Report: Inland Trail Half Marathon

Finishing MMT in May was my Superbowl for the year. I didn't make other plans to race long, marathon or otherwise, for the rest of the year. I took a pass at a fall marathon/ultra effort and decided to save it for Boston 2010. Over the summer, I maintained a loose training plan but trained often with locals and raced a couple times in September and early October. While my two September races returned dull results, a 17:37 five-km on October 3 provided confidence to take a big swing at the half-marathon. A distance I have less experience with.

Witnessing many friends run terrific fall marathons, including my sweetheart Andrea, provided my motivation and inspiration to take a shot at another PR. Having run a 1:23:38 last November, the peripheral goal of earning a lottery bypass to the NYC Marathon (for my age, sub-1:23) guided my training. I ran couple long tempo workouts in the final weeks, culminating 11 days out with a 4x 2 mile effort at T-pace that gave me confidence.

The Inland Trail is an old railroad bed converted to a 10' wide paved path through Lorain country. The marathon course is certified out-and-back 13.1 miles. The half marathoners started at the far-end turn-around in Kipton at about the same time the marathoners started at the finish line in Elyria. Lorain county is generally flat and there is no dirt on this trail. This course is a flat bike path and a rhythm-runner's delight.

Before the race I made a game plan to run the necessary 6:20 pace, which nets a perfect 1:22:58. I focused on three numbers:

19-flat at three miles,
31:30 at five miles, and
63-flat at ten miles which would leave 20 minutes for the final 5-km.

Andrea drove Angie and I out the start line with plenty of time. With 40 minutes to gun, we ran together for an easy two mile warm-up. I added a few gentle strides at perceived race-pace and prepared for the start. In years past, 1:23 might have won this race. At the start, seeing the local super-fast olympic trials qualifier Fred K. in the race, which took my mind off racing others and staying focused on my goals. (He finished in 1:09.) Except for the lack of competition to pull me along, the conditions were ideal with temps in the low-40s and overcast skies.

The first mile of the race is a short loop and after the initial quarter-mile I found my spot in fourth position. I passed mile one too fast in 6:05 and eased off, finding my way in the next two with 6:26 & 6:14. I passed three miles in 18:45 and fifteen seconds in the bank.

Since the course is so flat and straight through the countryside, there's not much to report on the scenery. Most of the leaves are down now. The leaves that remained were at its brilliant peak color. The course was scenic, lonely, and perfect for a time-trial.

Since us half-marathoners started exactly at the turn-around point for the marathon race, our HM mile markers were placed a perfect 0.1 mile after those of the marathoners. Since I don't wear a GPS device (stopwatch only), this situation provided me with an additional reference point to gauge my pace. I would get feedback at the 0.9 and 1.0 of every mile. I used the situation to my advantage.

The next two miles come and go in 6:23 & 6:12, passing mile five in 31:21. I concentrated on even breathing and start thinking mile-by-mile. In this section of the course we run through the college town of Oberlin.

As it turned out, we started about 20 minutes after the marathoners. By mile six I started passing the outbound marathoners and without trying my effort surged. Miles 6, 7, & 8 went by in 6:08, 6:15, & 6:06. I knew I was having a good day but wondered if I was biting off more than I could chew. Five miles remained. Seeing Andrea between miles 7 and 8 gave me a lift.

Throughout the race so far, I could see the 2nd and 3rd place runners about 400 meters ahead. I wasn't gaining ground but they gave me something to look at. Never did I look back. My attention turned to the 10-mile split. Miles 9-10 pass by in 6:18 & 6:16, which put me at 1:02:34 with 5-km to go. I did the mental calculation and knowing I had nearly 20.5 minutes gave me a boost. I dug in and went for it.

Mile 11: 6:10
Mile 12: 6:03

In my last big tempo workout (11 days prior) I saved a little kick, running 6:02 and 2:55 for my final mile and 800. Now I reached back and delivered a similar feeling kick, fueled by opportunity to crush my PR. My math might have been fuzzy, but I aimed my effort towards the possibility of sub-1:22 and perhaps a closer to 1:21. It felt amazing to have a little left in the tank in the final stretch.

As it turned out, something with the course markings were off. Mile 13 was 6:22 and the last 0.1 in 56 seconds. I cross the line in fourth place 1:21:53 yet wondered why the splits in the final 1.1 miles were so off. I was flying! The last 5-km covered in 19:18.

Regardless of all that, I can't complain with the final result which was a PR by 1 minute and 45 seconds along with a guaranteed entry to NYCM. After thinking about it all and checking the course certification document, I figure the total distance was accurate and that the mile markers were inconsistent.

After watching the rest of the half marathoners and some of the marathoners (two of my co-workers/friends, Kyle B. and Vince R., finished 1-2 in the marathon), Andrea and I arrived home in time to watch the NBC broadcast of the NYC Marathon. The combination of watching Meb win and running my own personal best on the same day has me pumped to get back to the marathon!

Thanks for reading.

Between miles 7-8 of the Inland Trail Half Marathon

Northcoast 24 hour is underway

The Northcoast 24 Hour Endurance Run, held at Cleveland's Edgewater State Park on October 3-4, 2009, started this morning amidst overcast skies and cool 55F temperatures. So far, the rain has held off.

I took a set of photos during the 10 a.m. hour this morning. Click here to view the entire photo album.

Near real-time results are available at the webcast:

http://www.northcoast24.org/webcast.html

Mark Godale, U.S. record holder in the road 24-hour (162 miles)

Scott Jurek and Akos Konya

Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Jeff Burke, represents the the five military branches

Ohio's Vol-Staters Rita Barnes and Dan Fox, with Jerry Brandt trailing

Wisconsin's Mike Henze (147 miles at FANS in June)

81-year-old Leo Lightner from nearby Rocky River, Ohio


I'm heading back out tonight to check out the overnight action.

2009 Buckeye Trail 50K results

Mild temperatures and a loaded field produced outstanding finisher times at the 15th annual Summer BT50K held on July 18, 2009.

First-timer Mike Seymour of Akron raced up front with Mark Godale and Kam Lee, pulling away and never relinquishing the lead after the mile 20 Boston Store aid station.

Beth Woodward ran amongst the top 15 overall and led wire-to-wire in winning the women's race for the second consecutive year.

154 runners finished the 50K which was two shy of the event record set in 2008.

Preliminary results posted here.

Mohican update

A few notes from Saturday afternoon/evening:

- Reported weather at the start was wet, warm, and humid. Andrea and I drove down for the afternoon. Temps rose into the 80s with little cloud cover throughout the afternoon. Driving into town along Rt 3, the hot, open road was Badwater-esque with heat beating down on the shadeless pavement.

- First stop, Grist Mill (mile 37) at 2:30 PM. I was surprised by the number of runners still at this juncture but happy to see Courtney and Silent Bob. I suggested a dip in the creek near the mill to lower body temperature. While they had been at it for some 9-plus hours at this point, I had been at Mo' all of five minutes. It was warm enough for me to happily get in the creek, too.

- 50-mile runners endured the brunt of the heat with their final 13 miles on open roads. The uphill road stretch along Rt 3 with the sun beating down, in my view, was nothing like the trails of Mohican State Park. We drove past most of the finishers 10-12 hour range and many were near heat casualty. Men's winner 8:27 with women's winner two minutes behind. My quick glance at the finisher sheet showed about 10 runners under 10 hours in the fifty-mile.

- News from the runners was that there were a multiple turns poorly marked or ground marking washed away by the overnight storm. I heard second-hand reports of the 100 mile leaders all off course at one point or another, particularly on the purple loop.

- At the Fire Tower (mile 60) at 3:30 PM, I was surprized that none had come through yet. Bradley Mongold, Jay Smithberger (2008 winner), and Mark Tanaka all came through within a minute of each other. The heat was apparent as they were off the 2008 pace by over an hour, arriving at 3:55 PM. Fourth place Wyatt Hornsby was about 25 minutes back at 4:20 PM.

- We hiked the purple loop and although it was wet, the mud was not bad. I heard reports that the Green and Red loops were very muddy and slow.

- At the Covered Bridge (M63), the four top women were within minutes of each other: Ellen (last name unknown), Terri Lemke, Jenny Chow, and Michelle Bischel.

- At Grist Mill (M75), we had heard that Smithberger and Mongold both dropped. Tanaka was first at 7:05 PM, followed by Matt Arrow and Wyatt Hornby about 30 minutes behind. Wyatt took all of 1 minute here and looked in super shape.

- Tanaka was first thru Bridal Staging (M83). We didn't stick around to see how far back the other two were.

- Back at Grist Mill (M75), the top three women were all in the aid station at the same time. They departed in this order: Ellen (last name unknown), Terri Lemke, Jenny Chow.

We left for home around 10 PM. I wish I were around to see more of the race and particularly the mid and back-of-pack runners. Witnessing 100-mile finishers, particularly the final ones prior to 30-hour cutoff, is quite a sight to see.

The only other info I heard is Hornsby won in 19:5x. Congrats, Wyatt!

Looking forward to hearing more about the results. I wonder how many days it will take this year to post.

MMT photo album

The details of my MMT race are forthcoming in the next post.

In the meantime, click on the photo below for my entire MMT album.

Edinburg Gap aid station (mile 75) after completing Short Mountain section. Footcare and refuel with Andrea's help. (Photo by Aaron Schwartzbard.)

MMT pre-race

A long story for a long run. The report of my second, and lengthiest, 100-miler is broken into two parts: The pre-race and the race itself.

The inspiration for running Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 came from a handful of locals in the NEO Trail Club. After my pacer experiences at the 2006 and 2007 MMTs, never did I think it would be me lining up in Front Royal to tackle this rock-laden 100 mile challenge. After a 2008 of mostly road-running and marathoning, I decided that 2009 would be the year for my second 100-miler.

Once I found out my name was drawn in the MMT lottery I gleaned as much info as I could from locals Jim Harris, Bob Combs, and David Peterman -- NEO Trail members with a collective 11 MMT finishes -- on how approach this race. If nothing else, I learned not to start too fast and that taking an extra 30 minutes to reach Camp Roosevelt could save hours later in the race.

Training: Physically, I came into this race vastly under-trained; much less so than for my first 100 miler at the 2007 Mohican 100. Year 2008 was one primarily of road-running culminating in my first sub-three hour marathon last October. Since then, I had not run farther than 20 miles until March 1st of this year. My longest training runs in prep for MMT were 50 km, done 4 times in March and April, culminating with an eight-plus hour effort at the Chocolate Bunny (a night run on the MMT course in April.)

The last time I ran longer than 50 km was a 100 km road run in May 2008 and prior to that was the 2007 Mohican Trail 100 Mile in June 2007. My ability to go the long ultra distance was an uncertainty.

With a lack of training volume and over-distance long runs, I convinced myself that a strong mental game would pull me through. I maintained that my knowledge of sports-nutrition, staying injury-free, and recalling my past MMT pacer experience would carry me to the MMT finish line. Though I arrived on race day undertrained, I felt strong. I have heard that it is better to be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained. My training status for this event would test that theory.

Gear and Nutrition: Through my training buds, I learned that the longest section and potentially the hottest section of the MMT course is the part from Habron Gap (mile 25) to Camp Roosevelt (mile 34.) With a large climb occurring at the same time the sun rising high, I knew that a two-bottle waistpack (~40 fluid ounces) might not be enough to sustain the 9.5 miles to Camp Roosevelt. I modified one of my backpacks to fit a 2.5 liter (80 fluid oz.) bladder, which I ended up using. In all, I had three hydration systems ready to go: a single bottle waistbelt, a double bottle waistbelt, and the backpack with bladder.

Nutrition-wise, I planned to fuel primarily with liquids and gels and fill-in with solid foods found at the aid stations. In my drop bags and with my crew I placed HEED powder (primary carb-replacement beverage) and CLIP2 and AMINO packages (protein-replacement beverages). I started out with a full gel flask with a plan to replace a full flask every 25 miles. During each hour of the race my basic nutrition plan was to consume one 20-ounce bottle of fuel and the equivalent of one gel each hour, grazing with aid station fare as needed.

Electrolyte-wise, I started out with Succeed! capsules with a plan to consume one per hour for the first 12 hours and reassess my needs after that.

Goal: Based on prior years' pacing runs at MMT, I estimated I might finish somewhere in the 28-30 hour range. Since the MMT course had changed over the recent years, I reviewed the splits from the 2005 race (a course identical to this year) and charted my probable aid station arrival times for 28 and 30 hours.

Crew: I was blessed with a great crew. Andrea the wonderful would follow me around all day and the pacer team of Courtney and Brandon would drive from Ohio on Saturday to join her later in the day.

Aid station spreadsheet: I put together all the details of my plan on this spreadsheet as a guide for my crew. This sheet became my tentative plan for fueling, drop bag contents, and aid station tasks. My crew was prepared to resupply my needs and keep going down the trail.

Pre-race disposition: Though I felt mentally prepared, my lack of training volume weighed in the back of my mind. In the days prior to the race I slept poorly, tossing, turning, and waking frequently.

I spent the final pre-race days with too much time to think about the daunting task of MMT's 101.8 miles. Looking back, I brought about my own restlessness as I had considered MMT to be my greatest ultrarunning challenge.

After arriving at the Ranch on Friday to check-in, receive the race briefing, and take in the pre-race meal and camaraderie, Andrea and I turned in early. A final night of tossing and turning preceeded a 3:15 AM wake-up that came much too quickly. I suited up and met Dave at 4:00 AM to drive to the start.

A view of Buzzard's Rock from the Skyline Ranch Resort, which is the first climb of MMT 100

Next post: Part Two, The race

MMT done!

While a full report will have to wait until Andrea and I reach our vacation destination, the short version is that we endured the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 and finished in 27 hours, 41 minutes.

Check back here soon as there are plenty of photos and a long story to share.

Special thanks to my outstanding crew (Andrea) and pacers (Brandon and Courtney) for keeping me awake and going throughout the often rainy and stormy night.

The MMT experience lived up to its billing: Massanutten Rocks!