USATF 50M Championship

Francesca really performed well especially considering a real lack of training brought on by some recent injuries. Her USATF 50M victory was a little bitter sweet as Francesca is an Italian citizen and therefore wasn’t eligible for the cash prize.

However, the race director and volunteers did a fantastic job making everyone feel like champions!

NEW! November 08: Exercise update Going the distance

BY SUGAR

Charlottesville was recently rated among the top eight best running towns by Trail Runner magazine, so it’s no surprise that local runners are already getting revved up for the upcoming marathon this spring. Co-owner of Charlottesville Running Company (and recent national champion of the USATF 50-mile race), Francesca Conte, dished her tips for all types of runners, and especially for ladies. Joining a training program is a great place to start. Conte says that training in a group takes care of a big concern for many women: safety. Plus, it can help you learn about nutrition. Especially during long distance runs, Conte says, “You have to start paying attention to your nutrition, before, during, and after your run.” The CRC program just got underway November 15. Francesca Conte, running champ and Charlottesville Running Company co-owner, says completing a marathon takes nutritional smarts and plain old determination. Consider going off-road. Conte says trail running can help prevent stress fractures in women runners. Starting in January, CRC hosts the Great Eastern Trail Run Series, which incorporates local trails into the training process. Conte’s recommended trails: Rivanna Trails, Old Rag Mountain, and O-Hill. Work your way up to it. These races provide perfect practice leading up to the Charlottesville Marathon and Half Marathon: the Valentine’s 5K (February), the Martha Jefferson 8K (March), the Ukrops 10K (March), and the Charlottesville Ten Miler (April). Stay the course. Conte’s most important advice? “Don’t give up.”—Julia Linden

Dawn Cromer

Gill and Francesca are very excited to welcome their friend Dawn Cromer to the Charlottesville Running Company team!  Dawn has accepted the role of Director of Marketing for all Bad to the Bone businesses; including Charlottesville Running Company, Bad to the Bone Endurance Sports and the Get Moving Charlottesville radio show.  Dawn also works as a Real Estate agent for Keller Williams Realty.

Dawn will also be joining the CRC/BTTB Pro-Running Team and bringing her many athletic achievements to this great group of runners!

Join us in welcoming Dawn to the Fam…

Gill/Francesca

Gill and Francesca named “Active.com” Event Directors of the Month

Running with Nature
J. Russell Gill and Francesca Conte, Bad to the Bone Endurance Sports

J. Russell Gill III founded Bad to the Bone Endurance Sports in 2001, after leaving the corporate life, with the mission of sharing his love of running and the environment with others. Gill’s belief has always been that everyone can do much more than they think they can, and his goal was to give people an opportunity to discover that. Gill learned about his mission as a professional ultra runner where he met Francesca Conte. After meeting, Gill and Francesca took the plunge into a career in the running market.

With Bad to the Bone, Gill and Francesca now direct 18 road and trail events, including the Charlottesville Marathon/Half Marathon, which was voted by Runner’s World Magazine as one of the top ten best new Marathons.

		The Charlottesville area, was recently named “One of the top 8 running towns” by Trail Runner Magazine
		In their spare time, they manage many training groups and the Charlottesville Trail Running Club.
		Through the Charlottesville Trail Running Club, Gill and Francesca promote awareness about local trails to create, preserve and maintain for the local community.
		It is their belief that trails can only be preserved by being gently used
		They also host a weekly radio show on 106.1 the Corner, Get Moving Charlottesville, which is designed to inspire and motivate people of all ages to get moving.

Their active lifestyles include appearing in the Discovery Channel special “Anatomy and Design of Man and Woman”, managing Bad to the Bone Endurance Sports and Charlottesville Running Company, hosting a weekly radio show, corporate speaking and regularly coaching runners of all backgrounds. Above all, they love and enjoy the elemental simplicity and austerity of nature and have made their lives’ mission to share this passion with others.

For more information, visit Gill and Francesca’s Web site at www.badtothebone.biz.

I am a true hardrocker now having finished the course in both CCW and CW directions. Yep thats nearly 47 straight hours of movement. No nap, only stopped for 20-30 minutes at a few aid stations. Thats a LONG time to be out, and surprisingly it was not that bad. I was not overly tired/sleepy at all.

Silverton is a very special place and it felt like a big reunion to see so many folkswho I have run with, been teamates with, and enjoyed their company at races before. Many folks welcomed me back to the race where I had a disappointing DNF in 2005 when I came in fresh off a stress fracture. As well as the race I really began to seriously make a name for myself in ultrarunning by my 36:18 in 2000.

2008 had been a great year for me in terms of life, happiness, and steady consistant running. After 4 poor years of haphazard running andinjury, I now had 24 consistent months of training behind me and felt not only fit, but confident in my ability to finish andenjoy ultras again. I had run 10 good ones in 2008 alone. My year began with two 50k’s in Jan, followed by two 40 milers in Feb, and 50 milers in March, April, andMay with a 100k coming just 34 days before the Hardrock start in June. Due to my schooling and travel that 63 miler was my last run greater than 10 miles, but I knew it would be enough.

Since the race is difficult to get into (lottery) and alternates directions. And since this years run would be going the direction I had not run yet but wanted to……and our lives were still pretty uncomplicated…… I knew if I got in this year I had to go. I was 22nd on the waitlist initially and slowly moved up. When I moved to 9th on the list I bought plane tickets. One week later Dale Garland the RD called me to say I was in. Yes!

In 2000 I prepared by doing multiple snowshoe races in the winter followed by countless hill repeats and training in massachusetts andNew Hampshire with superstar Sue Johnston and pal Steve Pero. I then finished 19th in my first 100 at the MMT 100 in May andmanaged to do a 39 miler in June along with repeats of 3,000ft climb “the Priest” in the Shenandoahs after moving to VA. I was working at UPS and in the best shape of my life. It wasn’t easy, but despite arriving in Silverton on Monday of race week I ran well.

In 2008 I spent all of May and June running the flat bike path in Chicago and going to school. I managed the Ice Age 50 and KM 100k, but did no other long runs and no hills other than 2 stairs sessions were I climbed 1500ft. I was READY ! ha! Not!

Much of ultrarunning is confidence and a sense of knowing what you are going to think/decide before you get there. In previous 100 miler attempts (I think this was 27 or 28 for me) I have only dropped in those races where I was unsure if I could make it while standing on the start line. For this years Hardrock, I expected to finish. Not fast, but finish. I hoped for a 38hr run beating the 2nd sun set, but was not up to that task and figured that out on the first 2 climbs.

Anne and I started our quest on Wednesday morning (July 9th) flying from Richmondout to Denver. There around 10Am we picked up the rental car after a 47 minute wait in line (ugh) then began driving west on I-70. Beautiful mountains a=everywhere andwe took our time crossing the state. by evening we were both feeling tired, dehydrated and had headaches, so we got a motel in Montrose, Co.

Thursday morning we made the drive south to Silverton passing thru the amazing Ouray and into the heart of the beautiful San Juan Mountians arriving into race headquarters about 30 minutes before check in closed. I had my vitals taken and medical bracelet put on. READY TO ROLL!

Splits:
Aid Station / Distance/ Time/ Minutes in Aid (#)
KT- 11.5- 3:46 (3)
Chapmans-18.9-6:36 (10)
Telluride- 27.8-10:18(13)
Krogers- 32.8-13:27(6)
Gvernors- 36.0-14:32(6)
Ouray- 43.9-16:35(16)
Engineer- 51.5-21:33(10)
Grouse- 58.4-24:09(31)
Sherman- 71.8-31:04(23)
Pole Creek80.9-35:35(7)
Maggie- 85.2-37:31(9)
Cun’gham-91.3-39:12(21)
Finish- 46:45 (2:35 in aid stations)

My race started out at dawn on friday with139 other crazies. I ran with a camera and snapped pics as I went trying to always maintain a moderate effort level, never breathing too hard. Which at an average elevation of over 11,000ft is not easy. Headaches came all the first day each time I ascended over 12k, but by the 2ndday were not an issue. The lack of 02 just kept me from running anything with an up slope andkept me climbing slowly. Often I was like those guys you see on TV on Everest….walking a few paces then pausing to breath, repeat.

Hardrock is no joke and the one word description Rob Youngren stated to discribe it is right on the money: DANGEROUS. Why someone has not fallen to their deaththeir I don’t know. Right off the bat I was reminded of why I held this race up as special. After crossing a river via rope at mile 2 we began the first climb up into Putnam Basin. I had fallen in witha group of folks who I knew to run around 40+ hr in previous Hardrocks. Fellow VHTRC folks Mike Dobies and Billy Losey began pulling away and 68 and 72 year old superstars Hans Deiter Weisshaar and John DeWaltwere behind me. I was okay and moving well. I reached the first aid station after a long long time (3:46) and realized this was going to take just about forever to cover all 100 miles. Much unlike The Amazing 23 year old Kyle Skaggs would go on to run exactly twice as fast as me finishing in 23:23!! this destroys the old course record, and will never be touched by anyone other than Kyle.

On the 2ndbig climb I had a good time with2002 Grand Slam classmate Roger Ackerman cresting the top only to be greatedby a real life mountain goat! Faced with the euphoria of summiting this huge climb, seeing the memorial to the late Joel Zucker, greeting the mtn goat, then facing the fear of the rediculous desent down the scree feild was nearly too much for me. Then good buddy Steve Pero comes running up behindme bounding from one sliding landing to the next on the 40% grade descent. I was pretty much overcome in a moment my eyes filled with tears and I had all I could do to remain upright. This is what I came to Hardrock for. This is what I live for.

I got myself together picked up the pace running hard on the downhill toward Chapman Aid station and caught Steve and Super RD Joe Prusaitis. We moved thru a beautiful Aspen groove and then landed in the aid station for some much needed fuel andfluids. Now with the noon sun high in the sky it was hot. damn hot. luckily a few po sickles and refill of my bottles had me moving all be it slowly up the huge climb to Oscars pass. This took forever!!! And I seriously doubted weather I was in over my head. I had already made one big mistake. I did not leave a drop bag at Chapmans as I thought I would make it to 27 mile Telluride quick enough. Not so now I had no Clif shot blocks, andno bottle filled with sugar. I was OUT of energay andfading near the top. Luckily Billy Simpson climbing well on his surgically repair ankle shared a gel with me. I made the summit and began eating some snow as Joe topped out. Luckily the run down the other side was only 4,000 feet and would only take us a couple hours!!!!

For fuel I had set out 5 drop bags that contained clean socks, warm clothes, lights, and equally divided: 12 packs of shot blocks (2400cals, and one 4lbs bag of sugar = 6818cals) I ended up eating all the shot blocks and about 4500 cals of the sugar. Plus stuff off the tables at the aid stations. And yet often I was pretty hungry! My heartrate on the climbs stayed above 150…sometimes literally for hours. It would be awesome to know exactly how much work was actually done, and calories burned. By the way the race is retardedly long. like at least 8-12 miles longer than 100. Gauruntee it.

Once I hooked up with Steve we stayed together into Telluride running well but keeping eachother from going too hard. Steve has had lots of trouble red lining at Hardrock and losing his stomach. But not in 2008! We got into Telluride feeling great and after a big eating stop I began the 4,400ft climb up to Virginia’s pass. It would take us 3 hours and 9 minutes to do this 5 miles, but man the glissadingsnow slides off the mountain were well worthit! With 1/3rd of the race done in less 14 hours we hoped for continued good luck. Another 5,000ft decending brought us into Ouray andthe darkness. With the first days running done I still felt pretty good but that was about to change.

In Ouray, Anne met me with warmer clothes, better lights and a milk shake and cup of pasta. After filling up andheading out of there I began what would be multiple hours worth of GI trouble. In many ultras I have gone into preiods of uncrolled diarhea. It could be from being dehydrated (which I am sure I was) or a reaction to salt tablets (S caps previously or NUUN tabs now) that contain sodium bicarbinate= a known GI tract irritant to some, or something else. Whatever it is from. It sucks. 6 pit stops over the next 8 miles (and 5,000ft climb) made me miserable. So much walking and not feeling like taking anything in did not help me feel too peppy.

Steve and Joe moved on ahead and I slowly climbed in the dark. Once I got above 12,000 feet again it was freezing cold walking across snow fields andmelting 33 deg water filled marshes. Each stream crossing stung withpain. When things go bad in a race, EVERYTHING seems to go bad. The engineer stations was out. out of food, out of purified water, out. it sucked. I had been looking forward to it for literally hours, then nothing. I continued to fill my water bottle with mtn run off and out of streams so that was not an issue, but I really coulda used some calories, or coke or anything.
After finally begining the descent to Grouse gulch I seemed to be over the diarhea, but man was I moving slow. I really had no energy to run and walked the long downhill road just waiting for sun rise. Scott B and Liz Walker came up behind me as the sunrise allowed us to turn off our lights. 24 hours in and I now faced the biggest mountain of the course: 14,048ft Handies peak.

In Grouse aid station I took my time. unloaded some heavy things from my pack (yaktracks I had not used yet, lights, jackets. But I had to keep warm clothes and rain gear and one hand held light because it was now clear that I would not make it to the 91 mile aid station where I put my 2nd set of lights before dark. ugh.

With the sun up and some scrambled eggs anda tortilla in my gut along with 4 cups of coke I began to climb in the 2nd days sunlight feeling okay. I caught a few folks back who had passed me up and managed to climb strong up into the snow fields. Here I stopped to put on sun screan as the 13,000 sun is rediculously intense. (I didn’t get enough on for Friday and am now peeling on my neck andforehead!) Near the summit I hooked up with Paul Gross and his pace Ryan. We would stay together on and off much of the next 20 hours.

Once off the steep downhill I began having stomach trouble. I took a tylenol on the lcimb just prior to summititng thinking the pain releif would allow my quads to handle the big descent. but the uncoated pill on my empty stomach tore up the lining making me nausueous. I spent the next few hours sipping nothing but water hoping against hope it would turn around. Once we reached the dirt road the sun was blazing and I smartly dipped my shirt in some snow melt water and redonned it. Ever so slowly we made it to the aid station 72 miles in 31 hours. Not exactly fast!

I knew here that I would either be able to handle some coke and a bit of food and I’d continue strongly or I’d throw up and it might truly be over. 2 tums and 2 glasses of coke later I was nibbling some cake frosting and walking out of the aid station feeling ready to climb another 4,000ft mtn.

I climbed well and felt strong again taking in pretzles and two shot blocks in an alternating pattern every 15 minutes. Soon I was above the tree line once more and roaming in some of the most “out there” parts of the Hardrock course. Pole Creek loomed. This is an aid station packed in many miles by saintly aid station volunteers. Amazing stuff this race. Once here I once again knew I would finish and began running much more on the flats and small downs despite being above 12,000ft. I had no headache and was doing well catching some folks in front of me. The climbs and grassy hills prior to maggie guch were a challenge and I wondered if I would ever get away from the mud. Soon I was making the big decent to the aid station knowing I only had 15 more miles to go.

I ate pasta, turkey and peanuts at the aid station and walked out all fitred up ready for the steepest climb of the course up Big Boy Ridge. Despite my stomach feeling good I nearly threw up 15 feet out of the aid station. I pitched the remaining turkey in my hand andlaughed it off. With Scott and Liz chasing me we made the huge ascent in no time and began our race against the dark. Lights came out on green mtn and our search for course markers became hugely frustrating. I lost those two andreally could not see any markers withmy 2002 LED light. It simply didn’t throw light far enough. so I waited for those behind me to catch up. It was Paul and Ryan andtogether we foundour way over around and finally down to the last aid station.

Anne had gotten a ride to the aid station and was happy to great me just before midnight. a strong 21 minutes here putting on warmer clothes, getting a 2nd light and taking care of some chafing issues was all I needed to get the energy up for the final 3,000 ft climb. I was a tiny bit worried about the final cut off but Paul assured me we had it in the bag as he had done 46:15 in 2006 and we were on that pace now. I relaxed some once we crested the final pitch and began walking the steep and rocky final mountain. My left ankle had some severe tendonitis in it now from rubbing on my trusty Asic gel 2120’s I had had on the last 40 hours. Running felt awful an dIknew I didn’t need to so I walked it on down down down. 4 miles on a crappy jeep road with fist sized stones beat me up before the final muddy stream crossing trail into town.

I hooked up with Richard and we managed to negotiate our way into town despite no course markings. I guess I had had enough as this really pissed me off. I didn’t even muster a run to the official Hardrock marking the finish line. merely walked up and kissed the damn thing. Pissy as I was. Soon I was inside sipping a smoothie (thanks Andrea!!) and feeling much better.

I went to the hotel for a shower and a 90minute nap and was incredibly rejuvenated afterwords. At the awards ceremony I was as happy as I ever remember being. What a run. nearly 47 hours of movement. WOW.

See you in 10 years Silverton….maybe!

In case you didn’t hear, last month the CRC/BTTB Team rocked the Highlands Sky 40 Mile in Davis, WV. In fact, all the runners that can from Charlottesville posted great times! Results and photos are here.

On Sunday I raced the inaugural Cascade Lake Sprint Triathlon in Hampstead, MD. I was using this as a quick race to get myself back in tri-mode and see where I’m at in preparation for my 70.3 in a month. The swim was short (.31 mile) , and 70 degrees in the water, so not too cold either. The storms that hit the area the night before made the transition run up to the bikes really muddy and feel much longer than the 200 yards that it was. The 15 mile bike ride was probably one of the most challenging bikes rides I’ve ever had in a race! Everytime we took a turn we were headed up! Who would have known Maryland had so many hills! After that, it was back for the 5K run, where I ended up catching the moset people. It was a relatively flat 2 loop course and I averaged 7:28’s. In the end, I was the 7th woman overall, and the 2nd in my age group! It got me very excited for triathlon season again, and it’s nice to have races every now and then where my legs don’t want to fall off afterwards!

big week for me: 90 miles
Sun- 14
Mon-5
Tue-7
Wed-7
Thur-7
Fri-off- drove up to race after work with my brother, Tim
sat- 50 miles- 8:25 (18th)

The Ice age 50 Mile was in its 27th year this year and had good trail conditions and great running weather (p. sunny temps 35 at the start warming to 63). the field had 200+ runners and started at 6am.

The race has an interesting lay out with a really runnable and smooth slightly rolling jeep trail width path for a 9 mile loop back to the start/finish. the course then heads on out for an out and back to the south (21.7 mile mark) and then goes out for an out and back to the north with the turn around at 40 miles.

I started the race at a good clip settling in at training pace clicking off 8:00 miles with Ann heaslett reminiscing about 2001/2002 when she was competing for national 50k titles at the HUFF race and crushing me at RR 100 where she ran 15:57!! I was hovering around 150bpm and made myself slow down and let her go on off in pursuit of Kim Holak last years womens winner who had gotten out to an early lead. I was able to hold 150bpm for 3 hours (22miles) at BRR 50 last month but completely depleted the glycogen stores and could not climb back out and ended up with a less than stellar 9:14……so I wanted to hold more of a 140bpm HR in Ice age and slowed my pace despite not breathing heavy or really working THAT hard.
I settled in with some guys new to ultras, a couple of triathlon guys, and a pilot from Chicago. the miles ticked by and before I knew it I was at the 21.7mile turn around. The first guy to come by on the out and back was none other than legend Kevin Setnes who looked strong passing by with about 25minute lead on me. Women’s leader was Kim Holak. I was hitting 22 miles today at 3:25…a full minute per mile slower than I went out at BRR, but I felt a million times better and actually pushed a bit at this point moving up in the field slightly from the 25th or so I was in at the 21mile turn around.
I was eating more off the tables (1/4 putter butter and jelly sandwiches, M&M’s, glasses of coke) and was drinking NUUN water from my bottle. (Coke flavored NUUN tabs rock by the way) I was carrying 8 carb boom gels with me, but left my Cliff shot blocks home in Virginia. Since a gel pack is only 100cals and shotblock packs are 200. I knew I needed to eat more off the tables than I have been doing in the 8 previous ultras I have completed in 2008. My stomach was feeling great and draining well so I continued to down cups of coke at each aid station, (which were very frequent), sip my NUUN water, and hit a gel every time I felt a tiny bit bonky. Around 30 miles I came upon Kevin who was walking and looked to be in pain. Hopefully he is okay.
During the 4th hour I felt the poorest I would feel, but really was not that bad off…just a little behind in energy and thus the walking had increased. I had an off trail pit stop and then did some running with Boston native Chris H who was running with the broken finger he suffered in the infamous “Don’t run boston 50K” in the Blue hills. I ran that race in 2001 and wow! what a tough one. This course had about 2% of the rocks and footing difficulty that that one did. I’m thankful for it too. I like running and despite having had good runs on tough technical courses, I am leaning more and more toward the fast nice footing courses.
I hit 31 miles in under 5 hours and continued to move up in the filed. I made it out to the 40 mile turn around in 6:40. Doing some calculations I knew that if I continued to do the 11 minute miles I was averaging over the last 10-12 I would be really pressed to break 8:30. The next 3 miles to the 43.5 mile aid station were still slow and I really didn’t think I had it in me, but a mile or so later I was passed by a hard charging guy from Michigan who had 13 previous Ice Age finishes under his belt. He picked me up and we pushed hard together. We ran most everything until reaching the final aid station a mere 2.4 miles from the finish at the 8:02 mark. We knew sub 8:30 was in the bag and he relaxed while I moved on wanted to be done with this fine run. a few more turns on the pine needle covered trails and the finish line appeared. I squeaked into the top 20 and finished in 8:25. Surprisingly this race even had age group awards and I got a 2nd in mine. In 70+ ultras I have run in this was the first time that has happened! Ha. kinda silly since most of the top folks are still considerable older than me. And two of the most amazing older runners in the country proved that. Roy Pirrung beat me by 20 or so minutes at the rip age of 59! And even more impressive at age 66!!!!!!!!!!! Tom Bunk finished a mere 10 minutes behind me in 8:35. That is amazing.
All in all the great footing trail and amazing sections under pine trees will be what I remember most. this is a good one and I am glad I was able to run it. In terms of difficulty I would say it falls in between JFK and BRR. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped make it a great run for me.

Congratulations to Sniper and Greg on the Bull Run 50!! Great job guys!

This past Saturday was the 20th running of the HAT 50K at the Susequehanna State Park in Maryland.  There was a great turnout to the race with 392 runners starting the race. It was a bit chilly for the start (about 33 degrees) and was up to about 45 degrees when I finished. The course starts at the end of a field, which the “herd” runs across first, then a quick out and back on a road before hitting the trail. Me at the start and down in the crowd waiting to run:

          

Then there is a 3.6 mile loop, followed by two 13.7 mile loops mostly on trail, with a couple miles of roads mixed in.  The aide stations were well stocked and the volunteers were great, keeping me going the whole time. 

I had intended to go into this race with the mentality of being conservative on the first 13.7 loop and trying to do a negative split for the second time around. Of course things played out differently. As usual, I found myself pumped with adrenaline for the start and pushed it pretty hard for the first 10 miles. I looked at my watch at an aide station and saw I was pretty far ahead of my target time, and decided to back off a bit. I put my effort into making sure I was eating and drinking constantly to try to curb the lows that could come with starting out too fast. 

That plan worked, and setting out on the second loop I began reeling some people in. I was only passed by one person in that loop, which was a good sign for me. I also had fallen into place as the 3rd woman right from the start of the run, and managed to hold onto that for the rest of the time as well! Going into the race I had hoped to break 5 hours, but I’m really pleased with a 5:14, which also put me finishing in 49th place overall, out of 328 finishers.  (this is me after the run getting the 3rd place women’s award:

This was my second attempt at the 50K distance…my first being 2006 GEER 50K where it took me 7 hours. It’s great to see some improvement!! My parents came with me and took a few videos of the race…here they are:

The Start:

Sometime in the middle…:

The Finish: