Vermont 100 pictures and splits from Last Year and goals for this year

This is one of my favorite pictures from last year. It was taken relatively early in the day between storm #1 and storm #2 (of about 5 storms!). This is a nice pasture/field on the top of a mountain. It was pretty steep getting to the top and I was a little worried about falling on the way down, but the other side of the mountain was a bit more gradual.

Here is my friend Rob A with a horse approaching. Rob was really good company and an excellent mentor during our many miles last year. He was very cautious to never run up any hills. I have the tendency to get in a zone and would forget and be trotting along. He also was really funny, had lots of good stories and has run well over 550 ultra's!!! He is a running machine.

Going up a pretty steep hill in the hail...yes, hail. This was immediately following the storm in which there was lightening that we could see, feel and hear simultaneously. In fact at one point I simply stopped because I was so panicked (although there was pretty much nothing I could do except "pick a god" as one of Tristan's mountain guides suggested on Rainier if it did happen to blow up!)

This was the most unsatisfactory shoe change I have ever had! You will notice my "camp chair" is conspicuously missing and I am stuck sitting on a guardrail. And look what a mess my feet/shoes and gaiters were! This is a self portrait. If it included my face, you would see extreme rage as I was emoting "grudging" because Tristan was not where he was supposed to be with what he was supposed to be with. Oh yeah and as I was washing my feet he would bring over 6 oz cups...until finally a nice volunteer brought over a pitcher of water. I REALLY hate dirty feet!

Before the start of the race, I feel welcomed...perhaps it is because of the sign. This race is extremely well organized and implemented. The entire race I felt taken care of and well supported by the staff, volunteers and other runners/riders. Even the horses were encouraging as one licked me. Maybe for my salty sweat but I like to think because he/she was a sweetie!

Having run out of calendar days to train and being all packed and ready to go, I have spent the last few days reminscing about what a great time I had at the Vermont 100 mile last year. I was able to reconnect with lots of friends and make lots of new friends (including several of the horse riders).

The 2008 race definitely was challenging with lots and lots of hills, hail, lightening striking within a few hundred meters (splitting a tree in fact!), strong winds and several torrential downpours. I would like to think this year can only be better (well except for the hills...to bad the stimulus $$ is not going to level a few of the huge mountains or to connect them with a nice bridge!).

So far the weather is predicted to be in the mid/upper 70's during the day with lows in the mid 50's. This is acceptable to me but not ideal. I would much prefer mid-80's for the high and upper 60's for the low because I tend to get chilled very easily. There also may be the chance for rain/showers on Saturday. I am not a fan of rain; however, I have packed lots of raingear and will have a poncho in my fanny pack so I will be prepared for whatever the weather is.

I plan one change of shoes at mile 62 (Margaritaville) and even have a back up pair of shoes in my drop bag at that location. I have a second change of shoes at "Camp 10 Bear" which is an aid station we pass at mile 47 and 70. I don't plan to change my shoes more than once but a pair will be available if I decide spur of the moment at the Camp 10 Bear Aid Station.

For those of you interested in what last years splits were, here is a summary. You will notice that I averaged about a 12-13 minute miles early in the race and over a 15 minute mile later in the race. I don't do negative splits for 100 milers!

AS…Name………Mile…..Prev Time
3…..Taftsville B..….15.3…….7:37a
5…..Pretty House.…21.1….....9:17a
7…..Stage Rd….…..30.1….…11:50a
8…..Route 12…..….33.9…….12:50p
10.…L_Covered B…39.2….…2:06p
12….Lillians…….….43.5…….3:14p
14.…C_10 Bear…….47.2…….4:04p
15.…Pinky's………...51………5:12p
16.…Birmingham.….54.1…….6:01p
17.…Tracer Brk…….57 ………6:41p
19.…Margarita…..….62.1…….8:11p
20.…Schl House.……65.1……8:56p
21.…C_10 Bear……..70.1……10:12p
22.…Seabrook………74.7……11:47p
23.…West Winds…...77……..12:38p
25.…Cow Shed….….83.6…….3:10a
26.…Bill's…………...88.6……..4:48a
27.…Keating's.……...92.………6:09a
28.…Polly's………….95.5…….7:19a

Finish.......................100........9:06a

My goals for VT100 this year include:

1) Finishing in relatively good health (ie conscious with all limbs, toenails and organs I started the race with--I could stand to lose a few pounds so a loss of 2-3 lbs might be nice--Maybe too much ice cream and donuts this summer:-)

2) Finishing in under 28 hours. Based on Umstead 100 this past April, this time might work. But the lack of training may adversely impact this goal

3) Finishing in under 29 hours. Last year my time was 29:06....just 6 minutes away from being sub-29 hours. I know the course, have excellent pacers lined up and have (hopefully) successfully fired "dead weight" Tristan (well except for Margaritaville--and all I need him to be is halfway coherent--coherent enough to read and follow his explicit directions!).

4) Finishing in under 30 hours. While 100 milers definitely have a wild card component, I think I can finish the entire race assuming I do not have some catastrophic event occur. The question in my mind is can I beat the time cutoffs? And of course the catastrophic events are always possible. All it takes is one good pukefest, a case of explosive intenstinal distress or even a stumble on a root or rock (*or running away from a snake).

This may be my last post until Monday, however, perhaps at VT Tristan and I will locate a library where I can create a quick post before and/or after the race.

*most likely scenario!