Run Across Haiti Day 4

Posted on February 20, 2018 by seanb724

We all knew today would be tough. Thirty four miles, mostly exposed once the sun came up, and extremely hot. By the end, I was calling it “trail runners hell” — 34 miles of pavement in the sun, with one small hill, having to dodge and avoid cars/motos most of the way, especially in the busy towns.

I ran the first 10k with Josh, and we talked music and HRCA and many other things.

I spotted a couple of abandoned wrecked cars, hoping this wasn’t a sign of future carnage on today’s run for the team.

At the 10k, I picked up with Jalyen and Jacque for a few shared miles. I saw this cemetery which reminded me of the one Kelly and I saw in Barcelona.

And also this mural on a random wall.

At the 15k, I picked up with Dan and Ozzie and we shared at least fifteen miles running in a strong pace line. This section was the infamous rice paddies, which truly seems to go on forever. And this is when it started to get really hot – still with 30k to go!

Long and flat and straight and hot:

The three of us eventually separated, with Dan in front, then me, then Ozzie.

Here I am at the top of the lone hill around mile 29:

The town was pretty busy and I found myself walking some – but I might have used the busyness as an excuse! I was so ready to be done! After about 3 miles in town, I got to the finish where Dan, Matt, and Jase had come through ~10-12 minutes before me.

I sat in the gutter and immediately these guys came out to say hello:

Jase and I opted for omelettes and fries, which took a long time to come out, but they hit the spot!

We are in a pretty nice hotel, and like most of the hotels we’ve stayed in so far, we seem to be the only guests! We are able to climb the 4 floors to the roof for this view:

Tomorrow is another 20 miles, when we reach Wahoo Bay, which I’ve heard is really nice. We’ll then have a rest day from running, but we will go in to Menalus to meet the some of the families that Work is supporting.

Photos from Duy Nugyen:

Run Across Haiti Day 3

Posted on February 19, 2018 by seanb724

Today was another 5 a.m. start with a 20 mile rolling net downhill in front of us. I tried to take it out easy and for the most part succeeded. At least I felt easy, but many of the miles were 8:15-8:30. We were soon greeted by the sun and some beautiful vistas.

I saw this mountain top prayer spot. A woman was climbing it and singing. I’m not sure how much of her voice will come through on the video.

We reached a smaller town and this was the first time I’ve seen more children in school uniforms. But then again it is a Monday. However, in much of the rural communities I’m sure not many children are able to go to school.

I had picked it up a bit around mile 10 and came up on Ozzie, Jaylen, and Jacque, around mile 15, and jumped in line for the madness that was to come. We had about 4-5 miles of intense traffic and the moto, bike, car, and people dodging that comes with. Ozzie was dropping some sub 7:30s in, but I wanted to stick with the group as that’s the safest.

We had crew direct us for a few turns which was much needed – there was no way we would have made it otherwise. The four of us eventually came up on Jase, Matt, and Dan, as they hadn’t found the finish. I called Viv as the others took off down the road, and she confirmed that we were heading in the right direction and it wasn’t much further, so I took off after them and a few minutes later we were done.

I’m hoping that today’s effort at the end doesn’t hurt too much tomorrow, which is a ~34 mile day! It will be very hot.

The hotel rooms weren’t quite ready, and this is what all the bags look like piled up.

Now it’s time to relax and recover. Tomorrow is a long long day.

Photos from Duy Nugyen:

Run Across Haiti day 2

Posted on February 18, 2018 by seanb724

Alarms started going off around me at 3:30 a.m., but some people were already stirring a few minutes before that. I had hoped to make it closer to 4, but with all the commotion that wasn’t happening, so I just got up, got dressed, and packed.

We gathered for some final logistics and hit the road.

(I have a good video to insert here once we finally get better coverage, of some Haitians running with us and singing!)

Today was simple — 7-8 miles up, and 5-6 down. We started at 5 so it was dark for a while, but when the sun came up we had some amazing views.

Today was much less crazy with traffic than yesterday!

I settled into a run walk combo on the climb, thinking about the many miles in front of us. And when I hit the down, I was conscious not to go too hard so I wouldn’t crush my quads for the rest of the week.

Here I am with Brittany — a fellow SWAP member (Some Word All Play – runner’s coached by either David or Megan Roche). We both wore our SWAP gear today.

The hotel we are at today is very nice, which is great because I was done just after 7. There are a couple of pools and separate buildings — more like an apartment complex or a resort. It is a little weird as this town is very small town that’s in the middle of no where. All I can figure is they do some kind of retreats here??

A few of us walked into town and then on to a museum, where we met most of the rest of the group.

The walk actually took us through a very nice (by Haitian standards) neighborhood.

The museum was for Toussaint, who led the revolution of Haitian slaves against the French.

I opted to hop in the back of the pickup for the ride back to the hotel rather than walk it again.

Now we are back at the hotel, will have dinner soon, and get to bed early again as we run roughly 20 miles tomorrow.

More photos from Duy Nugyen:

Run Across Haiti day 1

Posted on February 18, 2018 by seanb724

Strava stats: 32.5 miles, 2400′ climb

Day one is in the books. 34 miles, maybe 3000 feet of climb mostly at the end. I’m guessing the GPS tracked a bit short so this is probably accurate.

One word for today: INTENSE!

Wow, that was crazy. The first mile was calm, but as soon as we turned off the coast into Cap Haitian… cars and people and motorcycles.

And the motorcycles were INSANE! Sometimes 4 people plus all their wares for the market for the day. The motorcycles never let up. They would swerve at you quite often if you were on the road. And sometimes you had to be – there were no shoulders!

Here’s a video I took when I made it through the madness:

And another that Joe took:

Also, I had assumed that with a 34 mile run, we’d leave the city and hit some rural sections. And while there were less people later on, there were actually homes the entire way. (Homes is being a bit generous to many of them.)

We passed through a couple of smaller towns and market areas that were INTENSE.

Here are my favorite shots from the day. I didn’t take many of the people – didn’t want to intrude. But you can see both the natural beauty and the poverty and chaos.

Here’s one the race crew took of me:

I came upon this amazing church hymn:

Families washing their clothes in the river:

(Some of those are out of order!)

We stayed at a huge open air school house for the rest of the day. A lot of locals came and hang out – we had a soccer game (I chose not to play – last time I played I lost an ankle!)

We were all in bed by 7:30. Up a little before 4 tomorrow!

Here are a few from Guy Nugyen…

Haiti reading list

Posted on February 12, 2018 by seanb724

The #roadtohaiti has not only been traveled on foot (training!). I’ve also been reading a lot. From Mountains Beyond Mountains, the book that helped define my “Why” for this adventure, to “Haiti After the Earthquake,” and now “The Big Truck that Went By,” I have learned so much about this little island country and its difficult and troubled past. I can’t wait to arrive this Friday and soak it all in.

2018 Uhwarrie 20 miler

Posted on February 5, 2018 by seanb724

For 7 of the last 8 years, I’ve run the Uhwarrie 40 miler. See last year’s post here, which has a good synopsis of past results.

This year, with the Run Across Haiti just two weeks out from race day, my coach David had the good sense of talking me out of the 40 and into the 20, though I was really tempted since the Uhwarrie 40 is my favorite race.

Race day came and I went out pretty hard, dropping in behind the lead 6 or 7 guys on the 1st climb but happily settling in there – about where I wanted to be. But within the first 60-90 seconds, I felt really off. My legs ached – the kind of leg ache I often get right before a serious illness such as the flu or the time I got Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Uh-oh. Within 120 seconds, my stomach turned. Oh man. This was not good at all!

Getting up that climb over the 1st 1.5 miles was tough, and I few people passed me. Once we hit the top and started down, I tried to settle in, but still didn’t feel comfortable. I tried to maintain, but it was a struggle. Between miles 3-8 I estimate at least 20 people went by, I just couldn’t do anything. This was a mental blow and I was really beating myself up. With all the miles I’ve put in for Haiti, why wasn’t I running better? Was I getting sick? Or too old? Or what?

Sometime after mile 9, I finally managed to settle myself down. It took me that long to just let the day be what it was going to be. And then I started passing other runners. Some were the 40 milers who had started an hour earlier, but I also recognized a couple from those 20 people in the 20 miler that had passed me early on. I started being able to run some of the hills without achy legs. I thought my original goals of sub 3:20 and top 10 were gone, but I felt better and better and was happy with that. That continued all the way to the finish, as I ran stronger and stronger, and came in at 3:25. I didn’t know how I had placed since there is a big mix of 20 and 40 milers, but eventually learned I had come in 11th (out of 190 finishers!). So only 5 minutes off my goal and one place out of top 10!

Here’s what I wrote on Facebook later that day:

Uncle Uhwarrie still teaching me lessons after all these years. Today was about running with set expectations vs running with the cards you’ve been dealt on that day. After solid finishes the last two years in the 40, I went in to today’s 20 with high expectations. When I wasn’t meeting them, I didn’t alter plans for far too long. I struggled against what I thought I should be running vs what I was. Finally around mile 9, I settled myself down and went with what I had. Amazingly, or perhaps not so amazingly, I started feeling better. And stronger and stronger. I finished very strong, and not that far off my expected time. As always Uhwarrie was beautiful. And humbling.

I also came to realize I needed to put Uhwarrie in my larger context. It was never an A race, I didn’t do much of a taper (prior weeks of 70, my peek training week, and 50+ miles), and I had not trained for tough single track trails. Haiti is all roads, and I spent almost all of my long runs on roads or the American Tobacco Trail (greenway). Only last weekend did I hit New Hope for 15 miles of single track on Saturday and 5 more on Sunday (as part of a 10 miler with the other 5 on roads).

So… I’m happier than I was. But still wonder what I could do with the right training in the 20! I’ve hit the turn in the 40 in 3:28 (too fast, suffered on the 2nd half big time) and 3:31 (had an ok 2nd half) the last two years when Ive run 7:43and 7:31 respectively.

Here’s the Strava race analysis… This seems to show I ran 55 min the last quarter vs 49 in the 1st, but I think that is a touch off. I forgot to turn off my watch and had to crop the Strava entry, and this also shows half way as past 10 miles, while the Strava distance came in at 19.2. I’m not sure I understand that! Oh well, I’m hoping there’s enough evidence to show I didn’t have a bad positive split, but there’s not enough to say I had an even split either!

And the results:

Now I have a couple of days to recover and then about 10 days to taper for Haiti! And then it’s off to run 230 miles and climb/descent 15k feet in 8 days! So excited!

Haw River in the snow

Posted on January 17, 2018 by seanb724

I was able to get out in the snow today and run from home to the Haw River and back. I wanted to share some photos here.

Grandfurther

Posted on September 26, 2017 by seanb724

Running up Calloway is my favorite “run,” with “run” definitely in quotation marks because if I can average around 18 minute miles, I’m pretty happy. 🙂 Whenever we are in the Boone area, I try to hit this trail. In fact, one year I summited Calloway 12 tiimes!

When I heard Tanawah Adventures somehow got a permit to hold a trail race here, I was astounded. But excited! The race would be The Profile Trail to the summit of Calloway Peak, then down the back side using a combination of Daniel Boone, Nuwati, and Cragway, then back to the top, and back down. A total of nearly 15 miles and 4500′ of climb and descent.

It would be my 1st race since the ankle injury back in May. I had previewed the course three weeks prior and came in at 3 hrs 53 minutes (definitely trying not to push too hard). I thought anything under that would be good, as I thought my preview might not have been the full course. Turns out race day would stop at the old trail head, about a half mile short of the new one, but would also start about a third of a mile further from the new trail head, so nearly a wash.

The first thing that surprised me was that we’d be starting in 3 waves, with your bib number being assigned based on your ultra sign up ranking. I came in at 57 out of 150 runners, so did not make the 1st wave! That told me the level of runner in this race was going t o be up there. And instantly out of the gate people were flying towards the trail. I wanted to get towards the front of my wave and pass a few of those in the 1st wave, as once you hit the single track and climbs, passing would be a lot of work.

I’ll keep it short and just say I ran very well, but was amazed at how well so many other people handled this brutal course! I came in at 3:28, 25 minutes faster than my preview time, and much faster than I thought I could run it. So I was happy. (I think I was 47th so I moved up a little!)

Here I am coming down the backside. Pictures never do justice to the steepness — but trust me this is steep!

As I was waiting at the finish I heard from Kelly that she had slipped and hurt her knee. Eventually she made it to the medics and they wrapped her knee and gave her a 2nd pole to come down on. I ran up to the car, grabbed some warm clothes and food, and headed out to meet her. I then came in the last 1.5 – 2 miles with her. Turns out she tore her ACL — completely off the femur — but was still able to finish! But she will need surgery. 😦

Here are my lap times:

And Strava race analysis — a little faster on the 2nd half, but I think the climb is a little easier on the backside.

Run Across Haiti 2018

Posted on August 25, 2017 by seanb724

Ok, this is happening:

8 days, over 200 miles, one rest day, with daily distances of 13-50+ miles!

I’ll be running with Team Tassy, an organization with the following mission:

We accompany families in Haiti out of poverty through good, dignified jobs.

Additionally, “we run to show that Haiti’s not a place to be feared or to be pitied.”

Last year, my friend Jason, participated in the 2017 version of , and convinced me what an amazing opportunity it was. (Remember Jason? — I got to pace him the last 25 miles of his Umstead 100 win.) I’ve never run anywhere near the kind of distance over a week that this will be, but I’m ready to embrace the challenge.

Jason came to HRCA last year during the athletic banquet, and talked about his love of running and love of mission work, and how this run enabled him to combine the two. Kelly and I want to explore the world of mission work outside of our own community, especially as we approach the day when the kids are out of the nest, and while this is not a hands on mission trip but instead a fundraiser, it will allow me to see a common destination for mission trips. In fact, Kelly and Riley are going to do a real hands on mission trip in Haiti next summer, and I hope to do the same at some point in the not too distant future.

My coach, David Roche of Some Work All Play (SWAP), questioned why I wanted to do this. I gave an answer that didn’t satisfy him, and he challenged me to read “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” the story of Paul Farmer and his medical “mission” work in Haiti and other places around the world. As I read it, I became more and more inspired. (I think if I was not 47, I’d go back to med school!) 🙂 David’s recommendation to me to read this book reminds me of Phil Jackson, the basketball coach, and how he’d pick a different book for each player every season… There’s some real insight there beyond running that David had, which made me dig deeper, and I really appreciate it. Now when I’m really suffering out there, which I know I will (probably many times!) running across Haiti, I’ll be able to dig that much deeper and persevere.

I highly recommend the book!

Here’s a quick video of the run from last year:

Now, this is a fundraiser, and I’ve committed to raising $5000 to support Team Tassy in meeting their goal of accompanying families in Haiti out of poverty. If you feel inclined to support me in supporting Team Tassy, here’s a link to my Crowdwise site:

Sean’s Run Across Haiti

Thanks!

AT: Family backpacking trip

Posted on July 24, 2017 by seanb724

For my birthday, I wanted to do a family backpacking trip. We opted to do nearly the same exact trip we did with the HTC men’s group in early June, documented here, here, and here. As the trips were almost identical, I’ll not go into the details of the journey. I’ll just say that the kids did very well in the 20 miles and nearly 4000′ of climb that we did, and post some photos.

Day 1

We stopped for a “coffee break” for me and a rest stop for everyone else. Reece threw up the hammock and chilled while Kelly got some sun in the back.