Beet Cured Salmon

I decided to try to cure my own salmon this weekend.  It was tasty (although a bit salty).

Woodman Fen

Dayton has a fen that is little known.  The metropark has restored it and built a small trail and boardwalk.  I went for a short walk there yesterday.  Looking forward to seeing it in the spring and summer.

Another Race Report: Feral Hog -- Really delayed, not many pictures

I was recently reminded that I never posted a race report on Feral Hog 50k.  So here it is.  I didn’t take a camera with me, so there are no photos that I can claim credit for. (thanks to Geri and Geoff Ahlers for the photos.)  

Feral Hog 50k 2016 was an inaugural event put on by Mary Vincent as Race Director. The Feral Hog 50k is a one loop course traversing the backpack and perimeter trails of East Fork State Park. The majority of this course is on trails that were first blazed by a man training to traverse the world on foot, Steve Newman, aka the World Walker.  It was these trails that Steve trained on prior to his solo around the world from April 1983 to April 1987.  Mary was even able to get him to come out and give a brief talk on his walk prior to the start of the race.

In 2015, when training for Cloudsplitter, I stumbled upon this trail, but was unable to find any info on markings or course, so quickly abandoned any plans on running the trails. (I don’t like the idea of getting lost, even within an hour of home).  When I found out about Mary’s race, I was in. Especially since I love single loop courses!  There were 3 training runs held in Aug and Sept, running different sections of the course for familiarity.  The first two sections were rolling horse and hiking trails, which then transitioned to the mountain bike trails. The last section was going to be the toughest, given the fact it was the hillier section, as well as had some downed trees from storms. 

Mary pulled together some great swag, to include a custom flask.  Originally, you had to finish in 6.5 hours for a flask.  After the second training run, I knew that was going to be tough.  Luckily, Mary recognized that and increased the time limit for the coveted flask to 7 hours.  (overall time to finish is 10 hours).  I wanted one…

Mary had a good mix of manned and unmanned aid stations set up along the course.  It was however a paper-less race, so bring your own.  I decided to take my smaller pack with one collapsible bottle of tailwind, carrying two tubes of additional for those in-between aid stations.  Drop bags were available at the 12ish mile point.  I put additional tailwind and my other collapsible bottle there. (as well as solid food).  In addition, I had 1.5L of water on me, so I didn’t bother to take an extra cup, knowing that I had the collapsible bottle that I could refill if necessary.

Due to some dental surgery in early Oct, I didn’t run a step for the two weeks prior.  I called it ‘extreme tapering’.  It didn’t seem to hurt, my legs felt fresh and ready to go.  In fact, they were too ready at the beginning, which was really runnable

The night before the race, Mark and I had a symphony to go to, so we didn’t get to bed till late, making that 5 am alarm even more annoying.  I drove down to East Fork with no traffic on I-75 or I-275, making for a pleasant morning drive.  It was still dark when we were supposed to start at 0730, so Mary held us off for another 5 to allow a bit more daylight to penetrate the forest.  Off we went:

I felt good, temps were in low 70s and expected to climb to the low 80s.  We hit the single track fairly quickly and with it the muddy hollows that come from the trails also being horse trails.  This was the first time I had raced with a gps, and in my occasional glances, kept thinking I was going out too fast.  I was with the lead men, but breathing easy and feeling great.  At one point, I made the comment that if we kept up the current pace, we’d be under 6:30 easily.  Bad thing to say that early in the race…

Around the 2 mile point, I reached for my tailwind, only to not find it…somehow it popped out of my vest!  No worries, I had packed the extra at mile 12, until then, I’d get by on water and the food I was carrying (except at the one aid station, there I grabbed a potato).  Got to mile 12 and my drop bag right on schedule, the Team RWB folks manning the station were great!.  I immediately downed a Tailwind and made another to go.  On the way out, I grabbed a cheese sandwich.  Imagine my delight when I took a bite and found out it had bacon!  I almost turned around for another, almost, but I had a flask to win.

Losing my tailwind turned out to be a bigger deal than I realized.  Around mile 18, my calves started to cramp, followed by my hamstrings, then my quads…I have not had this issue since Marine Corps Marathon in 2007.  I kept moving forward at the best I could.  This was the hilliest portion of the course, so it was slow already, but the cramping made it worse.  I started watching my time slip away.  I yelled at my legs to get moving, and to my surprise they did, only to cramp up a few minutes later.  I hit the mile 26 aid station, got some endurolytes and pickles, and refilled my tailwind.  I had an hour to do the last 5+ miles (turns out the course was a bit longer than 31 miles) and still get a flask (remember, finishing was not my goal…I wanted that flask).

Finally, I hit the last 2 miles (luckily flat) and I was running the best I could, and I was surprised to see I could still get average under a 12 min/mile.  I swear the end should have been around every corner, but it wasn’t.  Finally, I found the turnout of the woods and to the finish line.

I finished in 6:51, earning 1^st place Female and 7^th overall.  Best of all…I earned that flask!

This was a great race, the aid stations were manned by runners who knew how to keep one moving and what to do.  The swag was amazing.  Afterwards, hot showers were available and the town of Williamsburg was holding a BBQ Festival and invited runners to join them. The local brewery, Old Firehouse Brewery, offered a free beer to runners.  What a great after-party! 

I don’t know if I can run this next year, given that I will run my first 100 miler in late September, but if not, I do hope to volunteer and be part of the fun.

I did go back and try to hike the first few miles in search of my errant tailwind bottle.  I got about a ½ mile and slipped into the mud.  After speaking with the course sweep, who didn’t see anything, I decided that someone must have picked it up, or it is so lost that no one will ever find it.  Oh-well, need to be more careful with that pack.

I am beginning to think...

that this blog is becoming more of a race/run report than a photo blog.  I may need to rethink my priorities, but I am taking photos while I run, so does that count?

I went out to the Cloudsplitter course yesterday for a run on the south section of the trail (Highlands).  The first 7 miles of this are used in the Cloudsplitter 100 miler, so I had not done them.  I was told it was the prettier section of the trail.  In all the trail extends 15 miles from the gas station in Pound, VA to the other trailhead, so 30 miles round trip.  A good mountain training run for me.  Towards the end, I've added some photos from the first 7 miles of the trail for my friends who are running the 100 miler in Oct.  I had taken my garmin for the first 15 miles to get an idea of the elevation, but the file has disappeared.

it rained late Friday and early Sat, which made for a cloud layer at the start (and some fog).  It also made the sandstone rocks a bit more difficult to navigate

While not the highest point on this trail, was more scenic...

Eagle Arch (just prior to the turn around)

Some of the trails...

Clouds went away

Looking east to VA:

Some of the sandstone that you traverse, this was a downhill section (uphill on the way out) that was pretty wet.  made for slow-going, as I had already fallen earlier on some other wet rocks.

More of the trail, this was double track, you can tell not many people come down this way.

Cool rock formations:

Unfortunately, since not many people hike this, the trail was over-grown in this section.  There was a gentleman clearing some of the path further out, so hopefully this will die or be cut back by race day. I don't know if this was stinging nettle, but it felt like a thousand razor blades were being drawn across my legs.

Salamander.  I saw one of these last year while racing.

What I felt like today.  It took over 9 hours to run this 30 miles (to be fair, I had to filter water twice, not a quick operation)

 I also saw a toad, a pileated woodpecker and a scarlet tanager.

#pinemountainscenictrail #cloudsplitter100

World's End Race Report

“Run like there’s no tomorrow”  What a great slogan.  What a great race, from start to finish. The course was brutal, weather was partially cooperative and the RDs and aid stations were exceptional.  I didn’t make my goal time, but I finished with a smile.

Back in Dec, I was looking for a spring 100k to keep me motivated through the winter.  I found a new ultra called World’s End Ultramarathon, running through World’s End State Park and Loyalsock State Forest in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania.  2015 was the first year it was held, with only 16 people finishing (I think 75 started).  The description went like this:

“  The Worlds End Ultramarathon is a challenging foot race that explores the Loyalsock Trail, Loyalsock State Forest and Worlds End State Park in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. The routes are largely rugged, scenic-dense single-track trails with some fairly remote sections, several waterfalls and multiple vistas of the beautiful Endless Mountains. The PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources describes Worlds End State Park as "virtually in a class by itself, this wild, rugged and rustic area seems almost untamed." This is NOT a beginner-level ultra and participation in the race should not be taken lightly.”

Just under 13k elevation gain, with 19 hours to complete.  Given I was still on a high from my Cloudsplitter 100k performance, I signed up.  Good thing I did early, since it sold out quite quickly (150 max). I ran a preview run in Jan, which should have been a warning.... (link to my report from jan: World's End Preview )

I am not going to give every detail of the race.  Leave it to say, I finished, over my goal, but under the cutoff time.  I had a wonderful time from start to finish.  Not once did dropping every cross my mind.  So the photos.

The Day prior:

Now to race day...it threatened rain all day and started drizzling about 4 hours into the run.  The hard rain held off till later in the day (about 10 minutes after I left Mark at mile 50).  Luckily, I had a long-sleeved shirt in my pack and at the next aid station, I grabbed Mark's rain jacket and golf gloves to keep my hands warm.

Mile 22, after a long climb up from the river below...I was having fun and asked one of the spectators to take a photo.

Mile 30ish had a beautiful waterfall and ladder to climb.  Not at tough as the roots at Mohican, but still a climb.

Mark was waiting at mile 50 and took the next two pictures of me crossing the river into the aid station.  It started raining hard shortly after this stop.

I ran when I could, walked when I had to.  The climbs were tough, the descents rocky.  I fell once, luckily on soft ground, but rolled my ankles many times.   

Update from Middle Earth

Sorry, we've been pretty busy these last few days.  Doesn't hurt that since Saturday, we've had drinks and canapes prior to dinner and  lazy evenings afterwards. Does not leave time to process photos. The bad news (for us at least, is that this means we only have a few more days on vacation.)

We arrived at Cape Kidnappers, in Hawkes Bay, on Sat afternoon.  I went for a short run, only to get get lost on the 6000 hetacre farm. Found my way back, just after dark.  Played golf on Sun, then went for a wonderful wine tasting tour.  On Monday, I got up and ran for a bit, we played golf, and then took some mtn bikes out to the Gannet colony.

On Tues, we departed for Kauri Cliffs in KeriKeri (Bay of Islands).  We arrived in time to play some golf (big shocker), finishing number 18 in the dark.  Played again on Wed  morning and departed for Tara Iti.  Pictures from all the above will be processed later and posted, but here are a few teasers...

Tara Iti is gem...Tom Doak links course along the pacific.  Wow... we awoke to a howling wind and waves of rain. Very much like you would find in Scotland.  Our caddie, Stevie Mac, was from the old country....

 hard to see, but the sand dune in the distance is the largest in the southern hemisphere...

our room...I am writing this from the chairs next to the fireplace as we speak (which just had a log fall out...)

afterwards, we headed out for some bird watching.

Kingfisher

Oyster catcher

I promise, there are more photos from Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs.  More to come later