2011 Mountain Masochist Race Report

I don't know how others feel about this, but for me there is something very special about beginning an ultra early in the morning, before the sun comes up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. At 6:30 a.m. on November 5th it was cold and the sky was clear, stars shining.... nearly 300 of us congregated at the St. James Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. One final prayer from Horton and we were off for a day long adventure. It's hard to describe the emotions I was feeling as the day began to brighten and you could see the outline of ridges in the distance on all sides of us. I was running with the lead group of women as the sun rose and we darted from the road onto our first trails just as day was breaking.

I had 3 goals coming into the 2011 MMTR... first- win the grand masters division and win a Patagonia Down Jacket; second- break 9 hours (which would mean a 56 minute improvement over last year) and third- set the all time 53 yr old record (which was and still is 8:51). If things went well I knew I would improve significantly on 2010. I was better prepared both physically and mentally. I put in the work so now it was time to get down to business and get it done.

Some of my goals were a stretch but I felt I was capable of getting down around 9 hours. I had a super stressful day on Friday, Masochist Eve... unexpected water in my basement from heavy overnight rains, family scheduling problems, last minute critical tasks, but 4 hours after my planned departure I was on the way to Lynchburg (w/ wife Sara and 13 yr old son Patrick).

As my race unfolded along the Blue Ridge Parkway I settled into running in a small group which included all the top seeded women, first Alyssa Wildeboer and Dacia Reed...soon to joined by top seed Sandi Nypaver. Also in the group was David Kirby who I ran with side by side for much of the New River 50k. I knew we were running fairly fast but also knew that the top women would be likely going sub 9 hrs so I was right where I wanted to be.

Not a very good photo but I'm in the background heading up the trail as women's leader Sandi Nypaver stops at the 1st Aid Station


As we headed up the first trail Sandi gapped the other women a bit and we had a small group of us running together. All was going well, the trail wasn't as muddy as I expected and we could go around many of the flooded sections. The streams had more water then last year so my feet stayed wet and cold during this early section. When crossing Dancing Creek I "almost" kept my feet dry but my dancing wasn't up to par and got one foot ankle deep just as Clark Zealand called out my name and Horton yelled out good job "Rob Spanish." [I wonder how many times I have heard something similar... Horton needs to work on some more original/creative material]. Somewhere in the 12-15 mi point in the race I stopped to urinate and I lost my small group which included the women's leader. I pretty much ran by myself from that point until the ~1/2 way point at Long Mtn Wayside. My legs began to go south on me really early. I'd say at about the 17.5 mi Aid Station my legs began to feel dead and shortly after began to ache/hurt. I didn't worry a whole lot as sometimes this happens and you bounce back. It wasn't to be this time. I tried to fuel up but that didn't seem to help much. After one of the deeper river/stream crossing I ran very steady up the fairly gentle 2 mi climb. I seemed to feel better on the climbing then I did on flat and downhills.

I got to the Long Mtn Crew Access point and met Sara and Patrick and they had my drop bag. Refueled with gels and a new hand held and I was off. I let them know that my legs were dead and maybe it just wasn't my day but I'd continue on. They informed me that Eric Grossman was in the lead and Sandi Nypaver was the only female ahead of me (of course Patrick informed me that she was WAY ahead of me). I reached Long Mtn in 4:15, about 30 minutes faster then 2010. On the long climb up Buck Mtn I leap frogged a bit with Dacia and Alyssa and a couple of other guys. Alyssa took a spill in front of me but seemed to be okay. After I crested Buck I tried to make good time on the way to the Loop. Remembering last year, I knew I needed to make good time when I was able.

Sara and Patrick met me at "The Loop In" Aid Station which was nice. Wasn't sure they'd make it up the gravel road but nice to get some encouragement and a gel. I only saw one other runner during the 6 mi loop portion. He came up behind me and we ran together for a bit before he moved on ahead. He had just graduated from Liberty and ran 8:50 ish last year so I felt like maybe I was on pace even though I was feeling so bad. He just shook his head when I said I was 53 yrs old and trying to break 9 hours. For me, and many others, the Loop is a favorite section of the MMTR course. It's a tough section, the most technical, and is slow going, but beautiful and authentic.

Coming out of the loop I tried to pick up the pace as the next several miles was rolling Forest Service road terrain. My legs were feeling awful but I remember Beth Minick sending me a message wishing me well and I repeated in my head what we told eachother "all business." I got to Salt Log Gap Aid Station and knew there was a tough section up to the final Aid Station... the next 4 miles took us through very rough trail, hard to follow, ankle deep leaves. At Salt Log Gap my watch said 7:30 but I knew it might take an hour to get up to the top of the ridge before the 4 miles or so down to Montebello. By the time I reached the last Aid Station I indeed had only 30 minutes to get a sub 9 hr time and I knew that was unlikely. My legs were completely shot but I pushed on. Only one runner passed me as I hobbled my way down the mountain and on into the finish. I crossed the finish line in 9:09:31. Happy to be done and really feeling more satisfaction then I expected. Looking back.... this was my toughest race (felt bad so early and could never shake it), yet my most grafifying race by pushing myself when I could have easily packed it in. I got the usual handshake from Race Director, Clark Zealand. Then a "good job" from Dr. Horton. Horty asked me how old I was and when I replied 53, he shouted Grand Masters. I told him I think a few "old guys" were ahead of me but he just looked at his clipboard and said I don't know... I think you may have "won." Nice to have my family (but missed Kane, my oldest son) with me. They were excited that Eric G. won and that I had survived what was a very tough day. I think the temps were a little warmer then last year and we sat soaking up the sun on the porch of the Montebello Country Store. I got really emotional as we baked in the sun and I saw Jenny Nichols come striding across the line in 9:45. I was yelling, "holy @$%* that's Jenny under 10 hours!" My buddy Rick Gray was not far behind a little over his 10 hour goal.

On Monday, I got back to the work routine and our usual "morning huddle" meeting at the hospital. To put this in context... I work at a Geriatric Behavioral Health unit. A psychiatric unit for old folks. Our Program Director told my co-workers that I ran a big and long trail race and that I won my age division. He said Rob didn't tell you what prize he won and I was about to brag about the Patagonia jacket when he said yeah Rob wins a personal psychiatric evaluation. We all laughed and I told the nurses and social workers to be careful when walking in the hallways and not to knock me over as I would be moving slow. Our Nurse Manager asked if I should wear "yellow socks".... we give yellow socks to all the geriatric patients that are fall risks. I for sure needed some yellow socks for a few days after a very rough but successful 2011 MMTR.

Peter Fish

Below is a Waldo 100k race report from the amazing 75 year old Peter Fish

2011 Peter Fish
Waldo 100K
August 20, 2011
Peter Fish, 75

HISTORY
I finished Waldo in overtime (18:39) in 2004, in my second attempt, and three tries since then have not taken me past the last cutoff at Twins2. I decided that this year would be my last attempt, finish or no, but that I would make a finish at Waldo my main priority for the year.

Waldo has been my favorite race since my 2004 finish, and I have intended to run it every year. In 2005, I opted instead to try the Cascade Crest 100 (DNF), and in 2006 I paced my friend Tom Pelsor to a successful finish. I was back as a starter in 2007, but was basically undertrained, and sat through the Charlton cutoff in the medical tent with palpitations. In 2008, I signed up to pace Tom at Leadville, but came back to Waldo in 2009 determined to finish. A major bonk on the way to Twins2 led to my first encounter with the sweeps in any race, and my determination to finish was transformed into a determination to never run again. Fortunately, on the way home the next day it occurred to me what had happened. I had been drinking undiluted GU2O all day, and had too many calories and not enough H2O, which made me nauseous and dehydrated at the same time. Armed with this information, I signed up for a rematch in 2010. With my drinking habits modified, and being otherwise well-trained, I was in fine shape until the first climb to the Twins AS, when I developed a nasty blister on my left big toe. I never get blisters, except occasionally on my toes, and all of these were taped. However, I hadn’t used any adherent, such as benzoin, and the tape on the big toe had come off, so for the first time in my life I stopped at an aid station for blister repair. This was accomplished very deftly by a fellow named Bill, but unfortunately it took about 15 minutes, and an additional 8 minutes spent trying to find a lost glove on the way to Charlton brought me into that AS 2 minutes after the cutoff.

By this time, any sane person would have given up entirely on Waldo, and devoted himself to some less troublesome activity such as kiteboarding or skydiving. However, all these experiences had failed to convince me that I couldn’t do Waldo, because in every case, there was a different reason why it didn’t work out. So one last try was in order, and hopefully no new difficulty (such as a blizzard) would emerge to thwart me.

TRAINING
As you get older, you have to work harder. Accordingly, since 2004 I have increased my mileage by about 15%, from about 200/month to about 240. During the last couple of years, I started doing hills consistently, at around 5-8,000 feet of climb per week. After the Siskiyou Out Back 50K (July 9), I laid out a training program for the 7 weeks leading up to Waldo. My mileage for the year, before SOB, was 1452.

Week Miles (Goal)
Climb (Goal)
Long Run
1 SOB 76.2 8415 13, 31
2 7/11-17 40.4 (40) 2300 (3000) –
3 7/18-24 77.4 (75) 7920 (9000) 28,28
4 7/25-31 36.8 (40) 2655 (3000) –
5 8/1-7 59.4 (75) 8000 (8000) 28
6 8/8-14 34.5 (30) 2165 (2000) –
7 Waldo 84 (62) 11,000 62



Another event that contributed to my training was a fund-raiser for a local skatepark, in which I ran my age (75) on a track in a little under 24 hours.

GEAR
Over the years, I have tended to travel lighter whenever possible. In this race, I wore the same clothing from start to finish: the 2010 Waldo T-shirt over a light long-sleeved shirt (helpful against the voracious mosquitos), Race-Ready shorts, Injinji socks under Thorlo crew socks (no blisters this time), Inov-8 Talon shoes with Joe Trailman gaiters, and the hat I always wear. I had a Nathan 2-bottle pack with one bottle of water and one of GU2O, a film canister full of S-Caps, a flask of Hammergel, a Ziplock with some candied ginger, and a Clif bar (all these renewable from drop bags), and had 4 containers of Ensure in my drop bags. I had a pair of trekking poles with my drop bag at Rd. 4290, which I hoped would get me up the hill to Twins 2 (and Maiden Peak). I started with a Petzl Black Diamond headlamp and a Streamlight 7 LED, and had one of each in the 4290 bag for the finish (NFI in any of these products).

THE RACE
A couple of months before, my son Jeremy called to ask about the Waldo race. He had intended to sign up for it himself, but found that it was already full. I immediately suggested that he consider pacing me there, as it would give him a good idea what the race was like in preparation for doing it next year. He readily agreed, and after he came up from his home in Moraga on Thursday, we rode up together on Friday to our lodging at Odell Lake Resort, where I usually stay. I believe his presence was a major factor in my finishing, not only for the pleasure of having his company during the second half of the race, but also for the incentive it provided me to stay on schedule and arrive at the pickup point at Charlton in good mental and physical condition, and to push through to the all-important 4:30 PM cutoff at Twins2 (about 45 miles). As it turned out, this was his first experience at the ultra distance, a tough 50K or so, although the year before we had hiked a total of about 45 miles in a week in the southern Sierras, during which he had carried a 60-pound pack over some very hilly terrain, so I had no doubt that he was more than equal to it.

For each leg of the course, I’ll show my actual split, and the projected time in parentheses.

Gold Lake, 7.4 miles: 1:51 (1:57), starting off at 3 AM, a very mild moonless morning, with a short steep climb up the ski access road, then a long downhill through the woods. I was relieved to pass without incident the sudden upturn where I fell and cracked a rib in 2009. I very quickly moved into dead last place, and saw very few people going in the same direction for many hours. I filled my bottles quickly at the AS and headed out, glad to be a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Fuji Up, 5.0 miles: 1:38 (1:35), almost continually uphill through the forested slopes, past several small lakes that gradually came into view as the sky lightened. I left my bottle pack at the AS, gladly accepting a spraying with mosquito repellent, as the bugs were out in strength in this wetter-that-usual year.

Fuji Down, 2.5 miles: 0:52 (0:51), feeling strong going up the winding trail to the summit, which is never visible until you’re there. Shortly before the top, at a switchback, I was passed by Dave Mackey, the leader, at exactly the same point where the leaders caught up with me last year. Then there were three of them, but Dave was all alone and quite a ways in front. On the way down, I gave ground to quite a few speedy runners from the regular start, who had gained 15 miles on me in only 2 hours. Still very close to my schedule, I picked up my pack and headed for Mt. Ray.

Mt. Ray, 5.6 miles: 1:29 (1:35), after descending for a mile or so from the Fuji station, the trail follows the grade for several miles, then goes down, steeply at times (you’d hate to have to climb up it) to Mt. Ray, and I was able to run relatively briskly for much of this part, the easiest on the course, with very nice footing on the forest trail, and arrived at the Mt. Ray station 8 minutes ahead of schedule. Having regular start runners passing me continually probably helped me pick up the pace.

Twins 1, 6.6 miles: 1:56 (1:57), a long uphill slog through pleasant terrain, with some zig-zag moves onto the Pacific Crest Trail that have occasionally thrown runners off course in the past. At one point you are heading more or less south in what feels like the wrong direction, and I lost some time there in 2004 before meeting another runner who straightened me out. (The course, incidentally, is extremely well marked, with people at the intersections to guide you in the right direction). As always, the aid station appears at the last minute, just when you’d just about given up on it. Last year, everyone was in angelic garb, and I felt as though I’d died and gone to heaven while I was getting my blister repaired. This year, I didn’t dilly-dally, noting with pleasure that I was still a little ahead of schedule and still feeling good.

Charlton, 4.9 miles: 1:24 (1:20), the Twins AS breaks up the climb, but it continues for what feels like too long before dipping down to the lake. The first time I did this leg, in 2003, the distance was marked as 4 miles, and I had an hour until the cutoff. No problem, I thought, then I climbed for about 40 minutes wondering how they got a lake way up here, before finally reaching the top and running pell mell down to the Charlton AS 15 minutes late. This time, I had a better idea of the task, and came in about 5 minutes ahead of my scheduled 12:15 arrival despite losing a few minutes.

4290, 5.2 miles: 1:40 (1:35), it was good to see Jeremy. He had been following my progress, and was pumped up that we were making such good time. This leg is one of my least favorite parts of the course, although the mild weather kept it from being as hot as usual. It’s partly a clear-cut section, rather brushy, without much shade. This was where I started to fade in 2009, when I needed more water, instead of the full-strength GU. This time, my pace was slowing down somewhat, but I was still feeling strong, and it was pleasant to have some company and catch up with my son, who I hadn’t seen for months. When we got to the AS, I sat down to have some soup (I think) while Jeremy undid my trekking poles, which were packed in a mailing tube. When we tried to adjust them to the right length, they wouldn’t lock down for some reason, and after the two of us and one of the AS guys struggled with it, I said “forget it, let’s go!” and we took off, having lost 11 minutes at the AS.

Twins 2, 7.5 miles: 2:38 (2:30), this is the part of the course that makes or breaks you, although it doesn’t break you quite as badly as it did on the original course, when you had to summit the Twins. This took me nearly 3 hours in 2004, and considering the time lost at 4290, 2:38 was not a bad time, especially given the frequent patches of snow near the top. As we got over 6000, I started getting tired and feeling the altitude, and began taking brief pauses of a few breaths at every 100 feet of climb (measured by my Suunto altimeter, a piece of gear which I forgot to mention). At the top, where the trail heads down to the AS, we met a couple of people who said the station was about a mile away. At that point, we had about 13 minutes to the cutoff, and I started to run. Jeremy joined in, and we kept up a brisk pace for about 7 or 8 minutes, having no idea how far we actually had to go. It’s hard to be discouraged when you’re running as fast as you can, but we really started doubting that we were going to make it. Jeremy said he’d go ahead and find out how close we were, and he took off. He was a 4:20 miler in high school, and at 47 he can still fly. A couple of minutes later he came tearing back around a turn and gasped that it was really close, so we turned on the afterburners and blew in to Twins at 4:28 PM, with time to fill our bottles and head out (we had been informed at the runners’ meeting that cutoffs would be strictly enforced on leaving the station). Everyone there cheered us on lustily (as was the case in every aid station for the rest of the race). We had passed a couple of people on the way down, but we were the last ones to make it through.

Maiden Peak, 5.2 miles: 1:44 (1:36), after that dramatic incident, we were fairly casual during the easy trip to the Maiden Peak AS, where Jeremy saw the downhill section on the PCT that I had come up earlier in the day. Mostly hiking now, we were still close to the projected schedule, but falling a little behind.

Maiden Lake, 5.1 miles: 2:38 (2:08), this is the infamous climb of Maiden Peak, the last mile or so being quite steep and forcing me into my pattern of pausing briefly every 100 feet of climb. I neglected to mention that we had picked up some company at Twins, in the form of the sweeps, who were not a threat to eliminate us at that point, but would accompany us the rest of the way. I felt rather guilty that they had to follow us all the way up Maiden Peak, but they seemed to take that in their stride. At the summit, we were treated to what may be a first-ever runner’s view of the sunset from that point, as we were
certainly the latest runners ever to reach the summit during the race. It was quite beautiful. When we descended, we were able to tell the man directing traffic to the Leap of Faith trail that his long day’s work was done. When we reached the aid station, we were greeted with cheers and encouragement, to an extent that I never experienced during a race. Perhaps it was mixed with relief that the old guy was finally getting through, but it seemed pretty heartfelt to me.

Finish, 7.5 miles: 2:35 (1:56), a very easy section to run, but impossible at that point in the race. In 2004, it took me 2:04, 8 minutes longer than projected. This time was considerably longer, but we were steady at about 21 minute pace, Jeremy leading the way, then me, then a small but cheerful crowd of sweeps and other volunteers going home for the night. This section almost seems like a repeating loop, rolling up hills and down the other side, all looking pretty similar in the dark. At last we hear the traffic on the highway and see a few lights and buildings. As we went under the ski lift, Jeremy said I should go in front to the finish, so I went ahead, and suddenly started to run as I saw the finish line. s I went faster and faster, or so it seemed, and tried to be careful not to trip on the rather rough approach: what a spot for a faceplant! But I made it with my dignity intact, in 20:25:53, a course record for age and slowness. There were a surprising number of people there, and they were all most enthusiastic. More surprising still, there was still hot food available, and Jeremy and I sat down to a well-earned hamburger feast. What more can be said? In my 2004 report, I said “if I can do it, your grandmother can do it.” This time, I felt like I was my grandmother doing it. My thanks to Craig and Curt and all the volunteers for a wonderful race, the best of my life, and thanks for putting up with my 7-hour trek from Twins to the finish. I hope this report will be helpful to any other superannuated runner who wants to attempt this monster, and for the sake of the management, I hope you don’t break my time record in the wrong direction! If I do this one again, it will be reversing roles, accompanying my redoubtable pacer/son.

Mud, Snow, PR

The days leading up to the weekend of 9/24 were full of rain and storms. I had a work event to attend on Saturday the 24th but signed up for a noon shift instead of first thing in the morning so I could run the Salem Lake 30k. Because of flooding on the course they changed the route to one loop, then out to the aid station at the 6 mi mark and back. I tried to run a bit before the 8 a.m. start but settled on a couple of miles or so as the rain and wind was starting up. The city of Winston-Salem had done a good bit of work on the first 3.5 miles of the loop and the only thing we had to deal with was the heavy rain. I ran the first mile or so with my running friend and neighbor Chuck. First mile was 7:18 and I was feeling nice and smooth so I began to speed up after the first few miles. When we hit the back side of the loop it was a real mud fest... slipping, sliding, puddles and sinking into the slop. I was rolling along feeling pretty good as I completed the first 7 mi loop under 7 min/mi pace. A good bit faster then I planned and surpised to be catching up with some runners I figured would be well ahead of me. I hung on and finished the 18.9 mi course in 2:14, 7:06 per mile. A little further then a 30k w/ the course change due to flooding. I was surprised when I saw the results and had finished in 26th place. I didn't remember that many runners in front of me at the out and back section. Well apparently 10-12 runners didn't turn around and do the out and back part, they continued on for 2 loops. When the RD realized this he just sent them out to the 2 mile mark and back. So, they only ran 18 miles and the rest of us that ran the correct course ran 18.9. The overall winner was one of the people that ran the short course. Didn't make a lot of sense to me but that's what happened. Doesn't really matter I suppose but I do wonder how many of the runners in front of me actually ran as far as I did.

The next weekend, Oct. 1 I headed up to Grindstone Campground to camp and run with Beth Minnick and JJ Jessee and one of Beth's friends Jason. I noticed the weather in High Point was going to be much cooler but I was in for a bit of a shock when I checked in at the ranger station and was informed that there would be snow at the higher elevations. The temp dipped down to the mid 30's on Friday night with a steady rain. Thankfully Jason brought plenty of dry wood. Had some killer veggie soup Beth had prepared that we heated on the open fire. A group of runners from Boone joined us on Saturday morning and we had a nice 5+ hour adventure up in the Mount Rogers, Scales, Rhododendron Gap area. Light snow dusted most of the higher elevations and extreme temp and condition shifts made it all interesting. We even took a "short cut" that added plenty of time even though it was the "shorter" way to go. We actually had a one mile section that took us 28 minutes... and we were moving the whole time, but doing more rock climbing then running. We made our way back down to the campground and thankfully Jason had a nice fire going for us. Warm shower and back to the pot of veggie soup and chatting around the fire. Great to see Sean from Boone and meet Dennis, and a new/different Beth and Jenny (not Iron Mtn Beth and Jenny... this was Watauga Beth and Jenny). I struggled on the run, tired legs and little fueling but I made it back. As I was heading out of the campground a fairly big bear was making his way across the road. He stopped and looked at the car then ambled into the woods before I could get my phone out of my pocket to take a photo.

October 8th weekend it was off to Fries, VA for the New River Trail 50k. We had almost identical weather as last year. 40ish at the start, fog lifting off the New River and 60's at the finish. I ran some with Dennis Norris who I ran with the week before in the mountains and then moved ahead and started running with David Kirby who is a UNC law student. I caught up to David at about the 6 mile mark and we ran together until the marathon mark. The miles seemed to just go by and I knew I was running under 8 min pace but with no marked miles I wasn't sure what the pace was. David and I talked non-stop and it made the run seem effortless. At one point around 22 miles I said I hoped I wasn't slowing too much and he should move on if needed. He had a Garmin watch and said we aren't slowing much our last mile was 7:33. Definitely faster then I realized. We went through the marathon around 3:12-3:14 I believe. I stopped to water the bushes at around mi 26 and David gapped me by a bit. I coasted on in and finished in 3:51, 7:27 per mile. 5th place overall and 27 minutes faster then 2010 and beat my 50k PR from 1978 when I was 19 yrs old. After I did the facebook friends thing with David after the run I found out in addition to being a law school student, he is also a stand up comedian. Tip to the ultra runners... if you want the miles to fly by just run 3/4 of the race with a stand up funny guy and you'll forget about the pain.

I had a great 3 week block of running and feel good about my preparation for MMTR. I haven't done as much overall volume as last year but a bit more quality and more mountain training runs. I'll do one more 4 hour run this weekend and then rest for the 11/5 Masochist.

Then and Now

Thought folks might get a kick out of the old photo. Believe it or not I was a sophmore in high school in the 1973 pic. A strapping 4'11". I know, I know... I used to be really cute and now I'm just old and scrawny (or so says my wife).

Mount Mitchell Challenge/Umstead

Mount Mitchell Challenge = YES

Umstead 100 = NO

Got lucky and was selected in the lottery to run the 2012 Mount Mitchell Challenge (40 miles up to the highest peak east of the Mississippi)

Not so lucky with systems error in speed registering for the Umstead 100.

Back Pain and Iron Mountain Trail Run

The weekend before the Iron Mountain Trail Run I planned on doing back to back long runs. I ended up doing a nice solid 22 mile run on Saturday, although hot and humid I had no issues. On Sunday morning I drove up to Pilot Mountain to do my 4 hour loop but shortly after beginning the run my lower back began to stiffen. I didn't think much of it... figuring it would loosen up and was maybe just stiff from the drive up to Pilot Mtn. It got worse and worse as the run progressed so I ended up turning back early and did an extremely slow walk/shuffle back to car. I still got in over 3 hours but quite slow. For the next 4 days I didn't run a step. It was hard to even walk on Monday. I was lined up for the Iron Mountain Trail Run 30 mile option and really didn't want to miss it but also wanted to be smart about things. The back got a little better each day and by Friday I was able to do a slow 50 min. jog. I figured I'd head up to Damascus and just play it by ear. If it bothered me too much I could always turn back early, DNF and walk/jog back to town.

I arrived at the Damascus Town Park in the pre dawn darkness... legs feeling rested but still not sure what to think. It was hot already and likely to be mid 80's during the day late in the run. Didn't get much visiting done prior to the race but did get to see Rick and Tammy Gray (Tammy volunteering) and Jenny Nichols who was loading up the SUV with supplies for the Rowland Falls Aid Station which I would miss because I was only running 30 miles (I hoped). My back was okay and was just glad to be in the race as I got one of the last available slots.

Slurping down a gel prior to the IMTR start


The race started at 7 a.m. and obviously my legs felt good (4 days of rest will do that to ya) and my back was okay. The first 5 miles are run along the Creeper Trail, so smooth and easy. Some will call me dumb but I really wasn't sure how far I'd be able to run and since I was feeling fine and the terrain was easy I decided to pick it up and catch up to Eric Grossman, the elite ultra runner from Emory, VA and founder of the IMTR race. He was just catching up to Shawn Pope, the younster from Ohio... one of the two of them were very likely going to win the 50 mile race. One of Eric's friends had a Garmin and after catching them he said to Eric "that was a 7:05". Yikes that was probably a sub 7 min mile for me. Still feeling fine I figued what the heck I'm only running 30 miles today.

I was in and out of the 5 mile Aid Station pretty quickly after a hand held bottle fill up by Jenny and a shout out from friend Beth Minnick. There were several runners ahead of me but I wasn't sure who was running the 16 mi race, the 30 mi race and the 50 mi race. I figured out pretty quickly that I could run w/ Eric on the Creeper but heading up the mountain over the steep, single track wasn't going to last very long. I passed a couple of runners and a couple passed me but we settled into the real mountain running portion of the course. Lot's of climbing and technical single track but also many portions that were quite runnable and I tried to make good time when I could. A pattern was set for the next 25 miles. Eric's high school friend, David Lawhorn from Kentucky, would catch up to me on the downhill sections, then I'd pull away from him on the climbing. I always say I'm a good uphill runner but I never knew if that was true or I was just better at uphill as compared to my weak technical downhill running.

Amazing how short a 30 mile race feels when your mind is wrapped around 50 and 100 miles efforts. We went through the FS 90 Aid Station manned by JJ Jessee and Tammy then to the Skulls Gap Aid Station and the 30 mile turnaround. I was informed that I was in second place at the turnaround. I was out ahead of David and was just happy to realize that all was okay physically and I'd be okay heading down the mountain. A couple of miles into the return trip a runner caught me. I joked with the person behind me thinking it was David saying you caught me fast. The response came from a womans voice. OHHHH okay I finally can finish a race as the first 50+ yr old and I still get chicked. We talked a bit and she was on down the trail (both runners ahead of me were over 20 yrs younger so I shouldn't feel so bad right??). There was so much down hill over the last handful of miles I was sure David would beat me into Damascus but coming into the FS 90 AS on the way back David was limping really bad and was muttering something about leg cramps. I almost waited but JJ and Tammy were there to tend to him. Okay now I'll certainly finish before David, dude was barely walking. Well with a couple of miles to go here comes David and this time flew by me on a rocky downhill. He said "I came back to life and that lady up at the last Aid Station is tough! I was saying stuff to her that indicated I might be considering dropping when she gave me a kick in the butt and said you've been here long enough now get moving!" I asked if it was the woman with the long dark hair and he said yea that was her. I think I laughed loudly as I thought Tammy only treated her husband Rick that way. Rick assured me she is "tough" when she needs to be and has been a great help to many an ultra runner that just needed that nudge to keep moving down the trail. I resigned myself to 4th place unless there was an unexpected uphill in the last mile or so. Not so fast David... after David disappeared out of sight for a bit, there he was again walking and limping. He was okay, just kicked a rock/turned an ankle. It gave me enough of a cushion and when we hit the paved road in Damascus I pushed it on in since I'd literally been slightly ahead of him for over 5 hours (except about a 1/2 mi section).

At the finish (no I didn't have to crawl up those steps)

I've looked worse but still a rough looking finisher taking a dip in the cold mountain stream

I ended up in 3rd place overall in 5:12. It was really hot and I didn't drink enough but all in all a good day. I used only 1 hand held bottle but in addition to filling it at the Aid Stations I should have downed a bunch before I went back out. Lessons learned. I also did 6 gels but that was pretty much it. I felt a bit nauseous while soaking in the creek and cramped up a bit but all was fine after downing many bottles of water with Nuun tablets to get re-hydrated. I wore my New Balance 101's with Dry Max- Maximum Protection socks. Really love the 101's. Can't wait for the NB 110's to come out in 2012 (unfortunately not in time to wear at Mountain Masochist).

Sara and I headed back home to watch the LSU football game with family but was sorry to rush off and not hang around w/ friends and see Eric Grossman set a new course record in the 50 mile race.

9 Weeks of Base Work

I am fairly pleased with how my training has progressed. For the past 9 weeks I've had between 70-90 miles per week. Several of the weeks have been over 80. I haven't taken a real serious systematic approach to the training just trying to run a lot of miles. It's been nice to just get a good solid base without scripting each day or each week. Most of my runs have been 10 miles or more, my friends Chuck and Tom like to go a little further on Wednesday mornings (12-14 miles) and then go longer and get some trail running on the weekends. During my base work phase I've been able to do some mountain running on 6 occasions. I did two runs on the AT from Elk Garden up to the Mt. Rogers summit and one of Kevin Townsends training runs on the IMT from Skulls Gap, 2 runs on the AT south of the Smokies and a Pilot Mtn run.

Not sure why this photo is so small but this is the raggedy looking group after 23 or 24 miles (well Kevin, Rick and I look raggedy, Kathleen and Jenny still looking good)


Enjoyed the IMT run a bunch. Great visits with Jenny, Rick and got to meet Kathleen Cusick. Nice dip in the waterfall on the second half was nice on a hot day.

On weekends that I didn't make it to a mountain run I've done a bunch of miles at Salem Lake as usual. The closest spot that I can get off the roads. Major Dam repairs are in progress at Salem Lake and the majority of the lake has been drained so it's not as pretty as usual but still a nice 7+ mile loop on dirt.

Before my older son went back to college this month I was able to get both my boys out for a night of music listening. We drove down to Lexington, NC to hear one of my favorite North Carolina bands Big Daddy Love.

Daniel Justin Smith doing his thing

Big Daddy Love @ High Rock Outfitters in Lexington, NC (the 5 a.m. run the next morning was tough)


In August had two good mountain weekends. Was a finish line volunteer at Jenny Nichols race, the Christopher Todd Richardson Memorial 10k (in memory of her brother). Let's just say... Jenny does things right. Highly recommend this race! And more important then the running and the good times, the entry fee and sponsorship money goes to college scholarships for deserving students. Two of the scholarship winners were present and that really showed what the event is all about. The next morning I had a nice run up Mt Rogers with Jenny and Ginger. A perfect cool VA morning.

With Jenny and Ginger the morning after the CTR 10k

Relaxin w/ the girls on the AT


The weekend after CTR I was able to visit my Mom in Hendersonville and then head to the Nantahala Outdoor Center for some white water rafting. Had lots of fun on the river but as soon as I was dry and fed I jumped on the AT and headed north for 6 miles of climbing up 3000 ft and back down to Nantahala Gorge. The next morning it was southbound on the AT for another 2 hour run. On Sunday at home it was 3 hours @ Salem Lake (7.5 hours of running in 3 days.) This weekend it was back to back 3 hour runs.

AT heading southbound out of Wesser, NC


I'm now ready to get a little more serious and begin MMTR training which will include the IMTR 30 mile race this weekend and New River 50k in Oct.