The Beast Awakens!

Yes indeedy, I'm officially back running again! ...and what better way could there be to kick off my return than by running the last 41+ miles of the Massanutten 100 mile course while pacing my buddy Nick P. this weekend?!!  Well, let me answer my rhetorical question by readily advising everyone that there are, in fact, 9 billion more appropriate ways to reintroduce one's dormant legs and lungs to running. I believe "Ouch" was my official comment upon crossing the finish line.

Still, fit or not, I do these things for fun, and I had a blast with Nick (and his awesome mom Yvonne who crewed for him by herself the whole time!) over those many many mountain miles. Sure, my longest run in the previous 4 months was a single 8 miler, but the pressure you feel as a pacer to not let your runner down is a pretty strong motivator! It also helped that Nick was shredding the course to a smokin' fast 2nd place finish the whole time as well. It's tough to whine about your own aches and pains when the guy you're trying to keep up with is still running so well with 63 more miles than you on his legs!

I should also point out that I've never really cared about "extra" miles in a 100 before, but the fact that the race turned out to be 104.8 miles long this year really didn't help a runner in my "condition". I would have paid the RD $104.8 Million to move the finish line to the 102 mile when I realized how much further I still had to go at that point. I mean, really...talk about the Running Gods getting even with me for having forsaken them over the past few months. Sheesh!

Nick leaving the Visitors' Center aid station (mile 77) with some out-of-shape dude holding a turkey and cheese sandwich on Wonder Bread. I should probably mention I didn't really have a "fueling plan" for this one. Also, the shoes I wore were literally taken out of their box for the first time when I pulled up to the race headquarters. Hey, who needs proper planning when you are as far out of shape as I am?!! Kirstin Corris Photo

Nick and his All Star Mom Yvonne: She's about the nicest person there is! It's a tough job crewing solo for a 100, never mind one in the tough-to-navigate MMT area. Hats off to her for pulling it off so well...and on Mothers Day no less!! Kirstin Corris Photo

Now that I've checked off the big box next to "Don't embarrass yourself in front of Nick and his Mom", I'll happily start a proper training plan to get myself in shape over the next couple months. Baby Sam is ready to roll, quite literally, in the running stroller I picked up, so I/we will be settling into a consistent running routine soon. I'm also psyched that our family schedule will now allow me to run commute to work on most Mondays and Fridays. Given that the local trail/bike path network gets me to work in 9.5 miles, I couldn't imagine a more perfect distance for my commute. Sure, I'll question that statement the first time I have to head out in a monsoon, but until then...

As for my race plans, I think my return to ultras will be with the Dahlgren 50k in August, but beyond that I'll have to see how my training goes. I'd love to be able to hop right into some much longer/mountain races, but as I learned this past weekend, I need a bit of work to get back into the kind of shape I need to be in for such an undertaking. One thing I do hope to do along the way back to 100-mile fitness is run more shorter/faster races to get my lungs back. With so many local 5ks & 10ks in the DC area, I'll probably hop in a few of those to shock the system back into gear. Quite honestly, I haven't run a 5k since high school, and I'm not sure I've run a 10k...ever?? I'll be looking to fix that, and maybe have Sam ride shotgun with me once or twice as well. Let the adventures begin!!

Shhhh! Daddy at Rest!

 

Thanks to the ultra-strength of my amazing wife, we welcomed our happy and healthy baby boy into the world a couple weeks ago. Lizzy and I are so joyful and lucky to have little Sam in our life. Further good news: My previously honed skill of waking up at 3:00 a.m. to run a 100 miler has translated nicely into waking up at 3:00 a.m. to feed Sammy these days. ...and I'm sure once he gains the ability to see a little better, he'll be just as big a fan of my shiny belt buckles as I am!

Just a few more notes to fill the gap during my running hiatus:

• In terms of getting back to running: Totally guessing on this, but I think we'll have a good handle on the daily routine with Sammy in a couple months, so I'll probably start kicking the rust off my legs by mid-Spring. Once Sam is street-legal (a.k.a. develops neck muscles so he can safely ride in a running stroller) in June/July, I'll begin taking him on daily adventures and that will probably allow me to get back to something close to proper training load.

• I've found a couple nice ones, but if anyone has real-world experience with a great high-mileage running stroller, let me know. The Baby Jogger High Performance model looks to be pretty solid on paper...

• If all goes well, I'll plan on a couple tune-up races in August & September, and then have some fun out at the Grindstone 100 in October. Nothing like 24,000+ feet of climbing to welcome me back to the 100 miler world! 

• I'd like to do one more "real" race at the end of the year, and I think heading back to AZ for a real 24 hour effort at the Desert Solstice would be perfect for that (If I'm fortunate enough to be invited again!). All of this is a looong way off though, so it's all quite tentative until we see how much Sammy enjoys viewing the world at about 8mph for hours on end!

• For now, it's back to being enjoying every minute of quality time together as the Rose Family Trio! See you all in the Spring!

One Final Adventure for 2011!

This past weekend I had the great pleasure and honor of being invited to run in the Desert Solstice 24 Hour run in Phoenix, AZ. Race Director Nick Coury, and his amazing team at Aravaipa Running, designed this invitation-only race as one at which speedy folks could qualify for the US National Team, attempt to break records, and otherwise run themselves dizzy around the 400m track at Phoenix's Central High School.  Even though I have not been running at all in the past 7 weeks or so, I was looking forward to putting in an honest effort while finding out the answer to the question: Just how far can I run on no training while also carrying 9 lbs. more than my usual race weight? I was also really hoping the old adage, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" was indeed true!
(All Photos Courtesy of Aravaipa Running)

Who could pass up the chance to run under the beautiful AZ sky in December?!

Race shirt, complete with image of last year's winner Joe Grant as part of the official logo!

Packet pick-up before the race. RD Nick Coury (left) greets Mike Arnstein (center) and Jay Aldous (right). Both runners would go on to melt the track for 100 miles over the next 13+ hours.

Nick Pedatella and I pin on our cool bibs for the race. No numbers on these, just our last names!

1 Minute before the start...what are we all looking at? Dave James, who lives just down the street, but was a wee bit late showing up and needed to tie his shoes in record time to start with us! This is a good time to introduce the rest of field too: (Clockwise around the circle from the tent pole) Jay Aldous, Mike Arnstein, Carilyn Johnson, Tatsunori Suzuki, Deb Horn, Suzanna Bon, Nick Pedatella, Me.

I put this one in here just to show that my extended break from running had my legs super tight even before I started running. Not even close to touching my toes...and my back is bent too!!

3, 2, 1...Go!  Note the wrap on Mikes right leg. He said he was injured. After watching him go all day, I wished I could run like an injured Mike Arnstein.

Out of shape or not, you can't beat running on a beautiful morning!

Probably evident to no one aside from me, but this split-second-later photo proves my running form rust with a sloppy heel-strike and inward turn of my left foot after toe-off. When in shape I'm much more in tuned to keeping those bad habits in check to minimize the breakdown of my legs during long runs.

Speaking of 'in shape', after two 100 mile wins this Fall, Nick definitely showed up fit!

Suzanna and Carilyn: Two amazing talents and fantastic people! I had a blast crewing with their families in the overnight hours after I stopped running.

RD Nick set up these screens showing our current distance and time split every lap!

I don't care who you are, you can't beat Debbie's consistency in 24HR performances over the past few years. She's amazing!

For some reason, I had no problem with boredom while looping the track every 2 minutes. Maybe the beautiful sky was entertaining enough!

Carilyn and Suzanna, both hammering out steady paces when the sun warmed things up a bit.

When that sun went away, Mr. Arnstein capped off his amazing 13:46 100 mile win with a last lap at 5-minute mile pace!

Jay was just behind Mike in the 100 mile race at 13:52, but because he's 50 years old, he set a new World Record for 50+ year olds!! He worked hard over the last few miles to break the old record by 3 minutes...what a treat to watch!

Jay, enjoying his chair after finishing....Nick, on the phone with the regional drug tester to get him on site ASAP to validate Jay's WR....and Central High Cross Country runners observing in hushed amazement at what Jay just did!

Mike and Jay, smiling with good reason!

After a long, cold, and rainy night, only two TOUGH runners remained out on the track for the win. Carilyn racked up 131 miles for the overall win, and Tatsunori covered 125 of his own for the Male win. At about 3:30 a.m. when it was raining quite hard and bone-chillingly cold, I knew Carilyn was going to be just fine when she passed the aid area and asked if she could have a popsicle!

All in all, just a great race to be a part of both as a runner (for 8 hours and 50.2 miles, anyway), and as a crew/fan. I had a blast. Should I be invited again in the future, I'd love to come back in shape and try to rack up a huge 24HR total. Nick Coury and his team put on an unbelievably perfect race for maximizing the performance of the athletes out there. In addition to Jay's age-group WR for 100 miles, Suzanna and Deb also broke American Records with their 100 mile splits for their respective age group: Suzanna's 45-49 age group 100 mile record was16:02, and Deb's 50-54 age group 100 mile record was 17:14. Amazing job, ladies!!

With that, I'll happily close the book on running for 2011. It was a fun year of covering 3000+ miles on my feet yet again, and even though I had some disappointments along the way at big races, the great experiences I had in my two "non-trained" runs at the end of the year reinforced just how much I love running for running's sake, no matter the stage. I look forward to coming back at the end of next year once the family routine is in place after Baby Rose arrives in January. Until then, I wish everyone the happiest of Holiday seasons!!