Summer Update: Some New PR’s, a Change of Direction, and a Whole Lot of Miles

It’s been a while since my last blog post, and part of the reason for that is due to being busy with training. The other reason is that I have been trying to decide which direction I want to take with my training before I gave an update.

I have decided to put Ultra Training on hold for the next 9-10 months or so, unless I choose to run Weymouth Woods again in January, in order to focus on the Marathon. As such, I did not decide to run the Black Mountain Monster, which I ended up being too sick to do anyway, as well as the Dusk to Dawn 50 Miler and the Grandfather Mountain Marathon. I have a passion for long. ultra-distance running, but the idea of putting in a solid year of uninterrupted training to improve my marathon time seemed to tempting to pass up.

Instead, I registered for the Lehigh Valley Marathon in Allentown, PA which will take place on September 11^th, 2016. The bulk of my summer thus far has been spent training for this race. In addition, I got into the New York City Marathon on November 6^th, 2016 via my time qualifier in the Half Marathon. Finally, I will also be running the Boston Marathon for the first time in the spring after qualifying with a 2:53:16 at the Thunder Road Marathon last November.

Summer Races: 

Despite starting Marathon training I did manage to crank out a PR of 16:36 and a 2^nd Place Overall in the NoDa 5K in Charlotte. This race was during the middle of June and the temperature was probably approaching 90 degrees. I’m confident that I could run sub 16 in the 5K if I trained specifically for the race and had a nicer day. I also raced the Summer Track Series 5K at Marvin Ridge High School at the end of June, and while I did not PR I did take the win and run a strong solo race for a time of 16:45.

NoDa 5K! New PR. 

Most of my races this summer have been at the U.S National Whitewater Center, about 25 minutes from Charlotte. Here, I was able to still fulfill my love of trail running without competing in an ultra-distance event. My first race of the summer was the Memorial Day Trail Race 8-Miler which ended up taking place in the pouring rain and was my first race after being sick for almost two weeks. I took 2^nd Place Overall and also met some new running buddies in Ed Schlichter, who won the race and would continue to beat me at pretty much every USNWC race I went too, and Caleb Denton, an Ultra Runner from TN who placed 2^nd in the 68 Mile Georgia Death Race! I finally was able to take my first win at a USNWC race at the Brew Dash 6K in mid-June which I led start to finish and held a 5:59 average pace even on the trails. 

Brew Dash 6K Victory!

I also competed in the River Jam Run Race Series 6.5 Miler which is held on the second Thursday of every month at 6:15pm. It’s been great to come run a fun, hard race during the middle of the week without the pressure of a normal weekend race. The July version, which topped 95 degrees, was not quite as fun as the June version! My favorite race of the summer, which I had been looking forward to for months was the Tread Nightly and Tread Brightly Half Marathons. Tread Nightly started at 8pm on July 22^nd, and Tread Brightly was the next morning at 8am on July 23^rd. I signed up for both races as the USNWC was offering an awesome custom made “Treadmeister Award” to the top five men and women who received the most points in the weekends race. First place in each race received 37.5 points, then 36 points for second, 34.5 points etc. 

Tread Nightly & Tread Brightly: Done 

These races were much tougher both physically and mentally than I expected. There was the added challenge of not knowing whether someone was doing both of the races and whether or not you needed to stick with their pace or not. I ended up finishing Tread Nightly in 6^th place in 1:55:53 after only going off course and adding on distance during the fourth mile. It was 12:30 in the morning before I finally got to bed and I was back up at 6am to head back for Tread Brightly. I knew this was going to hurt, and by mile five I felt ready to be done. I was pretty strong on the flats and downhills all things considered, but the uphill’s were at a cripplingly slow pace. Still, I held on for 5^th place in 2:00:17. I ended up being 4^th out of the possibly five to receive one of the “Treadmeister Awards”, which were awesome hand-made pottery mugs! Also left the race weekend with two medals, two new shirts and a new running hat! Nothing better than racing 30 Miles on the USNWC trails in only 12 hours!

Summer Training: 

As far as Summer Training goes, I have been building up my mileage for the Lehigh Valley Marathon. My goal is to aim for a sub 2:45 marathon (6:18 pace), and so far my training indicates that I should be capable of this. Right now, I am entering my last training phase where I will be peaking at 100 miles a week for the next three weeks. Typically, my workouts each week have included running an interval or hill workout with Tri-Yon Performance in Charlotte, coached by Jamey Yon, on Wednesday mornings at 5:30am, a 8-14 Mile Half Marathon to Marathon Pace Tempo on Friday, and a long run with a fast finish on Sunday. Building up for the Marathon I have run training weeks of 62, 61, 69, 73, 80, 85, 90, and 87 miles. I will run weeks of 100, 100, 100, and 75 to close out my training before tapering.

Typical 100 Mile Week:

Week of August 1st, 2016 to August 7th, 2016

100 Miles

13 Runs

Average of 7.69 Miles Per Run

Runs:

Monday: 15 Miles (12 @ 6:47 Pace, Moderate)(4 @ 7:17, Recovery)

Tuesday: 14 Miles (11 @ 7:17 Pace, Recovery)( 3 @ 7:28 Pace, Easy)

Wednesday: 18 Miles (4 WU, 4 @ 6:30 Pace, Hill Workout)( 7 @ 7:22 Pace, Recovery)(3 @ 7:06, Easy)

Thursday: 10 Miles (7 @ 7:35 Pace, Recovery)( 3 @ 7:39 Pace, Recovery)

Friday: 17 Miles (2 WU, 12 @ 6:14 Pace, MP Tempo)( 3 @7:09 Pace, Recovery)

Saturday: 5 Miles @ 7:13 Pace, Recovery

Sunday: 20 Miles @ 6:55-7:00 Pace

Conclusion:

As of right now, I am debating hoping into the News & Sentinel Half Marathon in West Virginia on August 20^th, or the OrthoCarolina Classic 10K on August 20^th in NC. If I do not do either of these, I will instead run a 16 Mile Tempo/Time Trail around the same date. I will also be posting more regularly in the future now that I have some bigger races coming up. Finally, I am also now on Strava! I post all of my training with paces on the app or website! Thank you for checking out my blog and following up on my training! 

Almost Home: James Joyce 10K Race Recap, and Training Update

On Sunday, April 24^th 2016, I competed it in the 33^rd Annual James Joyce 10K in Dedham, MA. This race does not start until 11AM so Hannah and I were able to sleep in before heading out. We ended up leaving Boston at around 9AM and taking the Orange Line to Forest Hills and then taking an Uber the rest of the way. Once we arrived at the Endicott Estate, where the start of the race is located, I went over and registered. I grabbed some water and then listened to some music before going on about a two mile warmup. I was able to run a good portion of the first mile of the race, which featured a slight downhill. I knew we would be coming back up that way toward the finish so I kept that in the back of my mind. I took off my sweatshirt and put on a new pair of compression socks that I bought last week at the Boston Marathon Expo, I had run in them one other time this week, but really wanted to test them out in a race situation. Soon enough I was waiting around at the start line, but I was not able to do many strides because the USATF Masters National Road Race Championship started a few minutes before us and were blocking the way. This was somewhat of a nuisance during the actual race because you had to weave around people at certain point, but overall it was not too big of a deal and didn’t ever cost me any time. 

The official starter of the race ended up being Uta Pippig the first woman to win the Boston Marathon three consecutive times. Soon the gong sounded and we were off and running! I quickly watched a very large pack of elite men escape off into the distance. My plan was to start off conservatively and run even 5:40 splits to finish right at or under 35 minutes. I quickly settled into the group of elite women running for the B.A.A, the Saucony Racing Team, the Boston Track Club, or the Cambridge Running Club. There were around six or seven of us and I felt like running in a group would help push me along so I stuck with them. The slight downhill of the first mile pushed me to a faster time in the first mile than I was expecting in 5:28. I continued to hang onto this group of women and soon we entered the windier section of the race after leaving East St. On the first hill of the course the pack split up and there were now only five of us. I had taken the hill conservatively and pushed the downhill to connect back with the front of that group. We ended up hitting the two mile marker in 11:11, which was a little fast but nothing to worry about. A few minutes after passing mile two I just felt my legs start to burn a little bit as I attempted to hold onto the surge of the group I was with. At this point I dropped off of the front two women and settled into my own rhythm. I was running with the 3^rd and 4^th place females and attempting to limit the distance that the other gained on me. Pretty soon we came and passed mile three in right at 17:00. The race did not have official 5K splits so I estimated that I probably crossed in about 17:34-17:35. 

Soon after I entered the toughest mile of the entire course. This mile weaved through the Noble and Greenough school and featured steady rolling hills. I could feel quite a bit of pain in my legs so I focused on rhythm and recovering on the flats and downhills. I was pretty much running on my own at this point, but I was not necessarily making up ground, or being passed. I did have a few runners only a couple seconds ahead so I focused on maintaining and closing the gap during this hill mile. Right as we exiting the school I saw the fourth mile marker. I could tell I was a little bit off my goal, but not terrible. Four mile time was 22:53. At this point I had entered a long flat stretch of road that I was really able to pick up my pace. The rest of the race after this point ended up being almost pancake flat. I focused on reeling in a member of the Cambridge Running Club and trying to reconnect with the female elites during this mile. I did not get an accurate split of the last two miles as one was too short, and the other was too long. Right after passing mile five there was a gradual downhill before we turned back up the street the way that we had started. I knew at this point that I had less than four or so minutes to go so I was doing everything I could to keep my pace up and try and reel in anyone ahead of me. Mostly this mile I maintained my position. As I approached mile six I could see the clock ticking past thirty four minutes, but I was still a little bit off. I knew that sub 35 was now out of reach, but I could still come pretty close. I dug in and sprinted hard the last two tenth of a mile. I was able to make up around seven or eight seconds on the fourth place women alone in just the last 100 meters. I finally crossed the finish in 35:26, a new PR! 

I ended up splitting this race pretty evenly with 5K times of around 17:35 and 17:51 respectively. My last 2.2 miles after the four mile split were run at right about 5:42 pace. Later on after the race I learned that the women I had finished only one second behind, Melissa Nash, was actually a Bentley University graduate a couple years back! After the race I cooled down and hung around the post-race party. I ended up placing 29^th Overall and winning my division. Initially, I did not expect this race to be quite as competitive as it was this year. It actually turned out to be great for my race as I was able to pivot perfectly off of other runners, which I have not been able to do recently as this was the first really competitive race I have competed in quite some time. I feel like I could have run a little bit faster with fresher legs, if I had decided to take a recovery week instead of a normal volume week this week. Legs are still adjusting back to the high mileage I have been running the last month or so and this left me a little less fresh than I would have liked. Afterwards, I received a very unique award for finishing first in my age group. The award ended up being two books, one of which was a collection of works by James Joyce, the Irish writer by whom this race is inspired! It always great when a race can give out an award that has special meaning to the race itself, and it also gives the runner something to remember the race by. I know I will certainly remember this race!

Final Sprint!

Training Update: 

This race capped off a 65 mile week for me. Last week I finished right at 70 miles, and the week before that I was at 60. I'll be raising my mileage a little bit higher the next few weeks as I prepare for the Black Mountain Monster on May 21st. I have decided to drop down to the six hour event as a tune-up for the Dusk to Dawn 50 Miler in June rather than attempting the 12 hour race and not being ready to compete again by the 50 Miler. On may 12th i'll be running in the River Jam Race series at the White Water Center. I'm very excited to be racing on the trails again! There are so many races there that I have wanted to run this year but could not because I was at school. It's tough reading the results for races you know you could have done well in. There is also a slight possibility that i'll jump into a half-marathon sometime over the next few weekends to try and lower my 1:19:28 time that I ran in September 

Week of April 4th, 2016 to April 10th, 2016

60.3 Miles 

11 Runs 

Average of 5.48 Miles Per Run

7.08 Hours of Running 

Runs: 

Monday: 11 Miles (7 @ 6:59 Pace, 4 @ 6:58 Pace)

Tuesday: 8 Miles @ 7:10 Pace 

Wednesday: 9 Miles (5.75 Tempo Run @ 6:13 Pace, 3.25 @ 7:00)

Thursday: 10 Miles (6.5 @ 7:01 Pace, 3.5 @ 7:05 Pace) 

Friday: 6 Miles @ 7:10 Pace

Saturday: 7.2 Miles @ 7:43 Pace

Sunday: 9 Miles (5 @ 6:54 Pace, 4 @ 7:06 Pace) 

Week of April 11th, 2016 to April 17th, 2016

70 Miles

10 Runs

Average of 7.0 Miles Per Run

8.02 Hours of Running

Runs: 

Monday: 14 Miles (9 @ 6:51 Pace, 5 @ 7:00 Pace)

Tuesday: 9 Miles @ 6:47 Pace

Wednesday: Steady State 10 Miles @ 6:35 Pace

Thursday: 13 Miles (9 @ 6:53 Pace, 4 @ 7:03)

Friday: 6.5 Miles @ 7:06 Pace

Saturday: 8.5 Miles @ 6:48 Pace

Sunday: 9 Miles (4 @ 7:01 Pace, 5 @ 7:00 Pace) 

Week of April 18th, 2016 to April 24th, 2016

65.5 Miles

9 Runs

Average of 7.28 Miles Per Run

7.46 Hours of Running

Runs: 

Monday: 7 Miles @ 6:55 Pace

Tuesday: 12.5 Miles (9 @ 6:49 Pace, 3.5 @ 7:16 Pace)

Wednesday: Tempo Run 10 Miles (5 WU @ 7:07 Pace, 5 Tempo @ 5:53 Pace)

Thursday: 11 Miles @ 7:05 Pace 

Friday: 8.5 Miles @ 7:03 Pace

Saturday: 7 Miles (4 @ 6:54 Pace, 3 @ 7:13)

Sunday: 10K Race 9.5 Miles (3.25 WU/CD @ 7:23 Pace, 10K Race @ 5:41 Pace) 

Conclusion:

Had some great runs and some not so great runs during the last few week of running. Focus now will be on increasing mileage and shifting my training toward my summer races. I will be returned home to Charlotte for the summer on May 10^th so I will also have to readjust to the heat. Excited to have lots of time to train and race this summer though.

Some other exciting news: I have decided to enter the Lehigh Valley Marathon on September 11^th, 2016 to lower my marathon time before the 2017 Boston Marathon Registration opens. This race is point to point with a slight net downhill so I am very excited to train hard over the summer and see what I can turn that training into. 

Year of the PR: Training Update, and Shifters 5K Race Recap

As far as improving on my times in various events, this has been a breakout year. In the last 6 months I have smashed my half marathon PR in September and marathon PR in November by 3.5 minutes and 13.5 minutes to 1:19:28 and 2:53:16. I also lowered my 8K by 40 seconds in November to 27:59 and now my 5K PR by 15 seconds in April to a new time of 16:43! To top all of this off, I made my Ultramarathon debut in January with a 9:55:06 in the 100K. All my hard work is now starting to pay dividends in events I did not even expect it.

On Saturday, April 2^nd, 2016 I competed in the Shifters 5K in Waltham, MA. I decided last minute to hop into this event because I wanted to see if I had improved on my 8K effort from two weeks before hand. The race starts at 1:00pm so I had plenty of time to sleep in a little bit and get ready for the race. The forecast called for cold rain, and sure enough it was pouring out when I woke up. I got ready, ate a bagel for breakfast and then waited for my friend Dave Menard, who also ran the 5K, to come drive us to the race. When we got to the race we quickly registered and then ran the course to get a feel for it. The course had one giant hill at the very start but made up for it on the last mile which was almost all straight downhill. I was feeling alright on the warmup, but not great. My goal heading into this race was too get in a solid effort and hopefully push under 17:30. As the race came closer to starting I surveyed the competition and did some strides and stretches. Soon enough, we were on the start line and the rain was coming down pretty hard. The siren went off and I jumped to the front. My plan was to start conservatively and push hard as soon as I crested the hill. This led to a five or six of us all hunched in the lead until I blew it open when we hit the flats. Only one guy stuck with me and he went hard, even passing by me for about a half a mile. The two of us hit the mile right at 5:37. I was feeling pretty good and my turnover felt surprisingly high. The second mile featured the most turns on the course although it was largely flat. All I could think about this mile was keeping the 2^nd place guy behind me until we hit the downhills. Just before we hit mile two I threw in a surge to try and keep him off balance and I believe that I opened up a second or two, which he quickly closed. We both passed mile two in 11:10 with a 5:33 second mile. When I turned and hit the downhill I took off with all the speed I had in my legs and put in a huge surge. We were flying on the downhill, but I did not feel like I was opening up too much of a lead. I kept hitting the pace hard and finally rounded the last turn of the course before a long straightaway to the finish. I could feel myself slowing down a little bit but not too bad. As I closed on the finish line I looked back and saw that I had the win safely in the bag. It was at that point though that I noticed the clock. I had assumed that I would finish somewhere in the 17:15s based on how the race had panned out so far, but I was shocked to see 16:30s ticking up on the clock. I pushed as hard as I could and finished 1^st Overall with a new PR of 16:43! Second place came in just behind me in 16:48. He said that his Garmin recorded a split of 5:04 for the 3^rd mile, meaning that my third mile had come in at 4:59 to 5:00! I was pretty ecstatic with this result and I think I am looking good for a sub-35 10K at the James Joyce 10K on April 24^th, 2016. After the race Dave and I headed over to the Cooper House Tavern where they were having an after party with music and free food. For my win I ended up getting and medal as well as a 40$ gift certificate to the restaurant. All in all, a great race that also capped off a solid week of training. That now brings me to my last two weeks of training…

Week of March 21st, 2016 to March 27th, 2016

65 Miles 

10 Runs 

Average of 6.50 Miles Per Run

7.54 Hours of Running 

Runs: 

Monday: 10.2 Miles (6.2 @ 6:37 Pace, 4 @ 6:57 Pace)

Tuesday: 11.3 Miles @ 6:56 Pace

Wednesday: 8.5 Miles @ 6:58 Pace

Thursday: 10 Miles (7 @ 7:00 Pace, 3 @ 7:04 Pace) 

Friday: 10 Miles @ 7:03 Pace

Saturday: 8.5 Miles (6.2 @ 7:39 Pace, 2.3 @ 6:26 Pace)

Sunday: 6.5 Miles @ 6:35 Pace

Week in Review:

Pretty solid week of training, but it was difficult on my legs to readjust to the higher mileage. Felt a lot of fatigue towards the end of the week. Switched out my shoes and got a new pair of the Mizuno Wave Hitogami’s as well as a pair of the HOKA ONE ONE Challengers.

Week of March 28th, 2016 to April 3rd, 2016

60 Miles

8 Runs

Average of 7.5 Miles Per Run

7.20 Hours of Running

Runs: 

Monday: 8.1 Miles (5 @ 7:22 Pace, 3.1 @ 6:55 Pace)

Tuesday: 7 Miles @ 7:07 Pace

Wednesday: 19.3 Miles @ 7:27 Pace

Thursday: 4 Miles @ 6:43 Pace

Friday: 6.2 Miles @ 7:18 Pace

Saturday: 8 Miles (5K in 16:43, 4.9 Miles @ 7:40 Pace)

Sunday: 7.5 Miles @ 7:08 Pace

Week in Review:

What started off as a pretty bad week turned into a great one by Sunday. Had a little more soreness after my long run than I would have liked, but I do not think it ended up hindering my race on Saturday. Overall, the lower mileage this week definitely helped my feel fresher and I’m ready to crank it up a little bit more this week.

One again thanks to everyone who gives my blog a read. Going to continue to have training updates, race recaps, and probably just more running news in general. In addition, if anyone is interested reading about my workouts or wants to know splits I have my training log up on Athleticore at:

http://athleticore.com/directory/profile_view.asp?id=11073&sort=LName,%20FName&searchbox=FName&searchtext=chase&page=1

Welcome to Spring: Elizabeth 8K Race Recap, Training Update, and Updated Racing Schedule

On Saturday March 19^th, 2016 I competed in the Elizabeth 8K Road Race in Charlotte, NC. My goal going into this race was simply to run strong and consistently and put in a confident performance. I woke up at 6:15am on Saturday, got dressed for the race, and had half a bagel for nutrition. Soon we were off and headed to the race. Cole and I warmed up just about two miles and did stretches and strides on the start line. Going into this race I figured I had a decent chance to place top five or contend for the money available to the top three finishers. On the start line I recognized a few people from around Charlotte that I believed would be right up there with me, including a senior from Rock Hill, SC that I used to race against in high school. When the gun went off I quickly settled into fifth place at a comfortably pace, but unfortunately I had already watched the top three runners slip away. I credit that to my lack of strong mileage recently, which I’ll talk about later in this post. In 4^th place, however, was the high schooler from Rock Hill. I focused on holding on a few seconds back from where he was. The Elizabeth 8K course is pretty challenging due to its large number of turns and long uphill’s so I wanted to use the slight downhills to open up my stride and the slight uphill’s to power up and make up ground. I hit mile one, about 5-10 seconds back from 4^th, in 5:50. This was the only split I recorded for the race so I am not entirely sure what my other mile times were. As we neared mile two and started going on an uphill section of the course I closed hard and reached 4^th right at mile two. I moved into 4^th and worked on opening up around a five second gap over the next half a mile. Unfortunately, at mile three I was led off course due to an errant volunteer but I was able to quickly cut through a yard and only lost ten seconds max. I was now back in 5^th place and breathing heavily due to my quick change in pace and lose of rhythm. I worked very hard to stick to him and get back into a comfortable pace. Finally, I was able to power by on another long uphill section just before mile four. I opened up another five second gap but I knew that he was not going away. I felt pretty controlled, and felt like I could hold off a surge but I continued pushing the pace in order to avoid having us make contact. As we entered the last quarter mile of the race I attribute the strength I have developed due to my mileage over the last six months in powering me through to take 4^th place by four seconds. I ended up finished in 29:00 for the 8K or about a 5:49 Pace. I probably could have taken another 10-15 seconds off if not for the wrong turn, but that is nothing to dwell on. I was pretty happy with my time on a particularly tough course as well as the strength I displaced in holding a consistent pace, which I have not usually been able to do on shorter races.  I cooled down around a mile with my brother Cole, who finished in around thirty three minutes, as well as the runner from Rock Hill, before calling it a day and heading back home.

As far as training goes I have been keeping it fairly low mileage over the last two months until just the last two weeks or so. I believe part of the reason I had such a hard time recovering was due to the fact that I wore my Mizuno Wave Hitagami 2’s, designed for the 5K to half-marathon distance, for the 100K. In response to this, I visited Greenapple Sports & Wellness over break and had my hips, hamstring, and shins looked at, as well as received some strengthening exercises to incorporate into my routine. I also purchased a pair of HOKA ONE ONE Challenger ATR trail running shoes for my trail races and ultra. I am hoping that I will be able to recover a lot faster next time with more cushioned shoes. Over the last two weeks or so I have been upping my mileage to 50 miles and have been feeling great. This week I have a goal of 60-65 miles to gauge how my body is feeling. This now brings me to my updated racing schedule… I am planning on entering three big races over the summer: The 12 Hour Event at the Black Mountain Monster in Black Mountain, NC, the Dusk to Dawn 50 Miler in Southern Pines, NC and the Grandfather Mountain Marathon. The first race is near the end of May so I will be pushing my mileage up to 70-90 miles a week over the next two months to prepare.

Full Race Schedule:

Elizabeth 8K – March 19^th, 2016 – 4^th Overall in 29:01 (5:50 Pace)

James Royce Ramble 10K – April 24^th, 2016

River Jam Run 6.5 Miler – May 12^th, 2016

Black Mountain Monster (12 Hours) – May 21^st, 2016

Memorial Day Trail Race – May 29^th, 2015

Summer Track Series – June 2016

River Jam Run 6.5 Miler – June 9^th, 2016

Brew Dash 6K – June 18^th, 2016

Dusk to Dawn 50 Miler – June 25^th, 2016

Grandfather Mountain Marathon – July 9^th, 2016

River Jam Run 6.5 Miler – July 14^th, 2016

Tread Nightly Half Marathon – July 22^nd, 2016

Tread Brightly Half Marathon – July 23^rd, 2016

River Jam Run 6.5 Miler – August 11^th, 2016

Ortho Carolina Classic 10K – August 20^th, 2016

I’ll be posting many more race recaps, training updates, and other information in the near future. Thank you again to everyone who has taken a look at my blog thus far. 

Training Update: Weymouth Woods 100K Recovery Process

Its been a long month of recovery since the end of the Weymouth Woods 100K in Southern Pines, NC where I finished 2nd Overall in 9:55:06. As far as "feeling better" goes, I was surprised to feel relatively decent as soon as three days after finishing. I tried a few easy shakeout runs the week after the race, and that's when a variety of nagging aches and pains got the better of my legs. After a rather pitiful session of about a mile and a half on the treadmill a week or so after the race, I decided that my legs needed a break. I took a full week off and then slowly incorporated some mileage back in, definitely on the very low side of my training volume. After the week off, I focused on runs of 3-5 for a total of 18 miles that week. The next week featured a few slightly longer runs with a peak of 8.5 miles for a total of 30 miles that week. I am happy to say that my legs are finally feeling better and that I have the spring back in my step. I had targeted the Tobacco Road Marathon in March but after a hard winter season of racing the Thunder Road Marathon and then the 100K I decided that it would be in my best interest to take some recovery time.

Right now, I do not have a definitive race in mind. I am looking at doing a half marathon in May, and then an Ultramarathon, probably another 100K, in either July or August. In November, I will more than likely be racing the New York City Marathon! For right now, I am going to continue to building my mileage back up to a base of 55-65 miles a week. I'm going to run a few local races when I return to Charlotte over spring break such as the Shamrock 4 Miler and the Elizabeth 8K.

Finally, I want to say thank you to everyone who has read my blogs post or congratulated me on one of my races. I promise that you will be hearing much more from me in the future. Another training update coming soon.

Tentative Race Schedule:

Shamrock 4 Miler - Charlotte, NC - March 12th, 2016
Elizabeth 8K - Charlotte, NC - March 19th, 2016

Weymouth Woods 100K: An Ultramarathon Debut

First off, I would like to thank Marie Lewis and Magnum Track Club for putting on a spectacular event! I also want to thank all of the volunteers working both of the aid stations who made sure that all the runners were looked after. Finally, I want to thank my family, and girlfriend Hannah, for supporting me, crewing me, and putting up with me while I ran for 62.58 miles.

We left our home in Charlotte, NC for Southern Pines around noon on Friday and arrived at around 2:30pm. After checking into the hotel my mom and I went to run the course for the first time. I had read previous race reports that stated that the course was fairly rooty, but I was surprised at how technical certain sections were. After completing the course, we went back to the hotel and then went to get Italian food at a local restaurant.  A short while and a few supply checks later, I was off to sleep.

Race morning came at me fast. I woke up at 6:00am and immediately put on the outfit I had planned on wearing. When it comes to shoes, I am more of a minimalist, even over the longer distances, so I wore my Mizuno Wave Hitogami 2’s as well as a pair of X2 compressions calf sleeves. For breakfast I kept it pretty simple and had a bagel with peanut butter and some water. We loaded up and arrived at Weymouth Woods right around 7:00am. The next hour passed by pretty quickly as I went to get my race number, attended the pre-race meeting, and made some last minute checks. It was a little chilly out so I started with a light jacket on for the first lap. I made my way over to the start line, gave a few last minute hugs, and before I knew it, we were off!

Couldn't have done it without my support crew 

Months and months of training had prepared me for this moment. I started out fairly conservative so I could get a sense of how my body was firing, as well as a better feel for the course. The course is filled with roots for much of the first half so I always had to be conscious of this. I quickly latched onto a group of four other runners during Lap 1, one of only two times all day that I would run with someone. For this race I was carrying a single 20 ounce bottle of water that contained approximately 200 calories worth of Tailwind. The plan was to switch out for a fresh bottle after each lap. Before I knew it, I had passed the first aid station at around mile 2.4 and I began what I referred to as the second half of each lap. This section here was where the trail because much more runnable, but was also much hiller, featuring three tough ascents over the last mile of each lap. I ended up passing the first lap in 37:36, which I thought was a good pace to hold. I only spent about 10 seconds at my “base camp” grabbing a new water bottle before I was off for my second lap!

Lap 3

I was passed by Mark Rostan just after I entered the trails for the second time so I knew I was in either 3^rd or 4^th place.  I let him go ahead of me and focused on settling into a rhythm. It was early, but overall my body was feeling pretty good. Near the end of the second lap I had caught back up as we were going up the last hill. I crossed the second lap in 36:32 or about an 8:10 pace. He stopped for a little bit longer than I did so I was all alone one again. The laps started to feel like they were going by pretty quickly. I crossed the third lap in 36:20, my fastest split of the day. For lap four I picked up my younger brother Cole who was a big help because he got me talking and kept my mind occupied. He told me that I was in 2^nd place, which surprised me because I had believed that I was running in 3^rd. He also got me to eat some energy chews which my body was starting to need. I crossed my fourth lap in 37:26 and with an overall time of 2:27:56.

Lap 4

Even on lap five I was still getting in and out of our base camp in more or less 15 seconds. I probably should have taken a little bit more time because at this point I was running alone in second place. During this lap I focused on doing a general body check and assessing how I felt. My legs were still very strong, but my feet were starting to hurt a tiny bit from the roots. I was also finishing off my water bottle during each lap so that was a good sign. Around this lap I decided that it would probably be in my best interest to slow down just a little bit going up the last hill in order to keep my heart rate down. I crossed lap five in 36:31 and picked up Cole for another lap. I made a huge mental mistake here and began asking Cole how far ahead the leader was, but he did not bite. Unfortunately, I later learned from another runner that I was only about two minutes behind. Thankfully, Cole realized this and pushed me to slow down my pace. When I finished lap six in 37:58, I had officially run farther than I ever have before. I crossed the marathon mark in right around 3:37-3:38.

Lap 7

Lap seven I was still feeling pretty strong, but I was entering unfamiliar territory. I was about 40 seconds behind the leader, and as hard as tried not too, I ended up catching up to him right near the middle aid station. His name was Scott Harber, and we chatted for around five or so minutes. I’m not quite sure what happened next, but gradually I just lost contact with him. It was a huge mental blow. I crossed lap seven in 37:45, approximately 25 seconds off the lead. I picked up Cole for a third lap and he could tell that I was hurting now. He helped to distract me a little bit, but I could feel my pace slowing. I was still drinking plenty of fluids but I was starting to get a little disoriented. By now my legs were killing me and each root I stepped on felt like a dagger. The hills were still not bothering me too much but I had to walk for the first time during the final set of rolling hills on this lap. I crossed lap eight in 43:43 with an overall time of 5:03:53. At this point I was in a very dark place mentally. I began lap nine, not entirely confident that I would be able to continue after this lap. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally reached the familiarity of the last mile and my favorite part of the course, the crest after the first hill before you dip down into the steepest descent of the trail.  Even in my stupor, I still appreciated the beauty of the surrounding forest. I ended up walking most of the final uphill on this loop before crossing the ninth lap in 51:47. When I got to our base camp I felt like I could barely move. My legs felt like lead blocks and my mind was in shambles. I really thought this was going to be the end for me. My mind starting pleading with my legs, but my legs (and my support crew) won out.

My biggest mistake during this race was mental, not physical. I did not go out too fast, I did not push the hills too hard, instead I had neglected my nutrition, and in the end it came very very close to ending my race. Aside from a couple of energy chews and the Tailwind in my water bottle, I had not eaten any food over the first seven laps of the race and that was what had created my downfall here. My support team went to work making sure that I took in thousands of calories over the second half of the race. My Dad was especially good at making sure of this. From lap nine onward I came back to the aid station and had potato chips, peanut butter pretzels dipped in base salts, and sugar water each time. We also started to mix in the base salts to my Tailwind. The impact was almost immediate. 

After spending about 10 minutes at my base camp I set off on my tenth lap with my mom. I knew that we were moving slowly, but at least we were moving. 3^rd place was still about 10-15 minutes back so I was not extremely worried but that was a thought on my mind. Lap ten really was a great mental pickup and by the end of the lap I was moving much faster. Even though I came through this lap in 57:52, much of which can be attributed to my long aid station stop, my family told me that I looked much better. I abandoned my old race strategy of getting through the aid station as quick as possible and instead I focused on eating pretzels and chips each lap and getting water in me. I set off on my eleventh lap feeling surprisingly strong and confident. Some of the pain in my legs actually decreased! I felt like this lap went by fairly quickly and I was back around to the start before I knew it. This lap was in 43:41 with an overall time of 7:37:14.

Lap 11

I did some quick calculations in my head and figured that I could finish in under ten hours if I kept up around my current pace. I was off for my 12^th lap which meant that I had just over a half marathon to go. I was over 50 miles into a 100K race and amazingly I was still riding off of my second and third wind. I was beginning to see that the sun was setting and I was hoping that I could finish before I needed my headlamp. I finally crossed lap twelve in 44:54 and picked up my mom for the penultimate lap. I knew that no matter how bad I was hurting that I could still do 9 miles. Even though I was so close to being done, this lap was one of the hardest both mentally and physically. I tried to look at it like this lap was the final lap and that lap fourteen was just a “victory lap”. I wore my headlamp for this lap just in case, but did not end up turning it on. After what seemed like an eternity I crossed lap thirteen in 47:13. Right as I started on my final lap I saw Scott cross the finish line. He ran a brilliant second half that I was just not able to match. I knew that I had second place almost locked up because I was about 20 minutes ahead. I set off on the last lap with my Dad and felt a rush of relief due to the fact that I was passing all of the landmarks on the course for the last time. I said goodbye to the huge roots and twisting turns in the first two miles. I was really picking up the pace over the last two miles and I actually was feeling great. I did have to turn on my headlamp for just the last mile or so because it was getting hard to see some of the roots. I crested the rolling hills for a final time and dipped down before going up the rooty incline one last time. I tripped for only the second time all race as I tried to ascend the hill as fast as I could. Finally, I turned the corner and sprinted across the finish line in a time of 9:55:06! 

Finish!

After I finished I was interviewed by the local paper, received a beautiful custom made pottery finisher’s award, and took some photos with my family and girlfriend. I also spoke with the winner, Scott, for a couple minutes and congratulated him. I was overwhelmed now that I was finally done. I ended running a 9:31 pace overall and finished about 26 minutes ahead of third place. Not too bad for an Ultra marathon debut!

I cannot thank Marie Lewis and Magnum Track Club enough for putting on this event. All of the volunteers and the other runners were incredibly supportive. As I type this recap the next day, I still have not fully comprehended that I completed my first ultramarathon. I’m tired and sore, but that’s just a small price to pay for seeing just how far and how fast you can really go.

Lap Splits 

Training Update: 8 Days Out From Weymouth Woods

It's almost race day and my excitement is continuing to build as we get closer and closer to the starting gun! I feel like I am in probably the best shape of my life at the moment. Some other race related news that has popped up: as of now the weather is calling for rain during the afternoon hours of the race, but this could change so I don't think that it will be much of a problem. We have a hotel booked that is only 3-4 miles from the course and we are leaving for Southern Pines, NC around noon on Friday so that I can run the course beforehand. Have already figured out my pacing and fueling strategies and spent a good deal of time talking with the guys down at the Ultra Running Store in Charlotte, NC about what to expect in my first ultra. I have started my taper and I am cutting mileage down to about just over 50 miles this week with just a few short easy runs next week. 

Listed below is my training for the past several weeks. 

Week of December 14th, 2015 to December 20th, 2015 

64 Miles 

10 Runs 

Average of 6.40 Miles Per Run

7.8 Hours of Running 

Runs: 

Monday: 11 Miles (5 AM, 6 PM)

Tuesday: 8 Miles

Wednesday: 11 Miles (6 AM, 5 PM)

Thursday: 12 Miles (8 AM, 4 PM) 

Friday: 8 Miles 

Saturday: 1 Mile 

Sunday: 13 Miles @ 7:09 Pace 

Week in Review:

Not a great week of training due to studying for exams and having to fly home. Fell short of my mileage goal for the week but still managed to get in a run on Saturday even though our flight ended up being cancelled. Regrouping for a solid week this coming week. 

Week of December 21st, 2015 to December 27th, 2015 

74.2 Miles 

11 Runs 

Average of 6.75 Miles Per Run

8.94 Hours of Running 

Runs: 

Monday: 4 Miles 

Tuesday: 11 Miles (8 AM @ 6:46 Pace, 3 PM) 

Wednesday: 7 Miles 

Thursday: 11 Miles (9 AM @ 6:54 Pace, 2 PM) 

Friday: 6.2 Miles 

Saturday: 20 Miles (16 AM @ 7:18 Pace, 4 PM) 

Sunday: 15 Miles (10 AM @ 7:25 Pace, 5 PM)

Week in Review:

Very strong week after weaker mileage last week. Felt great on my back to back long runs and it was good to spend more time on my feet. Also had some solid runs during the middle of the week.

Week of December 28th, 2015 to January 3rd, 2016

80 Miles 

12 Runs 

Average of 6.67 Miles Per Run

8.94 Hours of Running 

Runs: 

Monday: 9 Miles (5 AM, 4 PM) 

Tuesday: 8 Miles 

Wednesday:  9 Miles (5 AM, 4 PM) 

Thursday:  9 Miles (4 AM, 5 PM) 

Friday: 5 Miles 

Saturday: 20 Miles (16 AM @ 7:13 Pace, 4 PM) 

Sunday: 20 Miles (16 AM @ 7:32 Pace, 4 PM)

Week in Review:

Hit my first ever 80 mile week this week as well as my first time doing 12 runs in a single week. Great week of training overall that is giving me confidence for this race. Running back to back 20 mile days definitely gave me an idea of what it would be like running when I am exhausted though. Taper starts now! 

Recap: 

Overall, I feel pretty confident in my aerobic base right now. I have been building up since August when I first started training for the Thunder Road Marathon. I have put in 7-8 weeks of 70+ miles since then with a few more in the mid 60s. If this race goes well I am thinking of changing up my racing schedule and entering in the Vermont 100 Mile, which conveniently has a registration date of January 17th, 2016, only one day after my 100K.