I've been following the story of Jesse Zweig, a 19-year old former high-school track athlete who last spring ran 100 miles in less than 24 hours to raise money for an Orange-county hospital.  This weekend Zweig attempted to double his previous efforts, raising $20,000 for the hospital by running 200 miles. Although he came up short, stopping at 124 miles, he appears to be close to raising $20,000.

Zweig's story is probably the most compelling example of a person being inspired by Dean Karnazes to run an ultra distance. I've always been bothered by Karnaze's self-promotion but I have to congratulate Zweig and Karnazes both, one for the accomplishment and the other for providing inspiration.

Neuroma update: Today I finally got several cortisone shots in my left foot. The first shot didn't hurt. The next three went into the nerve between my 2nd and 3rd toes. That's quite a feeling! Like an electric shock combined with holding a lit bic to my toes. All this to avoid that same feeling while I'm running. I ran a hill workout today a couple hours after the shot. It will take an extended run to really know if the pain is gone for the time being. Last week I was able to get some good training in, despite the neuroma and the fact that my longest run was 10 miles. I've been having to stop every 1/2 hour or so and massage my foot in order to continue. Here's hoping these days are over and I've turned the corner on my comeback!

By Joey Anderson
This year will always be known as "The Not So Frosty 50K." It wasn't just not frosty, it was actually quite warm and felt more like Spring than early January. With the high predicted to be in the low 70's I was a little worried like everyone else about how the warmer temperature would affect me but it turned out not to be bad at all. As the day warmed up there was a nice breeze and the humidity of the morning dropped making it actually quite pleasant. It was especially nice to sit under the picnic shelter post race in shorts and t-shirt socializing.

Dean Karnazes continues to get more publicity than any endurance athlete, with the possible exception of Lance Armstrong. This month Karnazes is featured as the Perfect Human in Wired magazine. He is also on the cover of Outside magazine, which declares that Karnazes is America's Greatest Runner. The accolades seem to continually get more spectacular. I never thought that Karnazes would have such staying power. I always figured that folks would find ultrarunning boring and move on to the next instant celebrity. It hasn't happened, and it won't. Karnaze's fan's don't care about the reality of ultrarunning, they are attracted to a charismatic individual who holds himself out as a physical specimen, a freak of nature.

Karnazes is a relentless self-promoter, and a good one. This is what bothers me, although it shouldn't. When Karnazes went down to Texas last month for the Ultracentric 24-hour race, he toed the line with John Geezler, who ran 300 miles at Across the Years in 2004. Karnaze's only mention of Ultracentric in his blog was about two guys who came to see him run and how cool it was that they were inspired by him (Karnazes). It would have been nice if Karnazes made mention of Geezler for one. Karnazes own incredible performance at Ultracentric was exceeded by three other athletes, including 58 year old Roy Pirung (how's that for an inspiring story?). A nod to those folks by Karnazes would have been very classy, and I don't think it would have detracted from his attractivinesss.

I admire Karnazes for his talent and his ability to inspire others. I don't appreciate his unprecedented publicity machine, nor his reluctance to acknowledge other athletes.

I finally went to a podiatrist to get treatment for my Morton's Neuroma. The Doc spent some time looking at my foot, asking questions, and finally probing to see where the pain is. He took two x-rays, which showed that my foot is orthopaedically healthy, but as expected didn't show the neuroma, which is a soft-tissue injury. I was hoping to get a couple of cortisone shots, but Doc wants to have an MRI to show exactly where the neuroma is and to get a better idea of where the injections should be focused. I appreciate the caution, which is why I didn't object. But I also know that my health insurance premiums have been rising each year (I have first-rate coverage from my employer) and this is a good example why. Not too long ago the Doc would have injected my foot and then analyzed the result. Now he is using the CT scan to get a better analysis before treatment. Excellent, but expensive care.

So I need to wait, probably a couple of weeks, until I can get the MRI and see the Doc again. I should have started treatment sooner. I'm getting treatment now because I'm undergoing enforced rest to build up my immune system after a string of illnesses. I did take advantage of the visit to get acid applied to a couple of plantar warts. Now my feet are tender. Days like today leave me skeptical that I'll be back in time for the new season which starts in three weeks. My visions of flying over the crests in the Uwharrie forest are fading...

Scott Brockmeier Photo

Master Ultrarunner Roy Pirung has written a good article on hill training. (This is the same 58 year old runner who placed 2nd in the recent 24 hour championship race.) My eyes were opened up to hill training a couple of years ago while on one of David Horton's training runs. Horton pointed out a fire road that went about a two miles steeply up hill (part of the Hellgate course) and mentioned that He would run repeats on that hill with Bethany Patterson back when Dr. Horton was training her and she was winning every race she entered. It wasn't a hill, it was a mountain. I have managed to find some hills (not mountains) here in the Raleigh area and I regularly run repeats on them. One hill is more than a mile long, which is good. This training paid off for me with a 5th place finish at Laurel Valley and then a 24th finish at Cascade Crest, both this past August.

Pirung makes all the right arguments for hill training. He points out it is different than speedwork. I think hill training is more important than speedwork for most ultrarunners. I like to combine the two into one workout. I know where my aerobic threshold is and I like to run uphill with my heart rate just above my aerobic threshold. This is the closest I get to speedwork, but it works well for ultra training.

This past weekend's ALTAR was a great mountain training session. (Unfortunately I'm not as strong as I was last August.) There is another oppurtunity for mountain training on Dec 30th, compliments of Hellgate winner Eric Grossman. And I believe the Western NC/SC crew may be planning some more mountain training runs.

The title quote is attributed to a Roman Poet ,Virgil and was the slogan on the race t-shirt this year and was very appropriate for the 12:01 am start Saturday morning. Ever since David Horton was possessed to direct the Hellgate 100K it seems the race has been cursed with harsh weather conditions and this year would be no exception. Fortunately there would be no snow and ice or rain, just bone-chilling cold and wind. The race has taken on an almost mythical reputation in the few years of it's existence and this year the event filled weeks in advance as runners, myself included could not resist the chance to see if we were up to the unique challenge that is Hellgate.

Another runner has died after being hit by a car. The details are in this newspaper article. The deceased was a dedicated runner who was following the safety rules including the wearing of reflective clothing. It's impossible to be too careful when running on roads. If you don't already have some night safety gear look here.

Thanks to Greg Loomis for posting this article to the vhtrc mailing list.

You don't have to wait until New Year's Eve to go "over the top." Join us for a burly training run on December 30th up and over White Top Mountain in SW Virginia. This run is all trail. The climb up White Top is about 2500'!

Over the Top 20 mile training run
Saturday, December 30th
11 am

Start at the overlook on VA 600 near Chilhowie
End at Elk Garden where the AT crosses VA 600.

Shuttle back to the start.

Directions to start: Take exit 35 off of I-81. Proceed north on 762. Road becomes VA 600. Follow North about 8 miles until you climb sharply up the Mountain. You will see a lookout on your right with a sizable parking lot.

Join us for post-run food at: El Campestre 1341 East Lee Highway, Chilhowie, VA 24319 (276) 646-5811.

E-mail me if you're interested at egrossman@ehc.edu

Photo: Pennsylvania Game Commission


Be thankful for health, freedom, friends, and trails: Go for a run!