Too long

It has been way too long since I last posted. Too much has gone on to name everything so I'll paraphrase and stick to the present and future.

Since I posted last I've run the Disney Half and Full on a Saturday and Sunday respectively. PR'd in the half, finished the full. Moved back to Virginia from Colorado. Ran the Boston Marathon and PR'd by about 10 minutes running a 3:00:37. Clearly, the time was bittersweet. I'll get 'em next year. (and I know this because I'm all signed up) Ran Promised Land 50k 6 days after and ran 5:20 something which was good enough for 8th place. I ran the Old Dominion 100 and placed 7th in a time of 21 hours or so. I forget. Cool Race. I am a tree climber now by profession. And I climb trees with chainsaws. No joke.

In other news, I'm writing a book. Yes, it's about the trip, and no it's not a "running book" in terms of miles per day, calories eaten, stats and such. I met too many cool and interesting people not to share the stories in the form of a book. It's all written, and my friend Mitch is helping me edit it. Hopefully it will be submitted for publishing soon, but I will keep everyone up to date...on here...because I'm going to start blogging more than once every 7 months.

Present. I still run as much as I can, and I can feel myself getting faster. I used to do this little exercise on the treadmill before my trip. I'd start at 6 mph on the treadmill and run a minute on that speed and then increase 1 mph every minute. A couple of years ago I'd have to hold my hand so that I could be ready to grab the bar in case I flew off the back of the treadmill by the time I got up to 10 mph. But yesterday I was up to 12 mph and it wasn't "comfortable" by any means but even going that fast I didn't feel out of control or like I was getting ready to become a human bullet flying off the back of the machine. I guess that's cool?

Future. I'm running Grindstone....again. In a week. It should be interesting this year, but I'm not sure why. I've got serious issues with this race. It hates my guts, and I hate its guts. So maybe this year I'll finish it without barfing constantly through the first 52 miles and I'll be able to properly part ways with that event.

I'm going to try to get into Badwater next year, so we'll see how that goes.....stoked to try to get in.

Maybe I'll try to make next post more interesting, I'm just getting back into the swing of writing a blog.

Vid of standard run

Making first tracks on a morning run after a snowstorm. Cold but incredibly enjoyable.

-- Patrick

Finding a groove

So far, my time in Aspen has been spent working, working, and more working. Due to high holiday traffic and under staffing we were incredibly busy. Unfortunately this left very little time to go out and see what this town is all about and little time for running.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to join the Arthritis Foundation's Joints in Motion training team in Orlando for the Disney World half and full marathons. While they were both very fun as far as experiences and meeting people go, from a strictly running standpoint it was a but frustrating. The Goofy Challenge is where participants ran both the half and full marathons on back to back days. I chose to take it on thinking it wouldn't be a problem but realized after the half marathon that I am not in the same shape I was in a year ago. I had pushed pretty hard in the half and had set a new PR for myself by about 10 minutes but didn't feel like I normally do after a half marathon. That being said, the full marathon was difficult from the start and while it was still 15 minutes faster than my slowest marathon, it was hard. Mickey and all his pals were strategically staged along various points on the course and made the whole experience a lot of fun.

It took me nearly a week to fully recover but am back up and running more than before. I have found a trail up the side of a snow covered mountain that makes for not only a difficult and productive run but also some incredibly amazing views of all of the town of Snowmass, especially at night.I'm able to start from my apartment and run up for about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the depth of the snow. The first half of the run is on a paved path that is covered in about 3-5 inches of packed snow and takes me up from my apartment to the trail head near Snowmass mall where Divide Rd splits off. The trail itself is well packed and about 8-12 inches wide. The tricky part is if you step or off the trail, you fall into hip deep powder which in turn, trips you face down in the snow with no hope of catching yourself because your arms just fall right through the snow as well. Climbing up the switchbacks the trail keeps ascending higher and higher until you reach a bench which is mostly covered in deep snow. The final couple yards the trail somewhat disappears and you have to slog your way through the hip deep powder in order to touch the bench. This last part isn't as pleasant as the rest of the run when I'm wearing shorts.

Coming down is quicker of course, but not by much on a good day. Sliding around is usually minimal thanks to a set of microspikes that fit right over my normal running shoes. Between this run and running home from work in the evening I should be able to train just fine for the Boston Marathon in April and any races following that once I figure out where life is taking me next.

This morning I took off early and found that it was snowing quite a bit. With 2-3 inches of fresh snow on the ground and new snow being added by the second I started my normal climb up the path that would take me to the trailhead. Everything was very quiet and soothing and even my footsteps were muffled by the new snow.

No one had been on the trail since the new snow and I was glad to beat everyone to it. I opened my mouth wide every couple of minutes to break up the ice that was forming in my beard. Upon reaching the top I looked down on the town of Snowmass and everything was peaceful, white and looked clean and fresh. I turned around and headed back down and noticed some blood in the snow. Since I hadn't seen any other living creatures today I figured it must be me. I didn't realize it was my own ankle that I had accidentally kicked open until I looked down at it. There wasn't anything I could do so I continued home only slipping off the trail twice. I really enjoy runs when they are especially difficult either because of weather or terrain and today was no different. I reached my front door with ice in my beard, eyebrows, eyelashes, and caked around my legs and feet.

I'm not sure I'll get tired of running here.

-- Patrick

One year

It has been a busy year. That being said, I haven't kept up the blog anywhere near where I would've liked to. I get busy and sort of forget about it. Aspen in incredible. Living in the mountains is an experience like no other and I'm constantly questioning whether this is reality or not. Then I realize how much I've been working, and I snap back to reality pretty quickly. I work at Buttermilk Mountain in the ticket department and am fortunate enough to live in Snowmass Village in employee housing. If they didn't have employee housing there is no way a guy like me could afford this place. Even groceries are astronomically expensive here.

I am lucky enough to have found a good trail that is packed snow as well as living 6 1/2 miles from work. So there is no shortage of opportunity to run even if I do have to squeeze them in. It occurred to me earlier this month that last year at this time I was somewhere in the southwestern portion of this country with only one goal everyday. It seems like the trip across America was forever ago but one year just isn't that long. While I am happy I completed the run, and at times am still not sure if I am completely recovered from running 2,553 miles on pavement, I have decided that there is no way that that was my only long running trip. I'm not sure I miss the pavement, but I do miss the trip, being "on the road," and the simplicity of life when all you have to worry about is where your next meal is coming from. I would love to do a long trail at some point, and will probably just figure out when the time is right.

For now, I'll keep running, focusing on getting faster and stronger and try to figure out what direction to take my life.

Aspen

Well, a lot has been going on. I drove to Aspen, Colorado and am living here now working at the resort. It is very different here than Virginia and am absolutely stoked to even be here. The mountains here are incredible.



(taken from part of Rim Trail)

Since there aren't heaps of snow here yet I've been able to give running a try. The second day I was here I tried running, made it 10 minutes up the road and couldn't breath anymore. I couldn't breathe in and it was almost scary. I stopped running, contemplated just walking but instead turned around and ran back to the apartment I'm living in and called it a day.

I was slightly frustrated at how living at 8,000 feet was affecting me. So, the next day I tried running again and was able to go for a nice 2 hour run with spectacular views. It was far from easy but somehow was still able to log about 15 miles in the 2 hour period.

Dropping by the ranger station in the area I was able to find out about some of the trails around here. Unfortunately most of them are under feet of snow at the moment which wouldn't be so bad if the roads to the trails weren't also under feet as well. My 92 honda accord isn't the greatest car to traverse those kinds of conditions.

Fortunately I as able to find the rim trail which starts about a quarter mike from my apartment. Yesterday I tried it out and it turned out to be a great trail that has a good amount of ascent, decent, and amazing views. Climbing up to the rim initially proved to be tough on the lungs but the amount of elk tracks were enough to take my mind off of my lack of speed and my extra effort.

As I approached the top a view of neighboring mountains welcomed me to the top. Turning left at the top I started on the trail that varied from dropping off steeply on both sides to being thick with trees. It winded along the ridge until it pointed downward steeply and started climbing again. I followed the trail until it made it's final decent to Snowmass Village where I followed the road back to the apartment a total of about 3 hours.

Today myself and my two roommates decided we wanted to get a head start on skiing and since the lifts aren't open, we would have to get ourselves to the top. With skis strapped to my backpack we climbed about 500 ft short of Sam's Knob (10,620) to about 10,080 ft put on our gear and skied back down to the car.


I think I'm going to like it here.

-- Patrick

pics by Bobby Gill

mile 65

mile 1

Grindstone 100

Where do you start in a race like Grindstone? I guess last year would be a good place. Last year I DNF'd at 35 miles so this year I was back for some serious redemption. I guess my stomach didn't get the memo that I wasn't stopping because it decided to wreak havoc on my physical capabilities and my energy levels starting from the second mile. No joke. Mile 2.

The race is interesting for the simple fact that aside from being 100 miles with 23,200 ft of elevation gain and 23,200 ft of elevation loss, it starts at 6 pm. Everyone runs all night.

My personal encounter with the race this year was like nothing I have experienced and nothing I ever want to experience again. As we took off down the trail from the Boy Scout Camp where the race started the light of day began to dim. 2 miles after the start I felt a gurgling in my stomach that signaled a need to let go of whatever I ate prior to the race. Crap #1.

Not too worried about the placing or time at this point I continued down the trail with the ever dimming light of day and tried to post pone the use of a head lamp as long as I could because I knew I would be using it for quite awhile through the night.

Before another 20 minutes passed I needed to go again. This became an annoying pattern for the first 22 miles. I got the aid station with my brother, Kevin, as my crew. I told him what was going on and let him know my energy was going down the tubes because of the issues. He gave me some Tums, some more electrolytes, filled my bottles and got me on my way.

Into the night, and down the trail, I continued releasing demons every 20-30 minutes. The terrain was awesome. Last year the fog was so intense you couldn't see a thing. This year, the stars were incredible. The mountains are a perfect place to see stars because of the lack of city lights. I was enjoying the long downhills as those were the sections where I actually felt like I was moving. The uphills were a bit frustrating simply because my energy levels were down and I wasn't climbing well.

Before too much longer I stumbled into the aid station at mile 35, my stopping point last year. This year I felt worse. A huge headache accompanied my constant stomach cramping and because it was about 2 in the morning, I was very tired. I asked Kevin to wake me in 10 minutes. When he did, I ate some stew and a few crackers. Gu was out of the question and was actually adding nausea to the list of ailments.

I left the aid station feeling somewhat better now that I had a few calories in my system. I soon caught up with a guy named Chris. This was his first 100 and his friend had dropped at the last aid station. We enjoyed much of the incredibly long climb together. Unfortunately, as the calories burned off, so did my energy and before too long I simply couldn't keep up. Many people passed me on this climb as I would stop along the side of the trail to relieve myself again and again.

Soon, my pace was nothing short of pathetic and I kept looking behind me waiting for a baby to catch up to me crawling on hands and knees. With a throbbing headache I puked up the stew and crackers that remained in my stomach just as a guy was passing me. After hours of climbing I reached the top of Little Bald Mountain and began my decent to the aid station. The fastest I could muster was a slow shuffle down the hill.

When I finally did reach the aid station I collapsed in a chair. I wasn't thinking straight, I wasn't seeing clearly and my head would not stop pounding. An aid station worker came up and asked me what I needed. I think I asked for soup because that's what he brought and it was delicious. The broth warmed me and as I sat by the fire I started to nod off to sleep. The same volunteer came over and wrapped a sleeping bag around me and handed me another cup of soup telling me to keep eating. I told him of my trouble and he brought over some more soup and Mountain Dew. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up hearing my friend's voice. Dave was saying bye to the aid station and I was opening my eyes still wrapped in the sleeping bag. I asked a guy sitting next to me what time it was because my watch decided it would be a good time to stop working in the middle of a race. He told me it was 6:00. I had slept for 30 minutes. A volunteer saw that I was awake and brought me some more soup and Mountain Dew. I decided to get moving down the trail because I wasn't even half way there.

I thanked the volunteers profusely and began running down the trail. My stomach still gurgled but my legs felt new, my energy felt new, and I felt great!
Now running strong, I approached the 50 mile turnaround. First, though, we all needed to summit Reddish Knob. Upon reaching the top of the mountain I stopped and just looked around.

The sun was just starting to peek from behind the mountains to the east and was illuminating the mountains to the west which was West Virginia. Soon afterward, I caught up with Dave and took full advantage of the fact that I was feeling better and knew I should run well while I had energy because I might not be able to keep food in my system. That's when I threw up again. I saw my Dad soon after and there was a crew access point just short of the 50 mile turnaround. Not wanting to stop on the short side of 50, I only stopped at the crew station the second time I saw it. My dad and Kevin had swapped positions, Kev was back at the tent sleeping and now my dad was out here. He had brought some of his famous bean soup for me and it was nice and hot. After eating that, several slices of bread, and a cup of strawberry applesauce, he helped me change my socks and shoes and sent me on my way. I felt like a million bucks.

I was climbing well now and energy levels were through the roof. Before too long, I reached the next aid station, grabbed another cup of soup and was sent on my way. Running downhill strong upset my stomach a bit and I, once again blew biscuits and lost the rest of my calories through other methods. Though, this would be the last time I did either in the race. My tally was 14 relief efforts involving pants around my ankles, and 3 barfs. Thankfully, the tally remained there.

Upon reaching the same aid station I had my 30 minute nap, I sat and ate to try to regain the precious calories I had lost recently. They had made this heavenly concoction which started with a half of an English muffin topped with a mixture of scrambled egg, sausage, bacon and cheese. It was a delight. Snagging one of those, I started down the trail to see the kind of beast that had nearly killed me the night before.

The temps were still cool, but were warming up nicely. The high grass on either side of the single track trail brushed my filthy legs as I passed them. The top of this mountain looke completely different the last time I was there.

I started down the mountain and was taken aback by the steepness and wondered how I ever got up this last night in the condition I was in. Needless to say, I was a bit impressed with myself, but was still a long way from the finish line. On the way down, I passed several people along with Dave. As time would wear on and my energy levels plummeted he caught up with me again near the aid station and we ran into the 65 mile aid station together.

At the aid station was my dad, Kevin my friend and pacer Adam and my mom. My mom had driven out to the race to support me for the time she could. It was awesome to see her and gave me a giant lift. I was back to feeling quite defeated as I flopped into the chair. Out of energy I asked my dad for a 10 minute nap. Afterwards I ate, stocked my pockets full of Gu and took off with Adam. It was awesome to run with him. He kept me quite entertained and laughing the whole time. Soon I tried a Gu and it stayed down. I was back and it felt great. I could eat between aid stations and so I could continue to run well. I passed several people and one guy called me Lazarus because I came back from the dead.

Adam and I ran well together. We were roomates in college and he was always a faster runner than I was. I liked running with him because it gave me someone to silently compete with. Today, he would be running farther than he ever had before. The miles went quickly and we ran very well. I was shocked at how well we were moving and how quickly the mies went. More aid stations passed and soon it was time to pick up our head lamps and enter the second night of running. We had 13 miles to go and I really did not want to be running at night again. I was getting tired but continued to push so that we didn't have to run more dark sections than we had to. Unfortunately, we needed to turn on our headlamps about 6 miles from the finishline.

Reaching the last aid station we had 5 miles to go. I was very tired but Adam, never failing, brought to light this little gem and put things into perspective. It went a little something like this.
"I'm so tired." I said
Adam, "Would you like a straw?"
"What?"
"Do... you... want.. a straw?"
"Um...sure, why?"
"So you can suck it up?"
My dad, and I both had a laugh and Adam and I left the aid station after eating several packages of Scooby Doo fruit snacks.

Making our way toward the finish line I couldn't help it. With about 3 or 4 miles until the finish line I ran hard. Adam and I ran hard through the woods at night hoping to break 30 hours for a finish time. Then we saw the finish line and ran even harder. I saw the clock and it said 27 something but I didn't really care. I finished Grindstone and hugged the totem pole, hugged Adam, and hugged my dad. We went inside and ate and ate and ate.

A hot shower had never felt so good niether had crawling into a tent and going to sleep. My final time was 27:46

-- Patrick