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Archive for the 'Events' Category2011 Running Year in ReviewA very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all. A brief post on the 2011 Running Year … Running Focus My primary focus was and probably always will be to run (live) healthy, both physically and mentally. Events are tests of health, not of fitness (related blog post). To increase health, I focused on
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 Staten Island Trail Run Festival 50K Ultra SummaryYesterday was the 1st Annual Staten Island Trail Run Festival at Willowbrook Park. I had just heard of this event 2 weeks before; and at first I thought … a trail 50K on Staten Island? … where? Well, it turns out there exists The Greebelt – about 2800 acres of parks and natural areas with an interconnected trail system. This event was only three weeks after my JFK50 Mile Ultra, but I could not resist the opportunity to explore a new area. My recovery after the JFK50 was minimal and I was comfortable getting back out there for a long event. I planned to use it more as a training run to safely explore a bit at first, then consider the safe plan from there. Here is a brief event description from JFK 50 Mile Ultra 2011 SummaryThe 49th Annual JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon was this past Saturday November 19, 2011. It was my 4th consecutive JFK50 (see previous year’s summaries: 2010, 2009, 2008). This year’s training approach resulted in a course PR by 38 minutes over last year. Preparation: Preparation this year was very different than in previous years. My training for this event began way back in May when I started a 3-4x/week core strength training program. The main focus was core strength, but I also did a lot of overall strength training. The core training consisted of exercises like
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 Bimblers Bluff 50K Ultra SummaryThis past Sunday I participated in the Bimblers Bluff 50K Trail Ultra. The event is located just east of New Haven CT in Guilford CT. The objective of this event was again a long comfortable training run as preparation for a larger event in November. Other than knowing it was trail, I did not know much about the course. This of course resulted in a different experience dealing with adversity and testing mental focus; in the end it was the valuable experience I needed heading into November’s JFK50M. Here is a brief event description from
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 Blues Cruise 50K Ultra SummaryYesterday I participated in the Blues Cruise 50K Trail Ultra put on by the Pagoda Pacers. The event is just west of Reading PA at Blue Marsh Lake. The objective of this event was a low heart rate long training run as preparation for a larger event in November. What actually happened was of course slightly different. Here is a brief event description from the website: “The Blues Cruise 50K 2011 will feature a new course. On giant 31 Mile loop around the lake featuring 95% single track. I believe this will be one of the coolest 50K courses around, and is only possible due to the great support of the Pagoda Pacers.” Here is a map of the
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 River to Sea Relay SummaryThis past Saturday was the River to Sea Relay from Milford NJ to the beach in Manasquan NJ. The course covers 89+ miles with a seven person team; each person does two of fourteen legs varying from 2.5 to 9.25 miles over varying terrain. Each team’s start time is based on our reported 5K PRs so that all the teams finish at the beach at about the same time. Team below from left to right is: Dan and Melissa (Team Fowler, co-pilots & strategery-ists), Lori, Joe, Diana, Lauren and me. The team started at 7:25 AM and finished at 7:27 PM. Overall ~12 hours for ~90 miles is about
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 NJ Ultra Festival SummaryThis past Saturday was the NJ Ultra Festival at the Columbia Trail near Chester NJ. There were five events: 100M, 100K, 50M, 50K and Marathon. I was signed up for the 100M, my first. The event is two out and back routes (laps), one at 16 miles and the other at 9 miles. There were also partial out and backs to make up the five event distances. The 100M was (4) laps on the 16 mile route followed by (4) laps on the 9 mile route. There was an aid station at the 6, 10 mile mark on the 16 mile route and another at the 3, 6 mile mark on the 9 mile route. After each out and back you returned to the Start/Finish (S/F) which also provided aid. Each route started via a farm road, then road then dirt path for about 1.5 miles total. Then you were on the Columbia Trail out and
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 FebApple Frozen 50K Ultra SummaryThis past Saturday AM was the FebApple Frozen 50 Ultra at South Mountain Reservation near Millburn NJ. There were multiple distances at this event. I had planned to do the 50 miler, but opted to complete the 50K instead due to the conditions, course and time cutoffs. Other distances were 21 miles and 10 miles. This event is two ~10 and ~10.7 mile loops on very hilly technical trails. You complete your distance by alternating between the two loops. One loop goes out and back along the east ridge and the other loop goes out and back along the west ridge. Each loop has an aid station at the far end. The trails are mostly still snow covered and thawing out from this winter’s weather. The terrain varied from blue ice to crud to soft snow to muck to mud to running water. Some of it was unrunnable due to
Read the rest of this entry » 2011 Watchung Winter Ultra 50K Summary[Note to self, it is now 2011, post title updated to reflect that.] First, let’s get this straight. Today was a DNF. Did. Not. Finish. Only the second time I have ever done this. The first time was two years ago at the same event. Hmmm. More on that below. After a busy week and a stressful trip home on Friday night, Saturday AM called for the Watchung Winter Ultra 50K (31+ miles) in Watchung Reservation near Mountainside, NJ. This event is a ~10.5+ mile loop course on very hilly technical trails. Single track, carriage path, etc. This is the white trail clockwise three times for those who know the park. Two weeks ago the area got 12+ inches of snow and my only hope was that it would melt before the event. No such luck. The trails were littered with rutted snow and ice inches deep. On top was a fresh 3-5″ of snow from the day before. So this difficult course was now practically un-runnable. Brutal. But we all show up anyway. 2010 Running Year in ReviewA very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all. A very brief post on the 2010 Running Year … Running Focus As I stated last year, my primary focus is and probably always will be to run healthy, both physically and mentally. I have learned to follow my intuition on how much to run and when.
Events I participated in only one event this year. Sometimes it only takes one event to
Read the rest of this entry » JFK 50 Mile Ultra 2010 SummaryThe 48th Annual JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon was held Saturday November 20, 2010. It was my fourth 50 Mile Ultra Marathon and my 3rd JFK50 (see last year’s JFK50 Mile Ultra 2009 Summary and the year before’s JFK50 Mile Ultra Marathon Summary). This year a new approach in a few areas which resulted in a course PR and a better overall experience.
Read the rest of this entry » JFK 50 Mile Ultra 2009 SummaryThe 47th Annual JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon was held this past Saturday November 21, 2009. It is the oldest 50 Mile Ultra in the USA. It was my third 50 Mile Ultra Marathon and my 2nd JFK50 (see last year’s JFK50 Mile Ultra Marathon Summary here). Some new thoughts on the prep and then road, trail, towpath, and road to the finish …
Read the rest of this entry » North Face WashDC 50M Ultra SummaryThis past Saturday 9/21/09 was the first of two 50M ultras on the fall schedule. The event was the North Face Endurance Event/Gore-Tex 50 Mile Ultra just outside of Washington DC (Algonkian Park, Sterling VA). It is one of five North Face regional events across the country. This course description provided in the race info packet: “The North Face® Endurance Challenge returns to Algonkian Regional Park, Great Falls Park and the Potomac Heritage Trail again in 2009. The course keeps runners on their toes with ever-changing terrain. Overall, it consists of 50% singletrack, 40% dirt or gravel doubletrack, and 10% gravel carriage. The Great Falls sections are highlighted by some intense elevation changes, with steep-but-run-able climbs up to
Read the rest of this entry » Turkey Swamp 50K+ Ultra SummaryAn August ultra? hmm. On little running lately, hmm. I may not have been thinking straight but it turned out to great ChiRunning® lesson. Lots of insight into how efficient (and in ways how inefficient) I am running. Almost no recovery today except for a little overall fatigue. I feel like a could go for a run today (the day after), but I won’t … maybe tomorrow.
Here is a brief summary of the 2009 Turkey Swamp 50K Ultra on
Read the rest of this entry » Hatrun 50K Ultra SummaryA spring ultra? Suuurrre. Apparently my brain was not registering when I read the following course description back in early December at registration time: “The course is mostly single track trail with a mix of open fields, dirt road and some paved road. The course features nearly 9,800 feet of climbing. There is a starting loop of 3.6 miles followed by two identical loops of 13.7 miles. There are 4 stream crossings that can be challenging depending on the water level – there is always the chance of getting wet feet.” I also remember seeing this course profile picture from the http://www.hatrun.com website … apparently this did not
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