Here is path that led me back to Oil Creek in 2012:
In October 2011, I found out that Allison and I were
expecting our third child. I was so
happy with the news and this really put me in a good place after the
disappointment at OC.
-Stone Mill 50 miler =>
So in November I ran Stone Mill.
This year the race was about 54 miles long and the course was more
challenging than the inaugural year. The
day did not go real well for me as I had to make several unscheduled ‘pit’stops
in the woods because something was going on in the digestive track. I finished still and was greeted by Allison,
Virginia, and Julia at the 48 mile mark.
I met some guy from CNN around that point and decided to take it easy
and sparked up a discussion which brought me to the finish line.
In December, I took a much needed rest and focused my time
and attention on the holiday season. I
also started VSL#3 based on a recommendation by the doctor and it seems to be
working well. The insurance plan covers
it which is a bonus ++!! I also entered
the lottery for MMT and thought I would have no chance but I actually made
it. I then had to seriously think about
the commitment and time required traveling to VA for the training runs. I decided against MMT and thought
logistically it made more sense to run the CAT 100 at the end of April. There were tradeoffs to this decision. The CAT is a FA event with 25 runners but
thought I could train on the course and still be able to spend time with the
family on the weekends.
-WE-CAT 50K => I
ran the Winter Edition (WE) Catoctin 50K on 1/28 with 7 other runners. This was from Gambrill to Manor and
back. Same course at the Catoctin 50K in
July. Good group of runners and nice day
for a run in mid-winter with fantastic weather.
Seneca Greenway 50K – To continue with training for the CAT
100, I signed up for the Seneca Greenway 50K and spent the day out in
Montgomery County. These are the same
trails that Stone Mill is run on so I was very familiar with them. It was muddy in sections due to recent rain
but the day itself was beautiful. It was
a great training run.
-Maryland AT hike => Jon and I planned an overnight trip
on the Maryland AT. This consisted of
two 20 mile hike days and an overnight at a shelter along the way. We really had no set agenda except to make it
to Harpers Ferry by the end of the second day.
We parked on car at Keep Tyrst and one car at Pen Mar. We went a little north to the Mason Dixon line
then hiked to the Rt 70 crossing on the first day then camped out overnight. My friend really knew what he was doing so I
learned a few things from him.
-CAT 100 (Flat CAT) =>this was supposed to be a
mountainous course on the Catoctin Blue and Maryland AT that turned into a
C&O canal towpath course. I tried
it, was extremely disappointed in the course and quit at mile30. I will never ever run a race that is entirely
on the C&O canal towpath, NEVER.
--The Ring => This was an awesome race that I really
enjoyed. I like the remote feeling of
being in the mountains while still receiving fantastic support from the VHTRC
crew. There were so many difficult
sections of the course but what I liked about this race was my ability to tough
it out after seriously considering a drop at mile 30. I stuck it out, kept going and made it around
the entire 71 mile loop.
This year I was going to stay on the gym floor again but I
was bringing the queen size blow up mattress.
This was so much more comfortable than the floor the previous year. I left around noon on Friday and took the 6
hour drive to Northwestern PA. It was a
beautiful drive through PA and I arrived around 7 pm. I then picked up the race packet, set up
‘camp’ for the evening, ate pasta dinner and then headed over to the local pub
to watch the last few innings of the Orioles vs Yankees series Game 5. I had a really good IPA microbrew but was
disappointed in the outcome of the game.
This turned out to be my only disappointment with the weekend.
On race morning, I woke up, deflated, ate some breakfast,
turned over the drop bags, and changed.
My only big decision of the morning turned out to be pants or
shorts. It was 25 degrees out so I went
with pants. Count down and off we went
off into the early morning of October 13th. Down the asphalt path to the trailhead. About midway down the asphalt path, I turned
off my headlamp (as I did last year) and enjoyed a beautiful view of the stars
and said a few prayers for the courage to continue whenever I felt like
quitting and for the safety and health of my family,
The first loop overall was uneventful but it really put a
beating on my feet so I changed out into my Montrails at the end of the loop. The aid station fare was well and the
volunteers were extremely helpful. I
enjoyed the aid station themes this year and AS #1 did a great job with the
ghosts and goblins. They really put on a
good show at this race and there was no let down with aid this year. So I took it easy and moved along at a
comfortable pace remembering that my goal was to finish. I greeted Rockefeller and Ida with a smile.
By the end of the loop the weather had warmed up nicely for this time of the
year.
Loop 2 was not much different, this year I sat down at most
of the aid stations for a few minutes to rest my feet, eat and hydrate. I was really trying to focus on the distance
this year and not time. In fact, I left
all watches, garmins, etc. in the bag this year and did not carry anything on
the course. It helped!! Towards the end of loop 2, right after
nightfall, it started to rain. I was
prepared with a trash bag which I promptly stuck over my head to stay dry. At the middle school, I rested for a few
minutes and headed out. Right after the
bridge it started to pour down rain and I was thinking “I am glad that I am not
back at the Middle School” because it would have been difficult to leave. The rain lasted on and off for the next 6
hours. Sometimes heavy and then light,
it was become quite an adventure. The
third loop became very challenging mentally.
I was getting very tired after Petroleum center and for ½ hour I needed
to sit down every couple minutes to prevent myself from falling while
running. After that ordeal, I started
signing loudly to wake myself up. That worked but then as I was looking down, I
started seeing things in all the leaf cover on the trail. At one point, I thought I saw a flashlight,
reached down to pick it up and it was a 3 inch piece of wood from a tree. Next, I started imagining that I saw crumpled
up bibs and thought they were from previous year runners that dropped out of
the race. Anyway, all this nonsense
ended when I reached AS #3 which I arrived at 10 minutes later than the
previous year. I told one of the AS
workers that I had to leave quickly because this was the AS I dropped at in
2011. I asked another AS worker if it
was going to rain more and he said look up, I did and saw nothing but a clear
star filled sky. I headed out to finish
Section 4, mid way through the sun came up and it was beautiful how the sun
illuminated the trail during the stillness of this autumn morning. Another snapshot of something I will remember
from the race. 
Back to the middle school again and ready to face the last 7
mile section of the course and the ‘Hill of Truth’. I didn’t hang out long at the middle school
because I wanted to get this thing done.
I knew I was going to get it done, just keep an eye on the feet and
prevent any last minute ankle twists due to bad footing. The ‘Hill’ was tough but not overly so. As I headed back over the bridge by the
school I could see a bunch of people standing there clapping and cheering but I
wasn’t sure they were for me but as I got closer they were! It was a fantastic end to a wonderful event.
