Destin Beach

After the Pistol it was time to get ready for my next adventure, Destin Beach 50 miler in Florida. But before this I signed up for Javelina Jundred the night after The Pistol. I woke up at 2 am in my hotel room in Alcona and thought “hey registration has just opened for Javelina”. So I got up and registered and as it turned out, I was the first to register.
No it was 6 weeks or so till Destin and lots of time to recover and then get back at it.
Problem was the weather was not cooperating. Like last winter it looked like this one would be a long one and ready to set records for cold temps.
We were invited to Destin by our friends from Michigan, Sandy and Eric. Joan signed up for the 50k, as did Sandy. The training sort of sucked, no really long runs, just doubling up long runs on the weekend. Longest run being about 28 – 30k.
Destin is in the panhandle area of Florida, so doesn’t get as warm as the more southerly areas. And the initial forecasts didn’t come across as even shorts weather. But it was still better than the Barrie area, or anywhere in the North East. We arrived on the Wednesday night and it was cool, but still shorts weather. The sun was shining and that again was positive. Race day meant an early morning as my race started at 5 am and the girls 50k at 6 am. The race travelled along the beach, on sand, for 15 miles to the east. You then turn around and head back to the start/finish area and then head west for another 10 miles, before turning around again back to the finish.
I started out in the dark, just trying to keep a nice easy pace and avoid any of the soft sand, as well as the water off the gulf as the waves came in. For the most part this was easy, but there were the odd “rivers” form lakes beyond the dunes to forge across. Most were easy, but we were warned of a large one that had just broken through the dunes the day before and could be waist deep or more.
Running into the sunrise was spectacular. And getting our feet wet didn’t seem to be a problem for me. I was looking forward to the turnaround as it would give me an indication of how I was doing in respect to the rest of the field. About ten miles in I started running with Ryan, a young local guy who went to school in Rochester, NY. He hadn’t run an Ultra before so he jumped in with both feet. It was early in the race and he was doing well. At the turnaround he left me as I looked for the washroom. After getting going again I guestimated that I was in about 14 place. Not bad, although there wasn’t a lot of runners in the race it was still rather popular, but not as popular as the 50k.
As we headed back to the start area, I started passing a few runners. It was a long way back and as the sun came up it got warmer than expected. I had to put sun tan lotion on 3 times. A nice breeze helped keep things cool.
For the most part the beach was deserted, but the closer we got to the start are the more populated it was getting.. I had to keep reminding myself it still early in the morning, about 9:30 when I got to the start area. At this point I figured I was in about 10th place, but not sure. I caught back up to Ryan at about 31 miles, and we walked to ether for a bit before I started running again. Ryan wasn’t doing well, but it was good to know that I had another behind me and was probably top ten. Top ten then became my goal. I was well ahead of PB pace, but could see that slipping away slowly. The beach was much more crowded now, but with lots of people cheering us on. At the next turn around I now knew that I was actually in 8th place and was determined to keep that, but I would be looking over my shoulder regularly on my way back. There were a couple of runners not far behind, including Ryan who now had a pacer.
Those last 10 miles were a struggle, but I could feel the runners from behind. I completed the last 2 miles bearfoot, figuring that would be better than having wet shoes for the last part of the race. It was actually harder on the feet.
I finished in 8:33:00 a new personal best, by about 10 minutes or so. I was 8th place and 1st in my age group. A very successful day, but again I was thinking of what could have been. Keeping myself running later in a race is still a problem and I need to work on my mental game. The day was the best day, weather wise, of the whole time we were down there. We went to the awards get together later and I got my age group award.
Joan had a very successful day, with her bad shoulder she un sure whether she would be able to do the race at all, but she started and finished in under 9 hours, using a run /walk plan. She was very happy and enjoyed her day. Sandy also had a good day on the 50k course, finishing in 7:08.
Now I have 2 weeks to get ready for Green Jewel, my 5th year in a row there and probably my last. After that a good two months before O24.

The Pistol

Again, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’m still running, just finding it hard to find the time to hit the keyboard. The last blog posting has been sitting in my in box for months waiting to get posted. Since then I had been planning on some down time before starting training again in the new year, but…
About 2 or 3 weeks after the Bear I got a message from Will Jorgenson (RD of the Pistol in Alcoa Tennessee). He asked me about coming down to do his race at the beginning of January. Initially I said no, but the stress of the Bear failure was getting to me and I thought, I really needed to get back on the horse and show what I can do. So within a few hours I had signed up, booked flights and hotels and was ready. Just meant starting the training program a bit earlier than expected. To make a long blog shorter, the training went well, not perfect, but well. I had started going to the gym and doing some weight training and yoga as well. On boxing day I went with Theo to Hamilton to do the Boxing day 10 miler again and had a good race, setting a new PB with a 1:08 time. Confidence was high again.
I travelled to Knoxville on the Friday before the race (The Pistol) and settled in. I met up with Crystal from Ohio at the pre-race meeting and also met up with Aaron from Guelph. A rather lack luster pasta dinner was followed by an early night. The 100 mile start was at a nice 8 am. So no issues with getting up too early. The weather forecast was for about 8C during the day and then rain late in the night.
The race would be a multi loop course consisting of 9 x 11 miles. All paved bike path and some slight hills here and there. By all means this could mean a new PB. The unknown was the pavement and what kind of toll it would take on my legs.
I met up with Aaron at the start and as the gun went off we wished each other good luck.
I would try to keep a nice easy pace, at least that was the plan, but as usual I was moving faster than I really needed to. I met up with and ran with Max from Corning, NY and ran with him for a bit, before pulling away from him. To say the first couple of loops went well would be an understatement. I had to slow myself down when I checked at one point and I was running a 5:20/km. I went through the marathon point under 4 hours! I hit 50 miles at about 8:20, well under any 50 mile time I have run before. Up to half way I was moving quickly, but I had also gone through the required bad patches too. A few stops at Woody’s aid station helped, but as usual eating was a challenge.
At some point I expected to lap Aaron, as he had been dealing with some mechanical issues and was walking a lot. He also hadn’t got much training in! This kept me going stronger. I finally caught him as I finished my 6th lap, we decided to help each other out and see if that would get us through this. At this point I know the pavement was taking it’s toll. We walked for a bit and mixed up the walking and running for the next two loops. It was on the 6th loop that the rain started.
The rain was light initially but gradually picked up steam. By the 7th lap it was pouring down and we had to avoid the underpasses as they were flooded to probably waist deep. A lot of the path through the mid point of the course were also flooded to ankle deep water and there was no way around them.
For most of the race I was well ahead of schedule, about 18 hour pace. I knew it wouldn’t last and it was a matter of how good my finish time would be and whether or not I could get a new PB. Gradually 20 hours flittered away and then it was whether I could get under 21 hours, but that seemed remote too, especially with the turn in the weather. When I got to my 9th and final loop, Aaron still another to do, I thought I might as well just walk the whole thing, I wanted it over, but I knew I would still beat my PB. There was no incentive to go any faster than a fast walk. The rain had slowed down for most of this last loop, but just as I finished the wind picked up and the rain came down again. The only positive was that it was warming up a bit.
I finished in 21:11 an new PB by over 90 minutes. 14th overall and 3rdin my age group. Over all a great day (and night), but I couldn’t help think what could have been. If I could have kept my mind on track I might have finished hours earlier.

Post The Bear

Originally written on November 5th , 2014

It may take a lot of mental fortitude and strength to get through an ultra, especially a 100 mile race, but for some reason that mental strength seems to disappear when the question of signing up for another challenging race presents itself. This again happened to me just recently. Failure at the Bear was still sitting heavily on my mind and I was trying to find another race to do, maybe not till next spring, but the sooner the better. As it was Will Jorgensen, who I met a few years ago at O24 and ran across a few times at races over the next year or so, is the race director for the Pistol Ultra in Alcoa, Tennessee sent me a message asking if I’d be interested in coming down for his race in January. Iwas interested and had actually talked to Joan about it in the weeks before, but we had decided that we should stay at home over Christmas and New Year’s this year, especially with Jack around now. But after mentioning the message from Will Joan said if wanted to go myself then that wouldn’t be a problem. Within hours I was signed up, flights booked, hotel rooms booked and car rental arranged! What a pushover I am.
So I have gone from running for maintenance only and not worrying about mileage, to ramping up the mileage and putting in a lot more running. Mix this in with going to the gym 3 times a week and a bit of yoga once a week at least and I’ve become very busy again.
The Pistol Ultra is a 100 mile event (also with 100k and 50k events) that takes place in the town of Alcoa in eastern Tennessee, near Knoxville. The course is an eleven mile looped course on paved bike path. The course is basically flat and probably good for PB’s, with no hills/mountains, routes, rocks, mud etc. to worry about. Having said that, it is still a 100 miles and anything can happen. Weather could also be a factor, and in that part of the world, we could be talking about cold(ish) and snowy to warm and sunny. So who knows what that will bring.
As it is I am looking forward to this race and sure it will be a good time regardless. Training has been stepped up and I have now got just over 8 weeks to get ready.