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Brought it! at VT 09
Greetings, Running Friends!
Brought it! 100 miles in the mountains of Vermont, in the middle of summer, on the historic Grand Slam course, running with horses, in the mud and humidity. 22 hours, 51 minutes. You know what I'm talking about. The score is now 1 and 1 at buckling.
2009 was different from 2008 in some ways. How so?
-I practiced walking this year. There is no substitute for training. I walked some at every big training and running event this year. Before 2009, I didn't walk much more than any non athlete. This year, I have moved all the way up to an entry level ultra runner for walking skills.
-The weather was easy. Muddy, humid, and raining at the start, but clear and daily highs of about 80F for the rest of the weekend.
-I handled the bad patches before they became really bad patches. For example, when the charlie horses visited this year at about mile 43, I corrected early enough, that it "only" took me about an hour of walk/running for the guzzling of 3 S Caps and 3 quarts of heed to kick in and get really running again.
-My crew of my daughter Kaylyn and sister Virginia are stellar! This year, we aced it all the way with a truck load of gu, ensure, V8's, cokes, iced coffees, ginger ales, power bars, you name it, we had it. This was not a day of losing weight! Drank about 30 pounds, pounded about 6000 choice calories. Last year, I thought we were good, but history proved us wrong, as often is the case.
-I had an elite pacer, Andrea Ambros. Andrea knows the course inside and out, is an experienced ultra runner, can lead or follow single path equally well, a great night and technical runner, and a nursing professional. And, most importantly, 5 for 6 bringing 'em home at Vermont. You want one of the many great pacers for Vermont? Here you go, and good luck! Expect to get in line.
What didn't change is I can still run a long time on almost any incline, if it is not too technical, and, in daylight. I am way better for those stretches, than when there is technical terrain and/or on trail at night time. I came to run and did exactly that whenever there wasn't technical trail (rocks, mud, roots, exceedingly steep terrain), or night time trail running. That got me to 77 miles in less than 16 hours, about 30th place and 4th in age. After that, night came and there was lots more power walking in place of running; not so fast. I am blessed to have competitive running skill sets, but not so much at power walking. Just a fact, not a problem- Finished about 50th and 11th in age.
If you run 100 miles and do your best, you expect some rehab, of course. This time is much better. Only minor problems like losing 4 toenails, and a right shin and foot that are about half again over sized, temporarily. Cool, that is what we came for. It ain't supposed to be easy. Hee, hee!
Henry Peck
2009 Run Schedule:
2/28 Mt Mitchell 40M Challenge 7:04
2/29 Sponsor & Volunteer Tim Kennard 10M River Run
3/21 HAT Run 50K 4:48
4/18 Bull Run Run 50M 8:38
5/2 Frederick Marathon 3:07
5/23 Solo AT from PA to VA 42M, 8:00
6/24 Solo OBX Beach Corolla2VA2Corolla 26M, 4:00
7/19 VT100, 22:51
8/1 Volunteer for Kevin Sayers& Catochtin 50k
8/31 Team Summit Mount Whitney 22M
9/3 Team Full Moon R2R2R Grand Canyon
9/19 BRRC Gunpowder Keg 50k
11/1 NYC Marathon
11/21 Sponsor & Volunteer for Mike Spinnler & JFK50M
11/26 100th Annual Berwyn Run for the Diamonds 9M