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