Masters of All Terrain Marathon 2014

 On June 14^th, 2014, I drove ten minutes from my house to Seminole State Forest, a place that I visit frequently for hiking, camping, or just general quiet contemplation. I parked my car and picked up my packet, returning to my car to drop off the unneeded items. I made sure I had everything I needed – my waist-pack, two bottles of Gatorade, some granola bars and energy gels, and some sunscreen applied to my face, neck, arms, chest, and back.

We lined up ready to start the race. The track was thirteen-plus miles with half-marathoners doing one lap and marathoners doing two laps. Even in the morning light, it was already getting warm. The race started and we were off, spending the first several miles heading down a long dirt road. I started off with a one-minute run, one-minute walk, taking an extra minute of walking every six cycles. This is the same method I used when I ran my first marathon, the Space Coast 2013 Marathon, and what I used at the start of the Keys 100 50-miler, which was the last run I did prior to this marathon (a whole month off from running to recover from countless injuries).

This was also the first run I did in my new running shoes and running socks. The shoes I broke in by walking in them for about a week prior to the race, but I had meant to actually run in them at some point. I passed the first aid station after a couple miles and took a cup of Gatorade so I wouldn’t burn through my supply.  Another mile in I reached the second aid station and again took a drink and refilled one of my bottles with water. Leaving this aid station led right into the forest on a path wide enough for only one person at a time. Luckily the first three miles had spread everyone out enough that it wasn’t a big deal.

Around mile four, we exited the woods and got back on a dirt road that led down to the third aid station around mile five. From here it was an almost-three-mile loop out and back, over some hills that I didn’t even know were possible in Seminole County. The running was over a lot of sugar sand, not something one easily pushes off of, so I walked more than usual to preserve my energy, especially with the sandy hills. Eventually I looped back around to the third aid station and onto the main road that we started on. Another half-mile or so down the road, I reached the second aid station and then mile marker nine just before heading into the woods for a short bit, coming out at the first aid station.

Once back at the first aid station and refilled with Gatorade and water, I headed out back into the woods, this time on a familiar path – the Florida Trail. This was the part of the forest I typically hiked on and being in familiar territory made me feel better. I quickly passed mile marker ten, but the heat of the day was already on and the humidity was around eighty-percent. I passed mile marker ten and eleven before reaching the part of the trail that I have hiked on so frequently, I felt like I was almost back to the start. I passed mile marker twelve and the shelter that I’ve camped at several times. The final stretch I pushed through – tired, hot, and running out of liquids.

I reached the exit, back to the parking lot where the start/finish line was. I ran towards it, looked at my watch, and saw that it was time to walk. I still had a whole other lap to go and I couldn’t overexert myself here, I would do that on the second lap as I actually finished. The first lap took me three hours to complete – my slowest thirteen-mile time on anything except maybe the Bandit Trail Run 50K, but that had mountains.

I drank some more water and put a wet towel over my head for a minute before I was off on lap number two. Now it was getting to be ninety degrees out and the humidity was killing me. I was downing water and Gatorade like crazy, having to refill at each water station. Once I passed the third aid station and had to loop back around, it felt like forever before I made it back. I downed both bottles in the three miles and my running to walking ratio was dropping.

Once I made it back to the third station, I was relieved to get a refill and the next aid station was a short ways away. I had passed other racers who looked just as exhausted as myself and I felt like calling out to them that the aid station was so close, but I didn’t have the energy to yell. I pushed on, trying to use my shirt to cover my head from the hot sun, but all it did was make the heat emanating from my head bounce back and heat me up even more. I made it past the second station, and into the woods and out at the first. I still had three-plus miles to go and this was the last stop, so I filled up my bottles and headed back into the woods.

At this point I was so exhausted, I couldn’t run while the sun was out. Every time I found a shady patch or the clouds would block the sun, I would start running and get as far as I could before the solar rays started beating on me again. Finally around mile twelve, I hit parts of the forest that had plant life large enough to actually shade me and I started running more – just as a storm was rolling in. I made it past the shelter and to parts of the woods I knew so well. I crossed a bridge, a half mile to go. I ran through the woods, knowing I was only minutes away from finishing, well past my hoped-for time.

Finally I made it to the entrance and burst out, sprinting to the finish line as the crew were packing everything up due to the oncoming lighting storm. I passed the finish line around 6:42:00 (the scanners never picked up my chip time) and received my medal. I took a couple quick photos and one of the crew offered to take my picture with the finisher sign and then I headed to my car just in time to beat the rain. As soon as I sat down I pulled off my brand new shoes – now covered in sand and dirt – and my feet felt so relieved. My feet had swelled so much that my shoes that started out pretty loose, had been extremely tight by the end of the day. I chugged down some orange juice and headed home. One marathon down for the year, one to go.

2013 in Review

As 2013 winds down and I look back on it, it has turned out to be an extremely productive year. The year didn’t start off that different than the previous years other than my regular trips to the gym to work out. I had never been a fan of the gym – I don’t like crowds and I always preferred to do any workouts at home, though I don’t have any weights and was limited to bodyweight exercises. A group of friends at work play soccer on Thursdays and in the spring, we decided to add a second day of soccer on Mondays. I played both days most weeks from New Year’s to Memorial Day.

One thing I tried to do more this year was take chances and opportunities. I liken it to the movie Yes Man where Jim Carrey’s character says yes to anything that comes his way, though I was les liberal with my acceptances. In February I agreed to be team captain of our company’s Relay for Life team. We hadn’t fielded a team in 2012 and our team in 2011 was small, so I was hoping to get a good bounce-back. We rolled through several fundraisers – one a week – for two months until the night of the Relay. We ended up raising around $4500 in two months’ time with a sizable team of almost twenty walkers. It was exhausting and I swore that I would not be captaining again in 2014, though I did write up all my thoughts on the process – what worked, what didn’t, and thoughts for next year – to be given to the next captain.

On February 13^th, I took the day off work to spend the day at the movie theatre watching a Die Hard marathon before a late-night premiere of the new movie, A Good Day to Die Hard. I had never seen the first three movies on the big screen, so it was worth the admission just for that experience, as Die Hard is my favorite movie. The new movie was pretty bad – it made an okay action movie, mostly forgettable, but it was a horrible Die Hard movie. I wouldn’t see any other Hollywood movies in theatres this year, but I did see Mile… Mile and a Half at the Athen’s Theatre in Deland, where I would also see All Shook Up and The King is Back, and I also saw Appalachian Impressions.

Also in February and March, a coworker asked if I wanted to canoe down Rock Springs Run, which we did four times over about five or six weeks, culminating in an overnight camping trip at the Otter Campsite along the run. This led to many weekends hanging out and many new experiences throughout the year.

In early February, I had gotten an email about the Space Coast Marathon and how they were planning to do a five-year event with medals celebrating the space shuttles. I immediately signed up for the marathon, figuring I had a whole year to get ready for it. I had always wanted to do a marathon and a flat Florida course seemed like a good start. I wouldn’t actually start training for several months though.

In late April I started running shorter races, the Healthy Heart 10K, the Run for the Trees 5K, the Seminole High School Spirit 5K, the Rescue Run 5K, the Lake Mary 5K, and The Nude Run 5K. A friend had told me about the Healthy Heart 10K, happening just down the street from where I live and I had only run one 10K previously, so I jumped on it. The Run for the Trees 5K was one I had run before, but you get a tree for completing it, so I had specifically looked it up online in order to run it again. It also runs through private communities that have very nice scenery. The Rescue Run 5K is one that happens in the park next to where I work and our company sponsors a team every year, so I competed in it for the third or fourth time. The Seminole High School Spirit 5K runs through my old high school and the parking lot of my old middle school, so it was a nostalgic race for me and also culminated in my fastest 5K ever. The Lake Mary 5K was another race close by that took place near the library I go to, so it was a familiar area. I decided to do the Nude Run 5K while looking for races with something exciting to offer, as opposed to the mundane show up and run 5K.

Airborne Again

On Saturday, November 30^th, I went to Quest Air Hang Gliding for the third time. The first time I had gone there, I had been extremely nervous about the height and as we climbed higher and higher into the sky, I could feel the fear of heights creeping up in me. The second time out was much more comfortable and a nice calm ride in the early morning. So this time out I decided to step up the game a bit and asked if I could ride from the lower harness.

Mark Frutiger, the manager, was great and got me all set up with the paperwork and Spinner, the pilot with whom I had rode tandem the last two times, got me set up to pilot from the lower harness while he rode from the top. The plane towed us up and Spinner kept the glider in position behind the plane for the most part. The first thousand feet or so were very turbulent, but the air calmed down above that. Once we were at about two thousand feet, Spinner let me control the tow, so I kept the glider level with the plane, keeping the horizon in between the wheels and the body of the prop plane.

Spinner took back over just as we hit three thousand feet, so then we released from the tow and the plane bailed downwards back to our fair planet Earth, leaving us to explore the sky. We had a strong wind coming from one direction, so I spent most of the flight flying in that direction to prevent us from going too far away from the landing zone. Once we reached about 1200 feet, Spinner gave me the last call for doing aerobatics, so I relinquished control to him and he gave his best effort to do some stunts, but since he was in the top harness, he couldn’t get as much power into the spins as usual.

After our aerobatics, we dropped back into the turbulent air and Spinner brought us down towards the ground, preparing for an exciting landing. We swooped over the trailer park and office building, out into the field before making a strong 180 degree turn and dipping down towards the grassy carpet of solid ground and flaring up to land gracefully back on terra firma.

Mark started a log on me for pilot training to keep track of what I had covered while in the bottom harness and also marked my payment so that if I took the pilot training I would have that much discounted. The guys at Quest Air are great and I love going there. The only problem I have with it is that there’s no topography in Florida to really enjoy while flying. The most exciting thing is to see rainstorms in the distance; otherwise it’s just patches of ground and water below. I’m sure I’ll be back there soon enough. Until then, another video!

Scuba Diving at Devil’s Den Spring

The day after Thanksgiving, my buddy and I drove down to Devil’s Den in Williston, Florida for our first post-certification dive. We got there and checked out the grounds. Devil’s Den is a sinkhole in the ground under a dome of earth with a hole at the top. We were able to walk down into the cavern for pictures and to check it out before heading back up to get geared up. While down taking pictures, something fell from the rocks above and splashed in the water; looking up we saw a squirrel who most have knocked something into the water. There was also a turtle playing on the stairs that quickly left when we came down.

The weather was slightly chilly that morning, with a low around forty, so I tried to change into my wetsuit as quickly as possible. Once we were both geared up, we walked down the steps into the cavern and the platform in the middle of the spring. There was no wind in the cavern and the air was warmer, probably due to the 72 degree spring. We donned our masks and fins and I entered the water and waited for my buddy to finish suiting up and join me.

I had my buddy lead and I followed, as I tend to swim fast and this way I would be able to pace myself off of him. There wasn’t much to look at other than the rocks, until I saw on a ledge a red devil statue. I tried to alert my buddy by yelling, flashing my light in his direction, but he was oblivious to me. I tried yelling louder and spit my regulator out, so I had to recover that and pop it back in so I could continue breathing, then I chased him down until I got his attention and showed him the statue.

We continued on and found a small pass-through where we could swim under a rock and out the other side. My buddy went through first and I watched to make sure he got out fine, then I followed. We doubled back the way we came and I saw the devil statue again and we continues swimming clockwise around the cavern. More divers had come down the steps and were preparing to enter the water and light was more readily entering the cavern. I was now seeing fish with more regularity as well, some in the dark on the outskirts of the spring, and others in the light of the sinkhole opening.

We found another swim-through that was much longer, maybe twenty or thirty feet or so. We swam through it and out the other side. I was monitoring our time, as we had decided on a thirty minute dive before surfacing and making a second dive. I was also monitoring my air to make sure I wasn’t running low. We must have made a couple laps around the spring before hitting our thirty minute mark. We decided to stay down until we got to 1000 psi, since there was no point in surfacing and coming back, so we continued swimming for another ten minutes or so.

When we hit 1000 psi, we made our way to one of the platforms at fifteen feet and did a three minute safety-stop. After three minutes we surfaced, took off our fins, and climbed out of the water. I headed up the stairs and waited at the top of the wooden stairs for my buddy to make it up and then I proceeded up the short stone steps to the chilly above-ground air.

We quickly disassembled our gear in the chilly air, which was now probably closer to fifty degrees, but still damn cold when you’re soaking wet. I finished taking my gear apart and made my way into the bathroom to use the hot shower. I took off my wetsuit and shorts as fast as I could and hopped in the hot shower to warm up. Once I was done, I tried to quickly dry off as the restroom was open-air and it wasn’t much warmer than outside. Once dried off and dressed, I made my way back outside while my buddy showered and I took some time to walk around in the sun.

Once my buddy finished showering, we took a tour of the facilities and walked around a fish pond there, which was mostly covered in algae, though there were some notable fish there. All-in-all, it was a good day. The diving was fun, though there wasn’t much to see there other than rocks.

 

Space Coast Marathon

Back in Februrary, I signed up for the Space Coast Marathon, a marathon with a space theme that was starting a five-year event to honor the shuttle with special shuttle medals. I had never run a marathon before and the farthest I had ever run was 19.5 miles, the last three miles of which were more stumbling and walking than any form of running. I had also not run any long distances in a while, so I would have to work on it. However, in the spring I was playing soccer twice a week and not running outside of that.

When soccer ended in May, my knee was a wreck from making sharp turns and kicking the ball so much. I took a couple months off, but my knee wasn’t healing. I was running out of time to start training, so I decided to just push through the pain. For a couple months I did shorter runs to get back into it, but then my friend sent me a marathon training program and checking it out, I realized I should already be in week 5 of it. I immediately started doing two runs during the work-week followed by a long run on the weekend.

The three-a-week runs were again wrecking my knee as well as other joints, so I cut it back to two runs, including the long run. I had included biking and running as I trained for the Beat the Heat Sprint Triathlon, as well as going to the gym to train for Tough Mudder. I made it through both those events unscathed, but the triathlon was three weeks prior to the marathon, the weekend I was supposed to do a twenty-mile run, the longest run before tapering off before the marathon. I moved that run up to the Tuesday after the triathlon and pumped out 22.59 miles.

The next two weekends I skipped my twelve and eight mile runs because I was taking Scuba Lessons both weekends. I was starting to get nervous about the marathon, having not had a long run in so long. Last night I went to bed early so I could wake up early this morning. I got up before four and quickly got dressed and grabbed everything I needed before heating up a pop-tart for breakfast and grabbing a glass of milk. I ate breakfast as I drove to Cocoa for the marathon.

I arrived early and checked my bag, went to the bathroom, then made my way to the staging area. We were told to line up based on our pace times, but the pacers were not even there. Eventually they all started showing up and the Half Marathon set off a street over. After the start area was cleaned of discarded clothing, we made our way over there and re-lined up.

The national anthem was sang, but the audio kept cutting out, so the racers and spectators all filled in by singing along. A video played of a shuttle launching and the horn was sounded – we were off. It took me a couple minutes to get to the start line and then I started my running. I had been training by doing a one-minute-run, one-minute walk for six cycles and then taking an extra minute of walking. The extra minute break came a little over every mile and it was always a welcome recharge. I decided to stick with the same pace for the marathon.

The first couple miles found my calves cramping up and my foot going to sleep – not a good sign with 24.2 miles to go. Eventually those problems subsided and I continued on at the same pace. One of my friends from work had come out because her husband was running, but she wasn’t interested in running a marathon. Her husband and I kept passing each other for the first five miles or so and then I lost him. I wasn’t sure if I had passed him or if he had passed me. About six and a half miles in was the first turn-around point. Prior to the turn-around I had seen a few recognizable people that were less than a mile ahead of me. After the turn-around, I also took note of some people who were close behind me, including my friend’s husband.

A few miles after, I noticed several half-eaten packs of gel littering the ground and I was extremely tempted to pick one up and eat the rest of it, as I was starving. Shortly after the nine-mile marker one of the water stations had gel packs, so I eagerly took one and inhaled it. As I was running, I caught up to a few people that I had seen before the turn-around coming back the other way. For a few miles, we would pass each other as we each did our run-walks. Finally we got back to the city and the mid-way point. Thirteen point one miles down, thirteen point one miles to go.

I saw my friend again, sitting on the side of the path with her infant daughter. I headed out of town for the second half of the race, in the opposite direction from the first half. Almost every water station from this point on had the GU Gels along with the Gatorade and Water all the stations had. At the next few stations I inhaled more GU. About nineteen and a half miles in, we hit the second turn-around point and I started looking for my friend’s husband again. For a few miles I saw lots of people that I had passed – while I had been maintaining a fairly stable pace, most of these people had been burning out.

I saw my friend’s husband a mile and a half after the turn, three miles behind me. I was on my eighth packet of GU, which was taking me a few miles to get down. While I had been thinking of eating the remains of other people’s gel on the first half, I was now considering dumping mine half-eaten. As the miles dwindled down below five remaining, I could feel the fatigue setting in. The whole run, aside for the short distance through the city, ran along the intercostal. I probably passed around five hundred piers during the whole race. The chorus of Luke Bryan’s song Drink a Beer played over and over in my mind for the final few miles.

One of the techniques I had used during my training to motivate myself was to think of the Boston Marathon Bombing and all the people who had lost limbs but were pushing through their pain in order to compete in next year’s marathon. If they can push through losing a limb, who was I to complain about sore joints. The last few miles, I ran that through my mind many times and it seemed to go well with Drink a Beer.

I was also starting to not feel well in the waning miles – between losing my lust for gel packs and the gas building up in my stomach that I kept belching out. At one point I actually threw up in my mouth while running and had to force it back down. It was also starting to get emotional at the end, being flat out exhausted and knowing I was nearing the end. As I neared the city again, I could hear cheering and music slowly build in volume from the distance. I hit the twenty-six mile mark and turned for the final stretch. I started running, even though it was time for my two-minute break, and people started cheering as I passed.

Some people could read my name off my bib and would shout affirmations to me. I had always thought personalized cheers were meaningless and cheesy, but it was pure elation to hear people shout for me. People would hold out their hands for high-fives, so I ran the last tenth of a mile with my arm out taking high-fives from anyone who wanted one. Finally I hit the finish line and got my medal and towel. I immediately looked for something to drink and then made my way to the porta-potties. I searched for my friend and then waited with her until her husband finished. I congratulated him and then left to find my car and drive home.

I have now completed four of my goals that I set when I turned 27 to complete before I turn 28.

26.2 miles. In. The. Books.

It’s the Final Countdown!

Tomorrow morning I will begin running my first marathon, the Space Coast Marathon. I’ve picked up my packet (I’m runner #4064), I’ve prepared all my stuff, and now it’s the final countdown.

I’ll be going to bed at eight tonight so I can wake up at four tomorrow and drive down to Cocoa. I haven’t run more than 6.5 miles in almost three weeks and it’s had positive health benefits allowing my joints and muscles to heal, but it feels so long that I’ve been getting nervous of losing a step. In exactly twelve hours of my writing this, at 06:30 tomorrow morning, we will be off and I will have seven hours to complete the race, though I expect to finish in around 5:30.

Catch you on the other side!

Photo Uploads

Happy Day-Before-Thanksgiving! I have a busy weekend ahead with some scuba diving, hang gliding, and a marathon planned. I’ve uploaded some images from my recent road trip to share with everyone. Enjoy! And Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a church we passed while driving through Tallahassee (or one of its suburbs):

The swimming hole at Florida Caverns State Park was exceptionally blue!

Also in Florida Caverns State Park was this statue, which I think has an uncanny resemblance to my physique. /flex

At Falling Waters State Park, I took some pictures of the flowers along the side of the path:

At Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, the bell-tower rang every 15 minutes and made for this lovely shot:

And while hiking through Stephen Foster State Park, I came upon one of the few trees in Florida that celebrates Autumn:

 

This tree however was celebrating something completely different, and a little wild:

Just down the street at Big Shoals State Park the Suwannee River turns into some rapids:

Also in Big Shoals were these beautyberries, which I see all over Florida:

Salt Springs Recreation Area

On Veteran’s Day this year, since National Parks had waived the fees for the weekend, my buddy and I went up to Ocala National Forest and stopped at a few places, the highlight of which was Salt Springs Recreation Area. I had lost my goggles during my triathlon the day before, so I decided to take out my snorkel and mask and try them out a week before starting my PADI Open Water Diver Class. I also brought along my booties and flippers to try those out. We parked at Salt Springs and walked down to the spring. The area was completely empty except for a couple swimming in the water, who left shortly after we arrived. I took some pictures and watched the fish jumping out of the water, though every time we started recording video the fish would stop jumping, then start up again once we stopped the video. They obviously knew what we were doing.

We returned to the car and I swapped my camera phone for my GoPro and swapped my sandals for my booties. I headed down to the water with my fins, mask, and snorkel in hand and stepped into the water before putting on my fins. I spit in my mask as a defogger and washed it out, then jumped in the cool water. There were hundreds of fish swimming around and tons of plant life for them to eat and hide in. I swam over to where the boils were, but they were pretty small. I tried diving down into some of them, but they were pretty cramped and with my fins on, it was hard to readjust myself. Almost all of the swimming area was less than four or five feet deep and with the plants there, some of it only had a couple feet of swimming room.

The spring was really nice though, and with nobody else there it was exceptionally peaceful. I expect most springs to be devoid of people throughout the winter, especially those that are farther from civilization. After about an hour of swimming, we left the water and headed back to the car to dry off and warm up before moving on to other locations for the day.

Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park

 

The final stop of our road trip was to Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park. The park had multiple springs, but we stopped at the Peacock Springs in the back. Again we saw the same two guys that we had seen at Troy Spring and Big Shoals State Parks. I headed down to the spring and took some photos before jumping in with my GoPro. I swam around for a bit until my GoPro died and I headed back to the boardwalk. I went to put my GoPro in the car since I wouldn’t be needing it anymore and so I wouldn’t lose it. My friend was searching for his goggles and one of his shoes and he was afraid he had left them at Troy Spring.

We headed back down the boardwalk and I took another quick swim. The boil was right below the boardwalk and swimming downstream I had found lots of vegetation in the water along with a number of fish. I didn’t stay for too long here and we didn’t hit the other spring in the park, instead choosing to head back to Troy to find my buddy’s missing gear. We got back to Troy Spring and in the parking lot were a pair of goggles and one shoe. I’d like to go back to Peacock Springs someday. The swimming hole we were at was okay, it might be more interesting diving into the boil, I don’t know. I’d like to check out the other area. Overall, it wasn’t anything overly special.

Troy Spring State Park

After visiting Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park and Big Shoals State Park in White Springs, Florida on the final day of our road trip, my buddy and I decided to hit one more spring on the way home. I checked the map of state parks and found three in the area, but Troy Spring stuck out as not only the closest, but also had a shipwreck there. We got to the park and headed down the long winding boardwalk to check out the spring and get some pictures. The swimming area was large and there were two guys there already, the same two guys that we saw at Big Shoals State Park.

I headed back to the car to change into my swimsuit and grab my goggles and GoPro before heading back down to the spring. I got into the water and right next to the boardwalk was the boil – a deep seventy foot hole in the ground. I dove down as far as I could a few times, but I wasn’t getting too far before running out of breath. After several dives I was out of breath, so I decided to swim around the swimming area which ended at a river – the Suwannee River. I had never realized the path that the Suwannee had cut through Florida before, it snakes its way through the state covering a lot of area. On the far end of the swimming area I had found the shipwreck, though I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time. It looked like a platform of some kind with rails going across buried almost entirely in the sand.

Throughout the water there were dozens of turtles swimming around, possibly over a hundred. Down near the river I had run into a large school of fish, though I wasn’t sure of the species. I spent some time checking out the shipwreck and the fauna before heading back towards the boardwalk. I took a couple more dives into the boil before heading back out. We decided we had time to hit one more spring before the day was over, but we would be back here before too long.