Team AR Nav Supplies/Inov-8 runners Grant Sisler and Jon De St Paer are clawing their way up the leader board at the Trans Rockies Run. Stage 4 results show them in 15th place in the Open Mens division with a 13 minute advantage over 16th place. They've been running an 11:37 pace for for the 4 stages up to and including Thursday. Only 3 more days of running left!
You can see todays CG results at the following link..
Go get em boys!!!
In this edition of Athlete Profile we take a skip across the pond to catch up with our Team Inov-8 brethrens in Europe(UK); the birthplace of Inov-8. The UK team consists of some extraordinarily talented athletes whose skills range from adventure racing, trail/mountain running and orienteering. The team is captained by adventure racer Tim Higginbottom and the athletes are consistently turning out incredible performances around the world. In sync with the US team, these athletes are also strong ambassadors in which they give back to their sport through public speaking engagements, clinics, coaching, trail maintenance, volunteering at races and events, race directing, and being available at events where the public may seek expert advice.
Recently, both Tim and teammate Chris Near defended their title at the Radys Mountain Marathon. Tim was kind enough to take time to answer some of my questions regarding the trail running and racing scene in Europe, and of course revealing his favorite haunt for a cold pint after a long day on the countryside!
Stay connected with Team Inov-8 Europe and all of the trail, athlete and running vitals through the our sister site, which you can find on the right hand column, or by typing http://team.inov-8.eu
Read on for the full interview with Tim.
Inov-8 Athlete Profile Interview: Tim Higginbottom
Interviewed by: Wynn Davis
1. Can you tell us a little bit about how your running career began?
Cross-country was a major sport at my primary school – there was a lot of kudos attached to being a good runner – and I was always just not quite good enough to make the team. It didn’t help that my body shape was a bit different then – I was pretty tubby as I remember! Then at my secondary school I grew taller and suddenly became able to run, so running it was! I played a lot of other sports as well, loads of cycling, rugby and the such like, but I was always most successful when running. My school had a fantastic but mad athletics coach called Charles Monk who had run 10k for Wales, and his enthusiasm, work ethic and mental hardness really inspired me.
2. Living in Mold, North East Wales, UK can you recommend a wandering trail runner any particular trails, countryside, and races when visiting Wales? Furthermore, after a long day on the trails, can you recommend a favorite haunt for some good fish n’chips and a pint.
That’s quite a challenge – each of those questions has lots of answers, but I’ll give it a go. The Northern Snowdonia hills, called the Carneddau, are a very high, remote and stunning area. Most of the terrain is runnable so I’d have to count these hills as my favourite for escaping.
For the races I have 2 contenders – both of them classic long races. The first is called the Welsh 1000m race which starts at the sea on the North coast of Snowdonia then tracks south to the summit of the highest peak, Snowdon, via the 3 other 1000m peaks in the area. It’s a great 25mile linear route taking in the best high ground in the park. The other race is a brutal round of the horseshoe of hills around Llanberis which is as beautiful as it is tough. It’s only an 18 mile route but with 8500 feet of ascent it’s hard on the legs.
As for pubs – it’s hard to miss them round here! The best for really good beer is the Colomendy Arms just west of Mold.
3. The trail running terrain within the UK seems very unique in the fact that one can run over vast, often unmarked and rugged landscape (fell running), whereas is in North America, many of the features are similar, however trails are commonly designated and/or single-track. Can you describe the running terrain in Wales or the UK in general?
This is certainly one of the things we take for granted in the UK, and it’s not until you try to go for a run when on holiday that you realise how lucky we are here. Access issues aside (which is a big area of contention as to who has the ‘right’ to go where in the countryside) the hills all over the UK are just fantastic for running and cycling. There are historic ‘rights of way’ which go back hundreds of years which criss-cross the countryside. Some of these are huge forest tracks which you could easily drive up, and some are a faint flattening in the grass which you need your map to follow. Add to this that when you’re out of ‘domestic’ property areas you can almost go where you want and you can see that we aren’t constrained to a few well marked routes. One of the key distinctions of our ‘fell racing’ over the more global ‘mountain running’ is that our races often take us off paths following our own routes between hill tops. The paths in the mountains are not marked or signed and you really have to be able to read a map to explore new areas.
If you venture into the high mountains of England and Wales the popular routes are usually easy to follow – they usually head to the tops or along ridges, but you can easily head off these into untracked areas and spend the day on your own. Scotland is different again – these are truly remote and rugged hills and lots of them have barely a trace of a path across them. If you were to visit the UK you’d have to have a day running the hills somewhere to see what I mean and enjoy the atmosphere!
4. Can you tell us a little bit about your profession as a Technology teacher?
Pretty straightforward this one! I graduated as an engineer and spent 8 years in industry before realising that I needed more life in my work/life balance! I had always intended to teach at some point, so I retrained and I’ve been teaching for 8 years now. Technology involves woodwork, metalwork, electronics, graphics etc. I’m always making gadgets to try out on my bike for racing with – not always very successfully.
5. What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?
As an athlete my strengths are navigation and sticking at a task. Weaknesses – definitely running up hills (which I’m working on but at 14 stone it’s never going to be easy!) and cold water. I don’t know how people can just calmly wade into a cold lake or the sea.
Other than that my strength is eating a lot, and my weakness is eating a lot of the wrong stuff.
6. Can you tell us what your training philosophy is and what some of your favorite workouts include?
These are trade secrets you know! In brief my philosophy is to train hard and race harder.
My training used to involve going out for a run or cycling without any structure and my results were very mediocre. I then had some advice and tried to up my training but without any monitoring or control and had loads of little injuries – all down to trying to do too much too quickly. I was then put in touch with a coach from Sheffield called Martyn Jones who really gave me some structure and monitoring and with a hard schedule based around speed and strength my running improved enormously. I got into the Welsh fell team and this then provided its own motivation.
However now I’m aware that my age and body shape is less than ideal for flat out fell racing and I tried my hand at adventure racing a couple of years ago and since then I’ve switched my focus to this which has changed my training. I have to get out on the bike quite a bit and I’ve had to work on my speed endurance.
Favourite workouts? For pain a 6 x 1km effort with 2 minute recovery over rough ground, for pleasure a good 3 or 4 hours in the hills with Chris!
7. It seems as though adventure racing is very popular in the UK and is definitely catching on in the US. Some of the more popular races in the UK include the KIMM and the LAMM? Why is this type of racing so popular? Can you describe a little bit about your racing approach in an adventure or orienteering race?
The KIMM and the LAMM are what’s known as mountain marathons which are 2 day races run in remote areas of the UK. You have to navigate your way around a long orienteering style course and carry your equipment for a camp overnight. The camp is usually a flat area of ground with no facilities at all – the water is taken from a stream, the food and stove you have carried, and the toilets are often trenches dug near the camp. The courses at elite level are usually about 30 miles each day – bearing in mind you probably won’t run on a path for more than a mile or so all day and add in 7 or 8000 feet of climb each day and you can see the scale of the challenge. This in itself is a draw for most as just finishing is a challenge which attracts fell runners, orienteers and mountaineers.
My racing approach is to make sure that I win, but not at any cost. It’s important to remember that we’re all mountain folk who are there because we love that environment so much and I always try to take time to appreciate where I am and be nice to everyone. It’s also worth remembering that if you came across a team in trouble or an injury it’s your duty to forget your own race and help them out.
8. You have had great success at the Radys Swiss Mountain Marathon, Highlander Mountain Marathon. This year you won the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon with fellow teammate Chris Near. Can you tell us a little bit about how your race went? Were there any memorable moments along the way?
The LAMM this year was in a fantastic area of Scotland called Knoydart. The World Adventure Race Championships last year traversed this area last year and it is truly remote and rugged. Our plan was to get through day 1 in good shape and run hard on day 2, but the weather was incredibly hot and water hard to find so we had to change plans a bit. There were lots of memorable moments and Chris and I both had highs and lows along the way! It’s just good to be in the hills with a good friend and see nobody all day!
9. You have taken the reigns as the team leader for Team Inov-8 in the UK, which is birthplace of Inov-8 . What inspired you to take this role? It looks as though your team members are not only talented, but passionate ambassadors toward the health of both the sport and land conservancy. What are your thoughts?
It was a very pleasant surprise to be asked to take this role on. The team was formed in 2007 to help Wayne promote his product and showcase how good it all is. It became obvious at the end of 2007 that it could quickly lose focus if there was no coordination and with athletes scattered across Europe there needs to be some cohesion and common approach – that’s what I’m working towards!
As to the athletes themselves - just take a look at their CV’s. They really are at the pinnacle of their sport and they are the ones who everybody else is aspiring to beat. It’s great to be involved with them and they are so driven to be the best themselves; they’re handy to share ideas and training tips with.
10. The Welsh blood runs thick in my veins and I certainly look forward to visiting Wales for a summer in the near future and exploring your vast countryside as well as trail races. I have heard of the historic yet grueling Snowdon race, but are there any 50mile or 100mile trail races in the UK like in the US?
The Snowdon race is a bit of a beast – I’ve been lucky enough to race it 4 times for Wales but I have to say I didn’t enjoy any of them!
As for trail races – there has been a huge upsurge of interest in ‘ultra distance’ running with a national series of races. Even then they’re pretty rough and not necessarily on good quality trails! Have a look at http://www.runfurther.com/ to see what I mean. Also the new Lakes 100 mile race which Steve Birkinshaw from Team Inov-8 won a few weeks ago.
11. What do you know now that you wish you would have known when you first started running?
I wish I’d been stretching since I was a baby!
12. Is there a particular INOV-8 shoe that you gravitate toward and why?
There’s a couple of them actually. For general training you can’t beat the Roclite 320, and for running off-road (and trail!) the Mudclaw 330 is the business. Also the Race Elite 15 and 20 sacks are just the best on the market without any doubt.
13. Finally, what are your goals for the future?
I want to enjoy the racing environment for as long as I can. I know I can’t keep winning forever but I don’t want that to cloud the majesty of the places we go – as long as I can spend a day running, cycling or climbing in our mountains I’ll be happy.
Thanks Tim!
The team showed up to the race start after 48 hours of non-stop travel, including air, 20 hours of driving, and 10 hours of ferries. It was their first ever stage race (they normally race continuous expedition style events), but they set out hard on day one and did their best to maintain the blistering pace each new day.
"It was basically like 4 12-hour sprint races back to back - with 5 - 8 or so hours to rest inbetween."
Not really our strong point, as it seemed like we were always nervous about where we were in relation to the other teams."
During the rest periods, the teams tried to dry wet clothes (they were in the water a lot), eat, sleep, plot the new checkpoints and plan the next days route, as well as organize the gear logistics for the next day's transitions. Team Yogaslackers also spent 30 minutes each night doing yoga to aid in recovery.
In the end it paid off, as they suprised the field with a strong but exciting win, Edging out top teams Salomon by 15 minutes and Ascics by over 1 hour. The rest of the 4 -person coed teams were over 6 hours behind.
The team won a free entry into South Africa's most notable race in 2009 - the SwaziExtreme.
Of course the team wore Inov-8 packs and shoes (Jason's new favorite is the 230).
Pictures and Video can be seen at http://www.enduranceaventure.tv/
Apparently a tv show will be aired in Europe to 20 million viewers. Pretty cool!
A refreshing new buzz in the running industry is not only the greening of running products and materials but also race directors and participants embracing a green ethos. Inov-8 has always had a strong environmental policy where we understand our ecological footprint and try to have as low an environmental impact as possible. We are pleased to announce that we will be stepping up our efforts going forward in reviewing events and athletes that we sponsor and looking for some accomplishments from both that are more eco-conscious. This is not only the right thing to do but the running industry is starting to support this kind of effort. It is not just about getting more participants in your race but trying not to lose them to other more eco-friendly races.
Going forward Inov-8 will ask our sponsored athletes to be more conscious and become involved in some type of green work as one of the many pre-requisites for consideration to be on our team. We do have several sponsorered athletes and events currently who are very eco-conscious and go above and beyond the norm.
Below is an interview with an athlete who provides a great example of giving back to the sport by not only taking on the duties of directing a new race but also creating an environmentally friendly event. Elite ultrarunner Annette Bednosky was kind enough to take some time out of her hectic schedule to answer a few questions about her new race, The New River 50k in Virginia’s New River Trail State Park.
Interview with Elite Ultrarunner and Race Director
Annette Bednosky
1. Could you give me some basic information (description) about The New River 50k race?
The course is 100% dirt, flat and entirely along the New River and Chestnut Creek in the New River Trail State Park in southwestern VA. The New River Trail is a rail trail-an old railroad bed. This is a “green race” we will use local, recyclable items and products from companies with “green” practices as much as possible. 7-hour cutoff. At least 5 aid stations. Proceeds go to the National Committee for the New River. Choice of Nathan hand-held bottle or local pottery cup for all. Patagonia LS Capilene shirt for all finishers. Fee: $50 by 8/31, $65 9/1-10/9. Field limit 125.
2. What gave you the idea to have a eco-conscious race?
I am not sure exactly what gave me the idea. It came about while sharing a meal with ultrarunner/race director-all around good person Perry Edinger hours after we both finished Iron Mountain 50 Miler in Damascus, VA last October. He is an experienced organizer and RD and somehow in the conversation he was able to summarize and articulate “green race” after listening to me babble on about wanting to RD an event that would be great for runners yet also have a strong goal of being and bringing awareness of our “Earth impact” as ultra runners.
In my days before working as a school counselor I spent many years as an environmental educator and then Outward Bound instructor. So although it is a “stretch” to bring this into being-my ideology, I have tried to match this intentional approach for a long time! I am certainly not an expert on being “green” yet George (my husband) and I both strive to make good choices about our lifestyle and am learning tons as the planning for this event continues.
3. What makes your race “green”?
An excellent question-as there is no universal definition for green!
* We are striving to have 75% of the products, foods, awards, etc either come from /grown within 100 miles of Start/Finish, or from companies with demonstrated records of "kind earth" practices. (Sponsors include Patagonia, Clifbar, Nathan, Montrail and some local growers).
* All registration is online.
* Aid stations are spaced 5-6 miles apart and we are encouraging the use of personal water bottles
* Disposable products when necessary will be used with plans to recycle anything that can be recycled in the area.
*We are discouraging –though not prohibiting-crews (to cut down on vehicle use in the area) and providing drop bag option at the 1/2way point.
* Runners receive choice of entry “swag”: Nathan quickdraw or locally made pottery tumbler. This choice was important because I didn’t want to give runners stuff they couldn’t use and don’t want…(Although next year (hoping there is one) I am considering “an opt out of swag” option that will cost less $$$ and produce less “stuff”.
* Runners are encouraged to bring their own bowls and silverware to use at post race lunch.
* All proceeds will go to The National Committee for the New River
4. What were some of the challenges? Any extra expenses?
With the race filling to 125 this past weekend-one of the challenges is to simply say “no” to folks. I hate turning people away-yet I also want to provide a quality and safe event-an this being an inaugural event and my 1st time as an RD (and a person with a full time job and managing her own training)-I need to keep the line drawn somewhere!
One of the challenges is finding a workable balance between “ideal” and “doable”-I think most things that are ideal are doable-given enough time-yet although I have been preparing for this event for 10 months-more time and networking will draw me closer to the ideal. For instance, the “light lunch” which will be provided after the meal…I’d envisioned the meat and veggies in the soup coming from local farms and the eggs used in the cookies to come from nearby as well. A group of local women have volunteered to donate and cook a light lunch of meat/veggie soup, homemade bread and homemade cookies and fruit. Though I did share my “ideal” with them, I am very grateful for their generosity and willingness to make things in their kitchens (or the community kitchen) even though it may not have grown in the local soil. It is important to find “greenness” while working with the community and enjoying its tremendous support and influencing parts of the event where I do have more control.
I have also learned what can be “green” in one place is not possible in another. Although I would like to take advantage of some of the available compostable products-you need access to a commercial composting facility to help them break down the way they need to-and there is no such facility anywhere near Fries, VA! So I am learning that when no good choices exist, to choose the least harmful. (I.e.: even though waxed paper cups can’t be recycled-they take up far less space in a land fill than other sorts of cups!)
I also have learned that not everyone is supportive of where the proceeds for this event will go. The National Committee for the New River strives to protect the water quality and health of The New River in 3 states. I have had interaction with folks who call me a “tree hugger” and say I am making them poor…because NCNR has a history of preventing a dam being built in Northwestern North Carolina 30+ years ago! (And now they must pay more money for power) I had a similar experience while working for a school district in logging community in Oregon 9 years ago. I had the tires of my pickup slashed and was accused of caring more about the Spotted Owl then men and women keeping their jobs in the lumber industry! And at the time, working with my 5th graders- and being a transplant from NY-barely knew what a spotted owl was!
As far as expenses-yes, some things cost more. The Patagonia finishers shirts-even with a race director price-takes a good chunk of the entry fee. Yet it is important to me to support and showcase this company-because they, like ClifBar are a model of demonstrating environmental responsibility! By having registration 100% online-runners paid a service fee to active.com in addition to the entry fee. The paper products that we will use are costing at least 2x as much as the as the ones with a greater “footprint”. Currently I am in the midst of educating myself about the impact of embroidering the shirts vs. screening. Screening is cheaper-yet I am trying to make a good decision about the trade offs!
5. What kind of feedback have you received thus far from the running community? Sponsors?
For the most part-people have been GREAT and generous! I am thrilled and honored! Nathan products have been amazingly generous, as have Clifbar, Montrail, and Patagonia and smaller business. 4 individuals gave scholarships for runner’s entry fees! Runners from all over have offered to volunteer. I just keep my fingers crossed that all this help comes through! I know some runners don’t like the idea of a “flat” ultra-and I have heard some folks putting the event down yet I think that’s okay. If we all tried to do the same thing we’d constantly be in each other’s way!
This is certainly not the only “green event” of its kind, yet I do believe it is one of the few in the Southeast area. Runners interested in a technical, non-flat rooty course with this ideology should check out the Uwharrie Mtn Runs! (8/20/40mile options).
Thanks so much for checking in with me about this event and listening to me process what I am experiencing and learning!
Thanks Annette. Good luck with your race and your personal running goals!
Team Inov-8 ultra runner Rebekah Trittipoe showed her strength and experience at dealing with some of the tougher ultra races out there by claiming a 3rd place overall women's finish at the inaugural Cheat Mountain Moonlight Madness 50 in West Virginia. Speaking of tough next up for her will be another inaugural race The Grindstone 100. Here more about the Cheat Mountain race from Rebekah herself in the "read more" section. Congrats Rebekah!
Just want to let you know that the race went really well for me. Much harder than anticipated with an advertised actual length of 50 miles and a "mere" 6000 feet of gain. But, the trail sections were super gnarly and of course, totally in the dark. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to have a great night. The fun meter didn't run out until about mile 45. I was with Sophie Spidel and we decided to take on one last girl. We did (that was not fun to run hard at that point!) and ended up with a tie for 3rd woman- only 30 minutes behind the first place woman. I was also first grand masters. Our time was 10:39. Times at this race were much slower than even the Masochist that has nearly 9000' gain and 54 miles. Adam Cassaday did a great job and INOV-8 give aways produced a lot of excitement, When he called me up to get my award, he mentioned I was an INOV-8 runner and I even had some people thank me for INOV-8's participation and gifts.
Team Inov-8 athletes Camilo Lopez and Ann Pfaff are currently in India at the mouth of Miyar attempting to be the first Americans to ascend many of the virgin peaks in the area. Their 32 day expedition of exploration will be incredible, not to mention their unforgettable trip just to reach their destination! Read further..
On the 13Th of August we started our trip to India. About 18 hours of the "most comfortable airplane seats" and a few hours of waiting in between but we made it to our first destination...Delhi.
8:57 pm we finally crossed the mandatory customs and immigration police, crossed the gates and boom, our first surprise, no one to pick us up.... our bad wrong door... ummmm....
We loaded up and got into the mini bus taxi which smelled like incense and cigarettes, the perfect combo after a long ass flight. The driver Ali, a guy of about 25 years of age, very exited to see us and definitely try to drive us as fast as possible through the streets of Delhi. He thought that's what we wanted but we definitely preferred to survive a car crash.
We arrived to our hotel, The Smily Inn.... ummmm the hole in the wall. Located in an obscure and dark alley in the middle of the crazy market were the natives had been doing their deed against the walls and in the street along with the cows roaming free in the middle of the road and feeding off the early morning news paper.
We negotiated our stay and got into our room. Actually, not too bad it had AC and cable TV, a little dirty but what the hell. We were spent from our travel and our jet lag.
The next day we went on our recon trip along the market... ummm is my favorite word on this trip, as soon as we stepped into the street and almost got run over by a rickshaw that was trying to miss the cow that was standing in the middle of the road, we realized that also in India people become easy targets and pedestrians are at the bottom of the list.
Overwhelmed by the heat, the humidity and the traffic in the market we went back to the "hotel" and rested for the rest of the day trying to recuperate from the jet lag.
In the morning we got prepared and assaulted the market again, this time with the purpose of finding our bus ticket to get to our destination Manali.
Manali is a small town located on the northern part of India in the mouth of the Himalaya, Himachal. After running around in circles... literally... we decided to hire the service that the same hotel we were staying in provided.
The next day we returned to the market to shop for new clothes that would make us fit closer to the culture and less riped off at the time of paying.
In the afternoon we finally checked out of our "fancy 5 star hotel" and hired a rickshaw to take our expedition bags to the bus station. To our surprise the bus was really nice, space for your legs, nice comfortable seats and one crazy driver that was going to drive the whole way pulling of an all nighter.
18 hours.... Its not over yet... at that point the driver had to pull over because everyone from the Indian team were barfing their guts out...oughhh oughhh was all we could here in back of the bus.... ummmm disturbing when it sounds like a chorus from all the people gaging at the same time.
22 hour... we couldn't feel our asses any more, our legs swollen like elephant stumps and almost sick from the crazy driving and the barfing team... We made it to Manali.
Immediately as soon we got of the bus, we were swarmed by all the people trying to sell us their hotel rooms. With no reservation and four huge duffel bags and backpacks we decided to go with the nicest guy.. Pretty easy actually. 5 minutes after arriving we were already negotiating our room at the " hotel lobby".
After setting up our room and loading all of our gear into our third floor room we decided to hit the town and start looking for an outfitter that could provide us with the service we needed at a decent price.
We walked from New Manali to Old Manali and back looking for someone but it was more difficult than expected.
Finally we found the guy who provided services for the Mountain Hardwear expedition which had visited the Valley the previous year. Ravi, a savy business man with a smile in his face all the time. We felt really comfortable with his price and his offer so we went with him. We organized for transportation to Miyar Nala and a cook for a 32 day trip into the Valley.
The next day we met our cook, a very nice man about 50 years of age and a veteran cook for trips into the mountains. Tocshand, a native of the Miyar region is not only the perfect cook but also the person that is going to orient us along the way... knowing there are no trails and very disorienting and confusing maps in this barely explored Himalayan Valley.
Part of the deal was that Tocshand would lead us into the market to purchase all the food and provisions for the expedition. We went store after store looking for our pots, stove, utensils, gas, food and vegetables. It was a very exhausting and long day but definitely not as long as the porters who helped us carry all the stuff back to the hotel endured, but we got everything accomplished.
We purchased some aluminum boxes specially made for these kind of trips and packed all of our stuff in them.
A little overwhelmed by all the things we had purchased we settled into our room and now we are finally enjoying some chilin out time before starting our 9 hour jeep ride to the mouth of the Miyar.
Fortunately, in the middle of all this craziness, rain, humidity that never seems to stop we managed to put in some climbing in the local crag named Aleo. Aleo offers awesome jungle climbing with bolt hangers so far apart that run out X, is only the beginning of it.
Our plan is to spend 32 days climbing and exploring, and hopefully not too much time waiting for the weather windows to arrive.
We plan to set up our base camp at the mouth of the Thunder Glacier and our main objective is to climb the first American ascent of the Never Seen Tower 5,800Mt's and hopefully many more first ascents on the virgin peaks surrounding this majestic and beautiful area.
Wish us luck!
Cheers to all!!
Camilo Lopez & Anna Pfaff
In this addition of Athlete Profile we head to the east coast to check up on the unique running scene and to see if we can catch one of these ubiquitous trail harriers. Is it the clam chowder that makes them fast? Inov-8's Ben nephew is one talented runner. Ben's passion and enjoyment for the trails is evident and he was kind enough to take time to answer some of my questions.
Inov-8 Athlete Profile Interview: Ben Nephew
Interviewed by: Wynn Davis
1. Can you tell us a little bit about how your running career began?
I ran XC and track in high school and college, but despite a lot of hard work, never had much success (10:40 2 mile in HS, 26:50 5 mile in college). When I moved to Massachusetts to go to graduate school, I joined the Greater Boston Track Club and with the help of some great teammates, finally started to run well at longer distances. I’ve always liked running trails better than the roads, and when I realized I could run trails with people that absolutely crush me on the roads, I began to run more and more trail races. That was 10 years ago.
2. Living in Massachusetts, can you recommend a wandering trail runner any particular trails or state parks that stick out in your mind?
There are so many small parks that have some great trails, but I’ll try to list a few outstanding trails.
1. 7 Sisters course in Amherst. It’s the benchmark for technical trail running, and has awesome views through the run. While in Amherst, you should hit the Robert Frost trail as well. Amherst has such nice trails that I hate anyone who resides there and gets to run on them daily.
2. Mount Greylock State Park. Many parks have sections of nice trails, but it is hard to find any bad trails around Greylock. I’ve run a trail marathon there, and every single mile was incredible.
3. Blue Hills State Park. It is amazing that such a large piece of land with 40-50 miles of trails has been preserved just a few miles from Boston. You can run anything from the biggest hills within 40 miles of Boston, to 7 Sisters grade singletrack, to miles and miles of rolling carriage roads.
4. Monroe State Forest. Classic western Massachusetts singletrack trails that are spectacular in the fall.
3. The New England trail running scene has had a rich history and continues to produce a lot of strong runners. What do you account to this?
The running scene in NE is competitive at all levels in XC, track and road running. Many good trail runners are former road or XC runners, or have moved to NE to go to school, like myself and Paul Low. The other part of the story is that there a number of great trail races that have been organized into a competitive circuit called the Grand Tree. Even before the Grand Tree existed, some of the classic NE trail races had been around for years.
4. Can you tell us a little bit about your profession as a biomedical researcher in maternal behavior?
I study the hormonal control of maternal behavior, using the rat as a model organism. I spend my days manipulating brain hormone levels and observing the resulting behavioral changes. My specific biomedical focus is in depression and anxiety related disorders in postpartum women. Currently, very little is known about the factors controlling postpartum depression and anxiety, and treatments are based on drugs developed to treat males and non-maternal females. It is clear that incredibly small changes in maternal behavior can have a lasting impact on the health of offspring, and I’d like to try to ensure healthy maternal behavior. I’ve recently been able to modulate maternal aggression in pregnant rats by manipulating a hormone which is currently being studied as key factor in the development of depression and anxiety related disorders. I’m hoping to get a grant funded to continue this work with the aim of developing more effective treatments for postpartum behavioral disorders, or better yet, effective preventative measures.
In September, I’ll be starting a new project performing functional MRI scans on conscious rats and primates.
5. What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?
My weaknesses can be summed up by an overall lack of running talent (see above times….).
Fortunately, I can tolerate hard training and haven’t really been injured since working through some developmental issues in college. In trail races, I can climb well and handle technical terrain, which gives me an advantage over runners that can only climb or descend well. I also have an inability to go out hard enough to blow up in races.
6. Can you tell us what your training philosophy is and what some of your favorite workouts include?
I’m a proponent of race-specific training whenever possible. If a goal race has a lot of downhills, I run the downhills in my hill workouts hard. If I want to run 6 minute pace for 50k, I need to be able run 2.5 hour long runs at 6 minute pace. If I run long runs at 7 minute pace, nothing magical happens for me on race day to allow me run 6 minute miles (see above note on lack of talent). In general, most of my training miles are run at a fast pace compared to many runners. It’s my only hope for running with guys who have twice the talent. I used to do a lot of high quality track workouts running with Greater Boston, but I enjoy the trails too much now to run laps. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of timed trail intervals (2-8 minutes each), and using these times along with race times to assess my fitness. I race frequently, so that is a major component of my training. Besides regular trail intervals, I try to run hill workouts often.
7. In 2006 you claimed the title of USATF marathon trail championships in North Carolina. Can you tell us how this race unfolded and your experience?
There was a good pack for about 16 miles, which is something I enjoy a lot about the Dupont trail marathon. Chad Newton started to pull away at 18 or so, and gapped Loic Laforet and I pretty quickly. By 20, I was having a hard time staying ahead of Loic. As I was trying to drop him, we came out into a clearing, and I could see Chad. Over the next two miles, I closed the gap. As we began the last 2 mile climb to the finish, I realized he was hitting the wall and I ran hard to the finish. I was actually attending a Neuroscience conference in Atlanta the weekend of the race, drove up the night before, and then drove right back after the race. I was in such a hurry; no one realized they had given me the plaque for the women’s overall winner! After a few top five finishes at USATF championships, it was nice to get a win.
8. Who would you consider some of your greatest competitors over the years? Can you describe a profound battle that sticks in your mind?
When I first started trail running, Leigh Schmitt and I would go back and forth at races all the time. More recently, Greg Hammett has been running very well. However, with the amount of talent in New England, you never know who is going to show up at some of the races, from Olympic XC ski team members to former NCAA champions, to sub 2:20 marathoners.
At the Pisgah 23k in 2006, I was expecting to have a tough race with Greg, who had been beating me earlier in the year. Greg had mentioned that one of his training partners, George Adams, was running well, and should be tough at Pisgah. George is not a frequent trail racer, so I didn’t really think much of it. The race started quickly, with Greg and George right with me through some fast early miles. When they started pushing the middle miles, I knew it was going to be a long day. With about 4 miles to go, I put in a surge, and built a decent lead. Greg was actually fighting a cold, and he dropped back at that point, but I couldn’t get away from George. He caught me with about a mile to go, and we exchanged the lead about 4-5 times before the final turn and 100 meters to the finish. At that point, both of us were in a world of hurt. I led around the turn, and ran for my life. George really, really, wanted to win, and was right on my shoulder all the way to the finish. They actually have a finish tape at Pisgah (very strange for a NE trail race), and we both hit it and went down. There were two people with stop watches to time the first two runners, and I ended up winning by 0.03 seconds.
9. What was the toughest race you’ve ever experienced? Can you describe what it was like and how you were feeling?
In 2005, there was a 12k trail race up and down Mt. Monadnock in NH. The trail was extremely technical, with a good amount of scrambling up and down steep ledges. It would be tough in dry conditions, but the day of the race, a large rain storm developed in the middle of the race. As we climbed higher, the rain and wind intensified. Elijah Barrett, a former Greater Boston teammate who lived in the Monadnock region, literally disappeared into the clouds as we reached the exposed summit area. At this point, the wind was gusting to about 60mph, and visibility was about 10 feet. The temperature was in the low 50’s. Although the race staff was able to turn around most of the field, they missed the top four runners, which included myself and Greg Hammett. You could just feel your body temperature dropping every minute you were exposed to the wind. I was seriously worried that I was not going to be able to find my way off the summit. Fortunately, Greg was there, and the both of us were able to find a way back to the tree line. Incredibly, Elijah was able to pass the rest of field that had been turned back about a mile from the summit, and finished eight minutes ahead of Greg and I. I was just glad to make it down alive, but Elijah’s run was incredible, and I always think of that race when I think of Elijah. Two years later, Elijah passed away after losing his battle with leukemia, at the age of 31.
10. You have had a strong year of racing at various trail distances this year. Do you have a favorite distance or race in particular?
Every year, the Escarpment 30k is always my favorite race. Besides Escarpment, I enjoy the wide variety of trail races in New England, even though I don’t do well on the faster courses!
11. What do you know now that you wish you would have known when you first started running?
I wish I would have know how beneficial it is to do race-specific workouts.
12. Is there a particular INOV-8 shoe that you gravitate toward and why?
For training, the Roclite 315 is the best all-around shoe for me. For racing, the Mudroc 280’s are great for anything from 6 to 26 miles.
13. Finally, what are your goals for the future?
I’d like to compete in more USATF trail and ultra championships, run under 3:00 for 50k, and run the Long Trail in VT in 3-4 days or so.
Thanks Ben!
After a mammoth journey, we arrived in Blanc-Sablon....sleeping in a school. Found out that this is a crazy hard stage race witha lot of fast teams....not our forte, but we are excited. WE get to sleep almost every night. We'll see. Internet in the remote NE canada. Race starts in the morning with a 10 k ocean kayak (portage maybe too if our shortcut works with tides), the trekking/coasteering with a ocean/seacliff rope section, then short kayak to bike rogaine (lots of hike - a bike we think) then if we make a cut-off, the EXTREME section with another paddle and island trek....should be at the School in small village by 10PM? dinner, sleep, more maps and wake at 6 AM....
It will be different.
The dynamic brother and sister duo of Shiloh Mielke and Meadow Tarves will race at the wet and wild Springmaid Splash 10k in Spruce Pine, NC. Rebekah Trittipoe will be breaking out the headlamp in case the full moon is not enough at the
Cheat Mtn Moonlight Madness 50 mile in Beverly, WV. Good luck to all!
Shiloh Mielke - Springmaid Splash 10k
Meadow Tarves - Springmaid Splash 10k
Rebekah Trittipoe - Cheat Mountain Moonlight Madness 50 mile
In this addition of Inov-8 Athlete Profile we head west of the Mississippi to meet up with trail saavy and uber-consistent trail runner and biker, Kelli Lusk. Some of Kelli's accolades include: two time member of the US Mountain Running Team, two-time winner of both the Barr Trail Mountain Race and the Northfield Mountain Race, USSA National Champion and team member, as well as qualifying for the 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials. Kelli was kind enough to take time to answer some of my questions about her running philosophy and experiences on and off the trail.
Inov-8 Athlete Profile Interview: Kelli Lusk
Interviewed by: Wynn Davis
1. Can you tell us a little bit about how your running career began?
I started running on the junior high track team, then ran 4 years of track and 3 years of CC in high school. I didn’t compete in college, then in 1992 I started mountain bike racing. I was riding and running more, so I did my first road marathon at Columbus in 1995 to qualify for the 100th running of Boston. I qualified, then a year later broke 3-hours (2:59) at Columbus. It got me hooked! I moved to Colorado in 1997 to race mountain bikes and qualify for the 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials. I lived in Denver for a few years, then moved to Manitou Springs in 2000 when I started working for USA Cycling.
I stopped racing my mountain bike in 2000 after I found out I had mono, but continued running. I started running with the Incline Club the 2000-2001 winter and that’s when I found out about competitive mountain running.
2. Manitou Springs, Colorado seems to be a Mecca for runners and other athletes. Are there any trails in particular you enjoy that would interest a wandering trail runner visiting the area?
Manitou Springs is really incredible for training. There are so many trails from which to choose…anything from gradual, rolling trails like Intemann, to the Incline, to Barr Trail, to other less-known places like Longs Ranch Road. Of course, there’s also Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks Canyon/Section 16/Palmer. I don’t drive anywhere to get to trails…they are right out my door.
3. Can you tell us a little bit about your profession as a USA Cycling Mountain Bike Events and Program Director?
I started working for USA Cycling in 2000 and my main focus has always been with the mountain bike racing. My current job involves managing the mountain bike National Championships, National Calendars, State/Regional Championships, promoter relations, and working with the NORBA BOT. It does require quite a bit of travel during the season and it’s definitely a full time + job! I usually work an average of 45-60 hours a week.
4. What sparked your interest into Mountain Running? Did you start out in a different background, such as road running?
I’ve always been drawn to the trails and mountains. Mountain running was a natural progression once I moved to Colorado. I used to train on the trails back in Michigan and when I lived in Denver (1997-1999), but my interest was sparked in 2000 when I moved to Manitou Springs.
5. What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?
Strengths: My passion for running, my flexibility with my training
Weaknesses: I need to be more disciplined with stretching, cross-training, and weight-training. I’m very happy to just run, but understand the need to mix it up in order to keep the injuries away and to strengthen my running.
6. Can you tell us what your training philosophy is and what some of your favorite workouts include?
Train hard, try to be as consistent as possible, and keep pushing yourself to become better. Some of my favorite workouts include hilly tempo runs (both road and trail), hill repeats, and the Incline. It takes a lot of motivation to hit the track for speed sessions, but if there’s a group meeting at the track, it’s easier for me to be there.
7. In 2003 you were the National Snowshoe Racing Champion and a National team member for three straight years. Can you tell us the attributes that snowshoe running has in regard to running in general?
Snowshoe racing is excellent for a low-impact, hard workout. It will push you mentally and physically in the off-season, so by the time the spring races hit, you’re better prepared.
8. You have had a very consistent running career. What has kept you so consistent?
Again, it’s my dedication to running. I know if I don’t run, I’ll be anxious and in a bad mood, so it feels better to just get out the door, even if only for a short run. I also give myself complete days off if I feel mentally or physically drained. I usually try to allow myself one complete day off (no cross-training or running) once every four weeks.
9. What was the toughest race you’ve ever experienced? Can you describe what it was like and how you were feeling?
The toughest race was Sierre-Zinal in 2003. I had just broken my toe on the Barr Trail Mountain Race descent (about 1.5 miles from the bottom) in mid-July and had already arranged to go to Europe and race Sierre-Zinal, Tyonne-Dixence, and Susa (Challenge Stellina) in August. I struggled with the toe-issue, then to top it off, it was incredibly hot. It was also the hardest mountain race I had ever experienced…steep climbing for 7 miles, rolling terrain in-between, then a steep downhill to the finish. It’s also much more competitive in Europe, so it was an eye-opener with the level of running there.
10. You have had very good success racing in Europe. Is there a particular country, race, or trail that stands out in your mind?
Sierre-Zinal! I ran it in 2002, 2003, and 2004. The races in Switzerland are so incredible. Jungfrau Marathon is also a great mountain race. I had a bad accident at the start of the race when I did it in 2007 (a crowded start resulted in some people going down, me being one of them), but I’d like to go back and do it again.
11. What do you know now that you wish you would have known when you first started running?
To keep a structure to my training (which I didn’t start doing until 2001)
12. Is there a particular INOV-8 shoe that you gravitate toward and why?
I like the F-lite 285 because it’s the best trail and off-road mountain racing shoe out there. The Mudroc 280 for great for off-road training and longer races.
13. Finally, in your experience as a Mountain Runner, what qualities make for someone interested in Mountain Running/races?
Anyone with a high pain threshold and ability to train a lot…this is the sport for you!
Thanks Kelli!
Dewey put on quite a show at the Outdoor Retailer Uphill Challenge (co-sponsored by Inov-8) on August 9th where he ran a solid 1.54 miles at 15% incline in 15 minutes on a treadmill finishing with the 4th fastest time overall for this event. Read his hellish report below.
15 Minutes of Hell
While not quite a “race”, the 2008 Uphill Challenge at the SLC Outdoor Retail Convention certainly felt like one, and a very challenging one at that. I’ve read about this race many times before, I never thought I’d be in it myself. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s basically a dual race between various athletes and reps on a treadmill where the goal is to cover as much distance in 15 minutes at a 15% incline. I can certainly say it wasn’t like I thought it would be, and truthfully a pretty “fun” event.
I had a kind of up and down racing season for May and June, I have been doing my best in July to bring myself back into a more balanced routine and undo some of my previous training’s undoing. So most of my July for me had been a lot of just running (with some x-training in the mix), with very little hard work, other than a few easy tempo efforts and some light speed and short hill sprint workouts mixed in. I ran a low-key uphill only race up in Alaska, one that climbed over 2000’ feet in around 3 miles (most of that in 2.5 miles), so I figured I had a good idea of the pain to come.
At the OR I had a good chance to watch some competitors duke it out, so I had an idea of what it looked like and what the whole process was going to be. My allotted time was at 12:30, so I got an easy warm-up around Noon on the outskirts of the building, and headed over to the venue site. I felt a certain amount of personal pressure wanting to represent Inov-8 well, seeing how they were a co-sponsor. I had a chance to meet my competitor early, whose first name of Drew caused the announcer to repeatedly swap our names back and forth. I think she actually had a harder job than we did after such a long day!
My game plan was to start conservatively and aim to break 1.5 miles, something I though manageable and looking at last years winning distance (1.58 miles) I thought it might put me in good contention for a top spot. That plan was thrown out when my competitor started off at a very fast pace, and with my wanting to be a competitor in this, had to match his pace. I was able to match him until around the 11 minute mark, and actually dropped my pace for about 1:30 to “catch my breath”, but kicked it in at the end. I finished with 1.54 miles to his 1.58. I’d like to think I could have eked out another .01-.02 miles, but truth be told that was the longest 15 minutes I could possibly imagine.
In trail races you generally get to quietly suffer on your own on the mountain or in the woods, but in this event it was in front of a huge mass of people cheering you on, watching as you and your competitor’s heart rate reaches absolutely maximal levels. There is no hiding, there is no reprieve, just a revolving hell that promises to spit you out the back if you don’t hang on. I’m glad to have been pitted against someone so competitive because we both pushed each other to really give it our all. After the end of the day I finished as tied for 3rd, something I’m definitely proud of considering I’m not the best uphill runner and relish in technical downhill and rolling trail terrain. But this was certainly good motivation to keep working on my uphill!
This entire convention was amazing, both for spending time with the wonderful people behind Inov-8 and to be around such an amazing energy of outdoor enthusiasts. I loved the competition and the chance to meet and share stories with other runners and retailers that I met. Although it might take a year of repressed memory to want to punish myself on the treadmill again, I would eagerly take part in it. HeHe
Bryan Dayton in an always tough men's field and under some pretty epic race day conditions captured 4th OA in the Pikes Peak Marathon running a very fast time of 4:04:55. Dewey Peacock was 2nd OA at the Xterra Wheeler Canyon 21k Trail Race in 1:23:32. Congrats to both!
Team YogaSlackers (Jason Magness, Daniel Staudigel, Mark Lattanzi and Lina Augaitis) head to the far eastern coast of Canada for the county's premiere race of the season. The 4-day 300+ mile Coast Raid will be headquartered in Blanc-Sablon. The area is so remote that the team is flying into Portland, Maine, renting a mini-van, and then driving 1500 miles (plus 2 ferry rides) to get to the start.
Good luck this weekend to the following Inov-8 athletes. Sean Andrish and Scott Dunlap will be at the Where's Waldo 100k National Trail Championships in the Willamette Pass Ski Area in the Oregon Cascades. Dwight Shuler will be defending his title at the Captain Thurmond's Triathlon in the New River Gorge area in WV. Dewey Peacock will be in Ogden, UT at the XTERRA Wheeler Canyon Xduro 21K trail race. Bryan Dayton will be racing Sunday in the notorious Pikes Peak Marathon.
Sean Andrish - Where's Waldo 100k
Scott Dunlap - Where's Waldo 100k
Dwight Shuler - Captain Thurmond's Triathlon
Dewey Peacock - Xterra Wheeler Canyon 21k Trail
Bryan Dayton - Pikes Peak Marathon
Team Inov-8's Ben Nephew describes his experience of this year's Mount Washington race; the race to the clouds.
Mount Washington 2008
This is a little late to say the least, but it was a historic year for Mount Washington, and I had a nice back seat view to the fireworks at the front of the pack. Over the past few years, the annual Race to the Clouds has been getting very competitive whenever it was designated as a selection race for the U.S. Mountain Running Team. The entry list this year was the most impressive group of runners ever to sign up for the race, and when you combine a top field with excellent weather; you end up with a lot of people running very fast.
I wasn’t really sure what kind of shape I was in at the starting line. Some of my recent races had gone well, but none of those races were all that similar to Washington. Over the years, I’ve learned that going out with Dave Dunham is always a smart idea, so that’s what I did. I had actually been trash talking with Dave prior to the race, as he had himself beating me in his expert pre-race predictions (despite the fact that I had smoked him over the last mile during our last battle in 2006). The other factor in my race was that the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) was hoping to win the men’s team race, which had been won by my local team, Central Massachusetts Striders (CMS), for the past 17 years. When I found out that Paul Low was injured, I realized that I might score for CMS, and we all really wanted to retain the team title.
The start involved the typical mad rush of fools ruining their entire race during the first few minutes. I managed to restrain myself, and went through the mile just in front of Dave right on target to run 1:08:30, which would be a PR for me. I gave Dave a thumbs up behind my back, and he laughed. I could see a few BAA runners up ahead, but we seemed to maintaining contact with them, and I was hoping to slowly reel them in during the second half of the race. After the first mile, I began to slowly pull away from Dave with Matt Clark, another CMS teammate. On long stretches, we could see the entire field, with Shiloh right up near the front. Although I was pleased with how I was running, I was still shocked to see so many people up ahead.
Matt and I slowly passed a few slowing runners as we worked our way up to the halfway point. As we both felt pretty good and the BAA guys still had a good lead on us, we began to take turns pushing the pace. At every turn, I kept expecting the wind to pick up, but surprisingly, the air was cool and still. I knew with my halfway split and the perfect conditions I had a good time going, but all I really wanted to do was to catch up with the large pack of runners about a minute ahead of us. Although I couldn’t tell how all the CMS guys were doing, I had a feeling I needed to be in front of the BAA guys in that pack.
With about 2 miles to go, Matt started to fade, and I made one last push to move up through the field. My quads were starting to fatigue badly, and my knees almost buckled on a ridiculously steep hairpin. With about a half mile to go, I saw that there was one more straggler from the pack that I had a shot at passing. Unfortunately, I pulled alongside this runner right at the bottom of the 22% grade headwall 50 meters from the finish. I have never been able to run this section. This year, I managed to get up on my toes make one last desperate pass while actually running. At the finish, my legs were totally shot, and I went down to my knees to catch my breath before exiting what felt like a mile long finish chute. Despite running 1:07:50, a PR by 1:20, it wasn’t nearly enough to hold off the strong BAA team. Although first time runners typically don’t do well at Washington, the inexperienced BAA squad ran very smart, and there was no way we could compensate for Paul’s absence. Ironically, the race was won by Eric Blake, who formerly ran with CMS. Perhaps the most impressive statistic of the ultra-fast 2008 race was the number of runners under 70 minutes. The previous record for was 20, and this year, 32 runners ran up the mountain at just over 9 minute pace or faster. I guess 65 is the new 70……
Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 finishes third at the 19th edition of the Odyssey One Day Adventure Race.
Odyssey Adventure racing has long been known for putting on some of the toughest races on the east coast, and the recently run One Day Adventure Race was no exception. Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 sent two squads to this classic race and came away beaten, battered and deep fried. Or was that the shrimp we had for dinner? I forget. Our first squad consisted of some of the usual suspects, Michele Hobson, Hunter Orvis, Allen Mc Adams, and Tim Abbott. The second squad consisted of myself and 3 hired guns, Paul Humphreys, Julia Radmann, and Daniel Jesse. Our plan was to race as an 8 headed monster, as we were all about the same speed.
The race started off with a prologue run that had the racers guessing at how long it would actually take. We had been given a hand drawn map of Camp Bethel, but there was nothing to indicate the scale or trail lengths. More surprisingly, once we started, we noticed it was devoid of all contour lines, and didn't clue us into the straight up and down trails we were to run on. It turned out to be a relatively short, just enough to spike those heart rates before we got on our bikes.
Once on the bike we started the long arduous climb out of the valley up towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. We weren't supposed to see the parkway, but we missed a fairly non descript trail that split off from the main trail and we rode an extra kilometer or so to the top. Realizing our mistake, we rode back down, passing at least 3-4 other teams that were making the same mistake, but hadn't realized it yet. This put us behind a bunch of teams, which we then had to squeeze by on the narrow single track leading us to the town of Buchanan, VA.
By the time we reached Buchanan, we had rode through the hottest part of the day, and had drank everything our Inov-8 packs could hold. Luckily, just before the transition to the paddle, we came across a small gas station well stocked with many cold beverages. We split up and had several of us filling our bladders from the spigot outside, while a couple of us ran inside to stock upon some Powerade and 2 liter bottles of Coke. With bottles in our arms, we trotted across the street and clamored into our boats, downing most of what we had just bought in a matter of minutes. Our paddle along the James river was largely uneventful. There were a few class II rapids we encountered, but the mostly flat water mad for a senic paddle. Or plan to carrying our own kayak paddles probably bought us a little time on this section, but as we would later experience, I'm not so sure it was worth it as the race director made us carry them the entire race from start to finish.
As we pulled off the river, the sun was beginning to set, and we had enough time to bushwack 800' straight up to reach our first trekking checkpoint. As we reached the top, we were treated to the sun setting in the beautiful Virginia mountains. It was also here that Allen started to feel a little ill.
As the trek progressed, Allen felt worse and worse. We finally decided that it would be best to split our two teams apart, so Paul, Julia, Daniel and I proceeded onward, leaving the others to follow behind at a much slower pace. By now it was the middle of the night, and we were getting close to the end of the trek when Julia stopped suddenly and shouted out "SNAKE!". If she didn't say that, it was something close to that, I was in a bit of a fog at the time as the sleep monsters were knocking on my door. What prompted her cry was that she had come dangerously close to stepping on a 4' long rattle snake!
A little bit shaken, we made it into the next TA where we found out we had closed the gap to the leaders by 20 minutes from our last time check, although we were still about an hour behind. This bit of good news energized us, until we found out that my bike had a flat tire. Jeez, how does a bike tire go flat just sitting there? A quick tube change later and we were rolling back towards Buchanan. When we got there, we were delighted to find out that the same store we stopped at earlier was still open, and we ducked in for some more cold beverages. As we stepped back outside the store, we came across a duo that had obviously seen better times. We spoke with them for a few minutes and found out this was their first long race, they had made it this far, but they had called it a night and were waiting for a ride back to the start finish line. Paul somehow got on the topic of food and calories, and mentioned he had probably consumed about 15000 during the race so far. When asked what they had eaten, they said a couple of Gatorades and a bar or two. Before we took off we mentioned that they should try to eat significantly more next time and they would easily make it to the finish line.
As we climbed out of town back towards the single track that would take us to the start, and to the final leg of the race, we were all in good spirits, and ready chase down the leaders. Little did we know what the trail had in store for us. During the first climb on the single track, a tiny, thinner than a pencil, little stick got kicked up into my derailleur and decided to rip it right off. I couldn't believe it. Of all the things to happen, this was the last straw (or so I thought). Having tried to make a single speed out of my bike before and not being able to get it to work because of the suspension design, I was consigned to pushing my bike along for the next 15 miles or so. It wasn't so bad on the up hills, as everyone else was pushing, but on the flats I was much slower. The downhills, however, were coastable and I was determined to make the most of my momentum and take some pretty aggressive lines to conserve speed. I'm sure you can imagine where this is headed.
I can't quite remember exactly how it happened, but I do know this, somehow my front wheel was forced off the trail. What ensued was a short trip over the handle bars, followed by a somersault in the air, ending in a face plant in the leaves. As I took a moment to check for broken bits, I felt a sharp pain at the end of my finger, and realized I had just pissed off a bunch of yellow jackets and they were out for blood. I think I managed to get away with only a couple stings, but man, it hurt. I suppose the upside was that the pain kept me awake. I wish I could say the remainder of the ride back was uneventful, but I managed to perform the same maneuver again about a mile down the trail and managed to rip my tire off my rim. On the bright side, at least I didn't get stung again.
By the time we got back to the final TA, it was just starting to get light. The last section was a large orienteering course, over which we could get up to 20 additional check points. Knowing we were down one bike, we decided we would set out on foot, grab the points closest to the finish. We ended up getting 11 of the points and decided it was enough. Trying to bushwack through the underbrush with our paddles still strapped to our backs was not the easiest thing to do and there was no way we could realistically get many more points without a lot more effort. We acknowledged we were giving up any hope for a first or second place, but after all we had been through we lost our motivation and were just ready to go home.
As it turns out, the we managed 3rd place in the coed division, and 4th overall. Not bad considering what we had to overcome. The other squad was not so lucky. By the time they finished the trekking section and got to their bikes, Allen hadn't gotten any better and they decided it would be best if they stopped racing to avoid any serious issues. While it is never fun to have to pull out of a race, sometimes it is the best thing to do.
After all is said and done, we had a great time out there and thank Odyssey for putting on another fun and challenging race. Of course we wouldn't be there without the generous sponsorship from our friends at Inov-8, who set us up with the RacePro 30 Packs we all wore. Next up for Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 will be the Moab Xstream Expedition. Can't wait to head west again!
Will post my musings here soon, but here is a link to a story by paper in Billings. Wore inov-8 380s as our technical mountaineering boots with Kahtoola crampons. Serious climbing, scary shit, all while carrying boats....read the article...
Our shoes are a bit trashed after over 5000 ft of scree descent, and 20+ miles of rough talus hopping, and 60 miles of whitewater (lots of swims). We are roughly titling our forthcoming video - 4 days and 4 ways to die.
Montana adventure
My 10 day vacation in the beautiful state of Washington began with the White River 50 mile trail championships at Crystal Mtn. ski resort. I had set two goals for myself at WR 50; first and foremost to come away with a win, and second, in order to do so I knew I would need to run under 7 hrs. Well, as the saying goes, "you don't always get what you want"
Although I accomplished neither of my goals, I felt I did the best with the situation that was dealt. From the start of the race to about mile 16.9, the corral pass aid station, mark, myself and a few other runners took turns pulling the lead group of about 12 runners. After Corral Pass aid station the course bails off the mtn and heads back down to the White River through a series of long, fast switch backs. At some point early in the descent, I managed to stiff toe a rock and create an obstacle for myself. I felt my toe swell and knew this was not going to dissipate anytime so to alleviate the pain I began to run with a pronounced heel strike and unfortunately this created a hot spot on my heel which would later cost me valuable time. The hot spot turned to a major blister and eventually peeled off on the last 6.5 mile descent on a gravel road exposing raw flesh. Although my finishing time of 7:16 and an 8th position was not what I had hoped for, I was able to finish the race and in a respectable time. But WR50 was just the beginning of my expedition in Washington. The following day, I along with 2 of my best friends from Lynchburg, VA, David Horton and Jenny Anderson drove to the base of Mt. Adams and hiked in 1.5 hrs to our base camp. We woke up pre-dawn to a stunning sunrise and began the arduous 6,000 ft climb to the summit. After reaching the summit by noon we descended the mtn., packed our camp and hiked back to the vehicle. Our next major peak was Mt. Hood in Oregon. David, Jenny, and I left the Timberline Lodge at 6:30 am and reached the summit within a few hrs. Next on our "to do" list was drive to the North Cascades and run a 30 mile stretch on the PCT, beginning and ending at Hart's Pass. This turned out to be one of the most scenic trail runs I've ever experienced as the wildflowers were in full bloom. All prior activities were considered "foreplay" leading up to the climatic climb of Mt. Olympus on the Olympic Peninsula, the last on our list. We began the 15 mile hike to base camp through the Hoh rain forest which encompassed some of the largest red cedars and spruce trees I've ever laid eyes on. We arrived at camp at 9:30 pm and were up at 4:30 am the following morning to begin the climb. Although we never reached the actual summit due to lack of technical climbing gear (i.e. ropes, harness, essential climbing hardware) we stood atop the mtn's highest snow pack which was merely 80 ft below the rock summit. After enjoying the breathtaking views for some time we descended 6 miles back to our base camp at Elk Lake, gathered our camp and hiked the remaining 15+ miles back to the vehicle. Without question, we all were exhausted as we had been on our feet for 16.5 hrs that day. A side note on gear that was used during the Washington Expedition. For all mtn. ascents, I wore Roclite 390 GTX in combination with Kahtoola KHS aluminum crampons. The combination of Inov-8 lightweight Goretex boot with Kahtoola crampons creates a superb mountaineering footwear. Of course, this may and probably would not work on more extreme peaks, however, with temperatures never quite reaching freezing, the 390 GXT performed excellent. If anyone is contemplating using Kahtoola crampons, give them a shot. You will not be unsatisfied with their performance and ease of use. Again, for peak bagging in snow conditions where added support, stability, and dry feet is desired, the 390 GTX is definitely the obvious choice. As for packs, I used both the racepro 12 and racepro 30. For trail runs, when less gear was needed, I used the racepro 12 which provides enough room for food and basic supplies. As for the mtn. ascents, I wore the racepro 30 which provided ample room for winter hat, jacket, pants, as well as food and basic supplies. I have only positive comments about both packs. They ride exceptionally well, and hold up excellent against the rugged environments. The H2O horizontal bladder system is the most logical water system I've ever used. The fact that the bladder rides on the hips and wraps around the waist keeps the pack from bouncing and sloshing around as the water levels decrease.
Team Hairy Scary (Dwight Shuler, Paul Humphreys and Kylie Krauss) finished 2nd overall at the Goldrush 24 Adventure Race in Woodstock, GA. Thus qualifying for nationals this Fall. A brutal course of over 75 miles of running, swimming, paddeling and biking in the North Georgia Mountains in the heat of August. This dynamic threesome captured 20 checkpoints in 22:55 and battled through some intense conditions but kept their composure. Dwight Shuler had the following comments.....
"It was super brutal, as usual. Did you know it was hot in Georgia in August? We had to swim for about 5 miles! With a life jacket and backpack. We were in 1st place for a short time in the beginning. Then had a solid 2nd going before totally screwing up a nighttime swim across the lake. We ended up in the wrong place and struggled to figure out where we were and how to get back on course.
We slipped back to about 10th place and spent the next 11 hours treking and fighting our way back to 4th. It was some tough navigation and 1 water bladder doesn't quite make it for 11 hours. We got to the bike TA totally depleted and resupplied. It was smoking hot at that point. We cranked out a few CP's but had to skip a few because of time. Made it back to the lake for a short paddle then a couple more CP's before heading in.
We ended up in 2nd place overall. Just shy of 23 hours. We scored some good $$ and qualified for the National Championships. Pretty good weekend overall."
There are 4 exercises in this section that are an excellent addition to any runners training program. Click here to view all 4 exercies. They are ofetn used as part of a rehabilitation program for treating an injury, but are also useful for general conditioning and injury prevention. They focus on the muscles used for power and stability. These workouts are an integral part of my weekly strength routine. Runners tend to have very weak hips and can often be the source for many injuries not only in the hips themselves, but perculating throughout the lower extremities. I typically run very techinical trails and those who know trails understand the constant manipulation of its surface structure, resulting in excessive pronating at times along with many other terrain variables that require supporting muscles to help balance the body; therefore it is important to keep the hips/ITB flexible and strong, while also taking pressure off the knees. My favorite hip abduction workout is (one leg at a time) putting my foot in a stirup on the cable machine and extending my leg outward. You can adjust weight for tension as needed. Most gyms also have a hip adduction machine, but if you do not have access to a gym, one of the best investments you can have is a simple thera-band. You can typically get various (colors/resistances) thera-bands from your physical therapist for free or even your local hardware store should have tubing. Simply by sitting in a chair you can accomplish all of these workouts with a thera-band. I have them stashed at work, home and when I travel. Thread both legs through the band and position the band just below the knees. You can now flex inward and outward, one foot at a time by rolling your foot. Refrain from trying to use your entire leg or knee as that is considered "cheating" and the workout will not localize the hips and piriforimis, but rather the entire leg, similar to cheating on a situp. You want to reduce any excess motion.
Hip abduction
Hip adduction
Hip flexion
Hip extension
Hip adduction is the opposite motion of that pictured above Hip extension is the opposite motion of that pictured above
Although there are exercise machines which simulate these actions, these exercises are best done standing with a pulley system (as illustrated). If needed, one or two fingers of the hand of one arm may be used to hold on to an adjacent support (e.g., frame or upright bench). The reason for minumal support is that it helps emphasize correct balancing by the muscles in the pelvis and leg. Sets of high repetition, with low resistance should be done.
Next post will be in regard to Hip flexibility and stretches. I have some great ones that will really start to loosen things up and for those that have never stretched before make you wonder why you hadn't started this years ago (:
Hopefully these few easy tips will help and make you stronger on the trails.
Happy trails,
Wynn
I took pride in never having a DNF on my running resume. That all changed last weekend at the White River 50 mile race...
An early near course record pace and my old nemesis, an aching Achilles were too much to overcome. The nice cool weather I believe lured me into staying out near the front the first 14 or so miles which was mostly climbing. Then at the top my Achilles started to really bug me and never got any better on the descent back to the start/finish area at mile 27. My legs also never got over that early pace and I debated probably 100 times what to do over my last 5 miles leading up to when I saw my crew at the mile 27 aid station.I thought about the months of hard training and preparation that went into making my lofty goals a reality. I thought back to times in races when I've been feeling like this before only to rebound or get a second wind and still have a good effort. However it was just not meant to be last Saturday. I made a rookie mistake and paid for it. I should have wrote some splits down and stuck to them which I usually do. I dreaded telling my wife and Coach Nippert I was done for the day. They were a little shocked but agreed that I would do more damage to my Achilles than it was worth to continue. That did help at the time but I'm still fighting those demons of "what if". I have attached some mental training tips that I should have been using in my race but some of these tips will help me move on and realize this is part of life or a "bump in the road". I think that is a healthy way to view what happened and I look forward to healing both mentally and physically for some new adventures down the road.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Mental Toughness for Athletes
A mentally tough athlete is able to do the following:
· Achieve consistent performances regardless of the situation
· Keep a confident, positive outlook and not choke under pressure
· Deal with distractions without losing focus
· Tolerate pain and discomfort often for long periods of time
· Keep going even when the going gets tough
· Bounce back from disappointments
mental toughness = attitude + preparation
Five characteristics of mental toughness – Do you have these?
· Confidence
· Motivation
· Concentration
· Anxiety management
· Relaxation
Affirmations:
· Short and to the point
· Present tense
· Positive
· Write them down, read them aloud to yourself several times a day leading up to your goal race and during your event.
Examples: “I’m prepared and fit”, “I belong in this race”,
“Smooth and Steady”, “I’m fast and strong”
You Are What You Think
Race Day – Find your optimum level of energy
· Visualize the race
· Music
· Affirmations
· Warm up
· Be with other competitors, friends or spend some quiet time alone
· Visualize past good performances or good workouts
· Repeat pre-race rituals that have seemed to work well in the past
Beware of the following distortions:
· All - or – Nothing Thinking: You see things in black and white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure. Look to having 3 goal levels (A / B / C) Perfectionism falls into this category. You tend to put tremendous pressure on yourself. Races are filled with anxiety, which can lead to poor performances.
· Overgeneralization: You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern. Example: One poor performance in the rain leads to the conclusion that you will never race well on rainy days.
· Catastrophizing: You attribute extreme and horrible consequences to the outcomes of events. An injury or poor performance means that you will never run/ride/swim decently again.
· “Should” Statements: You try to motivate yourself with “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts”, as if you need to be whipped or punished before you could be expected to do anything positive.
· Belief in Fairness: Life/training/racing is not fair. You may train hard for 6 months and get injured before your goal race, or you may get beat by someone you always have beaten before or by someone who trains less than you.
By: Anne Lundblad , MSW LCSW and Mark Lundblad
Good luck to Sean Andrish this weekend at the rocky, tough, and sweltering hot Catoctin 50km in Frederick, MD. Hydrate, Hydrate!
Sean Andrish Catoctin 50km
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