Hurricanes and Sketchy Ghost Towns

It was a muddy workout.

I've been training hard the last few weeks.  Two days ago I did my last really hard workout before NY.  I still have hard workouts, but nothing like this one.  To make it harder, it was pouring rain and windy.  Trying to kick it in against gale force winds is tough.

Anyways, I finished out the workout well.  Today I had a long run, and I think my legs are really starting to come around.  I've been running long runs on the same road for a couple of weeks, and today I started at the sketchy ghost town.  I was a little concerned that it would be foggy when I started, because starting a long run next to a sketchy ghost town in the fog seems like a scene from a scary movie.  But the fog had lifted and everything was fine.

I feel like I should write about something other than just my training, but I'm not convinced anybody would find anything else I've been doing lately all that interesting.

Oh, in the past week, we've gotten snow and hail.  Nothing has stuck on the ground here, but up on top it looks like there's at least some snow.  I'd prefer if the snow stayed up there, at least for the next couple weeks, until after NY, but as I have no control over that (short of trying to get more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but what can one man do?), I'm not going to worry too awful much about it.

All the Stuff That's Happened Since My Last Post

So it's been a while since I last updated.  First, a few things for those of you who are wondering.

Apparently a bunch of us brought an intestinal parasite from World Mountain Running Championships.  But nothing about parasites makes for interesting blogs.  Especially the intestinal kind.

Also, the house now has electricity.  By which I mean it is connected to the electrical grid so I can turn lights on and fun stuff like that when it's been cloudy.  Actually, my life is almost no different.  The shower has more water pressure and the clock on the stove is right more often than twice a day.  That's really about it.  If I didn't know, I may not have even noticed.  But it will be nice to have grid power during the winter, because that can be a little tough.

As for training, it's going.  I am training and hopefully will run well in the New York Marathon.

Sadly, I think that is all that has happened worth writing about since my last post.  Getting on the grid seemed like a really big even when it happened, but basically nothing changed.

Wow, I Missed Out on a Lot by Being Sick

I was thinking about writing this blog post about me getting a stomach bug earlier this week.  Then I realized that that may make the worst blog post ever written, so I'll spare you the details.  Sufficed to say, I was planning an easy week anyways, so it was a good time to get sick.

Also, the day that I got sick, my dad shot a pretty big bull elk.  So hopefully I can make it through another year of having 95% of the meat I eat be wild game.  But I was sick, so I couldn't help pack the elk out.  That made him a bit sore in more ways than one.

Also, while I was sick, my grandfather came to visit, as well as my uncle, who brought gifts of deer antlers for the dogs (dogs love deer antlers).  So the dogs are really happy now, and feeding them has become a lot more hazardous.

The good news is I seem to be getting better, so hopefully my training gets back on track soon.

So Apparently I'm the 9th Best Mountain Runner in the World

I'll start out with the spoilers for those of you who don't want to read my blog.  I just got back from World Mountain Running Championships in Italy.  I got 9th.

I'll give a synopsis of the race in a far more dramatic and poetic way than any race needs to be described.

We harriers girded ourselves for the ascent from Temu to Passo del Tonale.  The fog's hold on the area had broken overnight, and for the first time in many days, the sun shone brightly on the course, doing much to dry the rain that had not ceased for close to 100 hours.  The start was chaotic, with people elbowing each other out of the way for a spot in the front row.  Finally, the starting pistol was fired and a crowd of runners stampeded through the otherwise quite, cobblestone streets of Temu, a village built on the side of a valley.

After several kilometers, all entrants with severe allergies moved to the back of the racing pack to avoid the dust and pollen that the television helicopter was spewing into the air on the course.  The rest of us continued, trying to match the pace of the Eritreans.  Eventually, we reached the course's descent, a harrowing downhill of a steepness most were unprepared for.  I lost my balance on a particularly difficult part of the descent, saving myself from a near certain death when I caught myself on a tree.  Undeterred, I ran on, weaving through runners like a taxi driver.

Upon entering the town of Ponte di Legno, the bridge in the woods, my body screamed out for me to stop.  I continued on as fast as my body would allow, trying desperately to stay close to the runners ahead of me.  Eventually, my body realized that I would not stop until the finish line, and cooperated.  As we reached the steep parts of the course, we jockeyed for position, some running, some walking.  A spectator found himself on the wrong side of the fence and narrowly avoided joining the ranks of Eric the photographer.

As we climbed yet higher, to elevations that trees refuse to live in, we approached the course's high point.  I ran faster, knowing that I had only a few precious minutes left before I was done.  Throngs of Italians, wearing shirts with the likenesses of their favorite harriers, chanted "USA" trying to will me to displace an Eritrean as we exchanged places again and again.  Going up the last headwall, I told myself that cresting over the top, I would glance over towards our lodging, see the American flag I had hung out the window, and be inspired.  As it was, cresting the high point, I glance ahead of me and saw the Eritrean and was inspired.

The Eritrean and I continued our duel.  I passed him.  He passed me back in a sprint.  I tried to stay close.  As we approached a muddy section with narrow planks to keep people from stepping into what can only be assumed to have been Italian quicksand, I surged forward, intent on reaching the choke point before the Eritrean.  Then, I sprinted down the hill as fast as my legs could take me, around a corner and to the finish.  I had outkicked somebody for the first time in my life.  I struggled to find something to put on that was not covered in sweat, saliva, and PowerBar Energy Gel.

Anyways, now that I've finished describing the race, there is no more reason to be dramatic, poetic, or anything else like that.  I was 9th.  I showered, trying to remove whatever plant product was causing a rash on my ankle.  Then I rode the gondola of death up the mountain to a series of caves and bunkers high in the cliffs, where snow covered the ground and the echoed screams from 1916 filled the air.  I'm actually serious.  I did.  It cost me 5 Euros (which was a huge discount).

During the awards ceremony, a Macedonian kept shouting out "USA" whenever somebody found their way to the podium.  Then I got on a bus at 3:30am on my birthday and spent the next 27 hours traveling.  All 27 hours of traveling were on my birthday.  I did manage to use the fact that I traveled for over a day, all on the same day, on my birthday to get put into an exit row on my last flight, but then was informed that the flight duration was only 35 minutes.  Plus I'm a year older and closer to death now.  Oh well, you can't win them all.  Next race:  NYC Marathon.

And if you're wondering how I traveled for over a day in one day, it's amazing what traveling through 8 time zones can do.

Insert Catchy Title About Italy Here

The view out my window.  The course is above the buildings.

Course markings near the town square

I'm currently in Passo del Tonale, Italy, where in about 40 hours or so I'll run in the 28th World Mountain Running Championships.  It's Italy, so there are lots of Alps, pasta, small cars and people smoking.  I won't go into details about getting out here (because lines like "then I sat in a bus for four and a half hours" just aren't interesting).  I've been out here long enough to check out the course, and it should be fun.  I don't think anybody reading this is close enough to attend, but the race is on Sunday morning.

For those of you who can't make it, there should be a few options.  The race will be live on Italian TV, so it may be possible to watch at

http://www.teleboario.it/tbonair.asp 

Also, the US Mountain Running Team will be posting Twitter updates:  https://twitter.com/usmrt
Plus, they may be posting live video on YouTube.  Check their website (www.usmrt.com), facebook (facebook.com/usatfmut) or Google+ (google.com/+USMountainRunningTeam) for that.

The local race times on Sunday are as follows

The Italian name for duct tape

09:40: Start of Junior Women race
09:45: Start of Junior Men race
10:30: Start of Senior Women race
11:00: Start of Senior Men Race

Since I'm from the Mountain Time Zone, I'll use that as an example.  There is an 8 hour time change from home to here, so that means my race will start at 3am on Sunday.  Sorry.

Recently, the rain and fog moved in.  It snowed not far above where we're staying at the finish.  Hopefully I have a picture to back up this claim either above or below this paragraph.

The fog and the snow.

Mmm.  Granite toast.  Good for sons and daughters of Dartmouth.

I'll try to get in a post after I race but before I leave.  Otherwise, I'll post when I get home.

Also, on another note, the NewBalance 110s should be excellent for this course.  I brought a spare pair in case something happened to my race pair during travel or something, and I may have a teammate wear them during the race (I won't mention any names just in case that would upset other sponsors).

Leaving for Italy in Less Than 36 Hours

It's been a while since I wrote.  Sorry.  There hasn't been much to write about.  I feel healthy.  I have been training hard to make sure I'm ready for World Mountain Running Championships, and I haven't been racing.

In other news, I saw two doe deer almost get in a fight out the window today.  I have no idea what the one was so angry about, but she kept charging the other one.  Maybe it's the same deer that's been chasing the cat.  Speaking of which, I have a cat now.  It's a barn cat and lives outside.  Basically, it's a living rodent trap, because there are too many chipmunks everywhere and mice are moving into the car.  Apparently there are also a lot of shrews around, but I didn't know that until the cat showed up.

The big news, though, is that hopefully when I get back from Worlds in Italy, the house will have power.  It's been a long, arduous process, but actually being connected to the power grid will (hopefully, assuming it actually happens) be really nice.  And just in time for winter.

Insert Goat Joke Here

First off, soleus is doing well.  So that's good.

It's been an interesting last 8 days for me.  A week ago, two goats came after me during my long run.  When I saw them out of the corner of my eye I thought they were dogs.  It's been a while since I've been chased by goats (yes, it has happened before), so maybe such an experience was overdue.  I was a little worried about the billy headbutting me, but I think the goats were just excited to go on a run with me.  They were noisy and the biggest problem was that I spent half a mile of my run laughing before I dropped them.  For the record, off the top of my head I can remember being chased on runs by dogs, turkeys, goats, cattle and elk.  And I think maybe a pig once.

Today I had a goat free long run.  In fact, there were no close calls with animals of any kind.  Until the drive home, when I almost ran over a deer.  I do not ever remember ever being chased by deer during a run.

I am far more excited about this next week of training than my legs are.  That said, my legs should come around.  I did do a long run earlier today, after all.