Making the Best out of 2020

 I just ran across my old blog site and it's 7 years, 8 months later!

Since then I ended my first running streak on December 20, 2017 after running everyday for 2682 days (7 years 4 months 3 days) averaging 8.1 miles per day. It ended because my Atrial Fibrillation (a-fib) became continuous. The solution to fix it was an ablation procedure where a catheter in my heart (both chambers) was used to ablade or scar the heart tissue to redirect the electrical signals. 6 hours on the operating table. I really couldn’t run the next day but that week we did fly to Colorado to visit Haley and Trevor. So I ended up not doing daily running again.... until January 19th 2018. I’ve been running a minimum of 5K every day since and my new streak is at 1066 days (December 19th 2020) averaging 7.7 miles per day. No recurrence of afib. I am doing  more low heart rate running which you will see is very beneficial. December 16th I hit 4040 miles for 2020! 

Today. We have finally reached the LAST month of this year. Pandemic is in full raging fury.

There was plenty of time to focus on running this year, especially since that is one of few activities that you can do alone and outside. Looking back it was actually a fantastic year for running.

Chill at the Mill 5K

Every January there is a 5K race in Rochester, MI called Chill at the Mill (at Rochester Mill Brewery). Late January (19th) in Michigan is a wonderful time for a race (not). So, not surprisingly it was windy and snow/slush on roads with 5° real feel. The biggest challenge was the extreme slipperiness of the slush on the roads. That snow salt sand mix. I managed to finish in 27:03. Good enough for 2nd Age Group M65-69.

Colorado 

In February we visited Haley, Trevor and Micah in Colorado for the month. That was a blast!

Altitude running was tough! After weeks it got better. Even ran a 10K race in Littleton Colorado and placed first Michigander 😁

Then Trevor and I climbed the Manitou Incline which rises 2000 ft in 0.8 miles with 2768 steps! At 10,000 feet elevation. Made it!

It was very steep and icy so we wore microspikes. 

Back in Michigan Hoodie Hoo

Returning back to Michigan I ran a 5K race along the shore of lake St Clair called the Hoodie Hoo. To fend off Winter and welcome Spring, you yell “Hoodie Hoooo”. Finished in 25:06, good enough for second place Age Group M65-69! Must have been that altitude training.

THEN THE PANDEMIC HIT!

The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee - GVRAT

No more in person racing. On May 1st there was social media excitement about a Lazarus Lake (aka Gary Cantrell) brainchild virtual race across Tennessee. The concept was to virtually run (and/or walk) 635 miles across Tennessee in 4 months ending August 31st. Laz and crew were expecting maybe 200 participants to sign up. I signed up that day. Eventually 19,000+ also signed up including many elite ultra runners. I had already run 4 miles on that 1st day of May. The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (GVRAT) has a web page to log miles run or walked. I also tracked them on Strava. I set a goal of finishing in one month instead of 4 months! My running miles increased from an average of 200 miles per month through April to 500 miles for May. I had 27 consecutive runs of 13.1 miles  or greater. Walks of 2-8 miles a day on top of the runs added up quickly. I finished crossing Tennessee in 27 days! That gave me 57th place out of 19,000+ participants. Hooah! Crossing Tennessee earns you a Buckle! It is an ultra marathon distance.

That 635 miles of running/walking in less than a month ended with a series of 8 consecutive 20+ mile runs and long walks on top in the heat of the day. I got quite dehydrated day after day and the effect was loss of appetite and general nausea.  

But there was more to GVRAT. Much more. Since there was so much time left and the top runners finished the task in just 12 days, new goals were established for GVRAT. The next was 1000 miles. So I kept on building miles but at a slower pace and switched to Gatorade fueling much more than than before. That really did the trick. Never had those feelings again. After 56 total days, I crossed the 1000 mile mark in 85th place overall. The awards were a 1000 mile pin and an awesome 1000 sticker!

But there was MORE. Going BACK across Tennessee qualified you as a BAT (Back Across Tennessee) and an award to finish. Had to pay $30 for the back and farther racing. Actually the 1000 miles was on the way back across. On the way back across Tennessee someone mentioned that ultrarunner Kaci Lickteig was participating. I looked her up and she was very close to me on the course in terms of miles covered. I finished in 71 days. Kaci finished the BAT second crossing in 72 days. The award for a double crossing was a mankie.

Why stop now? Laz and team added a CAT. Continue Across Tennessee. So, 71 days into a 122 day event. Keep on truck’n. But instead of getting bored, I had a new challenge besides crossing Tennessee for a third time. Keeping up with Kaci Lickteig ( who won Western States 100 among many other accomplishments!)

With the help of tips from Laz, a strategy was developed. I’m retired (and 67) and can put in long miles on week days. Kaci, only 33, works and puts in mega miles on the weekends. I cant keep up with her weekend miles which might total 60+ miles. But during the week I can run more miles. Like she’ll do a 15 mile run after work and I’ll do a 20 miler for example. During that crossing, I was a averaging  125 mile weeks maxing at 140 miles. Keeping up with Kaci’s normal training miles. July had 535 mile and August, the last month of the GVRAT I logged 576 miles! Whew. So on day 107 Kaci and I crossed together in 52nd place overall. I contacted her beforehand so she was on board and she encouraged me to post a virtual finish photo I made complete with my dog Jake and her dog Mia. That was fun! The significance of the yellow gate: Laz Lake is race director for the infamous Barkley Marathons (130ish miler) held at Frozen Head State part in Tennessee. The start and finish is at the yellow gate. Very famous in the ultra running community.

That was August 15th. There were still 16 days left of the GVRAT. Now the goal switched to maximizing miles and keeping up with Kaci. We switched positions many times and on August 22nd I realized if I ran a 20 miler every day for the next 10 days I would finish with exactly 2200 miles. That I did! 20 mile runs became a routine every morning which is something I never would have expected. I learned that high mileage at low pace and low heart rate trains the body to burn fat and utilize this unlimited source as a source of fuel. 20 mile distance became easy. On August 31st, I entered my final run distance. I placed 44th out of 19,000+ participants! Kaci Lickteig placed 46th.

Results: https://vacationwithoutacar.com/

LIFE AFTER GVRAT

Brooksie Way virtual Half Marathon

2020 marches on. After 4 months running 2200 miles at low heart rate, an incredible fitness base was created. Time to test it out. The annual. Brooksie Way Half Marathon was virtual this year. On September 15, 2020 I went to Stony Creek Metropark where there is a 6 mile asphalt trail circling the lake with mile markers every half mile. I ran it hard. First mile 8:38. Then 8:50, 8:47, 8:41, 8:31, 8:43, 8:41 for the first loop. Still felt strong starting the second loop.  8:51, 8:46, 8:45, 8:34, 8:43, 8:30 and a kick of 7:58 for the final 0.1 mile for a 1:53:51 finish at 8:41 pace. This was an 8 year PR! That base kept me from fatiguing throughout the run!

Hot Chocolate virtual challenge

A 5K race in Massachusetts annually raises money for Safe Passage, a non profit to help abuse victims. This year the race was COVID cancelled. The organizers set up an “Activity” challenge when minutes of activity are logged and points are awarded 2 points per minute. Points are also awarded for fundraising at 2 points per dollar. I joined with my friends on Team Washburn & McGoldrick with my friend Karin George as team captain. I just recorded my normal run times until I noticed it was really helping the team. This evolved into a bit of a competition with Karin who logged miles and raised alot of money. If she got a $500 donation I’d have to run/walk 500 minutes! Get the picture? Ended up barely passing her on total points (activity + fund raising) and was overall top points and top activity points. This helped the Team win total points by a long shot! The great news is about $14K was raised by our team!

Stony Creek Marathon

On Tuesday, October 27th I was reading a post from our Stony Creek Running Club that mentioned a  marathon race, live and in person, was happening Sunday November 1st at Stony Creek Metropark where I had ran that  virtual half marathon 8 year PR. OMG! Is it a Boston Qualifier? I checked the website and it is! OMG gotta try this. Monday I had ran on all four major trails here. Macomb Orchard Trail, Clinton River Trail, Paint Creek Trail and Poly Anne Trail for a total distance of 28 miles. So a 28 mile run 6 days before a marathon BQ attempt? Why not. So I signed up and started tapering for 4 days (6, 6, 5, 4). This was a strictly Covid precautions framed staged race. I learned that there was an early start option for marathoners and 50K participants that started at 7:30 am. This was about when I normally run so I just got ready. Weather was dreadful with 40 dropping to 20’s in the morning with winds 20-25 gusting to 45 mph.

The early start was great. Only 5 runners starting at 30 sec intervals wearing masks. After departing the start area, masks could be dropped. The first mile and a half to turnaround was west into the wind which was quite noticeable. I was targeting close too 9:00 - 9:09. for a sub 4 marathon. Mile 1 was 9:08. With the wind, mile 2 was 9:02 then 9:03. Mile 4 was a good hill and 9:15. Mile 5 had another hill and 9:17. Mile 6 was west into the wind but more downhill at 9:03. Mikes 7-9 was an out and back rolling hills to the nature center. 9:07: 9:20: 9:05. Mile 10 was downhill and turning into the wind at 9:00. Mile 11 was into the wind and hills at 9:26, miles 12 and 13 were 9:06 and 9:26. This race allowed drop bag near the start which is just past mile 13 and just before mile 20. I stashed 16 oz flasks of water with 3 scoops of Tailwind fuel/hydration. For the first 13 miles I carried a 10 oz flask with 2 scoops tailwind. During mile 14 I swapped out flasks. That mile was 10:09 due to the brief stop. During the first 13 miles the wind was really picking up making it difficult to move forward into the wind. Two laps around the lake were left. Pace slowed to 9:30’s to 9:50. Mile 20 was 10:59 due to a stop to swap and drink the third flask of fuel. That was worth it because a second wind hit and the last 6 miles were: 9:52, 9:39, 9:42, 9:42, 9:06, 9:11 and the last 0.2 at 9:15 pace. Finished in 4:07:19 with 9:27 pace. Missed BQ (4:05:00) by a bit more than 2 minutes. But it was the highest Age Graded marathon (65.0%) in 12 years and fastest in 8 years! That base really kept me strong and a sub 4 could have happened without the gale! Next time....

See all the stuff blown over?

Placed 2nd Age M 65-69.

Afterwards the Race Director sent this email to finishers:

Congratulations

To say that we picked the worst date (of a 30ish day stretch) to run the race would be an understatement for 2020.   "Weather in the Midwest!"  You never know what you are going to get.  Yes Saturday was much better than Sunday - and this week has been beautiful - BUT........

You now have a great story you have to tell.  You conquered both Stony Creek and the Elements!

The best weather may have been for about 20minutes at the start of the 5k - but it didn't last long.  The sun came out for a few minutes then hid and the strong winds came out - and didn't let up all day (I've got broken tents, flagpoles, signs, and COVID barriers to prove it).  Then came the BLIZZARD....from about 11:30-12:10 I could barely see the lake from the finish line (If anyone has video of this crazy stuff I'd love a copy).  Luckily the snow stopped for a while - the sun came out again (for a few minutes) - but the winds did not let up.  That finish might as well have been uphill - the wind was absolutely crazy.  I've completed a few marathons (and attended many more) and I've not seen weather quite as challenging as this.  

A few of you were running your first marathon - wow do you have a story - what a tremendous accomplishment! 

To all of you:  Congratulations, Well Done, & WooooooooHoooooooo!

Clinton River Trail FKT

During this year of COVID with so many live races cancelled, many ultra runners turned their focus on running known trails faster than anyone that has been known to run it. These are called Fastest Known Times. Known because only a run that is documented to prove it was run in that rime are counted. A website fastestknowntime.com compiles many FKT’s. There are guidelines for what type of route caan be used for an FKT attempt. They must be popular and challenging. I looked up our area in SE Michigan and there was one on the Poly Anne Trail north of here and that was it. The Clinton River Trail is very popular and spans 15.7 miles. My goal was to do an out and back for 50 km (a bit more than a 50K at 31.3 miles actually). First I had to document the route, submit it and have it accepted and recorded on the website. Then run the route. Being first would give me an FKT for ever! I ran the out and back from Rochester to Sylvan Lake in Pontiac in 6:32:31 unsupported meaning I brought my own fuel and didn’t get any help or aid stations. After the run I submitted the route and it was accepted,

https://fastestknowntime.com/route/clinton-river-trail-mi

Then I submitted the successful  FKT attempt and it was accepted!

https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/stephen-davis-clinton-river-trail-mi-2020-11-27

How cool is that?