Day 11 - Up..Down..Repeat..Up..Down..Repeat.......

The weather was great today!  What else can I say. 30+ degrees felt like summer after running in the 20's all week. I finally made it up to the mountain around 11:30 a.m. Another slow start to the weekend run but I made it out the door. Today was a prefect day for some hill running. Hills are not what everyone calls fun but hills give results and good one's. If your going to run a mountain race make sure you get out and run, walk or crawl up the hills. Speed is good but you also need the endurance. The road hill I use has 640 feet of climb and is one mile up (Link: 1 Mile Hill Repeats). Today I managed to do 7 of them.  5 running and 2 running/hiking and legs felt good. I brought three bottles along and only drank one. I guess the extra weight was good for the legs. There was some snow around but was melting.  Off to the Buzzard course on Sunday.

The road where I do hill repeats.

The road where I do hill repeats.

The view from Pulpit Rock

12-11-2010 - 15 miles - 3:05 - run - hill training - 4,620 ft. elevation

Day 10 - Ready for the weekend long runs

From today until January 4th all runners that got picked in the lottery can pay their entry fee.  Runners that didn't get picked in the lottery have to join the waiting list and send a check in. If someone drops from the entrants list and their name comes up they cash the check. I was reading over some of the new rules for this years race and here is one that will be disappointing to some runners but I can see their point:


"PERSONAL LISTENING DEVICES: Before you enter, please understand that the single track trails of the MMT course can be crowded and narrow in some areas making overtaking other runners difficult. We don't want you wearing personal listening devices over these portions of the course (and discourage them on the course at all). Personal listening devices are not permitted at all in the Solo Division."

At one time I used an MP3 player all the time when I was running.  Now I only use it a couple times a month. I find I get distracted by it sometimes because maybe I don't want to listen to the song that is playing or it's to loud.  When I use it now I like listening to some podcasts about other adventures people are doing. Here is a list of some of the sites I found to download for free:

The Competitors Radio Show

Endurance Planet

Running Podcasts

Today was a little warmer out for my walk at lunch but there was a little snow falling towards the end.  I kept a good pace at around 12:46 per mile. This week I think the cold weather took a lot of energy away from me so I decided to take the night off and rest for this weekend long runs.

12-10-2010 - 2.8 miles - 36:00 - fast walk

Day 9 - Head games

Today I woke up and my legs were very sore from last nights run.  It wasn't a fast run but I did wear different shoes. The shoes were the same model but older. Sometimes that can have and effect on your legs with that  little of a change. The fast 400 meters I sprinted all out didn't help either.

I did my walk again at lunch and that really helps to loosen up my legs. I really work on my fast walking because you have to know how to walk fast when you are in the longer races. It is something you can fall back on if you are having a bad spot in a race and have to walk. The hills go on forever in this race so you better now how to get up them running or fast walking. Not to much action on my walk today but I did get to take a small clip of the view I get to see everyday.

Getting out the door to run was tough tonight.  I have been playing head games with myself all afternoon since I got back from my walk. I really wanted to take off from running, relax and stay out of the cold. I was thinking that this would be my ninth day in a row of running it is alright to take the night off. Sometime getting out the door is the hardest part of the run. Finally at around 8:45 p.m. I pushed myself out the door and had a fun run.  The temp was around 21 and there wasn't any wind to deal with tonight. The sky look awesome being so clear and all the stars and some clouds. There were a lot of houses with fire places smoking away tonight. I actually smelled like smoke when I finished

12-9-2010 - 2.4 miles - 31:11 - fast walk

12-9-2010 - 8 miles - 1:04 - run

Day 8 - The Lottery

It is hard to sit inside for lunch when you start preparing for you next adventure. You have to keep moving every chance you get and don't waste your time. I decided to go for a walk with the cold and wind blowing.  At least the sun was out and I got to say Hello to a couple of people I usually see when I am walking.

Today is the day all runners find out if they are in the race or do they go on the waiting list.  After we signed up for the race all runners were given a random number.  My number that I got after filling out the online app was 572.  There were 416 people entered this year. At 4 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up at 11,372.48.  From there they use the last 3 numbers which was 248 and go up 205 positions.

Dow Jones Industrial Average 12-8-2010

Today I had the right number and I am in the race.  The rest of the people go on the waiting list and wait for people to drop off. Click here for their full explanation of the lottery if you really need to know. You wish everyone you know could get in the race but it doesn't work like that anymore.  These ultra races (any race over a marathon 26.2 miles) are going crazy with the number of entrants.  I really do think there is another running boom going on right now.

5:35 p.m. I drove down to Oley, PA for the Pagoda Pacer club run. Chilly at the start until you get moving. Running in December around the back roads with all the Christmas lights at the houses is a great way to enjoy the season. The moon also look really cool tonight. We hit a dirt road section and I ask one of the runners how far until we regroup with the rest of the runners. He said about 400 to 500 meters. So I took off as fast as I could for at least the first 300 and then slowly started to die. I am really going to pay for that. My legs are so sore but sometimes you just have to open it up and have some fun. Then I had a great dinner with some of the runners to talk about what else - running and other things.

12-8-2010 - 2.4 miles - 31:32 - fast walk

12-8-2010 - 6.5 miles - 50+ minutes - run

Day 7 - 3 inches of snow

Today I woke up to find around 3 inches of snow outside. I should have got a pic because the sun melted some of it by the time I got home from work.  I guess winter is really here now at least where I live.   A couple miles away there was only a dusting. Today was also the last day to sign up for the MMT 100 lottery.  All runners will find out Wednesday at 4 p.m. if they made it in or if they go on the waiting list.  Either way I will be training for something. I have so many memories training during the winter runs and I can’t wait to make some more this winter.

Lunch time rolled around pretty quick today. I decided to brave the cold and wind and go for a fast walk.  I really need to think about getting a jacket with some wind proofing.   A sweat shirt is not working because the wind cuts right threw it.  The walk I do is an out and back. That means I have 1.2 miles of wind pushing me out and 1.2 miles of wind in my face on the way back - 20+ mph headwind today. The walk back always gives me something to look forward to:)

If you look at the bottom of the mountains you can see white - that is snow - where I was there was no snow.

5:10 p.m. and I was out the door to run to the top of the mountain (Pulpit Rock). Within a quarter mile I passed a state cop at the same place I got pulled over for running in a snow emergency last winter – that made me smile and laugh to myself. I really love getting first tracks to the top if I have the chance.  Today there were a couple of tracks before me. The view from the top was really clear and the lights everywhere looked awesome.  You can actually see the lights at the Blue Mountain Ski resort and Bear Creek Ski resort from the Pulpit Rock lookout.  Not sure if Bear Creek had theirs on I didn’t look but Blue Mountain did.  I guess that means they are making snow. If it stays cold out the ski resorts should have a great holiday. The run down on the road from the top had an inch or two of snow on it.  There is nothing like running on and in the snow. I can’t wait for the deep snow to get here. I was glad when I finally got back home tonight.  I just wanted to get warm and eat.

The walk up to the Pulpit Rock lookout.

The night view from Pulpit Rock at night.

The night view from Pulpit Rock at night.

The trail leaving Pulpit Rock going west on the AT.

12-7-2010 - 2.4 miles - 32:20 - fast walk

12-7-2010 - 7 miles - 1:04 - run

Day 6 - A good day for a double

  

Monday is back to work day most Mondays.  Today I was there for an hour and decided to take the rest of the day off and the boss was cool with it. My wife and I then got an early start on some shopping.  You know Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels Crafts, Toys-R-Us and Walmart.  We finished a lot of our Christmas shopping and I even purchased a Under Armour Tactical HeatGear Hood for myself at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Tactical HeatGear Hood

After we got home I got my stuff ready for my run and left around 2:30. Up to Pulpit Rock I went and the snow flurries were falling again. On my way up I passed a couple guys that were out rock climbing near the reservoir.  I went up the road hill to the top and my legs felt good. Some times I go up the AT but not when they are hunting.  I got some pics and took the road back down and headed down Mountain Road with a real nice head wind. The Tactical HeadGear Hood and my hat worked great on this section for keeping the wind out of my ears.

The view from Pulpit Rock

The view from Pulpit Rock

This is the AT trail that goes west
after leaving Pulpit Rock.

I ran around town for a little and then went over to Kaercher Creek to do the loop in the woods.  Only saw one person walking in a distance.  Not to many people outside today.

Kaercher Creek upper trail

Kaercher Creek upper trail

Kaercher Creek

It was around 9 and it was still snowing outside and I felt like a kid itching to go out and play - so I did.  It was around 9:15 when I left the house for my second run of the day. I did one of my loops around town that is up, down and all around. No falls on the slick roads just a lot of fun. No one told me you can't run more the one time a day.  In this game of running sometimes you just have to make your own rules.  That is why I love this sport.  One day you can run a couple of miles and other days you can just run on forever.

12-6-2010 - 14.25 miles - 2:30 - run #1
12-6-2010 - 7 miles - 1:00 - run #2


Total = 21.25 miles - 3:30 hours

Day 5 - Hawk Mountain, Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock.....done!

Coffee, eggs, bottles, gels, and out the door and on the mountain by 7:45 a.m. It was snowing at the start of the run today which was cool. I am ready for the trails to be covered with a lot of snow to remove the rocks from the trails for a couple of months. The run I did today started at the Hamburg Reservoir parking lot where I start most of my runs. My car was the only one in the lot when I left for the run. When the leaves were changing the parking was packed at that time. I think a lot of people stay inside when it gets cold because they don't know how to dress for it. As long as you keep moving forward and are dressed right you don't get cold. I have been thinking about hitting all three mountain lookouts for awhile - Hawk Mountain, Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock. Well today was the perfect day and I had the time to do it.


The first lookout I ran to was Hawk Mountain.  It was just over 8 miles, two big climbs and plenty of rocks to get there. At about mile 7.5 I tripped on a rock and was looking at the sky - the pic is posted below of my view. It is part of the sport of trail running on rocks and you never know when it is going to happen. It usually happens on the flattest section of the trail. After I climbed up the last section of rocks to the North Lookout I meet a guy there and his job was to count/record what kind of birds he sees from sun up to sun down. If you were never at Hawk Mountain it is a great place to visit. Be careful on the rocks on the way down from the North Lookout they seem to be very slippery or maybe it was just me. After getting off of Hawk Mountain property I headed down Hawk Mountain Road which is a sweet 1.5 mile down hill run on the road to the turn to get back on the Appalachian Trail. Then going up the big 2 mile climb the legs were feeling a little tired. I made it to the top and when I hit the flat stuff they were back to normal.

Bridge on the Appalachian Trail near Hawk Mountain Road

Creek on the Appalachian Trail
near Hawk Mountain Road

Creek Crossing on the Appalachian Trail
near Hawk Mountain Road

The Appalachian Trail going up

The Blue Trail at Hawk Mountain

My view after I tripped on some rocks on the Blue Trail

The view from the North Lookout
Hawk Mountain

Looking north from the North Lookout - Hawk Mountain

Looking east - Hawk Mountain

Creek on the Appalachian Trail

Heading east on the Appalachian Trail
 to the Pinnacle

The second lookout I ran to was the Pinnacle at around mile 15. There were around ten people up there. When the leaves were changing there were well over 50 people up there. I snapped a pic had a drink and was on my way. The next section from the Pinnacle to Pulpit Rock is very rocky. I have to take my time on these sections right now until my ankles get stronger. I use to fly on these sections before I rolled both ankles in the last couple of months. They are feeling better every run and I am getting more confidence back on running on the rocks.

The view from the Pinnacle

The third lookout I ran to was Pulpit Rock at just over 17 miles. I just love it up there. It is also the closest lookout from the parking lot - 1.6 miles to the top from the road and 2.3 or 2.4 if you take the Appalachian Trail. I went down the AT only passing three people. After I made it to the road section I saw Anna a running friend and her daughter going for a hike. When I made it to my car the GPS read 19.65 so I ran down the road to make it an even 20 miles.

The view from Pulpit Rock

The view from Pulpit Rock

Overall my legs felt better and I didn't have the pain in them from running in the NB101. When I get the time  I'm going to start looking at some other trail shoes. My Brooks Cascadia have to much room in the heal and I don't feel safe in them anymore. The older pairs felt great but not the newest pair.

I made it home with little time to spare and the family and I were off for the last show of the Nutcracker.  Everything went very smooth and this time we got to watch some of it. All the people worked very hard and  had a great two shows. Supper was at the Westy to try and replace some of the calories I burn today.

12-5-2010 - 20 miles - 4:45 - run

Day 4 - Late night = not easy to wake up for me!

Today was one of those days I just didn't want to get up early because of a late night so I didn't. Loss of sleep and a lot of running usually means a cold and less training or no training and that is not an option.  You have to know your body and sleep is one thing you have to do with a lot of running to recover. I drank some some coffee and ate some cereal. Then I packed my backpack with some drinks and gels set my phone up to use the Cardio Trainer which eventually the battery died.  Luckily I had my Garmin 305 with for backup.  I finally made it out the door around 9:30 a.m.  At the start there were snow flurries, big clouds, wind and blue sky which stayed around for most of the run.  I really didn't know where to run today because of the hunters were taking over the mountain. So I wound up going down the road and headed into Kaercher Creek Park for a little over a mile and a half of fun on the grass and trail.  Then it was back on the road for around 8 miles.  After I thought about it for a while I decided to run up to Pulpit Rock.  Not the place I really wanted to run with all the hunters but I just love getting to the top of the mountain everyday if I can. There were a lot of hunters everywhere and I said hi to a lot of them and they were very friendly today.  The view was great from the top but no power in the phone means no pics.  But as my daughter says "Dad you have it stored up here." pointing at my head. :)  As I ran down to the bottom all of the hunters I talked to said they didn't even see a deer but you could tell they were out there doing what they enjoy to do.  I pulled out my watch and it said I would finish with 13 miles so added some extra distance and finished up with 15 miles for the day.


The family and I then headed out to the Nutcracker Ballet.  What a great thing to be a part of and the whole family was there to experience it from a different view.  This was my first time I ever remember being on a stage.  Everything went really well.  One more show tomorrow afternoon and we are finished.  Supper at Jake's Place in town for my wife's birthday with my parents followed by Home Alone 2.  Life is good!

12-4-2010 - 15 miles - 2:25 - run

Below are the pics from my run today.

Kaercher Creek Park

Heading to the top of that hill over there.

Into the great wide open

Looking at the mountains around Hamburg, PA

Day 3 - Cardio Trainer

The legs were sore today after running with the NB101 yesterday.  The shoes are very light and a lot of fun but they will have to be used on shorter runs.  Just remember when going from a regular sneaker to a very minimalist shoe take your time - don't rush it like me.  I did this 3 years ago with the Vibram Fivefingers and had to back off because I rushed it and had some pain in my foot.

Today I found a cool program for my phone.  It's called Cardio Trainer and it is a free app from the Android market.  It uses the GPS on the phone to track your workout.  So I went for a fast walk at lunch to put it to the test and loosen up my legs. When you start your workout it gives you 15 sec. before it starts the timer.  That is just enough time to turn the screen off and put it in your pocket.  Off I went for a 2.1 mile fast walk into the cold blowing wind. I pushed the stop button and there was my map of my route, distance, speed, and calories burned.  You can post your workout on the web but I didn't try it.  I will leave that for another day.

Looking towards Hamburg on my walk.

After work I didn't have a lot of time so I had to head out the for a run right away.  I used the Cardio Trainer on the phone and the audio notifications are set to go off every half mile.  Audio notifications sound cool until you hear them in the woods when it is dark.  I guess it made me run a little fast.  The legs are starting to feel a little better and should be ready for a long run.

After the run my wife and I had to get ready to head down to the running clubs annual Christmas party.  Food , drinks and a lot of running talk.  As of right now our club has 13 runners entered in the MMT 100 race and most of them were at the party.   This is incredible to me to have this many runners in this type of race.  I can't wait for some great training runs with a lot of these runners.  You could see it in there eyes and they are ready to rock!

12-3-2010 - 2.1 miles - 27:10 - fast walk

12-3-2010 - 6 miles - 46:55 - run

Day 2 - Nutcracker practice first

No aches or pains today after a fast run Wednesday night.  Tonight I had to wait to start my run until around 7:30 p.m. because of Nutcracker practice first.  My wife, one of the little ones and  I have a part in the opening scene.  It was fun and was about 2 hours long.  The real show is this Saturday and Sunday.

The run tonight started by trying my new trail shoes the New Balance 101 on the road.  The shoes were purchased at a local running shop - A Running Start - check them out they will set you up correctly with the shoes you need.(I will let you know of great products or service I have found on this blog)  I just couldn't wait to try them out and I might be a little sore tomorrow for doing that.  They felt great but after 3 miles my legs started to get a little sore so I slowed the pace for the next two miles and they felt better.  The last 2 miles of my 7 mile run felt good and now I am ready for the weekend long runs.

New Balance 101

12-2-2010 - 7 miles - 51:01

Day 1 - Sign up for MMT 100 - 9 a.m.

At 9 a.m. December 1st I logged onto the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club's website and placed my name on the MMT 100 mile run list for the 5th time.  They have a lottery to pick 180 runners and my lucky number is 572.  I will know on December 8th after 4 p.m. if I am in or will I be placed on the waiting list.  If I go on the waiting list I will have to wait for people to drop off and that does happen or I might have to find another race to enter.  What ever happens the training has started for what ever the next adventure will be.  Around 10:30 a.m. I looked at some new papers that came to work today and it was for a new store opening in Front Royal, VA.  That made me smile because the race use to start at the Skyline Ranch Resort in Front Royal, VA and got me more pumped for this event.

Runners/Pacers/Crews from 2010 MMT 100

2007 was my first year and I finished the race in 28 hr./26 min./37 sec. - 23rd place.  In 2008 was my 2nd year and I made it to mile 64.9 mile in 15 hrs./9 min. and had to DNF (did not finish) or the one I like DNS (did nothing stupid).  My right leg behind my knee was very tight and I limped that last 6.8 miles and decided to pull the plug.  It was a smart decision and it let me run the rest of the summer without injury. 2009 was my 3rd year I entered the race but it was not my year and backed out 2 weeks before the start of the race.  It was a hard thing to pull my name off the list but if your not ready for this race move on and pick another one. 2010 was my 4th and I was more focused on consistent training the whole time and knowing that backing off was not an option if I wanted to run well.  I went for it from the start and I finished in 23 hrs./6 min./5 sec. in 7th place.

My MMT 100 Race # from 2010

My first night of training started by heading to Mohnton to run with the Pagoda Pacers for the Wednesday night fun run.  I forgot my headlamp, got stuck in traffic and got there 5 minutes late.  Luckily the group got a late start and I quickly got out of my car an caught up to the pack of at least 25 runners.  There were 5 other runners there that are also on the list to get into MMT so it was great to talk a little about the race.  We took some breaks for everyone to regroup and it was really fun pushing the ups and flying on the down hills.  After the run we headed to a local restaurant for some more laughs and talks about the race.  We have a great group of runners that do all kinds of distances and you can really learn some much from all of them if you listen. It just felt really great to be out running again.  I have been doing a lot of fast hiking lately due to rolling my right ankle back in June and my left ankle in October.  Right now the ankles are fine and are getting stronger I just have to pay more attention to my foot placements.

12-1-2010 - around 5 or 6 miles - 50+ minutes