, several times). My head was full of piss and vinegar. I was pissed at myself for being out of shape, pissed at the mountain for being so steep, frustrated, angry, mad, sad, everything.

The high point of the race was actually running down Rat Jaw at full speed, falling a dozen times into briars, hurting like nuts, and just loving it. I turned on my camera after I realized that the run down would be comical and would be worth catching. “I’M GODDAMN DOING BARKLEY!” And maybe a second high point occurred after I called it quits, I really enjoyed talking to people, giving various foods that might be useful for runners having problems eating enough calories, to their crews, and helping various runners with their feet as they came in from laps and prepared to go out again.

What about the Barkley Movie?

There was a film crew making a documentary on this year’s Barkley. I wanted to film my experience. I got in contact with them and volunteered to run a lap of the race wearing a GoPro. I wore a GoPro Hero HD2 during my lap. Since batteries last about 2 hours, I turned the camera on and off and recorded a total of a bit over 6 hours of my 12 hour lap. I had spare batteries and memory cards in my backpack. I provided all the footage to the film crew. Hopefully, the runner’s perspective is useful to them. And when I have some downtime, I’ll pull together a few minutes of my favorite footage and post it up.

Are you going to do Barkley again?

ABSOLUTELY. If I can get in, for 2013, I will be there in a heartbeat. I’m dedicating this entire year to getting into Barkley-shape. It’s my goal now, to redeem myself. This is the first race or event I’ve done that has defeated me mentally. I want revenge!

In the world of trail and ultra running, it’s all relative!

A special thanks to Joel for sharing a glimpse into his Barkley experience. We wish him all the best in his journey to tame this beast…if it is at all possible.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• No Related Post

Ouachita Trail 50 km in Little Rock, Arkansas was one of those last minute, fairly spontaneous decisions. Being four weeks out from the Jemez 50 mile, I was a little concerned with an ultra distance race so close since I have yet to prove I can stack ultra events like this and keep tweakage at bay.

After a few brief chats with my buddy Tyler about the run, my short-term ultra memory kicked in and we were both registered. I have to say I was pretty dang excited to run this classic race by Chrissy and Stan Ferguson in the heart of Arkansas. Hey, what Texas resident wouldn’t get a chuckle seeing “Arkansas Rules!” and “Texas sucks!” written on their race bib.

The night before the race I took a look at the course profile and aid station locations and decided to run with two handhelds (vs the Nathan Endurance Race Vest) and my classic Rockledge Rumble Nathan Running Vest where I stashed a Hammer flask, Perpetuem Solids, and the trusty Canon camera.

I really had no big goals for this one besides – run smart! This meant, stay in ‘easy’ mode through the Northshore aid station (mile 16.9) which is the far-end turnaround of what is a mostly out-and-back course (you fortunately get to skip Pinnacle Mountain on the way back). My 30 mile training weeks don’t allow for a lot of pacing mistakes. Burn too many matches early on can make for a long and painful back half.

To Pinnacle

Race morning saw near perfect conditions…at least to me…about 50F with a slight breeze. Tyler and I start near the back of the entire field of 50 mile and 50 km runners, about 200 of us. The first (and last) 2.7 miles is on a rolling road that leads us to-and-from the Ouachita Trail.

Tyler and I at the start. Two deer in headlights?

We took the road section very easy and drifted a few more spots to the caboose of this train. Enjoyed watching the skies light up on what was going to be a cloudless day, unlike the 5+ hour drive in constant rain the day before.

Once on the trail, we were welcomed to this amazing wooded world of majestic trees and moderate sized rocks…lots and lots of rocks that weren’t interested in moving no matter how nicely you asked.

Concentrate. Tread lightly.

After a little over a mile of singletrack, we arrived at the most talked about location on this course – Pinnacle Mountain. 700 feet. Run up it. Go down the backside.

Simple enough, except it looks like this.

Going up!

View near the top.

After a steady, on all fours climb to the top…take a few pics…look around…beautiful. Down the backside you go. Not quite the same boulder field but it still required plenty of focused attention. My foot slid out once or twice on the way down, that made for an interesting hyper-extended back moment and a couple “Ohhh…Ahhh” from those following behind.

Down the back-side.

I have to say this climb was pretty damn cool.

 To NorthShore mile 16.9

After the Pinnacle mountain loop, it was back to the varied terrain on the Ouachita trail along with a few short roads sections connecting the trail.

I simply continued the easy effort. During a climb, if the effort moved into the high side of moderate, I would simply power hike the rest of it. I was putting down 3-4 big gulps of water every 15 minutes. ~100 cals of Hammer gel every 30 minutes. 60 cals of Perpetuem solids (2 of them- Strawberry-Vanilla) every hour along with a couple Endurolytes. Energy levels felt great…and consistent.

I was all smiles and lovin’ it.

I was gradually moving through the field but not too concerned with it. Wished everyone well and continued my adventure.

I arrived at NorthShore aid station in 3:37 feeling like I was just warmed up. In the last mile to the AS, I noticed a significant number of 50 km runners on their return trip. I thought to myself, “this could be fun.” I was starting to get the itch to dial up the effort a little bit.

A great volunteer filled my water bottle as I grabbed another flask of Hammer gel and more Perpetuem Solids. I was feeling good.

The return trip

On the way back, I ran within that low-moderate to moderate effort. I also dialed up my Endurolytes to 3-4 per hour as  I felt a couple crampy twinges. They went away after the electrolyte increase.

Simply put – This course requires concentration. Every single time I day dreamed for a moment and didn’t stay present to the run, I nailed a rock with my foot.

“How man miles till the next aid station?” – Ouch!

“I wonder how Wendy, Griffin, and Ainsley are doing?” – Dammit!

“What a beautiful day.” – Sh*t!

“Anybody up ahead?” – Arghh!

Fortunately no diggers in the rock gardens but I did take one body-plant in a nicely groomed and slightly muddy section of trail along Lake Maumelle. I think I clipped the one root located about every 1/4 mile.

It was also around this time that two filled water bottles felt like 20 lb bricks in each hand. In training I had been mainly running with a pack.

I was consistently moving through the field and enjoyed a few brief moments with Arkansas athlete, Katie Helms, as we picked up a handful of used gels hanging out in the middle of the trail prior to an upcoming aid station and tossed them into a garbage bag hanging from a tree another 40 feet down the trail.

2.7 miles to go 

After this nasty stair stepper climb off the Ouachita Trail, it was back on the road for some rolling black-top to the finish.

I hadn’t seen another runner for the last 2-3 miles but like a mirage in the distance I see movement. Could it be…another runner? He was moving steady but wasn’t flying. Let’s try and catch.

The initial segment of road was a big old downhill that felt like a 1/2 mile. Watching his turnover as compared to mine, I could tell I was gaining. By the end of the half mile quad testing scamper, I came up on Arkansas athlete, Robert Williamson.

Coming up next to Robert, I asked “Are you ready to push to the finish?”

Robert – “This is all I got.”

I offered some additional words of encouragement and dialed up the pace. Robert latched on – I was stoked!

Over the next mile we pushed what felt like a steady effort. Off in the distance, I see someone walking one of the double rollers.

“Dude, we got a walker. Let’s catch him.” This turned out to be Michael Maguire from Louisiana.

I also said, “Of course, I will likely be walking that hill as well.”

As Michael moved off above the rollers we lost sight of him. Robert and I found a way not to implode and ran through all the rollers.

As we crest the rollers, I can see in the not too far distance Michael walking again. We were closing and he didn’t know we were coming. Robert drifted back about 20 meters so I tried to inspire some silent encouragement highlighting the target up ahead.

One mile to go

And then it happened…

Michael took a look back.

Our cover was blown.

Game over.

Robert and I both gave a grunt of disappointment.

Michael was back running and held us off to the finish. Afterwards he mentioned using a few colorful words of inspiration to get himself moving faster to the finish. We had a good chuckle about it.

54 seconds after Michael, Robert and I cruised in together in 6:03:55.

What a day.

What a race.

What an experience.

Post race thoughts

• I executed my race about as best as I could on the day.
• Pacing – Easy effort to the turnaround and knowing I still had another gear for the return trip worked well especially for my low mileage approach.
• Course – Great variety of terrain. Lots of fixed rocks on the singletrack which required plenty of attention. Pinnacle was fun…and would be an entirely different beast if raining. Rumor had it, the additional miles for the 50 mile were less rocky.
• Nutrition – Flask of Hammer gel (Montana Huckleberry), Perpetuem Solids (Strawberry-Vanilla), and Endurolytes. Smooth energy levels for the entire run. Upped my Endurolyte intake from two to four during the last couple hours to relieve some twinges in my legs. I was likely averaging ~250 cals/hr. One bottle of water about every hour.
• Training - 30 mile training weeks (that include quality) requires brutal honesty on race day. You can experience a lot with minimal training and proper pacing.
• Gear – The Altra Lone Peak’s were great on these trails. I just wish they could be a couple ounces lighter. I would go with two handhelds again. The running vest was also nice to store nutrition and camera.

130+ Photos and Six Ant Bites Later

After a few moments to regroup and enjoy a cheese burger, I scraped off some of the dirt and goop stuck to my body and took a collection of pics (up on the Endurance Buzz FB page) at the finish and out about a 1/2 mile from the finish.

To add a bit of additional excitement to this process, I stepped in a fire ant mound. My body is allergic to fire ant bites and I swell like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. In my frantic attempt to clear them off my shoes and ankle. I take 4-5 bites on my ankle and one on my ring finger. Nice.

My ankle and finger immediately start swelling and burning. Unable to pull the ring off, I use the best lubricant I had nearby…spit. After organizing my thoughts and salivary glands for a good one, I hit the mark and began twisting the ring. Eventually it came off.

Back to taking photos and cheering on runners to the finish.

Thanks

A special thanks to Chrissy and Stan Ferguson and all the volunteers for such a great event.

Thanks to my wife for taking care of our tribe solo for the last 36 hours.

A big shout-out to Rick Merriam for helping with a tender right Achilles in the final couple days before the race.

Thanks to Tyler for teaming up on this adventure. Good times!

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Big Rock Mystery Run – 2012 Results
• Styx ‘N Stones Trail Run – 2011 Results
• Hoof it for Heifer Trail Run – 2012 Results
• Ouachita Trail 50 – 2012 Results
• 3 Days of Syllamo – 2012 Results

Then some brief fish time as Griffin (my five year old son) wanted to catch a lunker from the rocky shores of Lake McMurtry.

Can we fish now?!?

His first cast.

“I got a fish!”

Life is good.

And then we said goodbye to Lake McMurtry.

This was our first trip up to the Lake McMurtry Trail Run in north central Oklahoma. Being a TATUR event, you know it is going to be a fun adventure.

Watching the weather forecast at the end of the week, it looked near perfect for this time of year…50F – low 70s, with a few clouds. The family will be happy. Friday night in our hotel room, I saw bright flashes lighting up our room. Rain?

The next morning, we drove to the lake on wet roads and cloud filled skies.

In our usual four member family fire drill, we get to the park 30 minutes later than the master plan had documented, but I still was able to sprint to the start and see the 50 km runners take off. Fortunately I was running the 25 km and had another 30 minutes to put on the right shoes, pin a bib, and set up a little half-tent for the fam.

After a few instructions from Brian and Ken (the Trail Zombie), we were off!

Photo: David Hanenburg

I started at the caboose and with the course quickly moving into sweet snake-like single-track, my pace was definitely muted in the first mile or two but hey, negative split here I come! It was all good.

The course is basically two close to similar split loops (with some two-way traffic) running north and south of the main start finish area, showcasing many sweet images of the lake and the beauty of Spring.

Green. Green. Green.

It wasn’t long before the train slowed abruptly and then I saw why…

Gulp! (Photo: David Hanenburg)

In the week leading up to the race I had pulled out my Calculus, Dynamics, and Physics books from the attic…for some reason I still keep them. I studied forces, coefficient of friction, speed, and more ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’s than I have looked at in a long time. I felt fairly sure in surviving the jump across this unfamiliar chasm but the overnight rains threw off all my calculations…and confidence.

Would my foot slip at take off?

Should I jump with one foot or two?

How has the coefficient of friction changed?

I am happy to say I made the leap.

The rest of the north loop contained scenic, twisty, and tame single-track intermixed with a few little risers along with a brief dirt road section.

Photo: David Hanenburg

I cruised through the start/finish area in 1:14:55, ready to start the south loop. I briefly chatted with Wendy, Griffin, and Ainsley before starting the back half of this adventure.

Somewhere around this time the skies dropped some gentle moisture on us.

This is where I let myself dial up the pace a bit. The out segment felt like a net downhill run so my effort felt a bit spicy for my current fitness. A couple times I thought to myself, I hope I don’t pay for this effort on the way back out but let’s see what happens. Most of this section of trail is an out-and-back with a lollipop loop at the end to turn you back around.

The return trip was pleasantly strange. It actually felt like a net downhill run as well. Weird…but I will take it!

With all runners heading in two different directions for most of the south loop, it can be an interesting dance as we glide past one another on a two-foot wide trail. Somehow we all negotiate these encounters in real time, without any collisions.

I finally popped out of the woods, ran a short road section to the final piece of single-track before a nice little staircase finish. My watch had a 1:04:43 for the back loop.

My official finish time was 2:19:41, finishing fourth overall and snuck out an age group win.

Photo: Wendy Hanenburg

Nice post-race fellowship, a cold beer, and nearly 200 photos taken thanks to the epic help of my wonderful wife.

A special thanks to my family for supporting my little adventures, all the volunteers, Brian, and RD Ken Childress for a great Saturday with some great people.

And how about that fish!?!

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Lake McMurtry Trail Race – 2011 Results
• Lake McMurtry Trail Run – 2012 Results
• TATUR Snake Run -2012 Results
• Lake McMurtry Trail Run 2010 Results
• A-OK Trail Run – 2012 Results

Well, this adds a wrinkle to things…

So for the next couple hours Griffin vomited what looked like mucus and water every 15 minutes or so. It didn’t take long to determine G-man, Wendy, and Ainsley were not heading up for the race. If Griffin’s condition didn’t improve dramatically throughout the morning, I would be staying home as well. The Go, No-Go time was pushed back to noon.

After a couple hours of concern, Griffin was feeling close to normal by 10 AM. No longer vegetating on the couch. Wanting to play. Wanting to eat…a lot. My little bro was basically back to himself by 11 AM. The Pumpkin Holler adventure was ON but Wendy, Griffin, and Ainsley would stay home…just to be safe. After the race we would hopefully all be healthy for the State Park adventure. Fingers crossed.

The Race

First, this race was extra special to me because I would finally be able to meet Ken Childress and Brian Hoover from the TATUR crew up in Tulsa. These guys have been a huge supporter of Endurance Buzz since the early, early days of this little site that had the big idea of being a resource that connects the amazing trail/ultra people and races within a five state area. It was so great to meet you both…and Thank You for all the support!

Now let’s get ready to race…

After an OK night sleep, race morning shared with us some crisp, cool, windless air as the sun rose into the cloudless sky. It was a utopic morning. After quickly getting my timing chip I headed back to the car in hopes of getting the USB modem working on my laptop to provide some race coverage after my 50 km adventure. It worked! Time to run!

A brief chat with some good friends Tim and Stephanie Jagoda, the gun was shot (literally) and we started as all ultras do – a slow shuffle out of the gates intermixed with lots of chatter between runners.

The course was simple – a 50 km clock-wise loop with 3,000 feet of climbing on rolling dirt roads within the J.T. Nickel Preserve that included one short out-and-back section.  Nearly everywhere you looked a deep, vibrant color of green was on display with periodic hints of Fall approaching. You couldn’t help but feel a sense of peace throughout the run. A few dog barks would turn on the spidey senses for a while but then you would blend back into the natural surroundings. Flowing with the terrain.

While I am a huge fan of technically challenging courses, there was something special about not having to be on high alert to prevent the foot from hitting the next root or boulder. You actually could look around…while running…and enjoy the landscape portrait environment you were running in.

I kept the effort very easy throughout the first seven miles. Chatted with Stephanie and other runners through mile six or so and then many began to dial into their own race pace.

Mile 7-10 contained the only out-and-back segment for the 50km runners, and you couldn’t help but feel a little spunky as runners were coming back and you were heading out. I was running nearly two minutes per mile faster in this section than the earlier miles. You couldn’t help it. The feedback from the other runners felt like a giant wave of running mojo was carrying you along the trail. Of course, the wave does eventually recede and it becomes you and the road/trail once again.

I passed through the first 10 miles in around 1:42.

The next 10 miles include a couple more nice climbs and plenty of nature to enjoy. I really felt good through this section and really just let the body run. The temps were starting to go up as the sun reached its mid-day location in the sky. These middle miles seemed to have the most exposure to the sun and I was starting to feel a bit dehydrated.

I scampered through mile 10-20 in 1:36. Twenty miles completed in 3:18.

Cruising into mile 22.2 aid-station, Hard Up Ahead, I was starting to feel the miles. I filled up my handheld, grabbed a high-octane caffeinated gel, and marched out onto the only brief pavement segment of the course.

The remaining nine miles to the finish were a run/walk, keep it movin’ kind of effort. I passed through the marathon mark in 4:31 while hiking up one of the remaining hills.

Mile 20-30 took 2:04. Yes, the pace was slowing and the discomfort continued to rise, but man, this was exactly where I wanted to be.

Crossing some rock formation.

Running back across the river into the park and heading down the finish chute I see and hear my buddy Tim (who finished second male in the 50k!) cheering at the finish. It felt great to cross that line in 5:36:33!

Then Tim looks back and sees his wife, Stephanie smiling her way to the finish line. This was her first 50k attempt and finish! A big congrats to her. She said she saw me over the last mile or so and was trying to catch me. I had no idea and would have been caught if the race was 31.5 miles.

Steph and Tim

Really, really a great race! Thank you Ken, Brian, and all the amazing volunteers!

Post Race Reflections

• Course – Due to its non-technical nature, a fast course. The many opportunities to open-it-up requires even more attention to pacing so as not to burn too many matches early on. Beautiful area!
• Gear – Nathan Quickdraw Plus Handheld and INOV-8 X-TALON 212 shoes – I would use them both again! Although the X-TALON’s have some beefy lugs, they integrated with the dirt roads without any issues. No blisters.
• Race execution – A little too much spice during the middle miles. May have burnt a few more matches than I realized.
• Training – I ran between 12-23 quality miles/week (avg 19 miles) in the eight weeks leading up to the race and included 3-4 days of strength training per week. Do you need to run high mileage to finish an ultra – I don’t think so! With this low training mileage, I do need to be extra sensitive to pacing throughout the first 3/4 of the race. Still workin’ on that.

EB Live!

After a bite to eat, chat with fellow runners, and a quick shower in the park, I pulled out the laptop, struggled with internet connectivity for a while, and finally started providing beta live coverage of the remainder of the 100 mile and 100 km race through Twitter and the EB Live! page. I also periodically got involved with timing and aid-station support. What a great day and night!

By 6AM on Sunday morning, I was unable to keep my eyes open any longer and jumped in my car and fell asleep for a couple hours. Woke up shortly before 8am, talked to Brian about the female 100 mile winners and posted that before closing the coverage and starting the 4.5 hour drive back home.

Candy and Beavers

Strangest experience on the drive home. While at a gas station filling my tank, a recording says something along the lines of, “Harvard says people that regularly eat candy, live longer”. What?!?

I arrived home around 12:30 pm. We packed up and were on our way to Beaver’s Bend State Park in south east Oklahoma by 1:45 pm. 3.5 hours later, we enjoyed a couple days of this…

What a trip!

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Lake McMurtry 25 km Trail Run – 2012 Race Report
• TATUR Snake Run -2012 Results
• Lake McMurtry Trail Race – 2011 Results
• Lake McMurtry Trail Run – 2012 Results
• A-OK Trail Run – 2012 Results

finishers award - local, handmade pottery

I ran this race with my buddy David Pearson, who was attempting his first ultra distance trail run. We agreed to stick with each other till the end.

My race goals:

• soak up this mountain race experience
• get both of us to the finish line

This video captures many of the sights and some sounds from our entire 12 hour+ 50 km adventure.

Enjoy! (btw, the video segments are choppier than the original source…trying a few different things to improve it)

(If you can’t see the video, click here.)

Simply a great, great race!

Huge thanks to all the volunteers and organizers.

Sweet profiles on back of race shirt.

This was also my first ultra distance race since tweaking my knee back in Feb 2010. All smiles here!

As part of my journey back to going long, I must give a significant amount of thanks to Rick Merriam who has used his biomechanics, muscle, and fascia expertise to address various functional imbalances in this love-to-run body. Thanks Rick!

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – 2012 50 km Course Flyover
• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – 2012 50 Mile Course Flyover
• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – Half Marathon Course Flyover
• Jemez Mountain Trail Run – 50 Mile Course Flyover
• Cedro Peak Ultra – 2012 Results

As Team Hanenburg parked within the grounds of the LBJ National Grasslands four thoughts entered my mind…

One – It sure is a lot easier to get to this place with the sunrise and rainless skies. Last year I circled like a vulture in the park trying to find the race headquarters so I could have some unique fun at an aid-station in the rain, wind, and occasional sleet.

Two – (as I put the car into park and looked up at a couple runners on the trail) Holy sh*t, is that bad-ass Olga racing again in north Texas? It was! She ran the 50 miler (of course).

Three – OK, not a thought but an internal feeling that expressed itself in this huge internal smile.  The vibe and energy of the area felt hugely positive. I was extremely grateful to be starting my third trail race this year as I continue to rebuild the body.

Four – I need to find a bathroom…NOW!

The Race

What can you say about the Grasslands course? Its a bit like wandering through the plains of North Dakota…a few trees, small grade changes, small field vegetation of various types, and an occasional cow. The largest physical challenge of the day would likely be the sand that is strategically scattered throughout the course. Conditions were dry, the sand was ready!

Pic from 2009 - Still good for today as well!

A few areas feel like this. (Courtesy Bryn Jones2008 @ http://flic.kr/p/74p85H)

The course doesn’t really draw me to this event…the people do.

The race strategy for this half marathon was pretty simple for me – run sustainably hard.

What the hell does that mean?

With the help of my trusty Garmin 305, my goal was to keep the old ticker near but below 175 bpm as much as possible. Then simply ride whatever pace that allows. Bam! Let’s go!

In typical trail running fashion, RD Kevin Boudreaux casually said “Go” and we were off…

Race start - Waving to Team Hanenburg!

Within 4 miles I was in a place I often visit within a race – no man’s land. I was too slow to be with the front group and too fast to be with the next larger group of runners. I simply focused on form, breathing, a few peeks at the scenery and heart rate data – then simply celebrated the ability to run.

One cow grunt was about all I heard the entire run.

My heart rate data pretty much describes how my day went.

Click on image to enlarge

I maintained fairly consistent effort through 10 miles before adding a few more logs to the fire in the final 5 km. Add a couple bottles of water with electrolytes, 200 calories of carb goodness, and you have yourself a Grasslands half marathon.

Enjoyed the last bit of sand leading to the finish line, took a hard right directed by good friend Mike Krejci, and crossed the line in 1:50:05 (per my Garmin). Wendy and Griffin were expecting me closer to two hours so they were still playing with trucks in the dirt. It was a fun day!

Shortly after finishing with G-man looking for the next "Big Rock!"

The fam then hung out, had some dirt time with G-man, chatted with friends, and watched my good buddy Tim Jagoda rock the marathon (2nd place).

The sun was now shining with a mild breeze blowing, it was a great March day!

"Sugar please!" - Buddy Tim Jagoda turning off the Barry Manilow after finishing second in the marathon! Big congrats to him.

We eventually had to continue our day as G-man had another birthday party to go to in the early afternoon.

As we left the park, I happened to see Superman Elliott displaying his bad ass determination to finish the marathon. We stopped, I yelled some encouragement out the window, then we rolled on out of the LBJ National Grasslands.

Grasslands goodies - Sweet tech shirt and reusable bag. No "garbage" included. Really dug this.

The knee held up great…still can’t say it is at 100% but continues to be so close.

Huge thanks to RDs Kevin and Stacie Boudreaux and all the great volunteers (NTTR crew and others).

The Rebuilding Continues

Over the last six-plus months I have tinkered with but over the the last three months I have consistently followed a new-to-me training paradigm that puts huge emphasis on quality run training and full body strengthening. My typical approach of run, run, run didn’t work for me especially in longer races or higher run volume…I would tweak something. I have really enjoyed this new approach and am hopeful that it will greatly up my durability as I return to more ultra distance adventures (time will tell).

The training philosophy I am following/modeling is Crossfit Endurance. I am so intrigued by this approach that I recently completed a CrossFit Endurance Trainer Course.

The general approach to the CFE training model is first – Technique, then Intensity, and finally Volume. Overlay on top of this a full-body strengthening program and you start the process of creating a running warrior.

Since the new year I have averaged ~15 miles/week (3 run sessions per week) along with four strength-type sessions (15-30 minutes per). And hugely important, having a lot of fun with the process.

My next big adventure planned is the Jemez 50 km (in May) which is going to be a significant test for the body…and mind.

This is going to be interesting....

Bring it!

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

Related Articles:

• Grasslands Trail Run – 2012 Results
• Grasslands Trail Run – 2011 Results
• Grasslands Trail Run 2010 Results
• Pandora’s Box of Rox Trail Run – 2012 Results
• The Maze Trail Run – 2012 Results

A special thanks to Tim for sharing his detailed report with the region!

by Tim Neckar

I was ready.  Ready for edition three of the Mother Road 100 mile road race.  I had won edition two, but I knew it would be difficult repeating as champion being two years older against younger competitors.  I would give it my best shot though.  I had trained well, running long runs of 28, 35, and 40 miles in consecutive weekends with my training partner and pacer for the race, Andrew Pena.  The weekend before the MR was 20 miles with 13 miles of overpass going back and forth over it.  I couldn’t wait for the following weekend.

Andrew and I flew into Tulsa Friday morning of November 12th.  My dear friend and Crew Chief, Dan Stake from Kingfisher, OK picked us up and the weekend began.  Now Dan is not just your ordinary Crew Chief, he is the best!  He makes sure I get everything  I need or want, plus making sure he is as comfortable as can be while crewing.  Dan is an ultra runner himself being a veteran of the Marathon de Sables, and three of the four Racing the Planet races.

After a quick trip to Fleet Feet in Tulsa , a Mexican lunch, and the Reasor’s Grocery Store for race supplies and food ( Water, Gatorade, Boost, Pop-Tarts, Little Debbie Brownies, Dr. Peppers, and Chocolate mini donuts), we headed for packet pick-up at the Hampton Inn in Catoosa.  By now it was only 12:30 and packet pick-up wasn’t until 3:00.  So the three of us waited in the sitting area watching TV and napping until then.  It was pouring rain outside, but the forecast for the next day was partly cloudy and perfect conditions.

3 pm came and I got my bib number and swag, and we headed to the race start, Baxter Springs, Kansas.  We checked in to the Baxter Inn and headed to Pizza Hut for the pre- race meal of pizza and breadsticks.  Then it was back to the hotel room for last minute sorting, going over the check list, and just a quick “go over” with Dan and Andrew.  I was asleep by 9:30.

I slept well as I woke up at 7 a.m.  It was a mixed blessing having the race begin 9:00.  Yes, it was nice to sleep in, but thinking if the race began earlier I could be two or three hours down the road by now.  I had my usual pre-race breakfast of Strawberry Pop-Tarts and a Dr. Pepper. I then got dressed, and I was ready to run.

We drove over to the race start at downtown Baxter Springs at 8:15.  I picked up my timing chip, stretched, lubed up, and went to the bathroom one more time.  I also met Jane Herzog from Tacoma, WA.  Jane used to be an email client of mine.  Her husband was running his first 100.  He definitely pick a dandy!

They played the National Anthem and I walked over to the starting line.  It was cloudy, around 40 degrees, and a south wind blowing about 10-15 mph.  The wind was a little concerning since we would be running southwest toward Catoosa.  I was wearing my traditional Texas flag running shorts, white compression t-shirt, Moeben sleeves, gloves, running hat, Nike Vomero running shoes, and Injinji socks.  The plan was to exchange out my 2 waist Camelbak Flashflows as needed and never miss a beat.

The gun went off promptly at 9 am with a loud BANG! and we headed down Route 66.  Immediately about 8 of us formed a lead pack with one runner taking off ahead of us.  I decided not to go with him since the last thing I needed to do was go out too fast and blow up later.  Another runner chased him down to stay with him, so now I was in 3rd leading the pack.  This dissolved after about a 1/2 mile as we all settled into our own pace.  It didn’t take long to discard my Moeben sleeves and gloves to Dan and Andrew around mile four.

Tim at the start of the race wearing white

The first hour went quickly as I covered a little over seven miles going through the first of many towns.  Going through all these towns was such a blur, and really the whole first half of the race was a blur.  I was so focused on pace, conserving energy while I sometimes ran straight into the wind, drinking, eating, taking in Endurolytes, that I pretty much had tunnel vision that first 50 miles.  I only walked to drink my Boost and to eat a hamburger and a burrito Dan got for me.   I do remember during the day running about 3-4 miles of the original Route 66.  This was not fun.  The original road was narrow concrete that had seen better days.  It was only 12 feet wide or so with gravel over it. So it was either running on the concrete/gravel or off to the shoulder with gravel and potholes.   It was slow going through these sections.

Just losing two pounds that first 50, I knew that I was going to have a good 2nd half of a race.  I hit the 50 mile timing mat at 7:24:20 with cloudless skies and still fighting the wind.

Since it was already 4:24 pm, darkness was not far off.  I changed into a long sleeve shirt and discarded my Camelbak.  Since I knew Andrew was going to be carrying his 70 ounce Camelbak, I figured we would share his the rest of the way as Andrew was getting ansy to begin pacing.

Taking off my waist Camelbak was like taking off 20 lbs!  I felt very strong after that and probably did the next mile in 8 minutes or so.  Andrew was not quite ready for me, so he met me up the road a couple of miles.  Once Andrew began pacing me, the two-lane nice highway with a shoulder subsided to a two-lane road with no shoulder, and it was getting dark fast.  The wind was dying down, but the hills came more frequently (This part could have been my imagination).  To get my senses back up to gear, I asked Dan for a 5 Hour Energy bottle and he obliged.  This got me back up to speed with conversations with Andrew and alertness with the road.

This section of road was difficult with it: 1) getting dark, 2) no shoulder, and 3) the sun setting right in our line of vision.  We wanted to go “Commando” with no headlamps so if we came upon another runner from behind, he wouldn’t see us coming, but we had to abandon this method after about a half hour after sunset to be safe and let cars see us coming.  Some cars could plainly see us and move over to the next lane, then some either didn’t see us or just wanted to play “Chicken” with us.  So when that happened, we had to get off in the brush and grass and stop to let the car go by.  This probably went on 8-10 miles.

The sharing of the Camelbak with Andrew was going well as we deemed ourselves “Bladder Brothers” drinking from the same tube.  The only problem was that we were so hydrated, we had to stop and pee about every mile or so.  Adding 20-30 seconds of not moving times 30 or so stops, adds up to a lot of time lost not moving forward..

When we finally hit shoulder after about mile 63, it was smooth sailing after that with Dan meeting us every mile to 2 miles seeing if we needed anything.   I basically was consuming Dr. Pepper, Water, Chocolate Donuts, and bites of burrito through the evening.   We hit a massive hill at mile 75 which seemed like it took forever to climb, but I didn’t walk it.

Right before we were to get to the TATUR aid station at mile 77, I had a little mishap. We were in this little town (which I don’t remember the name) and the course detoured off the main highway onto a residential street.  Being around 9 pm it was quiet.  Then the Mother Road course signs directed us to make a right turn into a house driveway. We thought, “This can’t be right!” but we did it just to make sure.  Well, I stepped up four inches on a five inch curb and hit the ground. Luckily, I was barely jogging as I went down. No harm done, but it was frustrating as I paid the expense of someone pulling a gag and misplacing the signs.  Fortunately, Dan came down the street from the opposite way and told us to stay on the road as the TATUR Aid Station was just ahead.

We arrived at the aid station, I weighed myself (same weight as at the 50 mile weigh in), and Andrew and I took off down the road.

We got to the town of Claremore around 11:15 p.m. with lots of traffic on a Saturday night.  Claremore’s finest were out and about stopping cars right and left.  We saw a couple of policemen giving sobriety tests on the side of the road.  They even stopped Dan, who was parked in a bank parking lot asking him what he was doing there.  They weren’t sure what to think of him sitting there eating Pringles.

Still drinking and peeing, it was beginning to drop down in the upper 30s, so I asked Dan for some gloves, my running vest, and a side of one more 5 Hour Energy to take me to the finish.  Still running strong down Route 66, we took a quick left onto a country road at mile 97 and encountered my first hill I couldn’t run up.  It was just too steep, so I angrily walked up it.  Once we crested the top of it, we could see off in the distance the Hard Rock Hotel in Catoosa.  We were to finish at the football stadium which was right across the street from the hotel.  I was then like a horse going to the barn.  My sights were set.

The Blue Whale - Famous Landmark on Route 66 in Catoosa

Mile 98 and 99 came with a comical incident as I headed closer to the stadium, one incident I have to tell.  All of a sudden around mile 98.5, I had this “hit the wall” moment and I slowed down to a 12 minute pace as I needed some quick calories to make it to the finish.  Dan was up ahead stopped, waiting in the van, making sure we wouldn’t miss this critical turn to the final stretch.    All I needed was a Boost to get me through.  Just as we got close to the van, Dan drives off!  Fortunately, he only went a quarter mile or so and I finally get my calories.

Andrew was praising me and telling me positive things as the finish grew near.  We entered the stadium parking lot, made a quick right turn onto the track for the final 300 meters.  I kicked it into gear that last 150 as I rounded the final curve and the straight-a-way.  I crossed the line at 16:53:16 in 4th place as Dan was taking a picture and videoing at the same time.  I PR’d by just over 20 minutes on my 100 mile time!

The race was pretty much flawless for me.  Except for the peeing the last half of the race every mile or so I had an exceptional race.  Just one pair of shoes and one pair of Injinji socks without a hint of a blister.

Believe me, this couldn’t have happened without the great crewing and pacing of Dan and Andrew.  Without them, there is no way I could have PR’d and had such a tremendous adventure.  I owe it all to them. Sadly, this was the last installment of the Mother Road 100, and it will be missed by all of us.

Also, if you are looking for some running guidance for your upcoming road or trail runnning adventures,  check out Tim’s site over at RunnerOne.com.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photos: Courtesy of Fun Memories Photography, Todd Christell, and Chuck “Caveman” Coker)

Related Articles:

• 2011 Badwater Ultramarathon – TALON Athletes Shine
• TnT Trail Run – 2011 Results
• Mother Road 100 Road Race – 2010 Results
• TALON Ultramarathon Coaches For Trail and Road Running

TALON athlete, Melissa Linan, won the historic Arkansas Traveller 100 trail run a little over a week ago (race results summary). Melissa finished with a time of 23:34:57, less than three minutes in front of the next chaser, Monica Scholz. This is an extremely close race in ultra land.

Melissa was kind enough to share some of her exciting and challenging journey with us.

Enjoy!

Before the race I had my normal pre-race breakfast ½ can of Monster, bagel w/peanut butter and a banana.  We were all a little quiet getting our numbers on, adjusting fuel belts etc.  I wasn’t nervous which is what I love about ultras…I was always a mess before 5k’s, and marathons.   That’s how I decided ultras and trail running was for me…particularly 100 milers.  I am really new to the sport…did my first ultra in Dec. of 2008 (Sunmart 50 miler).  This was my 3^rd 100 miler.

The gun went off at 6am and the weather could not have been better.  Team Trail Freak started out together and we joked around the first 1-2mi. then we all kind of drifted apart.  My goal going into the race was to run a sub 24 however I knew it was going to be a tough course so my plan was to just run comfortably the first 30 miles and not dwell on splits but just do what I love to do…RUN!  If it happened great and if it didn’t I was ok with that as well.  Decided not to wear my Garmin and just go with the flow.

The first part of the course wasn’t bad then we hit the Ouachita Trail which was pretty rocky and very hilly single track trail.   I don’t remember a whole lot of the first 17miles just know I got passed by quite a few people.  I just kept thinking keep moving forward and get these 17 miles out of the way because I knew I would not have to see them again.

When we started the out and back portion that’s when I started to pick runners off.  Felt really good on the uphills and decided to just run them.  If they were pretty steep I would use a run / walk strategy.  Met lots of awesome people along the way.  When I reached an aid station the girl taking my number said, “you’re doing good, you’re in 3^rd place (2 females ahead of you).”  I think my reaction was “shut up!”  I could not believe that!  She said the 2^nd place girl is 15 min. ahead of you.  Thought, ok, keep moving forward and keep pushing on the hills.  Eventually caught her on a hill and was so excited that I was in 2^nd place.

Before I reached Powerline a hunter who had just parked said to me, “you have a long way to go!”  OMG, I laughed so hard!  At Powerline which is almost the halfway point I got a warning because I had lost a few pounds.  Starting to freak out a little bit.  I felt like I had been drinking quite a bit but apparently not enough.   Changed into some dry clothes, filled a baggie full of food to take with me out on the trail and headed out.  Was told I was 30min. behind the leader…woo hoo!  Knew the next 20mi. were very runnable so I pushed on.  Was also looking forward to my Monster waiting for me at mile 67.  And by this time was already jamming to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Saw the leader heading back to Powerline and she looked really fresh so I knew I had some work ahead of me, but it really pumped me up.  At Turnaround I scarffed down as much food as I could as fast as I could and flew out of there.   I kept drinking like crazy because I knew I was going to get on the scale again at Powerline.  As this point I had to pee like crazy but decided to wait until after the weigh in (smart thinking).  I passed my friend Dave and he cheered me on.  Also saw Suzi who was making her way to Turnaround.  They both looked great!

Met more cool people along the way and didn’t even know I passed the leader.  Until the guy I was running with said you know that was the leader you just passed.  OMG!  I didn’t even notice, thought she was a pacer.  I am really stoked at this point with the prospect that I could actually win a race.  Along the way at the AWESOME aid stations I’m being told that I’m in 8^th place overall and on sub 24 pace.  Wow, I can’t even digest that.

Then things take a turn for the worst…I start having problems with my vision.  Which also happened on my last 100miler.  I think it was a 6mi. section of the course that I had to walk?  The terrain was very rocky and my vision was really bad.  So I decide to play it safe and walk rather than risk injury by taking a fall.  This really sucks because I want to run sooo….bad, especially when I’m being passed by other runners.  Then to make things worse I miss a turn and realize it pretty quick, so I turn back to find the turn arrows but then I can’t remember which direction I was coming from (I got turned around)…#^%7*.  Not good!  So I make a decision and soon realize I’ve gone the wrong way (I’m back tracking) as I see a headlamp running towards me.  I am so mad at myself, so I turn around and pick up the pace this time in the right direction.

As I arrive at the last aid station which I believe is pumpkin patch the guy I am running with tells me Monica the second place girl is right behind me.  At this point my competitive nature kicks in and I yell my bid number to the aid station attendant and fly out of there.  My vision is horrible but I don’t even care anymore.  I wanted to win so bad!  Decided to leave it on the trail, no regrets.

This part of the course was very runnable so to compensate for my vision I stayed on the very right side of the trail and was brushing against the plants along the way to help stay on course.  My only problem was when the plants ended I ended up at someone’s campsite.  I was told there was going to be a station with no aid but just someone recording our numbers, so I thought I was there.  I started yelling, “I can’t find the trail which way do I go?”  And this poor guy who I completely startled comes out and says it’s right over there, see that other runner?  Then proceeds to ask me, how long have you been running.   Of course he thinks I’m insane as he is pointing me in the direction of the trail.

The other runner on the trail was Brian Kuhn from IL who I had run with for a little while earlier.  OMG…was I happy to see him!  I asked him if Monica had passed him while I was off course and he said, “no.”   Saweet! Ok, so I tell him I can’t see so I am going to hang with him.  He is in no rush because his goal is to come in under 24 and he has that in the bag.  I explain to him that I am in first place (I think) and want to keep it that way.  So this incredibly nice guy who I have just met on the trail decides to help me get to the finish.

We start to run together and I apologize for bumping into him like 10 times because I literally cannot focus and am just all over the road.   At about ½ mile to go he says, go on. I’m going to walk a little.  He assures me I cannot get lost…so I am literally following the white line on the road and can see the finish and hear the music.  Only problem, I don’t know where to turn to get to the finish and I am so focused on the white line that I pass the turn.  Then the music begins to fade and I know I have gone too far…this cannot be happening to me!  I stop dead in my tracks and yell anyone please tell me how to get to the finish.  Then several people yell it’s right here come back this way.   OMG…I was so happy to cross that finish line and see Brian and I WON!!  And Sub 24!!

Three days later I still can’t wipe the smile off my face!  A million Thank You’s to Brian!!  Could not have done it without his help!  Chrissy and Stan put on a 1^st class race and I can’t say enough about the volunteers.  They are Rockstars!  All of Team Trail Freak who also happen to be NTTR members returned home with buckles! (-:

A special thanks to Melissa for taking the time and sharing her report with us.

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photos: Courtesy of Dave Carder, Melissa Linan, and Black Dog Photo Productions)

Related Articles:

• Run it Forward – Rolls Through the TALON Region
• Jenny Brod’s Love of the Trail Leads to 2011 Arkansas Traveller 100 Win – Interview
• 2011 Arkansas Traveller 100 – Bonus Photos
• Arkansas Traveller 100 – 2011 Results
• Arkansas Traveller 100 – 2010 Results