End of the Roads for me!

 My 2016 running adventures had all been geared to my Pursuit of finishing the Eastern States 100 after my 2014 DNF. Mission accomplished and I turned my attention to running a Boston Marathon Qualifying time of 3:40 at the Columbus Marathon on October 16th.  Given my recovery and taper time between the two races I had about 5 weeks to get my body "road" ready. I ran a few good road races, including a 1:13 10 miler & a 1:39 1/2 marathon. I did notice though that my body, specifically my back, was not thrilled with the pavement pounding. It culminated at mile 16 of the marathon when it said "enough" and my marathon went from BQ pace to 10+ minute pace for the last 8 miles.
When I faced timed Mary at mile 18 to tell her my back was not happy, I was actually quite okay with knowing I was done. It was also cool that she was running at Veterans Park in Mentor when we talked.

Love my #1 fan!!

It wasn't just my body that wasn't thrilled with the pavement. Mentally, there is not much of anything I enjoy about training on asphalt and concrete. My mind does not seem at ease when running on the streets, although running some miles in Cleveland wasn't terrible! I told my running buddies that the Columbus Marathon was either going to be my second last, or last road marathon. Dena didn't believe me as I had said the same thing about 100 mile trails runs not too long ago!

 This time is different though. This past weekend I realized a couple things about road marathons. First off I love the whole atmosphere involved in fairly large marathons. It was good to see Joe, Kelly, and Kirsten at packet pick up, and going to dinner in downtown Columbus with some fellow North East Running Club members was a blast. Marathon morning was quite enjoyable and the festival-like atmosphere always gets me pumped! Seeing a few of my NERC friends again and being able to hang with CJ & Larry made the minutes leading up to the start very relaxing. Between the playing of the National Anthem and AC DC's Thunderstruck I get a bit emotional and pumped at the same time!

My epiphany, if you will, came around mile 6 or so. I love all things about road marathons except the actual running on the road part! If it weren't for seeing Lauren out there a couple times cheering us on and hearing Barb give me a shout out my enjoyment level would have been quite low. It's not so much that running a BQ time for me is hard, which it is! I have only accomplished it once out of five serious attempts. It is all of the hoopla and the crowds and the bands playing that make road marathons enjoyable for me. This is the exact opposite of how I feel on the trails. When I run trails almost all of the enjoyment I feel comes from the actual trail running itself! No hoopla necessary!

Good time smiling for the camera around 10 miles in

 My running future will be mostly on the trails, however I do love the buzz at road races and supporting good causes so I will continue to be a part of the road running community! Mostly though, I just see a few 5k's to 1/2 marathon distance as being my yearly norm. 

Next up, 5 months of training for The Georgia Death Race and its 40,000 feet of elevation change starts in two weeks at The Conquer The Castle 100K on the trails of North Chagrin Reservation!

Running for the "Triple" on the trails of PA!

I have been gearing most of my training for the past 11 months towards finishing the 2016 Eastern States 100 trail run. I ran the inaugural event in 2014 and made it 75.6 miles. This year I was determined to finish because I knew this would be my last attempt to finish the grueling 102.9 mile course! I had 2 of the best crew/pacers you could ask for in Bert Crooks &  Charlie Bolek. They have both paced me to 100 mile finishes in the past and are a great fit for my trail temperament! Having these two friends made for an actually quite pleasurable experience as far as brutal 100 milers go!

Bert, Me, & Charlie about to begin our awesome journey!

Ready to rock!

 Charlie and I arrived in Waterville Friday afternoon, and Bert made it later that evening. I can honestly say I have never been so focused before a race. Fortunately for me I was able to maintain that focus for the duration! I had the advantage of knowing what to expect from mile 75 on since I paced my friend Stacy Kotsko the last 40 miles of her 2015 finish.


Congratulations to Stacy & Christopher Agbay whom I met at ES100 in 2014. They have both now completed the race all 3 years!

I DO NOT see myself ever attempting this one again. Honestly!

Also, kudos to my trail "brother" Eddie Carrigg, for not only finishing Eastern States in his first attempt, but completing the inaugural Pennsylvania Triple Crown of Mountain Running.  Out of 258 runners that were in contention back in April, only 20 of us (4 women, 16men) were able to complete all 3 races that compromise the triple crown. Stacy finished 3rd female and Eddie was 12th male and I placed 13th. Lake County Ohio was represented quite well as Mentor resident Krzsztof Jamroz was 11th male! I must also congratulate fellow NE Ohioan Paul Lefolhocz on his ES100 finish. Especially amazing since he did it without pacer or crew and just ran the Burning River 100 the previous week!!!

It was great seeing so many friends out there either running the 100 or the Call of the Wilds marathon or volunteering. The remoteness of the area also makes for some unique challenges to crew and pacers. It doesn't help when a crazy storm blows through and fallen trees add to the fun! Speaking of fallen trees I had to go through at least 8 that had blown down on the trail. I was actually under a pavilion at the aid station when one blew down and almost crashed on the volunteers there. Fortunately for me the weather was about the only real adversity I faced during the race. I went into this race with the goal of just finishing within the allotted 36 hours. My plan was to start off slow and just stay ahead of the cutoffs by between 30 & 45 minutes until I got to Slate Run at mile 63.8. With day time temps in the low to mid 90's and the heat index topping out at 109, I knew slow was my only chance. The problem with that was that I got caught in the storm about 15 minutes from the aid station I knew I was not going back out on the trail until it blew through. There were people huddled in the woods as trees were dropping all around! I quit counting downed trees after I reached 24 in about a 2 mile section of trail! Luckily I only lost about 35 minutes by waiting it out.

 Time for a little watermelon, cantaloupe, & a sugary drink before heading back out into the relentless heat & humidity!

Charlie started pacing me at mile 51.1 and would run with me until 63.8. I love the solitude on the trails but was glad to have some company out there. We finally made it to Slate Run at 2:55 am which was almost 2hours later than i wanted to and I think only 5 minutes ahead of cutoff, although I thought I heard they extended some cutoffs due to the storm. Not quite sure what I remember and what was actually real after being up for 23 hours. I only knew that even though I was way behind my time, I was feeling pretty great and felt my game plan was working perfectly! Bert picked up the pacing duties from here and would take me the next 16.5 miles.

 When I reached Long Branch aid station at mile 75.6, I knew barring injury, I would finish this race! I only say that because by conserving myself the entire day, I managed to make it to Long Branch 45 minutes earlier then when I dropped in 2014. This in spite the fact that I was at Slate Run 1 hour and 10 minutes later than 2014.

I would love to describe to you the relentless 1000' climbs & drops, not to mention the loose, wet, moss covered rocks but feel I would not do these trails justice. Even when you are on a six inch wide trail canted to the left with a 300' drop down to the river you can't help but notice the sheer beauty & serenity of the PA Wilds! I am thinking I would appreciate this much more if it were not at mile 78 and 27 hours into the "run". Charlie took back the pacing duties and we began climbing out of the Blackwell at mile 80.3 up up and way. I didn't have my phone with me but the view at the top was awesome!! With Charlie keeping me moving forward we pulled into Skytop aid station at mile 84.8 about 45 minutes ahead of cutoff. That "last hill" before Skytop sign on the tree was just plain cruel! With a great blueberry pancake and a 2 minute break it was time to push forward to the Barrens aid station at where bert would pick me up and pace me in the final 10 miles.

  This course is relentless and even after you get through the Hacketts aid station you still have work to do even though there is only 3.8 miles left! I thinking getting down the last part of the course is just someones idea of a bad joke! Maybe it isn't that bad but after covering 101 miles in a little over 34 hours my feet were screaming at me with every step! Bert seemed to be appreciating the beauty much more than myself! When we finally made it to the bottom and were greeted by a smiling volunteer. She said the best words I had heard in a while, "just cross the road and 200 yards to the finish"

                                  My official time was 34 hours 50 minutes and 54 seconds.

Finisher # 50!......197 people started and just 66 of us finished!

 There were too many familiar faces out on the course running, cheering, and volunteering at the aid stations to name. I don't want to leave anyone out, but you all rock! If you toed the line but didn't reach your goal, don't give up! It will not be easy but you can do it with the right approach! As always thanks to my bride of almost 20 years for always inspiring me to strive to be better and follow my dreams. I learn a lot about myself on the trails and it isn't always pretty, but it does allow for growth & reflection! As Mary likes to say, "it's about progress not perfection"!

Thanks to Race Director, Craig Fleming, Volunteer Coordinator, Luke Haile and all of the volunteers for everything you do year round to make The Eastern States 100 a great event!

Questioning the "why" most of us start in the first place.

I pose this question to all,
Is there is so much media attention being placed on the overprescribing of opioids and the new generation of addicts that it's spawning, that we are overlooking the rest of the population with substance use disorders? While I know how tragic the heroin epidemic is in the United States and am grateful to have been involved in the Fed Up! Rally in Washington DC the past two years, don't we need to look at the bigger picture? While it is painfully obvious that we need to reign in big pharmacy, it should be just as obvious that there are many addicts, myself included, that became so having never taken prescription painkillers.
I have looked up many statistics and I site this Addiction Figures research. The numbers are startling and I don't downplay the devastation that the opioid/heroin addiction has on our society, but what about the other almost 91% of people with a substance use disorders? Part of what I am trying to do with my business Active Recovery Consulting is focus on the underlying issues that cause people to continue to feel the need to use drugs in the first place. I don't have the resources to focus on who is to blame, nor is that my concern. I will leave that to the groups that are out there now to continue to fight that fight. I want to concentrate my efforts on helping those dealing with substance use issues, and their families by dealing with the underlying "why" factors and how to cope in today's society without abusing substances.

Some of the many reasons people use drugs!

• to fit in
• to escape or relax
• to experiment
• physical injury
• to rebel
• to avoid psychological pain
• to deal with external stressors
• to "numb" out

Having fun on the Pennsylvania trails in 2016

  With my main running goal being to finish the Eastern States 100 miler in August I knew I would have to spend a lot of time on the Pennsylvania trails this spring. I attempted the inaugural ES100 in 2014 and made it 73+ miles before getting timed out. I was going to drop anyway as I was not mentally prepared to spend the entire 36 hours I had to finish the race. In 2015 I paced my friend Stacy the last 40 miles for her second consecutive finish on this tough course. She will be going for the three-peat this August!

  When I mentioned to my wife, Mary, that I wanted to attempt this race again she gave me her blessing as she is my number 1 supporter and my rock! Then she had the audacity to ask me what I was going to do differently to avoid the dreaded DNF (did not finish) result. Huh? Oh, she meant how was my training going to better prepare me for this race. I get it, the more preparation you put into it the better chance you have of reaching your goals! Not just talking trail running here folks! Success on any level is not reached by accident!

  I knew I would have to run more hills and get better at hiking them too. For me that meant running more in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Nothing like training on similar terrain to physically & mentally prepare you for finishing your goal race. I looked at the races available along with Mary & my schedules and everything seemed to fit for me to do 3 spring races in PA. The first was the Hynerview Challenge 50K in April, then the World's End 100K in May, and the Laurel Highlands 70.5 miler in June. It was kind of cool that the Race Directors of the 50k & 100k decided to create a PA Triple Crown of Mountain Running series this year with the finale being the ES100 in August. Maybe they can talk with the RD of Laurel and make it a Grand Slam in the future!!

Hynerview 50k   7500' of elevation gain   4/23/16     website

  I had previously run Hynerview in 2014 to prep me for my 100 mile attempt at Eastern States.

No offense to those that run at Mohican, but Big A$$ Hill is about a speed bump out here! I actually ran this years 50k about 22 minutes slower than 2014 but considered it a much better run because I felt strong at the end and wasn't really trying for a specific time. This course is beautiful and challenging! They don't call the first climb Humble Hill for nothing. Great seeing so many friends out on the trails. Good work Jon, Stacy, Eddie, & Sean and everyone else on a tough course.

Me & Eddie Carrigg pre race

Standing at mile 4.5, race starts across the river down below

World's End 100k   12,400' of elevation gain   5/25/16   website

  This was actually my first 100k, and I heard a pretty tough course so my only goal was to finish in the allotted 19 hour time limit. No problem, I finished with 13 minutes to spare! I spent a bit of time on the trails with Eddie Carrigg & his son Cliff. Eddie was also using this as an Eastern States training run. It was nice to hopscotch back and forth with those two as Eddie & Cliff would power hike past me on the ups and I would pass them on some of the downs or the flats. I believe they finished about 8 or 9 minutes ahead of me. Thanks to Eddie's wife Suzanne for the Blueberry muffins and some impromptu crewing for me! After this race I feet pretty confident using my trekking poles and having a pack on all day. Once again I felt pretty good throughout the day and at the finish. I can definitely tell my endurance is getting better. The 100k had 12,400 ft of elevation gain and some very technical trails. I know all of these PA training runs are giving me the best chance of finishing well in August. 

My pre & post race accommodations

Got to climb this ladder & saw many small falls during the run

Laurel Highlands 70.5 miler   12,000' elevation gain   6/11/16   website

  The last of my three PA training runs, like the previous two, worked out well! To also help prepare for my August race I have been staying in my tent or car pre and post race so as not to be too comfortable. For Laurel I had 2.5 hours of sleep before the school bus picked us up at the finish at 3:30 am for the 5:30 am start. It was also supposed to be close to 90 and humid with a chance of thunderstorms so this would be a good test of my endurance. I think it only reached the mid 80s and we only got one quick major thunderstorm but it was a very humid day. Great to see so many familiar faces not only running, but volunteering at the race also! Especially Anne, Suzanne, Kim, and Robert. Thank you and all of the volunteers for making this a great day! I also got to see one of my more recent running friends Jon Crays & Barb Kosinski at packet pickup and during the race. Met them both in person at the Hyner race in April and saw them again the week before this race at a local 1/2 marathon. Thanks for the impromptu crewing Barb and I look forward to seeing you on the trails at Mohican 100 Saturday. I am pacing a runner from Tennessee her last 44 miles and Barb is doing the 100. You got this Barb!!!!! 

  It was a tough course, but I felt it had the highest percentage of runnable terrain compared to the first two races I did. I heeded the advice of many and took it easy the first part of the course so I would be able to run the later sections. My only mistake was wearing a different pair of shoes on such technical trails. After the 9th time I fell in the fist 40 miles I couldn't wait to get to my drop bag and my good old Saucony's. Eddie is now the proud owner of those other shoes! The Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail was awesome, and I really felt good the entire run. My one goal was to finish the race in under 20 hours to use it as a Western States 100 qualifier. The race itself had a 22 hour cut off. I finished in 19 hrs 33 mins and aside from being sore from the falling, came out unscathed. My Pennsylvania prep work is all but done except for a trip or two to Oil Creek for a change of scenery. Now to dial in my training a little bit more for the next 9 weeks until I hit the PA trails once more!

Laurel Highlands trail crossing the PA Turnpike at mile 37

The day before at the last mile marker!