Too Many Hills?

In the summer of 2009, I had a great time running on the Appalachian Trail every Friday. I had soccer on Tuesday and Thursday nights and then on Friday morning I would hit the trails. After a few weeks of this pattern of exercise, my left knee started bothering me. If I stayed on top of my stretches, leg lifts, and foam roller, my knee would not feel too bad while running the trails. My knee would never feel bad while playing soccer. Sometimes during a long trail run with lots of up and downs, my knee would start to throb a lot. I continued running and playing soccer because I seemed to be able to manage the pain with the special exercises.

Towards the end of the summer, I had decided I would not be ready for the 50K in September so I decided to try for the Richmond Marathon. Also sometime during the summer, my brother Tom called me and recommended the book, "Born to Run." After speaking with my brother I went out to the bookstore that night. I saw the book, read the jacket, and bought the book. I devoured the book. Without going into too much detail, the author of "Born to Run" is a strong proponent of barefoot running. I was sold. His science was sound and this was not the first time I had heard something about barefoot running. When you learn to run barefoot or with minimalist shoes, you can prevent the injuries that many runners encounter.

While I was sold on barefoot running, my knee throbbing was getting worse. And I was having some other issues with the knee besides when I ran. Taking my shoes and socks off would sometime aggravate my knee. It seems I was a little too late into the game of barefoot running. I decided it was time for one of the D's. Runner try to avoid Drivers, Dogs, and Doctors but I liked my doctor so I decided it was worth a trip.

Dr. Law examined me and told me that I had patellar tendonitis and prescribed no hill running, ibuprofen, glucosamine, and told me to ice immediately after running. I followed his advice for several weeks but my knee was not getting better. So I went back. He decided to send me to physical therapy.

On my first visit to the therapist, the doctor grabbed his video camera and took me outside to record me running. I was very pleased that he was taking this approach. I thought that my issues were biomechanical in nature and when he showed me the video, it proved me right. He put the video into some software on his laptop that allowed him to watch it is super slow motion and draw on the screen. He showed me my terrible running form and explained how it probably lead to my knee pain.

The doctor told me no running, biking, or soccer for 6 weeks. He also gave me some exercises to do. I broke it to my Fall soccer team. We had just started the fall season and I had played in only 3 games. It was a bummer but I was determined to follow the doctors orders.

After 6 weeks and no progress, the doctor told me it might be time for surgical consult. I called Dr. Law's office and let them know. The PT doctor faxed Dr. Law's office his report and they started the ball rolling on an MRI. The MRI is a tool that is used to find out what is really going on inside the body.

Before the company that does the MRI called me to set it up, I had a bizarre thing happen. I was sitting in the garden as I could not squat because of my left knee pain. I had my right knee slightly bent with my foot on the ground. All of the sudden, I felt and heard a pop in my right knee. What made it bizarre was I was I had put my body through some tough challenges and here I get injured doing practically nothing.

This new injury happened on a Saturday and only got worse over the weekend. By Monday, I could hardly walk. Each step was extremely painful. Getting up and sitting down was also painful. I went to my doctor on Monday who examined me and decided he thought I had torn my meniscus. After examining me, I noticed that Dr. Law had a strange look on his face. He was sort of staring off into space trying to figure out how in the world I had done this while sitting in the garden.

Dr. Law's office made sure that my MRI would be on both of my knees and the company called to schedule my MRI. But first we had to go on our Thanksgiving vacation. Each year we go up to the Philadelphia area to spend time with Melissa's family. We always get a good turn out and it is always great to see everyone and catch up. Another thing we do is the Gobble Wobble 5K on Thanksgiving morning. This year, I would watch and take pictures because there was not way I could run as I could barely walk and was in lots of pain.

To be continued.

A Little Mountain Running

After the Riverrock in May of 2009, I was feeling pretty good. I continued my normal activities of riding my bike and running. I did not have any daily fitness goals and I was not necessarily paying too close attention to other aspects of being fit. I probably could have been eating better and getting better sleep but really I was probably healthier than a lot of people so I really could not complain. But I did want to do an ultra marathon someday and I had one on the calendar that I had not signed up for yet so I had a lot of work to do yet. Before signing up for the Ultra. I decided to do some training first to see if I could build up the miles.

During the summer, we work 4 ten hour days with Fridays off. In 2009, it was my first summer with this new schedule. I decided I would get up early on Fridays and drive to the Shenandoah National park to run on the Appalachian trail. I was also playing summer soccer. We would play Tuesday and Thursday nights after work and then Friday I was up early and out the door to drive to the mountains.

The drive from Richmond to the SNP is a very easy Interstate drive. Once you get past the West End of Richmond, there is not much traffic. I would listen do a jamming CD and fuel up with granola, banana, bagel, and Red Bull. When I got to the park, there was hardly anyone there. I often saw deer along the road as I drove to the trail head of the week.

My intent is not to detail each of my runs but rather just give you some of the highlights. I ran variable mileage but my time was usually about the same. I usually ran about 2 hours. Most of the time I was the only one on the trail. Every now and then I would run into a thru hiker-a hiker hiking the AT from Georgia to Maine. Sometimes I would chat with them briefly about their hike before taking off up or down the mountain.

I always enjoyed seeing wildlife and I always had my camera with me to snap a few pictures if I came across anything interesting. Here are a couple of pics.

Not too exciting but still interesting to me.

The most interesting animal I saw was not the kind that has you reaching for your camera. I was running up a climb that I had done a few times when all the sudden there was a big black bear about 10 yards in front of me right in the middle of the trail. The bear saw me and trotted a few feet off the trail. I kept running. Not sure why. I could still see the bear just a few feet off the trail. He just watched me run by. The bear did not look scared but rather curious. We actually made eye contact. It was a strange experience. I just nodded my head as if it was just another stranger on the trail. Everything you read about black bear encounters emphasize that you should not run from bears as running will cause them to chase you down. And I knew that. But it just seemed natural to keep running. Nationwide there have been 60+ black bear fatalities in the last 100 years and black bears rarely bother people. In fact, Melissa and I saw multiple bears every day of our 7 day hike in 2007. In all but one case, the bears saw us first and always ran away. But still, it is a bear and you just never know.

This particular bear was not the only bear I saw on my many runs in the mountains. But he was the closest I have ever been to a bear. Mostly I saw deer and the occasional turtle and of course the snail in the above picture.

I mentioned the thru hikers that I came across. One day I came across a dirty looking hiker by himself. He had a full pack and looked like a thru hiker. I made some noise as I approached him so as not to startle him. As I passed him, I said my usual greeting of "how's it going?" The guy responded, "could be better" in a pathetic sounding voice. I was a little worried for the guy so I slowed down and looked him in the eye and said, "Are you doing ok?" Just then, he started a diatribe of crazy talk. I will leave out some of the bad words one of the things he said was that he was living in a sea of human filth and being held against his will. That was only part of his rant. I laughed nervously as people do sometimes in these situations (a topic covered in quackenblogger.blogspot.com). And then I sped off into the woods.

This guy seemed a little nuts and I did not really feel like finding out if that was true. So I took off, scurrying down the trail, hopping over logs and really putting distance between us. He had a full pack so I doubted he could keep up. Plus I was pretty fit at the time and there were probably not too many people out there who could have caught me. I chose a turnaround point where the trail crosses the road. I went down the road a little and waited for him to cross the road. He was hiking pretty fast so I did not have to wait long. Then I reversed my direction and ran back to the car. What a strange encounter.

Whenever I returned to the car after my AT runs, I always felt so great. I stretched and drank my chocolate milk and changed out of my clothes. I did what swimmers call a "deck change" which entails wrapping a beach towel around your body and changing underneath it. There was never anyone around anyway. Then I would sit for a while and listen to the sounds of the park and then head on home.

After several weeks of doing these runs, I realized that I did not have it in me to do the ulra so I decided I would go for the Richmond Marathon. I had a great base of summer training that would set me up nicely for the marathon.

Before I finish this installment, I want to give you a link to one of my runs. You can see the path I took and the elevation changes. I record all my runs on my GPS and then upload them to a website. It is fun.

This particular run was one of my longer runs although not my longest. The longest was a 14 miler. It took 3 hours and when I was done, I was pretty spent but also felt amazing.

Next time I will talk about some of the pitfalls of mountain running.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/10683098

TIme to Redeem Myself

After my disappointing performance at the 2009 Duo, I was pleased to hear about another set of races coming up in Richmond. The Richmond Riverrock festival was coming in May. There was going to be "The Scramble" which is a 10K trail race, the "Urban Assualt" which is the mountain bike race, a 5K Mud Run, trials riding competition, and even a dog jumping contest.

I was pretty excited about the whole thing. I signed up for the 10K Scramble and the Urban Assault. The run would be in the morning and the mountain bike race at noon. They were separate races and I would be in a minority of people doing both races but I looked at this as a golden opportunity to redeem myself. Also I knew a bunch of people doing the Scramble so that would be fun too.

I had never done the Scramble but I knew the course from running Xterra. The course has some creek crossings, the Myan Ruins, some wicked stairs, some muddy trails, and a grassy finish on Brown's Island with a jamming band.

I started out pretty strong and was able to keep a pretty good pace throughout the race. This was not a normal 10K so I would be lucky to finish in 1 hour. Towards the end of the race, I was really feeling great and passed a lot of people in the woods and finished strong with a 59:19-just under 1 hour. I felt pretty good about it.

After the Scramble, I hung out for a little on the Island but then went back to get my bike and gear and rehydrate. I drank some chocolate milk, and gatorade and ate some pickles and powergels, and bananas. Then I was off to the starting line.

They did wave starts and my wave was near the end. The race pace was fast and furious from the very beginning and I was instantly in last place. I was not going to push it real hard. Mostly I just wanted to race the course again and finish strong. This time around I did not have any cramps, I could breathe fine, and while I was a little spent from the 10K, I was able to finish strong in 1:47:34. I even had a great sprinting finish and managed to finish about 10th from last. I was fine with my performance. While I love to ride, I have never been what you would call a strong rider so I could really not expect to finish much higher in the standings.

I felt like I had redeemed myself. But at the same time, I did not know anyone at the finish line and was pretty much ready to go home. So I rode my bike back to the van and headed home.

It felt good to have a good day of racing and I started to think about what my next race would be. I had always wanted to do an ultra marathon so I started looking around on the Internet for a race. I found a September trail race that was a 50k in Northern Virginia. I decided I would see if I could ramp up for this race and then use the Richmond Marathon as a fall back race.

When training for a trail race, it is always a good idea to run trails. And I had a unique opportunity to do a lot of trail running. During the summer, we work 4 1o hour days with every Friday off. This would give me ample opportunity to run trails on Fridays and still have the weekends free to do other things.

In my next installment I will talk about my adventures running the Appalachian Trails in the Shenandoah National Park. Stay tuned.

2009 Race Season

After our Rim to Rim hike in the Grand Canyon, we returned to Richmond to resume our standard routines. We flew back on a Saturday and I went back to work on Monday. Returning from a vacation and going back to work is always difficult. Except for this time. Right before going to the Grand Canyon, I had put in my two weeks notice at my job and would be starting a new job in a week. So going back to work for my final week was not so bad.

After work Monday I had a co-ed soccer game. I felt great and had a blast playing that night. I did not seem to be able to tire out no matter how much I ran. Sometimes this happens to me after taking some time off from soccer. As long as I am still in good condition, I often come back from a break refreshed and on top of my game. I think that was the best game of the season that Fall.

As the fall season came to a close, I decided to put together an indoor soccer team for the winter. Indoor Soccer is fast and furious and I have a great time when I play. In indoor soccer there is no time to rest. We pretty much sprint the whole time. We had a great bunch of guys on our team and overall we had a descent season. We started out slow and I can't remember what our exact record was but we won more games than we lost so that was nice.

The only problem with playing indoor soccer was our games sometimes stated pretty late, sometimes not until 11:00 PM. I did not like exerting myself so late at night. After a late night game, it often took me several hours to wind down and fall asleep. Sometimes I would be up until 2 in the morning, just trying to relax. That always put a damper on the weekend activities like mountain biking, hiking, etc.

Towards the end of January 2009 it was once again time to start Team Epiphany, our church's 10K training team. Our first Saturday training room was a little light. A lot of people decided to stay home that day. After all, it was 5 degrees when we went to run that morning. Luckily it was not windy at all. With the right gear, running in the cold is not too bad. Especially when you have fellow runners with which to participate.

My training that season was really uneventful. I did my Saturday runs and weekly workouts but I was not as excited about it for some reason. It would have been pretty difficult for me to improve my time without some serious focused training and I was not really ready for 800 repeats on the track each week.

I ran the 10k in 2009 in 47:33 which was about a minute and a half slower than I had run the previous year. I can't really explain why I ran that much slower. Running the Monument is fun but that said, it was not a race that favored me and my psyche. The Monument race goes West on Monument Avenue in Richmond for about 3 miles and then turns around and comes back East. The course is very flat and while there are lots of cheering fans, actual cheer leading squads, bands, and plenty of people to run with, I always feel alone out there. I am running my own pace and there is never anyone running the same pace that I am. Each time I run it, I have moments when I feel like just slowing down to a jog and cruising. But I don't. I slog through it.

I would have finished even slower in 2009 except I ran into someone from my soccer team who was pushing hard, struggling to finish strong. I ran with her for the last mile, pushing her and encouraging her to keep going. We both finished strong and she nearly collapsed after the race. I helped her walk for a bit until she met up with her friends. She had her own cheering squad there with posters and everything.

After the Monument Avenue 10K, I started focusing on the upcoming National Duathlon Championship again. I had been also training for this race in tandem with my 10K training. I had done some long rides and ridden the course a lot more than I had in 2008. My training was going much better than it had the previous year. One thing that helped was that some friends of mine would be running the race as a duo. Mario would ride the bike and Jeff would run the two run parts of the race. The duo relay is nice for those people who want to compete but may lack the biking skill or trail running skill necessary to do the whole race.

In addition to riding the mountain bike course several time's, I had also been running the trails a lot. I felt very good about the upcoming race. But then I had a setback. My allergies started acting just over a week before the race. I could not stop coughing and had to go to the doctor. The doctor put my on Zyrtek which I still take today and also had me taking MusinexD and nasal spray. The medication made me feel pretty lousy. It helped with my allergies but the medicine made me feel drowsy at times and hyper at other times.

On race day, I felt a lot better but I was not nearly feeling as good as I needed to for this difficult race. Oh well, I had hoped this year would be better than the last year. Boy was I wrong. About half way through the first lap of the 10k, I had to stop and walk. I was only about 20 minutes into the race. I just could not get enough oxygen. This was something entirely new for me. Usually my legs will give out first-never my lungs. I had great lung capacity and even had my VO2 Max tested a few years before which confirmed that I indeed had great lung capacity. But on this day, I just could not breathe. My allergies and all the medicines were taking their toll. But I kept going of course.

After the 10K, I was at the back of the pack. I got on my bike and thought that the bike should be a little easier than the run. I did ok on the bike all things considered. I had to push my bike up the steepest hills but I was able to make it through over half of the course in not too bad a shape. But towards the end of the bike course, I was hurting. I had run out of gas. Mostly because I could not get enough oxygen. My legs had nothing left. I even had to walk my bike up the smallest of inclines towards the end of the bike course.

I came into transition and sat down in my chair to change my shoes. I bit off a tiny piece of banana. Uh Oh! I felt like I was going to puke. So I decided to forgo the banana. At this point, I was considering dropping out. Melissa later said that she could tell I was hurting pretty bad. This was definitely the worst I had ever felt in a race. Well, I only had a 5K to run so I decided to go for it. I took off on my trot out of the transition zone, heading for Belle Island.

Did I mention that it was a very hot day. Besides the obvious effects the heat has on the body during competition, I also had to deal with all the drunk Richmonders who flock to the river on hot days. The bridge going over to Belle Island was packed with people with their beer guts, tattoos, and bikinis. I had to run around a lot of people who were not very nice about getting out of the way. But the race went through a public park and almost all the competitors were finished by this time anyway.

I did a lot of walking and some trotting. Basically I ran as much as I could and then walked to catch by breath and then ran some more. I finally made it back to the finish. I walked until I could see the finish line. I then picked up the pace. As I approached the finish line, there was big group of Duo athletes who had already finished and were hanging out. They all rose and cheered as I came into the finishing area. That really pumped me up and I was able to run hard across the finish line.

I stumbled over to the medical tent where someone gave me an ice cold towel for the back of my neck. I sipped my water and sat there for about 10 or 15 minutes before standing up. I felt ok. Now that I had stopped running and had cooled off some, I was feeling better. Melissa helped me collect my things for the long walk back to the car. It took us quite some time as I had to rest every so often. There were a few times when I had to stop and sit so I did not pass out. But again, I felt ok but every now and then a wave would wash over me, stopping me in my tracks.

My 2009 Duo finishing time was 4:40:58. It had taken me an hour to do the last 5K. Wow. I was over an hour slower than the previous year despite the more training. The allergies flare up had really cost me. Oh well, I guess there was always next year.

Next time. Redeeming myself. Another opportunity to run and ride in the same day.

The Grand Canyon is Indeed Grand

In September of 2008 after a summer of training hard, we were ready to go to the Grand Canyon for our epic Rim to Rim hike. In addition to the physical training, we had planned our trip pretty meticulously. We had been to the Grand Canyon twice already and we were familiar with all the great things to see on the way up to the Canyon.

I had typed up a detailed itinerary for each day as well as a more general itinerary. The itineraries, permits, maps, hotel and car rental receipts were all sorted by day and in their special envelope that I would carry with me in my carry-on. We were uber prepared.

We flew to Phoenix and met up with Mark and Vicki and then drove our rental car to Flagstaff for a stop at Peace Surplus so Vicki and Mark could rent gear. We then stayed the night in a hotel in Flagstaff very close to some train tracks which was conveniently not in the brochure for the hotel. Surprisingly the trains did not really keep us up.

The next day we drove north towards the Grand Canyon. But rather than take the direct route, we took the scenic route through Sunset Crater National Monument, Wapatki National Monument, and the Painted Desert. We took our time and stopped to see all the Native American Ruins and take lots of photos. Driving through that desert is always amazingly peaceful. There are not many cars and when you stop the car and walk up to the ruins, it is so very quiet and still. Each time I go, I always imagine the native people who lived there. I imagine them working the fields, playing their ball games, telling stories and communing with the earth. It is nice to get away from the business of tv, computers, phones, traffic, and all the other excesses we normally encounter each day. It is a very nice break.

We arrived at the Grand Canyon and had our first view at Desert View. I will let the picture speak for me now.

We checked into our hotel and then took in some more views.

We spent the night on the South Rim and the next day took a 5 hour shuttle to the North Rim. We drove through miles and miles of very remote territory and several Navajo reservations. It was a very long and sometime bumpy drive. We did stop a few times but by the time we got there I was dying to get out of the van.

We spend another night in a hotel on the North Rim. Then finally the next morning we donned our Backpacks for our hike down into the Canyon. Below is a picture of Melissa and I at about 7:30 AM at the trail head.

Our first leg of our hike was 7 miles and was all down down down. From the trail head to our first campsite we descended just over 4000 feet. The scenery was incredible and really indescribable. The Grand Canyon is so vast and awesome in the true sense of the word. But it is also HOT. Very hot. And since it is very dry, you don' t realize how much water you are losing. It is very important to drink all the time and eat salty snacks whenever you stop for a rest. We were prepared for that and made sure to drink lots of water and eat lots of snacks whenever possible. We did not see too many people on the way down. It was Great!

After 7 miles of backpacking down 4000 feet in the hot hot hot weather, I was pretty pooped. Our campsite at Cottonwood was very cozy. The best part about the campground was the freezing cold creek. Vicki, Melissa, and I all sat in the creek for about 30 to 45 minutes. It was very cold but it was so therapeutic. Not only did it cool us off but it was just like an ice bath. I have been known to take ice baths after long training runs to aid in recovery. It really helps you bounce back and this cold water soak was key in allowing us to press on the next day without any pain.

On day 2, we continued our descent. It was another 7 miles to the bottom of the Canyon but this time we only had about 2500 feet to descend. We took a side trail to Ribbon Falls which was an oasis in the desert. Ribbon fall is a must if you ever hike the North Kaibab trail. You can climb up behind the water fall for some really excellent photo opportunities.

After Ribbon Falls we continued down. We had started very early in the morning to beat the heat. The last part of the hike is very hot. There is not much shade at all and in the heat of the afternoon, the last part of the trail goes through a canyon that traps all the heat. It can get up to 120 degrees or more in this section referred to as "the box."

Before getting to the Box we continued through some very interesting terrain. And the desert is so darn quiet. I loved it. Don't get me wrong, I like people but sometimes getting away from everyone is nice.

After we arrived at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, we set up our campsite at the Bright Angel Campsite next to Bright Angel Creek. We then walked a short way up to Phantom Ranch where there are some cabins, other structures, and a little snack bar with tables. We got some lemonades and sat in the shade sipping away, very relaxed, and a little sore. After hanging out for a while, we went down to the creek and sat in the creek for a while. The creek was not quite as cold down here at the bottom of the canyon but it was still therapeutic.

We were staying two nights at the bottom so we had plenty of time to recover and relax. It was very nice to be able to just chill out and take in all the sites. There were two ranger presentations that we attended. One was about the Civilian Conservation Corps who built all the campsites and trails throughout the park. It was quite interesting and the ranger had some great old photos of the CCC at work. The second presentation later that night was about bats. This presentation was also very interesting. The ranger had a device that could record the bats in flight and allow you to hear them hunting for their insect dinners.

The following day, Mark and I went on a morning hike. We went up a very steep trail that put us up high above the Colorado river with great views of both the silver and black foot suspension bridges. I was so glad that we did this hike. We did not see anyone along the trail and there were so many vistas. I could have spent all day just sitting and gazing across the canyon.

After Mark and I were done with our morning hike, we hooked back up with Melissa and Vicki and did an afternoon hike. There is a short 2 mile hike that crosses both foot bridges and has some great views of the Colorado including a little beach right along the Colorado. Here is a picture of me attempting a yoga pose in my boots.

After our day hikes we attended another Ranger program. A different ranger gave a great presentation about the geology and creation of the Grand Canyon. It was a very informative presentation with the added bonus of being pretty funny. The young ranger was almost like a stand up comic in his presentation. Who would have thought you would find such a presentation all the way down a the bottom of the vast Grand Canyon.

The next day we started our ascent. We would be doing our climb out of the Grand Canyon in two days. Our first leg would take us about 3.2 miles and 1400 feet up to the Indian Gardens Campground. Indian Gardens is quite plush and for some reason a little cooler. We made the ascent to Indian Gardens, setup camp and had lunch. Then we went on a day hike to Plateau point. This was a nice leisurely walk of about 1.5 miles with little elevation change. Plateau Point has lots of colorful scenic vistas and is a must if you are doing the Bright Angel trail. Below is a picture from the trail.

We stayed out on Plateau Point for quite some time-taking in all the ambiance. It was cloudy which actually was a good thing since there is no shade at all on the hike out or when you get there.

After our day hike we went to bed very early. The last part of our hike would take us up many switchbacks and we wanted to get an early start. At 4:30 AM, we got up, broke camp and headed for our last climb up to the top of the South Rim. Melissa and I had done this portion of the trail before and we knew it was not easy. It was up, up, up, up. Out last leg would take us up 3000 feet in just over 4 miles.

Interestingly enough we felt great. We had beat the heat by leaving early in the morning and we had trained so well. We took our time so we could enjoy all the sites. As we got closer to the top of the South Rim, we started to see more people doing day hikes down. We must have looked pretty rough and smelled pretty bad but people still stopped to ask us about our hike. We chatted up a lot of people during the last 1.5 miles up. Before we knew it, we had reached the top. And it was not even lunch time yet. We felt a great sense of accomplishment but at the same time a little sad that our hike was over and we were closer to going back to our normal lives.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip.

We had trained well, planned well, and had a wonderful trip. I highly recommend it to everyone. If you ever want to know more about planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, please let me know.

Training for Something Different

After the duathlon, I took some time off from racing. But my exercise and training did not stop. I continued to ride my bike here and there but my focus shifted from running and riding to getting ready for our Grand Canyon trip. My wife Melissa and I were flying out to Phoenix in early September where we would meet up with Melissa's wife Vicki and her husband Mark. We would then rent a car and drive to the Grand Canyon for a Rim to Rim hike. It had all the potential for an epic adventure-everything from 120 degree hiking with full packs down deep into the Canyon to beautiful scenery and the tranquility of enjoying nature with no crowds.

Let me clarify that the South Rim of the Grand Canyon has plenty of crowds and we would be staying one night at the South Rim but then we would take a 5 hour shuttle around the canyon to the less popular North Rim. After a night there, we planned to hike down into the Canyon. Melissa and I had hiked down into the Canyon a few years earlier but not all the way to the bottom. This time we would be taking our time and doing 4 nights below the Rim.

Before going though we had to train and the best way to train for a rigorous backpacking trip is to go backpacking. Fortunately for us, we live not too far from the Blue Ridge mountains and the Shenandoah National Park. We love the park and each year we get a season pass and we always get our moneys worth.

I did some online research to find some places that were relatively close to our house so we could drive out early Saturday morning and get an all day hike in and perhaps do an overnight and get a hike in on Sunday. We did a few very vigorous hikes in the heat of the summer to try to acclimate to the heat. The Grand Canyon temperatures would be very high and we had to get used to it. Virginia weather can get be quite hot although we have a lot more humidity than they do out in Arizona.

One particular hike was really tough. On July 26th we went on what we call the Austin Furnace Mountain hike. We packed our packs heavier than we would need for a day hike to simulate the amount of weight we would have on our Grand Canyon trip. We had our tent, sleeping bags, etc although we ended up doing just a day hike. But it was quite a hike. We covered 11.23 miles over the course of about 8 and half hours. There was a lot of elevation loss and gain and a large portion of our climb was totally exposed to the sun. We had some of those moments where we just had to stop, stand, and catch our breath-no shade, and no where to sit down. The trail was not wide by any means so up we climbed single file. Melissa usually leads up the steep hills while I draft. Technically there is no physical advantage like there would be at high speeds on a bike but I call it mental drafting. Once Melissa gets going, she gets into a groove and chunks away the miles. We had plenty of water and food so the hike was manageable but it was quite a workout. Here is the elevation profile of the hike from my GPS.

Another great hike we did was the Three Ridges Hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is a very popular hike with many great places to pitch a tent for the night. We had actually done this hike as a day hike many years ago.

Actually it makes a pretty good side story. We were less experienced at the time and had bit off more than we could chew. We ended up running out of water towards the end of the day. As we continued hiking, wondering when the end of the trail would finally come, the sun continued to go down (as it does every day, right?). We were running out of light fast and we were pretty pooped. Plus although it was summer, it was cooling off pretty fast. We were dressed in shorts and t-shirts and while I did have a beach towel, I really did not want to spend the night out in the woods with absolutely no gear including no flash light. It was supposed to be a day hike so I did not have a flashlight or any other safety gear.

As the sun went down, we were getting more and more tired. We were at the most difficult part of the hike and despite wanting to get to the end of the trail as soon as possible we had to rest. As we stopped and sat down in the middle of the trail, I was starting to get pretty worried. People have died in the woods from hypothermia at temperatures not much lower than what we were going to be experiencing if we did not get out of the woods. To say that I started to freak out might be an exaggeration but I was not exactly calm. Melissa calmed me down and we got up and kept moving. Melissa has exercise induced asthma and she was starting to feel the affects of pushing the pace. We continued hiking in a single file with me leading the way and Melissa following as close as she could. Somehow I was staying on the trail. There was just enough dusk light for me to divine the trail.

The terrain finally leveled out and we came across one of the shelters along the AT. There was a hiker wrapped up in his sleeping bag getting ready to sleep. He pointed us in the direction of some other hikers around a campfire. These hikers gave us some water. I did not realize how thirsty I was. We drank some water and asked where the trail was that lead back to the parking lot. They pointed us towards the trail. We tried to make it up the trail but it was just too dark. I thought that the only thing we could do at this point was to go back to the campfire and sleep next to it on the ground. It would be better than nothing.

But then we came across another group and a man loaned us a big flashlight. Using the flashlight, we were able to see the trail. I walked in front with the flashlight and Melissa held my hand as we made our way through the dark woods. We actually still had a ways to go and despite having the flashlight, it was still slow going. Finally I recognized that we were coming to the road and I was so happy. Even if the car did not start, I was glad to be out of the woods. We made it back to the car at 10:00 PM. After we got back to the car, we drove to where the hiker who loaned us the flashlight had parked their car and put the flashlight on the side of the car. We had been saved by a friendly hiker!

Now back to the story of training for the Grand Canyon. As I said, as part of our training we did Three Ridges but this time as a two day hike with full packs. Below are some pictures from the hike. There is one photo of me on the Three Ridges Trail about half way up a rocky section. This rocky section was where we were years earlier as the sun went down.

Our two day Three Ridges hike was a great training hike. We had lots of elevation loss and gain with full packs. And we were sore afterwards. Our muscles took a beating on those rocky climbs on day 2.

After Three Ridges we did some other various hikes in the SNP and around Richmond. We even backpacked the mountain biking trails downtown that I had raced on in the Xterra and the Duo. On our downtown hike we ran into some people who asked if we were training for something. I guess it was obvious. Occasionally you might see someone with a backpack down at Belle Island but usually they are homeless people with tattered gear and clothing. We had state of the art gear. We chatted with the couple for a bit as we went across the Belle Island foot bridge. They had recently come back from the Grand Canyon and when we mentioned that we did Three Ridges recently, they told us that if we could do Three Ridges, we could easily do the Grand Canyon. That was nice to hear.

There is one park where I have never seen any backpackers-my beloved Poor Farm. One day we loaded up our packs and went to Poor Farm for some training. We warmed up on the flats and did some hills and eventually made it the amphitheater in the park. At the amphitheater there is a set of about 200 stairs that get steeper and steeper as you go up. We went up and down these stairs many times in the hot summer sun. We must have looked goofy to anyone who might have seen us. But we were determined to make it to the Grand Canyon in excellent condition so we could fully enjoy the trip. Below is a picture showing the bottom portion of the stairs at Poor Farm. If you look carefully at this photo you can see me with my pack heading up towards the what looks like the top of the stairs where it gets shady. However that was only part way up. From there the stairs got steeper. My legs were aching already but I kept going up and down the stairs. It felt good to be getting all this training in. I was looking forward to the trip out west.

When I started writing this segment tonight, I had planned on quickly talking about our trip out West but got into more of the preparation story. Stay with me. Next time I will cover the actual trip out West and I will include a few pictures. Thanks for reading.

Another Pesky Injury

After the 2007 Richmond Marathon, my knee continued to hurt and I had issues going up and down stairs. At Thanksgiving we went to the Philadelphia area to visit with Melissa's family. We had started a new tradition the year before. On Thanksgiving day, we would all wake up early and participate in the Gobble Wobble which was a local 5K. I had run the year before and had a great time. We had a sizable group of walkers and runners. I suited up for the race but I would be taking it very easy. I hobbled through the race and managed to finish. Afterwards we went back to the house to enjoy a gourmet breakfast at Melissa's sister's house. I would be remiss if I did not mention the great food cooked by Scott. While we were all out at the Gobble Wobble he was home cooking up all the great food.

I knew that when I got back to Richmond after Thanksgiving, I would be going to the doctor to have my knee checked out. In the meantime, I devoured the copy of Trail Runner magazine that I had brought with me on the trip. I envied the people featured in the stories in the magazine. I so much wanted to be like them. Super endurance athletes who could run mountain trails forever with no injuries. Another thing I did was research. The Internet is a great place to get some preliminary self diagnoses.

I decided that I had something called Iliotibial Band Syndrome or IT Band Syndrome for short. IT Band Syndrome is an overuse injury that affects the knee or in some cases just below the hip. I often had pain in my IT Band up near my hip area. I will provide a link to more information about the injury at the end of this installment.

When I got back to Richmond I decided not only to go to the doctor but to find an actual primary care physician instead of simply going to Patients First. My good friend Chris recommended his doctor at Altius Family and Sports Medicine. I went to see Doctor Law and was very impressed with everyone at the office and I really liked the doctor. He examined me and basically confirmed my self diagnosis. He recommended icing and stretching. The icing and stretching did not work out too well as I continued to have pain. So on a second visit he prescribed physical therapy.

Now it turns out, I have weak hip abductors, weak glutes, and my core is not as strong as it could be also. The combination of these weaknesses and all the miles I put in created my IT Band problem. The physical therapists put me through a routine of exercises to strengthen all my weaknesses and to work on my core. They also tried to identify all the causes of my issues and did ultrasound on my IT Band. I was told that I had very stiff ankles and that could be a contributor. After a few months of therapy, I was able to start running again.

But I was not totally cured. I started wearing an IT Band Strap that some runners wear to help diffuse the pressure and thus reduce pain. I was much better though and was able to run a few miles during the week and do some longer runs on the weekend. In March of 2008, I ran the Shamrock Half Marathon again. I had not really done a lot of training but I still was able to run 1:51:56 which was pretty good all things considered. It was my 4th half Marathon but my 1st Shamrock was still my PR. Someday maybe I will beat it.

After the Shamrock, I started riding my mountain bike a lot more. I decided to try to put in more bike miles to see how that affected my IT Band which still hurt after 7 or 8 miles or running. Shortly after the Shamrock Half, I ran the Monument Avenue 10K again. I wanted to beat 46 minutes and I was just shy with 46:01. So close.

After these races, I saw an ad for a race that sounded like a lot of fun. It was the National Duathlon Championship and it was being held here in Richmond. In a Duo (as they are called), participants do a run, then bike, then run. This particular race had a road and off road category. I signed up for the off-road of course. I had not really trained for this race but I had done a half marathon and 10k so I thought I would be up to the task. And I was-well sort of.

The day of the race it was the the hottest it had been all year. Of course right? The first leg of the race was a 10K. Since this was a National Championship, most of the other participants were pretty serious athletes with training plans, special diets, coaches, and serious determination. For me, I was approaching it as another day in the park. I really had not trained for this kind of race and was probably not really prepared. At the gun, the other racers took off like shots out of canon. They really pushed the pace. The 10K course was 2 laps. When I came around for my first lap, I saw my wife and a friend. I mentioned that it was so hot and they could tell I was hurting already. The heat had really put a zap on me. I knew I was going to be near the end if not totally last in this race so I tried to have as much fun as possible. Here is a picture showing how I try to have fun.

I finished the first run portion and got ready for the bike portion. The bike course is a killer but I was very familiar with it and had been riding portions of it over the last couple of weeks. Knowing the course probably saved me from total failure. I already knew it was going to be a long race because I was struggling at the end of the first run portion. But I was not prepared for what was coming.

On the first little climb on Belle Island, my right calf had a little twinge. I was not sure if it was a cramp, spasm, or what. It was not enough to stop me and I continued with the climb and completed the Belle Island loop. Then as I made my way down the flat gravel path that leads from Belle Island to the Buttermilk trail, I got a shooting pain in my calf. I knew that this was a terrible calf cramp. It was so bad that I ditched the bike and was lying on my back in the mud in serious pain. Other participants who were sharing the back of the pack with me said, "are you ok?" as they passed. I would say my pain level was definitely above 5, maybe 7. But I said, "Yeah, just a cramp." It really did not matter what I said, they were not going to stop anyway.

I stretched my calf as best I could. It would have been better if I had someone there to stretch it for me. I was not very far into the bike portion and I was in bad shape already. I drank a bunch of water and Gatorade and ate two PowerGels. I felt a little better after stretching so I started back down the path on my bike. I had never quit a race up to this point but it was crossing my mind. I imagined calling Melissa on her cell phone and telling her that I was hurting and would be dropping out. But I didn't. I kept going.

The next section I had to ride was very difficult and had a lot of what hikers call "Pointless Up and Downs." Lots of altitude gain and loss but you don't really get anywhere. I knew the course though and that helped. I actually passed a couple of people in Forest Hill Park. So far in the race, I had only passed 1 person who was having mechanical problems. Two guys I passed were pushing their bikes. I too had to push up one or two of the steepest hills.

Without going into too much detail, I finished the 16 mile mountain bike ride through the legendary technical course in the James River Park system and set out on the last 5K run. It was super hot by now. I ran as best I could. My body did not ache like it did at the end of the Marathon. I was simply out of gas. At the water stops, I stopped and drank several cups of water and splashed a few on my head to try to keep cool. Towards the end of the race, I think I may have stopped sweating. Looking back, I had not prepared enough. Not just with my training but with my diet and hydration. In order to stay hydrated during a race, it is important to stay hydrated in the weeks leading up to the race. I had not really paid enough attention.

But I did finish in 2:08:54. And I was not in last place. There were 49 people who finished ahead of me and 11 that finished behind me. Not too bad in my book considering I ride a desk 5 days a week and did not really do race specific training. I was pretty spent after this race but I managed to raise my hands in triumph at the finish. Also there is always next year.

This race would be my last race of 2008. After this race, it was time to gear up for another challenge although very different. So stay tuned for the next installment. Thanks for reading. Here is the link I promised.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/307850-overview