2013 LBL Marathon - What a Trip!

Several of us tossed about the idea of staying at a house near the Land Between the Lakes Recreational Area before deciding to drive down on race morning. It was a familiar and easy hundred minute drive for me, so I didn't mind getting up at 3:15 am for the 6:30 start. The bag was packed, so I needed only to shower, fill the day's bottles, and prepare an oatmeal breakfast and a triple shot mocha before departing. I laughed when I caught my foot on the threshold of the door as I left. Foreboding . . . that damned foreboding!

Polar RC3 GPS Map of the Canal Loop Trail

There were plenty of friends, real and Facebook varieties, in the crowd of nearly 900 in Grand Rivers, KY to run one of the five simultaneous events that ranged from a road 10K to a 50-mile trail run. I was entered in the marathon, which consisted of two laps around the 11.2-mile Canal Loop Trail plus out and back segments on the Woodlands Trace Road from Grand Rivers. Many of my friends were entered in either the 60K (3-loop) or 50-mile (4-loop) runs. I alternated between envy for the ultra runners (who were deservedly treated like royalty by the runners and race management) and giddiness that I didn't have to face all of those tight turns and bone jarring descents more than twice.

Nearing the Trace Road first lap.

With temperatures expected to climb from the low-40s into the high-50s before I completed two laps, I decided to wear the new white Polar singlet and multisport shorts with light gloves. I wore Brooks Pure Grip 2s that I recently picked up at Ultimate Fit. Near perfect choices as I was thermally comfortable all morning and the shoes provided me with more than sufficient cushioning and protection from the rocky, rooty, and sometimes steep Canal Loop Trail.

I chose to measure my output with the new Polar RC3 with built-in GPS to monitor my heart rate and to map my course. I love this new unit for gps usage on trails because it lets me see where I have gone. While no gps unit is accurate enough to certify courses, I have noted that the RC3 is close enough and it is consistent. What I really care about while I am running is my current and average heart rate. Nothing else really matters to me since I have learned to judge my perceived effort by those values. Unfortunately, the data reveals how little I worked throughout the second lap. The average HR for that lap was lower than any training run I've ever completed on the Canal Loop. That data file will serve as fuel for the next LBL run.

Unlike last year, I managed to keep both shoes tied all morning. The Grip 2s felt equally as comfortable and stable on the road as they were on the trail. After chasing a group of young studs into the gusting wind, I reached the trail in twelve minutes. That was when the fun began. I LOVE that trail! It is constantly winding and dipping and climbing, so it is impossible to get bored. In fact, the trail is so technical that it is just plain silly to go sightseeing or get out of focus for even a few seconds while running on it . . .

I ran in a very loose group of front runners for the first half of the first lap. The undulating trail along the Lake Barkley side of the loop conceals the constant ascending and descending quite well by forcing runners to focus on the many toe grabbing obstacles: rocks and roots and stumps. I reached the Trace Road halfway through that first loop after 40 minutes with two young studs on my heals. I was on pace to run the first loop in 80 minutes and these two guys were about to pass me and motor on for three laps! One of them, Scott Braden (blonde in rear of picture above), went on to crush the course record for the 60K event with a time of 4:07.

Remaining steady in my effort, with only slightly elevated HR on the five big climbs along Kentucky Lake, I cruised along to finish the first loop in just over 80 minutes. I felt great! And I planned to stay that way by slowing a bit on the second loop. I had also done this quite successfully last year in an effort to save my legs for other spring events. (Drawback to low mileage running is that these events put HUGE dents in me that last for weeks!) It was while climbing those big hills that a light rain briefly fell on us. One of the young studs replied from behind me that the raindrops were all kisses from God. I agreed.

I stopped at my drop bag to pick up a second loop flask of VFuel and watched as two runners ran straight through the aid station to begin the second loop ahead of me. I quickly hit the trail and noted that I was just behind them after a 49 second pit stop.

Several minutes into the second loop I was making ground on one of the runners when he stopped for what TdF announcers call a "natural break." He began to run again just as I passed and I turned to ask him which race he was in. (At this point, you might reflect on my earlier statements about the technical nature of the Canal Loop.) Catching a root with my right foot, I took a really hard fall onto my outstretched right hand. It hit the back side of another large root. The resulting impulse caused my back to bend and compress - a painful LOT. I jumped up and took off with my back and hand (visibly) throbbing.

Within seconds I caught the right toe again and fell just as hard. I jumped back up again yelling my normal "Sh@t Shane" as I shook my head and tried to regain my stride. Then, a few strides later, I again caught the right toe and went down hard with my right hand crashing into a stone. This time I stood still to take inventory. The white Polar singlet was still beautifully white! I wiped mud from the crystal of the RC3. The palm of the right glove was torn. This revealed a nickel sized chunk of rolled up palm flesh. I immediately wondered aloud how I was going to keep that blood off the white top.

Polar RC3 GPS altitude and HR plots of my 3:19 4th place LBL Marathon.

After realizing that my knees had been fortunate enough to land in mud, I began to run. (The left knee still limited hard cycling a week later.) And a nauseating pain shot from my lower back to the right hamstring. Hmmmm. Having been there before, I knew my day was done. I would not be catching the two runners who had passed me at the aid station. I knew that I would not be likely to regain my stride without significant body work and rest. So, I resigned to shuffle on. Oddly, despite the pain, I never once thought of dropping out. Instead, I thought only about lifting the obviously dragging right leg high enough to clear the obstacles until I reached pavement - and about keeping my bloody hand from rubbing the white top (FAIL!).

I quickly calculated that I needed to be under 95 minutes for the second lap to stay under 3:20 for the marathon. Chanting "concentrate, concentrate" and "don't fall stupid" in my mind, I shuffled around the second loop, finishing it in just under 94 minutes. As much as I prefer to run off-road, it was actually refreshing to run on the obstacle-free road for the 1.7 miles to the finish.

It was while running along the Trace Road that I focused on my right hand. It seemed possessed as it twinged and contorted in the most unrealistic poses. The bony knob called the Hook of Hamate was removed from the corner of that right palm back in 2008. I had broken it during the 2007 bike crash that cost me some teeth (and six other surgeries). Oddly enough, I didn't realize it was broken until a year later when I slipped in the snow while climbing one of the big Canal Loop hills and fell on it. That was the day that the hand started its contortionist routine. Now any impacts on that hand cause it to "act up" for days, since there is less protection for those nerves that pass through there. I call the act the "crazy hand,"  since the fingers take positions I cannot repeat even with significant force. And it hurts like hell!

I reached the finish in 3:19:11 for fifth place. It was not what I had hoped for when the day started, but it was what I was dealt. So, I smiled broadly as I stiffly walked away from the finish line. I had to shower and get back to see some of my friends finish their races. One of them, good friend Jeremy Aydt, finished his first ultra by claiming 5th place in the 60K with a great time of 5:13. My last collegiate recruit, Chris Hollinden, broke the course record in the marathon with a stellar 2:52!  Fellow All-American duathlete, Greg Fraze, finished third in the 23K one lap event earlier in the day. And there were several BOR members who finished the 60K and 50-Mile events to earn their buckles. It proved to be a successful day at LBL for southern Indiana runners.

In the end, I have to be thankful for the fact that I am within months of turning fifty while remaining healthy enough to run for hours on trails. I am also thankful that I did not suffer even a minor turned ankle during the run.  And I am thankful to have so many friends who support and inspire me with their kind words and impressive performances (I believe that people are placed in my path for reasons). And I am thankful for the LBL race crew for putting on a class A event. And I am thankful for the support I receive from great companies with valued products, including Polar and VFuel. And, finally, I am thankful that my wonderful massage therapist, Donna, already worked the pain out of my back, allowing me to log four quick miles this morning. Yeah, there is much to be thankful for. I am now looking forward to reclaiming some power on the bike for the duathlon season and taking on Whiskey Hill in the Oak Barrel Half Marathon next month.

And I might just dare to dream of completing a trail race without kissing Mother Earth.

Later - Shane

Ice Cloud Run

In early January I traveled to North Carolina again, making the usual ascent of Mt. Sterling upon my early morning arrival after driving through the night from West Lafayette. That climb was followed with visits to hot spots in Asheville, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and some of my favorite trails in the area.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to climb up through clouds? Perhaps you have done that. Have you ever wondered what it is like to pass through clouds just after a precipitous temperature drop? If you have done that, then you are familiar with hoar frost and rime ice. I experienced both, but mostly rime ice.

Hoar frost forms when humidity in the air forms loose, snowlike ice crystals on the ground and flora after they cool below the freezing temperature. Rime ice forms when larger wind-blown water droplets in fog or clouds freeze onto ground coverings. The rime ice I encountered was dense and smooth, but some rime ice can be feathery like hoar frost. Regardless of the ice type, it created an aesthetic and occasionally transfixing scene.

It is worth noting that the temperature was 19F at the Baxter Creek Trailhead and -2F at the Mt. Sterling summit. The wind purred at 11 mph near the trailhead and blasted along at 44-59 mph on the summit - that's a -40 wind chill! (I have a Kestrel 4000 weather instrument, which is cool because I also have a Kestrel 4000 bike :)

Yes, it was incredibly fun, cold, slippery, and lonely. I did not encounter anyone along the trail. I wonder why?

Anyway, the run itself was encumbered by the ice and more than a dozen trees that had fallen along or across the trail. I mention those conditions because they are my excuses for having recorded my slowest round trip up and down the mountain. I have chosen to ignore the fact that a four month sciatic pinch left me the least fit I've ever been when attempting that tough 20K run.

Here are some of the photos I snapped before both batteries and all ten digits refused to work. Click on them to expand the view and create a slide show. Enjoy!

Entering the clouds.

Two huge blowdowns. Those trunks have
more than three foot diameter.

View from the tower. Mt. Mitchell is center.

This tree fell directly along the trail,
making it easier to negotiate than most.

Backwoods paparazzi shot

Just had to sit on top of the tunnel.

Closed BRP good for running and exploring.

Barefoot run on a frozen timber guardrail.

Euclidean Snow Run

In the wee hours of December 26th a winter storm, dubbed Euclid, blasted its way through Southern Indiana on its way from the Gulf to the Northeast. It bore copious quantities of moisture that came as rain, ice, and snow. Just to the east and south of us the storm produced high winds, lightning, and threats of tornados - typical spring weather. That was where the warmer air prevailed.

Having gone to bed on Christmas with a light breeze as the only evidence of Euclid's existence, we were awakened just before dawn by howling winds and thundersnow. Thundersnow is eery. We are conditioned to hear almost nothing during a snow storm because snow quietly, almost politely, piles up while disrupting sound waves from surrounding sources.

The thundersnow I've encountered seems like a muffled, long lasting version of regular thunder. It is similar to normal thunder in that it is the sound of lightning occurring due to friction during the violent upheaval of warm air by cold and more dense air that quickly wedges its way under the warm air.

Euclid moved in quickly, producing lots of lightning and 40+ mph wind gusts. That wind created whiteout conditions for a couple of hours while Euclid laid down 6-18 inches of snow.

I will resist delving into our municipality's inability to handle such a snowfall, except for mentioning that most roads were impassible (and probably still are!).

Map from my awesome new Polar RC3 GPS!

So, on the 26th and 27th I miraculously found my way to USI where I ran through the woods on the USI campus and at Burdette Park. (The map only shows Greenway running, because I want people in those houses along the edges of the forests to keep believing in Sasquatch:) Though those who know me well will not believe it, I can proudly pass on that I only fell once in the snow. Of course, I fell hard in the parking lot before my run on Christmas morning.

No one else was there, so the only footprints were mine and those of the fauna. I carried a camera on the second and third runs. What follows are some of the photos I took as I plodded along the Greenway and several single track trails. Though I have run there thousands of times during the last three decades, I can only remember a couple of events that were as adventurous, invigorating, and eye pleasing.  Enjoy!

Trackless Greenway . . .

. . . bunny tracked Greenway

Love the windblown look, Mother Nature!

I wonder if his tootsies were cold . . .

Hated when they built that damned dam, but it is growing on me.

Alone :)

Not alone.

This made the tootsies cold!

Amen.