25 years sure went by fast

It is hard to believe that 25-years ago tomorrow I started my bicycle ride across the United States! I had wanted to do this trip since I read a newspaper story in 1980 about a man who completed a similar tour. I had always enjoyed camping and I enjoyed bicycling.  Why not combine the two together and see the country?

So I did...

I kept a journal during the 46-day trip and I hope to post its contents here as soon as I can completed the editing. (come on Jerry, it has been 25-years! You are not finished yet?)

I think that it is safe to say that this trip changed my life in the sense that it opened my eyes and made me realize that there was (is) a whole world out there waiting to be explored and experienced.

Brookville Star Article the week after I left for the West Coast
(Click for a larger view)

2012 Laurel Highlands Ultra Race Report

This year marked the 33 running of the Laurel Highlands Ultra.  The race is a point-to-point course that follows the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail from Ohiopyle, PA to just south of Seward, PA.  I completed this race last year when the course was extended 7 miles due to a detour caused by bridge repairs.  This year the route was back to the original 70.5 mile distance.

My training this spring went well.  I did not get a lot of long long runs completed, but I had been running faster this year than I have in years past.  I was thinking that a midnight finish would be a good goal for the  event (18.5 hours) and seemed reasonable.  As always, the main goal for me and ultras is to (1) finish, and (2) stay out of the medical tent!

Once again this year, I drove out Friday afternoon to Johnstown for the pre-race meal/meeting and then slept in my car at the finish line Friday night.  The shuttle bus left the finish line Saturday at 3:30am and we headed off towards Ohiopyle.  I rode the bus with Paul L. and it was nice to catch up with him a bit.  The starting area was pretty full with people since the race had sold out with 130 people registered.

Pre-race, I was a bit worried, ok, a LOT worried about my right calf.  One week prior to the race I re-injured it during a run and could not run on it for several days.  I was worried that I would start the first climb out of Ohiopyle and not be able to go any farther, making for a very short and disappointing day.  Race day I took a short run from the rest room to the starting area and felt the calf twinge a bit.  I took an ibuprofen tablet and prayed for the best.

5:30am we started out from the parking area towards the trail-head.  Calf felt ok and it felt good to be moving. The weather was cool but was forecasted to be mid-80s with some humidity.  I was not worried about the heat since the trail is mostly in the woods and shaded.  (I should have been worried)   The first few climbs felt good and I was trying to be patient and go real slow for the first 10 miles.  I went much too fast last year and paid for it later.  Paul caught up with me and we ran together for a few miles.  He was handling the downhill parts much faster than me and he pulled away.  We each said "See you later" and continued on our way.  The big climb towards mile post 8 seemed bigger than last year but before I knew it, I was at the first aid station!  It was good to see Slim and Kimba there helping the runners and I got in and out quickly.

The LHHT trail contains a wide variety of conditions, with the common denominator being rocks!  They are everywhere.  Sometimes large, sometimes small, but they are everywhere.  Not MMT-like, but you have to keep vigilant or you will trip. (Disclaimer: I have not been on the MMT course, but I have seem photos... :) )  The mountain laurel was in bloom and was nice to run through.  However, the fragrance was almost overpowering at times...

The temperature kept climbing along with the trail.  Eventually we reached the Seven Springs Ski resort, which is the highest point of the trail, 26 miles from the starting line.  One other intersting thing about the LHHT is that there are mile posts that you can use to keep splits and to know how far you have gone and have to go.  This both a blessing and a curse... Sometimes you could swear the posts move farther away...

I spent a lot of the day playing "ultra tag" with people.  "Brian" told me about this phrase.  Ultra tag is where you seem to always leap-frog people as the day goes on.  It seemed that a lot of people around me, and myself included, were having stomach issues.  This is typical in ultras where after a while nothing tastes or sounds good.  When you did eat some food, it would just sit in your gut and you wished it was out...  Just like a car needs gasoline to run, our bodies need food/calories to run.  I typically have a bad patch from miles 28-34 and this race was no different.  I forced a couple of gels down and that started the recovery.  It was taking a long time however to get back to feeling good again.  The whole day ended up being this way.  I would force some food down at the aid station, feel good for about 45 minutes, and then start to crash again.  Force more food down and start to slowly recover.

I eventually realized that I should try to eat more frequently and used my watch alarm to prompt me to eat every 12 minutes or so, even if it was only 2-3 pretzel nubs or a bite of a power bar, but eat something!  It only took me 50 miles to figure this out...  It seemed to help since my mood seemed to stabilize but my lack of big training runs was starting to become painfully obvious.

However, the scenery of the course, the aid station volunteers, and my fellow runners helped to distract me and keep me moving.  I caught up with two ladies after the mile 57 aid station and they had a tremendous 16 min/mile power-walking pace going.  I tried to keep up with them the best that I could.  When we approached the gas line road that lead to the 62 mile aid station I ran ahead a bit.

I was looking forward to this aid station all day. Last year they served soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches which tasted so so so good!  This year's menu consisted of potato soup with grilled-cheese sandwiches.  I sat in the chair by the fire, (two big no-nos for ultras "beware the chair") and enjoyed a bowl of soup.  I don't know why, but that soup tasted so good again this year.  Probably the same reason peanut butter and jelly sandwiches taste better at the top of a mountain than at the kitchen table...

I had little less than 2 hours to complete the remaining 8 miles and I knew that my midnight finish was not going to happen this year. I was ok with that and just was happy with what had happened.  I left the aid station and the two ladies were just behind me. I heard them talking about wanting a sub-20 hour finish and I realized that I might be able to salvage a sub-19 hour finish!  Game on!  My glycogen-depleted math skills said that if I could keep a 16 minute/mile pace, I would be real close.  I started running the best that I could and the first mile was 15:30.  great!  Next mile, 16:50.  Ok, there was a climb that slowed me down. Next mile, 20:30!!  Oops, wrong way... Next mile, 19:50...sigh... Don't give up! 

The last 3 miles are downhill, and a pretty good grade downhill to boot.  I heard voices behind me and was NOT going to get passed again here like I did last year and I started to run again, downhill, on a rocky course, in the dark...  Tripped once, twice, three times within a minute and decide that primary goal #2 is more important than a time goal.  It turned out that the voices I heard were in FRONT of me and I was the one doing the passing.

Shortly afterwards, two other people came flying by me like I was standing still...actually I was since I stopped to let them get by...  I could hear the crowd at the finish line and ran the last (short) mile in 8:30...

I finished the race in 19 hours 11 minutes and 23 seconds.  I was the 49th out of 85 finishers.  Oh yeah, Paul finished just ahead of me at 18:58!  I was less than a mile behind him!!!

It was a great day even if I did not make my time goal!  Good experiences on an awesome course with some of the best people around!  It does not get much better...

See you next year...

No-shirt 50K or whatever FA

Today was the Annual "No-shirt 50K or whatever FA" organized by Roy and Shannon. Started at Station Road in the CVNP and followed the Buckeye Trail to Pine Lane and return for an out-and-back. Winter arrived (finally) here friday and we have a nice covering of snow. The temperature this morning was 16 degrees with a wind chill of 2. brrrr!

13 people started at 8am towards Ottawa Point on the Buckeye Trail. It did not take more than 50 yds for us to get off-trail since the snow all looks the same! We really had to pay attention to the blue blazes! Roy yelled from behind, "Follow the blue blazes, not each other!" Pretty funny.

The snow conditions were actually pretty good. Fluffy, light, and not too slippery. However, it covered everything, logs, holes, rocks, and mud. The ground was not frozen since it has been so wet and warm this winter and the mud was still lurking beneath the clean snow. I am so glad that I have my Brooks Gore-tex trail shoes to keep my feet (mostly) dry!

I knew that I did not have 50K in my legs today and had decided to turn around at Columbia Road. I started back when I met the others. Roy said that I was the leader. I replied, "No, I am the first wimp!" As I ran under the power lines and cell tower near Snowville Road, I noticed that someone had made an awesome snow-angel! It was nearly perfect and brought a huge smile to my frozen face. This section along the ridge-line was the coldest part of the day.

I made it back to my car after 18.4 miles of snowy trail. Changed into some dry clothes and made it home to a hot shower!

Thanks to Roy and Shannon and everyone involved in organizing this fun event!

ahhh. That was nice!

It has been a long while since I have posted anything and I have to say it has been a nice break. Not much to post: Work was crazy busy and we just completed the project last week. It will be nice to think that this project should provide a million or two of increased sales. However I still get miffed about why we had to do this project in the first place...sigh...

Started running again this week after I was 'persuaded' by my family to register for the Winter Run for Regis in January. I have been running a couple of times a week over the summer, nothing structured, nothing long; just some "Sanity" runs. I have to admit that it feels good to have an event on the horizon to get me out the door.

The weather has been fantastic this week! It will change, but it has been a glorious fall week. Denise and I went out this morning for a fall hike and enjoyed the colors and the smells of autumn. We then took the girls out this afternoon to Bedford Reservation to look at the Gorge Overlook. Not peak colors yet, but nice nonetheless.

Cross country has been going well for Abby. She PR'd again this week at Stow and the conference Championship race is this weekend. It is safe to say that her freshman year has exceed expectations and she has had a blast too!

Life is pretty good, and I am very very grateful...

Fence project completed.

After a huge couple of week's worth of work, the fence is complete. Denise and the girls were a huge help and took lots of photos along the way. We compiled a slide-show for our enjoyment and maybe you will enjoy it too.





I am actually thinking about running again... It has been a nice break since Laurel and it is time to plan for a fall event. Many choices: Yut-c 50K, Run with Scissors, Wild Bill's FA. Hmmm, what to do? what to do? what to do?

Real Power Tools

So, now that my Laurel Highlands race has been completed, what is next? Well, Denise and I have been discussing the idea of a wooden fence for the backyard ever since we moved in here almost 9 years ago! The time has arrived...

I plotted out where we thought we wanted the fence to go and calculated the amount of materials we would need. 285 feet of fence, 40 posts, and around 610 pickets... I also got a quote for someone to install the fence for me... Needless to say, I am doing this myself and saving some serious money.

Anyways, with 40 holes to dig, I was NOT going to attempt that by hand, so I went to the Solon Hardware Rental Counter and asked what kind of tools I could use. They recommended the Toro Dingo with a 12" auger attachment. This was an awesome piece of equipment to say the least! Here is a picture of me just after I unloaded the machine and was headed into the woods to dig a practice hole.



There was a certain technique involved to get the holes straight, and I got pretty good at it after 30 holes. The back section of our property has several small trees with some beech trees mixed in. Lots and lots of roots to work through. I was able to dig a bit and then have to clean the roots from the auger, or worse, cut the roots out of the way. That was not too fun but a saw-saw, shovel, pick, and spud-bar helped a lot.

Here is another in-action photo as I was in the 'easy' grassy part near the end.



40 holes in 6 hours! I had estimated that I would use as much of the 24-hour rental time as I could in order to get all of the holes completed. I was very pleasantly surprised with how well the dingo performed.

This last photo is of me as I moved the dingo back to start the first 'real' hole. It shows the pile of lumber that is soon to become a nice red-cedar picket fence!


Tomorrow is the hole inspection. That's right, Twinsburg requires that the post holes be inspected before you set the posts... Then I get to do a little concrete mixing for the poles. This will be time-consuming since getting the poles set straight and level is crucial for a good-looking fence. I will start in the back for practice...

More updates later as the project progresses. I am enjoying the opportunity to use some other muscles for a change instead of just running.

2011 Laurel Highlands Race Report

Pre-race:

I drove down to Johnstown, PA Friday afternoon and arrived at the pasta dinner at 5:45pm. I checked in and received my bib number and shirt. The race directors started covering the necessary information while we were eating our meal. The course description was a bit confusing and I stopped listening around halfway through. My biggest fear was getting lost during this race and the description was doing nothing to reduce this fear.

Eventually, the meeting was over and I drove back up to the finish line where I found a parking place and proceeded to get my stuff ready for the early 3:30am departure. I had decided to sleep in my car and catch the shuttle bus to the starting line. I was by myself for this race, no crew or pacer, and I wanted to keep it simple. I fell asleep fairly fast and only woke up to close my window when a brief rainstorm passed by.

I woke up before my alarm went off and got ready for the day. The bus departed on time for the trip to the start at Ohiopyle. While I was waiting for the start, it felt like I had sandpaper in my left sock. I removed my shoe and leftover grit from my last muddy trail run was still in my shoe… Not a good thing… I was starting to panic a bit but then used my extra water to wash my foot off, re-lubed with Vaseline, and hoped for the best. My right foot felt fine. First lesson: Make sure your shoes and socks are clean!!!

The race director prayed a short prayer and then said “10 seconds to the start”… then a simple “Go” and we were off.

Race:

The trail is simply beautiful! Yes, the first 12 miles are tough with the rocks and climbs, but overall, it is an amazing trail. There were several maze-like sections through large rocks, similar to the Ledges area in the CVNP. The mountain laurel was blooming, but I think that we were a bit late for peak. There were several sections of the trail that went through what seemed like an endless sea of ferns. Very nice to see and they did not completely cover the trail like people said they have in years past.

The trail was marked with yellow blazes on trees and rocks where appropriate. As I mentioned earlier, my biggest fear was getting lost. This fear was unfounded. There was only one section that went through a grove of hemlock trees. The trail was almost non-existent since the needles made the ground all look the same. The blazes were on the trees, but with some blow-downs mixed in, it was a challenge. I was glad that I hit this section before nightfall.

The detour was not real fun since we had to leave the trail and go on the roads around the closed bridge. The sun was out, it was hot, but I could see storm clouds coming our way. I have never wished for rain during a run until now… It did start to rain as I neared the end of the detour and it indeed felt very nice to cool off a bit.

The soft trail felt so good again under my feet. Despite my best efforts at blister prevention, I could feel some hot spots forming. I stopped at the 44-mile aid station and applied more Vaseline to my left heel in an effort to slow down the formation of the blister. I knew that I would not stop it and would just have to manage. My right foot decided to also join the “blister party” and I knew that it was going to be an interesting night.

I still felt pretty good mentally and my legs felt good too so I kept running. It was getting dark so I turned on my headlamp and kept going through the ferns. I looked ahead and I saw something in the trail. I first thought it was a possum, but it was larger. Raccoon? Wrong color. Wow it was a porcupine! It was trying to run down the trail away from me as fast as its little stubby legs would go. I was running slowly behind it clapping my hands and making all kinds of noise in an effort to “encourage” it to move off of the trail. It finally turned left into the ferns and then stopped about 1 foot off of the trail.

I thought that was weird. Why would it stop? I could see the top of the porcupine sticking up over the ferns. It was not far enough off of the trail for me to pass safely. I did NOT want to get stuck by quills. I was shouting and making all sorts of noise…not a movement! I grabbed a rock and tossed it at the porcupine and nothing!!! I slowly moved closer to it and peered around and it was a stupid tree stump!!! Boy did I feel silly. I immediately recalled a hallucination story I heard a guy tell during Burning River about, of all things, a porcupine that blocked his path. I knew that I was NOT hallucinating but was just happy that the critter had moved on… I was laughing at myself pretty hard as I started running down the trail again.

Not 10 yards later, my “friend” was back to running down the trail away me again! It tried to climb a tree and got up around 3-feet before it peered around and saw me coming at it. Its eyes got big and it dropped back to the ground and kept going! By now I was laughing and screaming, “Just go right or go left! Get outta the way!!!” Eventually, it went right and climbed up a tree around 10 feet off of the trail. Finally, I could pass by.

The night was quiet with a clear sky and near-full moon. The fireflies were out and it was a very peaceful time. I did not see nor hear anyone for most of the night except for the aid stations.

My feet were becoming more and more uncomfortable and I knew that I would make the cutoffs for a finish, barring an injury. It was now just matter of if I would make 21 or 22 hours. I was able to run the flats and power hike the uphills, but the downhills just killed me. My pace was getting slower and slower but I tried to keep positive and keep moving.

The last two aid stations had soup! Boy did that ever taste good and helped to lift my mood. It was tempting to stay a bit longer and enjoy the food, but I wanted to get to the finish line. I still did not see anyone on the trail until mile 75, when a group of 3 passed me on the 3-mile downhill section… I tried to hang with them but my feet did not want any of it…

I could hear and see lights of the finish line ahead and I crossed the line after completing the 77 miles in 21 hours and 28 minutes.

The race director handed me my finisher’s award, which is a wooden replica of the trail mileposts. There was a 77 etched in the front. We will receive a plate with our name and finishing time engraved on it to complete the trophy! Pretty cool! The best part is that the 77-mile is a limited edition, 2010 and 2011, since the race will revert back to the 70.5 mile distance next year!

More soup at the finish line! I also had a bowl of beans and rice, which also tasted really good. I chatted with Jim for while and felt my exercise-induced coma approaching. I said goodnight and headed to my car. Changed clothes and tried to wash the worst of the grim off of me and quickly fell asleep. I woke up at 5:40am and they were tearing down the finish area. Fell back asleep and woke up again at 7am. I was the only one left in the parking lot…

Lessons learned:

1) Go a little easier at the start. I knew better and thought that I was going pretty conservatively. I backed off a bit once I realized what I had done but…

2) Blisters. Wash my shoes completely before a race.

3) This is “only” a 77-mile race. Treat it like a 100-mile race. It will punish you if you don’t… trust me…

I am pretty pleased with how things went since it could have been a lot worse. I hope to find out next year how it can be better!