Pisgah 50K

There has been a lot of work going down on the running side of things this past summer. It turns out that being single is the best way to log a lot of miles. Minimal obligations and lots of free time.... just what I wanted!

I've been able to log a significant amount of miles, getting close to the mid 40's most every week, as opposed to the meager 30ish I was getting last year. I even went as far as taking a "runcation". I bailed on work for the week and was able to log close to 60 miles while visiting my sister in PA, my buddy Mike in Queens, and lots of tasty brew pubs and beer bars along the way. Running has never been better. I even ran into my first bear a few weeks ago!

Today was my 7th show down with the 50k distance. Weather conditions had called for thunderstorms and rain for the majority of the day, so it was a relief to toe the line under dry skies. After a few words from the RD, we were off down the road for a few miles before we hit the trail head. Runners for both the 50k and 23k were mixed in the group and it was difficult to tell who was who, or rather, should I be running as fast as this guy next to me?

I ran with Keith into the woods, passing signs made for us by his brother's family. It's always nice to see that, especially at a races of this distance where it isn't exactly a spectator sport. We made our way down the trail and took the left hand turn at the 50k sign as the 23kers kept straight on the trail. Apparently we were the only ones taking this left, at least that we could see out of the crowd that was in front of us hammering onward.

Once off on our own, we shot the shit for a minute before Keith pulled ahead and I turned my ipod on. The first few miles out there went by with ease. Weather it was me feeling good, or the tunes in my headphones, I was enjoying this jaunt in the woods. A mile or two further on I see Keith a distance ahead of me, something that rarely, if ever, happens in race situations. I oddly enough seem to pick up steam and over the next mile pull right up behind him. I'm feeling good. I consider the fact that it might all be clicking for me today, and despite the humidity, I might be able to make something of this.

After last year's performance ending in a 16th place 5:12 finish, I felt I had it in me to go sub 5 this year, as long as I could continue to feel good and make smart choices. I had put enough fluids and nutrition in my pack to avoid having to stop at any of the early aid stations, which would be a huge time saver and something I didn't do last year.

Throughout the first part of the race, Keith continued to stay at least 400 yard in front of me for the most part. I took advantage of running most of the hills and power hiking where necessary, which kept me in the game. After a while out there, I found it strange that I hadn't seen another runner other than Keith.

It wasn't until the climb up Pisgah Mountain, that I finally came upon a runner other than Keith. I passed him as he seemed to be struggling, and motored on to catch up with Keith, who I hadn't said a word to since I had put my headphones on back around mile 3. We shot the shit for a moment and talk about the discrepancies on our watches before he powered down the the back side of the mountain, followed closely by the other guy I had passed.

As I ran along, coming close to the Kilburn aid station, which I would pass through twice, I came upon that other runner who I had passed on top of Pisgah Mountain. Over my headphones I couldn't make out what he was saying to me, but after turning the ipod off, he was desperately looking for salt tabs. I offered up some s-caps and proceeded on my way to the aid station. This was my first pass through the Kilburn aid station before running the loop around Kilburn Pond. I pounded two cups of soda knowing the fluids in my pack would be good for another 5.5 miles. I also powered through the aid station fast enough to take another runner who was wasting more time there than me.

The Kilburn loop is sort of a two fold event. The first part, which is down hill for the most part, seems to be easy and fast. I passed another runner in this section. However, once you get to the backside of the pond, the trail becomes increasingly aggravating. While not really steep, your body seems cashed enough to make walking the uphills seem like the most desirable thing in the world. Somewhere in this stretch, I was passed back by the guy from the aid station. No worries I told myself. I hadn't been passed by anyone from further back in the pack so this wasn't that big of an issue.

I finally get off the Kilburn loop and back into the Kilburn aid station for the second and final time. I refill my pack for the first time all race, pound more Coke and head off as fast as I can toward the finish. The final stretch of miles were some that took their toll on me last year. I walked more of it than I cared to, and felt I lost a lot of time on this section.

This year I entered the final section feeling good and ready to battle. While the first initial climb out Rt. 63 parking lot was walked, I quickly returned to running and pushed on well past the places I had walked the previous year. It may have been in this section that I figured out my Halloween costume.... Oh god, watch out!

I finally came to the section that I found the previous year to have been logged. I knew from here it was only a matter of a mile to get to the road that would bring me in to the finish. I started to pick up the pace and look for that coveted turn onto the dirt road.

Coming down one of the final hills, I see the dirt road and the guy who had passed me on the back side of the Kilburn loop. At a volume loud enough for him to most likely have heard, I yelled, "That fuckers going down!", and proceeded to pick up the pace until I had zeroed in on him and passed him just before passing Keith's brother's house on the last mile in to the finish. At his brother's house, I drop my race vest and take off. Cresting the final hill I can see straight down the road to the stop sign. From there, it would only be a matter of yards to the finish. I keep my focus on the stop sign and keep my pace. As I draw closer to the end of the road, I pull in and pass my final struggling runner. I turn the corner and haul ass into the finish. 50k in 4 hours and 43 minutes in 9th place. This was exactly a half hour off of last year's time and almost 2 minutes faster than my previous 50k PR, which was run on a pancake flat course, as opposed to this course with 3,850 feet of elevation gain.

Over all, I couldn't have been more satisfied with my result. The biggest problem I have now, is where to take this success for one more bout in the ring this year.

I fully blame the Tweeprise.

There is only one true way for me to judge a Phish show after the immediate glory of having either been to the show or having listened to it on the now popular couch tour, and that is to give it my full attention while putting back some miles. Just how does 7/27/14 Set 2 hold up?

Today provided just that opportunity. I'm spending the weekend at my parent's house and my sister and her family are visiting as well. It's old times in the Casey household! As it is a Saturday, I would need to start my day out with a long run. The main problem here is that every route I used to run here in Londonderry way back in the day is a road route and provides little distance and even less allure. The only viable option I was able to arrive at was to be dropped off in Salem and run the old rail bed back into Londonderry.

I left the house just after 8 this morning and was driven down Rt 93 by my father to a spot I had mapped out the previous night. From that spot it was a solid half marathon back to the house. It would be rather flat, and if anything, a positive elevation run.

I started my watch at the trail head behind the bicycle shop and was off. I also started off my ipod in the middle of the Slave from 7/27, a show currently regarded as one of the best shows they've played in at least 10 to 15 years. The final soaring notes of the song gave way to the opening bass notes of DWD as I paced along an over grown rail trail in the cloudy humidity of the morning.

Before long I can upon a newly built bridge spanning a main road and the trail that picked up on the other side was newly refurbished with hard pack sand and stone. It wasn't too bad, but i liked the more natural feel of the first section of trail.

Bouncing along to the DWD jam, I came to the first road crossing, which was where the trail now became paved. I'm not sure why towns feel the need to pave a "trail", but I was thankful that the right hand shoulder of the trail had a dirt single track to run. It seemed the paved trail was excellent at attracting soccer moms and senior citizens riding hybrid bikes. The DWD jam transitioned smoothly into NICU. At this point, my pace had been a rather steady sub 8 trot and the sincerity and urgency with which Phish was playing with wasn't allowing my pace to slow any time soon. I ran past some dog walkers and Saturday morning joggers. I passed marsh lands with beautiful mirror still reflections of the surrounding trees.

And then I can upon the opening notes of HYHU that led to some of the most clever uses of self deprecating humor by the band. Fishman takes the mic and notes that he hasn't practiced any songs and would just make this a sing along and a drummer's choice. He subsequently broke into the rarely played and often agreed upon, worst Phish song ever - Jennifer Dances. The fact that this song was being played in jest, was just another in a long, long line of reasons why this is my favorite band. They finish up the tune and break into another rarely played tune off of Joy, Ive Been Around. It allowed for some fun band interactions and was a great way to finish out the set. I was so caught up in listening, I was barely paying attention to the fact that I was running, but I was still clicking off sub 8 miles.

Encore started off with a cover of Stevie Wonder's Boogie On Reggae Woman, which kept the pace, and my attention, in the zone. Closing out the encore was Tweezer Reprise. This song, after a night of Tweezer mayhem, was the icing on the cake for this show. You could feel the fever and urgency with which they were playing this song, and as they had been playing all night long. They were playing like they really meant it. I was rocking some sweet air guitar moves, and before I knew it, I was running like I was a man possessed! I meant to look down at my watch and see how fast that mile was, but alas, I was so caught up in the music that I missed the mile read out by a tenth of a mile. (after later review, it was a 6:49 mile) The music was just too good and I couldn't slow myself down. The set was over and I needed more...STAT!!! Time to start this set over again!

About this time, I ran past a group of runner's who were standing around in a parking lot at one of the trail heads along the path. I gave a quick wave and kept up what I could only assume was an extremely impressive pace for them to have witnessed, or maybe they were just thinking, "Who's this ass hat with the race vest on, on a paved bike path?" Either way, I failed to stop and check out the old Boston & Maine caboose next to the renovated train station.

Back into the first Tweezer of the set. The jam is cut short after two teases by Fishman to segue into Back on the Train. BotT was woven out of just as quickly as it was woven into, and seamlessly back into Tweezer before heading back into BotT again. This was some really early, to mid 90's style playing right here, and they were absolutely killing it!

Around this time I was crossing through downtown Derry and back to the splendors of dirt trails. The trails that run through the middle of Derry are pretty rough. I had to take several detours to be able to get on course with the trail only to have the next section be riddled with the wavering pits created by dirt bikes and 4 wheelers. I was able to find a relatively level edge and stuck to that for the most part.

The band segued into one of their new, and admittedly really good songs, Waiting All Night. The fresh melodic lines and solid vocals for a band that has never been known for their singing abilities, made me feel great even though this particular section of the trail was teeming with deer flies. I helped population control by killing at least 15 of them. I said I'm sorry.

Crossing Rt 28, I knew I was in the final 4.5 miles of the run. The opening guitar lines of Free helped push the pace and keep me ahead of the deer flies that were trying so hard to keep up. The band quickly wove back into the Tweezer theme again before weaving into Simple. The trail was straight and the view off in the distance of the next trail gate was locked into my view. I was still sticking to the sides of the trail to keep off the constant rolls from the motorized vehicles. The transition back into the end section of Free, with the repeated Free vocal line, in that time and place, thinking about everything in my life, completely resonated and I was washed over with adrenalin crushing the pace even faster. It was all coming together.

Passing past Poor Boy's Diner, I head towards the Rt 93 underpass, thinking about when this was just some rinky-dink little highway with a muddy old rail bed passing below, instead of the 4 lane super highway that it's become.

At this point the trail has again, unfortunately been paved. Dog walkers, cyclist, and soccer moms littered the trail as I haul ass towards Clark Rd, which would be my departure from the rail trail. Powered by my second play through of Slave, I turn onto Clark and see a 6:46 mile click off on the Garmin. With just a little over a mile to go, I kept pushing the pace up Noyes Rd. Wanting nothing more than a final sub 7 mile, I let the Slave pull me up the road and onto my parent's street, where the final assault on the pavement concluded with a 1:37 half marathon. Just a few minutes off my actual road half PR, this was a solid accomplishment coming just 2 weeks after spraining my ankle, which I could still feel, but not in a bad way. I've been getting stronger and this was just what I needed to remind me I am still in the game.

Does this show hold up to legendary status? If it was a direct correlation to how I ran today, I'd have to rank this show pretty damn high!

Catamount 50k

Things have been pretty good in the running department this season and this race was no exception. Coming almost 2 months after the Bear Mountain 50 miler, there had been plenty of time for rest, serious miles, and warding off possible injuries. I had been weary of how much I could build up my mileage. With 3 ultras within the past 3 months (and 5 in 10 months), I've been wondering if I've been going about my training well enough to avoid injury. My right quad had been pretty hammered the past few weeks so with a week of rest and moderate mileage this week, I was ready to toe the line at the Catamount 50k in Stowe, Vermont.

Waking again at the heart warming time of 2:40AM, race day was underway as I headed over to Keith's to pick him up and drive just over 2 hours north to the Trapp Family Lodge. Set in the Green Mountains, the early morning views from the start/finish area were quite spectacular. The course itself was a 25k loop which we would complete twice. With roughly 2,500ft of elevation gain per lap, there was quite a bit of up hill battling.

 Armed with a hand held bottle and an extra 10oz of fluid in a flask in the front of my vest, (Note to self: DO NOT try and "clean" bladders and bite valves the night before a race and break them.) we started the 4.5 mile ascent to the highest point on the course. At this point in the day the air was still relatively cool, but the humidity was high. I was trying to push fluids early on as not to find myself in a hole later.

This first initial climb was via a series of cross country ski trails, which wound their ways around the front of the mountain. It was steep in sections but mostly runnable, or at least I made it runnable as to keep pace with the immediate guys around me, and even gain a bit on them. Cresting the top of the hill was the first aid station, which I stopped only long enough to fill my bottle before taking off on the long down hill section.  Aside from a few wet spots, the next 5.5 miles to the next aid station were quick and easy. Lots of great scenery to be had as well.  

I come into the second aid station in the rising heat of the morning to refill my bottle and grab a thing or two to eat. They also had a chia fresca shot which was outstanding! The next few miles of trail were in and around the woods and fields of Trapp Lodge. I was feeling great and running right where I felt I should have been. And that's when the extremely urgent need to "use the woods" hit. Not an issue, as I'm pretty much a zen master of this activity, but I did lose at least 4 to 5 minutes, which was kind of disheartening when I was running as well as I was.

The next four miles started out crossing a cow pasture, complete with compliments of the cows previously grazing on said pasture, before ducking back into the woods for what seemed like forever. In this section I was able to catch up to one of the runners I had lost during my bathroom break. We both noted that the miles in this section seemed extra long. The trail here was a bit rougher, with uneven footing, making it imperative to pay attention to where your foot was landing.

After a brief pass of another cow pasture, the trail meandered up to a dirt road and straight back to the start finish area where we would begin our second lap. I came into the half way point at 2:22, ready to refill my bottle and replenish my GU supply, which I had been steadily eating one every half hour along with an S-Cap. When refilling my bottle I may have gotten a little too excited and pounded the rest of the gatorade mix from my drop bag. I left for my second lap with a not so settled stomach.

Starting the 4.5 mile climb again, only this time in much warmer, bordering on hot, temperatures was not so much of a treat. There was a lot more walking on the steeper sections here, which if you could muster up the strength, you could use it in your favor and catch up to a few people who were walking themselves. I joined in with a few other guys that way as we trekked up to the top, which seemed a lot further for some reason this time. The race photographer found us looking really sharp in this section too. Why can't they ever get my finishing kick?

We crest the top again at mile 20 and come into the aid station where I filled my bottle and ate some orange slices. While eating there, one of the runners from the trek up the hill notes that he is having a "squarely mediocre day" to one of the volunteers. I wanted no part of his shitty day. I grabbed a slice of watermelon and took off down the trail.

The next few miles provided some much needed relief from the up hill. Cruising down the backside of the mountain while listen to a banging DJ mix put me right back into it. There were even some cooler breezes blowing through the woods at that point. Things were alright!

I came into the next aid station, which had quite the crowd of cheering spectators. I filled my bottle again, had their fine chia fresca shot, and took another watermelon slice for the road. 6 more miles to go.

It became clear that focusing on nutrition was going to be key to success. While I was putting down a GU every half hour, it seemed I was feeling worn before it was time for the next one and the hole I would find myself in would happen quickly. The second I found myself getting low I ate another GU and within minutes was back in the game.

As the day was getting hotter, I was pushing more fluids. The hand held bottle I had was draining faster than at any other point in the day. I finally reached into my vest pocked for the small flask I brought with me for such and occasion, and dumped that into my main bottle. Just a few more miles. Let's do this.

Running back in the cow pasture section, the miles seemed to take forever. Sections of the course that I remembered from my first pass through, which I was sure were just around the next bend, were nowhere to be seen and it wasn't getting any cooler out there.

Finally I find myself turning onto the dirt road that brings me into the finish. I quickly find a tune on my ipod that will get me there in no time, and start hauling ass into the finish.

Its funny how the visual of the finish makes every issue your body has completely disappear. My toes, which had been slamming into the front of my shoes for the past 10 miles (nails will be lost), suddenly were fine in my dash for the finish. I cross in 5:14, good for 20th place. The pint glass finisher's award and complimentary Trapp Lodge Brewing beer fill topped off one solid day of running!

Green Flash 30th St. Pale Ale

Its almost game time, and any injury, or possibility of one, has long since disappeared. And it's probably a good thing too considering I'm now less than 24 hours from the Catamount 50k. So while I try to figure out just how prepared I am for this race, you can enjoy this fine beer review...

Green Flash - Road Warrior Rye Imperial IPA

I've been rather lacking in the beer review department as I've been running a lot more and filming less, but I did shoot a few reviews last week while trying to pretend I'm not injured for my upcoming 50k on the 28th. C'mon leg let's do this!

This is running.

There are a lot of runs that rank in the maintenance miles category. Runs that you do just to get the miles and keep your head above water so to speak. Other runs though, are the kind that you logged all those previous miles to get to. The runs, not races, that you will remember for years to come.

Tonight's run ranked high on the later category. It might have only lasted less than a mile though had it not been for Keith pointing out that there was a porcupine in the trail about 20 feet in front of me. And after a brief stop to watch the little guy run off into the woods, we carried on.

The general idea I had for this run was to run the Surry loop, but branch off onto the single tracks that line the trail we've never deviated from. Even though I've never run those trails, I was sure that I could somehow manage to get down the hill to the trail that goes to Dort Rd. How hard could it be?

With the first step off the familiar jeep trail on to the single track, we were flying down hill over rolling turns and stream crossings. At each new trail juncture, we hazarded a guess as to which way to turn. Eventually we found the much heard of, but never seen, Lily Pond. After that, we followed a less traveled single track downhill towards some nice waterfall type areas. At this point the trail seemed to fade out and we weren't quite sure what to do or where to go.

Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal. We could have bushwacked our way downhill to the lake, where we were sure to find the trail I was thinking of. But it was getting late. The skies were cloudy and the forest was getting dark. Neither of us packed our headlamps, so time was of the essence. Rolls of thunder could be heard in the distance and rain drops started or occasionally graze our skin. This was not a place to be for much longer.

We decided to turn around and retrace our steps back to the last trail juncture which I was familiar with and I would be able to get us out of the woods in a reasonable amount of time. I knew the run we had to the water falls was a solid downhill effort and every step back uphill reinforced just how burly it was. As we wove our way back up to safety, the woods darkened more and the rain drops became more frequent. The thunder became louder.

Once back on the usual trail, we began our decent through muddy trail and dark forest corners. Lightning lit up the sky above and the rain became steady as the temperature dropped. The trail was pretty damn dark right now. It was time to hall ass out of the woods and get to the comforts of Gunn Rd, where we could run the roads back into town with relative ease.

Out on Gunn Road, we ran the initial downhill mile in a cold down pour. Thunder was breaking right overhead and it was somewhere in this moment that we noted how bad ass this was. Nobody else was out doing this. Keith just started laughing at one point as the sky lit up yet again. That's when I noted, this is running. This is what I signed up for. This was the real deal. We were soaked head to toe, pushing the pace to keep from getting hypothermia, and deriving joy from every moment of it. It was a solid 15 mile effort, worth every maintenance mile I've run.

Return to Form

I gave myself a solid week off after the beast that was the Bear Mountain 50 miler. In the few days after the race my body began it's recovery process and the blistered centers of the balls of my feet healed up.

Mother's Day the weather proved too damn nice not to warrant a run, so with a cautious few hundred yards, I knew my body was ready to go. I went on to log 5 sub eight miles, the final mile clocking in at 6:15. Yep, it was all good in the hood.

The rest of the week provided plenty of opportunities for some decent length runs. Wednesday night's run was just a spectacle of awesome. With the leaves starting to bloom and the scent of spring finally making it's way into the air, it was one of the most welcome times of the year. It reminded me of being a kid, ready to go outside and turn the day into anything you wanted.

The ascent up Drummer was beautiful, so much so that I ran the upper trails to the top in a fashion that I was able to summit twice. Weaving through the single track, greenery was taking hold of the old, brown leaf ground. Streams had backed off their early spring levels and made the crossings a little less wet. 10 miles later, it was time well spent in the woods.

The trails are getting good out there... really good.