Finding peace on the trail

Not much to write about, here's some pics we took last Sunday after running Red Bridge Ramble. This is at Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary in Liberty, Mo. We hiked for about 90 min , the trails there offer a good mix hills, flats and a nice stream crossing, not very long though maybe 5 miles total. Kyle thanks for the carrier Adrian loves it.

Rocky Raccoon 100 Pacer Report

Gabe's Pacer Mark Stovall. His first time pacing a 100 he did a great job!

KC Trail Nerd A.S. Stacey Amos and Tiff with S.L.U.G. Carey Smith

3rd loop 174 A.S. mile 57 John looking unbreakable

yet another self portrait mile 70ish

4th loop around mile 70

John King 100 Miles 20:48

Nice Brim!!!

Bad Ben
(sleeping off Chafe Fest 2008)

The Big Guy

(the morning after)

Gabe's crew chief and wife Tiff

(the morning after)

Gary Henry

Race Director Joe Prusitis at the awards ceremony

John and his wife Stacey

John and Gabe both had excellent races at RR100 throwing down some fast times. Gabe has come a long way in a short time. His fitness and nutrition discipline was rewarded with an amazing 19:33 PR finish. Mark Stovall and I flew to Dallas then drove 3 hrs to Huntsville State Park. This was Mark's first time pacing a 100 and he was a little nervous. As soon as we got there we quickly changed into running gear and met up with the KC Trail Nerds who had set up their own aid station at the start/finish in support of runners Bad Ben, Kyle Amos, Tony Clark, Gary Henry, Gabe Bevan, and John King.

It turned out that John and Gabe were way ahead of schedule. From the start/finish area we walked about .5 mile to the site 174 aid station (mile 57) to get some pics and see our runners, but Gabe had already gone through so Mark had to sprint back to the start/finish to catch him . John was feeling great at the start of his 4th loop (mile 60) so we set off at a comfortable pace. I have run this race twice and this would be my third time pacing at 100-mile race. I felt confident that if anything went wrong, John and I could manage it. Most of the time I would be in the lead. For most of the fourth loop we would run 20 min and then walk for about 60 seconds. I wanted to keep John somewhat fresh for his final 5th loop. Since John was on a great pace I was anxious to try and catch up with Gabe. When we would get to an aid station I would look up Gabe's time and see if he was slowing down. He never slowed down! Then I saw him on the out-and-back section to Far Side A.S. looking mean and bombproof. "Sorry John were not gonna catch The Big Guy," I said.

LOOP 5

Quick shirt and shoe change and we were off on the final loop. John was starting to feel the miles, but he was still running good. As soon as we would get within sight of an aid station I'd ask John what he needed. When we would get to A.S., I'd grab food, fill his water bottle, and we would take off in seconds. Once I got caught up helping the overloaded volunteers and had to sprint to catch up with John. We were doing 1-mile intervals with about 90 sec of walking mixed in, until we got to the Dam Road A.S., mile 92.7. I looked at him and said "John a 21-hr finish would be a great time , but 20-hr finish is even better. We gotta run hard and we gotta run everything including the hills." I made sure John went through an awesome experience that last 7 miles. We hit the last A.S. Site 174 (97.1) with a marginal cushion of time John was getting more and more fatigued and had an IT band that was acting up. We made the final turn to the long straightaway to the finish line and John took off for a sprint finish 20:48. Outstanding! I'm pretty sure John's got some sled dog in his genetics because he can run his legs off and never complain--and do it all with a smile on his face!

TRAINING-principles of progressive (agressive) overload

As a fitness trainer I know running is about obtaining the necessary skills, stress, recovery, adaption, and building muscle memory through repetition blah, blah... All this is great if you're planning to do a 10k. A 100 challenges you beyond that physiology. Before the race, John and I discussed various goals and strategies. He said he just wanted to finish, but I knew better and said I would push him to a sub-24. His training consisted of many long runs and other "prep" ultras races. Our favorite trainer is the infamous Psycho course--typically 2-3 10-mile loops anywhere from 4-7 hours, depending on how deep the mud and or snow is. Often we would have "push-up day": this run involved completing 50 pushups as fast as possible at each mile interval for 15 miles. This is one of Gabe's favorites, too! This exercise does nothing to increase running ability, but it beats the hell out of you and mimics the upper body fatigue you would feel in the latter stages of a 100 (more of a mental trainer). Many of these runs were in sub-freezing temperatures (Cameron Fat Ass 50k) which was excellent 100 prep.

At the awards ceremony I told John it was luck that helped him through this race, but that was wrong. Luck is just a residual of preparation.

PSYCHO 50 K

Kyle Amos pushing me up a hill

My daughter Adrian this is her 4th ultra and she's only 8 months!

John King, me and Gabe Bevan

mud is my favorite color

I'll put up some pics soon . I was telling Gabe that you can't compare a 50k to a 100 miler, but as far as exertion per mile goes this was the hardest race I have run. Guess you can call that progress. First loop was great, second loop not too bad, third loop was something special . How do you train for a kick to the nuts ,the simple answer is , you don't you take it on board and suck it up , I had great support from my wife Kristi and daughter Adrian, the Amos aid station Caleb Chatfield, John King and Gabe Bevan , and many others .

Fall Fell 7 Miler Kill Creek Park

Once again Trail Nerds put on another great race. This was my first trail run since AT 100. It has been 2 weeks since that race and I haven't done a whole lot of training. Gabe and I drove over an hour just to run a 7 mile trail run. If Bad Ben puts on a race its WORTH IT !!! The trail had a little bit of everything hills, roots, rocks, water crossings, all good. Legs felt great, stayed relaxed finished in 50 min -something. I always forget to hit stop on the watch at the finish line. Next up Rock Creek 25k. I've got a races pretty much every weekend till December. Damn basement never gonna get finished.

AT 100

The Arkansas Traveller 100 has been around since 1991. The race is currently directed by Chrissy Ferguson—who has now finished the race 13 times—and Stan Ferguson. The 2007 running had 140 starters, the largest field in the history of the race. Fellow Trail Nerd Gabe Bevan and I were accompanied by our respective pacers, John King and Mike Prentice; Tiffany Bevan and Stacy King rounded out our support crew. Race morning I got up at 3:45 had some poptarts, accelerade and coffee.

As an ultra-runner, I know I should have some detailed race report including split times and all that to write about. The fact is, I don't remember much. But I can give you a condensed version of the dialogue that was going on inside my head. Here goes:

Loud BANG. Finally, it starts. Here we go—2 miles of pavement with Gabe and Carey. Easy run. Hit the Ouachita Trail. Nothin' special except hills and the rocks are lichen covered and slick. Don't fall. Don't slow down. LAKE SYLVIA A.S. 16.4 mi. Cheerleaders are yelling at me... or for me... I don't know. "Tiff, I need S-Caps." Don't slow down. Getting a little warm now. Drink. Pee. Cliff Bloks. S-Caps. Why does my pee look like blood? Gotta make 50k in sub-6 hrs. GO! Rocks everywhere. SMITH MOUNTAIN S**t, this is gonna beat the hell out of me—it's straight up! Really hot now. Suck it up, there's some down hill! Don't slow down. Feet are hammered. POWERLINE A.S. 48.5 mi. "Tiff, I'm OK." Change into Hardrocks. Weigh in. 138 lbs. Good, only two-pound loss.



Gotta make 100k in sub-13 hrs. Push! Don't slow down. Drink. Pee. Cliff Bloks. S-Caps. TURNAROUND A.S. 57.9 mi. Need ice. This is the longest 12 miles of my life. Back to CHILI PEPPER A.S. 63.2 mi. Pick up pacer, Mike. Don't think about the finish—just run. Don't slow down. Walk only the uphills. Getting dark. Still hot. Drink. Pee. Cliff Bloks. S-Caps. POWERLINE A.S. INBOUND 67.6 mi. Weigh in. 134 lbs. Not good. If I lose any more weight they'll make me sit down. Get fired up. Here comes Smith Mountain. I hear, "Watch for rattle snakes at the pinnacle!" LAKE WINONA A.S. 83.9 mi. Drink. Pee. I'm sick of Cliff Bloks. S-Caps. Bats. Tarantulas. Copperheads in my way. Getting dizzy. Slow down. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. I can make sub-24 if I just keep my head. Mike makes me run even though I don't want to. ROCKY GAP A.S. 87.2 mi. Painful rocks everywhere. Drink. Pee. Pringles are so good. PUMPKIN PATCH A.S. 93.7 mi. Wheels are coming off. Only 10k to go. Mile 97. Water crossing. Lose balance on wet rock. Plummet to Earth. Catch myself with my head on jagged rock. Pain. Blood. "Is it bad?" Doesn't matter. "1.7 to the finish," says the old guy sitting in a chair. Smooth pavement. Downhill. Is it real? This can't be the finish line. Then the music starts to play. Yes.