My name is Matthew Houseknecht and I am now an ultra-marathoner....where to go from here?! I have moved my training posts and running updates to a blog so that the people who really want to keep informed about my life as a runner can read it. I really felt as if I was posting too much on Facebook and I got to the point that I may have annoyed some people. If you would like to follow me here, I believe you can sign up for email updates... Thanks for your support and checking out my page!
This year has been great for me as a runner! I accomplished many of my goals and I really feel as if I grew as a runner. As the 2012 running year draws to a close, it is time to reflect upon my goals, achievements and shortfalls (not failures). On January 1, 2012, I set out to run 100 miles every month for a total of 1200 miles for the year. While I did not get my goal of 100 miles every month due to a couple injuries involving tendonitis on the tops of my feet in mid August and the early part of September, I did crush my goal of 1200 miles for the year. As of today I have 1565.5 miles, most of which are trail miles. I may even hit 1600 if I really push hard today and tomorrow. I'm not too concerned with that number though, I ran hard this year regardless of what the number shows. I also pushed myself in long runs, including two 50K's (The North Face Endurance Challenge and Labour Pains), both on trials. I commuted from York to New Cumberland, about 18 miles. I ran with some old friends and created some close bonds on the trails. I am so grateful for that!! The memories I gathered on my adventures are priceless and I will cherish for the rest of my life.
I want to thank my amazing wife Angela for being there for me. As I look forward to 2013 I plan on pushing farther and harder, perhaps to my wife's dismay. She is the most supportive and encouraging person I have ever met, but the level of training I put in does take away from family time. I thank you Angela, for everything you do for me and all the confidence you instill in me! In 2013 I know that she will have to maintain that level of love and understanding because I am going to push it a bit farther.
In 2013 I want to try to average 40 mile weeks, this will help me prepare for my longer races and put me close to 2000 miles for 2013. I have registered for my first 50M run at The North Face Endurance Challenge on June 1. Don Gidusko will be running by my side for all 50 miles in D.C. after pacing me on my 50K there last year. Too f'n cool! I believe my good buddy Kyle Valkenburg will be running his first trail marathon that day, which is SO rad! He will kill it, I'm sure. He may be taking it to the next level later in the year at the Rock/Creek StumpJump 50K in Tennessee with me, and I would be STOKED! I may also try to find another 50M race or maybe a 24 hour trial run to see just how far I can go; I would be shooting for 100 miles. Other than that, I just wanna have fun! Travel and see some new courses, run more local trails with friends, maybe set a 50K PR.
Well, yesterday was the raffle and lottery for the 2013 and 2014 running of the Western States 100 Endurance Run. Just to clarify, the lottery is entered by people that have already qualified for the run and are prepared to pay the $370 registration fee as soon as their name is pulled for the 2013 run. The Raffle, which I was entered into with the generous donations I received, is for a FREE admission into the same run for 2014 with the expectation that the winner runs a qualifier within the next year. Mine was/is The North Face 50M in Washington D.C. in June of 2013. So, moving forward, I will still run the 50M with the hopes of completing it in under eleven hours, thus qualifying me for the lottery of the WS100 to be held in 364 days.
There is some exciting news, a gentleman from Harrisburg was selected for the run in the Lottery, meaning he will be there in June of 2013 running the hallowed ground from Squaw Valley to Auburn. His name is Randy Dietz and he is 63. I would love to get into contact with Randy and be his training partner for the next six months. Who knows, maybe he needs a pacer for his attempt? Finding a kindred ultra-runner spirit would be great. He can help me prepare for D.C. and I can help him get some long miles in for WS100. I will be attempting to make contact with him this week I guess, I hope I don't come across as a weirdo!
I am closing in on my 2012 goal of 1500 miles. The original goal was to run at least 100 miles a month for the entire year for a total of 1200 miles. Things changed when I signed up for my first ultra (The North Face 50K in D.C.) and ramped up my mileage. Half way through the year I changed my goal to 1500 miles because I was on pace for that. I hit a couple snags with my first ever injuries that took a toll of a bout 3-4 weeks of missed training. Then I missed some days with my bad toe and a pretty good cold the last couple weeks. Despite a month or so of missed running, I will still meet my goal two weeks ahead of time. I am at 1457 as of 10:15 am on Sunday the 9th. I will be running maybe 10-13 miles today, putting me close to 1470. I will run the last 30 miles between Tuesday and Saturday with little problem. It will feel GREAT to hit this milestone!!
Lastly, I plan on signing up for the Rock/Creek Stump Jump 50K that is held in Tennessee on October 5, 2013. This thing looks BEAUTIFUL and my wonderful wife Angela told my I should do it. My races are much fewer and far between nowadays. I will be running an Ultra to prepare for my TNF 50Mer. It will be either The Outrun 24 hour Trail Race in Ohio on April 27th (high registration fee of $100) or The Farm Park Challenge, a 12 hour ultra consisting of five mile loops and a registration of only $39. The experience of the Ohio race is much more exciting, but I will most likely need to do the Farm Park race. It is a lot cheaper, will require much much less planning and travel time. It's not my first choice, but it's the best one for my budget and family. I will think it over....
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! If you could, leave a hello or a message below. I am really curious who is reading this! Take care and be well.
Next weekend is the raffle drawing for a spot in the 2014 Western States 100 Endurance Run. I have decided to do a little fundraising to buy as many tickets as I can and try to get a spot in the race. I have had two good friends already donate a total of $75, and I just started today. Kyle Valkenburg and, we'll call him Agent H, were very very generous. I really did not expect such levels of donations. The fundraising only lasts until the end of the week, as the drawing is December 8th. If you would like to donate, please feel free to make your way over to GoFundMe and donate $5 or $50 or anywhere inbetween. There are some incentives included for the various levels. Each level has a name that represents the start, an aide station along the course, and the finish line. I'm sorry I cannot offer more interesting incentives, but I promise you will come away with something special - even if it's just a picture, a rock, or a story to tell your friends, "I know this guy that is running 100 miles through the Sierra Nevadas!"
Thank you for the consideration and potential donations.
You can feel good about your donation, even if I am not granted registration into this amazing race.
"All proceeds from the Raffle are used to support Western States medical research and to preserve and maintain the Sierra Nevada trail system."
Also:
Note: Ticket amounts are considered to be a donation to WSERF, a 501(c)3 organization, and as such may qualify for a US federal tax deduction. If you are a winner, however, you can claim only the portion of the total ticket purchase that exceeds the value of the WS entry ($370.) Check with your personal tax adviser for full information.
I have been thinking about my next BIG race in June, The North Face 50 Mile trail run, and have been thinking that I will need to do some longer training runs in the spring months to prepare for this increase in race distance. I have began the search for one or two races in the east that will supply me with the necessary training and of course a challenging and interesting race that I will be genuinely excited to participate in. I figure that the races will have to be 50K's because that id the closest distance to my 50M that is typically organized. If I can find a 40 miler, that would be ideal! Here is my list of possibilities:
Disclaimer: The registration fees can be steep, but when you consider the amount of race support that is required and the relatively small number of people that participate in these events, the prices are understandable. Above all else, a lot of race organizers are in the business of charity. They donate some or all of the profits to trail maintenance and preservation.
A weekend long ultra festival (as the name implies) that has the following distances; marathon, 50K, 50M, 100K, and 100M. The course is a 10 mile loop, which is nice, but not a true trail run. It is mostly forest roads and rail trails from what I can tell. Another negative is the registration fee - $110 for the 50K.
A race of loops, these are 5.18 miles each. The "rules" are interesting though. From the website:
The Challenge
1)The Farm Park Challenge starts at 7am on 5/4/2012. The 3 Hour Challenge will start at 8am and conclude at 11am.
2)There will be a new Challenge each hour on the hour for 12 hours or until everyone has had enough.
3)To complete each Challenge, the entire roughly 5 mile loopmust be covered in less than 1 hour
4)No competitor may begin a Challenge earlier than the beginning of the hour, regardless of when the previous challenge was finished. Got that? If it takes you 50 minutes, you wait 10 minutes to start the next loop. Choose your strategy wisely. The trail is pretty easy, and fast miles can catch up to you, or maybe you could benefit from a few minutes to rest and hydrate in between laps.
5)Only those competitors completing each Challenge are eligible to begin the next Challenge. Those failing to meet a Challenge may drop to the Open Fun Run.
6) All those who complete 6 or more Challenges will be recognized as FPC finishers with their name submitted to Ultrarunning Magazine. The official order of finish will be based on the number of Challenges completed with the winners taking home a "Coveted" FPC Golden Rock Trophy. Note that this prize may be closer to a rock than a trophy. 12 hour finishers are immediately inducted into the FPC Hall of Fame.
7) Those completing 5 laps will be recognized as Marathon finishers as long as they also run a "baby lap" to make it the right distance. Note that the 5 laps may be covered as Challenges or as part of the Open Fun Run (see below)
8) Those finishing 3 loops will be recognized as having completed 25k.
The Open Fun Run:
Should you not be up to The Challenge, miss a Challenge, or simply want to run the trails supported and in good company, consider the Open Fun Run. We will keep track of your laps and report your lap count, but not the time. You can start laps whenever you want during the event. This is not a race and 6 laps run in 7 hours will show the same as 6 laps run in 10 hours.
The Relay:
The Challenge may be run as a 2-person relay, provided both competitors are registered and have signed the waiver before running.Each Challenge may be attempted by only one member of the team. The rest works the same, if you meet a Challenge, the team is eligible for the next one. If you miss a challenge, the team is out and may join the Open Fun Run. You may go in whatever order you like, run two in a row, or however you want execute your strategy. One person could run 11 legs and the other just one leg, something more balanced, or decide as you go. Your choice.
This would be a great event for those of you to participate in and do not want to run for six or so hours. You come and do what you can and quit when you want to. One lap, three, five...whatever. Registration is cheap due to the minimal amount of support at the aid station, only $39. One more bonus, it is close. It is in Derwood, MD.
THIS is interesting, a one mile loop that is run for 6, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours! However many laps you can complete in the alloted time. This would be the weekend of my last long run leading up to The North Face 50 miler, after which I would taper off to allow my body to be at its optimal level of preparation. The 12 hour registration is $125.
A final note, and one of the real reasons I decided to post today. I HAVE to do The Rock/Creek StumpJump 50K this year! It is in Chattanooga, TN and is on some of the most beautiful trails I have ever seen. Check out the video!!
It is in October, so I have a lot of time before this event, but it will sell out quickly. Registration opens January 1, 2013 and if I get the "Go" from my wife, I am all in!!!
It has been quite a while since I have posted, and I am only doing so now (today) because I was nudged my a friend of mine - Pat Fahey.
Current Goal for 2012
My progress towards my current goal is really coming along. I set out on January 1st, 2012 to run at least 100 miles every month of the year. I barely made it in January, logging 101 miles. From there I went up to 135 miles, 165 miles, and so on. Some months I was really able to get out a lot and felt highly motivated, others were hindered by weather, life, and motivation. In August I hit a road block with my first ever injury, tendonitis in the top of my left foot. I was forced to take off two entire weeks and only logged 75 miles. The next month I ran an Ultra, the Labor Pains 12 Hour Race, and was knocked back again. I injured my other foot, same condition, at mile 17 or so. I managed to run 14 miles in agonizing pain and log another 50K. I was shooting for 50M, but I had to stop at hour 8. If it wasn't for the injury, I certainly would have hit my goal! This caused another two week stop in my training, but it did not prevent me from hitting my goal of 100 miles for September! In October I came back strong with 149 miles. I am now shooting for 1500 miles for the year, and goal that I established in June or July when I realized that the 1200 miles was going to be no problem. I have NEVER logged so many miles in all my life. I contribute this simply to setting goals and finding bigger and badder races to enter. I will most certainly log my final 240 miles and hit 1500 by December 31, 2012!
Looking Forward to 2013
I will certainly shoot for 1500 miles again, this time a little more passively. My real goal is to see just how far I can go in one shot. I will definitely run my first 50M race in 2013, and most likely more than one. I am looking to do The North Face 50M in Washington D.C. on June 2, but there are a few others that I may hit including the Ice Trail 50M in Wisconsin. It's one of the oldest trail 50M races in the country. I only run trail races anymore, so whatever I do it will involve dirt, rocks, water, mud, hills, logs, and some serious adventure!! Depending on how those goes, I just may have to go for 100M. The Javalina Jundred is #1 on my list at this point. I've talked about both of these races (Ice Age and JJ) in prior posts, so you can scroll down and find out more or search the web and get the details.
Thanks for reading! Please write a comment if you've taken the time to visit my page and take a peek into my life. I have no idea who see this or how many people come through here. Even if I don't know you, just give a smily face or something. Thanks again.
I really want a buckle for my next race, buckles are the prize for several 50 mile races and many 100 mile races. I already know that my 100 mile buckle will be for the Javelina Jundred in Arizona, it just makes sense.
Until then, I have to shoot for 50 miles and a bit closer by. Ultramarathons are a bit harder to come by here on the east coast, it it at least seems that way. I have been scoping out races for a while now and the last week I have really been trying to narrow it down. I want a race with a buckle, that's first and foremost - and it has to bee a good design. Also, the course has to be in the woods with hills, roots, rocks, logs and stream crossings! I don't want some flat "rail trail" course, that is BORING! So here is what I've found. I am not sure which one will be the choice, but I will know soon. I will most likely run more than one in the next year. Check them out!
Mississippi 50 Trail Run in Laural, MS - March 2, 2013
(Not the most interesting buckle and far away)
Land Between the Lakes 50 Mile Run in Grand Rivers, KY - March 9, 2013
(A bit cooler buckle and a bit closer)
Ice Age 50 mile Run in La Grange, WI - May 11, 2013
(This is one of the top 50's in the country and the buckle is okay.)
There is a strong possibility I will run The Baker Trail Ultra Challenge near Pittsburgh. It's pretty close by and the award is interesting. It's a three part medal and in order to get the full award, you have to run it three years in a row! This is a three year commitment and one that Don Gidusko has tentatively agreed to with me. It is at the end of August each year.
It has been quite some time since my last post. As I write this, I am still wondering if people find this and read it or if it is simply serving as an online journal for myself. Either way, I think it can prove useful for me as a way of tracking my personal progress as I find my way further into the world of ultra-running. I love this sport!!
Last week I completed my second ultra, a 12 hour/50K race in Reading called The Labor Pains 12 Hour Ultra Trail Run. It is put on by Ron Horn, an exceptional race director who works very hard to put on interesting and fun events just about every month at his Reading Liederkranz base. He loves what he does and it shows. This race was stocked with great people, awesome food, and a rad course as always. I ran with my oldest friend/brother Don Gidusko, his brother Jason, Mustache Man, and a few other folks who train with MM; they make up the Lords of Coventry Crew. They are all great guys and are great to hang out with!
We started shortly after 7:30am on the five mile course of 5% road 95% roots, rocks, mud, and logs. This is what I LOVE! It began raining and rained off and on for the first few hours or so, sometimes fairly hard. I am not going to give a mile-by-mile or lap-by-lap account of the day, I can't imagine anyone wanting to read that... But what I will say is running with the LOC crew made this an easy event! The part of ultra-running that can be very difficult is the isolation of running for 7, 8, 9, 10 hours all alone. Occupying your mind can be every bit as exhausting as the muscles in your legs as you log 30, 40 or 50 miles, it's so true. The miles just fell as we ran, it was really quite effortless. The only thing that slowed me down was my bad wheel. About mile 18 I started to feel some significant pain in my right foot, the same sort of pain I had felt the previous weeks in my left foot. This pain was tendonitis and it was what initiated my doctor telling me no to run this race. I decided I would try and as soon as the pain returned in the top of my left foot, I would stop. It NEVER happened...in my left foot that is. I most have been over compensating because boy did I feel it in my right foot.
It was incredibly painful! I felt like Tonya Harding was hitting me every time I took a step. I pushed through this and completed another 13 miles on the bad foot. If it hadn't been for my injury, I had 50 miles in me for sure. My split times for the five mile laps, however slow, were 1:03:02, 1:11:44, 1:14:24, 1:20:53, 1:17:58 - with a final time of 7:59:33. Three of those hours with EXTREME PAIN! I wish I could have kept going, I want a 50 miler under my belt! Hats off to the LOC crew and my brother of 25 years Don Gidusko for putting down 40 miles. Impressive. Jason was a monster out there, he hates running and did what he does so well, mentally kicked the Labor Pains' ass. The guy is tough, one of the Worlds Toughest Mudders for sure.
With all that said, my next post will be my top five 50 Mile races for so for 2013. It will be done, more than once I imagine...
I have to add a big THANK YOU to my boy Zippy for being there for me, cheering me on and driving my wounded butt home. He is such a great guy! He woke up at 4:00am, drove two hours each way, and hung out in the rain for eight hours by himself just so he could say good job every hour and a half or so as I ran by. Thank you my friend, it meant the world to me.
So, it has been a couple weeks since I posted anything. Partly because I have been busy, partly because I didn't have a lot to post, and also because I just don't know if anyone is actually reading my blog...
Last weekend my oldest and best friend/big brother Don Gidusko and I ran the Double Trouble 15K/30K trail race in French Creek State Park (Double Trouble Trail Run - Results 15K30K). I had signed up a few weeks ago and asked Don if he wanted to meet me there and run it, he drove over from his NJ vacation and we ran together. The race is a 15K (9.3 mile) loop around a lake and up some LONG climbs and decents, over lots of rocks and it is nearly 100% single track; in short, great trail race conditions! The race involves running one loop with an option of a second, you can decide mid race if you want to stop at one or double down for a second loop (18.6 total miles).
At the start of the race Don and I didn't discuss wether we were doing one or two. I assumed we would just do one because Don hasn't run more than twelve miles at a shot since starting trail running six months ago. My beautiful wife Angela was there cheering me on so I was just going to to one lap and spend the rest of the day with her at the park. When Ron Horn, the race director, gave us the go ahead, we took off. I stayed close to Don for the first half mile or so and then I just had to take off. I turned back to tell Don and away I went! I was passing people left and right along the single track trail, often times dodging trees and trying my best not to break my ankle on a rock hidden under the leaves. I LOVE doing this. People freak out when you just fly by them commando style in the woods. I think a lot of people think you have to stay on the little trail, not me!
I ran my race and dealt with the long assents and decents as best I could and pushed myself pretty hard to finish at 1:28:23. Here is the GPS info: Double Trouble Trail Run 15K. When I was approaching the finish line, my wonderful wife was there cheering for me and greeted me with a kiss. THAT'S the best!
I knew Don would be close behind me so Angela and I waited and watched for El Donyo to come cruising in. It only took a few minutes and I saw him approaching the finish line. I said, "Finish strong buddy!" He pointed at me, saluted, and said, "I'm going again!" I was floored. Don has never run that far in his life, and certainly not on trails, something that is significantly more difficult than running on the road.
It was at that point that Angela and I realized we had some time to kill. I knew he would take longer for the second lap than the first. We walked around, I got a quick shower, fresh clothes on and we sat on our blanket near the finish line to wait for Don and cheer everyone else as they came in. It took a couple hours, but I saw Don round the trail. He had shed his shirt, but even at a hundred yards, through the woods, I could tell it was him by the way he runs. I was so excited!
In classic form, when I asked Don what got into him - why he ran 18.6 miles out of nowhere, he replied, "Matt, at mile eight I felt a cool breeze and said to myself, you got this." THAT my friends is classic Don Gidusko.
It was a great day and Don and I both had great races. I finished 59th out of 302 people in the 15K. That is great for me! In my next blog post, the Labor Pain Ultra - 12 hour Trail Run. As many miles as you can log in 12 hours on the five mile course. I am shooting for ten laps...50 MILES!
So, this last week has been pretty good for me as a runner. An old friend of mine, "Amish" Shultz, has begun to run. I suggested he try it and it seems as if he is enjoying himself. Way to go Amish!!! My friend Andrea, who I introduced running to in the spring has just signed up for her second 5K. What a great thing for her considering she "hates" running. I guess she enjoyed her first experience in the Bob Potts 5K a month ago. Way to go Dre!!! Lastly my good friend/brother, Jimmy Andrews, got off his butt today and went for a run. He ran with me a couple years ago in Maine when I ran to the top of all five peaks of Sunday River ski resort. The Mountain Epic is a great race, eight miles up and four miles down. Way to go Jimmy, I'm proud of you for getting out there!!! One day at a time, one foot in front of the other... You can do this!
On top of all this amazing news, I had a decent week mileage-wise. I would have liked to log a few more miles yesterday and added another day of running, but 27 miles is decent. I am up to 730 for the year. This week I am going to shoot for 35 miles.
I am one the lookout for my next challange, this might work. I registererd for one of Rock Creek's races just over two years ago, but met Angela shortly thereafter and skipped it. I don't regret it, but I missed an oppertunity and this might just make up for it. I have yet to run in Tennessee, so this could be my TN stamp! I have a couple months to think about it, we'll see...
I think I am going to maintain my training for the next month or so while I make a decision about my next endeavor. I think I want to run another North Face Endurance Challenge, this time in Atlanta, Georgia. This will be another trail run and if I choose to run it, my longest run ever...50 miles. I haven't made a decision yet as to if I am going to run it or not, but I want to be prepared and ready to go if I decide to do it.
I will be maintaining my training for now. I will be doing a medium length run in the middle of the week, maybe ten to twelve miles. On the weekends I will do a longer run, somewhere between fifteen to twenty miles. This will allow me to make that transition into training for a fifty mile race fairly easily. The Atlanta NFEC isn't until October, so I have a couple months to decide and then kick training into high gear.
The Javelina Jundred! It is October 27-28 in essentially Phoenix Arizona. I might not make it this year, but very possibly next year. So maybe I will find a 50 mile race between now and then but this is very intriguing to me.
Looking at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Atlanta, Georgia, October 13-14 to do my 50 miler. I have mixed feelings about doing another NFEC for my 50M. The positives are I know it will be organized excellently and the temperature should be great, but doing another race from the same director/organizer takes some of the excitement out of the experience. There are so many interesting races out there, organized by very interesting people! I haven't made any decisions just yet...
I am going for a run today, just five to get my feet back and legs churning. I am now looking at 50 mile races, I hope to find one with a belt buckle finisher award...
So, it has been over a year since I posted to my blog here. In that year I gave up on the fifty mile ultra due to a health issue and set out to train for a 50k trail run. I finished the 50k North Face Endurance Challenge yesterday at 6:25:59. It is an incredible accomplishment that I am very proud of; but today, just 24 hours later, I am already looking for my next challenge. I want to earn a buckle! A buckle is an award given at some ultra-marathons. They are belt buckles and are given instead of finisher medals in the form of necklaces similar to Olympic medals. There are many different buckles out there some for 50, 100, 200 mile races...and beyond actually. Some are plain and others are very cool! Several are nearly impossible to attain because they are so desirable, despite the difficulty of the course, that there are lotteries to register for these races. Here are some examples of the more desirable buckles:
Leadville 100 Mile
Western States 100 Mile
Badwater 146 Mile
So the question is... "Which race will be my next challenge?"
