Umstead 100 mile Endurance run --March 27-28, 2010

Tammy and I are the pre-race briefing

hugo, frank and anthony at pre-race briefing
before the pre-race briefing


at finish with jenny chow

done!!!
I am finally updating my blog:). The long road to Umstead 100 and the long winter is finally over. In short, I set a new P.R. in this year's edition of Umstead with 22:08 -hard believe would still be setting at P.R. at age 51!! So many stories from this weekend, I hardly know where to begin. For starters, Frank paced me the last 2 1/2 loops and finished in 22:08 also!!! He ran an amazing 9:11 for the first 50 miles and then backed off which allowed me to catch up with him--his goals were to finish and to come in under 24, and he more than surpassed those! Tony ran a P.R. of 19:34, and friend Eric finished his first 100! So many friends were also out on the trail -ira, kim, fred, joe L., tammy, steve t., shannon, meredith, Hugo, jenny c.,and the NJ contingent (johnny, laura, susan and marge). We were lucky that Rick and Johnny were around for support most of the day until they paced. and Wayne came down to pace Marge! This is a rolling dirt-road course with 12.5 mile loops -2 aid stations per loop with awesome volunteers to help get the runners food and drink. The weather was chilly but dry with a full moon--really lucky, considering we had rain friday and monday--heavy at times, also!
Background ---with Umstead as my primary goal, and the Boston Build up series as my secondary goal, and NYRRC 1/2 marathons, I put in an average of 60-70 miles a week plus tempo runs or long runs (Watchung, run around manhattan, albany,florida 6-hour run, caumsett).
I felt ready, but hamstrings had been tight and foot was still alittle off after long runs --was never sure that my training was enough but my only goal was to run/walk productively and finish under 24 hours. On Thursday before the race, I barely slept-I fell asleep a 3:30 a.m. and woke up at 5:30 a.m. to meet Tony to drive to plane flight....what an awful way to start the day!! Despite the 2 hours sleep, I had a good day!! Tony and I got to JFK and met ira, karen, steve T., and his wife alex and son joey. We had an easy flight, rented a car, and met Rick, Tony's pacer.
We checked into our hotel, Homewood suites, across the street from a fun mall. We all went for lunch, then over to Umstead park for registration. Then we hung around (in the rain) for the pre-race briefing, where I saw Frank and all of the above!!
We then went to wal mart for supplies and a subway sandwich and went back to hotel -I was exhausted and the race hadn't even begun!!!
After a 4 a.m. wake up call (fortunately, I was asleep at 9:30, after preparing my bags--ended up forgetting hat and sunglasses!!!:( lol), met Rick and Tony in the lobby. We had a bit of a mix up in that Tony forgot his energy drink and had to go back to the room! We then got to the park around 5:15 and went into the cabin to get organized and have some breakfast. It was chilly and I needed a headlamp.
At 6 a.m. we all assembled and were off --I was sooooo nervous. The long road was about to begin....we went out and back on the airport spur and I will never forget seeing all the headlamps coming back!!! I then ran with Frank til mile 7 and he took off. I settled into a groove with ira and Eric. After the second loop, my hamstrings were alittle painful and i thought my race would be over. Plus, I had a painful blister on my pinkie toe --after the third loop, I asked Rick to pop the blister and treat it --he did, thankfully, but it felt so raw and painful I did not think i could continue...but it went numb and my stride returned to normal. Thank God!!! I learned a lesson about blisters and shoes. I ran with Eric off and on (he passed me) and finished the 50 miles in 9:58!! This uplifted my mood as this was my fastest 100 mile 50 mile split. When I was coming back out (after having birthday cake at the aid station), I saw Frank and he said that he was walking some of the next loop and that he would 'take it easy' so that I would catch up with him. I could not bear the thought of us running the same pace for 50 miles, each alone, with him 1/2 hour ahead!!! So, I sped up and hammer the next lap in 2:37!! I saw him coming in and he said he would walk and I could catch up. We ad 3 loops to go...so again, I worked as hard as I could to catch up and no Frank--finally at mile 4 of the loop I saw him walking up the big hill. All of this made my race, as
I worked harder to catch up with him than I would if just plodding along. We then finished the loop in 2:40!!! for me. The next loop was long, eve though we ran alot of it. we stopped to get Frank and expresso gel as he was falling asleep standing up., and then we stopped to get me gloves and root thru the bags for tights (we had a discussion about putting on tights and finally decided not to!!). I was getting mentally and physically tired. At mile 88 and at the headquarters, we saw Hugo and again this was so uplifting --only 12.5 miles to go!! We had been on our feet for 19 hours...and this last loop was the hardest part. We started off and decided to run as much as we could --we still walked all the hills but did run the downhills, as much as they were painful on my quads. Frank was really strong and pulled ahead and kept asking if I was back there!! It pushed me to keep up. Finally, we were at aid station mile 7 (95 miles --5 to go)!! We had gotton thru the dark, dreary section, and now had the hilly sawtooth and the main road to headquarters turn. We clicked off mile 96, 97 and 98 --we then walked up the big hill and I said to Frank, let's tryand run this and I can break my time of 22:18 --so we ran the entire last 1.5 miles. Frank had a strong flashlight for the rocky, dark, last .5 mile --he led the way and we crossed the finish line at 22:08. I was so elated that he finished his first Umstead!! They gave him a choice of pendant or belt buckle and he chose a pendant for his daughter --great!!! Anthony, rick and steve were at the finish to greet us. They wanted to catch a 5 a.m. gate opening so we went with them after socializing a bit and taking some photos with Hugo. I was cold, wet, and ready to go inside. Frank's wife came to pick him up in the hotel lobby (early for her)...and then i checked into my room and went for a hot shower and nap...painful blisters!!
I couldn't sleep so got up and we went over to the park to see Meredith finish!!!
We also saw Tammy (she set a PR) and the NJ guys and Wayne. fun day!!! finally took a nap, went mall walking, and out for easy dinner and flew back yesterday. What a great weekend and what memories, and what fun to meet new friends.

Albany winter marathon --running against the wind! Feb 21, 2010

happy to have the race over and get out of the wind!


what a fun road Rob, Frank and I had -despite getting lost in Albany and eating up precious time to register and get ready before the race-heck, it's ONLY a marathon -
thank goodness Frank and I were organized and were able to pay right away, sign our names and rush outside the SUNY Albany athletic complex gym to the start. We both had to go to the bathroom so used the portajohns after we ran back to the start line...
It was an experience starting in the back of the pack, but since this was a training marathon and since I wanted to run the race at a 9 min pace, this was fine. n fact, it took all the pressure off of running a certain time. I had run 10.5 miles the day before, so was a touch tired plus had run 50 miles in Florida ...I caught up with Barbara and was happy to see her --Frank and I ran together until the first mile and then he took off -as soon as we made the turn into the inner campus loop, wham! We were hit by huge wind gusts and a strong headwind --boy was I happy to have hat and gloves, but could have used a headband...I found myself walking to take a breather even at mile 5, which was into the wind. I felt zapped. At mile 10, i regained some energy, and ran in a pack of people and turned my iPod on (which thankfully had remembered). I saw Eliot at every turnaround, somewhat ahead of me.
At mile 15 I prayed that the next 11 miles would go quickly. It was not until mile 21 that I began to pick up the pace so to get the race overwith --it seemed like each turn was windier--especially the last mile of the loop -wow!! I saw Frank finishing when i was on the inner loop --only 20 more minutes...finally it was over.
A hot shower, some soap, coffee, and then a trip to the brewery made us feel human again!!! all and all it is a good event (the volunteers are awesome)but the weather is unpredictable. It is Albany, NY in the winter!!! and good training..

Boy scout 100th aniversary night -Feb. 8, 2010

the 100th anniversary cake was cut..


a photo of the entire Greenwich council was taken!


















Ike comes off the stage after receiving his award..

This has nothing to do with running but last night my 2 boy scouts hank and Ike went to a town-wide boy scout event to celebrate the boy scouts' 100th anniversary!
Ike's patrol got to go on stage as they won third place in the january 30 Klondike derby. He got a nice certificate. The head scout executive gave a short speech, and gave out some awards, and then cut the cake (and we said a prayer for boy scouts).
All the boys and leaders received a beautiful 2010 anniversary patch.

'Run around mahanttan' 50K-(1/31/2010) in honor of ted corbitt

some of the group posing on the Inwood park stairs

running next to the GW bridge...

running up the West side highway --in front of the Intrepid (mile 29)

the group at the staten island ferry terminal (@ mile 24)

Yijoo Kwon talks about his March 23 run across america for diabetes (www.koreanrunner.com)

the group at the start
The letter from Ritchie of Broadway Ultra Society came on Wed. of last week, announcing Dave Obelkevich's annual 33.25 (54K) Run around Manhattan in honor of Ted Corbitt's actual birthday (Jan 31 he would have been 91). Dave has organized and run this for 11 years!!! He is also known for finishing 33 nycms --he has the longest streak. This was a fun run, with coffee and donut and bagel stops along the way. Since I was planning to do a long run, and no race was scheduled, I was intrigued!! Yes, it was going to be cold, but i figured that if Frank came we would be in it together. We could do as much or as little as we wanted. Eliot read about it and jumped on the bandwagon! He would meet us at Dave's apt on west 97 street on Sunday a.m. before the 8 a.m. start! Eliot has just started running ultras, and grew up in China Town so was also intrigued --Frank relunctantly said he'd run but may end up as an ice cube:( (temp--high of 29 degrees).
We drove to the West side uneventfully and found a cheap ($18) parking garage, and met the group at dave's apt. on West end ave and 97th street. I did not let myself think of the long journey ahead --I just kept telling myself it was another long run.
We had a group of Korean road runners with us --one of them,Yijoo Kwon, is running across the U.S.-he made a short speech, and then Dave made a speech about Ted Corbitt and about his running route around manhattan, and we paid a small tribute to Ted, went outside and took some photos and were off about 8:15. We proceeded slowly (10 min pace) up the Westside highway and under the GW bridge and across northern manhattan to Dykman street --it was cold but the sun was shining and I had never run in this area before, so it was cool to be led by Grant and Phil, who liveand run in that area. We were accompanied by Dave's friend Alex, an engineer, on a scooter. He carried water and hot beverages, and generally cheered us on, and told us the mileage if we asked...he was an awesome addition to the run, as he also knew the route!!!
I ran with Ruth, Eliot, Bob Falk, Mike Tobin, and some of the other B.U.S. runners.
After about 7.7 miles, we stopped at Twin Donuts on the upper (186 street) East side.
After the group went to the bathroom, got drinks, donuts coffee...we set out again.
We went all the way down the east side to the nycm route and Marcus garvey park, and cut across to the East side at 90th street - at about mile 17 we stopped at Bob's bagels for about 20 minutes. I got a coke, a whole grain bagel and had some of Eliot's choc. chip cookies --I also had some expresso from Alex!!! The stops were welcome, even though it was tough to get going again after a cozy coffee shop and bagel store..we then went over to the East side drive and ran all the way down. Grant had left us, and Frank, Alijca, Phil and some of the Korean runners were well up ahead. Eliot and I ran together most of the time, even thankfully taking walking breaks (my feet were taking a pounding with the concrete)--he took some photos of us in front of the Brooklyn bridge, and then we jogged to the Staten island ferry terminal,where we went upstairs (24 miles!!!) and met the front running group (being entertained by a clown-haha). Frank said 'where have you been? we've been here for 15 minutes'!! But i reminded him that it was NOT race:) --we then waited for Dave (who had helped Joe in a fall) and then Alex fed us some wonderful hot tea!!!
The whole group then made our way outside the ferry terminal and went up the West side highway, past the Intrepid museum and chelsea brewing --Phil, eliot and I ran most of the way back together, and the last 3 miles went quickly even though I was hurting...(stiff)--we exited off the West side highway into beautiful Riverside park and back to dave's. Frank and a Korean runner, followed by Aljica, were the first to finish. Eliot finished with Phil and I, in fine shape!! His third ultra in 2 months.. We then went up to dave's and changed and had cookies and rootbeer and met his wife...what a great day I had!! This is something I never would do alone.
Even Frank was happy that I dragged him along --our second ultra in January, and this puts me over 210 miles for the month...

watchung winter ultras --Jan 9, 2010

I haven't update my blog in a while ---with the cold weather, hasn't been alot going on in terms of long runs or races (except the chilliest, windiest boston buildup 10K on 1/3)....Frank, Rob and I did make a road trip to NJ to the Watchung winter 50K and I am pleased to report that I finished the snowy, icy but beautiful single track course in around 7 hours (7:10 to be exact) and Frank finished in 6:32...he got lost and ran around 36 miles. Since the course was 3 loops of the 10.7 mile (or more, according to Garmins) sierra trail, in Watchung reservation, the 50K was about 32.1 miles. plus, i got lost a few times so figure I ran @33 miles. The worst part about the day was
that it was about 20 degrees and the race started at 8 a.m. -brrr!! I finished the first loop wearing 3 layers of everything, and behind me was Rob with alomst frostbitten hands; plus his hips was hurting so he dropped at about 11 miles. I was somewhat surprised that he was packing it in after one loop, but it was icy, snowy, hilly (3 parts -one paved hill) and slow going... I didn't want to go on eiter but figured I's finish the second loop and see where Frank was. Rob was Ok with taking nap in car and reading his book. The next loop took me about 2:15 --I ran it with Coln, a friend of my NJ friend Joe --they were both in the 50K as are training for Comrades and other spring ultras. I also ran some with Yuki, who I met in VT --he is running Massanutten!! Thankfully 2 water stations were on course as even though it was cold we were working hardand were thirsty!! After the first loop I had grabbed my handheld. I got back to the parking lot in 4:30 and Frank had gone on -Rob was still in the car. I figured I'd push on and do the marathon (a cutoff was on the big loop)-however, a guy with a garmin pointed out that the marathon distance was really close to 28.2 miles, so I might as well go the distance!! and get credit for the 50K.
I started out the next loop with my friend Mary, and we walked alot of the icy patches --somehow I got 10 minutes behind schedule. I tried to push it and did get lost going up a hilly area by myself. After I passed the marathon cutoff, I passed over 6 runners!! It was such a great feeling to go up the final hill and see the aid station in the parking lot -- and the best thing --Johnny walker black label shots were waiting. Frank was in the car shivering so we took a few photos, talked to my friend Joe, and headed for home!!!

Roxbury Marathon and taconic relays -12/12 and 12/13

lots of snow on the ground!!!

The course went through the town of Roxbury


I had never done the free Sat.a.m. Roxbury road race series as the town is north of Danbury and just too far to drive for a training run, however scenic and low-cost (this I reserve for Westport and Norwalk!). The Roxbury marathon is the culmination of the year-long series, and my friend Rob has done the marathon several times and raved about the event --tough workout,well organized, $5 cost,2aid stations anda hilly 3.5 mile loop,plus a big dirt road (up and down a big climb) to start. So, I figured that running the marathon was worth the drive -plus, I have never run that far in Dec.!
Big problem -- the weather wassupposed to be 18degrees at the start with a wind chill of 10 --lovely...
Frank, Rob and I planned to meet our other friend Eliot at the start. Frank became very sick with a nasty cold and had to stay home, and Rob decided he'd do the accompanying 1/2 marathon as he had to be somewhere by 1 p.m. soooo I left my house at 7:15 for an 8:30 start, thinking it was about an hour -well, got to start with 5 minutes to spare.
Runners were lining up at the start --1/3 of a mile down the road!!! I barely had to time to ign n, get my gloves and hat on, and go to the bathroom. It was bitter cold but the sun was shining. The race had about 100 people line up..and 57 of them ended up finishing the marathon. The rest did the 1/2or even more (Eliot ran 16 miles as had to leave). I used the first 8 mile out and back as a warm up.I was way in the back, and planned to stay at a 10 minute pace for awhile --the course was just beautiful --picture perfect new england and at 8 miles, we went by my car --I shed some layers and out on warmer gloves as hands were completely numb. The volunteers were great --breaking the water cups which had frozen,and even offering runners beer!
I had brought food and put it on top of my car. By the second loop most of the runners had finished the 1/2 and I saw Rob as he was leaving -again, I stopped at my car to change layers. I plodded on on the next loop --we had to run 5 more for the marathon. I got lapped by faster runners,but this was actually good as I liked seeing them go by. I ended up finishing in 4:13 and was happy with this effort considering I finished the last loop in sub 9 min miles. I finished with a woman from Illinois (used to the cold) who was running her 50 states marathons. Bruce Golart finished right behind me. After getting some post race food, I changed and jumed into my warm car....brrrr --I was never so happy to be inside. I missed talking to Rob and Eliot, and I missed Frank and wished he cold have run such a nice course-
however, 3:45outside in 20 degree weather would've done him in:(
next post -Taconic relays..

Knickerbocker 60K --11/21/09

yesterday was perfect weather for the Central Park Knickerbocker 60K...
Rob, Frank and I planned to run it and it was with trepidation that i approached this ultra because I was really out of ultra shape..but I figured it was cheap and cheerful,
and just a run in the park. Frank and I drove in and met Rob, who took the train.
When we were getting our bibs we saw Ritchie, Barbara ? from Millrose, Siri, and other B.U.S. people like Nick and Frank D. Plus, lots of other friends. I was still chatting at the back of the pack when the gun went off. We had to run a 2 mile out and back, and I went very slowly (well, a 9 min pace)--Eliot was right behind me. Then we went thru the finish line where they had set up a timing area and station and where cheering crowds were waiting...we then had to run 9 loops of the hilly 4 mile middle central park section. I settled into a 9:00 pace, with a guy from NJ named Johnny and Eric and Lynn. Frank and Rob too off like a shot, never to be seen or the rest of the race except when Frank lapped me as he was finishing.
Wayne kept saying 'we are going way too fast' and he dropped back and Johnny and I pretty much leap-frogged each other for most of the loops, or I ran alone. The volunteers were great, because this is a funny race --since it is loops, you do feel at times that you are all alone...Phil at a certain point, and the other leaders, lapped me...it was just a gorgeous day and I tried to concentrate on keeping a steady pace and on a normal footfall for my left foot --and I did get a blister!! The last couple loops were the best as I knew I would finish,and that my foot would hold up in the Mizuno trail shoes --Frank did catch up to me and Johnny as we were finishing the 8th lap, and seeing him finish and knowing Rob was ahead of me made me want to push the pace...I did, but still couldn't break 6 hours (finished in 6:01:30?) --still,
this was only 7 min off my time from 3 years ago. And as I was older, out of ultra shape, and cautious was pleased just to finish...afterward, Phil (who won), Rob, Frank and I went to have beer and burgers --then as an added treat we took Phil home to Inwood Park -got to talk to him and see the night views of the Hudson river!
See Frank's blog for report and photos!!