Some Things I Know

Some things I know because I am an ultrarunner ...

• There is a lifetime of difference between waking up for a weekday long run at 0300 and 0400. There are two lifetimes of difference same scenario but make the wake-up times 0300 and 0500.

• It doesn’t always get worse.

• It’s easy to remember each real solution to an everyday problem that you come up with when you’re out for a long run. If it’s a real solution, you remember it. And if it’s not, no sweat. And good riddance.

• Patience on a run is oft-times hard-earned. For me, at least.

• Anyone who says a 50K isn’t an ultra has never raced Promise Land 50K. Or Rattlesnake 50K. Or Snowflake 50K on a bitter cold day. Or Catherine’s Big Butt on a late-July scorcher.

• No matter what the weather, cold post-run beer is really, really hard to beat.

• Some of life’s best steps are those first tentative strides that you take once you beat back the overwhelming desire to give up.

• Some friends you make in ultras – if you are lucky – touch your heart forever.

• If you let it, crossing a 100-miler finish line can make you awfully cocky.

• I may not be able to run this next mile, but I can damn sure run to that next tree.

• Sometimes, the way to the silver lining is the most direct path through the pain.

• A couple decent 72-hour race mileage totals change everything.

• The best aspect about an outstanding performance is that you surprise yourself.

• For 23 years I’ve been running ultras, and I still don’t know much about how to run ultras.

Some of the Why

Why do I run, you ask?

Some reasons …

Because the gentle movement of a long, long effort feeds my soul.

Because sleep is a crutch.

Because of the thunderous quietude.

Because of the laughter of friends old and new.

Because if I go long enough, my place in the world always seems satisfying.

Because I get to take myself to places in my mind that I likely never would have gone otherwise.

Because I can.

Because I eat and drink whatever I want, and I weigh just 2 pounds more than I did when I graduated from college 30 years ago.

Because of the special experience that is generated by the sounds of a waking day.

Because of that silky sweet feeling at run’s end.

Because trail miles make special people even more special.

Because some days, moments on the run are the best ones of the day.

Because I've been doing this for 37 years, and it is still my favorite art form.

Because sometimes – to steal a favorite line from my eloquent pal Fred Dummar – I love kicking my own ass.

And because there have been times – a star-lit sky, a stunning sunrise, that moment just after I poke a hole in the attic of The Pain Cave – when I’m pretty sure that I see the face of God.

Flacko and Spading

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So me and Jack are nearing the end of our 2-hour runwalk Friday morning when – lo and behold – I find a penny on the sidewalk. On heads. Jack always ALWAYS finds the money first, so of course I squeal and give him the business over this. We have a great laugh about it.

When I get into the office, the first email I click on is “Fwd. Sad, sad news” and I learn that Steve Flack and James Buracker were killed the night before in a car wreck.

Both of them were many things, including basketball refs. Both of them started with our ref association on the “two-man court” that I oversee at our summertime ref camp, which gives me an extra special tie to each. Both were salt-of-the-earth guys. Both leave huge voids.

So around 4 a.m. Saturday before crossing the mountain on my way to a much-needed long run on single-track trails, I go with a last-second switch and decide to stop for some coffee. That stop and pursuant restart puts me in exactly the right spot to see the most magnificent shooting star ever.

A penny on heads. And a shooting star.

I hear you, boys. I hear you.

Love,

Gentry

Morning Eyes

(From an observation during this morning's 2-hour runwalk. These come all the time during runs. And thanks to my buddy Rinn for suggesting that I post some of 'em here. :-)

Morning Eyes

Blue, white, orange, red, blue

Far as morning eyes can see

Blue Ridge Mountains March.

Hello 2013

Randomness on a dreary late-February Saturday morning …

• TRX is ridiculously effective. Been using it two months and have never felt stronger. Ev. er. Amazing. Staying with pretty basic movements. Hitting it five days a week. Dramatic, lasting positive impact, especially on the longer runwalk efforts.

• Lotsa Time on Feet these days. Getting at least one 4-hour-plus runwalk a week (thanks to my boss Lisa Ha for letting me come in late on Tuesdays!!!), and sprinkling in three other runwalks of 2 hours each week. How much? I ran every day in January, 14 of them were only 20 minutes, and I still averaged 1:30:00 per run. And now that Basketball Ref Season has come to an end, evenings become a lot more relaxed.

• Holiday Lake 50K++ was phenomenal. Trained through it. Was hoping for a sub-6, and thinking the reach goal was maybe sub-5:45. Final time was 5:21. Oh, it gets better. Out in 2:38. Home in 2:43. Fantastic run. And an even better weekend of fun that included some of my very favorite people. 

Bill Potts, my brother from another mother, at the turnaround

   

With Team Gaylord crazies at yummy pre-race dinner. Clockwise from far left: Rob, Sara, Tom, Toni, moi, Stanley 

• The Streak lives again. Rekindled on Dec. 27, 2012. Most recent one ended Dec. 2, 2012, after 2,111 days thanks to flu. Took four straight days off, then tried to stick to a one-rest-day-a-week program. Lasted three weeks. Was miserable. Why? I am a runner. It’s how I create. And it’s the main source of my joy.

• With me, it’s never “training.” Never has been. Not since I started running in 1976. I love this stuff too much. Snow. Rain. Hot. Cold. Let's go! Where does the motivation come from? Beats me, but here’s a truism: I never lack motivation to do physical stuff. Color me the perpetual 10-year-old boy.

• Next? Shamrock Marathon. Not as a pacer this time. Doing my own thing. I’m feeling so all dressed up with no place to go that I’m thinking I may try for a sub-3:50 doing 8 minutes run/2 minutes walk and then blasting the final 5K. We will see.

And then there is this … signed off on New Year's Eve night ... my dream of dreams ...

Mid-November CR24 recap

Subtitle: OH YEAH!!!

90 laps. 85-plus miles. Zero nausea. One 20-minute nap at 0524. Four-plus more laps than last year. Three more miles than last year. A buncha new friends. A lotta great new stories. So, so many people to thank for their compassion, good cheer and encouragement. Wow. Just wow.

Case in point: The Amazing Scott Family. RD Ricky, wife Sharon and daughters Korre and Kara cheered for me, counted my laps, smiled their amazing smiles (!!!). Made this country boy feel like a complete rock star. No way to repay that. Ev. er. Y'all are beyond compare.

Chocolate milk only the first six hours. Dried fruit and salty chips until about dark. McDONALD'S HAMBURGER three times throughout the dark. Some other salty items on and off, too.

Spent much of the night going round and round with, at different times, new friend Rob Mitchell (100 miles!!!) and my former West Virginia Wesleyan College teammate Tom Elmore (93 miles in about his 8th or so ultra!!! How 'BOUT them Bobcats?!!!). Other folks throughout the night included Gene Meade, Mo Percy, Cyndy Barbour and my longtime running pal Bob Ring.

Oh oh, I almost forgot: Dear Lauren Wilkins, THANK YOU FOR SAVING MY RACE!!! Deets are fuzzy still but i think it was around 0100 and I was doing the weebles-wooble thing and had fairly strongly committed to finishing one more lap and then crawling in my sleeping bag for a break ... when ... I get back to the start/finish line and Lauren ... has ... McDONALD'S COFFEE!!! And she even put the cream and sugar in it for me after I whined about my hands being too frozen for my fingers to work properly. Walk, slurp, walk, slurp ... BACK IN THE GAME, DAWG!!! Thank you, Trail Angel Lauren. You can bet that I will be looking for a way to repay you somewhere down the road. :)

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I enjoyed myself all night. Really. And. Truly. Drank in the changing nighttime sky. Found comfort in the river. Even drew some power from the train that blasted past.

Slapped on the Patagonia puffy for every step of the nighttime portion, even though I ran a whole lot more than I expected to in the dark. Was having too much fun to walk the entire night. Kinda magical. 

Happy. Happy. Happy!!!

5th place overall.

Pre-CR24 Notes to Self

Be. patient.

Eat. real. food.

Be. patient.

Change. into. tights.

Be. patient.

Remember. chocolate. milk.

Be. patient.

Tell. funny. stories.

Be. patient.

Find. a. friend.

Be. patient.

Laugh. a. lot.

Be. patient.

Stay. out. there.

Surprise. yourself.