Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Berryman Love Slideshow!
By now most of you have heard that I did not finish the 50miler at Berryman this past weekend. I am definitely disappointed, but it is what it is. Many little things were working against me, as well as a few really big ones. One thing I had going for me was the support of friends and family. The following slideshow are some screen captures I took from Facebook, Twitter (texts from my phone), and DailyMile. Watch it and feel the love!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Return to Berryman, or Team Godzilla Attacks the Trails!
My training sort of fell off last month after Double Chubb so I am not as physically prepared as I would like to be but mentally I am in the zone.
The big difference between 2008 and 2011 is that this time I won't be running alone. Jim Donahue will be running the 50mile course with me. It is funny to hear us talk about the race because we both know we are not prepared but I say Jim is more ready and he says he thinks I am. We'll find out who was right, Saturday.
To be fair I did run the Marathon last year with Chuck and Robin. We had a good time, but the Marathon is not the 50. This time everything will be different. I am not sure if Jim and I will run the whole race together or if we will split up and run our own races but either way it is going to be an adventure!
In honor of the momentous occasion I have decided to bring back the Haiku.
Running fifty miles
Rocks, roots, trees, and streams for hours
Repeat second loop
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Expedition Impossible Update (there's sand everywhere, yo!)
You may remember that a while back ROCK Racing's Chuck,and Robin, and I tried to get on a new reality show called Expedition Impossible. I don't want to give away too many details, buuuuuutttttt...we weren't chosen and will be watching it at home like most people. I think the producers of the show made a huge mistake by not selecting us. Their loss. Next year we will put together a kick ass video and hopefully be selected.
The show will be airing on June 23rd. Check it out.
The show will be airing on June 23rd. Check it out.
Monday, May 16, 2011
The Gasconade60 Race Report and Video
All day Friday I was excited about getting off work and hitting the road, then Beth called and told me that her car wouldn't start and it was in the Wal-mart parking lot. I left work early to see if I could get it to start (I couldn't). This was the last thing I needed since I still had to load everything for the race and drive over 2hours to get to the hotel. We ended up leaving a note saying that we were having car trouble and left it there until Sunday morning when it magically started, and we drove it home (still need to figure out what was wrong though).
I was stressed out because I had so much to do. Certain that I was going to forget something I over packed and brought way too much stuff. At the hotel everything was pared down to what I needed, and surprisingly I didn't forget anything. On the way down we stopped at Sports Authority and bought a Sportbrella XL for Beth. She didn't use it but it will be good for her to have in the future. The Garmin was giving us directions, and I missed a turn so when it recalculated it had us going in an infinite loop in Clayton, I was afraid we would get pulled over for DWP, "Driving While Poor". I saw what it was doing and turned somewhere else then everything was fine. We made it the rest of the way without incident. Michael and Terra had a bit of excitement when one of the straps holding his kayak down broke and it went flying of to crash land on the interstate. Shockingly there was very little damage.
At the motel I got everything ready for the race including my new favorite race food, Bean and Rice Burritos. Those things really hit the spot out on the river. They taste good and they travel well, what could be better? I also brought plenty of Honey Stinger Waffles and Ginsting Gels to get me through to the finish. Ginsting is like jet fuel, I haven't found a gel that works better.
Race morning we headed out early and got to the race start with enough time to unload at a relaxed pace, and had everything ready before the pre-race meeting. There were a wide variety of boats in the race. Some that looked super fast, and they were.
After the meeting the race started. We decided not to start in the water, so after every one took off we got in and started our trip down the river. The weather was cool, and misty for most of the day, with a drizzle of rain every now and then. There was also a crazy headwind for most of the race. We had some snags in the first leg and ended up separating.
I had a lot of fun using the new Adventure Camera that Beth bought for me. It is waterproof and shoots video as well as stills. I kept it attached to my PFD with a lanyard so it was always handy. Not having to worry about it getting wet is great. I look forward to using it quite a bit during future adventures.
Now I will leave you to watch the video, but before I do I want to mention a few things that really surprised me about the race.
My Stohlquist aSEA PFD was awesome. I had some concerns about using it for the 340 because it is a little thick, but after 9+ hours of paddling I hardly even noticed that I was wearing it.
I was also very impressed with my Garmin 305. It lasted the entire race! One time at around 6.5hours it gave the low battery warning, and I kept expecting it to die, but it stayed on for the whole race. When I used it for Double Chubb I thought I was lucky to get 6.5hours out of it, little did I know it had plenty of life left.
So here is that video I was telling you about. It won't win any awards, but I promise I will get better at editing .
I would like to thank the Aquaholics and all the volunteers for putting on such a great race. It was a long day in some lousy weather to be standing around waiting, and waiting for some boats to paddle by. It was a great experience, the farthest I have ever paddled by 40 or so miles. I felt like I could have kept going and now I have a little more perspective for the upcoming MR340.
I was stressed out because I had so much to do. Certain that I was going to forget something I over packed and brought way too much stuff. At the hotel everything was pared down to what I needed, and surprisingly I didn't forget anything. On the way down we stopped at Sports Authority and bought a Sportbrella XL for Beth. She didn't use it but it will be good for her to have in the future. The Garmin was giving us directions, and I missed a turn so when it recalculated it had us going in an infinite loop in Clayton, I was afraid we would get pulled over for DWP, "Driving While Poor". I saw what it was doing and turned somewhere else then everything was fine. We made it the rest of the way without incident. Michael and Terra had a bit of excitement when one of the straps holding his kayak down broke and it went flying of to crash land on the interstate. Shockingly there was very little damage.At the motel I got everything ready for the race including my new favorite race food, Bean and Rice Burritos. Those things really hit the spot out on the river. They taste good and they travel well, what could be better? I also brought plenty of Honey Stinger Waffles and Ginsting Gels to get me through to the finish. Ginsting is like jet fuel, I haven't found a gel that works better.
Race morning we headed out early and got to the race start with enough time to unload at a relaxed pace, and had everything ready before the pre-race meeting. There were a wide variety of boats in the race. Some that looked super fast, and they were.
After the meeting the race started. We decided not to start in the water, so after every one took off we got in and started our trip down the river. The weather was cool, and misty for most of the day, with a drizzle of rain every now and then. There was also a crazy headwind for most of the race. We had some snags in the first leg and ended up separating.
I had a lot of fun using the new Adventure Camera that Beth bought for me. It is waterproof and shoots video as well as stills. I kept it attached to my PFD with a lanyard so it was always handy. Not having to worry about it getting wet is great. I look forward to using it quite a bit during future adventures.Now I will leave you to watch the video, but before I do I want to mention a few things that really surprised me about the race.
My Stohlquist aSEA PFD was awesome. I had some concerns about using it for the 340 because it is a little thick, but after 9+ hours of paddling I hardly even noticed that I was wearing it.
I was also very impressed with my Garmin 305. It lasted the entire race! One time at around 6.5hours it gave the low battery warning, and I kept expecting it to die, but it stayed on for the whole race. When I used it for Double Chubb I thought I was lucky to get 6.5hours out of it, little did I know it had plenty of life left.So here is that video I was telling you about. It won't win any awards, but I promise I will get better at editing .
I would like to thank the Aquaholics and all the volunteers for putting on such a great race. It was a long day in some lousy weather to be standing around waiting, and waiting for some boats to paddle by. It was a great experience, the farthest I have ever paddled by 40 or so miles. I felt like I could have kept going and now I have a little more perspective for the upcoming MR340.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Coming soon to a computer or mobile device near you!
The GAS60 race report will be here this week just as soon as I can type it up and put the video together. In the mean time, watch the start of the race. Don't look for Michael and I though we took the lazy start after everyone had gone since it was more of a training opportunity for us, although I am sure I would have been right up there with the front runners had we started at the gun.
These guys were fast!
These guys were fast!
Monday, May 9, 2011
I'm "Training" for an Ultra Marathon
Actually the training portion ended about a month ago. Haha, I am so screwed!
Berryman is going to be quite an experience this year. Preparing for my running events and my paddling events has really put me at cross purposes. Still, I will run it and hopefully eek out a PR, since I wasn't in peak form the first time I ran it either.
Enjoy this video, I did.
Berryman is going to be quite an experience this year. Preparing for my running events and my paddling events has really put me at cross purposes. Still, I will run it and hopefully eek out a PR, since I wasn't in peak form the first time I ran it either.
Enjoy this video, I did.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
I copied this post from Rock Racing because I was too lazy to write my own version.
Runner’s World Trail Edition Editorial
Running in the US has morphed over the years to become not only a sport for the elite but also a sport for the everyday person. It seems that it is every runner’s dream to run a marathon, and many new runners train for a half-marathon so that they can go on to run a full marathon in the future. The running craze has moved from just a short term boom to a way of life.
And as more runners adopt this way of life, many are moving from the road to the trails, looking for the next big challenge. As a runner, what do you do once you have accomplished the marathon distance? Some runners train harder to try to achieve a faster marathon time or win age-group categories. But many everyday runners don’t feel that running faster is what it’s about; instead, they feel it’s the challenge, the feeling they get when they think, “Wow, I finished a marathon.” These runners soon tire of all the road miles. They know they can do it, so they wonder, “What will be my next running accomplishment?” These are the runners who are taking on trail running.
Trail running is such a different beast from road running. It’s much more technical to run on a trail covered with dirt, mud, rocks and roots. Plus there’s the realization that at any time you could fall off a cliff and be injured or die. This might sound like it’s not that much fun, but here is where you are wrong: It is the most fun a runner can have, and it is so much more challenging than any road run. It never fails – no matter how tired, stressed or time-constrained I am, once on the trail I feel like a new person who could run for hours with little effort. The trails just bring on a peacefulness you can’t find on the road.
You wonder where I’m going with this, don’t you? Let me explain. Runner’s World, a magazine I have been reading for 30 years and love to read every month, published a special edition on trail running last month. Since trail running is one of the sports I love the most, I read the edition cover to cover, soaking in every word. When I started reading through “A Guide to America’s Top Trail Running Towns,” I was so excited to get to the St. Louis area, knowing that the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run (PMETR) would certainly be listed. There was no doubt in my mind that it would be there because it is one of the premier trails races in the Midwest – of course it would be listed.
I know this little editorial may seem self-serving, or maybe it sounds like my pride has been hurt, since I am the Vice President of the Metro Tri Club, which has put this race on for the last 22 years. It could be a little of that, but really think about it. This year will be the 23rd year for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run. The run started in 1989 and has never been cancelled due to weather conditions. Its motto is “No Wimps, No Whiners.” It is known as the toughest trail run in the Midwest and has been run in freezing temps (5 degrees Fahrenheit once), rain, ice, snow, wind and mud, the latter of which was the issue in the 2010 race. Mud so deep it sucked off shoes, so slick that runners slid down the descents on their butts. But this is the most fun a runner can have in the middle of December in the Midwest. Entry in this race is so coveted that it sells over 600 slots, fills in less than 10 hours and has a waiting list of hundreds who hope to get a slot. To top it off, the club holds 25 spots for servicemen and women who may be deployed and aren’t able to enter in time to get a slot, and every year we fill many of those slots with those who make it possible for us to have the freedom to run this race.
So, as you read this are you asking yourself the same question I’m pondering: “Why wouldn’t the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run be mentioned in the trail running edition of Runner’s World?”
Runner’s World mentioned some of the local trail runs, and I have competed in two of the three listed. They are fantastic events and deserve to be on the list, but none has been in existence for as long as PMETR has been, none is discussed in the running circle to the extent that PMETR is. PMETR is the run that everyone wants to do but that many people are afraid to do because they have heard how tough the course is. Yet if you ask any trail runner in the area what the most popular and well-known trail run in the Midwest is, they will say PMETR. They will also tell you that they will get up at midnight when registration opens to register before the race fills. I can tell you this: I was at the CheckPoint Tracker National Adventure race in Moab, Utah, last October, and I saw a person wearing a PMETR wind shirt. Just last month I was at the Land between the Lakes Adventure race in Kentucky and saw multiple people wearing the PMETR vest from two years ago. There have also been sightings by other MTC members in the Seattle-Tacoma airport, Colorado and Utah. This shows how popular the race is.
I think the only thing left for us to do as a trail running society is to lobby for a PMETR cover story in an upcoming edition of Runner’s World. I’m in. Are you? If you agree with me, then go to the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run to grace the cover of Runner's World Facebook page and like our page. Let’s get a Runner’s World cover for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run.
And as more runners adopt this way of life, many are moving from the road to the trails, looking for the next big challenge. As a runner, what do you do once you have accomplished the marathon distance? Some runners train harder to try to achieve a faster marathon time or win age-group categories. But many everyday runners don’t feel that running faster is what it’s about; instead, they feel it’s the challenge, the feeling they get when they think, “Wow, I finished a marathon.” These runners soon tire of all the road miles. They know they can do it, so they wonder, “What will be my next running accomplishment?” These are the runners who are taking on trail running.
Trail running is such a different beast from road running. It’s much more technical to run on a trail covered with dirt, mud, rocks and roots. Plus there’s the realization that at any time you could fall off a cliff and be injured or die. This might sound like it’s not that much fun, but here is where you are wrong: It is the most fun a runner can have, and it is so much more challenging than any road run. It never fails – no matter how tired, stressed or time-constrained I am, once on the trail I feel like a new person who could run for hours with little effort. The trails just bring on a peacefulness you can’t find on the road.
You wonder where I’m going with this, don’t you? Let me explain. Runner’s World, a magazine I have been reading for 30 years and love to read every month, published a special edition on trail running last month. Since trail running is one of the sports I love the most, I read the edition cover to cover, soaking in every word. When I started reading through “A Guide to America’s Top Trail Running Towns,” I was so excited to get to the St. Louis area, knowing that the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run (PMETR) would certainly be listed. There was no doubt in my mind that it would be there because it is one of the premier trails races in the Midwest – of course it would be listed.
I know this little editorial may seem self-serving, or maybe it sounds like my pride has been hurt, since I am the Vice President of the Metro Tri Club, which has put this race on for the last 22 years. It could be a little of that, but really think about it. This year will be the 23rd year for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run. The run started in 1989 and has never been cancelled due to weather conditions. Its motto is “No Wimps, No Whiners.” It is known as the toughest trail run in the Midwest and has been run in freezing temps (5 degrees Fahrenheit once), rain, ice, snow, wind and mud, the latter of which was the issue in the 2010 race. Mud so deep it sucked off shoes, so slick that runners slid down the descents on their butts. But this is the most fun a runner can have in the middle of December in the Midwest. Entry in this race is so coveted that it sells over 600 slots, fills in less than 10 hours and has a waiting list of hundreds who hope to get a slot. To top it off, the club holds 25 spots for servicemen and women who may be deployed and aren’t able to enter in time to get a slot, and every year we fill many of those slots with those who make it possible for us to have the freedom to run this race.
So, as you read this are you asking yourself the same question I’m pondering: “Why wouldn’t the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run be mentioned in the trail running edition of Runner’s World?”
Runner’s World mentioned some of the local trail runs, and I have competed in two of the three listed. They are fantastic events and deserve to be on the list, but none has been in existence for as long as PMETR has been, none is discussed in the running circle to the extent that PMETR is. PMETR is the run that everyone wants to do but that many people are afraid to do because they have heard how tough the course is. Yet if you ask any trail runner in the area what the most popular and well-known trail run in the Midwest is, they will say PMETR. They will also tell you that they will get up at midnight when registration opens to register before the race fills. I can tell you this: I was at the CheckPoint Tracker National Adventure race in Moab, Utah, last October, and I saw a person wearing a PMETR wind shirt. Just last month I was at the Land between the Lakes Adventure race in Kentucky and saw multiple people wearing the PMETR vest from two years ago. There have also been sightings by other MTC members in the Seattle-Tacoma airport, Colorado and Utah. This shows how popular the race is.
I think the only thing left for us to do as a trail running society is to lobby for a PMETR cover story in an upcoming edition of Runner’s World. I’m in. Are you? If you agree with me, then go to the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run to grace the cover of Runner's World Facebook page and like our page. Let’s get a Runner’s World cover for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Life Skills, Yo!
My friend Kate ran her first marathon today up in Wisconsin. I can't wait to read the report. On the way to Wisconsin she had a little mishap when her tire went flat on the interstate (Click here to read about it). This got me thinking about how important it is to know how to change a tire. Flat tires are the same whether it's a car, bike, motorcycle, etc. it's not "if" you get a flat it's "when". When my daughters started driving I made sure that they knew how to change a tire. I talked them through it explaining the importance of each step as we went. Can't say if they will remember the lesson when the time comes but maybe they will, and this will prompt them to call me and thank me for showing them what to do, and tell me I was right about everything, and... Wait, I forgot to whose kids I was referring. Well at least I did my part.
Here is a little instructional video for those that aren't sure what to do.
Here is a little instructional video for those that aren't sure what to do.