A Little Fan Support and Victory up the Steeps in Upstate NY!

Doing a particularly light day today, I decided to go out on the bike one last time here in upstate NY and challenge myself on the steepest slope to Villa Roma. This hill, near the Stone Arch in Jeffersonville, begins with an agonizing steep over a 15% grade, tapers off to about 5% again before it ends again near the top at a 15% grade, a real nasty surprise to tired muscles at the top. Last year I tried going up this hill and failed near the top as I almost tipped over. This year, I try for a little redemption.

After 18 miles of rolling hills I finally arrive at the bottom of the hill, bottom out my gears, and start the tough ascent up the hill. The road is very lightly traveled by cars; this allows me to tack my bike from side to side on the bottom steep. I barely ascend to the flatter part of the hill with little energy left in my legs and wondering how I would get the energy to finish the climb. I decide to sit in the saddle and keep myself spinning to get back some energy lost in the lower part of the hill.

Arriving at the upper part of the hill I encountered some locals doing some chores around their house and started root me up the last steep on the course, a father and his teen kid. I smile at them (or was it a grimace?), get out of the saddle, and blast up the hill with whatever remaining strength I had. The cheering felt quite genuine; the hospitality of people up here is noticeably a lot better than down in the city. Apparently, the “fan support” gave me that extra determination to get to the top. No tacking here, it’s a straight-up power climb with the top in my sights! Every part of the body, not just the legs, participated in the coordination, the arms swinging the bike, and my back providing the extra strength and leverage for my legs. It was a beautiful synchronicity that got me to the top without stopping!

So a little victory has been made here this week on the bike. I go for a long run tomorrow here before finally going back home to more flatter terrain.

How about some pictures of the hills of Sullivan County, NY!!!

Some pictures of the hills of Sullivan County. This is one part of the back hills of the Villa Roma resort. These tough climbs have sections of grades over 15%.



Looking down a tough 15% climb with a tough 10% climb in the distance. One of the many huge rollers in upstate NY.

Ouch! This intimidating hill in the background is so tough that tacking up it with your bike and walking it with your run is the only best way to get to the top.


A very beautiful picture of the hills of Sullivan County. Not many flat spaces here. If you want to do a bit of hill training without much of the travel, this is the place to do it!

Hilly Villa Roma!!!

Finally, some mileage to show for this week! Nestled in the resort area of Villa Roma this week after the emergency root canal, with the pain subsided, I finally went out on a nice 10 mile run. The challenge of Villa Roma is that it is nestled in a deep valley on top of a mountain in Sullivan County, NY. Both exits out of this area presents an immediate challenge to the beginning of the workout. The front way is a long, 6 minute climb up a hill with a grade of about 8%. The back exit is even more challenging; it has two steeps at around 15% with climbs in between at around 8%. Every route then encounters a hair-raising downhill that bottoms at the main roads in the area.

Those very same hills pose a serious challenge coming back to the resort area. Each hill involves steeps of over 15% in several agonizing sections of the course. It’s just a matter of “picking your poison” when running or cycling back. Overall, if anyone is doing a key race this season that is extremely hilly, staying at Villa Roma for the week would be one of the best places to go for quad blasting hill training.

Rusty from the time I took off, I had major problems going up the hills with the 10 mile run and the 19 mile bike today. Doing a lot of endurance running, I was totally without the strength needed to power up the hills. Although I struggled, I did manage not to cough up a lung while getting myself to the top. I realize that a little strength is needed to traverse a hilly ultramarathon and will devote one workout a week to power and strength.

What’s up tomorrow? Pressing for 15 miles of running and an option of a 21 mile bike tomorrow.

Burning River Ultra a "No Go"; Eyeing a 100 Mile Race in Autumn

I’ve been looking forward to this race in about a year now, gearing up and trying to train for the race. But several circumstances have come around, especially in the past 2 weeks, that made my decision not to attend this race in 3 weeks.

1) Two people from my crew have to withdraw. One of them found he has a family member with a critical health problem; the second has to be on a business trip the next day after the race.

2) I myself have to be in Maryland the Monday after the race. I have certain obligations that require me to be certain places every so often. I can theoretically do the race and go directly to Maryland, but I don’t think it would be prudent to just up and leave after doing a grueling 100 mile run.

3) Despite some successful weeks, my training is still not there. I haven’t shed my body weight to 185 pounds and I was sidelined for nearly 2 weeks with a severe toothache that prevented me from training as well as just about everything else.

4) Cash flow problems. The root canal that I had to get for my dental problem was more than $1000. The trip to Ohio, the payment for the hotel for 3 people and the trip back costs money, money that had to be spent on the root canal. With all the uncertainty about the economy nowadays, I frown on breaking my budget in general, so sacrifices have to be made. If I knew I had a great shot at finishing the race, then I would borrow from my savings.

I regret this, but it makes sense to delay the 100 miler to the fall, when I have the right training under my belt and a crew to go along with me. I am eyeing the Grindstone 100 Miler in Virginia as a possible fall race on October 2, a good, challenging race that would be great to aim for.

The 50 Day Plan to Burning River 100 Mile Ultra

Time to go postal with the workouts. I did not like what I saw the other day and have planned out a tough stretch of 50 days to get me to the Burning River 100 in great shape. Here is the plan:

1) Get myself down to 185 pounds, a 15 pound goal. Less weight=less wasted energy.

2) Get 2-3 sessions of 30 mile+ runs in on some weekends. I've been stringing 20 milers together, and it's worked for me, but I need to get some greater distances in on one session to really test the body.

3) Start planning what is needed for the actual race. I've ordered some lightweight ultra shorts as well as some first-aid supplies and some energy food for the race itself.

4) Document EVERYTHING, including weight so that I face my setbacks instead of turning away from them.

Swimming and cycling will be included with the training for cross-training effect and the exercising of complimentary muscles so I don't head into the race with muscle imbalances. Triathlon training, if done right, gives such a total body workout that leaves no weak spots on the body and should add to my endurance in the ultra.

Post-event thoughts...

1) I definitely need a crew for point-to-point ultras. After I've drained all my blisters from my feet yesterday, I'm walking normally today and can actually run for a good distance today if I had to. Due to the length of the distance and especially time, there are so many factors that will befall an ultramarathoner over the length of the run, so many that one person with a Camelbak cannot cover. I am reminded about my time on the Appalachian Trail when I *had* to cover any and all factors on the long hike. The result was a 40 pound backpack, give or take a few pounds for extra food, which cannot possibly translate well into trail running. A support crew would have probably made a difference between going only 37 miles and doing the entire 64 miles.

2) Time for a wardrobe change. Upon close examination, the pair of shorts that I was using was falling apart at the seams. I'm going to need new stuff now for the ultra in August.

3) I'm going to try to lose at least 10-15 pounds before August 1. If I can lose these pounds, that is less that I can carry at the ultra, which is definitely fine by me.

4) The pinched nerve thingie is gone. I got it on the South Mountain 100k course last week, and it was cured on this run. What gives? Don't care; at least it's gone.

5) Planning a pretty grueling regimen that is leading to August. One thing I'm going to make clear to everyone here...I am NOT going to DNF on the 100 miler this year. If I only have my teeth to propel myself forward, then by God that is what I'll use.

Have a great weekend guys. Hope to see you around the trails.

Ultra: Next time, I'll get a crew.

I am a fiercely independent person.

And sometimes that goes against my goals. It's just my nature but I find it hard to ask people to help me achieve certain goals and always feel that I can do it myself.

Well, this ultra basically slammed home the fault of my ways.

You see, this 64 mile run was a point-to-point affair, and I knew that if I went unsupported that I was very limited in what I had to take with me in the Camelbak that I had.

I had very limited first-aid supplies, couldn't find a way to provide a change of shoes and socks when I needed it, no change of clothes and a limited number of snacks. Even with the supplies that I had, the Camelbak had to weigh more than 20 pounds.

There were two other people who took a different approach to doing 60+ miles on the trail. They had 2 people support them throughout their run. They would up changing their socks and shoes multiple times, had plenty of water when they needed it, and didn't have to carry a heavy bag with them on their run. These things factor in HUGE when going long. I give them a lot of credit for what they accomplished. It's still takes a lot of persistence to achieve that goal and they successfully did it. I tip my hat off to them.

As for me I had gained a partner for my jaunt as well. If it wasn't for CL, it would have been very tough to get myself through the night. We shoved off from Frenchtown at around 9PM and kept at a leisurely pace. The weather was misty and quite cold-throughout the run; there were times when we were shivering through certain sections (here, support would have been critical with a change to cooler weather running gear). Walking had to be limited because we would cool down too much, so we ran longer than we could to keep warm.

Once we gained Lambertville at 15 miles in, the sky did grow lighter, the clouds got thinner, and we had a little moonlight for the next8 miles or so. It turned out to be a more enjoyable run at that point.

Hitting Washington Crossing at mile 22.5, things got a little more colder and bleaker again. We were going through endless puddles provided by yesterday's rain, and blisters were starting to form on my feet (support would have provided a critical service of addressing blisters, wrapping the feet, and changing to drier shoes and socks). We started to do a little more walking than running, and finally got into Trenton and the end of the Feeder section of the canal at 4:10AM.

We hit the 7-eleven store in between the two paths and quickly restocked on food, but I was shivering uncontrollably when we left the store to get to the second trail. At that time we met the crew for the aforementioned runners. I quickly knew that they did the right thing and I didn't. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way.

Hobbling from blisters and cold, we started to walk the Main Section of the Canal. I was in a world of hurt then. Each step I took felt like stabbing pain with the blisters. We managed to hobble to Route 1 before we were picked up and returned to our cars. All in all, I did 36.7 miles of the trail, nowhere near the 64 miles I wanted to accomplish.

I am now swallowing my pride and assembling a crew for my Burning River 100 Ultra in August. It'll be much easier for me to finish if I had a crew. So now, I'm going to reach out to everyone I know and ask people if they want to come to the Akron/Cuyahoga Valley region of Ohio. I will need a daytime crew person, a nighttime crew person, and a pacer or two. Rooms will be provided by me and, if in the NYC area, transport to the race (by car). If any of you are interested in experiencing a 100 mile ultra first-hand, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Let me know via e-mail, ironpete@ironpete.com if you are interested.