Three Days of Syllamo 2009

The short version – I placed 7^th. Here’s a link to the results – http://www.syllamo.org/3days/Results2009.aspx

There some pictures over there --------------------->>>

The trip down to Mountain View, AR is a long one for us. About 10 hours to be exact. But we made the most of it. Cortney came along with this time, as well as Aunt Peggy, Uncle Dale (Aslo running) and Cousin Mike.

However, ‘disaster’ struck early. As soon as we arrived I remembered that I had forgotten my Perpetuem (Liquid fuel for long races). Dale said he had some, but probably not enough for both of us. When we checked in I asked around to see if anyone had any extra. I was thinking that since the race was a Hammer sponsored event, they might have some there, but no luck. I was going to have to improvise. I have used Ensure Plus at races in the past, but only at aid stations, not as my primary source of nutrition for an entire race. But that was the plan. So we went and bought 3 cases of Ensure Plus and was going to have to try that for the first day at least.

Well, I have to say that Steve Kirk and the rest of the Three Days of Syllamo crew know how to make the best out of a bad situation. Back in February there was a major ice storm that brought many millions trees to the ground in the area, and many more millions of branches/limbs and large parts of trees to the ground as well. As we drove through the area and looked up at the mountains it looked like a tornado had slammed it’s way through the entire forest. Most of the trails that Steve had planned to utilize were not passable by the time race day came around. Therefore, Steve did the best he could to alter the course and still provide as much of that great 100% single trac course that I love. But due to the severity of the damage it was impossible to avoid using some forest service roads to get the mileage in.

The good news is that when we were there Steve heard that a crew would be coming into town soon and will try to have all of the trails cleared for the Syllamo 100 miler in October.

The weather was almost perfect for running for the entire weekend. Not too sunny, temps ranging from 40-55 over the three days.

Day 1 – 50k (Turned into 42k)

As I approached the starting area I recognized quite a few very friendly faces that I have come to know over the past few years. People like Paul Schoenlaub, Stuart Johnson and his wife, Dave Wakefield, Po Dog Vogler, Paul Turner, Josh and Ashley Nordell, Chris Block, Billy Simpson, Steve Kirk and his wonderful family of course, Chef Cal and many many more. It was great to see them all again. They are a great group of supportive and friendly runners.

I felt great all weekend. As the 50k started I went out pretty fast, my bottle filled with 2 Ensure Plus (Strawberry)….. This would be an out and back course mainly on single trac with a bit of fire road mixed in near the turn around. I tried to stay with Ashley Nordell and was able to up until the turn around. I was running up inclines that I hadn’t even tried to run up in the past. I feel like the training that I did on the stairs through the winter and a new weight program helped with this.

By the time we hit the turn around I could feel the affects of that taking it’s toll. I wasn’t used to the Ensure so I hadn’t been drinking it or hydrating as well as I should have been either. On the trip back I started to walk the steep inclines and run everything else as hard as I could.

As I returned to the middle aid-station Steve Kirk’s wife and Veronica Battaglia (ran last year) scolded me for not drinking enough Heed. They told me that I should not have made it all the way back with my bottles nearly 90% full. They were right! They made me drink up and sent me on my way.

I did start to feel a bit nauseous towards the end, but the Ensure did well enough to get me to the end of day 1 in 4 hrs 17 min. (10^th place for the day).

I walked over to the creek afterwards and did the ceremonial soaking in the ice-cold creek even though my legs weren’t really sore at all. I knew I should do it just to be sure I wasn’t too sore for the next day’s challenge.

Day 2 – 50 miler

Uncle Dale was kind enough to give me enough Perpetuem for 2 bottles for the day. I estimated that I’d need three to make it, so I made sure to put some Ensure in my drop bag at the mile 40 aid station (Barkshed).

This day we would head the opposite way we had gone the day before for 5 miles on muddy rocky single-trac, cross a river that was ice cold and chest deep (This was fun!), run 100 yards to the first aid station, turn around and go back the way we came to the start, and head the way we had gone the day before up to the Barkshed aid station.

At this point we would head out the opposite way on fire service roads for 10 miles. The first portion of this part of the course was a BRUTAL continuous climb up a mountain for what seemed like 1-2 miles. I thought it would never end. For me this section was the most difficult. I don’t really enjoy running on forest service (gravel) roads as much, but I tried to make up some time where I could, running as fast as I could on the flat and downhill sections, and power walking up the inclines. When I made it to the turn around (Mile 30) I wasn’t feeling too well mentally.

I had been struggling with negative thoughts from at least mile 15 through to here (mile 30). I just wanted to stop. But this has been a pattern of mine for the past 2 races. After battling the quitter demons in my head for some 2-3 hours, I finally turned the corner when I saw Billy Simpson at the turn-around. He gave me a cup of hot noodles and broth, a coke, and I was a brand new man. This combo really worked for me at the Traveller as well.

As I made my way back down the forest service road, I began to feel better about things. I was past halfway and if I could just get back off of this road and into the woods, I would turn it back on and hammer my way to the finish. As I came up to the section of the road where before I had walked UP 1-2 miles, I was in a free fall back DOWN the opposite way. By about mile 35 I had run out of Perpetuem, so I was looking forward to being able to replenish at Barkshed and hit it hard.

As I came into Barkshed, I replenished all fuels, ate some cookies, slammed an Ensure and a Coke, more noodles, and was on my way. As I made my way out of Barkshed, I was walking and eating the last of the food I had scrounged up and a kid playing with a toy laser gun, maybe 7-8 years old, dropped what he was doing and was standing there staring at me. He said something and I didn’t expect it, so I had to ask him to repeat it. He said “Great job Mr.!” I kind of laughed and smiled, and said thanks kid! Right then a wave of emotions overcame me, and a few tears rolled down my face. I had just overcome a major battle in my mind (recurring battle lately), the encounter made me think of my kids at home and how I missed them, and it wasn’t more than a year ago that nobody would have said "good job" to me for anything other than for being able to drink the most whiskey in one night. That kid did more for me than he will ever know. That re-ignited my fire right then and there. As soon as I was able to gather my composure I told myself that I was going to run this last 10 miles as hard as I possibly could.

That’s what I did too. It was awesome. My legs felt very fresh and my spirit was sky high. I hammered my way to the finish in 9hrs 17 min. (11^th place). Not a PR for me, but a pretty good time on this mountainous course.

Once again, I made my way over to the ice-cold creek and did the ceremonial soak. Thanks to Chef Cal we all ate some good food at the finish area and listened to the live bluegrass band for a bit before heading back to the cabin to rest up for the final day. Word on the street was that we might be going back across the creek again tomorrow! I couldn’t be more excited.

Day 3 (20k)

Steve confirmed that we’d be heading back through the wet, rocky, muddy single-trac and across the river again. Then past the aid station from the day before, up a monster incline out to a paved road, back down a monster decline, across a rickety bridge then turn around and head back the way we came. I was slightly sore but nowhere near as sore as I was last year. I was going to run this as hard as I possibly could.

That’s what I did. I kept my meter in the red for almost the entire distance. I also was able to chat with Stuart Johnson, Paul Schoenlaub, and a new friend Damian Nathaniel. Damian and I ran together quite a bit over this weekend, and have quite a bit in common. It was great to be able to meet him.

I really enjoyed this final day and pushed real hard to the finish in 1 hr 45 min. (5^th place).

Overall

I placed 7th overall. My goal was to place in the top 10. I was minimally sore Monday, the day after the race, and back to "normal" by Tuesday. Not sure if the creek soakings helped with that, but I was amazed. Maybe I didn't try hard enough!

As I mentioned before, this is a great group of runners to be able to get to know. I’m so grateful to them all for sharing their passion for running, and being one of the most welcoming and friendly groups of runners out there. Thanks to Steve and his entire crew, including cousin Mike, who helped out on the first day. They all spent their entire weekend manning aid stations, cooking, working the finish line and assisting runners. I also want to thank Cortney for helping out when and where she could. It was very helpful, and she was able to get a vacation out of it at the same time. Also thanks to Mike. He drove the entire way home!!! And thanks to Peggy and Dale for everything you do.

Congrats to everyone who came out for Three Days of Syllamo 2009. Once again, an awesome event!

Three Days of Syllamo 2008

I was cleaning my computer up and came across some pictures that I had downloaded from Susan Donnelly's Picasa account after the race last year, and had forgotten about. Have a look over on the right. There's some good ones....

3 Days of Syllamo 2009

I’m getting excited for 3 Days of Syllamo. This is a three day trail running stage race covering 150k of pure single trac trails through the Ozark Mountains near Mountain View, AR. Day one is 50k, Day two is 50 miles, and Day three is 20k.

I ran this race last year. You can see my blog entry for that race here.

To quote Billy Simpson from his blog entry from last year “the 50miler was epic from all accounts. 16,000 feet of vertical, 100% singletrac. It took the leaders 5 hours to get to the turnaround. This thing was gnarly.” “It's that kind of run, camping, hanging out in a pristine place like Blanchard Springs for 3 days, eating great post race food provided by Cal Hill, listening to sweet bluegrass after the runs and just being part of a great ultra-running community. It's what the sport is all about.”

It took me about 6 hours to get to the turn around and I bonked at the end because I quit drinking my Perpetuem for some reason. But I finished in 12 hrs 28 min. 12th overall.

It’s very rocky and undulating like a roller coaster. It’s the kind of running that I truly love. Where I can just run free like I did when I was a little kid without a worry in the world. Just Mother Nature and I bonding for the majority of the time. And like Billy mentioned in his entry from last year – great people and great food are waiting at the aid stations and the finish too. What more could you ask for??

Steve Kirk does a great job putting this on and pulls in some real great volunteers to help out. They had some pretty nasty ice storms down there a few weeks ago, but the trails are expected to be cleared by race day.

Being a flatlander I better go get some hills in fast…… Happy trails.

Why do I live here??

It’s been a rough winter for runners in Chicagoland this year. As you see below – temperatures have been brutal and we’ve had plenty of snow. The last significant run that I was able to get in was the Fat Ass 50k on the Jan. 11^th.

I’ve been hitting the weights a little bit more than usual, playing basketball on a men’s league 1-2 nights/week (I either broke or bruised my tailbone doing so), running the stairs at work during lunch, and getting a run in here and there as I can. Usually it’s not more than 10 miles due to the cold and snow. I just can’t bring myself to run the roads as much as I used to, and the single track that I run is rough going. Lots of twisted ankles in tracks in the frozen ice and snow. Every once in a while I get on a snowmobile trail, which is so nice, but the majority is rough going single track.

All I have to say is I’m looking forward to getting down and running at Three Days of Syllamo in Arkansas. However, that’s more than a month away!! Can’t get here fast enough….

Illinois Fat Ass 50k - 2009

I finished in 4 hr 47 min. Good for 3rd place!

This was a tough race. Mainly because of the weather conditions. It was 13 degrees at the start, with wind pushing the "feels like" temp to about 0 degrees. The course was also covered with snow, so that made it hard to get a good pace going.

There was also that German Shephard that stopped my in my tracks at about mile 2. He was PISSED and was going to bite me until I reached into my bag of tricks and gave him some caffeinated sport beans as I slowly walked backwards. The owner finally saw what was happening and called the dog off after I negotiated with the dog for at least 15-20 minutes.

The food etc at the aid stations was all frozen, but so was my face, so I wasn't able to chew much at all. My water bottles had frozen up after about an hour, so if I wanted a drink, I had to stop and take the tops off of the bottles.

As you can see from some of the pictures, my daughters were able to run with me in certain sections, and then Liv ran in with me for the last 4 miles, and Anna the last 100 yards.

All in all it was a tough race, and a great training run. Bob Rehn and his crew are a class act. I would recommend this race for anyone who can get down there.

Happy New Year!

After taking some time off through the Holidays, it’s time to get back on track. For the last month or two I have taken it easy. I’ve run a few 15 milers, and my longest run was 20 miles. Other than those runs I have been trying to get back into my weight training and boxing routine, playing basketball, and trying to run the stairs at work during lunch. Our building is 20 floors. So I go up and back down 4 or 5 times. That’s 80-100 flights up and down. My mileage goal is going to be 80 miles/week for the forseeable future.


The picture above was me trying to get a run in on a day when the high temp was –3 F (it was –40 F with the wind chill) and there was a blizzard warning. I made it 8 miles and called it quits. It can be very hard to stay on a good routine through the winter. So needless to say I am envious of all of those who live in year round warm climates.

Another Christmas has come and gone. I ended up getting a Garmin Forerunner 405. I’ve been quite busy lately, but I’m looking forward to using it soon, maybe even tomorrow morning.

Next up for me is possibly the Illinois Fat Ass 50k in McNabb, IL. I ran it last year. It’s a 10 mi out and back course, so that’s basically 3 trips back and forth. I’m not much for these types of courses, but if I’m going to run the McNaughton Park 150 miler, it’s time to start liking loops. McNaughton Park 150 mi is 15 10 mile loops. That’s mentally tough for me.

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Happy New Year!

TrailRunner Magazine Article 12.2.08

TrailRunner Magazine recently published a story about my experience of going from a non-runner, to a 100 mile ultrarunner in one year. See below for the story. I am very thankful to them for their interest in my story. There were a few slight errors in the story. Hey – Nobody’s perfect! Anyhow, because I’m such a stickler for details – Here’s the corrections.

- “How Nolan Ming finished the Arkansas Traveller 100 miler with 12 months’ training”

- I finished the Kettle Moraine 100 miler with 12 months training.

- “Ming began training in February 2007 (what he considers the beginning of his “real” running career), and ran his first race, the Sunburst Hall of Fame to Notre Dame 10K in South Bend, Indiana, in June, followed by a half marathon, marathon and then a 50K.”

- I actually started running in February 2007. My first race was the Hall of Fame to Notre Dame Half Marathon. Here’s my full race resume –

’07 Races completed -

- Hall of Fame to Notre Dame Half Marathon (My first race ever) - 2hr 8min

- University of Okoboji Marathon - 4hr 20min

- Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon - 1hr 45min

- North Face Endurance Challenge 50k in Des Moines, IA - 5hr 30min

- Arkansas Traveller 100 mile - Paced for 20 miles

- Chicago Lakefront 50 mile - 8hr 57min

’08 Races completed -

- Three Days of Syllamo 100 mile Ultra Stage Race – 22 hrs 16 min – 15^th place. (Got lost for 2 hours on the 50k course the first day.)

- Kettle Moraine 100 mile – 23 hr 23 min – 11^th place, 5^th place in age group.

- Pacer for 50 miles of Superior Saw Tooth 100 mile – Runner placed 7^th with time of 29 hrs 45 min.

- Arkansas Traveller 100 mile – 22 hr 54 min – 15^th place, 1^st place in age group.

- North Face Endurance Challenge – Madison, WI – 8 hr 55 min – 30^th place out of 180 runners.

- “As Ming’s coach and mentor, Humphrey carefully designed training programs that included running four times a week (reaching a weekly peak of 85 miles), swimming, boxing and weight training twice a week, and three rest days.”

- I was running 4 times a week and boxing and weight training on the other days. I pool ran after my first race because of a foot injury. I would take maybe 1 day off per week, if any at all.

- “One year to the day after Ming’s first race, he ran the LaGrange, Wisconsin, Kettle Moraine 100-miler, with Humphrey as his pacer dishing out practical, tough-love advice. “Ignore your inner wuss and deal with the situation,” he’d say when Ming’s energy waned. “The facts are that you are not hurt or sick, so you can run.””

- This advice was provided by Uncle Dale after the Arkansas Traveller 100 mile, not during the KM 100. During the KM 100 he was providing as much entertainment as he was encouragement. See my KM 100 blog entry HERE for details….

The full story is below -

	Inside Dirt December 2008 brought to you by GORE-TEX®

Zero to 100 in One Year
How Nolan Ming finished the Arkansas Traveller 100 miler with 12 months’ training
By Allison Pattillo

Transforming oneself from a non-runner to a 100-mile finisher is an impressive feat no matter how long it takes. But for Nolan Ming, 33, of Yorkville, Illinois, who did it in one year, it was an accomplishment beyond his wildest dreams. Meticulous preparation, a stringent training schedule, smart fuelling and powerful inspiration helped him succeed. “Achieving this running goal has given me confidence in myself that I had not known before,” he says.

Before embarking on his 100-mile goal, Ming occasionally pounded out a slow two miles. But when he announced to family and friends his desire to get in shape, his uncle, Dale Humphrey, suggested that Ming pace him for 20 miles at the Arkansas Traveller 100 in Perryville, Arkansas, in October 2007. Ming jumped at the offer.

Ming began training in February 2007 (what he considers the beginning of his “real” running career), and ran his first race, the Sunburst Hall of Fame to Notre Dame 10K in South Bend, Indiana, in June, followed by a half marathon, marathon and then a 50K. When the time came for the Arkansas Traveller, Ming was fit enough to run 20 miles alongside his uncle through the Ouachita National Forest. At aid stations he witnessed a dizzying array of emotions among the others runners, which motivated him to train for a 100-miler himself.

As Ming’s coach and mentor, Humphrey carefully designed training programs that included running four times a week (reaching a weekly peak of 85 miles), swimming, boxing and weight training twice a week, and three rest days. “I always focused on the next goal so there was little room to get sidetracked from training by life’s daily challenges,” he says.

One year to the day after Ming’s first race, he ran the LaGrange, Wisconsin, Kettle Moraine 100-miler, with Humphrey as his pacer dishing out practical, tough-love advice. “Ignore your inner wuss and deal with the situation,” he’d say when Ming’s energy waned. “The facts are that you are not hurt or sick, so you can run.” The verbal cues and support of family members kept Ming on pace, motivating him to an 11th-place finish in 23 hours 23 minutes.

Ming was one of only 37 people to finish the Kettle Moraine that day (from the starting field of 123) because of scorching heat, pounding rain, high winds and hair-raising lightning. During one especially rough patch, Ming thought about how his voluntary suffering was nothing compared to the involuntary hardships other people in the world deal with. “If I couldn’t handle [this race], then I was copping out,” he says.

Next on his tick-list was the race that started it all—the Arkansas Traveler 100. With a goal of finishing in less than 23 hours, Ming reminded himself throughout the run of a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, “Run when you can. Walk when you have to. Crawl if you must. Just don’t give up.”

Thanks to a smart race strategy and his pacer, Chris, constantly reminding him to drink enough fluids, Ming crossed the finish line in 22 hours 54 minutes, and won his age group.

Through it all, Ming had the good fortune of remaining injury free. And he never lost motivation to stick to his meticulous training program, which had him starting workouts at 4 a.m. to fit around a full-time job running a construction company and spending time with his wife and three daughters. “I’ll keep running because it gives me a sense of accomplishment to keep raising the bar on distance, time and difficulty,” says Ming.

Find out more about Ming’s incredible evolution into a 100-mile runner at his blog, www.nolansultrarunningblog.blogspot.com.