We started at the picnic shelter nearest the Shore Drive entrance to FLSP and made our way towards the main Cape Henry trail where we took a sharp right turn. At Kingfisher we made another right, then turned onto Long Creek, Fox Run and Bald Cypress before reaching the main trail and the home stretch back to the finish area.

Wasn’t sure what pace to shoot for on the mixed terrain, so just went for it from the gun which seemed to be an okay strategy. I soon found myself running alongside fellow Shamrock Sportsfest World Record Attempt teammates Drew Midland and Joel Bell, but knew Drew would likely take off and leave us in his wake. Sure enough, as we hit the main Cape Henry trail, Drew sped up and was gone. I chatted to Joel for a short time, but soon found myself alone in 2nd place as we made the right turn on Kingfisher.

[First mile - Drew Midland, me, Joel Bell. We finished the race in the same order.]

The rest of the race was pretty much a solo effort. The sand on Long Creek slowed me down a little bit, which convinced me that Joel would soon make the catch and pass. It never happened though, and I ended up taking 2nd place in a fraction over 30 minutes, and at least a minute in front of the 3rd place guy Joel.

Post-race was fun hanging out with several good runner-friends. Hot Brunswick Stew and chili really hit the spot, and the hot chocolate made a great change from the usual water/weak Gatorade found at most of the smaller races.

Good fun, and a much needed blow out for the lungs and legs!

Sunday – most people wouldn’t call me a lazy runner, but if truth be told, my long runs of late have been more of a get-through-the-miles than a get-something-out-of-this-workout type of run. With just two weeks to go to the Cayman Islands Marathon I decided it was time to suffer a little and “nail a good one.” I set out at around 7:30am with my Garmin locked on a 7:00 minute/mile virtual pace and loaded up with a nuun-filled handheld, gel and some spare cash.

Considering we’re almost at the end of November, the weather was fantastic – singlet and shorts weather in fact. It was one of those runs that felt “right” from the very first mile. My GPS soon chirped to let me know I was ahead of goal pace, and from that moment on I never looked back. Mile 1 – 6:50. I quickly decided to turn this long run into an on & off workout – one mile comfortable, followed by one mile hard, repeated ten times. I’ve had success with this type of workout before, so figured it was worth a shot. Mile 2 – 6:33.

Mile 3 was another “off” mile, but I found it hard to slow to goal pace – 6:42. Mile 4 was a good one as I had a youngish couple on mountain bikes in the distance that I could chase down. The 6:15 mile put a smile on my face as it really felt effortless.

The rest of the run continued in the same vein, and I soon found myself approaching Rudee Inlet and the halfway mark of the run – 6:42 & 6:05, 6:33 & 6:09, 6:33 & 6:04. Time to hit the boardwalk….

I expected a stiff headwind heading north, but was treated to a cooling cross wind instead. 6:29 was the next “off” mile, followed by my fastest “on” mile of the morning – 5:59. A 6:32 & 6:03 carried me to the First Landing State Park entrance, where I was tempted to stop for a water fill up before setting off on the remaining five miles. I decided not to stop and pushed on to the finish instead.

The trail naturally slowed me down a little. I felt like I was still putting out the same effort level, but the mile splits tell a different story – 6:40 & 6:17, 6:35 & 6:19. Finally I was off the trail and back onto solid ground where I told myself to relax and enjoy the final couple of miles back to the car. I eased off a lot for a 6:50 19th mile, but had a second wind at the end and finished with a 6:11 mile.

Rarely have I had such a positive long run – 20 miles in 2:08:30. In fact, when I checked back through my old running log later in the afternoon, I determined this was my fastest ever 20 miler (aside from a 20 mile race in Spotsylvania several years ago). I still have a bit of running to do before race day finally arrives, but I’m really pleased with how things turned out today. Almost time to taper….

Course Description: Using all marked trails throughout First Landing State Park, runners will make two full 25 mile loops. Trails are primarily flat with varying terrain (sand, pine needles, wooden bridges, tree roots). Mostly runnable, there are a few sections that have technical short steep hills. Stunning water and trails views along the way. Terrain – 95% trail, 5% road.

Not sure where to start with this to be honest. I’d been *thinking* about this event for a while, but only signed up a couple of days before the race was due to take place. With the Cardiff Half Marathon and Marine Corps Marathon taking place later this month I knew recovery from a 50 mile race would be a bit hit or miss. However, in the end I decided a local, inaugural 50 Miler was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Priorities were to enjoy the event, the course and the ultra-camaraderie, but I also had a sneaky outside goal of breaking 7 hours. Probably a bit ambitious with my recent glute/groin issues, but what the heck, eh? I deliberately chose to not go public with the goal as I didn’t want this race to turn into a “pressure event” – turned out to be a good decision.

Pre-race I set my Garmin to beep every ten miles, alert me each hour (a reminder to take 3 Endurolyte capsules) and to just display average pace. I also set “Jonesy” (my virtual partner) at 8:24/mile pace – just fast enough to squeeze inside the 7 hour goal.

[And we're off.... Photo courtesy Ally Speirs]

I figured I’d probably go out too quick, and I was correct – 8:10 pace for the first 10 mile loop, but it felt.so.good. Perpetuem was my fuel of choice, but I’d also stashed an espresso gel (and the Endurolytes) into my hand held pouch for some emergency fuel if the need arose.

It was nice to have company for most of the first 25 mile loop. I ran about 18 miles with the female half of the 2 x 25 mile relay team. She was using the 25 Mile event as a long training run for Ironman Florida. We chatted about triathlon, running, nutrition and a variety of other topics, and the miles literally flew by. 2nd 10 mile split was 8:11 pace – again too quick, but once again it felt.so.good.

[Note: I did manage to cut my upper arm on a tree branch in the early miles, and also took an embarrassing tumble on one of the side trails - my first real trip on a tree root, and it all happened in slow motion just like the text books say. Luckily there was no damage (aside from sand all down the left side of my body), so I picked myself up and carried on running.

Not sure what happened at around the 18 mile mark. Without making any conscious effort, I picked up the pace and started to stretch things out. Deep down I knew it wasn't a wise move, but had a hard time dialing things back to my original goal. I didn't get a split for the half-way 25 mile mark, but finished in front of the relay lady, and also the 1st place runner in the 25 Mile event. Naturally I set off for the 2nd 25 mile lap a very confident runner...

My third 10 mile split came in at 7:40 pace - way too fast with 20 miles still to run. It was about this time that I realized the temperature had risen pretty quickly and I was sweating profusely. I brushed away a bug that was buzzing around my head and was horrified at the salt crystals that had formed on my neck. Despite taking a regular dose of Endurolytes I was a little scared that my electrolyte levels were off, and made sure to take in pretzels and chips at the next aid station. I never really felt thirsty, and the combination of my hand held w/ Perpetuem and water at the aid stations felt just about perfect.
I think it was the loneliness of the 4th 10 mile section that made me slow up. Yeah, I was getting tired, but I think I lost focus for a few miles and spent longer than normal at the aid stations making sure I took in plenty of salty snacks. I also had to make a stop in the woods for a short time, so this may have cost me a minute or two too! Anyway, 8:59 pace for the 10 miles. Hmmm....

With *just* 10 miles to go (5 of them on the tricky side trails of the park), I worked out I needed to roughly average 9 minute miles to break the sub-7:00 barrier. Sounds easy, but with 40 miles in the legs already, it was difficult to keep the cadence going. The next five miles were the toughest of the race. With "the win" almost guaranteed (I forgot to mention I was in 2nd place until about the 13 mile mark, after which I continued to put big time on my nearest challenger), the thought of backing off the pace and coasting home to the finish crossed my mind. Well, actually, the thought crossed my mind for just a split second before deciding to throw caution to the wind and just "go for it". However, I didn't/couldn't improve my pace on the Osprey & Cape Henry Trails, which left me 5 miles to cover in 45 minutes. Ugh.

I'd already ditched my hand held at this stage in the race (sick of carrying it), but knew there were 3 aid stations that I could grab water from if necessary. Come on, Steve; let's do it. Thankfully the Cape Henry Trail is marked every half mile, which I took full advantage of..... As each half mile passed, I found myself putting time in the bank, and with one mile to go was amazed that there were 12 minutes left to break the magic 7 hour mark.

[Managed to find a spring in my step for the final 100m... Photo courtesy Ally Speirs]

I cruised the last mile, thanked the final aid station volunteers for their help and support, and kicked it in for the finish. The clock displayed 6:56 something as I crossed the line, but to be honest was in my own little word and purely on auto-pilot. (8:49 pace for the final 10 btw…)

[Sub-7:00. Wow... Photo courtesy Crystal L. Santos Photography]

What a wonderful event, and what a very satisfying performance. Not really sure where I find the drive to keep pushing when the going gets tough, but hope it never goes away. Thanks to everyone for the continued support, wonderful comments and daily motivation – it really means so much. Thanks also to Final Mile Events for putting on a top notch event and to all the wonderful volunteers who gave up their Saturday to help out a bunch of crazy ultra runners.

By the way, the Gibbet 50 awards are probably the coolest I’ve seen at any race. Check out the light-up skull I won for being 1st place Male. Tremendous!!

[Accepting 1st Place Male award from Race Director Brenda Carawan... Photo courtesy Ally Speirs]

My only real goals heading into the race were (a) to finish and (b) hopefully set a new PR. The old one (3:59:56) had stood since 2003 and based on my recent marathon performances, I secretly expected to chip away a big chunk of time. However, looking back at my performance, I probably should have respected the distance a bit more and I definitely should have adjusted my race plan to account for the challenging conditions.

The early pace felt comfortable and I soon found myself isolated in about fifth place overall with my personal pre-race favorites (Ryan Carroll and Tommy Holland) clear in front, an unknown guy who blasted out at a seemingly suicidal pace in third and marathon-pacer supreme Tommy Neeson in fourth.

The first 3.4 mile leg down the exceedingly wet and muddy Cape Henry Trail wasn’t too bad, and it actually felt like one of my usual weekend long runs. Just after mile three I stopped to re-tie a shoelace, quickly breezed through the first aid station (no need for fuel at this stage in the race) and made the right turn onto 64th Street and up to The Narrows. Typically I avoid this section of road if I can at all help it; the camber is quite severe on both sides of the road and I still vividly remember a painful long run back in 2006 where an ITB issue flared up and I had to walk miles back to my car at the other end of the trail.

At the turnaround at the top of the road I couldn’t understand how I’d seemingly moved into fourth spot, but it was soon apparent that Tommy N had been forced to make an early pit stop. Through the aid station and back onto the trail I soon noticed how muddier it was; I guess almost a couple of hundred runners and a nor’easter will do that do a trail. I still felt good though, and my mile splits pretty consistent.

I reached the end of the trail (and the other well-manned and enthusiastic aid station) in good time and felt pleased that the race was already one third done. Despite the rain still lashing down, temps were fairly stable in the 40°Fs and the tree-lined trail offered a good deal of protection from the wind. I reminded myself how bad it could have been and set off on my second out-and-back.

Somewhere on this stretch of the trail, I caught Tommy N and moved into third place. Looking back at my splits, I expended way too much effort at this stage of the race – we weren’t even halfway done and I was knocking off splits in the 6:30 to 6:40 range. Very foolish. It wasn’t intentional, and looking back I should have been more in tune with my pace. I’m not one to make excuses, but a dodgy Garmin 405 in the rain wasn’t helping much though.

The handheld bottle of Perpetuem seemed to be doing its job as my primary fuel source, so I breezed through the aid station once again and headed up towards The Narrows. Halfway up the road, I was somewhat surprised to see that high tide had kicked in and about a 50m section of pavement was now flooded. I splashed my way through, enjoyed the cooling sensation of the chilly water and pressed on to the turnaround where I was surprised to see Ryan C and Tommy H not that far in front of me. Either they’d slowed down some or I’d picked up the pace a bit too much. It turned out to be the latter….

The next surprise came at around 19 miles; Ryan C was walking and not looking great. I asked if I could help, but Ryan said he was dehydrated and encouraged me to keep pushing. (I guess a couple of sleepless nights while your wife is having a baby will do that to you. Congrats Ryan and thanks for your support on Saturday).

Now I found myself in second place overall and at the mile 20 aid station still felt very strong. With only one out-and-back remaining, a big PR was there for the taking. However, and this is quite a big however, a couple of miles down the trail the wheels totally fell off. My left ITB flared up, so I stopped to stretch it out. The stretch helped, but the stopping didn’t and I found it really difficult to get going again. To make matters worse, Tommy N soon breezed by to retake second spot. I dug deep to stay with him for a while but the pace was too quick and I soon lost enough ground to start thinking about holding onto third place.

At the aid station I grabbed a handful of pretzels and a cup of Gatorade. The sweet and salty combo perked me up a little, but the ITB was not happy and I found myself snaking along the road trying to find the best/least painful route. I really couldn’t help but walk every half mile or so to keep the angle of the knee joint to a minimum. To make matters worse, the flooded section of road was now about 100m long and at least a foot deep and wading through the water was definitely a challenge. Muscles were starting to scream with the extra resistance….

On the way back I made sure to avoid the water and navigate a path through the trees on the side of the road, but it must have been comical to see me hacking my way through the branches looking for a spot to exit at the other end. In my head I was trying to work out how many miles remained and what pace I had to run/walk to break four hours. I couldn’t do the math so just pressed on looking for the guy in fourth place who I was certain would be chasing me down.

I stopped again at the aid station, stretched and grabbed some trail mix/Mountain Dew. I even stopped for a quick chat with local ultrarunner Joe Wood and started talking about the Holiday Lake 50K and next year’s HAT Run. What I was thinking, I’m not quite sure, but I soon realized I had less than four miles to run and I better get moving.

The last four miles are very much a blur. I do remember feeling cold, hungry and sore, so I made a deal with myself that I would walk a minute every half mile. I shuffled along from mile post to mile post; first the 3, then the 2.5, then the 2 etc. I kept reminding myself how many times I’d run this trail and tried to conjure up some positive vibes from the past. If nothing else, it helped pass the time and finally I found myself at the end of the trail facing a left turn and about half a mile of pavement down to the finish line. I continued the shuffle and told myself no more walking, although I did manage a couple of sneaky looks to make sure I wouldn’t be caught. And there it was in the distance – the finish line banner and clock reading 3:56 something. I crossed the line, came to an abrupt standstill and thanked the volunteers who had braved the awful conditions.

I ended up sitting in a warm RV for about 15 minutes. I didn’t realize how cold I was until I stopped moving, and looking back think I must have been that way for the last eight miles. Shivers took over and the tingling sensation in the hands/feet wasn’t pleasant, but it felt SO good to change into some dry clothes and munch on a couple of chocolate chip cookies. By the way, thanks Fess for ferrying me back to the aid station to collect my drop bag, getting me to the comfort of Gene B’s RV and then dropping me back at my car. Think post-race recovery would have been even uglier if you weren’t around to help.

So, in the end I got my PR (by the small margin of about three minutes). I also hung on for third place overall and won a rather cool award — probably the best quality award I’ve ever won. On reflection, the Seashore Nature Trail 50K was one of the toughest races I’ve ever run; partly because of the conditions and partly because of my very poor race strategy. I learned a lot and hopefully will be a lot wiser when next year’s HAT Run rolls around. It’s also been a challenging five weeks — two sub-3:00 marathons and a tough 50K — so recovery is definitely the name of the game for the next couple of weeks. Happy Holidays everyone!

50K Results — thanks to TidewaterStriders.com
Event Photos — thanks to TriDuo.com
My Photos

Latest forecast: temperatures will be in the low to mid 40s during the night/early morning, but then getting colder and dropping into the mid 30s by late morning.

Winds will be out of the north east at around 25-40 mph with gusts. Rainfall may reach one inch (which could make the Narrows section of the Cape Henry Trail *interesting* to say the least).

My only other *ultra* experiences were back in 2002/2003 at an unofficial 50K staged at First Landing State Park. I managed to duck under the magic 4 hour mark on my second attempt, so that will probably make a sensible goal tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy a celebratory Samichlaus on Saturday night as I toast a new PR.

Link to 2003 Virginia Beach 50K results.

List of Seashore Nature Trail 50K entrants (as of 12/17/09)

Event logo design by me. I’m curious to see how it looks on the tech shirt and other race merchandise….

I arrived in plenty of time, registered, chatted with friends for a while before heading off on a two mile warm up. I timed the warm up to end a few minutes before the event start time, but must have incorrectly read the flyer and ended up having to wait an extra 15 minutes for the race to start. Oh well, judging by the quality field that had assembled on the start line, I wasn’t in with a chance of winning anything anyway!

The 5k course is quite a fast one — Virginia Beach flat with not too many turns and for the most part a good view of the runners ahead of you. The first mile marker was a little off (according to my Garmin anyway) and I think I was in about 12th place with a 5:48 mile split. The rest of the race was all about staying strong and maintaining good form.

I really don’t have any speed in my legs at the moment, so it was more a case of gutting out the distance and minimizing the fade as much as possible. The pic on the left is me in the last tenth of a mile, trying to stay ahead of the fast-finishing guy behind. I look better than I felt!

Despite the fade in the last two miles, I finished in 18:37 (a fraction under 6:00/mile pace) and picked up 3rd in the 40-49 age group. I think I was 9th overall, so not too bad a performance, but definitely plenty of work to do to regain my earlier season speed. Patience, patience, patience…

Sunday morning was long run morning. Thankfully the high humidity of Saturday had gone away and been replaced by cooler temps and a nice breeze. I wasn’t sure how far to run — Ally was planning a 20 miler in her build up to the Richmond Marathon; I figured I’d try for an even paced 15 or 16, with an outside chance of 18 if everything felt good.

I’m still on the fence about Richmond — I’m entered in the marathon but after being out six weeks with the stress fracture am not in any shape to race it. I could run it as a training run in the build up to the Seashore Nature Trail 50K, or I could switch down to the half marathon that takes place on the same morning as the marathon. At least I have some time to decide, so I guess I’ll wait a few more weeks to see how training progresses.

Anyway, back to the Sunday run. Before leaving the house I consumed by usual Sustained Energy liquid breakfast, topped off a spare water bottle to sip on the drive to the park and packed some Recoverite for after the run. I also picked up a Hammer Gel “just in case” I needed it on the run…

Before hitting First Landing State Park, I ran several miles on North Great Neck Road and by the time I’d reached the Visitor Center had logged ten miles. I stopped briefly to grab a drink and chatted briefly to JP and CB who were running some of the Seashore Nature Trail 50K course. Daughter Shannon was also at the Visitor Center – two miles in to her longest run for some time….

Feeling surprisingly good, I headed off down the main trail, thinking about Richmond, the 50K and some other stuff. Before I knew it I’d reached the 64th Street entrance, and with the sun in my eyes nearly bumped into Tim and Paul who were heading up the trail in the other direction. I decided it was a good time for a gel, chatted briefly to Ally who was 9 miles into her run and doing well. After a quick drink, I headed off towards the Narrows to continue the run but soon veered off the trail and thought it best to head back to the main Visitor Center and then back to the car which would give me a total of about 19 or 20 miles.

I think the gel must have kicked in at some point and my pace continued to quicken. My legs felt great and I started to think about extending the long run some more. The moment of truth came at the guard hut on the main entrance road where I could have turned left to run the two miles back to the car — instead I chose the right turn which would snake me back to the Visitor Center and the main Cape Henry Trail.

At this point I had the crazy idea of running 26.2 miles and plotted out a route in my mind that would give me the marathon distance. The last four or five miles went well. I half expected to hit a wall of some sort, but it never came; in fact, my 25th mile was the fastest of the day. I arrived back at the car in good shape, chugged down my Recoverite and stretched.

I’m still no closer to a decision about Richmond, but today was a great confidence booster and an interesting experiment. My foot felt (and still feels) great, and aside from a few aches and pains around the groin/hip area, it doesn’t feel like I just ran a marathon.

Splits from the run can be found at the Garmin Connect web site.

For the record: 26.2 miles — 3:14:40

Still happy with eight miles in just under an hour, but I’ll need to treat the foot tonight and hope that it clears up before Sunday’s long run.

The image below shows me running off the bike path and state route 343 on the way out which was definitely not the case. The track on the way back is accurate though, so maybe I picked up a better signal as the run went on?

Anyway, none of the miles were easy and I find myself still struggling for any kind of “decent” form. I’m sure the running efficiency will return in time, but right now I feel very ungainly. Probably explains several of the new aches and pains I keep developing.

Nice to finish the month out with a longish run though, and 15 days of running and 88 miles is a lot better than I could have anticipated at the beginning of the month when I was still wearing the Aircast boot for my stress fracture. Here’s to an even better October!

Update: stats for the person who requested more details –

10.25 miles in 1:15:52
Splits: 8:08 8:16 7:47 7:47 6:57 7:25 7:16 6:44 6:58 6:45

So, another 60+ mile week and things are looking pretty good. I’m exactly halfway through the 20 week plan and after a quick sneak ahead, I notice there are some VERY tough weeks ahead of me. Make or break time is approaching. I just hope I can keeps things ticking along….