Dizzy JoJo 6 Hour Potluck Race

2016 ended quietly, no races after Thanksgiving. I did do the Runners World Run Streak, a challenge to run a mile every day from Thanksgiving til New Years. That tied in with the 3 for 31 challenge I came across, that bumps it up to 3 miles a day for the Month of December. I carried on the run streak for 60 days total culminating in my birthday run on January 22nd.

Many times when I've run around Josephine Jones Park and Open Space over the past year, I've thought about the possibility of hosting a race similar to the Dizzy Goat race I ran back in June. I ran the 6 Hour timed trail race, the course was a 3 mile loop, and we switched directions each time through the starting area. Josephine Jones Park is a little gem of outdoor area in Greeley, CO. It was willed to the city by the namesake when she died in the early '90s to become what it is and to be saved from developement. The exterior trail runs right at 1.5 miles and has a maybe 60 foot climb on an upper portion. It's all crushed gravel. I figured, as far as a spot in my home town, it would be ideal for a timed race like the Dizzy Goat. I'm no RD, the logistics overwhelm me a little bit. As I was running out there in September, it popped in my head that I could do a loose group run or fat ass pretty easily, and invite my run club friends out. I decided to do it for my birthday.

I put up the event on Facebook in November. I didn't publicize it much initially because it's hard to predict weather in Colorado 2 months out. As we got into January, I started seeing promising long-term forecasts so I started trying to rally my people. The response was promising. I said my goal of at least 36k, but I was planning to be out there for 6 hours and everyone was welcome to come whenever they wished and run as much as they want. I even printed up some bibs with custom names and numbers for a few people. It was a whole thing.

At 10am on Jan 22 I started a counter-clockwise loop at Josephine Jones Park. My wife had come to the park initially expecting to see friends show up early, but she took off after my first 1.5 miles was done. I was 10k in when my run club teammate Henrique showed up a little later. Another teammate from my run club, Kate, showed up while I ran to my parent's house nearby to use the restroom. That was a bit of delay. I talked to my mom and sister for a bit, and saw my 16 month old niece for a minute, but then had to get back to the park. I was 9 miles in when I got back to the picnic area of the park.

I had set up a personal aid station with some snacks and water and such. The idea initially was to loop into this picnic area every lap and loop back the opposite direction. I spent a little more time there than I would normally like, but this was really more of a social event than a race. Henrique and Kate and I all ended up there at the same time at this point, and thought we maybe saw some other people coming from the parking area, so we waited, and waited for quite a while really, until realizing it wasn't any of our crew. So we went back out. Kate took off pretty soon after that, then Henrique took off shortly thereafter, but he was proud about a distance PR. That's what this event was about!

Photo by Sue

I was expecting some people to show up about 1pm, but when Henrique left shortly after noon it was a couple hours where I ran alone. At around 2, I saw that Sue from run club had checked in and was heading out to start running. I caught up with her a little bit later. I think I had broken 36k (or 22.3333 miles or whatever,) goal by that point. Then Jessy from run club and finally my long time friend Peter would arrive shortly after that. I caught up with them when I had a minute.

20 Miles

Basically I just ran around the park back and forth. I'd chat with my friends when I'd see them. I'd grab a bite and a drink of coconut water or Nuun when I got back to the start. I broke the marathon mark a quarter mile out from the aid area, and made it in to see Sue standing there. She congratulated me. I told her I was a half mile away from my longest run ever, and at just over 5 hours, way ahead of the 6 hours it had taken me. But I was worn out. I felt accomplished, but I didn't think I had much left in the tank. I walked with Sue to the parking lot, and said goodbye to her. I caught Jessy coming back the other way and kind of jogged with her. Then I got the legs going again. I went back out and got the 27 miles and a little bit more for good measure. That's when I decided I was done for the day. Only Peter was left out there at that point, I figured he'd be wrapping things up pretty quick. So I sat at the picnic table and tried to get a head start on refuelling. I took my snack bag back to my truck and came back to see I had just missed Peter starting another lap. So I started another lap. I stuck to the lower portion of the park, fearing the hills a bit. I came back with about 28.5 miles. I waited for Peter to come back in, and he just wasn't. I looked at my watch and thought for a minute that if I'd quit waiting to be done and just went out and ran 2.5 more miles, I'd get to that 50k mark I'd been gunning for for the last year. My legs weren't thrilled about it right away, but they fell into the muscle memory of what they were supposed to do real quick, and I ran lap around the edge of the park, then a little on the lower section. I ran into Peter as he was leaving. I thanked him for sticking around because I was going to quit if he weren't out there and now I was going to accomplish a real goal. As I ran back up to my truck I hit that 31 mile mark, and I went an extra 10th for good measure. It took 6 hours and 5 minutes total, and that's with a lot of standing around, I didn't pause my watch all day until I thought I was done at 27.5 miles.

26.5 Miles (Photo by Sue)

 I look back now and wish I had gone after 36 miles for my 36th birthday. I think I'm falling back into the trap of the post run view. It was rough after about 20 miles. It was a real struggle to keep going after 27. I need to remember that. But also it's great to do something so above and beyond to build for later; To do something that is rough and learn that rough doesn't mean much.

That night I went home, I had a lot of pasta for dinner and relaxed with some beer. I woke up the next day surprisingly fresh. I went to work as usual and didn't seem like my legs were all that too upset about what they had been through. I still ended my run streak there, just out of an abundance of caution.

Now I'm formulating more ideas to make my little birthday race bigger. So put a pin in your calendar for January 21, 2018.

Reflections and Trials and the Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon

I want to remember how miserable I feel at the end of a race.

It's been well over three weeks since the Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon, a 100% runnable trail race; much more gentle terrain than the Black Hawk race at the end of July, and my time showed that: just over 2 hours. Second best half marathon and my PR was set on an extremely flat course. This wasn't crazy, some 1100' of climbing, certainly nothing to sneeze at.

It was an interesting course. Once outside of the concrete path connecting a park and rec center to the ritzy Highlands Ranch homes built tall and feet from each other's walls to fit in all their excess space, it followed what seemed like road along the edge of pasture: Two parallel tire ruts worn into the wild grasses, pocked with prairie dog holes. The climbs were gentle and the downhills were perfect for making up time. I'd seen it pointed out that the trails were probably made more with mountain bikes in mind than for hiking or running. For 8 miles they went, wide and rolling and smooth, then things switched up. We were treated to a single track: rocky and rooty, just when you're comfortable and maybe feeling a little lackadaisical about picking up your feet. And it started with a good downhill section with no room to pass those who may not have the same confidence. I knew that steady descent meant that we'd have to soon go back up, and that's were it started to get hard. That's what I want to remember.

There's a lot of good in making the best of things. That's not something many people who've known me would expect that I'd be good at, but it something that I've really gotten in the habit of. Even things that would often try my last nerve have become things that I almost enjoy ( like work.) It's running that has precipitated this obnoxious positivity. It's the trials of racing to that finish line, that is where you find the strength. I feel like in the minutes and the hours after crossing that line and I've had a bunch of water and a little food and I've caught my breathe, I so quickly forget how miserable those last miles were. I downplay that conversation those parts of my mind were having while assessing the pain and the weakness and the distance still to go and the fight to determine how much I would give it and how much I would give in. When I'm back home and posting the finished info to Strava and the pictures of my smile and medal to Instagram, even I am already not appreciating what I went through. 

This time I want to make myself remember because I started so strong, but the last 2 miles felt so long, and I know I could have probably given a little more, but what I gave at the time felt like the bottom of the tank. I want to remember how awful the race in Black Hawk was, at the first half, because I was hungover and need to shit during a race that would be tough in the best conditions. I want to remember the time lost in Longmont with less than a mile left when the weaker part of my will won the argument and I slowed to a walk to get my legs back under me, I damn well could have waited five more minutes til I was finished to do that. I want to remember that feeling at the Dizzy Goat of that 9th lap that the gals at the scoring table were surprised I wanted to do, and the pain of getting up that hill, of falling, of grasping at the waistline of my sagging, sweat-soaked shorts as I pushed through to the finish a final time. I look at the photo of my face as I did that. It's tough to remember the feeling, though.

I want to remember looking back so that next time I can remember that I've been there before, I've faced it, I reacted either with perseverance or not and to know that I can do it again, better, stronger. These trials I'm putting myself through by choice, because the reward in the end is so great: confidence and strength and joy -- fucking joy!

It is a privilege to run and a privilege to choose your trials. I've taken it so for granted for so long, but now I recognize it. I'm grateful for it. I want to remember the hard times I choose to face because I've long attempted to avoid hard times in reality, but that's where the measure of yourself is found and forged.

A photo posted by Matthew Ronne (@matthewronne) on Nov 5, 2016 at 6:33pm PDT

Aaaand two months later

Jeez, blogs always start off with the best of intentions. Well, this one is about my running, and to be fair, August and September were as quiet as this blog was on that front. I had a strong month of running in August, no races though, and at the end of the month picked up an IT band issue that led to a lot of rest in September. Anyone who's had an IT issue know that they seem to just linger, but with some regular stretching and a new focus on other exercise outside of running, it's gotten to be quite manageable, and I'm back to over 30 miles each of the past couple of weeks.

I've spent these weeks in between races focusing on my run club. It's the best part of what running has brought me. There is so much importance there. We humans are social animals. We can't ignore that. I keep meeting new, friendly people through running. As an adult, that can be a tough thing, making new friends. Run club is an invaluable part of my life.

I am signed up for a race, a trail half marathon on November 5 with a couple of the ladies from run club, I also will do the local Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving. I've incorporated some speed work into my routine a bit lately, I am gunning for besting my 5k PR there. It's been a while since I put my focus on that.

Other than running, I am planning on participating in Vegan Month Of Food or VeganMoFo here on this blog. That's a deal where bloggers are given a daily food topic to post about. VeganMoFo happened in October in 2011, which was the month I gave myself a vegan diet challenge 5 years ago that I have not and do not expect to go back on. I thought it would be a good thing for me participate in this year to give myself a challenge to blog every day, work on some of the creative energy I'm feeling right now, and to play with and share some of my remedial recipes. So look forward to that in November.

To go with October challenges, I'm working on consistent morning routines like is so the rage right now. Every morning so far this month has started early with at leat 15 minutes of meditation, then a quick exercise. It's mostly been some sit-ups, pushups and planks, with a little variation, (like the pushups were out of the question a few days in with some soreness from jumping into the routine a bit too much too quick,) but consistency grows on itself. That's what I'm going for, not just to be able to run as long and far as I want, but to be my best self.
So that's my little refresher. 

I hope everyone has a great October.

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Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon Race Report

After a flat half marathon in Longmont, I had two weeks to kind of change focus for the mountains of Golden Gate Canyon State Park and the Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon. I hadn't been to any proper trails since the Dizzy Goat in June, and didn't find time or will to do so with the heat of July upon us. I ran repeats on the upper section of my home park in Greeley, Josephine B. Jone Park and Open Space, as often as I could. It's crushed gravel and a relatively mild 40 foot climb, but it's what I had available to me most often. It wouldn't even begin to prepare me for what I was about to face.

On Saturday July 30th I drove down to Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon, a campground on the outer bounds of the park and near the gaming town of Black Hawk. I arrived a little later than initially planned, having watched most of a weather delayed Colorado Rapids game back home before I left.
It was a pleasant evening in the mountains. The campground had a great view of Mount Thorodin and Tremont to the north. It was a quick walk around the sold out camp ground. There was a general store with alcohol available at the attached Pickle Liquors. (They sold t-shirts, they thought it was so clever.) I did grab some beer, something I normally wouldn't do on the night before a race, but figured it might help me get to sleep early.

Pickle Liquors

Mt Thorodin to the left - Tremont toward the middle

Camp

I don't know if it's true, but it seems that camping before a race is a rite of passage for trail runners. This was my first time doing so. My wife and I bought this ten very early on in our dating life with the best intentions of being outdoorsy people after camping on a friend's family land. It hadn't even been used in the 9 years since. I finally put it up, cheap piece of shit from K-Mart that it is. The bungees holding the hooks on the rain cover weren't all tied, but I got them good enough to hold for one night. I used a crooked charcoal grill on the campsite to warm up some lentils and rice I premade at home. Then I was in my sleeping bag pretty close to sundown, even with the campground noises like a nearby campfire singalong to the greatest hits of the likes of Pink Floyd and John Cougar Mellancamp.

Camp Lentils

I slept pretty good except for my neighbors waking up at one point and cursing loudly in the middle of the night for some reason. Well that didn't make me feel so bad for having to get up be a little noisy breaking camp at 5.

The alarm I set on my watch roused me, and I put on my run gear. For this race it was my Newton BoCo Sol shoes, my go-to Feetures socks, Reebok 2in1 Shorts, some unbranded tech shirt I picked up somewhere, and my VegRunChat Halo Headband.

It was a little tough getting things going that early in the morning. I couldn't manage to get the tent rolled back up to fit in its bag (Still haven't fixed that over a week later,) the elastic inside one of the tent polls came undone, and somewhere between the tent and my truck I misplaced my wallet. After everything was loaded up I went over by the general store where I could be a little more noisy and dug more for it and walked back to the campsite to give it one last once over, no dice. I didn't worry too much initially. It was perplexing, but I was pretty sure that it had to be in the truck somewhere, and I had to go.

5am

The race was a little ways away from the campground. I found it easily enough, following the signs that Endurance Race Series put up. It was a drive though. I arrived fairly early, and kept looking for my wallet as I ate a little food and used a restroom at the parking lot a few times.  I didn't have a substantial breakfast, I was going a little light on fuel but took a couple of Larabars with me after having felt some hunger in my previous race.

At the start line we were notified that the race was to be 12 miles, rather than the usual half marathon distance. That didn't bug me so much. I had heard of trail races having fluctuations in mileage. I guess you could change the name of the race, but whatever. I felt like I could probably use the restroom one more time, but it was time to start.

This one started really rough. I was not feeling it within the first mile. I knew I was under-prepared, but my brain was foggy, my legs were week, I kept wondering where my wallet was, maybe my camp neighbors came into my tent and stole it, and I knew I was going to need to poop before long. I was able to stay with the same group of people for the first 4 miles, but kind of lost them on a climb and then into the second aid station. After that I was on my own for a couple miles with the occasional person passing me. Just ahead of mile 5 the course begins to climb and climb with no reprieve. I grouped up with a couple of guys ahead of me and a couple of girls coming up behind me and we power hiked these tight, tree-lined switchbacks for nearly 2 miles and 1,000 feet, and when we got to the top: it was fun. I felt good, like this is what this hobby is about. I just fuckin walked up a mountain. The guy in front of me turned over the top and we saw a downhill, and I said, "Well that's a welcome sight."

The misery wasn't completely over. It was a net downhill the rest of the way, but still some steep climbs to be had. I still needed to use a restroom, luckily aid 3 was at the bottom of a hill at a trailhead with facilities, possibly a more welcome site than the downhill in mile 6. After that I took it easy: Hike the steep parts, run the flat and push a little on the downhill. I really enjoyed the last few miles. I came down the final hill and turned to run into the finish at 2:29:23. I figured sub 3 hours on a mountainous course for a half would be a good enough goal. I guess I need to up that as under-prepared, a little hungover, and needing to poop I did 12 miles in 2 and a half.

Start/Finish and this rock

After heading to the finish area and having a post race banana and and IPA, which, I've had beer after races twice now, and my taste buds must be really screwed up after a race because it hasn't tasted good either time. Again, there wasn't much else for the plant based athlete to refuel after the race. The same guacamole company was there as was in Longmont, but they didn't seem to have brought chips or some other guacamole delivery vehicle. So I went back to my truck to snack and find my wallet before I got too far away from the campground. I found that I stupidly left the door unlocked, right by the trail and restrooms, with all my camping gear, a couple of electronics, and my wallet presumably buried inside. I pulled out the tent and felt around to see if I left my wallet in a storage pocket then I saw it sitting on the cup holder for jump seat in the back. Sweat off my brow. 

So everything worked out. Again, I leave a race satisfied, a little wiser about what I need to do to improve. I took a little rest week to start August: just three runs for a little over 20 miles. There's nothing on the calendar at this point. I did turn down a Ragnar opportunity for this upcoming weekend. I'd love to do that, but the timing's not right. I'm going to take some more time for myself, my wife and dogs and see what comes up.

Another little thing here at the end. I've been really heartbroken this morning. A woman named Michelle Walters was killed in a crash with a truck during the bike portion of the Ironman Boulder race yesterday (8/7/16). Michelle was also a participant with me at the Dizzy Goat Trail Races in June, and, though I didn't really make friends with anyone out there, I recognize her photo, and there was so much comradery in this little limited entry race where you're all repeatedly running the same 3 mile loop and encouraging the same faces for hours on end, I can't help but feel some connection to her personally having done that race, somewhat, together. 

We're also coming up on the third anniversary of my brother-in-law's and 5th anniversary of my cousin's deaths in a traffic crashes, and this stuff weighs so heavily on my mind all the time. More than 30,000 people die due to car crashes every year in the US. Most of these are because of little mistakes. There is no excuse for it. Follow the rules. Pay attention to driving when you are driving. Stay between the lines. Stop at stoplights and stop signs and look both ways and down sidewalks and bike lanes. This starts with each of us.

Hoka One One Longmont "Trail" Half Marathon - Race Report

Post Dizzy Goat I took some time to relax, but I kind of felt a void not having a next goal on the calendar. I didn't know if I really needed one. I came up short of my 50k goal in Nebraska, but I didn't feel like I was ready to go right back to such time consuming training for that, so I left it alone and decided not to sign up for anything right then. I had a pin in a half marathon in Longmont, I thought I may sign up for if I still felt like running after the Dizzy Goat. I put a pin in an 8mile trail race in Wyoming at the end of August, and was leaning toward making a weekend trip of that next. Then I was fortunate enough to win an Instagram contest for a free entry to an Endurance Race Series event. They boast the "Largest Trail Race Series in Colorado," holding mostly Halfs and 10ks within a couple hours of the Denver area. They put on the aforementioned Longmont race, but another one of their races caught my eye.

The Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon is one of the more challenging races they put on. It's not far outside of the Denver area, in a Golden Gate Canyon State Park near the eponymous gambling town, and I figured if they were going to give me a free race entry, I'd go ahead and pay for another and buy some merchandise from them. So I registered for the Longmont Trail Half Marathon on my dime, and used my free entry for the slightly pricier Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon.

At the time I booked the races, Longmont was only a couple of weeks out. I had backed off the mileage just a little bit from my Dizzy Goat training levels, but was still right around 30 miles a week. The course for Longmont is trail, really, in name only: much of it on concrete bike path, and very little elevation change. I figured this would be a good PR race in my first organized half marathon, even at my current long and slow training levels.

Right about the time I registered for the races, I did start to feel some fatigue, like the months prior had kind of caught up with me, maybe I didn't rest enough after the Dizzy Goat. So last week I took it really easy, not tapering so much, but making sure to schedule my runs to get the mileage I wanted through Thursday and rest Friday and Saturday ahead of the race. That plan seemed to work well, except that Saturday I went stand up paddleboarding for the first time ever, and it was more on knee paddleboarding for much of it, which works your quads more than one might imagine. It's always a surprise to me, for some reason, when I switch up activities to find out that even though I put 25-50 miles on my legs running each week, that if they're worked in a different way they're not in the shape for it. I see why crosstraining is so recommended.The paddleboarding was only an hour. My quads were a little grumpy Sunday morning, but it didn't feel like much to be worried about.

I took off for Longmont a little before 6am. Start time was 7:45, moved ahead last minute because of expected temperatures in the 90s. I had a green juice before leaving and had a protein shake on the drive, something I usually avoid, but I thought I'd experiment with it thinking might help with the fatigue. I drank another green juice between the parking lot and the registration/expo area a half mile away. After checking in, I went back to the parking lot, sunscreened, body glided, ditched my long sleeve shirt, affixed my bib and chip, then went back to wait in line at the restrooms while eating a banana. I got done with the restroom just in time for the call for runners to head to the start. I filled up my bottle and got in the group.

I started out a little hot after I found some room on the double wide trail around the lake at Roger's Grove Park. I kept an eye on my pace on my Garmin and tried to keep things a little slower than I wanted to go for the first lap.

The course quickly joined up with concrete bike path, with gravel to the side if you wanted to avoid concrete. The path left the park alongside the trickling Saint Vrain River, Y'd off to the right around a couple of ponds, out and backed to Y the other direction then back again and back to the starting area, then out to do it over again. Not the way I would have thought to design a race course, but it works, and it doesn't have any conflicts with motor traffic.

My first lap was a little faster than I wanted to go, but I recalled my race in April at the Loveland Classic 10k, where I kept looking at my watch to see I was moving a little faster than planned, but was surprised at how strong I felt, so I thought I'd just keep at it. At least I knew that if I slowed a little bit on the second leg, that I still had given myself a good window to hit my goal.

I actually started to get hungry around 5 miles in. That I did not expect. I suppose I trained too much for a shorter looped course with well stocked aid stations the past few months. This course had two aid stations, one only had Gatorade and water, the other had the Jelly Belly Sport Beans, but I hadn't looked into those beforehand. I did accept the Gatorade for sugar boost. I left two Larabars in my truck like a dope. One of those may have helped enough to overcome the lulls I hit on the second lap.

It kind of got rough between mile 8 and the finish. My arms were tingling. That was a new sensation, obvious that so much blood was being sent to my legs that there wasn't much left for the rest of me. luckily I never felt faint. If I slowed a bit on a corner or a hill, I could feel the tightness in my quads multiplying from my paddling adventure the day before. There were some ups as well, but the downs really cost me, especially at the point with less than a mile to go, and I could see the trail around the lakes going into the finish line and it felt like just too much, and I gave in to the temptation to walk a bit. I got passed by one of the people that, when I had passed her earlier, I was determined to keep behind me (because she and another girl were wearing Western Dairy Association cycling jerseys, and this vegan wanted to beat them, and I thought they were way behind me because one of them was sneaking off in the bushes for a pit stop when I passed them before they had reached the last turn around.) But her passing me gave me the boost I needed to at least talk my legs into giving it the gas for that last little bit and to stay on her heels. I let the pointless, one sided rivalry go easily enough since I'm 35 and only been running a couple years, and they are probably teenagers who haven't smoked for 16 years, and we're that equal. (And guess who the Western Dairy Association girls asked to take their post race photo? The vegan guy! Not that they knew that.)

Anyway, I received a cool finisher's medal with a bottle opener in it, and a cold wet towel at the finish line, that was welcome.

I think if I trained specifically for a flat-fast half marathon for a couple more weeks than I had, with some speed-work and such, I could improve greatly on my time, but as it was I beat my goal of breaking two hours with plenty of cushion at 1:55:22.

Endurance Race Series put on a good event. I'd like some other fuel options at the aid stations, and more veggie options at the post race, but what are you going to do in this weird world of mixing intense physical activity with burgers and hot dogs? Yucatan Guacamole was a sponsor, offering chips and guac, and that's the kind of thing I eat at home after a long run, so thumbs up there. There was also some bananas and cantaloupe, almond butter, bagels provided by ERS.

So now I focus again on real trail running as much as I can for the next week and a half. The Black Hawk race is listed as very technical trail and 2,900 feet of climbing, so it's a very different kind of race from Longmont and even the Dizzy Goat. I'm interested to see how I'll do and to learn what I need going forward.

2016 Dizzy Goat 6 Hour | #BarelyUltra Race Report

When I got this wild idea in my head back in March to attempt a trail ultra, I thought maybe I'd keep it to myself. I imagined returning to run club the week after in some sort of glory of the fete. I don't know why. One of my run club teammates had just run her first marathon just ahead of her 65th birthday. One was preparing to run a marathon with the goal of qualifying for Boston. Three of them were preparing to do the Boulder Half-Ironman triathlon. There was no reason to keep it secret. It would be best to share the experience with the others training for their own epic events, and doing anything for the egotistic glory, like whatever was going through my brain, I know, ends up in disappointment. So I posted it in my blog. I shared it with my run club. I was very open and honest about my goal, the preparation, my doubts, and how I was otherwise feeling for the 3 months of training. It was a constant question of intention, ego and humility, strength and vulnerability. In the end, as I finished my final long training run short of the planned distance, I knew I was going forward with the right intention. I knew I had done what I could. I put in the effort I could have and prepared to the best of my ability at this time. I had no ideas of going out there to turn heads and impress people. I was going to be with other runners pounding the dirt for 6 hours, and to find out what I could do.

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I got dropped off at Schramm State Recreation Area sometime around 8am. My race didn't start until 1pm. The Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha opened at 9, and Kristina wanted to be there from open to close, so I got dropped off way early. It was fine, the runners competing in the 12 Hour race were around an hour in, and I got to sit and watch them as they finished laps and hit the aid station and make mental notes about how quickly these braver souls were turning laps, as well as their strategies for eating and hydrating and keeping cool as the miles added up and sun warmed the muddy ground.

It had rained overnight, raucous thunderstorms from 1:30 in the morning and still sprinkling as we drove down to Schramm. The 12 hour runners dealt with most of the mud long before my race started, but the morning was a bit chilly and the day wasn't going to get as warm as previously predicted. Still, with the humidity and mid-80s temperatures, it was going to be rough.

I set up my own personal rest area just off the start line, with a camp chair, duffle and cooler bag. I over-prepared: extra shoes and socks and tape and body glide and my mp3 player, charging options for my phone or watch. Being vegan and unsure what the aid station would have for me, I made a couple of wraps with baked tofu and guac and spinach, a couple of PB&Js, four bottles of green juice, Larabars, Dates, Vega hydrator packets, nuts, all stuff I had taken with me in training. I didn't want to leave anything to chance.

So I sat around for a few hours, under some trees, in the mud. I tried to go off and meditate, but that didn't last long because of bugs and I couldn't get far enough away from the music blaring at the start line. I had to change out of my socks and shoes early on because my feet were already soaked long before the race from loitering in the mud. I watched bugs flying around, talked to a 12 hour runner who made a valiant effort to race on an ankle the size of a softball he earned in a misstep earlier in the week.

I surprisingly never really got nervous. I've heard people say they can't sleep the night before a big race. Other than the thunderstorms occasionally rousing me, I slept pretty good, and I hung out at the race for a while and never felt uneasy about what I was about to do. I really think I was just resigned to my preparation and ready to face whatever was to happen. (Did I mention I was humble? Can you believe how humble I am?)

Finally it started getting toward 1. We were given some pre-race instruction. We were notified that the rain had caused a course change, and that it would now be a three mile circuit, losing a quarter of a mile. That changed calculations. It was now 7 laps to earn a medal instead of 6. That didn't faze me much, I really didn't doubt that I would break 21 miles. It did change my plans a little bit, but I wasn't going to let that stress me out. A few minutes later, we were counted down from 10 then released onto the course with a air horn.

Let's Get Dizzy -- Start area for the race

The first lap went clockwise, the easier start as you enter the forest with just a modest climb. When I'm trail running I often think of the Mark Twain quote "Golf is a good walk spoiled." I alter it: "Trail running is a waste of a perfectly good hike." You're in nature, rolling over hills on the single track and your either running right by it or struggling to regain some composure so you can run right by it again. You have to watch your step or you're going to take a spill, so you don't take in too much of the surroundings. Schramm is a gorgeous park. Heavily wooded, nice rolling trails, three bridges (one a suspension bridge) over trickling creeks that have carved their way through the hills. I was never really able to orient myself and get a feel for the park as much as I was just following the signs and markers.

Exiting the forest on the first lap, you are introduced to "What The Hill?" One of the signature features of the GOATz events in Schramm. 124' in elevation in just a quarter of a mile. Clockwise, you get to go down it. I'm pretty good at bombing hills. That was a strength in this race. Once at the bottom you're directed out into a grassy area with old fish hatchery ponds and that you wind through. This was the only area with real mud on it, even though it was all out in the sun. Then you hit the main road of the park and cruise back in to the start area. You're given a pink silicone bracelet on odd number laps, after the finish line, you toss it into a bucket of soapy water and put on a green one. The color corresponds to the trail markings for the direction you're going, the markings the color of your bracelet stay to your right.

Try running on a suspension bridge with 1-3-8 other people

So I put on a green bracelet, topped off the water bottle, then back the way I just came. Now I face climbing "What The Hill?" and the rest of the course the opposite direction.

Pictures can't do "What The Hill?" justice. This is a beast.

After lap two, I had my first food stop. The aid stations were incidentally friendly to the plant based athlete. I think I was the only one repping that lifestyle there, but the options were watermelon, PB&J wedges, raw potato, pretzels, potato chips, pickles, soda, cinnamon whiskey (for some reason I didn't figure out [It might have been for after, but the beer was for after and it didn't sit on the aid table all day. The whiskey did. Maybe it was for the volunteers.]) Tailwind: Fat, salt, water, simple carbs, complex carbs, sugar, empty calories, whatever to fuel the next few miles. (I've heard it said that ultra running is just an eating contest with some running around it.) I had some watermelon, and I stopped at my bag and had a quick gulp of green juice.

After the third lap I stopped for some of my tofu wrap, something more substantial, and a mess.

Fifth lap was right at halfway, the 3 hour race literally started as I was coming into the finish line. I sat then and had the most food of the day, assessed the legs, and feet. Despite wet socks, no blisters or hot spots felt like they were forming. I tightened up my shoes and shorts and went back out.

Overall, there was a lot of walking, plenty of power hiking. When I hit flat, I worked hard to talk myself into running, and, when I had downhills, I pushed it. That was my strategy as the miles passed and the laps turned.

I finished the medal goal of 7 laps with an hour and like twenty minutes to go. I grabbed a bunch of food at the aid station, grabbed my phone from my duffle to take some pictures on a lap I knew would be slow, and maybe my last, and I walked out of the starting area and started trotting on the road toward the bottom of "What The Hill?" one last time. I wound through the forest, fewer runners were out there with me. Some of the volunteers were already starting to clean up. I was still able to really push it on the downhill as I wound down out of the trees and onto the main stretch into the finish. I saw the clock still had plenty of time on it. I turned in my green bracelet and the volunteer scorekeeper asked if I was done. I said I wanted to go one more, and she kind of looked at me with surprise and looked at the tick marks on her clipboard. I got a pink bracelet and turned to see Kristina there trying to talk to me. I was a bit curt, because I knew I was going to be close on time, and I needed to go if I was going to get another lap in. I should have had her come up there with me and walk and talk with me as I got some food and water refill and went back out to the course. I think she understood.

The last lap started off strong. The weight of my phone in my pocket started pulling on my shorts, though, and I couldn't bring myself to lose time to stop to tighten them up. That's also the only lap I had a fall on, nothing major, caught a root or something, a couple little scrapes, but I got right back up. There were quite a few other runners out there, still some 12 hour racers even. We all cheered each other on as we passed as we had for the whole day up until then, but more meaningful at that time. When I fell, there was a guy a few steps ahead of me making sure I was OK right away. Real comradery out there. I came out of the trees to the top of "What The Hill?" and I just let it go as much as I had down the hill, water bottle in my left hand, waste band of my shorts wadded up in my right. When I reached the bottom and out on the grass between the hatchery ponds, I pushed and pushed, then slowed and then pushed, and fought with my mind to push a little more until I got out on the pavement and into the final straight into the finish, and put the pedal down, looking at my watch and the finish line clock and just giving every ounce I had to make sure I came in under the 6 hour mark.  And I did, with about 70 seconds to spare. A medal was put around my head and Kristina was able to snap a pic of me coming in, and I was done. I was fucking exhausted from that final push. I went back to the aid station to fill Kristina and my water bottles, and then over to my base camp to move to over where Kristina was only to sit down and kind of zone out for quite a while.

All said and done 
27 miles 
2,157 feet in climbing 
5:58:47 
6th place overall for the 6 hour race, 
4th place men 
7th best mens performance on the 6 hour course in the 4 year history of the race, even with the altered course, which it sounds like will be the new normal course going forward.

Not bad for my first trail race and longest distance run to date. I'm so inspired and proud of myself. I keep learning how strong I am. I'm still going to chase down that 50k mark in the near future. I have some ideas of what I need to work on to do it and to get it done a little faster.

My name is going to be on that right hand side for at least a year! How awesome is that?

I owe a lot to my run club teammates, my Twitter friends especially in #VegRunChat and #RunChat. So much knowledge from podcasts Trail Runner Nation, Trail Talk with Rock Creek Runner, Rich Roll, and especially Ultra Ordinary, who are also all Twitter friends. Extra inspiration from great plant based runners David Clark, Scott Jurek, Catra Corbett, Sage Canaday and their books and YouTube videos, Instagram posts, and everything. So much love goes out to the GOATz and the race volunteers and Red Dirt Running Company and all the people cheering or tabling, and all those who made the Dizzy Goat run. I know that the support is why trail running is special, but to be there first hand, it means so much. 

Most importantly, thanks Kristina. I know the training time monopolized my free time for the past three months. I know there's some strain there. I also know you see what it means to me. I think you know that I've been a lot happier and focused and less aloof since I've been running. I love you and love having you by my side through all of this. We can focus now on having a summah.