Blue Ridge Marathon weekend 2016

Hey Kids,

So this will be my final post as an official Blue Ridge Marathon blogger, for this time around at least. I might keep making blog posts after races in the future, but I'm not sure yet. As it stands now, I'm not scheduled to race again until July 2nd (the Finger Lakes 25K), so I have some time to think about it. Anyway, this will probably be a long one, so let's jump right in.

Preamble
I decided to run this race coming off of a foot injury last July. It was my first injury in eight years, so I can't complain too much, but it still felt like a comeback of sorts for me. I considered myself officially "in training" for this race specifically starting on January 4th of this year, and I went on to string together 13 consecutive 100+ mile weeks (the highest being 117 miles) and rack up over 78,000 feet of elevation gain. There were a few things I did differently this time around versus both my training for the 2014 race and my training in general. A big one is that I started running my easy runs more slowly. There were several races over the past couple of years where I showed up on race day with tired legs (specifically, Philly Marathon 2014, Broad Street Run, Vermont City Marathon, and Oktoberfest 13.1 2015). I used to never run any of my runs slower than 6:30-6:40 per mile pace, but after researching various successful runners, coaches, and exercise physiologists, I decided to give running more slowly on my easy runs a shot. In addition to feeling fresher for my hard workouts and being able to consistently maintain a higher training volume with less wear and tear, it also made my easy runs more enjoyable. Specifically, it allowed me to focus my mental energy on learning on the lyrics to Hamilton. And I listened to Hamilton a lot, you guys.

"Outrun. Outlast. Hit 'em quick, get out fast."

For this race specifically, in light of the course change between 2013 and 2014 (i.e. more hills in the later miles of the race), I planned my long runs so that I was running up and down big hills the entire time, up to and including the final mile. I did all of my race-specific long runs on the hills of Roxborough and Manayunk, which, while not as long as Roanoke Mountain or Peakwood, are 1/2-3/4 of a mile in length and plenty steep. My longest training run was 26.5 miles, with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain, so I was ready to race hard over the later stages of BRM if I had to.

For serious.

I ran my final long run 12 days before the race and then engaged in a short but drastic taper. I went from averaging 15-16 miles a day for almost four months to averaging 4-5 miles a day. As has become the routine, Jeannine had to deal with the ensuing hyperactivity and weirdness from me, but it was at least slightly tempered by my working on my PhD thesis and finishing up my experiments. I'm sure it still got pretty weird though.

Jeannine and I both got the Friday before the race off from work, so we got on the road from Philly to Roanoke at around 8:00 am (although, unlike in "Wagon Wheel," no nice long tokes were had), and we embarked on our now-predictably podcast-laden journey. This time around, among other things, was Common Room Radio's episode about Harry Potter. The episode was two hours long, so it naturally took four hours for us to get through it due to the pausing and shouting and emoting, much to the surprise of no one at all. 

I recommend it highly.

We got to the Hotel Roanoke in the late afternoon, checked in, and walked to the downtown area to pick up my race packet and score some food and post-"this fucking drive is some fucking bullshit" beer.  

We did so successfully, and after my not consuming any alcohol for a couple of weeks leading up to the race, one good IPA actually helped me relax post-drive, pre-race quite appreciably. I, of course, didn't stop at the one, but "America's Toughest Road Marathon" is not an event that favors the moderate. It was around this time that I saw Pat Woodford stroll by. I made sure to loudly shit-talk so that he heard me, and then he came over and greeted Jeannine and me. While he and I have been interacting online for over a year now, this was the first time we had met in person. He's taller and skinnier and definitely built more like a natural runner than I am (this would become more apparent going up Roanoke Mountain the following morning when he was taking two steps for every three that I took). He was accompanied by Florida-based runner Tyler O'Brien, who went on to win the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. Winning that event while training in Florida is impressive, to say the least. We talked to them for a bit, then we met up with Jeannine's parents, who arrived in Roanoke one day prior. We got some light fare dinner, then headed back to our hotels. Jeannine and I got a round at the hotel bar then headed up to our room to get some sleep before the big day. 

Race Day

The gun was set to go off at 7:35 am, so I woke at 5:00 am, had some coffee and a turkey sandwich (don't judge) and eased into being mobile. Our hotel was a little over half a mile from the start line, so I figured that Jeannine and I could walk there and find our meeting spot, and then I could jog around, let my legs wake up, and I could use our hotel bathroom before jogging to the start line ready to race. I got there just before the gun, shook hands with Pat and Tyler, among others, and I was ready to run. We went through the first mile in around 6:00 flat, not bad considering that the last quarter-mile was uphill. Also, don't worry, this is the last mile split you'll get since the rest are irrelevant, lost to the shit show of chronic thigh abuse called the Blue Ridge Marathon. Pat and I ran side-by-side for basically the first seven miles, along with Will from Charlottesville (he was from DC according to the race registration, but he was wearing a Ragged Mountain Running Shop shirt and said he was from Charlottesville, so I'm going with that). My goal was to maintain a constant effort and then accelerate in the final 4-5 miles if I needed to. 

Will, Pat, and Me. I'm carrying a cup from the aid station and am happy to report that I didn't litter once during the race. You're welcome, Earth.

Pat took off in the final couple of miles of Roanoke Mountain. He ended up winning the King of the Mountain award, given to the first person to the top of Roanoke Mountain, and he got there about 100 yards ahead of me. Once we started the descent, Pat slowed down a lot. I figured something was wrong (I found out later that he had been suffering from a sinus infection for about a week), but I went past him and took the lead for a few miles, not changing effort, just trying to stay loose for the later miles. Then, at around mile 14, Will took off past me pretty hard. I was still maintaining a fairly consistent effort, and with 12 miles left to run, I figured he would either slow down or I had no chance of catching him. Fortunately for me, the former ended up being true, and I started gaining ground on him as we ascended Peakwood. I caught him at around mile 18, and I tried to not spend myself too much at the moment since I still had eight miles and plenty of smaller but formidable hills to run. I stayed steady with my effort, and as I headed back into Roanoke, the crowd support increased. Given the degree of my preparation regarding how much I was ready to throw down over the last 10K (my Philly is showing a little bit), honestly, the last six miles or so felt like a victory lap. I knew that it was going to get hot that day, and I hydrated well and early, so I don't even think I took anything from the aid stations after mile 20. Knowing that this was also going to be the first time that my dad was going to meet Jeannine's parents and, to the concern of The Universe, the first time that all of our parents would be in the same place at once, it was really nice to be able to roll into the final straightaway knowing that they would all get to see me win. If I didn't win, it still would've been a great occasion, but the winning helped, for my own ego at least. Also, I broke Misashi Shirotake's course record, which I saw him set from my couch last year. 

Also, the race spawned this picture, which I kind of want on my tombstone. 

Into the final straightaway, I saw an arm sticking out with a familiar Harley-Davidson V-twin engine tattooed on it (it was attached to a familiar red/gray beard and Coke bottle glasses). I got to high-five my dad en route to breaking the course record on America's Toughest Road Marathon. I gave some interviews to WDBJ7 and the Roanoke Times, and then I went to meet the family. We all got lunch, eight strong (Janet, Dave, Jeannine, Mammaw, Sis, Dee, Pop, and me- all repeat offenders on this blog). We had an awesome, indulgent meal, then they all took off just as Michael (another repeat offender on this blog) arrived from Knoxville. No vans on fire this time around, luckily. 

After lunch, we headed to the awards ceremony. Pat received his third place awards (after toughing it out through a sinus infection, mind you) and his King of the Mountain shirt. I received my awards, including a sweet Tag-Heuer Aquaracer wrist watch (bling of the mountain, if you will), and a bag of other goodies. 

After saying goodbye to the family who traveled north on I-81 to watch the race, Michael, Jeannine, and I went to the Hotel Roanoke bar, had a round, and then finished up the night in our hotel room where Michael, once again, introduced us to something funny from the internet. We sipped on bourbon and watched Axe Cop, and we were driven to tears over the course of several episodes. 

We got to sleep relatively early, then got on the road by 8:00 am the next morning. We picked up Dr. Peter Venkman from boarding and headed back to Philly where I completed a super slow, super ugly two-mile run. 

I actually ended up not needing to take any days off of running. I've gone back to running twice a day since yesterday, and my legs seem to be OK with it. I am going to give it until next week until I start doing long runs again, but I'm excited to get back at it. Between now and my next race, presumably, I will have finished and defended my thesis, so graduate school will more or less be behind me. 

I must say that this will be one of the last things I do on social media until I finish my thesis. I'll return in anywhere from four to 65 weeks (probably closer to four though). The best way to reach me will be through email or text. It was a lot of (sometimes painful) fun preparing for and competing in this race, and I had a lot of good times along the way. I'll be back in a few months. Until then, have fun, guys.

Cheers,

Jeff

Six Days Until Race Day

Hey Kids,

This should be a relatively short entry. There's not a lot to report since I haven't raced since Naked Bavarian, but I said in my last entry that I would write at least one more time before BRM, so here we are. I'm in the throes of tapering for the race, so the usual jumpiness and weirdness that come from drastically reducing one's training volume after a prolonged period of high-volume training are starting to set in. This time around, at least, it comes at a really good time for me, as I am in the middle of writing my PhD thesis. The extra time I have each day is being put to good use. I got through my whole training cycle free of injury, and with a lot of solid workouts, races, and long runs under my belt. Since beginning this training cycle in early January, I have logged over 1,400 miles and more than 78,000 feet in elevation gain (23 times the elevation gain of BRM). I came out of the training cycle feeling pretty good, but I'm sure my legs welcome a bit of rest before heading to Roanoke to once again take on "America's Toughest Road Marathon" and, among others, Roanoke-based runner Pat Woodford.

In other news, Jeannine and I recently got to go to Chicago for the first time so that I could attend a conference. We got to see the sites and have some deep dish pizza, hot dogs, and local beer (I kept Goose Island in business). And of course I did the running geek thing and took some selfies while I was on my runs.

So that's pretty much it for now. The legs are feeling good, I'm feeling rested, and I'm excited to once again take on the mountains of Roanoke.

And of course this entry wouldn't be complete without a picture of Dr. Peter Venkman. 

The People's Champion indeed.

Oh! And one more thing. This year, there is actually a free, downloadable app for the race. Just search for "Blue Ridge Marathon '16" on the app store of your device. It has live runner tracking, live streaming of race coverage, maps, event details, and more. The race will also once again be streaming online and, if you're in the local viewing area, will be broadcast live on WDBJ 7. Alright, see you on the other side.

Have fun,

Jeff

Naked Bavarian 20-Mile

Hey Kids,

So last Sunday, I ran what might be my last race before the 2016 Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon. In its second year, the Naked Bavarian is a race put on by the good people at UberEnduranceSports, who always put on a great event. This is my fourth UES event (after the Rumpsringa 13.1 in 2014, and the Oktoberfest 13.1 the last two years), and I have the cuckoo clocks to show for it.

The best thing to come out of the black forest since their delicious ham.

The "naked" part of the race title simply means that there is no t-shirt (although my shorts were pretty short, you guys). The goal from the point of view of UES was that they wanted to put on a low-cost, no-frills race in light of rising race registration fees that are creeping into trail running. Around 500 of us were on board with that.

The race was comprised of three events: 20 miles, 26.2 miles, and 40 miles. There was a staggered start: 40-milers starting at 8:00 am, marathoners starting at 8:30 am, and 20-milers starting at 9:00 am. Since the race was a little over an hour from Philly, we got to sleep until an almost normal person's time in our own bed the night before a race, which is always fantastic. 

On our drive there, to psychologically prepare for the race, I did what any serious endurance competitor would do: I queued up "No Scrubs." Then, after a good three-mile warm-up, it was time to race. Race anyone. 

"Against God himself, if you're good enough."

This was another race in the midst of a 100+ mile week (my 9th in a row), so the jury was out on how my legs would feel. Fortunately, once I got going, things started to click pretty early. My legs felt relatively springy, given the mileage I had been putting in.

 I got off to a nice lead early, and then within the first 20 minutes or so, started running into full marathoners who started at 8:30. From that point on, I was seldom completely alone on the course, which was nice. The first aid station was at around 3.5 miles, but since I almost never consume anything on my long runs (it has to be over three hours and/or over 90 degrees), I decided that I would avoid using the aid stations if I could (which I did successfully). The course was a lollipop course consisting of 10K out, then a seven mile loop, then re-tracing the first 10K in the opposite direction. The full marathoners had an additional 10K loop tacked on that the 20 and 40 milers didn't have to run. The split was at the second aid station, and since I already got lost in one trail race this year, I made damned sure that I went the right way. There were a few steep uphills, followed by some steep downhills, so I was getting to put my BRM hill training to good use. I ran with my phone and used the GPS function of the Strava  app, so I was able to track all of my splits and the elevation. All of the hills I encountered were smaller than what I run up and down every week in Roxborough and Manayunk, except for one really long and steep hill in the middle of the race. 

It's the giant middle finger of the elevation profile. 

The mile with that hill in it was a 7:26, and this was my slowest of the race. There were also a lot of nice, relatively flat sections in the middle, and I was able to run quite a few of the middle miles in the 5:40's, which is not bad for trails. As with all of the UES races, this one was really well marked, and the rest of the face was delightfully uneventful (except that I passed a runner who was dressed like the Pope). The only hiccup that I encountered was when I thought I had passed the last aid station and thus thought I only had 3.5 miles left to run. I kicked it in for a few minutes, only to encounter a hill that I remember being between the aid stations. I thought this meant that I still had another aid station to go and then would have another 3.5 miles. I backed off the pace accordingly, but then, fortunately, a few minutes later, I passed a couple of 40 milers who said I only had a mile to go. It turns out I was right the first time and had already passed the final aid station. This was a giant relief, and I was able to pick it up through the remainder of the trail section, and then the short road section leading into the park. I was expecting there to be the normal finish line applause and the guy with a camera and the race director with a clip board taking down my time (since this was not a chip timed race), but encountered none of this. Since last year's winner finished in 2:45 and the clock currently said 2:11:something, they weren't expecting any finishers for a while. The finish line is one of those banners that is raised with a hand crank, and it was only about five feet off the ground at the time, so I had to duck to get under it. After a few seconds of confusion, the race director realized I had finished, and fortunately another guy at the finish line was paying attention to the clock, and they were able to take down my time. I also texted Jeannine to let her know I had finished, since she wasn't expecting me yet either and was still in the car with the dog. I ended up first overall in a course record 2:11:11. The finish line photography was also not set up yet.

Dramatization. 

The Strava app said I had run exactly 21 miles, but races being a little longer than advertised is not uncommon in trail races. I later heard from other runners that the 20 mile course was 21 miles, but the marathon course was exactly 26.2. Anyway, as is the case at all UES events, I was directed to the picnic tables where food was being prepared. I had knockwurst on a bun with sauerkraut and a potato pancake with apple sauce. Everything was just off-the-rails delicious. I got to speak to the 2nd place finisher, Evan, who said he was getting back into running after through-hiking the Appalachian Trail last Summer (South-to-North), and we were then joined by Tim, the 3rd place finisher. After speaking to them, I grabbed a bowl full of mini candy bars and Fig Newtons, and Jeannine, Dr. Peter Venkman, and I hopped into the car and headed back to Philly. Once we got back, I got a three mile jog in on the trails just to stretch my legs out. It was a hot mess at first, but after the first half mile or so, my legs started to feel better, and I felt much better afterward, no matter what that jerk Pat Woodford says.

Anyway, I'm now in the heaviest part of my training cycle and will probably hit around 110 miles this week and for the next few weeks after that before resting up for BRM. There is a local 4-mile race that's six days before BRM, so I might jump into that, depending on how my legs feel. One way or another, I'll have at least one more entry prior to the big day. I believe that's all I got for now. 

Have fun,

Jeff

1st and last place at the NJ Trail Series 15K. Springettsbury 10K

Hey Kids,

It's been a couple of months since my last post, but since my last post, I hadn't raced any until a couple of weeks ago.

NJ Trail Series "15K"

I put the distance in quotes because it wasn't one of the distances offered. There was a 5K, 10K, and half marathon. I got free entry into this race because I won the half  in November. I was going to run on January 23rd, but Winter Storm Jonas put a stop to those plans both for me and the race organizers. As such, the January race was rescheduled to February 6th. On a positive note, during the snow storm, I got to go on a 20-mile run, where I acquired possibly my most epic ice beard to date.

It was weird to feel my face just get heavier over the course of the run.

Then when I finally got to run the race, it had snowed a couple of days before, and the trails were entirely covered with snow. They did their best to mark the snow with orange spray paint to indicate which direction runners from each distance were supposed to take, but it turns out that people interact with said snow with their feet, and sometimes the paint markings don't survive. My legs felt good, and I got out to a solid early lead. Then, after I thought I was getting near the end of the first 10K loop, I ended up approaching some spay painted arrows from the wrong direction. Shortly thereafter, I started running into other runners, presumably running the 10K, which started a half-hour after the half marathon. At that point, I knew my race was shot. I basically then just followed the other runners, and since I wasn't the first runner anymore, the path I was supposed to take was becoming pretty well trodden. I had my phone with me and used the Strava app's GPS function. By the time, I got back to the start/finish area, I had covered 9.1 miles.

"I'm prepared to hold this pace for anywhere from 40 minutes to six hours."

 I decided that since Jeannine, along with our friends Peter and Jena, was waiting for me, I didn't want to run another 40-700 minutes in the woods while they waited. I was also just really annoyed. So at that point I decided I was just going to be the first and last place finisher in the 15K. I ran another six miles after we got back to Jena's house, and then we all got to just hang out and have beer and pizza, so it ended up being a good day. 

Then this past weekend, Jeannine and I made our way to York, PA, the hometown of Valerie, a repeat offender on this blog. Val and I had both signed up for the Springettsbury 10K, which is part of a winter road race series put on by the York Road Runners Club. Since Val and I work together, we rode to York together Friday evening, along with Jeannine and Dr. Peter Venkman. We were greeted with tortellini and homemade bread. We stayed at Val's mom's house, which was 15 minutes from the race. Between our proximity to the start line and the fact that the race started at 9:00am, we ended getting a full night's sleep before a race, which was AMAZING. We got there at around 8:20, picked up our packets, and I got a good warmup in. Dr. Peter Venkman was adorned in his finest hoodie.

Having not performed any research on the course, I was surprised to find that the first half of the race was almost entirely uphill. This ended up being what I felt was good prep for the Blue Ridge Marathon, and we were duly rewarded during the second half of the race, which included a lot of downhill and flat. To put it in perspective, I ran my second mile in around 5:40 and my fourth mile in around 4:55. I ended up finishing first overall in 33:14, which I was fine with given the difficulty of the course and the fact that I ran this race amidst a 100+ mile week. 

Val finished in a respectable 53 minutes, especially given that she claims to currently be in "mermaid shape," having mostly swam rather than run for the last few months. Afterward, we went out to Mudhook Brewing in York, where we had a pint and a sandwich.

Also, General Lafeyette was in fine form, bringing all of the sass we have come to love and expect.

Anyway, I have the Naked Bavarian 20 Mile in two weeks, and I'm feeling good about my training. I just finished up my seventh consecutive 100+ mile week, and I'm hoping to keep it up until the first week of April, at which point I will start my taper for BRM. For now, I gotta get ready to watch the Walking Dead. 

Have fun,

Jeff 

Blue Ridge Marathon 2016 blog entry #1: Is this thing still on?

Hey Kids,

So it's been about a year-and-a-half since my last post. I'm happy to be resuming as an official blogger for the 2016 Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon. It will be a slightly different story this time around. When I was a blogger for BRM 2014, I was the defending champion hoping to defend my title (which I did successfully). However, after skipping this year (instead I ran the Vermont City Marathon in May) and watching BRM stream online from my couch, I ended up suffering my first injury in eight years during July. I injured my right foot, and while it was never officially diagnosed as a stress fracture, it felt pretty stressy and pretty fracturey. I stayed in decent shape by biking a lot and swimming (badly), but I ended up having to take around 3-4 weeks off from running. I feel like a got back in pretty good running shape relatively quickly once I started running again, but this training cycle for BRM will still feel like a comeback of sorts for me.

Also, on a positive note, my injury in July gave me the impetus to finally break down and buy a bike.

Her name is Hypatia of Alexandria, and she will put up with none of your shit.

Anyway, while I don't plan on recapping the last one-and-a-half years of training and racing, I will hit a few high points from this year. After Jeannine and I managed to escape icy Philadelphia in March for a conference in San Diego, I was able to take 1st overall at the St. Patrick's 10K in Mission Bay Park in 32:25. I had no idea what to expect of my fitness since the icy conditions in Philly confined me to the treadmill for most of January and February (I logged over 200 treadmill miles in February alone). I went through the first mile in 4:47, and the other miles, um, slower. Also, the 85 degree temperature didn't help (but if felt fantastic before and after the race!). Then Ballast Point sponsored a post-race beer garden, so Jeannine and I got to drink free beers in the San Diego sunshine in mid-March. And I won a $400 GPS watch.

Not pictured: Winter, sadness

Then I continued my tradition of running the Virginia Creeper Marathon on odd-numbered years, finishing 1st overall in 2:39.

Icicle beard!

I won my fourth straight Dogfish Dash, although this year the 5K and 10K races were combined into one 8K race. My father-in-law, Dave, who ran the BRM half marathon in 2014 (and will be running it again in 2016), also joined in the running/beer festivities. 

Suck it, Falls Church!

Oh, and Sam Bernstein also defended his keg sprint title for the third straight year, and I finally got to hang out with Sam and my other friends from Battery Brewing at the Dogfish Head brewpub after the race, where we made plans to have a homebrew exchange next year.

"We love running. We love beer. We love everyone heeeeeeere!"

And then yesterday, I finished 1st overall in the half marathon at race #1 of the New Jersey Trail Series after sort of taking a wrong turn (I knew the race was two 10K loops plus a smaller loop, but I thought I was supposed to run the smaller loop at the end instead of the beginning, so the race director let me run it between the two 10K loops). This got me free entry into one of the other races of the series, so I will be running again on December 19th. 

So overall, an OK year. With yesterday's win, I ended up with victories at 8K, 10K , half marathon, and marathon. There were also some low points. In addition to the injury in July, I was registered for two races that I ended up not being able to run- the Finger Lakes 25K and the Bucks County Marathon. I also had a couple of sub-par efforts late in the Spring, namely a 53:30 at the Broad Street 10-Mile, when my training suggested that I should have been able to run sub-51:00, and a 2:36 at the Vermont City Marathon, when I thought I was in shape to run mid-to-low 2:20s. I'm optimistic about 2016, though. I plan on racing more frequently, and racing in January and February will keep me motivated to train and eat well during the holidays (increase my "miles-to-beers" ratio, if you will).

Outside of running, Jeannine and I finally got married last December (the culmination of events that began with Operation Chocolate Piranha Hurricane), and we're really excited about celebrating our one year anniversary in a couple of weeks. I'm also hopefully finishing grad school in the Spring. And of course, our beagle, Dr. Peter Venkman, is still in fine form.

Truly the people's champion.

Going forward, here is what one can expect from this blog:

- Excessive narrativizing of my training and racing (see literally the first paragraph of this entry)

- A delicate sprinkling of profanity (I was an aircraft mechanic for ten years, what do you want from me?)

- Pictures of my dog (you're welcome).

-A lot of parentheses, apparently.

-Trash-talking Roanoke-based runner Pat Woodford, who I believe is also running BRM in 2016.

As far as what to expect from me on social media:

Facebook: pictures of travels, links from The Onion, pictures of things I think are funny, pictures of my dog

Twitter (@bubbicus): shouting about whatever TV show Jeannine and I are watching, stuff about running/beer, live-tweeting Storywonk seminars and podcasts, discussions of hypothetical fights (most recently, GI Jane vs Sarah Connor from Terminator 2, Morgan Freeman as God vs Alanis Morissette as God), pictures of my dog

Instagram (jefficusrex): This is pretty new for me. So far- pictures/videos of my dog, race pictures

You can also follow the BRM-related action by using  #runblueridge on Twitter and Instagram.

Additionally, if you are interested in participating in the Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon next year (full marathon, half marathon, or Anthem Star 10K),  you can register here and get 15% off of your registration fee by using the promo code TOUGHIS. 

I think that's all I've got for now. Have fun.

Jeff

Blue Ridge Marathon Weekend

Hey Kids,

At long last, here is my race report for the Blue Ridge Marathon weekend:

Jeannine ended up having to work a half day the Friday before the race, so we got on the road from Philly at around noon when she got off work. Torrential downpour while we were on I-66 notwithstanding, it was a fairly uneventful drive, and we ended up getting into Roanoke at around 7:00pm. After having to circle the City Market area of Roanoke a few times, we finally found a parking spot, and I was able to get out and pick up my race packet. I ended up picking up my packet around 30 minutes before they closed, and they still had plenty of shirts in my size (take notes, Philly Half Marathon!). I picked up some gels and clear plastic bags (due to heightened security, we were encouraged to have clear plastic bags to carry things into the race area). We went to the store and picked some supplies, namely english muffins, peanut butter, and a twelve-pack of Heineken (in Virginia, we can buy beer at the grocery store!). We checked in at the Cambria Suites, where Jeannine's parents, Janet and Dave, were also staying. They were able to come to Roanoke the day before and sightsee before Dave was to run the Blue Ridge Half Marathon on Saturday morning. We went to their room to say hi and bring an offering of Heineken. There, we were also joined by our friends Jeff and Betsy, who just had their first son, Charlie, on March 31st. Jeff and I were neighbors when we were kids, and we have literally known each other since we were two years old. We got to catch up with them, meet Charlie, and let them meet Jeannine's parents. Jeff will be a groomsman in my wedding this December (I was a groomsman in his wedding in 2011) , so Jeannine's parents appreciated being able to meet him before the wedding. We actually stayed with Jeff and Betsy for last year's race weekend, when they lived in Christiansburg. Betsy takes partial credit for my victory last year, citing the slightly charred pizza she fed me the night before the race. They took off at around 9:00, Jeannine and I went to our room, and I prepped for race morning.

I ended up getting to bed at around 10:00 and got a surprisingly good night's sleep for a pre-race night. I woke up at 5:00am, had some coffee and water and two english muffins with peanut butter, and then tried to stay relaxed. The hotel provided shuttle service to and from the race, despite there being two weddings at the hotel that day. They really went out of their way to accommodate the runners, and we all really appreciated it. Jeannine and I met Dave in the lobby at a little after 6:00am, and we waited for the next shuttle to take us to the start area. Since last year, Elmwood Park had undergone a major restoration, so the city of Roanoke was eager to showcase it. Thus, the start/finish area had been moved there. Once there, we basically just hung out near the start line, which was still being set up, talked to other runners, and tried to stay warm.

"And just think, in a few hours there will be a beer truck on this very spot!"

The race was set to start at 7:35, so at around 7:00, I started jogging lightly to wake my legs and digestive system up. There was a long line for the port-o-john, and there was an entire row of port-o-johns on the other side of Elmwood Park that were locked. I asked one of the officials why they were locked, and they told me that someone was going up there to unlock them at that moment. I hurried up there, and was able to, for the first time ever in my running career, use a pristine, unused, port-o-john! I felt like the universe was rewarding me for something. Voting? Something. Anyway, after christening the port-o-john, I jogged around a little more, and I headed toward the City Market area, where the start/finish area of the race was located last year. I sought out another restroom, because it's not race morning unless you use the restroom at least three times. It was in the City Market building that I discovered that they had opened the doors to the rest room area! Only a couple of other runners discovered this, but this, this heated, fully functional, undiscovered restroom- this was magical. Pristine port-o-john followed by secret, heated restroom, this morning was going my way so far. I jogged back to the start line area, did a few strides, and it was almost time to start. There was also a double marathon event which began at 2:30am. That's right, by the time I woke up at 5:00am, these crazy, crazy, people had already been running for two and a half hours. Among them were fellow Philly-based runners Emir and Amy, as well as Peter Morgan, who was my contest winner. They were set to finish the first half of the double marathon around ten minutes before the 7:35 start time. At 7:35, the horn went off, and we were off and running. I tried to just stay relaxed and run what I felt was a comfortable pace. Since the start line was moved to Elmwood Park, it was also moved closer to the beginning of the inclines. I remember last year going through the first mile in around 5:45 and not having run any uphill yet. This year, the one mile mark was well up the first hill, and I went through in around 6:15. This might be a long day. At this point, only one half marathoner and one 10K runner were ahead of me, and probably by around 10 seconds. They stayed about that distance ahead of me until the course split, at which point I head up Roanoke Mountain and they headed up Mill Mountain. I wasn't sure how big my lead was, so I figured I would wait until there was a switchback before I would check how much distance I had. This was around the five mile mark, and I was able to look pretty far down the mountain, and I didn't see anyone else. At this point, I basically decided that I needed to just maintain a steady effort for the rest of the race, and that would probably be enough to win. BRM offers a "King/Queen of the Mountain" award to the first man and woman to reach the top of Roanoke mountain. When I reach the peak of Roanoke Mountain, the longest and steepest of the three major ascents, a little girl yelled, "King of the mountain!" and a bagpiper started blasting a solo. I don't know if there exists a better possible way to have punctuated that end of the ascent. It was just magical. Once I crested Roanoke Mountain, I had to deal with the first of the major DEscents. A difference between this year and last year was since last year, the course became USATF certified, which meant that unlike last year, when I could run on the grass on the side of the road, I had to actually stay on the pavement going down the mountains. This meant that rather than being able to make up time that I lost going slow on the uphills by opening up my stride on the grass, I had to run conservatively on the downhills as well to save my thighs for the later miles. This would hurt my time (and legs of course), but I figured everyone else had to deal with it too, so I can't complain. A lot of the course was very sparsely populated, with occasional pockets of very vocal, supportive fans and aid stations. There was a lot of just me chasing a camera truck chasing a police motorcycle (and me trying not to be blinded by the reflection of my very white thighs in camera truck's tailgate).

My eyes were burning more than my legs at this point.

 The ascent up Mill Mountain was shorter and a much gentler grade than Roanoke Mountain. Once I crested Mill Mountain and passed the big star, there was a gravel section in which the camera truck took its relentless gaze off of me for a few minutes until I made it back to a road section. It was during this brief interval without the camera on me that was able to [REDACTED] without anyone seeing. After descending Mill Mountain, the course goes back into Roanoke for its final "sucks to be you" to the runners: Peakwood Drive. Last year, I took some friendly jabs at the spectators along Peakwood because they kept saying that I was close to the top, and it was just lies. I was on record with WDBJ 7 and the Roanoke Times jokingly insisting there was a "Peakwood Conspiracy." I later found out a lot of other runners were saying the same thing. This year, the spectators along Peakwood had such a good sense of humor about it! One lady yelled from her porch, "Hey Jeff! No conspiracy this year! We measured!" I laughed and then of course yelled back, "I don't believe you!" Also, since my bib number just said "Powers," it meant that at least some of the people who called me Jeff actually knew who I was, which was really nice. At the beginning of the Peakwood ascent, there were some giant speakers blasting Charlie Daniels, and the entire way up and down, everyone was just great. My sincere thanks to all of the folks along Peakwood. It's at this point in the race where runners start to need every bit of positive energy they can get. I crested Peakwood and began my final major descent. I knew that after this descent, if my thighs were still intact, I would have no problem finishing strong. I actually passed Dave on the descent, tapped him on the shoulder, and told him I would see him at the beer truck. After the descent, I didn't really feel any worse off. One major difference between this year's race and last year's race was last year, I had someone to chase, and this year I was all alone. It was around mile 21 last year that Diriba's lead over me (which had consistently been two minutes for like 13 miles) started to dwindle, so I basically chased him for three miles, caught him, and then tried to run away from him for the remaining two miles. It was painful, but there was also no loss of motivation. This year, it was mentally more difficult to push in the later miles. There were also more hills in the later miles this year. After successfully descending Peakwood, I never doubted that I would finish successfully, so my thinking was more along the lines of, "I'll be able to run these last few miles, but it's going to suck." I wasn't sure how big of a lead I had until the 23 mile marker, where a guy told me that the closest person to me was 18 minutes back. This meant that if I just kept moving for the rest of the race, I would successfully defend my title. There were a few hills after this that would be considered giant on any other course, but in the Blue Ridge Marathon, did not even warrant a mention. As I went into the final left turn onto Bullitt Avenue, the course marshall said, "You can see the finish line after you make the turn." And there it was, at the end of the final, merciful, downhill straightaway. Running down the final stretch, I had it in the back of my mind that this is the first time that Mammaw (my dad's mom), Sis (my aunt, but we all call her Sis for reasons I don't know), her son Dalton, and Dee (my oldest sister, Deanna), who had made the trip up from Abingdon that morning, had ever seen me run. I cruised across the finish line in 2:52:25, shook Ronny and Pete's hands, and gave a few interviews before being greeted by Jeannine, and then the rest of the family.

One of the first things I remember saying to the group was, "I am so glad to not be running anymore." As I mentioned in my last post, this was also the first time that members of my and Jeannine's families have met, so they were still early in the process of starting to get to know each other. I would go on to find out that Dave ran a 2:45 for the half and seemed very pleased. I would also find out that due to oddly terrible traffic on I-81, my family got there just a couple of minutes before I finished. This softened the blow of my time being so much slower than last year (when I ran a 2:39:48), since they wouldn't have seen me finish had I finished much sooner.

 Mammaw!

Janet, Mammaw, and Dave. Mammaw is wearing Dave's finisher's medal. Possibly the most adorable thing that has ever happened in the history of things happening. 

The awards ceremony was scheduled for 2:00pm, so we had about three hours to kill. The group walked to the City Market building and ended up having lunch at the All Sports Cafe. I had a giant cheeseburger and a local beer. My good friend, Michael, also a friend since childhood and a future groomsman at my wedding, was due to drive up that morning as well, and also had some trouble with traffic (the term "van on fire" was used more than once), so he ended up getting there as we were finishing lunch. He lives in Knoxville, TN, and we don't get to hang out very often, so this was especially nice. Also, Jeannine's parents got to meet yet another groomsman. After lunch, we headed back to Elmwood Park to hang out and hit up the beer truck before the awards ceremony. Jeannine and I each had Parkway Brewing Company's Majestic Mullet, a delicious Kolsch-style beer. Michael had their porter, also delicious. At the awards ceremony, I found out that the 2nd and 3rd overall finishers were women, which would end up being the headline in the Roanoke Times. I also found out that for the first time in the race's history, on both the men's and women's side, the King and Queen of the Mountain award winner would end up being the winner of the whole race. I received my awards (a nice Tag Heuer watch, a print from artist Eric Fitzpatrick of Roanoke's City Market building, a BRM hat, a trophy shaped like a railroad spike, and of course my "King of the Mountain" synthetic running shirt. I also got to meet Zoe Romano, who is the first (and thus far only) person to ever run the entire Tour de France course. She was the keynote speaker at the pasta dinner the night before the race, but I unfortunately didn't get to attend the talk since we got into town so late. I also got to meet Emir and Amy in person for the first time, even though we all live in the Philly area and have been interacting online for months now. They were exhilarated to have finished the double marathon and seemed more human and normal that they should have to have finished running "America's Toughest Road Marathon" twice in a row and having been awake since like 1:00am. My group, now nine strong (Me, Jeannine, Janet, Dave, Mammaw, Dee, Sis, Dalton, and Michael), headed back to the hotel. Once there, the Abingdon crew had to get back on the road. I gave them more godawful sweaty hugs to send them on their way back down I-81, and the rest of us went upstairs to our rooms. Janet and Dave went to their room (I think Dave went to sleep pretty soon after this. We made tentative dinner plans- never happened). Jeannine, Michael, and I headed to our room and killed the remaining Heinekens (I, of course, had my first one in the shower. Post-marathon shower beer is an unparalleled experience). Then we made a trip to the grocery store and bought a sampler 12-pack from New Belgium Brewing and ordered (incredible) pizza from Goodfellaz. The remainder of the evening consisted of Jeannine and I sipping New Belgium and shooting the shit with Michael (always fun- he and I literally have jokes that go back more than 20 years) with Spotify's Willie Nelson station in the background. He also introduced us to Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, so thank you, Michael. 

After race day, I took four days completely off from running. Since then, I've been running exclusively on trails while my legs have recovered. I got up to 13 miles today at around 6:00/mile pace, and it felt pretty comfortable, so I consider myself recovered. As such, tomorrow I will consider myself officially "in training" for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 16th. I will run a few trail races over the Summer, and then my Fall racing season will be in full swing. 

Anyway, my friends, over the past nine months or so, I wrote this blog as an Official Blue Ridge Marathon Blogger. After this entry, I'm not quite sure if I will continue it. Feel free to chime in one way or another. I would like to say that this has been a lot of fun- the running, the writing, the meeting people, all of the joy and pain that come with preparing for and competing in a marathon, and a really tough one at that. I learned a lot of other people's personal stories along the way, and I was glad that I could contribute this small slice of my own. I would like to thank everyone who supported me along the way. Most of all, I would like to thank Jeannine, who puts up with my nonsense seven goddamned days a week. The sun was shining and the cameras were out on race morning, but she was there to encourage me when the wind chills were below zero, there was a foot of snow on the ground, and I was finishing my runs an hour before the sun came up. So I hope you all enjoyed this too. See you on the roads!

Have fun,

Jeff

One Week Until Race Day

Hey Kids,

This is my first post since New Years eve, so it might run a tad long. Here we go...

 First off, congratulations to us all for surviving this snarling hell-bitch of a Winter. I never thought I would actually get sick of snow days, but lo and behold, here I am, telling Winter to her unfeeling, dead-eyed, fat fucking face that she can stay right the hell in Bob Ross paintings where she belongs.

 "Actually, Jeff, I say she can fuck off too. From now on, titanium white will only be used on clouds."

Since, as I said in my last entry, my training during the week this Winter/Spring would be done exclusively in the morning before work, there were a lot of excruciatingly cold morning runs (and a commensurate amount of swearing). On a positive note, this probably did help toughen me up mentally for the race.

It also led to my invention of the snow-hawk.  

Anyway, I did have a bit of a training setback in January. I had a little achilles tendon trouble, which is really annoying because it temporarily compromised my ability to run on hills, and running on hills is kind of my thing. Fortunately, I was smart about it, and I kept a small injury from becoming a big injury. I think at most I took off three consecutive days, and I was back up to full speed by mid-February. I have been working with Coach Mike again this season, and while I don't think I have the same number of miles or obsessive hill repeats under my belt that I had at this time last year, I am definitely a lot faster and have done a lot more race-specific long runs. 

I have only raced once this season, the Rumspringa 13.1 in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, on April 6th. It starts and finishes in the Stoudtsburg Village, right next to the Stoudts Brewery, and I have historically run well in races where I know there is a brewery at the finish. I had originally planned on running the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon on March 23rd in Wilmington, Delaware, but I wanted a little more training time before I tried to race again, and the Rumspringa 13.1 also seemed a bit more Blue Ridge Marathon-relevant, since it is a very hilly course. I wasn't really sure what to expect from myself, fitness-wise, going into it, so I was really surprised when I went through the first mile in what I thought would be around 5:30, but ended up being 4:55. Granted, there was some downhill in the first mile, but it still definitely didn't feel like I was moving that fast. I was also by myself by that point, so the rest of the race became about simply trying to maintain a constant effort over constantly changing inclines. Incidentally, this race (if you couldn't tell by the name) took place in Amish country, and it took place while a lot of the Amish were on their way to church, so I got to run against some very heavy horse-and-buggy traffic. They all seemed just as amused as we were at the sight of a bunch of people in short shorts running at them. There was a lot of smiling and waving from the people in the buggies, as well as the kids on bicycles. The race director apologized about it afterward, but I thought it made it more fun, and I told him he should use it as a selling point in the future (with the Amish community's consent, of course). Anyway, I went through ten miles in 54:35 without feeling especially taxed, and then I felt really strong over the last, mostly uphill, 5K to finish in 1:12:30, which was a course record by just under eight minutes. On a flat course, I think this would probably have been at or under 1:09:00. At the finish line, there was freshly-made bratwurst ("awesome sausage," as the lady serving me called it) and German potato salad. Then the party moved across the parking lot to the Stoudts Brewery. There, we of course had sweet, sweet post-race beer. There was also a lot of traditional German dancing, followed by the awards ceremony. It was here that I received the most epic, non-bear-related, trophy I have ever received: an authentic, hand-made German cuckoo clock. 

I can't wait to hang it on the wall and watch it scare the shit out of the beagle when it chimes. 

It also has a godmother named Jen, who lives in Redbank, New Jersey. This was because she was standing behind me at the awards ceremony, and after I received the clock, I put my hand on her shoulder, looked her in the eye and said, "Can I trust you to watch my cuckoo clock while I get another beer?" She said yes, did so successfully, and I told her that she was now the godmother of my cuckoo clock. So that happened. 

Anyway, upon reporting the race results to Coach Mike, he said that before the race he thought I was in PR shape, and the race confirmed it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear this, as I really didn't feel like I was as fast as I was in November, especially since I had been training for a full marathon instead of a half. This gave me a huge boost in confidence over my last couple weeks of training. My long runs and tempo runs have gone really well, and I think I'm definitely in shape to run BRM faster than I ran it last year. I am of course tapering now, so there is the usual, probably obnoxious, level of hyperactivity that goes along with it. The number of beagle-related songs I make up and sing around the house per day is up by around 60%. 

"Oh,  for fuck's sake."

Ultimately, I'm really excited to head to Roanoke next weekend. I think after another week of rest (relatively speaking, since I'm still running every day between now and then), I will really be ready to run well. Also, since Jeannine and I are getting married in December, and our families have never met before, we thought this would be a good opportunity for them to meet, since her parents live in Delaware and the race takes place in Southwestern Virginia, just a couple of hours from where my family lives. Her dad signed up for the Blue Ridge Half Marathon, so her parents will be making the trek to Roanoke, as will some of my family, which will be cool since many of them have never seen me run before. 

So I suppose the next entry I write will be my race report for the Blue Ridge Marathon weekend. Good luck to everyone running Blue Ridge next weekend, as well as Boston this coming Monday (this year's Boston Marathon will have 9,000 more runners than last year, because fuck you, terrorists). See you guys on the other side.

And if someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!

Cheers,

Jeff