Finding a Silver Lining

Four days after Rocky Raccoon I met a couple of running buddies for an easy run around Bentonville. The idea was for me to go the first part of the half marathon course with them. The legs were a bit cranky getting started but after a couple of miles I was feeling OK, a little tired maybe, but OK. At mile 5 I felt a sharp pain in my right foot. It was on the outside portion of my midfoot. Several minutes later it was still there and I waved the white flag and turned back for the Square where I was parked. It was a slow 1.5 mile walk back. Whether walking or jogging or running the pain was there. As it was the rest of the day and the next morning. I iced it and then soaked it in a warm Epsom bath. Not much difference. I called Dr. Dan Fulmer down in Fayetteville to schedule an appointment for Tuesday morning. Dr. Dan is a nationally recognized expert in Podiatry and is the team foot doc for the University of Arkansas Track Team. In the meantime I did nothing. No running, walking, nothing. Period. I was thinking stress fracture because that it what it felt like but the location was wrong. Anyhow, I did not want to do anything to make it worse. 

I met Dr. Dan and relayed my recent exploits and described the problem. He took a look, poked, prodded and twisted said foot. His diagnosis was a relief to hear, not a stress fracture but a bad case of tendinitis. Specifically peroneal insertional tendinitis. There are two sets of three tendons that provide the bulk of stability for your foot. One set runs on the inside of the ankle and the other along the outside. These tendons connect to the ends of the metatarsals, run under the ankle and up into your calf muscle. My hot spot was at the head of the fifth metatarsal. If you run your finger along the outside edge of your foot from your heel towards your toes you will feel the end of the metatarsal just past your ankle. When he pressed on that I almost came unglued. 

Naturally I asked what he thought caused the inflammation. He stated that running 50 miles on uneven surfaces was the start. Contributing to the problem was my stellar case of Morton's foot. This is a "defect" in which the second toe is longer than the big toe. Or in my case, the second and third toes are longer. Call it Super Morton's foot. He explained that this "defect" creates a highly unstable foot resulting in excessive lateral movement. I asked about my choice of shoes for the race, explaining that I had used a more minimal type shoe that was very flexible (Brooks Pure Grit) for the first 33 miles. He felt that would have also contributed to the problem. Perhaps this is why switching to the Saucony Peregrine felt so good on that last loop as these are stiffer. He agreed. If you are in NW Arkansas and need a podiatrist, there is none better than Dr. Dan. If he is good enough to take care of Deena Kastor I think he is good enough for you. 

What about the treatment? He taped it up and said to leave it on for a few days. He also suggested contrast baths (ice, warm, ice) and a 7 day cycle of Celebrex to help ease the inflammation and reduce pain. He gave the OK for walking but suggested holding off on running for a full week. So that's where I am at right now. It feels better. Far from 100% but better. I had to back out of a cool local half marathon this weekend. It is the inaugural Pea Ridge Battlefield Commemorative Half Marathon and is limited to 25 runners. I am bummed about that. On the upside, my spot went to a solid local runner that I know and I'm sure she will represent, maybe even take first place. My plan now is to slowly ease back into running next week. I will keep it all on hardtop and use my Superfeet inserts for a while to help stabilize things. Hopefully this will allow me to go into the Bentonville Running Festival in decent shape at the end of March. Going for a new PR is likely out, I'll just keep my base and look to the Hobbs War Eagle 50k in June as my next focus event. 

So during my down week I came up with an idea since I was getting a bit stir crazy and I had a desire to make something positive out of being sidelined. A 30 day challenge for myself. After Rocky I more or less decided that I want to return next year with a goal of breaking 9 hours for the 50 miler. That's a full 65 minutes off of my time this year. I think I have a good chance at that if I get stronger. First, core and upper body work. The cardio is there already. I need to beef up my chassis though to achieve that goal. The challenge then was to devote 30 straight days to this end. I came up with a 20 minute core/strength routine largely based on info found at Strength Running. If I can make it a habit that will allow 90 days to test it out before Hobbs. Why Hobbs? Because it is our local 50k and I want to break 6 hours there this summer. I blew up last year and lost over an hour covering the final 3 miles. That won't happen this year. And for the record, I'm gunning for you Shannon McFarland. You better have your head on a swivel brother.

Update 02/21/2012: I tried running this past Saturday and shut it down after 1 mile of jogging. My foot was still quite sore. I have no plans to try again until Thursday. It is feeling better the last couple of days. I plan on a walk today and cycling tomorrow. I did miss a day of my 30 day challenge too due to being sick. I guess when it rains it pours sometimes. 

Rocky Raccoon Pt II The Background

Ryan and Rocky

It's nice when things fall into place isn't it? I had been thinking for some time about taking a shot at completing a 50 mile trail run. Like many, I suppose, I was hesitant. The jump from 50k to 50 miles can seem like a rather large one. Especially when my last 50k resulted in my first DNF. Click here to read that story. I had some real doubts about attempting anything more until I mastered the 50k distance. My mind works like that. But after examining the DNF and chalk talking every imaginable angle of it with grizzled veteran trail trolls my thoughts began to change. A sample of race reports from last year at RR was all it took to hook me. I contacted Mike Rush (10th place RR50 2012) and put the idea out there that perhaps we could get a group together to throw it down Tejas style. Mike and I both hail from the Lone Star State. He was all over it. Apparently he had already decided he was all in before I mentioned it. So the feelers were put out. In the end there was just one other local runner that joined the fray, David Newman. However, as fate would have it, another local, Ryan Holler, was tapped at the last minute to pace a mutual friend for his first attempt at 100 miles so we had another sucker along for the ride. Upon further examination Ryan was planning on sleeping in a vehicle. That was unacceptable to me. I offered up a spot on the floor at my parents house in Corsicana for Thursday night and the same at our hotel in Huntsville Friday night. As for Saturday night while pacing Tim Harrington, he was on his own, because David and I were headed back to comfort in Corsicana as soon as we were done. So that's it, we were set. Shortly after picking up my son, Philip, from school on Thursday we headed south. I thought it only appropriate to include an invitation to the mini me and include him on the adventure. He was stoked because it meant one less day of school that week.

I posed for this one. 

As we rolled out of Ozark country we naturally talked about running and got to know each other a little better. Ryan and Philip drew Spartan warriors in the back. We learned all about shoe design from Ryan too. Interesting stuff. We reached Corsicana about 11 o'clock that night. It was, of course, great to see my folks. My dad was a dedicated runner for many years starting back when the movement was booming in the 1970s. He was a regular at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, ran a marathon PR of 3h26min and twice logged a monthly total of 450 miles. So he loves having runners around to swap war stories. And yes, he even broke out the old pictures of him running Dallas White Rock (with me tagging along near the finish). One of those photos made the front page of the Dallas newspaper. Nothing like running a marathon in a cotton t-shirt and a stylish sport watch with a metal band. But this trail running and ultra thing is all new to him. He thinks we are a little weird. And my mom simply loves to have company over. Trust me, you will not go hungry in her house. Friday morning found us eating up plates of sausage and egg casserole, bacon, fruit bowls, muffins and such. After that mom and dad worked my buddies over with questions. Soon it was time for lunch so we headed downtown to an Italian joint for pasta and pizza. And since we were in Corsicana we stopped off at the Collin Street Bakery before leaving for Huntsville. We picked up some cookies and a chocolate pie. After a round of well wishes and good byes we loaded up and split for Rocky country. 

Chocolate Meringue pie is a great post race snack.

We arrived shortly before the race briefing and met up with Mike and his son. Mike's better half was out testing the trails for us. Following the briefing I met a couple of folks that I had become familiar with from the Tejas Trails Facebook page. Before I forget, big shout out to Laz for grinding out his first 100 miler, cheers! As the crowd thinned out Ryan wanted to chat with Karl Meltzer. They had met a few months back at Pinhoti 100 where the Speedgoat had lowered his own course record to defend his crown and Ryan placed 9th in his first hundred. I mentioned this in my race report but I'll say it again. We all hear about the elite runners in the ultra community being approachable and I can now say that is certainly true. I was introduced and he couldn't have been much friendlier. He was amped for his race and wished us well on our endeavor at 50 miles. At my last big road race, and every other one,  the elites were quarantined from us regular folks.  That was nice to experience firsthand. We then got our packets and headed over to the hotel. David had found us a room at the La Quinta. But we couldn't get in because the key cards didn't unlock the door. David got to walk down to the lobby in the rain. Sucker. From there we made our way to The Homestead for dinner. There we met Mike and his family who came up from Houston along with Michael Mortensen from Denmark. Something like 24 hours of travel time from his house. That's serious folks. This rascal came all the way from Denmark to tear it up at Rocky 100. He and I met on the Tejas Trails FB page and I had invited him to join us for dinner. The wonders of social media. He mentioned it was his first trip stateside and the first time driving a car with an automatic transmission. He mentioned that he had figured out what the P, R and D were on the transmission but wanted to know what the other letters meant. I told him not to worry about that, he had all the important ones down. For the record, The Homestead was great. Attentive service, good turnaround on the orders and the food was hot, fresh and tasty. I opted for the 6 oz fillet, mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables with a garden salad. Make sure you leave room for dessert. They even had a jazzy quartet throwing down some good dinner tunes. 

The first selection looked sinfully good. (R. Holler)

After wrapping up the post dinner chatter it was out into the drizzle and back to the hotel. But not before stopping at the beer store for some post race hydration fluids (which, sadly, we ended up being too tired to partake of when the time came). At the hotel we couldn't get into our room again because the cards still wouldn't work. David got to go down to the lobby. In the rain. Again. Sucker. Or so we thought. It seemed to take a little extra time for him to come back. When he does arrive he tells us that while in the lobby he sees some guy at a laptop who looks like a runner. So he hits this dude up:

David: "So, are you here for the race?"
Mystery Man: "Yes."
David then inquires "So, what's your goal?"
The guy says "13 hours"
David realizes it's non other than Hal Koerner disguised in that awesome lumberjack beard. Meanwhile Ryan and I are standing on the balcony in the rain. Who's the sucker now?

In the room we quickly settle down, get our gear lined out and hit the sack. We had discussed getting out to the park to watch the 100 mile kick off at 0600 and decided if the weather was sketchy we'd just fore go that to stay dry. Well, at 5 AM it was raining rather hard so we took a little extra time getting some breakfast. For me it was a hard boiled egg, a waffle, some yogurt and orange juice. We piled in the van and braved the wet roads down to the park along with everyone else. We ended up parking east of the Nature Center so we got a 1 mile warm up jog to Dogwood. In the rain. Toting our gear. In the dark. Fun times. I thought 50, 51, what the hell is the difference? We found ourselves a little cover under a corner of the last tent and waited for the start. And then we ran. In the dark. Through the rain and mud. I won't recap the race because I already did that here.

Dogwood Crossing post race, directing traffic, texting and looking good. (R. Holler) 

After my finish I grubbed down a bit at Dogwood before I met Ryan who drove the van around to the finish area. He suggested hitting the shower but I didn't have a towel. He said just use some dirty clothes to dry off. It then dawned on me that there was a good use for that race sweatshirt after all. That shower was great as it fought the chill off and washed away most of the grime. I got dressed and drove the van back to the Dogwood crossing where Ryan had returned. He was now stopping traffic for runners. I joined in as best I could and tried to keep my legs from seizing up by shuffling my feet and lightly stretching here and there. It charged my tank to cheer on the runners whether they were finishing up 50 or heading back out for another 20 mile loop on the 100. Most were hitting loop 4, a few the final loop and a couple just loop 3. I had to think to myself how daunting a task it must have been to trudge on into those dark woods with all that muck and the chill settling in the park. From there I watched as Hal, then Karl and Oswaldo raced in to finish their races. David was calling with updates on his status. After he finished up I did for him what Ryan had done for me. That only seemed fair. Ryan had geared up and was down at Dogwood prepping to pace Tim for the final 40 miles of the 100. After I shoveled David into the van we began our return trip to Corsicana about 90 miles away. We stopped to fuel up and I thought to myself these people must be wondering what is wrong with these two guys getting gas. Why are they walking so funny? There definitely some looks. 

About half way home I really began to get tired. I couldn't tell you where but we gimped into a little gas station and I get myself a package of peanut butter crackers and a Starbucks coffee shake thing. I figured a little protein, some sugar and a dose of caffeine would do me good. I popped a cracker in my mouth and immediately felt the sting. On my last loop out at Park Road I opted for a cup of noodles. Without testing it I dumped half the cup in my mouth. I'm guessing the temperature at 300 degrees. The roof of my mouth and tongue was now burnt beyond hope and raw. The little bit of salt on that cracker just rubbed right in there. More good times. From then on I stuffed crackers in the sides of my cheeks, got a drink allowing them to soften up and then chewed with my molars. Back at my parents house we drug ourselves in and I collapsed on the sofa. It felt so good to take the weight off of my feet. Finally. I decided that the sofa would work fine. I could put my feet up on the back. I drifted off to sleep sometime after midnight. At 5 am dad woke me up accidentally not expecting me there. We chatted about the race and I ate a plate of eggs and a piece of that chocolate pie. Back to sleep this time in the bedroom. After sunrise we had a buffet of my farm fresh eggs I brought from Arkansas, more fruit, oatmeal, some sausage and potato casserole. And we told everyone of our adventures. David and I then headed out for a walk clocking about a mile around the block. It felt good to move. Along the way my sister drives by and stops. She had driven down from Dallas to get in on the action. Back at the house, dirty clothes into the wash and then more chatting. But this time it was about the adventure mom, dad and Philip had Saturday. They had gone to the safari park at Fossil Rim and baked a cake. The cake was actually a homework assignment and Philip got bonus points for actually making a cake.  Shortly after that Ryan sent a text that he and Tim were finished and he was headed this way. Congrats to Tim for grinding it out in his first hundred. We met up near the highway and headed back to the house. Mom was already fixing Ryan a plate of warm food. By now Ryan had been up for about 34 hours, most of it on his feet, through all that rain, crewed for me and David and Mike and paced and prodded Tim through the dark and mud all night. He deserved a plate of warm food. We even saved him a piece of pie. Well, half a piece.

Philip taking lessons from his Ninnie on the finer points of cake making. 

Before long it was time for us to push north. Ryan was asleep within minutes. We stopped in Dennison for Whataburger. These boys had never enjoyed a Whataburger before. Ryan woke up. He ate and then went back to sleep. David spilled my drink all over the floor. The old timers were giving us strange looks. I think it was Ryan's compression socks and leather shoes. Maybe it was my argyle hat. We made it to McAlester, OK before stopping again. I needed more caffeine and sugar. Philip and I found this cool machine that makes shakes. Next to it is a cooler full of different frozen shakes. You pick your flavor, pull the lid, put it in the machine, choose your setting (thin, regular or thick), push a button and there you have it. The machine mixes it all up. While paying for them we saw a guy buy a 4 foot long beef stick. No joke. It's called the Whippersnapper. Back in the van. Ryan is still sleeping. We check to make sure he is still breathing. Good to go. Back in Bentonville I kick David out at his house and then Ryan before Philip and I head out to our house in the sticks. Mission accomplished. 

It's great to be able to do something like run a 50 mile trail race. It's even better to share that with friends and family. My parents were so wonderful opening their home to me and my friends. It beats the hell out of a hotel any day of the week. Not to mention the home cooking. We even had a fresh sheet cake that mom and Philip made for us. Try getting that at La Quinta.

The Players

Mike Rush: Local running stud, owner of Rush Running and former member of the Razorback Track Team at the University of Arkansas. He got off course, logged some bonus mileage and still finished in the top ten with a time of 8:04:47. He says he's coming back for a shot at 7 hours flat. He wants some hardware.

Mike Rush celebrates with Miles after his Top 10 finish. (R. Holler)

David Newman: David committed early on and then was stricken with an ITB injury. I think over the last month his longest run was 10 miles? Yet he toed the line and gave it a shot. And damn if he didn't finish. All I know is that this dude must eat nails for breakfast.

David "Roll Tide" Newman (R. Holler)

Ryan Holler: Crew Cat Extraordinaire, Pacer, and all around Lead Cheer Person. Part Jedi, part wizard and all good. Ryan will downplay his role but he was a big part of our success. I know he had to cover at least 50 miles after standing on his feet all day.

Ryan "Gandolf" Holler, the Jedi takes a snooze after 34 hours.

Philip aka Felipe: This is the fourth time Philip has gone on a trip for a race with me and I always love having him around. He drew a Spartan, made us cake and sported that boss of a hat liked he owned it. And he finished all of his homework before we got home. How can you not love that?

My Parents: They rolled it out for our crew. It was a completely wonderful trip because of them opening their home to their half weird youngest child and his two crazy buddies. Good company, great food and more than comfortable accommodations. Next time, I want them down at the park. As nice as that hug was from Ms. Joyce at the finish, I want one from my momma and pops.

Mom & Pop, thanks for being a part of it all. Love you!

Rocky Raccoon Race Report

What do you get if you mix together miles of plush south Texas trails, a couple inches of rain and hundreds of trail nerds? The answer: Rocky Raccoon 2012. Part I of my report will be dedicated to the race itself. I'll reserve the road trip aspect of things to Part II. 

To start off it must be mentioned that course conditions were less than ideal. By no means am I complaining. After all, folks, this is trail running. However, for the uninitiated, what this means is that the conditions made this scamper exponentially more difficult to many a racer this weekend. I must also disclose that this was by far the largest trail race I have participated in to date. Rocky Raccoon was 20 years old this time around and for the first time registration was closed. In that regard I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. This was also the first time that I have been in a race that featured world class ultra runners. Like many, I have heard about how approachable these elite athletes can be. I can now attest that it's true. At the race briefing on Friday afternoon I had a chance, thanks to a running buddy, to meet Karl Meltzer. There was a line of folks that he worked his way through, taking time to shake hands and share words with each. At my last road marathon the elite runners were more or less quarantined from us regular folks, hauled around in private vehicles, had handlers and so forth. Later that night another in our group accidentally met Hal Koerner in our hotel lobby. He didn't recognize Hal due to that boss of a beard he was sporting. Thought he was just another runner and started chatting him up. When David asked the as yet unknown runner what his goal was for the 100 miles and the guy replied "about 13 hours" the gig was up. 

Dogwood, start of loop 2, photo by R. Holler

As we rolled into Huntsville State Park it had been raining for hours and there were no signs of it letting up. We arrived about 30 minutes prior to the start and ended up parking a mile from Dogwood. So we got to do a mile warm up jog down the park road. "Hey, we're going 50, what's one more?" Still raining we found refuge in a little corner of one of the tents. I saw runners decked out as if it were below 30 degrees and snowing. I saw some a guy in sandals ready to toe the line. And there were lots of trash bags being worn. Once it started we all scampered across the mat and headed out into the woods. Trying to keep pace among about 400 runners on a trail, in the rain, in low light conditions can be tricky. Especially when some folks found it necessary to keep their shoes dry by slowing down and tip toeing around puddles. It took a couple of miles before I could pick my way through and things got strung out enough to have some room. My strategy was to keep as even a pace as possible, that's what works for me. I had three goals for the race. Finish in under 12 hours, finish in under 10 hours and see how far I could push myself. I thought about having simply finishing as a goal at one point but decided, as Stuart Smalley would say, that is stinkin' thinkin'.

The "Bloody Nipple" shirt.

Once I found my happy place I quickly settled in got comfortable. The course is quite different from what I am used to up here in the Ozarks. It's wide single and double track stuff, mostly a sandy dirt mix, a few roots here and there, little elevation and only a handful of rocks. For us NWA GOATS this course is paradise. On the first loop I planned on being very chill and simply wanted to get a good look at the course, identify any potential obstacles and stay relaxed. And that's precisely what happened. I came back in at Dogwood in just over 3 hours for the roughly 16.5 mile loop. As promised, Ryan Holler was at Dogwood ready to pass out my goodies. My wish list was a Vespa, a Stinger waffle, 4 Gu gels and a few S! caps. After refilling my bottles I made the turn and headed back out for the second of three loops. Shortly into it I realized that I should have changed shoes. I started in Brooks Pure Grit and had the Saucony Peregrine as a back up. My feet were just starting to feel the miles but no way was I going to turn back. A change would have to wait. I told myself to focus on the task at hand and not to worry about the shoes or my feet. The second loop went much like the first and I came back to Dogwood at about 6 hours and 17 minutes. As I passed Ryan I asked him to get the shoes and a change of socks ready. Getting a pair of clean socks and dry shoes felt great. As I headed out for the final loop I knew breaking 10 hours would require some work. And I was headed into uncharted territory as my longest run to date had been 33 miles. I knew I would finish. The question was how quickly? By now my mantra was in high gear. I ended up reminding myself repeatedly to not be scared. That I wouldn't rig up and bonk. "Don't be scared to keep at it, do not slow down, yeah my feet kinda hurt but so what? Don't be a p*$$y." I condensed that down to simply, "Don't be scared." Despite sore feet and a hamstring getting sketchy all I needed to do to was pick 'em up and put 'em down. Through the next several miles everything continued to stay steady. Throughout the day I stayed on top of hydrating and fueling and had no GI issues. I did, however, suffer an injury. All the rain and miles had washed away my Slather by Skin Strong (which worked wonderfully on my feet). Like an idiot I forgot to pack any extra. I wouldn't have even noticed it except for a passing runner pointing and exclaiming "Bloody nipple!" I just flipped my shirt up over my head and behind my neck like we used to do while playing soccer as a kid and continued forward. At the first hint of a sour stomach about mile 40 I popped a ginger chew and knocked it out. The final pass through Park Road as I waited for one of the wonderful volunteers to fill my bottles my right leg seized up. I tried to jog it out but it refused. I looked at my Garmin and saw it was about .5 mile to reach 46 miles and decided to walk it out and reassess at that point. I used the extra time to take some deep breaths and get some fluids down. When the watch chimed in I started a jog up that incline and the leg responded as it should. My pace was slower than it had been those last few miles but that was OK. Admittedly, I was relieved to make that last left turn and see the finish up ahead. Ryan was ready and snapped some pics. But not before I slowed to put my shirt back down. Not only did I want my Rush Running shirt to show up in my finish line photo I wanted to spare my family the embarrassment of my shockingly pale belly in any said photo. A quick glance at the watch told me I could get 10h5min if I picked it up and I did. Of course, I met Joyce at the finish where she presented me with my finisher medal and gave me a warm hug. That was fantastic. 

Bringing it home, photo by R. Holler

Checking my Garmin data I am pleased with how steady I was able to keep my pace throughout the day on a sloppy course. I attribute that to a couple of different things. First, my training was pretty much spot on. I combined a schedule from Relentless Forward Progress and mixed it with some tidbits from fellow ultra runners to come up with my own. My focus was on long doubles over the weekend and of course plenty of elevation (compared to Huntsville) here in the Ozark foothills. I avoided hardtop and ran on trails as much as I could. There was no speed work (track stuff) but I did a "hot 6" or so every week. I did in training what I planned to do in the race. That meant two full bottles, one S! cap per hour and a Gu every 45 minutes for every run. I did ditch one aspect of my training and pre-race strategy. During most of my long runs (over 3 hours) I used regular walking breaks. I had set my Garmin to chime a time alert every 13 minutes and every mile. When I reached a mile I would walk until the time alert sounded and then kick off again. The reason I decided to forego that was personal preference. When I get tired I have found that getting back in gear after a walking break taxes my willpower. I didn't want to face the temptation of extending a break a little longer "just this time". So I would see how far I could run. Second, my hydration and fueling were spot on. I started early on the fluids and kept it going all day. Besides the gels (every 45 minutes), S! Caps (1 per hour) and waffles (1 per loop) I had something at every aid station. Chips or cookies, maybe some fruit, pretzels or noodles. I started off the race wearing a tech shirt and shorts, that's it. No jacket or gloves. Several miles into the race I saw people still sporting trash bags and thought how miserable I would have been doing that. One dude was even wearing a ski jacket. Seriously? For me, anything above 40 degrees I'm good with a shirt and shorts. I have to think that my attire helped to regulate my body temp and sweating better than wearing a big plastic bag around my core. 

Something that struck me during the race was how few runners actually ran uphill. And by uphill I mean slightly elevated inclines. Then I realized that if you live in Houston or other similar areas it's hard to find hills. Honestly, our guys would hesitate to even call them hills. I am fortunate in that on any given day I can go out and run Slaughter Pen, or Blowing Springs or Hobbs or Devils Den and easily get three, five, eight thousand feet of elevation change or more inside 24 miles on rocky, fairly technical terrain. It was a huge benefit that made the Rocky Raccoon hills and trail seem easy. Mike Rush was absolutely correct when he convinced me to run the Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon (9,000 ft of elevation change) a month before Rocky. He said that Rocky would seem like a piece of cake after that. Looking back I can see that ABF was a huge confidence booster. Read my race report for ABF here. The most difficult aspect of the hills was how slippery a couple got later in the day, traction was at a premium for sure. Perhaps doing hills regularly takes any hint of trepidation out of them too. 

In the end I am quite pleased with the result. Not only my time of 10:05:30 (especially on a sloppy course) but with how well my body did hold up and that my energy level never dipped low. Rocky Raccoon is full of great volunteers, is organized very well, is a fast course and a perfect first time event for a 50 or 100 miles. I give a huge shout out to everyone that was out there in any fashion or role. There were volunteers that spent up to 30 hours or more of their time making this happen. In the rain, mud and through the night. Complete strangers at road crossings that would cheer on the runners. Some of them I saw on every loop. 

Volunteering at Dogwood crossing, photo by R. Holler

After I finished and was cleaned up I found myself back at Ryan's spot on the road just up from Dogwood. As the sun set in the west and darkness fell upon Rocky, I took up his role crossing guard/cheer leader so he could prepare to pace Tim the final 40 miles of his adventure. I stayed there for about three hours until my buddy finished. As the runners passed by I was struck with how much grit it would require to make that turn into the woods, in the dark, on that water logged course to start another loop. And yet they kept coming. That's dedication. That kicks ass. That is why ultra trail running is simply epic.

The data: Garmin 305 showed 48.86 miles at 10:05:22 and about 6,500 ft of elevation change. Good enough for 53rd place out of 366 starters. I think I can do 9h15m on that course which might put me in the top 25 next year.

The gear: Brooks Pure Grit (33 miles) and Saucony Peregrine (17 miles). Balaga trail socks and Slather skin protectant from Skin Strong, I had zero blisters and one minimally bleeding nipple. Pearl Izumi shorts (love the zipper pockets), Pearl Izumi compression shorts (another zip pocket). Tech shirt (Rush Running) and tech hat (Inca Runners).

As a side note I performed a little test on my shoes. It seemed to me that my feet seemed to be less wet in the Peregrine compared to the Grit. This highly scientific examination consisted of putting my shoes in the bath tub and filling them with water (they needed to be cleaned anyway). Hands down the Peregrine emptied faster than the Grit. It wasn't even close. So there you go.

As always you can follow me on Twitter @RedDirtRunner

Cheers!

Update 02/07/2012
Got a post race massage today from Carlie at Excel Massage in Bentonville. This was a Thai Yoga style massage and I walked out feeling noticeably better. My left leg was rigged up tighter than a snare drum and my right calf/hamstring sore as hell. Carlie worked it out though.

Update 02/09/2012
I was talked into a run Wednesday morning by a couple of buddies. I felt I could do 5 or maybe 6 easy miles. The body was a little cranky getting started but it felt OK to be moving. At mile 6 the wheels flew off. Pain in my right foot. I was about 1.5 miles from my truck. I grinded out another mile before throwing in the towel. After getting back home I soaked my foot in an ice bath and then a hot epsom salt soak. The back of my right knee is also pretty sore.

Inca Runners Camp

A while back on my Twitter account I alluded to the possibility of an epic opportunity falling into my lap. It now appears as though things have fallen into place enough that I can make an official announcement. I have been tapped to be the resident cook, or chef (if you will), for the inaugural Inca Runners Training Camp. My friend and running buddy, Hugo Mendez, is the man in charge of marketing and PR for Inca Runners. Out of the blue he inquired about my interest in creating meals for the runners, at the camp... in the Grand Tetons... and I jumped at the chance. Who wouldn't? For starters, Krissy Moehl and Luke Nelson will be in attendance. Krissy is a two time winner of the UTMB and the youngest female to complete the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning which includes Western States 100, Leadville 100, Vermont 100 and the Wasatch 100. Luke is the reigning U.S. Ski Mountaineering Champion and placed 2nd at Wasatch 100 last year. This dynamic duo will acting as elite coaches at the camp. Not cool enough for you? How about UltrAspire President Bryce Thatcher as a keynote speaker? You know, the guy that founded Ultimate Direction and was the lead designer at Nathan. And he also holds a 25 year old record for the fastest ascent/descent of Grand Teton.

I must admit that I was more than a bit surprised when Hugo popped the question. I've never really thought of myself as a chef or even a kitchen wizard for that matter. I do, however, much like many runners, enjoy good food. Back when I was a kid I often hung out with my mom in the kitchen. Heck, I even recall watching Julia Childs and the Frugal Gourmet on PBS when those were the only cooking shows on TV. As much as I like food I am not fond of spending excessive amounts of time (or effort for that matter) preparing food. So I'm always keen on simple stuff that is fresh and tasty. I'm also a fan of healthy foods, especially following a minor medical scare of my own several years ago. After eating fast food crap for several months (this was during my last stint attempting to climb the corporate ladder) I packed on about 15 lbs, felt like crap and ended up with an ulcer and an inflamed liver. I vowed to never be that guy again. Since then I have made attempts to educate myself to be better at fueling not only myself but my family as well. In the process I am dabbled being vegetarian. While not 100% on that plan I seldom eat red meat and have eliminated most dairy from my diet. I do support buying local (love farmers markets) and supporting local growers. I sell free range, organic eggs fresh from our little farm. And I embrace eating whole foods as much as possible. Anyhow, from time to time I post on FB what I made for dinner and on occasion Hugo and have have discussed food while out on runs. Apparently he liked what he saw and heard. I'm flattered. When he did ask about the camp he also suggested that I post about stuff I make here on the Running Farmer blog. That's a good idea. Maybe once a week or so I will offer up something I created. Hopefully, most will be pretty good. I'm sure some will be not so good as I'm not afraid to try new things. Sometimes it works out and other times not so much. 

This one worked pretty damn good. One night last week the kids wanted pizza. Frozen pizzas are really crap for the most part and it's so easy to make at home I thought why not. The only problem was that it was getting late so there wasn't time to make dough from scratch. I checked the pantry and found some lavash bread. Lavash has it's roots in the Middle East and is made from just 3 ingredients: flour, water and salt. Think flat bread but very flexible, much like a tortilla. What I found in the pantry was a new bag of Joseph's brand lavash made with whole wheat flour, oat bran and flax seeds. Perfect for a thin crust pizza (my preference). A quick look in the fridge revealed a couple of marinara sauces to pick from, turkey pepperoni (the kids love it), some mushrooms, a green pepper, onion and plenty of cheese. For the kids I made a stuffed crust pizza by lining half of the lavash with pepper jack cheese before folding it over on itself. Then I added the turkey pepperoni and some shredded Italian cheese. For the adults, we got sliced veggies (pepper, onion, mushroom and garlic). Super easy to make and cooked up quick. Less than 30 minutes to prep, make and bake both pizzas. 

My plan for the camp is to keep things simple, fresh and as local as possible. I sound like Gordon Ramsey, right? So what do you think? Do you have any menu suggestions for the running camp? Let me know and make sure to check out the Inca Runners link for details on the camp. And as always you can follow me on Twitter @RedDirtRunner.

No Wonder He Can't Run Straight

Big Bison Ale from Crown Valley Brewing

If you have read the profile bit about me you know that I am an admitted beer snob. This is a far cry from my high school days back in Lake Forest and my college years (first at Texas A&M and then the University of Arkansas). Back then it was most certainly a case of quantity over quality. Stroh's, Keystone, Coor's or Miller was the choice. Whichever was on special at the bar or the liquor store. It wasn't until my trip to the U.K. about 12 years ago that I realized I was missing out on a world of goodness. The great thing about the trip was finding a pub on nearly every corner. Sometimes two or three. Alcohol is viewed quite differently there. It is customary to meet at the local pub after work for a pint or two with your mates. Folks aren't looking to get plastered, just to have an enjoyable time relaxing and unwinding after a day at the job. I got to try so many different beers. Beers with actual flavor and character. And that was the beginning of me turning into a beer snob. I have not had a mass produced domestic beer since 2005. There are literally thousands of great brews out there waiting to be discovered. And I have found that I really enjoy uncovering some little known microbrew and trying out regional offerings. If I can keep it local, all the better. Not that the Ozarks is a bastion of brewing but there are some pretty good ales available that have a local connection. With that said, here are some beers that I have had recently and a quick thought on each. 

The Big Bison Ale (above) comes out of Crown Valley Brewery located in St. Genevieve, MO so it's pretty local. It's a Belgian Dubbel with a rich, ruby red color and as the name implies, is big on flavor. Malty caramel notes and bold this requires your big boy pants. Not for guzzling, just sit back, relax and enjoy. These guys offer an entire line of excellent brews and have a nice website. Check it out. 

Schlafly American IPA

Next up, out of St. Louis, MO, is this great little American IPA from Schlafly aka The St. Louis Brewery. I love IPAs, a lot of runners love IPAs. This one is no disappointment. Hoppy, slightly bitter and a touch of citrus. Hard to go wrong here. Perfect post run beer. 

Petrus Aged Ale

This one was unique. Aged Ale from Petrus out of Belgium. Great aroma and a complex taste. Think a little sour and tart like citrus, quite acidic. I kept thinking there were hints of a cider and/or champagne flavor going on with this. I wouldn't hesitate to have more of this. Like the Big Bison this one is for enjoying slowly. 

Avery India Pale Ale

Finally, a traditional IPA from Avery Brewing out of Denver. The story goes that back in the 1700s it was discovered that extra hops and a higher alcohol content helped to preserve the beer during long sea voyages to India. Thus, the name IPA. As such, this one is hoppy, citrusy and full of flavor. I have long been a fan of Avery and this is one reason why. Good stuff. 

I should also note that I never thought of beer being good immediately after a race. That is, until lately. Following my first DNF last November at Turkey n Taturs I had a cooler of beers to share with the group. I was bonked out but popped that top anyhow. It tasted great. Duh! But the funny thing was how quickly I felt better. Was it the beer or the two two hotdogs that did it? Then earlier this month following the brutal Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon I did it again. Guess what? It tasted good too. And I felt better than I should have after that insane course. So, beer will now be a staple post race. Seriously, it may be the high carb content that is being ingested immediately after crossing the finish line that does it. I'm sure the alcohol content doesn't hurt feeling good either. 

So how about you? What's your favorite brew and what are your thoughts on a celebratory/recovery beer?

Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon Race Report

"It's 3:00 AM, time to warm up the burritos and put your trail shoes on."

That's how my morning started last Saturday, January 7th. A crew of NWA GOATS were meeting at 0400 hours to make the trip down to the Ouachitas near Mena, AR. to take on the legendary yet little known ABF Trail Marathon. This race features a full pull marathon and the Blaylock Creek Fun Run clocking 17 miles. I had volunteered to make a pile of breakfast burritos and muffins to get us off to a good start. The rally point was, surprise, Rush Running in Bentonville. The best damn running store, period. If you are not familiar with the ABF do yourself a favor and hit the link above. Then click on the part that says "Click here if you have never run this run before!" Do it now, then come back and finish up here....

OK, so it is clear what is to be expected, right? More on that later. Back to the trip down. Our driver, Stephen O'Neal, was gracious enough to not only drive four of us down but also provided a viewing of Unbreakable for our pre race entertainment. What better way to get amped up for an epic trail run? I mean c'mon, breakfast burritos and that film. The movie did not disappoint, a great race amid spectacular trails. We arrived with plenty of time to change, register, stretch out and get ready. The weather was great, I would guess low 40s, a bit humid and no wind. Checking in was a very laid back process. Sign a waiver/registration sheet, pick up your number, make a donation to the Big Fork Community fund and chill out with some friendly trail nerds from across the region. I met folks from Texas, Louisiana and Kansas. After I race briefing we met out front for a group photo. Then we toed the line and were off.

That's me approaching the TATUR aid station on the out portion. Photo by TATUR.

The first few minutes are spent on asphalt getting to the gravel road that leads to the trail head. Altogether there is about 2.5 miles of easy running before hitting the trail. Just gentle rolling ups and downs. The single track leading to the first aid station about 4 miles in was very straight forward. Nothing too strenuous. The TATURs from Tulsa had the initial aid station going down. As always, TATUR does things right. Offering to refill bottles, plenty of good trail grub, music and words of encouragement. Leaving the AS it is a short distance before hitting the first steep climb (not too technical) before descending back down through some sketchy stuff. This section of the trail was pretty overgrown so bushwhacking was in order. As was giving some distance to the runner in front of you or paying the price with a branch swinging back and hitting you where it counts. After a water crossing it was another steep climb, this one a little higher before another wickedly steep downhill (also a little longer) and more water. And then, guess what, another peak to summit and descend and more water before aid station number two at 8.5 miles. This was the turnaround for the Fun Run. Along the way to this point there had been several downed trees across the trail. Most of them large enough to force a break in stride going downhill given the rocky trail. Leaving the AS there is more climb and then a nasty downhill and more water before the killer. At least for me it was. It was steep, it was rocky, it was wet and oh so long. By this point Tom "Slow" Lane and I had been playing leap frog. I would pass him going up (power hiking) and he would fly by me descending. For a guy his size he has some light feet, just danced down that stuff. I'm jealous. So we would check on each other while passing and more or less stayed together on the one section of flatter trail that goes along the creek bed. Before the race started we pretty much had the same time goal in mind so I thought it was a good thing for us to push and pull one another. Eventually we made it to the final peak before the turnaround. In an event with such a small starting group it was nice to have somebody to run with for a while. Especially a true GOAT like Tom.

Crossing the top was strange. The other side was draped in fog. It was like walking into a cloud. The final AS before the turn was manned by a group of runners from Texarkana. And they had chicken noodle soup. Very nice. Tom and I hung out for a few minutes enjoying the break before I got antsy and headed back. I figured he would catch me on the next descent. Unfortunately I never saw him again until after I finished. I passed a few runners on the next couple of climbs and hooked up with Todd from Louisiana. We paced each other for a few miles before getting off course and earning some free bonus distance. Maybe a mile, perhaps a bit more. We missed a hard left coming out of a creek crossing and continued on a rough road before realizing the mistake. All in all we maybe lost 20 minutes overall. On the way back to the trail we picked up two more runners before getting back on track. Todd and I continued together going up, down and getting wet before he pulled away on the descent before the next to last aid station at about 18 miles.

Soaking my feet for a moment coming back at TATUR station. Again, photo by TATUR.

I was trying my best to keep up with him but my quads were trashed. I simply couldn't go downhill with any speed at all. Not that I'm good at that to begin with but I was actually faster on flat stuff than downhill at this point. My hamstrings were also at the point of burning on the climbs and I'm sure I had slowed there too. That may have been part of the reason (trying to not lose Todd) that it happened. On one of those large downed trees across the trail I broke my rule of not stepping on top of an obstacle. I decided to jump on top and glide over so I didn't break my rhythm. My plant foot slid right off and I proceeded to have a spectacularly colossal yard sale. My hands took the brunt of the fall. Fortunately my handheld bottles provided some cushion. The landing was hard enough that the top of my left bottle was blown off and all the fluid was gone. The other one was OK but was also all but empty now. A physical inventory showed no real damage. A cut on my left ankle, bruise on left arm, dirt here and there but all the parts that were supposed to move still did. I retrieved my bottle top, worked it back on and continued the short distance to the aid station where I refilled, grabbed some grub (down to the pick over offerings) and motored onward.

Tom "Slow" Lane (white shirt/red hat) and Stephen O'Neal (blue shirt) 

It was then I realized that my legs no longer felt sore. They had moved on to numb. Which in a way was good. My mind didn't have to fight that demon of pain any longer. Now I simply had to focus on pace and actually moving my legs. It was as if I had lost an ever so slight amount of motor control. I stuck with the game plan of power hiking the climbs and doing my best going down. Before the next AS I caught up with Todd and another runner (one that got lost with us earlier) also fell in with us. We slogged over the last couple of peaks but I nearly lost visual of them on the final descent. At the final AS run by TATUR I quickly filled my bottles, grabbed some Pringles and a couple of Fig Newtons and headed out. I was determined to not lose these two guys. For one reason I thought it would help me keep pace and another was to hopefully not get off course again. Safety in numbers I guess. At least I wouldn't be lost alone. I managed to keep them in sight and coming out of the trees and back onto the gravel road they had a quarter mile of more on me. I knew at this point that not only would I finish but I would come in under my expected time. I also knew that I could push it and hurt for the next 2.5 miles back to the finish. And I knew there was cold beer there. I stopped to empty my bottles (less weight) and put my head down. I ran about an 8:30 min/mile pace on those roads passing them and reaching the end in 6h38m. At the finish was a group of runners, most of whom I did not know, to cheer me home. After a quick sit down break and a change of clothes, I grabbed my beer and joined them to cheer in more finishers. Pay it forward.

NWA GOATS (L to R) Me, Shannon McFarland, Jody Lingbeck, Ryan  "Gandolf" Holler, Tom "Slow" Lane and our driver, Stephen O'Neal (4th place overall) pose post race in front of the Big Fork Community Center.

The details: I wore my Saucony Peregrine trail shoes and felt they performed quite well. Balaga trail socks did OK. No blisters but they retained water from the creek crossings more than I would have liked. I went through 7 Gu gels, 6 S! Caps, various trail grub (ate a every aid station, the chicken noodle soup really hit the spot) and plenty of fluids. I carried one bottle of water and the other electrolyte drink (Gatorade or Heed). I had a slightly sour stomach from the start that lasted about an hour and then settled down. It stayed away until the last gel (Gu Jet Blackberry) with about 45 minutes left. My post race snack was a banana chia seed muffin and a cold Mustang Winter Ale. I logged 27.27 miles according on my Garmin 305 with 4,262 ft of ascent and 4,881 ft of descent. Not sure how that worked out but that's what it shows. My feet hurt, quads trashed, hamstrings fatigued, back hurt but I did good. At no point did the thought of dropping cross my mind. For that matter neither did the thought of stopping for more than a few minutes at aid stations. The longest being the soup stop. I simply kept moving. Jogging when I was able and walking where the course demanded. The conventional wisdom is to double your best marathon time. I beat that by about 1 hour. The website claims 7.1 miles of climbing with an average grade of 12%. The disclaimer is no joke. This is the hardest course I have run. Period. After the first peak it is an exercise of repetition. Up, down, water, repeat 7 more times. As soon as my legs really began burning from a climb it was time for a downhill. By the time they were ready to surrender from that it was back up again. I stopped briefly a couple of times in the creek to allow the cold water to run over my shoes. That felt good. I asked a few of the veteran trail runners if they had been on a tougher course. Each one answered no. This is the real deal. It may "only be 26.2 miles" but it is a full on kick in the nuts. If you want to test your mettle and see where you stand, come down to Big Fork next year and find out. This was, hands down, the most epic run I have had yet. 

The elevation chart from my Garmin for a portion of the course.

Ryan "Gandolf" Holler, always light and smooth.

The aftermath: Two days removed from ABF my body is doing OK. My left leg (with the torn meniscus) is actually pretty good. My right leg is still sore, especially my calf, makes me walk funny. I haven't run since Saturday but I have tried to move around, albeit slowly, as much as possible. I haven't had to go down stairs backwards yet and I haven't found myself stuck on the toilet. Back to training for Rocky Raccoon tomorrow with a nice and easy recovery run.

Aaron "Bulldog" Denson looking strong.

01/10/2012: I just tried a test jog at the house this morning. No dice. My right leg (quad/calf) nearly buckled. So I will scrap the plans for a run and opt instead for a hike around the art trail out at Crystal Bridges Museum.

Shannon McFarland having fun.

01/20/2012: The week following ABF I somehow managed about 35 miles. But it was ugly. Legs were dead, no pop at all even on short runs. I threw down 18 miles of hardtop yesterday and 10 miles of trail today and finally feel my legs are back. Just in time for the RR50 taper.

Jody "Mama GOAT" Lingbeck, always smiling. 

*Follow me on Twitter @RedDirtRunner*

All race photos on this post are courtesy of TATUR Russell Bennett.

Brandon BG Gardner (L) and Mike Rush (R) in the white singlets

2011 Wrap Up & Gear Review

I trust that everyone had a great holiday season. I say "holiday" because that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years. Were you able to keep up with your running the last couple of months? I sure did as I logged a bunch of miles to close out 2011. November tallied almost 200 miles and I crushed December, just shy of 250 miles. Included in that is a New Years Eve training run of 50k at Hobbs State Park. How ridiculous is that? 31 miles for a training run? Sweet. The total mileage for the final week was 65. Bam! Better yet, the now 43 year old body is holding up pretty good too. Likely a result of averaging two off days per week and incorporating some core work. Of course all of that running is in preparation for the Rocky Raccoon 50 miler next month. 

I have some new gear I wanted to throw out initial opinions on for you. I was stoked to have a chance to pick up a brand new Salomon XA10+3 hydration pack for cheap. Like under $40 cheap. Somebody call the police because that is a steal on a bag that retails for about $90. I have used it a couple of times and it is infinitely better than my Camelbak Lobo. A smart design that feels secure and offers plenty of room for a long unsupported run. It features a 70 oz roll top bladder with neoprene sleeve on the exposed drinking tube. The neoprene sleeve keeps fluids cold in the summer and prevents freezing in the cold. The bite valve is unique, not quite as easy to use as the Camelbak but works just fine. There are a few different open external pockets for storage if needed and plenty of room in an internal compartment that easily expands if desired. One downside is a lack of storage on the front, just the straps up here. The other will likely just take some practice to get used to and that is refilling the bladder. Sliding the clip off the top of the bladder takes a bit more time than the screw top Camelbak. I'm sure with a few more tries it will become second nature. 

And to gear up for colder winter weather that (knock on wood) hasn't really hit yet, I picked up a pair of Salomon Exo XR Tights from the iRunFar store as an birthday present to myself. Bryon Powell ran an irresistible Cyber Monday sale so I was able to pick these up at about 40% off regular retail. Designed as a base layer I use them as a stand alone outer layer and they are quite nice. Very comfortable fit wise and good down into the 20 degree range so far. As a bonus these feature the Exo technology weave to provide a decent amount of compression. Now don't mistake these for compression gear. In my humble opinion they are not but there is some there. The cool thing about the compression is that it doesn't feel like compression but I can see it and I know it is there. And if you like you can get these in bright yellow. I dare you. 

And I also got my hands on a new jacket from Brooks, the Nightlife Jacket II in vibrant green. Love this jacket. High visibility (day or night), fitted sizing, breathable and lightweight. I have worn this almost exclusively for weeks now and love it for anything below 32 degrees. Wind and water resistant too. And the best part? Thanks to a running buddy that is a member of the Brooks ID Team I also scored this at 40% off retail. It pays to know people sometimes. 

And finally I have a pair of Ultra Lite liner gloves from Pearl Izumi at Rush Running. I hate cold hands but don't care for bulky gloves at all. These seemed like a good option for all but the coldest weather around here. Quite thin but block the breeze pretty good, don't hold moisture and have performed well for just about anything over 20 degrees. And cheap too, under $15, so if I lose one it's no big deal. I take these with me whenever I leave the house for a run in cool weather. If I need to remove them they easily fit into a pocket. My two other must haves for this weather are a good hat and arm sleeves. I got a pair in the swag bag at TCM Marathon. Never used any before. Think leg warmers for your arms. These are incredible. They allow me to run sans jacket down to 32 degrees. Just pull the sleeves up. And after the temps start to rise I can simply pull them down halfway or all the way to my wrists to cool down. And they make great booger wipers too if you're not a fan of the snot rocket technique. 

In closing, I thought I would post my tentative 2012 race schedule. I put it down in writing last night and this is what it looks like. That's nearly 325 miles of racing distance. Booyah!

Jan 7th Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon (Bring your big boy panties)

Feb 4th Rocky Raccoon 50 Mile Endurance Run (Get some!)

Mar 31st Bentonville Running Festival Half Marathon (Hometown run Rush style)

Apr 21st Ouachita Trail 50 (Why not, killer medal)

May 19th Joplin Memorial Half Marathon (Love for the 417)

June 2nd Hobbs War Eagle Tail Twister 50k (Redemption)

Aug War Eagle Heritage 5k (Sub 21 minute?)

Sep Run For a Child 10k (Another age group medal?)

Sep Winslow Half Marathon (Red dirt road running)

Oct Chili Pepper XC 10k (The baddest 10k XC race in the nation)

Oct Bass Pro Dogwood Canyon 50k (Great event, tough course)

Nov Turkey & Taturs 50k (To finish what I started)