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Tuesday, January 8
Moments of Impact
Saturday, September 8
Wakely 2012
“Oh. My. God. That was the most painful thing I have ever
attempted. Never again.”
Those were my
thoughts after completing the Wakely Dam Ultra in 2011. So why, I was asking
myself, was I toeing the start line of the same race (plus and additional mile
and a half), the very next year? Why would I take on a race that was renowned
for its ups and downs, locust-like deer flies that could pick up a small child,
raging water crossings, quarreling, flame spewing dragons and meddlesome
woodland nymphs? Ok, so the mythical beasts may have been an exaggeration, but
the part about the deer flies is totally true. Perhaps it was my resolve to
conquer a race I was ill prepared for the previous year? Maybe I was trying to
prove something to myself? Oooor, maybe I was trying to achieve some higher
state of being by putting my soul, body, and mind through the numerous trials
and tribulations that are associated with running 55 kilometers unassisted?
Nah, on second thought it totally must have been the savvy race directors (Kim
and Doug Gardner) and the fact that they put on an impeccable race. Regardless
of why I found myself standing on Wakely Dam at 6:30 in the morning, only to
have awoken 3 hours earlier, the fact of the matter was: I WAS THERE!
So as I briefly alluded to earlier, last year’s Wakely
didn’t treat me so well. That can largely be attributed to my lackluster
training as well as my overall inexperience in terms of racing ultras, let
alone pacing for them. So I set out this year with high hopes of training like
a madman! Which was all well and good until I started summer classes in late
May. I know, maybe I am just using that as a crutch, but taking a 3 hour
literature class as well as a 6 hour organic chemistry class 4 days a week all
whilst trying to fit a full time job into the nooks and crannies of my schedule
that weren’t occupied by academia didn’t exactly leave me with an overabundance
of time to train. So that’s why I more or less reserved my weekends for
training – my aim was to get in about 30 miles every weekend. This worked out well;
I had some great weekends of training in the Adirondacks, Ithaca, and around
the capital district. Would it be enough though?
“Three, two, one, GO!” Doug’s voice rang out into the
morning air from atop an 8 foot step ladder. A group of 72 of us
self-proclaimed “ultrarunners” took off down a seasonal road, the very road
that I finished the race on last year. This year’s course was to be run in the
opposite direction for the first time in the race’s illustrious 11 year
history. Several runners took off and by time we reached the actual trail I had
lost sight of them. I had to fight off the urge to chase, I simply repeated
over and over in my head: “Run your race, run YOUR race.” It turns out, running
my race also happened to be about 5 other peoples’ race as well. Before long a
group of us including one badass chick by the name of Molly, had formed a single
file line and were racing together throughout the winding trails in the middle
of the Adirondack wilderness. This proved to be quite refreshing; we talked
about a myriad of topics, and before long I began to realize that I was one
inexperienced hombre among this crowd (I was listening to the war stories from
other ultras they had run). We had fun though, all the way until the halfway
point, where one other from the group and I decided to refill our water – the
others took off. This fellow and I stayed together a few more miles, swapping
stories. I wanted to stay with someone; it made the miles go by faster.
Running ultras can be a lonely experience. There are no
cheering crowds. There are no mile markers. There are no aid stations. Some
runners claim ultramarathons to be meditative. Others claim they are only for
the insane. My belief is somewhere in the middle. With no other voice but the
one in your head to keep you company, things are bound to get interesting. Your
mind begins whispering all sorts of good reasons to stop, to just take a break.
“Look at that perfectly nice log to sit on!” your mind may say. “C’mon, just
for a few seconds.” The trick is to quell that voice and turn it into something
constructive, something that will help you achieve your goals, not altogether
different from other aspects of life.
I split from my trail friend and ventured on by myself for
the first time in the race. I felt pretty good considering my calf was sore
from the get-go (PR’ing at the Boilermaker 15K the week before may not have
been the smartest thing to do), and I was over 20 miles into the race. Step
after step I ticked the miles off, trying to find some landmark to judge how
far in I was. I began passing a few of those fellas that took off in the
beginning, that gave me a boost of confidence.
Three quarters of the way in and I had now finally caught up
to yet another member of our now split running group, Courtenay. For the last 3
miles I had just been catching glimpses of his blue shirt and white visor – so
I ramped it up a bit to get on his tail. He had been running a great pace, and
was absolutely flying on the downhills, so I decided to stick with him. This
was, after all, the same guy who caught me last year near the end of the race
while I was at my lowest point and swearing to myself. I figured he would be
managing a strong pace throughout the toughest miles of this race. Which he was.
I decided to throw on my headphones for a little added
“umph” as my body ached more and more. After doing a systems check, my legs
were in pretty rough shape. As was usually the case, my glutes and hamstrings
felt like jelly. The music worked. As a Chase & Status song came on and
blared into my ears Fire in your eyes someday,
I see fire in your eyes someday, my emotions were whirling. Did I just
achieve enlightenment? I was thinking about my mom, who drove out and surprised
me the day before, I was thinking of my brother who despite driving 4 hours on
a motorcycle through the rain was here for my race, I was thinking about Doug
and Kim, I was thinking about the camaraderie and affinity all runners have for
each other. Always been a warrior, back
from when I remember, now we stand together. My eyes welled up. I bounced to the left of
Courtenay and passed him, saying something like “I’m sure you’ll catch me
before this is over”. Maybe he would,
maybe he wouldn’t, all I knew was that I needed to ride this wave of emotion
for as long as I could.
It turned out to carry me to about 3 miles from the road. I
had gathered this information from a hiker on the trail. At this point in the
race I had transformed from my usual affable self into a zombie. Upon hearing
this news I mumbled “That’s not what I want to hear”. It was becoming
increasingly hot, I decided to stop at the last stream and fill up my water
bladder halfway. This is when Courtenay skirted by. I knew it. I trudged
onward, somewhat relieved that I at least had some water. The next miles
dragged onward, my mind and body fell into something of a stasis. It wasn’t
until I saw this familiar bare chested fella with tiny blue shorts seemingly
floating towards me that I came back to earth. I gave a fist pump to my bro,
Nick.
“How much farther?” I ask.
“About a half mile on the trail”.
“And the road? How
long is the road?” I had no clue how long this road portion was going to be, I
was bracing for several miles.
“Only about a mile.”
Thank the gods. I checked my watch. It read 5:43 (I think).
I was going to get under the six hour mark, I had to! Nick provided the
additional boost of energy I needed to put the fork in this race. I took off
with him by my side, tapping this new source of vigor. We caught back up to
Courtenay, I said to him “C’mon man! Let’s break 6!” I guess it wasn’t quite
inspirational enough though, we took off without him. I dug deep and pounded
the pavement while nick encouraged me on.
It was a great feeling to round the corner and see my mother
there waiting for me, with Doug and Kim in the background signaling the finish
line. I crossed at 5:56 and change. I shaved almost a whole hour off my last years’
time.
I had set three goals for myself: 1. Finish in under 6
hours; 2. Place in the top five; and most importantly 3. Pass people in the
middle and later stages of the race. A mantra of mine is “it’s not how you
start, it’s how you finish.” I had achieved all three goals, and I was in
heaven.
An ice cold bottle of water is thrust into my hand and I do
something I was thinking about all day. I stumble to the lake and lay down in
its cool waters. I met many great people this day – It made for a euphoric
atmosphere. But unlike last year, my thoughts weren't “Never again”, but rather
“When’s the next one?”
 |
| A refreshing sit. Photo: Ken Piarulli |
Friday, August 10
Iron in the veins, Pain on the radar (Part 3)
Sunday July 22nd:
The scene: ~2,800 floating pink (female) and green (male)
caps located in Lake Placid’s Mirror
Lake
The past 3 days have been quite exhilarating. Sam and I left Ithaca ,
NY on Thursday evening around 7PM to make the
journey to the official Nick Kirk race crew cabin located in Saranac Lake , NY
 |
| Sammi and I |
Friday arrived and I
quickly realized, in a panicked state, that a key suit case filled with raceday
items never made the incredibly far journey from Ithaca the night before. A lot of this: !!!! and a little of this: ???
filled my worried mind. Apparently, in
all the excitement I blew out of the house leaving my patient bag awaiting its
lovely trip to the Adirondacks . After the use of a few profound words I
gathered my broken self back together and started to formulate a plan. Surely I could find someone who hadn’t left Ithaca and who would
graciously offer to shuttle it up with them?
With the help of my friend Ian I was able to arrange just that. Selina saved the day! J
After attending the pre-race dinner (think over cooked
pasta, loads of meaty sauce like substance, and, oh yeah, gourmet ice-berg
salad, clearly we weren’t on the VIP list) and the mandatory race meeting we
settled back into our cozy little cabin. Admittidly I did experience some pre-race jitters and stress throughout the day. Thankfully, my crew kept me together, :)
Saturday morning began with a 50 minute easy bike ride into
Placid where I met Sam to convene on the rest of the items I had to complete
before the afternoon ended; such as last minute bike adjustments, placing the
bike in the transition area, visiting my new friend Selina at her campsite to
pick-up my bag (yay!), returning back to the transition to place other cycling and
running gear in the miniscule space allocated to racer 1157 (me), and gather
with the support crew. Once together we
decided it would be best to reconvene back at the cabin in order to minimize
decision making difficulties.
 |
| Race cap |
 |
| The race vehicle |
 |
| Where's 1157? |
Cabin activities included shenanigans such as poster making, food devouring, quaffable consuming (minus a select one of us), nutrition planning, and much laughing.
 |
| The support crew hard at work |
 |
| The finished products |
What I've observed thus far is that the coordinated ‘cattle herding’ of athletes and supporters is quite incredible at an Ironman event. I truly applaud the race directors, assistant race directors, the handful of coordinators, and the army of volunteers that make an event of such grandeur become a reality.
...00:00:00 - CRACK, goes the race gun.
We’re off! Stroke after stroke
2,800 of us begin the 2.4 Miles of violence known to everyone else as ‘The
Swim.’ The energy is static yet
fluid. Everyone is moving in the same
general path although the splashed water seems to be suspended in the foot and
a half of air directly above the surface of the water. My choice to start in the front was a scary yet very
rewarding one. Scrambling to find a
vacant 2’x6’ area of the lake was inconceivable yet not quite as alarming as I
previously thought it would be. The
current amidst the crowd sucked me in the only direction I wanted to go,
forward. The energy fell during the
second lap as the group began to spread.
To my surprise the second lap proved to be more painful than the first
as I took a few good thwacks to the rear of my head.
 |
| Swim start |
01:09:19 - From the water I made my way to transition #1 located 400
Meters from the swim exit. Taking my time
I transformed from a rubbery swimmer to a 'techy' looking cyclist.
After driving one loop of the bike course I had a good
feeling that I would enjoy this ride.
From Placid the course dives down into Keene throughout which I approached speeds in
excess of 40MPH. It was during this time
and again during the second loop that I was the farthest from another
competitor (~200’) the whole race. Consequently,
loneliness isn’t a feeling I would relate to this experience. Inspiration, on the other hand, never ceased
to fuel my ambition to drive this 112 Mile expedition to 0. Much of this inspiration came from the
sidelines, encouraging volunteers who repeatedly shared their delicious (at
least in the beginning) food and semi cold bottles of water proved to bolster my very spirit. Along with this I
always had a fellow group of Ithacans or a rambunctious crew of personal
supporters to look forward to. And in return they always received a warm smile and an
occasional remark or burp of laughter for their efforts.
The ride didn’t truly begin to hit home until around mile
80, ironically coinciding with the bulk of the courses uphills. I know, I was shocked too J
Luckily I knew I only had to complete a marathon after battling the relentless Adirondack ‘hills.’ This was surely motivation and if that wasn’t
then maintaining a positive attitude was a must. My IM training included such aspects and were
labeled ‘Mental toughness' training. The technique
I chose throughout the bike ride was positive self-talk. By simply repeating a positive word or
statement in your head you can orient your mind around a positive train of
thought which eliminates any negativity from your thoughts. ‘Yes, yes, yes,…’ was as creative as I was
able to convince myself to be. Turns out
it worked, I made it to transition.
6:54:37 (bike split: 5:45:18) - During transition #2 I escaped my cyclist costume and donned
a pair of anxious running flats to embark on the final leg of this adventure.
From here on in it will be one foot in front of the
other. Getting to the run felt like a huge
accomplishment only to be dwarfed by the thought of running 26.2 Miles while
feeling more exhausted than I have felt in the past six months. The only difference was that I had adrenaline
and a sea of spectators on my side and I took advantage of both. Unfortunately, the adrenaline wore off after the first 3
Miles. The crowd, except for sections of
under populated areas kept the energy high.
I quickly realized that by simply smiling I could reap two benefits, one
was the simple act of smiling made me feel better about the indelible feelings that
persisted throughout my body. The second
was that spectators LOVED it! Yeah, it
was palpable. Instead of getting not so
motivating ‘Hang in there!’ remarks I was now getting ‘You’re looking great!’
and ‘Looking strong 1157!’ or my favorite ‘He’s not even breathing hard!’ The last one probably had something to do
with the fact that my legs simply couldn’t go faster than the shuffle I now
maintained quite steadily J
 |
| On the run! |
10:52:52 (run split: 3:46:37) - By far, out of the whole experience, the finishing shoot was
the most exhilarating. So much so that
it brought me to tears. Rounding the
Olympic oval seeing the crew and crossing the finish line was a powerful and
moving experience. One that could only
be topped by a post race burger and beer at the LP brew pub with a dozen close
friends and family members.
 |
| On the Olympic Oval |
Tomorrow morning I’ll be leaving Placid with what I came
for, an unforgettable experience filled memory complete with a tangible reminder of such, a finisher’s metal.
 |
| Done! |
Friday, July 20
A house of Iron (Part 2)
Physical conditioning for Ironman has been anything but parochial in manner. Similar to my methods of mental and nutritional training, it reflects a deep desire to pursue all things in life wholisticly.
Early on (Jan, Feb, Mar) I incorporated P90x and other such body weight activities for strength, Yoga or stretching for flexibility, and speed or hill training for cardiovascular capacity. It has been important to me to not let any one activity dominate my physical conditioning which is why I would occasionally incorporate other activities such as soccer, basketball, ice skating, rock and ice climbing, hiking, and skiing.
The reason I posited such an approach to training was to avoid weak links in my conditioning in order to prevent injury allowing me to train in my core activities (swimming, cycling, and running) at a high level throughout the past six months.
I guess the big question would be: 'Did it pay off?' Maybe. I still had physical issues such as hip tightness and IT band stresses. What I do know is that I'm very happy with where I'm at and how far I've come which is what will ultimately carry the most weight come Sunday morning.
The following is a collection of my Ironman training experience.
Swimming:
Total time since April 1st: 15.8 hours
Cumulative length: ~21 miles
Swimming is a matter of technique. The first 10-15 minutes are tough; getting the breathing down, concentrating on stroke, body position, and glide, and getting over the fear that I'm drowning. After that it's repetition and focus: tuning out the gargling sounds of the water around my ears, avoiding the occasional inhale of water, and not letting my mind drift from my technique.
Cycling:
Total time since Jan 1st: 102 hours
Cumulative length: ~2000 miles
In January I feared the cycling leg of Ironman because of its sheer length. What I've learned is to stay calm in the saddle, avoid jostling from side to side, keep my upper body relaxed and shoulders extended. All the while keeping a tight reign on feelings of pain and discomfort as these are signals that my form may be slipping and that a simple shift one way or the other can prevent the dominoes from falling.
Running:
Total time: 90 hours
Cumulative length: ~677 miles
By far my favorite activity throughout training. Running, for me, is like getting a good nights sleep or relaxing at your favorite place; it offers a sense of freedom from persistent thoughts and stresses culminating from life's responsibilities. My mental health improves the minute my legs break into a run.
However, during a triathlon the run is definitely the wildcard. The swim happens when your the freshest, the bike happens thereafter but you are able to drink and eat almost limitless as the jostling is minimal and therefore cramping is less likely.
The run is where it all begins to break down. If you didn't drink enough on the bike be ready for a good round of stitches. If you didn't eat enough don't count on getting much down running. If you ate too much or the wrong thing, look out for a stomach fit to ache. The list goes on. I've never been good at roulette; Tinman and Syracuse 70.3 have taught me much and I will apply every bit of it.
Racing with friends along the way:
My perspective on racing is that you get to challenge yourself while scrubbing shoulders with people who are out to have just as much fun as you. It really is contagious and never stops to thrill me. Here is a collection of events that helped tune my race day anxieties.
On Sunday the 22nd of July 2012 I will put my efforts to the ultimate test. It's clear to me now that the only way out of this beautiful house is through the pain...
IM #1157
Early on (Jan, Feb, Mar) I incorporated P90x and other such body weight activities for strength, Yoga or stretching for flexibility, and speed or hill training for cardiovascular capacity. It has been important to me to not let any one activity dominate my physical conditioning which is why I would occasionally incorporate other activities such as soccer, basketball, ice skating, rock and ice climbing, hiking, and skiing.
The reason I posited such an approach to training was to avoid weak links in my conditioning in order to prevent injury allowing me to train in my core activities (swimming, cycling, and running) at a high level throughout the past six months.
I guess the big question would be: 'Did it pay off?' Maybe. I still had physical issues such as hip tightness and IT band stresses. What I do know is that I'm very happy with where I'm at and how far I've come which is what will ultimately carry the most weight come Sunday morning.
The following is a collection of my Ironman training experience.
Swimming:
Total time since April 1st: 15.8 hours
Cumulative length: ~21 miles
Swimming is a matter of technique. The first 10-15 minutes are tough; getting the breathing down, concentrating on stroke, body position, and glide, and getting over the fear that I'm drowning. After that it's repetition and focus: tuning out the gargling sounds of the water around my ears, avoiding the occasional inhale of water, and not letting my mind drift from my technique.
.JPG) |
| Piseco Lake, NY |
.JPG) |
| Forging the sea |
Total time since Jan 1st: 102 hours
Cumulative length: ~2000 miles
In January I feared the cycling leg of Ironman because of its sheer length. What I've learned is to stay calm in the saddle, avoid jostling from side to side, keep my upper body relaxed and shoulders extended. All the while keeping a tight reign on feelings of pain and discomfort as these are signals that my form may be slipping and that a simple shift one way or the other can prevent the dominoes from falling.
 |
| The Fuel |
 |
| The Vehicle |
 |
| The scenery |
 |
| The Journey - 115 miles in 6:25 |
Total time: 90 hours
Cumulative length: ~677 miles
By far my favorite activity throughout training. Running, for me, is like getting a good nights sleep or relaxing at your favorite place; it offers a sense of freedom from persistent thoughts and stresses culminating from life's responsibilities. My mental health improves the minute my legs break into a run.
However, during a triathlon the run is definitely the wildcard. The swim happens when your the freshest, the bike happens thereafter but you are able to drink and eat almost limitless as the jostling is minimal and therefore cramping is less likely.
The run is where it all begins to break down. If you didn't drink enough on the bike be ready for a good round of stitches. If you didn't eat enough don't count on getting much down running. If you ate too much or the wrong thing, look out for a stomach fit to ache. The list goes on. I've never been good at roulette; Tinman and Syracuse 70.3 have taught me much and I will apply every bit of it.
 |
| Crisp morning |
 |
| My favorite place, the trail |
My perspective on racing is that you get to challenge yourself while scrubbing shoulders with people who are out to have just as much fun as you. It really is contagious and never stops to thrill me. Here is a collection of events that helped tune my race day anxieties.
 |
| Seneca 7 - 1st place men's team |
 |
| 32 mile mountain adventure, Pemi Loop, NH |
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| Tupper Lake Tinman - 42nd |
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| Boilermaker 15k - 226th |
IM #1157
Wednesday, July 18
An Iron Foundation (Part 1)
Have you ever gotten the urge to challenge yourself beyond your wildest imagination? Have you ever thought to yourself “I could never do that,” after hearing how a person defied their individual limitations and accomplished something so huge it seemed inconceivable?
Throughout my brief personal history I have truely been galvanized by people who dare to achieve fascinating levels of athletic ability in the hopes to put themselves to the test. Or as I like to perceive it, an adventure of the mind, body, and spirit.
This is exactly what brought me to my computer 12 months ago as I sat there clicking the ‘refresh’ button on the Ironman Lake Placid website. Knowing that this particular IM event sells out sometimes within minutes of opening, I was feeling rather anxious. Twelve noon struck and once again I clicked the refresh icon. Suddenly my screen began loading what looked like an application form. How could this be!? I sat there staring and trembling slightly as I wasn’t expecting such a result. I, deep down, wanted it to be sold out as I knew IM required a commitment of time, energy, and money that I had never encountered in my previous athletic endeavors.
Each event brought me closer, mentally, to not only breaking down these barriers but also refining my training and nutrition approach.
In a long distance triathlon such as Ironman there are really four components of the race: the swim, the bike, the run, and nutrition throughout the race. I placed a large focus on the nutrition portion both during and between training events. My diet drew from the philosophies contained within a book I read last fall, “The China Study.” The short of it is I have completed the last 6 months of training by eating a 90-95% vegan diet (ie. no meat or animal products) which was about 35-40% raw . TCS defines a diet consisting entirely of whole plant based foods. A typical day of eating would look like this:
-Breakfast: Oatmeal & a slice of bread with Avacado
Throughout my brief personal history I have truely been galvanized by people who dare to achieve fascinating levels of athletic ability in the hopes to put themselves to the test. Or as I like to perceive it, an adventure of the mind, body, and spirit.
An IM distance triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112
mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run (aka a marathon). These distances might seem arbitrary,
however, they were selected out of a competitive dispute in 1979 between three
men over which sporting event in Hawaii was
the most grueling, the Waikiki 2.4 mile rough
water swim, the Around-Oahu bike race or the Honolulu Marathon.
Borne from this competition Ironman took form and has increased in popularity among the endurance community ever since. Ironman has become a worthy athletic goal by which to test one’s physical and mental abilities.
Borne from this competition Ironman took form and has increased in popularity among the endurance community ever since. Ironman has become a worthy athletic goal by which to test one’s physical and mental abilities.
Mentally I have been building up for this very moment, the
decision. To digress, in 2009 the biggest block, in
my mind, was the marathon as I had never ran more than 10 miles at that time. How does one deal with such a block?
My approach was to register for a Marathon
and make it my focus for the next four months.
 |
| Rochester Marathon |
To further my mental preparation I decided in
2010 to compete in the Tupper Lake Tinman half distance triathlon (1.2 Swim, 56
Bike, 13.1 Run).
.JPG) |
| My brother and I in Tupper Lake |
Keeping pace with my
goal, throughout 2011 I ran the Wakely Dam Ultra (a 32.5 mile unaided trail run)
and Ironman Syracuse 70.3.
 |
| Wakely Dam Ultra |
 |
| Syracuse 70.3 |
Ironman training has not only proved to be a test of my
physical abilities but of both my mental strength to endure the long training
events and a test of my time management skills.
Squeezing 15-20 hours a week into an already tight schedule can be a
daunting task.
-Breakfast: Oatmeal & a slice of bread with Avacado
 |
| Rolled oats, cashews, filberts, pecans, almonds, walnuts, raspberries, and blueberries |
-Lunch: Homemade granola with dried or fresh fruit
-Dinner: Salad with a grain (rice, spelt, barley, etc)
and a bean (black, pinto, kidney, etc)
 |
| Spinach with onions, hummus, grapes, honeydew, freekah, and balsamic |
-Snacks: dried fruit, fresh fruit, trail mix,
oatmeal, nut butter and bread
 |
| Toast with avacado tomato and salt |
.JPG) |
| Wheatgrass |
Along with tracking my performance, diet, and training I
have also been tracking such details as my Cholesterol, resting heart rate,
weight, and happiness.
-Cholesterol - These results were rather profound. My family has a genetic tendency to have high
cholesterol and a predisposition for heart disease. It’s a focus of mine, nutritionally, to avoid
this undesirable heirloom that has been passed to me.
-December
2011:
Total – 213
Triglyceride – 59
HDL (good) – 74
LDL (bad) – 127
Ratio (Total/HDL)
– 2.88
-June
2012:
Total
– 146
Triglyceride
– 56
HDL
– 76
LDL
– 59
Ratio
– 1.92
-Heart Rate - I have always been fascinated to hear how low the
resting heart rates of top performing athletes are. Training your cardiovascular system, through
aerobic activity, to operate at a lower heart rate helps the body to be more
efficient in transferring oxygen and nutrients while conserving the necessary
energy needed to perform at high intensity or for long amounts of time.
:
-January
2012: 50 Beats/Minute
-June
2012: 45 BPM
-Weight – A fear of mine was that I would be burning a ton of
calories and not be able to sustain myself given the foods that I would be
eating. It turns out that we can glean every vitamin, mineral, and macronutrient (protein, carb, fat) that we can from meat and dairy (with an exception of B12) from plant based sources all the while being more bio-available upon consumption. I made an effort to
incorporate foods that contained amounts of each macronutrient as to not be deficient
(avacados – fats; nuts – fats and protein; potatoes & fruit – carbs; &
lots of fiberous plants).
-January 2012: 133.5 lbs
-June
2012: 132 lbs
-Happiness – This one is somewhat controversial. How might one accurately track their happiness?
I guess the best answer is that if happiness
is something that you are dedicated to perusing in your life then you will
likely find a way. For me, I qualified each day at the end of the day by giving it a rating (borrowed from Sammi J) and assigning each symbol a percentage:
‘J’
is 100%
‘+’
is 75%
‘=’
is 50%
‘-‘
is 25%
‘x’
is 0%
Then at the end of the month I would
average these values out into one number.
This gave me the results below. I
began to notice that such things as not exercising enough, exercising too much
(low energy and little time for other things), eating poorly, not getting
enough social time, improper balance of work and personal time all played a
roll in predicting this score. I drew
from the book ‘Thrive’ in determining just what aspects of life influenced my
happiness.
-Jan 2012: 57%
-Feb: 74%
-Mar: 61%
-Apr: 78%
-May: 69%
-June: 88%
Happiness was an important aspect
of training for me mostly because if I wasn’t in a good mood I was less likely to train or
eat according to my plan. Focusing on
this helped me to be consistent and predict feelings and emotions which correlated almost directly to my
training schedule.
The dedication I have placed on Ironman nutrition and mental
preparation laid the foundation on which I was able to build a house
consisting of three rooms: swimming, biking, and running.
Monday, May 14
A Climb Amongst The Founding Fathers: Single Day Presi Traverse
Monday January 3rd:
Nick: “Let’s just do a single day Presi Traverse.”
Me: “Ok!”
Tuesday January 4th (2:30am)-
That was our wake up call only a few hours after, it seemed,
we had decided to tackle something we’d always talked about. As one is probably
able to infer from the above-mentioned dialogue, there wasn’t an excess of
planning that went into this trip. We did all the prep and route planning the
night before. While Nick (and Ma) prepared dinner, I pulled out the trusty AMC
White Mountain guide and the maps that accompany it to get a few of the
logistics ironed out. After about an hour and a half of poring over the guide,
maps, and trip reports posted online, I had finally nailed down the exact
route, with various escape options off of the ridge in case the weather got out
of hand, etc. The term “Presi Traverse” gets thrown around a lot, so there is a
medley of opinions of what a “true” traverse entails. I wanted there to be no
doubt about it so decided we would be tackling the 8 high peaks (Madison,
Adams, Jefferson, Washington, Monroe, Eisenhower, Pierce, and Jackson) as well
as the intermediate peaks in between (Clay and Franklin). With the route
planning out of the way, we got down to business packing up gear. Our theory
was light and fast equated to safety. Being bogged down with an excess of gear
would most likely accomplish nothing other than placing additional fatigue on
our bodies (which often leads to hazard, if not just making things miserable).
So, after much deliberation we narrowed it down to: snowshoes, crampons, down
jacket, heavy top, two pairs of liner, 2.5 L of water, sandwiches, snacks,
goggles, mid-weight top, hand/toe warmers, gaiters, headlamps, mountain axe,
poles, and face masks. All fit in small day packs.
From this point forward it was going to be all above tree line –
nothing but windblown snow and rocks. It’s a pretty stark landscape here in the
winter…nothing but blacks and whites. We headed into the wind and snow, trading
snowshoes for crampons. Our goggles proved to be an early asset as well. The
summit came fairly quick, and we were even graced with breaks in the clouds.
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| Ascending Madison |
After a hasty snapshot we ventured down to Madison hut where we grabbed a bite
and I messaged mom to let her know our progress. I normally shun technology
like phones in the mountains, but she was more than a little worried and
rightfully so, what we were doing has more than a minute amount of risk
associated with it. From here we made way for Adams which came and went with a
photo and before we knew it we were crossing the col to Jefferson. It was at
this point that the sun came out in her full glory and shown down on the beauty
around us. Our spirits soared! We joked lightheartedly and seemed to bounce
across the uncharacteristically calm landscape towards Jefferson. It wouldn’t
be until we had to search for the next summit that our spirits would come down.
As if to warn us not to become complacent, the sun dipped behind clouds and the
weather grew inclement once again – our visibility decimated. Each cairn seemed
to blend into the setting around them. I foolishly wanted to just keep climbing
“up” while Nick insisted we backtrack and find the cairns. I obliged and we
eventually happened upon the trail and slowly made way towards the summit.
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| View From Adams |
Cresting to the summit cairn, we spared no time and were on our way down to
make way to the mighty Mt. Washington, but not before hitting the sub-peak Mt.
Clay. The latter proved to be quite the kick in the ass. A leg burner in the
truest sense of the phrase, and I really don’t know why. Upon the descent of
Clay we once again lost track of the trail but came across the cog railway,
which we proceeded to follow to the summit. The rail provided comfort, both as
a guaranteed path to the summit (provided we followed it the right way of
course:) and it reminded us of our ski trip up Mt. Washington the previous
year. We reminisced and ticked off the footsteps until before us loomed the
summit observatory. Towering into the sky, the outline of the various summit
buildings produced what appeared to be the shadow of a strange medieval castle.
We sought refuge here and ate our lunch. However, as had happened every time we
halted, I grew cold to the point where I shivered uncontrollably, so I loathed
hanging out motionless for long. We hit the summit sign for a quick Kodak
moment and set out in search for the Crawford path; the trail that would take
us a vast majority of the rest of the way. This proved to be a bit of a conundrum
however, because you see, one needs to actually find a cairn to know the
whereabouts of the trail. We searched for what seemed to be an eternity to no
avail. Nick suggested we just abandon ship and hike down the cog railway, but
this time I insisted we find a way. So together we backtracked a bit and
somehow found a cairn in the terrible visibility. This section was sparsely
populated with them so we had to exercise extra caution as we proceeded.
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| Descending Into he Unknown |
We
eventually made our way to the Lake of the Clouds hut, indulged in some water,
and made way past the frozen Lake of the Clouds up the shoulder of Mt. Monroe.
The climb was moderate but it was at this point that my knees and ankles began
to ache like nothing else. I suspected the culprit were the crampons. We
trudged on nonetheless and ticked off Monroe and continued onward to
Eisenhower. In my mind I set a goal to reach the summit before needing to put
on headlamps, which we did, but barely – and no thanks to another navigational
mishap (interlacing trails threw us for a loop for a quick minute… or ten). We
trudged onward towards Pierce after donning headlamps. The peak came, but not
before I began to become extremely fatigued. Over 20 miles of rugged winter
climbing will do that. My spirit began to slip and hit a low as we finally made
the .9 mile descent to the Mizpah hut. Here we saw the first people of the
trip, a group of NC State students being led by a professor. It was at this
point that we decided to ditch the crampons – what a brilliant idea, one I wished
we had partaken in earlier! We cruised for the last summit of the day, Jackson,
and did so making great time considering how long we’d been on our feet. We strapped
on the crampons for one last time to traverse the icy summit of Jackson then
enjoyed a fairly quick descent aided by a fair bit of glissading.
16 hours after we had started we stumbled out of the woods to
the car. It was a great feeling (especially because we had inadvertently parked
RIGHT near the trail head). A drive through a snowstorm and back to the house
where pizza and beer were waiting for us provided the best ending to an
incredible day. I had only one beer but I felt drunk – not from the alcohol,
but from having pushed my body and accomplishing a great feat. There were many
lessons learned and some great memories formed from this adventure – one I’ll
never forget!
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| Parking lot glee! |
Some stats from the day:
- Weather: Freezing Fog
- Temp: -2°F
- Visibility: 200 ft
- Relative Humidity: 100%
- Peak wind gust: 126mph
- Average Wind speed: 76.2mph
Wakely Dam Ultra
The following recollection is a synopsis of an ultra-marathon:
Beep, beep, beep,… The alarm indicates that it’s 4:30AM.
My mind is telling me it’s the middle of day due to my vivid alertness and the excitement of what lies before me this morning.
I’m lying in a tent next to my brother.
We drove 4 hours the night before in an attempt to avoid a long drive this morning (July 23, 2011) and to make an effort at catching some shut eye prior to today’s race.
However, my mind’s inability to quiet itself works to undermine all physical efforts we set forth upon.
I slip out of my bag, unzip the tent and head for a clear patch of woods to empty my bladder which is urgently alarming me that nature’s ring tone is more painful than it is audible. My agitated brother would most likely disagree with this audibility statement given my repeated unzipping of the tent and desperate groans and grunts as I barely complete my brief (no pun intended) missions throughout the valuable hours of the night. *Over-hydrating the night before a race definitely has its draw backs despite its numerous advantages during the race.
On this day we are near Wakely Dam in the southern Adirondacks between Piseco and Indian Lake
Ultra is short for Ultra-marathon and is a foot race that consists of running any distance longer than 26.2 miles (aka a marathon). The WDU is unlike most ultras, it is 32.6 grueling miles which takes place on a section of the Northville-Placid trail between Piseco and Wakely Dam. What distinguishes this race even further is that during this distance you will not cross one road and are completely unassisted; all runners must carry their own food, water, necessary supplies and perseverance for the duration of the race.
My goal on race morning was to hold down a consistent pace of 9min/mile (4:54:00 to complete the race). My average pace for half this distance on trail is about a minute per mile faster. This, for me, was a progressive goal worth striving for.
After an early morning snack followed by a relaxing bus ride, we arrived at our destination, the starting line. The energy before the start of an endurance event is exhilarating. Camaraderie is more common than competitiveness throughout the ultra community. These races are more of a test of one’s own abilities and endurance than trying to be well placed in the pack.
At the start of race I it began to occur to me that the first section of the course was too narrow to pass comfortably. Luckily, I was able to place myself in 4th from the start. Quickly realizing the 3rd person wasn’t keeping my desired pace, I announced “on your left” and smoothly skirted around him. I continued in 3rd for the first hour of the race following 1st and 2nd place runners closely as to feed off their energy and pace.
For the duration of the first 1.5 hours of this race, the first 6-8 of us were closely spaced. I could hear my brother bantering back and forth with our friend Zach for a bit of this time. Around the 2 hour mark the 1st place guy stopped to answer nature’s beckoning call. At this point it was I and one guy hot on my heels…
To give a first-person sense of the course: The ground is soft, the trees and plants are close with smells reminiscent of a cool summer’s morning. Vivid awareness of your surroundings is vital to navigating through the woods on this trail. At any one time you may only be able to see 10-30’ of the trail before it snakes around a curve or pitches up a hill. A high level of vigilance is needed on the ground 3-6 feet in front of you to avoid any hazardous objects (narrowing of the trail, rocks, roots, puddles, etc) that could end the running day early if improperly navigated.
…When it comes to uphills I am well equipped to hold a steady clip (thanks to Ithaca
At this point the 3rd place man was with us as we did some searching. Apparently the trail took a sharp right and continued on over a foot bridge to the other side of a stream whose parenting lake we were able to look out across. The 2nd place runner decided to take this opportunity to dip a quick drink from the sparkling waters of this pristine Adirondack lake.
This was the last time I would see any other runner besides Chad
It is speculated that a persons ambitions to partake in an athletic event is stemmed in our ancestral past which consisted of physical endeavors such as hunting and/or combat between other tribes. It was in these times that individuals were required to condition their bodies in preparation for such events.
For me, running offers many benefits depending on the day. Among these would be physical conditioning, meditative relief from stress, adventure, and a truly visceral way to connect with the environment.
Running is inherently a great way to increase longevity, if performed correctly of course. Form is a must as it is a very repetitive activity continuously straining certain areas of the body. This is why I chose to run in my Five Fingers (aka: toes shoes, monkey feet, socially unacceptable footwear, stinky fingers, or a combination of the above).
These shoes allow me to correct my form almost automatically only requiring minor adjustments throughout. It is through this activity that one may strengthen tendons, muscles, bones, lose weight, increase cardiovascular strength and, in my case, increase happiness. It also allows me to challenge myself beyond the run as I'm not relying on purchased goods to totally take away the discomforts of the surface I'm running on.
…Time check – halfway: 2:31:24 (pace: 9:15 min/mile, oye!). Around two thirds into the race, I quickly stopped to refill my bottle with fresh stream water. In a matter of 30 seconds I managed to separate myself and my running friend (Chad
The absolute exhaustion that one feels during an event like this is like nothing else. Your mind activates every sense to its loudest alarm:
Eyes – While closing in on the final 7 miles, continuous burning becomes status quo from the constant movement in keeping up with my stammering feet and the ever changing trail.
Nose – With fewer than 6 miles to go and a sweltering sun in mid July, ‘heat’ is the only scent in the air.
Ears – The voices that occur in the remaining 5 miles aren’t fellow racers or inquisitive hikers they are internal, as if your mind is trying to keep you company along this lonely stretch.
Taste – Mile 4, texture sensations lose their appeal as I developed numbness for water with ‘chunks’ in it. Flavor follows suit as my tongue, and its friend, my stomach, convinced me that eating a clif bar was a bit too cloy for the moment.
Feeling – Egregious in its current nature, 3 miles never seemed so far.
The feeling of putting yourself in circumstances that require you to give something all you have and then continuing to press on beyond that point is beyond words. The mental, physical, and emotional edge that a person can take themselves to is incredible.
As the finish line materialized through the convoluting heat waves in the distance I felt a sudden rush of emotions which translated into a lone tear escaping from the left optical region of my face. Upon finishing all that I was pining for was graciously fulfilled, fresh, clean, chunk FREE, cold water, REAL FOOD, real people with smiling and welcoming faces, and the satisfaction of completing the race in 5:14:39 (pace: 9:39 min/mile).
1) Chad
2) Nick Kirk – 5:14:39
3) Christopher Bunyan – 5:47:55
12) Ethan Kirk and Zach Yates – 6:52:36
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