Smile... Tomorrow Will Be Worse: The Virgil Crest 100

[This is one of two race recaps I wrote about the 2015 Virgil Crest Ultras. Click here for the other, which is more an experiment in creative writing than a conventional race report. Click here to read the race itinerary document I created for my crew. ]

One late September evening, while volunteering to provide food and assistance to a bunch of runners at the Hitching Post, is when I first got the itch. I decided then and there that I'd like to run this thing as a 100 mile debutante. It felt so epic just to be there, filling water bottles for 100 mile runners coming into mile 44 or 56 late in the evening. Knowing what these warriors had already endured, and what trials lie ahead throughout the night, brought a certain level of respect for all those attempting to go the distance. Having marked half the course the day before, I knew it wouldn't be easy. I'd have loved to spend the night at the aid station if I didn't have to leave at 10:00 PM to go to work at the hospital.

I spent nine months training for the 100, starting in late January, and come September 19 I was ready to go. My successful run at the Green Lakes 100K three weeks prior gave me some much needed confidence going into Virgil Crest, while the adverse weather conditions and uphill battles at the Whiteface SkyMarathon in late June helped me prepare mentally. After scrambling last minute to finalize my pacer situation, I had created a step by step game plan to help me get through this monumental task. The night before the race, I drove out to Virgil for packet pickup and to check out a

Green Lakes 2015

Ah, the Green Lakes Endurance Runs. Back for another round, I decided to give the 100K a go as my final training run for Virgil Crest. That meant double the pleasure and double the fun I had during the 50K last year and the year before. (Race report from 2014.) My main goals for the 100K (62 miles) were to make sure some of my new gear is in working order for a race situation, to further dial in my nutrition, and to spend a long day on my feet. The tricky part was to remember that I'd need enough left in the tank to recover adequately during my three week taper between Green Lakes and Virgil. The common "I have no goal time" statement of course was always a lie. In the back of my head, I thought a sub 12 hour finish seemed reasonable, but I had to remember it was low on the priority list. I was telling people I wanted to finish before 7:00 pm when the park's swimming area closes so I could cool down in the water immediately afterward. A chance to hop in the lake meant breaking 13 hours.

Race Summary

 

The course is a loop of mostly flat trails, about half of which is exposed to the sun when the trails deviate from the woods for a few extended stretches. The loop is repeated eight times for the 100K, with access to a drop bag at the start/finish area.

Midway through lap 7. Photo: Tom Garby

In brief, the 100K went pretty well. It didn't really hit me until a few miles into the race that today would be my longest run ever by a full twelve miles. I was forced to push that thought aside and focus on pacing to avoid starting out too fast and burning out in the second half.

I got worried as I started feeling the first bits of fatigue around mile 20. I thought I could easily breeze through the first 50K before experiencing any signs of slowing, but to no avail. Laps three and four weren't terrible, but felt like more of an effort than I was hoping for. I made it through the first half in about 5:30 - not a bad split to go sub 12:00, but I already knew this time was not in the cards today.

Laps five and six were a struggle. I managed to keep moving in part because of all the 50K runners still on the course that I was able to converse with. This helped to take my mind off the pain and the monotony of such a repetitive course. On lap seven, my friend Tom, who was out for a long training run on the trails, kept running into me at different points and told me to keep moving because I was looking strong. I knew it wasn't true, but hey - sometimes those little

Definitely Maybe: Cayuga Trails 2015

Over the past few weeks I've been on a kick listening to one of my favorite bands of all time - the one and only Oasis. The short drive from my house to the starting area found me blasting several of the band's more up-tempo tunes to get pumped and ready to rock. As if that wasn't enough, I had an array of Oasis songs playing in my head throughout the race like some bi-polar DJ performing a freestyle mash-up for the first time. Amazingly, it seems many of the Gallagher brothers' songs fit the tone of the race and reference themes that I revisited throughout the day (albeit when taken out of context). What, then, could one of most most successful and iconic rock bands in history have in common with a bunch of grungy, sweaty weirdos running through the woods? I mean, what's the story, morning glory?

Hello! It's good to be back!

On the starting line, once again surrounded by 200 plus trail runners, I took a good look around. Strangely enough, it felt like only yesterday since I last toed the line at the Cayuga Trails 50. The day's forecast seemed to change every hour, and last I checked it was expected to be cloudy with scattered rain showers. Nobody ever mentions the weather can make or break your day. We could only hope the stairs wouldn't be too slick and the mud would be minimal. Some might say we will find a brighter day. 

After five long months of training and preparations we'd finally be setting off in under a minute's time. I intentionally stood near the back of the pack to avoid going out too fast, and was so far back I couldn't hear the traditional sounding of Ian's ram's horn as the countdown clock reached 00:00:00. Little things they make me so happy, but it's good to be free.

Springletrack Recap

A couple of weeks ago, I returned to the Shawangunk Mountains in the Hudson Valley for another fat-ass trail run. Now in its third year, the Springletrack Fat-ass Trail Marathon is a sister run to the Wagathon, again traversing the Shawangunk Ridge, but this time on the North side of the ridge and heading in the opposite direction. With no aid stations or course markings, Adam and I were left to our own devices to complete the run and earn the highly coveted Springletrack Finisher's Medal.

Castle Point, atop the Shawangunk Ridge

What is a springletrack you may ask? Well the obvious answer is a play on the words "single track," as in running single track trails during the Springtime. I've yet to confirm the origin of the word, but my inner-nerd wishes to believe it is a derivative of "springle-ring," a "a pretty dance, but rather vigorous," performed by the Shire hobbits at Bilbo Baggins' farewell party in Fellowship of the Ring. Yes, that must be it! We were expected to dance like hobbits across the ridge while singing Shire songs and smoking those hobbit pipes.  But I digress. (More on the springle-ring here.)

A group of about 12 of us met up at the Spring Farm parking lot in the Mohonk Preserve shortly before 9:00am on Sunday, April 12. Saturday the 11th was the originally scheduled date for the event, but it was moved to the next day because and official, organized race was set to take place on Saturday near the same starting area, which would make parking and logistics difficult. Apparently, several people had run the Springletrack route on Saturday anyway, so turnout on Sunday was lower than expected.

Mike, the fat-ass organizer, started us off and we began a jog through the woods. I was surprised to learn that Mike, who of course was running with us, had also run the entire route the day before. A Springletrack double!!? That's over 50 miles of this rocky terrain in two days! (I later learned that he was at the peak of his training plan for the Massanutten 100.)

I struggled for the first few miles, thinking it would only get worse, making for an extremely long day on the trails followed by a three hour drive home. Perhaps some hobbit songs and dances would have helped me through this funk, but fortunately it never came to that. Eventually I began to feel better. In retrospect, I think the early sluggishness had something to do with a lack of training on the trails throughout the winter plus the cumulative mileage on my legs over the last several weeks. I actually began to feel much better as the day progressed and day's mileage piled up. For the most part, the group split up due to different paces. Adam and I ran together as planned; we were just out for a good time and besides, I would have gotten hopeless lost if I wasn't running with someone immensely familiar with the area's trails.

Around mile nine, we came to a parking lot at the entrance of Minnewaska State Park. We had stashed a gallon of water here the night before, as it was the last place on the course where it would be possible to do so. For the next 16+ miles, we'd have no access to water aside from what we could carry, and no bathrooms. With nowhere to refuel and no reasonable spot to drop out, mile nine was the Springletrack's point of no return.

View of the valley from Castle Point

High Point, still on the ridge.

We cruised on through the park, up and down rock scrambles and along the exposed rocky roof of the Shawangunk Ridge, occasionally stopping to take pictures of the valley and mountains on either side. I was naive enough to think that I was immune to sunburn in New York in early April, but several hours in long sections of exposed terrain proved me wrong, as I'd learn later that evening. The fact that my shoes got soaked early on, and continued to get soak every time they were nearly dry, made the run that more challenging.

Another runner told us early on that the last few miles of the Springletrack were a gradual downhill along the Smiley Carriageway. Our legs were pretty trashed by the time we reached this carriageway around mile 22, but the downhill was nothing to smile at. Some parts of the path were so covered in water that we had no choice but to plow right though, while other parts rocky enough that it looked doubtful even a four wheel drive horseless carriage could make it up the carriage road. Eventually the terrain went easy on us and turned into a much more forgiving dirt road. We cruised the last mile down to the finish area to find Mike waiting at the bottom of the hill.

As "official finishers" of the 2015 Springletrack Fatass Marathon, Adam and I were granted the privilege of signing the prestegious Finisher's Log with our names and self recorded completion time. Mike then presented us with the most coveted award in all of trail running, the Springtrack Finisher's Medal...

The Finisher's Medal. May or may not constitute
copyright infringement, but who really cares?

It was a good day in all. The weather was close to ideal, scenery was beautiful, and it was a challenging but rewarding day on my feet. The Springletrack made for a nice training run as the Northface Endurance Challenge 50K at Bear Mountain and the Cayuga Trails 50 both draw near.  Thank you to Mike Siudy for organizing the run, and to Adam's wife Erica for dropping us at the start and picking us up at the finish!

Peterskill at Minnewaska State Park

Gratuitous selfie in front of Peterskill, because why not?

Castle Point

Castle Point

100 Miles Is Pretty Damn Far: 2015 Plans

With the new year now upon us for over a month, most runners I know have already stated their 2015 goals. Some of those involve running a given number of races, reaching 2,015 miles for the year, tackling a new, intimidating distance, or trying out a new sport. These are all noble accomplishments, and I wish nothing but the best of luck to anyone training for something new or something different.

Per usual, I'm behind the times on this blog and finally got around to writing about my running goals for the year. My primary "goal," as it is every year, is to remain injury free and to have fun with what I do. The moment a serious injury sets in, or when I cease to enjoy running, additional stress is placed on my body preventing me from leading a happy and healthy lifestyle. The same is true for all athletes, of course. When running is no longer enjoyable, it is obviously time for a break, but I'd like to avoid this situation altogether. However, this post is about a more tangible, objective goal than the abstract concept of happiness. So here is my big plan for 2015.

I've decided to take it to the next level and go after the 100 mile distance. Starting on the first of the year, the main focus of my training is to complete the Virgil Crest Ultras 100 Miler on September 19.

Fall Recap: A Wedding, a Fat-Ass, and a Six Second PR

So 2014 has come to a close, and with it, the sudden realization that I haven't posted anything on this blog for nearly three months. While in the past few months I haven't been keeping up the mileage quite so much since Green Lakes, that isn't to say I haven't been keeping busy. The highlight of the fall is not running related, but it wouldn't be right not to mention that Hayley and I got married in early September. Wedding preparations, followed by a honeymoon, caused me to take a running break for a few weeks, and subsequently a blogging break ensued. (Bonus link: Strava GPS data for my flight from Philadelphia to the Dominican Republic.)

The first running-related highlight of the fall season was volunteering at the Virgil Crest Ultras. The day before the 50M and 100M trail races, my friend Rusty and I had the pleasure of checking the already-placed course markings on VCU's south half, AKA the alpine section. This entailed running/hiking up and down the ski slopes of Greek Peak in three different places, then running along the singletrack and dirt roads to The Rock Pile - an aid station at the 25 mile mark of the VCU that marks the turn-around point for the out and back. (50 milers run the out-and-back once, 100 milers

The Trailhead

Well if I ever see the morning

just like a lizard in the Spring

I'm gonna run out in the meadow

to catch the silence where it sings.

I'm gonna force the Serengeti

to disappear into my eyes

and when I hear your voices calling

I'm gonna turn just inside out.

"I Won't Be Found"

 - The Tallest Man On Earth

Ah, the allure of the outdoors in the springtime. After the longest and roughest upstate New York winter in recent memory, the feeling of summer-like weather is simply indescribable. The area trails are clear of ice and snow, and for the most part, mud-free and very runnable.

Like some runners, I view the sport of running not as exercise and not as a hobby, but as a lifestyle. That is, I don't view it as a chore that must be done to complete some arbitrary goal like training for a specific race or burning X number of calories. Rather, I reward my self by obtaining the sense of accomplishment that comes with a job well done, not to mention the positive physical aspect of