Characters courtesy of SP Studio
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Friday, December 09, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Third Annual RI 6 Hour Ultramarathon
How not to train for an ultra:
The table below documents my miles and times (by my watch).
- Have a nagging injury Since RTB-NH in September, my left ankle has been troublesome. The Vermont 50 the following week exasperated the problem and finally the training towards the RI 6 Hour really hurt. I took a week off of running and was able to return with shorter runs - up to 10 miles with just some arch discomfort
- Don't do long training runs This is basically a result of 1). The pain in my foot limited my longest training run to 15 miles on the second weekend of October. Number 3) finished me off.
- Get sick Getting sick is a great way to ruin your training. Having not peaked due to the pain and the onset of this head cold, the taper was epic - logging about 10 total miles in the last two weeks.
That said, I'm not making excuses - I actually had a pretty good showing despite the setbacks. I thought about not running the race full stop, but I really like this ultra and this year my wife was competing with a relay team so I really wanted to be part of the day. I matched last year's mileage and it only took me about 8 minutes longer - my average pace was 12 seconds slower.
The official results place me 12/59 with an official total mileage of 37.814 miles in 5:50:13.3.The table below documents my miles and times (by my watch).
| RI 6 Hour Ultramarathon: November 13, 2011 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lap | Mileage | Cumm. Mile. | Lap Split | Cumm. Time | Lap Pace | Avg. Pace |
| 1 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 22:43.85 | 0:22:43.8 | 08:25.1 | 08:25.1 |
| 2 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 22:52.98 | 0:45:36.8 | 08:28.5 | 08:26.8 |
| 3 | 2.7 | 8.1 | 23:26.04 | 1:09:02.9 | 08:40.8 | 08:31.5 |
| 4 | 2.7 | 10.8 | 23:12.77 | 1:32:15.6 | 08:35.8 | 08:32.6 |
| 5 | 2.7 | 13.5 | 23:31.18 | 1:55:46.8 | 08:42.7 | 08:34.6 |
| 6 | 2.7 | 16.2 | 23:45.47 | 2:19:32.3 | 08:48.0 | 08:36.8 |
| 7 | 2.7 | 18.9 | 23:50.41 | 2:43:22.7 | 08:49.8 | 08:38.7 |
| 8 | 2.7 | 21.6 | 24:35.71 | 3:07:58.4 | 09:06.6 | 08:42.1 |
| 9 | 2.7 | 24.3 | 25:26.10 | 3:33:24.5 | 09:25.2 | 08:46.9 |
| Marathon | 26.2 | -- | 3:52:25.0 | -- | 08:52.3 | |
| 10 | 2.7 | 27 | 27:03.10 | 4:00:27.6 | 10:01.1 | 08:54.4 |
| 11 | 2.7 | 29.7 | 28:07.62 | 4:28:35.2 | 10:25.0 | 09:02.6 |
| 50K | 31.25 | -- | 4:42:22.0 | -- | 09:02.1 | |
| 12 | 2.7 | 32.4 | 27:00.38 | 4:55:35.6 | 10:00.1 | 09:07.4 |
| 13 | 2.7 | 35.1 | 27:30.51 | 5:23:06.1 | 10:11.3 | 09:12.3 |
| 14 | 2.7 | 37.8 | 27:12.11 | 5:50:18.2 | 10:04.5 | 09:16.0 |
| Totals: | 37.8 | 5:50:18 | 09:16.0 | |||
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Vermont 50: 424 Miles This Weekend ...
... and I only had to run 50. I drove to and ran the Vermont 50 50-mile race this past Sunday. Along with 550 other runners (some there for the shorter 50k version) and a ton of mountain bikers, I took off at 6:35 AM on Sunday to see the best of autumn scenery Vermont had to offer.
The run was quite manageable when compared to my Wapack experience from earlier this year. No need for a 7 installment blog series.
There were ample aid stations and only one run of 7+ miles between stations - in fairness, it was only going to be 6 miles, but course re-routing due to Hurricane Irene damage from a few weeks prior added some mileage. That said, the entire run was a bit over 50 miles, but what's a few miles between friends once you've already run 50? Right?
The day started "looking" nice - overcast, but you could feel the humidity and when the sun broke around 11 AM and temperatures reached close to the 80's, I knew it was going to be a bit uncomfortable. I kept up with the hydration and food at every chance possible - never going more than 45 minutes without eating (even if it was only a Gu packet between aid stations). I did run out of water on the 7 mile stretch between 40 and 47 miles with about a mile to go. I expected I would what with soaring temperatures just after midday and little shade on the open pastures we were running across at that point. I made it into the aid station after passing 3 runners in that last water-less mile, my thirst more of a motivator than a higher finishing spot.
Official results put me in 1 second faster than my watch at 9:15:49 at a pace of 11:06 minutes per mile. I finished 62/254 and 21/71 in my class (Male: 30 - 39).
My splits times according to my watch:
The run was quite manageable when compared to my Wapack experience from earlier this year. No need for a 7 installment blog series.
There were ample aid stations and only one run of 7+ miles between stations - in fairness, it was only going to be 6 miles, but course re-routing due to Hurricane Irene damage from a few weeks prior added some mileage. That said, the entire run was a bit over 50 miles, but what's a few miles between friends once you've already run 50? Right?
The day started "looking" nice - overcast, but you could feel the humidity and when the sun broke around 11 AM and temperatures reached close to the 80's, I knew it was going to be a bit uncomfortable. I kept up with the hydration and food at every chance possible - never going more than 45 minutes without eating (even if it was only a Gu packet between aid stations). I did run out of water on the 7 mile stretch between 40 and 47 miles with about a mile to go. I expected I would what with soaring temperatures just after midday and little shade on the open pastures we were running across at that point. I made it into the aid station after passing 3 runners in that last water-less mile, my thirst more of a motivator than a higher finishing spot.
Official results put me in 1 second faster than my watch at 9:15:49 at a pace of 11:06 minutes per mile. I finished 62/254 and 21/71 in my class (Male: 30 - 39).
My splits times according to my watch:
| Vermont 50: September 25, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aid Station | Mileage | Split Time | Spent at Aid | Cumm. Time |
| Coon Club | 4.2 | 37:22 | 0:41 | 38:03 |
| Dart's | 8.5 | 43:42 | 0:00 | 1:21:46 |
| Skunk Hollow | 12.3 | 39:04 | 0:54 | 2:01:44 |
| Garvin Hill | 19.3 | 1:06:25 | 1:50 | 3:10:01 |
| Cady Brook | 23.2 | 39:03 | 0:51 | 3:49:54 |
| Margaritaville | 27.6 | 52:27 | 2:19 | 4:44:42 |
| Dugdale's | 31.9 | 42:51 | 2:45 | 5:30:19 |
| Fallon's | 37.3 | 54:02 | 2:39 | 6:27:00 |
| Goodman's | 41.1 | 45:12 | 2:37 | 7:14:51 |
| Johnson's | 47.2 | 1:18:19 | 2:01 | 8:35:15 |
| Finish | 50 | 40:35 | -- | 9:15:50 |
Monday, September 19, 2011
Reach the Beach Relay - 2011
Massakruliks - Men's Open
Back row from left: Bill (leg 4), Bayen (leg 8), Ward (leg 12), Gavin (leg 1), Tucker (leg 5)
Middle row from left: Emily (leg 9), Kara (leg 6), Ashley (leg 3), Jodi (leg 11), Suzi (leg 10), Randy (leg 7)
Front row: Vince [aka: Me] (leg 2), Krulik [aka: Mascot] (on my right shoulder)
| Vert | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | Difficulty | Gain | Loss | Net | Time | Pace | |
| Leg 2 * | 3.33 | Easy | 21:25 | 6:26 | |||
| Leg 14 | 7.57 | Moderate | 246 | 230 | 16 | 52:15 | 6:54 |
| Leg 26 | 6.4 | Moderate | 236 | 260 | -24 | 44:30 | 6:57 |
| 17.3 | 1:58:10 | 6:50 | |||||
* Shortened from 8.96 miles (hard) - along with legs 3, 5 and 6 due to bridge washout at Crawford Notch from Hurricane Irene.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Labor Day Run Around
The Saturday of Labor Day weekend, I ran my yearly tune-up for Reach the Beach, the Charleston Distance Run. The 15-mile course is pretty flat and fast, save for the 1000+ foot climb in a little over a mile and the subsequent 1000+ foot descent in the next mile and half. With high 70 degrees and high humidity at race start time this year, it proved to be a pretty difficult 15 miles.
Nonetheless, I ran my pace and finished quite well, in 1 hour, 53 and half minutes - good enough for 61 place overall out of 550+ runners.
I ran a consistent 7:30 minute / mile for the first 3 miles, 7:40 for the fourth mile as that started the brutal climb up Capital Punishment Hill. From there, my pace fell off a bit on the uphill as expected. I crossed 7 miles on the downhill at 54 minutes and hit 8 miles crossing the bridge into the last flat 7 miles at 1 hour, 1 minute (7:38 pace).
I ran the next few miles pretty inconsistently - a 7 minute mile followed by an 8 minute mile followed by a few 7 and change miles. The heat - now well into the 90's, made it difficult to find a comfortable pace. With 2 miles left, I dropped down to 7:05 - 7:10 pace and finished strong.
Other than the oppressive heat, it didn't cause me any issues - I stayed hydrated taking water at every aid station and ate consistently. Recovery was pretty easy too - 6 miles the next morning with no issues.
I'm certainly ready for RTB, and a week later, the Vermont 50.
Nonetheless, I ran my pace and finished quite well, in 1 hour, 53 and half minutes - good enough for 61 place overall out of 550+ runners.
I ran a consistent 7:30 minute / mile for the first 3 miles, 7:40 for the fourth mile as that started the brutal climb up Capital Punishment Hill. From there, my pace fell off a bit on the uphill as expected. I crossed 7 miles on the downhill at 54 minutes and hit 8 miles crossing the bridge into the last flat 7 miles at 1 hour, 1 minute (7:38 pace).
I ran the next few miles pretty inconsistently - a 7 minute mile followed by an 8 minute mile followed by a few 7 and change miles. The heat - now well into the 90's, made it difficult to find a comfortable pace. With 2 miles left, I dropped down to 7:05 - 7:10 pace and finished strong.
Other than the oppressive heat, it didn't cause me any issues - I stayed hydrated taking water at every aid station and ate consistently. Recovery was pretty easy too - 6 miles the next morning with no issues.
I'm certainly ready for RTB, and a week later, the Vermont 50.
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