Thanksgiving Week

Mon- 13 Miles Core Creek First 8 miles new PR 56:59. Total time 1:43.01. Not bad. Felt pretty tired in the final 5 miles. PRobably because I pushed the first 8. Felt great though because it was very cool outside.

Tues- 5.3 Core Creek. Ran with Palladino. So tired from yesterday. Really didn't want to be out there at all but was happy to have the miles in. The rest of the week is very busy so felt good to get 18miles out of the way early in the week.

Wed- off, just way too busy

Thurs- 8 core creek- Thanksgiving day tradition to run in the morning to get out of the house. 58 min. Not bad.

Fri- 2.2 road, boring.

Sat- Off Spent all day in Harrisburgh for my Grandmother's 90th. What an amaing woman. So kind.

Sun- Off Opened at work and then had my family over for dinner. Too busy. I actually fell asleep  at around 7:30. Felt like a total loser but tha tlast 4 days wiped me out bigtime.

Week- 28 Miles
Nov- 98 Miles

Ultra Runner of the Year 2012

Though I'm still relatively new to the ultrarunning scene I believe I have followed race result for the 2012 as close as most people and want to weigh in on the coveted, although baised towards the wester hemisphere, ultra runner of the year award. Better know as UROY2012. With the increase of events and publicity, especially on the more prestigious events of the year, this year will be surely be tough to pick just one male runner. The female race will be won by Ellie GReendwood i'm not sure if anyone has to debate that. However the men's competition will be between 3 men as far as I'm concerned.

 #1 Timothy Olsen

Tim started of the year will steller performances at the Bandera, Lake Sonoma, Where's Waldo, and of course his record setting performance at Western States. While in years past this would easily have him as the easy frontrunner this year he'll be getting more competition. Tim Also had a strong showing at Run Rabit Run, but for me a 3rd place performance against a less than steller field, no insult to Karl or Dylan, doesn't do much for you as far as rounding out the year goes.

 #2 Hal Koerner

Hal had an excellent year as well. Starting off the year with a win at Rocky Racoon was nice. He built on that with his win at Hardrock. His time was excellent, the field was deep, and the times for the top 3 would have won many years in the past. Hal also has a 50 mile will at a North Face event, not a great time or event itself but it still speaks to his versitlity. For me he need another win before the end of the year.

#3 Mike Morton
Mr. Darkhorse. Many had forgotten about him but he burst back on the scene last year. This year he's been even better. This year Mike won 3, 100 miles race, Almost broke the course record as Badwater, and broke the american record for most mile in 24hrs. Mike has perfected the art of running for a long long time very quickly. Most of the top americans don't even bother running 24hr races. So kudos to Mike for even going for the 24hr record and getting it is just the extra. Oh and by the way he ran his 3 100 milers in under 13:30 for each. The man can run!

Honorable Mentions
Dakota Jones- Transculvania Win, Hardrock 3rd Place
Karl Meltzer- Winner RRR100 Win, Grindstone 100 Win and Course Record.

The Winner Is!
 For me the win goes to Mike Morton. The 24hr record really does it for me. All 3 guys had a great years but for me Mike accomplishments top all. The important thing for me though is that if Hal or Tim win the NF50 they will probably overtake Mike. I'm assuming Tim and Hal will be running and that Mike will be in Florida or something. So for me Tim and Hal need to win or this year it's all MIKE MORTON.

Week Ending 11-18 Doing some Pre-Thanksgiving workouts

Mon- 13 Miles Core Creek! Boom. Ran the first 8 in a 2012 PR for this course 61:20. The next 5 miles were painful, tired, and my foot was not right but I really wanted to get 13 for some reason. Shooting for 30+ this week. That's a good start as long as getting out of bed tomorrow isn't extremely painful. Fingers Crossed.

Tues- 3.2 Miles at core creek. Slight pain and tingling in foot. Nothing to be alarmed about. Foot felt schockingly good this morning when I woke up. Trying to maintain a steady optimism.

Wed- 5.4 core creek- light day

Thurs- 6.1 Miles Core Creek with Justin Nolan- Felt good. Not tire really. Still thinking about taking it easy the next few days.

Fri- 5.3 in 37:22 So close to my PR on this course. 26 seconds off to be exact. Stomach bothered me from about the 1st mile on. Legs felt good. Foot is a bit tingly right now but that's ok I think.

Sat- 3 miles at Neshaminy. Very heavy legs from yesterday.

Sun- Rest

Week- 33
November- 70

OK Check out this "tree." Was running with Palladino the other day behind Neshaminy High School when I noticed a tree was not in the right place. The problem was that this tree was obviously very thick and was stuck deep in the ground. I was confused for a few second and then I looked up and saw that this was actully not a tree but a huge branch that broke off an even bigger tree that had fallen and stuck into the ground straight up. So if you're looking straight ahead it looks like 50yr old tree. Once you scan your eyes up you realize it's just a huge broken branch that dropped from 50ft or so and stuck into the ground. Kinda crazy the things that happen during storms. The first picture is of the branch from ground level. The second is the tree the branch fell from.

Week Ending 11-11 SNOW!

One day it'll snow like this again in Philadelphia. That'll be a good day.

Mon- 8 Core Creek 61minutes
Tues- OFF- FEet killing me.
Wed- 5.3 Core Creek 40:30- Down tree mostly cleared. New sections add 20+ seconds. I waited as long as I could for the snow to start falling! It was great. Last year I was onlt able to run in th snow once. Total winter running buzzkill. Early snow this year has me pumped for what might be ahead. Bring on the white stuff!
Thurs- 2.1 Hills in Langhorne- Feet Still bad
Fri- 2 Langhorne Hills- Feet feeling better but this is my 4th light day in a row. Bleh
Sat- 5.3 Core Creek- First trail run for Justin Nolan. Struggled but pulled through
Sun- OFF

All in all this was supposed to be a rest week but I messed up my plan by have 38 miles in 7 days when I only wanted 30. My feet were very sore from that so I had to take the middle of the week very easy. Feeling PF stuff more regulary now. Might mean I need to return for more Shockwave treatment. That being said, there's still very little tingling and the pain is very dull and managable for now.

Week- 22 miles
November- 37 miles

Week Ending 11-4

Monday- Hurricane Sandy
Tuesday- 7 Miles- Holy Trees down all over the place
Wed- 8 Miles Core Creek
Thrusday- 5 Miles Core Creek
FRi- 3 Miles Core Creek
Sat- 7 Miles Core Creek
Sun Off

Weekly- 30 Miles
Novemeber- 15 Miles

First week back where I hit 30 miles. Such a meaningful Milestone. More to come soon!

A New Beginning

So it has been over a year since I have been able to call my self healthy. I've been struggling with Plantar Demon Spawn Fasciatis since Sept of 2011 and I think I may have finally turned the corner. This past month I was able to get in over 80 miles of running without and increase of pain in my foot. It feels incredible to be able to write that sentence. I am in no way healed but just being able to get back on the trails is a great feeling. I don't like running at Core Creek but that's where I've been. I've been told that keeping the hills to a minimum is important so Core Creek is the place to be around here for that. At the same time thought I'm reminded of how many times I've gone back to Core Creek when recovering from an injury. This place has served me well over the years reminding me that either a) you're still injured, take it easy, or b) looks like you're ok, go find some hills! While I haven't experienced b yet, I look forward to the day I can leave Core Creek behind to find me some mountains. For now i'm just happy to be running again, even at this low distances and lack of elevation.

Hat Run Lottery Here I COME!