Mansfield's Face Explained

So, I’ve been dealing with some knee issues lately post Vermont 100. IT band, knee fascia hurtitis, whatever….The deal is, I need to rest it. Coming off my very happy run at Vermont I think I took active recovery a little to seriously and ran too much. The past week I’ve been fine running one day, but the next day there would be pain / soreness in the knee that I didn’t want to f-with. I’ve been to physical therapy a few times, got some ART for my IT band, and at the last session I had him check out my knee a little more thoroughly. He pushed, pulled, prodded, stuck his thumbs in there and NOTHING. It didn’t hurt, only while I run. He properly kicked me out and said I didn’t need more PT just to rest it more. His advice, “don’t run back to back days quite yet, ice, stretch, and run only a few times a week until it gets  all bettah’. Next logical question: can I hike? It feels great walking around and climbing stairs :) He said to give it a shot. SO, I got together with a friend from work and decided to tackle an 11 mile loop that goes up and over Mt. Mansfield (the tallest peak in Vermont at 4393′). I’ve had my eye on Mansfield for a while now and have been secretly planning a fat ass event for later this fall (The Mansfield Project). The weather was supposed to be beautiful, I needed a little adventure, and I desperately wanted to begin ’scouting’ this mountain.

Rob & Mike Mansfield Summit

I picked up Rob (left above) around 8am and we drove the half hour to the Stevensville Road trailhead in Underhill, VT. We loaded all the gear into the car, made a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts for some liquid energy, stopped along the way to load up on some water and food, talked about the route up we would take from my pile of maps (during my resting period I’ve become a map whore), and I shared with him my plans for The Mansfield Project (coming soon). At the traihead we decided to take the Frost Trail to the Maple Ridge Trail to get to Mansfield’s Forehead at 3940′. This section is about 2.5 miles and pretty much all ascent from the parking lot. The parking lot is at about 1400′, so the total ascent during this section is roughly 2500′. Most of this climb is under the forest canopy, is very technical at sections, but was very dry considering all the rain we’ve had over the last few months. That said, you do get some unbelievable views as you get closer to the Forehead and climb across some huge slabs of rock with views of the Adirondacks, Lake Champlain, and Burlington. We moved at a decent pace and finally got to the Forehead.

Southwest View

Once we got to the Forehead, we joined the Long Trail for a ridge walk about a half mile to the Nose at a little over 4000′. This walk from the Forehead to the Chin is open and simply breathtaking. The Nose was ‘under construction’ or something so we bypassed that, stopped at the Summit Station and chatted with the GMC worker for a while and continued on our trek to the Chin (4393′). When you are on top of Mt. Mansfield during a beautiful summer day, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. From the Summit Station on we were among a caravan of people hiking to the Chin. There’s a toll road, much like Mt. Washington, where people can drive to the top and walk the 1 mile to the summit (Chin). There was one point at the summit where I REALLY wanted to take a picture to share with you all. This dude had full khakis, dress shirt, the Nantucket flag belt, and loafers on…oh, with this HUGE ol’ beer belly. Hilarious. Rob and I made the 1 mile trek (4.5 miles or so from the trailhead) to the summit, met a Long Trail section hiker (who I promised I would help shuttle cars for his next section), and enjoyed a great bite to eat among lots of people but wonderful 360 degree views (including our real first site of the White Mountains).

Mansfield Summit Marker

After logging some time on the summit, we decided to take the longer approach back along the Sunset Ridge Trail. BUT, before that, I convinced Rob to scout out the Taft Lodge which was a half mile down the Profanity Trail (pretty funny name, but very appropriate – I couldn’t help myself with the pic below). The Profanity Trail was very steep dropping 700′ in only a half mile, very technical, and a pain in the arse. I’m pretty sure Rob swore more than once…and probably wondered why he comes on these little adventures with me :) We made it down to the Taft Lodge and I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the Lodge, the wonderul view, and the ‘decent’ but not great water source. After scoping it out, the only option to get back to the Sunset Ridge Trail was to ascend back up Profanity (shit). So, 700′ feet and a few swears later, we were back above treeline and heading to the Sunset Ridge.

Profanity Trailhead Sign

Sunset Ridge Trailhead

The Sunset Ridge Trail is a real leg buster, with huge rock slabs, and 1900′ of descent over only 2 miles…but you are rewarded with some excellent open views from the west side of Mansfield. This section is where the new picture gracing the Polka Dot Shorts blog was taken and the one below (my new trail name is Rock Surfer by the way). Toward the end of this section we were both beginning to really ‘feel’ the hike. Total miles to this point approx 7.8 miles, total ascent roughly 3,500′ and descent 2800′. From the Sunset Ridge Trail we traversed the CCC Road approx 1.1 miles and were surprise at how ‘lush’ this little moss laden trail was…a sweet change from all the rock we’ve been pounding. The other surprise was that we seemed to be going ‘back up the freakin’ mountain!’ It wasn’t steep by any means, but we thought we were going DOWN. The CCC Road heads up about 400′ then eventually turns down about 100′ to meet up with the Maple Ridge Trail. If you’re counting, that’s 8.9 miles, 3,900′ ascent, 2900′ descent.

Rock Surfer

The Maple Ridge Trail is what we originally took up the mountain to get to the Forehead. Again, we were surprised to find out we were heading up the mountain another 400′ in just 0.4 miles to connect back with the Frost Trail that would take us to the trailhead (finally). This was hard, with a couple ‘false summits’ (too funny), but once we got to the Frost Trail we made some quick work on the way down – approx 1.5 miles with 1600′ of descent to the parking lot. During this section I was beginning to be VERY careful with my knee and all the downhill pounding, but we made good time and had great fun.

Ridgeline to Summit

Total Trip: let’s call it 11 miles, about 4500′ of ascent and descent

Total Time: about 6 hours, including lots of pictures, talking at the Summit Station and lunch.

Note 1: this is an awesome loop (but I would skip Profanity next time obviously) with some really great views, good mix of hard technical trail and some great ridge running (if you were to run), big ups and downs to pound your legs into submission, and there is a GREAT cold flowing creek/stream at the trailhead to soak your legs afterward – which we did and it was fantastic.

Note 2: As I was passing a lady on Sunset Ridge I commented “you’re almost there.” She was climbing as I was descending and I was just being my friendly self. Her comment back, “I’ve hiked this a million times.” Whoa! Down doggie. I didn’t say anything, just kept moving. However, this ‘comment’ made for some great fodder during the ensuing miles. “REALLY, I doubt she’s really done this one million times, maybe if she lived here her entire life she’s done it a few hundred times, but not one million”, “One million and you’re moving that slow?”, “Why couldn’t she just have said thanks”, “I’ll bet if she ran my Chin Up Contest (a little preview of another fat ass idea) she would claim she could do it one million times.” Note to self – don’t ever act like that, it’s very unbecoming.

I had a great time today. Vermont is so beautiful. Hopefully my knee is ok tomorrow :)

Mud & Cheers,

Mike

Ridgeline

Two Hikers on Sunset Ridge

Earlier this week I left beautiful Burlington, VT to return home to Newburyport, MA. I went to school there from 1st grade through high school and never fully realized how lucky I was to grow up in such a beautiful and historic city. For a long time, it was the smallest city in the State – my graduating class was like 150 people…maybe less. I grew up like many, playing street hockey after school, whiffle ball, tag/tackle football, riding my bike all over the place but sure to be home ‘before the street lights came on.’ Oh, the freedom. The city is full of old colonial homes dating back to the 1800’s, mixed with newer developments (of course), the high school is IMHO the most beautiful high school I’ve ever seen, and it boasts the most excellent downtown filled with really cool little stores, a boardwalk on the Merrimac River, cobblestone streets, and wonderful old brick buildings. If you haven’t had the chance to visit Newburyport, it’s a must see.

Anyways, off my Newburyport PR soapbox and down to the real reason for this post. Like I said, Monday night after work I drove the 3 hours home to Newburyport so I could attend an Atayne event that has been a long time in the planning. I was able to work from my parents home on Tuesday so I could attend the Yankee Homecoming 10 miler that night. We have been working with the race director for months now to put in place phase one of our sustainability efforts / partnership with the race. I made the contacts while Jeremy and Brian (my cousin and intern with Atayne) built a plan to improve the recycling efforts of the race. In working with Molly the towns recycling champion, we planned to clean up the course (as much as our volunteer effort could handle) and most importantly make sure everything at the start/finish area that could be recycled, was. I’m not sure on the headcount, but I think we had nearly 20 Atayne wearing volunteers behind this effort. HUGE THANKS! Jeremy led a team of ‘trash runners’ out on the course to pick up trash and separate recyclables (the I Got Trashed banner above is covering our converted running stroller that we use to collect trash and recycles), while I stayed back at the start/finish area with tons of volunteers to help with the recycling efforts there. We had people standing at trash bins making sure people were properly disposing of trash versus recyclables, people walking the area and cleaning up, people breaking down cardboard boxes from the other vendors and separating it, taking the tops off fruit cups and recycling the plastic bottoms (ick!), and reminding people to please, please, help us in our efforts by being mindful and recycling. Big ups for all the volunteers and the race for stepping up. The race has been going on for 49 years, continues to grow, and has the potential to be a leader in responsible race management. What’s more, the community loved seeing the efforts made this year to lesson it’s impact on the city and our environment.

I’m sure Jeremy will be doing a much fuller write up of the event, so I encourage you to check out his blog for an even better story and the inside scoop on what happened during the trash run.

Again, thanks to all the volunteers (many who stayed until nearly 10pm), Molly, Jon the RD, the race committee, and the great city of Newburyport for allowing us to partner with you. Special thanks to Katie at the Newburyport Daily News for the wonderful article she wrote on me returning home and the special focus she put on describing Atayne and our mission.

Can’t wait until next year….

Keep it clean,

Mike

“One Day Out of Your Life” – the title of a great motivational article I read in Ultra Running Magazine about how to break the infamous 24 hour barrier in a 100 mile event. I had this buzzing through my head the entire 22 hours and 23 minutes it took me to ramble through the Vermont 100 Miler – my first 100. Today would turn out to be a day of  ‘firsts’; first 100 miler, first run over 53 miles, first run over 13 hours, first ultra in Vermont, first ultra in what can be considered ‘summer’, and first time I finally put all my shit together and had a race to be completely proud of. “One Day Out of Your Life” – today I would finally apply all the lessons learned from previous ultra performances (good and bad) and give it everything I had.

The Race

Alarm goes off…crap I’m already lying…Jeff’s WATCH goes off and we get up at 3am for the 4am start. Chariots of Fire is playing somewhere off in the background to wake all the sleepy campers and get us psyched up for the run. I get naked and begin applying lube all over my body, into places where lube will ONLY EVER go during race day ☺ I’m shining my flashlight so I can see when I hear “nice balls” or something like that from the dirty peeping toms who call themselves Trail Monsters in the tents adjacent to mine. Apparently I cast quite the little nude shadow puppet for everyone to see – but I embraced it and didn’t turn off the light until I was done. So it goes in Ultraland.

I finished getting dressed, tossed back an Ensure, made sure one last time Jeff and Jeremy knew what to tote around all day to support me, and headed down for some coffee with the anxious other runners. The weather was perfectly cool, sprinkling a bit but not raining; which was nice since it poured all night and for the last umpteen days. Rebecca grabbed me some coffee, I mingled with the other runners and wished people good luck – it seemed like I knew half the field – and the countdown began a minute before 4am.

At 4am we were invited to the course, headlamps a blarin’, months and months of training like wind at our backs, and personal goals and expectations weighing on our shoulders. I wanted 24 hours. I wanted a buckle. One Day Out of Your Life. I look at my well-detailed 24 hour pace chart: Taftsville Bridge 15.3M, 7:20am. I’m feeling great, fast hiking the ups, running the flats and descents. I make quick work of the few aid stations along the way and arrive at Taftsville already having banked 30 minutes. Am I going too fast? Nah, you feel great!

Next up, Pretty Horse 21.1M, 8:30am – first access to my most excellent crew. Wanting to share my new 30 minute deposit with my friends, I didn’t let up and cruised into Pretty Horse all smiles and full of energy. They were psyched and absolutely rocked in getting me in and out of there. Two cold new bottles were ready, a cold bottle of Ensure, salt tabs replenished, relieved me of my headlamp and Moebens, and I as gone…see you in 9 miles!

I ran strong through this next section leading up to the first big obstacle of the race – Stage Road aid station – MEDICAL CHECK. I’ve heard nightmares about these AND I had some issues the night before when they weighed me in nearly 8lbs over what I knew to be my actual weight. Suffice to say, I was a bit scared. Approaching the AS I swallowed all my water and took a look at the ol’ pace chart…to check on my deposit. Stage Road 30.1M, 10:20am. I picked up another 5 minutes! I fly into the AS (seriously, I do try and run hard and smiling into aid stations out of respect for the volunteers), get right onto the scale and NO WEIGHT CHANGE. Zip, I’m outta here…before they decide to weigh me again. Of course, my crew was on fire with everything ready to go AND loving the extra 5 minutes I picked up!

So, up to about the 50k point everything was rosy. My 50k was just under 6 hours, with my official 50k PR being only 5:35. Coming out of Stage Road I received the first dent in my armor. If memory serves me correctly, this is a VERY long climb – ouch. Nothing on this course is too technical or steep, but there are some climbs that never seem to end…this was one of them. It wasn’t Pittsfield Peaks steep and long (my head didn’t go between my legs), but it was tough and concerning. Over these few miles I gave back a little of my well-earned deposit. BUT, being the scrooge that I am, I finally recovered and ran the downhills relentlessly. By the time I got to the 10 Bear #1 aid station at 47.2M (and medical check), I had not only made up for it, but also increased it to 40 minutes! BANK! My crew was amped as I ran in, my mom and dad joined the party, and the Nascar-like pit crew went to work – stripping me of my socks and shoes, wiping down my feet, spraying me with sunblock, shoving Ensure down my throat, and wrapping a cold bandana around my neck. This is when Jeremy asked me if I wanted a new shirt…to which I replied “Atayne Shirts are Guaranteed for 100 Miles” – not sure where that came from, but we have it on video.

As I started the 10 Bear loop I glanced at my pace chart and noticed it took on average approximately 1hr, 45min to cover the next 6.9 miles – looks like I have some hills coming up! Enter dent #2. The climb out of 10 Bear was brutal for me…even though I stayed on pace. Thankfully, yet again, I was saved by the downhills into the Tracer Brook aid station and ended up picking up another 3 minutes of cushion versus my goal pace for a total of +43 minutes. Yahtzee! I had now gone 57 miles – the most I’ve ever been. I covered the first 50M in a personal best 10 hours, which was another huge milestone for me, figuring unless I blow up there was NO WAY IN HELL I couldn’t do another 50M in 14 hours and finish sub-24. I was pretty confident now…and still feeling good. (I changed socks again at Tracer Brook)

Between Tracer Brook and Margaretville I picked up some more time, though I wasn’t exactly burning it up during this section. I asked my crew to air dry my first pair of Drymax socks in preparation for yet another sock change at the return to 10 Bear (my parents said they were wondering why the crew vehicle had socks flying outside the window – great execution crew!). This was sock change #3. This was also yet another milestone – my first 100k, finished in about 12:30. Not too shabby for this mid-packer.

I crushed the next section to 10 Bear #2 (well, for me at least). I knew I was getting my pacer (Jeff), it was lots of downhill, and mentally my race was over. I told Jeff all week my race was really three separate races: run a good 50K, run a good 50M, suck it up for 20M until the 70M point at 10 Bear #2…then the rest of the race is all on his shoulders ☺ I told him if I gave him enough cushion it would be his fault if I didn’t make it. Of course, I was just kidding, but I really did believe if I landed at 70M with enough banked time Jeff would be enough to ensure I made it. I arrived there with a full hours worth of bank. SOCK CHANGE!

 

Jeff and I headed out of 10 Bear with the goal of getting to West Winds while it was still light out. It was so nice to have Jeff along now. I don’t mention running with other runners much because I was so focused up until this point on pushing forward. I KNOW I must have, I just can’t remember. Anyways, the next 22 miles were some of the slowest of the race – poor Jeff. We made it to West Winds in daylight but it was slowww. I don’t know if I lost motivation, knew I had the 24 in the bank, I know my feet were starting to hurt…I can’t put my finger on it. I was getting sick of the gravel country roads and thirsty for single track. To Jeff’s credit, he kept me moving during this spell. “Lets run to that light stick” – fine. “Let’s run to that light stick” – that’s too aggressive ☺. In the end, we compromised on section running the flats, running/shuffling the downhills, and hiking the hills. The one saving grace is that I’m a pretty fast walker – so we really didn’t lose all that much time. In fact, by the end of this section (mile 92) we were able to increase our bank another 15 minutes. Seems others have a tough go of it this late in the race too. Oh, I made my 4th and final sock change during this section at Bills (88.6M). I spent the most time of any aid station here – weigh in, chicken broth x2, couple of sandwiches…then Jeff kicked me out. I was getting real comfortable and friendly with the volunteers. I was even serenaded by a group of Chili Pepper Shorts fans! Amazing.

The proudest moment of the race for me happened over the last 8 or so miles. I was in good spirits but hurting (mostly my feet). I could either take it easy and coast for the 24 or I could kick it into gear, dig deep, and finish strong. One Day Out of Your Life came buzzing back into my head. I said this to Jeff – “what?” I explained the article and off we ran. In the last 8 miles we passed 10 people, 6 in the final 4.5 miles. I ran the uphills (first time all day) and bombed the descents. I was having a blast. Jeff finally got to run (please keep in mind we were not breaking any land speed records here, but for miles 92-100 it felt like we were really moving). I finally crossed the finish line at 2:23am for a 22hr, 23min first 100M. Good for 37th place. One Day Out of My Life where everything went better than planned and I gave it 100%.

Post-Race

I really thought I banged up my feet – NOTHING! The medic was like, “Get the hell out of my cot you big wuss-bag.” Not really, but even though the blankets were SO DARN WARM, I moved right along so it was available for a more deserving and needy runner – there were lots of them. I hung around for a bit, met some really cool folks I didn’t meet a long the trail, congratulated those I shared some time with, then headed for the tent to get some much needed rest. I REALLY wanted to see Paige cross the finish line and was hoping I got up in time to witness the Chili’s and Pearls get hers. Thankfully, I woke, grabbed my chair and some food, and arrived just in time to see and hear “I Made That Trail My Biotch.” Many of us witnessed that fiasco, too funny. What an incredible story she has – you can read it here. Great job by her guy Geoff for helping her all day and especially those last 30 miles. Proud of you Paige!

Noticings (I just made that word up)

• The VT crew I run with had an amazing day: Serena Wilcox in her first 100M finished 3rd overall woman and 15th overall (19:50), Bob Ayers in his second 100M smashed his goal of sub-20 hours finishing 11th overall (19:13), Todd Archambault in his first 100M finished 19th (20:31), and the ridiculous super human Jack Pilla at the age of 51 won the whole darn thing in 16:36 – the FIRST MALE from Vermont to do so in the races history.
• Annette Bednosky suffered from an injury all day but finished, buckled, smiled, and stuck around for the award ceremony and cheered everyone on – a true ambassador
• Michelle Roy finished her first 100M
• Amy Lane buckled in her first 100M
• Nick Tooker buckled in his first 100M
• Lori Lebel buckled and finished her second leg of the Grand Slam
• Steven Hawthorne finished his first 100M and buckled
• Joel Pederson who I ran my first 50M with in Dec finished his first 100M
• Adam Wilcox finished his first 100M and buckled
• John Izzo (wearing American Flag shorts) finished his first 100M and buckled
• Pam Dolan finished her first 100M
• Karsten Solheim, 72 years young, finished in 29hrs, 54 minutes!

Thank You

• BRYON POWELL from irunfar.com a great friend and ultra coach. I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to get this runner to a sub-24 performance in less than one year of running ultras (first one in Sept 08’) and after my dreadful limp to the finish line 50M in Dec 08’ (finish time 11:54). I have made steady improvements ever since working with you and have learned more than I ever imagined about how to properly plan and train for these most excellent events. THANK YOU. If anyone is interested, I highly recommend working with Bryon. You can get information here, or contact me if you have any questions.
• Jeremy, Rebecca, Jeff, Dad, Mom – awesome crew and support, love you!
• My new Vermont running family – thanks! I’m going to beat one of you someday!
• Patty Duffy, who couldn’t participate do to injury, came anyways and volunteered – I love that – thanks Patty!
• Steve Pero, Jamie Anderson, Steven and Kelly Wells, Paige/Crash – thanks for all your support!
• The Listers and Yahoo Ultra Runners for all your help and support
• And last but not least, thank you Julie for putting on a fabulous race and all the wonderful volunteers who spent countless hours setting this up and supporting us all weekend. I had a wonderful first 100 experience because of your efforts.

Pre-Planning Notes

I finally got my shit together and actually fully thought through a race strategy. If you’ve read any of my previous race reports, you know I’ve had my share of issues – mostly self-inflicted but great learning experiences. I spent countless hours building my own customized pace chart from the splits of 25 runners who finished last years race between 23-24 hours. I had a goal of finishing, but really wanted to get the buckle and bust 24 hours. Along with the pace chart, I studied the distances between the 29 manned and unmanned aid stations and put a plan in place to stop at some and skip several. I decided to carry two water bottles to minimize stops, one handheld and one single bottle fanny pack. I decided to go with water only, minimizing my issues with sugar-induced nausea. I made detailed plans for my excellent crew to have two water bottles filled with cold water and ready to swap quickly along with a bottle of Ensure for easily digestible calories. I planned on taking 2 S!Caps per hour most of the race to minimize my cramping issues and ensure I was replacing my electrolytes effectively. Learning from Jeff’s foot problems post-Western States, I planned a shoe change half way through and several sock changes. I decided to go with the Brooks Cascadias over the Inov8 Rocklites due to the terrain and lack of proper long distance training in the Inov8s. I carried emergency energy in the form of Clif Shot Bloks, but planned to grab and run at the aid stations and from the wonderfully stocked cooler my crew had. And lastly, I made damn sure I was well rested and hydrated leading into the race, took no ibuprofen, and had substantial calories already in the bank before toeing the line.  Again, if you know me, all this planning was a HUGE upgrade.

So…What’s Next?

I have one focus race left for this year – Mountain Masochist 50M in early November. I’ll probably toe the line at the VT50 end of September and look to add something in October. I have my eye on the Iroquois Trails race in Sept too…but not sure. In the short term I’m hoping to do some running in the White Mountains and will try to keep up with Steve Pero at this years MMD 32 miler (16,000’ of climb!).  Decisions, decisions…

See you on the trails!

Cheers,

Mike (the Chili Pepper Shorts wearing dude from Vermont)

* Landscape pictures all courtesy of Steve Pero (thanks Steve!)

In my previous post, I accepted the challenge from Paige (aka Crash) that if I did not finish the Pittsfield Peaks 53-Miler on June 6th I would wear her girly pearls during my next Ultra. IF, however, I did finish this most grueling of challenges (more on this later), she would have to wear my sweat stained Chili Pepper Shorts at her next Ultra. On her side, she knew I’ve had some issues at my last couple of events: the Pineland Farms 50M bloody pee incident and the MorFun Wapack 50 DNF and she knew/read how tough this course was – so she figured it was a good bet. On my side, I needed a finish badly to bring back my ultra mojo and there was NO WAY IN HELL pearls would be around my neck at an Ultra event (I have some self respect) – so I figured this added incentive, though a risk, was well worth it. Bryon Powell from irunfar.com sent me a nice little email prior to the race to fire me up. It simply read: “Dial it in and nail it. As my dad says, run smart. NO F*CKIN PEARLS!” Brilliant. I was fired up. Bryon is a great coach (more on this in a future post, but if you’re interested, contact me or go here for information on his services). So, how did it go? Read on…

About the Race

The race course is on country roads, logging roads, NFS roads, snowmobile trails, and rugged single track trails. With over 14,000′ of elevation gain, some near bushwacking in sections, shoe sucking mud, rocks, roots, limited switchbacks, and temps in the high 70’s at times – this course was the most difficult in my short ultra life. The course is also consistently difficult. I can’t remember a section of the race with more than a few miles of easy, fun running terrain…it’s relentless. Several people who ran Wapack (my first DNF) testified this is a harder course – which I never thought I would hear. There were ample aid stations throughout and you have access to your drop bags on three separate occasions. Planning for this race is difficult. Even though you have ample aid stations not too far apart, some sections are so darn tough it’s difficult to determine what your pace will be and therefore your hydration and fueling plan. Plan conservatively, carry extra water and fuel. I went with two handheld bottles and my Nathan vest to carry supplies. Worked pretty good for me.
Despite cursing his name on more than a few occasions, convincing myself it would be worth it to punch him in the face when I finished (DNF or not), Andy Weinberg puts on a TOP NOTCH event. This is my second race put on by the very sinister Mr. Weinberg (the other being the McNaughton Park 50M) and his races are very well organized and supported, tons of fun – before and after, not necessarily during :) – and his enthusiasm is absolutely contagious. I would be an ass to not thank all the other volunteers and organizers – even the masochistic Jason who puts the race course together. A great overall effort by everyone and an excellent event.

Thank you!

Race Synopsis

Drive down to Pittsfield, VT after work on Friday night with Jeff – pick up race number, have a small pasta dinner, and meet Andy, Sherpa John, and others at the General Store.

Met Serena, Bob, Todd and others at Aimee Farm (start/finish of the race) to camp.

Put up the monster ultra tent for the first time (5 person Mountain Hardwear) – easy to pitch, HUGE, love it!

Prep for the early morning start, mingle a bit, get to bed early for once.

Wake up at 5am for the 6am start – hydrate (remembering Pineland Farms), eat, fail to poop, add some toilet paper to Nathan vest (just in case), toe the line.

Go through my pre-race plan – be patient, run your own race, pay attention to hydration and fueling plan, be aware of temperature and effort changes, try and have fun, laugh at yourself when you hit the wall and push throught it, you CANNOT fail, remember Bryon’s quote “NO F*CKIN’ PEARLS!”

Feeling great through the first 20-miles or so which featured climb upon climb, straight up the gut and then down – over and over again. I settled in wtih Sherpa John, Adam and Nate figuring they have done this before and would help me be patient. They cracked me up for a long while just listening to them – always nice during these events.

The next stretch I think I caught up with Rob Hamel – a great dude from NH who I was going to do the Presidential Traverse with this same weekend. I’ve never met Rob in person, just online, so it was funny to run into him on the trail. We ran together for a short while, shared some stories, and then split up. I really enjoyed meeting Rob and can’t wait to hit the trails with him down the road. A class act.

At about the 50k point I realized I hadn’t peed yet, tried, dribbled some rusty looking stuff (crap, need to hydrate more), got a bit concerned and slowed down a bit. At this point, I think Nick caught up with me and we ran together for a while. Nick traveled down with Amy Lane (a recent speedster on the Northeast ultra circuit and great gal) from MA. I’m a bit foggy on the distance, but somewhere along the way I noticed Nick looking for the ‘right’ leaves to use for toilet paper. Having no urges anywhere in sight, I made his day when I pulled some actual toilet paper out of my Nathan vest and offered it to him. Talk about trail magic – he was psyched.

The Bloodroot section nearly killed me. Seriously. It has a brutal 2 mile climb that NEVER ENDS. I’m not sure if this is where it happened, but I got to an aid station and begged the volunteer to kick me as hard as he could in the kneecap so I had an excuse to pull out from the race. I was hurting…and I was serious. I wish he kicked me :)

For some reason, after the hellish time on Bloodroot, I thought the race got much easier through the finish. NOT SO. There were two, count two, brutal climbs in the next 6 or so miles. I wish I could playback for you what was going through my mind over the last couple of hours and the time spent on this section. As usual, I swore off ultra running, quit the Vermont 100, rationalized to myself that it’s not worth it, wondered what it would be like to be trolling Church Street or the waterfront back in Burlington instead, got REALLY mad at Andy (the RD) for putting so many ridiculous climbs over 53 miles, yelled F-YOU ANDY at the top of my lungs (Sherpa said he heard me), and made several spontaneous aid stations on rocks along the way to take a brief rest and reflect (most lasting a mere minute or two, some shorter when my butt and/or hip flexors would cramp). Oh, the memories….

Just before my last trip to the drop bag section I took a side trip with Sherpa John and soaked my feet (trail shoes and all) and legs in a creek/steam. OMG – so refreshing. I don’t think I’ll ever pass up the opportunity to soak again! This was around mile 39 or so. I felt alive again. I was really going to finish this thing! Change shoes and socks, take in a bottle of Ensure, I’m off! Only 13-14 miles to go!!!

Sherpa eventually caught me and passed me…again. I wouldn’t see him again until the finish. At mile 40 or so, I couldn’t eat anything anymore. This concerned me a bit. My lips were rejecting Gels and Clif Shotbloks – nearly throwing up a couple times as I forced them down. I tried swishing the gels with water in my mouth – didn’t work. I spilled a gel all over my hands and water bottles too – so uncomfortable and a sticky mess. Darn, I was a mess. I finally got to the water-only aid station at mile 44 but it had NO WATER and I had only 3/4ths of a bottle left and 4 miles to the next aid station. This freakin’ mountain wasn’t going down without a fight. Keep going Mike…suck it up.

On the next stretch I caught up with Adam Wilcox and ran with him for while on some runnable (finally) single track. I was low on energy and low on hydration as we approached the final aid station at mile 48. This was by far my favorite AS. First, they had tons of ice, water, and food. I indulged. I put a crapload (that’s a lot) of ice in my hat and put it on my head to cool down. I was SO sick of Gatorade by now (race supplied drink), I filled my bottles with ice and water. Our sinister RD had a few challenges at this aid station for the last 5 miles. There were some items with dollar signs on them. If you could carry them through the finish, you get the money. There were two rocks…both big. One was worth $100 the other $1,000. Honestly, and I’m serious, you couldn’t have offered me $5,000 to carry either rock. Adam went for the $100 rock (he consequently finished with it many hours later – Wow). Adam made sure to tell me there was one more climb before the finish and I was off.

The first three miles out of the AS were great and runnable. I felt great again – so goes the trials of these races. Eventually I can hear the finish line music, Andy’s voice and get excited that it’s almost over. Adam must have been wrong! Excellent! They must have changed the course. I continue on – all smiles. THEN it happens. The race takes you down within earshot of the finish then abruptly takes a sharp turn UP THE MOUNTAIN AGAIN! Not just up the mountain, so switchbacks here, directly up the mountain. OMG – I nearly cried. I was so excited to finish, so excited to break 13 hours, so excited to meet up with my friends from Vermont who I envisioned drinking beers and eating burgers at the finish waiting for me (probably wondering if I would finish). Suck it up Mike! So, up the mountain I went yet again. I was pretty angry at this point – who puts a climb like this at mile 51 of a 53 miler? This took me some time. If I had my camera I would have taken a picture of my view as I climbed this last stretch. The picture would have been the view from between my legs as I hunched over several times trying to catch my breath. A couple ‘false’ summits, evil thoughts about Andy, and I finally reached the turnaround. BUT, it’s not over yet. You have to survive the rocky, steep, quad crunching descent. This hurt…especially since muslces along both shins were beginning to cramp (didn’t know I could cramp there! Love new muscle ache discoveries). Anyway, I finally made it to the home stretch and caught up with Nick (or he with me, can’t remember). Nick got lost where I thought he had and we finished together FINALLY at 12:49 – good enough for 24th of over 50 starters. Not too bad.

Upon crossing the finish line, Andy met me with a big dude like hug and my trophy (a big rail spike I think with Peak Finisher on it). All I could say was ‘Never Again’ – but that’s probably a lie. I simply love his races.

Afterwards

As I guessed, the Vermont Crew was lounging with burgers and beer when I finished – lookin’ all happy and happy for me. Todd finished in 10:53, Bob 11:29, Serena finished 3rd woman in 11:37, and Jeff just finished in 11:59. Other notables: Amy Lane finished 2nd woman in 11:04 (it was real nice to finally meet Amy), Nikki Kimball won the women’s race in a ridiculous 9:47, Leigh Schmitt and Brian Ruseicki tied for first on the men’s side in 8:51  (how one does this, I’ll never know), Nick Tooker finished with me at 12:47 (though he did take a poop and got lost for 15 min), Pam Dolan in 13:39 (loved meeting Pam – great job!), Adam Wilcox in 14:04 (but he carried a rock for 5 miles…and it was big), Nate Sanel in 11:47 (I met and ran with Nate for a little while), and Sherpa John in 12:27. After a couple burgers myself, a beer provided by Amy (thanks!), we picked up camp and headed back to Burlington. Jeff and I stopped off for a well deserved dinner along the way – steak tips, fries, buffalo wings, chocolate milk, ginger ale, and lots o’ water. YUM.

Reflections

1. I might need to hydrate EVEN MORE. Hard to believe, but possibly true
2. Relying on the race for my sports drink doesn’t work for me – I got sick of Gatorade pretty quickly. Good experiment, lesson learned
3. Getting a good night of rest really helps
4. I can battle through the tough spots, just need to keep moving
5. Finding people at the right time during the race to run with helps – thanks Nick, Sherpa, Adam, Rob and everyone else
6. I cannot rely on purely gels and bloks to get me through a race – at some point, my body rejects them
7. Playing it conservatively at the beginning really helped
8. Don’t swear at the RD along the way, you’ll end up hugging him later :)
9. Spontaneous, self constructed aid stations are wonderfully effective for reflecting, embracing your pain, laughing at yourself, and resting
10. Streams, creeks and/or rivers should never be passed up – your legs and feet will thank you
11. My Atayne shirt continues to surprise me with how great it is :)
12. A little extra incentive goes a long way – NO F*CKIN’ PEARLS!
13. Andy puts on an amazing show – BUT, you better be ready for some hurt
14. I need to train more in the mountains if I expect to perform better in these types of races – though I’m still VERY happy with the finish
15. This sport never ceases to amaze me with all the wonderful people I’ve met and shared experiences I’ve gained
16. It pisses me off to no end that people toss crap on the ground during these races – I noticed several gel wrappers and Zico beverage containers on the trails. Come on people!
17. If you’re last to finish in your travel group, you miss out on the after race lounge chairs and party. Once I finished, the group was ready to head home. I better start training harder!
18. I’m ready for the Vermont 100 – BRING IT!
19. Lastly, but certainly not least, I can’t wait to see Paige donning the Chili Pepper Shorts at Vermont (she bought her own so I could continue the streak of wearing mine)

Recovery

Believe it or not, I feel great. On the Tuesday following the race I did a nice little 3 mile run and 6.5 miles on Thursday. This weekend I’m planning a long run with Jeff – distance TBD. No aches whatsoever!

Keep it clean,

Mike

Calling me out (Pearls vs Chili Pepper Shorts: The Smackdown)?!!! Real nice – like I needed the extra motivation. Ok, you’re on. Challenge accepted! If, no WHEN I finish the Pittsfield Peak 53M this weekend you will wear my Chili Pepper Shorts at your next ‘official ultra event’. If for some reason, like I get eaten by a bear on the trail and DNF, I will wear your silly pearls at my next ‘official ultra event.’. I cannot believe you called me out like that…in public no less! I was going to keep this event kinda secret, due to my most recent bloody pee DNF at Pineland Farms, but now you’ve done it. I will not fail. So, I guess a thanks is in order. I can’t wait to make you eat my shorts :)

So, have fun with your 20 mile weeks, short walks with your dog Charlie (which probably count toward your 20), and knee length compression socks :) Me, I’m gonna put myself out there again, have an experience, and see what happens.

YOU’RE GOING DOWN PEARLS!

Keep it clean…as always…and in good fun and humor,

Mike

Met Jeff at his home 7:15am

Met Jeff’s new daughter Lila – ridiculously cute, does not look anything like Jeff :)

Drove to Smuggler’s Notch

Ran 9.5 QUALITY miles with around 3000′ of elevation – muddy and wet trail, overcast but no rain, glorious weather

Took a #2 in the woods on top of Smuggs – scored some toilet paper in the shelter (Left No Trace). Jeff did his earlier, no word yet on how he wiped his arse :)

Decided to change my wet running shorts when we got back to the car. No one around, dropped the ol’ shorts, and a car drives up. Full white Irish monty! The older woman in the passenger seat covered her face :) I said, what do you expect near a trailhead in Vermont :)

Had a great brunch with Jeff (his treat this time) – monster omlette, chocolate milk, coffee, and lots of water

Drive home, play with Jackson a bit, head to the Subaru dealership – YUM

Test drive a bunch of cars, try and negotiate the hell out of the dude, remind him I work in Sales, and we finally settle on a deal.

Handshake, done.

Here’s my new ride. Freakin’ love it! Death to the Saab – I feel bad for it’s next owner.

What a day…

Keep it clean,

Mike

Jeremy just informed me that Atayne has finally made it to Treehugger! Months ago I asked him if we should approach them to see if there was interest in learning about our new company, but he assured me they would somehow, someway, sometime…find out about us. Well, they did. SO, thanks to everyone for all your support and hopefully continued support as Atayne gains legs and momentum.

Check out the article here.

Big hugs, keep it clean,

Mike

There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.

– French Proverb

This used to be one of my favorite quotes, however, my newest, favorite quote is: “There is no pillow so soft as clear pee.” OMG – another debacle in my short ultra life. Where to begin. Keep this one short Mike. I don’t have the energy nor the creativity to put forth a true, Polka Dot Shorts style race report. I’m sick of writing about DNFs. I’m tired of long drives home thinking about what could have been. I’m tired. I’m tired of ‘double edge swords’, tired of ‘glasses half full’, tired of perspective, tired of looking on the bright side of things, tired of saying “this experience will pay dividends down the road” or “I’m making a deposit that’ll pay with interest.” All I want is to be rewarded for my hard effort and sweat equity put in building up to these races. What the heck!

Did I fool you? I haven’t lost my way yet. I’m still happy with the effort this weekend. I’m still positive. I did learn an awful lot…again. DNF = do not forget. I will not forget this EXPERIENCE. It will only make me better. What am I talking about? Here’s what happened at this weekends Pineland Farms Challenge 50 Miler - in a very short, but sweet, weekend race report.

Pre- Race

Met up with Crash (Paige), Jeremy (Atayne), and Rebecca (Jeremy’s fiance and soon to be better half) on Saturday in Portland, ME. Jeremy was kind enough to let us grab carpet in his home.

Crash & I grab our race bibs at the Maine Running Company and some grub in the Old Port.

We meet Michael Hanes & Patty Duffy for dinner, stories, and laughs at the Portland Pie Company.

Head back to Jeremy’s, organize all gear and drop bags, Jeremy and Rebecca make a Free Hugs poster courtesy of Atayne :)

I share an air mattress with Crash on Jeremy’s floor, have a bad dream she doesn’t remember, and get a good night of sleep.

Race Day

Wake at 4am.

Out the door at 4:30, head to Dunkin Donuts, arrive at Pineland 5:15 ish.

Share coffee (we brought a glorious Box o’ Joe that people loved), make new friends, drop off drop bags.

Race starts at 6am – meet up with Mike Hanes, Patty Duffy, Jamie Anderson, and Jeff LaBossiere at the starting area.

The race starts – I’m running with Jeff and feeling GREAT.

Jeff makes a pit stop, I decide ‘today is my day’ and keep on truckin’.

Through the first 18.5 or so miles in approx 3 hours. Get a hug from Atayne, all smiles.

I run by myself most of the race since leaving Jeff. I’m in between the front runners and mid-pack.

After the first 18.5 miles there’s two more 25k loops. Second loop, running alone, but feeling good, real good.

Mile 28 or so I pass the start finish area, feeling great, but have a slight cramp in the leg developing – stop, massage, stretch, all good.

Keep on truckin’. Feeling good. Haven’t pee’d in a while, maybe I should. Oh, crap. My pee is RED. No. Not now! Really? Fear enters.

I lobby a few runners on what to do. What does red pee mean? I get a zillion different answers, some scarier than others (e.g., kidney failure), but all ending with stop and see a doctor.

This is a first for me. I walk the next half mile or so to an aid station and ask for the quickest route off the course to the start/finish area.

I walk another half mile or so to the start / finish area and no medical person! OMG. Ian Parlin, the RD, tells me it could be an electrolyte deficiency.

Since I’m feeling good physically, I decide to wait it out and see how things progress – I drink and eat a ton over the next couple of hours.

I cheer on fellow runners. Seems to be my thing these days :)

My parents call, tell me they have already left Burlington, and I realize I have to drive 4 hours home after the race to take care of Jackson (my dog)

I head back to Portland, grab all my stuff, pee again – it’s now dark brown, and head back to the race to see Crash finish.

Sitting in my lawn chair, burger, pasta, and Vitamin Water on hand I witness Crash finish her 50 miler – excellent effort!! 10:17 finish!

First thing I notice, she has scrapes and dirt all over her arm and leg. OMG – you fell again! On this course! She is deserving of her name for sure.

Long Ride Home

No music. Only thoughts.

What did I learn? What went wrong?

Long ride home.

Positives

1. Very well prepared
2. Good night sleep for a change
3. I ran strong, training is working – got through 50k in a hair over 5 hours, my best yet.
4. I can break 8 hours on a 50 miler.
5. Met some awesome people, including Trail Monsters, Trail Animals, and GAC members. All had excellent performances

• Patty Duffy – qualified for Vermont and smashed expectations despite tough shin splint issues – way to go Patty! 9:32
• Michael Hanes – son of Ultra Runner Steve Hanes, his first ultra in 8:32 – 17th overall – I’m jealous, quit now.
• Jamie Anderson – Trail Monster, great runner and personality, 8:40 – Good luck at Western States!!
• Lorie Label – GAC, 3rd woman 8:04 – she passed me more than a few times – was very nice to chat with
• Emma Parlin (aka Gnarls Barclay) – Trail Monster, 2nd woman 7:52 – funny better half of Ian Parlin
• Jeff LaBossiere – Vermont, 8:37 20th overall – we run together in Vermont
• Kelly Wilson – Vermont, 8:40 1st Age Group! – way to go Kelly!!
• Chris Haley – Trail Animals, 8:45 – we ran together for a while
• Clinton Morse – Trail Animals, 9:31 – briefly chatted with him at some point
• Tim Reif & Kristen Evan – awesome people, met them at Fells as well
• Steven Wells – big ol’ cheering party for me – thanks Steven! 15th at Massanutten Trail 100 – yikes! Trash ran with Atayne last year
• Eric Fardland (sp?) – volunteering to fullfil VT100 requirements, great supporter, met him while running in NH a couple weekends back
• Jeff Walker – Trail Monster, volunteer and excellent dude – trash ran with Atayne in Maine last year
• Ian Parlin – Trail Monster founder, RD, and fellow trash runner with Atayne last year

Negatives

1. I pee’d blood
2. Need to adapt better to hotter conditions and adjust electrolyte plan of action
3. Maybe I should have seen the slight cramp at mile 28 as a sign…

Questions

1. Should I have stopped?
2. Should I have walked it off, tried to rebalance, and continued on?
3. How can I make sure this doesn’t happen again?
4. Should I make myself pee earlier in the race to check and adjust hydration/electrolytes? I didn’t have to go until 5 hours in.
5. How many calories should I be taking in per hour?
6. How many S!Caps should I be taking per hour? One, two…more? I sweat a lot.
7. I went harder than normal, but felt good, should I adjust my fueling strategy as I go harder?

About the Race

The Pineland Farms Challenge gets 10 thumbs up…if I had 10 thumbs. Ian and Erik put on an unbelievable race, in a beautiful farm setting, on a challenging yet fast course. The fact that it’s 100% runnable is what makes it difficult. I ran past some big ol’ cows, across grassy farmland, through well stocked and zany aid stations with enthusiastic volunteers, ate like a king at the end, could have drank like a fish if I wanted to, and listened to an excellent band to boot. The awards, though I didn’t receive any, were hand crafted for the top finishers and every finisher got a cool cow bell, shirt, beer mug, and hat. This is one of the most organized and fun races I have ever been to. I will be back for revenge next year, and the year after that, and the year after that…I’m hooked. Great job Ian, Erik and all the volunteers. Thank you! If you’re interested in other races Ian has a part in, please check out the Bradbury Mountain Races.

Monday

Pee is normal. I’m not dying :)

15 mile trail run at the Catamount Center to regain my spirits – felt great.

Figuring what I’ll do this weekend to jump start my mojo

Keep it clean,

Mike

(who does stupid, fun things like this to make people laugh)

This past weekend I headed to the Lake Winnipesaukee region of New Hampshire to visit with my Dad, golf, get Jackson (my dog) some swimming time at the lake, and hit some trails in the area. I headed down on Friday night after work from Burlington, got a decent night sleep, whooped my Dad in golf the next morning (he had a bad day), played with Jack a while and then headed over to Gunstock Ski Resort to double traverse the Belknap Range (see above). The Belknap Range is described as a strenuous peak bagger’s adventure that visits nine peaks from Mt. Rowe to Mt. Major. 11.5 miles, total elevation gain 3,300 ft one way. Along the route you summit Rowe, Gunstock, Belknap, Klem, Rand, West & East Quarry, Straightback, and Major. The route is littered with trail intersections that make it a challenging route finding adventure for sure (more on this later). As for the trail conditions, you get pretty much everything – wide dirt and gravel paths, cross country ski trails, single track, both real hard technical fun and easy smeezy soft pine needle heaven. There are some real butt kickin’ ascents/descents, what you would expect from the East Coast (hey diddle diddle, right up the middle), and some glorious low grade downhills, uphills, and flats. You run along ridges with unbelievable views, through some nice tree canopies, through some wonderful cols, along some ponds, across grassy knolls, past former settlements (this is all new growth forest, as evident by all the stone walls in the woods you pass), old roads and quarry sites. The views are amazing; the running – diverse, interesting, tough, and fun. BUT, you only get to see all of this if you run the entire traverse, and this was not my day to do it – whatever my intention.

I got to the Gunstock parking lot a little before noon, took a while to find where the trail started, and headed up towards Mt. Rowe (top left of the map). The initial climb is quite brutal, extremely steep in sections, along a loose gravel path (Ridge Trail). It’s nearly a mile to the top of Rowe and it’s all climb – what a way to get started. Not much to report here except exhaustion. At the top of Rowe, you head across a grassy ridge with wonderful views of the surrounding valley and lakes before heading down into the col between Rowe and Gunstock. After some more climbing – ski paths and grassy inclines – you finally top out at Gunstock around 2.5 miles in. Here are some pictures from the top of Gunstock – breathtaking.

To this point, everything was going well, I didn’t get lost (that much), but things changed as I continued on. From the top of Gunstock you find the Brook Trail (yellow blaze) and descend into some beautiful Spruce-Fir canopied technical single track. What a great contrast to all the ski development running and hiking so far. So, off I went smiling ear to ear, ripping down the single track into another col between Gunstock and Belknap. Ripping not thinking, I got semi-lost and missed a critical turn in the trail and was heading back to the Gunstock parking lot – not cool. Finally realizing my mistake, I got back on track and began the ascent to summit #3, Belknap Mountain. At the summit there’s a great fire tower providing ridiculous views of the surrounding area. I soaked them in. Here are some more pics.

From the Belknap summit, you head down the Old Piper Trail (white blaze) which descends into a clearing and reaches a junction with a yellow and purple blazed trail that takes you to Round Pond. Zipping along on the downhill, I AGAIN get lost and completely miss the trail turn. This time, I really get lost and ended up WAY down the mountain before I realize it. I end up at a gravel road having just rolled my ankle (not too bad, but enough to warrant some concern), notice the sky getting a little overcast (it never did actually rain), and estimating myself at about 1/2 mile downhill from where I should have turned. Decision time. I think at this point I was about 4.5 miles in (counting my detours). I decide to tackle the full monty another day and continue downhill and EVENTUALLY get back to the parking lot – 10 miles later or thereabouts. I’ll spare you the details, but it was yet another adventure in and of itself. I did get this fantastic photo from a friendly hiker somewhere along the way. Can you see my Atayne performance top smiling? Notice the useless map in my left sweat dripping hand…

Despite not getting the traverse in, I found a most beautiful place to run. I will return and finish the double traverse, maybe this June with some friends (anyone wanna come?). This trail, even in the little bit of it I traveled, has it all. Also, from what I hear, the 360 degree views atop Mt. Major are worth the trip alone. I was planning to head back Sunday morning for a rebuttal, but Jack got sick and I had to head back to Burlington earlier than expected (he’s fine now). If you get the chance to be in this area, hit up this trail – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED – but bring a good map and plan on getting lost :)

Here are some more pics. Enjoy.

Keep it clean,

Mike

Running with the Devil 1/2 Marathon – June 2008

Joyce Forier puts on an incredible and CHALLENGING race in the Mojave Desert (and several others) each year. This was one of the most memorable runs of my life for a couple of reasons; it was the first extreme run of my new running life, and it was the first time I field tested a sample Atayne performance top. The link below is the race report I put together shortly after the race and was reminded of by Joyce today. It was very interesting to read it again – seems I’m still struggling with self doubt as I attempt more difficult running challenges but I’m glad to report my attitude has remained the same and consistent. If anyone wants to run a fun, challenging, different, and environmentally responsible running event – I highly recommend running one of the Calico Races and Running with the Devil in particular. I finished in 2:18, slow by most standards, but good enough for 13th of 50 on this 112 degree dry, hot romp through the desert. I will attemp the 50-miler one of these years – that’s a promise. Oh, and of course, I had my Chili Pepper Shorts on which really helped me keep things in perspective :) Hope you enjoy the report.

Atayne Tackles Mojave Desert Race Report