JFK 50-miler quick recap

Well I finished! I knew it was going to be rough considering my up and down training schedule leading up to the event. But hitting the wall as early as I did after taking it easy in the mountains really sucked. It did help that the weather was perfect and the scenery was awesome. I managed to finish the event to help the Knoxville Track Club team finish third overall. I finished third on the team (50th overall) in 7 hours, 34 minutes, while Jon Lawler finished first on the team (9th overall) in 6:24, and my brother Brad finished 21st overall in 6:49. Both were impressive times.

I may post more about the race later. I'm glad the season is over and I'm excited about taking some much needed time off to heal my body before I start all over again for the spring season. Boston '10 is looming right around the corner.

JFK 50 miler - strong field

The day has come, and by the looks of it, there is going to be a battle up front. The field consists of Scott Jurek and Hal Koerner, who are winners of the Western States 100, in addition to Oz Pearlman (2nd last year), Johan Oosthuizen (South Africa), and Kostyantyn Zhelezov (Ukraine). In addition the article mentions all of these ultrarunners as being front runners, myself included: Michael Arnstein, Josh Brimhall, Jason Bryant, Greg Crowther, Wynn Davis, David James, Matt Lavine, Chad Ricklefs, Jim Sweeney, and Ian Torrence. Eight of the top 10 runners from last year's race are among the people listed above.

Link to the JFK 50 article

I'm not in the best of shape for this race (due to some knee issues, but I have rested a lot the past week and my knee feels good enough to give it a good go. Not sure where I will end up, but my plan is to take it easy in the mountians (first 15.5 miles) and then pick it up on the flats for the last 35 miles.

Wish my brother and I luck, and I will have a race report early next week!

Halloween Weekend fun, race

It all started Friday night as I cross-dressed as a hybrid rabbit/playboy bunny and ended with a mediocre 15k this morning. I give it a 6 out of 10 for the weekend. And no I did not combine the two during the race, though I probably could have and felt better about my time. I ran the 15k in 54:10 and never really felt good the entire race. I know it is from all the miles I have put in the past two weeks, so I'm not too worried about it. I've got three weeks until the 50-miler, so I've got to really put in the miles this week (90-to-100 miles) and then start to taper the last two weeks. For your viewing pleasure, here is a photo of Lally and I, or the rabbit and the carrot.

Des Moines Marathon recap

I will get right to the point. I finished 11th and ran it in 2:38:08. I feel good with the time considering the accelerated training plan I was forced to do afer being sick and forced to the sidelines four weeks prior. I started out feeling good (of course) and ran the first half in 1:17:20, which was a little faster than I wanted to run, considering my shape. I was able to keep the same pace until about mile 19, and then started to slow a bit once I hit some windy sections. I ran the second half in 1:20:48, so I slowed down some, but not that bad. I ran by myself the entire race, except for the three people I passed in the last two miles. I wish there were more people that run in no-mans-mid-2:30's-land. After finishing I went to the beer tent and rehydrated.

On another note, my brother also ran, placed 23rd overall, and ran a new PR in 2:46:30. He would have been even faster, but he got a hamstring cramp at mile 25, and had to stop at a medical tent for three minutes to get it worked out enough to jog to the finish. He was running really well and was only 2 minutes, 20 seconds behind me at mile 20. A very impressive run and finish. It shows that his training is paying off.

I won't be able to rest this week as I have to continue to get into shape for the upcoming JFK 50-miler. The fun is just beginning!

Iowa bound!

Leaving today for the land of corn fields to visit my grandma and family and run in the Des Moines Marathon on Sunday. I've put in an excellerated schedule of miles the past three weeks in preparation, since I was sick and couldn't run much. I feel like I am about four weeks out from being in PR shape, but I do feel like I will be able to run 6-minute pace. This race will be a crucial building block in preparation for the JFK 50 miler.

Track me in the marathon at this link: Track Bob Adams

Can't wait to see the family farm. It has been way too long. Hope everyone has a good weekend of training, racing or recovering. I will have a full recap when I get back early next week.

Watch Out for That Tree!

Let's just say that last week was a rough one. The first sign of trouble was when I noticed I was sick last Sunday. My body was weak, sore, and I couldn't breathe all week (I think it was the H1N1 piggy virus). My training suffered significantly as I could only muster a few miles a day to make myself feel like I was doing something. It didn't help that it rained everyday last week. This is all leading up to the Big South Fork 17.5 mile trail race that I had signed up for prior to getting sick. So Lally and I drive up there in the pouring rain to do this thing. The race is postponed 45 minutes until the lightning stopped and the rain wasn't a downpour. Even though I was sick and felt rough, I was all smiles when I thought of splashing down a trail for a couple hours, as you can see by the picture to the right. So we are off. I am hacking and coughing almost immediately. I gradually get slower during the first 5 miles but hold on the second place. Those would be the only miles I make that day before I'm stopped dead in my tracks by none other than a fallen tree. So I'm going full speed down the trail picking out my foot placements far in advance along the river of a trail and I notice a fallen tree that is laying over the trail about 5 feet off the ground. So I determine that I wouldn't have to slow down and I would be able to duck under it with no issues. Wrong! I was wearing a hat, so when I went to duck under the tree, I looked down and couldn't see that I misjudged the duck distance, and my 6'1" frame headbutted the tree, an the tree won. I saw stars as I went from running full speed, to laying on the ground. I take off my hat to notice a lot of blood and confirm it with putting my hand to my head and saw that it was covered with it as well. I, for once, decided not to be stubborn and keep running, and instead, walked back to the last aid station, which I had just passed. I knew I needed stitches and didn't want to add to my sickness either. So I took my first DNF ever and had someone drive me out. As for the stitches, I knew through multiple experiences of going to the emergency room for various head and face injuries (other stories for other days) that I could wait up to 15 hours or so before I had to be stitched up. So I waited around for Lally to finish, she did great btw running the course in 3 hours, 15 minutes. She is a doctor, so she checked me out after te race and determined I needed two stitchesm and called some friends and combined supplies to do the deed. So a few hours and beers later, we are back in Knoxville and head to her friends place, Kristine, who stitches me up, while Lally takes pictures.

Pictured below is Kristine stitching me up before I go watch some college football at "The Hill".

Good news: I ran 12.5 miles on Sunday and felt pretty good. It looks like the sickness is on the run, and I can get back to my regular training routine again to get in shape for the upcoming marathon in three weeks and 50-miler in November.

Race Awards ... a Time for Change

So there I was last night at the monthly Knoxville Track Club (KTC) long distance committee meeting, and one of the discussions I brought up was thinking of giving out different types of winner and age group awards that runners would enjoy and actually use during next year's race schedule. And here's what I mean by it. Growing up through the decades of running I have seen a steady flow of the same types of awards being presented. It started with ribbons and trophies in the mid-80s and early 90s. Then there was the addition of plaques and medals that cycled in throughtout the 90s and into the early 2000s. I've got boxes of plaques colleting dust in my storage space. Then it changed to coffee mugs and glasses throughout the past eight years. At least those are useful, but everyone's cabinets are starting to overflow with them.

So I thought of a few races around town that gave out different types of awards, and how I and other runners really appreciated and use them, and I recommended it was time to change the majority of the awards. For example, at the Carter Mill 10k, the awards presented were towels with the race name on them (Picture to the right shows the towel awards) . This was cool and useful because the race begins and ends at a pool where everyone hangs out afterwards. Then there were tomato plants given out as awards at the Greenways 5k, which is a race that promotes taking care of the environment. My brother planted all ones we won and he enjoys eating the homegrown tomatos (as do I when I go over there). These are but a few awards that I can actually say I've used.

I feel like there needs to be more awards that help promote the KTC, like headbands or gloves with the KTC race name on it, or race bags filled with body glide, GU, race patch and other useful items runners use (other than the glasses and mugs).

There is plenty of time before next year's race lineup, but it's never too early for suggestions. So if anybody's got any good ideas, I'd love to hear them! I'm out like a fat kid in dodgeball!

Relay season is over ... time to get back to the consistent, heavy mileage workload

Now that I've gotten the relay bug out of my system, it is time to grind out the heavy load of weekly miles again. I already got in a succesful light track workout yesterday (9 total miles) and an 8-mile run tonight. Tomorrow, I'm meeting a few friends for 14 miles along the bike trail into downtown K-Town.
(Picture to the right shows the sunsphere in downtown Knoxville, TN)

It didn't take long to start back up after the ultra relay (which I'm still barely feeling), and it won't be long before I race again, as the Big South Fork 17.5 mile trail race is creeping up in 10 days followed by the Des Moines Marathon in 32 days. This is all geared towards peaking on Nov. 21 for the JFK 50-miler in Washington, D.C. It is all in a season's work. I hope everyone's training is going well, and I look forward to reading about everyone's accomplishments this fall. Catch you on the flip side.

Blue Ridge Relay … Ultra Experience Exclusive: Team "Shaving Time"

Wow … the entire Blue Ridge Relay experience took “crazy, pain, and delirium” to another level. Our team, "Shaving Time" finished the 211-mile Blue Ridge Relay course in approximately 23 hours, 15 minutes. This involved nonstop running (alternating runners), constant food consumption and sleep deprevation. When it was all said and done, I have to say, “I loved it and crave more.”

It all began with six runners in racing order: Chris, Ethan, Brian, Bob, Nick, and Adam. In addition to us, we had an ace driver, the “top gun” of them all, C.A. So there we were, all converged with mustaches intact in southern Virginia to begin our journey. Logistically, we had a 15-passenger van, which made life so much easier than the minivan we had at the Hood 2 Coast relay: more room to stretch out, store bags, food, etc. Speaking of food, we went shopping the night before the race to get the usual goodies: Red Bull and Monster energy drinks (more on Monster later), six bags of beef jerky, PB&J, bananas, bagels, apple sauce, and many gallons of water. We also had to pack a mustache (picture above: My handle bar, fu-manchu mustache). We also ensured we properly documented the event and kept our fans updated as we set up a Facebook group page and Twitter account. Our FB page garnered 100 fans and we had many twitter followers. This motivated us along the way knowing we had a bunch of people watching us.

Race day: At the starting line (Grayson Highlands State Park in the southwest corner of Virginia) we prepared the van for the journey: attaching the mustache on the front bumper (Picture above: The van's sweet bumper mustache), mullet cape blowing in the breeze on the back, window art, and pictures of famous people with “sweet staches,” like Hulk Hogan, Borat, Ned Flanders, Ron Burgundy, Burt Reynolds, and Pre.

We began at 12 p.m. We all started out racing strong, but knew we needed to also save energy early so we could shave time later. We kept a spreadsheet with all our split times for each leg that I have included below. As you can see (if you click on the image to enlarge) I averaged a 6:07 pace over all 37 miles I ran (six legs at different distance and difficulty levels).

Along the way, our driver ensured, “Highway to the Danger Zone” or song of choice was blasting every time she passed one of us. This was very motivating, especially when we had not seen anybody during the run because there were only 100 teams running the event. We were "killing teams," the term used when you pass a team that started before you, sporatically early on since they started teams every 30 minutes, as we were one of the last starting waves. We kept a positive attitude the entire race (picture to the right: I'm running along the course on my 8.4-mile second leg (10th leg overal),, even though there is one blunder that we ran into that was discouraging to say the least. We are on the 11th leg of the race, and Nick is running. It is the first leg of the race that goes on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and for some reason, they are not allowing team vans to drive on it. This meant that the runner was on his own to ensure he goes the right way. Anyways, there is a tricky section, where you leave the Parkway for one mile to reach an exchange zone and then the next runner runs to the exact same intersection and continues on the Parkway. Well Nick missed the turn because he saw a bunch of runners continuing on the Parkway, which we never knew happened. We noticed he was late to the exchange and sent the van to search for him, while some of us stayed behind. Well they never found him and when they returned, it was already an hour over when he was supposed to be there. We needed to find him quickly because it was getting dark outside, so we decided to drive on ahead and check to see if he did run ahead and low and behold, he was there and had been waiting for us for 30 minutes. We picked up where we left off and determined we lost about 30 minutes based on some of the slower teams who were back in front of us again that we had passed awhile back.

Some of the most impressive runs to note were Ethan’s, 1 hour and 2 minute run up Grandfather mountain, which was a 6:20 pace, followed by Brian’s sub 5-minute pace the leg down the other side. When we were halfway through our fifth legs, the sun was starting to rise and we found out we were only 31 minutes behind the other fast ultra team (really 1 minute behind because they began 30-minutes in front of us). That gave us an extra jolt of energy and we began our last legs of the journey. Unfortunately, some of our team had run out of juice and couldn’t make up any more time. I was juiced up on Monster before my last leg (which I did before my last three legs actually) and was ready to rock my last one. I ended up running the 4.4 mile section in 25:52 (5:56 pace), which was my fastest run of the day. (picture to the right: I'm walking back to the van after my final run) It was weird because before I ran that last leg, my legs felt amazing. There was no soreness, fatigue, (which I felt after all my other runs) and my knee felt great. I think my body finally gave in to the fact that I was not going to listen to it and run every 2 ½ hours no matter what. I made up 3 minutes on the other team on that leg, and Nick made up another five minutes on his next leg, but the damage had already been done, and we came up short by 12 minutes. Everyone was positive after the race and we know that we would have had it if it were not for our 30-minute setback. But that is part of the relay and you have to live with it. I have to give props to the other ultra team because they ended up with three runners having to drop out near the end and the other three had to run 7th and maybe 8th running legs to finish.

This event gave each ultra runner a new perspective of who he is. I heard some runners on the winning ultra team say that they would never do this again. On the other hand, many of my team members enjoyed pushing their bodies to the limit and want to do it again next year. I am not sure who all will be on the team next year, but I will definitely go back and do it again. There is a new ultra record to be beat.

From left to right: Chris, Brian, Adam, Ethan, Nick, Bob, and C.A. at the finish line of the Blue Ridge Relay in Asheville, N.C.

Side Note: The race director wrote us today and said he was going to have to penalize us an extra hour on top of our finish time (which included our extra 30 minutes already) for not having our runner run back and run the mile he didn't run. So we do not really care what time it shows for us on the Web site. We know what we did and we are proud of the way we battled throughout the race.

Blue Ridge Relay (ultra) and facial hair

Yes, the Blue Ridge Relay starts tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in southern Virginia. I and my team of 6 total runners will be tackling a 207-mile course along the Blue Ridge Parkway down to Asheville, N.C. This one is actually going to hurt worse than my last relay at the Hood 2 Coast relay, which hurt enough. Here are a few of the reasons why it will hurt more than Hood 2 Coast (and yes, it hurts so good):
1. I’m running 36 miles total miles (20 miles farther), and running 6 different times (instead of 3 legs)
2. The downtime is only 2-3 hours, which will not matter that much, but will suck because I my legs will tighten during that time.
3. The weather in Southeast sucks (hot and humid) compared to the cooler west coast.
4. The course in North Carolina is hillier than Oregon

I do not want to go into too much detail, because I will have a whole write up about it after this weekend. Just know the logistics and van experience will be the same (food everywhere, sweaty runners, no sleep.

Now on to the other part of my title. So yeah, our team name is called “Shaving Time.” I was invited onto this team this year not knowing I would be encouraged to grow a mustache. I was told I did not have to, but I did not want to be the only guy that didn’t and look stupid. Now growing a mustache is something I can do, but have never tried to do. I have been recently told that I look a lot better when there is nothing more than scruff on my face. Now that I have been growing a beard for about two weeks, I am primed and ready to shave this thing down to its stache status and lose the rest of this hair.

According to Wikipedia, “in the course of history, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom and knowledge, sexual virility, masculinity, or high social status; and, conversely, filthiness, crudeness, or an eccentric disposition, such as in the case of a bum, hobo or vagrant. In many cultures beards are associated with nature and outdoorsmen.”

Not sure about most of that claim, because in present day most of my friends and classmates probably thought I was being lazy and some stated I looked like a mountain man. But you know what, I liked the facial hair while I had it, and I will rock the stache during the relay this weekend.

Side Note: Luckily, we plan to finish the race around 11 a.m. so we can drive back and still catch some tailgate action before the Tennessee/UCLA game, which starts at 4 p.m. I have my priority before I catch up on sleep. Go Vols!

College football is back, and it wants you...

That's right my friends, foes, and randoms, your recent daydreams of beer flowing, brat basting, and pigskin tossing under the sun will finally come to fruition this weekend. No matter what team you are supporting, at this point of the year everyone is all smiles during this tailgate party. Just make sure you are prepared to do it right, even if your game is scheduled to play at 12:20 p.m. That just means the alarm has to be set, and you put on your game face while there is still dew on the ground. You will get over it, trust me. Remember, it is going to get loud, and you must be prepared to get louder.

My experience will once again commence in the usual tailgating hotspot on the University of Tennessee campus, where a massive group of loyals have been congregating for more than a decade. You never know who is going to come out of the wood works, but what I do know for sure, I will be in orange clad, and ready to see the defense definitely dominate, and the offense, well, hopefully dominate Western Kentucky. Either way, IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!

Rocky Top, you'll always be, home sweet home to me, good ole Rocky Top, (woooo) Rocky Top Tennesee, Rocky Top Tennessee!

Just remember, if you have a long run this weekend, like I do on Sunday, drinks lots of water before you go to bed.

Hood 2 Coast relay ... KTC unplugged

"The Mother of All Relays" sure taught us a thing or two about our team and ourselves Aug. 28-29. What began last September with the initial invitation, finally came to fruition as our Knoxville Track Club team finished third overall against a talented field of running teams, including several compiled by Nike and Brooks. But before I get into the results and recap of the race, I feel it is necessary to rewind and start with Thursday, Aug. 27, the day everyone was supposed to arrive in Oregon. It is necessary to note how important logistics played both during and prior to this relay to ensure we were prepared to race. It involves a lot more than just navigating two minivans all over the state, mostly during the night. Our first logistics issue was getting all 12 runners to the state. This was tested early by rough weather in the Southeast that prevented me from arriving that night. So there I am in the Knoxville airport awaiting my flight and out of nowhere, a monsoon-like storm tears across the Southeast and right into the backyards of both Knoxville’s airport and even worse Atlanta's, where I was to catch my connecting flight. Well that didn't happen and by the time I got to Atlanta, my two and a half hour layover had long been gone and I was praying to the running Gods that I could find another flight early that morning. Luckily, I did, and to top it off, Delta provided me with a hotel and two meal vouchers. So when I finally arrived, my team was relieved and we continued to follow our schedule like nothing had happened.


Team picture at the starting line on Mount Hood Aug. 28


KTC team picture on Mount Hood

Pregaming
Before heading to Mount Hood, we made a stop at the grocery store to buy food and fluids for our venture. So two full carts later, we spent close to $450 to feed and fuel 12 hungry runners and 2 drivers. Then it was on to the mountain. As we drove from Portland to Mount Hood, we passed by teams of runners already out on the course, and we wondered if we would catch up to them at some point later on in the race. Even in August, Mount Hood still has ice caps on it. That means as we got close to the top, the temperatures continually dropped. It actually felt amazing and reminded me of December weather in Knoxville, as everyone was walking around in long sleeves and jackets. We got to the starting point about four hours early, so we did a lot of lounging, picture taking, eating, and watching teams start their journey. It is amazing to think that teams started running at 3:30 a.m. that morning and we were in the last start wave that began at 6:45 p.m. It was also interesting to read the team names and see the obscurely decorated team vans. Some of the team names I liked were “Puke and Rally” and “The Slug Hunters.”


Handoff between myself and Stuart

Race recap
Our running order starting with van #1 was Elijah Shekinah, Bill Kabasenche, Andrew Press, Bob Adams, Stuart Moran, Daniel Hughes, and van #2 was Mike Mentz, Bobby Holcombe, Stewart Ellington, Chad Newton, Andy Baksa, and Joseph Goetz. The first three legs of the course lost A LOT of elevation and the runners came screaming down the mountain. The adrenaline was extremely high as we stayed pretty close to the Brooks and Nike teams for the first few legs. Then unfortunately, Press pulled a hamstring in the third leg and we fell off pace. I ran a strong fourth leg, but the Nike and Brooks teams weren't giving up any ground. By the time Stuart Moran and Daniel Hughes ran, who by the way, were the two workhorses for our van, we were still roughly five minutes behind the two leading teams.

After we handed off to our teammates in the other van, we drove ahead about 50 miles to where the other van would hand back off to us. That is where we made our one logistical mistake of the race. A simple human error of inputing the wrong relay exchange address in our Garmin put us one relay exchange point ahead of where we needed to be. We did not realize we were at the wrong relay point because it was not marked, and it was not until I was on the phone with Bobby describing different exchange points that we figured it out. We jumped in the van and tried to get back in time before Joseph finished his leg of the race. Unfortunately, there were detours and construction blocks that prevented us from getting back in time before Joe finished, and we lost at least 6 minutes. Now at this point, everyone on the team could have just given up and run slower, but that was not the case with this team. Everybody continued to perform to his ability, and I feel like it brought the team closer. In addition, we had a large contingent of KTC fans keeping track of us throughout the race and we could not let them down either.

Twitter updates page (there are some funny ones from the race and after party if you scroll down and click more)

So we continued to run throughout the night and into the morning hours as we completed our second and third legs, battling fatigue, both mentally and physically. It was tough to run the second leg at the same intensity as the first leg and even harder to prepare for the third leg, because of muscle tightness and fatigue from sitting in a van for most of the 5 hours of downtime in between legs. It took a lot of mental toughness to convince your tired body that it must go out there and run one more time, when all it is telling you to do is sleep.

It was fun to see how other team vans kept track of kills on the side of their vans. Every mark showed how many teams they passed during the race. Of course, we did not have enough room to keep track of all our kills, since we had the third most of the entire relay race. After handing off to team van #2 for the last time, we drove ahead to the finish line and awaited the arrival of Joseph, who was running the final leg of the course. The course, which started on Mount Hood, had made its way 197-miles across the state and ended on the beach at Seaside. As the clock approached 12:30 p.m., we knew it was going to be close to break 18 hours. About five minutes prior to 12:45 p.m., I positioned myself about 600 meters away from the finish to inform Joseph of the time and distance left in case he could still break it. With 3 minutes left, he came into view but was hurting from cramps. I told him how far away he was and sprinted alongside him encouraging him and letting him know how much time he had left. He ended up crossing the finish line unofficially in 17:58:42 to seal our sub-18-hour time and secure our third overall team finish (second overall in the men’s open division). After the race, we all proceeded to get some well-deserved rest and then celebrated into the night. Our performance earned us an invitation to come back next year, which I would be privileged to be a part of again.

Individual pacing chart (Click image to enlarge)

Hood 2 Coast unofficial results

First of all, I'm exhausted. There's not much that teases the human body more than staying up all night and wanting to crash, but instead, running as fast as you can every five to six hours.

I will update this blog with more of the stories from the race later (when I wake up mentally), but I wanted to at least give you guys the unfficial results of the event. As you can see, we placed third overall behind the Brroks and Nike teams. They were amazing. Our team averaged roughly a 5:25 per mile pace throughout the entire 197-mile course, which says a lot about the even faster times the other teams had. We lost some time (approximately 6 minutes) due to a human relay exchange point error and a leg injury suffered by one of our runners, but those types of mistakes were not uncommon in this type of long sleep-deprived, adrenaline-rushed event, especially for a team participating in it for the first time.

We bonded as a team and everybody gave it their all. It is an experince I would recommend everybody does at some point in their lives. I can't wait to do it again. Below are the race results of the top 20 teams overall.

Never Stop Exploring ...

I would like to respond to a recent post by my friend Jose on his "JTV Running Group" blog. He mentions how I'm a runner who inspires others (and I appreciate that), but I would like to point out how much I've seen him improve in his running accomplishments as well as be a motivator to others. I met Jose at the former Thursday night workouts at Fleet Feet in Knoxville. He was constantly soaking up as much information as possible and strategizing and experimenting with different training schedules and running advice. He has since completed multiple marathons, and even was a pacer during the 2009 Knoxville Marathon. That is something that I have not done yet, and to hear his story of motivation along the course as all the runners around him were trying to achieve their pace goals is amazing. Since my brother and I left JTV, Jose has kept the flame alive and continues to motivate runners on the team. He is also becoming very active in the KTC as a volunteer, and I would like to add that he is one of the most humble people I know.

Thanks for your kind words, and yes, we will represent Knoxville proudly this weekend!

P.S. If you are not following the Twitter or Facebook updates from this weekends race, then the next time you will see a blog post will be early next week with a recap of the race.

Ice cream lovers out there ...

Now I know this isn't running related, but I just finished "carbo-loading" for my race this weekend after my training run, and now I'm going to eat some ice cream by God. Now growing up, I was a mint chocolate chip fan, and at one point I loved an avocado ice cream flavor, but it is hard to find. So now it seems like time and time again, I've been gravitating towards my new favorite flavor coffee and I'm hooked.

According to the International Ice Cream Association, the 15 most popular ice cream flavors are (by percent preferring) ...
1. Vanilla, 29%
2. Chocolate, 8.9%
3. Butter pecan, 5.3%
4. Strawberry, 5.3%
5. Neapolitan, 4.2%
6. Chocolate chip, 3.9%
7. French vanilla, 3.8%
8. Cookies and cream, 3.6%
9. Vanilla fudge ripple, 2.6%
10. Praline pecan, 1.7%
11. Cherry, 1.6%
12. Chocolate almond, 1.6%
13. Coffee, 1.6%
14. Rocky road, 1.5%
15. Chocolate marshmallow, 1.3%
All others, 23.7%

What's your favoite ice cream flavor? ... and yes, feel free to indulge on my behalf. You can just run it off tomorrow :)

Blast from the past: classic Bob story

I was reminded of the following story when I ran the running leg of a triathlon relay several weeks ago (same swimmer got me to run this on as well). So I'm turning back the clock to tell the story (how I saw it go down) about a running-drinking-running feat that motivates me when I do things like beer miles or long runs on Sunday after a college football Saturday. Well this particuliar event happened in April 2001, and included running a marathon, partying all night, sleeping (I think), and then running again in the Trideltathon relay the next day.

So there I was ... back in the spring of my senior year at the University of Tennessee (Go Vols). Several days before I ran the Country Music Marathon in Nash-Vegas, a couple of my fraternity brothers came up to me and wanted me to be the runner of the fraternity Trideltathon triathlon team ... for we were the defending champs from the year before (in which I ran as well). At first, I told them to find someone else because I was running in a marathon the day prior and would be drinking heavily in celebration into the weee hours of the next morning. Well that didn't phase them, and they said they would rather have a drunk, injured Bob over anyone else. Well I finally particially gave in and said, "Well if you can wake me up and get me to move, I'll do it," not realizing what I was getting myself into. So I ran my marathon in 3 hours flat, a respectable time to say the least and then preceded to drink that night until about 4 a.m., completely forgetting that I'd told these guys that I'd run in the race. So I'd say appoximately two hours rolled by and like clockwork these guys came to wake me up. I think they tried for 15 minutes before I finally put two and two together on what they were blabbering about. So they said that they had to run ahead to pick up our packet and told me to meet them up there. So I staggered up the street, needing to make it about 600 meters to make it to the starting line. Needless to say I was still hammered, tired, and hungover. I also looked like crap; wearing basketball shorts and no shirt. This was in addition to being 'sore as all hell' from running a marathon the day prior and dancing all night. Well as I was stumbling past the UT track, I veered off to make a pit stop behind the official's box and puke and rally. Now I probably should have turned around and headed back at that moment, but I kept moving forward like a zombie from "28 Days Later." So I get to the starting line and wait for them to tag me to go. It took me a few steps to remember how to run again, but I actually ran pretty fast, running the third fastest three mile of the day in a decent 18:00. After I finished I proceeded back down to my bed to finish my sleep and to forget about the nightmare that had just occured.

Knoxville Track Club team bios

Below are the bios for our KTC Hood 2 Coast team ... enjoy!

Hood 2 Coast Twitter, Facebook updates

Hood 2 Coast relay Knoxville Track Club team Twitter page

Our team will be tweeting race updates as we make our way along the 198-mile Hood 2 Coast relay race. Our starting wave is 6:45 pm PT (9:45 pm ET) on Friday, Aug. 28, and we will be running throughout the night and will finish early Saturday afternoon. We are seeded the #3 team out of 1000 teams based on our predicted finish time. That gives us a very good shot at winning the event. We feel our team has the talent to accomplish this tough feat and let the nation know that Knoxville is one of the top running community’s in the nation.

We also have a team facebook group page: Knoxville Hood to Coast Relay Team. We will be using this page to post pictures from the event.

Race Information
Each person on the 12-man team will run three times during the two-day race (Aug. 28-29), which starts on Mount Hood and finishes in Seaside, Oregon. The team will have two vans serving as a moving headquarters, transporting team members when they aren’t running and supplying us with food, water and motivation.

The team consists of speed—three former University of Tennessee track stars, and endurance—marathon and ultra marathon champions. The team is very serious about this event and expects nothing but excellence. The team is well into training, and will represent Knoxville and the surrounding community with pride.

South African 800m world champion ... more than a woman?

I'm going to get right to the point. Does it really take two weeks to find out the test results of five different doctors (one being a pyschologist) that will determine whether Caster Semenya, a South African athlete who won the women's 800m world championship by 2.5 seconds, is more woman or man? I mean, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt, even though the woman looks like a man, talks like a man, and runs like a man, because, according to this article, her dad, grandmother, cousins, and friends say she is a woman. I mean who has family and friends lie, and in this case continue to lie, when the person is to be tested. According to the article, the IAAF is saying it is testing her for sexual ambiguity. The most common cause of sexual ambiguity is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands produce abnormally high levels of hormones, which would explain why she looks and talks like a man. From what I understand, if there is a certain amount of hormones that are released in a woman's body due to this disorder, then she cannot compete due to an unfair advantage. Well, I for one am interested in seeing the results.

Cumberland Trail 50k - KTC's first ultra!

I want to be the first the promote the Knoxville Track Club's first ultramarathon.

History will be made October 10 as the KTC will hold its first ultramarathon, the Cumberland Trail 50k at Cove Lake State Park. The race benefits the Cumberland Trail Conference and will be limited to 100 runners (those who have completed another ultra in under 8 hours). This seems strict, but the Race Director, local ultra runner, Susan Donnelly, warns that this course is extremely tough and to expect times twice as slow a your PR. That would mean this course would take me more than 6 hours to complete ... ouch.

Course Description
The race takes you on a challenging, out-and-back route on the rugged New River section of the Cumberland Trail. This section crosses the high point of the trail, Cross Mountain, at over 3000ʼ. The climb up Cross Mountain is steep and will be slow. The course is 80% single-track trail and 20% gravel road. The race course starts through Cove Lake State Park, then uses approximately 9.3 miles of the Cumberland Trail before diverging off the trail and onto ATV and gravel road the rest of the way to the halfway point. It returns to the finish using the same route.

A more detailed course description can be found on the RACE APPLICATION.

Even though I'm excited for this event, I still haven't fully decided if I'm going to run it or not. It depends on when the UT/Georgia game is that day (the later the better) AND whether I decide to get in a fast road marathon instead to prepare for the JFK 50-miler in November.

What happens September 9th at 12 p.m.?

So there I was late last night web surfing. I may have been slightly delirious because I ended up on run100s.com and decided to check out a few of the regional races. So I was glancing through the list and saw that one of the 100 mile races was nearby and the next race is March 2010. I clicked on the race Web site and further noticed that online race registration opened on active.com on September 9th at noon and that last year it closed in 19 minutes (max 280 runners). That actually got me slightly excited and making hasty decisions. It didn't take but a few seconds for me to decide I wanted to try and register for this race (and run it of course), epecially since there was a race to register for it. So this morning I did my pre registration training and updated my active.com profile, so that when the day comes, I will be able to fly through the registration process. So I don't want to jinx it, so I'm going not going to say that I am racing in a certain 100 miler or any 100 miler next year for that matter. Nor am I going to say I'm going to be mad if I don't register in time. I just want to give this thing a shot. I mean, by God, I sure hope I can register in 19 minutes. I just need to have my game face on when the clock strikes noon three weeks from tomorrow and not be distracted by lunch after grad school classes. As for how I will feel if I do get in, I'm not sure if I will be excited or sick knowing I am going to run that far. But until then, I've got other running business that needs my attention. I know you must be asking yourself what race this is, so if you must know, I'm sure with a little Sherlock Holmes action you can figure it out.

Today is my last day of freedom before my last semester of the MBA program begins. To the pool.

10 days before the "big" H2C relay

It's now crunch time as its only 10 days until the Hood 2 Coast relay. I hope I have gotten in good enough shape to help my team out. I know the other 11 guys are also getting into great shape. I've gotten in a few recent quality workouts (including an 8 X 1 mile track workout on Saturday at a 5:32 per mile avg. pace) and consistent mid-to-high mileage weeks. Going back from last week, my last six weeks mileage totals are 69, 82, 72, 63, 69 and 60. It's time to taper down a little more this week and run around 60 miles to give my legs a little break. Other than the knee pain that I've felt since the early summer and can run through, I feel good healthwise.

It has been a long time coming since we initially signed up for this event last September. Hopefully all this training in the hot, humid Southeast will help us run faster in the Northwest. Hope everyone has a good week of training.

Tunes for the Long Run

This is the first of a series of blogs that promote several artists and one of their songs that help me get through my long run. In this week's edition of "Tunes for the Long Run," I will be promoting two indie rock bands, "Spoon" and "Matt Pond PA."

Spoon hails from Austin, Texas. I first heard of them when I was in the Army stationed near Austin. The song I'm listening to to the most at the moment is "Don't You Evah."

Matt Pond PA, a their band names points out, is from Philadelphia, Penn. The song I want to pimp is one titled, "Sunlight."

If you liked the two songs I featured, be sure to check out their other songs as well. Both have plenty of good tunes. I wish I could stay around longer, but I'm heading out for a late sushi dinner and a going away party. Have a great weekend!

Bob's running advice: Weekly runs

Figuring out what to run each week can be difficult at times, so here is an example of a weekly workout schedule that I've followed and set up for other runners that works well. There are three runs during the week that I feel are too important to pass up: track workout, medium-distance tempo run, and long run.

First, look at your upcoming weekly work schedule, unless it is the same every week, and determine when you are going to get in these runs (preferrably not on consecutive days). Every other day can be used to get in recovery miles (at a pace that it is easy to talk) or can be used as a cross training day or rest day. I have worked my way up to only taking a rest day every few weeks, though each person is different and needs more/less time to recover. If I have a race on the weekend, if it is a 15k or less I usually do it in place of the tempo run for that week. If it is anything more than a 15k, then I usually replace my long run for that week. I also sometimes replace the track workout with a tough hill repeat workout to build up strength.

There isn't a definite art to it, but after awhile, you will figure what weekly routine works best for you. By keeping a training log, you can look back and determine what workout routines you liked and tailor it from there. If you have any questions let me know. I didn't go into that much detail so as to not overload anyone with info.

Bob's running advice: training log

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to provide some advice on how to go about training for a long race, whether its a hal marathon, marathon, or ultra race. Remember that everybody is different, so I will try to tailor these posts with that in mind. I will also try to use real-life examples/experiences to help explain posts in more detail. Feel free to pass these posts on to your fellow running friends. I enjoy passing on knowledge to grow the sport.

Training Log
In my book, this is by far one of the most important things to have when training. By keeping track of your miles/hours per day, you can both track what you've done in the past and forecast future workouts. Training logs can be very detailed, down to what the temperature was and a paragraph about how you felt, or you can do what I do, and just keep an Excel spreadsheet that goes back three years that just keeps track of my daily and weekly miles (I've provided a snapshot of my log and how to set it up).



(Click image to enlarge)

I've found my log to be very useful because I can look back at how I trained for past races or see what miles I've run the past few weeks to determine how many miles I want to try and reach the next week. I also recommend putting future races on the Excel spreadsheet, so you can place weekly mileage total amount (goals) you would like to reach before race day. I've never believed in following a generic online training schedule, and I always tell people who I make marathon training schedules for to never follow it to a "T" and to listen to their bodies. Once again, when I train for a future event, I never already have my daily training runs planned out (just the next several week's mileage goals)and I'm usually determining how far or hard I'm going to run "that day" based on how my body feels, which is another topic for another day.

If you would like to know more about this topic, send me a comment or email and I can go into more detail about it from my perspective. The next post will break down the different types of training runs you should be trying to incorporate into your weekly workouts.

First 'three workout' day in the books

I just finished a three workout day (18 total miles) to simulate what my legs will go through during the upcoming relays. Of course I wasn't going at full out race pace during each run, but I feel better about the race format now that I've done it. I ran 7 miles at 7:30 a.m., 6 miles at 3:30 p.m. and 5 miles at 9 p.m. During the 5 mile run, I averaged a 6:20 pace and felt great. I plan on doing several more of these three workout days in the upcoming weeks to ensure my legs can handle short amounts of rest.

Blue Ridge Relay (Ultra Team)

So I don't know what the deal is this fall, but I'm now running on two relay teams in two weeks after my recent invite and decision to be on an ultra team in the Blue Ridge 208-mile Relay Sept. 11-12. The first is the Hood To Coast 197-mile Relay in Oregon Aug.28-29, and though these seem to be similar relays, there are several differences that need to be addressed.

Hood To Coast details
The H2C team is made up of 12 runners who run three legs a piece and average aproximately 16.5 miles each. My leg consists of 14.9 total miles (leg 4 - 7.18 miles, leg 16 - 3.52, and Leg 28 - 4.20). The first leg will be my toughest and is the fifth longest distance of the 36 legs of the race. Or goal for this relay is to win the overall crown. Wish us luck!

Blue Ridge Relay details
I will be running on the team "Shaving More Time," which won the ultra team division last year, holds the ultra team course record, and was the fourth overall team out of the 80+ 12-runner and ultra teams. They ran the course at a 7:10 average pace last year, and this years team will be much faster. Now I don't know which leg I will be running yet, but the first major difference between these two relays is that there are only six runners on this team. We still have to switch off at every exchange station like 12 runner teams, which means we will be running twice as often (we will have to run six legs each instead of three times like the teams of 12 run). This translates into running 5-to-7 mile legs every 2-to-3 hours for approximately 24 hours. Each team member will run an average of 35 miles at a fast pace with no time to sleep. The second difference between the two relays is the terrain. The Hood To Coast relay is downhill throughout the first part of the race and relatively flat as we make our way over to the ocean. The Blue Ridge Relay on the other hand consists of rolling hills throughout most of the course as we make our way along the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia on down to Asheville, NC. Another factor is the weather conditions. West coast weather will not be like the nasty humid conditions we will face in Virginia/N.C.

More updates to come as these races approach and I know more. As for right now, I've got a lot to think about as I train for these two different beasts.

19 miles on the trails

Started off the week with a strong 19-miler this morning. Met my brother early to get in an early 6 miles before the rest of the large group of runners (roughly 13) showed up. After a quick change of socks, since we caught the tail end of a rain storm, we took off again and ran the usual 13-mile loop on the Northern Boundary Trails in Oak Ridge, TN. Overall the group averaged less than a 7 minute pace on the 13-mile section, with the pace definitely picking up in the latter miles. Then like clockwork with one mile to go, everyone took off, some with hopes of taking down Stewart Ellington and his last mile record of 4:48. A couple of young guys took off at the one-mile-to-go bridge, and Ellington, who was running with us, waited patiently. Then he went after them and caught the last guy in the last quarter mile, breaking his own record with a powerful 4:45. Then the other 12 guys filed on in to the finish, all wth times under 5:30.

5k time trial ... thick and juicy

When I woke up and walked outside in West Knoxville, it was 70 degrees, blue skies and ... high humidity. At that point I knew it was going to be a tough one. Then to make things more interesting, as I drove into Knoxville, the blue skies and sun disappeared and changed into a thick, foggy, sticky heat box. Everybody showed up for the run (except Jason the pacer) and did their warmups, drills, strides. My brother and I ran 3 miles to warmup and were completely soaked after the first mile or so. It was the kind of stickiness that made you feel nasty (my clothes and shoes are in the wash as I type).

Annual Tom Black Track Time Trials

Presented by Runner Market & West Knox News
University of Tennessee – Knoxville, TN
August 1, 2009 Weather: Foggy & Humid

OVERALL RESULTS 5000M
Place Name (1600 Split) Finish
1. Michael Mentz (4:54) 15:29
2. Alan Horton (4:41) 16:03
3. Daniel Julian (5:10) 16:04
4. Eric Malkowski (5:12) 16:22
5. Bobby Holcombe (5:11) 16:29
6. Bob Adams (5:11) 16:32
7. Elijah Shekinah (5:10) 16:36
8. Brad Adams (5:27) 17:02

OVERALL RESULTS 1 MILE
Place Name (800 Split) Finish
1. Alan Horton (2:17) 4:41
2. Drew Streip (2:30) 5:05
3. Greg Johnson (2:43) 5:27

OVERALL RESULTS 800M
Place Name (400 Split) Finish
1. Ryan Smith (1:02) 2:11
- Nick Symmonds DNS

Even though the times weren't as good as most of us wanted to run, I still look at it as a positive, good tempo run in sub-par conditions, while most of us are putting in a lot of weekly miles in preparation for H2C. Most of us got in 11 total miles this morning and we are all running 15+ miles tomorrow on trails, so the weekend is a plus. After today's workout, I ended the week with 72 miles and plan to run 80+ miles next week. Can't wait to head out west (Oregon) and run in nice, cool, low humidity weather and dominate.

A summer working the 5K for a marathon+ runner ...

I know what you're thinking, and yes, a 5k does not really do it for me. But I committed to run on a Hood To Coast relay team with an impressive resume, and I need to work on my speed. I justify running the 3.1-mile distance by sandwiching the race in between a 3-mile warmup and 3-mile cool down. It is also a great source of a second speed workout/tempo run for the week. I've already completed three this summer, which is more than I usually do in one year. Tomorrow I'm taking it to another level and participating in a 5k time trial on the track with 8 other local Knoxville runners. There are about 5 of us that are around the same speed and looking to break 16 minutes. My PR is 16:08, something I've never really tried to improve upon because I could care less about this distance. When my non running friends ask me if I have a race over the weekend and I tell them a 5k, they usually shake their heads and tell me I can go out and drink the night before and then stumble through it in my sleep. And I almost agree with them, though, in the 5k's defense, I would much rather run a marathon at a 5:53 pace, than torture my body trying to run as fast as I can at a 5:15 pace. Wish me luck tomorrow morning. I will be back to let you know if I succeeded in breaking 16 minutes.

5000M
Bob Adams
Brad Adams
Jason Altman (possible pacer)
Bobby Holcombe
Daniel Julian
Eric Malkowski
Michael Mentz
Elijah Shekinah

1600M
Alan Horton
Greg Johnson
Drew Streip

800M
Ryan Smith
Nick Symmonds (rabbit - going out in .49 low)

Hood 2 Coast 197-mile relay team goal, preparation

Our (Knoxville Track Club) team's goal: WIN IT! To do this, the team will have to beat all the other 1,000 teams that will be competing this year. We feel that our team has the talent to accomplish this tough feat and let the nation know that Knoxville is one of the top running community’s in the nation.

Each person on the 12-man team will run three times during the two-day race (Aug. 28-29), which starts on Mount Hood and finishes in Seaside, Oregon. The team will have two vans serving as a moving headquarters, transporting team members when they aren’t running and supplying us with food, water and motivation.

The team consists of speed—three former University of Tennessee track stars, and endurance—marathon and ultra marathon champions. The team is very serious about this event and expects nothing but excellence. The team is well into training, and will represent Knoxville and the surrounding community with pride.

I have been training hard the past month with weekly mileage levels in the mid 60s. I will be stepping it up another few notches thoughout the next few weeks and will peak at 90 miles seveal weeks before race weekend. More updates as the race weekend approaches and a full recap after the race.

JFK 50-miler entry confirmation

Yes that's right ... I'm officially running the JFK 50-miler in November. I will be representing the Knoxville Track Club in the team event with my brother, Brad, and Jon Lawler, who placed sixth overall in this race several years ago. We should be very competitive for the team title. This will be my fifth ultra (Prickly Pear 5ok '07, 2nd overall, Frosty 50k '09 1st overall, Iron Horse 100k '09 1st overall, Smokey Mountain 72-mile seciton '09 1st overall). I've performed great thus far in all the ultras I've run thus far, but this one will be the first real test.

The competition is fierce in this race as it cuts off entrants at a little more than 1,000 runners. I've looked at some of the other fellow seeded runners on the entrants list and there are some tough, skilled ultra runners. I'm currently training for the Hood 2 Coast 198-mile team relay in late August and will run a fall marathon in preparation for the JFK 50. Another positive is that my brother also got into the JFK 50 and this will be his first ultra marathon. He should do really well if he also puts in the miles. Hopefully all the miles I'm already putting in over the summer will pay off for an awesome run in Wash D.C. More to come on the previously stated races as I compete in them.

Boston Marathon trip recap - round 2

This is the second year in a row that I have traveled to Boston to run the oldest annual marathon in the world, and I have to say this experience was twice as good as the last. The 113th Boston Marathon is in the record books, with 22,898 participants finishing the race – the second highest total ever, after the 100th anniversary race in 1996. I was extremely pleased with my race results. I finished 88th overall (1st Tennessean) in a time of 2:34:01, which was a personal record by 18 seconds. The Boston Experience: Like last year, I stayed with my friend “Foldy” in the “North End” of downtown Boston. His place is a short walk from Boston’s “TD Banknorth” Garden arena and surrounded by several hundred Italian restaurants. Also like last year, we went to a Red Sox game, except this year we upgraded and watched the game from behind home plate. An addition to this year’s trip, we watched game 1 of the Boston Celtics/Chicago Bulls playoff game in the lower level, which was awesome. The game went to OT and we were on our feet cheering most of the game. Even though the plan was to go up there to run a race, we stayed relaxed and had fun. The night before the race, we ate at an amazing Italian restaurant. The sea bass w/ sun dried tomatoes and capers entrée I had ranks up there in the top five best-tasting meals I have ever had.

Race Day: I, my brother, and my friend Tracy Brooks woke up at 6 a.m., grabbed our running gear and to the bus pickup location less than a mile away. Since the race starts 26 miles away in Covington, school buses shuttle us out there. We get to Covington around 8:30 a.m. and do our final preparations. I then made my way over to corral one and meet up with the crew of Knoxville Track Club runners I trained with over the winter that want to run the same pace, and we go over our game plan one last time. The race started at 10:30 a.m., the weather was overcast, and temperatures were in the 50s, which was nice. The only problem was the 10+ mph head wind we encountered the ENTIRE race since we never strayed from since the race route ran into it the entire race. I ran with three other Knoxville Track Club runners for the first 15 miles or so. We planned on going out at a 5:53 per mile pace and we were only slightly ahead of that pace at the half marathon mark (1:16:35). Due to the wind, it was crucial to draft off each other and other runners around us. The wind took its toll on a large percentage of the runners that day, and the same was the case for many on our team. The crowd support was amazing though as usual, and there were many times that I would throw my arms up in the air to get them to cheer louder (especially when we ran through the all-girl gauntlet went we ran through Wellesley College. I still felt good through the half marathon and said that I was going to run 2:34 today, which I did exactly. My fellow Knoxville runners started fading as we hit the hills, so I found a few other runners who were still running strong and we pushed through the hills (including Heartbreak Hill). That mile happened to be my slowest mile (6:07), but I made up for it the next mile with my fastest mile of the day (5:38). After that mile, the lone guy from the pack that I was still running with asked how I felt, and I responded sarcastically with, “well we did just run a 5:38 mile.” So we kept up a fast pace and kept switching drafting positions to deal with the wind. By the last two miles, I knew I was going to get a new PR and I just cruised on in to the finish. Note: I ate five Gu's, took one electrolyte tablet, and alternated drinking water and gatorade at each water station to stay hydrated.Other race notes/results:

Our Knoxville Track Club team placed 10th out of 60 open male teams, which was impressive. My brother also ran a personal record marathon time by 10 minutes (2:47:39), securing the third fastest time on our team.The post race party was also fun. We went to a four-story bar near the basketball arena, watched the hockey and basketball playoff games, and met up with other marathon runners and support crowd we knew. Looking back at the experience, I cannot see how this year can be topped. Well there is always next year for round three … I have to keep the streak going.

72-mile Smoky Mountain Crossing Adventure Run race report

So there I was awake at 2:15 am because I woke up before my alarm. After gathering my gear, I drove over to Daniel Julian and Alan Horton's apartment to meet up with the rest of the running crew (I, Bobby Holcombe, Will Jorgensen, Jeff Woody, and John and Jim Cobb) and drivers (Daniel Julian and Greg Johnson). We weighed in and then traveled east up I-40 towards Davenport Gap, NC, the eastern boundary of the Smoky Mountains National Park. The goal was to run across the 72-mile national park, and try to break a ten-year record time of 17 hours, 2 minutes. The plan was to begin at 4:30 am, but we were slightly behind schedule, so we took a few pre-race photos and started at 4:45 am. It was dark for the first hour and a half, so the six of us dawned headlamps and proceeded to hike up the mountain. It was crucial to conserve energy in the beginning because of the initial elevation gain, so we mostly hiked the first 5 miles. After 7 miles, we hit the first downhill section and I went on ahead of the rest of the group. At this point, I wondered if I was going to be by myself the rest of the day. Then Bobby Holcombe rejoined me at mile 12, and we jogged on in to the first support crew at Tri-Corner at mile 15.3. There to meet us with our drop bags and water were Alan Horton and Michelle Meek. I spent about 12 minutes at this station, refilling water bottles, one with an electrolyte tablet, and refueling with food, to include a PB&J sandwich. I left Tri-Corner before Bobby H was ready to leave and I never saw any of the other runners again. So there I was, one with nature, briskly walking up mountains and running down them. It was 16 miles from Tri-Corner to Newfound Gap, and I managed to run out of water with about 5 miles to go. I was extremely thirsty and asked a group of 8 people for some. They kindly filled up two of my bottles and I traveled the last 3 miles with no problem. Bobby Glenn, one of support people at Newfound Gap, had jogged up the trail and ran back with me for the last 2.5 miles. It was cool to have someone to run and talk with and it motivated me to cruise on in to the second support crew area. At this point, I've run 31.5 miles, which is more than a 50k trail race. It was here that I made my biggest exchanges. Lally was there as well as Bobby G and both helped me get organized. I ate a cheese sandwich, downed some Pedialite, two waters and a Gatorade. I took a dried fruit bag, and refilled my water and GU packets. I also changed shoes and my shirt and I was on my way. I still felt great at this point, other than a blister that was forming on my left heel. I left Newfound Gap at 11:45 am. The next section was an 8-mile jaunt up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the Appalachian Trail at 6,600+ feet. This proved to be the slowest section of my run and my hamstrings were burning. I finally made it to Clingman's Dome around 1:45 pm and met the third support crew, the Woodys. At this point, I decided to bandage my left heel and duct taped it to ensure it stayed on. I once again refilled my water bottles and food, and ate two slices of pizza. At this point I had traveled 39 miles and still had 32 miles to go till the finish. This next section would prove to be mentally challenging since it would be 16 more miles until I would reach the Spence Field support crew. This section included descending the steep trail from Clingman's Dome. I could really feel my shins and knees during and after this section, and changed my stride and ran on my toes to reduce the shin pain. I then started hurting all over my lower body and found a stick to use as a walking stick to get up and down the nonstop mountains I was climbing. At the time, I didn't know how much I would appreciate the stick, but I kept it the rest of the race. I once again ran out of water with about 5 miles to go before Spence Field and asked several hikers to provide me with some water to help me get there. I finally got to Thunder Mountain, the hardest part of this section and started my climb. It was here that it rained on me for the first time and I ironically heard thunder for the first time right at the summit of Thunder Mountain. I proceeded to run off the mountain as fast as I could. It was extremely cloudy up at that elevation so I did not even notice when I ran across Rocky Top. The rain let up after an hour or so and I deliriously sprinted on in to Spence Filed to meet up with an energetic crew, which included Todd Montgomery, Michele Owen, and Julia Connor. My body could have easily stopped there, but my adrenaline levels were extremely high and I was determined to get that record. I only stayed at that support station for about 6 minutes because I did not have any time to spare. During that time, I refilled my water bottles and GU packets and ate three donuts and 4 orange slices. I ran out of Spence Filed at 5:45 pm, so I had 4 hours to break the record. My stomach started acting up about a mile into the last 15-mile section, so I was not moving as fast as I wanted to. I thought I was farther along than I was when I luckily got a hold of Bobby Holcombe by cell phone, who was already at the finish line waiting for my arrival. I told him that I thought I was only 9 miles away and said I would be there before 9 pm. However, I would later find out that I was way off on my prediction. Then the fun began. Nature was determined to make me work for the record. It began to pour down rain with about 12 miles to go as the sky got dimmer and dimmer. I passed by a shelter that had two hikers under it and I asked them how far it was to Fontana Dam. They said I still had 10 miles to go till I reached the trailhead and another 1/2 mile to the dam. They said that I probably should stop now, but I looked at my watch and saw it was 7:35 pm, and said, I've got to go, and took off sprinting down the trail which now looked like a river. I only had 2 hours and 10 minutes to get to the finish line to get the record and it was getting darker by the minute. I was running as fast as my body would let me to cover as much ground as possible before it got pitch black. By about 4 miles to go I could barely see the trail, but it was still light enough to run down because the night sky illuminated the river of a trail. My headlamp was not very strong to say the least and provided no help once it became pitch black. It was at this point that I did not even know if I was going to find the finish line. I tried to call everyone at the finish line to get some light up to me, but the cell phone signal was bad there, so no one answered their phones. I had done well up until this point not falling, but did so many times when I could not see anything. I managed to walk off the trail several times, but once I realized I was not on it, I would turn around and realize the trail had switched back. I also could not determine trail depth, so there would be times that the trail would drop a foot and I would trip and face plant or slip off the trail and have to climb back up. I kept looking at my watch and saw the time slipping closer and closer to the record cut off time of 9:47 pm. At about 9:30, I saw several headlamps out in the distance and knew that it had to be people I knew. So I started yelling for Bobby Holcombe to come meet me with a head lamp and run me out. I also knew at this point that I was going to barely get the record. Once I reached the road, it was a downhill 1/2 mile run to the dam. Even though my body was aching, it was the greatest feeling ever as I ran towards the finish line. I had Bobby Holcombe running in front of me, and Cindi Holcombe and Lally in the car driving next to me playing music. Waiting at the finish was John Cobb, a former finisher and record holder for this same run, who had the official time. I crossed the finish line in 16 hours, 53 minutes, which beat the record by 9 minutes. After I finished, my body came off autopilot and realized it was in extreme pain. I was extremely sore that night and yesterday, but I am recovering very quickly. Now I am taking several weeks off to rest before I start back up my summer training.