Sylamore Trail 50k 2014

            My wife, 8 months Prego was putting my shoes on and tying them for me.  It was the Monday before the upcoming Saturday race and I had tweaked my back (Pregnant Karma Sutra, know your limits).  I showed up to the race and didn’t do too bad until I slipped on the ice and re-tweaked it at mile 23.  I finished 4^th with a time of 4:36 and was happy with my 2013 race.   But, I’ve been dying to return to Sylamore to PR and see where that puts me in the competitive group of racers that are drawing from Memphis, St. Louis, Little Rock, Oklahoma and Texas.  With 225-50k’ers and 625-25k-er’s signing up for this race, it is the biggest trail race in Arkansas if not the 5 state surrounding area.  I had looked up before the race and saw the top 6 from last year were signed up to come again and race for 2014.  That in itself was exciting and gave me more reason to trail with intensity for this early 2014 season!  So me and my 2 Valentine Sweetheart’s, Kristin and Scarlett, loaded up for the 4.5 hour trip.  It included some major twisted roads to get to North Central Arkansas near Mt. View, AR.

Chris, Bryan, and Me

At 7 am the race director announces that we have never done this before for the 50k, but if you choose to turn around at the 25k we will not DNF you from the race.  Then he went on to explain that the course was 80% snow and ice for major sections of the trail. He then says this isn’t the fun snow to run in.  This is ice on top of snow….bust you’re a** snow.  He then says good luck and sounds the horn as everyone was 30 feet from the starting line (typical for most trail races).  Me, Tom and Bryan, from Memphis 2013 with 2^nd place and a really fast time, were pacing the first three-fourths of the uphill road section together.  As we were chatting Bryan told us that Matt wouldn’t be running because he was injured, he would be just crewing and cheering.  Then Chris flies by us, and I thought, “Oh man, it is the guy that goes out fast at every race and then comes back.”  Right about then we hit the first snow and ice going downhill.  Normally we would be flying down this hill but everyone was slowing because it was super slick.  We neared the bottom and Tom goes down hard. Says he is ok and we keep on trucking.   We get on the wrong trail right off the bat and bushwhack to the correct trail and then come upon the first major creek crossing.  On the other side of the creek it was solid ice going up the steps and I felt like I was crawling on all fours to get to the top of the trail out of the creek.  The next mile would be some of the worst, most dangerous running I had ever encountered in my life.  Bryan who was ahead of me was sliding on his butt in one spot to get down.  And I spotted Tom slipping on another dangerous rocky spot.  We kept pressing forward and I passed Bryan and went into 2^nd place not worrying about Chris to much and trying to focus on running my own race.  I was feeling pretty good and being really cautious not wanting to get banged up early into the race.

Ice, Bryan, Me and Tom

            First Aid Station at Blanchard Springs, Team Snyder was there ready to go.  I dumped a shirt got my lucky hat, a new bottle and was on my way giving time for Tom.  Another dude that looked like Van Diesel running strong and Bryan were coming into the aid station as we left.  This was the first big climb and it was good Tom was leading the way because this was a good check for me not to kill this hill as I wanted to let it loose.  I finally went around Tom and pressed to the top of the climb until we bombed down it to the North Sylamore Creek shores.   Then we were fast approaching the second big climb and I was feeling great!  I then started the big descent on the second mountain.  Both of these mountains had snow that was about 3 to 4 inches deep with a layer of ice on top of the snow.  It was hard and the previous footprints were twisting my ankles and leading me on the wrong trail.  I came upon an intersection and just stood there not sure where to go.  Single Track Trail that didn’t look like anyone had ran on it at all?  Or down the big clear trail with tons of foot tracks?  I was waiting for a second opinion and after about a minute I got one but I didn’t like what he said which was to go down the hill.  So I waited for the third opinion and he said yes take the single track.  I took off and saw a cliff edge just past a few trees below the trail.  It was roughly 10 feet and led to a 150 foot drop to the river.  I said to third place behind me, “you don’t want to fall here!”  I hadn’t fallen at this point, but I had noticed blood all over Tom’s legs and seen several guys hit the ice hard!  Glancing again at the cliff’s edge, before I knew it I was hitting the ice hard.  Taking a fall at the worst possible place on the entire 31 mile course!  Luckily I didn’t slide down the mountain or over the cliff.  I then stood up slowly and went on my way thanking God as my life felt like it flashed before my eyes.  I looked down when I got to the turn around and I noticed my leg was bleeding pretty badly, but I was four minutes behind the leader Chris.

Mile 28, 60% of the Trail looked like this

            Tom and I had talked before about Chris and thought he would come back, so I felt if I kept a good pace I would see him again.  On this out and back course it lets you know how far you are behind and you also get to see how close your competitors are to hunting you down.  This is good motivation to keep the effort going!  I then saw many 50k’ers that would cheer me on and it would seem I was getting closer to the leader, but still no sign of him as I rolled into the Gunner Pool Aid Station.  There were the best two aid station workers I have ever met!  They are in their seventies I just know him as Big Shot.  I also got to meet his wife, Lou.  They are the sweetest, most encouraging people I have ever met.  Their history of trail running, their time and dedication to the sport has helped bring it to where it is today!

           

 So I took off from their aid station heading for Team Snyder at Blanchard Springs.  It was just over a couple of big climbs, but the bad thing is I wasn’t feeling the best at this point.   I decided to let up the gas a little bit and then I started feeling better real quickly.  I then starting passing tons of 25kers.  They start their race one hour later and were moving slower this year with the trail being so slick making it much more congested this year.  I came into Blanchard feeling pretty good but really had my heart set on my wife telling me that the race leader was only 2 minutes ahead.  Instead she said, “He is probably 5 minutes ahead or so.”  At this point I was upset because said, “5 minutes or 7 or 2 what is it?”  This is the point I should have not said anything and kissed my wife and started running!  Looking back, this is the point my wife should have kicked me in the tail and said get to running!!  I was still trying to get the time out of her and she couldn’t tell me.   Last year’s race winner Matt said, “He isn’t to far ahead go get em!” And off I went into the woods with now packed snow that much easier running than earlier in the day!  This same section in 2013 kicked my tail with a sore back, hopping, jumping and stumbling over the many rocks and roots.  Add to that, this year is still icy in so many places.  But I would press on.  Passing 25k runner after 25k runner thinking every time I would see him in the distance, the X-Navy Seal that I was trying to run down and pass for the victory.  Syalamore doesn’t give anything for the Second place winner.  If you get First you get to come back the next year for free and you also get a big, sweet trophy! If you get Last place you get the same thing that you get for Second.   You have to love this, but you also have to hate it when you can’t ever catch that first place runner!  As I crossed the freezing cold creek I saw one of my GU’s that had fallen out of my pocket.  It must have dropped crossing the first time so I told the camera man he could have that one!  I then took the last icy climb up the hill pretty fast and bombed down the last three-quarters of mile to the Anglers Resort and Finish Line.  My hat is off to Chris, as if he did slow down it wasn’t much because I lost by exactly 3 minutes.  As I crossed the line I asked Chris if he had already gotten a cheeseburger inside and came back out.  He laughed and told me great race!  He was a great sport about beating me and I hope to chase him again soon!  As for Sylamore I got you on the PR this year and I didn’t think a PR could be done with the course conditions.  But running smart, training and enjoying whatever you do, you never know what can happen!  Big Thanks to my Girls for crewing me, driving me and cheering me on!  Tom for telling me years ago I had to go run this race and pushing me to longer, harder runs!  And to My Lord and Savior for giving me the ability to run and enjoy his amazing beauty in the Mountains!

I love this Sign! 8.5 Hours one way!

Training a lot of hills helped me get ready for this years race looking forward to another good one next year!  This sums up the trail races for Winter/Spring 2014, now changing gears with many long Mountain Bike Races and Boston Marathon in April looking forward to those races and stories to come!

4:31  2^nd Place

Ouachita Switchbacks 50k – 2014

        Last Friday was another great, crazy night at the Snyder Home.  We had more company than usual, this time from the Northeast Corner of Oklahoma and from Tulsa.  Matt, Chandler and Kyler, my cousin, were three of the new guests, along with the normal crew of Kasey, Aaron O, and Jordo.  We ate an amazing spaghetti dinner prepared by my wife Kristin Jo.  We then headed out to the Snyder Rock Gym and started climbing and watching Sam Young show us how to climb!  We wore ourselves out climbing and finished the 4^th quarter with KD scoring 54 points!

Top of Winding Stair - (Pics - Jed Kirby)

My father-in-law had come down to watch the little ones and he looked on as Aaron and I mixed our bottles,  and Kasey and I traded our Gels and Shot Blocks.  I looked up at him and he had this crazy look on his face like, “What in the world are these guys doing?”  One of the joys of us all hanging out before the race is us trading stories, training, clothing, and always Strava GPS info!

We had an early start as always and a full car this go around.   Two weeks before at ABF Marathon, Aaron forgot his GPS watch and iPod and this week he left his sports drinks in the fridge.  So I had Kyler put them in his bag and off we went.  I saw Aaron turn around and I called him and he said, “I forgot my bottles,” and he was freaking out.  I told him I had them and he was mad.  Stihl ask what he said and I told Stihl that I couldn’t repeat it!  Always good laughs it seems when you get me and Aaron together! 

The course is a double out and back, head west and then back, then east then back. My dad was running the Aid Station at the top of Winding Stair Mountain, Chandler was running from Winding Stair to the start of the race, Stihl was running to the top of Winding Stair.  So trying to figure the logistics of people in places at the right time was fun planning!

Tom Brennan has been racing for years and he knows how to put on the best races!  Keep them cheap, give swag, beer, and find the crazy hard courses that will challenge you beyond your limits!  He had been cleaning on the trail for many weekends and for that Tom, I thank you so much!  I put in time on the trails and I truly appreciate your hard work on the trails, almost more than putting the race on!

My dad working the Top Aid Station (Pics by Jed Kirby)

We pulled into Pushubee Trail head and the sun was just rising.  I found a great place to take a dig and watch the sunrise and Kasey thought that was pretty funny so had to post it.  Sorry if you got a bad image of that!  We took off at 8am and I had been pumped about this race because Justin Franklin had been posting some crazy fast times and he had won a couple races coming into the race.   Add to that,  Tom Brennan running the race this year as well, and a long course you never know what is going to happen out there!  I jumped out in the front at a pace that felt a little slower than last year.  Ran through the Big Cedar Trail head aid station and Franklin stopped and ran down to the first creek crossing.  I crossed this last year dry, but that wasn’t going to happen this year so I busted into the cold water.  I dropped them somehow at the creek and used this time to talk to God for the next 2 miles.  I couldn’t help but think of His wonder as I ran past one of the most beautiful places on the Ouachita Trail with a creek below.  Then I came upon one of my favorite places on the Trail, the massive Rock Glacier that makes you feel like you are in Jackson Hole, WY and makes me think of God’s mystery and creativity! Franklin had caught me at this point and was amazed also.  We stopped and looked up and then down the glacier.

Franklin and I at the Top

Kristin my Beautiful Wife

Stihl 9-year-old Son at the Top

            This would end the gazing as we pressed the pace up the mountain and dropped Tom in this next mile stretch.  I knew Tom wouldn’t be far behind and figured he would catch us by the bottom of the mountain with his downhill speed.  Great to see my dad for all of 5 seconds at the top of the mountain as I turned to head back down the hill looking at the amazing view one last time as we were at the highest point of the entire OT.  Then I would soon see Tom and a crew of people behind him.  It was great seeing so many runners coming out to run, walk or crawl up the mountains.  Shortly I saw my wife and surprisingly, my 9 year-old son was with her.  She said he was doing awesome and I gave him a high five! I was so proud of him that he had made it this far into the race!  I dropped a Gu and Franklin would pass me and start dropping the hammer but it was all downhill so I didn’t think much about it and was glad to finally get a little bit of uphill to relief the pressure of my quads.  We would go through the next aid station and into a very hilly next 3 miles to the 28k mark.  Franklin really pressed down in this area.  I felt it was easy but hard at the same time, so I eased up on hill climbs.  Getting to the aid station was nice, but difficult because it would have been nice to call it a day right then! As we headed out I grabbed many gels and a new bottle.  I was hot, and this is when I notice Franklin pulled his shirt off and I took my gloves off!  Yes I took my gloves off; this is a sign for me that I will never run well if the gloves are off in a long distance race!  I then began feeling upset at my stomach as we started climbing a big climb and I watched as Franklin disappeared into the mountains.  I then remembered back to last year and remembered how this climb was so hard.  I tried to keep a good effort up and finally stopped to try to relieve some stomach issues and nothing, but my heart rate came down and I started feeling better so I started running again.  At this point in the race, on top of the east mountain, it is so rocky and very difficult to run.  Walking it is difficult also, so I figured I would try to run as much as I could.  Soon enough I see Franklin on a rock so I check on him and then head down the mountain feeling better and better with every downhill step!  I then head onto the new course and the change of dirt road as my feet say, “oh yeah!”  I then feel my muscles say “oh yeah,” as I crossed the Kiamichi River which was really astonishing.

Tatur Aid station is the best! Loud music, great food and Brian Hoover ask “You want a daiquiri?”  I did want one, but mainly I just wanted to set there.  But it was a race, and I was in 1^st place!  Brian you’re the best! Crossing the river the second time my toes were very cold, but it felt great and it was great running the road again.  I then saw a dog in the distance and Tom coming around the corner.  He and his dog Penny weren’t far behind.  He said, “Now is the time to go for a sub-5-hour run!”  I was thinking yeah!  Then I hit the next climb and was thinking yes, but my body was thinking no! But I pressed on with what I felt like was a good pace.  Another climb up the hill until where that darn top is so rocky!  Crazy thing is, if you were hiking you have a great view of a mountain to your North and to your South that you could really enjoy.  But with racing you are glued to staring at the trail in front of you so you don’t trip and fall on your face!  I continued to get over the rock null and down the backside, but I was out of liquids and asking another 50k guy for a drink!  He said I need credit for helping you, I should have said, “I just lightened your load and helped you!  But he did help me so much.  So thank you random 50k brother!  I then ran pretty well down the mountain and hit the last flat section and picked up the pace as I came to the last dry rocky creek crossings and the last little climb to the top. 

I heard a yell and I fought to hold in the tears as I remembered running last year with my favorite running buddy, Jesse my 8lbs Toy Fox Terrier.  She finished the full 50k!  She was amazing dog.  She unfortunately was hit by a car this fall.  I know she would have run again with me this year and she would have torn the trail up again! I will never forget her running so many miles with me, but especially at 2013 Ouachita Switchbacks! 

Finish Line

Would love to break 5 hours on this crazy hard course but will need some more training and need a colder day!

1^st Place & Course Record 5:17

(Sorry I didn’t give me course description)

http://ouachitaswitchbacks.blogspot.com/2012/10/course-description.html

Athens Big Fork Marathon 2014

             It was another trip with a big crew from Oklahoma with George Haney (his 3rd race ever) Aaron O and Jordo (from Tulsa), Kasey Ng (my cousin), a healed ready to run Kendal Repass, his wife Hali, my wife Kristin, my 9-year-old son Stihl, and the course recorder holder Tom Brennan.

My fifth trip out to ABF Marathon to run over 8 mountains see my favorite Aid Station that comes all the way from Texarkana, then to turn around and run back over 8 mountains!

            The race director at the beginning has everyone raise there hand if they have gotten lost before in this race and almost every person that has raced before has gotten lost in previous years.  We gather for the race picture and Aaron says to me, “I forgot my watch and my radio.”  He still had his warm up clothes on so I ask, “you still going to race?” And he said, “a Yeah.”  So I said , “well get those clothes off he is gonna start us right after this picture!”  So he started rushing around and my wife was running to the woods for a last min bathroom break and she would miss the start so I yelled at Stihl to run with Hali.  Hali looked just as relieved as Stihl because they both were counting on running with Kristin and she wasn’t at the start! Later I come to find out she hit a 7-min mile to make up for lost time.

Tom and I were in the front and a guy asked which one of you has the Course Record. Before I could say “he’s not here today they say he is a ghost and his name is Tom, and he starts in the back and then comes flying by on the second half of the race and you never have time to see him.”  Tom had said, “I have the Record and it is for sure the slowest Marathon CR in the Nation.”  The reason Tom stated this because the race measured 7,000 feet of vertical gain and it is one rough single-track trail.  This year was going to be a little more difficult with the past storm leaving a mess of branches and trees across the trails.

Wilson Klutts (Happen to be on the Trail)

            The temp was perfect but it was a bit humid for the guy that sweats on the 20-degree lite run in the winter but my hands freeze so I am pretty much a wimp I know but love to run in the cold!  So after a couple miles it was Tom and I pretty far out front and I was trying to decide what kind of time I wanted to chase after for the day!  Tom had set some good guidelines for me on this race years ago and the main one was not to look at your watch on the way out!  I looked at my watch the year I was in the lead and I pushed myself into a big crash after the turn around so Tom was pretty spot on!  This would be my game plan the complete way out only looking at my watch only to guess when I needed to hit some fuel.  I only talked to Tom a couple times after we had hit the single-track southbound trip out.  I mentioned all the trees down, pointed out some deer, and asked him, “Is this the 8^th mountain?”  He replied, “yes.” And I thought, FINALLY!  We hit the forest road before the turn around and ran together and talked about what time he thought we were going to hit the turn around. Tom said, “my guess is a 2:15” I told him my guess was a 2:15 and he said you can’t guess the same number and I told him I had hit 2:15 3 out of the 4 previous years and I said if I had to pick another number it would be a little slower than 2:15.  We hit the turn around at 2:17 grabbed some grub and headed back out.  And I said to Tom, “2:04 will get your course record, looks like it will live another year!”

A surprising 3^rd place came onto the trail only trailing by 6 minutes.  I told Tom he could lead and pull a little while and we stopped for a potty stop and pull is what he did! We hit the first mountain on the way back with an up temp pace and the flats between were the same story.  It took all I had for the next 3 mountains to stay with Tom on the downhill sections as he blazes down them faster than I have seen any other trail runner.  We got into the Blaylock Creek aid station (Mile 18) the race director! Thanks so Much STEVE! Saw I was gassed and Tom also saw I was gassed so he broke out of the aid station pretty quick.  I was down to one last gel so I snagged a big piece of Cake and took off behind Tom.  He blasted across the creek and I ran up creek 20 yards and played frogger across to keep my feet dry!  This was the first year I had ever had dry feet this far into the race!

We hit the steepest climb on the way back next and Tom seemed to finally let off the kill it button and was I ever glad!  This would be my slowest pace of the race but was still trying to regain composer.  I love an out and back course when you say on the way out I am going to run that when I get back to it, and I had already made up my mind I was going to run the 13^th mountain.  Tom set a good hike pace in and I was still running, so I made up some ground quickly that I had lost on the downhill making a pass with my steady pace up the 13^th.  Didn’t really try to make a move, I thought what is the point he will catch me if he is felling good and never know just keep pushing is what I kept in my head.  I hit the next big climb, hiked hard seeing my wife at the top kept me moving what I felt like fast.  Slapped her on the butt, and she smiled I didn’t say a word I just kept moving! 

The last aid station (Little Missouri River) I noticed Tom was not right behind me anymore, I got one last big drink of water.  Running the last mountain always feels good, coming near bottom of the backside before the single track ran out onto the road I saw blaze orange waist up to cap running!  And I knew this was George Haney, he said after the race, “I hadn’t seen anyone in a really long time and I hear the loud noise coming down the mountain and then a huge hawler, and I didn’t need to turn around I knew it was you.”  This was his 3^rd race with World’s Highest Hill his first, man is he ever tough, he and many other runners were doing the Fun Run almost 18 miles and 4,600 feet of elevation! Doesn’t the sound fun?

            Looking at my watch when I hit the road I knew I would have to run hard to get a PR on this course so I picked up the pace which helped my peace of mind knowing a legend and the course record holder wasn’t far behind me!  Tom is one tough runner and his course is going to stand for many years even if a fast marathon toes the line they are going to have to work super hard to get his record!

I was surprisingly dehydrated from sweating so much!  Hard to think you can do that in January but I was soaked from head to toe!  So I got inside to the great cheering crowd gathered around the fire!

Zoom in on the Snot!

Always good times at ABF and plan to go there for many years to come!  You will not find more beautiful country around these parts near Oklahoma or Arkansas.  Proud of my wife and cousin and my son that wanted to go 17 miles but my wife turned him around at the 4 mile mark so he got 8 miles and 1,000 feet and he loved it!  Go climb a mountain and you will not be sorry you did when you get to the top you feel like you achieved so much and you will see some of God’s beautiful creation that he created for you and me!
                                                    1st Place 4:29:40

LOViT Trail Marathon 2013

         Poteau, OK 4:45am I hit the alarm went off and my wife said, “Are you really going to the race?” It was 33 degrees outside and raining and had been raining all night.  I told her, “There are 3 guys in the living room that are ready to roll, I’m going.” She said, “Your Crazy…. Be Careful.” As her head hit the pillow to go back to where I wish I was at that point in bed sleeping!

            Aaron Ochoa and Jordan Christy from Tulsa had drove down because the ice had hit in Tulsa and there would have been no possible way for them to make it to the marathon leaving from Tulsa.  My cousin Kasey Ng was the same story so they were ready to head out the door to 5:15am coffee in hand to meet Tom Brennan, Matt Aguero, and Sam Young missing one more due to injury Kendall Repass, and yes I just said Matt Aguero and every time I said that before the race everyone was like, “wow, how fast is he gonna run?”  Matt hasn’t been on the trail running scene because of his obsession to run the fastest Marathon he can run.  Which makes him one of the best Road Marathoners in Oklahoma.

48 at the start not 63!!!!

            We cheered the complete drive to Hot Springs as the Temp rose 1 degree at a time from 33 all the way to 48, the weather channel said it was going to be 63 at the start with a 100% chance of Rain every hour.  They did hit the rain part correct but the Temp was so hard to figure out how to dress for such a race.  We got there right before the start and all 35 of us lined up and they said good luck you guys have fun!  The trail runs along the Ouchita Lake which is one of most beautiful lakes around Arkansas and Oklahoma and the trail is what I remembered being pretty flat and a big climb at the turn around, this race was an out and back course with 14 out and 12 back making for a great run!

            As it rained we ran and we ran it rained.  I took the lead on the trail and no one was going to push the pace it seemed so I took what I felt was easy and Tom was yelling I was going to fast.  I wanted to go out at record pace that was set by Tom 2 years before this race when I had ran with him and he was using it as a training run and we got to mile 19 and I had never seen a man take off that fast after running 19 miles of trail.  He was gone with-in 3 miles and I was stuck sucking wind up the last hills walking knowing Tom was running.  But this is 2 years later and my fitness is better for sure and had to at least have a shot at breaking my previous time of 3:40 or Tom’s Record of 3:35.   I knew Matt was just going to use this run as a training run and not burn it up like he normally would do a race.  But I also knew if I could get him to chase me to the turn around he might set the course record at a super fast time.  I Tom was going to have it as he jumped out in front of me and slowed the pace at mile 4.  But it was far from Tom slowing the pace down, it was mother-nature as the heavens opened up and the rain fell harder and the trail began to fill with water.  I watched Matt in his racing flats slip and slide and wish he was wearing trail shoes, “funny stuff!”  I can’t image running in a shoe that you would slide every step but I was sliding in my Brooks PureGrit also so I guess it was all fair.  We hit might 10 aid station and started down hill before hitting the climb.  Matt had jumped out front before mile 10 aid station and started pushing the pace.  I don’t think this was on purpose I think he is just so stinking fast when we hit that road section he was like yes and started feeling good!  Matt was looking for the trail at one point and almost ran straight into the woods as Tom and I laughed pretty hard!  Then a mile later I was trying to point him to the wrong direction on the trail and he wasn’t having it!  We then had our first real creek crossing at mile 12 and I said, “Look there is a rope!, Matt said, “oh that’s nice as plunged straight through the middle of the creek far away from the rope and we then laughed again! 

Matt then pushed the climb to heart rate raise and I started walking in the back as Matt and Tom were running and Tom said to Matt, “I thought we weren’t ever going to hike.”  I had been using my long legs and been hiking for awhile at there run pace!

We had a great time at the turn around and took some pictures.  I tossed my hot hands (which they don’t work when they are soakin wet) 

Matt and I at the Finish (still raining)

            From the turn around back we had a very gradual pace never really picking it up.  We weren’t racing and this was apparent early in the race but it was a great training pace and it was very hard with the weather in control of a lot of the pace.  That being said was one of the best 26 mile runs I had ever had with 2 of my favorite running buddies as crossed the line together with a time of 4:03:33 official.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and looking forward to many hard trail runs for 2014 coming up!

Tulsa Route 66 Marathon 2013

Photo By: Chris Barnes 2012

      Tulsa Route 66 Marathon started in 2006 and my first run of the Route 66 was in 2009.  Since that time I had run 2 other times and ran 2 of my fastest times I had ever ran at any other marathons.  This would be my 4th running of the Route 66th and I would love to say I have had 40 of them by the time I am 70.  I have told people it will be my staple marathon and I want to do this race every year even if it doesn't fit in my training schedule or I am hurt I will finished this race!

Amber Lynch and Scarlett

     So my wife and I loaded up, headed to Tulsa on Saturday morning leaving our youngest daughter for the first time overnight away from her momma with my sister Amber Dawn Lynch.  This would also be the first 1/2 Marathon my wife had done since having our 8 month old beautiful little girl.  The boys spread out between the other grand parents so we had a great weekend a head of us.  We got our race packets and some gu and then headed out to start Christmas shopping.  Later when we made it to the mall and I was almost ran over by a Mall Cop on his little stand up patrol thing, I was finished!  I headed out and got some coffee and started working on my lab-top.  My wife had a good time shopping and then I grabbed some dinner at Maccoroni Grill and I ate at the bar beside a guy from Kansas City and he was running his 5 marathon and he was excited about the course but not the weather.  I told him if the wind held off it wouldn't be to bad.  Then we went on and met a couple other friends for a nice dinner that I didn't eat because I had already ate but we had some great fellowship with them!
     Race Time!  We headed out from the hotel and it was crazy cold that morning somewhere around 28 degree's.  Headed out of the hotel I was warming up in and the National Athem was being sung.  We stopped and then headed to the start line.  Then they said 1 minutes until the wheel chair start and this means 2 minutes until you start the 2013 Route 66 Marathon!  I got to see some good friend at the start.  Ian Campbell that was in my age group and pretty fast, Aaron Ochoa that was running the half at a goal of 1:27 and that is where I wanted to be at for the half way mark so it was good knowing I could keep in sight.  The first mile is always very fast at Tulsa and then mile 2 has a few climbs in it so they usually even out.  I was feeling ok with the 6:30 average pace and I felt kinda funny at mile 3 but nothing I hadn't felt before at mile 3.  This is when Ian started dropping the hammer and held at 6:30 to 6:45 pace running the beautiful course through Tulsa.  I hit mile 6 and knew I was running down hill but it seemed hard to run a 6:45 pace and I was feeling soreness all over my legs.  I thought just get to mile 20 and then it is down hill and you can still get a BQ (Boston Qualifier) today.  So I held this pace which still felt hard down riverside until you climb out of riverside with a pretty good hill and this year a huge head wind!  I made it up to the top to see Katy Kramer that usually runs my pace and I had been with her at the beginning and now I had reeled her back in at the top of the hill and she made the turn for the marathon not to the finish the half as I thought she was running.  I then felt boosted that I had caught her but felt waxed from the hill, wind and mostly my sore legs that were normally in this point of the race feeling great! 

Riverside

    Half Way! I hit the half at just under 1:30.  The 2 years before I had been at 1:25 and 1:27 so I knew that with the way I was feeling I wouldn't get a PR and knew it was going to be very hard to get a BQ.  I did know sub 3 hours was not going to happen.  So I hit a 2 flat miles and both were 7 minute pace and I new I was finished with the race for the day. So I began to slow and my heart fell and I began to get very very cold!  I was wearing shorts and long T with gloves and a shock hat.  I was thinking I was going to have to stop inside somewhere and get warmed up if I was going to finish this race because I was so cold and I wasn't going to come this far and quite because I was cold.  At this point I felt or didn't feel that my junk was feeling frozen.  Never had that happen before in a race but I was getting nervous about it!  But then I ran past a relay station around mile 17 and a Buddy John ran with me and I told him I was slowing down and I was getting very cold but I was going to finish he said I will try to catch you at TU - Tulsa University, soon after there were an array of clothes on the side of the road.  So I stopped and started shuffling though the clothes.  Female Small's and Medium's seemed to be everywhere and I wasn't having any luck finding a shirt that would fit and there it was in all its glory a pull over Jersey brand navy blue hoodie!  It was to big but it was so warm!  I then found a pair of women's sweat pants with a boot fit loose around the ankles fit that came up to my shins.  The lady standing on the corner cheering us on smiled really big and me and I smiled back and took off running very slow! 

What I should of Had on!

    My spirits were still high enjoying the moment of the marathon even if were not running even a remotely fast marathon.  The story of a death march is to me when you are hurting to walk and walk is all you can do.  I wasn't hurting to bad and I wasn't walking yet!  I then ran with a girl from Fort Smith that was on PR pace and she was worried that it was hard the past few miles for the pace she was running.  I explain to her that the past 3 or 4 miles were all up hill and we had been fighting the wind.  Told her she was going to do great rest of the way in and hopefully helped her mind get ready for the final push out of TU.  She also helped my mind get off that I was starting to hurt really bad!  I then thought of how I had only taken 2 days off since the Ironman that was four weeks before and me thinking riding my bike was a day off from running.  But most days I took off from "running" I was biking up Cavanal that was a 2,000 foot climb.  I also had noticed the week before I did the race up Cavanal my time was ok but not a PR and I really really pushed with everything I had and was still not recovered.  With over 256,000 feet of elevation gain on the bike and 190,000 feet of elevation running for 2013 I had forgotten about resting for a marathon and was still chasing summits on the World's Highest Hill in Poteau, OK.  I will be writing another blog at the end of the year about my times on the mountain in 2013 so back to the exciting Route 66 walk race!
      I then stopped at mile 22 and ask a lady for her cell phone.  Not so I could call for a ride but I could call my wife and tell her not to wait on me.  Got her voicemail, "Kristin I am at mile 22 and I am walking so don't wait for me at the finish but I will finish today and I am not hurt or anything I love you!"  Walk race is what it was from this point, I would walk then I would run until my race pace would slow to a walk pace and I would walk again.  I did this for the next 4 miles.  They changed the course this year and it is a great new course and you can see a lot of marathons shortly after the half getting there walk race on.  I got more respect for the 4 to 6 hour marathoner because it was stinking cold and they were moving on like they probably do on every other marathon.  My respect was not gained from me being out there for as long as many of them were out there.  But they were racing just as I race to beat myself.  To line up with thousands of runs to really be racing one person that is yourself!  They had many more miles to go in the cold and they were pressing on and this was encouraging and inspirational! 
    Tuesday after the race my good running budding Tom and Matt got to have some great laughs about my marathon and me slowing down so much in the second half.  Tom checking, checking, giving up, and finally checking again seeing I had finished!  He thought the same as most would have that I would have quite.  And I might have it wasn't my Staple Marathon but I persevered and finshed my 4th Route 66 Marathon and my 42nd Marathon in the past 4 years.  They say you learn something at every race.  I learned so many things I would have to write a full blog to explain them all but learned mostly some races aren't about racing they are about finishing!  I will take note of these rookie mistakes and hit it again and again!  I have a big trail race schedule ahead and plan to get recovered and ready to push it hard again!

Route 66 Finishers 2013

 

Beach 2 Battleship Ironman 2013 - B2B - 140.6

       Well it started 7 years ago when I was setting on the couch weighing in 20 pounds more than I do now with a lot more body fat!  Flipping through channels on DISH doing what most Okie’s do best and I saw Kona the world famous Ironman in Hawaii.  At that moment I was floored at the distance and speed they were traveling and I told my wife right then I was going to do one before I turned 30 years old.  She said, “Do it, your Crazy!” So I got up and went and ran 1 mile around the neighborhood.  Got back and told her I better sign up for a Marathon first, and she thought that was a smart idea.  She is always good at bringing things into a realistic perspective because my dreams are out there sometimes and she might have thought this one was out there! But 7 years later and over 40 Marathons under my belt in the past 4 years the time had come for me to make the journey to Wilmington, North Carolina.

Who better to go with me than my cousin Kasey Ng who was going to do the ½ Iron at the very young age for an Iron event of 21 years old.  He has been becoming a great endurance athlete, this would be his 2^nd ½ Iron and he was pumped for the great course at B2B.  We also would bring his brother Kyler and mom Carrie for support team and drivers for the long journey halfway across the US.

       We drove over 19 hours stopping very few times. One great stop I found in Brownsville, TN was Helen’s Bar-BQ.  Carrie looked a little worried but she said she loved BBQ and Kasey was worried where we parked the car because he wanted to see the bikes!  It was a great hole in the wall Mom and Pop place. Helen had been cooking BBQ for 19 years at that location and had worked there for a total of 34 years.  My first African-American Fire cooked BBQ and it was pretty amazing. There was a lot of history in this place!

-Pre-Race

      We missed the 2pm Mandatory meeting so we had to hit the 5pm meeting or you get a 4 min penalty OUCH! So then we got lost looking where to take our bikes to Transition1.  It was very stressful just making sure you had everything where you needed it when you need it there. 

-Lesson Learned: Read how many bags you are going to have to pack for transitions and pack ahead of time before you leave to make sure you have everything you need in every bag!

After checking some bags and leaving our bikes at T-1 we finally got some dinner. PASTA!

Pre Race Sleep was terrible with loud people on one side, and a crazy loud guy above us, and then super early folks on the other side!  But this is always expected and I always sleep better with my lovely wife and Kasey wasn’t crazy about spooning so he took his own bed!  We were up at 5:10am to get some breakfast calories and final bag packing. Then off to the race and it was really feeling real finally that I was about to toe the start of an Ironman.  We got in the car and it said 35 degree’s. Wow!  That is cold when thinking about getting in the water to swim.  Good thing I had bought some women’s cozy socks at Target the night before to leave at the race start because the sand was freezing!

So they said a really nice prayer and directly after the pray they played Eminem-“Lose Yourself” Everyone started Dancing as I listened to the words “Look if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment would you capture or would you let slip…..” Oh how I wanted to be finished before I even started, and as I thought of this the music faded and they said go!

-Swim – 1:16:29

Very Very Top of the Pic is Me

       This race was a beach start with about 30 or 40 yards and then a 90 degree right turn and everyone was fighting for the inside and I did just the opposite and went way wide left. I wanted to stay on the far left side of the crowd.  This was awesome because we had about 1.5 miles of swimming straight up the channel.   The water was 70 degrees and felt warm, with great visibility in the water, the wind was blowing at us and the water was pretty choppy so when I came up to spot ahead of me and wanted to get a breath it was hard not to get a full breath of salty water.  I was very relaxed and had a great pace going thinking about style and staying comfortable.  About that time I saw a jellyfish and thought about sharks and all kinds of crazy ocean creepy things!  We went past the half iron guys as they stood on the shore line in the cold and then we had a sharp left turn coming so I got into some traffic but got out ok swam a little longer and then I saw a guy standing next to me and was what!  So I stood and walked about 20 yards fixed my Velcro on my wetsuit and readjusted my goggles.  That was a nice break!  It was crazy because the shore line was a long ways away so I guess I wasn’t in the current if there was any but I wasn’t worried about it. I turned the bend and I could see swimmers coming out of the water and at this point I wasn’t sure if my feet were kicking because my feet were frozen and my fingers were very cold.  Climbed out at 1:16 on my Timex and then got my wetsuit stripped by the kind people striping us of our wetsuits.  On to an air tube tent shower and it was amazing.  The people I came into the shower with were gone and then the next group was leaving and I was like well I got to get out of this thing sometime! So I headed out barefoot run on asphalt for a 400 yard run to T-1 transition got my bag and entered the changing tent / sausage fest / Vienna style because everyone was frozen by the time we got to the tent.  It seemed like forever to get my clothes on because I was shivering and wet but finally got out of there!

-Lesson Learned: when it is that cold probably should get some of the bootees and maybe a warm cap.!

-T-1: 12:53

Lesson Learned: Pack a towel to dry off with because I was wet and it was really hard to get anything on when freezing and wet

-Bike – 140 miles - 5:41:44

Mile 100ish

I had turned on my Garmin GPS tracker in the T-1 to find satellites so I could hit start when I got on the bike.  I looked down when I sat on the bike and no satellites so I was a little nervous because my game plan was to keep my heart rate low and stay relaxed on the bike.  I am not sure what the temperature was but it was freezing cold so to deal with the cold I was wearing a Patagonia Down Vest.  Yes a Down Vest and I think I was the only one on the course with such a big coat on but I was warming up finally and kept it on until mile 65.  Everything was going well on the bike at the beginning I had to pee 3 times when I was swimming and by mile 20 I had to pee again!  I had started my buffet of Gu’s, Stinger Waffles, Water, and EFS Sports Drink.  I thought I would hold it as long as I could and when I got to mile 40 I thought I would wait until mile 56 and I thought of dropping my jacket with the special needs bags and having them bring it in for me, but I didn’t’ want to mess with it so I left it on and took a pee just after the aid station and dropped what felt like 40 ounces of weight.  Around mile 60 I took the jacket off and stuffed it inside itself and then slide it between the aero bars.  Surprisingly it felt great outside I was just wondering when we were going to get out of the wind because it felt like I had been against the wind for a long time!  And about that time we turned got more wind and then turned again with a long awaited tailwind.  I was trying to figure out my north and south and see what the wind was doing but it was hopeless it was not working well.  I hear some guys in the T-2 tent talking about the wind and said it was amazing last year and this year was terrible.  So I was cruising along mile 80 when I see my jacket eject from the front and bounce down the road I look back to make sure no one is behind me and then I turn around and snag my jacket off the ground losing a minute or so but not going to lose that amazing jacket that has been with me for so long!  At mile 90 I caught a group. It was the front pack of women and they were battling back and forth on the bike.  This helped me keep my mind off the long bike ride watching them racing while I was just sitting back taking it easy.  I figured I would pick it up a touch for the last 10 so I left them and rolled on into a packed crowd at Transition 2.

-Lesson Learned:  The course was not really hilly at all and it was a great course, I do wish the wind would have worked a little better and I wish I would have done a check bag at special needs so then I could have dropped my gloves and jacket.

Did great with the heart rate maybe could push the second half a little harder but not much!

-T-2 Ran completely around the Event Center while they yelled my number to get me my Running Gear.  I sat down and didn’t get in a huge hurry and wanted to make sure I got a lot of Vaseline in the Hot spots

-Run 26.2 miles – 3:50

Mile 14 Feeling Strong Battleship Bound!

     I took off without my Garmin finding GPS because we had changed inside the civic center so I just took the pace slow and what felt really easy.  I also hit the lap button on my Timex and look at the time and thought man if I could run a 3:40ish I could break 11 hours.  But then I also thought of my good buddy Bryan and many blogs I had read of the death march of a marathon other racers had gone through after swimming and biking.  I kept to the game plan, which was not go any faster than 8-minute mile for the first 3 miles. I hit the first mile in 8:15 and was pleased at the pace and the effort.  The weather was still nice and I was just holding back what felt like through the first 10 miles.  I was now settled in just below an 8-minute pace and took in the great course down the river walk around Greenfield Lake a 13 mile looped course that I was to tackle 2 times.  I remembered the race director stressing that we had to run past the finish line not 1 time, not 2 times, but 3 times and he said we had to promise to run 2 miles past the finished line the 3^rd time until we couldn’t hear the music before we tried to DQ the race!  I thought this was pretty funny because I had decided before this race started I would finish unless I didn’t make the cut off times.  So back to the run I went past the finish line the 3^rd time heading out on my second lap and still feeling great passing tons of other racers and many racers telling me how great I was doing! I was at my favorite place on the course an aid station with load music and cheering!  After I hit mile 18 I felt a feeling I had only felt once before in my quads and it wasn’t a good one, soon after mile 18 my quads were killing me now and I began to slow down to an 8:25 pace for 2 miles.  After mile 20 I then felt the need to walk through a long aid station walk to the turnaround 50 yards and back through the aid station again fueling up double.  Then I decided I would run through the pain and only walk the aid stations back to the finish. Running through the get pumped stations with my head down still hitting the sign! After hitting mile 25 on a steep downhill I screamed as I let it go down this last hill. Finally I would pick up the pace to drag into the finish! 

Lesson Learned:  Train more on the flats in the bike so I can have some quads left on the run!  And then maybe run harder as I go if I feel good. I think it was very smart to go out slow.

My Tear Eyed Moment of Happiness! Kristin would have been there I really would have cried!

Kasey after my last Porta Jon Freeze Out FINISH METALS!

Beach 2 Battleship was a great race and I had a great time finishing my first Ironman! Lot of training and the payoff was great!

Big thank you to my cousins and my cousin Kasey for finishing his second ½ Iron and I am looking forward to the day he does a full!