Ankle twisting trails, Italian Pizza, Pieces of cake, and sunlight in the Peach State

Headed out to the Peach state to get in some trail racing and also visit a good buddy who also happens to be a pretty quick trail runner. I wanted to try something new so Georgia was the perfect place. I have been there before in the winter/fall for training and I love the technical trails, sunlight and also the variety of cuisine in Atlanta. Race of choice was the Georgia State 10k Trail Running Championships put on by Tim from Dirty Spokes Productions. Known for putting on many races in the Southeast Tim and his family again put on a superb event. They have a history of putting up great course markings and today they proved that yet again. Along with a smooth event you can also witness a great passion for trail running from the orginizers as well as a unique positive energy. I can honestly say this may be the only race that I have had the actual race director pace the field out as well as meet me at the finish line. The trail was rugged so Tim the RD definitely looked like he has some mountain biking experience.

Hanging with the knowledgeable Inov-8 Rep, Dwight at the Inov-8 booth post-race

Weekend got started off nicely. Warm climate, which is pretty common in the South as compared to the Northwest this time of the year so I was pumped to be racing in warmer conditions. My friend I was staying with Chris W. took me on a small tour of what Atlanta had to offer in terms of trail running. After a short run at Stone Mountain I could see the trails are definitely more rooty than the Northwest. Less elevation gain however, the roots make up for the lack in elevation gain as you must really focus and maintain balance over technical terrain while also running fast. Not easy. My buddy Chris is great at running these types of Terrains. Currently a Masters, but don't be fooled, he will blow by younger faster road athletes on terrains like these. Lets fast forward and employ a series of old Batman and Robin comic book tokens like "bam" and "wham" and of course random jibberish to boot===>

Post race with Tim (RD), Chris, and myself

Got lost morning of the race, guess that's what we get for using mapquest. Lesson learned. Finally arrived, we all stood at the can for an extended period of time, probably due to a mixture of nerves, too much to drink, or possibly because Chris' navigation skills elongated the trip (: You're still my boy Chris! After the warm up, typical of Georgia it didn't stay cold long as the sun rose along with the heat, gloves popped off and WHAM, we're at the starting line. The usual stares at the line in an attempt to figure out how so many insane trail runners could be in a park running a race at 8 in the morning, I assume all runners do this? One last check down at the 190's to see if they're laced and ready to rock. BOOM, gun goes off and suddenly I find myself wondering how my ankles would feel after 10k of tight corners, ankle twisting roots, hills, descents, tree limbs and fallen branches. Followed by the questioning, "why do I do this"? After about the first k Chris and I pulled out to the front. As I look back on one of the many switch backs I see a pack swarming around my buddy. All I could think was I hope he holds them off. A final quad burning climb with a nice drop to the finish line caused a separation between the top three runners. Tim put together a great course with a handful of challenges as I was only able to run just over 33 mins for the win. 

After the race I of course had some eating to do while visiting Atlanta. Chris has his own pizza business, but informed me I had to check out a place that would blow my mind so we set off for a small Italian pizza restaurant nested in a small neighborhood across from Georgia Tech. He picked the Diavola for us, which means "Devil" in Italian. You can guess, it was probably gonna be spicy. Fresh peppers I could not identify, but not too spicy and lots of flavor. Not mozzarella, but mozzarella di bufala (Buffaloe Mozzarella)! Thin crust and of course the sauce was on point. I personally find myself a fan of Chicago style pizza, but this one definitely made me reminisce of pizza I've eaten in Susa & Turin, Italy, very authentic spot. However, if you are in Atlanta OZ Pizza is the place to go!

Next we set off to a place I heard about recently that specialized in Southern style cakes. Supposedly the cake shop known as "Piece of Cake" has been featured on TV shows and visited by celebrities in Atlanta and worldwide. I was told it would be good, but I have learned to lower my expectations when it comes to food as we don't all have the same taste in dessert.

I chose to go with Red Velvet and Pumpkin. After one bite I knew the hype definitely met the taste to a "T". A mouthful of blissful, moist, pumpkiny flavor hit me and I was hooked immediately. I'm already thinking about coming back to Atlanta just to eat here again....seriously

I leave Atlanta with one regret, not buying a whole cake. Stay tuned, Cross Country action coming up soon...

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Weekend Results: Oct. 22nd and 23rd

Amy Lane proves her strength and endurance by taking TWO wins this past weekend.  On Saturday the 22nd, Lane jumped into the NYCF Healthy Harvest 5k in Easthampton, MA. She took 1st in a winning time of 18:21 and also set a new PR! Bimbler's Bluff 50k in Guliford, CT is where Amy cleaned up for the second day in a row.  She has been attending this event for the past two years, taking 1st place. Her target was to make it a three-peat...which she succeeded with!  Amy won in a time of 5:07, which may actually be the new course record!  Great job Amy!

Eric Charette competed at the Xterra Monte Sano 15k Trail Race this past weekend.  He took second overall, and credits his x-talon 212s to his success.

From the South, team member Amber Moran competed in the Haunted Half Marathon this past Saturday. She took 2nd in a time of 1:22:52.  This race was a nice training piece for her real goal race, City of Oaks Half Marathon on November 11th.  Go get em' Amber!

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Michele Hartwig, Steve Conn, Mark Francis- Pumpkin Crew

I had a great time at the inaugural Pumpkin Holler 100 mile race. It was held in the 17,000 acre JT Nickels Preserve in the Ozarks. The course was all lightly traveled gravel park roads. My garmin registered a total elevation gain of 15,221 and elevation loss of 15,213. I had the typical highs and lows of any 100 mile race but was over joyed to finish with a 100 mile PR for me! Check out my full race report on my blog at http://dirtrunner100.blogspot.com/2011/10/pumpkin-holler-100-mile.html Thanks for looking! Michele Hartwig....Go Team Inov-8!

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Weekend Results: Oct. 15th and 16th

inov-8 athletes continue to kick butt on the trails! Alex Nichols and Peter Maksimow dominated the PPRR Fall Series Race #2 by finishing 1st and 2nd overall. Nichols finished in a time of 28:20 and Maksimow in 28:58. This approximate 4.8 mile cross country course located at Bear Creek Park, CO, contained four stream crossings and a 50 foot uphill rope climb. Both Alex and Peter proved that the gnarly conditions were no match for their x-talon 190s. 


Michele Hartwig decided to race a few miles this weekend. Hartwig took 4th place (13th overall) at the Pumpkin Holler 100 Mile Race held at the 17,000 acre J.T. Nickels Preserve in the Ozarks. Michele came back from the dead with about 13 miles to go. She was pulling off sub 10 minute miles for 9 miles in order to catch four women that had passed her earlier. Hartwig's shoe of choice was the roclite 268. 

Abby Mahoney headed to Monson, MA this weekend for the Peaked Mountain 7k. Mahoney took 1st place and like Nichols and Maksimow, also wore her x-talon 190s.

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Joe Gray and the Evo

Joe Gray training the newly released Evoskin. This product allows for extreme sensitivity and ground feel, while still providing a layer of protection. The Evoskin is great for plyos, water sports, weight training, CrossFit, and easy jogging on "friendly" surfaces. There is a zero differential from heel to toe, and absolutely no cushioning.  For more product information and purchasing locations, visit inov-8.com

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Nipmuck Trail Marathon Recap - Ben Nephew

Nipmuck Trail Marathon 2011

26.4 (It is an ultra.)

5100’ of climbing

I tried something different for this year’s Nipmuck Trail Marathon. The race is usually on a warm day in June, but is now held in the fall. For someone who does not enjoy running in hot weather, this is great. Due to my excitement for the cooler weather, I decided to go out hard, which due to an internal speed governor is something that is not easy for me to do. Even during races that go out slightly too hard, I’ll continuous comment how stupid we all are for going out so fast. My reason for going out hard at Nipmuck was to chase a fast time, a really fast time. I actually told the RD I was going for the course record, which doesn’t pass the laugh test with anyone who is familiar with Dave Dunham’s CR of 3:01 from 1991. To put this in perspective, no one has run under 3:10 in the past 15 years, and when I set my best time of 3:12 in 2009, I had a great race beat Jack Pilla by 13 minutes. To round out the excuses, the course was incredibly wet this year, and it rained for about a half hour during the race to ensure that none of the trail dried out. The course is a double out and back, and to run 3 hours, you basically need to run 80 minutes for the first half, and 100 minutes for the longer and hillier last 14 miles.

The race started, and I just took off. Sam Jurek came with me, but I pulled away over the first 10k to the turnaround. I felt good, and despite the wet trail, my Road X 233’s were doing fine. The rain started at some point during this section, and despite the 8am start, the trails got incredibly dark. I could have used a headlamp in the thickly wooded sections! I hit the turn in 42 minutes, which is faster than I’ve ever ran it, but I was already a couple minutes off what is likely needed to break the CR. I decided to commit to the fast pace and just try to run as fast as the conditions would allow. I only had a 90 second lead on Sam, with another couple minutes on Brian Rusiecki, so I was little concerned that I would eventually regret my strategery.

I seriously began to regret my shoe selection on the way back. There were a couple miles of mud covered leaves that had me working hard to stay upright. I had my 285’s near the start, and was considering a mid-race shoe change. Fortunately, the trail conditions improved as I neared the start, and I made pretty good time in the second 10k considering the mud and having to pass the entire field. I hit the start at about 1:25. This is where I picked up my waist belt with my Coke and Gatorade, which I was glad to see after an hour and a half of hard running.

The early hills of the second half were quite tiring after the aggressive start, and then there was the pond about a mile in. There was this 60 foot section of knee deep water with a bridge in the middle and large rocks hidden under the water. While the soaked shoes were annoying, I was just glad I didn’t smash my feet on the rocks or take a nose dive into the water. The 233’s dry very quickly, and I was back to full speed on the one mile road section, getting down into the 5:30’s. The last mile of this section seems to go on forever, and by the time I finally reached the turn around, I was disappointed with my split of 54 minutes.

The good news was that I was actually feeling better, and was hoping that I might be able to run faster on the way back to the finish. I had a 5-6 minute lead on Sam, with Brian another 8 minutes back, and it felt like I was running faster. Although I’m sure I lost some time passing oncoming runners, apparently I was slowing down. It took me 57 minutes to get back, with a final time of 3:17. Sam ran 3:30, with Brian finishing in 3:35.

I’m not going to say that I would have gone faster if someone had been closer, or if I had worn my 285’s, or that I ran for the win when I realized how wet it was. I was well rested and ran as hard as I could for as long as I could, and I ran 3:17. It obviously wasn’t the perfectly fast fall day I was hoping for, but it was nice and cool, just not very dry. It would have been safer in the 285’s, but maybe not faster. I only fell once all day, and that was while I was trying to avoid an oncoming runner right at the end of the race. I would have been happy with anything under 3:10 on an ideal day, and if I ever run 3:07 or faster, I’ll be confident that my training is going extremely well, as I’ll be in the company of Rich Fargo and Jim Garcia, and within a mile of Dave. Happy 20^th birthday, 3:01:51! Next year, we can both drink when you turn 21!

Here is my GPS track, where the elevation is not too accurate compared to other tracks:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118757155

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Weekend results: Oct. 8th and 9th

inov-8 athletes brought their A-Game to the table this week, as they dominated multiple races. Amber Moran decided to do a last minute tune-up, and jumped in the Bethel Half Marathon located in Bethel, North Carolina. She took 1st place for the women in a time of 1:25:21 (8th place overall). Her cruising pace was approx. 6:31.

Chris Reed traveled to West Virginia this past weekend to compete in the Triology Stage Races. On Friday the 7th, Reed tied for 1st place in the 50k with a time of 4:40:16. On Saturday the 8th, he raced a 50 mile distance taking 2nd place in a time of 7:56:39. Finally Reed topped it off by running a 1/2 marathon on Sunday the 9th, taking 2nd place in 1:32:11. His combined three performances totaled a time of 14:09:06. Chris Reed ended up in 2nd place for the Triology Series. He was only 12 minutes off of the 1st place position.

Kevin Tilton continues to impress. This past weekend Tilton headed to Sunday River, Maine to compete in the Mountain Epic Race. This race is 12 miles long and tackles 8 different peaks. Tilton won the race in flying time of 1:34:56.

Way to go team!!!

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Catching up with Alex Nichols - Lead King Race

Sometimes not training pays off. I wouldn't normally embrace such sentiment, but after the events of the last month I'm starting to become a believer.

It all started with The Pikes Peak Ascent, and the shocking performance of my teammate and soon to be life partner Peter Maksimow. In the weeks leading up to the Ascent, Peter was relegated to the bane of a runner's existence: cross training. While I shudder at the thought of sitting on a bike saddle for more then the 20 minutes it takes to get to work, somehow Peter embraced it.

We were both gearing up for the Ascent then the onslaught of transrockies the day after; I was running 130 miles a week and Peter was biking like Marco Pantani, but without the drugs (hopefully).

Race day of the Ascent came and went. I puked and Peter excelled. I was impressed and befuddled by Peter's strong finish on relatively little training. What exactly was he doing on that bike of his?

In the next six days we would have to run 119 miles together through the not yet snow-capped Colorado Rockies. My biggest concern was for Peter's stress fracture. I had visions of broken bones and misshapen shins running through my mind as we set off from Buena Vista on day one. Six days later Peter's leg was fine but mine was a bloated mess. I made the rookie mistake of strapping my timing chip on too tightly the second to last day, making the final trek from Vail to Beaver creek a painful yet enjoyable hobble/hike/piggyback ride. Meanwhile Peter continued to run strong despite a lack of any real running.

Following our transient rockies adventure, the swelling in my leg died down but my desire to train and race did not. I was back into 15-20 mile days in no time. I even decided to start doing some serious speed work to get ready for the US 50k champs on Sept. 24th. "What better way to start off my new speed-minded training routine then to run the Nielson 2 mile challenge", I thought. For those of you who are not familiar with this storied event, "the Nielson" as it is known world-wide, is a free two mile race on a gravel trail that takes place on the first Saturday of every month. My plan for this month's race was to run the two miles hard, then add on some mile repeats afterward. It seemed like a good course of action until I ran slower for two miles then I have since I was a freshman in high school. I skipped the rest of the workout and went home.

In the two days after my Nielson I got in a couple of long mountain runs, but that's about when my training ended. My timing chip related injury had gone away but only at the expense of my other leg. I had pulled or strained or done something to seriously aggravate my (previously healthy) calf. I went from 20 mile days, down to four, and then to zero. The recovery time seemed to stretch on longer then it should while Sept 24th got closer and closer. Like Peter, I eventually got onto my bike.

Two weeks and a few hours of biking later I forced myself to make a decision. The condition of my calf was still a question mark and the 50k was looming, so I did what everyone does in that kind of situation: I toed the line of the Lead King Loop 25k. Peter and I had been invited by some friends at runcolo.com to run the Lead King Loop, which served at the Colorado state 25k championships this year. Like Peter before the Ascent , my training was less then ideal and there was a good chance I might injure myself during the race. My reasoning was that the 25k would be a good test to determine if I could actually run the 50k.

The night before Lead King was spent enjoying Black Fox's newest saison, Cracked, as well as a couple of local Carbondale offerings from the wienery. I wasn't sure what would happen come race morning but at least I was drinking beer through a hotdog straw and eating pizza with goat cheese and pears.

Within the first half mile I realized that I was actually feeling good, even if I was carrying a couple extra pounds that I had picked up in the previous few sedentary weeks. Peter and I quickly gaped most of the field on the climb, like transrockies all over again. However, this time I decided not to go for Peter's butt on the uphill. I set off on my own after two miles and began to contemplate my existence. My mind really wandered during the six mile climb up to 10800 feet. Mostly I wondered why I wouldn't just slow down and not force myself into such pain. I mean seriously, what's the point? Just as I decided that it wasn't worth it I saw Adam Rich a few switchbacks below me, and I understood. I pushed onward.

I hit the top of the climb, checked out the view of Snowmass, saw that I had about a four minute lead, then proceeded to run 15:10 for the next three downhill miles. It was just about then that the whole lack of running thing caught up to me. The course got technical and my legs started to give way. It kind of felt like aqua jogging, except a lot more painful. Unfortunately I still had 5.5 miles to go. The only thing that kept me going was the fear that Adam Rich and his size 14 feet would come clomping up behind me. My pace went from 5 flat, to 6's, and finally to 7:30's. I was scared. Miraculously I made it to the .5 mile to go sign without seeing anyone else, and without walking. I turned one last time to make sure I wouldn't be out kicked, when I saw him. It was Peter. I laughed a bit, feeling slightly more comfortable with the idea of loosing to my teammate in the last quarter mile. To my surprise Peter held off, saying later that he thought I was injured, why else would I be running so slow? We finished within 5 seconds of each other and both went under the old course record. I won a huge marble foot.

Although the Lead King Loop went well it made me realize that there's no way my quads could handle the pounding of another 25k. Training has it's advantages sometimes, especially in mountain running. But in the last month at least two members of Team Inov8 have certainly discovered the power of beer and biking. Maybe next year Peter and I will give up running entirely- we'd sure to win transrockies!

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Hanging with Meb

Got a chance to hang with Meb Keflezighi at the San Jose Rock n' Roll Half Marathon yesterday, and tell him about Inov-8 shoes! He went 1:02 for the half marathon...imagine how fast he could go with some Road-X 155's...

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Team inov-8 Weekend Results

Team inov-8 attacked trails and roads this past weekend. Kevin Tilton raced the 8k Greater Boston Track Club XC Invite and placed 7th in a time of 27:49. His x-talon 190's were definitely put to the test on the muddy race course.

Out in Colorado, Peter Maksimow and Alex Nichols competed in the 1st race of the Pike's Peak Fall Series. This 3.5 mile course includes a 3/4 mile stream run. Makismow took 2nd and Nichols took third. After coming off of a great race at the 120 mile long GORE-TEX Transrockies, both Makismow and Nichols stated it was "too short and too fast."

Abby Mahoney and Amy Lane both competed at the Hatfield Harvest 5k in Hatfied, MA this past Saturday. Mahoney took 1st place for the women's field, and placed 3rd overall. Lane was the 2nd woman to finish, and took 5th place overall. Not satisfied with running 3.1 miles, Lane decided to race in the Nipmuck Trail Marathon (CT) the next day (Sunday the 2nd) and took 2nd place in a time of 4:19.

Katie Caba raced at the Twin Cities Marathon which also doubles as the USATF Masters Marathon. Caba took 7th place in a time of 2:54, which is a new PR (congrats!). Katie just came off of a winning performance at GORE-TEX Transrockies which is raced on anything BUT roads. The transition from racing trails to roads is always a toughy on the legs.

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