2016 Anarctica Marathon Recap

This is race recap for the Antarctica Marathon & Half Marathon along with a trip recap.

The Race
The original course for this was supposed to be 3 laps going out and back with the start/finish in the middle on King George Island around research stations.  You run on a road/trail connecting the research stations for various countries (Chile, China and Russia).   Unfortunately in one direction the trail was washed out too bad on the steep parts so they had to make it 6 laps in just one direction.  There are two boats (we were on a boat for this whole trip) full of runners so a day before us the other boat ran and they had good conditions, on the day my boat ran we were supposed to have good weather but it did not turn out that way.

The weather was supposed to be a chance of rain/snow, mild temps (20-30) and low winds and that is what we started in.  The trail was rocky, wet in spots and even had parts with soft gravel.  It wasn't bad running as long as you dodged the numerous puddles but it got progressively windier, colder and with heavier precipitation.  The first 4 laps were not hard and I took off my sunglasses and changed gloves at the turn which would turn out to be a bad decision.  The wind really picked up in lap 5 and the snow was coming in sideways and blinding me (because I had no sunglasses).  I got through lap 5 and got my sunglasses back from my wife (she wasn't running but volunteered to help out with the race and by the end they really needed the help).  The last lap started off with me getting hamstring cramps and it took awhile but I was able to work them out and was able to finish.  I can honestly say the last lap was some of the toughest conditions I have ever run in.  By the end of the race my hands and feet were soaked and numb.  My hands were so numb that I could not turn off my Garmin until I had changed and was on the way back to the boat.

As soon as you finished the volunteers would get you out of your shoes and into your wet skin (basically a waterproof parka) and boots because you had to get on a zodiac (inflatable boat with a rigid bottom) to get back to the boat.  The wind had picked up so much the waves were getting pretty high but I got back where more volunteers helped you into the boat and your cabin (I stood in the shower for 20+ minutes trying to thaw my hands and feet). 

Early in the race (I know this because I am still smiling)

 

Later in the race

Finish line (I am just glad to be done here)

During the time all of this was going on the captain of the boat had contacted the race director and said the waves were getting too high and people had to get back to the boat because it kept getting windier (we got an estimate of 45 knots which is about 40 mph).  The race director called the race because he was legitimately worried about people getting hypothermia and in the end he has to answer to the boat captain. There were some marathoners on our boat that they would not let finish and they were upset (understandable, some could have continued, others it was for their own good).   Some of the people who didn't finish were after their 7th continent (running a marathon on all 7 continents).

In the confusion of the the horrible weather there was nobody counting the last laps for the race because they pulled the volunteers and race people from the course.  There were several runners who claimed to have finished and it turns out they did not.  The race officials looked into this afterwords and figured out they had given some age group awards to people who did not even run 6 laps. It had to be embarrassing to the race organizers (Marathon Tours & Travel) that during the awards ceremony they tried to award 1st place in the female 60-69 age group to an incredible woman I met named Kathy (an article about her:  http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20160315/peorian-kathy-jones-runs-marathon-on-her-seventh-continent ) who stood up and said "That isn't right I didn't finish".  There were others that did not have as much integrity and accepted awards even they they didn't tun the full distance.  I guess I always expect a bit more out of runners because most are good people. In the end I believe the race officials did correct the situation somehow because on unofficial results we had 127 finishers between both boats and later the official results had 124 finishers.

Pros
If you like nature and want a tough challenge this is an awesome experience!
It is a long trip (15 days) but to me it was worth it.

Cons
They need to tighten up the race to prevent the people claiming to finish when they did not.
If you are prone to seasickness you are going to hate the 2 days on the way there and back on a boat through the Drake Passage.  It is extremely rough waters and things fly off of tables all the time as you are making the trip.



The race is only part of the story, the rest of the time we were off on zodiac excursions to various islands and the continent itself.



The rest of the trip in pictures

Penguins and seals

Chinstrap penguin

In front of penguin colony

This one came right up to me and pecked on my boot

Fur seal - don't let the look fool you the adults can be aggressive and chase you and they move pretty fast on land!

Fur Seals - the aggressive ones will chase you but if you turn and yell at them they usually stop

If you sit still long enough penguins will even come sit on top of you while checking you out.

Glaciers and iceberg formations

A seal hanging out on a floating iceberg

Neat looking iceberg

Yes it is very clean ice, people picked up ice chunks and used it to make drinks in the bar on the boat.

A hike to overlook a glacier

Polar Plunge

Some of us did the ultimate polar plunge by jumping off a rock on the continent into the water.  The hardest part was getting out of the water because the rocks were slippery. Then you had to dry off and put your clothes back so on before you took a zodiac to get back to the boat.

2015 Recap & Goals for 2016

I haven't written anything in awhile due to time constraints but figured I would try and write something before the end of the year.  The last few months have been a whirlwind of work travel along with running marathon #31.  A few of the high and low lights:

2015
- I've been spending the last few months traveling to either Atlanta or Chicago for a project.  Luckily we have a 2 week break on travel around the holidays or else I would have never been able to catch up on anything I needed to do at home
- Ran the Tucson Marathon on December 6th, the weather was good and even though it is a net downhill marathon it was a struggle.  I was not able to rest like I wanted leading up to the race and it showed.  Oh well it is still another state done and my 4th of the year.
- I decided to take off from the long Sunday runs I usually go on for the rest of the year and focus on weight training and recovering from all the miles run this year.  I've run over 2,100 miles in 2015 so far which is the most since I first started keeping track. 
- I'm still running every day but sticking to 3-10 miles at the most and passed 4 years on the #Runstreak at the beginning of December.  It's hard to believe it's been that long but it is second nature to run every day now.
- Ran the Tokyo and London Marathons this year (with some good times!) to finish off the World Marathon Majors.  
- Ran my second (and probably last) 50k race this summer.  I have no urge to try anything farther at this time.
- Got to run a race with my brother, sister and niece in Montreal.  My niece who had said she would never be a runner is now signing up for other races!


2016
- My first marathon of this year is going to be epic: Antarctica in March.  I will be going up into the mountains to train for it along with running in bad weather whenever possible.
- Every year I try some new race as a challenge and this year is no different.  I have taken the plunge and signed up for a couple triathlons.  I signed up for one in June and another in August, both are not that far away from home and in the same place - Boulder, CO.  Training for these will be completely new but I've already started swimming, biking and running in one massive workout when I can (the ever famous brick workouts).  So far the hardest thing is swimming because I have no background in it.  I will be taking some swimming lessons in the future but I am already getting better since starting a few weeks ago. 
 - I do want to run a few more marathons next year but the priority will be triathlon training.

That is it for now have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year and feel free to comment on anything new you are trying in the new year.

Montreal RnR Marathon Recap

I have been short on time lately but finally got around to writing this review of the Montreal Rock and Roll Marathon on 9/20/15.

This was my 30th marathon but more importantly this was going to be a family marathon.  My niece - Maddy goes to school in Montreal at McGill University and this race coincided with my sister- Anne Marie's (Maddy's mom) birthday.  The idea was my brother-Paul and I would run Anne Marie's first marathon with her.  Unfortunately Anne Marie broke her foot back in the spring and there was no way she could train for a full marathon.  Anne Marie and Maddy ended up running the half marathon (Anne Marie's 3rd and Maddy's 1st!) while my brother and I ran the full (his 68th to my 30th).  My goal for this race was to finish in under 4 hours and enjoy the the weekend with my family.

Montreal is a nice city to visit as far as site seeing and if you are interested in eating and drinking (but that doesn't help the days before a race)

Views of Montreal from Mont Royal

  

 

 A few notes:

- It was very warm and humid the days leading up to the race.  I arrived on Friday afternoon and just felt hot and sweaty all the time.  The morning of the race it was a bit cooler so the running conditions weren't bad.

- I usually have a routine of going to the expo and maybe doing some limited site seeing the day before the race.  We went to the expo on Friday and ended up climbing Mont Royal on Saturday (this was not smart as I was wearing sandal type shoes with no support but hey I was being a tourist while my niece was the tour guide). 

- My brother arrived Saturday afternoon and we all had dinner together at a place named Weinstien & Gavinos picked out by Maddy.  Really good pre-race food and I highly recommend it.

- I made a mistake and decided to run without my usual compression shorts during the race, this would come back to haunt me.

The morning of the race we all met up and went to the subway together.  The race provided subway passes to get out to the island where you start (it is a point to point race). I think this race had 20,000+ people in all the different distance so the subways were crowded.  It also turned out to the be the 25th year of this race.

We got to the start in plenty of time to use the port-a-potties (lots of them available!).  We hung around for awhile before splitting up into our various corrals (we were all in different ones except my sister and niece were in the same one)

Pre-race: Me, My sister Anne Marie, niece Maddy, brother Paul (yes he finds old sweaters at the back of his closet as throw away shirts before a race!).

I had a few minutes before the race in the corral so I stretched a bit and moved around and then we were off.  No problems with the start and many of the miles.  We went around the island a number of different ways before taking the bridge back into the city.  I really remember very little about the course itself because there wasn't that much noteworthy about it.  I was on a race track they use for the formula 1 race for awhile and I passed by a brewery at one point (I always recognize that smell I lived in Milwaukee!).  Mile 12-13 is the biggest hill on the course but overall the course isn't hilly compared what I am used to out here in Colorado.  Sometime after mile 20 I could tell that 1. my legs had gotten a bit taxed from the walking around and climbing the previous day and 2. my hamstrings were misfiring and feeling crampy.  I tried taking one of the salt tablets I had along with electrolytes to see if that would work.  It did not as I got my first cramp around mile 22.  In the future I need to always wear the compression shorts because I have never gotten hamstring cramps while wearing them.  It was a battle to finish between walking out the cramps when they hit although it was in 4:05.  I did see my brother during when I was on the back portion of an out and back and we yelled and waved to each other.

I met up with my sister and niece in the meeting area and enjoyed a warmish beer (it warmed up again so they had a hard time keeping the beer cold but it still tasted good).  My brother finished up later and joined us and it turned out to be good race for everyone.

Funny note: several years ago I had encouraged Maddy to take up running and try some shorter races, she always said she wasn't a runner.  After this race she couldn't wait to sign up for her next half!

Overall I enjoyed the race because I got to see my family.  I live a long way from all of them so it is rare we get to see each other.  

Here are my race thoughts:

Pro's

- Well organized logistics, it's easy to get to the start and from the finish even if you don't speak French (like me).

- Interesting city to visit if you like history

- Lots of sponsor hotels near the city and the finish area

- Good size expo, not too big or too small

- Nice 25th year finisher medal

- The race shirt was a sort of low key blue tech shirt with circular logo.  I like it because I don't have many dark blue ones.  Personally I like race shirts that aren't trying to be trendy or funky or are white.

- Due to the exchange rate right now it's a great time to visit Canada and buy stuff!

Con's

- The race course is kind of boring and the streets have lots of holes, I ended up running 26.5 miles dodging holes. 

- My brother rated this course a 2 out of 10 because it really didn't have many memorable moments.  I sort of remember running over the bridge and people at various spots but overall it just seems like a blur now.

- Montreal is not easy to get to from some cities.  I can usually fly direct most places in North America but I had to connect through Chicago (which wasn't bad because I finished several books during the flights to and from).

Tomorrow is Run Streak day 1400, I have reached the point now where there are all these little milestones within the streak like passing 7,000 miles while running this marathon.

North Fork 50k Recap

I have been waiting to write the recap of this race until I had some pictures from it but so far I have not received any from the race itself. 

On June 27th I ran my second 50k race the North Fork Trail Race (http://www.northfork50.com/home.html).  The North Fork Trail Race has two options: a 50k or a 50 mile and the total number of people running is limited to 200 so you have to sign up early because it sells out.  the race is about 2 to 1 in favor of 50k runners. 

I did finish and for this race they did not have medals but pottery bowls that were unique, it's nice to get something different than a medal for a race:

This race is really well organized because they have been doing it for 5 years and the people who run it know how to run them.  There was great e-mail communication before the race and they had several trial runs on the course so people could get an idea of what the course was like.  Unfortunately I was not able to attend any of them as I had another race two weeks before this one.  You could go out to the trail yourself to get an idea what it was like but we have had some wet weather this spring and summer which made the trails very messy in spots plus there is a good chance you could get bit lost because there are trails all over the place in the area.   This is the map of the 50k and 50 mile routes:

As you can see from the routes it can be a bit confusing out there if you are running on your own.  Fortunately on the day of the race they had the routes really well marked with various color ribbons so you knew when to turn for what distance.  Also there was really good signage and striped ribbons to warn you when you were going the wrong way (even with that I ran next to a woman who had gone several miles in the wrong direction around mile 12 and was wondering what distance I was at on my Garmin).

Now that you have seen the course route take a look at the elevation map for the 50k race:

 I think this sentence from the course description says it best: "The elevation gain is about 4,650 feet for the 50K and 7,350 feet for the 50 Mile.".  The altitude ranges from 6,700 to 8,100 feet for the 50K and up to 8,400 feet for the 50 Mile so altitude is big factor if you are coming from lower elevation.

I ran the race with aa handheld 20 oz water bottle and this was good enough to get me from one aid station to the next (although I cut it close when there was a 5.8 mile section that was very exposed to the sun).  They have the aid stations spaced out at a good distance apart and they were very well stocked with everything you could possibly need along with very helpful volunteers.  I carried GU packets and salt pills with me but they had them at most of the aid stations.  They also had signage telling how far it was to the next aid station so you could prepare accordingly.

This is a very good race to run but I think it is geared towards experienced trail runners due to the altitude, elevation and the overall course itself.  I ended up walking more than I wanted or expected to due to several factors: 1. the course is rocky in spots and you can't safely run it, this includes when you are going up and downhill, 2. due to  the large amount of rain we had this year it was very sandy and loose footing in many places, and 3. this is a mountain bike trail open to the public so you would have to get out of the way when bikes came through although most would stop and let you go by because they knew there was a race going on.  In addition parts of the course go through burn areas where there are no trees so you are very exposed to the sun and heat for miles. 

I would only recommend this race to people who have done trail races before and are in peak condition. The 50k distance is actually over 52k due to having to get back to where you started and they have to follow the trails. I ended up running 32.3 miles according to my Garmin.  If you are up for challenge this is race to try but be warned that this is not easy.   

Pros
Very well organized
Great aid stations
Nice finishers memento and race shirt
Good post race food and beverage selection

Cons
Tough course
The distance from the last aid station to the finish was a bit off.

Personally I have decided that I am just not that fond of 50k races.  I wanted to try another one after the first one last year but I think I am going to stick with marathons (or shorter distances) for the immediate future along with some obstacle course races.   On a positive note I found out yesterday I got into an Antarctica marathon for 2016!

Happy running!

Mount Evans Ascent Recap

Last weekend I ran one of the more unusual races I have ever done named the Mt. Evans Ascent (http://www.racingunderground.com/mtevans/course.html).

What makes this unusual is the distance (14.5 miles) and where you are running (you start at above 10,000 feet elevation and finish at above 14,000 feet at the top of Mt. Evans).

I signed up for this race because a friend told me about it (she had already signed up) and I thought it would be an interesting challenge along with it fit into my race calendar.  For this race you run up a paved road all the way to the top so it is not on trail but the elevation and going uphill is what makes it tough.

Colorado has had very wet and cool conditions in the month leading up to this race so training for it has been difficult.  The highway department did not get the road to the top cleared of snow until a couple days before the race.  Typically the road opens on Memorial Day but it has been closed because of snow and also because they are going to do construction on it until late July this year. I was able to go do a training run last week part of the way up to get an idea of how I was going to tackle the race.  I went up almost 7 miles then turned around and ran back down (I carried a bottle of water but there is no other water stops along the way).  I wore winter running gear and it felt about right for conditions because it was windy and cold in spots.  My strategy for this race was to run at an easy pace and if my heart rate got too high I would power walk until it went down to reasonable level then run again.  There are a few spots in the first 5 miles that are very steep and it didn't make sense to run those areas because it would just wear down your legs.  All in all I am glad I was able to do a training run because it gave me an idea of what to expect for the race.

The day before the race we had some rain and cooler temperatures and my friend  who had signed up for the race was getting discouraged.  She does not like running in rain or snow and was getting concerned we were going to be cold and miserable.  I spent a good part of Friday trying to get her excited for the race via text.

Saturday morning's forecast was for the possibility of rain but overall good weather.  I ended up wearing shorts along with a long sleeve top.  In hindsight I could have worn a short sleeve top but I'm glad I didn't because there were no clouds so I would have gotten sunburned (the sun is really intense above 10,000 feet).  We got to the race start pretty early to pick up our packets and ended up getting a prime parking spot right at the start. 

After waiting around we finally got started at about 7:30 in a mass start of about 3-400 people.  I ran the first several miles before encountering the first steep area, power walked, then ran again and just kept that up for the whole race.  There were parts about 8-10 miles into the race where I was able to run for extended periods because the road was flat or seemed to be going downhill.  My goal was to make the 9 miles mark before the cut off which was 2 and 1/2 hours and then just to finish.  As I was running I was keeping a good enough pace that I thought I could finish in under 3 hours but my pace slowed at the end and I finished in 3:06 in 147th place out of 374 finishers and 15th in my age group.  Overall I was happy with the result.  After you finish you can hang around the top for a bit before taking one of the shuttle vans back to the bottom.  They do bring up your bag if you checked one at the beginning in case you wanted clothes or something but it was so nice out at above 14,000 feet I could have hung out in shorts and a t-shirt.

A few pictures from the race (taken by someone else):

The road ahead

Marmot!

How deep the snow was in spots

Mountain goats after the finish line

Bib and Finisher's medal

If you are interested in a unique race that will challenge you then this is a good one to try.  You need to sign up early because it is somewhat small and does sell out.  Just remember the pace on this race is slow (my pace was just under 13 minutes per mile).  I think the strategy I took is the same as most of the runners in that they ran intervals and then walked.  Some people did run up the whole or nearly whole way but I am not sure if this was the best philosophy because when I was power walking I passed people who were trying to run but just had nothing left and their legs were dead.  Note: I used to climb mountains in Colorado and other places a great deal so I have a good idea of how altitude is going to feel.  There is no amount of training that you can do that cam mimic what trying to run above 13,000 feet feels like, the best comparison is that it is like trying to breathe through a very small straw.

Most times the weather is not as good as we had it this year, one of the van drivers told us she has volunteered for 10 years and had never seen it this nice.  We got a very neat long sleeve, lightweight hooded top in addition to a goody bag along with a good post race lunch.  All in all this was a very good race for the price and very well organized.  They kept us very well informed with frequent e-mails in the weeks leading up to the race about the road conditions.

In summary if you are looking for a challenge I would highly recommend this race.

I'm still learning

It seems like when you think you have things figured out something throws you off and you have to accept and learn from it to move forward.  I was recently taught this lesson again.

After running the London Marathon at the end of April with a really good time I got back home with a cold I caught while traveling.  I thought I recovered and started preparing for the two 10k races I do in May: the Airlife Run and the Bolder Boulder.  To get ready for these I typically go for shorter, faster runs rather than the typical long marathon paced runs.  My goal for these races is to run them faster than I did the year before and I thought I was ready for them.

We had a relatively cold and rainy May and the day of the Airlife run rain was predicted.  I wore rain gear and was glad I did because it started raining right before the race and continued the entire race (it was even raining hard at times).  By the time I finished I was soaked, my time was slightly slower than the year before but I thought it was due to the rain and the fact that part of this race is on a muddy, hilly trail (you even start on the grass on the side of a hill). 

The Bolder Boulder takes place on Memorial Day and the week leading up to it I was not running well.  When I was running it seemed like I couldn't catch my breath and I had a nagging cough that would not go away.  The day of the race I had no expectations on how I would do and ran that way.  In short I felt slow and was having issues catching my breath along with a tightness in my chest during the race.  I didn't look at my watch until I was done and was glad I didn't because I was over 3 minutes slower than the year before.  I spent the rest of the day coughing so I figured it was time to go to a doctor.

The next day I went to the outpatient clinic and found out I had a mild case of bronchitis, they gave me a prescription for a couple days (a steroid so I might fail drug tests now!) along with an inhaler.  As soon as I started taking them I felt better. I ran very short, easy paced runs during this time and never got out of breath.

I thought I was done with everything and recovered so yesterday morning I figured I would go out for at least a 10 mile run.  I started out as soon as the sun came up with a water bottle in my hand that I would fill up along the way.  Unfortunately yesterday turned out to be the warmest day in May and it got hot very quickly.  I kept filling my water bottle whenever I could but I don't think I drank enough.  I ended up running 11.6 miles and I felt off the rest of the day no matter how much water, electrolytes or anything else I drank.  In hindsight I had some heat related issues because I pushed myself too hard on a day when I should not have.  In addition the previous day I was doing yard work in the sun and I probably didn't drink enough fluids so that contributed to how I felt. 

We are finally going to have some days in the 80's this week so I can get used to warmer weather running but I am not going to run really hard this week.  I feel better today and got a 3 mile run in along with some lifting this morning.

In a couple weeks I am supposed to run the Mount Evans Ascent which is a 14.5 mile run (from 9,000 feet elevation to over 14,000 feet) to the top of Mount Evans.  It has been difficult to train for this race due to the health issues I had but also because the road we run on still has snow on it!  Due to how cold and wet May has been they have not plowed the road yet even though it usually opens on Memorial Day.  We have been told the race is still supposed to happen but at this point I am not real optimistic it will.

Now that I look back on the past several weeks I should have gone to the doctor earlier but that is the benefit of hindsight.  In addition I am going to have to take some time to get used to the summer heat because we haven't had the slow build up to it like we usually have every spring.

A Running and Logistics Related Dilemma

I am having a hard time making up my mind on something.  I have two things that are occurring on the same weekend (8/1 & 2) and I can't do both:

- I have been asked to be part of a 3 person team for a 12 hour trail relay race that is close to where I live.  I had thought about doing this particular race because I had heard good things about it and it doesn't have the associated logistics issues many relay races have because you are in one spot and do 10 mile laps on a nice trail.  The other people on this relay team are good runners so this seems like a good event to do with some good people.

- I also have a high school class reunion that has been scheduled that same weekend.  This would involve me traveling 1,000 miles but I could also visit my family at the same time.   Another factor is that none of my family lives in the city where I went to high school so it means lots of driving around all over the place during the whole weekend.  I am not a fan of traveling to Wisconsin (where the reunion will be held) in the summer but would rather go and visit my family in the fall (fall in Wisconsin is the best season).  I have no reservations about attending this but don't feel I am missing much by not being there.  I went to the one 5 years ago so I think I can pass on this one.


So what do you think, which one should I do?