Becoming Ultra
March 18th, 2006

Becoming ultra is some part attitude, training and gentle obsessiveness. By the standards of some, running distances of 30 and 50 miles is merely incomprehnsible, and consequently, this idea (and the runners attached to it) get relegated to mere folie. (Oh well.)

Once the Boys got the nod to race in the Wakely, Fast John and "g" kicked their respective training programs into high gear. They had theories about how to train for their first 50K. Zillions of them!

Fast John is a magnet for facts. Talk to him. He has fountains of details, raw data and statistics on everything stored in his head. Like bees in a hive, this whirling, buzzing, humming cauldron of information is begging for release. He was the perfect training companion for "g". For example, Fast John's research on Wakely resulted in the little know fact that there was a total, course elevation gain of about 4,000 feet. "So," he professed, "we'd better start runnin' some hills!" (And, they did.)

On March 18th, "g" drove south to Slingerlands for their first morning of hill training. Fast John and his family lived at the foothills of the Helderberg Mountains and Thatcher Park - the location of their run. Here's what NYS's official web site says about this area:

John Boyd Thacher State Park, is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Even as it safeguards six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, the park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains

 

As a (much) younger man, "g" remembered driving up this windy, steep, 2-laner to Thatcher Park. He remembered watching cyclists peddle at painfully slow speeds as they crept up the steep grade of the Helderberg's. "Man," he'd think, "imagine riding a bike up these hills?" So, when Fast John proposed a few training laps up and down the first 3.5 miles of the Thatcher Park hill, "g" immediately broke into a cold sweat.

Fast John had other practical theories about training for Wakely. For example, to become sensitive and familiar with Wakely's highly remote, 32.6 miles of trail in the Adirondacks, they had previously discussed running parts of the trail on 2 different weekends. They planned to run a 10-mile in/out from the northern and (then) southern trail entrances. However, Fast John had other... keener... more-cooler ideas. On their first Helderberg hill training, "g" (panting with ChiLean) became unsuspecting prey for another of Fast John's training concoctions. Carefully woven into their conversation was an idea that would have sounded completely preposterous had they not been doing something as outrageous and ridiculous as running up a 10% grade to Thatcher Park.

You know 'g'... I've been thinking. ["g", saturated with fatigue on their 2nd ascent, was now in perfect, unsuspecting-sitting-duck position.] You know how we've planned to run the first and last 10 miles of the Wakely on two different weekends in May? ["g" ... now, upgraded to deer-in-headlights status.] Well... how about... [Bam! Out of no where and sounding 100% logical...] fastpacking the entire course in one weekend? We'd carry just the minimum amount of gear and food and spend the night midway [16 mi.] at the
lean-to on West Lake.

Well... this was perfect. Except, of course, for the part about carrying 20-pounds of pack, sleeping bag, food, water and clothing, and... the potential for early spring snow. And then... there was that snap. (Damn! "g" hated when this happened.) Something as absurd as running the Wakely... 32.6 miles... in July... had just been modified to NOW include a fastpacking adventure in May? And, then... as quick as cat on bird... without breaking his stride as they ran... "Yea," "g" said, "You know... that could work. Running through the woods, up and down hills to the tune of 4000 ft of elevation gain... with 20-lbs of backpacking gear... sounds very do-able! Especially, if we take our time and run slowly (?)." (Good grief. They were really gonna do it!)

Little by little, the Boys were getting ultra!