Barfarama on iron mountain 50

Have not raced since April and I was itching for a race. Normally I run cheat mountain moonshine, but since it will no longer be a race I decided that I would run iron mountain. I have heard it was a course that suited my strengths and I really wanted to get out and race again. 

Fam and I drove the old RV down to Damascus. The town was awesome and my kids loved riding there bikes all over town. We camped on some real nice guys yard that he had allowed any runners to camp at. Hung out till about 9:30 with some good friends ribbing each other about past races and how we thought we would fair the next day. Off to bed I went. Slept very good and woke up about 5:45. The cool thing about this race was that it started at 7 am. What? 7? That was like sleeping in compared to Hortons races. 

Nothing unusual for sat morning. Not really nervous. Was carrying my pack with about 10 gels and some other snacks. This race I had planned on crewing myself with a drop bag. So I set it all up with change of shoes and Baggies full or snacks to grab and go. So we were off. Didn't really start off very fast. As a matter of fact that was the plan. I honestly have not really been killing the miles this summer and was afraid I would go out to fast and blow up. Eric grossman soon left the group and ran ahead. I ran with Shawn pope till the end of the creeper section. Then up we go. Got into a comfortable rhythm climbing and followed a couple of guys up. Shawn was soon out of sight and me and 2 others ran for the next 10 or so miles together. Gotta admit that I got kinda down early. Didn't feel great. I kept telling myself that you don't have to run the fastest but you will eat and drink the most out of all racers. Ultra running is a eating competition with some running and views thrown in. I ate a gel every 20 minutes. S cap every 30. Water in pack only. Electrolyte drink at aid stations. I remember thinking that I wanted this to be over as soon as I could. I didn't really enjoy the first 20. Another secret goal was to be kind, nice, and encouraging to all aid station workers. It is hard work out there and they do it with passion. So I accomplished that goal I thought. Every time I went through aid station I thanked them and said thanks for being here. As a matter of fact I forgot I had 5 bucks in my pocket and when I was emptying out my pocket with empty gels I found the money. I handed the 5 to some kid and said thanks for coming out and helping. His eyes lit up. Was pretty cool!!

So I kept some advice from earlier in my head that the race does not begin till mile 29. So when I thought I was there I started to push a little more. By mile 32 the leaders had a 15 min lead on me. I didn't give up by judging by the caliber of the 2 runners ahead of me I thought my chances were slim and none. Got some rocking cold water at aid 32 and started to run faster. At mile 37 they had me by 12 min. In my drop bag I had placed my HOKAS just in case. I thought at this point in the race they would feel like slapping pillows on my feet. I was right. The HOKAS hit the spot. I felt great. I wanted my energy up so I put down 2 pieces of watermelon, 3 gels and 2 salt pills all Within 15 minutes. Couple of salt pills had busted in my pockets so I grabbed a half open one and stuck it in my mouth. It made me gag and I spit it out quickly. But it was too late. 5 seconds later I was full on projectile vomiting all my calories onto the trail. Then again. Then again. Violent heaving like I had not experienced in a race ever. Stood there for a couple of seconds and then started running again.  Kept feeling better and better. By is time it was pouring down. Thunder clapping and lightning flashing. Awesome!!! This craziness along with tons of praying and great music gave me tons of energy. I was running hard!! By the last aid station I was 8 minutes behind. I stopped and grabbed some ginger ale and cold water. Then started running like a crazy man. My watch went out due to a fall so I didn't know what time it was, how fast I was going or anything. I was just running fast!! Every hill. Every down hill. It was actually pretty supernatural. I had been praying for this and now it was happening. 

Ran it in super fast and never caught any of the 2 in front of me. Came within a minute of Shawn and 7 minutes of Eric. For the training i had in my legs this race gave me some hope that maybe, just maybe I was in better racing shape than I thought. The best part is the end. My wife and 3 kids waiting for me. It dawned on me. I'm not in college any more. I have a job. I have 3 kids. I have a purpose here on earth and to be completely honest, it probably doesn't have much to do with running. I enjoy racing, competition, the ultra community, but more than that I enjoy experiencing Jesus presence out in the woods. With people. Without people. Just like a dad takes pleasure in watching his kids compete, push themselves and enjoy. I truly think our creator does the same. He just does not want us to stop there. If he can create this feeling of joy than how much better is the PERSON that created joy than the joy itself? 

Terrapin 2013

Yes, yes I know the world has been waiting for this blog so ....stop the press, here it is!!!

Between holiday lake and terrapin I put some good training in. Ran hard and fast, but I never made it up to the mountains. I thought running on incline for 5 miles on treadmill would be sufficient training along with some faster trail stuff. I did not runa stupid 5k in between these races and have to admit that I felt the best I have felt in a while going into it. Confident, fresh, no pain of any kind. Again I was seeded with the ol number one seed and knew that there was some real good competition. Jeremy  told me to watch out for the number 3 seed who I had met at MMTR 2012 but had dropped out a little past half. Rewind back to training. I had been training with my boy Sam Dangk for a while now. Every time we ran we raced. He has shaped up to be an excellent runner and told him we would try to run this one together, and together we did!!

So saturday morning comes around. I slept incredibly sound the night before and really had no nerves whatsoever. Goal was to beat time from 2 years ago. Secret goal was to beat it by 5 min. More secret goal was to beat it by 10 min. Most secretest goal was to run a 4:10. That's what I thought would win it. So off we go. I started off well. Felt incredible on the first hill. Like too incredible. I wanted to keep  
David in sight but not run right behind him. Unfortunately he had other plans. He left us all and then I had small gap on Sam. We get to first aid. I see Sam come up about 30 seconds behind me and stay that way till aid number two. At that point legs got heavy. So by the time we reached the left turn unto horsetrail Sam was right on me. I tried to hold a good pace for him but then I hear him say...you want me to pull for a little while? Little did he know a little while would be the next 20 miles. He literally pulled me behind him. I was not 3 inches from his heel all day. On the road back up to camping gap he pulled me. At one point he said " are you ok" I answered back "yeah, I think so" he said "you are breathing real hard." Then I tried to say something else and he looked and me and sushed me and said " no more talking" . He looked strong and fresh. He was climbing like a champ. Everything in me was struggling but I stayed right on him. His strength pulled me. I forgot I was racing at times and just said to stay with him. No walking at all, but I sure wish he did. The loop was nothing spectacular and we knew first place guy was out of range. Like 8 min or so. So back to camping gap and Sam and I ran like it was a training run. Up to the top of terrapin I lead but I got the feeling Sam was chilling back there. I hiked up as best as I could. Then we punch and downhill we go. We blasted the downhill. At that point Sam fell and I took over and led to the rock garden. I was eating gels the whole way down cause I knew what was coming, but at the bottom I dropped. Running back up to turn was super hard. We saw 4th place Patrick mcglade and he looked fresh and on a mission. I think that freaked sammy out and he stepped on the gas. I dropped. Sam moving further and further away. Was getting a little dizzy again and though ohh no here comes a bonk. So what do you do in times like this? You pray! I asked God what it would look like to glorify him in this? Finish strong. Run hard. Lean into the pain. No matter the outcome. So like a switch I started to race again. By this time Sam was out of sight, but with every little in and out of the final 5 miles I can see him getting closer and closer. I was flat out sprinting. We got to final creek and I saw him turn. I ran as hard as I could down. Saw him on road. He was right there but just couldn't close fast enough and he came in about 30 seconds faster than me and we both came in about 3- 4 min behind first. I have never been so happy getting beat by someone. Sam deserved it. He raced hard. He was strong and he beat me fair and square!! Ofcourse so did David but he's just too fast for me!!!

Holiday lake 2013. Year of the bonk!

So holiday lake 2013 is in the books now. I honestly had about 3 good weeks of good training since running Hellgate and made a couple of rookie mistakes along the way. Put 3 good training back to back weeks in January . Went for training run in snow on holiday and ended up maybe using too much toe strength to get good footing in sow and ended up with some tendinitis in the bottom part of my shin. The squeaky rusty feeling when you lift up your toes and have some major pain in the shin. I took it easy for the next week and it felt a little better but stupid me couldn't pass up on article 5k and raced it. Ended up running weird on left leg and straining calf a little. Stupid me!!! Last 3 weeks before holiday ran less than 40 miles for all 3. Rolled, iced, compressed injury and tried to focus on feeling fresh.
I saw Horton earlier in week and he said that I was seeded number 1. First time racing career I had been seeded #1. Kinda cool and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel any pressure. Of course you want to finish your seed and the thing about Holiday lake is that it's not really my race and there is always some fast marathoner that comes in and surprises everyone.
So that ironing did my usual bagel and coffee breakfast. Drank some good water and then took my usual pre race poop. Perfect. Had 6 gels and handheld. That's one gel every 20 minutes like my usual plan. I forgot to buy salt pills that week so I bummed 8 of them off Wade Stout!. Thanks bud! Took small warmup jog up road and then came back sang national anthem and we were off. Nothing unusual about first section. I led a little through first section. I purposely was moving at a real comfortable pace. I have to admit I have been feeling like I've been going out to fast in recent past races. I wanted to feel good this time. At least for a little while. Surprising though is that no one just bolted out. Everyone basically stayed together till first aid station. Climbing hill to aid station 1 steve(the eventual winner) made his move. He was just gone in a matter of seconds. I remember someone saying to me...Frank who's that guy out front. I said I don't know but he is either going to win or we will see him again. Deep inside I thought we would see him again cause he didn't even have a water bottle. I was wrong. Congrats Steve!
A group of 4 basically stayed together till 16. Nothing blazing fast. Just chilling waiting for someone to make the move. My plan was to start racing as soon as the steep hill about mile 20. So the hill came and I climbed it pretty hard and kept the throttle down. But 2nd place finisher on the flat stuff just left us. He seemed to be running effortlessly and also not carrying bottle. I admit I was slightly jealous and wondering if that would hurt them at all. Again I was wrong!! So me and my bud Sam pushed. He stayed on my heels and did not say a word. I think I asked him at one point how he was doing and he said good. Sam and I are used to this. We train together frequently and we end up racing every time. We are constantly trying to outrun each other and beat previous times for the loops we run. Even when we say we just want to go slow. ( reminds me of my other training bud Jeremy Ramsey).
We reach aid station with 8 miles to go. Sam actually looked strong and if I can be completely Frank(pun intended) I was afraid he would just continue to latch onto my heals and then blaze me at the end. Not sure if you have ever experienced this but running behind someone and staring at heals seems to put you into a trance. You forget where you are and it seems like you don't have to worry about racing. Just the heals in front. So I purposely told myself to speed up and try to put some distance between Sam and myself. To allow the trance to wear off and while running alone maybe he will hurt like I was. So I pushed harder. I created the gap I wanted and told myself to just go into the pain cave for 1 more hr!!!
Nothing unusual next 5 miles except I kept dropping stupid gels and didn't think I had time to stop for them. I picked up one more gel at last station and ate it pretty quick. I thought it would last. Then when I came up to beach area I felt a little dizzy. I kept running and didn't give in. Then I reached the last hill. I shortened stride and tried to blaze up the hill. My legs started to lock and I just lost all my bearings. I think I was bonking. I got to top of hill and felt like I was going to pass out. I contemplated walking but was sure if I stopped I would collapse. The real thought crossed my mind that if I passed out I'm pretty sure my buddy Sam would wake me up and help me in(Sam would you?) so I kept running. I actually hadn't bonked like this at all. I usually eat like a champ. I guess dropping 3 gels was a bad mistake. Needless to say I got to the trail and ran hard. It was almost over. Got on the asphalt and just ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Finished in 3:54:15. My fastest time ever at holiday lake and good enough for 3rd.

It was a great race for me and I was happy with the outcome. The other guys were just faster. My buddy Sam came in after me and I was super happy for him. Usually I wait until all people come through but my parents who crewed me the whole time along with my usual crew of my bro and daughter, had to go to airport. I waited around for about another hr and left. I hate not watching everyone come through. No matter wether you first or last everyone has goals and in the words of my good friends REM....everybody hurts......sometimes!! So this was great training for promise land and now it's time to get some hill training going. I love hills. Sorta! My quads were definitely sore and didn't run till Thursday. One thing Horton always says is that it's better to go into a race under trained then over trained. I want to make sure this year to train correctly. Not to overdo it and give my body the rest it needs to recover.
Terrapin is probably next. Don't think I have ever run that race to my potential. I really would like to try super hard this year!!! Hope to see you out on the trails.

Back from the dead!!!

Well its been almost 2 months since hellgate and I feel like I am coming back from the dead. I feel joyful on the trails again. I feel like I can run with people again. I feel like I want to race again. Even though tonight was a freezing 27 degrees I enjoyed it. I liked not feeling my hands a little. I enjoyed being out of breath going uphill. I just enjoyed it.

So I signed up for Holiday lake this past week. Why? I don't know. Its such a painful race cause its just all out redlining from start to finish but i thought....why not? Just using it to train for Promise Land I guess. Either way don't know if I'm in holiday lake race shape but I will give it my all.

This past weekend went out and ran a loop and a half at Holiday and i think the snow made me utilize my toes a little more than usual causing some inflammation on the front of my shin which i think is tendinitis.I feel a little squeaking in the tendon also when i lift up my toes. Icing, resting, and rolling is really helping but I definitely feel it and hope its gone by the race. This is not my first bout with this though.

So 2013 will be the years of 5 for me. If I race promise land, MMTR and hellgate it will be my fifth consecutive time to run those. Its seems like only yesterday that I was a fat boy running promise land for the first time. This picture was after I lost 20 pounds also


Promise land 2009

So those races are definitely on the docket for this year. Also I plan on trying to go back to highland sky and see what can be done there. I honestly have been asking myself the question..."where do i go from here" Not that I'm the bomb runner or anything but i keep wondering if I have the same effort to be able to run these races as hard or harder.

So lets see what happens. Hope to see you all out on the trails soon.


Hellgate 2012 " The year of the friends"

Hellgate 2012 "The year of the friends"

         Well its taken me a month and a half to finally lay down my thought and feelings about this race. So lets begin....
        After masochist i really didnt run as much as I wanted to. Took a trip out to Cali and ran a little out there but since its so flat i ran way too fast and kinda aggravated my Achilles a little. So i backed off miles thinking my past couple weeks will get me through. Fast forward to week before Hellgate. I woke up on Tuesday of that week and throat was scratchy. I ignored all day and when i got home body was crazy tired. symptoms only got worse and i went on antibiotics thinking maybe just maybe i would feel better by Friday. Friday rolls around and my body was tired, sore and throat hurt. I worked all day and only ate a 6 inch sub for lunch. When i got home I got prepared for the night and tryed to eat something but didnt really feel like it. I knew I had to though. This was the first time I had not gone to prerace stuff but waited for my friends to drive with me. i thought a chic fila sandwich would really get me ready and at 9:30 pm ate one of those. Then me and my crew drove to camp and then followed the caravan to start. Pumped myself full of extra strength Excedrin about 45 minutes prior to race and about 15 minutes before ate a gel with caffeine. Needless to say I was not feeling anything at the start. We sang and then prayed and then we were off.
      Nothing abnormal for the first section. Matter of fact felt good. I witnessed the eventual winner shoot off like a bottle rocket and thought for sure he would pay the price later. No one had ever come to Hgate for the first time and won it. I didn't thin it would happen this time either. Chattered a little with Todd and couple other guys but i was focused. Hill came and ran it well. Picked up hydration pack at petites gap and ran off into darkness. I was feeling even better. Plan was to eat a gel every 20 min and salt pill every 30. drink drink drink.
     i pushed this section and if I'm not mistaken was in 3rd. Ran very well and came into camping gap. still doing well. Saw 2nd place during next section who was struggling and passed. I thought OK you can do this!! about that time something started to happen. Breathing was getting difficult. Hills seemed to get harder than normal. Finally when we got off grassy road i heard Todd and Chris just talking away like it was a Sunday afternoon walk. I was breathing hard.Got to a downhill section and felt Little better. couple of us ran together. got to bottom and then started climbing. I started walking. feet were hurting(rookie mistake of trying new shoes and they were a little light in the cushion are for hgate). Eric passed me and i tryed to put my head down and follow but couldn't keep up. Stomach now was hurting and i don't know why? we came into aidstation and I felt like crap!! The words i told my friends were..."thanks for coming guys". what did that mean? it meant sorry for all your troubles but i would like to go home now. Told them all my problems and not for a second did they gave into my jedi mind games. Kevin smith helped me change shoes. They gave me some kayopeptat and switched to bottles. I drank some soup and Gatorade and off i went against my wishes.
      I normally can stay positive but the thought haunted me that if i felt this bad now then I still had 40 miles to go!! I cant do it!! Every section felt like the forever section. I must have looked rough or something cause when Patrick Mcglade passed me he said in this very sympathetic voice..."Frank is that you? You ok Man?" My head was down and i just said not having a good day. Thanks for asking. Long downhill came and then the breakfast aid station. Saw my buds again and gave them my sob story. They kept telling me where everyone in front of me was and to be honest...i didn't care. drank some soup and gatorade and went on.
       Chris reed caught me on this next section. He was battling some motivational issues a little and we talked about that for a little. I told him to go on but he wouldn't. He walked when i walked and ran when I did. We talked all the way to top of the hill and then started coming down. at this point I could only see out of my left eye. i didn't know what it was but my right eye basically was cloudy. I stopped Chris at one point and asked him if he could see anything but he said no. I thought if I had some physical injury that could be seen my buddies they would let me quit. But nothing!! we got to the next station and my stomach issues were gone but still not feeling great. some friends from work had shown up and there cheering gave me a little pump. I got soup and gatorade and was off.
       I caught Chris for a second but then he left me like it was a 10K. Either he got a burst of energy or he slowed down that last section to help me out only. Either way i was grateful. The next section sucked!! I ran every step but it seemed like I was just crawling. My hips were exploding, back was hurting, eye was frozen over still, and i just did not want to run anymore. What?? Thats right! i didnt want to run anymore. I hiked in this section way to much and my time showed. I came out to bearwallow gap and saw my buds again. I said i wish one of you guys would run with me to which none of them seemed like they wanted to. Again my buddy kept telling me times of people in front like that would motivate me. Normally it would, but not this time. Drank soup and took a gatorade.
          This next section has always been tough for me and it was again. I hiked alot and even stopped and stood by while another guy passed me. I had nothing in me to keep with him and wished him the best. I kept going but not very fast. Nothing horrible or great happened here. Finally reached bobletts gap. I saw my buddy Todd dressed like he was going to run. I asked him why he was dressed up and he said he would run with me from here in! what?? its exactly what I needed.
         I followed him. we talked and I dont think he will ever know how much i just needed company. I have to give it to him for trying to motivate me. He prayed for me... talked to me about hurting and getting over it... and kept me going. I wish I could have given him more but I gave him what I had. This section was slow but not horrible thanks to company. We came out at day creek and i knew it was almost done. Matt gave me some more soup and at that point gels tasted like poop!!
            we hiked and ran a little but it was the slowest I had ever run that section. I wasnt even looking forward to the downhill but we ran it and finally the camp came. It was over. Shook DHO's hand and he said something along the line that sometimes we learn more from the races that we suffer the most from. Not sure I agreed but whatever it was over. Congratulated all the people in that finished in front of me and was astonished by the fast times. WOW!!
           Why the year of the friends? Because only good friends do not let you quit! They didnt give in for a second. Matter of fact they mocked at my attempts to appeal to their soft side. Crewing this race is an ultra in itself. So to Matt Towles and Todd Foster a big thanks goes out. As a matter of fact Todd foster has crewed me for every hellgate I have ever done. This year kids soccer conflicted with the race so wife showed up a little late but so glad she came out. She literally makes me feel like I win every race. Chris Reed definetly helped me more than he knows also. Just talking and listening was great. All my friends from work that showed up to cheer me on.

            What did I learn?

 1. I was tired. I raced alot this year and my body needed a break.
 2. You cannot win every race so dont think you can!
 3. I need people to do this life. You cannot think you will succeed without community to help you when you down.
 4. Thankful to run for Theaidstation.com ultrarunning team this year. Hope I represented well. So for any of your running needs you better go there!!! theaidstation.com
  Specifics: Shoes: Scott /socks: swiftwick compression/ Food: cliff shots and blocks. But mainly ramen noodle. Soup saved my life!!/shorts; Pearl izumi. Shirt: Patagonia team jersey.
           Not sure what I have in store for this year but I am finally getting my motivation back. After the race on sunday I jumped on a plane and flew to nicaragua and the symptoms of my sickness hit me like a ton of bricks. Took me a while to get back to it. Whatever it is im looking forward to it. Thanks for reading.