The Great Unconformity

The Grand Canyon (Source: Wikipedia)

 

"You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths."  Of course John Wesley Powell wrote this in the late 1800's, presumably during the first American expedition through the Canyon.  If he could only see us now....we will experience the spectacle, as Powerll suggests, but by toiling from hour to hour.

What planted this seed?  As I've started to realize how (relatively popular) running the Grand Canyon from Rim to Rim and back (R2R2R) in a day is, I wondered what motivated me to book a plane ticket this summer and commit taking this on?

For starters, I have ALWAYS wanted to take a week to raft the Colorado River through the Canyon.  I still plan to with my family.  This has been driven by a few things.   I visited the Grand Canyon on a family trip when I was around 12 years old and I'll never forget peering over the canyon rim on the south side....the wind was strong and I felt like we would get blown in at any moment.  I've also been fascinated since reading accounts of expeditions through the Canyon in books like The Monkey Wrench Gang and John Wesley Powell's The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons.  Both highly recommended reads!

Second, I started a bucket list this year.  I mean, everyone has a bucket list in their heads, right?  But it becomes very real when you put it all on paper.  Then you realize you are not getting any younger.....and all of the items have been sitting in your bucket for a while.  So when you ACTUALLY have them written down, then you realize you need to ACTUALLY start experiencing them and  checking them off. 

Third, Andrew Skurka puts it best in his blog-

What happens at "The Great Unconformity"??

"While perhaps a touch extreme, running Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (RRR) is not uncommon: within trail running circles, it's regarded as a classic, a must-do....there are few trips, mile-for-mile, hour-for-hour, that compare. Think about it: in one day, you pass through 1.6 billion years of geology (four times) and you span the grandest Big Ditch in the world (twice). This is a fantastic undertaking for hikers who: have limited vacation time; have limited free-time during a family vacation to the Canyon; do not want to take a complete overnight backpacking kit on an otherwise casual vacation; seek high bang-for-the-buck backcountry routes; want to test themselves with long days and exorbitant vertical change; and/or who cannot obtain the necessary permits to go RRR the traditional way: a slow-and-heavy 4- or 5-day affair."

And so it is.  Friday, a group of six of us will fly out to Pheonix and drive to the Canyon.  Saturday, we will run from the South rim to the North rim and back to the South rim.  45 miles, 10,500 ft of elevation gain and an equal amount of descent.  Sunday, we'll fly back.  I can't wait. 

East Bay to Disney to Chattanooga to Nashville!

It's been a whirlwind past couple of weeks.  Work has been tough and the travel is on.  I am gonna post soon about all of the great things I'm working on...I think yall will find it interesting.  I am very fortunate to have projects and conferences in beautiful places around the country.  When I start planning a work trip I immediately look for trail running spots.  I try to stay close to those and everything else falls in place.

Work recently took me to Tracy, CA, and the San Francisco bay area has no shortage of trails.  Typically I head to the Marin Headlands but this time I was focused on the east bay trails.  I hit Redwoods and Garin/Dry Creek Regional Parks for some great runs.  The two areas are completely different.  The Redwoods Park is forested with a tall canopy formed by the beautiful Coast Redwoods and other big trees.  Consequently it was dark at 5PM during my run.  All I can say is those big ol' stately Redwoods own that place!  I wish I had pictures but I forgot my camera but here is a panorama of the French Trail (my favorite of the trails I ran).

The Garin/Dry Creek Regional Park, on the other hand, is exposed, rolling, Dr. Seuss-like hills.  Consequently it was bright and hot during my run.   But both places had two things in common - they were spectacular places to get submerged in and they were very hilly.  I've yet to find a flat spot to run in the bay area....which is fine by me.

Work then took me to Disney.  Not much to speak of running-wise since it is flat and fairly confined around the Disney compound.  But I got to take the family for a few days over halloween and good times were had by all.  It was certainly exciting to see the kids so happy. 

Then we immediately turned around and went with our crew to do the Ragnar Relay in Tennessee.  Our stats: 12-people, 195 miles, 28 hours.  If you are a runner and haven't done a long relay event, then you are missing out.  It is a great way to be a part of a team and really feel the importance of contributing to a common goal...just like grade school.  Running is typically a pretty singular, and arguably selfish endeavor.  But with a relay, it is a chance to be a part of something bigger and not let the rest of the team down.  My favorite part of these relays is the late night/early morning run....cruising down the backroads in the moonlit darkness carrying a bracelet from one person to the next.  Plus Tennessee is God's country as far as I'm concerned....maybe growing up there has something to do with it.  But I really do think it's under-appreciated in it's beauty.   This time of year is no exception with the leaves changing.  It's rolling hills are perfect for a runner or cyclist, good enough for a challenge but not so demanding that recovery takes days.

The race went from Chattanooga, up, down, up, and down over the Cumberland Plateau and then through the rolling valley that is decorated with stone steps, cedars, and hardwoods all the way to Nashville.  Our team - the Alt Fuel Cell Assassins - is sponsored by my company, CTE, and consisted mostly of coworkers and my wife.  We had a blast and even beat our team's average 10k pace....not bad for an even where everyone ran a total of 18 miles on average!

Next up: A local 9 mile trail race and then Grand Canyon R2R2R on Nov 19!  Super psyched about this one.

Mystery Mountain Marathon 2011

What did you ask?  Did I win a race this weekend?  Heck yeah!!

The Mystery Mountain Marathon is a great trail race (it doesn't shy away from the tough stuff), in a special place (Fort Mountain State Park), put on by an awesome group (GUTS).  For alot of reasons, I've wanted to do this race for a while but there have always been the typical fall season conflicts that include other races and college football.  In addition to the classic southern ultra races, there are certain races that you can count on for being good just because of who puts them on....organizations like GUTS and Rock Creek.  Also, I've never done a marathon distance trail race.  And this one has been billed as being very difficult with around 7,000 feet of elevation gain and an equal amount of descent.


The race is in Fort Mountain State Park which is in the Chattahoochee National Forest and directly adjacent to the Cohutta Wilderness.  This area in North Georgia is both beautiful and rugged.  It has a nice mix of hardwoods and southern pine, with tumbling creeks, bolders, rocky faces, and the occasional long view from it's ridge tops.  The race is named for the mystery surrounding the ancient rock wall that still exists in the park.  Nobody knows for sure who built the wall or why, but speculation is that it was done by native americans as for religous ceromony or by early explorers shortly after arrival in 1170.  I've been mountain biking and hiking in these parts for years so I knew it would be tough.

Mystery Mountain Marathon Course (from my Garmin)

My state of mind leading up to the race was the typical mix of excitement for the event and running the wilderness and fear of taking my body to the limit without going over.  I was also pretty nervous about being a little spent after Six Gap Century that that I did with some friends two weeks prior.  Six Gap is one of the toughest hundred mile bike rides in the country.  It's also a beautiful ride through the north Georgia mountains.  So with all of the climbing in that ride I wasn't sure if my legs would be fully recovered.  While there are plenty of books and guidance on how to train for road races, there is very little about how to string together a series of long bike rides and ultra trail runs in the mountains.  I think that's one of the great things about this sport....you have to listen to your body.

Two of the Crew at Start

I made it to the start of the race safe and sound, that started with a cannon shot.  A bunch of runners shot off the line like they were shot of a cannon as well!  As usual, I left at my own pace and let them go.  There were a mix of around 10 or so marathoners and 12-milers that were out of site pretty quick.  I stayed calm and reminded myself of the pace I knew I wanted to run.  To my surprise, I caught the pack of lead marathoners after about a few miles.  Normally it takes longer for me to catch them.  I knew they were marathoners because the race organizers marked our calves with an "M" or a "12", which was a nice touch.  And I figured they were the leaders because last year's winner (Jim) was in the group.

There were four of us and I could tell pretty quickly that we all had different strengths; one guy was an awesome descender; one guy was climbing very well; one guy was great on the flat sections (which there were few); I think my strength is just being controlled and consistent.  So that was pretty cool.  After about 7 miles of flip-flopping back and forth, the pack of three guys picked up the pace and left me behind.  I started to get discouraged since my legs were a little heavy from six gap.  At that point, I resigned to running my own race and enjoying the morning.   But once again, I caught the pack after another mile.  Then two of them dropped off and I was catching up with Jim.  It was a crazy turn of events within two miles.

From here I ran with Jim up over the very steep power lines climb and down the horrible descent on the other side....steep, rocky, and painful.  See that here...

Turning Into the Ascent Up the Power Lines

Ugghhhh!

We ran together for a while on the gradual climb out of the big descent and Jim shared a bit of what to look forward to on the rest of the course.  He also asked if I planned run sub-four (hours).  I actually had no idea what I was going to run on a course like that but realized then that it would be cool if I could.

At about mile 13 I pulled away for good and pretty much just ran.  There were definitely some tough section throughout the last half of the race, especially the 2 mile, 1700 ft climb at mile 19 that was mostly a heavy dose of power hiking.  Every time I thought about winning I got nervous.  So I didn't think about it much.  I finally got to an aid station where my crew was waiting.  Tully and Olive screamed and ran up and gave me hugs as a volunteer filled up my water bottle.  I gave Allison a kiss and ran on.  Very motivating!  The best part is that my Garmin said I had six miles to go but when I asked everyone at the aid station they all said four!  Apparently the Garmin doesn't pick up the entire 26+ miles due to the switchbacks but the course has been measured with a wheel.

Crew Hugs at the Aid Station

As I was I about 2 miles out (and struggling a bit) a volunteer shouted congratulations and that I was going to finish under 4 hours!!  And so I finished in 3:56:54 very spent but happy.  I think I was even off the course record (the current course since 2009) by 16 seconds....if only I would have known.

And of course I did it in my favorite socks from Darn Tough!

A big thanks goes out to my crew/family, the volunteers, and the race director for a great event.

A Fine Day - Battle at the Assault

The Assault on Pine Mountain is a new 9 (8’ish actually) mile trail race north of Atlanta close to Red Top Mountain State Park.  The race has two significant climbs and descents starting at miles 3 and 5.  Shorter trail races are tough for me since speedsters, typically young ones, can show up and blaze the trail. I was hoping that the two rather big switchback-laden climbs in this one and the technical single track throughout could work to my advantage.    

The race started well, as I quickly worked to stay with the leaders.   The guy wearing the Vibram five-fingers fell off about half way through the first climb.  So then I was left with two of the aforementioned speedsters who appeared to be friends from Jacksonville (based on their singlets).   They were strong on the climbs and even faster on the descents.  At the top of the first climb one of them was well in front and out of site.  At the bottom of the first descent, they were both out of site.  I kept plugging along and managed to catch them about halfway up the second climb.  The first guy ended up taking a wrong turn on the loop that we were on and eventually met us head on and turned around with us.  All three of us were together again. 

After a hard consistent pull up the second climb, I came out of the water station at the top in first place and started into the descent.  Three miles to go.   I had not managed to shake them on the climb and I knew they were faster descenders than I.    So I did the only thing I could think of…run as fast as I could.  I quickly figured out that one of the guys was upset about getting lost and fell back.  So I ran with the other speedy guy hot on my heels, eating up the rooty, rocky single track as we went.  I offered to let him go by but he declined. 

After a short but steep uphill section, we finally came to the downhill gravel road that would lead us the remaining 600 yards to the finish.  At that point, the speedy guy came around and started sprinting downhill.  I tried with everything I had to keep up, but I just couldn’t turn my legs over fast enough.  I was still within about 20 feet at about 300 yards to go but all of the sudden I tripped since I was to travelling at a speed that I had no business at.  I laid out superman-style in the air and came to a skid like an airplane missing it’s landing gear.  I immediately jumped up and asked the camerawoman well positioned about 15 feet in front of me if she got a shot of that as I ran by her.  Unfortunately she missed the best shot she would have had all day.  I sprinted in happy with a second place finish.  It was a certainly a fun battle.   I was particularly impressed that the winner had never run a trail race before and was from pancake flat Florida. 

The rest of the day was pretty much perfect.  I capped it off with a great day of college football on TV with the family (Tennessee won! Auburn won! Georgia Tech won!) and rocking out with the Black Lips at a truck stop dive bar till 2AM.  Plenty of celebratory beers were downed throughout the day.  Seriously, could it get any better?

Big'uns! Mountains that is...

Training has been going great.  It's nice to be building up a strong base with relatively low pressure to prepare for a race.   Since most of my races are at the end of the year, I've tried to slowly and consistently build up my mileage as well as throw in some cross training on the road bike.

Along the way I have once again confirmed a few tenants about running.  Although these are probably widely known they always seem to naturally reveal themselves during training.
1) Recovery is hugely important.  Not just in macro-cycles (a few weeks off once or twice a year), but also micro-cycles (a day or two off weekly and a down week every three weeks.  After running at a fairly high volume for the past ten years, I can definitely tell when my body is getting worn down.  Although many running books prescribe recovery periods, I think the more you run the more you can play it by feel.
2) Heat sucks!  Seriously, it sucks both ability and motivation right out of me.  This is a prime reason I've started to race later in the winter and early in spring. 
3) Tendonitis is a fact of life for runners.  Almost every little ache and pain is some sort of tendonitis that is best managed with ice and ibuprofen. 

Anyway, I've recently completed big week with 56 miles and over 7,500' of elevation gain.  It's been a great week of running trails in North Georgia and Tacoma WA.  Yesterday's run accounted for almost half of that at 21.5 miles and 3,600',  most of which was up and over Rocky Top on the beautiful Benton McKaye Trail.  Add in the Sunday just prior and the eight day total is 74 miles and 11,000'.  Needless to say it's time for a little rest and ice (see above).  Which makes me extremely happy to be waking up to eggs, bacon, coffee, and no run on the schedule this morning.

COLD Ice Bath After Sunday's Run

I'll probably run very little this week to recover and get ready for Saturday's race, the Assualt on Pine Mountain.  A week ago Sunday I ran a double on the course.  It is a short 8 mile trail race with plenty of single track and a couple of steep mountains thrown in.  The footing is not too technical.  The course suits me well but it is a little short so I'll have to try to go out fast.  Normally I conserve and hold back but I might have to stay with the leaders from the start on this one in order to have a chance for the win.  We'll see!

A Couple of Fun Climbs in the Assualt on Pine Mountain Race this Saturday!

Odds and Ends

It's funny because for all of the times I think about what I'm going to post to this blog, not much makes it to the keyboard.  I'm gonna try to change my ways tho.

Here is a compendium of recent running related stuff...

Paratriathlete Guide
A week ago Sunday I had the pleasure of escorting my brother-in-law through the Escape to Blue Ridge Triathlon at Blue Ridge, GA.  This was a spur of the moment endeavor and turned out to be a lot of fun.  My wife was doing the Blue Ridge Triathlon and her brother, Jeremy, wanted to do it as well.  However, Jeremy is legally blind and can only partially see in very low light conditions.  He was an accomplished short distance runner in college and has been training recently for a tri.  So while Allison was lamenting the fact that her brother needed someone to guide him in the tri, I said, "I'll do it!"  So then I found out that we would be tethered (1 1/2 feet) in the swim for 600 yards, would ride an "economy" 50+ lb tandem bike for 18 miles, and run tethered with a complete blindfold on him (5k).  Since I agreed to do this on Tuesday before the race, I hadn't swam in over a year, and I was completely freaked out in the swim.  I almost quit a couple of times but Jeremy didn't stop as I slowed to a breaststroke and the only option was to keep swimming.  I was so happy to get on that tandem cruiser.  In the end it was a great experience!  The venue was beautiful.  The race was well organized.  I learned alot about perseverance, communication, teamwork, and paratriathletics (I think I made that up).  And Jeremy kicked it!  We ended up running 7:34 miles, so not shabby for running blind and tied up...literally!  I'm not sure how in the world he ran like that but it was pretty impressive.  I think with more practice and a better tandem, we could compete at the national level in the paratriathlete division.  Unfortunately, the race also confirmed that swimming is just not for me.

Plans
This week I signed up for Lookout Mountain 50 Miler in December.  It's put on by Rock Creek so it should be a good one.  I've got a bunch of other stuff scattered about including a new Georgia 9 mile trail race, a Ragnar relay race, some Benton Mackaye Trail long runs, some cycling centuries, and I'm putting together plans to run the Grand Canyon from the South Rim to North Rim and back (aka Rim to Rim to Rim) on a Saturday in November.  I'm definitely excited about the last one since that has been on my bucket list for a while.  I'll post more on that one later.

It's actually been surprisingly hard to find some longer trail races that will fit my schedule.  I knew that I wanted to do the Grand Canyon and Lookout Mountain in November and December, but the south has very few trail races in the 13 to 30 mile range in the fall.  So my plan is to have fun and build up a solid base. 

So far so good
What have I been doing this summer?  Running though the dang-blasted heat.  It's taken longer than usual to get my mileage back up.  But I've been running faster pace stuff.  I've also been cycling a bit more.  I've been getting in a very good base and this week I've turned the corner to be able to run whatever I want and recover well enough for the next day.  Finally, I've been very motivated.  I'm loving my runs and can't wait to get out there the next time. 

Here is a picture from a nice run I had in New York state on some very nice back roads of Binghamton.  It was drizzly and hazy as I was running past this idyllic little cemetery that was loaded with deer.

Lookin' Over My Shoulder

Lately I've been getting back to running and biking in typical summer fashion.  Just building back up fitness on the trail and pavement.  On our way back from the MS Ride I ran both of our road bikes under a senseless pole in an open overhang.  If you've done that before you know its a sickening feeling as you assess the mangled mess of bikes, bike racks, and car damage.  I called the property owner and was told the pole is there to limit the "weight" of vehicles coming through their parking lot.  So I've been consumed over the past couple of weeks with finding a new road bike to add to my stable of two-wheelers.  I'll have to do a post on my bikes some day.  Like you care.  But I heart bikes.

Anyway, it's been fun getting back to my running routine.  My enthusiasm is outpacing my ability at this point, but that's ok cause half the fun is getting there.

So out of all of the recent trail running, the hashing through swamps, briars, tunnels under interstate, and the 5:30 AM training runs, the craziest running was yesterday.  It wasn't planned or welcomed.  Nor was it a very long run.  Here's the story.  My wife dropped me off at the doctor's office after lunch.  She had to get back to pick up the kids so I decided to walk the mile and a half back to my office in downtown Atlanta.  I quickly realized that to get back I would be walking down Boulevard and Ponce de Leon through some of the roughest areas of Atlanta.  That's fine, I thought, I'm pretty urbanized after riding MARTA, living in College Park, and riding my bike home from downtown in the middle of the night.  Also, its the middle of the day.

So I'm walking along and an older kid rides up, drops his bike, and starts walking pretty aggressively right behind me.  Then another one appears out of nowhere and is walking right beside me.  I say, "hey what's up?"  They shrug.  I get nervous.  But it's the middle of the day on a busy street in Atlanta!  So I wait for some cars to come by and step into a quick jog to cross the street.  They start to run but then stop.  I glance back a couple of times and realize I'm in the clear.  Pheww!

I keep walking, clearly out of place in this neighborhood but eventually turn on to Ponce and make my way to the office.  All of a sudden, the same guys run up behind my again!  This time they have a couple more kids with them.  Still walking close.  Still middle of the day.  Still a busy road.  One of the kids pulls up beside me and we exchange greetings...."hey man what's up?"..."hey what's up?"  As he starts to introduce himself I turn to face him....uneasily.  Then it comes....he hauls back and throws a big right hand at my head.  It's on.  I duck.  His fist grazes the back of my head.  I'm out.  I take off running.  After a 20 yard sprint I glance back and one of the ruffians is winding up with a rock.  It sails over my head and hits a car.

Somehow danger was averted.

The rest of the way back to the office I'm looking over my shoulder about every 10 seconds.  I was still pretty shaken and amazed that something like that could happen in the middle of the day in a big city.  But I had a pretty good story for my coworkers.  Oh well.  I realized I've been a little lax in the ATL lately and  probably need to be a bit more on guard.   Especially on Boulevard and Ponce.