Blackhand Gorge Trail Series 2012

This past weekend marked the first annual Blackhand Gorge Trail Series running event put on by the Friends of Blackhand Gorge. The event took place at (where else) Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve. The purpose of the race was to raise money for the preserve in order to maintain the preserve and restoring structures that have been decaying over time. The event was a smashing success and the friends group was able to race $2,000 for our cause.

The race had 5 local sponsors who contributed money and supplies for the event:

• Matesich Distributing - Gold
• Data Image, LLC - Silver
• Park National Bank - Silver
• Donaldson Real Estate - Silver
• FrontRunner - Individual Contributor

Our logo was designed by Hyrographix Design. Jonathon does amazing work! He designed the race logo above. He's also designed our Friends Group logo as well (showcased at the bottom of this post). Jonathon does high quality graphics design, and right here in Newark, Ohio! Thanks Jonathon!

This years event offered 3 distances: 5K, 10K, and 20K. The 5K course took runners around the old quarry pits on the south side of the Licking River. The 10K course had runners ascend 400 ft of elevation in less than 1/4 mile. From there runners traverse through the woods along a grueling terrain of old rock beds and along sloped terrain. The 20K course allows runners to see all of the beauty that Blackhand Gorge has to offered along the south side of the Licking River.

20K Leader

The 20K race started at 8:30am, followed by the 10K at 8:45, and the 5K at 9am. Runners started showing up around 8am, while I was still putting out some last minute signs along the course. Volunteers kicked in took charge of everything that was needed. Parking seemed to be no problem. Registration appeared to be going smoothly, and runners were mingling waiting for their start.

Race Parking near Blackhand Gorge

Blackhand Gorge Trail Series race was my first race as a Race Director. I really enjoyed the whole experience and it truly was a dream come true for me. I've been running these trails for years and have always thought about how cool it would be to show other people how amazing Blackhand Gorge is. My passion is running, so a running event was the perfect thing for me, and it proved to be quite a successful event. I learned that Race Directors do a lot more than just send runners on their way at the starting line and shake their hands when they finish. There were a few sleepless nights thrown in there prior to the event, and I loved every minute of it!!

There were so many volunteers on race day that it was almost overwhelming. Everybody seemed to have a great time and the community really came together. Bill Weaver had an old student of his come in from out of town and ran the 10K. He had never run a trail race before and said he loved it! He lives in Chicago, IL and happend to be in town, so he signed up on a whim. He got 3rd place 10K finisher award! We sure hope he comes back next year and claims his 1st place plaque. :)

Button Bush Trail meets Quarry Rim Trail

Jennifer brought the girls to the race. It was their first 5K ever. I was so proud of them and will remember this day for the rest of my life. They were all so proud to cross the finish line, and I gave them all a big hug. Jennifer and Janet were the local comic relief party. They showed up with the giggles and left with the giggles. I expected nothing less! :)

My 5K Finishers!

Daizi, Jennifer, Lizzie, and Jazzy

1st and 2nd Place 

Goof Ball Award Winners

This was a huge success for The Friends of Blackhand Gorge!! It marks our first public event that raised money for the Nature Preserve. We have yet to determine how to use the money, but you can bet that we are already thinking about the next event. I have big plans for next years race, and there's been talk of a new Pedals to Paddles event. This event will allow participants to ride their bikes down the bike path for 4 miles, and then paddle a canoe back back down river to the finish line. This sounds like a really cool event and I'm excited for the friends group to begin planning it! This would allow Blackhand Gorge to showcase all of her natural beauty from both the old train tracks above to the old canal path below. A lot of history has passed through this place! Other events include evening hikes by moonlight and even dog walks down the bike path. These are all just ideas for now, but The Friends of Blackhand Gorge are all very passionate about doing all we can to support our cause.

2012 Mohican 100 Mile Race Report

Mohican beat me again. The weather was great, the aid stations were packed, and the trails were beautiful as ever. Best yet, I actually ran a better race this year than I did last year. I kept my pace slow and steady, and I felt strong through most of the race. Ultimately, my stomach got the best of me around mile 55, and I dropped at mile 60.

Pre Race Drama
I showed up Friday night and went to check-in to get my race packet. Oddly, they couldn't find my name on the list. After talking with 3 different people and a few phone calls, it was determined that I never actually signed up for the race!!?? How could this have happened!? I was able to convince them that I really did think I signed up (I was sure I did), and the race organizers let me pay the original fee to sign up and join the race. Phew, silly me...

After getting checked in, Farley showed up and we just hung out up at our campsite and started drinking some pre-race beers. Our old college buddy, Jauffrey Fougere, showed up and was going to camp with us for the night. It was like old times at BGSU! Only instead of being ultra party animals, we were ultra athletes. :) It was unfortunate that I had to pack in to my tent early and missed out on catching up with Jauf. We vowed to do it again soon when didn't have to go to bed so early. Farley and Jauf hung out by the fire til around midnight. Oddly, I think I stayed up long after they fell asleep. I had the pre-race jitters and simply couldn't shut my mind off.

Jauf, Luc, and Farley

Race Morning
I woke up to a faint voice saying "Luc... Luc... Dude, you missed the starting line, it's quarter after five..." I shot up like a rocket and said a few choice words... I then gathered myself and started getting ready. My biggest fear was "fighting the clock" and by the time I actually set foot on the trail, I was 45 minutes behind it. Crap! Although, to be honest, it worked out great, because I got to run my own race at my own pace. I didn't have to get stuck running someone else's race while being caught up in conversation. I just focused on staying slow and steady.

First Loop 
I did a lot of power walking and jogging on my first loop. I felt strong enough to run, but also knew that I had all day to make up for the lost time and didn't want to use up all of my energy. I felt extremely strong and kept a close watch on my calories, hydration, and keeping cool. I peed like a rockstar so I knew I was staying well hydrated. I never got hungry, so I knew my calories were great. And everytime I started to sweat I would slow down and pour icy cold water over my neck and head. Towards the end of the first loop, I had actually passed a few people. Therefore, I had caught up with the back of the pack and was no longer in last place. This felt great.

I ran a few miles with Fred Davis III and got some tips from him on how to finish a 100 mile race. He said I was on a good pace and to just stay slow and steady. It was great to run with him. I've seen him at lots of ultra events. I remember running a few miles with him at Oil Creek 100 a few years ago, and he's always happy and full of stories. One great guy!

The first loop was pretty uneventful, I powered through the aid stations and kept moving at a steady pace through the entire first 27.4 miles.

Second Loop
I met up with Farley and Jauf at the campsite before getting back to the start / finish. Farley hooked me up with some ice and I hung out for a bout a minute or two before powering on towards the start / finish. We all had a few laughs about me missing the starting line like Jean Paul in Seinfeld. :) Doh!!

As I sat on the bench talking to my brothas, the sun was in full force and the humidity was pretty high. It was about 1pm and I was ready to start my next loop. The sooner I got back into the forest, the sooner I get out of the sun and under the canopy of the trees. I still felt strong and made sure to pay extra special attention to keeping cool. From this point on, I left every aid station with both water bottles full of ice and a large cup of ice chips. I would literally walk with my cup of ice chips in one hand and my 2 ice filled water bottles in the other. I made my own rule to not start running until all my ice chips were gone. It worked great and also kept me motivated to get to the "next" aid station (ie. more ice).

Covered Bridge
I felt amazing through the first two aid stations on my second loop. However, by the time I got to the Covered Bridge, I was feeling pretty gross. My calories were still on par, my hydration was good, I was still peeing (sorry for all you non runners, but this is an important aspect to distance running), and best yet I was staying cool by squirting ice water on the back of my neck from time to time. When I entered the Covered Bridge, I decided I should sit down and get my stomach in order. I killed about 10 minutes here and talked with ultra-rock-star, Jay Smithberger for a while. He had good advice and was very supportive with various tips on how to get my stomach back. Eventually, Shelley (his wife) warmed up some potato soup and then Jay kicked me out of the aid station with the cup and said "keep moving".

For the next 2 miles, I ate the soup and crunched on more ice chips. By the time I ascended the switch backs of the Orange loop, I was feeling amazing! I had no more nausea and I was running again. I ran and power walked for the next 4 miles with no worries in the world. It was a great day to be running at Mohican!

Hickory Ridge
When I arrived at Hickory Ridge I saw a few familiar faces; one by the name of Don Baun. It's always great to see him, and he's one of my favorite Mohican..inians...? I decided to sit down for about a minute and chose wisely as to what I put in my stomach. I was feeling great, but I knew that the wrong thing in my stomach could change everything. I grabbed a PBJ square and pushed on...

Around 2 miles later, the sun started to go down. I ended up running 4 miles in the dark back to Mohican Adventures. This caused me to come to a slow walk towards the end of the course. Amazingly my eyes were adjusting as the sun was going down and I was able to see every root and rock on the trail. However, I was not able to judge depth and the trail has lots of dips and mounds all throughout it. I ended up walking very slowly for the last 2 miles before descending down onto the campground road.

Farley!
As I was climbing the dirt road up to the bath house at the campground, I saw a headlight coming towards me. The light said "Luc!?"... It was Farley! He had my headlamp for me and he was ready to start pacing me. It was around 10:30pm by this point and I still felt great after the potato soup @ Covered Bridge. I think I surprised him when I nudged him and told him how great I felt. I was surprised myself actually... I've never felt this good after running 50+ miles before. I was ready to tackle the 3rd loop and we had a plan! We got up to the campsite and I had a few crackers with hummus, and some ice water. Farley and I spent about 2 minutes getting ready for the 3rd loop and then headed down to the start / finish where he would "officially" start pacing me through the night.

Third Loop
We left the campground eager to run Mohican at night. Quick recap: I had lost some time at the starting line when I slept in, then I lost some more time at Covered Bridge where Jay kicked me out of. My pace came to a crawl from running in the dark, but I was still NOT BEHIND THE CUTOFFS! That was huge for me and had me pumped up about being able to finish this 100 mile race. I was one of the last runners in the race and the cutoffs were creeping up on me, but I wasn't scared by this. Knowing that I came into the race 45 minutes late and caught up with the clock after 3 aid stations convinced me that I had nothing to worry about.

Houston, We Have a Problem
Farley and I power walked most of the first section toward the aid station. About 4 miles into this leg, I tried to consume a Hammer Gel. Immediately, I was overcome with nauseau and chucked... No warning. No build up. I went from 95% awesome to puke... Just like that! It surprised me, and I'm sure it surprised Farley too. We were laughing and talking and power walking without a worry in the world, then I went and did that... After it happened, I still felt fine so we kept moving. Oddly, I still felt ok... I actually kept jogging after that little episode. About 1 mile from the Park Rd. Aid station, I had to sit down though. My energy had drained and my stomach was starting to feel nauseous again. We pretty much walked to Park Rd.

Park Rd.
When I got Park Rd., I felt pretty bad; like I could puke at any second. The thought of any food, water, heed, or motion made me want to vomit. I decided to sit down on a milk crate and gather myself. Perhaps my will power was taking a hit here... My stomach is what destroyed me last year, and here I was dealing with it again this year. As I sat on the milk crate, someone eventually suggested a Dramamine. I thought it couldn't hurt, so I took it down and was waiting for it to "kick in".

About 5 minutes later the nausea waved through my body and I got sick right right on the street in front of everybody at the aid station. I apologized to them in between heaves, but there was nothing else I could do. It was mostly water, but upon further investigation, I saw that the Dramamine pill had never digested either...

I didn't want to sit back down because my legs were starting to lock up, so I decided to walk back and forth there at the aid station. A minute or so later I started seeing stars and things started to go dark. I felt cooky, so I walked up the road a bit and decided to sit down on the concrete... quickly. I really wanted to lay down on my back and take a nap, but knew that was out of the question. Once the shakes kicked in, I knew that I was probably not going to finish this race. I was now hyperthemic (I think), with gross stomach, fighting the clock, and had 3 miles of darkness until the next aid station.

I Dropped
Farley and I talked about it for a while, and I really wasn't feeling it anymore. It's amazing how last year I felt this bad (maybe worse), but pushed on for another 15+ miles. This year, I think sleep deprivation and exhaustion had a bit to play into it. I didn't get much sleep the night before and I really just wanted to lay down and pass out. We had an aid station member drive us back to the camp ground and I got my 50+ mile medal (again). I took a shower, and then passed out in my tent thinking about what went wrong... :(

Already, I'm thinking about trying it ONE MORE TIME next year. In hind-sight, I think it was poor electrolyte management. I didn't take any electrolytes the entire day and stuck strictly to water and ice. Lesson learned...

Preparing for Mohican 100 (take 2)

Well the time has arrived. I'm going to attempt the Mohican 100 again this year... Actually, the starting gun fires in about 15 hours. I think I've learned my lessons from last year and I have a bit more confidence in myself this year.

Last year, I felt great and ran a little fast around mile 35 and it ruined my race. I got my body too hot and the temperature didn't allow me to cool back down. My stomach shut down and I couldn't hold anything down from that point on. I was taxed for the next 20+ miles but crawled up and down the hills. This allowed the clock to catch up to me (ie. there is a cut off time), and then I found myself being forced to pick up the pace. With no food, no water, and no energy, I decided to let Mohican win. My plan was to come back "next year" and conquer it.... It is officially "next year" and I'm ready.

My plan this year is to keep a slow steady pace from start to finish. If I get to mile 80 and feel strong, I'll pick up the pace then, and only then. I have the same kick ass pacer that I had last year, Jamie Farley. Last year, he wasn't able to pace me at all because I dropped before he was to join me. He did however help me at each opportunity with lots of support, suggestions, and just good advise. I'm anxious to have him on my side again this year. He's now a seasoned veteran in the ultra running scene having run his first ultra a few months ago. I'm very much looking forward to running (or walking or crawling) with Farley through the hills this weekend.

I'm all packed up and ready to go. I'm hoping to finish before the 32 hour cutoff. If I'm not on pace to make the 32 hour cutoff, I'm not going to let it scare me like it did last year. I'm going to keep pushing and hope to make up for lost time. The fact is that a 32 hour cut off means that you have to run 18 minute miles. This is a fast walk in most cases. Therefore, to get behind the clock on this pace means that you simply have to move a 16 minute mile pace. Sounds easy enough... right?

As long as I keep my body cool, fed, and hydrated, there is no way I can fail. I'm approaching this years race with a confidence that I've not had before. This is my goal right here:

Now I'm going to go find myself and the meaning of life in the forest... I have a long and exciting 2 days ahead of me...

Dusseldorf, Germany - Day 21

Today was an amazing day! I woke up at 7am and got ready for the Dusseldorf, Marathon (race report to follow). I ran the marathon faster than I've ran any other marathon before (a PR) and then came back home and relaxed for about 5 hours on my bed... I couldn't move much more than that, so I didn't try too much. :)

Around 6:30 I headed down to Bob and Michelle's flat so that we could all go out to dinner with their friends, Bill and Peggy. As it turns out Bill and Peggy are both American as well. I also discovered that Bill works for Delphi, and was once an employee at the Kokomo, Indiana plant. What are the odds that I've been there before, years ago. My dad has a friend that used to work for Delphi in the IT department and he took me into his office when I was still very "green" with programming. What a small world we live in.

We all hopped on a train and headed to a nice restaurant named "Orgie" (yes you read that right). It was a very laid back atmosphere and the food was absolutely delicious. I ordered the white asparagus meal with shnitzel. We all drank beer and finished off a bottle of wine. It was great to just sit around and talk about nothing for 3 hours. The chef was right beside our table and there was fire and brimstone flaring in the window which lit up the entire restaurant from time to time. What a cool atmosphere this was.

After dinner, we all took a nice long stroll down the harbor to the area where the race had consumed the city streets earlier in the day. Amazingly, all of the booths, trash, and fences were gone and cleaned up. It probably took a large army to have all of this done while I was resting throughout the day. Quite impressive to know that all of this was taking place.

The stroll was very relaxing and we simply took our time. We eventually arrived at the Capella Bar and Cigar Lounge, which was very high class place. Think of what you would picture a relaxed up-scale cigar lounge would look like, and then add me. That is exactly what it was. The lounging area had a huge 10 by 20 humidor that was lined with top-dollar cigars.

Bob, Me, and Bill Picking out our Cigars

Bob, Bill, and I all entered the humidor and picked out 3 large Habana Cuban Cigars. I had no idea what to order, so I let them choose. Mostly, I know of Swisher Sweets, which are about $5 for 5 cigars. These cigars were a little bit more than that... each. Michelle and Peggy basically "tolerated" our adventure and ordered some Mojito's.

We all sat in the lounge chairs and relaxed with our drinks and cigars enjoying conversation with one another. I really enjoyed this place, but by the time I left, my eyes were very heavy and a bit burnt / dry.

Around 1 am, I made it back to the hotel and crashed on my bed. This was one long day. However, I'm still on cloud-nine with my PR this morning and I promise to write my race report soon to share the German marathon experience...

No, no no... I was in the middle of a blink! :)

2012 Dusseldorf Marathon Race Report

Well this is long overdue, and I couldn't put it off any longer. :)

On April 29th I ran the Dusseldorf Marathon in Dusseldorf, Germany. I was a bit nervous about the race for the last 3 weeks. I've not been training much lately, and actually have been eating all kinds of delicious foods with no solid training schedule. Therefore, I was really just looking to go out and enjoy the run through the beautiful city... As it turns out, being unprepared and a bit undertrained worked in my favor; I ran my fastest marathon ever.

I prepared for the run the night before, and informed Bob and Michelle that I'd probably be running about a 5hr - 5:30 race if they'd like to look for me at the finish. I woke up in the morning with a feeling that this was going to be a very tough challenge for me and that I'd have to push myself very hard. I actually, warmed up by running to the starting line and working up an early morning sweat. I think I surprised some people as I ran past them on my way.

At the starting line, there were people and porta potty's. :) I also saw something that I'd never seen before. There were all these unicyclists who were there to ride the course on one wheel. I'd never seen these types of bikes before. I've seen unicycles, but these ones had huge off road tires. They started their race a few minutes before us marathoners started our race.

A lot of things were said at the starting line, but I understood nothing. I take that back... I understood the count down from about 5, then off we went. I was about 1/2 way back into the starting crowd, so it took me about 2 or 3 minutes to make it to the starting line after the gun.

Once we got moving, I found my groove and just kept a steady 9 or 10 minute mile pace. The first part went along the Rhine River. Actually, along this stretch was a famous house that was on House Hunters International a few weeks prior to my trip.

The course was absolutely beautiful, we ran through various residential areas, as well as old German areas. We ran by the river, over the river, through the industrial areas, and down the roads of the busy Zentrum area of Dusseldorf. The crowd support was awesome. People lined the street at every corner to cheer on the runners. Many groups would have cookouts or little parties on the side of the road. Some even had full bands setup and were playing music for the runners. I loved it!

 A spectator drinking beer @ 9am

German fire fighters spraying the runners

4 Mens Restrooms + 4 Womens Restrooms

Oddly, the further into the race I got the faster I felt like I was running. After about mile 15 or so, I looked at my time and realized that I was on course to get a PR; I just had to keep up a steady pace for another 11+ miles. I really wasn't huffing and puffing and felt very strong, I knew that to keep it up I just had to keep my focus on my leg work and pay attention to my hydration management. The sun was out in full force by this point and it was pretty hot on certain stretches of road. I made sure to grab a cup of Wasser at each Wasser station. I also started to focus on all the things that make it easy and effortless to run. Things like leaning forward and letting gravity pull you. Things like shoulders back, chest out, pelvis in, arms down, chin up. Silly things, really... but things that actually work.

My splits were faster in the last few miles. However, I bonked pretty hard at mile 25. The sun was bumping by this point and it was getting the best of me. I felt dizzy a few times and really felt that if I hadn't stopped to cool down, I would have passed out. Not a good feeling with only 1 mile to go. My lower back was also starting to tighten up on me and the pavement pounding was really taking a toll on me. Of course, I wore my Minimus shoes, so there was very little cushion between my bones and the pavement.

I had pushed hard for 25 miles and this was the first time that I actually stopped and walked... The walk only lasted about 15 - 20 seconds, and then I was at it again. Around a 5 minutes later, I got the feeling of passing out again and had to stop and walk again... I had hit a low in my race, but I only had about 0.5 miles to go until I was done!

Finally I decided to suck it up and push. I gave it my all and crossed the finish line with a new PR. Granted my PR was only a few seconds faster than my last PR, it was still a PR! This race actually had an extra 3/10's of a mile to the course, so this means that my PR was even better than recorded.

I crossed the finish line at:

4 hours 27 minutes and 16 seconds

Done.

This was a great experience. It was my first international running event, and every aspect of the event was spectacular. The crowd was amazing, the weather was perfect, the city was beautiful, and the post race goody bag was (by far) the best I've ever had! Every runner got a bag of all kinds of foods, meal tickets, and we were even treated to a free TALL beer. German Style Baby!

After getting my bearings back at the finish line, I hobbled back to my hotel room and lounged around for about 5 hours before getting ready and spending the evening with Bob and Michelle and Friends (link). This race really hurt. I typically don't go out and run fast races. I typically run races to finish. This was was special for me in many regards, and I was happy I pushed myself to a new personal best time. My lower back hurt, my hips were shot, and the balls of my feet were tender. Perfect race!

Chesterville, ON

I'm out of town on business. I'm currently in the little town of Chesterville in Ontario, Canada. It's a beautiful place and I'm loving it. There's lots of agriculture and farms here, but it's all under about 4 inches of snow right now. As you might imagine, the weather is a bit cold... OK it's really cold. There is snow and ice everywhere and the wind is pretty brisk at times. Luckily I'm indoors most of the time and don't have to deal with it. The apartment that I'm staying in is upstairs from the office that I'm working in. Therefore, the only time I go outside is when I want to run and when I go out for lunch/dinner.

Here's where Chesterville is located:

View Larger Map

I landed early Tuesday morning and have been treated like a prince since my arrival. My host, Birket, is a wonderful host and has taken me to lots of fun events. As soon as I landed, he immediately took me to a great restaurant for lunch where he knew the owners and we got top notch service with some amazing food. I was a special guest at his rotary club meeting. I have got to enjoy the company of some pretty amazing locals. I even got to experience Canadian pub life (hockey et al) two nights in a row. Last night I enjoyed some Mexican cooking classes at his pub and that was extremely fun. I've enjoyed some fine cuisines at various local restaurants. Everybody here has been so hospitable.

The scenery up here is amazing as well. Yesterday I took a 4.5 mile run along the frozen highway and it was a beautiful run. Kind of technical due to all the ice and frozen slush, but beautiful none-the-less. I took off out the door around 4:15 pm and the sun was setting on the horizon. It looked like the entire western sky was on fire. Unfortunately I had no camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it. The weather was "butt-cold" and I had a frozen ice-stache on my upper lip to go with my red nose and red cheeks. I think some of the drivers thought I was crazy, but I really enjoyed the run. I do plan to get in some miles tomorrow before my flight home if time permits... We'll see.

Tonight I went to a nice restaurant with Raymond (an old friend from my Virginia trip last spring) and we had a great evening together. When I got back to the apartment, I had a lot of time to myself, so I dialed up Jennifer on Skype and we've been talking for the last hour or so. We caught up on the weeks events. Apparently we had a showing on our house today. I liked the way that worked out because I didn't have to be there to do any of the cleaning. :) We're pretty sure it will fall through and our contract is up with our realtor in the next week or two. Looks like we ain't goin nowhere. No worries. We'll make it work.

So I have a flight back to the states tomorrow and I'm pretty excited to get back to a normal schedule. The last month or so has been absolutely crazy. Lots of holidays followed by lots of travel. My goal is to get back to the basics and catch up on some projects I've been putting off too long (talking about you Pop!). :)

Here's what I'm looking forward to this weekend:

Jennifer and Lizzie <3

Flea is a Minimalist Runner

Hot New Running Buddy

Jennifer took a run with me yesterday! :) First time, ever...

It was more of a slow jog / walk, but I loved it. It was my first run since Mohican, so it was supposed to be slow. It felt good to get back on the trails. The pace was perfect for Jennifer. She was huffing up the hills, and it sounded great. :) She got to see why I like trail running so much. I think she liked it too! She even said that it was much nicer running through the trails than on pavement. <3

I'm hoping that she will continue to join me on random runs. I don't expect her to join me on my 10 and 20 milers, but the little 2 and 3 milers would be great. As a testament to her enjoyment on the trails yesterday, she woke up early this morning and ran 3/4 of a mile up on our hill! :) She got some nasty blisters on her toes from her new VFF's, but that comes with the territory I think.

Anyway, I just wanted to express my joy of having a new (hot) running buddy. I may try to sneak her out the back door tomorrow for a short 3 miler. ;)

Mohican 100 Mile Race Report

DNF: Did Not Finish

I went out to run 100 miles at Mohican yesterday in the annual Mohican Trail 100 Mile Run. I ran very strong and steady for 38 solid miles; no real issues. Around mile 38, nausea kicked in and I couldn't get my stomach back together. I made it to mile 60 where I had to drop out of the race. It was a hard thing to realize that I couldn't continue, but I was happy to crawl out of the woods on my own, rather than be carried out with the help of others. Basically, nothing was staying in my stomach and my energy had dropped to 0% before I officially threw in my towel. I simply couldn't continue. It just wasn't my time. Mohican had beaten me down.

I'm telling my story so I remember it the way I experienced it. Also, I'm telling it for those mere mortals that don't run, or who don't run long distances, or for someone who might just want to hear the wave of emotions that go into pushing their body past the normal limits of everyday comfort. It started off as a curiosity project and adventure for me, simply to see if I could run 100 miles in one fail swoop. It ultimately turned into an emotional battle with my own body to keep moving forward.

Tent, sleeping bag, drop bags, and race supplies

Check In
The day before, I had Jennifer give me the "Ultra-Luc Mohawk" in the garage. The girls got to watch and thought it was pretty cool to see daddy with a rad do. Once the hair was prepped, we all headed up to Mohican so I could crush this thing... Yes, confidence was very high by this point. Jennifer and the girls were driving me up and help me setup camp. They were going to come back up on Sunday to see me cross the finish line, and then help me break my site down again. The idea was that I wouldn't have been in any condition to drive home by myself after running so far with no sleep.

We arrived at the campground around 6pm, and got all checked in. We all enjoyed a nice pre-race dinner just hung out. It was Jennifer and I's 11 year anniversary, I loved the way it turned out; I got to spend my time with her and the girls and just relax. The girls got to play on the jungle gym at the campground, and we all stole cookies from the local church group that was supplying dinner. J/K they were paid for. :)

Nick doing what he does best, drinking beer. :)

Girls being monkeys

Around 8 o'clock, I called Farley and learned that he had just arrived, so Jen packed up the girls and headed back home to leave us boys to our beer. Almost as soon as Jennifer left, the sky cut loose and it poured down rain. It rained for a good hour or so. Everything got wet and it got me pumped for the race actually. Farley and I stood in the rain (me in my poncho, him with an umbrella) and drank beers and caught up with one another. Around 10:30, I headed to my tent to try and get some sleep before my 4am alarm clock. My insomnia kept me awake until around 1:30am. I heard Farley go to his tent around 11:30 and he was snoring way before me. Grr... Alarm's set 4am sharp.

Starting Line
When the alarm went off, it felt like I'd just fallen asleep. I got all my race gear on, and started my walk down to the starting line with my poncho, two empty water bottles, my headlamp, and an apple (ie. breakfast). The campground was pretty quiet and dark, but I could see headlamps coming from every direction while other runners were making their way to the starting line.

Once I got down to the starting line, the atmosphere was awesome! Runners were all jazzed up and ready to run. I ran into a lot of people that I typically run into at these events. It's amazing how small the ultra running community is around here. We all traded our well-wishes and got set for the gun. The race started at 5am sharp.

Miles 1 - 27 (First Loop)
My first few miles, were very easy. It felt so good to be running after the long 2 week taper. My legs were fresh. We all ran in a huge convoy through the woods for a steady 2 hours. There was a long line of head lamps illuminating the single track trail in front of me, and behind me. I tucked into a cozy spot where the pace was a slow jog through the hills. The first couple of aid stations were very quick for me. I was in and out with only a handful of snacks and some sips of fluid to keep me hydrated.

I ran with a lot of amazing people. We all played leap frog through the forrest, and each time we'd pass one another we would trade words of encouragement and sometimes run together for a few miles and share stories to pass the time. I caught up with a few people I knew from previous races and also met some new people along the way. Even at the aid stations, I saw some familiar faces who were volunteering and was able to catch up with them as well. I'm beginning to feel like a veteran, even though I'm only 3 years into this sport.

It was really neat to see the forrest come to life from darkness to daylight. What started out as a quiet and dark jog down a narrow path in the woods, turned into be a dewy haze of morning dew through a beautiful forrest. The birds began to chirp and the leaves that were hovering over the trail would brush against me as I weaved through them. I really wish I would have had my camera on this loop. It was very soothing and relaxing. As the early morning turned to late morning, the sun had heated up the woods and made things very sticky. There were very few spots where we were directly under the sun, but the heat was mostly humid air, much like a rain forrest. It was just "thick and wet heat", basically... I can't think of a better way to describe it.

I was still feeling very strong after the first 27 miles. 3 more loops to go!

Miles 27 - 38
When we got back to the start/finish, I ran into more familiar faces and was able to relax for a minute to get my feet right. Lindsay helped me take care of my blisters with some Desitin (who would have thought? Desitin?). I cleaned off my feet, put this miracle cream over my blisters, and covered them back up with fresh socks and they felt great. I changed into a dry shirt, refilled my water bottles, and off I went for my second loop.

I was still feeling strong and made my way to the first aid station with zero problems. Legs were fresh. Feet felt great. Stomach was not causing me any problems. My confidence was very high. Once I made it through the first aid station, a girl by the name of Bethany caught up with me. I'd met her on the first loop and we ran for a few miles together. We got separated somewhere in the first loop, but now we had caught back up to one another. She felt strong and I felt strong, so (not saying anything), we both started to push forward a bit. I led the way and we passed quite a few runners. We were probably doing 10-12 minute miles for a good 4 miles. We made it to the MTB Parking area and felt great. We pushed hard to this point. I was still feeling strong, but I was pretty worked from the hard running. We stood around for about 5 minutes rehydrating and getting some food. I got to meet her family and we just hung out for a few minutes.

Mid-day heat had arrived. Mostly sticky humid heat, but heat non-the-less!

We decided to slow it down after this aid station and recover a bit. We made our way through the purple loop and had a good old time trying to take some pictures for her 11th grade class that she teaches (funny story). We seemed to have a pretty good pace and told each other that we'd try to stick together through the night section so that our pacers could keep our pacers fresh so they could pick us up on our last loop. At one point, I decided to stay back, but told her to push on; I'd catch up to her later. As it turns out, about 2 miles later, my stomach flipped on me. I was never able to catch back up with her, but learned that she kept on going and finish her race (also her first attempt at the 100 mile distance). Congratulations Bethany!! :)

Houston, We Have a Problem
I made it to the Covered Bridge aid station feeling "OK". I stood around and ate some watermelon, and had a few sips of Pepsi. I wanted to get in and get out, but then I decided to sit down for a minute and let my legs have a little rest. Once I sat down, my stomach got sour. I sat there in the sun for about 2 minutes, and my skin got cold, my spit got watery, and I had to puke... now. I made my way over to a tree and let it go. There was a family that was visiting Mohican near by (not affiliated with the race) that witnessed the whole thing. They had a little boy with them, and after my first purge I heard him yell "EWWW!!". I just turned my head and smiled... Sorry... "BLAAAAAHHHHHH". :)

I felt better. I was amazed at how much crap was in my stomach actually. The main problem now is that I had no food and no fluid in my stomach anymore. I wiped off my mouth, grabbed a couple of snacky items and refilled my water bottles with icy cold water, before heading back into the woods. This next section was tough for me. It was uphill for the first 2-3 miles, and I had spent a lot of energy on my little "chuck fest" back at the aid station. My stomach felt fine through here, but my energy was depleting fast. I found myself wanting to sit down on the trail about every 500 yards or so. At one point, I sat down for about 5 minutes and tried to cool my body down. I poured about 1/2 of a water bottle full of ice water over my head and let it take my breath away a few times. Eventually, somebody came along and kicked my ass to get up. I'm very grateful that they did. Once I got moving, my energy came back a little bit. Thank you Jeff and Sheila. :)

On my way to Hickory Ridge, I had another little puke session, but it was mostly just heaving (no solids). It took a lot of energy out of me, and I felt like crap after this one. The first one helped me to feel good, this one just drained the energy out of me. I slogged my way to the Hickory Ridge aid station (about 2 miles). This was the longest 2 miles of the race for me. I eventually made it to Hickory Ridge, but had very little energy left in my tank. I sat down and let the volunteers rejuvenate me with more ice water. Food was simply not possible at this point. I knew that if I put anything in my stomach, it would come back up. I just sat for about 10 to 15 minutes. I could feel the cut offs catching up to me by this point. All the progress that I had made on my first loop and even on the first half of this second loop were now void. I'd lost all of my time trying to recuperate from my earlier spurt of energy. Damn!

While at Hickory Ridge, I ran into two gentlemen by the names of Dan and Frank. Frank was ready to drop right there at Hickory Ridge. Dan was also feeling bad and was wanting to drop as well. While we were talking, I assured them that I was NOT about to drop, and was going to keep pushing forward (sorry Mom). I told them that I would be walking a lot through this next session, so they decided to walk with me and drop at the start/finish instead. Perfect! At least I would have someone to be with me if I ended up passing out in the woods. :) Their company was just what I needed. We walked for a good 2 miles, and eventually, I was able to jog again. Frank wasn't feeling it, so he gave Dan and I his assurance that he was OK. We wished him good luck and pushed on. Dan and I jogged and walked for the next 2 miles til we got back to the campground.

As we were coming out of the woods and into the campground, I saw brother Farley at the trail head cheering us in. Seeing Farley actually got me psyched up. He walked with us up a steady hill to our campsite. Dan decided to push through the night loop with me, and he wasn't going to drop anymore! Awesome!! He thought it would be best to push on to the start/finish, whereas I had to hang out at the tent for a few minutes to try and get some energy for the last 2 mile hills-from-hell section. While at the campsite, I sat down again and tried to sip on some gatorade... That didn't work. PUKE!!! Damn. Farley was awesome, he gave me some great advice on things that I might try. He was a rock star of a crew captain, and I'm glad he was here for me. He tended to my every need, and was shotgun-ready to go when I needed him. Thank you Farley!!

Me @ mile 52

Eventually, I pushed myself up from the chair and did a half-ass jog to the next trail head towards the hill section. Energy level: 2%! This was at mile 52, and I had 2 more hard miles to the start/finish. This section was mostly walking for me and it was very demoralizing. As soon as I would round a corner, I would be faced with a huge hill that went up and up. At the top of each hill, I was faced with an equally huge downhill. This went on for 2 miles.

By the time I made it to the start/finish, I was (yet again) spent. It had been about 15 solid miles by this point with no food and no water. I was at mile 54 and night had set in. I sat down again!! This time, I tried crunching on some ice cubes. Dan's crew captain gave me some warm chicken broth to see if that would help, but I only feared that it would bring on another purge fest. I settled with just a cup of ice instead. I bandaged my feet again, changed my shirt and socks, and off I went into the night with Dan leading the way.

Miles 54 - 60
As we left the start/finish line, I was feeling pretty low. The cut off times were catching up with us, and my 2 hours had dwindled down to just under an hour by this point. My energy was at an all time low, night had set in and I was just drained of all energy. Any thought of running was out of the door until I could get some food into me. Unfortunately the next food stop was miles away... would I even be able to keep that down though...? After a long and quiet power walk through some hills with Dan, I decided to speak up.

I don't think I can go on...

I tried to let him talk me out of it, and I just asked for some of his advice. He's an 8 time 100 mile finisher. He had amazing advice, and it all came down to the fact that I hadn't had any food or any (significant amount of) water over the last 20 miles. He didn't talk me into dropping, nor did he talk me out of it, but he laid the facts out for me in black and white. After hearing him state the obvious, I knew I was making the right decision... We shook hands, and he pushed on into the night without me. I'm glad I was able to convince him not to drop, and that I was able to take some of his wisdom with me.

Post Race
My legs are pretty sore, and my spirit took a bit of a hit as well. A lot of training got put into this race. My legs could have carried me the distance, and (as a professional insomniac) my mental state could have held up to the challenge as well. It's the one thing that I couldn't train for that did me in: my stomach. I tried to push too hard, too soon. I was never able to fully recover from my energy boost @ mile 30-35; I didn't stop to consider the distance that I still had yet to run.

My girls still think I'm a rock star, and that's all that matters!!

The cutest cheering section ever!

Daizi's sign reads:

Daddy, you have a mohawk!

You're running a hundred miles!

Run, Daddy, Run!

Father's Day Fun after Mohican

For now, I'm going to do more research... Yes I will try this distance again!

Preparing for Mohican Trail 100 Mile Run

T minus 5 days until the Mohican 100.

Ok, so I'm kind of nervous... Actually, my emotions switch back and forth from being nervous as hell to complete panic mode to spurts of confidence.

Ultimately, I know I've trained as hard as I could have trained with out pushing myself to injuries. I'm confident that I can do the mental aspect of it. I'm also confident that my body can do the physical aspect of it. I guess I'm nervous about all the things that are outside of my control: Will it be scorching hot? Will the night be too chilly? Will my stomach cooperate? Will I get lost (new course)? Will my girls be at the finish line? What about blisters? Chaffing? Dehydration? Sleep deprivation? Hallucinations? etc...

Then I yell at myself: SHUT UP!

I can only trust that the training I've done up to this point will allow my body to finish. I can also put trust in knowing that I'm a stubborn mule when it comes to finishing something that I've set my mind to accomplish. I push myself too hard sometimes, and I think it is for this reason that I love running ultra marathons. Go hard or go home.

My Training
These last two weeks have been my taper weeks, so I've not run hardly at all. Usually I hate taper weeks, because I just want to get out and run. However, this time I was actually looking forward to it... I was starting to get burnt out trying to find time for my runs and planning my weekends around my long runs. In my peak weeks, I was running 50 - 60 miles a week. That's more than I've ever done before. I felt strong on those weeks, but was ready to bring the mileage back down.

My family has been doing my training with me. While I'm out on my runs, Jennifer's at home with the girls. I didn't feel so guilty when she was out on the town with the girls, because I wouldn't have to just up and leave while we're all sitting around enjoying each others company (yes, we actually do enjoy each other's company). :P I do feel sometimes that I've had to separate myself from the family a bit while training for this race. It's the one thing that I don't like so much about ultra marathon training. I'm sure there are ways that I could have fixed them, but ultimately it becomes a part time job. For this, I have to thank Jennifer for putting up with me and all those times that I said, "I'm going to go run". Which meant, "You're on your own for the next 2 hours with the kids". Thanks babe! <3

I did find that running early-early in the morning was the best all around answer for everybody. It helped me get out of bed and got my blood flowing immediately; it was a great way to start the day. I didn't have to try and squeeze my runs into the late morning or early evening hours, which meant they were open for "whatever". However, my biggest problem with early-early running is that I'm a complete night owl. I suffer from a mild case of insomnia. I can lay in bed for hours and be soooo tired, but never sleep. If you've never had this problem, trust me, it sucks! Therefore, running in the morning was hard sometimes because I'd go to bed around 10pm, fall asleep at 2am, and then still try to wake up at 5:30am and run for 2 hours before work. I did this for a while, but it put me into a zombie state after lunch. I must admit though, morning runs are very therapeutic and I will be doing more of them. :)

My Plan of Attack
The only way I can think to break this race down is to run the entire race in 6-7 mile increments. There is an aid station every 6-7 miles, and I know that I can 7 miles in my sleep, even on my worst day. If I keep this mental state throughout the entire run, there's no doubt I'll finish. I'm going to carry two water bottles at first, and then ditch one if it becomes too much of a hassle. I'm going to have a drop bag at the Covered Bridge and at the Start/Finish. In there I'll have fresh socks, vaseline, a thermos of home-brewed coffee, and a few other small things. I trust that the aid stations will have most of the things I would need (bandaids, food, water, etc..).

I'm running in my New Balance Minimus shoes for the entire race. I'm packing my VFF's just in case my body tells me to switch, but I'm leaving my Cascadia's at home. All of my training has been in my VFF's and my NB Minimus (more like running slippers). The fact is that I've not ran in "real shoes" in a long time, and my body has adapted to my new running style. Running in shoes actually hurts. I'm a minimalist runner, and I want to know that I can make the 100 miles as a minimalist runner. The longest distance I've ran in my VFF's was 38 miles. Last fall, I ran Oil Creek 100K in an old pair of Brooks Cascadias, but in hind sight I could have ran in my VFF's just the same. Fear won that decision and I opted for shoes... This year, I'm not letting Fear have a say. (remember: Stubborn Mule)

To make sure that I make it through the hardest miles, I've recruited the best pacer in the World: Jamie Farley. Farley is an up and coming marathon runner from the great state of Michigan. He and I are old college buddies. We are both hard-core metal-head / party animals, turned barefoot trail running geeks. I ran with Farley on his first 1/2 marathon back in September. He rocked it! I told him that if he signed up for it, I'd drive to Michigan and run it with him. He returned that favor and said that if I signed up for the Mohican 100 miler, he'd drive down to Ohio and pace me. Well, here we are! He will be helping me through my "unknown mental state" miles. He's probably going to join me around mile 75 - mile 80. I'm not quite sure who I will be by then, but his job is to keep me awake and focused on the finish line. When I cross the finish line, it will be a direct result of him pushing me and kicking my ass on the trail. Can't wait to run with this guy!

MOHICAN, HERE I COME!

Mohican Forget the PR Audio and Pictorial

This is really cool:

Forget the PR from Samantha Goresh on Vimeo.

- By Samantha Goresh

Running in Virginia

I'm in Hampton, Virginia on business. I've been here for 2 weeks and will be here for another 2 weeks. I've been able to come home on the weekends, but the weekdays have been spent here in Hampton. The good thing about being here is that I get to explore new terrain.

Each morning I wake up around 6am and run. I've explored a lot of the area as a result. For example, last week I found that there is a 3 mile running loop around the golf course. The golf course is directly across the street from my hotel. There are beautiful little ponds and the course is nice and manicured. The first time I ran around it, I'll admit that I was a bit intimidated. There is a sign at the entrance to the path that says "Open from sunrise to sunset. Be safe. Run with a friend." I thought this was pretty bold, but I shrugged and kept on... el solo.


I love the new scenery, but it's all paved, all the time. I'd much rather be dodging roots and weaving in and out of trees on a single track trail.

On Wednesday morning I was scheduled for an 8 miler, so I decided to explore a local park in hunt for some wooded trails. Luck was on my side and I found lots. It was a trail running jackpot named Sandy Bottom Nature Park. It's about 2 miles from my hotel. This meant that I would be able to make it there and explore the about 4 miles of new trails before having to head back to the hotel and get ready for work...

As it turned out, I got lost inside the park and was late for work. :) I ended up turning right onto a trail, thinking it would bring me back out onto the main path. After I was on the trail for about 15 minutes, I realized that I was pretty deep into the park and had NO CLUE which way the entrance was. For all I knew, I was on the other side of the park and would have to run another 4 miles just to get out. I didn't worry about it too much, but I was just concerned about getting back to the hotel so I could take a shower, eat breakfast and walk to before it got too late.

Here was my journey (you can see where I started to get disoriented):

Here are some pictures from my journey:

There were 0 hills on this run, and the park is right next to a high-traffic interstate (ie. very loud), but it's better than a paved 3 mile trail. I miss my Blackhand Gorge and Dillon State Park. I'll be visiting them this weekend...