Sunday, February 16, 2014

2014 Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run 50k Trail Race: If it was easy, it wouldn’t be a Psycho Wyco….but come on…I mean, really!?!?


I love this race. At least I think I love this race. I’m not sure how this race feels about me, though. I’m wondering if this relationship is healthy. I’m wondering if this relationship is abusive. You know the story: boy meets race, race beats the hell out of the boy on the first date, boy and race go on seven more dates…

Speaking of seven more dates, I really wasn’t going to write a race report for “Psycho” this year. I’ve run eight in a row and blogged about the last three (check ‘em out here à2011, 2012, 2013). Going into this year’s race, I felt as if I’d written ad nauseam about the terrain, the extreme weather, the elevation gain, and my time….I mean, what else could possibly be said? I guess I was taking it for granted. I knew it would be cold. I knew the terrain and footing would be horrible. I assumed I’d knock some more off my time. This would be “just another Psycho”.  I should have known there’s no such thing. Even after eight years, you just can’t get complacent about the “Psycho”.

 
Two weeks before the race I had run a 1:40:00 loop on a dry & snow free course, killing every single up-hill. This was going to be the year I would break 6 hours. I felt strong. I felt ready. One week later I was sick as a dog. To make matters worse, Eastern Kansas got hammered with the biggest snow storm of the season the week of the race. If this were any other race, I would have taken a DNS, but I’m proud of my streak of consecutive finishes at what is arguably one of the toughest 50k's between the Appalachians and the Rockies. This was not going to be “just another psycho”.  This one was going to demand more of me than any other…this one was going to hurt.

 
As always, it was great pre-race to visit with a ton of friends and runners I hadn’t seen in awhile. I was actually feeling less-sick than I had all week…but then Bad Ben said “go” and I realized that the race report could really be done in one sentence: “It all went to s#&t”.  So, rather than giving a detailed narration of the 30 miles worth of frozen, agonizing, personal hell; how about a three loop summary and a picture report?

 
Loop One: Jaysus. The snow was sooo deep. We’d had snow as deep before (2011) but this was different. It was like running through loose sand. The realization that I was too sick to run hit me coming out of the Wyandotte Triangle. By the time I hit the boat yard I was having thoughts of dropping. I had a cold sweat, could hear my chest rasping, and the body aches were bad. I think I was also pushing too hard. I hit the main aid station in 2:29:00. I remember thinking “what the hell…that’s slower than my third loop last year!?!?....this isn’t even F#^&% worth it!”  I was seriously evaluating how bad I wanted that streak to continue.

 
Loop Two: I’ve got to thank my buddy Travis Kierre for helping me get out on the 2nd loop. He had his awesome skull balaclava on playing the part of the “Drop Reaper”. As he approached me I thought “don’t tempt me, man”. But the reaper helped! He reminded me that time didn’t matter today. “…just survive, dude…they’re dropping like flies already”.  He was right, I just needed to re-focus, adjust my goals, and learn patience. Forget sub-6, (hell, forget sub 7) just focus on 8-straight. I stopped pushing and started feeling a little better… the loop was really slow.

 
Loop Three: The key here was getting out on that final loop. No screwin’ around in the aid station,…no thinking about it. Just put on a pair of dry gloves and get going. No matter how bad or sick I was feeling, I knew if I could just start the loop, I’d get #8. I was getting passed a lot at this point which is new for me. Typically in an ultra, I’m the one getting strong at the end and chasing down folks who started out too fast. I tried to ignore the passers and run within myself. I finished the run with a guy named Reid who had caught up with me toward the end of Fester’s Wander. He was a 1st time 50k’er who I could tell was having a tough day, too. I guess misery really does love company since I enjoyed running with him. He reminded me of myself eight years ago when Psycho was my first ultra. Anyway, I was just glad it was the last loop. I was glad someone installed a fixed rope up the last little hill because I needed it. Finally, I ran down the “chute”, crossed the finish line, decided I do love this race, and finally started to feel a little better.

 
Huge thanks again to Bad Ben Holmes, the KC Trail Nerds, and all of the volunteers who braved the cold to put on another premier first-class event! I’m telling you, nobody does it better. Huge thanks to Rick & Kristi Mayo for the thousands of pictures, you guys do excellent work (and they run fast as hell, too!). Thanks to the DJ who froze his ass off so we could have music at the main aid station. A heart-felt thank-you to Travis Kierre for helping to get my ass moving when I was in a bad place. Thanks to Rick, Bryan, Reid, Kimberly, Eric, David, and everyone else with whom I shared the trail. One of the best things about our sport is meeting like-minded nut-jobs. As always, love and thanks to Jessica, Alyena, Ayden, & Tristyn; you guys are with me on every mile of every run!

Thanks for reading. See you out on the Trails! Now, the Pictures (thanks again to Rick & Kristi Mayo of mile 90 Photography for the pictures!)



Early in the 1st loop








We went up, we went down

Lots of powder

Losing altitude fast on fall down hill


Steeper than it looks...hence the fixed lines
 



Stay the hell away from me, Drop Reaper!

 


Somewhere on the 2nd loop


 



Bad Ben photo Bombing the dancing Race Doctor and Drop Reaper...say that fast three times!
3rd loop. Still in the fight!
 Whew,,I really had to earn this one!


 


Friday, January 3, 2014

CFC C2C 100K Ultra: Gravel Roads and Rolling Hills, Running Across Eastern Kansas

What a day that was back on November 6th! I finally have some pictures ready for the blog. Better late than never! Thanks to all who supported the CFC. VA Eastern Kansas finished the Combined Federal Campaign by raising over $105,000 between our two campuses. A tremendous show of generosity! It was an honor serving as the campaign coordinator this year.

 
As far as the ultra went, my run time from VA Topeka to VA Leavenworth was 20 minutes better than my previous fastest 100k (14.5 hours). While this was my 40th ultra marathon, it was actually my first time running for a cause beyond myself and as such, will always be one of my most memorable ultras. It was certainly the most fulfilling thing in running I've ever done!

Echoing my face book posts right after the run in November, I think I'm still trying to process it all. One thing is for sure; no one can do a run like this alone so I want to again thank everyone who shared the journey. Thank you to Sara Zeller and Stacey Askew for braving the cold morning and running the first "leg" of the route with me! Thanks to Dr. Codi Schale for coming out at mile 40 and helping me tackle the straightest, longest, hilliest country road in Kansas!  Thanks to Dr. Stefan Offenbach for his role in instigating this whole thing! A truly heart-felt thank-you to Shawn Hoffman for handling the support vehicle for the entire route, providing updates, distracting angry farm dogs, ferrying runners, taking pictures, and for doing just about everything else that needed doing!  Thanks to everyone who came out in Leavenworth for the finish (I even had a police escort up the hill)! Thanks to the Director's office and Executive Leadership team for supporting and helping  to promote the run.  Thanks also to the Leavenworth Times and WIBW for helping us spread the word about CFC! Most of all, thank you very much to all who have supported or donated to the CFC, your generosity makes a difference!

Finally, special thanks to Jessica, Alyena, Ayden, & Tristyn. I love you guys and you are with me on every mile of every run! 

Now, here are some pictures!

Sara Zeller, Stacey Askew, & I right before the start.



  



 







Somewhere east of Lake Perry (Merriam road going North..I think)





















Dr. Schale & I at mile 40.
Cows
Getting to the top of the Hill. Mile 55'ish. Closing in on Leavenworth!
Only 30 more yards!!



 





















DONE!  I was surprised, humbled, and touched by the turnout and show of support.
Thanks again VA Eastern Kansas!!!!