Dress Rehearsal

Only one week to go until the Foothills Trail!  Today Heidi and I did a full "dress rehearsal."  While we have been hiking once or twice a week with a weighted pack, today we fully packed our bags with everything that we'll have on our trip.  With all our food, clothes, sleeping bags, etc. and 2 liters of water each, our packs weighed in at 36 lbs. (mine) and 33 lbs. (Heidi's).  This is just about the same amount of weight we've been training with.  The good news, of course, is that every day we'll be eating a couple pounds off of our packs every day!

My pack looks so much heavier than Heidi's, right??

With our bags packed, we headed to the Cincinnati Nature Center for a 12 mile hike.  We've hiked and ran a lot at CNC this year.  Located in Milford, about 20 minutes from our house, the Nature Center boasts about 15 miles of well-maintained trails and scenic woods.  Memberships are super affordable as well... definitely worth checking out!

A scenic waterfall along the trail.

It was a gorgeous day, with blue skies and sun pretty much all day.  It was definitely chilly, but we were on the move all day which kept us warm.  Around one o'clock we enjoyed a delicious lunch of peanut butter and bagels, before hiking a few more hours to get back to the car.  We both felt tired by the end of the hike, but overall pretty good.  Instead of arriving at a camp site, setting up the tent and cooking some freeze dried meals, we were rewarded at the end of today's hike with burritos from Chipotle and a hot shower at home.  In spite of having to leave behind such creature comforts, we are both looking forward to the solitude and mental clarity that can only come from long hike!

 Well, for now it's back to work for one more week, and time to make some last minute preparations.  We'll definitely make a final blog post before we leave, and we will try our best to make updates on the trail, although lack of cell phone reception may mean you'll get a really long update when we get back!

As most of you know, we are dedicating our 76 mile hike to survivors and family members of those suffering from Leukemia & Lymphoma, and are raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  We've asked you, our friends, family and co-workers, to make a "pledge per mile" to help support this great cause and keep us motivated on the trail.  We are happy to report that we currently have over $350 in pledges!  Please click on our Make a Pledge page to see how you can support us, and consider making a pledge of 25 cents a mile (aka $19 if we finish the whole trail)!

Thanks for following along, and thanks for your support!
Matt

Two Weeks Out!

As I sit here in my kitchen on Sunday evening, I am picturing where I will be exactly two weeks from now.  If all goes as planned, Heidi and I will be sitting in front of a cozy camp fire on the Chattooga River after our first day of hiking on the Foothills Trail.  After finishing a delicious, freeze-dried backpacking meal, we'll be kicking back, relaxing.  Suddenly, we'll catch wind of a faint sound coming out of the holler' in the distance.  "Is that a banjo?" Heidi asks.  Wait... I think I hear it too! 

Ba-da-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding...

OK, did I mention that on our first day we'll be hiking along the river where the movie "Deliverance" was filmed?  Creepy!!!  Click here for a video of that famous banjo duel.

On a more serious note, our Foothills Trail adventure is only two weeks away!  Our training has been proceeding pretty well.  Heidi ran 10 miles yesterday morning with Team in Training.  Partly because of how cold it was Saturday morning, and partly because of how much fun she had on Friday night at Cincy Beerfest, I had a bad feeling I would need to drag her out of bed.  However, when her alarm went off she got right up and hit the road in time for her 7:00am run... what a trooper!  (I of course stayed in bed:))

Heidi with the Team in Training coaching staff.  You guys rock!

On my end, I met up with my dad today for a hike on the Adena Trace trail in Brookville, IN.  This would be my first serious exercise since Louisville's Lovin' the Hills 50k last weekend, so I was a bit nervous about how my knee, which had bothered me during the race, would hold up.  Fortunately, it would do just fine!

Dad by an inlet of the lake.

The Adena Trace is a 24 mile trail which circles Brookville Lake, a large reservoir in Southeast Indiana.  We set out to do the Western half of the trail, which was anywhere from 10.5-16.5 miles long, depending upon which source you looked at (we guessed it would be about 11).  It was a gorgeous day; cold but with clear blue skies and not much wind.  The trail was very scenic, skirting the lake which provided great views along the way.  As promised in the trail description, this was a very rugged trail.  There weren't a ton of huge hills, but there were lots of ups and downs, and the trail was very narrow and obviously not very heavily traveled.  We had to keep a close eye out for blazes, as a lot of times the trail itself was barely visible.  A handful of wrong turns made for some good adventure!

The view from the dam at the end of the trail.

Our hike would end at the dam on the southern end of the lake where we had left my Jeep.  According to the Map my Run app on my phone, we hiked 12.75 miles, while my dad's GPS said we had done 11.75.  Either way, it was a good workout and a great way to spend a Sunday with my dad!  You can check out a map of the route here.

Well, that's all for now.  As always, thanks for following along on our journey, and thanks for supporting our fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Matt

You Run Some, You Walk Some...

Yesterday marked the first big race/challenge/totally crazy thing to do of the year: Louisville's Lovin' the Hills 50k!  My running partner of the past few months, Nancy Muir, mentioned the idea in November shortly after the Stonesteps 50k, and I was in.  We then drafted Jason Krasnow as runner #3, and Heidi as support crew.  This team would help make completing this insane course possible!

Me, Jason and Nancy, with Heidi on Camera Duty!

The journey began Friday evening, with a two hour drive to Louisville, where we would meet up with my buddy Joel Stone and his girlfriend Lisa Maly.  Joel recently relocated to Louisville for his job with 5/3 Bank, and was kind enough to host Heidi and I the night before the race, even treating us to eggs, turkey bacon and toast in the morning!

We arrived at Jefferson Memorial Forest around 7:30 on Saturday morning and met up with Jason and Nancy.  It was a brisk morning, around 32 degrees, but it was clear and according to the forecast we would have a sunny day in the 40s ahead of us.  The good weather was an encouraging sign, as the elevation profile for this race called for 7,000 feet of climbing (2,000 more than the Stonesteps 50k!).  There were about 300 runners who turned out for the 50k (31 miles), 15 mile and 6 mile races.  With a "Ready, Set, Go!" from the race director, we would set off on what would become my longest day of running ever!!!

As I started out with Nancy and Jason, all of our spirits were high. I have trained/raced enough with these two to know that I can't hang with them for 31 miles (they have way more discipline/work ethic than I do when it comes to training, and I give them a ton of credit!).  So shortly after the start, I dropped back and wished them a good race, knowing that if I stuck with them for very long I would pay for it later.  I settled into a nice, easy pace, and based on how I would feel at the end of the race, this was a good decision!

Nancy & Jason completing the first leg... still smiling!

The race consisted of three legs... the first two being about 6 miles each, and the third being a whopping 19 miles.  While the race started out on a gentle ridge for the first mile or so, it didn't take long to see where the race's name came from as there were about 3 brutal ascents & descents within the first 6 miles.  When I finished the first leg, Heidi was there waiting for me with a fresh water bottle and Lara bar.  Her mental & physical support would be critical throughout the day.

The start of the second leg took us right past the finish line.  It was kind of depressing to think about how much more running I would have to do before I would be back there, but at least I was feeling good.  This 6 mile section of the race was pretty uneventful... definitely some big ups and downs, but I was still feeling good and had settled into what felt like a pretty comfortable pace.  I had told myself that as long as I took it easy, I could finish the race without a problem.  The taking it easy part was a good strategy, but there was no way this course would be finished without any problems!

Limping in to Scott's Gap!

The third leg consisted of an 8 mile run up, down and over a series of ridges to a 3 mile loop at a place called Scott's gap.  About half way out to Scott's gap, my body started to rebel.  My right knee, which had been tender the past couple of weeks and bothered me off and on last year, began to hurt, and my muscles started sending me those "we've been running long enough now" signals.  I knew that Heidi would be waiting for me at Scott's gap with some ibuprofen, so I soldiered on.

When I got to Scott's gap, I was really hungry, so I wolfed down a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, half a banana and a handful of goldfish (along with that ibuprofen).  Heidi told me that Nancy and Jason were still out on the three mile loop.  I was surprised that they were less than 3 miles ahead of me this far into the race, but I would quickly find out why!  Feeling a little refreshed, I set out on the 3 mile loop.

This loop began with an insanely steep hill, and would be followed by two and a half miles of barely-runnable ups and downs through a series of gullies & creek beds.  At one point the trail passed across a steep hillside where I could see an old fence line, and could tell by the lack of vegetation that goats had once grazed here.  All I have to say is that terrain that makes mountain goats happy does not make a runner happy!  This would be the most difficult section of the race for me.  After the race Jason and I went on and on about how tough this loop was, and all Nancy could say was "according to the elevation profile it really wasn't that bad."  I guess Nancy is part goat... and believe me I mean that as a compliment!

After the loop, Heidi again greeted me, encouraging me and letting me know that I only had 8 miles left.  While on the one hand this was encouraging, on the other hand, it was kind of daunting as well.  My knee was really giving me problems, and by this point I was reduced to about a 50/50 mix of walking and running.  I had a bad feeling that this last miles would take me about 2 hours to complete, and this turned out to be a pretty good estimate.

Nancy & Jason encouraging me at the finish!

After a long, slow journey, I finally reached a small pond in the woods that I knew was right below the finish line.  I picked up my pace, ready to be done, and about half way up the last hill I could hear the music at the finish line.  Shortly after that, I could make out Heidi's bright blue jacket, and then heard her signature "Whoooo-hoooo!"  Heidi, Jason and Nancy cheered me up the last hill and through the finish.  Without a doubt, this was the toughest race I had ever done, somehow even making the Stonesteps 50k seem easy.  Congrats to Jason on a strong finish, and to Nancy for finishing 3rd in the women's division!

After the race, I stumbled into the visitor center at the finish line where I enjoyed some homemade chili and a killer massage.  Heidi, Nancy, Jason and I would spend a fun night in Louisville and enjoy "all you can eat" pancakes on Sunday morning.

While it was an incredibly difficult run, and I am physically paying the price for it right now, it was a beautiful course, a beautiful day, an amazing challenge, and an awesome crew... definitely worth it!  Someone asked me around mile 12 if I would do this race again next year, to which I replied "yeah, probably!"  If anyone had asked me this question after Scott's Gap, the answer would have been "hell no!"  Now, sitting on the couch, I'm a maybe.  Nancy said she wants this to be an annual race, though, which means Jason and I will probably tag along no matter how we feel about it!

I'll be resting up this week, and then get back into training for our Foothills Trail adventure in March.  Heidi already ran 10 miles this morning, so I know I have to keep up!  Thanks for following along as Heidi and I embark on this journey, and thank you for supporting our efforts to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Matt

Back in Motion... with Heidi!

Well, I'm back in motion.  To be honest, though, I never stopped!  If you read Matt in Motion, you'll know that I had three big goals in 2012: run the Flying Pig Marathon, hike the 235 mile Superior Hiking Trail, and run the Stonesteps 50k.  After checking off these boxes, I thought maybe I would sit on my couch for all of 2013, but these endeavors left me wanting more!

At the same time, you may know that Heidi undertook some adventures of her own.  She also ran the Flying Pig, and in the fall ran the Columbus Half Marathon.  Heidi, though, being more considerate than me in pretty much all aspects of life, wasn't content to do these runs for intrinsic reasons alone.  She ran both of these races with Team in Training, raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Watching Heidi symultaneously train for these runs and raise around $2,000 for research and other programs to support cancer survivors was truly inspiring for me!

We've both kept up with the running.  Heidi is currently training for the 2013 Flying Pig, and I have been training for another 50k, Louisville's Lovin' the Hills, which is this Saturday!  (and yes, as you can tell by the name, this will be a hilly course!)  I will post a race report about that this Sunday... assuming I survive.

But beyond the running, Heidi and I are very excited to take on a challenge together.  This March, we will thru-hiking the Foothills Trail in South Carolina.  The Foothills Trail stretches 76 scenic miles through the Appalachian Mountains.  We will plan to hike the trail in 5 days, spending 4 nights on the trail, carrying everything we need (food, water, tent, etc.) on our backs (ok, ok, you guessed it, Heidi will be carrying most of the weight).  Inspired by Heidi's efforts last year, we will be doing this hike not only as a "fun" bonding experience, but as a fundraiser for the Luekemia and Lymphoma Sociey.
 
If you read my the blog from my Superior Hiking Trail trip, you'll know that sometimes it can be really hard to keep going on a long hike, and you need some outside motivation.  This is where you come in!  Heidi and I invite you to not only read this blog and send us your good wishes, but to make a "pledge per mile" to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  You can pledge whatever you like... whether thats 10 cents a mile or 10 dollars (keep in mind, our goal is to hike 76 miles!).  You'll be supporting a great cause, and knowing that each mile we hike will be helping cancer victims and their families will help keep us in motion!  To get an idea of some of inspiring folks who benefit from the work of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, click on the "Our Hero" page on this blog.

If you would like to support Heidi and I on this adventure with a pledge, please send either one of us an email (matt.flege@gmail.com or hudsonflege@gmail.com) with your pledge amount.  We will list your name on the "Our Supporters" page of this blog (your pledge amount will be kept confidential!), and be sure to keep you updated on our training and our trip through this blog.  Once we are done with the trip, you can make your donation online through Heidi's Team in Training Fundraising page, or we can send you info on how to make a donation by check.

Thanks so much for reading, and thanks for your support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!
Matt