This past weekend, Sara and I were in Las Vegas and decided to take in a race. We were originally scheduled to be running the Rock n Roll Las Vegas, which runs on the Strip at night. That race was cancelled way back at the beginning of the Pandemic. We decided to go to to Vegas anyways, since we had our tickets and a hotel reserved and happened to find a small race outside of Vegas in Rachel, NV.

If you’ve never heard of Rachel, NV, you’re likely not alone. It’s a very small town about 2 hours from Vegas. Not much is in Rachel, except one hotel and a restaurant. Perhaps the most famous thing around Rachel is the (in) famous Area 51, supposedly.

On race morning, Sara and I were up early, around 4:45am. We had to take off early to ensure we could get to packet pickup at 7:45. The drive was pretty uneventful, but we did need to stop for gas on the way as there aren’t many services between Vegas and Rachel. After our brief stop, we finished our drive and arrived at packet pickup at 7:50am at an area known as the Black Mailbox. We picked up our packets and made a trip to the restroom and got ready for our races. I was running the marathon which would start at 7:30am and Sara would be starting the 10k at 8:30am.

Before my race started, I got a quick picture with a few other Marathon Maniacs. After the picture, I headed to the start line. The marathon and 51k (for Area 51) both started at 8:30, but there were only about 40 people registered between the 2 races and we kept our space, so there was plenty of social distancing.

The race started off relatively flat, running into the desert. There were aid stations approximately every 5k. The weather was relatively cool in the morning, but would heat up later. I took off at an easy pace and chose to enjoy the day. I got to the first aid station and felt good.

The next few miles, the race started to climb. It was easy at first, but the run would continue to go up all the way until the turnaround at mile 13.1 I noted the mountains off in the distance and knew we would be going close to the top. It would start to get warm, but I was still taking it easy. I had to walk from about miles 12-13 because it started to get to steep for me to keep climbing. We hit the top of the mountain and had a very short downhill section before we hit the turnaround at 13.1

After the short uphill at the turnaround, the race was pretty much all downhill back to the start. The course was an out and back and the roads were open to traffic. Since the race is more or less in the middle of nowhere, we ran on the only paved road around. There wasn’t much traffic on the course and only occasionally would a car pass. When I made the turnaround, I was able to run the section I had walked before because of the nice downhill. I felt great and was cruising down the mountain. There was also a nice breeze when I turned around.

I realized when I turned around that most of the people in front of me were running the 51k and only 5 or 6 people were ahead of me that were doing the marathon. I kept moving as quickly as possible, throwing in my fastest miles of the whole marathon. I started passing a few people and decided to keep moving as quickly as a could in hopes I would be top 5. I felt pretty good until mile 23, when I got a bit of a headache. I am pretty sure I was dehydrated, but I kept moving. I took a look behind and saw no one behind me, so I decided to walk a bit and give myself time to feel better. I would walk and run the rest of the race, only sprinting towards the end when I saw another runner for the first time in miles. At mile 25.5, I turned around and saw this runner closing the gap, but I did not want to risk not finishing as high as possible. This runner ended up passing me, but I found out he was in the 51k (though it is disappointing to be passed by someone running several miles more, at least he was not in my division. I finished the marathon in 4:50 and received my medal. I found out I was 6th overall, but I did finish 1st in my age group.

In all, the race was very fun. I do not mind running out and back races. The aid stations were nice with enough water to always fill my bottles. The race was very small, with maybe 200 people total between the 51k, marathon, half, 10k and 5k. I enjoyed some post race food and Sara and I headed back to Vegas. I would recommend races done by the race company, Calico.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post. Since my last post about the Sprouts Mesa Marathon, the Covid19 Pandemic has spread throughout the world and races worldwide have canceled. I was thrilled to hear that a race somewhat local to me was given the go ahead back in May to go on in July. With the understanding that things could change at any moment, I signed up when I saw how nice their pandemic contingency plan was going to work, should the race have to cancel last minute. I was going to get a chance to race this summer, at the Canal Corridor 100.

I hadn’t specifically started training for the 100 mile race until about 2 months prior, but my spring mileage was decent enough that adding the miles wasn’t much of an issue. After signing up, I had my highest mileage months ever in both May and June. I was feeling good.

Since the pandemic has changed the way many things operate, this race also had to make a handful of (minor) changes to allow to continue. One of the changes made was that the race mailed both my bib and my chip (and swag) to me, which arrived the Monday before the race. Only thing I had to do now was remember to pack them both. On the Friday of race weekend, Sara (my fiancee) and I picked up the other crew member coming, my buddy Alex. We drive the 3.5 hours to Akron, OH and made a quick stop to the start line to get a feel of things to come. We decided to eat dinner right there at the start line where there were 2 breweries to enjoy. Afterwards, it was a short drive to the hotel to prepare the race gear for the morning and to get to sleep.

Race morning also offered a slight change to the usual, a social distancing start line. Three runners were allowed to start at a time with times assigned by estimated finish times, the fastest runners started first (to help ensure there would be no bunching). My start time was 5:36am and I was off.

The race start had no usual fanfare. Sure there were some people around to cheer, but not anywhere near a usual race, but no issue. I started off with a nice run down to the towpath where the rest of the miles would be run. The morning was a bit misty, but the temps were very much to my liking. The first few miles just sort of flew by. I would pass a few people and was passed by a handful of folks, but it was a bit of a weird feeling not being in a huge pack so early.

The aid stations also had a small change, the volunteers were all masked and instead of the usual “buffet” of options, each aid station had several prepackaged items that the masked (and gloved) aid station was to hand to each runner. There were still plenty of options.

Somewhere around mile 25 maybe, we hit a wide open levee section. Thankfully this section was still shady and a bit windy on the first time through as it was very exposed, with the river on one side, and a highway on the other. There was nowhere to hide from the sun. This section also shared a little surprise as we suddenly had to climb onto a highway overpass to continue on the towpath. This was an unexpected climb.

The course is 2 out and backs, with the first out being about 35 miles, in the area of Navarre. Once at the turnaround, I was still feeling pretty good. The rain had stopped, so it was starting to warm up, but still not bad. When I hit the levee section, that’s when the sun really hit hard. I knew I’d slow down here, so I planned to walk when the sun was out and run when the sun was behind some clouds. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work to plan and I was starting to feel the miles.

The rest of the first out and back had me slowing down and my legs got stiff. I stopped for a brief bit at mile 50, Canal Fulton, and stretched in the shade. This helped me feel a bit better. I picked up my pacer, Alex, for a segment here.

I got back to the start finish area at mile 70 ish just after dark. I still had plenty of time to finish the race, but I was falling off my goal of a 24 hour 100. I did a change of pretty much all of my gear at mile 70, shoes, shirt, socks as the temperature was falling. It wouldn’t get cold, but it was cooler, so I didn’t want to get to cold wearing a sweaty shirt After the change, it was time to head north.

The north section was a 15 mile out, 15 mile back. The first mile or two are straight through the downtown area of Akron, but then you’re suddenly running down a long hill. I know the tow path isn’t totally flat, but this downhill was more than I realized. It felt like I kept running down and down and down. When I finally hit the bottom, I was rewarded with a nice, steep incline. The towpath in this particular area was currently closed, so they set up a temporary detour up the very steep hill nearby. Once to the top, you go straight back down the other side to rejoin the towpath. It was not the most fun when tired.

When I entered the last aid station before the turnaround, I had some confusion as to where to go. I do not know if there was a sign I missed, or what, but I assumed I kept going past the aid station. I walked up to a street, but didn’t see the towpath. I backtrack and see what I think is the towpath down the other parking area. No luck. I ask the aid station workers where I am going and she seems to say I go back where I came in from. I think I was tired because I recall saying that I was not headed to the finish, but trying to get to the turnaround. She reassured me I needed to go about a 100 yards and I’d see the sign pointing me in the right direction.

Out of the aid station and into the turnaround was about the only time I ran with anyone for any extended period of time. I talked with a younger runner about many different types of running. I was not much of a conversationalist, but it was a nice chat. We did think we had somehow missed the turnaround because this section just seemed to go on and on in the night. Eventually we made it. Another runner had caught us at this point, so the two of them took off while I still hobbled along. Once I got to the 2nd to last aid station, Sara joined me as my pacer. She helped me walk the last few miles at a steady pace. We had one last (literal) mountain to climb. Somehow that detour from earlier was even steeper on the way back. I was practically crawling to make it to the top. When we finally get to the top of both climbs, it’s just short of 2 miles to the finish. I made the final turn into the brewery parking lot and crossed the finish.

After crossing the line, I talked briefly with the race directors and thanked them for a fun event. I was done. Alex had decided a reward of a beer from the brewery we finished at seemed appropriate, so I had a small beer and relaxed. I had completed the Canal Corridor 100.

Tunnel Hill is one of my favorite races to be a part of. I have run or crewed at this race every year but 1 since it has been around. The runners, the volunteers, and the race director really make this race a fun one for me. As such, I find myself coming back year after year and this year was no exception. This year I was back to take on the 100 miler.

Tunnel Hill takes place in a small town called Vienna, IL. It is pronounced with a hard I sound, and not like the city in Austria. It’s roughly a 5 hour trip from my home in Cincinnati to the race, which makes it a nice race to get to since it’s not to far. I arrived early, with Sara, so we could get to packet pickup, enjoy the spaghetti dinner, and listen to the guest speaker, Pete Kostelnick (fun fact, Pete holds the record for fastest run across the US and is probably the only person who has ever run from Alaska to Key West, FL, some 5000 miles). I saw a bunch of friends while waiting in line for my packet, to many to remember them all, but I did make sure to say hi to Terri and Steve Durbin, the race directors. After picking up my packet and goodies, it was over to the dinner held in the local high school’s cafeteria to listen to Pete. His presentation was pretty interesting, though I am not sure I can relay what he spoke about well here. After dinner it was off to the hotel, about 30 minutes away (I did mention Vienna was small, right?) to prepare my gear and rest.

I slept pretty well through the night, only getting up once. It’s sometimes hard to sleep on race night, so I was happy to sleep pretty soundly. I woke up at 4:30am to grab a quick shower (helps wake me up) and eat some breakfast. Sara and I took off early from the hotel to ensure we would arrive early enough to find parking. No issues there. After placing my drop bags at the start line, it was back to the car to keep warm prior to the start.

The race started at 7am, central time. It was a cold morning, probably low 30’s, but it would warm up nicely. I had met up with my friend Leanne and we planned to run the race together and shoot for a sub 24 hour run. We took off, but were running just a bit faster than we probably should have been because of all the others around us and we got to talking to another runner, Walter, who had just broken the world record for most 100 milers in a year (as of this writing, he has completed 43 and is on pace to hit 50 in a year – almost 1 per weekend). After a few minutes, he noted he was running a bit to fast, and Leanne and I agreed, though we didn’t slow down quite as much as he did. The first 5 miles were all about finding the right pace for the day.

The first aid station came and went pretty quickly. I filled up with SWORD (my electrolyte drink of choice and sponsor of Tunnel Hill) and had half of a banana. I was feeling good. Leanne and I continued to knock down mile after mile going into aid station number 2 (Karnak), where I saw Sara. I asked her to have a small bit of food ready for me and a Ziploc of Sword ready to go (even though it’s on course, I like to carry some dry powder form, just in case) when I came back through the aid station, in about an hour. I refilled on SWORD and grabbed a small bean burrito and started walking. Leanne took a few extra minutes at the aid station, but we began running as soon as she caught up.

A brief mention about the course, it is set up as a double out and back for 50 miles, then repeat for 100 miles. Leanne and I hit the first turnaround and headed right back to the aid station where I saw Sara. I grabbed a thing of gold fish crackers she had ready for me and the baggie of SWORD and off I went. She mentioned to me that I was moving well, but ahead of my pace and should probably back it off a bit to save some energy. While I did slow down, it was likely not enough, but more on that later. I was still feeling good and was now at mile 16. The sun was shining, but the weather was still nice and cool. It was a great day for a run.

Leanne and I continued to push mile after mile, coming through the Herron Pond Aid station and mile 21 and continuing into the start finish area at mile 26. I believe it was when we got back to Vienna that we picked up another runner, Mary, and ran with her for the next several miles. I was still feeling really good, but I was having some soreness in the legs. Quick note, Tunnel Hill is a mostly flat race, however, heading out from Vienna toward the races name sake, Tunnel Hill, an old train tunnel, there is a long climb, though it’s maybe 2% incline at it’s steepest. Somewhere during this stretch, my legs were feeling fatigue and I told Leanne and Mary I was going to walk a bit and stretch. They also slowed down, but were walking much faster than I was. We made it to the Tunnel Hill aid station where I again saw Sara. I asked her to get my warm clothes ready and my Headlamp. Even though it was only around 3pm, I knew night would fall around 5pm, which would be before I got back to Vienna.

After leaving the aid station, we ran the short section to the northern turn around and came right back. Sara had my flashlight ready and I strapped my long pants to my packet and tied my jacket around my waist (I wasn’t quite cold enough to put them on, yet) and changed my shirt and quickly took off. Made it back through the tunnel and began running down the not so steep descent. Somewhere during this time, Walter had caught up to us and Leanne and Mary began chatting with him. He was still moving strong (as were Mary and Leanne) and they began to pull away. After a few miles, I wasn’t really able to keep up any more, though I was still running decently well at this point.

Back at the start/ finish line, now at mile 50 (10:33 elapsed time) I grabbed a bit of food, refilled on SWORD, and proceeded to take off to repeat the course. No sooner did I leave the aid station did I get sick. Seems I scarfed down my food to quick in an attempt to catch back up to Leanne. I recovered quickly, but my legs decided to disappear. I do not know why they decided right then and there to give out, but they did. Suddenly I was struggling to find any power in them. I was able to run a bit, but much of the next 50 was a walk, not because I was tired or felt like I was lacking energy, but simply because my legs had no strength. I knew I had plenty of time to finish, so I was not so worried about that and as long as I proceeded to move forward, I would be ok.

The sky was beautiful on Saturday. The moon was almost completely full, so I occasionally found myself turning off my headlamp and looking up at the sky to see the stars. The wind had been present all day, but after night came and I started walking more, it really became noticeable. Somewhere around 3am, I had to put on my jacket and my running pants and put some hand warmers in my gloves. I moved aid station to aid station, filling up with SWORD and taking some caffeine when needed. I would also partake in warm soup when it was available. Because I was doing mostly walking and it was night, the next several miles were pretty uneventful, other than being cold.

As day broke, I was headed back from the north turnaround at about mile 88. I had text Sara that I had roughly 12 miles to go (she had gone to the hotel to rest so she could drive us home), but that I had been walking and it would be a few hours before I finished. I continued to march back from the tunnel and the sun slowly rose. After about 3 hours, I hit the final aid station and saw Sara waiting to pace me in. She encouraged me to run, but my legs couldn’t find the strength and my mental capacity to will them to do so had dwindled. We walked and talked the last 2.5 miles into the finish. When I came across the finish, I saw Steve the race director there and he gave me a handshake and I was presented my belt buckle. The race was done! 26:52:19. Second fastest 100 miler.

After the race, I didn’t have much time to hang around. Sara and I had to head home. I thanked Steve and his wife Terri and Sara helped me back to the car. I was able to get a quick shower at the high school and we headed out. I slept most of the way home, only waking up long enough to ask Sara to stop for food or restroom breaks. It was a great weekend.

Note: This recap was one I wrote immediately after my 2016 Ironman Louisville race. It was posted on Facebook. I am resharing here.

Ironman race recap:

Went to bed Saturday about 8pm, woke up at midnight and was awake until 2am. Thankfully, I went back to sleep until 4, when I was finally up for good. 

Grabbed a quick shower (to help me wake up). Grabbed some breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt, got my swim suit on, dressed in some warm clothes and headed out the door with my special needs bags in hand ( I packed them the day before). 

Got parked about 5am and walked over to transition. (plan was to get to transition about 530, but I stayed across the river in Indiana and they had been doing a lot of construction, figured I better leave early just in case). Transition opened at 5:15 and I was in shortly after. I placed my water bottles onto my bike and checked my tire pressure. Once I was satisfied with my set up, I dropped off my special needs bags, and left transition. 

After getting my bike ready, Sara and I walked toward the start line. We were stopped about 500 yards from the start because the line had already started forming. We grabbed a spot in line and sat down to save energy. While waiting at the start line, I ate a bit more, cheerios this time. I also sipped on some water to make sure I was hydrated. I wanted to make sure I had about 800-1000 before the race. 

About 7:00am, the line started inching forward as the final race prep was finished. I figured it was time to do my final prep as well, so I stripped off the warm clothes and put on my wet suit (a sleeveless Xterra), sprayed some tri slide to any hotspots to avoid any blisters. Put my goggles on and my cap, and kept moving forward. 

At 7:30, the race was under way! I was still a couple hundred yards back, so i had a few minutes to double check everything and say goodbye to to all my friends and Sara, before I got to the “no turning back” point. Then, it was on. 

I got to the dock about 15 minutes after the first person entered the water. Note for all you considering Ironman Louisville, the “water” on the dock is not water. I crossed the timing mat, but there was a short line to the end of the dock as someone was debating jumping in. Realizing I crossed the mat, I verified with the volunteer o was good to start and jumped in. I was off!

The water felt great! Air temp outside was maybe 51, but water was a nice 73+. I started swimming up river with a few thousand of my newest friends. I made to sure to breathe every stroke because I knew it would help slow me down and save energy. The current up river wasn’t difficult to push through because the island surrounding the dock helped keep any current away. 

About 1000 yards of swimming, we reached the turn around. We made the turn, and down stream we went. At that point, the swim became even easier. The current made it easy to move. The course runs under two bridges. When I hit the bridges, I knew I was home free. I got to the exit and the volunteers helped me out of the water and helped me get off my wetsuit. 

After finishing the swim, (1:13), I was handed my transition bag by one of the volunteers, and entered the changing tent. I changed into my Newton Tri Kit, put on my bike shoes and helmet, put in some compression sleeves,  arm warmers, and sprayed some more Tri Slide in any hot spots. One of the volunteers helped stuff all my swim gear back into my transition bag so I could get on my way. After grabbing a small bit of water, I headed out of the tent, I grabbed my bike, and headed towards to the bike course. I saw a bunch of my team RWB teammates out in transition, which was awesome, and then I saw my Buckeye running team members and Sara. Gave Sara a kiss, and went on my way. 

First 10 miles of the bike were nice and flat. I used those miles to loosen up and get in some nutrition. At 10 miles, we started climbing. It was a nice, long, climb to the top. Once there, the rolling hills came. Up and down the whole way. There were some hard climbs, and some really fun downhills. Course is very nice and enjoyable. A little after mile 30, you come into La Grange, a small town that has a big party for Ironman. I again saw my friends as I powered through the town. I was out of town before I knew it. 

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I kept taking in my nutrition on regular intervals to make sure I had my energy. That said, mile 75 or so, I lost a bit of my energy and slowed down. I struggled about 15-20 miles, but focused on nutrition and regained my strength. At some point, I had to get off my bike to stretch. When I attempted to get back on the bike, I bashed my knee. It hurt for a few minutes, but I was ok.

At mile 95, we headed back down the climb we originally came up way back at the beginning. That was a lot of fun. I pushed hard til the end, feeling great. I hopped off the bike a little bit after and got ready for the run. (6:42)

I hit the transition, handed my bike to a volunteer, was handed my run bag by another, and reentered the changing tent. I took off my helmet and bike shoes, and changed into my Newton Distance V’s. I grabbed a bit of water, and off I went. Again I saw my team RWB members and my Buckeye friends. 

The run felt really good for the first few miles. I grabbed some water from the aid stations. Unfortunately, my knee started bothering me about 5 miles in. I started walking a bit, but was still maintaining around a 13 minute mile. I was able to maintain for some time. 

The course is a double loop course. At the end of the first loop, you run dangerously close to the finish line. It’s a bit hard to make that turn, seeing others running towards the finish. I made my turn, saw my Buckeye and rwb friends, and kept moving. I passed by U of L and Churchill Downs for the second time and came towards the finish. At that point, I saw my RWB teammates and they handed me an American flag to finish with. I held the flag up high and finished strong. Thousands of strangers were cheering for me! It was an awesome feeling. You finish under the 4th street live awning and it’s amazing. I heard my name being announced and a step before I finished, I saw my Buckeye friends and Sara. I crossed and was told, “Andrew, you are an Ironman!”

I crossed and was given my medal and a hat and finishers shirt. I met up with all my friends and just couldn’t stop smiling. It was awesome.  All in all, it was an awesome day. I had very few issues during the race. A few aches and pains and a slight misstep with nutrition, but all in all, it was fantastic.

This past weekend was the 3rd annual Steel City 12 hour race, and I had a chance to participate. As with other timed races, this one challenges runners to complete as many miles as they can within the time limit. This one, however, is a bit of a unique sign up as the race itself is more geared to helping the local community, not by signing up and paying race fees that will partially go into the community, but by actively mandating the race fee be paid in the form of socks, shirts, slightly used shoes, etc, for donations to the homeless in the area. Billed as a fat ass style race, there is no traditional registration fee, but each participant must bring at least a much needed donation in order to race, which includes chip timing, swag bag, and aid station fare.

The race itself takes place in Middletown, OH, in a park near a local air strip. The 1.52 mile paved path around the park acts as the race course. It’s fairly flat, with only a few small hills per loop. The race starts at 6pm and runs through the night, ending at 6am. This years race kicked off with a parachute jump complete with American Flag! Other races take note, every race should start with a parachute display complete with American Flag.

At 6pm, the race was off. I focused into settling into a groove. I took off a bit fast, mainly because I was talking with a few folks about upcoming races, but quickly realized it and told them I would be slowing down. I found my sweet spot and enjoyed mile after mile. It was a bit on the hot and humid side while the sun was up, so I tried to stay as cool as possible, since I was just planning to enjoy the evening.

Before the race had begun, I had already run 16 miles on the day with my training group, so my goal was a 50k, with a stretch of 50 miles. After about an hour into the race, I started not to feel so great. I am not sure if it was my dinner, or the heat/ humidity, but I was not feeling great. I started to do some walking with some of my friends at the race, in hopes that would help me feel better. The legs were feeling ok, but the walk break was nice, and did settle down the stomach. I was able to do a nice walk/ run for a good portion of the evening.

Once the sun set, I really started feeling better. I was able to do some good running here and took down quite a few miles. I even saw some skydivers doing some late night jumps, which was pretty neat to watch. I clicked off mile after. At some point in the evening, the race had some nice vegan soup, which tasted good and kept me feeling pretty good, combined with my usual nutrition.

After hitting a marathon, I started feeling not so great again. I began to walk quite a bit here in effort to just keep ticking off miles. I began to talk with some of my friends who were also running again, and sharing stories with others. I talked to folks who were hitting their first marathon, or working towards their first 50 miler. I even walked a loop with someone who had just hit his first 50k after just hitting his first marathon. He was feeling pretty exhausted, but we were only 6 hours into the race, so I told him that even if he kept walking, he would likely hit 50 miles and maybe he should just walk a loop or 2 to reevaluate, before calling it a day. (Spoiler alert – he ended up hitting 50 miles)

After hitting the 50k mark, I decided I would just continue to walk until time was called. I started walking slower and slower and was barely making progress. I took several rest breaks, but I had planned to finish the full 12 hours. I ended up stopping for about 30 minutes at the 9 hour mark I had mentally decided to stop when a friend finished one of his loops. He was 1 lap short of 50 miles, but mentally out of it. I told him I would walk the last loop with him to get him to his first 50. We got it done, but it was very slow. Afterwards, I called it a day at 10 hours and 38 miles. I was drained and felt the 16 miles combined with the 38 and the sleep deprivation made for a pretty solid day.

In all, the race was very nice. Since there is no registration fee, all the foods at the aid station are donated by local business. There was plenty of food, cookies, soups, etc. The race directors did a great job of trying to keep us all motivated and the other runners were really pushing themselves to hit their own limits.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to run in the inaugural Ohio’s Backyard Ultra. If you’re not familiar with the Backyard style race, it’s relatively simple in concept, but very difficult in execution. The race is set up on a 4.1667 mile loop that must be completed in 1 hour. Sounds fairly easy, but here’s the catch, every hour the race starts again with the same 4.1667 mile loop. If you can’t continue, you DNF (Did Not Finish). If you don’t make it back in the hour, you DNF. The race goes until only one remains (and the final person standing must complete a final lap solo. Should they not make it, they, too, DNF).

The Ohio’s Backyard was held at McChesney Ridge Athletic Club, a beautiful space, appropriately, in someone’s backyard. The race would climb about 544 feet in the 4.1667 mile loop. Weather was just about perfect for race morning and 75 racers towed the line.

The race started at 7:30AM Saturday, right after sunset. The temps were a bit chilly, but I like cooler temps. The way the race was set up, runners would actually run a 2.08 mile loop twice, for 4.16 miles. The first loop was all about getting into a rhythm and to learn the course. The loop was a mix of running and walking to save energy for later. After passing the start/finish at mile 2.08, I continued on expecting an uneventful second half. Unfortunately for me, disaster struck. At mile 3.75 or so, I took a misstep trying to come off a bridge/ gazebo platform we had to cross. I tripped and fell very hard into the ground below, bruising my knee and really hurting my left shoulder. I told my buddy who was running with me to go ahead as I wasn’t sure if I could even run initially. After a few moments, I knew my leg was fine, but I could tell the shoulder wasn’t good. I was able to get back to the finish line in about 45 minutes for the whole loop and took a short break to prepare for the next start.

The next race started exactly an hour after the first loop ended, 8:30AM. My shoulder was aching, but, since my legs seemed to be fine, I figured I could keep running. I continued to do a run/ walk through the miles and just hoped my arm would stop hurting. At this point, it was aching quite a bit. I had told my buddy, Nicholas, I wanted to fashion a makeshift sling prior to the next loop with my long sleeve shirt (it had started warming up enough that short sleeves were looking good). We continued to run and talk so I could try to forget the pain. We finished the 2nd hour in about 45 minutes again, so another short rest was in order. In that time, I was able to fashion a sort of makeshift sling to try and keep the shoulder from moving to much (which would hopefully ease the pain).

The next 2 hours were mostly the same, walk the ups, run everything else. The heat was starting to rise and though it wasn’t going to get overly warm, we haven’t experienced much in the 60 degree range yet this spring, so it felt warmer than it was. During the interloopals (the break between hours) I would refill my water bottle with my nutrition of choice, Sword, tighten my sling, and try to keep the legs lose. Hour 5, or approximately 20 miles in, was when the arm became to sore. I couldn’t stop thinking about the pain, so my mental game waned. I decided that 20 miles was a good enough long run prior to my next race to call it a day. I wanted 32, but given the situation with the shoulder, 20 would be fine.

I decided to stick around after my finish to watch some more of the race. Many runners came in and went out, hour after hour. Some would strive to come in about 45 minutes, allowing 15 to rest and refresh, while some had the strategy of only finishing with about 5 minutes to spare, to limit the time they could get “cold”. It was interesting to watch the strategies unfold, hour after hour. After hour 5 (the hour I dropped out), folks would seemingly begin to drop rather steadily for a few hours. Eventually though, I had to head home as my arm was aching to much and another night without a proper bed would not be ideal with the shoulder, so I had to take off. It wasn’t until the next day that a winner was named at approximately 130 miles. All in all, it was a great experience and a ton of fun. Highly recommend folks give this unique event a try.

This past weekend I ran the Rock n Roll DC half marathon. This was the second time I had run a Rock n Roll type event, so I was curious how it would be. Having run around DC previously, during the Marine Corps Marathon, I had at least some idea of the sites we might see.

I would be remised if I did not mention that I had the opportunity to meet some running friends from the Runner’s World Run streak group I am a part of. Sadly, I did not get any pics with them, but they’re a great group of individuals. They were running the various races on race weekend, the5k, half, or full. We all had a chance to meet up the night before the race for a nice dinner in the DC area and talk.

The race morning, Sara and I were up early so we could walk a short distance to the DC metro. When we got to the station, they hadn’t even opened the gates, but we wanted to be sure to be one of the first on the train, so as to make sure we were at the start in plenty of time. Once the gates opened, the train arrived, and we were off. A few stops later, we hopped off the subway, with about 1000 others who had also hopped on the train, and headed towards the start.

The start area was laid out nicely. Lots of porta potties near the metro station, and many more near the actual start line, about a block away, made finding a pre race restroom pretty easily. Since Sara and I had arrived early, we took a warm up run around the National Mall and out to the Washington Monument. After our brief warmup, we headed to the start corrals.

The corrals aren’t anything fancy, about the same as any race. The start is right off the National Mall, near some of the Smithsonian Museums, so it was a pretty neat starting area. As the race takes off, you run a mile or so near the National Mall, so you can see a few of the sites, though it isn’t exactly easy to see all the Monuments as you never really get close enough. After that first mile, you end up on what I will describe as the highway, but I am not sure that’s exactly what it was. The race winds under road ways with no real views for a few miles until it gets into some of the DC neighborhoods. The houses in the DC area are quite nice, once you get to them, and many people came out to watch. We also ran through a very nice park nearby. I will warn anyone doing this race, the roads aren’t in the best shape and we were always watching for potholes, but overall, the course was nice and support was good.

The race ends at the RFK stadium, near the DC armory. The stadium isn’t much to lookout and appears to have fallen in disrepair, though it is still in use. The post race party, which is usually one of the things Rock n Roll touts as a main reason to do their races, was just ok. They did have plenty of post race food, but the setup didn’t really make me feel like I had actually finished a race. I feel it could have been done better.

Overall, the experience was a positive one. DC is a fun area to run in, seeing the monuments, even if only briefly. I wouldn’t say the race itself was my favorite ever, but I wouldn’t say it was bad either. If I were to grade it, I’d say C+. That said, meeting some running friends and running the race with Sara was definitely worth it.

In January, I ran the Rocks and Roots 50k at Alum Creek in Lewis Center, OH. (If you’d like to read that report, click here: https://crazyultrarunner.home.blog/2019/01/11/rocks-and-roots-50k-1/) This past weekend, I did the same race, but the course was very different.

For a quick recap, the course is run as loops, 3 North loops (laps 1,3,5) and 2 South loops (loops 2 and 4). In January, it was extremely muddy. (Be sure to read the post linked above for more insight). The February race course was frozen solid.

The first loop went well and the extremely frozen ground had me feeling like this was going to be more of a road race. I was a bit overdressed, but I knew the temps would stay cold and I wasn’t sure how the wind off the lake would be. I felt really good and got through the first loop in about 1:15.

The second loop was where things went a bit crazy. The South loop was also frozen, but it was full of ruts. This made any footing precarious and I often found my ankles were taking a beating trying to keep me up right. By the end of loop 2, my legs were hurting, especially my left leg. I thought about dropping but decided that since loop 1 was pretty easy running, I’d run loop 3 and see how I felt.

Loop 3 was mostly like the 1st, but the tiredness in my legs was evident. I was able to run most of it, but did take a bad step at one point that further taxed the already sore legs. That said, I was able to finish the loop without much issue.

Loop 4 was much the same as loop 2, but I had plenty of time so I took it easy. I did not want to risk hurting myself as trying to get through some of the ruts earlier proved to hurt the legs quite a bit, I knew the risk of injury would be higher if I took a bad step. I walked a good portion of the loop. A couple of the frozen spots required a bit of ice skating to safely cross and walking certainly made the creek crossing quite cold, but another loop was down.

Loop 5 is the final loop and I had about 2 hours to finish. At this point, I had to just keep moving forward. While the legs were hurting, I pushed through and kept up a run/ walk as best I could. Since this was the same loop as laps 1 and 3, it was a relatively easy loop, other than the aches and pains I had been experiencing due to the issues on loops 2 and 4. I finished in just under 8 hours, in 7:45.

For completing both 50ks (January and February), the race gives you a nice belt buckle, along with the 2 medals you earn. The races are deceptively tough, especially if the weather wreaks havoc on the course.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton