Gearing Up for the '09/'10 Antarctic Field Season

So a few updates...

My Antarctica deployment is coming up....and fast. I spent the past two weeks fixing up my Masters Thesis and making adjustments based on comments from my defense. I submitted what I consider to be a "final" version to my committee yesterday and am awaiting to see if they will give me the signatures I need to submit to the Grad School and get my degree. Because of my deployment, I delayed my actual Graduation until May of next year. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to get paid while down south (or have health insurance).

The PhD applications are nearing completion as well. All of the tedious logistics are just about done. GRE scores sent, all three letters of recommendation are either done or being written, and all of the on-line applications are filled out. The only thing I have left to do is to write my "Statement of Purpose", and upload it to the online forms before paying the application fees and submitting. This is my project for the rest of this week and early next week.

Next weekend I head up to Rochester to spend a few days with my mom and sister, celebrating early birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years...all in one. The downside of being in Antarctica over Winter.

I haven't thought yet much about where I will go hiking in New Zealand this year (or Australia), but I've got a few ideas brewing. No matter where I go, or what trails I hike, it will be worth it. I had very much wanted to do a Benton Mackaye, John Muir, or Long Trail length trail this year, but it just wasn't possible. I will have time next week to do a 3 day loop in PA (maybe black forest trail again) if I want to, but I haven't decided if I will or not yet. It will depend on the weather.

That's it for now. Racing season is over for '09 (save maybe a possible 5 or 10k).

-john

Some photos from last season....(starting to get excited again!)

The 1000-meter core

Trying to keep from falling off of the bottom of the Earth

Halo with Sun Dogs

Running the Dielectric Properties Machine

Oil Creek 100 Miler Pacer Report - Good Stuff!

First of all, pardon any grammatical mistakes, I have not slept now for over 30 hours (but will be doing so immediately following this post). I drove up to Titusville, PA last night and parked myself at the aid station that marked the 62 mile mark on the 100 mile course. I timed it perfect where all of the leaders had already gone through, but now the "middle of the pack" group was coming in.

Runners filed in, one at a time and most had pacers. The few that didn't said they were good as is. I was starting to worry that my drive up there would end up for naught, when I caught a glimpse of a runner (Sue) coming into the station about 8 pm. When she made it up to the station, she looked a bit frazzled. I overheard her talking to her husband that she had just ran several hours completely by herself and though she got lost in the early darkness. The whole experience had spooked her quite a bit. I walked over and politely asked her if she'd like some company for a while and she said she still wasn't sure if she was going to go back out. Come to find out that this was Sue's first 100, and she was on killer pace. A group of us at the aid station along with her husband, started to gently nudge her into continuing. We poured on the support and after getting her composure back, she said that she'd keep going and that she'd appreciate the pacing company. And so it was. I was now pacing Sue for however long she wanted the company. The course was set up into 31 mile loops, with a final 7 mile mini-loop at the end. We were just starting the 3rd Big loop (miles 62-93).

We starting jogging out of the aid station and she immediately seemed to be doing better. Another runner, Leo, caught up to us and the three of us ran together for most of the entire 31 mile loop. It went by at a pretty good clip and was almost entirely in the dark. The temps dropped down into the low 30's and so we had to keep moving to keep the blood flowing. We made our way and traded ultra running and family stories. Leo, was always on the ball with providing us with the necessary comic relief (with many a one-liner). Aid stations and miles went by and with about 2 miles left in the loop the sun started to come up again. We were estimating about a 27+ hour time into the 93 aid station before the final 7 mile mini-loop. The cut-off at this race was 32 hours...and justifiably so. The course was feisty. I already knew this though from my 2006 backpacking trip around the same trail. The 100 miler had over 17,000 feet of total elevation gain (that's more than Leadville or Vermont). Sue's goal was to finish, and she was on pace to also break 30 which was awesome for a first 100.

When we got to 93, things were going ok, and we both just wanted to get the last seven done. Leo decided to hang back and so we left the station without him. for the first 3-4 miles of the loop, we almost entirely jogged. I don't know where Sue was getting this burst from, but it was fantastic nonetheless. At about mile 4, Leo came sprinting up from behind us and was on a complete TEAR. He must of had one hell of an energy drink because he politely blew by us and said he wasn't stopping. We nodded and told him to tear it up.

At mile 98 we came down the trail and on to the public bike path for the last 1.5 miles of the race. Sue was starting to get pumped and our time was still only 28:45. I told her that at the running pace we were doing, she was going to finish in about 29 hours....Awesome time.

We rounded the last part of the bike path, hit the very short road section and came up to the high school marking the finish line. The crowd started cheering and Sue's husband (Jim) was taking all sorts of videos and pictures. Sue turned the last corner and ran up to the finish and crossed the line in 29:02, with a 3rd place overall finish for the women. Not only did she finish her first 100 and win a fantastic buckle, but she won a plaque to hang it on for finishing 3rd. Unbelievable. What a great experience. I am glad I was able to be a part of someone else's first 100, and see that look that you get when in sight of that 100 mile finish line. Now I truly know what it looks like and how I must have looked at the Vermont 100 back in July.

At Aid Station

Sue and her husband

Waiting to head out...

Sue and her husband

-john

A Different Perspective to Ultrarunning

Later today I'm making the 2+ hour drive up to Titusville, PA to participate in the Oil Creek 100 Miler. You might be saying, "wait John, didn't you say no more ultra for 2009?". Well, you'd be correct. I'm not racing in the 100 miler, nor am I volunteering at an aid station. I decided to pay-it-back, so to speak, and volunteer as a pacer for the last 30 miles. I specifically informed the volunteer staff that I wanted to pace someone shooting for a +25 hour time so that I could have a nice easy run with someone not worried about breaking any speed records. It's going to be dark, and it's going to be cold (into the 30's)...but I think it will be an incredible experience seeing what it's like from the other side. I've had the good fortune of having two incredible pacers volunteer to help me at the Vermont 100 and Leadville 100, and both ran with me without complaint and without question. It's now my turn to return that favor by doing the same for someone else.

I hope to take some pictures, but I will post a report talking about the experience regardless. Should be fun!

-john

Antarctica, Here We Come!

2009/2010 WAIS Divide Field Crew is ready to go!

Just got this picture from fellow scientist Sylvain Masclin that was taken at the WAIS Divide Science meeting in San Diego. This is the main grantee crew going down to the field camp this season (minus some of the drillers). It is going to be a great field season.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm the one wearing the hat on the far left.

Master of Science! Another Goal Checked Off!

Today marked an important day for me. It marked the culmination of two very hard years of school and the completion of another long goal I set for myself. Today I successfully presented my research to a packed room, took a slew of questions from said packed room, and then defended that research in a closed-door session with my committee (a rather unpleasant experience I might add). My written thesis is completed and just needs some revisions and I can submit everything to the grad school to receive my degree. I like to consider myself a pretty humble person....but today, I'm happy with this passing of my defense. I earned it. Just like setting out to hike the AT, I set out to earn a Masters of Science in Geology (Ice Core Paleoclimatology). Today I have.

So now I will take a few days "off" to enjoy this accomplishment before tackling PhD grad school applications and Antarctica preparation. As far as "What's next?"....well I think I just answered that question.....PhD

For now, it's time to have a few beers and celebrate with the rest of my geology friends (2 others of which defended their PhDs yesterday!). It has been a big week for the ice group at Penn State.

Dad...I know you were there during my defense, and I hope you at least partially understood what the hell I was talking about :-)

.....and the journey goes on...

-j

San Diego sunset

San Diego sunset
Originally uploaded by John 'Lakewood' Fegyveresi

Can't complain....

had a nice 3 mile run along the beach in La Jolla tonight....barefoot. This whole trip has been a mind-soothing and necessary experience before my defense. I'm glad I'm here.

Vermont 50 Results: 10:37:34

They've posted the corrected results for the Vermont 50 this morning:

I placed 54/120 with a time of 10:37:34

Here's the link

Vermont 50 Results

Vermont 50 Muddier than Finger Lakes Fifties?

1/2 mile from the last aid station (Mile 47)

in short....maybe. I think that the mud at the Finger Lakes was deeper and sloppier, but the mud in Vermont this past weekend went on for more miles. Either way, they both made for very tough running conditions. I passed hundreds of mountain bikers.

A very brief race report will follow (don't have too much time to write about running as my Masters defense is in 6 days and I just landed in San Diego for the WAIS Divide Science Meeting). I did finish the race, with a decent time of 10hrs 39minutes (5 minutes short of a PR). At the 25 mile mark, I was on pace to finish in under 10 hrs, and then it all fell apart. The second half of the course was awful.

For some reason the official results posted on Vermont50.com do not have me listed and I've been emailing them trying to get this error corrected. I missed PR'ing by 5 minutes....which is quite amazing to me since this course had about 5000 more feet of elevation gain than Finger Lakes and was just as muddy. I had fun, and that's what was important. (Although I did manage to run 49.5 miles without falling or wiping out, and within sight of the finish line biffed hard...muddied myself up real good - murphy's law i guess).

This was my last Ultra of 2009 (although not necessarily "race" of 2009 as I might throw in a 5k or something before Antarctica) It's good to say that. I need a break from my year of ultrarunning.

Mile 31 Aid Station

Using the Gutter overflow to "shower off" in.

It's Official.....

Here's the link. 2 weeks until D-day

Rochester Marathon Race Report and Thoughts

Despite the fact that I really have no time to be screwing around with additional races with all of my thesis stress right now, I did squeeze in my 2nd running of the Rochester Marathon this past weekend. (Literally "Squeezed". I drove up Saturday afternoon, ran Sunday Morning, and drove home Sunday night)

I wanted to run it again this year for four reasons:

1. I was so completely pissed off at last year's 90 degree /100% humidity debacle that I wanted to redeem myself (and run a respectable race in honor of my late father - who also ran the Rochester Marathon in 1989). For those of you that don't know, last year's race was literally canceled at the 20 mile mark after 4 hours due to extreme heat and humidity. Aid stations ran out of water and people were suffering from heat exhaustion all over the course. I barely finished after walking over 5 miles with a miserable time of 4 hrs 33 minutes. (after having ran a 3:53 marathon only a few months prior)

Link to Last Years Report Rochester Marathon '08

2. I am still leaving the Vermont 50 option open, and I needed a long "training" run 2 weeks before. This fit in perfectly

3. I wanted to see my mom and sister for the day.

4. I wanted to see if the course was really as shitty as I remembered it, or if I just thought it was because of the horrible heat last year. Basically, I wanted to give what I remembered being a horrible course, a 2nd chance.

I went into the race not trying to PR. Back in May, I re-ran the Pocono Marathon and shattered my previous Marathon time by 14 minutes when I finished in 3:39. I had no intention of racing that fast in Rochester, and simply wanted to have a nice, easy, and fun race. Add to that the fact that I am still recovering from the Leadville 100, I was simply shooting to have a respectable finish.

The course was slightly modified from last year, but more or less the same. The first 9 miles takes you from downtown Rochester, past East Rochester, and into Perinton/Fairport. This was my favorite part of the course. You get to see neighborhoods, and a lot of people out cheering for you. And then began the dreaded bike path....

COURSE MAP

Last year I remembered the course drops you onto a bike path along the Erie Canal and stayed on it for what seemed like FOREVER. It was nice at first, but then seemed like it would never end. I remembered not getting off of the path until almost mile 25. Surely I had to be exaggerating in my mind though right? Nope. The bike path really does go from mile 9 to about mile 24.5: Over 15 miles of what seems like endless running along the most monotonous bike path.

The difference this year was that the temps were mostly bearable. It was a sunny day, and by about 10:30, it did start getting pretty warm (mid 70's)....but nowhere near as bad as least year.

I ran the first half a lot faster than I wanted and knew I would pay for it later. Unlike with Pocono, I was not in peak road marathon condition and couldn't maintain this pace. I have been in trail/ultra mode all summer. I ended up hitting the proverbial marathon "wall" at about 18 miles, and slowed down a lot for the last 1/4 of the race. All in all though I did what I set out to do. I enjoyed myself. I crossed the finish in a respectable 3hrs and 51 minutes and was able to make a fair re-assessment of the course. What is that assessment you ask?

Well my initial assessment from '08 was pretty close. I really just don't care for the course. I don't think I'd go as far as to see it is awful, but I don't see myself returning for it next year that's for sure.

So...I'm glad I did it. I got to hang out with my sister a lot, I got to redeem myself and run a decent race for the old man, and I got in a much needed "long run".

So what about Vermont 50? Still don't know. If I can finish my final thesis draft by Tuesday, I am going to sign up. If not, then it will have to wait until next year. (or whenever)

oh and by the way. My new favourite running companions: Hammer Gels and Cliff Shot Blocks

and back to the writing.....