Bus Stop Breakdown -- How A Bad Commute Fueled My Return to Running

It happened at a bus stop outside of the Franconia/Springfield Metro station. It was during a time in my life when I was focused on my career, working in the United States Senate in Washington DC. Each day found me full-suited, riding a Metro to and from my humble townhouse near Springfield, Virginia with thousands of my closest DC friends. Each day also found me eating out at restaurants, stressing about deadlines, drinking, and doing very little good for my health.

Earlier that day my deputy press secretary had taken a picture of me for a television news station -- I was interviewing over the phone that night and they needed to show their audience who I was. 

Giving a mock speech in the Senate TV gallery

When she showed me the picture my heart sank. I was fat. That was the first time in my life I noticed my slide into a slothdom. I was out of shape and I had a chubby face -- not the athlete I thought I once was.

It was a long day at the office and after a sardine-can metro ride, I just wanted to get home. But here I was waiting rather impatiently at a bus stop for the bus to take me 3.4 miles down the road. Twenty minutes passed -- no bus.

"Errrgh! I am not going to wait another 20 minutes for nothing! I could have run home by now!" Or could I?

Fueled by my anger at the bus, I grabbed my briefcase and took off running over the metro bridge and down the backroads to my neighborhood. It took mere seconds to be drenched in sweat. It's humid in DC and I was still wearing my suit. And let's face it, I was in terrible shape. My run turned into a jog and walk, but I was committed to getting home on foot -- before that stupid bus.

As I rounded the corner to my neighborhood, I could hear it, the zooming loud rush of air and tires against pavement throttling up the road behind me and squeaking to a stop at my corner. Stupid bus. Never again. "I'm never riding that bus again," I promised myself.

At least I wouldn't ride it in the evening. Each day thereafter I brought my running clothes with me to run the 2.3 miles of backroads home after work. Some days I got there before the bus, sometimes after, but slowly I brought myself back into running shape. And how victorious it was to beat that beastly bus back home from the metro station.

Within months I was running 5 and 10-mile trail races at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia and even getting in some miles with the Virginia Happy Trail Running Club. I am thankful now for that time in my life. It reminds me to stay on a healthy path and be mindful of how I'm living my life. I don't get much chance to race buses down the street anymore, but I'm glad for that too. I find my victories in the mountains and along the trails instead.

Mountain Lakes 100 -- A Gap Analysis

At work they call it a "gap analysis." When you compare your organization's actual performance with your potential or desired performance. The gap gives you an idea where you can improve and what resources you need to make that improvement.
I waited a full 15 years to run my first 100 mile ultra marathon and chose to jump into Mountain Lakes 100 with only three 50k races under my belt in 2014. And while I haven't performed a gap analysis, I did learn some things that will help me improve.

Feeling great in the early miles at Mountain Lakes 100

Looking back at my race, what I learned is similar to what I've learned throughout my 38 year running history. And there are some gaps.
The first thing I learned: Don't go out too fast. I tend to fall prey to this idea that I'm as fast and capable of a runner as I was when I was 30. I am not, but I'm working to get there each day. My first 50 miles were covered in 11:15 and I didn't feel particularly pressed. But my body had other ideas and reduced me to a walk/run, then a walk -- let's call it a 40 mile warm-down. The second 50 miles took me 17:15. There's a lot more to be learned here than "don't go out too fast." I don't think I was going too much faster than I'm capable of, but I was going too fast for the technical terrain we experienced during the first 20-26 miles. And every step beyond 60 miles was longer than I'd ever run. Also, I believe I'd benefit from some more lengthy and challenging back-to-back runs to be stronger over the last 40 miles of the race.

At the finish line with family.

Espresso gel anyone? It never occurred to me that staying awake while running would be difficult. I've run numerous events at 50 miles or less and some longer relay races without any trouble. I guess I figured since I'd be running, fueling, and focusing on the task at hand, I'd be fine to run through the night. Nope. Not fine. About three miles before I reached the Clackamas Ranger Station for the second time, 71 miles, I was weaving back and forth in the trail -- falling asleep. A runner behind me was kind enough to warn volunteers that the next guy "is kind of out of it." My good friend Stan Holman heard the news and sprung into action to get me coffee, food and helped me get my wits about me. Soon after leaving the aid station, I was met by a runner holding two double-shot espresso gels and he said, "Are you Cameron? Stan says you should eat these now." So, I did. The gels were good for about an hour of awake time each, before I began to fall asleep again on the climb back toward Pinheads at mile 87. At some point on the climb I decided I just had to sleep or risk running down a ravine. So I laid down on the trail with my head on a nice comfy rock for about 7 or 8 minutes. It was an instant slumber. And it was good enough to keep me fairly awake until Pinheads when the sun started to peak over the mountains.
over the last 13 miles, I was in good spirits. I knew I would finish and Stan was able to meet me with 4 miles to go. I felt some pretty serious knee pain when I tried to step over logs and branches, but I didn't think much of it. It was great to share those miles with Stan and to be reunited with family at the finish. Shortly after finishing my knee decided to completely seize up with inflammation, but other than that, I was in good shape -- having met my initial goal to complete the distance.
The race was extremely well organized, picturesque, and the aid station volunteers were the best I've seen. GoBeyondRacing does an amazing job with race organization. I look forward to participating in their races again next year. In the meantime, I've got some work to do to fill in the gaps in my training and racing, so I can continue to reach my desired level of performance.

My Ultrarunning Primer -- The 2000 Jack Frost 5-Hour

Back in 2000, in the middle of the Jack Frost 5-hour run in West Linn, Oregon, I was churning out some wet, muddy 1.62-mile laps with the veritable Glenn Tachiyama. I had decided to transition my marathon running to ultramarathons -- and this race would be my little breakout into the world of trail ultras.

A soaking wet trail at the 2000 Jack Frost 5-hour run.

After years of training to break 2:40 in the marathon, I ended up with numerous 2:45-range marathon finishes, but the next phase of my life as a runner I knew would be on the trails, not roads. But for now I was running through a Pacific Northwest drizzle with Glenn, trying to stay up with the likes of Tom Moritz, Steve Smucker, and Dave Terry. Glenn and I pushed each other along, as the trails of Mary S. Young State Park grew progressively more slick.
I took a brief pause before the start of my last lap to attempt to clear up confusion about the number of laps I had completed so far. I was sure I had completed 21 already and had time to get in one more. Frustration fueled my last loop and I blasted through another quick loop to complete 35.75 miles in 4:59:02 -- even though the official results show 34.18.
http://www.coolrunning.com/results
/00/or/Feb12_JackFr_set1.html
I was pleased with my first ultramarathon results nonetheless. I'm happy I could share those miles with Glenn, who now devotes his time to capturing images of so many runners' ultra marathon efforts around the Northwest. That early race planted a seed in me that has yet to fully develop, but serves as my starting point into this now-growing world of ultrarunning.