Buckeye Trail 50k Report

Before I start, I want to address my apparent inability to listen to very reasonable advice. I was supposed to be running this as a training run, not racing it. I was going to go for a time of about 5 hours and 30 minutes, which still would have been faster than my target pace for the Burning River 100 miler in two weeks, but would have been slow enough to allow me to recover. A few days before, when the trails were still dry and fast, I checked and found that the Grand Masters (over 50) record for the course was 4:41:32 (Jeff Ubersax). At that point, the weather had been dry for about a week and the trails were dry and fast. I figured I might never get such a good opportunity again, so why not go for the record. Unfortunately, rain Friday and Saturday morning changed the trails from dry and fast to muddy and slippery, making that record safe for another year. No matter, I decided to let it fly and see how close I could come to it.

I arrived at the Oak Grove pavilion at 6:15 AM. I brought two pairs of shoes but I knew already which I was going to wear, my new Inov-8 RocLites. These are legitimate trail shoes, made for providing better grip in just the kind of slippery conditions we were facing. It was a bit of a gamble since I just got them a few days before the race, and ran a total of four miles in them. My other option, a 500 mile old pair of Nike LunarTrainers, might have been my choice on a dry day, but on wet trails, they provide traction equivalent to bedroom slippers on Teflon. One other decision I made just a few minutes before the race was to ditch my fuel belt. I found Vince the RD and confirmed that there would be Heed at each of the aid stations, so I decided that I did not need to carry my own.

I met up with some of my SERC buddies, did a little warm-up run, and made one last trip to the mens' room. By then, the race was ready to start, unfortunately, my Garmin was not. I had turned it on, but but it was still struggling to lock on to the satellites when the starter sent us off. It was .24 miles into the race before it started recording. I know it was .24 because I was running with Zach Lewis whose Garmin was on from the start.


This is the part of every race report where I say that I realized I was going out far too fast. My target pace was about 9:04/mile, but my first two miles were 7:41 and 8:05. Granted, these were more runnable portions of the course, but that was mostly due to adrenaline. I was able to dial it down and get under control after that, although the hills may have had something to do with that. I was running the shorter and/or less steep hills, but power-walking the steepest hills. Long stretches of the trails were just wet but not very muddy, but most of the low-lying trails were mucky with fresh mud. My strategy became 'just make it through the mud, so you can run the better trails'. The Invo8s were proving to be a very smart decision. They provided good traction through the wet dirt, hung on to my feet through the shoe-sucking mud, and were still light enough to allow me to run the clear stretches. I was loving my Inov8s.

I was making good time and actually feeling very good as I came through aid station at Snowville Road, about the 6 mile mark. I drank about 8 ounces of Heed (2 half-full paper cups), grabbed a couple of PBJ sandwich quarters, thanked everyone and moved out quickly. My absolute rule in this race was drink at every opportunity, and take an electrolyte pill every 20 minutes. The 3 miles between Snowville and Boston store flew by so fast, I didn't even realize until I came down the hill and out onto the road. As I crossed the bridge, I heard E-speed shouting my name. Here is a photo she took of me chugging toward the aid station.

Again, as was my routine for the day, I shouted for Heed and PBJs as I approached, and the volunteers had them ready for me. I drank two more cups of Heed, took another electrolyte pill, ate a couple of PBJ quarters, then thanked everyone and ran on.

I climbed the big hill after Boston store, and ran root-filled stretch of trail called the Pines. It was not much further between mile 13 and 14 that I encountered the lead runner, Mike Seymore, running past me going the other direction. He had already made the turn and was heading back. About 50 yards behind him was Mark Godale. As he approached, a gray coyote dashed across the path between us. He gave me a quick look over his shoulder and vanished into the brush.

I reached the Pine Lane aid station, the half-way point, at about 2 hours and 16 minutes, even faster that the target I had set when the trails were dry, and much faster than I should have under the current conditions. I grabbed my PBJs, Heed, and electrolyte, and did a quick assessment of my condition. My legs were only OK, feeling some of the effects of 15 plus miles of mud, but no pain and no injuries. I had been eating and drinking faithfully, so my energy level was good. I was not tired. All considered, I was in good condition to run a strong second half. Here is a photo taken as I approached the aid station.

I began encountering runners heading toward me as I ran the back half. At first, just a few here and there, but after a few miles, it seemed like there were groups of runners every hundred yards. Most of the time, they gave way to let me through, but not all of the runners knew the protocol. Some were newbies, and they didn't realize they were supposed to yield to the returning runners, so there were a few awkward moments. I made it back for my second pass through the Pines, then back down and through the Boston store aid station again. You know the routine by now...PBJ, Heed, electrolyte, thanks, bye...the trail running equivalent of "Wham, Bam, Thank you Maam".
Last year, it was on the big hill just after Boston that my leg cramps started, and the worry was in my head as I began that climb. This year, I had no indications, not a hint of a cramp. I ran for a while with Patrick Fisher and Beth Woodward, the current woman's record holder for the course. Both of them were running strong. We played cat and mouse for the next five or six miles, taking turns passing each other and being passed. Eventually, Patrick dropped off the pace, and it was Beth and I running together for a few more miles.

By the second pass through Snowville aid station, the fatigue was beginning to tell on my legs. My pace on the more runnable sections was not as fast as on the way out. I could not get the leg turn-over I needed to to make up for the slower pace in the muddy areas as I had been doing. I realized that I was about a minute or more of the time I needed to break the Grand Master course record, and worse, I was getting slower not faster. Still, most important, there we no cramps or even early warning twinges. So I pressed on, hoping a second wind might come and allow me to get back on pace for the record.

The last six miles were nothing more than a gut check. I was beginning to struggle, the mud seemed deeper, the hills higher. I began marking time by looking for familiar landmarks, a creek crossing, a opening in the woods, anything to tell me I was getting closer to the finish. I continued to drink at every opportunity, and take my electrolytes. There were no more aid stations, but there were jugs of water stashed every three miles or so, that allowed me to keep hydrated. Finally, I came upon a sign that said '1 Mile to Finish'. This gave me a tremendous lift. I checked the time, and calculated that I had no chance at the record, I was off by a couple of minutes. Still, I felt great that I was that close to it on a day when the trails were not fast. Despite the fact that the leg cramps had not hit me, I knew they might at any time. I picked up the pace as much as I could, and began ticking off the familiar twists and turns. Finally, I emerged from the woods and ran the remaining quarter mile on the road leading to the finish. When I crossed the line, the clock read 4;44:13, 2 minutes and fifty seconds shy of the record, but nearly an hour (57 minutes) faster than my BT50k time last year.

I got a kiss from Sue, and my medal from Vince, although in the state I was in that could have been the other way around and I might not have known. I walked around for a while, got some food and drink, and rinsed the mud off my legs with some help from Sue. I found Mark and Kam, both looking as bad as I felt. Eventually, Sue and I found our way to the car and headed home.

Running Well

It was a good week, full of good runs. Monday was a very easy 8 mile recovery run, but Tuesday I picked up the pace and mileage. I ran a quick 6 miles at lunch, then did my track workout to add another 8.5 miles after work. After a couple of warm-up miles, and 6 x 100 stride-outs, I ran 3 x 1 mile repeats at 5:42, 5:49, 5:42. Not my best but certainly getting back into the range. I knew I was pressing because the nausea at the end of each mile told me so.
On Wednesday I ran a night trail run with Paul R. and Dave P., sort of a test run to check out how I would handle the post sunset portion of the Burning River 100. I wore my Petzl LED headlamp and carried a small flashlight (actually the removable LED headlight from my bike.) What did I learn? Well, my headlamp does not give enough light by itself, so the hand held flashlight is good idea. The flashlight was actually more useful because the beam was lower and at a better angle to the ground to reveal rocks and tree roots. Also, even with the hand held, I found that you don't get nearly as much reaction time. I naturally shortened my stride to allow for this. Looking up in the trees for the blazes can be tricky because you cannot take your eyes of the ground in front of you for too long. I found that I had to slow to a walk at times to get my bearings. And, because of these issues, you pace is slower even though you may be working just as hard. You just cannot cover as much ground at night. What else...oh, bugs are more of a problem, starting at twilight and into the early night. Thanks to Paul for bringing some spray. It was a successful run, and I did become comfortable with night running. Dave and Paul made it lots of fun. (You get into some weird conversations at night on the trails.)
Thursday I worked an abbreviated tempo run, 8.5 miles total, but only 4 of those at pace, averaging about 6:40. Friday was a recovery 6 miler. On Saturday, a group of us ran the first part of the Buckeye Trail 50k course, from Oak Grove to Snowville Road. It was a good morning, and after running the out portion at a moderate pace, some of use really picked it up on the return. It turned out to be a more aggressive run than I had planned, but it felt good. After that, I was determined to make Sunday a slower run, especially with the race only a week away. OK, so that was the plan. As it worked out, I did 11.44 miles at 7:29 pace. Not exactly taking it slow and easy. Total miles for the week: 72.

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Based on advice from many running friends, I am going to try to run the BT50k this Saturday as a training run for the Burning River 100 Mile Run, rather than run it all out. Wyatt in particular has been very emphatic that I need to go into the BR100 as strong, and the BT50k on top of three marathons in two months, will take too much out of me.

Week of June 29 - Ramping-up (or down) for Buckeye Trail 50k

I have not had much down time in the first few months of the racing season with three marathons, a half-marathon, and some shorter distance races to fill the gaps, and the most demanding month is still to come. In less than two weeks, I have the Buckeye Trail 50k , followed by the Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Race two weeks later. I am just trying to stay healthy and avoid an injury.
Seattle was the most difficult road marathon course I have run, and the compounded effects of Boston, Cleveland, and Seattle over a two month span have me feeling less than 100%. The week after Seattle was filled with mostly slow paced recovery runs in the 8 mile range. I did get a sloggy trail run of about 8.5 miles on Thursday, but other wise only easy runs until Sunday. The Sunday run with the SERC group was the first time I did anything that caused me to push. I ran a nice 12 miler at a 7:29 pace.
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On Tuesday and Wednesday in Seattle, I ran in the Mercer Slough Nature Park, a small by beautiful preserve which includes wetlands and a blueberry farm. I found that I could run about 7 miles without repeating any trails. Here are a few photos.

Since the park was largely in a slough area, there were some areas where boardwalks were required.


This is an abandoned house that was just off the trail. It is in the swamp, filled with water.


The flora and fauna were different that I am used to in Ohio. There were quite a few of these leafy plants, but I do not know what they are called. I did see a variety of birds, including lots of Cedar Waxwings that seem to have been attracted by the berries.

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Race Report

The race was scheduled for a 7:00 AM, and I had to catch the shuttle bus to the start by 5:30 AM. I was up at 4:00 AM, had a light breakfast, and Sue dropped me off at Quest Field, and I boarded a yellow school bus, headed to the start in Tukwila, about 8 miles south of the city. It was a chilly morning, so I wore an old Turkey Trot long-sleeved T-shirt. I had about an hour and a half to kill, so I walked around and tried to stay warm. I was surprised at the number of runners. I learned after the race that there were 21,000 combined half and full marathon runners. A few minutes before the start, I pitched the shirt, then I heard someone from behind shout, "Hey Frank". I turned and a guy whom I didn't know introduced himself. Steve. He was a friend of Kurt Molter, and Kurt told him that I would be running Seattle. He recognized me by my SERC racing shirt. We talked a little, and found that we were both going for a little below 3 hours, so we thought we might run some of the course together.

They didn't do me any favors when they started the elite and first corral together, eight minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Unless you are an elite runner, keeping pace with the elite runners for the first few miles of a marathon is likely to ruin your day. My first two miles were 6:16 and 6:26, so clearly I was allowing them to pull me along. By the time I reached the western shore of Lake Washington at the end of mile four, I had come to my senses and taken my pace closer to 6:40. We were out of the industrial and commercial district, and running in a beautiful residential neighborhood. The sky was cloudless, and the sun was warming the air, so the morning chill was gone. It was nearly ideal running weather. The course turned north along the western shore of the lake through mile 9, the flattest part of the course. I settled in and ran these at an average right around 6:50.


Miles 10 and 11 are east across the I-90 floating bridge then back west again. Floating bridge sounds about a flat as a couple of miles could be, right? No exactly, as the ramp down and then back up is about 100 foot climb. At this point, I was really beginning to work. We ran through the tunnel, westward into the south part of the city, then turned north past Safeco and Quest Fields. Miles 11 through 13 are mostly uphill, so my pace dipped a bit through this stretch. When I crossed the half, the clock said 1:29:48. In light of my 6:16 and 6:26 first two miles, I was happy that I was able to take get it back in the target range, but I knew that the big hills were in the second half.
There is a nice down hill at the end of mile 13, then it is all uphill through mile 20. As we head north through the city, the grade is moderate and very runnable through the 14th and 15th miles and I averaged 6:39 for these. The grade gets much steeper in miles 16 through 20, and it was here that I lost track of Steve. I decided to let him go and run my own race. His pace seemed too aggressive for the four miles of steep hills ahead. I kept my pace right in the low 6:50's for this leg, trying not to burn up everything in the hills.
When we finally made the turn at the top of the last hill, I was feeling every mile of it. I did a quick assessment and decided it was unlikely that I had enough left to finish strong, but I could still make my sub-3 if I ran smart. I knew the next mile was the steepest down hill of the race, and I wanted to take full advantage of it, so I cut it loose and ran it in 6:29. After that, the grade softened, and it was a struggle. The next four miles were 6:39, 6:42, 6:51, 6:57. I passed Steve who was paying the price for running the hills too fast. I wished him well, and was on my way. Most of that was run on the elevated highway running along the bay. I was hurting for most of it. I felt twinges of cramps beginning in mile 24. Thankfully, the first actual cramp didn't grab hold until the last half mile, I stopped a couple of times to stretch, but I was not going to repeat my Boston mistake. I knew I had a sub-3 finish with about a minute to spare, but stopping to stretch cramps could eat that up easily. I kept the stretches to no more than 15 seconds. When I made the turn toward the finish west of Quest Field, I heard Sue shouting, and I waved and smiled. There was a fence so no way for me to get to her. The last cramp struck about 50 yards from the finish, but I just ran, or more accurately, gimped, through it.

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After the race, I met up with Sue,Alex, and Kalena. We went out for lunch and a beer (my first beer in a week.) I was great.
My lil'sis Georgeann called to tell me she saw me cross the finish line on the streaming video on line. She also said the website listed me as age group winner, which I immediately dismissed as an error. Based on the times I had seen in other Seattle marathons, I was sure that it not possible to win my age group with anything over 2:55. Regardless, given the tough hills on this course, finishing under 3 hours was all I wanted. The pain of the last six miles were a steep price to pay, but I made it. Winning my age group was actually less important to me, not that I will turn down the award. ;-)

Flying to Seattle

Nothing left but to run it. If all goes as planned, by Thursday afternoon, Sue and I will be having lunch with my son and his girlfriend Kalena at one of the fine seafood restaurants in or near Pike's Place, then off to the Expo to pick up my race packet and look for bargains. (That's a photo of Alex and I taken when we visited him in Seattle last year.) We'll find something touristy to do on Friday (I am thinking about riding one of the ferries), and try to avoid too much walking to give my legs a rest. Once the marathon is done, we'll probably head to Pike's brewery pub, which is right in Pikes Place Market. We don't leave Wednesday, so there will be plenty of time to spend with Alex and Kalena, and see more of the city.

The marathon starts on on Saturday at 7:00 AM Pacific Time. It is a point to point race, so I'll have to catch a shuttle bus around 5:00 AM to Tukwila, south of Seattle. In contrast to the Boston and Cleveland courses, this one has some early uphills. Between miles 9 and 10 though, there is a nice break as we go out and back across the Mercer Island floating bridge, which has a long flat stretch in the middle. From there, we go right through downtown, then head north. Real hills between miles 15 and 20 will make this the toughest part of the race, and should be a nice filter, dropping the runners who went out too fast. Good news after mile 20, the rest of the race is downhill or flat. Assuming I have run a smart race, taken care of my hydration and nutrition, I have enough left to take advantage of that and run a fast last six miles.

Training Week Review
It wasn't a big taper week, with total mileage at 59. I did have some really fun trail runs. After work on Wednesday, I went to Jaite Wayside and ran the leg of the Buckeye Trail from there to the Boston store and back. About a mile into the run, the sky turned dark and rain began falling hard. It did not let up until the end of the run. It did not take long for the trails to be filled with run-off from the hills. Running was tricky because I could not see the roots, stumps, and rocks that the water was hiding. It was exhilirating to be in the woods, running alone, with the storm crashing down. After about four miles, the insoles of my Humaras began bunch-up, so I took them our of the shoes. It turned out to be a good idea, necause I immediately noticed that I was much more naturally inclined to mid-foot strike. It was a great fun run.
On Thursday, I meet up with the group from Vertical Runner and we did about 8 miles, the first three just Steve Hawthorne and me. We ran a loop following a horse path, and with all the rain we had, this was about as muddy a course as I have ever run. The mud was soft and deep, so we were really working. By the end of the run, I was caked with mud. Another great fun run.
On Sunday, I ran with the SERC group, just the basic 12 mile route. At mile three, Kam came up from behind and flew past us. At first, I let him go, but then I thought it would be good to run a few miles at marathon pace, so I took off after him. I ran the next three miles at 6:17, 6:18, and 6:20 and did catch him at the water stop. From there, we fell back to a 7:30 pace for the rest of the run.

A VERY Quiet Week

My running shoes were collecting dust most of this week. I did not run Monday through Friday, trying to let my left foot heal from whatever was causing it to swell. An MRI did not reveal a stress fracture, which was my biggest concern. I made a little video of the MRI, which moves through my foot from bottom to top. Have a look.

The doctor recommended a week of rest and ice to reduce the swelling. By the end of the week, the there was very little swelling, so I decided to give it a trial on the trails.
I got to Lock 29 a little early, so I could run a few miles without the group to see how it felt. That went well, so I joined the group and we frolicked through the forest for a few hours. With Steve G. off running with another group, Mark G. not around, and Paul R. out with an injury, Steve H. and I had to pick the course. It turned out to be a good run. My foot didn't complain much until the last few miles, which we ran much too fast (6:30 and 6:08.) A group of us went to breakfast at Yours Truly in Hudson, then I went home and tried to keep my foot iced for much of he rest of the day. I think that helped, because by the end of the day, there was virtually no swelling.
On Sunday morning, I decided to stay off the roads and on the trails, so I met-up with a group from VR that was doing a familiarization run for Buckeye Trail 5ok. We had a good run through from Jaite trailhead south on the BT to Initiation Hill (although I never heard it called that before) and back, about 17 miles. It was another beautiful, sunny, warm morning. I tried to pick it up for the last few miles but for the most part, we kept an easy pace.

With only two days of running, the total miles for the week was only 31. I did do some biking but I didn't really keep track of the mileage. Only 12 days until the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon.

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My fellow blogger and all around very funny guy, Steve in a Speedo, is hosting a contest to win a $75 gift certificate from onlineshoes.com. Go to his blog for details.

19 Days Until Seattle

This was an uneventful week. I have been feeling the effects of the racing and training, so on the advice of some fellow runners, I took Wednesday off. It might have helped; I am not sure. Just to mix it up, I swapped my Thursday lunch road run for an evening trail run with the group from Vertical Runner. That was fun. It was a big group, probably 15 or more, and we did not exactly stay together because of the different levels of runners. On Saturday, I ran with the usual Lock 29 crew on a great morning. Sunday was the Solon run with the SERC crew. I did four slow miles before the group started at 8:00 AM, then the rest of the run averaged around 7:30 pace. Total miles for the week: 71.3 miles. Not where it should taking a day off kept me under 80 miles. Next week, I will begin tapering, so the miles will be reduced.

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Foot pain and swelling: About two weeks ago, I noticed soreness on the top of my left foot, right in the area of the third metatarsal. That is the long bone right in the middle. I continued to run because the pain was not too intense. It did not seem to be getting any worse, but also has not been getting any better. After the trail run on Thursday, I noticed that the slight swelling had become a bit more swelling. Again, the pain was not too bad, so I went for a slow Friday run with no real problems. The trail run in Saturday was more of a work-out for my foot. Toward the end of that run, the feeling was noticeably less comfortable. By Sunday morning, I did not feel too bad, so I went on my run as usual. After that one, in the shower I noticed the swelling had worsened, with some puffiness in my toes. By Sunday evening, I was having a little pain when walking, especially after sitting for a while, and the swelling had not gone down. I got an ice-pack and wrapped in around my foot. (I know...I probably should have been doing this from when I first noticed the swelling.) I have no idea if this will turn out to be nothing, but it definitely has moved beyond the 'ignore it and it will go away' stage.