Mohican 100 team meeting - Yes, I really had a powerpoint presentation...

I admit it, I'm a geek.  This past Sunday evening was the official team meeting for my crew & pacers at the Mohican 100 race...and I did have a powerpoint presentation for the group.  It was, however, made less painful by being buffered on either side with drinks, very much food, and lots of laughs. 

It seems ridiculous, but there is a method to the madness.  Since I will most likely be unable to fully communicate what I need, when I need it, during the race itself, it seemed logical to lay everything out ahead of time so there will be minimal questions during the event.

I'm so fortunate to have a super group of people supporting me:
My wonderful wife Bridgit, and Andy Smith (plus Spencer & Simon) are running support crew...this bunch gets to stay up the longest, take care of the most, and see the least of the race; only getting snippets at selected aid stations along the route.

Ben Keller & Ryan Gilbert are my pacers for loops 3-4...they will most likely see me at my worst...Ryan gets me at miles 54-77, most likely my lowest point of the race, when I want to quit more than anything.  Ben has 77-100 where I will certainly be totally useless as a human...likely I could go feral at any moment.

Amy Jones is pre-race dietician...poor girl has an impossible job...how can you teach a goat to eat properly?  Especially if he doesn't want to.  I want a shirt that says "ALL meat athlete!"

It was a family affair with everyone's spouses, and significant others invited.  Sunday was a beautiful day and turned into a fantastic evening....

I don't have any pictures of the meeting itself, but the one above is post-meeting when we're playing
"cards against humanity".  Cool game, definitely for adults only, but a really good time had by all!  But this shot shows what I love most, everyone laughing and having a great time.

On a serious note, details of the race and support needs were covered and duties were outlined.  At times I felt a bit silly for going to this detail, but for my first 100 mile race I don't want to leave anything to chance.  I figure detail overkill is better than getting to mile 60, being incoherent, and nobody knows what to do.  All these folks, and their families, have committed a significant amount of their time to helping me achieve my goal so I for sure don't want to let them down.

In addition to their commitment, I've personally committed to raising $3,000 for the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.  When I made the choice to run a 100 mile race, I decided that it should be for something more than just me running in circles for over 24 hours to prove I can.  The Food Bank helps so many people in need all the time, it seemed a natural choice to do what I could to help.  To date, I have raised $2,015.  The company I work for, ICL Specialty Fertilizers (Everris), has donated $1,000 to this cause and has sponsored me with gear for the race.  Less than a month to go, I have only $985 left to hit the goal.

And yes...there were handouts too.

Stay tuned...more to come

Mohican 100 primer continued...

I realize now I've left out a few details in the previous blog about my long training run at Mohican, so for those that are interested, here's the rest... 

• Why was it important that it was so overcast that the sun's position was not visible?
• Many of the course directions consisted of: "turn west"..."run south for 1 mile"..."go north", etc.  I thought, "No worries, I have my iPhone which has a compass."  Mistake #1.
• This should have been clear to me when I arrived at the starting point and my phone displayed "NO SERVICE"!  Nah, it'll be fine...Mistake #1 becomes amplified.
• 2nd warning: when I fired up the compass app first time, all bearings seemed to jive...2nd time, all bearings were precisely 180 degrees opposite...somehow the earth's poles switched positions while I wasn't looking!
• Strike 3, you're OUT!  Phone working so hard to find signal, it only lasted 2 hours into my run and drained the battery.  Epic fail.
• Back to original point, so overcast I couldn't find the sun position...wing it.  I found my way back at least.  Although there are certain trail sections I'm pretty sure are not part of the race.
• I never was able to locate the Gorge Overlook.  I'm thinking it doesn't exist.  I sure hope they have the proper trail marked well come race day or I'm in for some frustration.

This also explains why there are no pictures beyond the root climb (about 2 hours in).  Note to self: bring a camera next time.  Take a picture of your car, license plate, and the place you parked so when they drag your body out of the woods, they'll know where to leave it.  Also, get a plain, old-fashioned compass that doesn't depend on any other type of technology.

• Nobody knows ALL the trails.
• There are some good folks out there, but in my experience, no one person knows all the trails at Mohican.  At least none of those I asked for directions, even Park Rangers.
• Can't really blame them though, huge park with hundreds of interwoven trails, if you're not familiar with the specific race course, you couldn't know for sure; nor would you care when some goober waddles up to ask you "Where should I go from here?".

Again, "Wing It" was the name of the game.  I did complete 49 miles before finally calling it quits.  At least I know I won't run the first 1/2 of the 100 miles any slower than 14 hours, which is actually quite reassuring.  At least I'm still on track for a 26 hour finish.

• There is such a thing as "too much vaseline on your feet".
• I learned from a good friend that coating your feet with vaseline helps keep them from getting pruned up when running through water and helps keep them warm during winter runs, however...
• I got the bright idea: "if some is good, then A LOT must be better!".  It is not.
• A few times during this run the footing was questionable at best.  On a couple occasions when I slipped sideways I found myself staring down at the bottom of my shoe while standing on the laces.  My shoe had rotated 180 degrees on my foot!
• It got even more entertaining when my shoes got wet = oil & water repel one another!
• Key learning "sometimes less is more"
• Running trails at night with a headlamp is harder than you think.
• The last few miles I ran after dark with only a headlamp.  I did not think this would be a big deal since I've often run around home like this and it's easy...on the road.
• So it gets dark and I put on the headlamp...
• I almost bit it hard three times in first 100 yards!
• Placing the beam 10ft in front, I couldn't see what was under my feet...if I put it right at my feet, I almost ran into trees lining the trail because I was looking straight down.
• Clearly this will take some practice.
• Definitely scheduling 1-2 night trail runs before the race.

I also discovered that I don't drink nearly enough while running (I lost 10 pounds over 49 miles), and trying to eat a granola bar after mile 45 will result in very dramatic dry heaves.  The squirrels, I think, are very happy about that as I chucked most of the uneaten portion into the woods out of frustration (I did properly dispose of the wrapper...leave no trace and such).  Guess I'll be on noodles and broth after mile 40.  Apparently my ability to eat anything has limits.

There was a meme posted on facebook once that read: "Everything you ever wanted to know about yourself you can learn in 26.2 miles"; for me, I disagree.  I've run marathon distances many times, and often longer, I learned a lot more in this 49 miles; enough to know there is much more to come over the full 100 and I can't wait to find out what!

Peak training weekend - Mohican 100 primer - What the heck was I thinking?!??!!?

There have been many times I've asked myself, "what the hell were you thinking!?!" as I'm out on a long run.  This past weekend was no exception, but I must say the overwhelming feeling of doom is fading fast as I've discovered new and surprising capacity for endurance.  By no means am I an elite athlete or anywhere near exceptional, but for me, this journey has been amazing and elightening.

Saturday May 17 - 50 mile training run
Biggest run in the plan and biggest run EVER for me.  Farthest distance I've covered to date is Indian Run 60k (37 miles) at Hocking Hills.  I'm a "flatlander" as one friend likes to put it, the biggest incline I run is my 20ft driveway (which is 1" slope for every 10 feet)...pretty big deal in Marysville, OH.  So, to get a handle on what I have ahead of me and learn more about what's in store, I decided that I had to run the race course at Mohican park for my 50 mile run.

To set the stage, I arrived at Mohican Adventures Campground at 7:30am, drove around for 15 minutes trying to decide where the start/finish was going to be and spent another 30 minutes getting all my stuff together.  Conditions were 40 degrees temp and rainy, full overcast, so one is damp right off and only gets wetter.  So overcast the sun position is not visible...this will be important later. 

At 8:15am I step off for the longest run of my life...no starting gun, no applause, no anything; just me in the parking lot of the local gas station, hoping my car doesn't get towed and trying to convince myself that, "Yes, you did put the car key in your backpack and did NOT lock it in the trunk!".  I checked the car key location at least 6 times...

The goal is to run two of the "long" loops for MO100.  This means a total of 54 miles (27 miles/loop), IF you follow the course.  All things start out with good intentions...  First mile is good, on the road, entering the campground; spent 20 minutes talking to ranger lady at campground for directions and a long dissertation about how if runners come through "her" campground again whooping and hollering at 5am, NO ONE will run through there again...Nice lady, very helpful.  Wish I could help her with the loud runners, but I can't...I'm just thinking that I need to get on my way if I'm ever going to finish this run.

First part of the run looks like this:

So I'm thinking..."no sweat, this is gonna be easy."  Flat road, just like home, I got this.  Then reality starts setting in...

About three miles in there is a hill climb.  Like the picture suggests it is steep, with a fallen tree in the middle.  Realization sets in that I will have to do this 4 times.  Climbing the hill 4 times is not the problem, lifting my legs over the fallen tree the 4th time is something I can't get my head around just yet. 

Continuing on, more challenges appear...

This is the descent into Lyons Falls.  Beautiful scenery, but a hard descent if you've already run over 12 miles.  But it gets better...

Entering the "Enchanted Valley" as some call it.  I won't tell you what I called in on my third trip through.  Missed this one on my first pass so I ran it backward to find out where I missed the turn.  Slowest part of the entire track, there is no real "running" of this portion.

The "root climb" is the only way out of "Enchanted Valley".  Looks easy, but believe me, the third time is torturous. 

After the root climb my phone/camera died so no more pics to share...too bad because Mohican is beautiful, no matter when or for what reason you are there.  Remaining miles were hard but rewarding and educational.

I finally finished my run at 9pm, when cold rain & wind hit right after I had guzzled a quart of ice cold water.  The shakes started and I couldn't stop them.  Nearing hypothermia, I decided it was best to call it a day and finish tomorrow.

Pleased to say that I was able to get up at 4:40am and run another 16 miles with friends and finished the day with a 5.3 mile run with my buddies on Sunday afternoon.  Total for the week 103.5 miles.  At Mohican park 48.9 miles. 

Needless to say, I'm glad I have my family and a superb bunch of friends to help me complete the upcoming race.  I couldn't do it without them.

Stay tuned for next update...

Testing my new blog

testy, testy, testy...now that I have a blog page I have no idea what to write.  Which is not as bad as the fact I have no idea how to post it or where it goes once I do.

What happened to typewriters and carbon paper?