Gatorade Ambassador + Trail running = Long Blog

  As usual I have taken a hiatus from posting on my blog, but I did want to take a few minutes to highlight a few exciting things that are going on in my life currently. Let's start off with my acceptance as a member of the Gatorade Enduralliance team. This is a pretty awesome deal, I sent out my application which asked for podium finishes, results and time not expecting much but only to be notified days later of my acceptance along with two closer friends of mine, Cody Angell and Billy Shue. We all found out that we are the only members in the south east, while there are about 30 members spread all over the country. Unfortunately I was unable to attend our big conference in Chicago but I did get to catch up via email, conference call and webinar.

  With becoming apart of this team, we have promised to do our best to promote the brand specifically highlighting Gatorade Endurance to our local community. You may see Cody, Billy and I at some of the brewery runs or store runs passing our some free samples so don't be afraid to come over say hi and grab some carb chews! One of the cool things is that we get free technical racing gear, so all three of us are going to have a sick compression triathlon gear made by 2XU but we have to wait another month for the customer order to come through. Being apart of this program is very motivating, they literally support us in the best way possible, with race stipends, free product, training gear, and most importantly they connect us to people who love endurance sports just like us.

   After my first batch of supply was shipped to my house, I was excited to try out the new Prime carb pouch which is used most effectively prior to workouts/races. It has some simple sugars as well as of course carbs which you body will be buring off during exercise. Since I knew Gatorade was going to assist with some race expenses I finally decided to sign up for the race #2 of the Riverbound race series at Fisher Farms Park. I have always enjoyed trail running but quite honestly have never done more than one per year even though this is actually my favorite endurance event. Luckily I have a pretty good track record at trail races, from my recollection I have only lost a trail race back in 2006 at the Uwharrie 8-miler which was 4 weeks after my first marathon and I was struggling to say the least. After a full month of continuous running with no real bumps in the road I felt confident that I could really push hard and hopefully break the course record, but with trail running you never know what the day can bring; mud, lapping slower runners, or course distance.

  The last trail race I competed in was on a very special day, the day I proposed to Karin, January 21st, 2012. It was a muddy day on the course but in the end everyone had a blast and I was lucky enough to break way from the lead pack and secure the 9-mile victory.

CRC Trail Race 9 Mile Results

January 21, 2012

Questions please email info@s2ftiming.com

Top Males Overall in 9 Mile division.

Place Bib # Name Elapsed Pace

_______________________________________________________

1 670 Chris Lamperski 01:00:13 6:41

2 676 Zack Kessell 01:01:33 6:50

3 651 Dave Mabe 01:04:16 7:08


Top Females Overall in 9 Mile division.

Place Bib # Name Elapsed Pace

_______________________________________________________

1 654 Joan Nesbit Mabe 01:10:41 7:51

2 582 Megan Lordi 01:18:39 8:44

3 539 Jamie Engel 01:21:07 9:01

Hoka Bondi B 2

    Since I had never ran at Fisher Farms Park in Davidson, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had heard that the course was rather technical in some portions. To be proactive in discovering the course, I decided to get there a little earlier and run the 1st 3 miles of the course so I knew what to expect and it proved to be very beneficial to me. I decided to it would be best to warm-up in my new pair of Hoka's, they are a bit heavy and maybe a little awkward but I knew they would keep my legs nice and fresh before throwing on my trail racers. The Hoka Bondi B 2 is the shoe that I was fortunate enough to sample, it is Hoka's lightest shoe to date and I find that with each run I am getting used to the platform more and more but the verdict is still TBD.

Rogue fly on the right

  After warming up solo in the woods I popped my Gatorade Endurance Carb Pouch to top off my energy levels 20minutes before the race. Kent showed up while I was lacing up the Montrail Rogue Fly that I decided to race in. This shoe is SWEET, very lightweight and flexible for a trail shoe, and it has amazing traction on the surface. It was between the Rogue Fly and the Rogue Race, but I thought the look of the Fly seemed to be the faster choice.



  As the race started I knew that I had about 1/2m before we hit the single track to get out front and hopefully never look back. Two guys shot out to the front immediately and one of them literally refused to let me pass as he kept throwing in burst. About 200m from the trail entrance I decided I just had to drop the hammer and pass this guy which proved to be pretty easy. I entered the trail at 1/2m in the lead with about 4 guys nipping on my heels. I managed to gap the 2nd group by the mile as I crossed in 5:39 and the rest of the guys were between 5:52-54 from what I was told. My goal was to nail the straight aways and downhills as hard as I could so I could make up for the twist and turns. In my opinion the trail does not have that many steep uphills to where I felt like " I want this to be over" but more turns than anything which substantially slows down the pace.

   Throughout the race I kept telling myself "Record, Record" to keep me motivated to not be content with the lead but to keep pressing the pace. This is something that I have no issues with on trails races but in road racing I often times wonder off in La-La land for a mile or 2 and loose precious time. The 10k and 5k trails crossed over a few times and fortunately my delay with the slower 5k runners was limited, I had to leap over a small creek off of the trail to get around several runners, but I figure it let me catch my breath and really nail those last couple miles. Over the last 2.5miles I was pretty much alone until the last 1/2m as I ran into the 5k finishers again, but it felt amazing, just running through the packed dirt lined with all kinds of tree's and the sun peeking through a bit. Fortunately there was a good stretch where I had a straight away and I made sure to really nail the pace down as fast as I could. I was a bit skeptical of my 4th to 5th mile split, I knew I was pressing harder than I had the entire race but when I hit 5:24 on the watch I thought either I am really on or maybe that mile was a bit short. As I crested the the last section of the race, they announced my name as the 10k winner and I had a chance to really look at the overall time on the clock as it was ticking in the 34's.

  34:29 was my official time, no way this was the full distance, after speaking to people who had worn their garmin's during the race, most people thought the race to be around 5.7 miles which was disappointing because I was really pushing hard to get a record. After the race I also found out that this was a new venue for the 10k race, so apparently the record will now be mine at Fisher Farms. Kent finished up about 2:30 back in 2nd place overall. TrySports represented well today on the trails in our new singlets that really make an impression.

   My ultimate goal should I get permission from my lovely wife is to race the Xterra national championships someday. Usually the trail championships are in oregon or Utah, both have some amazing trails and breath taking scenery, it would be an absolute dream to compete out west. If you qualify for worlds its in Hawaii which seems a bit more attainable for me than does qualifying for the Ironman world championships and quite honestly, I think I would enjoy going to Hawaii for a trail race as opposed to a full Ironman. So if you see Karin make sure you give her a nudge to help me pursue my dream. take a moment to check out the 2012 recap video, AMAZING! Xterra Run Championships