Reflections on Laurel

Usually I like to reflect after a big effort to decide what worked, and what didn't. This is a summary of my race at the 2010 Laurel Highlands Ultra.

What worked:

1. Started conservatively. Did not blow up early. I remember conciously telling myself on the big hills early in the race, "Let the others go ahead. We are a short way into a very long race. Don't go out too fast." For the most part I did a good job of pacing myself early.

2. Knowledge of the race course. This is just an advantage of living so close by, but there were really no surprises about the course. I knew how to attack the different sections.

3. Ate pretty consistently. Once an hour for the first ???? miles (maybe 40 or 50). After that, ate smaller portions every half hour. Really did not bonk at all during the race.

4. Took care of blisters early. Had a pretty nasty one taken care of at the mile 47-ish aid station (by a Badwater veteran!). Had duct tape in drop bag so I was ready to go.

5. Ran my own race. Sometimes it is hard to not get swept up in the competition of those running close by you. However I had the Ipod to keep myself locked in, and really didn't worry about anybody else. This was my "B" race for the year so the pressure was off, which really helped me stay loose.

6. Carried a handheld bottle in addition to the bladder. This turned out to be invaluable on this particular day, since I was able to refill my bottle at many of the stream crossings, and get cold water.

7. Had a small handheld light in addition to the headlamp. Another spur of the moment decision that proved to be very helpful.

8. Overnight bike/run with a psychotic ultra-triathlon friend was probably as valuable as any of the long runs I did. It was grueling at the time, but during the race I was really able to draw on that experience and felt that much more comfortable running through fog and rain, in the middle of the mountains at 3 in the morning.

9. Finished strong!!! Passed four people in the final mile or two and had the gas left in the tank to power down a really rocky hill to bury them with a certain amount of authority. I have been on the other side of that equation many, many times. It is demoralizing to get passed in the final miles. On the flipside, the competitive side of me gets off on doing it to others. It is a competition -- we are all friends before the race and after it -- during the race, I will do everything I can within the rules to beat the competition, and if I can do it with a certain amount of gusto, I will leave no doubt as to who the better competitor is on that particular day.

What didn't work:

1. Walked some sections I should have run, especially on the detour. I could have run a lot more of that detour but I guess was feeling a little sorry for myself at the time, and just walked it. I probably could have shaved half an hour or more off my time.

2. Walked sections of the trail at dusk/night that were probably pretty runnable. Maybe at times due to the thick fog I decided to walk, but I think more than anything I was probably in that "I'm tired, close to being finished, and feeling sorry for myself" zone and ended up walking.

3. Not sure I would couch this as a weakness or a failure, but by the end of the race I just wanted to get done because I missed my wife so bad. I attribute this to some sort of male-pregnancy-hormone thing, maybe I felt very separated from my growing family at that time, but I missed my wife horribly and just wanted to be close to her more than anything. I only make note of this now because by the time Wasatch rolls around, this will probably come on even stronger.

4. Sat during aid stations. Some people find that the brief time off their feet does wonders to rejuvenate them. Decided to try it for myself. I found that I got real comfortable, easily burned ten minutes sitting, and seized up. Took a certain amount of extra effort to get the muscles working again once I started, and at the mile 64-ish aid station, I actually got very, very cold while sitting. Won't sit anymore at aid stations.

5. Probably did not have the best taper in the world. I think I peaked about 5 days before the race and was maybe on the decline by race day. Although not my fault, slept HORRIBLY 2 nights before the race (most important night to get solid sleep) due to stomach problems which still can't be explained. Was not nervous, didn't eat anything out of the ordinary. The night before the race, only slept maybe 3 hours as well. Probably went into the race tired, and a little dehydrated.

Overall

Overall I was pretty happy with the effort. In 2009, my pace was somehow faster, despite walking every step of the last 13 miles. My guess is that in 2009, I didn't have to deal with quite as much of that trail in the dark as I did in 2010 (due to the fact the race was longer). It was an absolute death march at the end though, and a blown race strategy. 2010 was a better year in terms of the strategy, and if it would have been a hundred, I feel I could have kept going. In 2009, there was no way I could have kept going. Despite that, I have to admit that it bothers me to be a "midpack" runner (I'm perhaps being generous even qualifying myself as midpack. Perhaps back of the pack?). I don't like to think of myself as being midpack at anything and ultrarunning is no exception. This really does not sit well with the competitive side of me. Perhaps time to throw in more (any) speedwork.

Nothing in particular

WS100 course record fell, although I'm not sure if it will have a * next to it due to it being a snow year, which required an alternate course. It is truly amazing to me how somebody can run that fast. Apparently the winner was moving so fast that he outran his pacer at the end of the race. I truly hope that there is something I can do that makes others look on with awe like that. Perhaps it is remember Simpsons quotes, or my knowledge of obscure, early 80's, SoCal punk trivia. Or, perhaps it is building computer simulations of fossil fuel burning power plants. Very exciting stuff.

Saturday did the bike/run thing, same with Sunday. Saw a fairly short hill after an hour on the bike yesterday, and decided to ditch the bike for a little and do some hill repeats for fun. Tossed and turned last night, hopefully it is not my body telling me that it is too soon to start training again after Laurel. Could be from 1) the very potent Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster Imperial Pale Ale I had at about 7:30 PM, 2) the loud farting in the middle of the night, which apparently woke up both my wife and dog, or 3) general hotness on the second floor of my house.

Moved bed out of spare bedroom (which will soon be the baby's room) this weekend, this was the necessary first step in preparing the baby's room. Also painted kitchen ceiling, and finally installed baseboard in kitchen. These two small things should satisfy what my wife has been asking me to do for almost 6 months now.

It's official, I bought my plane tickets for Speedgoat 50k at Snowbird, Utah at the end of next month. Booked a room for 3 nights as well. Plan is to go Thursday, scope out part of Wasatch course Friday, run Saturday, come home Sunday. Expensive but in my opinion necessary to helping me achieve my goal of finishing the Wasatch Front 100. I think I will need all the help I can get with that one.

Thank you for being a friend

Apparently women are sensitive about their age (with the exception of the four lasses above -- I think 75% of them are now dead, although it is interesting to see Betty White's career somehow boom right now). Had somebody get visibly peeved at me this morning because I asked her how old she was (turns out she is 40, and this is a sore subject for her). Oh well. Note: I admit to having seen most episodes of the Golden Girls. I had two sisters who were into it, and I was probably 9 years old at the time so was therefore not old enough to realize it was a TV program aimed at old women.

Not like anybody actually reads anything I am writing (I do it mostly to just get it out of my system) but best of luck to all Western States runners this weekend. I did not make it into the race via the lottery for 2010, and due to my pending spawn, not sure I will even apply for 2011. Actually, I'm pretty much positive I will not even apply for 2011.

Should be a busy weekend, going to kick the Wasatch training into 2nd gear. Bike ride tomorrow (probably at least 3 or 4 hours worth), followed by running on Sunday (also run today at lunch while at work). Will either do a 5 hour run hosted by a friend, or a two-loop outing at Mingo. Due to proximity, and level of difficulty (the harder the better), leaning toward Mingo. Feel kind of bad about not participating with friends, but the clock is now ticking until September, and I think I've got to make every run count. On the home improvement/getting ready for baby front, this weekend I am committed to painting the kitchen ceiling, and hopefully start cutting and installing baseboard for the kitchen. Two relatively simple tasks that my wife has been bugging me about for months, and now I can hopefully knock off the list.

Why I love my adopted home-tahn of Pittsburgh

After snapping my second replacement axle, I decided that if I wanted to get the bike fixed anytime soon, I should have somebody else do it. Fifty eight bucks later, my bike works again. So today marks the somewhat official start of my Wasatch training because I rode the bike in to work. I have not done anything (besides lift weights) since the Laurel race a week and a half ago.

On a sidenote, it is amazing how much easier the cycling seems to go when you are riding on clean, efficiently moving parts. The difference is like night and day. I think I will get a used book on amazon dot com about bike maintenance.

On the way to work, several interesting things happened that reminded me why I do love the Burgh. Some guy in a pickup truck slowed down to tell me to keep my eyes open for the fox up on top of the hill. I was very close to South Park at the time and fox sightings in the park are not uncommon. This guy was obviously very excited and wanted to tell the first person he could about this fox.

I didn't see the fox, but did see two young bucks crossing the road once I was inside the park. Don't know anything about deer terminology, but these two were just starting to sprout some antlers.

There were a lot of people in the park this morning, most of them walking. One lady was wearing a t-shirt that was very blunt and to the point: "If you're not a Steelers fan, you're a jagoff." Nothing subtle about that, but it was a very amusing shirt.

Finally, I guess at heart I am still seven years old because when I ride my bike to work, the best part of my day is flying down the big hill right before I turn in to my office. That feeling of zooming recklessly down a long, steep hill never gets old.

Aloha

Just a way for me to spare friends and loved ones from having to listen to my verbal diarrhea, which admittedly can sometimes get a big pointed or excessive. This way, if nobody is interested in hearing it, they don't have to read about it, but I can still get it out of my system.

Bike is still on the fritz, I cannont keep tension in the chain if I stop pedaling. I refuse to take it to a bike shop to get it fixed. If I can successfully make it through graduate school while working full time, I am confident I can fix a bike chain. That type of bad attitude has frequently gotten me into trouble.

Since last weekend I have installed a ceiling fan in the baby's room (which required some fairly extensive rewiring in the attic and behind walls, but afforded me the opportunity to learn about switch loops!), rebuilt the governor on my lawnmower (I'm not paying 300 bucks for a new lawnmower due to a broken 12 cent spring), but failed to repair my bike. In the words of Mr. Loaf, two out of three ain't bad.

And while I'm flexing attitudes and opinions, allow me to wax poetic on what I have been listening to recently:

Misfits -- Earth A.D.

This last album by the Misfits was a foreshadowing of what Glenn Danzig would later produce with Sam Hain. This record got very regular play in my rotation during the summer of 1990. When you are a 13 year old kid who spends his summer days smoking cigarettes, skateboarding, and getting angrier and angrier at the world, Earth A.D. is where it's at. To me, this record just sounded scary, the cover art was truly evil looking, and was probably a perfect soundtrack for where my life was at the time: boy slowly becoming man (I'm still not there yet), and VERY angry at the world. Hopefully if we have a son, he will not be as mad at the world as I was. I'm still not sure what I was mad about, all I knew was that I was very, very angry and had a ton of fight in me. Good thing my parents forced me to play football, it was a perfect outlet me, and if I would not have had the opportunity to get it out of my system in a controlled environment like that, I probably would have ended up some kind of criminal.

Van Halen -- Fair Warning

Another record that I believe was probably considered experimental at the time for Van Halen. From what I read, DLR felt that there was too much EVH synthesizer stuff, and not enough straight ahead rock and roll. I love this record and have very fond memories of driving around with my brother during the summer of.........must have been 1986 I think.............it was the summer before he left for the Marines. He had some kind of gray beater car that he installed a tape deck in, and Fair Warning was heavy in the rotation. I really liked the cover art on this one too, it had a cartoon of one guy on top of some other guy, punching him in the face. I think I was probably the only 9 year old kid who knew all the lyrics to Fair Warning. Years later when I was in college, I found that same tape and had it in my Saturn for many, many years. After I got married, our old next door neighbors donated all their vinyl to me, and Fair Warning was in the collection. All the DLR Van Halen was great but this one stands out for me.

Beach Boys -- Pet Sounds

Bought this one on a whim a couple weeks ago and it did not disappoint. Clearly a strong Brian Wilson effort, trying hard to break from the "Barbara Ann," "Help Me Rhonda" mold. Apparently the other Beach Boys really resisted this record, feeling it was tinkering with a successful formula. I do love the song Sloop John B, although it really sounds to me like the anthem of some rich kid who goes sailing with his grandfather, kind of like Spalding from Caddyshack.