Barkley Fall Classic

Barkley Fall Classic Course Map

The first edition of the Barkley Fall Classic took place on September 20, 2014. The race opened with 300 slots and filled in less than two week. Quickly the wait listers were pulled in with over 60+ runners dropping out before packet pick up and another 40+ runners deciding to DNS according to Race Director, Steve Durbin.

The Fall Classic was a chance for the masses to get a taste of the Barkley Marathons which takes place in the Spring each year at Frozen Head with a limited field of 40 participants and overlaps some of the trails that we would run through the park during the Classic including one off trail section know as "Rat Jaw" which gave the Classic runners a hands on feel of the real thing.

My last experience "racing" at Frozen Head the weather was less than perfect. Mid 30s, rain, sleet, snow, rain, wind and a little more rain. The Classic gave us near perfect running conditions with a clear morning in the mid 60's and a high of 80. The Classic also featured 5 aid stations most of which were manned by local Wartburg Basketball and Football player along with several Barkley legends. Everyone was amazing out there but Carl Laniak was my saving grace.

You were right Karen, I was wrong

The race started promptly at 7:00am with Gary Cantrell lighting a cigarette sending the masses down the first 1.5 miles on the asphalt before reaching the famed Yellow Gate sending us up Bird Mountain. By the 6th switch back both heels began to burn. My last 1000 miles of racing and training have been in my Luna sandals and switching back was a horrible mistake. I ran in my Inov-8 Roclite 295 (same shoe I ran with in March) but my feet had changed. I pulled off the trail at the top of the first climb to see if there was something in my sock that was causing my feet to burn so much in the first 3 miles. I was shocked to see that a 3 inch blister had already formed on each heel.

The Black Dog in this race was the memory of quitting last March and there was no way that I was walking down the mountain again to give Laz and Steve the satisfaction of hearing... "I quit". I hooked up with a awesome crew from Birmingham (BUTS) as we ran across the North Boundary Trail towards the first aid station at mile 7.6 on top of Bald Knob. Chatting kept my mind off the burning discomfort as we went down the back side of Bald Knob towards The Garden Spot where running legends Mike Dobies and Joe Fejes were standing on the side of a mountain looking to punch your bib before you began working down towards Coffin Springs. I had a quick conversation with Joe about his upcoming race schedule and then headed off again.

2014 Barkley Alum, Bill Lovett and I continued to leap frog each other through out the course and he took off blazing down the trail with a small group. When I got to the top of Little Fork Mountain you could finally see what a gorgeous day it was turning out to be. I actually said out loud, "I love this place" and started back down the trail. Before I got to Panthers Gap, I felt the skin on my left heel rip and I knew that I'd be rolling into the second aid station at Tub Springs very soon. When I did, the first thing I ask was if anyone had any tape: medical, duct, masking, scotch... I didn't care. Mr. Vol State Carl Laniak came to the rescue and even made some make shift "bandaid" pads out of a paper towel. I cleaned off both feet as much as possible and then wrapped them with tape and then headed out.

The next section of trail was an out and back "6 miles total" with Rat Jaw just prior to the third aid station (the same one that I was currently at). This section sucked. My feet were trying to get use to the tape and I could still feel the skin tear as I went up. "This isn't how I wanted to meet you!!!" was how I finally met Stephanie Miller who was flying back down Fodderstack and I hobbled up. When I made the top I snagged 4 jelly beans from some awesome dude and then started back down. Down felt great, but my feet were getting wet. I pulled over on the trail and pulled my sock back... BLOOD. Four more miles till I would see Carl again and his magic roll of tape.

Our Wizard sticks and Bo

Bill and I caught back up with each again and then we ran into Bo, Karen and Brian coming off the Fodderstack Trail. We all hugged and went off in opposite directions. A few strides later, I came across Verity who was all smiles and seemed like she was having a blast out there. Working my way back up the OPM Trail, I saw a flustered Jason who took a wrong turn leaving the last aid station and headed toward Rat Jaw early. We chatted briefly and  took off, as I said good bye I took a sip from my hydration pack and it was dry. I never filled it at the second aid station and I was about to go up Rat Jaw. Like a homeless man I was begging for water, everyone was low. 1000 feet in 0.8 miles with briars neck high. Half way up... I found a 16oz bottle of liquid gold laying in the middle of the briars! I was saved AGAIN!


Coming in to Carl's Aid station again my feet felt as bad as they could possibly get so I figured why bother taping them again. I filled my 70oz bladder to the very tippy-top and my newly acquired 16oz back up bottle and headed off for 4 miles of downhill trail to come off Old Mac Mountain. I spent a lot of time walking over this stretch and tried to figure out what Katy Perry said, "it tasted like" when she kissed a girl. Come to find out later, it was "cherry chapstick".

Aid station #4 = Trekking poles

I loved my stick pictured above but my poles with their padded-formed hand grips and wrist straps felt amazing. Before heading out on the final loop, I met up with Tim (Salt Shack). Salt asked me about the next section and took off, my legs were getting heavy and my feet were still screaming.  My trekking poles made the next climb almost enjoyable. I could smell Fall in the air and a weird fog drifted down the mountain. Coming across Low Gap, I found Tim again and we hiked together for several more miles. He's an awesome guy and gave me my favorite quote of the day: "...and in 10 steps... I.will.puke" I think he made it 6 steps. We chilled out for a few minutes and then Jason "Yeti" Green came up the trail smiling and we cruised into the finish together. It was great to close out the day with him.

Overall the race was everything that I hoped it would be. The additional struggle from my feet could have been left out of the equation but like they say... "Bad decisions make for better stories". This race was planned as my Fall training kick off and I got out of it everything I wanted and then some. It was a great weekend with great friends and can't wait to go back and be out there again!!!

Finishing sore and happy - I promise I wasn't trying to stab Steve with my pole!
Photo Credit: Teresa Sunshine

Barkley Fall Classic Profile and end results 12:14:22
Full data links:

Strava

Movescount

Pre-Race Information:

Barkley Fall Classic - September 20, 2014 7:00am Start Time

Who am I running with: Brian Reddish, Bo Millwood, Karen Jackson, Bill Lovett, Andrew Snopes, Verity Gray, Dawn Brown, Jason Edenfield and a TON of other runners!!! See the full line-up here: Runners

Where am I staying: Frozen head State Park Camping site #7 - stop by and say hello!

I don't anticipate there being much coverage through out the park, but I'll have my tracker on during the race. Click the logo below:

Track my progress while "out there": http://tinyurl.com/WazBarkleyFC

Soft Tissue Damage and Active Release Technique

Towards the end of March, I was out for an easy mid-afternoon run when I felt something “tweak” on the outside of my right knee. Not thinking much about it I continued running. Within a half mile I could barely put any pressure on my leg and I ended up walking back home.

After a quick Google search I smacked on an ice-pack and kept it elevated for a few days with a steady flow of Motrin. After the third day I decided to run again. My typical easy 9 miler turned into a very short and very painful 1 mile limp. This wasn’t good! I now had less than 3 weeks until my next race, a 200 mile relay meant for 12 runners that I would be taking on with only 3 other Ultra runners. A few more days passed before sending out the “hey guys, do you want to replace me?” warning flag. I was met with 3 solid, “naw man, let’s do this!”.

My knee held up well for the first 15 miles, thanks to being heavily taped with KT Tape. The pain level increased from a “3” to a very sharp “9” on my next short 2.7 mile leg. I had just completed a marathon and was in the most pain I had ever felt from running. Now this was NOT good!

After returning home I took a week off before going out and trying to run a mile. Big mistake! Now not only did my knee hurt while I ran, but my calf, IT Band, Knee, EVERYTHING hurt all the time. I went back to my good friend Google looking for answers. After finding nothing but words like “scope”, “surgery” , and “running retirement” I switched over to Twitter. My cousin Jason, is the Co-Founder of “Competitive Edge Performance” in Tampa Florida and quickly responded with three words I have not heard before “soft tissue damage” and highly recommended that I look into the Active Release Technique or (ART) to begin the recovery process. Once again, back to the Google!

I found that Active Release Technique treats soft tissue Injuries, relieves pain, and restores normal tissue function. ART is a new and extremely effective approach to treating soft tissue injuries and the resulting pain. It is a patented method of treatment developed by Dr. Michael Leahy and is utilized by more than 3500 certified providers, including medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, and athletic trainers worldwide. The technique is very popular with professional athletes and teams (NFL, NHL, NBA, etc.) and is used regularly by amateur and professional athletes alike, not only to help with rapid injury recovery, but also for improving their athletic performance. In recent years this method of treatment has begun to gain recognition among the general public as well, as more certified practitioners utilizing ART have entered the healthcare arena. (source: http://www.activerelease.com/)

I quickly began treatment with Dr Titus out of Savannah, GA and felt the effect of the therapy after the first day. So what does the treatment consist of? It is a series of massage techniques that focuses on the muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves in the affected areas to combat the overused muscles.

Typically soft tissue damage will occur in over-used muscles in one of three ways:

1.        Pulls, tears or collisions
2.     Micro Trauma (small tears)
3.     Hypoxia (not getting enough oxygen)

Each of these can cause the injured area to develop scar tissue in the affected area. Once the scar tissue binds up, it ties down tissues that should normally move freely. As the scar tissue continues to build up, muscles become shorter and weaker, additional tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. ART directly focuses on these key areas to return the runner back to the road.

The personal response that I have had after two treatments has been significant enough to have me post about my treatment and has turned my outlook around to the point that I am mentally in the Fall race planning mentality now. I highly recommend looking into Active Release Technique to any and all Ultra Runners that that are experiencing an over use injury. Just get on the Google and look it up in your area!

See you on the trail…

Links:

http://www.activerelease.com/
http://www.gocompetitiveedge.com/
http://www.lowcountryultras.com/

Delirium Ultra 24 Hour Endurance Race Recap

The creation of the Delirium Ultra 24 Hour Endurance race began in April of 2011. Once the trail was dedicated, my original thought was "there HAS to be a race on this trail". Over the next few months I tossed the idea around in my head but did not begin working on the actual race plans until August 2012. When I pitched the race to Holly (my wife) her first thought was, are you going to get anyone else to come run it? I knew that I could get Paul & Gary and maybe a handful of other local Ultra Runners to come out and try their hand on the trail with us.

The approval process was fairly easy with the assistance of Matt Green with Buckwalter Place and Julie Bulger with the Town of Bluffton. I'm not 100% sure on the next fact, but we quickly announced Kayla as the race Director (can't remember if I asked her or she told me that she was doing it). Either way, she was the best person for the job and would later be Teamed up with her RD partner in crime Joe Devito (aka The Man!).

We officially opened up registration on October 1 and quickly sold out of 50 spots within 30 days. We late added another 15 and again was without an open slot by Thanksgiving!

Along with Kayla, I had Paul, Holly and Gary helping out as the months ticked away and race day approached. Before I knew it it was the week before the race and things were starting to fall into place with the awesome Team that I had.

I hulled out the Lowcounty Ultra's Camper Friday morning PACKED TO THE GILLS with race swag, finish line tents, blankets, food, water and everything else we would need for the 24 hour event. Paul was the first to arrive, followed by Gary as we quickly got the course marked and the finish line set up. Kayla arrived and gave us all the thumbs up before I had to dash off for a "Daddy and Me" Valentine's Day Dance with my beautiful daughter, Izzy. A quick wardrobe change in the camper and I was ready to go. Kayla and Paul headed off to set up Packet Pick up while Izzy and I danced the evening away!

Once the dance was over I kissed the family good-bye and headed back to Station 300 to help close out the evening. Once we got the light positioned Paul, Kayla, Gary and I sat around and chatted in anticipation of the following days events. I was the first to call it a night and headed in to finally figure out my own race. This was something that I had given very little attention up to this point. Once I had something that resembled a decent plan, I climbed into bed and Paul and Kayla soon there after called it a night too. Gary went home to sleep in his own bed (smart man!)

Morning came sooner that I would have liked after not getting much sleep, between dealing with the filling up the generator, pre-race nerves and just the fact that we had all out race gear sitting on the side of the one of the busiest roads in Bluffton.

It was cool morning, but not freezing. All in all, we have had a very mild winter here in the Lowcountry, and over the last week we have seen the temperature forecast drop a few degrees everyday. We decided that we were going to stop checking it as it was only bad news.

Packet pick up went smooth, Richard helped with the parking, we had a great team in place once Joe (The Man) drove up. We had a few quick words from the 21 Guns Team about their mission and was sent on our way by Lisa Sulka, the mayor of Bluffton. I was the last person to start the race as I wanted to catch the start on my video camera. I waved goodbye to everyone, gave Kayla a quick high-five and a fist bump to Joe and started out a long, slow journey.

The first few laps were just a blur. We had 65 runners spread out over the 1.7 mile looped course so I was able to see the extent of what we created just after the first lap. From the very beginning I was sure to keep eating and drinking. Early on in the race I was using a 10oz Amphipod Held-held bottle and would top it off after every 2 laps and would grab food on ever circuit. PB&J's were hitting the spot early on.

Before I knew it I had run my first 31 miles and was feeling good. My goal was to run 100 miles in 22 hours and at this pace I was slightly ahead of schedule. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't pushing to hard early on, but any wiggle room I could muster up without draining myself would be worth it later. The field began to slowly shrink after 4:00pm as the 6 hour race was now over. Holly decided early on that she was going to run 30 miles regardless of time and she did in fact finish her first Ultra! I saw the big red truck pulling out as I was beginning yet another lap, so I did not get the chance to congratulate her before she left. The wind up to this point had been brutal. Practically blowing people off the bike path over the .4 mile stretch at the end of each lap. I decided around 5:00pm that I would begin the long process of getting ready for what would be the coldest night of the year.

Kayla helped me transition out of my low cut socks and into my Swiftwick compression socks. I slipped on a pair of tights and threw on a lightweight jacket. My body was still feeling good at this points and I was doing an even better job of balancing my fluids and nutrition intake.

I cruised through the 50 mile mark just after 9 hour and felt like a million bucks. Night began to settle in the laps suddenly felt like they were starting to get longer and longer. I was able to meet up with Paul and Gary on a regular basis along with the other amazing runners out there, but sometimes it felt like you were the only person left out there.

At midnight I was at mile 66 and all the pieces were right where they needed to be. I had 10 hours to make it another 20 laps. I should still be able to make it without any problems... Until the temperature really began to drop. But 1:00am I had on every layer that I had with me. It totalled: 7 layers up top (A tank top, short sleeve shirt, 2 - long sleeve shirts, a vest, a jacket and a hooded sweatshirt) and 2 pair of tights and a pair of jogging pants on below. The temperature dipped down to 26 degrees with a bitter cold windchill factor of 11 degrees.

At 2:45 and after 83 miles I had to stop. My hands were frozen and my body was shaking uncontrollably. I decided to lay down for an hour and told Kayla to come wake me up. I did not get undressed, just laid down in the camper. In a blink of an eye, Kayla was telling me that an hour had passed. "I'm done" was all I could tell here. I knew what the words meant but I hurt and hurt bad. My body told me that I was done and that I was stupid for going back out in that cold. Kayla tried to talk me out of it, but there was no turning my head around at this point.

Kayla came back at 6:45am and I tried again. I got up. Got dressed. Walked barefooted to the bathroom because I was afraid of my shoes at that point. Everything felt okay once I started moving. I put my shoes on and headed back out onto the course. I knew that I would not be able to make the 100 mile mark at this point because my "run" was a better version of a slow walk at this point. Paul, Gary and I knocked out a few more laps together which was a great way to close out this adventure together. The clock was ticking down and I wanted to ensure that I got every lap as possible. At 9:52am I was able to start another lap. At this point I would be the last person to cross the finish line and I would end up very close to my goal of 100 miles. I finished with 91.8 miles after 24 hours of running (20 hours if you count my 4 hour removal from reality) and of course I had a mix of different emotions about that.

First, Excitement, it was further than I had even gone before and we had just put on a great event. Second, disappointment, I let my self quit and I didn't meet my goal. Third, relief, the race was over, I was still walking and nothing really felt "bad". I was an emotional wreck as Adam and Dan from 21 Guns, presented a medal to the wife of one of the fallen soldiers in which they were running in memory of over the last 24 hours.

One of the best parts of the race was the decision to have a pancake breakfast right when the race ended. My mom was manning the griddle and it was awesome to have her make those for me when I finished. Once the other other runner's packed up, it was time to shut down the Delirium Ultra 24 Hour Endurance race for another year and head home to begin the recovery process. The race was in fact a huge success and we are looking forward to making it even better next year. I was just glad that I was able to experience the race as both the creator and a participant. I choose the date based off of the Farmer's Almanac and they said that Feb 11th would be the coldest day of the year... and they were right!!!

Thanks for all the help and support to my amazing family and friends! I love you all.

I opened up registration for the 2013 Delirium Ultra 24 Hour Endurance Race on Monday night February 13th and we already have 16 people signed up for next year. We have had some great feedback on improvements for next year and look forward to seeing everyone again at the starting line!!!

February 9, 2013 10:00am - Delirium Ultra 24 Hour Endurance Race

See ya on the trail!!!