Run the Rut this weekend

A true mountain race - photo credit: Myke Hemsmeyer

It's really happening... I'll be out in the Big Sky region this weekend and will actually be running the race. I say that because it still seems a bit surreal. It's 50k up a mountain, with a lot of terrain and hills and will be at a higher altitude. Did I train enough? Did I get enough climbs in? Will my legs and knees hold up? Why is it snowing there already!? I guess I'll find out on Saturday!

Those are always questions that enter my mind before a big race, but this one I'm especially worried about because of the amount of climbing that's involved. Based on my run at Blue Knob, I imagine I should be ok, but there will be a lot more challenges that start creeping into my mind and make me question whether or not this was a wise decision. But there is no time to worry, and just look forward to the adventure along with being able to spend some time with my college roommate!

Race Details

From +Big Sky Resort this Thursday morning

The race takes place at the Big Sky resort just outside of Bozeman, MT. The stage is set to kickoff with a vertical 1 mile race Friday (today), followed by the 50k and 12k on Saturday morning. I got a little worried today when I checked the weather and it said 34 *F and snowing! Snow... in September?!? But upon looking at the forecast, the weather should start in the low 30s but be in the 50s for the race with clear skies; perfect racing weather. Whew.

As for the actual course, the Montana Mikes and the Rut crew were out marking the course earlier this week. From what I've read, it will be challenging, but with great views and some good challenges. There will be a lot of single track, which I feel very comfortable with, and a fair amount of dirt trails. It's the scree and off trail I'm a bit new to, but I feel confident I'll be able to handle it.

Marking the course (courtesy of Instagram user @thrphoto)

The route features a challenging and steep summit, which features a via ferrata line to make the summit of Lone Peak. The climbs and elevation gain and drop will definitely cause a lot of pain on my legs and knees, but I think should be decent enough to let me walk away from the race still standing.

Elevation profile for the Rut 50K

I've been checking out twitter and other social medias to keep up with what's going on and see other pictures. The official tag for the race is #runtherut, so feel free to look yourself. The race looks fun and I'm excited for all it brings.

How to Watch the Race

There are a few avenues to keep track of the race if you feel so inclined. There is some twitter coverage via iRunFar.com that will be live tweeting the whole event. I suppose you could also just look for the tag #runtherut on twitter/instagram/fb. I'm not really sure how this works, but Ultrasports Live has some kind of coverage... just not sure if it's live, or afterwards they put something together, but that's here. I suppose check it out on Saturday?

My Expectations

As far as preparations go, there's not much more I can do with regard to physically preparing. I've gotten the runs in, and put in the time. To prepare for the weather, I'm definitely bringing some long sleeves and windbreaker. Haven't decided on what to wear on my head or if I'll need some gloves... I've got my shoes all broken in and will definitely bring some anti-chafe stuff (the stuff's a lifesaver). My food of choice will be some salt tabs (not really food I suppose) and Picky Bars as my main food source between aid stations. They seem to hold up pretty

I'm hoping to finish somewhere close to 7-8 hours. Because this race is part of some bigger series (called the Skyrunner World Series), it's attracting some big name talent. One of which is deemed one of the best trail runners in the world, Kilian Jornet. Expect me to finish a little bit after him (ha ha).

Outside the Race

After the race, the race organizers are supposed to be providing some fun activities as well. Including some Montana brewed beer, awards, and a mechanical bull (just in case you weren't beat up enough). Beyond the race, I'll get a chance to see my long time friend and former roommate, DZ! It's a friend of his wedding this weekend, which means DZ's family will be in town, so I'll get a chance to say hi to them and congratulations to his friend as well.

Looking forward to a great weekend and will post how it goes. Thanks for reading!

FAAP Fall Classic 10K - Race Report

Recently, I have been running more with a group in an effort to not only meet people but also to learn some local trails and technique for the hills. One of the guys also puts on a race that was this past weekend (9/7) that was a 10K trail race, so I decided to enter it, figuring it would be a good last-weekend event for me. The race is setup to support an orphanage in the Philippines, and this year, a portion would go to support victims of typhoon Haiyan.

Leading up to the race, I really beat up my legs a lot throughout the week (lifting weights, ~25-30 miles in 4 days, and hill repeats) and was ready to give them one last beating before they could rest.

Pre-Race

Packet pick-up and one of the volunteers

The morning was ideal racing conditions with perfectly clear skies and the temperature being a tad below 60 *F (I was a bit chilly). With this being a fairly small race, packet-pickup was by no means difficult. Got my number and, bam, I was off to do a quick warm-up.

I've figured out that my heart rate and breathing seem to spike at first before I really get into, so I tried to get that out of the way while I warmed up (and no I'm not talking about the spike that is erroneous on a heart rate monitor). Got in about a 10 minute warm-up along part of the course, paying attention to the roots and making a note that I would have to pace properly since the second half of the race has more hills.

Race Time

Decided not to bring the phone for race pictures, so you'll have to do without them :/

The course started off with the lead runners shooting off like drag racers. About 1/10th of a mile in was where the course went from road to trail, and meant the first turn... which meant, the lead runners missed the first turn and were yelled at to get back on course.

Good start...

Meanwhile, back on course, we were jockeying for position as we got into the single track section. There wasn't too much too worry about since I couldn't see the guy in front of me nor the girl or guy behind me, but in theory, that's what we were doing (or at least the others were).

The first half of the race seemed pretty flat without too much technical stuff. The miles ticked off pretty easy, and I figured I was doing a good job pacing, since the one time I took a wrong turn and got back on course, I saw the person behind me. Apparently I need to work on following the course, it will be a bit more important in the next race (read: it will be extremely important next race).

The second half of the course had more ups and downs and winding trails through it. I was handling it just fine, except at one point, I turned my focus to my watch and caught a root with my foot... nothing like feeling the race course with your face.

Towards the end, I started seeing a red shirt every now and then on the turns. I figured I had less than a mile to catch him, so I tried to pick up the pace. I wound up catching him on the last tenth of a mile, which featured a teasing of seeing finish line, but then a small loop around before actually making it there.

The finish

I ended up finishing 7th overall and 1st in my age group, which I was happy with (~46 mins)! I talked with the guy I passed at the end, and not only was he old enough to be my father, he also said he was a bit tired from his 19 mile run the day before... what a stud. I also want to point out that the first place finisher finished in 37 minutes or so, which means averaging under 6'/mile for 6.2 miles on trails! Very impressive.

Post-Race

After the race, was the usual bananas and water available for us, along with some Filipino food available to support the FAAP (Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh). Shortly after everyone finished, they began handing out awards and the medals... or the metals.

They aren't even metal

The awards are handcrafted wooden bamboo pieces that have a design woodburned into the front of them. A unique and authentic prize indeed. Something else they had at this race, which I hadn't seen before, was a sheet that listed the course records. While the women's record remained intact, the male course record was broken by a few minutes.

After the awards were over, there were a bit of festivities, which included some Filipino dances.

Performing a dance

Performing Tinikling dance

They even got some of the racers to volunteer and give the tinikling dance a shot. I decided to forego the dance this time, but some of the runners seemed like they had some good moves and didn't get clipped by the bamboo.

With that, I am signing off and thanks for reading!

Trip to Notre Dame vs Rice

For Labor Day weekend, I had planned on making a trip to ND prior to signing up for the rut, and I figured it would be a good trip to see some old friends, but I was (and still am) worried about training enough for the race. The added incentive for the weekend was it being Alumni Row weekend, meaning my fellow rowers would be converging on South Bend and bound for a good time.

Some upgrades had been made to the rowing program - not only were there some very nice shells (those green ones are Hudsons, which is what the US Men's team rows in), but there was a new coach; a coach who was a coxswain on the team when I was there and I think will be an excellent head for the team. Exciting!

Anyway, after a night of hanging out and reminiscing for a few hours (and playing some Super Smash Bros), we got to racing on Saturday morning. 8 of us alums jumped into a boat and got a chance to prove that we were still worthy rowers by racing the varsity crew. Even with all the injured vertabrae in the boat, we managed to kick butt. It's a nice feeling to have beat the varsity team, but worrisome that they couldn't beat a bunch of guys that aren't in as good of shape.

I had my one and only run of the weekend that morning... totaled a whopping 2 miles. Oh well, the race is pretty short right? But I did row for like 30 minutes, so that counts for something right? I figured I'd get my run in later in the weekend, specifically on Monday.

After the athletic endeavor of the weekend, we got to watch the football beat up on top ranked Rice University (they are top ranked in academics, not football, FYI). Always good to be back for the games, especially when we actually look like a team (ahem, Charlie Wies and your not-so-great teams).

It made for a nice weekend despite the fact that it gave me a bit of catching up to do with training.

Thanks for reading!

Preview of Rock 'N the Knob

Blue Knob Ski Resort

Prior to me embarking on the quest of my Rut 50K madness, I was signed up for a "lowly" 20 mile race called Rock N' the Knob. It's hailed as the highest trail race in Pennsylvania, with a lot of climbing. Unfortunately, that race will take place the same weekend as the Rut, so I will be unable to do both. Fret not, my legs still need a good beating before the Rut, and I figured the Rock N' the Knob course would be perfect training for the 20 miles training called for, so I headed out there this past weekend.

My legs needed some love

I had to drive a few hours outside of Pittsburgh, and noticed a lot of fog along the way. I figured by the time the sun came up, the fog would burn away and I'd have a beautiful run, I even brought my sunglasses. Since I was out in an unknown part of Pennsylvania doing a run that I had no prior knowledge of, I decided I should take my time and make sure I don't get lost and stay on course. I studied and downloaded the course description to my phone and carried that with me (on airplane mode to conserve energy) along with a map of the race course (life saver).

Course Map

The run started off great with a nice steep uphill portion (elevation map for reference) while on the roads. It started going downhill once I reached the top, both literally and figuratively. The directions say to turn onto Jack Rabbit Rd and then a left onto a singletrack that leads down Tower rd. I ran up and down Jack Rabbit and couldn't find the entrance to the single track. So I just added some miles and continued down the main road knowing I could pick up the trail later.

I finally got back on course and onto the trails and was able to stay on course for a majority of the time. For the most part, the trails looked like below, with lots of lush green on both sides, some fog overhead, and a semi-rocky singletrack with some overgrowth every now and then. One creature that caused a bit of annoyance through the runs were the spiders. They had their webs everywhere! For whatever reason, they would string a few lines (every now and then, and entire web) across the trail that were thick and sticky. I'm not sure what kind of spiders they were, but by the end, I could definitely grab a handful of webs off my face.

Typical view of the trail

Once I was on the trail, I only got lost every 30 minutes or so before I got back on track. It took me a while in some spots to find the trail because I was unclear about directions. I think part of the issue was me not knowing my heading so I couldn't tell which direction to hold the map. Note to self: bring a compass next time. At one point, I actually ran about 1 mile off course and ended up in a town, at which point I knew I was off course. As I was checking my map to see where I missed my turn, a local resident came up to me and started telling me about the strawberries growing out of his well, and how the snow plow blocked him in last winter but he had to intimidate the plower to keep his driveway clear (a few other stories too).... rural town PA I suppose? He just needed a friend.

The trail continued to be beautiful with the greenness, while adding some nice hilly and technical challenges at times. I think it would've been nice to see farther than 100 yards in front of me, but the fog added a bit of mystery to the run as well. It definitely seemed to get worse as the day went on, and I definitely didn't need my glasses. One downside to the fog was the water in the air... it completely drenched me. It's like being lightly misted for 6 hours except there is no sun that you need to cool off from, and instead, it dowses everything and mixes in the sweat... including my map and phone (both survived though).

As I was getting farther along the run, at about mile 16 or 17, I was cruising along the Homestead trail (referencing the course map above, it's the white arrows) before I ran into a bit of a hurdle. The description says

The trail goes from dark pins and a damp moss running surface, to a grassy lane, to a steeper (and tougher) single track at each end of the loop.

Grassy lane

Of the entire run, the "grassy lane" was the part I enjoyed the LEAST. I didn't realize that would entail running through so much overgrowth I couldn't see the trail. I contemplated going back and finding a way around, largely because I didn't know how long the "lane" was nor did I want to contend with my friends in the field (those would be the spiders, although I did wonder if raptors might be present). The above picture was what I was dealing with, and I pretty much guessed at where the trail was... I eventually found it on the other side and was glad to make it out alive, but unfortunately not unharmed. The scratches from the thorns weren't too bad... although, after about a day, it seemed the damage done was a bit more extensive (and itchy too).

Casualty of the run

24 hours later (sorry about all the upper thigh)

From there it was onto the steepest and most technical section of the trail. The hardest part was either going uphill on the rocks (which I decided to walk a lot of), or going downhill quickly on the edge of a ridge and needing to turn without falling off the side. I can see how a rock could cause a misplaced step and send a runner off the side.

At this point, I realized I was about 3 miles ahead of what the course should've been due to all my fun side adventures I decided to have. My watch had me at about 21 miles, and I still had about 3 to go. There was a chance to catch a route back to my car, or I could keep going and get to the peak of the mountain view trail which is a vista point.... well I wasn't going to come all this way and miss out on a pretty vista, right?

I love seeing the tops of trees

Totally forgot that the fog would severely limit my sight range. Oh well, now it gives me a reason to come back out and see what it looks like.

It was a fairly short trip back to the car and completed my 23.8 miles! I was glad to be done, and very hungry (I also kind of wanted a beer). I was worried I would mentally crash on a 2 hour drive home leading to a physical crash, so I opted to check into Blue Knob State Park and get a camping site for the evening (don't worry, I came prepared and brought my camping supplies). I promptly ate all that I had brought, and then passed right out! A good little adventure.

Here's a little cutout of the actual route that I ran and the heart rate, elevation, and pace graph. I really took my time, especially with the uphills, which I think will be key when I'm running up steeper hills/mountains at a higher elevation. Thanks for reading (or skimming)!

Lines that are not continuous to a flowing trail are typically where I was lost and off course

All over the place

Training while at a Bachelor Party

I should point out that the bachelor party was in Las Vegas. Since it falls smack in the middle of my already crammed training schedule, I, unfortunately, didn't have much room to wiggle with the schedule. I'm a bit behind on posting this, but the bachelor party was two weekends ago (August 15-17th).

So how do you train for a mountain race when one is in Vegas (aside from just not training)? You put the treadmill on a very steep incline and run for 13 miles. I can't say that it was my favorite thing I did that weekend, nor was it my favorite run so far. I chose the treadmill because it not only gave me a way to control the gradient I was going up, but also was relatively cool since it was pretty hot out (95 *F).

Had to slow down to take the picture, but couldn't go very fast anyway

The treadmill was actually kind of cool having as it had some levers on the side to control either the speed or incline. They were very easy to use and adjust, as I was doing a lot of that during my 2 hour run. I took a few breaks during my run to get some water, and was prepared to get off if the treadmills got full, but I just kept on chugging.

Two hours later, and very soaked in sweat (gross, I know), I was ready for a shower and to get some food and get the festivities started! We got some large servings at Hash House a Go Go, and they definitely provided all the food I wanted. Although, I have to say the pancakes really weren't that good and I think I could've gone for some more eggs.

Breakfast guaranteed to fill you up

The rest of the weekend was a blast with some pool time, some gambling, and other Vegas attractions. Luckily, there was no "Hangover" type shenanigans to take place, and the groom came back in one piece. I will say, Monday was a rough day at work which featured a mid-day nap.

With that, thanks for reading and I'll keep posting if you keep reading...

Adios Vegas!