Pictures from Eagleman 70.3

This past weekend I headed out to Cambridge, MD to cheer on some friends out at the Eagleman 70.3 triathlon. And of course, in my pursuit of becoming a better photographer (I've got a ways to go), I took pictures around the course... well, at least within a few blocks of the transition area. Check out the pictures at my Flickr page: CLICK HERE.

A few select shots below.

Bobby - Past, Present & Future

It's been pretty quiet here on the blog so I figured I was due an update as to where I've been, what I'm up to, and what my future plans are.

PAST
ITB injury in February. It got better, I ran a few 50k's as MMT prep but apparently I put the mileage back on too quickly, causing it to injure again at Promise Land. I made the decision to drop from MMT and, given the epic weather that they had this year, I am happy with that decision. Instead, I helped crew for Amy Sproston at MMT and she won the women's field just under 25 hours. (I took a ton of pics and put them up on my Flickr account).

PRESENT
After some time off, the ITB is feeling great now and Coach Mike has me SLOWLY putting the mileage back on. Not going to make the same mistake we made the first time around so we're taking the conservative route. I can tell that I've lost some speed and some endurance, but it'll come back soon enough so I'm not fretting it too much. For now I'm just enjoying being able to run pain free.

FUTURE
Aside from building back up the speed and endurance (which might take a while), I'm pretty excited about what's coming up. In July I will be crewing and pacing for my friend Alisa Springman at the Badwater Ultramarathon. Pretty sweet, huh? (For those not familiar with Badwater, it's 135 miles through Death Valley in the middle of the summer). Alisa did pretty well at Badwater last year so she earned herself a slot in the elite 10am start time. I'm going to need to start heat training soon, and one option is running outside with multiple layers of jackets, sweaters, leggings, hats, etc. However, I don't really want to be that weird guy in the neighborhood, so I think I'll try to find a sauna instead. Either way, I'm not a huge fan of ridicuously hot weather so I'm not totally looking forward to it. On the plus side, it will make the rest of my summer runs seem relatively easy, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

So that's what's going on these days. Until Badwater I won't really have much to post in terms of ultra events, but I should be doing some more skydiving so I'll try to get good pics/video to post. Until then...

Race Report: Promise Land 50k

Promise Land 50k
Race #3 of 6 in the Beast Series
April 25, 2009

Wow am I late to post this race report. Mea culpa. After dealing with an ego-crushing performance at Promise Land, I had to face the facts and make the (smart) decision to drop from MMT, thus pushing back my hopes and dreams of running my first 100. I was so caught up in this decision and worried about getting my ITB better that I totally forgot to write a recap.

I have since forgotten most of the little details from that day, so instead here are some pictures with random commentary.

Some speedy mofos - Amy Sproston, Bethany Patterson and Keith Knipling

Why do Horton's races always start so early?

A few days before the race I was out on an easy 8 mile run when my ITB started to act up again. I thought it had been fully healed since I was able to run Terrpain Mountain a few weeks back with no problems. I guess I was adding on the weekly mileage a bit too fast. Knowing that the ITB was being problematic, I knew that today was going to be a tough one, but I also knew that if I wanted to stay in the Beast Series, I had to at least finish under the cutoffs.

My two goals for the year were to 1) finish MMT as my first 100 and 2) complete all 6 Beast Series races. Running Promise Land was going to possibly exacerbate my injury, but if I didn't run it then I was definitely out of the Beast and there was no guarantee that I'd be healed for MMT just three weeks away. I decided on running Promise Land to at least stay in the Series, and if all went well then I could still do MMT.

I forced myself to start towards the back of the pack so as to not be tempted to run fast. It also was a nice chance to run with folks whom I normally don't see until post-race activities. So off I went, slowly making my way in hopes that the pace would please the knee.

Heading into Aid Station #1 after climbing for ~4 miles right from the start

The first few miles weren't that bad. It was dark but all the runners were pretty close together. I found myself running/walking with Martha Wright and Q. They both promised to crack the whip and keep me running at a conservative pace. Taking it slow seemed to be working and I wasn't losing too much ground because it was all climbing and everyone was walking. After a few more miles though, despite my best efforts the ITB started to ache with every step. Crap.

I have to give it Promise Land, it was a nice looking course.

Me. Smiling despite the pain.

The ITB pain would come and go a few times during the first 15 or so miles, and during the times when I was able to run it was actually pretty enjoyable. There was a very scenic section of rolling jeep roads that I recall being gorgeous, but somewhere around this point I noticed an unusually high amount of moisture on my back? "Why am I sweating so much? Wait, why is my sweat cold??" Apparently the bladder in my Nathan pack had sprung a leak and was slowly draining itself down my lower back and soaking my shorts. Awesome!

I did my best at the next aid station to make an impromptu repair with the ever-useful duct tape. Unfortunately duct tape doesn't hold up well in wet conditions so I was stuck wearing a useless pack (ok ok, it did a graet job of holding my gels). Luckily my good friend and fellow Brooks athlete Alisa Springman came to the rescue and lent me one of her handhelds. I was saved!

From this point on I did a mixture of running (with pain) and walking (when the pain was just too much). This was quite frustrating because I felt fine in terms of cardiovascular and muscular endurance, but the acute ITB pain had become so intolerable at times that I wasn't able to bend my leg, so I looked like a peg-leg pirate with a totally straight leg that had to be swung around. I'm sure it was fun to watch, but it definitely was not fun to endure.

Again with the nice views

I ran with Q and Alisa for a good while. Q is someone I don't normally get to run with, so that was nice, and Alisa is normally a speedy one but she had just run 100 miles at McNaughton 2 weeks prior and then 50 miles at Bull Run the weekend before this race. Alisa and I discussed plans for Badwater (I'll be pacing her there this summer) and Q and I discussed... who the hell knows, probably making fun of people and talking about bourbon (he's quite a fan). We actually did talk some serious stuff though, and when discussing my injury and race plans, this is where I made the decision to drop from MMT. Q agreed that this was a smart move, and from that point on I felt like I had lifted a huge weight from my shoulders because now there was no pressure to perform in the coming weeks. All would be well and I would be recovered soon enough.

Me and Q resting at the waterfall.

Waterfall commentary

These bastards came after the waterfall... and with my pegleg it seemed like they went on forever.

A few miles after the waterfall and the steps, we made our way back to the wide open aid station on top of the mountain pictured below. We had been there earlier in the day as well (sorry I don't know names or mileages at these points, I'm more of an MMT guy myself).

Alisa and some others refueling after a long climb, getting ready to start running again.

After topping the mountain we headed back down for the last quarter or so of the race. Most were relieved to be given the opportunity to run once again. I was not so lucky, and proceeded to walk down.

After passing the final aid station, the pain in my ITB magically disappeared and I was able to run for the first time in what seemed like ages. It was roughly 4 miles to the finish, all downhill, and I ran every step of the way. This is probably the only time during the day when I felt the horrible heat that I was expecting so much from. It wasn't all the bad, but after conferring with others afterwards, I think my experience was the exception.

Crossing the field and approaching the finish line

As I approached the finish line, I could hear Horton on the microphone announcing "Here comes Bobby Gill - living up to his #9 seed". Not really the greatest of things to hear when I was enjoying a rare brief moment of satisfaction just for being finished with the damn race under the cutoffs. I clearly was nowhere near #9, probably more like 109, but whatever, I was still in the Beast Series (although with some pretty slow times) and the only pressing goal I had was to rest and heal up.

My finishing time was 7:30:05. This is actually faster than I had thought I would run. I was anticipating more of a death march and coming in right under the cutoff. I guess my walking pace is quite fast, so that helps.

So there you have it, my Promise Land race report. Very anticlimactic and it was only a month late!

Gear Review: Sole Ultra Insoles

iRunFar.com is currently premiering a series of gear reviews that are tested and written by the loyal readers. As part of this series, I received a pair of SOLE Ultra Softec Heat Moldable Custom Footbeds (insoles).

The insoles are constructed with a moldable EVA base, open-cell polyurethane cushioning and a perforated polyester weave topsheet for moisture wicking. Of the seven available SOLE insoles, the Ultra Softec's are the thickest with 3.2mm of cushioning.

Testing supplies - Brooks Cascadia 3s and SOLE Ultra Softecs

While these insoles could be slid into your shoes straight out of the packaging, for optimal results you should first heat-mold them. To do this, you pre-heat the oven to 200 F and pop them in for 2 minutes. On the bottom of the insole is a box that changes color when they are soft enough for molding. When I removed mine from the oven the box hadn't changed color so I put them back in for another 2. Still nothing. Either the indicator was malfunctioning or my oven was. It is entirely possible it was my oven, but I really don't know. I decided 4 minutes had to be plenty of time and they had to be ready so I removed them from the oven and inserted them into my Cascadias. I laced the shoes up and stood in them perfectly still with a neutral stance shoulder-width apart for two minutes, just as the instructions say. Molding process complete.

Before I get into the performance of the insoles, I should give some background on my particular biomechanics and typical footwear choices since both of these factors influence my assessment. I have a fairly neutral gait and wide (ok ok... fat) feet. Because of my wide feet I prefer the wide toebox of Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes. I normally run with blue Superfeet insoles per the recommendation of my physical therapist to give my arches some added support during foot-strike and hopefully prevent injury. Below is a visual comparison of the Brooks Cascadia factory insoles, my used blue Superfeet, and the SOLE Ultra Softecs that were tested.

Various Insoles top view (L-R) - Cascadia 3s, Superfeet and Ultra Softecs

Various insoles bottom view (L-R) - Cascadias, Superfeet and Ultra Softecs

Various insoles side view (L-R) - Cascadias, Superfeet and Ultra Softecs

I tested the Ultra Softecs for two weeks on multiple trail runs ranging from 4 miles to 16 miles. On my first run with them my intial impression was that they were relatively comfortable, but after putting a few miles in my metatarsals started to get noticeably cramped. Thinking this may be due to the switch from Superfeet to SOLEs, I kept wearing them but the cramping never ceased. This produced serious discomfort on my runs that I definitely would not be able to tolerate in an ultra.

I believe the cramping of my metatarsals was due to the increased thickness of the Ultra Softecs compared to my Superfeet. They are approximately three times thicker and I apparently need all the space I can get to keep my dogs from barking. Because of this metatarsal cramping I was unable to get a good feel for how the molded footbed performs supporting the foot. SOLEs are popular insoles so I imagine I might have better luck with one of the thinner insoles in the SOLE product line such as the Softec Regulars or the Slim Sports.

Overall, I would not recommend the SOLE Softec Ultras to someone who has wide/fat feet and needs space in their shoe, but I wouldn't not recommend them to someone with normal sized feet since it is possible the molded footbed could provide valuable arch support.

Training Run Report: Chocolate Bunny 50k

The days leading up to this year's Chocolate Bunny were somewhat nerve-wracking. The Park Service had scheduled to do a controlled burn in the area we were to be running, so we didn't know if the usual Chocolate Bunny route would be runnable. As if running a 50k on MMT trails in the dark isn't hard enough, I don't think a cloud of smoke and smoldering tree branches would have worked to the runners' advantage. After careful deliberations with the Forest Rangers and a good rainfall the night prior to the race, Race Director Tom Corris got the email out indicating that the original Bunny route was a go.

The route was to take us from Route 211 East to Powell's Fort Camp, aka miles 58.4 to 89.3 of MMT100. This run is perfect training to get accustomed to running the nighttime portions of the MMT course. You get to run it on fresh legs and rested (if you like), but still in the dark so when you're hallucinating at 3am on race day, you at least know that the dancing gnomes up on Short Mountain were not there during your previous encounter.

View Larger Map

Runners gathered at Powell's Fort Camp and carpooled to the start at Route 211 East. We got in a quick group picture, contemplated how much the temps were going to drop throughout the night, and we were off at 7:45pm.

2009 Chocolate Bunny runners

Robin came up from GA to visit DC and run the Bunny for her MMT training

We had 9.3 miles to cover before our first aide station (by the way, I am noticing I spell it "aide" and not "aid"... is there a difference? Do I care? Do you? Didn't think so...). We had a decent climb for the first 5 miles or so, then some downhills and a nice easy cruise up Crisman Hollow Road, followed by another ascent up Jawbone Gap Trail. Amongst others, I was running with John Cassilly during this section, and previously during MMT Training Run #2 he led us off-course at this very spot. Needless to say, we were very astute to make sure we didn't do any unnecessary miles as we came up Jawbone.

Vince Bowman and Robin Meagher running on one of the few MMT road sections

I got into the first Aide Station of the night (Moreland Gap) in a little over 2 hours. Robin had fallen back a tad, so I waited for her to catch up since I knew Short Mountain was next on the agenda and it's never fun going that alone. I spent probably 15 or 20 mins at the aide station, plenty of time to cool down and realize how cold it actually was outside. I thew on my longsleeve, refilled my hand-held bottle with Hammer Perpetuum (possibly using this as my nutrition during MMT), admired the unusual sight of Kiristin Corris wearing bunny ears and posting to Twitter with race updates, then headed back out onto the trail.

Me to Kirst: "Did I just get twotted?"

Short Mountain is notorious for the ungodly amount of rocks that cover the trail. The climb up Short Mountain isn't difficult in the slightest, but after 8 miles of closely-spaced and deliberately-placed steps (wow, that rhymes) and some serious inversion/eversion of the feet, it is obvious to see why a good number of people drop from MMT immediately following this section.

Heading up Short Mountain

So sue me, it was dark.

A few miles into Short Mountain, I noticed that I was starting to get into a funk. Perhaps it was the combination of the late hour and not moving at my preferred pace, but I knew that I needed to pick up the pace a bit and zone out to get back into the game. I pulled away from the group and was now alone with my thoughts (and my flashlights too, I guess). At one point as I was running along the ridgeline I looked out to the west and saw the lights of the houses in the valley. It reminded me of a skydive I once did at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve in Eloy, AZ - silent, dark, and with a gorgeous view of the lights below in the distance. After a minute of staring out into this, I remembered I was supposed to be running and I got back to it.

Typical view for the night, although the flash lights the trees too much and takes away from the beauty out in the distance.

Coming down off of Short Mountain and into Edinburg Gap for Aide Station #2 of the evening, the crew was noticeably more quiet. Maybe it was the lack of twittering? Perhaps, but at this point I knew I too was starting to feel the late-night drowsiness so I sat down and popped a caffeine pill (along with a ginger root pill and an electrolyte pill - if only I had glowsticks to make the picture more complete). The caffeine seemed to perk me up and the ginger calmed the hints of an uneasy stomach, so off I went to make the ascent up to Woodstock Tower.

Camera flashes in the eyes do not help with night vision, FYI.

The initial climb out of the aide station was a bit slow moving, but once on top of the ridgeline the footing was noticeably easier than Short Mountain and that equated to a much quicker pace. I got into a nice groove, passed a few folks and sang to myself to keep my brain from wandering (the rocks were turning into turtles, so I could definitely tell I was getting tired). At one point I ran into Brad Hinton running towards me. He had been holding down the #2 spot in the race, but apparently had gotten lost and turned around, losing over an hour due to backtracking. After passing a few runners and wondering why there were so many hikers out at this time of night, he finally recognized me as a familiar face and quickly turned himself around and headed in the right direction. He later dropped at Woodstock Gap, the next aide station, but I don't blame him with all the extra mileage he got in.

Aside from the frequent tripping on rocks and dropping of my flashlight and almost losing it as it rolls down the mountain, I made it through Woodstock Gap aide station rather uneventfully. I took another video during the final 5 mile stretch, but forgot that my headlamp looking into the cmaera wouldn't make for the best footage. Oh well, at least there is some commentary to go with it.

Blah blah blah, it's dark and I'm tired.

The final few miles seemed to go on forever, but I eventually came to the final (and steep!) downhill section. I had been able to run down almost all of the downhills of the night without disturbing my ever-healing IT Band, but this section was just too steep so I was forced to walk. I arrived at the Powell's Fort Camp parking lot a little after 3:00am, received my chocolate bunny from Tom (hence the race name), and finished with a time of 7:25. Not my best time for a 50k on MMT Trails, but given the darkness, my healing ITB and Short Mountain, I'd say that I'm pleased with it. It was an absolutely gorgeous night out and the Bunny went off without a hitch.

I enjoyed the spaciousness of my new car and rested for a bit while I waited for Robin to finish up. As you can see from the bloodshot eyes in the shot I took on the drive home, I clearly could have used a bit more rest, but I made it home safely so no complaints. Right now it is way past my bedtime on Sunday night and I should be sleeping to make up for last night, but I have priorities and I need to please my adoring fans (ha!). Thanks to Tom, Kirstin, Kris, Kristine, Walker and all the other volunteers for sacrificing their Saturday night (and Easter morning) so that we could enjoy our jaunt through the woods!

Bloodshot eyes - a byproduct of running, my natural high

Race Report: Terrapin Mountain 50k

I took a risk this weekend and raced knowing that my IT band was still in healing mode. I had to because Terrapin Mountain 50k is the 2nd race in the Beast Series and, aside from finishing MMT, finishing the Beast Series is one of my goals for this year. With plenty of visits to the PT and equal amounts of time spent stretching and foam-rolling at home, healing has steadily moved along and two days prior to the race I was able to get in an 8-miler with little to no pain.

This was the inaugural 50k at Terrapin. Last year they ran a marathon, but in actuality the mileage was a bit higher than 26.2, so instead of shortening it to be legit, Clark Zealand (the RD) did what any decent ultrarunner would do and he added an extra mile or three to make a nice challenging 50k.

That's me - #5. I guess they didn't realize I'd be taking it slow(er) today.

Rain was forecasted for all of Saturday. As I slept in my tent the night before the race, I was constantly awoken by loud surges in the rain's intensity - never a good sign. By some amazing turn of events, mother nature called it quits just before daybreak and we were graced with a dry start. I snuck in to the middle of the pack, hoping it would trick me into running a conservative race, but as we made our way out of the lodge and into the mountains I slowly found myself passing a good number of people. I was somewhat expecting to be passing folks though. Coach Mike had formulated an ITB-friendly gameplan for me: run the uphills and walk the downs. So I did, passing everyone who sticks to the normal ultra routine of walking the uphills. It was actually quite entertaining because going up I would pass the same 10 or so people and then on the downs they would all pass me. We yo-yo'd back and forth all day long, and eventually, to qualm the "this idiot doesn't know how to run an ultra" thoughts that were most definitely running through their heads, I would explain that I in fact had a method to my madness.

Trying to walk the downhills is tough, so I shuffled/power-walked instead.

The course itself was challenging yet fun. Plenty of climbing, roughly 8k feet of it, and despite all the rain from the night before, there wasn't nearly as much mud as anyone had thought. Contrary to what the attached pictures show, most of the day had us running through jeep roads or single track. There was even a section towards the end that was MMT-esque with jagged rocks that made for impossible fotting. The final ascent up Terrapin Mountain was steep and gnarly as well, and to prove we were there we had to punch our bibs with two different orienteering punches that awaited us at the top.

The course was well marked and, being a first-timer on these trails, it took me onto portions of the Promise Land 50k and Hellgate 100k courses, both races in the Beast Series that I will be running this year. I don't remember much of the specifics from the course, probably because I was concentrating so hard all day on my ITB to make sure it wasn't hurting, but it definitely felt great to be out there running in the mountains, and it especially felt good to be running pain free. On some of the downhill sections, the gradient was so steep that I couldn't help but move at a not-quite-walking, aka running, pace. When I would do this, my ITB would quickly chime in with a hint of pain as if to say "No no, remember what Coach Mike told you!" I quickly got the picture and went back to shuffling downhill, repeating to myself my mantra for the day: "It feels good. Don't f@#k it up."

FOG, FOG and more FOG... all day long.

Speaking of f@#cking it up, I somehow managed to drain my GPS battery before the race and I also forgot my camera battery sitting on the charger at home, so if you were wondering where my usual array of pictures, maps, and elevation profiles are at... sorry boss, not this time. (By the way, all pics courtesy of eco-X Sports).

Clark cheering me on as I finish. The camera guy missed our sweet high-five.

I finished in 5:41:43, 27th place out of 148 starters. Not too shabby for just trying to complete the dang thing under the cutoffs to stay in the Series. All in all, I'd have to say that Clark and the rest of the eco-X crew put on an extremely well organized race with great schwag and cool logos (who doesn't love cool logos?!). I am definitely looking forward to running more out on these trails and running more eco-X events in the coming future.

And now that I've got my legs back, it's time to make up for that month of lost training!


Links:
Results
Photos

Catawba Run-Around 2009

This past weekend there was an "unorganized" and "unofficial" ultra on the Appalachian Trail in southern Virginia, the Catawba Run-Around. (Organized events are not allowed on the AT, so technically this event doesn't happen. Shhhh.) My IT Band is still recovering from Holiday Lake so I went out to this un-event looking to get in some time-on-feet from hiking and check out the stunning views that I had been hearing so much about.

Lots of ultrarunners who happened to be at the same place at the same time

After dropping more than 9" of snow on us just a few days before, mother nature decided to cooperate and bless us with temperatures in the 70's, something that is extremely rare for early March. I had planned on hiking 13 miles, but with the amazing weather and an IT band that wasn't feeling all too bad, I opted to do some additional mileage and logged a total of 18 miles of hiking with some light running thrown in for good measure. Rebecca Byerly (of the Libyan Challenge 1st American Team) was taking it easy since she too was having some ITB issues, so I had good company for the day.

After the runners headed out, a group of us headed out to the Aide Station #1 and set up shop. After sitting around for a bit, Rebecca and I got antsy to go explore the sights so we decided to hike up to Dragon's Tooth. Talk about a good idea. Check out the view!

The view from Dragon's Tooth

On the way up to Dragon's Tooth we passed all of the runners as they made their way down to the aide station that we had just come from. (Check my Flickr page for all of my shots from the day.) We spent just enough time gazing off into the distance and taking pictures to make it back down as Keith and the rest of the crew were packing up and ready to move to Aide Station #2. This was great timing too, because as soon as we pulled into the next parking lot the front-runners were just arriving. Hands down the fastest aide station set-up I've ever done! Then again, it was only the second aide station I've ever set up...

Front-runners Mike Mason and Clark Zealand refuel at AS#2

After a few minutes of hanging around eating oreos and pringles, Rebecca and I realized that we had to get out onto the trail before our inner fat-kid ruined our intentions any further. We headed out, albeit slowly, and started to once more enjoy some gorgeous hiking on the AT.

Good times on top of Tinker Cliffs

Rebecca, in typical fashion, was only carrying a single water bottle for a 4 hour stretch out on the trail. Luckily there was some leftover snow on the ground that could be used for melting into a hydration source. Rebecca also realized another less practical use for the snow - snow angels!

Sophie caught up to us at McAfee's Knob

Tommy C. caught up on McAfee's too, but he opted for some water instead of posing for a pic

For the most part we hiked it, but when the legs were feeling good (read: dying to move due to recent inactivity) we ran the downhills and select flats. Hiking proved to be a wise decision because I only felt minimal pain throughout the entire day and that was in the final mile or 2. In total we got in 18 miles with 3 good climbs in just over 6 hours. I found a murky but cold pond close to the finish and sat in there for a bit since I knew an ice-bath would be out of the picture for the evening. Let's hope there wasn't any giardia in there!

The post-run activities once again proved to be a great time with good VHTRC friends. We all hung around the finish line consuming recovery beverages of the adult variety as runners trickled in. Somehow an AT through-hiker found his way to our gathering and he partied with us for a bit. Interesting.

Aaron, myself and Sophie enjoying the good life

We spent a lot of time in those chairs

Once night fell and all runners were in (and our stomachs started rumbling), we headed over to the Homeplace, an all-you-can-eat restaurant that is heaven to a through-hiker looking for a warm meal, or in our case ultrarunners looking to replenish depleted calories.

The Homeplace

We ate to our heart's content and had a great time heckling the wait staff (all in good fun, of course). What a great way to wrap up the day. With fantastic views and freakishly warm weather, it was a pleasant reminder that Spring is right around the corner. Let's hope my IT band heals up quickly and allows me to run the whole thing next year. Can't wait!

Trail Paparazzi Links:
Charlie's pics
Kirstin's pics
My pics
Sophie's pics