10 Years of Holiday Lake

Holiday Lake #1
The year was 2002;

•      I was 26 and I'd started running 6 months prior
•      it was 3 months after my first race, the Jingle Bell 5k
•      I was training with a guy that had done some ultras so I figured I could do some ultras
•      a GPS watch didn't exist, we had to rely on things called Horton Miles
•      LED lights didn't exist (anybody remember the Petzl Zoom or running with a mini Mag?)
•      Handheld bottles didn't exist unless you made one yourself
•      Waistpacks with a bottle were common
•      It was a different time....

I don't remember much about that first Holiday Lake 50k, but I remember it ran around the lake opposite of what it does today, counter clockwise to start, and then returned clockwise.  The weather was cold, the footing good and I followed the wise ultra adage of "hike the hills and run the flats and downs."  My legs were tired, I was thrilled to finish, and within a second of crossing the finish line my legs seized up, as if I had no knee joints.  I was 48th in 5:28.23.  Fun Fact - I still have the long sleeve Patagonia finishers shirt and it is still in great condition.

Lesson #1 - The brain controls the physical body.  The thing between your ears can lead you to amazing things or it can stop you well before your time is due.  The guy that ran across the finish line was the same guy that couldn't bend his knees after the finish.  The only difference is that the mind knew the race was over.  

Holiday Lake #2 - 2003
In 2003 it was a different Holiday Lake.  The weather was poor; rain and sleet on top of some snow and a gradual thaw that saw the course become mud ++.  I had never seen so much mud.  This race was actually easier physically but the poor conditions made it a mental challenge.  I was able to run more sections than in 2003 but ended up 30 minutes slower for a 42nd place and 5:53.

Lesson #2 - Running slower, staying more aerobic, causes less muscle soreness.   

Holiday Lake #3 - 2004
In 2004 I went in hoping for a PR.  That's one of the problems of racing.  You always want to improve and in this case it was proving that I was both smarter and more fit than the guy that ran his first 50k six months after starting to run.   This race started out as planned, but at around mile 12 I started to have what I like to call the "bubblin' crude."  This went on until mile 28.  The GI system just wasn't interested in being on my team.  I think I headed into the woods 3 or 4 times, a couple of these trips got me wrapped up in briers and locust thorns.  I thought I might have a chance at "best blood" an honor Dr. Horton gives out to the bloodiest finisher.  I was in the best blood lead until someone else easily bumped me out of first place.  They had chaffed their privates and had visible blood on the front of their shorts (winner, winner).  This day ended with a time of 5:31:31

Holiday Lake #4 - 2009
For a lot of different reasons I went on a Holiday Lake hiatus and skipped a few years only to return on Valentines Day 2009.  Once again I was hoping to go below 5 hours.  This year the course was changed to what it is today.  I felt like I was in good shape but fell off pace and bonked a bit in the middle sections.  Regained composure towards the end but was unable to go under 5 and ended in 5:04:04.  This was the best I could have done on this day.

Holiday Lake #5 - 2010
In 2010 I was in the best shape of any of my other Holiday Lake runs and felt like I was in sub 5 shape.  Mother nature isn't a variable you can plan for and this year the Holiday Lake course was covered in 4-6 inches of snow.  Snow that was almost frozen enough to stay on top of, but with each foot step, the crust on top would cave in right as I was pushing off.  Dr. Horton extended the time cuts due to the conditions.  I was doing pretty well to the turnaround but started falling off pace on the 2nd half.  The snow and extra effort needed to get through it really took a toll and created more fatigue than expected.  Finished worn out in 5:37:00.

Holiday Lake #6 - 2011
This year would be the year of a sub 5 hour finish.  Returning in 2011 I was at a totally different level of fitness than previous years and was focused on a best case scenario of 4:30 and worst case of 4:59.59.  I was running high 30's and some 40 mile weeks.  I had planned to do the Willis River 50k in early January but rolled my ankle during the race and decided to stop at the 35k finish line.  This may have been a blessing in disguise and helped me come in to Holiday Lake less fatigued.
I came into the halfway point of Holiday Lake around 2:09 and slowly faded off that 8 minute pace to finish in 4:33:16.  Having a 30+ minute PR is a special thing.

Holiday Lake #7 - 2015
I took a couple years off from doing Holiday Lake for the Uwharrie 40 miler that occurs the week before.  So I didn't return again until 2015.  I thought I was in similar fitness as in 2011 and could match that time.  I started out with running buddies, Johnny Robinson and Matt Prescott.  We ran together until around mile 8 when I had to make a side of the road pit stop (gotta watch out for those headphone wires in an emergency #2 stop).  Simple enough, I got back in to the swing of things and caught back up with Johnny and then Matt.
At the turnaround I had another unexpected stop in the bathroom (Pro Tip; skip the bathhouse, the bathrooms right at the finish line at Holiday Lake are heated).  On the return trip things went really smooth and I think I held my pace to finish in 4:35.46.  Without those pesky bathroom breaks I could have been under 4:30.  Maybe Next time.

Holiday Lake #8 - 2017
I skipped Holiday Lake in 2016 following the Beast Series.  I wanted to take an ultra break to recover and run some different races.  I ended 2016 training for both the Richmond Marathon and BQ and Hellgate.  Both races went well and I ended the year with some pretty good fitness.
This was the first race James and I ran together.  We hit the turnaround at 2:12 and stayed together until mile 21.  At that point I felt like I needed to push it a bit to hit the sub 4:30.  I hit the last water stop with 4 miles to go around 5 minutes slower than I wanted.  I went in to a mini panic and gave it all I had to hit my target time.  Somehow the wheels stayed on and I was able to finish 20th in 4:26.14.

Holiday Lake #9 - 2018
This was another trip to Holiday Lake where I was looking for an 8min/mile pace which would be a 4:18 for the 32.2 mile race.  Well this year was a little different as one of the bridges over the lake had been taken out due to age or a storm.  This caused a reroute of the course where we had to go around an inlet and then return to the trail.  It was projected that the course was about .75 longer in each direction for a total of 1.5 mile longer.  I hit the turnaround with an 8 min pace but that slowly faded away with a few cramping issues on the return trip.  All in all it ended well with a 12th place and first master award in 4:35.29.  I think this was my best placing.

Holiday Lake #10 - 2019
This is the first time in a few years that I was showing up to HL not looking for a PR.  I knew I wasn't in my best February shape.  The course was expected to be really muddy this year.  It had been wet leading up to the race and the forecast had rain in it. 
I thought I was in around 4:49 shape and wasn't sure how the mud would play out.  The first loop went according to plan and as the weather and course got worse my pace fell off again.  I felt good about constant running progress, I just didn't have the normal turnover I've come to expect on this course.  I did end up with a 11 overall and 10th male.  The first time, since the first Hellgate in 2003, that I was top 10 male in a Horton race.

Holiday Lake 50k isn't the most scenic race but it is early in the year, it's a runable course, it is a well run race, and if you are in 50k shape in February then the foundation is set for a lot of different race options in the spring and early summer.

Dr. Horton does a great job directing races and it is a great place to catch up with runners I've known over this 16+ year process.

Bighorn 100 Miler - Sheridan Wyoming

This would be my 2nd time to the Bighorn 100 and 4th 100 miler.  See, "we" are returning for Gina to conquer the event where she broke her fibula in 2017.  That was a muddy year too.  It started raining, sleeting and snowing at around mile 44.  Most of the time we couldn't use the trail and were in the tall grass on either side and the conditions didn't improve until around mile 82.  What would this year bring?

See in Wyoming, if the ground is dry it is hard packed and runnable.  If by chance it begins to rain or snow, the ground quickly begins to turn to mud and it is mud with no bottom to it.  It's hard to describe if you've never experienced it.

As the event drew closer, in the last week, they race committee sent out an note stating that the high country near the turnaround was still snowed in, that many of the race supplies/aid stations would have to be packed in on foot or by horse, that minimal aid would be available at these locations, that mandatory gear would be needed, that there was a lot of snow and mud, and that an extra hour would be added to the 100 miler and 30 minutes to the 52 miler.

With that said it was really hard to prepare as some people familiar with the course said that the last 3 miles to the turnaround were bad and others, around town, kept saying how bad it was "up there."  Almost every shop we went into had someone saying that they had heard it was bad.  No-one seemed to have good news.

I wasn't 100% going into the race but felt pretty good and adequately trained and thought I should be able to improve on my 26:45 of 2017 and was actually shooting for a sub 24.  I've been dealing with a glute issue since Holiday Lake 50k in February, right Achilles tightness and a right big toe that was recently re-aggravated and has been an issue since last year's Vermont 100 where in the span of 5 minutes I kicked two rocks so hard that it made me sick to my stomach.

The Bighorn 100 started at 9am on Friday morning (1 hour early).  The beginning of the course climbs for the first 12 miles and then descends into Dry Fork aid station the first drop bag and crew point.  I didn't feel good, I knew something was off but things weren't going bad either.  I was just running along.  It was a nice day.

Part of the first long climb

Keep climbing suckers

The road section before Dry Fork.

The view before dropping into Dry Fork.  You can see the aid station tents in the distance.

G catching me having so much fun at mile 13.

At around mile 20 it started raining and getting pretty muddy, sloppy, slippery.  This began my worry as once it begins to rain the trail conditions go to crap in a hurry and this was 24 miles earlier than in 2017.

To give you an idea of the Wyoming mud, in the pre-race briefing one of the course markers mentioned that a trail care crew went up from the Sally's footbridge aid station to cut out a tree.  When they went into the shoe sucking mud section, one of the horses sunk down to it's chest and had to be pulled out by the other two horses.  That tops all of the course condition stories that I've ever heard.

This part of the course runs along the ridge and then quickly drops down to the 30 mile Sally's Footbridge aid station and second drop bag location. 

Entering Aspen country

Running through the wild flowers

Just before we came across a moose running full out.  

About a mile from Sally's the sun came back out.

At Sally's we were instructed to carry a jacket with hood or a buff/beanie, long pants and gloves from this spot and were to keep this gear until the next day or daylight hours.  This is also, where I decided to put on my brand new Altra King Mts.  I had purchased them for muddy races but the catch was I hadn't worn them yet.  So it was a gamble.  I figured with mud and snow being a definite it would be worth it and, if I needed to, I could change out of them at mile 68.  Note - I would normally encourage people to avoid wearing new shoes in a race, especially an ultra.  In addition, this would be the first time I was picking up hiking poles to use in a race.  I figured these would be a big help in the muddy conditions and help keep me on my feet.

For some reason, the rain didn't affect the other side of the gorge and the climb up from Sally's was great.  I actually started to feel good and could run quite a bit of this section.  Somewhere after the Spring Marsh mile 40 aid station the course started to fall apart.  The weather was changing, the wind had picked up and it was beginning to rain.  I saw a guy sitting on a downed tree unpacking his jacket and within a couple steps saw the guy in front of me get wowed by a double rainbow.  We both took out our phones and took some pictures.  I yelled at the guy putting on his jacket that he was missing a great moment.  We each took a moment watching the storm and rainbow continue down the canyon we had just climbed up from.

Dude!  You are missing out!

Back to business, up to Elk Camp aid station.  I talked with a few of the aid station workers about 2017 and Gina being taken out by horse.  I check to see if Mouse, the horse they packed her out on, was there and they said he brought in supplies but was taken out afterwards.  Those aid station workers deserve some kudos for packing things in and putting up with us racers over 24 hours.  In the pre-race briefing there was mention of 1500 elk up here.  I didn't see a one.

They said we could go through the creek or....

Take this log bridge.  I chose the bridge.

Headed up!  Starting to see the snow.

One of the first muddier sections.  Just a little taste of what was coming.

It was 5 more miles to the turnaround and very slow going.  We began to enter the high country that we were warned about.  Tons of shoe sucking mud, snow drifts, and a handful of sections where we post-holed through the snow into knee high freezing water (from the melting snow).  I was entertained by the occasional F-bomb and other profanity as racers broke through the snow, to their surprise, into the freezing water (hey, sometimes other peoples misery motivates me).

We crossed Devil's Canyon Road and now it was 1.25 to the turnaround at Jaws Trailhead.  You could already hear cheering, cow bell and vuvuzelas.  Follow the fence row and onto the road into the aid station.  Surprise!  There was one more melting thigh deep snow drift next to the road.  Thanks Bighorns!

Jaws aid station is a biggie.  Lots of volunteers, gas heaters, drop bags, plenty of food, medical check, on the verge of nightfall and a prime place for people to melt under the pressure of the race and being almost halfway done.  I knew from 2017 this was where most of the 50+% turned in their bib number and dropped.

On my right was another racer talking with his girlfriend.  We were having/making fun of the mess we just went through and the day we still had left.  On my left was a guy that looked defeated.  He mentioned a couple times, to his girlfriend that, "I don't think I have another 50 miles left in me."  He made no effort to eat, drink, change clothes.  He was done.  Here comes one of the funniest moments.  Not one second after he started unpinning his bib number, the guy next to him quickly asks, "can I get a ride back to Dayton?"  The DNFs were in full swing.

Ok, now it was time to change some clothes, grab my lights, extra batteries, food, mandatory cold weather gear, top off the water and make the long return trip to the finish. 

I needed my light pretty quickly after leaving Jaws aid station as the clouds wind and rain came in.  The 5 miles back to Elk Camp were pretty slow and slippery as the mud didn't allow for any running.  Once there I added a extra shirt layer and buff as I was getting pretty cold.  Short stop at the fire to warm my hands up and I continued on to Elk Camp, where my watch finally died, and then on to Sally's Foot Bridge. 

For me, night-time trail hours tend to go pretty fast.  Just shine your light ahead of you and keep moving forward.  The single minded focus of following that light seems to make time go by pretty fast.

Before I knew it I was back to Sally's.  Marianna helped me restock my supplies and brought over an egg McMuffin.  I changed watches and saw 5:30am, that was a surprise, but then I realized that was Virginia time, that I hadn't acquired GPS yet and that it was 3:30am mountain time.  I was about an hour behind 2017 and that felt about right.   A couple deep breaths and sighs and it was time to climb the wall.  This year, the climb seemed sooo much steeper and longer.

The next part is a blur.  Cow Camp aid station was at the top of the climb, then 7 miles of up and down along a ridge to Bear Camp aid station.  This is where I started to realize I could no longer run.  I was having issues with my right ankle.  When I'd attempt to run the muscles in the front of my shin felt like they were severely strained, like I had kicked a 1000 rocks during the night (I hadn't).  This strained feeling built up to feeling like the muscles were ripping off the bone.  Mentally I was good and my energy was good.  Hiking wasn't too bad, so I hiked.  I did some quick math and knew I was going at about 3 miles an hour and that meant I had about 8 hours left.  Plenty of slow time on the trail.  I could deal with that. 

On a bright note, the Bear Camp folks bring up 100+ pounds of bacon to cook up during the race.  I grabbed a few crispy pieces and was off again to hike the next 6 miles to the last large aid station Dry Fork.  This section was much better than 2017 and was drying out with every minute.  In 2017 you couldn't use the road it was so muddy.  You had to make your own path in the tall grass and sage next to the road. 

At Dry Fork I changed shoes, socks, and shirt, dropped off my mandatory clothing and was off again.  For a few moments I thought the new shoes and socks were the key as I could run a bit.  That lasted for about a mile and it was back to hiking.  This section was busy as all the other races started to mix in with us 100 runners (52, 32 and 18 milers).  It was nice to have company but I had to get off trail a lot to let people get by.  Lots of runners cheered us 100s on as they passed us like we were standing still. 

Check out the mud up line all the way up to the short.

The next stop was Upper Sheep Creek aid station.  From here there was just one more steep climb and then the long 7.5 mile descent to the 5 mile dirt road to the finish.  This climb hurt everyone and I actually passed a couple of the other race participants on the climb (that was fun), but man that climb was steep. 

Down, down, down we went to Lower Sheep Creek aid station and then finally the road.  Ugh, the road, but yay only 5 more miles to go.  This road was pretty much in the sun. 

No worry that this pic would be blurry at my rate of speed.

I thought I might combust along these miles.  I had perfect hiking splits of 15:50s to 16:10 for the 5 miles.  Cross the bridge, one block to the park, turn left onto the grass and gravel path, and enjoy the last few tenths to the finish.  The path was lined with tons of people cheering and ringing cow bell.  It's a pretty cool end to the race. 

Done!

There was a tent at the finish with some chairs.  It was fun to finally sit and talk over the race with some fellow runners.  We talked about how nice it would be to get in the creek to cool off and clean up but none of us felt like we were nimble enough to fight the current. 

Now the mission was to get some food, get cleaned up and come back to cheer Gina and Emily in to the finish.  Marianna said Gina was expecting a 7pm finish and sure enough, they were right on schedule. 

We did it.  Mission accomplished.  Marianna was a big help babysitting the both of us out there.

We both finished without injury and that spells success and most importantly, means we have no reason to come back to the shoe sucking mud of Wyoming. 

Bull Run Run 50 Miler

4/13/19 Bull Run Run 50 - https://www.vhtrc.org/brr19/info

I've had my eye on this race for a long long time and it just never fit the schedule.  This year it fit the schedule and my training plan for the Bighorn 100 miler in mid June.

This would be my 55th ultra and I went into it with a conservative plan and a pretty good idea how the day would go.  My fitness is a bit behind the last few years and I've been dealing with a couple injuries but nothing that should have been a big problem.  So I thought.  The early mud did aggravate things and quickly had me reassessing the days goals. 

During the race, the focus quickly changed to the frustration and disappointment of a race that fell apart at mile 20 and having to suffer through the remaining 30 miles.  Today all that is left of the event are the memories of getting to spend a day in the woods on "new to me" trails with friends, early miles of slip sliding in muddy conditions, miles of blue bells and the sounds of 1000s of gunshots as we ran parallel to the shooting range across the river.

I knew this as the last 30 miles slowly passed by.  That the disappointment would quickly fade and I would be left with the good.  Yeah, it wasn't so bad.  And now maybe the mental sword will be a little sharper for the next race or the next challenge that surfaces.

The Virginia Happy Trails Running Club (VHTRC) are a great bunch of people and are seen at most races around Virginia.  It was a well run event along the Bull Run River.  It is almost all trail (98%) with a couple short sections of gravel and asphalt road.  Nothing about it is really difficult but the course has a few short technical sections and is rarely flat.  The out and back portions give you a chance to see other runners and the aid stations are numerous enough that you don't need to carry much with you.  I decided to carry a 20oz handheld and took some food that I had prepared and was able to keep that in my pack pocket. 

2018 Year Summary

2018 was an interesting year with a focus on the Boston Marathon.  The goal was to go to Boston and run a sub 3 marathon on the oldest marathon course in the world and be done with road marathons (except for the occasional hometown Blue Ridge Marathon).

     The year started out with an oldie but goodie, the 2/13/18 - Holiday Lake 50k.  This was my 9th running of this race and it has been a great, early in the year event to get in roughly four and a half hours of constant running.  If you can do that in the middle of February it sets
a good foundation for any ultra distance race.  I placed the best I have over the years with a 14th and 1st Master in 4:35.29.

     Following Holiday Lake, the goal was to fine tune the endurance fitness into some speed and turnover work needed to hit the 6:52/mile average needed for the 4/16/18 - Boston Marathon.  Anyone who followed this race knows how bad the conditions were.  I remember standing around with James Decker in the athletes village under a giant tent.  As we stood, shivering, watching the rain,we were seeing the rain freeze on the tent and fall off as ice.  An ice pile was forming on the ground around the border of the tent.  Even with that, I still thought I had a sub 3 chance until mile 8.  That's when I saw the pace falter and knew it was time to roll with it and enjoy what I could.  The final number was a 3:06.20

     Now that, that was over it was on to training for the Vermont 100.  This seemed like the right year to do Vermont.  It is one of the original four, grand slam 100s, and it is 68ish miles of gravel road.  So it seemed like rolling marathon fitness into a "runable" 100 was a logical plan.  The next stop on the 100 training train was Gina's pick and my 3rd San Juan Solstice 50m on 6/23/18.  This high elevation race has put a hurting on me in the past but this year I was going for a sub 12:30.  This would provide some much needed time on feet to prepare for the 100 that was a month away.
     I ran on perceived exertion on this one and saw myself running in places I haven't in the past and knew I had a chance at a big PR.  I hit the 42 mile aid station and knew it was going to happen.  I came close to a sub 12 hour finish but ended in 12:03.14. 

     We continued to put in some serious miles after the San Juan Solstice while on vacation and this put me in a good position to taper into the 7/21/18 - Vermont 100.  I had been focusing on a goal of finishing in less than 20 hours.  That would also be midnight and the thought of finishing that early was great motivation.  I also Strava stalked another ultra runner that I tend to run near, in other races, and saw they had run in the 18:30s.  So best case scenario was an 18:30 and a goal of no more than 20 hours.  This race was a real test.  There was plenty of climbing with 17,000ft of gain over the course but much of it was runable.  Keeping the legs running after 50+ miles is tougher than in races where you have to hike due to large sudden inclines.  I hit the 50 mile mark right on schedule at 9 hours.  The 2nd 50 miles were a little longer.  I pittled away some time at water stops that I shouldn't have.  But I was very happy with my 19:16, 22nd place and big sub 24 hour buckle. 

     I went into a post Vermont funk.  Running didn't feel good and it wasn't any fun for about 2 months.  Not sure what it was.  Could have been overtraining or a need for a break.  I tried to keep my running schedule consistent and get extra rest in hopes that things would "snap" back in to gear as quickly as possible.

     I kept toying with the idea of training for the Hellgate 100k but I knew a couple nagging injuries should be tended to before I committed to anything like that.  What helped get me out of the funk was Alice Stump asking if I would pace her to a MMTR finish.  This kept the wheels turning and kept me distracted on a task.  On 11/4/18 we had a great day to be in the woods.  A wet and muddy time for the first half and then as the course climbed up into the mountain we had a perfect cool breezy Fall day.  Alice kept moving and that constant forward progress got us to the finish in 11:49ish with an 11 minute cushion.  Whew, that was quite a physical and mental day in the woods.  Glad we were able to reach our goal.

With the end of the year winding down and us having a trip to New Zealand planned I decided to keep things conservative for the remainder of the year, trying to get my right foot, Achilles and left quad healed up so that we could put in some serious time on the trails of New Zealand.

2019 Leave it Better

What message do we go into the new year with?

We started this in 2017 with a suggestion to "do more" or find a new limit.

Last year was "be a buddy, find a buddy" in an effort to get more people on the trails.

This year the message is, leave it better (with a focus on trail maintenance).

     How can you leave it better;
          pick up trash from the trail and pack it out.
          sign up for a volunteer work day
          kick sticks or rocks of the trail
          stop to move big sticks and logs off the trail
          even go so far as to carry a handsaw with you to remove medium size trees off the trail    

Whatever it is, make a difference with your time, use your trail time to leave things in better shape.