A Dash Of This, A Pinch Of That... A Running Philosophy! (Sort Of)

I recently became an assistant track coach at Milledgeville High School, which has a cooperative with my son's school, Eastland. Not only does that mean I get to coach my son one more time (you will have to ask him if he is as happy about that as I am) and some of my EHS Cross Country team, I also am coaching the sons/daughters of people from Milledgeville and Chadwick that I have known since I was a little kid. It's a blast and is such a great opportunity and a stroke of luck I am totally thankful for.

Coaching again after a break since cross country has gotten me thinking about my approach to and beliefs about running have evolved in the years since I began doing it on a regular basis. Of course, my reasons for taking up running were like a lot of peoples: get in shape. Many of you who may have known me for only a few years would be surprised to know that though I have always been marginally active I was a pack-a-day smoker for about fifteen years and at one time had a six-pack-a-day Mountain Dew addiction. And those are just the most extreme bad habits! Oh, I could go on and on! But I won't.

The point is that after ditching the Dew and smokes I started to exercise a little more regulary. Me and Gina used to walk quite a bit, which was occasionally irritating for me since I am not a speedy walker, more of a stroller-type, and despite being only five-foot tall, Gina somehow covers ground while walking like a frightened gazelle. It's unreal. But anyway, somehow that evolved into us running and the rest is history.

Like most new runners I was simply putting one foot in front of the other for as long as I could. I was just happy to finish a 5k without walking and/or dying. I was a master of the speed-shuffle! Form? After a few hundred yards or so I was much too tired to care.

But as time and miles marched by, I did start to think and read more about running. Call it a philosophy or a belief system or whatever you want, but some half-baked ideas began to form and stick in my head! I tend to be a pretty free-thinker, which means I tend not to follow somebody else's ideas whole cloth but instead pick and steal bits of information and mold it with my own ideas, creating my own sort of hodgepodge. Below are a some of the things I believe are the keys to me being a happy runner!

Look ahead- This is the most important thing, physically, for me to do while running and all it takes is mental focus. I firmly believe that keeping your eyes on a target ahead has a ripple effect on my entire body. If I keep my eyes up looking ahead my head stays up and level (no swaying side-to-side either) which keeps my shoulders and hips loose and my posture good. If I let my gaze drift to the ground my head droops, my shoulders and hips tighten. Instead of the running feeling like a fluid movement it feels disjointed and out of rhythm. Sometimes if I have having some pain or unusually bad soreness I can refocus ahead and it brings my balance and posture back in line, which often reduces the discomfort.

Not over-striding- I am a believer that everybody has a natural stride that you shouldn't mess with too much, but overstriding (directly related to turnover, or cadence) is a big no-no. It's essentially controlled bounding and a form of self-braking. It's inefficient and wears a runner out. You want to cover a decent amount of real estate with each stride but if your cadence is below 150 footfalls per minute while running a reasonably fast pace you need to increase your turnover because you are bleeding energy away. And I never, ever try to reach forward with my stride. It promotes heel-striking and injury.

Barefooting and minimal shoes- This ties right in with the over-striding, because running barefoot or in minimal running shoes essentially forces me to increase my turnover and run with my normal, medium stride length. If I don't, it is going to hurt, that is a promise. I won't get into the whole "humans are born to run" thing or how thick, over-cushioned footwear is actually bad for you. But we were. And they are.

Oh, and just to be clear. When I say run barefoot I mean on grass! I would not recommend running unshod on a city street. You shouldn't practice natural running on an unnatural surface.

Hit the trails- I am a huge fan of trail running and if I am ever lucky enough to live within a short drive of a huge state or national park, my road running days would pretty much come to a halt. Unfortunately, I live in a sea of corn with the nearest trails a good half hour away. Nonetheless, I try to make it to a park once a week, other than in wintertime, usually for my long weekend run. Trails are so much more forgiving than blacktop it's not even funny. My legs thank me and my recovery time is decreased significantly as opposed to road running. Plus, it's a total blast and good for your soul to get out in nature! Note: when running trails, you cannot use the "look ahead" tip from above or you will go down. Hard. I still try to keep my head up while looking "down my nose" at the trail so I can see any roots or rocks.

Every run has a purpose- It's easy to find the purpose in a workout-type run. By that I mean your classic tempo or long run, hill repeats, etc. It's those other runs that can fall under the "junk miles" category if you aren't careful. I try to find something to focus on beforehand, even for the easiest of recovery runs. It might be something as general as my overall form. Or sometimes I try to focus on being light (what some people call a "ninja" run) or my breathing. The point is that I try to make even an easy pace run benefit me as much as possible, rather than just slogging through the run in a fog just to get miles in. And I never purposely try to go too slow no matter what, since I believe that intentionally going slower than I feel like going that day just because I think I should actually makes me fatigue quicker and messes with my running form.


Keep it simple- This seems like a silly thing to write at the end this long list! But it's a big key for me, not only in running but in life. If you make something too complicated you can suck the fun out of it. Don't clutter your mind with a bunch of crap to remember. Keep the goal of your run and maybe one or two other tips or tricks in mind and hit the road (or trail)!

Along that same line, I really try to leave my problems and worries at the house when I step out for my runs. A person can only properly do one thing at a time in my opinion, so I don't try to solve any financial, marital, work, or any other problems during my run. Nor do I begin a grocery or "honey-do" list in my head. It is not a time for multi-tasking. I feel running should have some sort of meditative effect when done with the proper mindset. There should be no past or future, only what you are doing at the present: running.

I Have Ten Questions For John Fegyveresi!

I have decided to get a little ambitious with the blog and conduct the occasional interview! It did not take me long to decide who I would like to be the first: John Fegyveresi. Now, unless you are an ultrarunning fan, you probably don't know who the heck John is! Allow me to fill you in then!

According to Ultra Signup, John has completed over 30 ultra marathons since the fall of 2008, including fourteen races of at least 100 miles. He has conquered a 135-mile race run in the furnace of Death Valley and is a four-time finisher of the famed Leadville Trail 100. In 2013 John took on The Vol State Run, a 500k road race that begins at the Missouri/Kentucky border and ends in Northeast Georgia! Not only did he finish, but competed completely unaided (finishing 2nd in the unaided, or "screwed" division) during the 4 days, 16 hours, 19 minutes, and 1 second it took him. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that John has thru-hiked BOTH the 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail and 2,650 Pacific Coast Trail!

All these are unbelievably impressive accomplishments, there is no doubt. But his greatest claim to fame is being only one of fourteen men to complete The Barkley Marathons, a 100 mile (or more?) Tennessee trail race that has been run annually since 1986. The Barkley consists of five loops in gnarly Frozen Head State Park and has almost 60,000 feet of total elevation gain. Each loop has to completed in less than twelve hours for the runner to continue on to the next one, and the total time limit for the race is 60 hours. John finished Barkley in 59:41:21. With not one second of sleep. 

John was kind enough to agree to answer a few questions via email for me, so without further delay, let's get on with it!

Me: So before we get to your ultrarunning, just what inspired you to thru-hike the Appalachian and Pacific Coast Trails?


John: There is a deep and storied history related to this question.  The short answer is that I was living a rather stagnant life for many years, and then over the span of about 2 years I lost an incredible number of people in my life.  I went on a weekend hike with a close friend in the Smoky Mtns to clear my head and simply "get away" and decided at that point that I wanted to start my life anew with a thru-hike on the AT.  If I remember correctly, we actually hiked a few miles on the AT and that's what started the conversation.   I also decided that I wasn't going to ever really be happy at my job any longer and applied to go back to graduate school for geoscience.  Many of my friends and family thought I was being a little irresponsible and that this new epiphany of mine was ill-conceived.  But I knew I had to make this change, and to me, the only way that made sense to me was to go on a very long thru-hike.   The PCT story was a little bit different, but the short story there was that I had just finished my Masters degree, but knew I'd be continuing on for a PhD.  This meant that I'd could take the summer off if I wanted to.  I definitely felt another pull-of-the-trail, but for the PCT, it was much harder to put a finger on it and really verbalize what it was that was drawing me back for another 4 month walk.  Needless to say, when it comes to long-distance hiking, I am now absolutely hooked on the rush I feel when experiencing the natural world in its rawest and most perfect form....and there is no turning back now!


Me: What is it that motivates and drives you to attempt such difficult endeavors such as your thru-hikes and ultramarathons?


John: I guess it's wanting to continue to suck as much marrow as I can out of this one life I have. Like I said, I was pretty stagnant several years back, and after my AT thru-hike opened my eyes, I realized how many experiences I was losing out on by not keeping myself challenged.  I guess many have argued that folks like myself probably have addictive personality types and that ultrarunning, or thru-hiking is like any other drug.  I definitely think that in some sense, I'm "hooked" on the feelings I get when I push myself to my limit and persevere (as I alluded to in the first question).  Standing on top of Mt. Katahdin after a successful 2175 mile thru hike brings a feeling that cannot be equaled no matter how hard you might try.  It was the most incredible sense of awakening and pure inspiration/profundity I've ever experienced (except for maybe my more hard-earned PCT finish)


Me: You have done quite a wide variety of races in the last few years, ranging from popular trail ultra's to the epic Vol State road race and even a timed event. What is your process for choosing the races you do?


John: I'm not really sure I have any sort of "system" or formula for this.  Things just kind of randomly fall into place, or as I browse the slew of possible events, something inevitably jumps out at me for whatever reason.  Usually I'm most attracted to races that are a little more non-traditional or "off-the-radar", but I still enjoy the occasional high-profile race too (e.g., Leadville).  I think it often comes down to what sort of memories I think I'll make for myself at the event....if that makes sense.  I certainly like to mix things up, which is why sometimes I'll just pop on ultrasignup and impulsively sign up for something unorthodox or random.  Even since my first thru hike on the AT, I have had an absolute love for being outdoors, doing something physically challenging, and being surrounded by great people.  I think this is why I can have a blast running a 3-day event in NJ on a 1-mile loop track, yet also have fun running through the mountains of Colorado or Tennessee.  I think when it's all said and done, I just want to have as many experiences as I can...and try to make the absolute best of those experiences while participating (as cliche or canned as that sounds).  There's fun to be had doing just about anything if you go into it with an open mind..no?


Me: Out of all the events you have done, if you had to pick one favorite, which would it be?


John: I've never been good with superlatives.  I don't know if it's really possible to pick a single favorite as so many of the things I've done hold special places in my memories.  I suppose my 2012 Barkley would definitely be right up there, but honestly  it was my original AT thru-hike that transformed me from the person I was, into the person I've become.  It was this event that probably had the single most profound impact on me (although I could also argue that PCT thru-hike was just as transformative).  There are bits and pieces from nearly every race or event that I've done that I can recall where I was having fun and smiling, and something within me was moved somehow.  I can remember little moments in every race where I felt good, was inspired by the scenery, was grateful for the chance to even be out there....I think in a way, it's holding on to those little amazing bits and memories from every race that makes them all worth it.


Me: Just a little quick background here on your 2012 Badwater experience for my readers. This is a 135 mile race through Death Valley. Two days beforehand you come down sick with severe stomach pains, vomiting, etc., which lasted right up to and during a good majority of race. You actually pulled yourself from the course for a short period of time because you were in such bad shape. I don't think I am exaggerating by calling it a Scott Jurek-esque display of guts. A lot of the toughest dudes in ultrarunning would have DNF'ed in that situation. Please explain just how the heck you were still able to finish that race?


John: My badwater illness experience was probably the single worst physical discomfort I've ever felt at an event.  I've been through giardia, norovirus, suffered the beat-down and raw feet at Barkley, and had my share of nausea....but my Badwater illness was truly awful.  I think had the race been more local, and not so high profile, I would almost certainly have pulled the plug.  When the medical team met with me at mile 31, I was actually praying and hoping that they'd pull me.  At least then I'd have a medical excuse.  But they didn't.  They actually told me something like, "You've worked so hard to be here, and you have so much time to finish.  Just give yourself as much time as you need to recover and take it as slow as you need.  You can walk the rest and still finish!".  They were right...but it didn't change the fact that I was sick and still had 100 miles to go.  I spent a long time at the pool at Stovepipe Wells and just tried to get my stomach under control.  When I thought about how much money was spent to get everyone out here to help me, and how my mom and sister were crewing and driving for me, I simply couldn't not bring myself to quit.  The guilt would have torn me up forever.  I decided to just go slow and not think about anything other than the 1-mile increments between car stops.  Then if I timed out...well at least I tried.  Turns out I not only was still well ahead of the cutoffs...but that I actually finished under 40 hours.  For me, this was an absolute win-win.  When I think back to those moments when I was throwing-up out the door of the moving mini-van simply from the pain I was under, I cannot believe that I was ever able to finish.  Sometimes when I'm having a bad day at a race, or feeling not-so-great, I think back to Badwater and remember how much I pushed through.  Then it makes whatever I'm going through not seem so bad.


Me: OK, now on to your Barkley Marathons finish. You have just finished loop four. Your feet are raw hamburger and you have been racing for almost two days over some of the most unforgiving terrain imaginable without so much as a power nap. The fourth loop took you 13:30 and by the time you get out on the fifth loop you only have 12:45 to finish and get under the 60 hour time limit for an official Barkley finish. Again, how the heck did you do that?


John: It would certainly seem that something unnatural happened here...but it's actually not as crazy as it seems.  My fourth loop was mostly in the dark and I ran a lot of it with Alan and Nick.  Early on we got really lost and wandered around losing about an hour before finally finding our way back to the course.  The loop was soul-sapping and towards the end I had actually mentally quit.  I was basically convinced that I would not be able to finish and I strolled back into camp very slowly (hence the very long loop time).  When I realized I was actually ahead of where JB was in 2010, I decided to go for it.  Thankfully, several other runners helped me patch up my feet so that they'd be runnable, and I was fueled for a lot of loop 5 on adrenaline.  I knew that I wasn't going to let myself time out and because I had a nice day-time loop, I was able to push hard and just make it in under the cut-off.  Before the last descent, I was actually on pace to finish in about 59 hours even, but my feet started to fall apart badly in the last few miles causing me to slow down considerably.


Me: With the exception of the 2012 Badwater and your Barkley finish, what is the toughest stretch you have gone through in a race?


John: I think you could argue that I have to fight off some sort of demon during every race, but some are more easily defeated I suppose.  I think specifically the toughest stretch I ever went through during a race was actually this past year at Barkley.  I went back to give it another go and at some point during the 2nd loop I became very cold, I wasn't eating, I was screwing up my navigation terribly...and near the end of loop 2, I simply pulled the plug on the race.  It was a very bizarre and new feeling for me, and virtually impossible to describe all that was going through my mind at the time.  It was the only time I ever voluntarily dropped from a race and it was a truly profound experience.  Of course I regretted it to some extent, but I think it was something that I necessarily had to go through.  I learned a significant amount about myself...and I ended up having an even more amazing time for the remainder of the race by crewing and supporting Travis (who did go on to finish).  On a side note, I can also recall having a very hard time staying motivated during Massanutten and it was probably the closest I ever came to dropping during a race before last year's Barkley.


Me: I think you would agree that with the proper training there are lots of people that could achieve the conditioning to finish an ultramarathon or thru-hike. More unusual, though, are those that mentally are capable of finishing something like that, or even wanting to attempt it in the first place. Any theories as to why some people are able to mentally able to persevere while some do not?


John: I'm really not entirely sure on this one.  I don't know if it's a chemical thing...as in some people are wired differently and have more OCD tendencies or if it's truly a philosophical difference.  I guess I've always been a fairly driven person, but I think in the case of these big challenges I overcame, a lot of it goes back to personal experiences I've had.  I find great solace in being out on runs or hikes, whether it be on a loop course, or point-to-point 100-miler.  I would still say that hiking is my true "passion-ot-motion"  as it were, and when I'm months into a long thru-hike, I am at my most content....if that makes sense.


Me: Ok, last question before I let you go! You have done Leadville (multiple times), Badwater, Barkley, Vol State, and thru-hiked the AT and PCT. What remains on your "bucket list" for races, hikes, etc.?


John: The absolute big one is the Continental Divide Trail (CDT).  I would love to thru-hike it and finish the triple crown more than anything, but finding the 4-5 months to do it will be tough.  As far races, there's definitely a few that I haven't done yet that I would love to.  First and foremost is Hardrock.   I've applied 5 straight years and never been selected.  Each year my chances go up, but each year the applicant pool also goes up, so it may still be a few years before I get to do it.  A few others on my list would be the Plain 100, the Hurt 100, the Arrowhead 135, and possibly some ultras of some kind in Alaska or Canada's Banff Park.  I would love to run over at UTMB or Tor Des Geants as well, but not until I'm out of Grad school and can really afford it.  Lastly, at some point I would like to finish the Colorado 14ers (I have 17 done) and give Nolan's 14 a go.




Well that's it! I would like to thank John for taking the time from his busy schedule to answer my questions, it was super cool of him! If you would like to read or hear about his adventures in more detail, check out the links below:


Lakewood's Wanderings and Scribbles
Dirt Dawg's Podcast With John
DFL Podcast with John

It’s been a very long time since my last post, so here goes.

I did in fact not even show up for any of the Dances With Dirt races (I originally had planned on running the 50k) in July. My only regret is that I have yet to go to Devil’s Lake State Park and was really looking forward to checking out the trails there. I was in absolutely no shape to be running any kind of race at that point, however. I am considering doing a shorter race there this summer, perhaps the half-marathon, or just heading up there for a weekend sometime.

My running was pretty much a complete bust all summer. I continue to struggle off and on with a strange lack of energy (in fact I currently have not run at all for over a week after a couple of terrible outings) which seems to pop up every time I get back into decent shape. I did manage to run Blackhawk Ridge again this fall. It went much, much better than my back-of-the-pack hike at Blue Mound in June but I was still about 15 minutes slower at Blackhawk than the year before, which was somewhat disappointing. It was nice to get out in a race and run the majority of it at a pretty steady effort and have some fun. Considering my sporadic training all summer I guess it went as well as can be expected. I would recommend everybody at some point head up to Wisconsin for a trail race. It’s a very laid back, “granola” kind of crowd at the trail races up there. They urinate pretty much anywhere they want and then afterwards they give away raw honey. It’s great!

It was also my second year of coaching the high school cross country team full-time this fall. We made some real progress in the program, with individuals medaling at meets on a pretty consistent basis. We still did not have enough kids go out to run as a team at any meets, though on the girls squad we will certainly have enough next season. My son Coop also qualified for the Sectional meet for the third straight year but unfortunately did not make it to the state meet. He is planning to run XC and track for the Monmouth Scots next year, which will be really exciting! Plus, his sister Claire will be a freshman next year so I will soon be coaching her. I have been truly blessed to have coached my kids in various sports and I am looking forward to four  years of XC with Claire!

Coaching cross country has been exceptionally interesting to me. My sports background is in the classic “ball sports”. I grew up playing basketball and baseball and my prior coaching experience had also been in those two sports. I have found since I have been coaching cross country that for the most part, you are dealing with a different type of student-athlete. The kids tend to be less aggressive than I am used to. They are also exceptionally smart and well-rounded, definitely not your stereotypical “jock” types. The team GPA was 3.87 in the first quarter for crying out loud! Nothing like the coach being the dumbest person at practice, right? Also, most of them are in multiple extra-curricular activities ranging from student council to band to Students Against Drunk Driving. Overall, they are a great bunch of nice kids that it is my privilege to be able to coach and get to know.

It’s curious how coaching has supplanted my own running in importance to a certain degree. I noticed how that once practice began my own running became less important but at the same time, got better! Not only did running with the kids re-energize me as the season moved along, but I believe my worries over my own running woes were replaced with worrying about my team. When I had a bad run or had to take a few days off because of my on and off fatigue issues, it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal because, I think, I was more concerned with how my eight runners were faring than my own issues. Even outside of the actual season itself I think it has altered how much attention I pay to my own running when you factor in the amount of time and energy devoted to recruiting kids to the program, researching training, etc. In short, coaching XC has become my “baby”. Instead of my number one running related goals being a my half-marathon p.r., for example, it has become building the cross country program and achieving certain goals within that program.

Now let’s talk shoes! This summer I retired both my Anton Krupicka-designed New Balance trail shoes and my New Balance 730 road shoes.  My new trail shoes are another pair of New Balance, the Minimus Trail 1010. This shoe has a bit more cushion than my previous pair, which unfortunately cuts down a bit on trail ground feel but does relieve the pounding a bit on longer runs.  They weigh in at about 7.5 ounces with a 4 mm drop, typical stats for a Minimus shoe. My road shoe is now an Altra Zero Drop (you might have noticed their commercials on TV lately) called The One. Terrible name, good shoe. It also has a bit more cushion than my last road shoe but is a true 0 drop shoe, which you have probably figured out by the companies name. I have been running in shoes with a pretty low drop and doing grass barefoot running for long enough that the zero drop did not really affect me much.  The One does seem a bit controlling for my taste. By that I mean, it feels like it is forcing my foot to land and pivot the way IT wants me to, rather than how my foot wants to naturally, though that sensation gets less and less as they get more broken in. That said, I haven’t had any injury issues with it and it is easier on my knees than my last pair of road shoes,  a pair of NB 730’s which were basically slippers with soles. The 730, now that I have retired them from road work, is pretty much the most comfy walking and workout shoes on the face of the earth!

The coolest footwear I acquired recently is a pair of Xero Shoes running sandals. Yes, you read that correctly. Running sandals. They are inspired by sandals worn by the Tarahumara Indians featured in the best-selling book (and in my opinion, the running Bible) Born To Run. The are essentially a durable flip flop that is well secured at the heel. Obviously super-light and super-thin, they are the next best thing to running barefooted. I wore them for short trail jaunts a few times before the weather turned and loved them. They make even my stable of  light-weight shoes feel like work boots in comparison. I would definitely never wear them on any man-made surface and you have to be pretty careful with tree roots and the like when on the trails. You would not want to go around crashing your toes into anything with them on! But the ground feel is way out of this world.

This leads me into my philosophy on minimal/barefoot running. I believe that running in as little shoe (and by that I mean cushioning, weight, and especially drop) as possible is the best way to discover your true, natural running form. That said, you always have to take into account the surface you are running on. Asphalt, cement, etc. are man-made surfaces. I don’t believe that the human body was meant to run on an unnatural surface, let alone without any protection. These surfaces are hard and unrelenting and only the most talented, light-footed runner can run much on these surfaces with little or no footwear without consequences from that kind of pounding. But, I don’t feel arch support or excessive cushioning is necessary in a road shoe. The more cushioning there is, the more a runner tends to drive their foot and heel into the ground, negating most of the benefits of the footwear’s cushioning. And pronation control? Crap. Let your foot land the way it wants to.

Now, running off road is another thing entirely. Here is an experiment. Go to your local school or park where there is a large grassy area. Run for a few minutes in your regular running shoes in the grass. You will likely feel pretty awkward. The little bumps and undulations of the surface will probably make you feel like your ankles might roll and you might feel like you have no rhythm. Now take your shoes off and run a few minutes. I guarantee you will feel more sure-footed and natural than you did in your shoes. The sensation of awkwardness will mostly go away and without a stack of cushioning between the grass and your foot your ankles will feel more solid and that “rolling” sensation will pretty much be gone. If you are a heavy heel striker you will be forced to run more naturally, landing instead on your midfoot or forefoot. Just don’t get carried away, you will be using muscles in your lower legs that have been strapped into clunky shoes for most of your life. If you over-do it you will pay!

Trail running. Now, ideally, a person would go barefoot on trails like they can in a grassy park. While appealing from a ground feel perspective, this would be a bad idea. Unlike your local school or park, trails typically have a  lot of sharp rocks, roots, etc. It would be unwise to tackle this surface without some sort of protection, however minimal. Where do you think the moccasin came from? I guarantee some Native American hundreds of years ago gouged his foot one too many times and started brain-storming! You can get away with a road shoe on trails, but if you want to do it right most trail shoes have some sort of rock plate protection and, most importantly, almost always have protection across the front of the toes for those times when you don’t quite get your foot all the way over that root! I prefer to go as minimal, with a small or zero drop, with trail shoes as possible. I want to be protected but I also want to be able to feel the dirt, the rocks, and mud as much as I can. It’s a big part of the experience of trail running. Locking your foot up in a clunky shoe and muting your ground feel is akin to blaring your iPod and drowning out the sounds of nature. You might as well just run your neighborhood streets because you are cheating yourself out of the full experience.

Well, do your best to get through another Midwest winter! Talk at you soon...

Funny how fate or luck or whatever you would like to call it can intervene when you need it the most. You see, my running has taken a really serious hit the last month or so. I am in the middle of training for The Dances With Dirt 50k in July in Wisconsin. This is my first (you can use that word until you die. Do you realize that? It's never your last or only until it is physically impossible to do something a second time. And that only happens when you die!) ultra-marathon and the training had been going fairly well I thought. I hadn't missed any mileage of any significance or had to cut a run short. No injuries, not even any real aggravating aches or pains to deal with. Since I obviously wouldn't be moving too swiftly in a race of that length I had (I thought) been taking it fairly slow and easy, doing more power-hiking up hills than I would if training for a shorter trail race. I had even completed one timed four-run (around 20 miles I figured) a few weeks ago. This was cruising right along.

Then came a twenty-mile run at Lake Le-Aqua-Na. This park is deceptively hilly but on the smaller side. I figured I could do three loops around it and come in right around twenty. First problem? Forgot my handheld water bottle. I had been pretty good about carrying water with me, which I have almost never done before this year, but I had brain-farted on this occasion and left it at home. All I had was a one-liter Aquafina. Definitely not something you want to carry while running. Still, the first loop went well. I chugged some water and headed out for the second loop and it wasn't long before the wheels started coming off in a big way. Everything seemed to be irritating me. It was too windy. It was too cold. Blah, blah, blah. When I finished the second loop I was moving worse than I think I ever have during a run. If you want to call it running. I could not force my body to move beyond an average walking speed. The last 3.5 miles had taken almost an hour.

I chugged some water and tried in vain to get my act together but it was no use. I was totally frustrated and the thought of basically walking 6 or 7 miles, which would have taken a couple hours over that terrain in the state I was in, was particularly infuriating. I did not want to be out there another 10 minutes let alone two hours. I stumbled out for the third loop, went about a hundred feet, pitched a total hissy fit, and moped back to the car. My apologies to any people within earshot that were trying to enjoy a zen afternoon in the woods. If any of them were children they probably learned a new word or two! Sorry!

After sulking most of the rest of that day I got over it. I bonked the run. Big deal! Not the first time! Happens to literally every runner sometimes. But I had to admit it was a different feeling. My previous experience with bonking was more mental. I would get really wobbly and spacey, lose focus. I could still run, but I just didn't want to. After improving my diet and starting to eat food instead of gels during longer run it never really happened again. This time was different. I literally went from cruising right along, to not being able to run for more than a minute at a time, to not being able to run at all. All in the span of a few miles. The mind was willing but the legs were unable. All the same, I knew it would pass. Just a bad day, right?

Wrong. I tried to run the next Tuesday and had the joy of watching my 13-year-old daughter run on ahead while I stopped to get my breath and walk it out. I took about five walk breaks in the first 2.2 miles. And it wasn't like "Oh, I'm a bit tuckered out, think I will walk for a bit!" More like "Holy crap! I gotta stop and catch my breath! I can't run another step! What were we running? Six minute miles? What? Twelve?????" All humor aside, it was a little scary. Thursday, same thing. Took Friday completely off, no exercise whatsoever. Headed to the Palisades for a ten-miler. Made it three and probably walked half of that. Now it was officially panic time. I was two weeks away from a very hilly Blue Mound 22k trail run and two months out from an ultra. AND I CAN'T RUN!!!

After some research and some support from the Rockford Coyotes FB page, I concluded I likely have a simple case of over-training. I just need to cut it out for a few days and should be good to go. This would obviously affect my fitness for my upcoming runs, especially if this problem lingers. I read that some people have had to battle this over-training issue for weeks or months at a time.

Fast forward to Blue Mound, a tough 22k in Wisconsin. Now I was planning on taking it fairly easy since I was using it as training for the ultra, but it ended taking me almost 3 hours. I was nearly four minutes per mile slower than I was on the same course last year. I felt so terrible the first few miles I was actually considering a DNF. While it was still a lot of fun, it definitely did not do anything to give me confidence that my overtraining issues were in the past. There was no way I could have covered over twice that distance like I would have to at Devil's Lake. Running at the back of the pack was interesting, especially talking to the woman who had was running her first trail race of any kind at Blue Mound (bad idea) and doing all her training on a treadmill (legendary bad choice). The fact that she completed almost fourteen miles on that terrain almost completely untrained was a testament to her toughness but I bet she never, ever does that again! But it did make ME feel better, and that was the important thing!

I actually felt pretty good during this past week, knocking out three decent runs without too much walking but I definitely still wasn't myself. I decided yesterday it was do or die, a twenty mile training run at The Palisades. I felt strong at the start but at about five miles I started have some GI issues that I will not go into detail about and then threw up. Likely it was the medication I started taking the day before for a skin infection (yes, I awoke on Friday with a lump on my neck, probably from an infected bug bite. Just my luck) because I had never thrown up on any run before. Needless to say all the unwanted bodily functions took the wind out of my sails and I called it quits after eight miles.

So the ultra is over. I will try to switch my entry to the half-marathon and if I can't, I will just skip it. The training is just beyond my physical and mental abilities. Everybody had their limitations and it was pretty obvious I had gone past mine. The half at Dances With Dirt is no joke, with almost 2000 feet of elevation gain, so I still will have some work to do to be ready to run respectably there. I will probably run a couple other trail races of similar distances this years and call it good. The funny thing is, Once I got over the initial crushing shame of bailing on my ultra training, I actually felt quite a bit better about the rest of my summer! It suddenly seems so much more enjoyable! A couple of runs during the week, a sweet 10-mile(ish) long trail run on the weekends... makes me wonder if my heart was ever really into the ultra distance. I think I might have liked the idea of SAYING I had completed an ultra more than I actually wanted to do the distance itself. Whatever appeals to people who regularly race 50k, 50 m, or 100 m (gulp!) distances, I just don't think I have it. And if you aren't completely into it and you aren't having any fun, then what is the point? Training for months and putting my body through that kind of punishment simply to add to my meager running resume just seems plain silly. I enjoy the idea of running a half or a 25k, I don't think I ever felt similarly about the ultra now that I look back on it.

So I will run my shorter trail races. Or maybe I won't race at all and just run totally for fun the rest of the summer. I will help my wife direct The Raging Road Rally 5k, get some miles in twice a week with the kids in our Pacers youth running group, and look forward to Coop and Claire's upcoming cross country seasons. Now THAT sounds like fun!

Allow me to travel far, far off subject for this blog entry. Having an interest in crime going back a long while, I spent some time Friday and Saturday browsing the internet and watching news coverage concerning the horrible murders in Newtown, Connecticut. Before long I was jotting some things down on Word and this is what I ended up with...

The recent mass murder at a Newton, Connecticut, elementary school has again sparked heated debate concerning the increased frequency of mass shootings in recent years. That these incidents are happening more often than ever before does not seem to be much in doubt. The real question is: What can be done about them?

Mass murder is not a recent phenomenon. Genocide has been committed for religious reasons, racial hatred, and in the pursuit of land or money for hundreds of years.  Around 800,000 were eliminated in a 100 day period in Rwanda in the 1990’s. Hitler’s Nazi Germany attempted to erase Jews and other undesirables from Europe during WW2. The Cambodian Pol Pot regime managed to eliminate about 25 percent of that country's population. During two years in the 1780’s in Peru, 100,000 non-Indians were slaughtered. Do I need to mention that this country itself was once populated by Indians until European settlers arrived? The current Sudanese government has been accused of murdering 400,000 in Darfur.   It’s clear that people have always had the capacity and willingness to kill other people on a massive scale since….. well, forever.

But mass slayings like in Newtown are not quite the same for obvious reasons.  A single individual taking out his murderous rage and frustration on innocent people in one single stunning burst of violence. That seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon that is unique to America. But is it?

Mass school murders are not as “new” as many people seem to think. Charles Whitman shot and killed 13 and injured 32 from a tower on the campus of the University of Texas in 1966. As far back as 1927 Andrew Kehoe detonated two bombs at an elementary school in Bath Township, Michigan. He killed 38 children and six adults. Nor is mass murder in general uniquely a phenomenon of the United States. Wikipedia (I know, I know. It’s not gospel but is useful as a general guide) lists 87 mass murders with five or more casualties in Asia, 63 in Europe.  By contrast, North and South America combined have 81 listed. These numbers do not include school or workplace incidents, but those categories are also littered with mass murders from around the globe. It seems we actually do not have the market cornered on senseless mass slayings.  “What is going on in this country?” is actually, “What is going on in this world?” Let’s approach that question later.

With every new public mass murder, especially those that occur in schools, there is always an avalanche of discussion about what can be done. Some blame first-person shooter video games that desensitize our youth, substance abuse, violence on television, abuse, mental illness, retaliation for bullying, etc. All are valid possible contributing issues that should be discussed. But the main thrust of discussion almost always eventually centers around one thing. Stricter gun laws or the elimination of all or certain types of firearms.

Let’s go over the concept of stricter gun laws. If there are guns available, people who want them bad enough will get them regardless of the law. Case in point, Chicago’s ban against handgun ownership. Does anybody seriously think that is anything except a colossal joke? That leaves one potentially effective option: elimination of firearms completely. For the sake of argument let’s say this is feasible (I doubt it is) and we manage to rid the public of firearms. Nobody can get one anywhere, anyhow. Period. What is the result? Do the Charles Whitman’s of the world shrug their shoulders and go home to contentedly watch “Full House” reruns and bake chocolate chip cookies for the neighbors? Not likely. The underlying factors that cause these people to become so twisted and angry that they carefully plan and carry out a massive attack on innocent civilians just don’t go away because somebody takes away access to the most convenient weapon. That would only be effective if mass murderers really “suddenly snapped” and snatched up the nearest gun and started killing. That is a convenient myth. The scary truth is there is a lot of careful planning and buildup that goes into these horrific crimes. Most would simply figure out another way to take their rage out on the world.  Granted, using an ax or a claw hammer would probably be less effective than a bag full of automatic weapons. So we aren’t talking about the elimination of mass murder by getting rid of guns. We’re talking about reducing body counts.  Shouldn’t we aim higher than that? Don’t people deserve better than that?

Statistics don’t do anything to lead me to believe gun elimination is the end all answer either. According to a Slate Magazine article (data provided by Grant Duwe of the Minnesota Department of Corrections), the most effective means of mass murder is the bomb, which kills 20.82 people per incident. Fire is second at 6.82 and is followed closely by guns at 4.92. Knives or blunt objects come in at 4.52 people per incident.  According to the article, of the 25 most deadly mass murders of the twentieth century, only 52 percent involved guns. So even if every potential gun-wielding mass killer was actually successfully stopped cold by being unable to obtain a firearm, it seems that it would only likely cut the problem roughly in half, and that is on the optimistic side. I am sorry, but it’s lazy and it’s just not good enough.

So back to the question, “What is going on in this world?” Well, it is obvious we are breeding mass murderers (and serial murderers for that matter) at a rate far greater than, say, two centuries ago or even fifty years ago. The problem is not limited to any particular country or society, though I am sure there has to be some corner of the world where this sort of thing has never happened or is exceedingly rare. I am certainly not a psychologist or sociologist or anything like that. I don’t have the answers. I just believe that what happened in Newtown does not have to happen. It does not have to be a fact of life. Nobody wants to resort to turning our world into a series of metal detectors or a real life version of George Orwell’s 1984 in order to protect ourselves, but that seems to be the direction we are heading. There has to be some way to get at the root causes of this sort of horrendous violence before it happens.

Doesn’t there?

Mississippi Palisades State Park Review

If a trail runner can have a "home field", Mississippi Palisades State Park would be mine. It's a fairly short 25 minute drive from the house, which is great for my wallet since I love this park and would go there constantly no matter how long the trip! The Palisades borders the Mississippi River just north of Savanna. It's a good-sized park by Illinois standards, totaling more than 2,500 acres, with a trail system that is reportedly around 15 Miles. But if you hike or run here, you can be assured it will feel like a lot more!

Trail Map

There are actually two separate trail systems at the Palisades, north and south. Though they are both demanding and share one common trait (elevation gain) they are in other ways quite different from one another. The south system is by far the most scenic of the two, with great views of the river from the bluff edge. Be Careful on the Sunset and Sentinel Trails, they sometimes do come very close the the bluff edge with sheer drops of well over a hundred feet. The trails on this end of the park are probably about 75% singletrack and can be very rocky and slick. There are some switchback sections, bridges to span ravines, downed trees to scramble over, and stair steps (stone and wooden). If you are running these trails throw any time expectations out the window. You will not make good time, so just relax and enjoy!

I can't do it justice through words so here are some pics of the south system:

Cave alongside Sentinel Trail

Stone steps and Outcropping, Sunset Trail

Ridge towards bluff edge, Sentient Trail

View from lookout, Sentient Trail

Yeah, there is a trail there! Sunset Trail

Bluff edge, Sunset Trail

The north trail system is in all honesty, not as visually appealing as the south. It has much more widetrack trail, not many rock outcroppings, and not nearly as many accessible bluff-edge views. What is DOES have it some very taxing climbing. Unlike the south, there is nowhere to drive to where you can begin a run or hike at the top of the bluffs, you have to climb there. Switchbacks? Forget it! You are going up in a direct line to the ridge top. This is no joke, you can be completely shot in about five minutes! Even when you reach the top, the ridges have very rolling terrain with an unusuall (but annoying) obstacle: innumerable mole tunnels. You will not run flat for more than a few seconds at a time on the north system and you will likely get ample opportunity to work on your power-hiking technique. Sometimes you will be too gassed to do much more than that. 

Shelter/lookout only accessible by foot. High Point Trail

If you go to The Palisades to hike or run be prepared for quite a workout, but you will be rewarded with some fantastic scenery along the challenging trail systems. It's an incredible way to spend a day. There is camping available at the park and lots of places to eat and drink in nearby Savanna and Sebula, Iowa. I highly recommend Sebula's Bombfire Pizza or Manny's in Savanna. Carve some time out of a weekend some time and visit this fantastic park!

Wow, it's been almost two months since my last post. My legion of followers has been endlessly harassing me via Facebook and Twitter, trying in vain to convince me to make time for another fascinating running blog post. Okay, so maybe the internet didn't notice my absence one teensy bit. I like to live the fantasy, though, so don't burst my bubble with reality.

I actually have been quite busy coaching my cross country squad while trying to keep up with some sort of training. Luckily, I am not terribly rigid when it comes to following my training schedules. As long as I can get my long run in on the weekend and two or three decent efforts the rest of the week I don't stress out about it. The only stress involved was the usual coaching agonizing and obsessing that I always whenever I coach a team. Perhaps someday I will achieve a state of coaching zen that will mean 100% enjoyment and zero high blood pressure, but for now I am simply your typical classic worrier.

The season went very well, in my opinion. First off, I had great kids to work with. Hard workers with great character.  Despite the relative youth and inexperience of most of my runners, we were almost completely injury free. That is my primary goal, because you won't run a fast time if you are hurt and can't run the race. We had our first medalist ever at the Pretzel Invite in Freeport, had a 2nd and 3rd in the girls varsity race in Durand, and a medalist at the Erie Invitational. Cooper advanced to Sectionals again and one of the our girls finished just two spots out from advancing, and she is just a freshman. To say I am pretty excited about next year would be an understatement . I have two young girls to built around and there is some real talent potentially coming out of Junior High in the next couple of years, also. I think in the next couple of years I could have a girls squad that will be a force to be reckoned with.

A couple of weeks ago I ran the Blackhawk Ridge Trail Run. This is a fall run near Sauk City, Wisconsin, that is sort of a sibling to the Blue Mound Trail Run in the spring. The Blackhawk run was 16k and was not quite as hilly and rough as Blue Mound was (evidenced by the fact my pace per mile was quite a bit faster) but was pretty challenging. I did not medal, but like Blue Mound I won some honey in the random prize drawing! They really know how to keep a fella coming back! They also keep track of how many kilometers you accumulate between the two races and you can eventually become a part of the "100k club". You get a hat, I believe. Between both races this year I am up to 34k already, so maybe by this time 2014 I will have my 100k hat. Now that I think about it, it's a lot of work and discomfort for a hat, but I think I will give it a go anyhow.

My more immediate plan is to run the Rock Cut Survivor Trail Series. It is four races, one each in December, January, February, and March. The distance grows with each race from 5k to 20k in the final run. Obviously, the wild card in this series is weather. The only one I have ever run was the March 20k a couple of years ago because I was getting bored during marathon training, so I have never had a taste of the weather nightmares that a runner could run into during races staged at these times of the winter. It is clearly stated that the races will go on no matter what kind of conditions there might be that particular day. I have heard horror stories of people trudging through knee high snow and being covered by freezing rain, so I am mentally preparing for anything even if I will be physically prepared for nothing! I have to do all four to get the orange "Survivor" shirt. It ought to keep me motivated during the winter months, that's for sure.

No doubt the coolest thing I have done since my last post was crew for Gina during the Stone Bridge Marathon. It is a point-to-point marathon that begins in Beloit and ends in Roscoe, with the majority of it being run on a paved bike path. I drove along the course meeting her every few miles (it helped that I know the area fairly well because of all the driving I do for work) and making sure she had everything she needed, just having a blast. It really interesting seeing the way she and the other runners would change every time you saw them. The steady rain that fell the last 9 miles or so certainly contributed to the overall deterioration that I witnessed, though Gina seemed to handle it better than a lot of them. It was the first marathon I had ever witnessed in person before and it was an overall wonderful experience, very inspiring! Watching the marathoners close in on that finish line was alternately moving, sad, and even sometimes a little comical. It also made me want to run another one. But just a little bit. Mostly I was just super proud of my wife and a little jealous when she was ready to run again just a few days later. After my only marathon I was completely destroyed for the rest of the summer!

In other news, I got a new pair of road shoes! Yes, I know this is probably only interesting to Guy Shoe Geek, but I picked up a pair of New Balance 730's. The 730 is basically a low price alternative to NB's Minimus line of shoes, running about 50 bucks a pair, a price that is hard to beat. It's a 7.2 ounce shoe with a 3 or 4 mm drop, very similar stats to the NB MT110's I bought for trail running this past summer. The 730 are incredibly comfortable and flexible, though I have wonder about durability long-term. The upper is like a sock, you can barely feel these things on your feet! I am suprised how long it is taking to get used to them considering I have been running in the similar MT110's regularly for a while. Overall, I like them and feel they really force me to run with better form because if you don't, the blacktop will make you pay big-time.

Gotta sign off on this post now, and start working on a review of Palisades State Park. Was just there this morning taking a few pics. Later!