Chickasaw Trace 15k Report

Not unlike last year, the Chickasaw 15k came up as a perfect tuner for an early season race. This year large changes have taken place in the lives of Team Stevens - starting a new job at Swiftwick, new house and a new babe on the way - travel and lots of training.

I was glad to represent - Nashville Fleet Feet and Swiftwick, wearing Aspire 12s and my yellow FF singlet.

The race started and I went out hard and fast gapping the pack early and after a mile no one was in sight. I felt strong through 6 miles and towards the hilly section, but my heart rate jumped through my head as I made it up the later climbs. I heard a twig break behind me and a lone runner was making gains on me on the ascent. He got me and passed in the final miles. Finished second overall, not a bad day- my son and wife and father in law were at the finish with hot coffee and hugs. I am blessed beyond measure.

In Christ,

Jadyn

LBL 50 Mile Race (the prep)

I just want to take a deep breath and say ahhh. Spring is here and the days of cold fingers and snow are all but passed. Last Saturday I hit the LBL 50 Miler for an intense "A" race experience. My plan and goal was to break 7 hrs which I felt was at the very top of my ability, kind of that- if everything goes exactly as planned, and its a dream-day on the trail kind of goal.

it is time

The day began in the moments before daybreak, my favorite time- pre-dawn twilight, the mysterious moments between. The whole world seems to pause in a dream. The start was at a marina, I watched the sailboat masts bob and sway in the soft breeze, a perfect 45 degrees as we lined up to face pink hues of dawn replacing the stars and the blue water sky of night.

I was as prepared as possible- I had my Nathan Mutation Pack- a single bottle pack with one small pocket in front. The bottle sits in the small of the back at a slanted, optimal angle. It is light and comfortable and perfect for a course with so many aid stations. It features a Velcro strap and the zip pocket is actually lengthwise in the strap for easy access. The strap has a bit of elastic give to it which helps limit the potential affect of having something pressing on the GI.  I hear this pack is discontinued. Get 'em while ya can.

My sock choice was a toss up between some new Swiftwick prototypes that will debut on shelves soon and the Swiftwick Aspire "2s". I have had in the past a slight anterior issue with my right ankle so I chose the Aspires gauging the compression as most appropriate.

My shoe choice was another toss up: Innov8s either the Flyrock 310s - my 4x4 go anywhere trainer vs the ascetic, super light, rockets: Innov8 F-lite 195 (195 grams). I choose the later in a gamble. I knew there was a chance that the minimalist trail flats might destroy my feet in the long miles, but I also knew that the trail was packed dirt, not technical, and the light shoe with a low heal would give me a serious advantage if I could handle it. Endurance Sports has Innov8s in Cool Springs.

Nutrition was dialed in: Infinit (available at Endurance) in my bottle and at every one of the 4 loops in a drop bag which is actually a box. Powerbar Gels every hour.

Clothing:
Edurance Sports and Rec K-swiss singlet and ES&R visor. Swiftwick arm sleeves.
mizuno therma gloves.

This gets me to the starting line... I'm working on the report- coming soon!

starting out- time to roll

Running on Infinit

Dan Powell, owner of Endurance Sports and Rec in Cool Springs has been explaining to me the science behind Infinit, a new sports powder that claims to be the all in one nutrition source for endurance athletes. To which I admit to glassing over. The long and short was that this had 4 different molecular compounds of carbohydrates, so the body would continue osmosis thus keeping the systems fed. I am so blessed to have incredibly smart people in my life who share a passion for endurance- Endurance Sports  being up there for sure. So the carbs along with a myriad of other necessary components made up this not so sweet formula. Testing the product this past weekend was a bit of a fool's parade for me, but when in doubt, jump in.

I had one 20oz bottle filled with "the protien mix". It foamed like cheep keg beer. I topped off my bottle after 7 miles and then headed out for 13 more - 4.5 of which were to be thresh hold (7's) and then the final 2 ended up being a pace push from some of Highland's best. I used one gel for the entire day, and finished feeling unusual... as in I usually finish longer days incredibly hungry and in some shape or form depleted.

post 20 miles of trails at Percy Warner

Although I am not ready to toss out my boxes of gels and powders and cubes and gues and on and on... I am impressed with its initial use. This looks like the next progression in the area of  ultra nutrition. This Saturday Mash and I have 33+ at LBL to do and I hope to dial this in for the race. Much Goodness- THANKS DAN!!! Now, how big is a scoop of this stuff?

The Science of Endurance

The physiology of ultra-running has been one area of the sport I have yet to fully explore.
I am excited to announce a new supporting sponsor: Fitness Wave owned by David Harris an expert in exercise physiology.

In the coming months we (Ashly Dewberry and I) are going to run some tests, shoot some video and learn from Fitness Wave. David does RMR (resting metabolic rate testing), hydrostatic body fat testing and Vo2 Max testing. All these tests will produce data to better dial in nutrition and training.

Fitness Wave is located in Endurance Sports in Cool Springs, Endurance S. is run by people who know the sport because they live endurance sports. They are on the front edge of new developments in gear, nutrition and training.  It will be a far cry from my minimalist approach to running long trails, but I am willing to work to integrate the "why" into the "how".

Lunch with Jamie Dial, TRT100 and winter training

winter

Jamie Dial is one of the very top ultra runners in the mid south. His race resume although impressive only tells a portion of his story, as his personal journeys into the great outdoors are that of local lore. Jamie was willing to sit down over lunch on Tuesday with Mash and me at Ted's Montana Grill and give us a run down of the TRT100. He came in 4th overall in this epic.

J. Dial arrived and proceeded to hold class on the race pouring information out. We would need to learn to run on full stomachs, go run after dinner and run late into the night after a day of work. We discussed hydration ideas and pack vs handhelds. Jamie said, we'd be fit enough, that was the "easy" part, (?) he said the mental part was what we were going to have to really work on. Saying, "I can't tell you how bad your gonna feel at mile 70." Jamie knows how to endure, how to overcome and most of all how to train creatively. He shared with us some little known trail routes where we could get the mountain training we most certainly will need to be ready.

Yesterday I went out for a 6 mile run at lunch with a tempo sesh of about 1.5 miles over the pedestrian bridge and around the Titans' stadium. I keep running over the conversation in my head, each time coming to new conclusions about the future months.

One thing is for certain, for now, I am going to focus on the LBL50, it is nothing to overlook and will be an incredible challenge. There is some comfort in that, being able to look only 5 weeks ahead- one training week at a time- it is much like my effort in races-  I can only run one mile at a time - so I run the one I'm on.

PWP early am

This morning Mash and I got 9+ in on the PWP red trail x2. It was snowing a bit when we started at 5am and was a not quite 20 degrees.

the wind and I

Today I managed to get over to Bowie for a steady 6.5 miles. My wife and son joined me beforehand. She's the photographer of the family and we couldn't pass up the chance to capture the heavy snow blanket that covered Fairview the night before.

I then hit Perimeter Trail and Loblolly Upper. I caught sight of a large owl but it was far after he had seen me. Ashen wings dressed with black tipped feathers. He was in flight and half gone by the time I was close, sending showers of snow to the ground as he brushed through the trees. Sounds are gobbled up by the snow and leave a silence, a deep peace. The youngest pines bowed in submission across the trail from the weight of the snow, while the old gentlemen, the big pines, stood as if in fine white suits.

Lookout Mtn. 26+

This past Saturday I headed down to Chattanooga to run Lookout Mountain with Mash for some mountain training- I left my house at 3:30 am. To prep for the Tahoe 100, we're gonna have to spend lots of time on mind numbing, lung burning climbs... until they become a place of relative peace. Long distance mountain running is the ultimate running experience in my opinion.

Some Notes From the Day...
-I ran with a camelbak for the first time and really liked it- it will take some getting used to but I think this is the only way to go far, sans aid.

frozen in the pack

-Surprised as how warm my feet were in my Swiftwick Olefin 2s... I had been wearing 2 pairs of regular socks for really cold days and this was one- teens to single digits on top of the mtn for sure. Ran the whole day blister free- I rub sportslick on my feet for anything over 15m.
-Mash's water pack tubing froze early in the day, which took a bit of finagling.
-We were chased by a dog that was either insane or just really didn't like that we were running.
-We ran a few sections extra and had to back track due to the complexity of the trail system and limited signage.
-I somehow- left most of my major nutrition in the truck- thus running in a state of caloric depletion for some of the later miles (all climbs).
-We went off piste (off trail) after 26+ m, charging up the final ridge through thorn, thicket and snow. We could hear cars so it was a calculated gamble to make it back to Covenant College, where we had parked in the early dawn. We emerged from the woods, not 100 yards from the parking lot. Whew.
-Mojo Burritos was our reward - excellent!

-This was a pretty epic trainer. The scenery was just amazing and as we descended, ascended and circumnavigated around the mountain, we could really feel the massive and wild nature of Lookout. The trail was totally new to me so every turn was like a new scene in a movie, just amazing, thanks be to God!