Ohio Cycling Disorder (OCD)

The Laurel Highlands Ultra is one of the oldest ultra trail races in the nation and this year was the 41st edition. The race directors, as so many have had to do, went above and beyond the call of duty to see through all of the COVID-19 mandates and policies to allow this event to go off without a hitch. This my first time running the course and had only run the first 8-miles just a few weeks prior to getting a taste of the local trail cuisine that LHT had to offer. I have ridden many times in PA and it is well known for it's East Coast Angry Rocks. The Laurel Highlands Trail does not disappoint! Rocks, rocks, and more rocks but this time I would be hitting them as a trail runner. My goal for participating in this event was fairly simple. First, I wanted to continue to push my distance limits to be able to handle the stress of the bigger ultras. Second, I wanted to test the waters with the elevation gain.  This race is 70-miles, point to point, with a total ascent of roughly 11,500...

When I first started into the world of trail running I swore up and down that I would never be able to physically handle a 100-mile run, let alone a 50 miler or anything longer than a 1/2 marathon. In 2002, 6-months after my daughter was born I was struck by a car while out on a bike ride. Hospital visits, 120 staples in my leg for several skin grafts followed by 6-months of physical therapy to be able to walk again pretty much told me that running would never be in my future, let alone having the courage to get back onto the bike. About 4-years ago I started to get serious about trail running, beyond just using it as cross-training for my ultra-distance mountain bike racing and I started to fall in love all over again. Fast forward to 2020 and now 1/2 marathons are light training days, marathons are a dime a dozen, and 50ks are a nice run through the woods on the weekends. In the month of June/July, I had 6 weekends in a row of 50ks and a couple of 27+ mile runs. Funny how one's p...

You have to earn these the hard way. With my left ankle giving me some grief due to some Medial Ankle Post Tib pain and the possibility of attempting a full vEveresting in late July, if my beloved Burning River 100 is postponed or canceled, I wanted to take a shot at a Base Camp vEveresting (virtual Everesting). This is essentially hitting half the elevation of a full Everesting (29,029 ft) by climbing 14,514 ft of elevation. Easy, right? Oh heck no. Yes, this is legit bro. Ouch. I had been practicing the climb at 100% trainer difficulty leading up to this event (actually starts at 12 am but I took the day off cuz I want to ride outside on Saturday). I got used to the fact that my gearing is pretty hard on this climb and very hard on the AdZ climb so I stuck to this one. It ha a couple of nice breaks to spin during the climb and while you have a little bit of climbing to do on the way back down, I think for my first attempt it was the right choice. Here is the #epicfail moment...

It should come as no surprise that I like challenges and I see them as sort of bet. As in, I bet you can't ... <fill in the blank>. And I'm like ... "Hold my beer and watch this" (except the beer part because I really don't drink beer). When I decide to take on these adventures I don't like to broadcast it all that much. Why? Failure. For me, failure is really not an option and the simple thought of failing is fuel for me to push forward but failure does happen. It happens to all of use. Perhaps I deal with failure in a less than desirable manner than some (or most), so when it does happen I prefer myself to be the only one to have to deal with the aftermath. I struggle with, while kind in intention, the statements from those that knew of the adventure that I had planned. I take everything very personally, so the fewer people that know of my failures the better it is for me. I had seen a post on FaceBook as I mindlessly browsed one evening (been...

Given that all races, pretty much across the globe, are canceled through April and even as late as August due to the novel coronavirus athletes everywhere are struggling. What do I do now? Much of what I have read and listened to via podcasts are suggestions to do 60 to 80 percent of the volume you had been doing to maintain a strong and healthy immune system yet minimize the loss of strength and endurance that has taken months to build up over the off-season months. I agree with the logic, however for me, I love the process of training, sometimes more than racing itself since racing tends to come with added stress on the start line regardless of the discipline. I absolutely need to get outside for most of my riding and running otherwise, I would go nut, crazy, and totally mentally lose it. Being outside is my sanctuary. It is how I decompress, forget about everything going on in this totes cray-cray of a world, especially now, disconnect from everything, and just enjoy the me-time....

    The race season of 2020 has just now been severely impacted and not for the positive. In the grand scheme of things, racing is just something that most of us do for fun, to push ourselves against the best competitors willing to toe the line, and how we get that natural-high that many of us thrive on. Racing is not the be all end all to life, for sure. However for many racing is hugely social, bringing like-minded folks together to share stories, catch up with friends (practically family), and frankly to just be together. These gatherings can be small local events with  50-100 people and they can be downright huge at thousands of people, not to mention all of the volunteers and friends & family supporting their athlete. Therein lies the problem because at this very moment the COVID-19 virus has become a Pandemic, continues to spread, and spread fast. Unnervingly fast. What is the countries best defense against such an outbreak? Stop the spread! What is one o...