Long hot runs - the joys of summer training

Last weekend I was all tee'd up to fire off about my early Saturday morning 15 miler.  For starters, I actually woke up early to beat the heat - like on purpose and everything.  By 6:30 I was out the door and by 7:30 the 90% humidity had me looking like I had just crawled out of a swimming pool.  I was struggling to maintain a semi-respectable pace, I had very little sustance in me and no fuel or fluid with me.  I had already been chased by a cat, left my wet shirt behind a bush never to be seen again, broken my third iPod shuffle of the year, and was batting about .300 on the morning run crowd acknowledging me.

Long story short...15 miles and 2 hours of running later, which doesn't include a brief walk at mile 12 to have a word with Jesus and plot the absolute shortest route home, it was over.  Then like any quality runner would do, I went to Bojangles and ate like it was my job.

After a cold shower I thought better of complaining because I was actually pretty happy about it.  It was hot, humid, and I slogged through 15 on a 4th of a bagel and spoon of peanut butter without water.  That's actually pretty stupid to begin with and nothing to be proud of but I'm learning.

This morning was sure to be my redemption long run.  It was scheduled to be 14 with a progressively faster finish and I was going to own it and blog all about it.  Then I overslept.

Nonetheless, after church I was going to get after it.  Ok so it was getting closer to 90 degrees but the humidity wasn't 90%...silver linings right?  I ate a very light lunch and decided to take 20 oz. of tailwind with me.  Great idea, very poor execution.  I mixed it in a Powerade bottle which has a wider opening; great for casual drinking, not so much for drinking on the run.  I'd say I wore about 5 oz. of it and I don't believe a sports drink on the skin counts for much.

The first 6 miles I was locked in and my splits were within a few seconds.  Mile 7 was up 6th street so I slowed a bit but I wasn't feeling too bad. My tailwind was running low and getting hot but so was my back - sticky wet shirt and all.  Putting the lid back on that stupid bottle became increasingly difficult to the point that I was ready to throw it in the next dumpster I saw.  I was just trying to get to mile 11 then finish strong.  Another thing that became very difficult was math.

I pieced together a few of my regular routes and for some reason every few minutes I was calculating different numbers for where I might hit mile 11. Then I started hypothesizing about what it would take in those last 3 miles to get my average pace down.  That was an absolute disaster.  Throw in me trying to gauge the impact on pace from the heat / humidity and I felt like a third grader all over again.

Soon enough I took the last sip of tailwind which was just a hot gulp of nasty but at least it was wet.  My average pace was about 15 seconds faster than last week and the heat hadn't completely brought me to my knees.  At least not yet.  I knew this wasn't going to be the redemption blog I hoped for but whatever.  I was blogging for better or worse.  I mean who wants to read about fast times and solid workouts anyway - where's the fun in that?

Finally it was time to pick up the pace for the final 3 miles.  I wasn't quite in the attack mode I envisioned from my bed the night before but I my legs were still turning over.  I brought the pace down 24 seconds in mile 12....and my heart was none too happy about it either.  I brought it down another 19 seconds for mile 13 and then my brain weighed in on the situation.  I was hot, thirsty, and my heart rate was at about 600.  Actually I have no idea what it was but 13.1 seemed like a nice round number so I shut it down.

My next stop was a cold shower, fully clothed, and it was awesome :)  One more month of this and hopefully it will all be worth it!  All kidding aside, if you're logging a lot of miles in this weather make sure you never leave home without your common sense...

The 21st Annual Shuffling of The Bear

I've decided to lift my self-imposed Blogging cessation because I believe this death march to the top of Grandfather Mountain deserves some press.  Nevermind that my rash of ailments began almost to the day of posting my first Blog.  No, it wasn't turning 40 or 20 years of running catching up with me.  It wasn't the lack of stretching or overtraining.  It was the karma that came with blogging about getting faster....and then sharing that with 137 people.  But I've learned, or maybe not, but either way.....this is about The Bear.

Honestly I do enjoy reading running blogs and I often search for race recaps if I've never run a course before or in the case of The Bear, if I just want to know 'how' to most effectively or efficiently run it.  There were a few good reads out there but I didn't really find what I was looking for, so here I am, writing what I was looking for.  Sort of.

For starters, The Bear is advertised as a 5 mile run from Linville, NC to the top of Grandfather Mountain with an elevation gain of 1,541 feet which is about 1/3 of a mile from top to bottom if you were to measure straight up.  The race caps at around 800 runners and with the increasing popularity over the past 20+ years it sells out very quickly.  Registration opens in the spring and I believe it was full within about 20 minutes this year so if you really want to run this you'll need to circle the date on the calendar.

The course actually doesn't measure 5 miles and this year the shirts even refer to the distance as an 8K but the topo map still shows this as 5 miles.  Generally speaking your 10K time should be in the ballpark of your Bear time with the more conditioned runners and better climbers coming closer to that number.  Flat land runners and track guys along with runners that don't incorporate hill training into their preparation (raising my hand now) should expect to run slower than your 10K time.  I'm not talking pace of course but suggesting the time it takes you to run a 10K should be roughly the time it takes you to complete The Bear. 

I hatched this bad idea back in March when I was feeling pretty good about things.  The usual suspects were on board as well so I met up with Knox Tate, Hank Eimer, Eric Meredith, and Joe Haines to make our way up the mountain.  The race starts at 7:00 so we were there with an hour to spare - plenty of time to pick up our packets, sit around doing nothing, and get a decent stretch in.  The pre-race jitters were obvious with 693 of the 750 runners in line for the porta-pot at any given time and a number of runners running aimlessly a good hour before the start.  The daunting climb makes you feel obligated to put extra thought and effort into fueling, hydration, stretching, etc. but really it's an evening race of less than 5 miles so the last thing you want to do is carry a full stomach up the mountain.

The unique thing about The Bear is that there are no age group awards, only the coveted Bear mug.  On the way up we speculated as to what the cutoff time might be for a guy to get get a mug and decided somewhere between 43 and 45 minutes.  A really precise bunch we are.  Afterwards I was able to confirm that the cutoff was 43:38 and the confirmation was in my hands because I was that last guy to get a mug.  The target is for the top 10% of men and women to receive a mug so based on my back of the napkin math I'm guessing they receive about 100 mugs to distribute and allocate roughly 60 to men and 40 to women based on the 800 runners and the mix of men and women runners registered.  In speaking with some women on the way down after the race I would say the last mugs were awarded in the very low 51's for the females.    

The Bear starts at the corner of Highway 105 and 221 running up 221 before turning right towards the Highland Games.  The first 2.5 miles really aren't that bad relatively speaking.  The initial 1/2 mile is fairly steep and sort of a shock to the the system but once you settle in and get a rhythm it's more than manageable.  Just past the 2.5 mile mark you'll hear the Highland Games and begin traversing the gravel roads leading through the infield and around the track.  As if your lungs aren't burning enough be prepared for the carnival atmosphere complete with campfire smoke, bagpipes, and plenty of cheers.  All of which is short lived because what makes The Bear a bear is waiting on the other side.

Actual Bear profile vs. what it feels like

 After climbing a steep grassy hill which I must admit is probably my least favorite part of the race you'll start the steep ascent to the top of Grandfather Mountain.  From here on pace is out the window because you simply can't run it fast - you just have to get up it.  I ran a very hard effort to get to this point in the race but didn't feel the pain and burning I do in the final mile or two of a 10K.  I had decided coming in that I wasn't going to walk just as a point of pride, and I didn't, but I'm also a witness that walking the switchbacks won't slow you down.  From mile 3 through mile 4.71 I watched Hank perfect his Olympic power walk stride through every switchback while I helplessly made up 0 ground as I shuffled along with my choppy steps and arms pumping in an act I still maintain constitutes 'running'.

After a series of switchbacks the road finally opens up so that you get your first view of the top.  On one hand it's a relief to know the end is near but it's also confirmation that you still have several more of those stupid@*s switchbacks left.  I was closing in on 43 minutes and all of a sudden my concern with a mug had taken a backseat to planning my next meal.  I had forgone dinner and even passed on the late afternoon bagel I had planned to try to keep things light which was the right thing to do but it was pushing 8:00 and I was getting hungry.  I would have gladly traded a Bear mug for my orange slices that were at the bottom of the hill.  And I don't mean real orange slices, I mean the good gummy ones covered in sugar...

Knox serving humble pie for breakfast

But I forged ahead along with Eric and Joe helplessly watching Hank effortlessly (note sarcasm) maintain his 10 second lead while Knox sat comfortably at the top of the mountain with his 4th Bear mug in hand.  To my surprise they were still handing out mugs, to guys at that, and I was fortunate enough to get one.  After receiving mine I heard the guy say he was "all out" and oddly enough I felt a little bit guilty.  Not sure why but I felt like there was somebody that probably worked harder or deserved it more and just as I was the last one to get a mug behind me were the first guys that didn't get one.  Such is life I guess.  For any of you curious about pacing my splits were; Mile 1:  8.13  Mile 2: 8.26  Mile 3:  8.12  Mile 4:  10.26  Final 0.71:  8.22 (11.47 / pace).  Realistically it makes sense to try to maintain fairly even splits through mile 3 saving just enough oxygen to make it through the last 1.7 - simple as that, right :)

The Bear is definitely a race that I would recommend running at least once.  There are a lot of quality runners, especially for a race with less than 1,000 runners but there are plenty of folks running just to complete the challenge and enjoy the scenery.  It's a gorgeous run, definitely challenging, and well worth the $35 entry fee which includes a t-shirt, finisher medal, and mugs for the top 10%'ers (roughly).  The weather is a little unpredictable on top of the mountain with gusty winds which turned into a really strong headwind coming up the final hill and it's definitely cooler at the top of the mountain.  There are shuttles waiting at the top to bring the runners back down the mountain but they don't leave until the last runner finishes so you could be up there for a while.  There is also a bag drop so it's a good idea to send up a jacket or something even if it's warm at the start. 

I came out of The Bear unscathed which was really priority one.  I've got about a month and a half of solid training in after taking most of the spring off and it feels good to be running again.  Some days are better than others and I've still got a lot of work to do to pick up where I left off so I'll just keep grinding through this hot and humid summer and hope things start coming together in the fall.  The Blue Ridge Relay is coming up soon and I'm planning to run the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon in October but in the meantime I'll probably just continue laying low and watching the rest of you get faster!  Hope to catch up with you soon (literally).