2014 3.2 Run In Remembrance

On Saturday, Michelle and I participated in the 3.2 Run In Remembrance held, on the Virginia Tech campus, to remember and celebrate the lives of 32 Hokies that were tragically taken from us on April 16th, 2007.  Although Michelle had participated in the run twice before, Saturday was the first time I elected to participate in the run.  I'm not sure why...or how(?) I missed participating in the run in years previous but after signing up and then not running last year because of a friends wedding, I made certain to put it on our calendar this year.  When Michelle and I discussed the run last week before Umstead 100, I told her I may have to walk it but that I was going to do it!  Fortunately I managed not to ever really be sore this week recovering from Umstead 100 and as a result was able to go out and #HaveFun running with Michelle.

On Friday, after a busy day with the middle schoolers, Michelle and I drove to campus together and headed over to packet pickup at War Memorial Hall.  I foolishly only took one photo, which came out funky as some guy walked in my panoramic shot:

I digress.  The packet pickup was silly efficient! Appropriate for an engineering school huh? Each participant was given a QR code that was scanned using an iOS device (not too sure here because it looked like iPod touch with a larger scanner handheld attachment on the back that they have/had at Apple stores) that when scanned notified the volunteer whether to distribute a ticket for the free t-shirt.  All told, we spent about 3 minutes actually inside of War Memorial and about 10 walking to and from each way.  There were banners to sign and write on as well as "bibs" to write your reason for running.  After packet t-shirt pickup, we ran a few errands in Downtown and while we waited, grabbed a sweet tea lemonade at Starbucks, perfect to cool down!  While sitting there, I noted that in to months to the day, we will be husband and wife!

2 months from today I get to call get my wife! #DR #TheSherfys pic.twitter.com/EWswTWUKra
— Brett Sherfy (@RBSherfy) April 11, 2014

One awesome thing about the Run In Remembrance is that it does not start at a silly early time.  The RecSports department at Virginia Tech has decided to keep the race casual, meaning that it doesn't actually start until 9AM, with the large group photo taken around 8:45.  This was super nice because I was able to get up and lounge around, have breakfast and a cup of coffee, and then run to the start of the run.  I met Michelle at the start and we headed over to where people were assembling to take the VT photo on the Drillfield.  This is a good time to mention that I decided to bring the GoPro with me to film the run and in my distracted state trying to get a neat shot of everyone forming the VT, I lost sight of Michelle into a sea of maroon and orange.   Fortunately once the crowd dispersed, I able to find her and after only a brief reprimanding...continue my filming duties.  However, I was much more conscious to always keep and eye on her.  Whoopsie!

The photo above was taken from a helicopter above the Drillfield.  I thought it was pretty awesome how quickly they posted the photo because by 11:52 the photo was on the Virginia Tech Facebook page and I had tweeted it out!

We took part in this AWESOMENESS this AM! Can you spot us? #VT32Run #VirginiaTech #WeAreVirginiaTech #neVerforgeT pic.twitter.com/ZAmvV9iIuZ
— Brett Sherfy (@RBSherfy) April 12, 2014

Michelle and I at the run start.

After the photo was taken, we headed over to where the run was set to begin in front of War Memorial Hall.  We would then follow the Drillfield clockwise down toward the Duck Pond and then hang a right on West Campus Drive before veering onto Duck Pond Drive.

This year marked the first year they did not release balloons, which was good and simultaneously disappointing.  I understand the reasoning but they do make biodegradable balloons now and the sight of thousands of maroon and orange balloons lifting up is pretty awesome (at least the pictures I've seen anyway).

At the start, there was a sea of maroon and orange, the two best school colors in my opinion.  Over 8000 runners were signed up to run and I'm sure even more decided to run the day of, which is possible because there is not a timing system or fee to enter the run.  Nope.  The run is entirely free!  

The view at the bottom of the Drillfield near the Duck Pond.  To say that the weather was picturesque is a massive understatement.  The trees are just beginning to bloom and they made for gorgeous pictures along the run route.

Lots of participants were breaking the first rule of any running event, wearing the event t-shirt during the run, but because this run and not a race I think we can let them slide on this one.  I'll chalk it up to showing Hokie Pride!

Looking back down West Campus Drive.  On the left in this photo, is the newly renovated Davidson Hall that resembles a periodic table of elements when looked at in a profile view from the left.

It was here that there was a bit of a bottleneck as we condensed from three lanes of road to two.  It was funny to watch some of the runners jump over the guardrail only to realize that they were later trapped at the edge of the Duck Pond.

The view of the route along Duck Pond Drive.

Eventually, we made a left onto the first of three "hills" on the course, which you see in the video below where I get a shot of the cadets caring the massive telephone pole(?) The hill leads up to The Grove, which serves as the university president's residence.  It has an awesome view of the Duck Pond and campus!

At the top of The Grove:  You can see here that lots of folks walked the hill (which was perfectly fine) but you can also see the cadets beasting it up the hill with said telephone pole.  

At the bottom of hill leading down from The Grove, we made a right back onto West Campus Drive, now going the opposite way away from the Drillfield and after the second small "hill" on the course enjoyed a flat section heading toward Washington Street passing by Litton-Reaves Hall and a few dorms, as well as McComas Hall, one of the two gyms on campus and home of VT RecSports.

One of the coolest parts of the run, aside from the overwhelming emotions that are unavoidable, is the opportunity to run through the tunnel entering Lane Stadium!  Almost equally as cool is the opportunity to run down the home sideline on Worsham Field.  I did mistakenly place about two inches of my foot on the grass and was quickly ushered off and told to move along.  I suppose Tech does spend MILLIONS on that grass.

After exiting Lane Stadium, the route cuts back behind the East Stands up the final hill of the course into Stadium Woods,  a 11-acre of old-growth forest home to numerous 250-350 year-old white oaks.  A quick right onto Washington Street followed by an immediate left onto Kent Street led to the long sustained downhill seen below.

As we passed by War Memorial Court, commonly known as "the Pylons" and War Memorial Chapel, we entered the finishing straight lined by spectators and runners waiting for friends and family to finish the run.

After crossing the finish line, we headed over to meet our friend Julie and her friend Kelly, whom we had run into out along the run and talked for awhile before finding water and pizza!  Domino's at 10AM?  Yes Please!

I spent most all of the afternoon editing video I had taken during the run to produce the video below. I'm extremely proud of how it came out and feel like I learned a lot about what shots work and which don't as well as how to avoid reduce shaky camera issues.  Make sure to watch the video in HD and feel free PLEASE comment on, thumbs up, and share the video.

I even learned how to get video onto Instagram that is not on your phone, which requires a bit of...finagling...but created a pretty neat little teaser/trailer for the video.  

All-in-all it was an amazing and fun run and a great way to start off our weekend!  I'm disappointed that I haven't participated before but it'll be on our calendar for the foreseeable future.  Ideas were tossed out for making the run a real 32 for 32, which would require us starting super early but doing the last 3.2 with everyone else.

@robbie_poff @ultraVT Sounds like a great reason to make it back to Tech for a weekend!
— Brett Sherfy (@RBSherfy) April 12, 2014

Thanks to RecSports for an amazing event and to all the volunteers who were out there ensuring the run went out without a hitch today!

Read more...

A "training" Week + Holiday Lake50k 2/10/14-2/16/2014

Unfortunately, I missed my recap last week but there wasn't really all that much to talk about because...well...I didn't really run all that much.  This was partly due to the massive storm we had last week that dropped 22" of snow on the New River Valley!  However, the few days I did run were special because they were in the middle of a massive snowstorm.

Monday: 9.1, 450' 1.5hr
On Monday, we had our weekly VT Ultra group run.  I forgot that we had moved the run back from 7:00 to 7:15 and left my house as if we were running at 7:00.  Once I was out and about in the cold evening air, I realized that we were running later and managed to squeeze in a few extra miles on the way.  After the run, I made my usual stop at Moe's and then grabbed the bus home.  These Monday night group runs are really nice because after a long weekend of running it would be easy to not run but they get me out the door and even sometimes make me do more miles than I bargained for.

Tuesday: Rest

Yep.  After a long weekend of running and a few more miles than I had planned for on Monday, I gladly welcomed a "rest" day.  Although I didn't get out for a run I did make an awesome calzone for dinner that I whipped up from scratch.

Wednesday: 6, ~400' 1hr

On Wednesday, Michelle and I packed up our refrigerator, Gillie, and a few days of warm clothes and headed over to Michelle's parents to hunker down for the storm.  Last year, we had a lot of issues with losing power at our place and unfortunately lost a full refrigerator of food as a result of a power outage that lasted a few days.  Around two, the snow started falling heavy and continued to amass overnight and through half of Thursday.

Despite the heavy snow, I put on a few layers and headed out into the snowy evening.  The snow falling in combination with a strong wind was pretty brutal and I was wishing I had snow goggles but had to settle for sunglasses...which didn't really work because it got dark pretty early into my run, which meant that my tinted shades made it near impossible to run in.  I took the TS4 with me on the run and grabbed a few photos of me playing in the snow!

Pretty amazing to see how dark it got in the hour I was out running!

Thursday: 6, ~350' 1hr

I managed to get out on Thursday and get in another 6 miles despite the 20+ inches of snow on the ground.  My run was limited to the streets that were plowed but I was happy to get in 6 when most folks in Blacksburg were post holing to run two or three miles.

Before my run, Michelle and I went out to enjoy the snow and the day off from classes.  To put in perspective the rarity of Virginia Tech canceling classes, consider the following: In the 142 year history of Virginia Tech, Thursday and Friday were the 9th and 10th snow days.  Ever.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Race Holiday Lake 50k - 16th

If you missed my blog earlier in the week about the race, you can check it out HERE.  I read this earlier in the week and had to share as it describes the race better than I can.

"You could try to run in another runners tracks, but you quickly found out that the snow never really packed down because it was wet…it just kind of slid somewhere else. Fail. Or you could just make your own brand new tracks in the crust – predictable, but immediately tiring and wet below the crust. Fail. Or, you could simply run straight ahead, not thinking and just taking what came to you, which made for really unpredictable footing. Fail. So there you have it, that’s what the FIRST loop would be like – trying to get good footing and failing. Trying to get some semblance of a normal running stride and failing. Trying to get into any kind of zone and failing. You get the picture."  John Anderson

It was a crazy race and one for the memory books.
  

Totals for the week:

Distance: 53.4

Elevations: 3150'

Duration: 8.75hr

Read more...

A Successful Week of Training! 1/20/2014-1/26/2014

As I sit here with my feet up watching the Grammys reflecting on my past week of training, I'm proud of how I managed to step up and put in a decent week of training both in terms of volume and quality.  I've been slightly apprehensive about Umstead 100 because of my lack of training during the month of January including taking the first 8 days of the month off.  However, after this week I'm feeling slightly more confident about tackling the daunting distance of 100 miles.

Monday: 18.3 miles, 4500' 4hr
On Monday, we were treated with unseasonably warm weather and I decided to begin the week with a long run on the Appalachian Trail to mark MLK Day.  I had been thinking about this run for some time and even considered doing it this fall when Michelle and I hiked up to Tinker Cliffs with some friends but it never quite worked out.  McAfee's Knob is one of the most popular hikes in the area and the most photographed spot on the Appalachian Trail.  Last year, I ran up to McAfee's Knob to watch the sunrise and even made a time-lapse of the sunrise.  I parked at the 311 trailhead and began running a little after 11AM.  My route was along the Appalachian trail the entire way and began with the climb up to McAfee's Knob and then I would continue on to Tinker Cliffs.

McAfee's Knob...the first time of the day.

The climb up to McAfee's Knobs is a pretty decent hike and goes from just under 2000' to around 3200' over 4 miles.  That section took me close to an hour; I stopped and grabbed a few pictures at the top as well as put on a vest.  After reaching McAfee's Knob, you descend off the mountain and follow the AT along the ridge for another 5.2 miles to Tinker Cliffs, eventually climbing another 700 ft to reach the cliffs.

You can trace the ridge I ran along in the photo to the left.  Tinker Cliffs is the peak at the left edge of the photo.

The descent off McAfee's Knob along the Appalachian Trail.

Right before reaching Tinker Cliff's you weave through some massive and awesome rock formations.

I reached Tinker Cliffs about an hour after leaving McAfee's Knob and grabbed a picture before turning around and heading back toward McAfee's Knob.  Because schools were out and class for Virginia Tech hadn't started, there were lots of folks out along the trail heading up to McAfee's Knob.  However, in the two hours I ran between McAfee's Knob and Tinker Cliffs, I only saw one other couple and that was during my return climb back up to McAfee's Knob.  Even more surprising was that I had Tinker Cliffs all to myself although it took me nearly seven years living in Blacksburg before I hiked it for the first time this past fall.  The photo above is looking back to McAfee's Knob, which is the hump in the middle of the photo.

Panoramic view from Tinker Cliffs.

McAfee's Knob for the second time of the day.

The run back wasn't too bad with the exception of dropping one of my Gu packets along the run and I didn't realize it until I reached McAfee's Knob for the second time of the day.  Fortunately, the run back to the parking lot from the knob is mainly downhill.

Post run parking lot photo and Garmin details.

Elevation profile for the day.  The run wound up being 4,499 ft of elevation gain.

I was pretty spent when I got home but Michelle was planning on heading out for a run and I jumped on the opportunity to ride along side her on my bike.  I brought along the GoPro and snagged a bunch of really fun photos!

Tuesday: 6.2, 600' 1hr

Monday's gorgeous weather made Tuesday's several inches of snow seem surreal.  I headed out Tuesday evening to join some of the guys from the Virginia Tech Ultra team at Pandapas for a night run.  I've been waiting all year to go for a trail run in the snow and it didn't disappoint.  Running under headlamp was fun and catching up with the guys and meeting some new folks made the miles fly by!  No photos from the run but the details are below.  Funny story, I forgot my Garmin but wanted to track the mileage and decided to bring my phone along for the run.  My phone was too big for the pocket on my pants so I decided to throw it in my E-case (that I won from a Facebook contests last year) and put it in my pants...well...down my pants.  So...err...I ran a little over 6 miles with my phone in my butt.  Hey, you've gotta do what you have to do!

Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
I took both Wednesday and Thursday off, not necessarily intentionally but it just kinda worked out that way.

Friday: 9, 1400' 1.5hr
I had an orientation for student teaching on Friday morning for Montgomery County Public Schools, which was scheduled to run from 9:30 until around noon.  We were dismissed around 11 and our next meeting was not until 2 so I decided to head out to Pandapas to get in a good run rather than having to squeeze in a run in the evening.  I had a total blast.  On the drive out to Pandapas, I was thinking about running with unexpected or "unaccounted for" time is the best type of run.  It was just one of those runs where I kept saying "I'll just do 6" and then I was feeling good so I said to myself "well maybe I'll just add on some more" and before I knew it I had run for an hour and a half and put myself in a bit of a time crunch to make my 2PM meeting.  I walked in the door at 1:33, showered, changed, and was out the door again by 1:46 grabbing a quick sandwich on the way and made it to my 2PM meeting with a few minutes to spare.  Perfect.

Saturday:  11, 820' 1.5hr

To say that I struggled with motivation Saturday would be a huge understatement.  I simply couldn't get it together to get out the door.  Michelle made me a delicious breakfast including blackberry syrup and waffles from scratch.  Most of the early morning was spent cleaning our apartment and lounging around.  However, at 4PM I finally got out the door and managed to get in 11 miles running around Blacksburg.  It actually marked my first run on pavement of the year and it felt good to get out and run around Blacksburg again but MAN! It. Was. Cold.  

Sunday: 21, 850' 3.25hr

Today, I got out and managed to get in my first "long run" of the year getting in 21 miles in a little over 3 hours.  I headed down the road on 81 to Draper, VA to run along the New River Trail, a 57 mile rails-to-trails "bike path" that runs from Fries to Foster Falls.  I'd like to run the entire thing at some point but today I was out to see a little over 10 miles of it.  I didn't move particularly fast but I was more concerned about duration and getting in quality time.  Along my run there were plenty of cool sights:

At the end of my run, I completed day 2 of the Plank-a-day Challenge.  I've been meaning to do some type of core work and I think this is a good start.  I would like to do more strength training but perhaps I'll look into that after Umstead 100.  

Totals for the week:

Distance: 65 miles

Elevation: ~8200'

Duration: 12hr

I'm very pleased with how the week went and I'm excited to increase my mileage this week.  My goal is to break into the 70's for the first time by running 40 miles during the week and running the Holiday Lake course this Saturday for a training run.

Read more...

Where's Waldo...Thursday? GoPro Photo-a-day 1/1/14-1/16/14

Wow.  Where did the first half of January go?  To date, I have run 28 miles in the month of January.  A stark contrast to the mileage I was putting in during the second-half of December.  My low mileage is partly due to fact that I took the first week of January off.  A much needed recovery.  During the last week of December, I logged the most miles I have ever done in a week - 65.  Tough to swallow that I will do thirty-five more than that in a single day (hopefully) at the beginning of April.  During the peak mileage week and for the entirety of December, and for all of 2013 for that matter, I ran pain free **knock on wood** but toward the end of the month I began to notice a slight amount of "discomfort" in my right foot.  I decided a week off from running would be a nice way to begin 2014.  I was surprised to discover that during the during the first week of January when I was taking time off from running, I had the worst quality sleep that I can remember and I began noticing pain, specifically in my right knee, that wasn't present prior to taking time off.  What gives???  The good news is that my knee only gives me trouble when I'm sleeping, and not when I'm running, so perhaps I'm doing something to agitate it while I'm sleeping?  Anyways, that's kind of the state-of-my-state.

In bigger news, I passed **tentatively** my Praxis II exam on Tuesday morning!!!  I'm ecstatic (if the three exclamation points didn't give that away).  I say **tentatively** because while you receive your score at the end of the exam, you do not receive your official score until 10-15 days after taking the test.  I believe this is because they normalize the scores - hopefully my score doesn't go down and stays above the required passing score. I was really really stressing about this exam because it could have prevented me from student teaching in the spring and consequently pushed back my graduation.  I dedicated a decent amount of time studying for the exam and it was nice to see that my hard work paid off.  What I find interesting is that the state of Virginia raised the passing score from a 147 to a 160 beginning January 1st of this year.  The ETS considers a score of 165 excellent and even provides a certificate for earning such a score, aptly named the Recognition of Excellence Award.  This means that individuals in my program, who will graduate with the same degree and at the same time as me, are not required to earn the same score that I was required to earn.  Pretty silly but a Pass is a Pass and I'm glad it's behind me!

When Michelle and I were home for the holidays, we received our first wedding gift - a GoPro Black Camera!  IT. IS. AWESOME!  We decided that because we're getting married this year and because we received this awesome and incredibly generous gift, we wanted to take a photo-a-day with the camera.  Below are the first 16 days of January!

1/1/2014 - Playing with the GoPole in the car!

1/2/2014 - Michelle and I studying in the Graduate study room :-(

1/3/2014 - Grocery shopping.

1/4/2014 - Evening walk with Gillie.

1/5/2014 - "Dad!  I told you I don't like having my photo taken!"

1/6/2014 - Nothing too exciting here.

1/7/2014 - Virginia Tech vs. Syracuse at Cassell Coliseum 

1/8/2014 - My first run of the year - Running in Jefferson National Forest.

1/9/2014 - Making pizzas is a standard thing around here - 

Buffalo chicken was the first of the night.

1/10/2014 - Out on a dreary afternoon walk with Gillie.

1/11/2014 - First photo Michelle took with the GoPro...studying???

1/12/2014 - The moment before impact.  

Michelle took a nasty spill off the slackline right after this photo was taken.  

I was taking a time-lapse. 

1/13/2014 - College Avenue promenade after grabbing dinner at Moe's on Monday.

1/14/2013 - Whoopsie!  This photo came out a little blurry...there's a bit of a learning curve!

1/15/2013 - A night walk with Gillie!

1/16/2013 - Dinner this evening!  (Eat Fresh!)

So that's what we've been up to!  Michelle takes her Praxis tomorrow morning (send her some love!) and then I've got the VCLA Saturday morning - sad panda.  Sad panda because I was planning on running a local fat ass (a free or cheap organized ultra event) right at Jefferson national park but my VCLA is now Saturday morning.  Silly school getting in the way of running!  Yesterday was exactly one month from Holiday Lake 50k, which will be my first race of the year!  Aside from that, I begin teaching at a middle school during the first week of February and I'm totally pumped!  Oh yeah - last thing, we got a slackline and it's awesome and incredibly difficult!  I foresee lots of fun this spring with it!

Read more...