Race Report Hyner 50k

The journey has officially started.  This year’s official races fall under the Pennsylvania Triple Crown.  It is the Hyner View Challenge 50k, the Worlds End Endurance 100k & the Eastern States 100 miler.  This past weekend was the first of the 3 races with the Hyner 50k.

I was a little bit nervous for this first race.  I had no clue on how my personal training plan was working.  Last year I ended up with Lymes Disease and was unable to run for several months.  I was on crutches for a while not being able to walk well.  I thought running was over.  As I slowly recovered I decided to change things up this year.  I wanted to build a stronger foundation for myself.  I worked on mostly strength training by doing crossfit 5 days a week with limited running.  The running will increase as the season moves on.  The 50k race was just a gauge to see how far along my training is actually going.  I don’t have a coach so I make things up as I go along. Trying to balance work and personal life with training is very difficult.

The weather on race day started out a little bit chilly with some unexpected rain.  The whole course was highly technical, muddy and uphill.  My Garmin had me finish with over 8,900 feet of elevation climb.  The week before the race we had a lot of rain so the whole course had waterfalls and streams cutting through the paths we were running on.  It really added to the difficulty but made the run so much more fun.  I did finish.  I actually did better than expected and I felt better than expected.  My training seems to be working.

Here is my race recap video. The race seemed all uphill running through raging streams. What a great time.

Be Awesome.  Inspire People.

Chasing Unicorns

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This past season has really enlightened me.  Running woke my soul up.  I have been more active in the last few months and more aware of my surroundings than I have ever been in my life.  I see things I wouldn’t normally see because I am more aware.

My biggest obstacle in running ultra distances is the nutrition part.  I can physically run forever but I can seem to figure out the math to keep my head straight.  Typical tunnel vision,  cloudiness and poor decision making when the energy starts to fade.  My body fights me when I am out on the trails.  I say eat and my body says nope.   I really have to force chew and swallow.  I added it to my training.  I carry little cuties, which are tiny oranges and I eat a few of them to get my stomach used to food while moving.  During races I usually drink Tailwind and raid the aid stations for fruit.  I target about 200-300 calories an hour to stay alive but at times it feels like I ate nothing.  Am I eating the right things?  Am I eating enough?

The biggest thing I learned was to slow down a bit and enjoy the run.  I used to be attached to a number of pace, distance or elevation but I am not anymore.  I have game plans and I use them as a guide only.  I run towards a certain distance.  I alter paths and roads as I go depending on the day and the beauty of the trail.  I explore more and have fun.

On one of my last runs I was talking to myself like a crazy person.  I was pushing it and I coached myself to look up and see the beautiful day around me.  Thirty seconds later I heard a bunch of rustling in the woods.  I looked to the right of me and there it was.  I saw a baby unicorn.  Well it looked like one.  It was actually an albino deer.  It has been in my area for several years now and pops up from time to time.  The moral of the story is if I didn’t take a deep breath and enjoy the run I would have steam rolled right by it.

Forward to around 1:20 in the video to see the albino deer (baby unicorn)

I carry my GoPro with me when I train.  Thank goodness I had it with me because I got some footage of the unicorn for my vlog.  I have limited equipment but I am starting to get the hang of documenting my experiences better.  What would you like me to talk about?  I have a 50k, 100k and 100 miler that I am training for.  Any questions or thoughts please put it in a comment.  Thank you.

Be Awesome.  Inspire People.

Storm Running

the origins: Storm Running

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Episode No. 10

The weather in Pennsylvania can give you all 4 seasons in one week at times.  This week was one of them.  The weather warmed up and dumped a few inches of rain in a few days.  I love big storms they seem to motivate me.  I grabbed my GoPro and started a 10 mile trail run near my house.  There was wind gusts up to 30mph at times along with some sleet and hail.  I had a blast until it started to thunder and lightning which made me a little nervous so I cut the training run short.

This episode shows my training day from my crossfit sessions to the swimming uphill in the storm.  What type of weather conditions is your favorite to train in?  Leave it in the comments I would love to hear about it.

Be Awesome.  Inspire People.

40 Mile Run

Up, up and away.  This was a great weekend for a training run.  We got to visit one of my upcoming race courses in a 2 days training session.  These are called preview runs.  These preview runs are a blessing because you get to run with people and explore the course before race day.  It gives you a mental advantage because you will be running some of the course at night and some of the twists and turns are tricky if you are not paying attention.

So the preview runs were broken down into 2 separate days.  Day 1 (link to that days Strava profile) was the first 19 miles of the course.  This is a very technical, rocky and mud filled experience.  This day we did around 3,500ft of elevation gain.

Day 2 (link to that days Strava profile) was a beautiful, warm and sunny day.  This portion started at High Knob aid station which is around mile 35 at race day.  This portion had a lot more runable areas but way more water crossings.  It was 22 miles of uphill climbs that felt forever.  This day was around 5,000ft of elevation gain.

Overall, the weekend was a success.  I met some other great runners, got 40 miles in and over 8,000ft of elevation gain.  The Worlds End 100k course is going to be a difficult challenge that I am looking forward to completing.

Be Awesome.  Inspire People.

Barkley Mania

From Wikipedia, the Barkley Marathons is an ultramarathon trail race held in Frozen Head State Park near Wartburg, Tennessee. Runners may elect a “fun run” of 60 miles (97 km) or the full course of 100 miles (160 km) (distances are approximate). The race is limited to a 60-hour period, and takes place in late March or early April of each year.  More people have successfully climbed Mt Everest than have finished this race.

Fitting into the ultra runner category I am intrigued by the Barkley Marathons just like most.  There is no course markings,  no aid stations, the race is written as 100 miles even but each loop is over 26 miles on average, no electronics and even how to enter the race is a mystery.  Sounds like a crazy persons dream.  For more information look up The Barkley Marathons on Netfilx.  It will change your outlook on racing.

Awesome Barkley Photo by:  https://www.whoisnickjarvis.weebly.com

#GoGaryGo is the latest hashtag.  This is following Canadian runner Gary Robbins (@gary_robbins on twitter).  I followed his training on Youtube  (link is to his channel)and followed his March 15 run of 20,465 feet of gain tracked on Strava (link is to that day).  He has a giant ginger beard and is a monster on a mission.

As of now he is on loop 4/5 and one of the last men standing.  Here is some random link that has a few stories and videos updates about the current race.  The attempt the race is something special to complete the race is near impossible.  #GoGaryGo

Be Awesome.  Inspire People.