Warrior Dash 2011

"Vegan Powers"

2011 Cleveland Marathon 

in the books!

Good times, bad times, wet times, cold times,

 overall a great experience .

The night before the race I did my normal pre-race meal of carbo loading pasta, laid out all my gear and hit the bed around 9:30. I had a pretty good night sleep and woke up on time at 4:00. I made my pre-race shake, frozen strawberries, one banana, chia seed gu, cup of almond milk and some protein powder. (Aka my rocket fuel) I took a quick shower and got ready. 5:00 came pretty quick and I kept on checking to make sure I had everything. My ride showed up right on time! My friend Mikes sister in law Kirsten from Days go by, also running the full marathon picked me up and we headed to Mikes to pick him up then head on down to the race. Mike was running the full and his wife Kelly was running the half. She was going to ride down with some friends. Mike and his wife scored some VIP parking passes that let us park within 500 feet from the start so we had to be down there before 6:00 to get in.

Quiznos subs are sure asty!

Here's a picture from our parking spot, right next to the stadium!

We met up with Jason and his wife from our Runkeeper street team and headed up to the start area. After a few potty breaks we headed down the hill to the start of the race to line up in our pace groups. I wanted to join the tail end of the 4:00 group an hoping to finish with the 4:15.

Kirsten lining up for her first marathon!

Here's Mike!

The weather was still not to bad, a little chilly but the rain was holding off. I was sure once we started I could shed of my thou away long sleeve shirt I had.

You can see the starting line way way way up there, I think that this is the best part of a marathon. So many runners all here to do the same thing... Run!

This year I planned on drinking water at every water stop and fueling with my chia fresca just like I used on my birthday 40 mile run. I also brought some power bar chews just in case my sugar started to feel low and I needed a boost.  As soon as the race started I took off my second layer and threw it to the side. The first mile was a little slow,  so many people trying to fall into there pace, very very crowded. First mile in 10:13. The next few miles didn't even feel like miles, when the first water station came up I was surprised. Grab a cup of water, walk a few steps and caught back up to Mike. His plan was to hit every other station, but I wasn't going to risk it. Next thing you know we were at mile 6! The first hour flew by, I was feeling really good.

The next 6 mile flew by also,I felt like that this was going to be the pr of the year if the rest of the race went this well.

mi Pace (min/mi)

1 10:13

2 9:21

3 9:10

4 9:46

5 9:16

6 9:38

7 9:34

8 9:45

9 9:45

10 9:28

11 10:14

12 9:56

13 9:21

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon: brian morris - Half in 2:07:46. 
Pace: 9:45. Est: 4:15:38. Powered by Xact RealTime Race Alerts.              

Thanks Redhead Running for the great support!

This was the best Half Marathon time yet! Mike and I were rocking this race! The next three miles I could tell something was coming on but nothing bad I thought.

14 10:21

15 10:48

16 10:42

At mile 15 Mike looked at me and said "I think at mile 16 we should kick it up" I was all for it, but I started to have a small hip give out on the right side. Nothing ever happened like this before. It happened a few times over the next mile, I just pushed threw it and it seemed to go away. I also a couple of times a shooting pain in my right arm on the down stroke. Felt like someone hit me with a taser in the hand and it shot up my arm. I knew something was happening. I grabbed my chews and shoved some down my throat, hoping that's was it. When mile 16 hit Mike looked over at me and said you ready? I told him I couldn't and for him to give it hell. He looked confused, he didn't want to leave me behind but wanted to hit it. I told him to go! I had to do the same in other races and I know what it feels like to leave a runner behind but it's your own race and you got to run it. When mike took off, and I mean took off! I knew that I was holding him back a little on the last few miles. I continued to run and slowly started to feel the pain in my legs get stronger. My calves just locked up and the pain behind my knees brought me to a walk. I walked for a few hundred feet and started to walk again. I did this a few times and was noticed by one of the race support guys on the bikes that are on the look out of runner that need medical support. He came up on me and asked if I was alright. I gave him the guy look of ya I'll be ok, just need to walk it out. Although it was the worst pain I have ever felt. Even more than when I finished my first real long run, more than I felt after my first marathon. I was so pissed! It's only mile 16 damnit and I am walking. I wanted to get my mind out of the game so I grabbed my phone and checked out my Facebook for race times... I posted that I was at mile 16 and had to take a walk. I noticed that I got a text from my sister that they were there in spirit. Got pissed again  that I was walking. I decided just to walk this mile out and see how it goes.

17 16:56

Towards the end of mile 17 I ran/walked in to Beal from twitter, he was also blogging about his training and the Cleveland marathon. After chatting a few he went on his way pushing to the end. I decided I couldn't walk any more it was just to painful to walk and I might as well be running in pain then walking in it. Next to miles...

18 11:13

19 12:13

I started to loosin up a bit but I could not push it, trust me I tried!  The 20 mile marker was emotional I knew in was almost there but pissed that I was walking again.

20 17:18

Mile twenty was real tuff, the pain was crazy. The worst part is I didn't feel tired or out of breathe not even.... Just hurting in way that I couldn't think of. Pissed that the 4:15 group passed me by and I think the 4:30 group as well I started to try to run again.

21 11:32

22 12:16

The next miles brought on memories from last years marathon and I felt and this point. I just didn't want to have to walk across no damn finish line. I was broken. Plainly broken. Nothing left. Mad. Pissed. Confused. I just wanted it to be over.

23 15:10

24 16:06

I was walking to the side with my head down when I noticed and familiar runner pass me by. It was Mikes sister-in-law Kirsten. I jumped into a run and caught up with her giving her a tap on the shoulder. The look on her face was priceless. She was like what the hell are you doing here? I told her that I thought I would run it twice and I was on the second time around. The lady next to us gave me a shitty grin, priceless! I told her that I tanked around mile 16 and was just trying to push to the end. I didn't want to tell her how much pain I was in the last 7 miles, being her first marathon and so close to finishing it. She had that look, the same look that many runners have towards the end of  their longest run or the end of a race. The look of a broken person that is just pushing towards the end of a new goal. The look of overwhelming emotions. I know that look to well, I have been there a lot in the last few years, it's like a drug and your searching out your next fix.  I started to talk about McDonald s French fries I think, how bad I wanted them right now. I am every anti McDonald s or any fast food places and she reminded me of that.

25 11:27

As the next mile was in the books I was running again, I was glad that I met up with someone I knew. Someone that would give me the energy to push on, push on running. As the end grew closer I think we both were feeding each others positive energy to push harder to the end, to finish strong !

26 10:45

About a half mile from the end she told me that she wanted her own finishing picture so either back off or kick it... LMAO! So she adjusted herself and we both started to run a little faster. When the last turn came up it was all down hill! Damn she took off like a rocket, pure joy poured out! I remember her yelling out " Come on Brian!" but there was noway I was catching up to that... Must of been running a 6:30 pace.

After crossing the finish line and receiving my medal, I realized that I finished my second marathon. I have might have not broken any personal records, but I did finish strong. Thanks to a new friend.

Chip time 4:55:54

"Red shoes!"

14 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds!

I think I am ready!

Tomorrow morning 7:00 am I will line up for my second marathon. A little less nervous then last year and I feel more prepared. I have a time goal in mind, altho the real goal is to have fun and finish strong and proud. 

10 More Days!!!

Yes thats right ten more days until I get to line up with thousands of others that put in the hard work so we can run our 26.2 mile celebration.
At the start of training I feel that the marathon is so far away and I have 16 weeks to get ready. Half way thou the training I start to feel the pressures of the training creep up. Three quarters thou the training is when my mind tells me that I am not doing enough and I am never going to finish this marathon. Then when you look at your training schedule and you see that you ran your last long run, you see it. The Taper! You made it! Now its just an easy two weeks of hopefully easy runs. The last two weeks is the most exciting time of training for me. I feel proud that I made it threw marathon training once again, a little faster and a bit more stronger. I think their is no better way to finish it by running the last 26.2 miles with all my friends! WOOT! WOOT!

Whats with all these new personal records?
Once again I crushed my last pr by more that a minute in the 5K. My last 5K was in March and I ran it in 25:33 beating my last time by 30 seconds or so. Last sunday I lined up for the West end YMCA 5k. The course was pretty flat and ran threw a nice quite streets next to the YMCA. The only downer was that it was raining the whole time. I decided that I was going to wear my Vibram Bikila fivefinger anti-shoes for this race. The first mile went pretty quick and I didn't want to push it hard like in the other races, I alway feel like I have nothing left when I push to soon. Ran the first mile in 7:42 The second mile I felt like I started to speed up, I think it was just the first mile telling me that... Usually I start getting passed by the smart runners that know how to pace themselves, not today thou, I was one of the smart runners. I ran the second mile in 7:45. On the last mile my plan was to hang until the last .5 then try to give it my all. Before that last turn onto the finish I could feel the other runners starting to kick it up. When I turn the corner I saw the clock off in the distance and knew it was time to put the hammer down. I ran the last mile in 7:39. For the last minute of the race I was averaging a 6:20 pace! I ran it in 23:50, making it into the 23 minute zone! Lovein it! The only down side is that in the shoots some guy was pushing his way threw not knowing to stay in order... so on the race web site I got his time and he got mine... oh well.

20 days 22 hours 6 minutes 10 seconds

Running for over ten hours gives you some time to think about a few things.

Today is the second and last scheduled 20-22 mile long run for my cleveland marathon training program. I did it earlier this week using the first 20 of the birthday run as my long run for this week. Seeing all my running friends hit up the big 20 miles this week just makes me feel happy and proud. I can remember the first time I hit that 20 mile mark. The weeks before the run all I could think about was the 20 mile mark, in short I was scared shitless! The 18 mile run I ran two weeks before felt like it was going to put me in the hospital and I had to push out two more miles. After my first 20 mile run, I felt like the marathon was in my sites! It was a huge hump in my training and I was so proud of completing it.

This years training was no different, the dreaded 20 mile run was in my head the whole time. My first of two 20 mile training runs ended at 18ish... I was a little down about it, but ok with it. The second 20 miles, well thats when I had a break threw.

There will alway be the fear of trying something new. The fear of not completing a goal. The fear of the pain you know is coming. The fear of trying to push yourself and you end up sitting on a park bench wondering why the hell are you doing this anyway. I think you get what I am saying... I think that I always looked at the distance as a chore and I knew when this chore was done I was going to hurt like hell. My mind was telling me why do it again? Why go thru the pain, when I could just stop. When I passed the 20 mile mark on my run I felt proud again, I felt like I did the first time I ran my first 5k. I felt like I pushed thru that mind set that told me I would be only rewarded with pain. Don't get me wrong here my legs were feeling the milage, but I was only thinking about my next goal and getting to feel that proud feeling of completing a distance that I have only been at one time before. As I pushed on to the marathon distance, I knew a new goal of mine was coming close, the 50K mark. The fear was now replaced with a new feeling. The feeling that with every step I am closer to a new achievement. The pain of achy legs was gone, almost like I just started running. I slowly pushed myself past the point were fear and pain ruled and made it to the other side. Ya I know I am clinically crazy, Its just something you have to experience.

I guess the biggest thing I learned on my 10 plus hour run is that, don't fear the distance, its just part of the journey.


Every time you run
you create the quality
of your own experience.


runners often speak of pain
and of course if you want that
you can have all you want
merely by pushing yourself
beyond your limits
every time you run.


it's your choice of whether
to run to punish your self
or to experience your self.
if you choose, with me, the later
then ever run can be joyful.
the key words are,
Take it easy!
create your self as a runner
gradually, patiently, relaxedly.


The Zen of Running
Fred Rohe

The Birthday 40 mile ultra

I think it was last year sometime someone asked me what I wanted to do for my 40th birthday, I said jokingly " I think I want to run 40 miles".



Thu, Apr 21, 2011 7:57 AM

My goal was to run, walk or craw until I hit 40 miles. I wanted to run the Burning River 100 mile course until I hit 40 miles then call in for my ride back. The course is mainly broken down into 5-6 mile sections so I would be running "A to H" Section A and B are on paved roads and the rest for the most part are trails. I decided to run in my New Balance trail shoes seeing that 75% would be on dirt trails.

For water and fuel, I had my Camel Back backpack that was full of just plain water and I brought two Cliff bars, lots of Gu, and four packs of power bar chews. I also brought my hand held 20oz water bottle that was full chia fresca that I made the night before.

For Navigation I used my Garmin 305, you can down load maps or courses into it. Plus it keeps track of your distances and times.

I also brought my Ipod nano to lessen to an audio book or some music. I do have an Iphone that I brought but I didn't want to run down the battery just incase I needed to phone a friend.

Section A: Old Mill & Chagrin River Roads 4.8 miles 54:15

Just normal old running on the roads here, just wanted to keep a steady and slow pace.

Section B: Polo Fields 4.8 miles 58:34

This section was also ran on the roads, It was a little confusing at the start with the Garmin and how it showed you the route. So after standing around a bit I figured it out and was on my way. The roads were not to bad and only a few harder up hills.

Section C: Harper Ridge Picnic 5.8 miles 1:27:52 When I got to the polo fields once again I was confused and where to go. I watched a You Tube video of the route and remembered that this is where the trails begin, but where? Still not to sure how the Garmin was pointing me I grabbed my phone and looked up the video and found the right way to go. I started down the trail and realized why they call it the Burning River 100... I am following the river. Duh, it takes a while sometimes. Running down the trail I started to feel my 10 mile yuck starting. Its a point in my runs that has been tearing me down for a while now. I usually can push threw   it, but a lot of times the couch wins. I put it in the back of my head and just enjoyed where I was at and where I was going. A few miles in it was getting a little muddy and I came up to some water crossings that soaked my shoes pretty well. The more I ran on the trails the loser I began to feel and next thing you know I was at the 15.4 mark.

I came out of the trails to a small picnic  area and sat down on a bench for a small rest and to figure out my next section.

Section D: Shadow Lake 3.2 miles 45:53This section was the shortest of all the sections, Some really nice relaxed running. I can start to feel my legs aching and hitting a small mental wall. I haven't been over 18 miles in a long time and I knew it was coming up. When I got to Shadow lake I grabbed one for my cliff bars and started to walk to the starting point of section E.

Section E: Egbert Shelter 4.8 miles 1:26:43

After walking around the lake and back into the trails, I decided that I wanted to at least take a small break and walk a mile. I could remember the 20-21 mile mark at the Cleveland Marathon last year and how my legs hurt like hell and I wanted to prolong that feeling. So the strangest thing happened about a half mile into the trail... I was running again? Mainly on the downs and straights but It just felt better to run them. When I came out of the trails to the bike paths I started to walk some more, my legs started to really hurt then. I knew that I was past the 20 mile mark and anything from here could be run ,walk or craw. I was using this run as part of my sunday 20 mile training run. I came up to the entrance back in the trails and off the bike paths. I think this is one of the best parts of the run up to this point. The trails were signal track zig zagging back and forth threw the woods. When running them I almost forgot were I was and how my legs were killing me. Wait! Legs killing me? Nope! it almost felt like I just started to run. I wasn't ever expecting this, I felt really good, loving the trails! I ran up on this shoe in the middle of the woods, It was sitting just like its pictured. I was laughing the whole time I saw it.

Section F: Alexander & Bedford Rd. 5 miles 1:22:18

Thou the easiest of the trails, it was the hardest mentally and physically. On this section I passed my distance record of 26.2 the marathon. I really started to break on this section, I kept on telling myself it doesn't matter on how fast you go, its the distance today. It doesn't matter when I finish only that I do.

I was out of Chia Fresca and was hitting all the snacks and chomps I had to get me going again. I was also getting low on water. I came up on a very nice looking water fall and filled up my 20oz with what I hope was fresh water...

Section G Station Rd. Bridge 4.9 miles 1:23:19

I made a short phone call to my wife to explain where I was and about how long before she would have to leave to pick me up at the end. I posted on Facebook my progress and got caught up on my birthday wishes. Sitting here I was at 28.4 miles and about to hit my winter goal of a 50k in 1.6 miles. I was hurting a little bit but nothing like it was after my marathon last year. Time to hit it again! I think I posted that it was time to harden up and get it done. I started of walking again until it turned to trails again. I almost missed the entrance to the Buckeye Trail, Thank you Garmin for yelling I was off course. The trails turned into some really nice signal person zig zags again and I started up running again. This is were I had a break threw, as soon as I started running the trails all the pain was gone. It was like once again I just started to run. The next two miles... I never wanted it to end, It felt so good to be there. I came out to a beat up road and started to walk some. I crossed the street and hit a bike/trail path that when along the river. I kept on walking wish that it would turn back into those dirt trails again. Around two miles down the path I realized where I was... The TowPath. I always wanted to run it, but today I was only going to walk some of it.

Section H Ottawa point  6.3 miles 1:30:00

I sat down on the bench and made the call for my wife to meet me at Ottawa point. I changed my socks to some fresh one I have been saving in my back pack and reloaded my 20oz with some fresh water. Made my update on Facebook, set the Garmin and hit the trail to finish my last section. I headed down the path and then my Garmin went dead! CRAP! the only thing that was keeping me on course just died. I crossed the road into the park and kept following the bike/hike trail. I was frantically looking for the blue slashes for the buckeye trail. I didn't want to use my phone to look it up because I was at 8% power and wanted to make sure that I could call someone if something happened. I ran across a bridge and kept following the path. I though I would try my Garmin one more time to see if it would turn on more more time to maybe give me a small sign of direction. Lucky me it lasted about two minutes, just enough to get me on the right track. After a few miles I tried the Garmin one more time to see if I could get a update. Once again it came on and I was going in the right direction. It only lasted for about 30 seconds that time. Then I came up up on my favorite sign of the day! The buckeye Trail! 

I felt like I was back on track! as soon as I got back on the trail it turned into the best time, I was running pain free threw some great trails. I came out onto some road that I thought was the finish. I had no clue how far I just ran or how much I had to go. So I grabbed my phone and hit maps really quick to see where I was. I look across the street and saw the buckeye trail sign and headed over.

Then I called my wife to see where she was and she didn't sound very happy, I guess she got a little lost on the trip out and was frustrated. I started walking down the road and decided to give her my location so she could use maps to get to me. She was about 20 minutes out so I found a place to sit down and rest.

Good Times.

29 days 17 hours 17 minutes 20 seconds

WHAT! less then 30 days! but I don't feel like I am even close to being ready for a marathon. I say that every time I head out for a run. It's almost one year ago I ran my first Marathon, and I am going to do it again.

Training has been going really good, on paper. I am putting in the workouts like my program says and I am making improvements in my time and endurance. Its the mental training that is bringing me down lately. Its a battle of "Will Power" and sometimes the old guy on the couch that like to drink beer and eat chips all day is winning this battle. I have not been over 18 miles in a year, my last 20 mile run ended at 18 because I lost that mental battle. Two weeks ago I hit a high in my sunday LSR when I did my 3 hour run and hit the 16 mile mark! I felt really good about that run! Last sunday was a easy two hour run that I was to give it my all and run it like a half- marathon. To say the least I didn't win that fight I made it about 6 miles at a good pace and felt like crap, no motivation to keep running. I started up after my refueling point and only made it 1.6 miles more... that guy on the couch won the battle. (i didn't really go the the couch and drink beer and eat chips)
I thank gosh for my cross training! I now love to swim and totally look forward to it every monday and thursday and now that the weathers warmer I am trying to get outside with my bike.
Then there is barefoot running. Its the one time I am really having fun running. I love my Vibram fivefingers I wear my Trek sports everywhere I can. I have even been wearing them to work lately. Don't get me started on my Bikila LS fivefingers they are the most comfortable thing in the world. I do short runs a couple times a week in them and hopefully someday I will be a full time VFF runner. I am going to try to get out and run some trails next week in my treks.