The Low Place

Last week's training (and a race)

2010-07-30T18:33:00.006-04:00

Monday J19: AM 2:25 cycling- easy with some pickups PM 0:10 core 14km row in ???
Tuesday J20: AM 2:20 cycling- easy PM 14km row in ???
Wednesday J21: AM 2:08 cycling- easy PM 14km row in ???
Thursday J22: AM 2:20 cycling - easy PM 14km row in ??? 0:10 core
Friday J23: AM 1:04 cycling- easy PM 0:16 cycling 0:10 core
Saturday J24: AM 75 min WU- crit ~40 min? 45 min CD PM 45 min WU 16km hilly time trial in 22:29 20 min cd
Sunday J25: AM limited warm-up ~30 min 49 mile race in ?2:30? limited cooldown ~20 min

Comments: This week, I was focused on the Blacksburg Cycling Classic and I was pretty tired from my big weekend of cycling. My totals were 18:00 cycling (not bad for a race week) and 4:00 rowing (which is probably a high). The Blacksburg Cycling Classic when really well for me. It started out a bit rough when I missed the start of my first cat 4 crit and started almost a lap down (I realized that I had missed the start when I saw the leaders coming around the final turn of the .89 mile-lap). I took off and rode the hardest 40 minutes of my life- managing to catch all but the top 7 riders for some much needed omnium points but no cash. The course was great for me (as good a a crit course could be) with a nice big hill and brake-free corners. The weather was a different story (Photo by Dave Cobb of Team Traveller)

The time trial went a little bit more smoothly (I made there on time) but I had tweaked my rear derailleur just before the start and I think that I made it worse. It was find for the (easy) warm-up but when I started to hammer for the TT, it was pretty bad. I managed 3rd place in 22:29.1 0.4 seconds behind second- which is a good lesson to always dig for that extra 1/2 of a second... After the race, I tried to adjust my derailleur and the cable came clean out. Had that happened during the race, I would have been stuck with only my smallest cog? I guess that I was pretty lucky after all.

The road race was not until noon the next day and the theme of the day was the weather (courtesy of Nataliedee).

The cat 4 race was three flattish to rolling laps with a mountain-top finish tacked onto the end. There were minor attacks on the first lap but the peloton mostly stayed together- or so we thought. I breakaway of three riders had gotten away and and the beginning of the second lap, we learned that they were 1:10 up. No one really wanted to organize a chase and so we languished around on the second lap (with me pulling most of the back half). The third lap was just as bad and I pulled for some of it despite really trying not to. Toward the end of the third lap, one of the break away riders had come back but the other two had a pulled a 4:20 lead. I lead the chase group to the bottom of the climb and let it rip. I caught the two riders about 1/2 of the way up the hill and managed to pull off a very luckily timed win! Results can be found here.

Last week's training

2010-07-18T20:46:00.000-04:00

Monday J12 AM 0:45 row (felt terrible) 1:05 elliptical (felt ok) all day in the field PM 0:10 core and 0:15 cycling

Tuesday J13 AM 4:15 ride to and from Holcomb Rock- easy

Wednesday J14 AM 0:59 easy ride PM 1:10 warm up (race delayed because of the combination of the earlier (4/5) and later (1/2/3) races) / 45 laps in 45 min??? 1:20 cool down (sorry, Dave) around downtown Roanoke and up and down the Greenway...

Thursday J15 AM 2:30 ride- Bratton's Run backward with an add-on in VMI- felt ok but tried not to push it so that I could recover from yesterday and get in some quality this weekend PM 714km row in 59:42

Friday J16 AM 14km row in 59:57 1:00 elliptical PM 2:30 ride- North Mountain from the side- rode at 3:00 pm = really hot!

Saturday J17 AM 7:55 ride to WV border and back- felt pretty rough around 3 hours in and much better in the second half...

Sunday J18 AM 4:10 ride- Vesuvius and the BRPW- felt tired....

Comments: First off, Wednesday's crit went really well. I got off to a really poor start due to some difficulty with getting clipped in but after that, I moved up pretty quickly and took the lead with 35 laps to go for a 45-lap race. I got out-sprinted for the preem but my corners were much, much better than last week and I managed to drop all but one rider instead of all but two riders... Saturday was a great ride to and from the WV border- this is only my third border crossing (MA to NH and NH to VT being the other two) and it started with a bear in the road just south of Goshen! I also saw a copperhead as roadkill... Overall for the week, I had 25:49 of cycling, 2:45 rowing, and 2:05 elliptical with 30:39 total. Not bad. Below is pic from Wednesday's crit with eventual first-place finisher, Gordon Wadsworth behind me. Photo was taken by Team Traveller's Dave Cobb.

Random Thoughs

2010-07-17T19:00:00.004-04:00

Some random thoughts from the past few days...

1. I think that Annalisa is currently running more than anyone else in our immediate family (who would have seen that coming a few years back?)

2. I saw my second bear in two weeks this morning and I have heard stories from four other people who have spotted bears in Rockbridge County in the past few weeks. Awesome!

3. Nothing says, "screw you for leaving me off of the TdF team again" like this.

4. My favorite race is going off at 7:00am tomorrow (Sunday) morning. I am anxious to see if Matt C can make it up and down for the win one more year against Rickey G. I think that Rickey will run well at The Barr (based on past performances at "similar" races) but anyone who bets against Matt on his home course has just not been paying attention. Nevertheless, I expect a battle royal...

5. I got upgraded from Cat 5 to Cat 4 this week for road cycling by USA Cycling. For those of you who are not familiar with the category system, this means that I have graduated from "beginner" to the JV of the JV of the JV of the JV of the sport.

6. I rode from Lex to the WV state line this morning; now, I am tired...

7. I have a race (or a series of races) coming up next weekend. Saturday morning starts out with a crit (boo) and Saturday evening, I will do my first real (not uphill) time trial. Sunday morning, there is a road race with an uphill finish (yeah).

8. I forget what eight is for...

Last week's training

2010-07-15T14:01:00.001-04:00

Monday 7.5 AM 4:20 Brattons Run backward with 42 extension- felt pretty good

Tuesday 7.6 AM 2:00 ride- out Forge back on Plank PM 0:10 core 14km row in 59:49

Wednesday 7.7 AM 1:09 ride- easy on Traveller PM Roanoke Civic Center Crit Series 0:55 warm-up 40-lap in about 40 minutes, 30 mine cool-down.

Thursday 7.8 AM 2:59 Borden Grant to Vesuvius to Irish Creek- felt great PM 14km row in 59:42 0:10 core

Friday 7.9 AM 1:57 ride- Big Hill but no Turkey Hill felt terrible and bailed PM 14km row in 57:49 (pr) 0:10 core

Saturday 7.10 AM 3:30 ride- felt pretty bad but tried to stay flat

Sunday 7.11 AM PM 4:41 cycling- to BBRPW on 60, south to top of Apple Orchard mountain, back via Petite's gap PM 4:19 cycling- group ride to Augusta county- mostly easy with some drills and sprints (really hot...). 0:10 core

Comments: Finally, a week that I can say was good; granted, no running but still a good week. The Crit on Wednesday was a really good workout as I led for the last half of the race before getting passed in the final straight be two riders. Friday, I had a great row, and Sunday, I got in 9 hours of riding. The photo below is me leading 1st and 2nd in Wednesday's crit (taken by Kristin N. Colonna).

Last week's training

2010-07-06T12:53:00.001-04:00

Monday 6.28 AM 1:57 ride around Quabbin Park PM 0:10 core and weights
Tuesday 6.29 AM 2:15 ride into UMASS via Shutsbury Center
Wednesday 6.30 AM 1:07 ride into UMASS PM 0:57 ride back from UMASS- saw two Moose (giant Cow and tiny calf) on Sand Hill Road
Thursday 7.1 AM 2:03 ride into UMASS via Shutsbury Center
Friday 7.2 AM 2:00 ride into UMASS via Shutsbury Center
Saturday 7.3 PM 6:30 ride from corner of 340 and 66 to near the end of Skyline Drive. Hilly the whole way. Saw a bear about two hour in (see below). I was going to ride the entire way but I stopped to eat at 10:00 pm 6:30 in and fell asleep almost instantly- woke up when only I got a text message and decided to sleep for a while.
Sunday 7.4 AM 4:15 ride from Skyline Drive to Lex via BRPW and Irish Creek starting at 5:00 am- very tired- somehow, I did not sleep well on the ground by the side of the road. ...a beautiful ride nonetheless. PM 0:30 ride easy to and from WalMart to buy a new phone (my 5+ year old one crapped out last night) and a fan for my 110 degree apartment. PM 0:10 core

Comments: A week of maintenance during a rough week of analytical work at UMASS. I got very little sleep (even less than during the semester) but it was good to get back and do some of my old rides- particularly the Quabbin and Shutsbury. I only did cycling workouts this week (though I did think about swimming in the old lake but did not quite make it) and got in a total of 21:34- not too bad except that is was mostly in two days. It was a great week for wildlife encounters with two moose in Amherst (of Shutsbury) and my second VA bear. I got dropped off at the corner of 66 and 350 (above Front Royal) with my driver's final works a joking "watch out for bears". Two hours later, I was heading down one of the many, many hills of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park when I saw two cyclists on the other side of the road- one of whom was gesticulating oddly. She was pointing to a medium-sized black bear in the ditch on my side of the road. I passed by going pretty fast (downhill) less than five feet from it! This is by far the closest that I have been to any of the five other bears that I have encountered in the wild. The pic from this week is a set of four elemental abundance maps of a disequilibrium (reaction) rim of olivine and clinopyroxene surrounding an orthopyroxene xenocryst in a porphyritic basalt from the Uinkaret Volcanic Field in the Western Grand Canyon that I made during the week at UMASS.

Last week's training

2010-07-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

Monday 6.21 AM 14km row in 58:56 0:30 elliptical PM 2:06 ride- variation on out on Forge back on Plank
Tuesday 6.22 AM 3:20 ride out South River, up Vesuvius, Back on BRPW to Irish Gap and back
Wednesday 6.23 AM 14km row in 59:56 0:30 elliptical 0:10 core
Thursday 6.24 AM 2:14 ride- valley and ridge
Friday 6.25 AM 14km row in 58:xx (really fast but I can't remember exactly) 0:30 elliptical 0:10 core PM 1:10 ride- valley and ridge
Saturday 6.26 AM 0:30 ride- travel day- this is all the time that I had in the AM (got up late)
Sunday 6.27 AM 3:22 ride circum-Quabbin- felt really good and hammered

Comments: Not a great week for cycling with only 12:42 total. I did get in a really good ride around the Quabbin, though... I am coming along on the rowing, though with three hours this week and two of my fastest 14km times thus far. 1:30 elliptical made for 17:12 total for the week. Below is a picture of me taken by Steele Burrow of Burrow Imagery during a foggy hill workout this spring.

Last week's training

2010-06-24T10:25:00.001-04:00

Monday 6.14 AM 14km row in 59:57 0:40 elliptical PM 1:53 ride 0:10 core
Tuesday 6.15 AM 2:18 ride
Wednesday 6.16 AM 0:10 core 14km row in 59:36 PM 2:58 ride- South River, Vesuvius, Irish Creek
Thursday 6.17 AM 2:11 ride 0:10 core
Friday 6.18 AM 14km row in 59:24 0:30 elliptical PM 2:17 ride- Bratton's Run (out on 60) on new ride 0:10 core
Saturday 6.19 AM 4:15 ride 60 to BRPW, down Vesuvius, meandered back
Sunday 6.20 AM 4:30 ride to Holcomb rock, one hour of coring, back along BRPW

Another pretty good week for training. 20:22 cycling, 3:00 rowing, and 1:40 elliptical with three productive days in the field. On the other hand, I missed my third consecutive Mt. Washington... Below, the Holcomb Rock Dam taken from the field site...

Last week's training

2010-06-10T19:19:00.004-04:00

Monday J07: AM 4:10 ride to and from Holcomb Rock PM 0:10 core
Tuesday J08: AM 2:11 ride Big Hill Turkey Hill 0:10 core: All day in the field
Wednesday J09: AM 0:10 core 14km row in 59:55 60 min elliptical: All day in the field
Thursday J10: AM 2:55 ride- South River, Vesuvius, Irish Creek PM 14km row in 59:47
Friday J11: AM: 14km row in 59:39 0:30 elliptical: all day in the field PM: 1:45 ride- first ride on my new ride- felt terrible (little sleep last night)
Saturday J12: PM 3:45 ride Bratton's Run backward with up and over North Mt. 0:15 core
Sunday J13: AM 0:10 core 2:17 ride to Holcomb Rock via the BRPW (all day in the field) PM 2:29 ride back from Holcomb Rock via the BRPW

Comments: A good week with no real monster rides but with some solid work and 19:33 of riding, 3:00 of rowing, and 1:30 elliptical.

I'm out

2010-06-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

With The Hill coming up in less than two weeks, I regret to announce that I will not be in attendance this year. This is the third year in a row that I have been on the road to Mt. Washington early on in the year and been sidelined with injuries. In 2008, I had just run a fantastic race at the Pittsfield Snowshoe Marathon when I felt a irritating pain in my left knee. I ran a leg of the Tuckerman's Inferno before switching to an ambitious regimen of x-training. I ended up getting surgery that summer (July) to remove a dislodged piece of cartilage. In 2009, I was running well with quite a bit of supplemental x-training when I started to add uphill treadmill tempo runs to my routine (7.6 miles at 12% 13.1 miles at 15% et cetera) when my knee problem returned (I had just added uphill treadmill work to my routine in 2008 when my initial problems began). When the 2009 race came around, I was coming off of a very bad May and June, I was forced to withdraw again. I ran a few races later in 2009 but with not much success. Late fall of 2009, I had another hiccup- this time with my left (non-surgery) knee but by the beginning of 2010, I was once again on the road to The Hill. I had decided to use a cycling-heavy build up with specific hill-rep preparation for The Hill. I had worked up my long-run to 2:45 and had just started hill reps back in March when I started feeling pain in my right (surgery) knee. This was completely different than previous problems. Before, there was a dull pain right in the middle of the knee joint; this time, there is a sharp pain front and lateral. I took a few weeks of cross-training before trying to run (and then limp around for two weeks). Another few weeks, another run, and another few weeks of limping. I launched into my riding with the idea that with even a month of specific (running) training to supplement my cycling strength and endurance, I could maybe run well enough to make my ninth national mountain running team. Now that it is early June (and my knee is not improving at all), I have come to the realization that I will not be racing at The Hill (or probably anywhere) this year.

After three second-place finishes (and a 3rd and a 4th), and after living in New England for eight years, winning Mount Washington had been the at the top of my list of goals since I first ran in 2002. Granted, there was no chance of that in 2010... ...but it still would have been nice to compete and to see the many, many friends that will be racing. This year, it's going to be great. It is the 50th running, the national championship, and the only national team trial race. It is going to be the mountain race on the US scene for 2010 and might be the most competitive domestic field in the history of US mountain running. Missing it will be very, very difficult for me. I would like to wish all of the racers good luck.

A brief report on racing so far in 2010

2010-06-06T10:21:00.001-04:00

Here is what I have been up to on the racing front for the first 1/2 of 2010.

April 10th: Rock Hill Omnium Road Race: I won the Cat 4/5 35+ road race on a solo breakaway from about 20 miles out in my first ever mass-start race... On my Moto... Results

April 11th: Rock Hill Omnium Criterium: On the following day, I lead for five of the last six laps before finishing 16th (again in the cat 3/4 35+) crit. Results

May 1st: Wintergreen Ascent: I finished 4th overall at the VA state hillclimb championship in Wintergreen behind some pretty fast dudes. There was a 6-foot long dead eastern diamond back on the course! Results

May 9th: TomatoHead Omnium Time Trial: I was really pumped for this race since I have wanted to do a time trial for a while; unfortunately, the race was a one-mile time trial with 11 turns- two of which were greater than 90 degrees...

May 9th: TomatoHead Omnium Criterium: I rode the masters (30+) crit and got my butt kicked! I think that I not very good at crits...

May 29th: Tour of Tucker County: Fitness/performance-wise I had a great day. 0:26 in, I was in the back of the lead pack and the climbs were feeling really easy when I flatted (front) and had to work really hard to catch up. I caught up on the top of the loop and had a few minutes to rest when I managed to drop my chain (random bump) at the bottom of a short hill. I lost some more time on the big downhill and then dropped my chain again (WTF?). I was far enough behind the lead pack that I blew a turn (the marshals must have assumed that I was in the pro/1/2/3 race and let me start a second lap). I probably went a mile out my way before catching up to some cat 3 riders and figuring out my mistake. I turned around and hit the last climb (7 miles long) hard and it took forever for me to pass anyone. I managed to pass all but the top two riders who were 30 seconds in front of me at the finish line. We were all under the old CR by quite a bit. I am looking forward to two laps at next year's race. Results

Last couple of week's training

2010-06-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Monday, May 3rd: PM 1:50 ride with Elliot
Tuesday, May 4th: PM 2:13 ride- North Mountain from the Side
Wednesday, May 5th AM 1:30 cycling- easy, spent all day in the river with EFM class with lots of swimming and wetsuit work PM 1:00 cycling- easy (tired)
Thursday, May 6th AM 1:00 elliptical, 5km rowing- wanted to do more but my arms were wrecked from swimming all day on Wednesday PM 2:10 cycling- up and down North Mountain
Friday, May 7th AM 0:10 core, 10km rowing erg in 43:XX, 0:20 elliptical PM 0:15 cycling
Saturday, May 8th AM 1:05 cycling- easy PM 0:32 cycling- easy, 0:10 core
Sunday, May 9th AM Tomatohead Omnium... 1:30 wu/1 mile TT/20 min cd/0:50 wu/0:40 crit/0:49 cd = 3:20 cycling

Monday, May 10th PM 2:00 easy ride
Tuesday, May 11th AM 2:11 ride cold and raining PM 10km row in 40:34 (fastest time in a while)
Wednesday, May 12th AM 1:55 ride PM 1:23 ride
Thursday, May 13th AM 1:15 elliptical & 0:45 row PM 2:12 ride
Friday, May 14th AM 0:45 row (10km in 42:49) 0:30 elliptical PM 1:50 0:10 core
Saturday, May 15th 6:50 ride- South River to Vesuvius north on BRPW to Shenandoah National Park back on Irish Creek
Sunday May 16th AM 4:04 South River to Vesuvius to Robinson Gap

Monday, May 17th AM 0:45 elliptical & 0:45 row (10km in 42:46) PM 1:00 indoor cycling 0:10 core
Tuesday, May 18th 2:36 North Mountain- muddy and soft PM 0:45 row (10km in 41:24)
Wednesday, May 19th AM 1:26 ride with Elliot 0:15 core PM 1:00 elliptical (8.7 miles) & 0:30 row
Thursday, May 20th 1:47- 1 hour on own, 0:47 with Elliot - high rpm drills PM 0:45 row (10km in 39:49)
Friday, May 21st AM 0:21 ride back from dropping off the van PM 3:30 ride on North Mountain (I was really tired and slow)
Saturday, May 22nd: 3:34 ride somewhere...
Sunday, May 23rd: 4:46 ride out to Devils Marble Yard and back on the BRPW & Robinson Gap

Monday, May 24th: 0:10 core 3:11 out South River, up Vesuvius, back Irish Creek PM 0:60 rowing
Tuesday, May 25th: 3:12 out South River, up Vesuvius, back Irish Creek PM 0:30 row
Wednesday, May 26th: AM 0:60 row & 0:45 elliptical PM 1:00 ride
Thursday, May 27th: AM 0:45 row & 0:40 elliptical PM 2:04 with Elliot
Friday, May 28th: AM 0:35 cycling easy 0:10 core PM 0:30 cycling easy
Saturday, May 29th: AM 0:30/1:51 Tour of Tucker County/0:35 cd PM 0:15 core
Sunday, May 30th: AM 2:35 easy ride 0:15 core

Monday, May 31st: AM 2:18 ride out Forge back on Plank with add on (briefly lost) 0:10 core (field work all day)
Tuesday, June 1st: AM 2:09 Big Hill Turkey Hill 0:10 core (field work all day) PM 0:49 ride out 60 back on Furrs Mill
Wednesday, June 2nd: AM 2:10 Big Hill Turkey Hill 0:10 core (field work all day)
Thursday, June 3rd: AM 2:04 ride out Forge back on Plank with add on 0:10 core PM: 14km row in 1:00:39 (field work all day)
Friday, June 4th: 4:11 ride to Holcomb Rock and back 10 min core
Saturday, June 5th: AM 4:16 ride to Holcomb Rock and back 0:10 core PM 0:35 ride- Turkey Hill PM 0:30 ride- back
Sunday, June 6th: AM 4:00 ride to Holcomb Rock and back

Update

2010-05-08T17:43:00.004-04:00

My last blog post was written during my spring break which was pretty much the last time that I had a minute or two to sit down and write something that was not work-related. Winter semester was pretty full for me; I taught two new courses (Earth Materials I and Water Resources), supervised one 3-credit independent study student (who presented a talk at the NE/SE GSA meeting on xenoliths from the Uinkaret volcanic flows in the Grand Canyon (Lava Falls area), served as the advisory for two environmental capstone projects (one comparing the regulation of offshore oil drilling on the US and Brazil and one looking at lead contamination in ancient Rome and modern America), and went through another round of job applications (see below). Right now, I am at the midterm for a 4-week term where I am teaching a new course called Environmental Field Methods. Even though it is a new course and we meet over 20 hours per week, I feel a bit more relaxed... Plus, I only have 6 students this term instead of 59.

Update 1: After sending out a bunch of applications, I made it to the telephone interview stage for 4 positions (2 of which were tenure-track) and I am very happy to report that I have accepted an offer to continue at W&L for another year! Hopefully, the tenure-track positions that open up next year will be better than for this year (there were only three positions that I felt were worth applying for and I was really only excited about one of them).

Update 2: I have not been running- at all, I have managed to injure my knee (surgery side) in a (probably) different manner than before the surgery. My running was going really well up until February and I had worked up my long run to 2:45 and was just starting to to hill reps when I started experiencing pain in the lateral anterior part of my knee during medium grade climbs. A few days of x-training and no improvement... A few weeks of x-training and no improvement... Now, if I go for a run, I will limp around for about two week before the pain clears up. I will try one more time about a month out from The Hill but I am not terribly optimistic. This is unfortunate because I am in pretty good shape from lots of cycling (see below)

Update 3: I have been riding quite a bit (I will try to update my training more regularly...); it's definitely not running but it has been pretty fun. Plus, Lexington is an excellent place for road cycling- certainly the best of anywhere that I have lived. In order to satisfy my racing jones, I have started racing road bikes. So far this year, I have raced three times and I have joined the university's cycling club, Team Traveller. I will write more about my racing later.

Racing Schedule for (first half of) 2010

2010-02-27T15:50:00.000-05:00

With the Mount Washington lottery opening up in a few days, I thought that I would post about my racing schedule leading up to The Hill on the third Saturday in June. For the past few years, I have planned my racing schedule at the beginning of the year up to The Hill because how I do (or would have done, since I have not raced on The Hill for the past two years) determines the course of the rest of the season. This year is no different, particularly since The Hill will be the site of the national mountain running team selection race and all road, trails, et cetera for me (and many others) lead to Mount Washington. Plus, I have no idea where I will be living next fall. There is also talk of a few new trail races in the Lex this spring and I will certainly be involved in those (if they happen) either as a racer or as a volunteer. I will start the season off with a few local and localish trail and road races some of which are part of the Trail Junkies RNUTS series centered around the Roanoke (VA) area. I would also like to add a few additional cycling events into the mix as well.

March 6th, Explore Your Limits 10km (trail), Explore Park, Roanoke, VA (60 miles)

A low-key trail race in a nice, hilly park. If it is warm enough in early March, I will race, if not, I will probably stay home and train. Last year, I cycled to a race that was in this park and camped out in the area after the race (it was a nighttime race). Right now, it is not looking very good for this race (the race will still be going on but I will probably not be running in it). We still have quite a bit of snow and the Parkway will probably still be closed (it is not plowed).

March 26th or 27th, 10,000m track race at W&L Carnival, Lexington, VA (0 miles away)

With four local races (three in town) this weekend, this is the one that I will probably be doing. As much as running 10k on the track sucks, it will be nice to have a competitive race with no travel this time of the year.

March 27th, 10:00am: Run From The Law 5K (multi terrain), Jordan’s Point Park, Lexington, VA (0 miles)

A very low-key race probably on the standard out and back Woods Creek Trail means up for the first half and down for the second half. A climb of 174 feet in a 5k means a 2.12% grade- certainly not enough for a mountain race but enough to make your 5k time pretty horrible.

March 27th, Montvale 10 Mile Trail Run, Montvale Park, Roanoke (area), VA (39 miles away)

A bit closer and later in the year than the Explore Your Limits 10km- plus a nice distance for this point in the season...

March 28th, 5-kilometer Torch Run for Special Olympics (multi terrain), Jackson Memorial Hall at VMI, Lexington, VA (0 miles away)

"Course: Challenging and scenic, a 5K course run on the pavement and dirt surface of the VMI campus and the Chessie Trail."

April 7th 4:30pm, Afternoon 5K, Jordan’s Point Park, Lexington, VA (0 miles)

A very low-key race probably on the standard out and back Woods Creek Trail see comments above.

April 10th 10:00am, RAOC 5K, Lexington, VA (0 miles away Jordan’s Point Park, Lexington, VA (0 miles)

A very low-key race probably on the standard out and back Woods Creek Trail see comments above.

April 17th, Mill Mountain Mayhem 10k, Mill Mountain Park, Roanoke, VA (52 miles)

This will probably be my first RNUTS race- it is during the break between winter and spring term and will be a nice chance to get out and race. Last year David Cheromei won by several minutes. He beat me at the Into the Darkness 4 Mile Night Trail Run last fall and his continuing presence in the area means that I could win any of the RNUTS races or lose any of them. By a lot.

May 1st Wintergreen Time Trial, (Hill Climb Championship) Wintergreen, VA (40 miles)

There are two races that I really want to do on May 1st and it will probably come down to what my x-training has been like in early 2010. If I have been doing a lot of cycling, I will probably do this race. I have done two other uphill road time trial races on my bike and I really enjoy them...

May 1st 10:00am 35th Annual Lexington Road & River Relay, Lexington, VA (0 miles)

If, on the other hand, I manage to get some time on the river, I would be more inclined to do the Road and River Relay. This is a "quadathlon" consisting of a short road run (4-5 miles), a short road ride (less than an hour), about 30 minutes of paddling, and a second run, this one a very short trail run (~2 miles). It sounds really fun and doing it would be great excuse to get out in a boat this winter.

May 28th Rock2Rock Trail 10k Camp Rockmont, Black Mountain, NC (280 miles)

This race has kicked off the La Sportiva Mountain Cup for the past two years; if it is part of the series this year, I will do it, if not, I will probably pass even though I would like to run it (I have heard nothing be good things about this race). I am still waiting to see if the La Sportiva Mountain Cup will be back again for its third year. I really wanted to run this series for the past two (injured) years and, if I can put together a run that does not create too ridiculous of a carbon footprint and the Mountain Cup is back in 2010, I will probably take a stab at it. With no announcement about the series, I am assuming that it will not be run this year.

June 5th, Trail Nut Half-marathon, Falling Creek Park, Bedford, VA (45 miles)

One more RNUTS race...

June 19th Mount Washington Road Race, Mount Washington, NH (?? miles)

This is the big one... ...and really needs no introduction.

View 2010 Racing in a larger map

Unsolicited Opinion: Empire Run Up: Part II

2010-01-29T15:30:00.001-05:00

Back in 2004, I ran the Empire State Building Run-Up and I wrote an account of my experience there. The wide distribution of this account has, over the past few years, lead some perfectly reasonable yet woefully misinformed people to incorrectly assume that I was some sort of expert on all things Run-Up. Seriously, each year, a few people (who apparently skipped the part in the essay where I say that I suck at stair racing) contact me with requests for information about performing well at this race. I thought that, with the 2010 race fast approaching, I would write a post about my recommendations regarding preparing for, performing well, and recovering from the Empire State Building Run Up in list form ('cause I like lists).

1. Watch TiVo's video of the 2007 race: Tim went to the ESBRU a few years ago with high hopes. This video, in addition to showing those hopes being crushed, communicates the characteristic start of the men's elite heat better than words possibly could. If I was the RD for this race, the application would have a box that says "Have you seen TiVo's video of the 2007 race?" and if this box was not ticked, entry would be denied. By the way, "this man" mentioned in the video is former USATF Mountain Runner of the Year, Rickey Gates. Tim also has a video of the 2008 race, that is longer and involves a mechanical bull an an interview to multiple-time World Mountain Running Trophy winner, Marco De Gasperi (though, unfortunately, not at the same time).

2. Get your entry in early: The first year that I tried to run the ESBRU, I only contacted the organizers six weeks before the event. This was too late as the race was already full. Keep in mind that I was coming off of my seconds mountain runner of the year award at that point and was unable to get in. If you are not similarly credentialed, I would suggest entering as soon as you can.

3. Train generally: The most important components to performing well at a stairclimb race are going to be aerobic fitness, a high lactate threshold, and leg strength. Being in good 'running shape' is obviously a must for an event such as this.

4. Train specifically: If you look that the results from past ESBRU's entrants that are 'just' fast runners tend to not finish very high up in the results. The group of athletes that tends to do well consistently are mountain runners. Course record holder, Paul Crake was both an accomplished mountain runner and a professional cyclist. It's a good (and faily obvious) bet that the training that makes someone a good mountain runner translates well over to racing up stairs. As for the training that goes into making someone a good mountain runner, it seems to vary widely for every elite mountain runner that I have every met...

5. Train really specifically: The best way to get better at doing something is to do it; so, the best way to get better at stair climbing is to climb stairs. Most people do not have access to really tall buildings (like the Empire State Building) so this means stairwell repeats. Stair repeats will prepare you for the race in two ways. The first (and more obvious) way is that you will develop the muscles specific to running up stairs. The second (and somewhat less obvious) thing that the stairwell will do is that it will prepare you for the unfavorable indoor air conditions that you will encounter. Stairwell air is dry and often dusty and makes breathing during athletic exertion uncomfortable. You will still be coughing and hacking at the top of the ESB but this can be minimized if you work at pissing your lungs off in increasingly long increments. Also, don't even think that a StairMaster will prepare you for an event like this (beyond developing basic cardiovascular fitness- see #3).

6. Train really really specifically: In preparation for my attempt at the ESBRU, I did quite a bit of the stairwell training described in #5- five weeks of two to three hard stairwell repeat workouts per week. During my workouts, I would run at a hard but controlled pace (it took about two minutes to get to the top of my stairwell). I would turn the corners (two per flight) hard but I never once used the hand rails during my training. During the race, I used the hand rails extensively. Never mind that this was totally different than the training that I had done- it was clearly the optimal way to run the race. So, if I was preparing to perform well at a stair race, I would still do most of my repeats without the rails but I would add a few reps at the end of each workout where I practiced using the handrails.

7. Be prepared for the start: I do not really think that a person can really train for the start. The reaction time and sprint speed needed to reach a 36-inch wide door 40 feet into a race is something that you either have or you do not. You can optimized your chances for a good start somewhat (see #8 and #9) but, assuming that your start is not going to go well (as is the case for 95% of the first men's wave), you should at least be prepared for that. This means being prepared for two things. First your expectations about your performance should include the idea that your finish time might be effected (substantially) by a poor start. Second, the crush of humanity that occurs for all but the first few through the doorway is disturbing and uncomfortable. Even thought I was distracted by thoughts of being physically prevented from perusing my competitors, I was still aware of just how nasty this was. If this 'crush of humanity' actually appeals to you, please do not run the race. You are disgusting.

8. Get a low number: If you have not run the ESBRU or another high profile stair race before this will be difficult. Racers line up according to number if you are not in the first two rows see #7. I do not have any advice other than saying that unless you actually know someone in charge of assigning the numbers, you will probably have to run reasonably well off of a high number start position in order to get a lower number in later years.

9. Be a woman: The women's field is much smaller than the men's and tends to be more spread out. This almost eliminates the chaos that is experienced by the men at the start of the race. Without the start and all of the problems that it presents, this would be a race that I would actually be interested in running again. Also, the women start first so they do not have the additional difficulty of having to pass the slower racers. While I have not actually run the women's race here (obviously) I have no question that theirs is a more positive experience.

10. Have fun after the race: I was so pissed off with my performance in the race that I was unable to enjoy the fact that NYC is a pretty cool place to visit. Granted it is wicked expensive but it is a unique place with plenty of cool things to see and see and do.

Unsolicited Opinion: Empire Run Up: Part I

2010-01-25T20:28:00.000-05:00

Back in 2004, I ran the Empire State Building Run-Up and I wrote the story below about my experience there. This story, originally e-mailed to a few friends, got posted online somewhere and received some attention (people from Runner's World and Running Times contacted me about printing it). With the 2010 race coming up on February 2nd, I thought that I would post this since there are probable a few readers here that have not yet read it.

The Fleet Empire State Building Run-Up (FESBRU) is a race that I have wanted to run for a few years now. As a mountain runner, stair racing has intrigued me as a juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane. Mountain running is sacred. The races take place on courses that were, depending on your philosophical bent, created either by millions (or billions) of years of plate-tectonic-driven orogenic processes, God, or both. Race courses, as a matter of necessity, take competitors through unspeakable natural beauty and often finish in locales so perfect that one can't help but consider amending some future will in order to ensure that your ashes are one day scattered in such a place. Running inside, no matter what the occasion, is profane- even something so viscerally enlightening as the employ of nothing but muscle, sweat, and a little bit of luck to climb over 1000` in a matter of minutes. Actually, the lobby of the Empire State Building has some really nice granite and the view from the observation deck is unique, stunning, and, dare I say it, beautiful. In between lays a stairwell painted dark gray and a few service corridors whose design was not exactly aesthetic in its intent. The stair climb as an athletic event is thus an evolution toward purity. The mountain in the beauty void. Without the distraction of natural beauty, only pure effort and the singularity of getting to the top faster than anyone else remains. This is the intrigue- asking yourself for but a few minutes of shear, athletic aggression and expecting nothing in return.

The media frenzy surrounding this race in amazing. Admittedly, this was one major reason that I had wanted to run here. In the warm up area, one floor below ground level, there were a probably half a dozen cameras interviewing competitors. This was nothing compared to the scene in the lobby where bleachers were needed in order to accommodate all of the press. The winners were shown on CNN and countless major media outlets report on the race. USA Today even published an article in which they interviewed me regarding my training for the event. This, of course, was before it became public knowledge that I suck at stair racing.

Going into the race, I felt that greatest obstacles to my success were the start and the short duration of the event. The start is on the ground floor in the lobby with about 20 feet between the starting line and a single door leading into the stairwell. Race numbers one through ten had priority on the starting line; with number 41, I was very lucky to sneak a spot on the line to the extreme right side of the corridor. This was a big mistake. While I probably knew more about fluid dynamics that any of my competitors that day, I had not realized that this should have been a factor my choice of starting position. In a normal race, the field moves according to the decisions of individual competitors each of whom are trying to run the shortest allowable distance to the finish line. In the FESBRU, however, the field behaves as a Newtonian fluid wherein the flow velocity at the center of the flow conduit is double that of the average flow velocity. This is, of course, assuming laminar flow, which, it will soon be evident, was not entirely applicable to the situation. I do not remember anything between the blast of the starting horn and entering the stairwell. A well-timed photo from the NYCRR website indicated that numerous runners had already passed me in the first 5 feet of the race. Somehow, I managed to get to the bottom of the stairs halfway down in the field! After navigating my body through the doorway, I ran smack into the back of the runner in front of me. Instantly, the runner behind me ran into the back of me. It is at this point in the race, that the waiting begins. After running all out at the gun, the majority of the field than proceeds to stand still and wait for the congestion to clear sufficiently for forward motion to resume. This part of the race probably comprised less than one second; however, for those runners who's competitive nature has been sharpened by years of hard work (everyone in the race), the wait seems to take an eternity.

Finally, we were (physically) allowed to move forward. The next few minutes were filled with easy running as passing is very difficult. At this point, I was very discouraged about my chances of finishing well. Then, I looked up to see that race favorite (and eventual winner), Rudolf Reitberger was only two runners ahead of me. This convinced me that, despite what I thought was an awful start, I still had a chance to finish well since Reitberger had finished second in his previous two attempts at this race. The next few minutes of the race, I passed many competitors who had capitalized on a better-than-average lobby dash and were now victim to staggering levels of blood-borne lactic acid. Passing these runners was relatively easy despite the narrow (4 feet wide) width of the staircase as, by this time, I was moving considerably faster then they were. With every additional flight, however, passing became increasingly difficult. After six or seven minutes of running up stairs, I was not moving that much faster than the runners that I was passing. The last three or four times that I passed runners required several flights for me to completely get by. By this time, we had managed to work our way into the bulk of the women's field who had started five minutes in front of the first men's heat- adding significantly to the difficulty of navigating a race on stairs. With a few minutes to go, I had moved into third and was thoroughly dispirited as I could not see the leaders and time was running out. My last two passes had been extremely difficult (physically demanding and psychologically defeating) and I was completely fed up with the event and with my inability to deal with its rigors. The only runner to pass me during the race then came up behind me and repeatedly attempted to forcefully pass on the right (inside). After being shoved and yelled at for a few flights, I pulled wide on the landing and allowed him the opportunity to pass on the inside. This was another mistake. A few minutes prior, it had taken me five flights to finally pass this guy. When I did so, it was on the left (outside) with no assistance. In return, I endured a few shoves before entering into a nadir of apathy about the event and the nature of competition in general. This was the end of my race and I ran slowly to the top thinking about how much time and money had been wasted on the trip.

Before completing the event, I had said that to run well in the FESBRU would require 95% pure, mountain running fitness and 5% specific stair running ability. In hindsight, I would change that to 75% pure mountain running fitness (the winner, after all, was an accomplished mountain runner- a member of the Austrian national team), 5% specific stair running ability, and 20% ability to pass people on a four-foot-wide staircase while maintaining focus on the race at hand (to word it a politely as possible). I work hard year-around on the first 75% and, for eight workouts this January, I worked pretty hard on the middle 5% by running as many as 10 repeats of our 29-story campus library in the course of a single session. I could probably work to improve my standing by focusing on that last 20% but I would view preparing for this event the same way that I would view training for running fast down a steep incline. There is no way to properly prepare for running extremely fast downhill except to do it in a race. No matter how hard I try, I am never going to run as fast down a hill in training as I will during an important race. Likewise, there is no way that I would subject myself to the sort of situations that would allow me to train for 11 minutes of extreme unpleasantness. Short of attending a Who concert or waiting for DVD players to go on sale at the local Wal-Mart, I wouldn't even know how to go about it.

Such is the nature of the event. The FESBRU is the oldest, most prestigious, and greatest stairclimbing race in the world. Part of this race and its honorable tradition is the lobby start and the utter craziness that its competitors must endure in an attempt to win it. Tradition is an important thing in racing and I hope that 26 years from now, the FESBRU is using the same course, the same starting procedure, and the same observation deck finish. Meanwhile, I will be looking for columnar joints in basalt, dragonflies, and columbines during my races.

Training Update 20

2010-01-23T12:24:00.000-05:00

Monday J4: AM 1:20 elliptical- 8.22 "miles" in first 60 min (far right back row); 10km rowing 43:58

Tuesday J5: AM 1:37 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail- still icy

Wednesday J6: AM 1:20 elliptical- 6.80 "miles" in first 60 min (far left back row); 10km rowing in 43:56 PM 0:30 running- around Lex in the dark

Thursday J7: AM 1:34 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail- somehow even slipperier than it was on Tuesday... PM 0:30 running- around Lex in the dark

Friday J8: AM 10km rowing in 42:44; 1:20 indoor cycling PM 0:30 running- around Lex in the dark

Saturday J9: AM 2:00 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Sunday J10: AM 1:36 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Weekly Totals:

8:17 running (57% of total)
1:20 cycling (9% of total)
4:48 elliptical and rowing (32 % of total)
Total: 14:59)

Comments: I had one week in Lex before classes started and it was nice to have the gym open (and pretty quiet). I started some rowing and elliptical work and ran up and down the Chessie trail for my 'real' runs or around the streets of Lex in the dark for a few shorter runs. The Trails here are really icy in places right now and it did not get above freezing at all this week so there was no change throughout the week. Basically, I have stretches of nice (hard) dirt where I can haul interspersed with icy stretches where I have to really slow down and be careful. This means that each run has been a bit of a impromptu fartlek. Running in VA this week actually made me miss January running Vermont (central VT, by the way had the best winter-time running of anywhere I have lived with the exception of Yorkshire).

Monday J11: PM 1:20 indoor cycling + 10km rowing in 42:43

Tuesday J12: PM 0:45 running- around Lex

Wednesday J13: PM 1:35 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Thursday J14: AM 1:30 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Friday J15: PM 1:36 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Saturday J16: AM 1:30 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Sunday J17: AM 1:38 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Weekly Totals:

8:34 running (81% of total)
1:20 cycling (13% of total)
0:42 rowing
Total: 10:36

Comments: Not a bad week for the first week of classes. The major casualty was my x-training. The Chessie trail is getting better (less icy) everyday but there is still enough ice that I am not hitting Back Campus yet (I can deal with icy and flat but icy and hilly is more problematic). With all of the melting, this has been a good week for the 318 GTX. The pic is was taken on a bike ride in Rockbridge County back in December. Can anyone guess why I took the picture?

One more round

2010-01-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

Well, it's that time of year again- time to apply for a job. For the past three years, I have worked as a temporary instructor of some incarnation (Lecturer or Visiting Assistant Professor). This means that I teach full time for a college or university under a one-year (of nine-month) contract. During the my last round of applications, I applied to eleven colleges and universities in CO, WY, NM, TX, PA, TN, CT, WA, and Asia before ending up in Lexington (VA). That's right one of the positions for which I applied for the 2009-2010 academic year listed only the continent (it was a program that provides university-level instruction on US military bases, apparently in Asia). This time around, I have started the application season with ten applications only three of which are for permanent positions (shown in blue below). I will update the map as appropriate. Wish me luck...

View 2010 apps in a larger map

I am with inov-8 in 2010

2010-01-06T17:24:00.000-05:00

You have probably already heard, but inov-8 (pronounced 'innovate' for those of you who have difficulty with these things) has announced its team of sponsored athletes and happy to report that I am on the list. This will be my fourth year of sponsorship with the small British-owned maker of high-performance offroad footwear. For those of you who know me well (or those of you who are really obsessive about following the obscure sport of mountain running), you know that my last two years have been typified by biomechanical difficulties related to a knee injury that (may have) required surgery in the summer of 2008. Needless to say, my racing during the past few years has been almost non-existent and, when I have raced, it has been, um, not fast. Any sponsor would have been completely justified in dropping me like a thing that gets dropped quickly and I am pleased that those in charge of dispersing the sponsorship resources at inov-8 have decided to take the long-term approach to my sponsorship on the gamble that I will actually be able to run quickly in 2010. I thank the inov-8 company for its generosity and loyalty. My bio on the team blog can be found here.

DoubleJ has a similar post here. Congratulations.

Training Update 19

2010-01-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a while since my last post on training but this being the new year and all...

Monday D28: AM 1:20 running- with K on the roads of Battle Creek- probably the last time that I will run with another human for a while.

Tuesday D29: PM 2:10 running- Littlefield Road and Deerfield Park (near Mount Pleasant, MI)- poor surface conditions

Wednesday D30: PM 1:00 snowshoeing- around my parent's property (near MP)- possibly my only snowshoe of the season?

Thursday D31: PM 2:20 running- Littlefield Road and Deerfield Park (near Mount Pleasant, MI)- poor surface conditions

Friday J1: PM 1:30 running- 1:15 outside (combination of snow, mud, and grass), 0:15 stairs

Saturday J2: AM 1:30 running- ran Back Campus but it got down to ~13F last night (it was in the high 30s yesterday) and the trails were icy, crusty, and all around nasty- felt terrible, just terrible

Sunday J3: AM 1:36 running- Chessie Trail out and back- felt better but still not great

Total: 11:26- All running

Comments: One more week of nothing but running... All of the runs in MI were pretty bad due to the surface conditions. In the past, I have not minded the icy dirt roads of Deerfield Township but for some reason, they were really slippery this year. Really, the only day that I felt good was Sunday- there are a few clear stretches along the Chessie Trail and it felt really good to feel some dirt under my feet. Next week, the gym will be open and I can get back to some x-training. Yea! The picture to the right was taken on a ride near Goshen Pass- on one of my last rides before the break (and the largest snowstorm to hit Rockbridge County in the past 13 years.

Unsolicited Opinion: US Men's mountain running performances of the year

2009-12-19T00:49:00.000-05:00

As a fan of list and end-of-the-year retrospectives, I love end-of-the-year retrospectives that involve lists. I am going to add to the wide range of lists out there with one of my own.

USATF MUT has been recognizing the top mountain runner of the year since 1999 (and sometimes they even get it right) and Ultrarunning magazine publishes a more official performance list for the ultradistances with voting and everything but there is no acknowledgment or analysis (official or otherwise) of the many impressive performances for short distance (say, finishing time less than three hours) mountain races (by US men) out there.

Disclaimer: I have in the past been associated with the national team but this is just my list. It does not represent anything from USATF, the Teva USMRT, or any of my sponsors. I you do not agree with the order or feel that some performance was left out completely, leave a comment. I am always interested in other peoples' perception of high performance mountain running even if those people are wrong. Here is my shot at ranking what I saw as the top performances of the year; if you like, you can think of these are the performances that most impressed me over the past year. Let’s get on with it.

10. Eric Blake’s second place on The Hill
Lost in the excitement of an outstanding performance by the winner (see below) was the fact that Quadzilla’s second place finish in 1:01:19 is smoking fast and over a minute in front of USATF MROY, Joe Gray. …and to think, this is only Eric’s forth fastest time on The Hill.

9. Matt Carpenter's ninth PPM win
Not only did the 44-year-old Matt C. win the marathon, his split time to the top was faster than the winner of The Ascent from the previous day. I would be surprised by this considering that The Ascent generally attracts a pretty good field except for the fact that this is the sixth time that Matt has run the fastest ascent time of the weekend during the marathon. Awesome.

8. Tim Parr’s win at Cheyenne Canon
The second of two national team selection races had a pretty good field (including the future 13th place finisher at the WRTC and Timmy came off of a few years of poor performances for a big win and a spot on his third national team.

7. Joe Gray’s win at Cranmore
This race had the quality field that you would expect at a race that was the USATF National Mountain Running Championship and one of two national team selection races and Joe Gray beat the lot of them.

6. Matt Carpenter’s win at the Native Eyewear 10K Spring Runoff
The day after he ran to second place in the Triumph Development Vail Pass Half Marathon (which, at 4% average grade, does not qualify its participants for consideration on this list), Carpenter smoked a smokin’ field at this minor diversion from all of the real outdoor sports at the Teva Mountain Games. Considering that he beat Rickey Gates and Joe Gray who would respectively break one hour on The Hill and win the USATF Mountain Running Championship later that month (both of whom also ran the ½ marathon on the previous day), this was a very impressive performance indeed.

5. Bill 'Rickey' Gates 5th place at Grossglockner Berglauf
Rickey’s 1:13:09 was even faster than his 1:13:38 from the previous year in this race up the highest peak in Austria. This is one of those performances that may not sound all that impressive (wow, 5th place in a race that I have never heard of, I can hear someone saying in the background…). Trust me, this was some fast $&#@.

4. Joe Gray’s 16th place at the WMRC
This is where the performances start to get really good. Joe had a fine season (good enough for his second USATF MROY award) and this was certainly his top race in 2009. 16th at the WMRC- in a field that was almost certainly the best ever for an up and down year is also some fast $&#@.

3. Andrew Bedford’s 13th place at the WMRC
Andy made a huge improvement from 12th junior in Bursa (2006 WMRT) to make his first senior national team with a second place at the Cheyenne Canon Mountain Race. He then made another substantial leap forward with a 13th place in this year’s WMRC (see comments above). Such a high place from someone so young makes me optimistic regarding the chances of the US men returning to the WMRT/C podium in the near future. I do not know what he and his coach are doing over in Richmond, but whatever it is, I hope that they keep it up!

2. Bill 'Rickey' Gates 4th place at Sierre-Zinal
Rickey’s 2:38:52 was the fastest that any US man has run on this course since the great Pablo Vigil won the race in 1982 (one of his four wins). To finish well at Sierre-Zinal, you have to be able to handle long steep climbs, fast running at (moderate) altitude, and ridiculous, technical descents. Sierre-Zinal is the best mountain race in the world and 4th place there is good enough for second on this list.

1. Bill 'Rickey' Gates running up The Hill in 59:58
I debated with myself for a while about some of the other positions on this list. I am still not sure if Rickey’s S-Z is better than Andrew’s WMRC. I am, however, sure that Rickey’s sub-60 on The Hill is the best performance by a US man in 2009. I do not feel the need to elaborate.

There it is. Was sub-60 tops in your estimation? Is 4th at S-Z better than 13th at the WMRC? What else belongs on this list? King’s win at the Xterra Trail Running "World Champs"? Joe Gray's 6th place at Skaala? Matt Carpenter's win at The Barr? Michael Spence's win at the USATF Trail 10k nats? Some other performance?

My apartment featured in Budget Traveler

2009-11-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

Recently, Budget Travel Magazine named my current residence of Lexington, Virginia as one of "America's Coolest Small Towns".

No, my luxurious 250 square-foot efficiency apartment is not actually featured in the magazine, but my apartment windows can be seen in the photo used for the article (my windows are on the top floor of the third building down the street above the 'Art' sign). The picture was taken before I moved in- the 'Art' sign is no longer there and, of course, do not own an air conditioner unit.

My First Virginia Bear Sighting

2009-11-23T20:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was out riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the climb from the James River to Apple Orchard Mountain. It is a good climb with an average of 5.1% grade for 12.5 miles. I was almost to the top when I saw a bear (artist's rendition to the right). It was small but really fat (probably due to seasonal hyperphagia). When the bear saw me it tore up a steep slope (60%) and dislodged some rocks which came crashing down onto the road right where I was standing (by this time, I had stopped and I actually had to move get out of the way of the falling rocks). After I made it to the top of Apple Orchard Mountain (the highest point on the BRPW in Virginia), I came back past the spot and there was a “Beware of Fallen Rocks” sign right in front of the fallen rock! This is my 6th lifetime bear sighting and, as the title of the post suggests, my first in VA. I have also seen bears in ID, MT, CO, MA, and VT. Oddly, I have seen bears in six different states and I have never seen more than one bear in a single state. This is also my first bear seen while cycling. The others where all encountered while hiking (ID and MT) or running (CO, VT, MA).

Place Name as Metaphor: Suck Mountain

2009-11-03T22:49:00.000-05:00

I am fascinated by place names and, as someone who has run many painful miles on Paine Mountain (Northfield, VT), I appreciate a good toponym metaphor. My new favorite place name as a metaphor...

I can across it while producing this map for one of my labs... (Look in the southwest corner of the map to see my new favorite name for an intrusive body)

Suggested usage: example 1- I ran great in my last marathon for the first 22 miles, after that, I was just climbing Suck Mountain; example 2- My original plan of 20*400 meters on the track quickly decayed into hill reps up Suck Mountain.
Author's personal experience: I have not literally been to Suck Mountain (though I have been close enough to see it from an opposing ridge), I have metaphorically been to Suck Mountain many, many times (pretty much anytime that I race).

Training Update 18

2009-10-30T22:40:00.000-04:00

Monday O19: AM 1:15 running- Forest Park in Portland- true fartlek- felt good

Tuesday O20: 3:58 cycling- back to Lex from the Lynchburg airport- somehow, I still managed to need over an hour to get out of Lynchburg- that place is like navigation kryptonite to me. I basically ended up doing another tour of the city! This time, though, it was a beautiful day for cycling. For the rest of the way, I was really tired and just pushed through to Lex and went to bed early.

Wednesday O21: 2:35 cycling- around the Valley and Ridge looking at field sites for tomorrow's lab

Thursday O22: 0:59 running- around campus in the dark- hit the back campus trails to 'practice' running on trails with a headlamp since I have not done it in a while- I was originally planning on doing a headlamp workout but decided against it because I was just too tired

Friday O23: PM 0:40 running- around campus in the dark and to the G-store
Saturday O24: PM 3:39 cycling- Lex to Explore Park (near Roanoke) PM 1:59 running- 60 min WU, 4.15 mile trail race (Into the Darkness) in 27:25, 32 min cooldown PM 1:20 cycling- from Explore Park up the BRPW to a camping spot in the Jefferson National Forest

Sunday O25: AM 3:50 cycling- to Holcomb Rock to look at some rocks- very cold at first PM 2:24 cycling- back to Lex from Holcomb Rock- felt really close to bonking for most of the ride.

Weekly Totals: 4:53 running (22% of total) 17:46 cycling (78% of total) Total: 22:39

Comments: My best week in a while. OK, a poor week with a really good weekend. Interestingly, all 17:46 of the cycling that I did was utility cycling! I also did my first race in a while and did a lot of riding. I will get the race report out in a few days… For now, one of my favorite local road signs...

Training Update 17

2009-10-24T11:27:00.000-04:00

Monday O05: PM- 1:31 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail- steady

Tuesday O06: AM 3:29 cycling- up Irish Creek to the BRPW, back on 60

Wednesday O07: PM 1:38 running- back campus then athletic fields and strides on track after dark- strides felt pretty good

Thursday O08: PM 1:35 running- back campus then athletic fields and strides on track after dark

Friday O09: PM 1:02 running- back campus

Saturday O10: AM 1:05 running- back campus

Sunday O11: AM 1:05 running- back campus

Weekly Totals: 7:52 running (69% of total) 3:29 cycling (31% of total) Total: 11:21

Comments: Overall, a poor week. The running that I did manage to do was pretty good but toward the end of the week, I went into maintenance mode as I worked to get ready to leave for the GSA meeting.

Monday O12: PM 1:03 running- back campus

Tuesday O13: PM 1:30 running- back campus

Wednesday O14: 1:00 running- ran to the laundromat then ran out while doing a load, ran back to my apt then added on to make it an hour. I had spent about a month looking (not very intensively) for a laundromat and I had finally found one that was a couple of mile away in the sprawly part of town that it pretty shitty for running. On the way home, I ran past another laundromat that is about two blocks from my apt (but on a street that I has not been down before)!

Thursday O15: AM 4:50 cycling- from Lex to the Lynchburg airport- hammered over the Blueridge and was making excellent time and then got hopelessly lost in Lynchburg. My planned route had taken into consideration the fact that the airport traffic is served primarily but the Lynchburg Expressway (a limited access highway where bicycles are prohibited). On the ground, I encountered the limited access road sooner than expected and I tried to make due. I knew that I was on the West side of town and that the airport was on the SE. I somehow did an entire tour of L-burgh and added at least 2:30 onto my ride! I have never in my life been so navigationally helpless! I do not know if it was the lack of sleep (I capped off two nights of getting to bed after 3:00am with a night with zero sleep) or the weather (raining- no sun or mountain views for navigation), or the layout of the town it self. One thing is for sure, L-burgh is a shitty place to ride a bike. PM 0:31 running- I missed my connection in ATL and had to spend the night in an Airport near the airport. I was wicked tired but my hotel did not have any room service and I had not eaten anything but airline peanuts in over 13 hours so I headed out to find a bite to eat. My hotel was surrounded by runways, freeway infrastructure, and check-cashing establishments. I ran about 15 minutes to a Checkers (I think that is what is was called) where I was aggressively (but congenially) propositioned (I think that is what you call it) by a pimp while waiting for my food.

Friday O16: 2:51 running- out and back on the Wildwood trail in Portland, Oregon's Forrest Park- Awesome- felt good for about 2:20 and then the travel, lack of sleep, stress caught up with me

Saturday O17: AM 0:31 running- around the streets of Portland in the dark

Sunday O18: AM 0:29 running- from my hotel to the Oregon Convention Center +

Weekly Totals: 7:55 running (62% of total) 4:50 cycling (38% of total) Total: 12:45

Comments: A poor week with two really good days. My ride to the airport- through really stressful was a great workout and the run the next day in the park was fantastic The photo to the right is of the (lack of a) peak of Mount Saint Helens. For most of the day, the view was obscured by the low-lying clouds- this was the brief break that allowed for a view of the caldera.

Upcomming Races

2009-10-21T13:48:00.000-04:00

Since April of 2008, I have raced a whopping four times

Allen Park Memorial Hillclimb, Vermont October, 2008
CTS Cheyenne Cañon Time Trial, Colorado July, 2009
Cheyenne Cañon Mountain Race, Colorado July, 2009
CTS Sand Creek Series Race 3, Colorado August, 2009

OK, so I am no Bernie and I never will be but I am going to be racing a couple of times in the next several weeks. Here is a preview of the prestigious events that I have planned for the rest of the year. I will be keeping it low key for the rest of 2009 while I get back full strength before (hopefully) hitting a more aggressive race schedule in 2010.

Saturday October 24th Into the Darkness 4 Mile Night Trail Run Roanoke Metro, VA

This sounds like fun. It is a trail race. It is at night. It is not too far away (~52 miles). I will probably bike in on the morning of, chill out all day, run the race and then head back along the Blue Ridge Parkway part way and stop to camp for the night (I do not want to ride back the entire way in the dark). The race course is a mixture of singletrack specifically designed for mountain biking, fire roads, and gravel roads. I do way too much of my running at night and have done quite a bit of headlamp-assisted trail running at night as well. It will be interesting to see how that translates over into racing with a headlamp...

Sunday October 25th Hospice Hustle 5km, Lexington, VA

This is the day after Into the Darkness but it is not until 2:30pm, the course sounds like fun, and Hospice programs are certainly worthy of my support (in the form of my entry fee- not in the form of my celebrity running presence). Speaking of the course, it starts by the hospice in Lexington, heads through town (downhill) to Jordans Point park where it gets on the Woods Creek Trail and heads back uphill through campus (about one half of the course is on the trail) I will probably not make it out to this one but if I do not race Into the Darkness, I will definitely race here.

Saturday October 31 Living Waters 5K Race Lexington, VA

This race starts and ends at Jordans Point Park in Lexington which means that it will probably run out and back along the Woods Creek Trail- which is not a bad thing. According to the race information, the tiny $5.00 entry fee will go to support installation of water purification systems in Guatemala. If I do not go to race, I will at least go to volunteer as I am teaching a water resources course for the winter semester and I would like to speak with some of the people involved in the Maury River Mission Community.

Saturday, November 14 Domino's 50th Annual Lexington to Buena Vista 10K Lexington, VA

This is the oldest road race in Virginia (we are definitely not in New England any more) and one of the two big endurance contests in the area (the other being a road run - road bike - kayak or canoe - trail run quadrathlon called the Lexington Road & River Relay in May). As you may have discerned from the event title, the race begins in Lexington a few feet from my apartment, runs the hilly-but-flattest-road-around-here and scenic four-lane divided highway called Route 60 to Buena Vista.

GSA National Meeting

2009-10-09T17:58:00.000-04:00

I am headed for the national annual meeting of the Geological Society of America GSA this weekend out in Portland (the western one). This is one of the two big meetings in the USA for people that study the Earth- the other being the even bigger December meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). I will be presenting a poster on what I believe to be the most interesting facet of the rocks that I have been studying for the past several years (peridotites from Nintyone Mile Creek Canyon in the Upper Granite Gorge of the Grand Canyon.) The nice thing about presenting a poster (as opposed to giving a talk) is that once the printing is done, you can sit back and relax (instead of worrying about and working on your talk). Granted, getting the poster together was exhausting but the finished product looks pretty good (that's the sound of me patting myself on the back) aside from the printer's unfortunate reinterpretation of some of my dashed lines- very odd.

Portland should be fun- I have Friday off from any official duties and I am going to relax, go to Powell's, and go for a run in Forest Park. Forest Park is reputed to be one of the world's great urban running experiences and, though I have been to Portland many times, my visits have either been for the purpose of attending a race (no need to run in the park) or using the airport (no opportunity to run in the park). My hotel is close by- not by accident.

Saturday, we headed up to Mount St. Helens for the day- also something that I have not been able to do before. Sunday, is my poster session so that will, of course be the focus of the day. Monday, I will be in meetings all day before catching a red-eye for parts East.

Course Records

2009-10-09T13:59:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, doubleD noted on his blog that he had set 146 course records (CRs) of which 17 remain (see posts here, here, here, and here). As someone who has, for the past decade or so, committed my efforts to endurance events where comparisons between courses (PRs) are not particularly helpful, I really like CRs because they provide a means through which you can measure yourself against an event and its history. I did not count snowshoe races "CRs" as CRs because the conditions can vary so much from year to year that it is difficult to make comparisons of speed across a temporal section. While I certainly do not keep the comprehensive/ exhaustive/ meticulous records that doubleD does, here are the CRs that I have and have had from my record and off of the top of my head.

1999 McDonald's Forest 15K, Corvallis, OR (52:47, old CR 55:06, Eric Reed)
1999 Elephant's Perch Backcountry 16.5 Mile Sun Valley, ID (1:43:35, old CR 1:46:35, Carl VanCalcar)
1999 Mount Hood Ski Bowl Scramble Mount Hood Metro, OR (41:44, old CR 48:05 some guy)
2000 Salmon Run 10km, Bend, OR (31:11 new course)- probably subsequently broken
2000 Otley Chevin Fell Race, Otley, England (17:10, old CR Mick Hill 17:14)- subsequently broken by the legendary Ian Holmes
2000 Erringden Moor Fell Race, Mytholmroyd, England (58:14, old CR???)- probably subsequently broken
2001 Mt. Toby Trail Run Sunderland, MA (1:25:11, old CR ??? by ???)- subsequently broken by Michael Page (1:24:32) then Ryan Carrera (1:23:26)
2002 adidas 7sisters trail race Amherst, MA (1:43:17, old CR 1:46:xx by Matt Cull)
2003 Nike ACG 10k Beaver Creek, CO (42:19, new course)- tie with Simon Gutierrez- race no longer run
2003 Northfield Mountain Race Northfield, MA (national team trial race) (50:05, new course)- subsequently broken by (the infamous) Josh Ference-the first of three courses to be used for the 'Northfield' race
2003 Talking Turkey 6 Mile XC Race Holyoke, MA (30:04, old record 30:09? by Sandu Rubenic)- subsequently broken by Nate Jenkins (and others)
2004 Monson Memorial Classic Monson, MA (1:09:58, old record 1:10:26 by Byrne Decker)- current record 1:07:50 by Alene Reta (2006)
2006 7sisters trail race Amherst, MA (1:42:06, old CR 1:43:17 by Paul Low)
2006 Tha Rivah Andover, MA (56:30, old CR 56:42 by Dave Dunham)
2006 Borderland 16 Mile Trail Run Eston, MA (1:46:22, new course)- race no longer run

So, my total is:

14 total (including the only time that I have broken my own CR- at 7sisters in 2006)
7 current (including 2 one-time races- both of which offered prize money and not including two races where I think the record has been subsequently broken)

The photo to the right is the only pic that I could find of me actually setting a CR. It was taken by Gary Bridgman at the 2003 Northfield Mountain Race

Finally, a winter sport more obscure than snowshoeing

2009-10-09T12:54:00.000-04:00

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are probably familiar with the relatively obscure sport of snowshoeing (aka racket racing). If you were to rank competitive winter sports by how mainstream they are (in terms of overall popularity, media coverage, prestige of major titles, olympicness, et cetera) the list would probably look like this:

More mainstream

Downhill/freestyle skiing

Downhill/freestyle snowboarding

Figure skating (female and pairs)

Ice fishing

Drunken sledding (NCAA)

Cross-country skiing

Bobsledding

Ice dancing

Ski jumping

Skijoring

Luge
Skeleton racing
Ice sculpting (chainsaw division)
Curling
Speedskating
Sasquatch wrestling
Figure skating (male)
Short-track speedskating
Drunken sledding (non-NCAA)
Biathlon
Ice sculpting (non-chainsaw division)
Snowshoe racing

Less mainstream

Recently, the folks blogging for Outside Magazine have posted a video of a new sport called cross-country snowboarding which promises to dethrone snowshoeing as winter's most obscure sport. The video is a pretty good way to spend three minutes of your day and the comments section needs more input from people who do not realize that this is a mockumentary.

Above: the largest event (Curley's 2004) in the most obscure sport (snowshoe racing) in the center of the snowshoe racing universe (western Mass)

Training Update 16

2009-10-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

Monday S21: AM 1:07 cycling- Valley and Ridge

Tuesday S22: PM 1:31 cycling- out to Glenn Maury Park in BV to recce a field stop and back- hammered and felt good

Wednesday S23: PM 0:59 running- laps around the practice fields after dark

Thursday: S24: PM 1:01 cycling- Valley and Ridge- got caught in the dark (again)

Friday S25: PM 1:50 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail (dead flat) and some roads in Lex (got too dark to continue on the trail...)

Saturday S26: AM 2:34 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail- felt good for about 2 hours, rough for the rest

Sunday S27: AM 1:05 cycling- just felt like $%!# and turned back way prematurely

Weekly Totals:
5:23 running (53% of total)
4:04 cycling (47% of total)
Total: 10:00

Comments: Not a good week at all. No quantity (10 hours?!?), no quality and messed up sleep. I wonder how much more of this I can take before I develop a Paper Street-style psychogenic fugue. The image above is a screen shot from Google Earth of the view from the pavilion at Glenn Maury Park in BV

Monday S28: AM 1:46 cycling- Valley and Ridge

Tuesday S29: PM 1:01 running- laps around the practice fields after dark

Wednesday S30: PM 2:30 cycling- out to the BRPW, South to a stop for tomorrow's lab (just before the tunnel) and back- felt good and hammered

Thursday O01: PM 1:05 running- laps around the practice fields after dark- legs felt good

Friday O02: PM 2:29 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail- felt good for the first 1.5 and pretty rough for the last hour

Saturday O03: AM 3:23 cycling- Valley and Ridge- up Goshen pass- felt good PM 1:01 running- back campus- leg felt tired

Sunday O04: AM 1:18 cycling- out to the Belfast trailhead- easy 2:43 running- up Belfast Trail past Devils Marble Yard and to the AT, left (north) on the AT down to the James River and back, - a very good run with two big climbs PM 3:02 cycling- up Petites Gap Road to the BRPW, North to 60, back to Lex (started about 20 minutes after finishing my run)

Weekly Totals:
8:19 running (41% of total)
11:59 cycling (59% of total)
Total: 20:18

Comments: A decent week- kind of like a few weeks back, though with a carp week followed by a really good weekend (F,S,S made a nice "hard work sandwich"). I am still having trouble sleeping and this is still affecting my ability to get out for AM workouts. Not only am I missing morning workouts, but I had to do two runs after dark this week- not good. The highpoint of the week was my 2:43 run on the AT. I was planning on going for two hours because I had a lot of cycling planned (getting there and back) but when it came time to turn around, I was not too far from the James River. I decided that I wanted to get out to the river crossing before heading back so that I would have a nice, long climb back up to the ridge during the second half of the run. The trail through here is fantastic, coming off of the ridge on the way out, you catch nice glimpses of the James- after the leaves fall, there will be miles of great views. The image above is of the Devils Marble Yard (the white scar on the side of the mountain) from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Training Update 15

2009-09-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

Monday A24: PM 1:02 running- 20 min WU, 3,2,1,3,2,1,3,2,1 hard with 2,1,1,2,1,1,2,1,1, easy- felt really good and knee felt pretty good, a promising run

Tuesday A25: AM 2:20 cycling- first ride on my new ride- a good time PM 0:33 running- out and back along the creek- felt not good

Wednesday A26: PM 1:10 running- Back Campus trails- felt ok

Thursday A27: PM 1:00 running- Back Campus trails- felt hot and slow

Friday A28: AM 1:11 running- Back Campus trails- felt good PM 2:02 cycling- out and back on 39- hammered the return trip

Saturday A29: AM 4:02 cycling- to the Blue Ridge Parkway, North along the parkway, then back- felt pretty good PM 0:54 running- Back Campus trail- knee felt good most of the time

Sunday A30: AM 2:24 cycling- to the Blue Ridge, 1:11 running- out and back on the AT south of the Lynchburg Reservoir- felt good despite the heat PM 1:51 cycling- back to Lex from the Blue Ridge

Weekly Totals:
7:01 running (36% of total)
12:39 cycling (64% of total)
Total: 19:40

Comments: An ok week with good consistency and a good workout on Monday and a good ride on Saturday. A good total for the week (although I really wanted 20 hours). The picture from this week is on the AT just south of the Lynchburg Reservoir (I saw it while out looking (unsuccessfully) for a certain formation of rocks that are no where near this location- I had left my map at home...

Monday A31: PM 1:02 running- Back Campus

Tuesday S01: PM 0:57 cycling- East of Lex

Wednesday S02: AM 2:13 cycling- east of town- had to hammer back in to be back in time for a meeting

Thursday S03: PM 0:52 cycling- east of Lex

Friday S04: AM 1:41 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail

Saturday S05: AM 4:24 cycling- up to the Blue Ridge and north and then back

Sunday S06: AM 1:02 cycling- out toward the Blue Ridge- felt so rough that I just tuned back in BV

Weekly Totals:
4:07 running (40% of total)
7:15 cycling (60% of total)
Total: 12:11

Comments: A rough week with my insomnia really taking a toll on my ability to get in my morning workouts and messing with my quality (when I do not get enough sleep, I seem to lose a lot of my strength…). This week's pic is from the underpass where RT-60 intersects the Blue Ridge Parkway. While I am not responsible for this act of graffiti, I do share the sentiment of its author.

Monday S07: AM 2:28 cycling- out to look at some phantom kimberlites and back felt good but my pedal was messed up PM 0:32 running- around campus

Tuesday S08: AM 0:47 cycling- errands around Lex on the Xootr PM 1:25 running- out and back on the Cassie Trail- felt really good and hammered

Wednesday S09: PM 1:02 running- two laps of the Back Campus Trails

Thursday S10: PM 1:02 running- on the Back Campus Trails

Friday S11: AM 0:59 running- around Back Campus

Saturday S12: AM 1:34 running- out and back on the Cassie Trail- felt ok

Sunday S13: AM 1:00 cycling- on the Xootr- headset is messed up.

Weekly Totals:
5:34 running (61% of total)
4:15 cycling (39% of total)
Total: 10:49

Comments: Even worse than last week with the sleep thing and my new bike broke- the pedal broke (more later when I write a review of how shitty the Crank Brothers MXR pedals are).

Monday S14: PM 0:58 cycling- Went out east of Lex with platform pedals on my new Moto- totally stripped out the crank by the end of the ride and had to walk it in in the final mile or so

Tuesday S15: AM 1:06 running- two laps around the back campus trails- felt pretty good

Wednesday S16: PM 0:59 cycling- around Lex- first day with the new cranks and pedals- got caught in the dark- damn you, fall.

Thursday S17: PM 0:56 cycling East of Lex

Friday S18: AM 0:54 running- Back Campus trails

Saturday S19: AM 4:06 cycling- up to the Blue Ridge and around and around PM 2:08 running- along the AT south to around the Lynchburg Reservoir- felt good

Sunday S20: AM 2:55 running- along the AT north to the top of Long Mountain- felt pretty good (while running pretty slowly) PM 2:10 cycling- back home over the Blue Ridge- felt tired and dehydrated!

Weekly Totals:
7:03 running (44% of total)
9:09 cycling (66% of total)
Total: 16:12

Comments: A bit better than the last two weeks with some really good stuff and the end of the week. Actually, a pretty crappy week except for a phenomenal weekend. My 2:55 run on Sunday was not the greatest but it felt good to get out on single track for almost three hours and my knee did not feel bad at all. This weeks pic is from the top of the Incline on the morning of the BTMR.

Preamble to A brief preview for the senior men’s team race… (below)

2009-09-03T19:18:00.000-04:00

If you read my blog, you probably already realize that the biggest race on the mountain running planet is this weekend in Italy. The first ever World Mountain Running Championship (after 24 years of World Mountain Running Trophies) will go off on Sunday, September 6th. If you are unfamiliar, this is the race that most (not all) of the best mountain runners in the USA aim for as the big race of their season/career. Ever since I started racing on mountains back in 1998, up until knee problems got in the way of my being competitive, this was the most important race on my calendar and my goal for the last several of those years (starting in 2004) was to bring home a team medal. Medals go to the top three teams so they are quite difficult to come by- particularly since, as we will see below, the gold is usually reserved for the Italian team. From 2004 to 2007, the US senior men’s team was not able to finish on the podium though we were 'close' a few times. In 2004, every individual on our squad with four first-time team members ran well and we finished 8 (two points out of 6th and 27 points out of 3rd). In 2005, we improved to 6th (18 points out of third) but our team this time around had three athletes perform very well and three athletes perform poorly. Likewise, in 2006, we finished 5th (a healthy 52 points out of 3rd) with three athletes performing very well and three athletes performing poorly. In 2007, we fell back to 9th but, unlike back in 2004 where each individual on the team ran at or near their potential, only Payton ran what I would call a good race. I was the fourth and final scoring runner for both the 2005 and 2006 teams, and was in the poorly performing half of the team in both instances. In 2005, all that I would have needed was as fairly mediocre 30th place instead of my 50th for a spot on the podium; in 2006, however, I would have needed a 15th place- which would have tied my best finish (from 2003).

Since I feel fully responsible for our team’s failure to win a medal in Wellington and partially responsible for our lack of Bursa hardware, I was very excited when the senior men’s team finally won a medal in 2008. I knew that we (when I say ‘we’ I am referring to 'we' the American mountain running community) had a good team going into the race- Simon had two top ten WRMT finished on his cv and was running well, Joe and Rickey were posting excellent performances against established competition in Europe, and Eric always runs solid. Matt and Zac had run well on The Hill but you never know how well someone is going to run at their first worlds… For the first time since 2004, everyone on the men’s senior team ran at or near their potential at the 2008 WMRT. Rickey and Joe broke into the top-20 and Simon was the final scorer at 25th place! Over the past ten years, a place on the podium requires a team score of around 80 (4 runners averaging 20th place) and in 2008, things followed form with a score of 76 points good for 3rd place! (continue below)

A brief preview for the senior men’s team race at the World Mountain Running Championships, Campodolcino-Madessimo (Italy) September 6th 2009

2009-09-03T18:43:00.000-04:00

Alternative title- US men face an up (and down) hill battle in their attempt to return to the podium

...continued from post above... This year, it will be interesting to see if our senior men’s team will be able to return to the podium. We have a very good team with talented individuals but the competition will be, well, nasty. Below, I will look at our some of the teams that have performed well in the past and see how our team stacks up. This meant as a preview for the race and not a prediction. I say this because I think that predicting the outcome of a race is not constructive- particularly since there will be an actual race outcome on Sunday and the only way to tell whether or not someone is faster on a mountain is to race on a mountain.

The favorites:

Italy: Italy has always been top dog at worlds. In 24 years, they have won 23 times and were 2nd only in 2006 (and, had Molinari not been left off of the team they probably would have won that one too). Based on their previous record… (do I really have to finish that sentence?). This year, as usual, their team, lead by Marco De Gasperi, is scary good. If you have not heard of De Gasperi, it is because you have not been following the sport at the international level. The highlights of his bio include four world trophy wins at the senior level and one win at the junior level (all in up and down years). Earlier this summer, he finished second at the European Mountain Running Championship. For those of you who are unaware, the World mountain race is up and down in odd years and uphill only in even years while the European Mountain Champs is opposite that (up and down in even years and uphill only in odd years). If De Gasperi, who is a good but not great uphill only runner is sufficiently fit to finish 2nd in an uphill only Euros’ watch out when the course heads downhill. Backing up (or finishing in front of- we will see on Sunday) De Gasperi will be Marco Gaiardo, the best Italian mountain runner never to win the WMRT. In seven trips to the WMRT and eight trips to Europeans’, his worst place is 11th To that consistency, you can add a WMRT medal in 2003 and two wins at Europeans’. The Dematteis brothers (Barnard and Martin) have run world cross (as junior) and Bernard has finished 5th, 5th, and 4th in the 2004, 2005, and 2008 WMRT and 2nd in the 2008 Europeans’ (the last up and down year) while Martin was 14th in 2004 and 3rd in 2005. Gabriele Abate will be running on his 6th senior squad and was 7th in the 2008 Europians', 20th in last year’s WMRT and 10th in the 2007 WMTR. Emanuele Manzi has five top-10 finishes at the WMRT with a 2nd in 2001 and Marco Rinaldi, running in his 4th WMRT/C (best finish 6th in 2001) rounds out the Italian squad as the third fastest guy named Marco. Really, the race is theirs to lose.

Eritrea: Unlike Italy, where I could provide a bit of information about each of the shockingly fast individuals that comprise the team, I know nothing about any of the individual runners from Eritrea. What I do know that since 2004, Eritrea has scored a team in the senior men’s race three time and their worst place has been second. They are also the only team to win this race other than Italy (see comment above). Given their brief history at the event, I cannot imagine that they will run poorly and I will certainly expect to see them in the top-5.

Uganda: This is the first year that Uganda has fielded a full team in any of the races and on paper, this team is pretty good (and by pretty good, I mean that the team has the best distance runners in a country with some really good distance runners). Martin Toroitich was second in last year’s WMRT and has run world xc (29th and 2008 and 10th in 2007). He ran the 10k at the world track champs this year and has run 62:19 for a half-marathon. Moses Aliwa was 15th in last year’s WMRT and 13th in 2008, was 20th in world cross in 2007, 49th in 2008 and has run 62:50 for the half-marathon. Geoffrey Kusuro won the WMRT junior race in 2007, was 19th at world cross in 2009, ran at the2009 world track champs, and has a pr of 13:18 in the 5k. Simon Ayeko is a 8:18.04 steeplechaser, has run world cross twice (55th in 2008 and 46th in 2006) and also ran at the world track champs. James Kibet has run world cross twice (80th 2009 and 39th in 2007) and has run 62:07 in the half. With the runner-up from last year (Toritich) and a proven top-15 guy (Aliwa), it will be interesting how, what is essentially their national cross team will be able to step it up in the mountains. I am not usually the type who says, “so-an-so can run x for a 5km; therefore, they will crush in the mountains” but, holy crap, these guys are fast. I will be very interested to see how this team fares. They could win it or they could fill out the top-10.

Also gunnin’ for the podium: (in alphabetical order)

France: France last won a team medal in the senior men’s race in 2005 (3rd). Since then, they have had three consecutive 4th place finishes. I know that every team mentioned here wants a spot on that podium but holy $%&, after three 4ths in a row… Raymond Fontaine has several top-10 WMRT finishes on his cv (including 2 individual medals), Julien Rancon has several top-15 WMRT finishes, Emmanual Meyssat was 15th at last year’s WMRT and has been running well in the Grand Prix, and the remainder of the team is tough as well.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland: With this being the first year of the World Mountain Running Championship, it is also the first year of GBR competing as a team. In the past, England, Scotland, Wales, and NI have all run individual teams. England alone has always been tough, and, despite a recent drought, has brought home many team medals over the years. This year, they are apparently deep enough to leave Jon Duncan (4th at Skaala) off of the team. I always thought that the best of England, Scotland, and Wales (NI is just tiny) would be a formidable team and this year, the team will (predictably) consist of 5 from England and 1 Scot. That 1 Scot is Joe Symonds who was 4th in the 2007 WRMT. His south-of-the-border teammates will include Adam Grice who was 5th in 2007, Billy Burns who has five top-10 finishes, a bronze from 2001, and a win at Sierre-Zinal, Simon Baily who was 11th in 2003, Nick Swinburn (33rd in 2007, 19th in 2006) and Adam Osborne (34th at Europeans). This is an experienced and talented team but one that needs everyone to run well to get a medal.

Switzerland: Like the French, the Swiss have a very consistent history of running well as a team in this race in recent years. They are the defending silver medalists, were third in 2007, and 6th and 5th in 2006 and 2005. Two podiums in the past two years; that’s not bad. They return three athletes from the team that won bronze in 2007 (the last time that the race was up and down) and they are led by the very consistent Sebastien Epiney, (17th in 2008 and 8th in 2007) who is coming off of a 3rd in the 2009 Europeans and David Schneider (10th in 2008 and 22in in 2007).

Turkey: Turkey was 5th last year and has placed as high at 3rd in 2006 when they set up a two-month-long training camp at the Bursa WMRT site complete with assessor personnel (such as, but not limited to a chief!). The team is lead by Ahmet Arslan who is quickly becoming one of Europe’s top mountain runners. Arslan won the last three European Champs and was 3rd at the 2008 WRMT. Selahattin Seluk was 4th at the 2006 WMRT and, well, it’s four to score.

USA: This brings us to the senior men’s team for the United States of America… After a long history of excellent individual performances in the WMRT (Johnson, Dunham, Gall, Vigil), the US men began running well as a team in 2004. We had reasonably good performances from 2004 to 2006, had an off year in 2007 and won bronze in 2008. Four of the athletes from that 2008 team are back this year with Eric Blake and Simon Gutierrez (who is officially retired from downhill running) missing. Everyone on the team has been to a world trophy before including Andrew Benford who will be running in his first senior men’s race after become the first US athlete (male or female) to make both the junior and senior teams. Rickey Gates, in his 4th trip to the WMRT/C in four years is the veteran of the team and Tim Parr will be running in his third WMRT/C after a few year hiatus. Matt Byne, Zac Freudenburg, and Joe Gray will all be running in their second WMRT/C but in their first up and down WMRT/C. While this is a deep team, Joe and Rickey are definitely the ones to watch. Rickey broke 60 minutes on The Hill this June (which is awesome) and then ran poorly a week later at Cranmore (the USATF Mountain Running National Champs). Joe ran ok on The Hill (3rd) and turned around to win Cranmore. Both runners have been in Europe for a while now and have raced well with Rickey running faster than (his excellent performance) last year at Heiligenblut and running an excellent 2:38 at Sierre-Zinal. Joe has bested Rickey and Rickey's Sierra-Zinal-weary-legs in their last two meetings at Skaala and Susa and I expect both of them to perform well this Sunday. Both are in potential top-10 shape and both could finish top-20 without running their respective best. Matt has been all over the place (geographically) winning the LaSportiva Mountain Cup Series. He ran well again on The Hill, finished a close third (9 seconds back) to Zac at Cranmore, and beat Simon Gute in the rarefied air of Nederland. In Simon’s defense, this was after his official retirement from downhill running. Before he ran 62:21 on The Hill last year, I had always thought of Zac as a long distance runner (due to his good performances at Jungfrau and the PPM a few years back). Since then, he has finished 36th in the WMRT and 2nd at a well-attended USA nationals in Cranmore. He also ran a few minutes faster at the PPA this year than in 2008 (albeit while getting crushed by Tim Parr). He is consistent and has the endurance to run well here. Tim Parr ran well at the WMRT back in the day (36th in 2005 and 38th in 2004) and he walked away from the competition at the Cheyenne Canon Mountain Race (where the common comment from spectators was that he looked as though he was not running all that hard). Three weeks ago, he won the PPA in 2:12:32 (a pretty good time) and two weeks ago, he won the Leadville 100. Timmy is definitely on fire and if he can recover from Leadville, he will run well. This is not a schedule that I would attempt and I wish Tim luck with it. Andrew made the team by snagging the second automatic spot at Cheyenne Canyon ahead of some pretty fast runners. He prepared specifically (and quite well) for the Cheyenne Canyon race and I expect that he has prepared for the WMRC with the same specificity and determination. I really have no idea how he will run and I look forward to seeing his (and everyone’s results).

So, the summary… The US senior men’s team has two studs (potential top 10ers) in Joe and Rickey, two solid guys in Matt and Zac (potential top 20ers) and two question marks* in Tim (Leadville legs?) and Andy (just plain young) *the phrase ‘question mark’ is not meant to be derogatory in any way; rather, it indicates that I really do not know how either of these guys will run- both have the ability to run very well on Sunday. All that it takes is for four men to put it together on the same day and run well. There are eight very good teams listed here and only three medals. This, of course means that many good teams will not make the podium! Sunday will be an interesting race… What do you think?

If you would like to know more about the team, please visit the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team website

Training Update 14

2009-08-26T16:48:00.000-04:00

Monday A17: AM 1:43 cycling- rode out to my storage locker to get the lock and check out. Along the way, I managed to break one of my pedals. You would think that with a broken Crank Brothers pedal, you would not be able to pull up but your shoe/cleat would still sit nicely on top of the platform. Wrong. My right leg got a really good workout, though! PM 1:19 running- W&L XC course with 8*100m strides

Tuesday A18: AM 2:03 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail- felt pretty good

Wednesday A19: AM 0:56 running- W&L XC course PM 1:11 running- W&L XC course- knee felt good and then bad and then good again- 8*100m strides

Thursday A20: AM 1:43 running- out and back on the Chessie Trail with 3,2,1,3,2,1,3,2,1 hard zith 2,2,1,2,2,1,2,2,1 easy- my first speed workout in possibly a decade! I actually felt pretty good on this one and the cooldown was difficult which is always a sign that I paced a workout well! PM 0:29 running around campus

Friday A21: AM 0:10 running, 1:29 deep water running, 0:10 running- my first "run" in the Maury River- a most certain improvement over the pool!

Saturday A22: AM 0:58 running- W&L XC course PM 1:02 W&L XC course with 8*100m strides

Sunday A23: AM 2:20 running- I started out this run planning on river running (aquajoging) but my knee felt pretty good and so I decided to run instead (I to to the river and so the decision was made en route). 20 minutes into the run, my knee felt so bad that I decided to pack it in and run home. On the way back, the knee started feeling better and so I decided to add on a little bit to make it an hour but then I tried to do a road loop and ended up at 2:20. I felt good for the entire run (this ties my second longest run since early spring!) Later in the day, my knee felt like absolute shit- it was difficult to extend my leg entirely- very discouraging...

Weekly totals:
12:31 running (80% of total)
1:43 cycling (11% of total)
1:29 pool running (9% of total)
Total: 15:43

Comments: An interesting week in that the total workload (15:43) was quite low but the overall running was my highest in quite some time. Despite the higher amount of running, my knee was not noticeably worse- it still hurt, just not any more than last week. I also managed to get out for my first pool run since the spring semester. For this, I ran down to a park along the Maury River 10 min from my apartment where there is a dam pond and I knew that the river would be sufficiently deep for deep water running. This was really quite a good spot for DWR- I was able to "run" up river for 45 minutes and then came back in 44. There was no one on the river and the scenery was great (if you like trees and rocks), no one stole my running shoes, and no leaches (at least I have not found any yet.

The reason behind the higher than usual amount of running at the expense of cycling was because my bike (xootr) is not doing well. The headset is messed up and I lack the tools, knowledge, or combination of tools and knowledge to address the issue right now. On top of this, my pedal breaking at the beginning of the week really put the bike on the DL. To make things worse, I am unable to remove the good pedal from the crank. I actually left the house early Sunday morning with mismatching pedals (one crank bros' and one platform); I made it about three revolutions before realizing that is was a bad idea... Fortunately, I just got a new road bike (actually a cyclocross bike) and so next week, my cycling should be back on track.

The picture this week is a view of the White Mountains (NH) from the fire tower on Monadnock Mountain (VT). This should go without saying, but the picture does very little justice to the majesty of the actual view- particularly of the meandering Connecticut River below.

Training Update 13

2009-08-17T18:03:00.000-04:00

Monday A10: AM 1:30 running- around Mount Snow (made it to the top) with K PM 0:37 running- up M&M North, back on Tom's trail with Ned

Tuesday A11: AM 1:35 running- up Mount Lincoln with Ned PM 1:03 cycling- up Gulf road, Meetinghouse road and back down on 202- HOT!

Wednesday A12: PM 1:01 running- back campus trails- felt predictably awful

Thursday A13: PM 0:59 running- out and back on the Maury River Trail

Friday A14: AM 1:00 running- back campus trail with a medium pack PM 0:50 running- out to my storage locker PM 0:32 cycling- back from my storage locker with a large duffel full of stuff

Saturday A15: AM 0:44 running- out to my storage locker AM 1:20 cycling- back from and then to and from my storage locker PM 1:02 running- back campus trails and 8*100m strides on the track

Sunday A16: AM 3:52 cycling- my first real road ride in VA- A very pleasant ride even with the very hot final hour!

Weekly totals:
9:18 running (58% of total)
6:47 cycling (42% of total)

Total: 16:05

Comments: I knew that this week would be a difficult one for training as it involved me moving my stuff and myself from Vermont to Virginia. The week started out alright (since going from southern VT to western Mass is really not that difficult) but then 11:00 on Tuesday night, I left for Virginia and drove through the night. I arrived in one piece the next day but I was pretty tired for a few days as a result. The added stress of the travel plus trying to find a place to live (I do now have a place to live) also detracted from both the quantity and quality of my workouts this week. The highpoint of the week was the ride that I did on Sunday morning. While it did get a little bit hot at the end (and I only have one water bottle holder!) but the route was great- rivaling the rides that I enjoy so much in Central VT and Western MASS! I am really looking forward to the road riding here in Rockbridge County and the local trail running, while not as extensive as I have been used to since leaving Mount Pleasant, is pretty good as well. A word about the heat... I was mentally prepared for the heat (in that I knew that it was going to be hot down here in the dirty, dirty south; however, my runs down here have really not been much worse than the runs that I did in B-town with Ned earlier in the week. There are also fewer biting insects here.

This weeks picture is of the exterior of my new apartment on Main Street in Lexington, Virginia taken from Google Street View. The two upper left-hand windows are mine. The store front below is undergoing renovations and I am not sure what the new store is going to sell.

Training Update 12

2009-08-16T14:26:00.000-04:00

Monday A03: AM 4:04 cycling- mountain biking in Cheyenne Canyon- I suck at mountain biking PM 1:02 running- steady out and back in Williams Canyon- felt really good despite the past few days

Tuesday A04: AM 2:15 cycling- around Red Rocks PM 1:35 running- Williams, Waldo, Ute steady

Wednesday A05: AM 2:22 cycling- around Red Rocks PM 1:00 running- Out and back on Intemann

Thursday A06: AM 2:35 cycling- through Red Rocks and up to Cheyenne Canyon and back PM 0:52 running- up and down Red Mountain with K

Friday A07: PM 0:30 running- from the Burlington Airport to the Penske dealer PM 0:59 running- Paine Mountain loop (second half in the dark)

Saturday A08: AM 1:39 running- Paine Mountain PM 1:34 cycling- to and from Big Shaws

Sunday A09: AM 2:46 cycling- Moretowm Gap, Mad River, Roxbury Gap

Weekly totals:
7:37 running (33% of total)
15:36 cycling (67% of total)

Total: 23:13

Comments: ...a decent week considering the disruption caused but the first (and easiest) leg of my move. Next week will not be as good. My Monday run up and down Williams Canyon was absolutely spectacular and my final ride (for a long time?) in the Mad River Valley was very nice as well.

This week's picture is a stylized image of a purple trillium taken on Monadnock Mountain in Vermont (not to be confused with the more well-known Monadnock Mountain in Southern New Hampshire).

Bill Gates 4th at Sierre-Zinal (OK, Ricky Gates 4th at Sierre-Zinal)

2009-08-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

...let me be the first (on this side of the Atlantic) to congratulate Bill 'Rickey' Gates on his excellent performance at the 2009 Sierre-Zinal mountain race. For those of you who are unaware, S-Z is the top mountain race in the world. In order to perform well at S-Z, you must be a complete athlete! It requires runners to climb steep (1 mile vertical in the first 10 km) then run well on fast tracks (the European word for trails) at high altitude, and then run a tough decent into Zinal. 2:39 and change is the fastest that any USAian (I am specifically not saying American so as to exclude the ageless Ricardo) since the (correct me if I am wrong) great Pablo Vigil.

Race Report: Camichael Training Systems Sand Creek Series Race 3

2009-08-04T00:07:00.000-04:00

With my knee slowly coming back into running condition, I have been riding my bike quite a bit and over the past few weeks, I have added some mountain biking into the mix as well. When K told me (on Wednesday) about a local race on a Saturday (August 1st) that we were in town, I was interested in giving it a try. I looked into the course (the Falcon Trail at the Air Force Academy) and most reviewers reported that it was relatively non-technical so that was a plus. We got to the race a little bit late (after leaving the house a little bit late) to find a long line at registration (with 30 minutes to race time). Thankfully, they moved the start time back 30 minutes and I managed to get in a few minutes of a warmup- but not a extensive a warmup as I could have used. 10-minutes before the race start, they called us up to the line in groups starting with the pro men and leading down from there. After we were lined up in the appropriate order, we sat around loosing the effect of our (in my case) already inadequate warmups. Groups went off in 2-minute intervals starting with Pro men, cat(egory) 1 19-29, et cetera. I was back in cat 2 30-39 along with about 10 other riders starting with 6 or so cat 2 19-29 riders.

After we (finally) took off, the course traveled up a slight uphill over a lane wide enough for 3-4 riders before heading onto the singletrack. I did not get a very good start (my competitors were hammering to get a good position) but I was not too worried because I did not really know where I should have been in the field anyway. I settled in to a comfortable pace right behind some riders who were going slower than I would have been going if I would have had an open track. I passed a few riders and then got passed back on a short downhill portion of the course. We traveled down through some rocky stuff and a few stream crossings before heading up for the major climb of the ~12.5 mile lap. I climbed well reaching the front of the cat 2 field (finally) before I flatted near the top of the climb.

#$%@! My tire just went flat (after the race I had a look at the tire and it had just split- no puncture). Pretty much everyone passed me back while I stopped to change it and I got back on the trail with the caboose of my category plus the cat 2 40+ and cat 3 (both of whom started with an additional stagger behind me). I then realized that I was at the top of the major climb and tried my best on the smooth but really twisty singletrack descent. On the second and smaller climb, I caught a few of the riders that had passed me and I even held a few of them off on the final descent to the finish. I went through the first lap and ditched my inner tube and one of my water bottles and headed out for my second lap. For the first small climb, I got caught behind my cycling opposite, he was slow but steady on the climbs, flowed over the rough stuff like water, and descended like a fast guy on a bike. I, on the other hand, slam up the hills, manage through the rough stuff and point it downhill and liberally apply the breaks. I finally got around my opposite and headed up the major climb for second time. I had a good climb and passed a few riders on the way to the top and had a good initial descent holding off the riders that I had passed though the top of the second climb. I was still flustered from my flat on the first lap but I was feeling pretty good about my riding at this point. I gambled a bit with my speed and had a minor crash then had another minor crash on a downhill switchback. This second crash managed to alter the function of my front brakes and I quickly unhooked them and sped off.

It took about 25 meters to realize how bad an idea this was and I stopped and quickly adjusted the brakes as best I could managing to make them functional but much more sensitive than before. This became an issue a few minutes later when I was speeding down a hill and I looked ahead to see that the trail turned to go around a tree. I applied the brakes an appropriate distance from the tree; however, in my haste, I pulled on the front brake without taking into consideration the new sensitivity. I locked and buried my front wheel in the loose gravel, launched over the handlebars, and faceplanted in the dirt. Luckily, no one was right behind me so I had time to check myself for catastrophic injury. Sensing nothing was terribly wrong, I got up, re-attached my visor, and got back on my bike. At this point, my race was over, I had about a mile to go and I got passed by four riders without any fight. I could feel my lip was fat, I had (lots of) dirt in my nose and when I would spit, the stuff that came out was really dark (I was hoping that it was dirt and not blood). I kept my speed under control and rolled through the finish line 8th out of 10 in the cat 2 30-39. After the finish line, I rode around for a few minutes looking for K before stopping to fix my bike and get a drink. Upon removing my helmet, I found that several of the vents were full of dirt (later, I would discover that my inov-8 racing t-shirt had a nice rip in it as well.) I found K, and we took off for Manitou post-hast.

Even though I did not race very well (getting caught behind other riders, crashing, having two mechanicals, riding poorly downhill), I am glad that I did the race. This was a trail that I think that I would really enjoy training on (either cycling or running) but I am just not ready to race on it.

Training Update 11

2009-08-03T22:41:00.000-04:00

Monday J27: AM 4:10 cycling- mountain biking above Chyenne Canyon PM 0:44 running- from Peter and Nora's on Intemann

Tuesday J28: AM 6:00 cycling- from Manitou to DIA with K- rode pretty easy but this is still a long time in the saddle

Wednesday J29: AM 4:00 cycling- out and back on the New Santa Fe Trail PM- 1:00 running- out and back on Intemann

Thursday J30: AM 1:01 cycling- easy around the GOG PM 1:01 running- out and back in Williams Canyon

Friday J31: AM 1:03 running- out and back on Intemann PM 1:15 cycling to and from Pro Cycling

Saturday A01: AM 2:50 cycling- 25 mile mountain bike race in 2:16 with a short warm up and cooldown PM 0:38 running- easy out and back in Williams Canyon with Gute

Sunday A02: AM 2:30 running- up Barr Trail with Gute- ran to about 1.5 miles to go and then seriously bonked- stopped the watch and just walked

Weekly totals:
6:56 running (26% of total)
19:16 cycling (74% of total)

Total: 26:12

Comments: It was an interesting week with a great day of mountain biking on Monday (4+hours) followed by a 100-mile road ride on Tuesday and a 4-hour ride on Wednesday. Wednesday pm, K e-mailed me a link about a mountain bike race at the Air Force Academy and I decided to do it. I took Thursday and Friday relatively easy and rode hard on Saturday (and have the scars to prove it!). The most notable workout of the week was my (attempted) run up Pikes Peak on Sunday. I started at 7:30 with Gute and pMax at a pretty good pace. It was pretty warm at the bottom and I was sweating quite a bit (I sweat a lot when running uphill regardless of the weather). pMax peeled off at the top of the Ws and Gute and I charged on. My knee hurt a little bit for about a mile below Barr Camp but then worked itself out (magically). With about 3.5 miles to go, I let Gute go (I could no longer keep up) and then I ran pretty well to the 2 miles to go sign. With 2 miles to go, (this is still a long way to go on Barr Trail) I started to feel really rough and I was still passing hikers and other runners but I was slowing down quite a bit. With about 1.5 miles to go, I stopped my watch at 2:30 and stared walking- not speed hiking but walking. Slowly. It took me almost an hour to walk the rest of the way and many hikers passed me along the way! Even though I was walking quite slowly, it was still very difficult moving forward. I am not sure if my bonk was more the result of glycogen depletion or the high altitude (I am sure that both contributed) but I am sure that it was very, very humbling. Nevertheless, it was a good way to end a high-volume week and I am happy that I made it to the top of Pikes for my third time ever and my first time since 2003.

Training Update 10

2009-07-30T18:43:00.000-04:00

Monday J20: AM 4:10 4:10 cycling- Granby to Berthoud pass (11,300') out on the Frasier to Granby Trail, back on 40- felt ok PM 0:32 running- flat Manitou loop following a long drive

Tuesday J21: PM 1:08 cycling- from Manitou to the top of Cheyenne Canon and back to the start of the mountain race PM 1:21 running- on the CMTR course with K

Wednesday J22: AM 2:20 running PM 1:40 cycling- to Bristol Brewing to meet up with a group ride (no one was there) so I rode up Cheyenne Canon and back down and when home

Thursday J23: AM 1:05 running- to Manitou High track, 8*100 meter strides with 100 meters rest, back home PM 1:01 cycling- mountain biking up and down Ute Trail (for the last time)

Friday J24: AM 0:30 running- flat Manitou loop PM 0:33 running- flat Manitou loop with Gute

Saturday J25: AM 0:38 running- with Gute along the river in CoSprings after his master's win in the Classic 10K PM 0:35 running flat Manitou loop with Gute- met up with MattC

Sunday J26: AM 1:42 running- 0:30 warmup; Cheyenne Canon Mountain Race in 54:23; 0:18 cooldown with RyanH PM 2:17 cycling- above Cheyenne Canyon

Weekly totals:
9:16 running (45% of total)
11:16 cycling (55% of total)

Total: 20:32

Comments: An interesting week for sure... It started out with a great road ride to Berthoud Pass and back and then progressed to the point that I decided to run the Cheyenne Canyon Mountain Race at the end of the week. My running during the previous week (up in Granby) had been pretty good and I thought that my knee could handle a mountain race without any (additional) permanent damage. The race did not go very well but I am glad that I did it. It was also good to take a few days easy (before the race) although I am not sure that it helped me very much for the three climbs of the race. A race report will follow shortly.

Training Update 9

2009-07-30T18:29:00.000-04:00

Monday J13: AM 1:06 running- up and down Red Mountain with some additional out and back on Intemann trail PM 2:30 cycling- over to and out and back on the New Santa Fe Trail- a good ride aside from the horrible storm in the middle

Tuesday J14: AM 2:44 cycling- up to Divide "summit" and back down- felt rough and slow on the way up but I think that it may have been because I was riding into a strong headwind PM 1:21 running- around the Solvista Resort in Granby, CO- felt terrible at first but after I warmed up, I flet pretty good

Wednesday J15: AM 3:00 cycling around Granby, CO and then to Rocky Mountain National Park and back- felt pretty good but holy s$%# it was cold! PM 1:00 running- with K- slow

Thursday J16: AM 1:34 running- out and back on the Granby-Frasier trail- rolling felt good but my knee felt pretty bad afterword PM 2:18 cycling- out and back on the Frasier to Granby trail

Friday J17: AM 1:24 cycling- from Granby toward Tabernash on 40, around the YMCA of the Rockies, back on the dirt roads behind Sol Vista PM 1:10 running

Saturday J18: AM 1:35 running- on the nationals xc course partially with K PM 1:26 cycling- around Granby and Sol Vista with a good climb at the end- felt pretty good

Sunday J19: AM 1:03 running- up and down one of the Sol Vista Ski hills- felt ok PM 2:51 cycling- 40 to 125 and back- felt good

Weekly totals:
8:49 running (35% of total)
16:13 cycling (65% of total)

Total: 25:02

Comments: ...another very good week with some hilly running and some good cycling in there as well. I managed to get in two workouts every day despite a packed schedule helping K at the USAC National Mountain Biking Championships. We were staying at ~8,000 feet and everything that I did was up from there so that was good. I feel like I am pretty much acclimated to medium altitude. My knee felt OK when I was able to treat it properly (ice and stretch post run) and felt pretty rough on the day that I ran, did not ice, and then sat at a desk for a while. No single workout stands out as being the highlight of the training week but the final ride of the week (out and back on 125) was great- an absolutely beautiful road ride with low traffic and only a little bit of hail.

Race Report: Carmichael Training Systems Cheyenne Cañon Time Trial

2009-07-22T17:38:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, July 11, I rode the Carmichael Training Systems Cheyenne Cañon Time Trial (CTSCCT). This is my second bike race ever and also my second uphill time trial ever. My first was the Allen Park Memorial Hill Climb last fall in Irasville, VT (traveling up the Appalachian Gap) where I finished 9th overall in a small field riding my Swift Folder. The CTSCCT is a little bit bigger of a race and, having been on my bike quite a bit this spring and summer, I was a little bit better prepared (plus, I have ridden the course a total of five times prior to the race). The course description from the race's official website is a follows:

Starting at the corner of N. Cheyenne Cañon Road and W Cheyenne Blvd. This challenging hill climbs 3.1 miles to the top of Cheyenne Cañon reaching the flat dirt parking lot at Gold Camp Rd. The total elevation gain is approximately 1,250 feet. The course follows N Cheyenne Cañon Rd. with no road changes. The final 1000 meters is a constant 10% grade.

So, that makes it 7.6% average grade over 5km which is not terribly steep but certainly challenging enough. I seeded myself at 19:34 which was exactly two minutes faster than I had ridden in my fastest training ride (riding pretty hard during my second of two reps). My seeding did not take into consideration the fact that K brought home a faster race bike for me the day before the race. That's right, instead of riding my 20"-wheeled folding bike, I would be racing on a hand-me-down Specialized S-works carbon fiber bike with Shimano Dura-ace componenets. The rig was a bit banged up but was wicked light and fit well after a few adjustments on the morning of the race. I do not remember very much about the race. I pretty much went all out from the start, passing several riders (the race was staggered at 30-second intervals). I think that I paced myself pretty well with maybe a little bit too much effort in the first half of the race.

The race was won in 13:38 by Garmin Slipstream's Tom Danielson who missed his own "course record" (in quotes because it was set during practice) of 13:34. If you have not heard of Danielson, he is one of (if not) the best climbers in the nation. He has the CR at the other Mount Washington race (49+ minutes) which is ~1 minute faster than Tyler Hamilton's old record. Lance Armstrong (a reasonably good cyclist) has also ridden this course in just over 14 minutes. I finished well back in 18th with a 16:28. This was good for 1st in my division, the utterly arbitrary 35+ category 4 (I was the 7th fastest 35+ rider in the race). All in all, it was a fun race and it would have been tough to pass up given nature of the race and its proximity to K's apartment. Post-race was great too with the awards ceremony at the new (and massive and beautiful) Carmichael Training Systems building. There were great beverages (gratis with no line!?!) from Bristol Brewing and some as great food (gratis with a long line) as well and the racers that I met there were genuinely friendly people.

...also, I have to add the new CTS building to my growing list of places without appropriate dedicated bicycle parking...

Training Update 8

2009-07-22T17:34:00.000-04:00

Monday J06: AM 1:56 running- from USAC to Manitou through the GOG- felt ok throughout despite the heat (longest run since the post-post surgery flare-up PM 1:11 cycling- around the GOG

Tuesday J07: AM 2:16 cycling- to Cheyenne Canyon, up and down the 5km climb twice (1st time in 22:55, 2nd time in 21:34) PM 1:04 running- out and back on Intemann trail- felt pretty good

Wednesday J08: AM 2:13 cycling- to Cheyenne Canyon, up and down the 5km climb twice (this time, I did not time myself- I did not want to push myself too hard) PM 1:00 running- up and down Williams Canyon

Thursday J09: AM 0:29 cycling- to Cheyenne Canyon AM 1:06 running- Cheyenne Canyon Mountain Race Course with RyanH AdamR + 2 24:27 for the runout and the first lap, 18:17 for the second lap, and 23:55 for the third lap and run in. 0:37 cycling- back to Manitou

Friday J10: AM 1:05 cycling- very easy around the GOG

Saturday J11: AM 3:00 cycling- 1:00 warm up to and around Cheyenne Canyon, Carmichael Training Systems Cheyenne Cañon Time Trial 3.1 miles with 1,250 feet of elevation gain averaging 7.6% grade in 16:28, 1:20 cycling cooldown and then 20 minutes back home from the awards venue. PM 0:30 cycling- to and from Peter and Nora's- easy

Sunday J12: AM 2:23 running- 0:07 warm up up Ruxton, incline in 21:50 (slow), 0:05 cool down at top of incline, waited for the BTMR gun to go off at 7:00 and then ran from the top of the incline to Barr Camp in 40something minutes, took splits for the BTMR and then ran down (easily and carefully) in 1:10 PM 1:09 cycling- easy around the GOG

Weekly totals:
7:29 running (37% of total)
12:30 cycling (63% of total)

Total: 19:59

Comments: This was a good week with a low-key race thrown in to mix things up a little bit. The race (see related post) went well but the best workout was actually the next day when I ran hard up to Barr Camp (albeit with a long break in there) for the first time in, well, a while. I was volunteering for the Barr Trail Mountain Race and my job was to run to the top of the incline (at my leisure) and then wait for the gun to go off before I ran over to Barr Trail and up to Barr Camp (the race's turn around) fast enough (hopefully) to beat the first runners through with the stopwatch that I started at the top of the incline. It meant that I had to run 4-4.5 miles while the leader was running 6 but I still did not want to take it easy and risk getting passed on my way to the turn around! Now that I have done it (run to Barr Camp and back), I now have the courage to (carefully) do the up and down workout in on Barr in the future.

Training Update 7

2009-07-06T09:05:00.000-04:00

Monday J29: AM 1:08 running- up and down trail in Williams Canyon- Williams is beautiful and one of my favorite easy runs around here- it is a narrow canyon (could be called a slot canyon in places) and is usually deserted PM 1:36 cycling- around the GOG- even in the height of tourist season, the Garden is a great place for urban riding! I am really starting to feel the fatigue of altitude acclimation. Even small, easy climbs today where leaving my legs burning.

Tuesday J30: AM 1:15 cycling- over to meet Nancy with some additional stuff up into the canyon. AM 1:00 running- met Nancy at the start of the second national team trial race (in late July) and ran around trying to figure out how to lengthen the course so that the winner of the men's race runs for at least 50 minutes (just under 60 would be perfect)- there was lots of starting and stopping but I did manage to get in some quality running as well- and yes, I did feel like a slug at altitude AM 0:45 cycling- back to Manitou from the race site. PM 0:58 cycling around the GOG

Wednesday J01: AM 2:03 cycling- to Cheyenne canyon, up the canyon and then back around on High drive PM 1:02 run up Cave of the Winds and back down Williams with MattC- felt good

Thursday J02: AM 0:59 cycling- in the GOG PM 0:32 cycling from Manitou to Cheyenne Canyon PM 1:11:00 running- tour of the trial race course with RyanH- run out and first loop in 25:32 second inner loop in 20:36, third inner loop in 20:00, run (including the extra lollipop loop in 4:52 (1:11 total) PM 0:33 cycling back to Manitou from Cheyenne canyon

Friday J03: AM 6:51 cycling- from Manitou Springs to Breckenridge- a 100 mile ride over three major passes (Divide 9,136', Wilkerson 9,507', and Hoosier 11,531')- this was a good ride and I felt pretty good until I got to the bottom of Hoosier Pass- the final four miles of climbing was not terribly steep but it was the highest that I have ever cycled and I was really struggling

Saturday J04: AM 1:11 running- on ski mountain slop in Breckenridge- tried to find the flattest trails that I could (with limited success)- did not feel very good PM 2:15 cycling- out and back on the Breckenridge bike trail- very crowded but a very fun section of trail (hilly and winding with a beautiful view)- felt not so good

Sunday J05: AM 2:53 cycling- from Breckenridge to Vail Pass (elevation 10,662)- felt pretty good considering the altitude PM 1:02 running- with pMax up and down Williams Canyon- felt bad at first but then got better once we entered the canyon.

Weekly totals:
6:34 running (24% of total)
20:40 cycling (76% of total)

Total: 27:14

Comments: After last week's travel-related disruption, this was a good week of training. Friday's ride was certainly the best workout of the week (it was a tough ride and I paced it pretty well). The weekend in Breckenridge was fun (Kelli had to be up here for the Firecracker 50, the mountain bike "marathon" national championships) and I managed to get in some good riding and a pretty good run as well. I hope that the weekend up here (almost 10K' will help me to more quickly acclimate to the altitude down in Manitou (6.5K'). This week was also an unusually social week for me running-wise in that I had running partners for 4 of 6 runs (this is a lot considering that I will often go for months without running with anyone else).

Training Update 6+/-

2009-06-29T21:40:00.000-04:00

...just catching up on the training log here... I skipped a few weeks (with poor records) so I will just start back at the beginning of the month.

Monday J01: AM 0:58 cycling- to the Randolph train station PM 0:30 cycling- from the Amherst train station to Ned & Amy's PM 1:00 running- vampire loop with Ned
Tuesday J02: AM 1:01 running- out and Back on the BLT with Ned 2:15 cycling around the Catskills
Wednesday J03: AM 0:42 running- around Windham, NY with K PM 5:23 cycling- in the Catskills
Thursday J04: AM 2:28 cycling- around Windham, NY PM 1:14 running in Amethyst with K
Friday J05: AM 1:00 running- vampire loop with Ned 2:18 cycling- around Shuts-Lev-Pel-B-towns
Saturday J06: 1:58 cycling- to and around Quabbin Park
Sunday J07: AM 3:50 cycling- ride around the Quabbin with some additional outs and backs- felt good PM 0:34 running- around B-town

Weekly totals:
5:31 running (38% of total)
19:40 cycling (62% of total)

Total: 25:11

Comments: This was a very good week- the first week that I have been happy about in quite some time. If I could manage this volume of cycling with just a little more running (and with a considerable amount of quality thrown in), I think that I could get fit enough to race!?! The best workout of the week was the 5:23 ride that I did on Wednesday

Monday J08: AM 1:02 running- M&M trail north- felt good in my first run on hills and rough surfaces
Tuesday J09: AM 1:00 running- M&M trail north
Wednesday J10: AM 1:03 running- M&M trail north
Thursday J11: AM 0:25 cycling- to UMASS PM 0:35 cycling back from UMASS
Friday J12: PM 1:15 cycling back from UMASS and then up to Leveret PM 0:52 cycling back from Leveret
Saturday J13: 1:00 running- vampire loop with Ned
Sunday J14: AM 3:46 cycling- ride around the Quabbin- felt good

Weekly totals:
4:05 running (37% of total)
6:53 cycling (63% of total)

Total: 10:58

Comments: This was not a good week for running/training. On Friday, I (successfully) defended my dissertation and so the week was spent preparing for and recovering from this once-in-a-lifetime event. The best workout of the week was the ride around the Quabbin. This was the first time that I had done this ride in over two years and it is just fantastic- beautiful, low traffic, nice hills, and a good challenging length.

Monday J15: AM 1:00 running PM 1:01 cycling
Tuesday J16: AM 0:59 running PM 1:00 cycling
Wednesday J17: AM 2:04 cycling up north and then into UMASS PM 0:33 cycling- home from UMASS
Thursday J18: PM 1:07 running- home from UMASS in a pouring (but warm) rain
Friday J19: AM 0:58 running with Ned- road loop in B-town PM 1:57 cycling
Saturday J20: AM 9:46 cycling- from Belchertown, MA to Northfield, VT- my legs felt pretty good throughout for this 150 mile ride and my only complaints were that I left too late in the day and that my pack (15.8 pounds) gave me butt, arm, and hand problems (at least more so than I would have expected without the pack)
Sunday J21: PM 1:02 running- Paine Mountain Loop- my legs actually felt a lot better than I thought that they would considering yesterday's ride.

Weekly totals:
5:06 running (24% of total)
16:21 cycling (76% of total)

Total: 21:27

Comments: This was a lackluster week with one really good day (the long ride).

Monday J22: AM 1:01 running- Paine Mountain Loop- felt good PM 2:30 cycling from Northfield to East MontP
Tuesday J23: AM 1:45 cycling into and back out of MontP PM 0:50 running- around some residential neighborhoods in the dark with pMax
Wednesday J24: PM 0:50 running- around some residential neighborhoods in the dark with pMax
Thursday J25: PM 0:42 running- to the rail-trail in Lawrence, KS, out, and back with pMax- I felt pretty good and the fireflies along the river were the highest density that I have ever seen!
Friday J26: AM 1:02 running- to the rail-trail in Larwence, KS, out, and back- I felt pretty good on for the first 45 minutes (aside from feeling like I was going to melt!) but then my knee began to tighten up and hurt a bit.
Saturday J27: AM 3:00 cycling- from Manitou to Divide (9136') and back with some additional riding in Manitou at the end. I felt pretty good but I was getting a bit light headed toward the top.
Sunday J28: AM 3:04 cycling- west of Manitou on and around Woodland Park PM 0:56 running to and from the store in Manitou

Weekly totals:
5:21 running (38% of total)
8:34 cycling (62% of total)

Total: 13:55

Comments: This was a tough week as I was traveling (almost) across the country (VT to CO). At least, I had a good training partner along (pMax) since the runs were often in less-than-desirable places. The best training day was probably Monday- I felt great for my last run on Paine Mountain in a while and the longer-than-expected bike ride was pretty nice as well. The running highpoint for the week was the run along the rail train in Lawrence- the lightning bugs were amazing! The non-running highlight was, of course getting to see Kelli on Friday night!

Update

2009-06-05T11:38:00.000-04:00

It has been a long time since my last blog entry and my three or four readers have probably forgotten that I write here. My absence was related to a combination of three things. First, I got really busy. During the semester, I am always quite busy but what really killed me this spring was the addition of two professional talk (one at Norwich Uni and the other at the Northeast Section meeting of the Geological Society of America). In addition to my teaching duties- which for the spring semester included a new upper-level course that was outside of my area of expertise where enough for my to forgo writing here (even though it should really only require a few minutes out of the week.) I have alway felt that it is better to go running than to write about going running and so I used my time to go running...

The second thing that has happened in my absence from posting here is that my knee injury has returned. On April 4th, I ran a hard treadmill workout that left me with a slight limp. I backed off from running for a few days but have not been able to get the swelling or pain to subside entirely. As of now, my knee feels slightly better than it did last year at this time but I am limited to about one hour of easy running on preferably flat ground This was certainly not something that I wanted to write about at the time but I am now far enough removed from the disappointment of another season that I am ready to start writing about my extremely-cross-training-heavy workload. I will give updates on the status of my knee in the future when appropriate.

The third thing is that midway through the semester, I learned that my position at NU was being eliminated. This was unfortunate in the long run because I enjoy teaching at NU and Northfield is an excellent place to run. In the short run, however, this also meant that I needed to spend an additional (and considerable) measure of time looking for and applying for a new job. I ended sending out 13 applications for positions in 13 different states. I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a one-year visiting professor position at Washington and Lee. While I am sorry to leave New England (I have lived in western New England since the fall of 2001), I am looking forward to the challenges that await for me at W and L. Look forward to some farewell New England posts in the future...

Training Update 5

2009-03-27T08:27:00.000-04:00

Monday M16: PM 76 minutes of pool running followed immediately by 60 minutes of elliptical (7.11 "miles")

Tuesday M17: PM 92 running (up and down Turkey Hill Road twice- steady on the way up, easy on the way down- actually saw a bunch of turkeys) followed immediately by 76 minutes pool running

Wednesday M18: AM 97 running (Paine Mountain Ice and snow run) PM 35 elliptical followed immediately by 77 pool running

Thursday M19: AM 69 minutes running (up and down Turkey Hill Road with some additional outs and backs) PM 78 minutes pool running

Friday M20: PM 81 running (up and down Turkey Hill Road with some additional outs and backs) PM 77 minutes pool running

Saturday M21: AM 163 minutes running (Earhart loop- mostly hard frozen roads)

Sunday M22: AM 60 minutes running (laps around Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine- flat)

Weekly totals:
9:22 running (54% of total)
1:35 elliptical (9% of total)
6:24 pool running (37% of total)

17:21 total

Comments: This week was my first week back from spring break and I was having difficulty making it out the door for my morning runs. I also had the Northeastern GSA meeting at the end of the week and attending the meeting (and preparing for it) disrupted my training a bit. This was a solid but not a great week. My totals were not where I wanted them but they were not too bad. There were no real workouts but I did get in some good hill running nonetheless. Below is an image of a mural from a pub near the conference in Portland.

Training Update 4

2009-03-15T16:59:00.000-04:00

Monday M9: PM 180 minutes of snowshoeing on Paine Mountain with pretty bad conditions along the ridge- lots of post holing- did manage to get to Irish Hill

Tuesday M10: AM 120 minutes of elliptical (7.2 "miles" for the first 60 min, 7.05 "miles" for the second) followed immediately by 30 indoor cycling

Wednesday M11: PM 167 minutes of running (20 min WU/2 hours on the treadmill at 12% 9:42/mile 7758'/27 min CD to and from the Shitty Mobile with a heavy pack on the return trip)

Thursday M12: AM 115 minutes running (on roads in the Northfield Mountains) PM 65 minutes elliptical (7.25 "miles" for the first 60 min)

Friday M13: AM 65 minutes elliptical (7.03 "miles" in 60 minutes) followed by 55 minutes indoor cycling PM 95 minutes running (Paine Mountain Ice and snow run- beautiful but cold day)

Saturday M14: AM 123 minutes running (in roads in the Northfield Mountains) PM 87 minutes cycling (to and from Little Shaw's)

Sunday M15: AM 72 minutes running (up and down Turkey Hill Road with some additional outs and backs) PM 92 minutes cycling (to and from Little Shaw's)

Weekly totals:
12:32 running (59% of total)
4:24 cycling (21% of total)
4:10 elliptical (20% of total)

21:06 total

Comments: This week was my spring break and so I had a bit more of a relaxed schedule but it also meant that the university gym that I use quite often this time of year was closed for five of the past nine days. The pool was also closed and this is the reason that I was not in the pool for the week. Luckily, the weather was nice enough that I was able to get out cycling on four of those five days and I made it out for a few sunny but wet and messy rides. The other day, it snowed six inches and so I went out for what will probably be my last snowshoe run of the year. My goal for the week was to get in 21 hours and I managed just that. The week's best workout was Wednesday's treadmill workout; it was a similar workout to last week (two hours at 12% but I made it just a little bit farther (higher) than last week (7758' vs. 7,603'). I was still just shy of the PPA which climbs 7,815'. Next week it is back to class and the Northeastern Section meeting of the Geological Society of America in Portland (ME) which should shake things up a bit...

Weekly Training Update 3

2009-03-08T20:09:00.000-04:00

Monday M2: PM 76 minutes pool running followed immediately by 72 minutes (run up Dole Hill road with cemetery out and back and down on the snowmobile trail- new snow and treacherous ice)

Tuesday M2: AM 98 minutes running (run up the snowmobile trail and down Dole Hill Road with snowmobile trail out and back and cemetery out and back) PM 77 minutes pool running

Wednesday M3: PM 76 minutes of pool running followed immediately by 44 running (run to and from Grand Union- heave pack on the return trip)

Thursday M4: 44 minutes indoor cycling followed immediately by 76 minutes of pool running

Friday M5: PM 137 running (7 min WU/2 hours on the treadmill at 12% 10:00/mile 7603'/10 min CD followed immediately by 32 minutes of indoor cycling

Saturday M6: AM 112 running (run on roads in the Northfield Mountains- felt good) PM 82 cycling- nice and easy)

Sunday M7: PM 44 running (Hubbard Park and neighborhoods around MontP with PM) followed immediately by 128 minutes of cycling

Weekly totals:
8:27 running (46% of total)
4:46 cycling (26% of total)
5:05 pool running (28% of total)

18:18 total

Comments: ...probably a step down from the last two weeks in terms of volume (similar total time but a soft total with more cycling). A decent week none the less with lots of late nights spent working on a new lab meant that I slept in four out of five weekday morning workouts. I have got to stop that! This week had a few firsts for the year. Friday, I did my first treadmill workout of the year, Saturday, I did my first outdoor bike ride of 2009, and Sunday, I did my first run of 2009 with another human. It was great to be out riding in early March and I got two days of riding in. The highs a predicted to be in the 30s for the next week and so this may be the last riding that I do for a while. Oh well. The week's best workout was definitely Friday's treadmill workout; admittedly, it is difficult for me to convince myself that 10:00 pace sound impressive but I did manage to climb 7,603 feet (as a comparison, the PPA climbs 7,815'). Next week is spring break- this means that I will try to get my total up for the week and it also means that the pool is closed (smile).

Weekly Training Update 2

2009-03-06T12:08:00.000-05:00

Monday F23: PM 60 minutes of indoor cycling followed immediately by 76 minutes of pool running

Tuesday F24: PM 76 minutes of pool running followed immediately by 63 minutes of running (up Dole Hill road with cemetery out and back and down on the snowmobile trail)

Wednesday F25: AM 96 minutes of running (up the snowmobile trail and down Dole Hill Road with snowmobile trail out and back and loop through town) PM 76 minutes of pool running followed immediately by 34 minutes of running (to and from the Grand Union with a heavy pack on the return trip)

Thursday F26: PM 60 minutes elliptical (6.9 "miles" in 60 minutes) immediately followed by 37 minutes of indoor cycling immediately followed by 78 minutes of pool running

Friday F27: AM 66 minutes elliptical (7.2 "miles" in 60 minutes) PM 91 minutes of running (from Northfield to MontP with a medium-weight pack)

Saturday F28: AM 93 minutes of running (from MontP to Northfield with a medium-weight pack)

Sunday M1: AM 174 minutes of snowshoeing (on Paine Mountain with plenty of breaking trail faster conditions than last week- got to Irish Hill)

Weekly totals:
9:11 running (51% of total)
1:37 indoor cycling (9% of total)
2:06 elliptical (12% of total)
5:06 pool running (28% of total)

18:00 total

Comments: Another pretty good week with a good combination of running and x-training. The highlight workout of the week was definitely Sunday's snowshoeing expedition of almost three hours. The conditions were not as good as last weekend (we had a slight mid-week thaw) but the the snow is still pretty deep with over three feet on the ridges in some places.

Mount Washington Lottery and Miscellany

2009-03-01T18:09:00.000-05:00

Fist things first, the Mount Washington Road Race lottery opens today and will go until March 15th. If you have any interest in running one of the World's truly classic mountain races, make sure that you enter before the 15th of March. It is rumored that about twice as many runners enter the lottery as can be allowed (for logistical reasons) to enter the race. This means that if you enter the lottery, you have a 50-50 chance of getting in. There is a lotter bypass system as well.

Second things second. I was recently interviewed for the inov8 team blog and one of the questions that I was asked was

"Living (at low) altitude(,) do you feel altitude is overrated and/or that focus on speed can make up for the lack of altitude acclimation? It seems as though it did not affect Blake once again at Mt. Washington last year."

My answer was as follows.

My feeling is that training at high altitude allows an athlete to better develop their cardiovascular system and training at low altitude allows an athlete to better develop their leg strength and speed. Certainly, someone training for a race that requires speed (shorter than, say 3km) would be best served by training at lower altitude while someone who is training for a marathon or ultra would be best served by training at high altitude. In training for the mountains, I honestly do not know which is better. Personally, I love the feeling of overall fitness that I get from training at high altitude (I have spent periods of training at high altitude in the past); I also love the feeling of slamming uphills at low altitude.

As for the Mount Washington race specifically, I do not think that athletes coming from low or high altitude training situations necessarily have the advantage. An analysis of past result suggests this as well. Of the 96 performances of 65 minute or faster on the hill, 29 came from athletes training at high altitude (4999 feet above msl) and 67 came from athletes training at low altitude (42’ to 1400’ above msl). Taking into consideration that the race is in a region where most of the population lives at low altitude (thereby adding a very difficult to quantify independent variable), this seems like a pretty even split. What is really odd is that no one coming from between 1400’ and 4999’ has ever run faster than 65 minutes. Weird.

It should go without saying that athletes that are trained at high altitude have a notable advantage in races that are held at high altitude. Anyone who says otherwise is stupid or lying.

I had always had a gut feeling that neither"athletes coming from low or high altitude training situations (do not) necessarily have (an) advantage" but I thought that I would look into it because, well, I like to be able to make informed statements rather than just going with my initial "gut" reaction. So, to make an informed decision, I make a bivariate plot of most of the times run under 65 minutes vs. the training altitude of the runner responsible for the time. The "training altitude" serves essentially to more Derrek Froude from his low altitude home of NZ to the high altitude of Boulder, CO and moves Daniel Kihara from his high altitude home of Kenya to the low altitude of Philli Metro.

A few other notes on the graphs: i. For the sake of simplicity, the altitude for each athlete is based on the altitude of their hometown as listed in the race results thus, anyone from Boulder, CO would be listed at 5202' even though, obviously, not everyone in Boulder lives at exactly 5202'. ii. Matt Cull, Mark Berman, David Ezersky, Peter Pfizinger are not plotted because their geographic affiliations were not listed in the race results; all are low altitude at Cull (I believe) was living in VT at the time and the others represented either BAA or GBTC leading me to believe that they were coming to the race from low altitude training centers as well, iii. I chose 65 minutes as a cut off because I did not want to spend too much time on this and because I thought that it would be a good round number that would separate the national-level performances from the regional-level ones- since the race is, after all, held in New England, including too many runners in the analysis would actually make the results less meaningful (Eric Morses 65:00 from 2001 is included in the plot), and iv. the black plot represents the performance of Eddy Hellebuyck who tested positive for EPO in 2004. The point representing the 64:49 that he ran in 1995 is black because it would be unfair of my not to point out the the performance of a known drug cheat.

Anyway, one of the things that becomes immediately striking about the plot is the dearth of sub 65 performance from runners training between 1400’ and 4999’.

I placed two lines on the second graph- one a hypsographic curve showing the cumulative percentage for the world's landmass and a curve representing global hypsographic demography (the elevation at which humans inhabit the Earth). I did not have specific curves for the USA but I would suspect that they would look very similar to the world curves. The curves, of course demonstrate that there, of course, more land surface near sea-level but also that there is more land (and people) in the 1400’ and 4999’ range than there is in the 5000'+ range. So where are all of the runners?

One more figure shows the locations of sub-65 performances geocoded onto a map of the continental US. This shows what is essentially a bimodal distribution with the primary cluster in New England and a notable secondary cluster along the Front Range cities of the Rocky Mountains of CO and NM.

Weekly Training Update 1

2009-02-24T12:05:00.000-05:00

So, I have been meaning to start a training blog with weekly updates but the last couple of weeks have been pretty rough. I cam down with some sort of common cold- E. bola hybrid that knocked me out for a few days here and there so this is my first week back into real training since I started writing at The Low Place. I am describing my training online for two reasons: (1) There might be one or two people (friends and family) that might actually be interesting in reading about it and (2) I think (hope) that writing about my training will force me to be more introspective about it.

Monday F16: PM 50 minutes of indoor cycling followed immediately by 76 minutes of pool running

Tuesday F17: PM 64 minutes of pool running followed immediately by 60 minutes of running (up Dole Hill road with cemetery out and back and down on the snowmobile trail)

Wednesday F18: AM 69 minutes of running (up the snowmobile trail and down Dole Hill Road with cemetery out and back and Terry Hill Road out and back) PM 76 minutes of pool running followed immediately by 27 minutes of flat run around the 'Field)

Thursday F19: AM 99 minutes running (up the snowmobile trail and down Dole Hill Road with snowmobile trail out and back and cemetery out and back in deep new snow) PM 77 minutes of pool running

Friday F20: AM 65 minute running (up the snowmobile trail and down Dole Hill Road with cemetery out and back in soft snow conditions) PM 76 of pool running

Saturday F21: AM 155 minutes of snowshoeing (semi broken trail to top of Paine Mountain with breaking trail in wicked deep snow north along the ridge- almost got to Irish Hill) PM 60 minutes of indoor cycling

Sunday F22: AM 165 minutes of snowshoeing (semi broken trail to top of Paine Mountain trail broken along the ridge had partially filled in but I still managed to make it out a little bit further than on Saturday- got about 6 minutes closer to Irish Hill)

Weekly totals:
10:40 running and snowshoeing (57% of total)
1:50 indoor cycling (10% of total)
6:09 pool running (33% of total)
18:39 total

Comments: I am still in a phase of ramping up my total numbers and the percentage of this total that comes from running. This was a good week for this point in the season (still two or so months from my racing season) and I was very happy about the state of my knackered knee following 5:20 of snowshoeing over two days. My best workout for the week was the Sunday snowshoe since I was already very tired from the previous day's workout- plus, we got about two feet of snow this week (about 6 inches during my Sunday run) and so the snowshoeing is awesome right now!

What is The Low Place?

2009-02-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

The first person to accurately describe the origin of the name "The Low Place" was Paul Bazanchuk who correctly noted that The Low Place is “the point on the Holyoke Range where 7 Sisters proper begins”.

If you have run the 7sisters trail race, you may know The Low Place as the brief portion of the trail that you will encounter after coming down from the top of Mount Hitchcock that is actually very runnable. It is also the location of the first/last water stop (water that has to be hauled in by the race staff on foot!) I like to pretend that this portion of the course is named after me even though I am almost certain that it is not.

I am not surprised that Paul B. was got the geographic reference since he lives in Amherst (MA) and The Low Place straddles the town line between the neighboring towns of Hadley and South Hadley. He also wrote a post about his efforts to clean up this portion of the trail following a recent ice storm. Paul B., I owe you a beer. Below is a profile of the 7sisters trail race course with some of the notable hypsographic features labeled.

Or, you you prefer map view, The Low Place can be found on the map of Skinner SP below where the LP (Low Place) trail intersects the M&M trail.

Introduction

2009-02-15T21:02:00.000-05:00

So, I guess that since this blog has two followers and no actual posts, I should get started on actually making posts. The writing herein will be mostly about running with a little bit of personal and professional stuff thrown in as well. After all, the world needs another running blog. Of course, the opinions expressed in this blog are my own and not those of my employer or sponsors. As for the blog title, the first person to accurately describe the origin of the name "The Low Place" in the comments to this post gets a prize.