Category Archives: Running

Running, Trail Running, Photography

2019 Finger Lakes 50’s

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Last year after running my first two 50k ultra marathons I decided to take the next “logical” step and test myself out at the 50 mile distance. Perhaps many people would not see any of this as logical but it made sense to me. I wanted to find a race that suited my preferences. My first two 50k races were very different from each other. One being very flat and one being much more rugged with a lot of climbing. I did not feel like either of those things suited me well for a 50 mile adventure. I really needed something in between, not flat but not too much climbing either, I needed to find something in my Goldilocks zone. I also didn’t really want to travel too far. I didn’t want to have to worry about any extra logistics other than the running of the race. So that obviously limited my options as well. But as it happens just the right race takes place not too far from where I live and even better I had some experience at this race. The Finger Lakes Running Club puts on the Finger Lakes 50’s race each year. This event is comprised of races of 25k, 50k, and 50 miles. I had already run the 25k in 2017 as my first ever 25k, so I was familiar with it. The biggest downside to this event is that it is held on the first weekend of July, and I do not generally do well running in the heat. In my first experience at this event I guess I was fortunate that it rained the whole time so that I did not have to deal with the heat.

Finger Lakes 50’s is a loop course event. Each loop is approximately 25k. So for the 50 miles I would run 3 loops, plus a half mile baby loop to round out the 50 miles. I was a little concerned about the course being loops because of the temptation to drop at the start finish line after the conclusion of each loop especially if I was struggling. I tried to reframe this as loops being a positive aspect of the race. I convinced myself that it would be good to get more familiar with the layout of the course as things went on and know what the course conditions were like out on the course. FYI course conditions can change mid race.

I was able to “convince” one of my best friends to go on this journey with me. And by convince I mean I casually mentioned that I was going to do it and then she was “convinced” to do it as well. We both have run the same two 50ks together and shared many miles of running and training and adventure. We are similar runners, so our plan was to run this thing together and share the miles, the adventure, and the suffering.

We spent the first half of the year trying to pretend that at some point we were going to be running 50 miles. We focused on all the other races we had planned. Once we both completed our 50k in June Finger Lakes 50’s loomed large. In mid April I had developed a some sort of injury to my hip/groin area that had not recovered by Worlds End 50k in June and really hampered me there. I already had tried just cutting back on training some prior to Worlds End. So, post 50k the only realistic option for me was to try and get some type of treatment for my issue and rest as much as I could and hope it would recover or I would never make it through a 50 mile race.

I went and saw a primary care doctor for the first time in about 20 years. I started a prescribed medication other than antibiotics for the first time. I began massage therapy treatment with Soul Ease. I also received chiropractic treatment from Market Street Chiropractic. Orthopedic doctor’s opinion was that it was likely hip bursitis.

The hardest part about trying to recover is that I was really cutting back my running, especially my long runs because that is what aggravated the injury the most. So since the goal was to rest it and not aggravate it I was not testing it either so I had no idea how it was going to respond on longer runs. Just over two weeks prior to the race I decided I needed to try to get a little feedback regarding my injury and test it out. I went for a long run on the Interloken Trail, a side branch of the Finger Lakes Trail and also a location of some of the trails I would have to run during the 50 mile loop race. I ran my planned 13 miles and I was pretty happy with it. I had no major issues. So for the next 2 weeks I did minimal running including zero running for the 5 days leading into the race. I wanted to maximize my chances of being healthy. I figured my best chance at completing this race was to be as healthy as possible. I could grind out the miles on tired sore legs if I at least had my health. After all my very first 50k trail adventure was a solo adventure on the Finger Lakes Trail with very little planning and no training and my longest run prior to that was a 25k, what could go wrong? That is was I kept telling myself at least.

So with less than ideal training and while recovering from an injury I embarked on a 50 mile race. Good idea? Only time would tell.

Race day arrived and it was going to be a hot one. As start time neared the temperature was around 70 degrees. 70 degrees is the temperature around which I start to be unable to sustain my running. Most of the races I have done in this temperature range have not gone great for me. The high temperature for the day would end up being around 88 degrees. Far hotter than I would choose to run in.

The 6:30 AM start time arrive and we were off. Down the gravel road we went and shortly we took a right into the woods and onto the trails. Pretty early on in the first loop before the first aid station there is a long downhill section that is on a gravel road. On a shorter race or at least a race of a distance I was experienced with this is the type of section I would love and run hard down to pick up time. In my one and only other experience on this course I ran down this road hard and was passing people, but that was a 25k race. With close to 50 miles still to go that did not seem prudent on this go around. We talked about how we wanted to handle this section and just decided to run casual, not trying to run hard but not putting on the brakes either. We just let gravity do the work, gaining some speed on some steeper sections and then letting speed dissipate on lesser grades.

As we made our way around the loop the first time the heat and humidity intensified. We played it cautious trying not to burn out before we got to where we needed to really hit cut off times. Especially in open exposed areas and other areas that felt particularly hot we took it easy and even walked. We walked when we otherwise could have run in order to save strength for later on. We were trying to strategize to mitigate the effects of the heat. If we felt like we needed to go easier we did just that without hesitation.

One good thing about the heat the past several days and on race day was that the trails were remarkably dry when the race began. They weren’t totally dry, but much improved from when I had been out in the area on a training run. This made running when we wanted to a much easier thing to do and made walking at a decent pace much easier too. When I was out on the trails two weeks prior there was significant water on the trails during the first loop of the course there was almost no water and not even much of anything that could be called mud except in a few spots.

We complete lap 1 in 3 hours and 35 minutes. That left us around 4 hours to complete a second lap. We took stock, refreshed ourselves, ate and drank, and then headed back out into the heat for lap number 2. At this point I was pretty confident we would get our first two laps done within the cutoff of 7 hours and 45 minutes. As lap two wore on the heat and humidity did not relent. I was having difficulty eating much of anything solid. At aid stations I ate watermelon and drank whatever non water fluids they had for calories, and I was able to eat some of the salt potatoes I had with me, but I wasn’t able to eat any of the other food I had been relying on for fuel that I carried and none of the other food at the aid stations were appealing. As the heat continued to wear me down I exchanged my hat for a buff that I could put ice in. Then at a later aide stations I added another buff so I could carry even more ice. Eventually, shortly before the half way point on loop 2, I gave up everything extra I was carrying just to try and keep from overheating. I gave up my food and I even gave up my camera gear which is saying allot for me considering I am a photographer who documents everything and that was the plan for this race.

Shortly after the half way point of the second loop I really started to feel the effects of the heat. As we ran, my hands started to go numb and I began to feel a little light headed and dizzy. I said I needed to stop running and walk for a bit. We walked and I recovered enough to run after a while. Unfortunately the same symptoms returned and we continued this walk run approach. My friend was not going to just leave me there in the woods even though I encouraged her to do so. We arrived at the first aide station after the half way point and I tried to regroup. I added as much ice as I could. I put ice in both of my buffs and in my shirt and in my shorts to try to cool down. The effect of the cold from the ice on the extreme heat of my body made me a bit dizzy and took me a moment to recover from. I used more ice at this race than I had ever used before at a race and more than I had thought I would. It was a necessity. It was the only thing allowing me to keep going. Unfortunately the ice did not last very long once you started running again. It lasted only mere minutes in the heat. After getting more fluids and fuel I needed more time to recover. I told my friend to go without me. I know she didn’t want to leave me at that aid station, but I knew that she did not have time to spare to wait for me and could not afford to move as slow as I would likely be going once I started off on the trails again. She looked back, frowned, then she went on without me.

I regrouped and then headed back out on the trails myself. I was moving slowly on the trails. The heat and humidity were nearly unbearable for me. Then it happened. First a trickle and then the skies opened up and a deluge of rain burst from the skies. In a matter of minutes everything was soaked. I was getting what I desperately needed. The rain cooled me off significantly. Not only did it help me physically but it lifted me mentally as well. It rained so intensely that the trails quickly flooded. It was like running up a stream. the trail conditions quickly converted from nearly pristine and dry to possibly worse than the conditions in 2017. I ran. I don’t know how fast I ran but I ran as fast as I could. I felt better and stronger than I had since the beginning of the race. I surged forward knowing that I had to beat the clock. I ran at a pace that took my breath away and eventually required me to walk and catch my breath. I repeated this run hard as you can then rest approach trying to surge through the storm. I was running so much better at this point that I actually passed a few people which would have been unthinkable even a few minutes ago. The change in weather and course conditions were so uplifting and provided such a sure of adrenaline with the chance to chase the clock that I completely forgot about the pain in my hip that had begun to bother me again. I kept looking at my watch thinking that I might actually be able to complete the loop in time to move on for a third loop. Could I actually do it?

The whole race my wife had been at each aide station to cheer us on. My friends husband joined our crew stating on the 2nd loop. When I emerged through the woods in the torrential downpour and arrived at the final aid station my wife was there in the pouring rain cheering for me as she had been all day. My friends husband had gone ahead to continue crewing for her up ahead of me as she continued to race the clock as well. As I arrived at this last aid station there was a new face there. Another of my friends had arrived to cheer me on and crew for us in this crazy storm. Seeing another familiar friendly face at the aid station helped to lift me up. They asked me what I needed. I just took a cup of coke. I told my wife I thought I still had time to make the cut off. It was then that she had to do the most difficult thing and break the news to me that I wasn’t going to make it. I had two miles to go, JUST TWO MORE MILES to complete the second loop. But I only had 9 minutes to get there. On my best days on completely fresh legs I couldn’t get that done. There was no way I could make it. My day was going to come to an end without even starting a third loop. As I write this I am fighting back emotions and tears are welling up in my eyes. This was not the outcome I was hoping for.


Despite the news that I could not possibly make the cut off I was determined to push through as hard as I could to what would be not the start of my third loop but my finish line. I somehow summoned the strength to overtake a few other runners on the road with me. I continued to run down the road, towards the end of the loop. I knew that the news of my imminent finish was demoralizing because as I headed down the road the pain in my hip that hope had vanquished returned more painful than I had felt it the entire day. I tried to push through it. I ran as hard as I could for as long as I could, but what was the point. I wasn’t going to make it in time. I walked and relieved the pain. Then when I could I resumed running again. This section of gravel road felt longer than any other stretch on the course even on the first go around, it felt interminable on this final approach before ducking back into the wood rounding the pond and emerging at my finish.

I don’t know if I would have been able to make the final cut off at the 10 and a half hour mark, but I wish more than anything that I had had the chance to find out. If you finish the second loop but do not finish in time to start a third loop they credit you with a 50k finish which is nice, but that is not what I was here for on this day. I was here to push myself to new limits. I was here to run more miles than I had ever run before. I wanted to get out there and try for that third loop more than anything. I would have rather start the third loop and not finish but run more miles than ever before then to finish my 4th 50k. I was here to test my limits and in some ways I did test my limits just not in the way I had hoped for. Apparently when I rolled into the last aid station I was not doing as well as I thought I was. My crew at that aid station told me after the race that I was a bit unsteady and wobbly during my time at the aid station and also appeared to be wobbly after I left the aid station and started running again as well. I did not get the result I had hoped for but I got an experience like nothing I had experienced before. Pushing through pain again, fighting off heat exhaustion, having a resurgence in the rain, and running with fun and joy when previously it had dissipated.

There is nothing better than taking on a new challenge like this race and having my wife and friends there to cheer me on. Running through most of my race with one of my best friends was the only way to take on this new challenge. I am so grateful that she went along on this crazy ride with me. I am even happier that she did make the cut off to start a third loop and then the final cut off to be able to finish that third loop. And I am overjoyed for her that she finish that race and that I got to cheer her on for that third loop and see her finish. That made the day a good day. Seeing my friend overcome the adversities I could not and succeed at this race that stopped me in my tracks was what I needed after not being able to finish. Having our other close friends there at the end was also a blessing. They were there to console me and cheer and celebrate her accomplishments. I am fortunate to be a member of this group.

It is really easy to second guess myself about this race and how we approached it. Should we have run harder on the first loop especially in places we took it easy? Should we have moved through aid stations faster? Should I have started taking on ice sooner? Should I have worn the arm sleeves and filled them with ice as I had planned to? Should I have not carried as much as I did for the first loop plus? What could I have done differently to produce a better outcome for myself? These are all pointless questions because there is no way to know how a change in any one thing would have effected everything else that occurred that day.

Looking on the bright side I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I can maintain enough fitness to run a 50k without a whole lot of training between races. I learned that my hip while not completely healed is actually getting better. I was able to run much farther in this race before experiencing significant pain than in my last race. I learned that if I ever run another long summer race I need to have a real strategy for dealing with the heat. I learned that I can run a 50k without having to change my shoes and have no major issues as a result. I learned that I still have not found socks that my toes will not poke a hole in. I continue to learn that I have a lot more to learn.

One of my goals with this race aside from finishing the 50 miles was to capture as much of it as possible on camera. I carried 4 devices for this purpose: my cell phone, a chest mounted GoPro, a hand carried GoPro, and a small mirror less Nikon camera in my pack. I was not taking many photos in the beginning because I wanted to save it for later when I was tired and needed to take my mind off things especially on the third loop. Then I realized what if there is no third lap. When I evenutally realized I had not been taking many photos and that I would be giving up all my camera gear at the next aid station I just turned on my chest mounted GoPRo to capture as much as I could of the race until the memory card fillled up.

I utilized my chest mounted GoPro the most because it was the easiest to use in the circumstances. I used my hand held go pro a few times. I took a few shots with my cell phone in just one spot. I never even took my Nikon out of my pack. The lack of photo taking was due to the heat and humidity requiring all my energy to just remain focused on the race. There really wasn’t much time where I felt comfortable enough to either stop and take photos or to just make the extra efforts to use cameras. Plus as I ended up losing to the clock there really wasn’t time for it anyway. An even more disappointing factor is that after not finishing the 50 miles I got home and uploaded my photos to the computer and for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond my control a lot of the photos did not turn out well. So that was extra demoralizing.

The day after the race I needed to do some recovery. I tried to recover with Avital’s Apiaries products I was given to test out. I soaked my sore and tired legs in a hot bath with Avital’s Apiaries Recover Bee bath fizzies. I used their Recover Bee soap. Then once I was done tired soaking my legs I gave them a rub down with Avital’s Apiaries Recover Bee massage oil. After that my legs did feel a little better.

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Photography, Running, Trail Running

Photographing Brant Hill Challenge

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Round and round they go. When they’ll stop, nobody knows.

I have been fortunate to be involved with quite a few races over the last several years. Some as a volunteer. Some as a runner. Some as a photographer. Sometimes I’ve been involved in more than one way at a given race. My good friends were putting on a race to help support our local youth running club, SOAR. I wanted to be involved in the event and support them in their efforts.

The race was called The Monster Brant Hill Challenge put on by Rebellion Running. It was held at Newtown Battlefield State Park in Upstate, NY. The race format was a timed loop course event. The runners would have 3 hours to complete as many laps as they could or wanted to. I had only ever participated in one timed loop course event before and I enjoyed it more than I expected. I had never photographed an event held in this format before.

I started off photographing some impressive younger youth athletes that took on the one hour youth course.

I was very intrigued as to how this format would lend itself to photography. My normal process is to scout out what I think will be the best location on the course to take photographs and stake out a position there and photograph every runner as they pass me by. The format of this race lends itself to so many different possibilities that it threw me of my game a little bit.

One thing I did differently was set up a GoPro at the aid station taking time lapse photos every second to record the runners as they made their nutrition choices. The cameras recorded over 14,000 images which I have not even begun to go through yet, but it ought to be interesting. Also, it is highly advisable to turn off the camera after the event so you don’t have thousands of empty frames to look at and delete. And you should pick up said GoPro so the race crew don’t have to bring it back to you after the event. There are always new wrinkles and things to learn from.

I began the event by photographing the runners as they took off down the trail at the start of the event. Then I moved around to the other end of the loop and went up the trail a little ways from where the loop ends so I could photograph runners completing their first lap. Then I moved back to where the end of the loop was and the aid station was set up to photograph runners as they made the turn to continue for another loop or stop for some aid.

I decided to make my way around the loop in reverse so that the runners would be approaching me as I walked up the trail. I stopped and photographed each runner from wherever along the trail I encountered them. This was really cool to be able to feature a large portion of the course in photographs. It also allowed for runners to be featured in different ways as they were covering different terrain on the course. They were able to get photographs on flatter faster sections where they felt better as well as on the tougher sections. I really enjoyed the variety of different photographic opportunities that were made available by being able to move throughout the course without missing any runners.

As I made my way around the course I stopped in a few key spots to photograph all the runners as they came through. These key locations were on the climbing section of the course. I know runners really hate having their picture taken during the tough climbs on a course but as a photographer I always feel like they make for some of the best photographs because they really show the blood, sweat, and tears that the runners are putting into running the race. You can really see the runners working and see the determination etched on their faces as they climb. Also, going out on the course more gave me a better appreciation for the conditions on the trail that the runners were dealing with.

I think this having so many opportunities for photos during one race also allowed the athletes to have more fun with their race photos at this event.

Photographing this type of event also freed me up to be more creative and take chances with some photography. I really strive to get a quality photograph of every runner at a race so I don’t like to do things that might cause that not to happen. But on the loop course I knew I had already seen all the runners multiple times and I was confident that I had good photographs of everyone. I used my smaller camera with a wider angle of view on the trails to photograph the runners on the trails as they passed by me. The goal of the photographs was to pan with the runners and shoot at a slower shutter speed than normal to create a sense of motion as the runners move. This sense of motion can be generated in the background as I pan the camera with them and in the runner’s body’s as their arms pump and legs strike the ground and push off. This series of photographs will have a more artistic feel to them. They most likely will not have a crisp image of the runners in many of them.

Now I have really come to like this race format as both a runner and a photographer. I am looking forward to photographing another event like this and sparking some even more creative ideas.

runner, Running, sport photography, Trail Running

2019 Chief Wetona

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So, I did something new this year. I ran two races in one weekend. I was expecting it to be a challenge, but I was not expecting the layer of challenge that nursing and injury coming into the weekend presented. I survived the first race of the weekend, Sehgahunda ok. I was tired and a little sore, but no major issues. I was still able to run. So on to Chief Wetona we went.


I met up with my friends and upon walking up the hill to the packet pickup/start finish I noticed a bit of a twinge in the area of my leg where I had been feeling discomfort. That did not make me feel hopeful. On top of everything else it was shaping up to be quite a warm day. It was nearly 70 degrees as start time approached with a high in the 80’s during the day. I do not generally do well in the heat. Between being a little banged up and the heat I was really unsure of how I would perform on this course. I had no idea what to expect given this was my first time running this race. I was prepared to spend a long, long time out on the trails. I told my wife how long I thought I could end up being out there so that she would not be worried if I was not done sooner.


As the 14 mile race began and we headed down the downhill road that lead to the trails I was determined to take it easy in the beginning and feel things out. See how I felt and make adjustments as I went along. I really tried to focus on pacing myself and not pushing too hard especially in the early stages of the event.
My original plan was to photograph this event using my GoPro cameras as I ran. I have one GoPRo that I use attached to a chest mounted harness, but with the heat I decided that was not a good idea because I didn’t want to do anything else that would make me hotter. So, that left me with the hand held GoPro which works well for me. After we got a little way into the beginning of the race I decided to shoot some photographs with the GoPro. I turned it on and it began beeping at me and giving me an error message that there was no memory card in the GoPro so it could not record anything. Turns out that after Sehgahund I returned home and downloaded those photos and I forgot to put the memory card back into the GoPro. Sometimes, no matter how many times we do things we still make boneheaded mistakes. There was another option. I could use my cell phone, which in a lot of ways actually takes better photos than the GoPro does. It is just not as easy to use and handle during a run as the GoPro is. So I learned that my GoPro with its handle will fit in the zipper pouch on my vest and that I could successfully get my cell phone in and out of my pockets to take photos during the event. It actually worked out that knowing it was hot and I was banged up and would not going to be going all out on the trails so I was able to take the necessary time to make the use of my cell phone work.


I enjoyed this race much more than I expected. My leg cooperated fairly well. I had some discomfort but could run. I took it easier on some sections I would normally like to run hard down the descents but with the leg issue and the heat I did not want to push myself too hard. This course was probably my favorite course I have ever run. There were challenging climbing sections, but nothing too steep or too long that it totally sapped my strength. There were descents that were runable and not too technical. I would have loved to push myself harder down those had I been healthier. There were many great runabale relatively flat sections of trail. A feature I feel like is often missing from too many races. The amazing single track sections cut into the side of the hill were fantastic. They made for a challenge in that they were pretty narrow, especially with my large size 14 feet and the fact that I was running in Altra’s with their wide toe box. I don’t think I can adequately express how much I really liked this course and wish I was feeling 100% for the run.
I took my time at aid stations and made sure to stay hydrated. I felt way better than I expected to in the heat. As I neared the end I was starting to feel fatigued and hot. As I approached the surprise 4th aide station an amazing volunteer called out to me and asked what I needed. I told him I just needed some water pour on me. He grabbed a gallon of water and came out into the road and poured the water over my head as I walked by. That was just what I needed to get me to the finish line. That volunteer was a life saver. All the volunteers were great and the race director did a great job putting on this event.


I finished in a time I was pretty pleased with all things considered. My friends and I gathered at a picnic table in the shade. We ate the great food provided to us. We enjoyed the amazing weather that most of our spring so far had been lacking. And we talked and hung out and enjoyed having time to spend together and enjoy the things we love. Friends, Food, and Trail Running. It doesn’t get much better than that.

runner, Running, Trail Running

2019 Sehgahunda

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Recently I participated in the Sehgahunda trail event at Letchworth State Park in upstate NY. This is the third time I have participated in this event. The first time I participated in the event I was part of a relay team. The next year my friends and I all decided we would run the trail marathon. This year my best friends and I ran together as part of a relay team. We were all at the event with our extended running family from the SOAR running club, a youth running club in upstate NY. There were teams of youth running the relay together, teams of adults and youth running together, and solo runners running the full marathon.


My original plan for this event was to run almost the complete marathon. I wanted to run with my friends as they ran each of their legs and shoot photos and video of them running. Then I would also complete my leg to finish out the relay and create photography and video footage of my leg as well. After suffering a setback in my training during my last race I had been forced to take time off to rest and let my leg recover. I knew I would no longer be able to execute my plan as I had previously wanted. I would not be able to run the majority of a trail marathon right now. After some time off I tested my leg out on some local trails and after a recovery day I felt well enough that I thought I would be able to run the 9 mile leg of the relay. I wasn’t sure how fast I would be but I was pretty confident that I could get it done.


We all met up at the start line and watched our friends set off on this adventure. IT is fun to have so many friends to cheer for. I would be running the second leg so we headed out for the check point where I would meet our first runner and then set off down the trails. I was as ready as I was going to be. Our first runner met up with me and passed the relay bib to me. I put it on and headed down the trails. Getting from the check points down to the main trails through the woods is one of the most challenging aspects of this event. The trails leading to the checkpoints are nothing like the trails leading through the woods. I really enjoy the sections of trails that run through the woods. They are challenging but mostly runable. Even in less than desirable conditions one can run most of the course when down in the woods. I managed to move down the trails at a moderate pace. I tried to take it a bit easier descending and ascending the many ravines that comprise the main feature of these trails that make it so interesting and beautiful.


You run down the trails for a while and then you dip into a steep ravine and pop right back out on the other side. This occurs over and over again along the course. Then there are many sections where you run down a relatively smooth section of trail and you can just look out over a gorge section nearby. These trails are nice and scenic if you love the woods. I really enjoy the 9 mile leg of the relay. I think it is the best section of the course.


As we awaited the final leg of our teams race to start our members were also keeping tabs on the progress of the other teams. WE learned that one of the other teams had failed to make the cutoff time to continue on in the race, meaning their other runners would not be able to run. My kind hearted friend decided without a second thought that she would give up he spot on our relay team and allow the other youth runner who was not going to be able to run to take her place and run the final leg of the relay for our team. So we started with a slightly different team than we finished with, but it was still a fun adventure.


Let’s talk about these trails. One could say that there was some mud this year. Let’s just say there were some footing issues. There was significantly more mud than I had seen in my past experiences. Our friends who have run the race 5 and 6 times have said this was by far the worse mud they have ever seen. Sehgahunda seems to have a reputation for significant levels of mud on the trails leading up to the checkpoints and aid stations that are up out of the woods. This year was no different, but it seemed significantly worse. It wasn’t even like running through mud it was like thick brown soup or pudding. There was no footing to be had. Especially on the way down back into the woods from the aid stations it was so much of a run as a semi controlled constant falling down the trail without ever fully hitting the ground. You just slid along in the mud going wherever the mud took you. I found it better to just ty to go with the flow rather than try to direct myself down a specific course in the mud. It was just not happening. Even on the trails that ran through the woods mud was a significant issue. There was mud and standing puddles of water even on those trails, which I had not experienced in the past. This made the race even more complex and challenging. I am very glad that I did not decide to run the full marathon this year, which I had been contemplating when registration started.

athlete, goals, Photography, Running

Running Scared

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Mid April I ran the Hyner View Trail Challenge. Ever since that race I have been nursing a nagging injury. It isn’t severe enough to keep me from running, but it does create some pain and discomfort on longer runs. It doesn’t seem to be getting worse when running, but it just doesn’t seem to be healing as quickly as I would like. Last week I had two races in one weekend so I had taken the week leading up to them off from running in hopes of making a full recovery. Unfortunately that was not the case. The injury is still there but I did make it through both of my races relatively OK. I just had to endure some discomfort at times.

The next problem is I have a 50K in a week now and I really should have been focusing on training hard for that in the last several weeks. I already hadn’t gotten in as many long training runs as I would have liked and now I have been forced into resting to just get healthy. So my training is likely to be less than I would like and I will not be as fit as I would like going into the 50k. I am going to go out on a trial run to see how my leg feels during a run this weekend hoping to feel ok after taking another week off from running. If I am not 100% during the run Saturday I will likely be taking the entire week leading up to the 50k off from running. I am not going to gain any more fitness in the week leading up to the 50k anyway and if I need to rest and recover that is the best decision I can make. I know that in my head but all this time off from running is having a negative effect on my emotionally and spiritually.


I can’t help but be worried about the upcoming 50k and worry about my ability to complete it. I am trying to stay positive. I keep trying to remind myself that in the past year I have now gone through three 50k training cycles and I have completed a trail marathon and two other 50k’s leading into this one. I also need to remind myself that the first ever time I completed a 50k distance on trails I did it all alone, with no training build up, when my longest previous run had been a 25k. It was long and hard and challenging, but I was still able to get it done. So baring any worsening of my injury and just letting it rest and heal I should be able to get this 50k done. It might not be the experience I was hoping for but I will still be able to complete the course. I will still finish the race.


I am still in better shape than I ever have been. I just need to get healthy. I need to remain positive. This has been one of the most challenging periods I have faced since I have been running. I have never before experienced a running related injury that actually significantly impacted my ability to run. I especially have never faced this kind of challenge so close to such a big race.


So I am heading into this 50k and I need to refresh my frame of mind. I need to reframe the task and set new goals. Fortunately I was not planning to necessarily run a faster time at this event. I was planning to try and take more photographs and soak in the nature more. Now I am going to lean even more on that. I am going to photograph all the nature and beauty that Worlds End State Park has to offer. I am going to photograph my fellow runners taking on this challenging course. I am going to embrace the struggle and challenge that is not meeting one’s own goals and use it to build new goals and learn and challenge myself in other ways. I am going to run this race, but more importantly I am going to cross that finish line, kiss my wife, and enjoy the fellowship f my friends.

Art, Photography, Running, sport photography

Hyner Gear fail

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In my previous article I talked about my training run out on the Hyner View Trail Challenge course. In that article I also shared some of the photographs I took during that run. This is a direct followup to that article. As a photographer and creator who combines that work with my running and just being out in nature in general there is a fraught relationship between getting out into nature the way I want and getting my gear there so I can shre it all with you. I have worked hard to find the best gear I can that can go with me the places I want to go in the ways I want to get there. Then finding the best strategies and additional gear to use in transportation of the photography gear is another factor. This year I think I have made a significant upgrade in my gear for transporting my camera equipment out into nature with the addition of new Ultimate Direction packs. So far so good. But there haven’t been many tests so far to date. This adventure out to Hyner was the first test of one of the backs I recently acquired. The pack itself worked fine. Sometimes the problem is not in the gear.

Sometimes the problem is operator error. I mentioned in the last article that I dropped one of my cameras. I have dropped cameras and gear in the past and most of the time you can get away with it because they are relatively durable. The camera I dropped is a small mirror less camera from Nikon. The camera itself appears to still work. The lens however appears to be broken. This is the second time I have had this lens break. I already replaced this lens once. This camera and lens set up is my go to for taking higher quality photographs out on running adventures. The fact that it is delicate is also one of the reasons I have started using GoPro cameras more. They are simply more durable. It is really a compromise I do not like. I want the features of the Nikon in the durability of the GoPro but it seems that is not meant to be. Having this setback with my camera gear is a huge bummer and quite a headache, but I was proud of myself for in the moment putting it out of my mind and enjoying the run even though I knew it would become an issue moving forward. 

Drops happen like any other type of mistake in any other type of venture we pursue. You just have to try to roll with it. I am currently looking for solutions to the damaged lens issue with the Nikon. Perhaps replacing it with a different type of lens will be a better solution. In the mean time I will rely on more GoPro footage and photography from my Samsung Galaxy S8+ which is amazing coming from a phone. Trying to find the right balance of equipment and other gear and then not making mistakes to compound any issues is a continuous struggle. I am hoping that eventually a camera gear solution that fits my niche work here in this form will come along soon in a way I can take advantage of it. But until that happens I am stuck trying to make the best use of the options that exist in my reality. 

athlete, fitness, Improvement, Running, Trail Running, training

2019 Hyner Training Run

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In 2018 a group of my friends were all registered for the Hyner Trail Challenge in PA. I was not registered for the race, but had heard my friends talk about it. I was interested in the event and I wanted to see what the hype was all about. So I joined them for a group training run at Hyner to run 14 miles of the 16 mile course. It was really not the best day for a long hard run and certainly not the best day to be encountering the challenges of Hyner for the first time.

Now this year I am registered for the Hyner Trail Challenge. Once again myself and a couple of friends are making the trip down to PA for a training rung on 14 miles of the Hyner Course. It was a fairly typical cold winter day for our region, but it was made to feel even more frigid after enjoying multiple days of warmer weather including two days of 60 degree weather the previous two days. Then the floor dropped out of those temps and 24 hours later we were back to subzero temps in the morning with a high of mid 30’s. Luckily at least we had sunshine today.

Climbing up Humble Hill is no joke. The exertion level is high no matter what pace you are going. Despite the exertion raising body temps and the nice sun shining above the wind combined with the chilling temps to make it feel quite cold especially on the last quarter of the climb. It is cold and difficult but the view from the top makes it all worth it. It was still pretty windy and cold at the lookout point so it is not easy to stick around too long, but I hung out long enough to capture a few photos.

After that climb you switchback down the side of the mountain into the valley and you encounter the first of what will be many stream crossings. We stopped here to eat something quickly and drink some water. It was also a great spot to take some photos. I had brought my small Nikon camera with me and decided to get that out again and immediately proceeded to drop it on the rocks damaging the lens. Now that camera was out of commission for the rest of the trip after only about 3 miles. Not what I had in mind.

The next section is relatively flat but littered with so many stream crossings that you cannot really keep track. The freezing cold water from the snow melt doesn’t help either. Being that it was  a training run and not a race we decided to pick out way across the streams and try to keep our feet dry-ish as much as possible, but this is simply is not possible in places. You have to take on that freezing cold water. By the end of the stream crossings your feet are numb.

After the stream crossings you start another ascent. If you thought climbing meant no more water, you’d be wrong. On this climb you essentially climb up a stream bed as the water pours down the hillside and over your feet. After another descent you climb again and eventually reach SOB and whose name is well deserved. Then you reach the most moderate section of the entire course. There is some times spent at a relatively flat section on top of the mountain and then you have a long not too steep decent back into the valley. 

The most interesting aspect of this training run was the snow. Last year we ran in February. No snow. This year we are running in mid-march, nearing spring and there was quite a significant amount of snow especially on the second half of the course. I was hoping the snow would be melted. I am really hoping that the snow is melted by race day. It made the course interesting and was great for photos, but it did make for some slower going if for no other reason that just to be careful and make sure you had good footing.

Like many runners I use Strava to track my runs. One of the features I do really enjoy on Strava is the segments. When you run in an area where there are a lot of segments that have been created it allows you to pretty easily see how your performance has changed, hopefully for the better from run to run. There are a lot of segments that have been created for Hyner. I was happy to see that Strava had notified me of 12 achievements. Many of these achievements were 2nd best times on a segment which in this case doesn’t mean anything since it was only the second time I have run here. But there were several segments where I had PRs meaning that I ran better than last year. This was really good news to me because we really felt like we were taking it easier and not pushing too hard on this training run. So the fact that our perceived effort level was lower but we were actually faster on a lot of segments indicates to me that our physical conditioning has improved from our training over the past year. Hopefully this will translate to a nice strong run at the race in just over a month. 

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