SweeneyLoop

So this is about two months late but for whatever reason I couldn’t bring myself to write this race report.

This was probably the smartest run ultra I’ve ever run. My training was/is coming together, I’m seeing some decent fitness gains. 

UROC is an absolutely gorgeous course in the blue mountains of Virginia with over 7000ft of climbing and lots of rocks and roots. My goals for this race was to finish in the top 10 with a reach goal of finishing in the top 5. I also just wanted to enjoy myself. 

The race starts in a boy scout camp on a lawn and quickly moves to the camp road. There is about 7 miles of road or dirt road running with most of it up hill to the blue ridge parkway. I started off conservative knowing how tough this course is and also knowing that this is probably the toughest course I have ever run. I was a little surprised how quickly everyone took off but this race does have a descent amount of money, perhaps that is why. I took it easy on the uphills and utilized the downhills to catch and move past people. Once we got up to the blue ridge parkway, there was a group of 6 people up front and then Stephen Wassather about 50 feet in front of me so I made a little surge to catch up to him so we had someone to run with. 

As we were coming into the first aid station it was time for me to take off my jacket and put my hydration vest on. It was 11+ miles of rocks and hills to the next aid station and then another 11+ miles till I saw my crew again. Stephen and I ran most of the next 11 miles together which certainly made time go by faster. We also discussed if anyone up front went out to fast that hopefully we were running smart enough to pick them off. At this time we were in 7th and 8th place. My guess on this stretch there are some awesome views normally but it was very foggy most of the morning. Although on our way down to the second aid station I did stop at an overlook to take in the view for a brief moment. Some amazing views!

I hit the second aid station seeing the 6 guys in front of me coming back up. Stephen and I started to separate on the way down to the aid station and I really didn’t think there was anyone behind us but as I was leaving that aid station 4 or 5 people came in, so they weren’t that far behind me. I was very smart in this section I ran what I could run but the steeper sections I walked. I’m not one to walk a whole lot but I do believe it allowed me to run my race. 

I get into mile 30 aid station and I see my crew we switch back from my hydration pack to my water bottle knowing I’m going to see them again in about 5 miles. Most of this next section is either road or dirt road with some grass. I was hurting on this section, the previous 11 miles beat me up a bit so I was glad we had some road to recover a little. I seemed to have a good hold on seventh place at this point with the 6 guys ahead of me running away from me. I kept thinking though we still have 30+ miles to go anything can happen. 

The next section was mostly road and dirt road once again which I felt great on. I seemed to recover from the trail section and I hauled up bald mountain. This was one of my favorite parts of the race I just felt in a groove at this point. The next time I see my crew is at ~40 miles which is the beginning of the most beautiful part of the course.

With about 20 miles to go I find out that I’m about 45 minutes behind 5th and 6th place and I resign myself to the fact that I’m going to finish in 7th today. Which I’m happy with because I still hit my goal of top 10 finish. The waterfalls and trail the river we run next to, all absolutely gorgeous and my favorite part of the course. It felt so good to cross the waterfall and stick my feet in and lower legs to cool off just a little bit. I make it up to mile ~45 to see my crew again and Bri tells me that I’m in 6th place and that someone dropped out due to stomach issues. I feel bad for him but a little excited for me because if one more person makes a mistake I’ll be there to capitalize on it, although 5th place is about 50 minutes ahead of me. Dad shows me what to expect for the next 7 miles, which is where I will see them again. I take off down a very rocky and somewhat hilly trail. Once again it is a beautiful trail and at points I stop and take in the view. This part was very hard you needed to concentrate on the trail the whole time the rocks were very tough to negotiate. I did it and stayed in one piece and enjoyed a very fast and down final two miles of that section. I come up to mile ~53 and I ask where 5th place is and I’m told 58 minutes ahead of me and I’m told that 7th is about 20 minutes behind me at the previous aid station. My dad once again shows me what to expect on this section and its going to be slow going and possibly the toughest section of the course. It climbs up over a ridge to bald mountain in the last few miles of this section. I also get to run through a river about 2,653 times. That may be an exaggeration but it did feel like that.

I took off from the aid station knowing the next time I see my crew I will be crossing the finish line. Even though this was a tough section I enjoyed it. I ran and moved smart through this section and when I finally crossed the stream for the last time the trail starts to go up and fast. Lots of switch backs in this section. I hiked most of it but as I was nearing the top I started to hear voices, I thought I was near the aid station. When I came around the bend I saw 5th place sitting on the side of the trail talking to two hunters. I asked if he was okay and that I would help him to the aid station which wasn’t more than a mile from where we were. He said he was happy sitting there for the moment and I continued on. At this point I’m in 5th place, I was excited and a little frightened all at the same time. However all I needed to do was to get to the last aid station because I knew the last 5 miles was mostly road and dirt road. I got into the aid station, told them that someone was struggling down the trail about a mile and I took off. I pushed pretty had the last 4 miles, so much so that the last mile I needed to walk because my calves were cramping. I was certainly very excited to hit my reach goal of finishing in the top 5 and on the podium! 

I finished 5th in 10:35 which is about 10 minute per mile pace. 

I thought running a 50k two weeks after running a 100 miler may not be the smartest move ever but this race has become somewhat of a tradition. A group of us have been going for 3 or 4 years now. This year; Aaron, Alanna,Tim, Hilary, Thomas and myself ran the 50k. Jim, Tina and my Dad ran the 17k. Of course we also had the best crew with Bri and Ginny.  

Traprock is a tough, three loop course that has about 1,700 feet of climbing and each loop is about 11.5 miles. Its a course that wears on you, if you go out to hard you will pay for it.

Loop 1, my plan was to run with Aaron and run very relaxed. I knew that this course was going to be longer and probably harder than last years course. I was hoping I could run about the time I ran last year. I made a decision to walk the stairs this year right from the start (which I haven’t done the last two years). I think this helped me on the last loop. I caught myself every once in a while wanting to push but kept holding myself back which was hard. As Aaron and I got to the back half of the first loop those that went out harder started coming back to us. It felt good to catch and pass them with what felt like little effort. Aaron and I split up a little bit after the second aid station. I just moved through the aid station a little quicker. I finished the first loop in 5th in 1:35.

Loop 2 my goal was once again not to push to much but get myself into second place by the end of the loop. Well, I passed two people starting the second loop because I ripped through the aid station quicker. I knew second was only about a minute ahead of me. My goal was to keep him in my sights but let him be ahead of me. (At this point Brian (first place) was about 6 minutes ahead of me and I knew I wasn’t going to catch him unless he fell apart.) He didn’t stay ahead of me for very long, we hit the first aid station on the loop and I got out quicker than he did and moved into second place to stay. I enjoyed the second loop and had a lot of fun and felt very confident. At times thinking if I could feel this good on loop three then maybe I could have a chance at first place. I finished the second loop in 1:36. Very happy with how even I ran the first two loops.

Loop Three was a bit of a struggle. I broke the loop down into three sections, running from aid station to aid station. I was amazed that I could keep myself running at the pace I was running. My legs were achy, I could still feel Umstead in my legs. I just kept telling myself to keep running because I knew those behind me were out to try and catch me. Within the last three miles my quads started cramping on me (from overuse) and I needed to stop and stretch a few times. I also decided to walk the steep hills because my quads wanted to cramp on the steeper sections; but I walked with a purpose. I was happy to hold onto second place, I expected a bit of a challenge from third place but glad that wasn’t the case. I finished the loop in 1:58. I finished second place in 5:10. My best showing at Traprock. Very Happy with the outcome and goes to show that what I’ve done since the beginning of the year is working. Next up is UROC on May 13th.

Thanks to the best crew anyone could ask for and it was awesome having the group from Albany at the race. 

Umstead 100, which took place on April, 1st. This race is one of my favorites, I love the park, I love the people associated with the race and I love the fact that my 100 mile PR is on this course. I ran 14:14:25 in 2012, I finished second behind the inhuman Mike Morton who went on to set the CR that day. 

Based on my training over the last few months I knew I had great endurance but my speed was somewhat lacking. I went into the race thinking I could run 13:30 or so. 

Umstead starts at 6am which means headlamps were needed but only for about 30 minutes and because of all the people around me plus the sky was fairly bright I didn’t even really need the headlamp. My goal was to run 8 minute pace for as long as possible. I started off probably a little to slow, I came through 2 miles in over 18 minutes and there were 10+ people ahead of me. As I saw that I was a bit to slow I decided to pick up the pace a little bit, I tried to talk to a few people but no one seemed to want to pass the time by talking. A lot of people seemed very focused. 

The race was was fairly uneventful for me through the first 3 loop (37.5 miles) I was running about what I wanted to run. My lap splits were 1:41, 1:38, 1:39 (My goal per loop was 1:40)The fourth loop the sun started to come out and temps were rising. It got up to 75 degrees with little to no shade. Which normally I wouldn’t think was hot but coming from the winter in upstate New York my body wasn’t used to it. I believe where I saw my crew (which comprised of Bri, my Dad and Ginny) my dad could tell I wasn’t having fun at that moment in time because he asked how I was doing and I remember stating that its hot and right now its not fun. With all that going on I was able to move myself into second place for a little while and closed on first place, just being a few minutes behind him. I finished the fourth loop in 1:42 with a 50 mile time of 6:41 so right where I wanted to be.

The fifth lap is where all hell broke loose, I ran well out of the aid station and to about mile two, which is where Olivier would pass me for the last time, still running what I wanted to run but I was starting to feel some serious tightness in my hips and my lower back was starting to hurt. I ran where I could but had to walk some as well and got into the aid station way behind schedule. I told my crew what was going on and I took some Ibuprofen and was on my way. Bri joined me for the second half of loop 5 and I was starting to get my mojo back around mile 10 of the loop. I sat down at the start of loop 6 to stretch out my hips and back. At this point I’m still thinking I can run a 14 hour race but will need to be on my game the rest of the way out. 

Loop 6 I struggled pretty much the entire time the ibuprofen wore out and I took some more half way through the loop it didn’t seem to touch the pain, plus I started having some pain down my right hamstring. My dad met me about 200 meters from the start/finish and we walked in together. He asked me what I wanted to do and I said I don’t want to be stupid I think I should drop. I sat down in a chair for a bit while Bri convinced me to keep going. (In some stories circulating she held a gun to my head to keep me moving:)) I stretched and Bri found me some muscle rub that seemed to work. I also needed to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to hit my time goal(s) but I could still hit my goal of finishing.

Loop 7; Bri ran the first half of it with me. We walked and ran and sat to stretch and basically took our time to get to the half way point of loop 7. We did it though and I sat to stretch again then grabbed what I needed and headed out for the second half of the loop. I ran as much of it as I could including the up hills. I wasn’t moving fast but I was making forward progress. I walked with a few people and talked to take our minds off of running 100 miles. I cruised into the start of Lap 8 happy that the leader hadn’t lapped me. I even surprised Bri and Ginny how quickly I came in.

Loop 8 all down hill from here. Last lap, I had to take a headlamp which I was hoping to be done at this point so I wouldn’t have to take a headlamp. I stretched some and ate some hotdogs and my crew got me out as quickly as I would let them. I ended up walking a lot of Loop 8 but for the first few miles of the loop I spoke to some people which passed the time. I thought I was moving well but each mile time seemed to be slower and slower. I ended up walking most of the last mile before the aid station (which was where my crew was). Bri ran/walked with me the rest of the way. We walked all the uphills with purpose and ran all the downhill/flat sections the best we could. 

I finished in 16:24:56! I finished in third place! It was a tough gut out for the last 37 or so miles but I did it. I finished my first 100 miler in almost two years, mostly thanks to Bri. I truly enjoy Umstead and I plan to be back.

I’m looking forward to the rest of my racing season, Next up is Traprock 50k on April 15th. 

JFK was a culmination of a tough year in the running world for me. It was only the third ultra I finished this year. I had a few DNS one DNF and a 24 hour that did not go the way I was hoping it would go.

JFK was another great experience, I was part of a team that was just awesome running with Jim Walmsley, Mike Wardian, Hal Koerner and Ian Torrance. Running with Ultra running royalty was the highlight of this race for me.

I knew Jim was going to the CR so I was even going to try to stay run with him (not that I would even if he wasn’t trying to break the CR), I wasn’t sure what kind of shape Hal was in and I assumed Mike was going to be well ahead of me.

My goal was to get to the canal path in 2:10. I went through the first mile on the road in 6:35 and Jim already had a 35 second lead on the rest of the field. I got to the top of the road and into the trail in around 15th place. I just kept telling myself to run my race and to keep within myself. I felt great on the trail, it felt easy running over the rocks and leaf covered roots. I reached the 15k mark in under my goal in 69 minutes. Which gave me an hour to run the last 10k of the trail. I felt great the last bit of the AT hitting the switchbacks and I haven’t fallen on the trail all day until I could see the end of the trail. I guess I was a little excited, I ended up being 5 minutes under my goal for the AT. Started the canal path in under 2:05.

On the Canal Path my goal was to run 7 minute pace for as long as possible. I was cruising at just faster than 7 minute pace and running in a group of 4 of us. Wardian and Palilla else went flying by us like we were standing still. They went on to finish 4th and 5th place. I felt good and was moving well as I approached half way.

Shortly after 28 miles the wheel came off. I struggled for the next 9 or so miles where I even had to walk off and on for a couple miles. I had slowed by as much as 2 minutes per mile. I had a feeling my lack of training this year due to injuries where going to catch up at some point and it did. I knew I was going to see Bri at mile 38. She walked with me for a little bit just encouraging me to get to the finish line. I needed to get to the road because I always “wake up” once I hit the road. I few people passed me so I had something to focus on the last couple of miles on the canal path. Leaving the path I was in 9th with 10th right behind me and 7th and 8th right in front of me.

I came off the canal path and powered up the hardest hill on the course and moved myself into 7th place. Now I didn’t hit my goal on the canal path. I ran that section of the course in about 3:19, about 16 minutes slower than I wanted. Last year I ran the road section in less than an hour, I was hoping I could do that again but after climbing that hill off the canal path I realized it probably wasn’t going to happen this year. I just tried to power ahead, over every little hill hoping to see someone in front of me just so I could focus on something other than the undulations of the road and how slowly the miles were crawling by. It felt really good to hit that mile to go mark and the last right hand turn. I tried to run as hard as I could to the finish but again felt like I was crawling. Finished the road section in 64 minutes and finished 7th male in 6:28. I was happy to finish in the top 10 for the third time and the Coconino Cowboys finished first as a team for the third year in a row. Took a lot of positives from this race, I’m moving in the right direction and looking forward to 2017!

Finishing JFK 2016

Talking to RD Mike Spinnler

Starting off my 2016 similiar to 2015 with a small nicely run 50k in Connecticut. The course sucks though, nearly 7000ft of climbing in this 50k. Its a three loop course that just eats you up and spits you out. 

I came into this race completely under-trained. I’ve been dealing with a hip injury since January and just recently I’ve started to feel normal again. I really wasn’t sure what to expect for this race but my goal was to break 5 hours. 

My first loop was trying to get around people, I started mid-pack which was a mistake I wanted to move a little faster than those around me. (although maybe I should have laid back). The first 4 miles or so I think are the worst part of the course because of how technical the trail is. Technical is not my strong suit. I was running with a guy that would just blast ahead of me going down the technical parts but would catch right back up to him going up hill or where the trail wasn’t technical. I ran with him through the first half of the loop then moved ahead of him going up a long hill. Enjoyed my way through the single track moving up on a group of about 4 in front of me. I was able to pass them all at the last aid station before hitting the second loop. (89 mins)

My second loop I ran the first few miles with Bri and after the stairway to heaven she told me to just go. I was passed by three guys but passed two of them fairly quickly, back. I was able to run feeling pretty good the rest of the loop. However with about three miles to go in the second loop I knew it was going to be a tough last loop (just like last year). I hit the start of lap 3 in 7th place and even though a couple of people were just in front of me I knew I had no chance of catching them unless they really blew up. The biggest take away from the second loop was that I was surprised I didn’t slow down to much. (94 mins)

My third loop was pretty uneventful and it went the way I expected. I hit each aid station about exactly when I thought I would. I did have to push from the last aid station to the finish to break the 5 hour mark, part of me didn’t think I was going to do it. (1:54)

My total time was 4:57:xx. I’m happy with the time and the rest considering my training hasn’t gone to plan at all and my hip has been a problem for three months. I also had a blast with the big group from the Albany Running Exchange, although everybody else only ran the 17k, maybe next year I too will only do the 17k. Doubt it! On to Kettle Moraine 100 next to defend my title!

I am announcing that I have a sponsor for 2016. Kamwe Kuacha is going to be my sponsor. They are a sock company based out of South Carolina. All products are even made in the U.S. The name is pronounced Kahm-way Koo-ahcha 

Kamwe Kuacha is Swahili, it means “never stop” literally.  

These socks are really comfortable, hugging the foot without suffocating them. Even in 18 degree weather my feel stayed warm.

www.kamwekuacha.com

My 2016 racing schedule is figured out, for the most part. 

April--Carmel Marathon--the goal is sub 2:30

June--Kettle Moraine 100--Defend my title.

September--USATF 24 hour championships @ northcoast 24--goal 160 miles which should get me on the US 24 hour national team

November--JFK 50--goal Top 10 finish

With a race TBD later in the year and maybe an FKT attempt on the Long Trail or Northville Placid trail if I can fit it in my schedule.

After dropping out of Run Rabbit Run in September my training has not gone according to plan. My girlfriend and I have done a ton of work on the house, including completely rebuilding the deck. I ended up getting injured, some tendonitis that just would not go away, forcing me to be able to only run about 20 miles a week for 6 weeks. 

Heading into the race I was not very confident, had no goals and just wanted to have some fun. I was running with my Adidas team along with a few of my training partners from the Albany Running Exchange. 

The race starts in Historic Boonsboro at 7am on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This was my 7th start and I was hoping for my 5th finish. I started very conservative running with Ian Torrance, Josh Merlis and Aaron Major through the first 5 miles of the race. Ian dropped behind us but we picked up Joe Murphy for the rest of the AT. Josh and Aaron usually ran ahead of Joe and I for most of the AT but we were all within site of each other. The AT is my favorite part of the race, staying relaxed I felt good heading into the switchbacks which signifies the end of the AT. Since this wasn’t an ‘A’ race for me Bri and I decided to try some new food during the race. EPIC bars which are kind of like Buffalo Jerky but not as tough as Jerky. I grabbed half a bar at 15k and another half at 15.5 miles. They were very tasty and went down easily. I also took gels every 30 minutes and just ran with water in my #Nathan water bottles. 

Second part of the race is the 26.3 miles along the C&O canal path. I hit the Canal path in 2:17 just behind Josh and Aaron, right ahead of Joe. I caught up to Josh and Aaron and decided that I would try to run 7 minute pace on the canal path. I was able to run consistent low 7′s until about mile 25 when my legs decided to start to feel heavy. Considering my lack of training I knew it was bound to happen. I made it to mile 27 still running sub 7:30′s, Bri gave me some more EPIC and a new water bottle and I just tried to focus on the next 11 miles when I would see her next. I ended up slowing to about 9 minute pace those 11 miles with people passing me every so often, like I was standing still. Even though I was slowing down I was still in a good place mentally and the miles seemed to go by fairly quickly. At mile 38 I stopped for a minute or 2 and spoke to Bri, tried to find out how everyone was doing and walked a little bit. As I got closer to the end of the Canal path I started to feel some pop back in my legs and was closing in on three people in front of me who went flying by me a few miles back. I ran the Canal path in about 3:30.

Third part of the race is an 8.4 mile section of road that undulates. As soon as I hit the road I felt great and closed hard on 4 people running through the first aid station on the road. Hitting some of my miles in about 6:30 pace just hoping I could pass more people. Feeling stronger and stronger as a run along the road I hit mile 46 grab my water bottle without stopping hoping I can run under an hour for the road section. I focused on two people about 2 or 3 minutes ahead of me and was able to catch one of them before the last aid station with 1.3 miles to go. The other was Eric my Adidas teammate who I watched finish but couldn’t close much more on him. I sprinted to the finish hoping I could break the hour mark for the road and did with a time of 59:33. 

Kettle Moraine happened on June 6th and 7th. It has taken me awhile to write this race report because I think its taken me awhile to wrap my head around what I actually accomplished. I finished first in a time of 15:43, running the second fastest time in the twenty year history. I was only the third person (that I could tell) to break 16 hours on this course. The other two being Ultrarunning elites Eric Clifton and the CR holder Zach Gingerich.

The race started at 6am so I didn’t need a headlamp, and I didn’t even want to pack a headlamp because I wanted to finish before it got dark. I started the race relaxed on the rolling hills of the cross country ski trails that I would see three more times. I remember people almost sprinting by me and wondering if they realized that this was a 100 mile or 100k race. I knew I would be seeing most of them fairly soon anyways. 

It took 7.5 miles until we got onto the Ice Age trail which is a gorgeous rolling hills trail with some technical aspects to it and it winds. I ended up getting to a rhythm with three others from 7.5 miles to about 25 miles. It was great because I didn’t need to think for the first quarter of the race. My crew of which was made up of my Girlfriend Bri and a friend of mine Kevin Grabowski how has a first hand knowledge of the course kept letting me know where the leader was and even though I kept losing time to him I wasn’t worried because I was running my race, but it was good to know where I stood with the leader.

I hit the 50k turnaround at about 9 min. pace which was my goal, just wanted to run as evenly as possible. I got to see the leaders coming back to me and could tell that some of them were going to fall apart.

A few mile before hitting the 50 mile mark we run through a winding open field and I finally caught a glimpse of the leader. I was able to get close enough to time how far behind him I was (90 seconds). My goal was to be up with him by the 47 mile mark. I ended up catching him at 43, at an unmanned aid station. I then decided to cruise past him and the 2nd place 100k runner to mile mark 47 aid station where I got to see my crew. It was getting warm and Bri bought a little towel and we soaked it and wrapped it around my neck and tucked it into my singlet. It was fantastic! It kept me cool, to the point where at times I started to shiver. I then got to 50 miles in exactly 7.5 hours and I felt like I had the CR in my sights.

I cruised back to the start/finish area and if I had decided to stop I would have finished 2nd in the 100k. First place ending up breaking the Course Record. I headed back out towards the 81 mile turnaround and I needed to keep pushing because I knew I was close to a Course Record. I was also all by myself so I couldn’t get complacent. I hit the last turnaround of the day in under CR pace but I was starting to lose time. From 77 to 81 was a bitch of a section and I was starting to doubt myself. Mostly because I had to turnaround and do that section all over again. What was most frustrating is that my IT band/knee was starting to really hurt me when I tried to push. I got myself back to 86 and decided (with Bri’s input) that we were going to take a victory lap (Thanks Kevin). I made it back to the 7.5 miles to go and Kevin ran the rest of the way with me. I was still able to power up the short steep hills most of the way. I think I walked most of the last two miles but I was just happy to finish in the 2nd fastest time ever. 

I crossed the line and got to finally sit down and sip on a beer.

I was very happy and in a great mood most of the day. I ran in the Adidas Adios Boost the entire race. Used my Nathan speeddraw plus all day long. Which held plenty of water for me between aid stations. Ate mostly Gu every half-hour, UCAN once every 3 hours and my peanut butter/honey wraps.

I want to thank all of the volunteers for making Kettle Moraine an event I want to come back to. To Tim Y. for putting on another top notch event. Thank you to Adidas and Nathan for helping me chase my dreams.

Traprock was my first race since #JFK50 (which didn’t go as planned). I’ve had a rough go training since JFK50. I’m not really sure why but after the fall I lost a lot of motivation, both MHR marathon and JFK didn’t go as well as I thought they would even though I knew I was in PR shape for both races. 

During the AT section of JFK50 I ended up falling on a rock and possibly cracked a rib or at the best had a severe bruise and pulled soft tissue away from the bone. I was able to finish the race but stopped many times to deal with the pain.  

After JFK50 my training was derailed for about six weeks to let my ribs heal. It wasn’t painfully during a run but very painfully after the run. As soon as 2015 hit I caught a cold or some type of virus that I didn’t recover from for 3 weeks. I stayed healthy for about two weeks and then was sick again for another 2 weeks. On top of that the winter in the Northeast was quite miserable, I ran in more sub zero degree temperatures in January/February of 2015 then my whole running life combined. 

Once March hit I was able to get some solid weeks together running at least a 30 miler every weekend and building my mileage going from 60 a week all the way up to 100 a week (last week). I even had a 7 day stretch of 116 miles. My ‘A’ goal race this spring is Kettle Moraine 100 so I decided to train through Traprock. I went in with heavy legs and a goal to run within myself the entire race.

Traprock is a three loop race and about 2300ft of climbing per loop. It starts out on pavement but quickly takes a left up a very steep hill. The first 5k is a lot of climbing and fairly rocky. The rest of the race is very run-able but still challenging. Temperatures also reached either close to or in the 80′s which I haven’t seen since last September.

I started the race with my Nathan Speed draw plus filled with water and three Gu’s, Adidas Adios Boost 2′s on my feet, the Adidas Supernova short (green) and the Adiultra team singlet. 

The race started and I did not want to be the first one to enter the trail, thankfully someone else took the honors. As soon as we crested the first steep climb two others passed me. I kept telling myself to not chase and if they were near me in the final lap to go after them. I needed to tell myself to relax a few times in the early going because I knew this was a course that would eat you up and spit you out if you aren’t smart also if you don’t go in fresh. I hit the first 5k in about 28:30, I was hoping that was the toughest part of the course and it was. I enjoyed the next 7k, it rolled was a lot of single track with some gorgeous views of the valley below. I ran all of this by myself with no one in sight front or back. I hit the ~12k aid station in about an hour and got to see my crew of my beautiful girlfriend and Ginny who I could hear from a mile away. It was a nice mostly downhill and then steep long up hill to the finish which took me about 24 minutes, finishing the first loop in about 84 minutes. I was about 2 or 3 minutes behind the two lead guys and only a minute behind third place. 

I moved into third place about the 20k mark of the race. I kept telling myself that I would like to keep the leaders about 3 minutes ahead of me, however after the first 5k of the second loop they put another two minutes on me, they were now over 5 minutes ahead. I told myself to try to keep them 5 minutes through the rest of the loop because I felt I could fly the last 12k of the race if I was feeling good and maybe I could run them down. However I noticed I was drinking 16oz’s of water every 30 minutes which meant it was getting very hot out and my stomach didn’t really want anything. By the time I got to the ~29k mark of the race my IT band started to bother me but felt like I could run through it. I finished the second loop in ~91 minutes, I was about 5 minutes behind the leader. 

The third loop was a slog and was surprised no one passed me. It took me 45 minutes to get through the first 5k. I had to walk most of it because my IT band hurt going down or up hill, also anytime I had to plant my foot and turn when on single track. It was then another 45 minutes to get to the 12k mark of the third loop and another 35 minutes to finish the race. My last lap was 2:05 and my final time was 5:00:17. 

Considering everything, I knocked out another state (14) I’m very happy with the race I feel my fitness is coming around and I haven’t started doing any vertical work but felt strong on climbs. Per mile Traprock has about the same vertical as Run Rabbit Run which I’m running in September. 

My goal is to get my IT band healthy this week (I don’t think will take to long) and put another 3 or 4 weeks of hard training in before #KM100.

If it fits in my schedule in the future I would most definitely run this race again. It was made even better with the group of 6 runners the #albanyrunningexchange brought along with a few crew members and a pair of very nice house guests.

Thank you for the support Adidas and Nathan!!!!

I was suppose to run Leadville this summer but due to some mis-communication I'm not there this year and needed another race to run this summer. Bri's sister lives in Charleston so I looked to see what was near by and came across a first year event called the Double Cremator. The Cremator is in its Fourth year. This race is the brainchild of Tim Waz, an ultra runner who attempts very tough races. The concept of the race is to run in the heat and humidity of Beaufort, South Carolina in the dead of summer. Heat Indices of up to 120 and road temps even hotter. The Double is run 50 on Saturday followed by the same 50 on Sunday.

Bri and I started our Trip from Albany, NY to Charleston, SC on Wednesday evening and due to construction we decided to stop and sleep a little north of Fredricksburg, VA. We woke up the next morning and got into Charleston around 4pm on Thursday. Bri and I explored the city over the next two days.

Friday Night I got myself ready for the race and had a hard time sleeping, I estimated that I got somewhere between one and two hours of sleep. We had about an 1.5 hour drive to Port Royal, SC. We left at 4 in the morning and got to the start at about 5:30. I picked up my packet, met the Tim Waz and listened to the pre-race briefing then got myself ready for a 50 mile journey.

My goals for this race was to run about 8 hours both days. Break 16 hours for the Double. I thought this was a good goal considering the heat and humidity of this race. I typically don't do great in those conditions. I also didn't want to completely destroy my body because my goal race this fall is JFK 50 and I'd like to run a great Marathon. I was also the only one not from the south in the race.

At the start the race was overcast and it stayed that way until the whole race. It got up to the upper 80's but the dewpoint was mid 70's. The humidity was just horrible it looked like I went swimming after just a few miles. I started out very conservative, Andy Bruner started off a bit fast and had the lead for the first 6 miles or so. Followed by a group of three people who would all finish 2,3,4 on Saturday, Sara, Andrew and Brenn. I ran with Lee and Jeff. I sort of just did my thing for the first 12.5 miles but made sure never to lead and I took my time at the stops where I saw Bri and Jess. Granola bars seemed to be working for me during this race. I pretty much only ate Granola bars and some gels and some UCAN. I drank about 16oz of water from my Nathan Quickshot waterbottle every 3 to 4 miles.

Their were about 7 of us that hit the 12.5 mile mark within about 2 minutes of each other. I took my time at the aid station while everyone seemed to sprint out. Lee took off in the lead and lead most of the next 8 or so miles. I ended up catching up to Sara, Andrew and Brenn and just hung out behind them but keeping my eye Lee because I didn't want him to get to far in front of me. After 19 miles I decided to go catch Lee and did so fairly quickly. I guess I also pushed the pace a little because I got to the 25 mile mark about 4 minutes before anyone else. I spent three minutes in the bathroom and still no one was there. As I left I saw a group of 5 coming into the turnaround. I hit 25 miles in about 3:26 and I wanted to run about the same pace for the next 25 miles. I knew the CR was around 7:10 (7:14). I also knew I was lucky not to have the sun out so why not go for a negative split.

Second 25 miles was fairly uneventful I kept taking my time when I saw Bri and Jess. Drinking a ton of water and getting sprayed with sun screen often so I didn't get burned this race. I hit the turnaround in 1:40 and ended up with about a 10 minute lead. I knew I could ease off a little bit and still run a negative split. I ended up finishing up the last 12.5 miles in 1:43 with a 50 mile CR in 6:51:51. It felt good to break a Course Record knowing I could have given more, although I held back knowing I'm running 50 again tomorrow.

After the first 50, I refueled with shrimp/oysters on top of pasta mixed in a cream sauce. It was pretty good. We then just hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night because we were all exhausted.

I ended up starting Sunday 10 minutes late because I thought the hotel was a bit closer to the start. Not a big deal because I caught everyone by mile 6. It was once again overcast at the start with a thunderstorm off to the east. It was a bit warmer and the humidity felt horrible. I made it through the 25 mile mark faster than any of my 25 mile splits from yesterday but needed too add the 10 minutes to that split as well. I know the last 25 miles were going to be my slowest. I didn't want to kill myself and the sun had come out, the heat index ended up reaching 103. I was also well ahead of my goal of 16 hours. I ended up stopping on the bridge and watching a dolphin in the water. I had never seen a dolphin not in captivity so it was a great site. I also started taking a few walk breaks every once in a while. It took a little over 2 hours to complete that 12.5 miles. I was drinking 16oz of water every 2 miles at this point and basically was just eating granola bars to get me through the last 12.5 miles. With about 5 miles left we run through a marsh area, I ended up walking though just to watch the wildlife. It was a very pretty part of the course.

I finished in a total time of 7:32 and set the CR for the Double in 14:23. I knew I got lucky with the weather, it wasn't terrible. I also learned that I'm in really great shape right now and am looking forward to doing battle at JFK. I also feel i'm in sub 13:30 100 mile shape, I'm looking forward to going after that mark.

It was a great event with great people. Tim Waz has already put a Triple Cremator up on Ultra Signup, I'm looking forward to seeing if anyone registers for it.

I decided to jump into my first mountain/technical trail half-marathon today at Mt. Greylock in Adams, MA. It was a great low key race for this. The weather sort of sucked though, windy and cloudy and about 58 degrees at the start.

The first 3 miles climbs 2300ft to the top of Mt. Greylock with the last 10.5 miles is downhill or flat with a little bit of up and parts very technical.

I was 5th to the top of the Mountain and I believe I held back enough because I felt great once I was able to run on flats. I knew the technical downhill stuff was going to slow me down. One guy flew by me right away with two more guys passing me 1 for each of the next miles. I noticed my legs weren't able to switch very fast from downhill mode to uphill mode, I struggled everytime the terrain switched like that. One more guy passed me with a few miles to go. I ended up catching back up to him and running with him for about a mile, with about a mile left he was able to leave me (that damn downhill to uphill) We ended up passing one guy about 1.5 miles out from the finish, walking (I'm guessing he went out to hard).