The Hill of Truth 09

Myself after the first lap. All pictures, except PMBAR 2007, are courtesy of Greg and Melinda Carr. My camera was "trick or treating" with the wee ones.

Well the traditional 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth race has come and gone. This race has been a traditional event for me since 2003. I missed the 2006 or 2007 one. This race always marks the end of my “competitive” season. I won’t race a bike again until the Six Hours of Warrior Creek in April. I reserve my winter months for running, resistance training, home improvements, and generalized playing.

The longest mud-fest race that I had ever done was the 2007 Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race. The nastiest/meanest mud race was the 2007 (or maybe 2008) Tsali Knobscorcher. This year’s Hill of Truth was a psychological mud-fest. I sometimes welcome a ride in the cool rain. I know that I will generate heat and will stay relatively warm throughout the ride. But to stand in misty rain and mud for the day, tells a slightly different tale.

Drew and I looking fresh after a long day of rain in Pisgah (PMBAR 2007).

The basis of doing a 12-hour race as a team of 4 is much like a relay race found at any track meet. With this particular course, a rider does about an 8.5 mile lap throughout the woods of this 780acre park called Haw Ridge. The rider comes back to a small field, where a digital paton is passed to the next rider. That rider then goes out and this continues along the 4 members of the team. The course changes each year, but it always features a climb up the “Hill of Truth” each lap. This is a mean hill full of loose dirt and rocks that climbs for about 400 yards. It can be ridden, but the approach to do so does take some respect from the rider.

I was hoping to have the whole family down for this event. Sara and I always have a hoot, but she has been lying low for the last 2 weeks due to a bulging disc in her neck. Cool weather has been aggravating her neck and arm pain, so we knew that a weekend in the cool outdoors would not be good in the end. So I drove down early Saturday morning to meet up with Granny’s Rotten Teeth.

This is a team that I have been associated with for about the last 3 years. It is made up of Greg Carr, Anthony Duncan, and Andy Mullins. It has also seen the likes of Chris Dillow and Allan “Scooby” Sparks. All of these folks are pretty famous to the underground bike scene shared between the Virginia and Tennessee State Line, but we all try to race under the alias of “GRT” each fall. Some of these folks have raced 24-Hour races under the “GRT” banner, but I usually only align myself for this great October race.

The race was an absolute mud fest and it would be impossible to recall each detail of each lap. My times were not very consistent. My first lap was 54 minutes, but I lost about 8 minutes each lap. My bike would be about 5-8 pounds heavier after each lap due to the accumulation of mud on the frame and tires. The second lap was the toughest for me. The rain had ebbed away just before this lap. The liquefied muddy soup I had ridden through on the first lap was much like peanut butter on the second lap. Mud caked onto my bike to the degree that my rear wheel seized up. I lost a few minutes while I tried to carve the heavy mud off my frame and from my tires. My third lap took the most of my motivational motor.

Anthony's backside says it all in regards to how the trails treated each of us throughout the day.

I had spent the better part of the day standing in the cool air after my two previous laps. I changed out of my wet racing clothes after each lap, but I still did not get completely warm as I stood around. It took some self prodding to shed my warm clothes and return to the cold each lap. My third lap was going to be in the dark. Just before the sun set, a double rainbow showed itself as I gathered my stuff for this lap. A silver lining to the day? Nope just a small reprieve before………More Rain!

I double checked by bike set-up for the night lap, made sure my helmet light was secure, and rode my bike to the timing tent. I was awaiting the return of Anthony from his lap. By our calculations, we were sitting in a solid 2nd place in our division of Sport Class teams. As I was leaning against my bike talking to Greg and Andy, a rider from Union College rode in. We quickly identified him as a member of the first place team. He was on the lead lap. He promptly headed back out onto the course for a double lap. The other members of his team must have been too beat or cold to continue.

The rider from Union College had been out for about 18 minutes when Anthony rounded the corner and broke hard as he stopped beside me. He handed me the paton and I headed back out into the rain and darkness. I was crossing a large field to the first section of trail as I was tabulating what my time would have to be to dampen the Union College lead. I did not think I could gain much, so I pushed these thoughts aside and just rode as fast and as safely as I could. The “Hill of Truth” presented itself at about the 4-mile mark. I saw a figure pushing a bike up the hill. I could not make out who it was for about 100 feet. But as I got closer, I began to see purple and orange shorts. As I got even closer I saw “UNION COLLEGE” running down the thigh. I made small talk with the fellow, but I don’t think he knew what team I was riding with. I pressed on and never saw his headlights again.

I pushed on to the timing tent and relayed to Greg. I told him that I had lapped Union College on the Hill of Truth. He then pressed on into the darkness and with his consistent time, we were able to maintain first. We had a pretty good fall back plan cooking as well. Andy rode up from the timing tent to the top of the first climb, prepared to ride a 3rd lap if needed. If the Union College team came back with a couple of minutes to spare before cut-off, Andy would have to race him head-on to the finish. This tactic was never needed, but it was good to see Andy prepared to take this on if needed.

Holding our first place prize......A Big Check!

I always enjoy riding with GRT. We are all well above average riders, who like to compete, but in the end we are all grounded in the fact we are just having fun. I like the spice of life in pushing my physical limits through the season, but it sure is nice to just end the year playing hard with some good friends.

Highlights of the event:
--Chilling with my old pal Drew Buford
--Watching poor Toto run away from Dorothy and into the woods after the starting CANNON went off. Thankfully she returned about mid-night.
--Watching an 8 year old complete a full lap in those terrible conditions.
--Melinda making sure we were all fed and watered.

Here she is giving us our pre-lap pep talk after feeding us. She also made us weigh in after every lap. I'm not sure what that was about. As you can see Andy is ensuring that he is staying hydrated.

--Andy shaving minutes off of his time by wearing an “aero” helmet. Man that just looks fast!

--Wondering if the Lambersons will ever learn that their Minnie Winnie is not made by Hummer.

--1st Place Baby! The closest Dale Jr. will get. Courtesy of Greg’s coozy.
--A hot shower and warm bed at Anthony’s brothers place. Thanks Again!

A New Dance with an Old Favorite

My first mountain bike was a bright yellow, Nishiki Backroads. I can remember riding it all over Bays Mountain through high-school. I think it was around 450.00. When all my friends were sinking money into their car stereo systems, I was scratching up what I could by bagging groceries at Ingles for MTB stuff.
My first real job allowed me to upgrade to a front suspension. This "real" job was the US Navy. I got a Trek 930 before even graduating from submarine school. I rode it on base quite a bit, but never got it on much single-track until I moved to Washington State. This is where the seed was planted. I was able to ride at a variety of locations including the base of what was left of Mount St. Helens. I rode this bike into the ground over a 6 year period.
Sara bought me my first full-suspension bike for Valentine's Day. It was a Giant NRS 1. It was a sweet ride. I rode the heck out of that bike. I did not have a road bike at the time so all of my mileage was on trails. I approached 3,000 miles a year on this bike for two years in a row. I wore out two rear triangles and eventually got a new frame from Giant.
After the 2003, 24 Hours of Snowshoe, I was introduced to Road Riding by Drew Buford. I used an old Trek from my mother-in-law’s garage. As my road miles started to increase, my mountain bike miles tapered off quite a bit. During this stage I sold my Giant and built up a single speed 26er and soon moved on to a rigid Karate Monkey. I rode rigid single speed for 2 years and enjoyed my time on it, but I soon had to face the reality that my body was paying the price for the pleasure.
My decision to throw on some gears and front suspension came after doing the Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race on a 1:1 rigid. I was unable to walk down steps or much a decline without knee pain for almost 2 weeks after this long day in the woods. I liked the simplicity and low maintenance of the ride, but it just wasn’t for me in the end.
As I have morphed from a XC racer into more of an enduro kind of guy, I have enjoyed the gears and front suspension of my 29er Karate Monkey. However as I continue down the road of enjoying longer outings on my bike, I have found that I waste a lot of energy standing on my pedals trying to lessen the trail’s impact through my body. I also find the big wheels difficult for me to navigate technical lines while trying to maintain speed. With this in mind, I have decided to go back down the evolutionary chain. I’m going back to a full-suspension 26er. Yep, that’s right…2…6…
The new ride is a BMC Trailfox 01. It’s a lightly used demo bike from Hampton Trails. I’ve ridden pavement and in my back yard, but have yet to unleash myself on it in the woods. It will have a trial-by-fire shake down ride this weekend. I will be riding it at the 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth at Haw Ridge (Oak Ridge, TN). This is always a good race with good people all around. Bowen will have his debut this weekend as well. He’ll be doing the 12 Minutes of the Hill of Truth. I'm looking forward to a great weekend!

Under the Ice in the Arctic - ABC News

One of the newer subs in the fleet. As you can see they can go and surface just about any where. This is one type of operation I never had the opportunity to experience. I have heard stories of British and American subs surfacing in the ice next to each other. Their crews would get off of thier boats and play soccer and football on the thick ice.

Under the Ice in the Arctic - ABC News

Who needs toenails anyhow?

Well I bit a big one this past weekend. I have to say it was quite painful towards the end, but quite satisfying. It all started with a short trip to one of my favorite small cities, Chattanooga. Sara and I were able to leave the kids with Lala and Papaw Matney, giving us the opportunity to make a play date out of the weekend.

We were headed to the Stump Jump 50K trail race at Signal Mountain near Chattanooga. I’m usually a bit nervous before a long ride or run, but was surprisingly at ease on the drive down. I suppose this was due to the distance of this event. I was pretty content on finishing the distance rather than punishing my way towards the front. I had never ran more than 26.2 miles and here I was about to add 6 or 7 to that number.

I always enjoy driving through or staying in Chattanooga. I like how the river funnels through the town and between the surrounding mountains. We didn’t stop at all in order to make it to registration before 5pm. I grabbed my registration packet from the runner’s expo in front of Rock Creek Outfitters. Big runner, Dean Karnazes, had come down to do this race and was signing book copies in the North Face tent. He was much smaller than I imagined he would be. He definitely had an abnormal build that bordered on a muscular cheetah. The wildest thing was his legs. They simply looked like sinew and muscle draped over bone. I guess that comes with logging 200 mile runs and dozens of 100mile running races. Many ultra-runners don’t like the attention that he has drawn to the sport. Ultra-running, by nature, is somewhat of a reclusive sport. You won’t find big endorsements at a race other than a few shoe companies. He has a background in marketing so he has done well marketing himself. Like his style or not, he has introduced a lot of people to ultra-running. Read his book Ultra-Marathon Man and I guarantee you will at least raise an eyebrow to the thought of going out and enjoying a long run.

I’ll jump to the race now……….

The morning was cold, but not quite frosty on top of Signal Mountain. The race started promptly at 8am and had over 200 racers start. I immediately found my groove with a comfortable pace. The first 3 miles led out with a wide trail covered with pea gravel. It soon hung a left beside a huge mushroom shaped boulder and fell steeply for about a mile and crossed a swinging bridge. This bridge was a little spongy and did not have my full confidence dangling 30 feet above Suck Creek. This lack of assurance was multiplied by the pack of runners I shared my speedy traverse with. We then ascended up Suck Mountain.

This is where I must laugh. I was trucking along with 4 other guys of similar ability/pace. We had a nice comfortable pace were cruising a slight descent, when all of a sudden the lead guy hit a spider web. He immediately froze and hoped this was not for real. There were about 20 runners ahead of us. We should not be running into spider webs. So we knew that we were off route, but had no idea how far back our missed turn was. All we knew was that we needed to backtrack. It turned out to only be an error of about ¾ of a mile, but it also meant it would add another 1.5 miles to our day’s tally.

We quickly folded back into the pack as we merged back onto the correct trail. We still saw no clear marking that indicated which trail we should have taken. I noticed one other area that was poorly marked around mile 15. Lucky for me a small group of runners were back tracking towards me and I was able to follow them onto the correct trail. We found the marking flags up the trail where some wise guy ahead of me must have removed some of them. Grrr.
The scenery was excellent during most of this run. I actually had to concentrate to keep my focus on the trail. On several occasions, I would glance up to look at a rock formation or 1000 feet down to the river below and end up stubbing a toe or twisting my foot. Overall I felt good and had a pretty good snap to my stride, but that left me around mile 20 and I had to dig deep to keep moving.

I did have a bit of a letdown at the aid tent at mile 16. I thought I had covered about 18-20 miles when I came upon it, but the volunteers confirmed that I was only at the half-way point. Cardiovascular wise, I felt pretty good throughout the run. It just got harder to turn my legs over as pain flared up from my hip flexors and from deep down into my quads. It probably took about 30 minutes to run/walk the last 3 miles. After 5 hours and 39 minutes,I was utterly spent. This put me 33rd out of 201 finishers.

My food and drink choices paid off. I had no abdominal discomfort. I ate small, bird sized portions of food every 30 minutes and nursed my water bottles between aid stations. Cramps never came upon me, but I did feel a small thigh twinge after I laid down in the grass at the finish. Then, the strangest thing happened; my left thigh thought it was still running. Sara and I watched it flex and relax for several minutes until it settled back down again.

Now the anticipated question; Will I do this distance again? The last 2 miles of the event and the amount of limping that evening gave me the answer of no, probably not! However, during the drive home and having a couple of days to relive the experience, I would have to say heck yes! Despite the apparent craziness of running this far, it really is a liberating feeling. It’s hard to describe exactly what I experienced out there, but I do know that I did enrich my life to some degree. I see myself doing more of these long distance running events, but another question remains; Do I want to go further? How much is enough? I don’t know at this point.

On a lighter note….I did finish about 22 minutes ahead of running man Dean Karnazes, but I’m sure if the race was about 10 miles longer he most certainly would have passed me. He probably doesn’t get warmed up until about the 30 mile mark. I did run alongside a lady named Sally for quite a while. She was spunky and laughed often. She had cat like reflexes on the downhills leaving me stunned. She beat me by about 2 minutes. Did I mention she was 52. No matter what event or distance I do, I am always humbled or amazed by a certain persons story or pure grit. I like cream cheese icing on my cake. I got my fill.

SecNav%2C+CNO%3A+Women+should+serve+on+subs

This sounds nice in the light of equality, but be very careful of what you wish for.

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I thought I would share...

I have found myself short on words lately. I have recently finished one of the most powerful books I can remember in sometime. Quite honestly, my ramblings about racing and life experiences are quite trivial in comparison to the piece I just finished reading. It was called “Lone Warrior,” by Marcus Luttrell. It’s the story of a four-man squad of SEALs in Afghanistan in 2005. The author was the only survivor of this four-man group. Their position was discovered by a 14 year-old boy. They had to quickly decide if they should capture him, kill him, or let him go.
They ultimately let him go and the boy went right to the nearby village to rat them out. A hellacious firefight ensued and you’ll just have to read for yourself as to what happened next. It will move you. The book offers so much in the way of faith, honor, helplessness, real courage, and the lives we all take for granted. Not many books leave me with moist fingertips and the inability to sleep well. This one did both.
You won’t be disappointed with this book. It will make a huge impact on your outlook on life and the ones near and dear to you.

Ramblings, Readings, and Runnings

I know that I am well behind the curve on this one, but I recently finished the book “How I won the Tour de France,” by Floyd Landis. I have to say it was a good read and it did lay out a pretty good case for him. My hunch is that there may have been something amiss with WADA and they were just too big to risk admitting it. However, I suppose we are a nation of laws and a jury of peers is designed to create the fairest system possible. If his book was true and sincere, I do feel for him and like his fighting spirit to defend his name. If he really did dope his way to the podium, then the book was probably one of the biggest publicity stunts I can recall.

I have not always liked to read. I detested reading for pleasure in grade school. This all changed after my first submarine deployment. Something about being submerged in steel can for several months leaves the brain thirsty for anything to separate it from reality. I really grew to appreciate a good read back then. I still appreciate the times I can squeeze a good book into my complex life. I've never been satisfied with reading a novel of any kind. I love to read non-fiction books that involve personal experiences and key periods of history. I thought I would add a list of "Recommended Reading" to my page. Most have never been “best sellers,” but they have moved or enlightened me to some degree. I have listed my top 15. I don’t want this list to grow more than about 20. I’ll have to remove a few as I come across more worthy books to keep it manageable.

My big trail race is Oct. 3rd. My run training topped out at 18 miles, not quite the 20 I was hoping for. I'm now dealing with the nervous task of tapering, along with a 15 mile race in the middle of my "taper." Tapering is something I have never got down to a complete science. I try to do it with a sense how my body is feeling. I don't stick to any particular plan. I just try not to do anything "big" 10 days before a long event.

I have never run this much in one year. I have done around forty 9-mile runs, seven 13-mile runs, two 16-mile runs, and an 18 mile run. I have never run any of these until all out fatigue. I felt like I could run a little further when I finished each run. Most ultra-runners usually do over 100 miles of running a month. My highest month was 96. My norm was around 80 miles. I am planning on my additional hours and miles of cycling to set me up well enough to finish this 50k in about 5 hours. So we’ll see how it goes. Regardless of how it turns out, I am looking forward to this experience.