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The title of this post is a little misleading. The title may say marathon, but the 1st annual Terrapin Mountain Marathon was more like a 27 mile adventure race with some running mixed in. In short, I knew that the elevation changes would be difficult for this Long Islander who has trouble simulating such drastic elevation changes while running around flat Long Island, but the race was highly rewarding and finishing my first true mountain race is a highlight in my early ultrarunning career.

Pre-Race
Yet again, for my second Horton run, transportation proved to be difficult. Having to work until 3:30pm on Friday afternoon, I headed immediately down to Big Island, Virginia and the drive was brutal. Nine hours later, I was pulling into the parking lot at the Sedalia Center at 12:30am only 6.5 hours until race start. I got out of the car and walked around some to familiarize myself with the Center's surroundings and to stretch my legs and then went to sleep in the reclined front seat of my tiny Corolla. No sooner did I close my eyes, I started to hear sounds of car doors being shut and checked my phone - 5:45am. I quickly got dressed, checked in and no sooner than I could wipe the crust out of my eyes, Race Director Clark Zealand was on his microphone giving us the pre-race speech. One tidbit during this meeting that I wasn't aware of (maybe I should have read more about the race before driving down) was that you would need to obtain a page from 2 separate books - the first one being at the "Summit" and another one later in the race. Silly New Yorker that I am, I assumed the Summit would be the top of the first large climb we finished (not the case). Before I came to the realization that I should get some more information on the course, 7am rolled around and we were off running. Notice, I haven't eaten breakfast - huge oversight and mistake.

First ~5 Miles
For this inexperienced mountain runner, this section of the race, especially right at the start, was brutal and demoralizing. My goal for this race was to power walk the inclines, run the downhills that were runnable as fast as I could and blast through any flat sections. However, it seemed as if I was the weakest hill climber in the entire group and almost immediately found myself at the very back of the pack. At one point, there was a runner without a race number behind me and I asked him if he was sweeping thinking I was dead last. He laughed and stated that there were "plenty of runners behind us" which was an outright lie. My Achilles heels were both burning whenever I tried to pick up the pace and ended up settling for just trying to power through this section knowing that the course gets a little easier later on. By the time I hit the 4.9 mile aid station, I had to have been near dead last - a position I had never been in before and was quite an issue to process in my head. I ate a little something still not remembering I forgot breakfast and continued out.

Miles ~5 - ~9
I get about 1000 yards and stop dead in my tracks. Was that the Summit? Did I need to get a page from a book? I let two runners catch up to me to ask them if I needed to get a book page there and they looked at me as if I was clueless (which I was) and said no. So, back to running. The course gets much easier during this section and I really used this section to mainly recover mentally and to try and readjust my entire outlook on this race. I went in wanting to run a 6 hour race and now I just wanted to finish as far away from the bottom as possible. This section of the course is very runnable although I was still recovering from the previous section. Nothing very notable in this section to be honest.

Miles ~9 - ~13 (The Turnaround)
This is where the race got very interesting for me. There were some good flats and some downhills and I was able to pass a few runners during this section. The first part of the section is a wonderful grass wide trail that felt so perfect to run on that I really enjoyed this section. However, right around the 11.5 mile mark, you enter a very narrow single track dirt trail with a very steep incline. Here, I lost all the ground I made on the back of the pack in about a mile and everything that could go wrong went very wrong. I suddenly started to get extremely hungry and realized I hadn't eaten anything. I then had to go to the bathroom - the complicated end. Then, I realized "where did the pink trail markings go?". All in all, I lost about 10-15 minutes in stops and turnarounds and finally made it into the last aid station where the volunteers there (who doubled as the sweeps) stated "these are the runners we'll be following".

That's right - they announced me dead last. (although I think I was actually third to last and the sweep was wrong).

Miles ~13 - ~17
Metaphorically, this was my "turnaround". I finally came to accept my dead last position and set my sights on catching as many people as possible. I started out the turnaround aid station trailing the runner in front of me by only a few steps. I kept pace with her until a slight water crossing where she stepped around and I plowed right through the water and mud - yet another metaphor which boosted my spirits. As quickly as I passed the last female, I took my first "ultra" fall tripping over a grass covered rock. Luckily, it wasn't too bad and no one was around to laugh (the only good thing about being almost last) and quickly set out to finish getting up the steep uphill single track and then hopefully to catch some runners on the flats and downhills. Once I got out to the wide grass covered trail, I was able to cruise the downhills and pass another 3 runners, but they were able to keep up pretty close through this entire section and up until the aid station. During the last part of this section, I started to cramp badly in my right leg when I tried to run the downhills hard so I knew I needed more salt which I got in the form of a salt covered potato. At the aid station they pointed up a huge hill we hadn't run before and let me know that up yonder was where I was headed.

Miles ~17 - ~21
I'm not even too sure about where in the course I was at this point mileage wise. Right out of the aid station, you run/walk up a very steep single track up to the "Summit". Here, I found myself completely alone and I basically would stay like this after I reached the Summit book location (where there were no more pages and I got a rip of the front cover) until the out and back to the last aid station 4 miles later. After the Summit, you arrive at "Fat Man's Misery" - a rock formation that requires you to carefully slide down about 6-8 feet through a narrow crevice and duck underneath a low hanging rock followed by climbing through another rock formation making this more of an adventure race than a "run". From here, the course becomes a downhill run with a nice gentle single track at first which is pretty runnable, but then turns into rock hell which was too technical for me to make any type of decent time down and I assume better trail runners would cruise through this section. Eventually, the single track opens up and you run your way down to the aid station which is a slight out and back where I finally saw a handful of runners walking up the trail after having just left the aid station. I figured I was a good 10-15 minutes behind them.

Miles ~21 - The End
As I was leaving the aid station, I was surprised to see all the runners I thought I had distanced myself from right behind me coming into the aid station as I was just leaving. This was slightly disheartening as I knew there was at least one more big climb left and I assumed all of these runners would catch and pass me. I did my best to power walk the inclines and no sooner did I finish the climbs, I was presented with a lot of gentle zig-zagging downhills which I made sure to take advantage of and I ended up running this section, again, completely by myself never seeing another runner (so the last 9 miles I only saw other runners for a few brief moments). I wanted to make sure there was no way any of the runners behind me could pass me so I took advantage of the downhills. As I finally made my way out the seemingly endless wilderness onto the roads where we started the race, I cruised into the finish line running a very slow 7:34. My only solace was that after the last aid station I was able to put 11-15 minutes between myself and the runners that I saw at the last aid station and I was able to basically keep pace with the runners who finished ahead of me. All in all, a successful race as I'll take the humility the mountains gave me and the lessons of running near dead last with me to my training.

How to Prepare for this Race
I always want to give readers of my race reports the details on how to prepare for a race so here's some things to do to successfully run the Terrapin Mountain Marathon.

* You must carry water with you on this race. Some courses are forgiving enough that you can run naked and just use the aid stations, but this is not one of them. I carried one 12oz. water bottle and was very nearly near empty by the time I rolled into each aid station.
* Shoe Choice - I wore North Face Anuva 50s which I love because I have lace issues almost every race (my big feet like to step on my own laces constantly or my feet swell and the laces get too tight). These shoes faired well on this course; however, I would suggest making sure you wear a padded/thicker shoe for the jagged rocky sections of this race. While my feet don't hurt too badly now, I was definitely slowed down by the bruising on the bottoms of my feet.
* Make sure you bring your own breakfast - there may have been food there in the morning, but I didn't see any so make sure you bring your own breakfast.
* No headlamp needed - it's bright enough around the Center that you don't need any lighting really.
* Clark mentions that you need to wear a left handed glove for Fat Man's Misery. I say there's no chance for the Best Blood award if you do.

The Short Version
Great race, well organized, Dr. Horton is a very personable RD and I would definitely run the race again, but I had to DNF at the halfway point due to everything but the run and the trail. Entirely frustrating experience.

The Long Version
From the minute go, this trip was destined to fail. I decided to run Holiday Lake and the entire LUS Beast series and haven't been this excited about anything else running wise ... ever. My plan was to leave early Friday morning, make the ~7 hour drive from Long Island, go to the pre-race meeting and get a good night's rest at a nearby hotel.

Well, none of that happened and these factors (and not the trail's difficulty) was my ultimate demise in deciding to drop after ~17 miles. Work kept me in NY much longer than I expected and I didn't leave until early evening. The trip was going very well until I passed into Virginia and my GPS unit told me to get off near Culpepper, VA. I got off and started driving down the back roads of Virginia when I entered the town of Louisa. All of the sudden, over the sounds of my CDs and "Jill", the Garmin voice I have come to loathe, I hear the sickening sound of a flat tire rotating over and over. Great. It's about 12:30am and I have a flat where there are no lights on some back road and I haven't seen another car in about an hour. As I get out of the car, I notice that 1) my left rear tire is shot and 2) I can't see much else. Luckily, since the race starts under the cover of night, I strap on my headlamp and go and get the spare. Almost immediately, I am rushed at by a lone deer that obviously hasn't seen the movie Bambi. After hiding in my car (yeah, I hid, you would too), the deer became disinterested and wandered away. Thinking all was safe, I ventured back outside to start jacking up the car and entered my own version of Wrong Turn as a couple of cars slowly passed by, decided to stop and realized I had a car jack in my hand and decided I wouldn't be an easy target. Maybe it was the NY plates, who knows. Finally, a volunteer firefighter stops to assist me and gets me some directions, avoiding the highways, to the state park from state troopers. I finally get moving again ... at no more than 30 MPH and about 2.5 hours away still.

Needless to say, the state trooper's directions seemed wrong and didn't match the directions on the 4-H Holiday Lake website. I improvised and good thing I did since I made the right choice. It was now 4:15am as I entered the park and was able to park - 2 hours and 15 minutes until start time. I got dressed, organized my belongings, tried to get my bearings and before you knew it 5am approached. I walked over to the main house and waited outside for someone to show up. It wasn't long before Dr. Horton was the first face I would see and he let me in. I grabbed a bagel, sipped some Smart Water and tried to grab some sleep, but was unable to as other runners started coming through the door. So, 6:30am comes along and I have the following to deal with -

* I've been awake for 25.5 hours straight.
* I have a spare tire on my car and no idea where to get it fixed and need to be home by Saturday night
* I still have to run a 50K++ with some Horton miles

Pretty daunting task if you ask me. I was actually in good spirits as the race started since I saw a lot of people shivering near me and I was quite comfy in my shorts and Under Armor long sleeve shirt. The race starts and I had been warned about getting caught up behind the pack when everyone slows down on the single track trail. I was somewhere near the first 50 runners or so and was able to maneuver through the slow single track stuff very quickly. Normally, this would have been a perfect strategy for me, but by mile 1 I was already fighting sleepiness. By being in that lead group, the fear of slowing down the runners behind you makes you run as fast as the runner in front of you allows and this probably wasn't the smartest strategy after being awake for so long already. However, before the race even started, I was resigned to the fact that I had to run this race as fast as possible to give myself enough time to get out of the park and find a still open automotive store with a replacement tire (a task that didn't seem pretty easy due to where the race was located). By Mile 3 or so I knew I had no chance of doing anything useful. I wasn't going to be able to finish in my projected 5-6 hours and if I took any longer I would run out of time trying to find a new tire.

The trail is very soft in almost all areas (sans road section and a couple hundred feet of rocks) and you could probably wear road shoes for this race and be fine. You will need a light for the beginning of the race to navigate early, root filled sections (you should label your light with your name so you can drop it off at the first aid station which I didn't). The beginning of the race was soft with some roots with few leaves, nothing too awful. After the single track trail, it opens up into a vehicle trail I believe which was soft, but not too muddy. There is a short, short stretch of road which goes back to a trail that opens up into a large field. After that huge open field is your first water crossing which wasn't too cold, but was just cold enough to sap the last bit of energy I had. I think I was just too tired from not sleeping to have my body fight for warmth that I lost the desire to stay awake. I really don't remember anything outside of another, larger water crossing which I just plowed through even though there was probably a dry way around and a lot of single track back to the camp grounds. I would say 99% of the course is runnable with very few places where you have to slow down either due to single track congestion or "steep" elevation change.

I hit the turnaround in right around 3 hours and dropped. I think I muttered something about my knee hurting, but in all actuality I was worried about running out of time to get my tire fixed and get home that night. The timekeeper almost seemed shocked that I was dropping because I'm sure I looked strong enough to finish. In hindsight, I made the right choice as it took four hours to find a tire place with a tire close enough to get me home. If I had continued on and finished between 6.5 and 7 hours (disappointing, but respectable considering the conditions I was running in), I would gotten to the tire place I eventually bought the tire at after they closed and could have been stranded. I actually ran 10 miles today at 8 minute pace without any soreness so my muscles had plenty in the tank even if the rest of my body may have been tired from not sleeping.

Overall, it was an extremely frustrating experience although I found the running, while awake enough to take my surroundings in, very enjoyable and "easy". The course is excellent for a rookie ultrarunner with enough aid stations that you could almost run the course without carrying water, etc. The only negative I encountered with the race was the electrolyte drink they served (Clifshot?) which definitely made my stomach pretty angry with me and will know to avoid in future races. I'll be back next year to redeem myself, but I can't say I would change much other than having a full spare with me the next time I drive to an ultra. Congrats to all the finishers - most of whom were very encouraging as they passed and to all the volunteers (especially the one young lady who recognized I was so tired and disoriented that I couldn't even unscrew my water bottle).

Before the Pacing
With my Grindstone 100 service requirement looming over my head, I decided early on that I would volunteer at the Vermont 100 either as a volunteer and/or pacer. After emailing the pacing director, I was matched up with Andy N. from Massachusetts who was a two-time, ~20 hour finisher of this race. Initially, I was actually a little worried pacing someone of this caliber as I know I tend to be erratic with my mile times during longer races, but with a shortage of available pacers, I stayed with Andy. I arrived at the race site Friday afternoon just in time for the pre-race meeting which was highly informative. I’m not sure how I missed this fact over my last two years in the ultrarunning community, but the meeting director informed us that the Vermont 100 is the only race of its kind where humans race the same course as horses. Yes, I said horses.

The pre-race meeting ended and I went back to my car while the runners ate a wonderful pre-race feast (very worth the money if you’re wondering – pacers can get a meal ticket and eat free). I listened to the Yankees game on the radio (only station I could get) and fell asleep in my car (too lazy to break out the tent).

I was awoken by the sounds of heavy rain at 3:45am Saturday morning which was perfect timing because the race starts at 4am. Luckily, the rain did not last too long and the runners were off. I went back to bed so that I was rested for the 30 miles of running I would be doing later. I woke up at 10am and immediately I was bored and anxious. I started questioning “why didn’t I just sign up for this race?”, but tried to relax and slowly get ready. As I started walking around the camp, I could feel that the air wasn’t overly hot, but it was very thick and humid and wondered how many of the runners would hold up in the overbearing humidity. Eventually, I got dressed in my running gear, grabbed my water bottles and went to the main tents to wait for the shuttle to Camp 10 Bear. Camp 10 Bear does double aid station duty at the 47 and 70.1 mile marks. I got there around 2pm and decided to just hang around and take in the excitement of the runners coming in to 10 Bear.

Watching the runners come into 10 Bear was exciting and informative as well. Just by looking at the clothing of the runners, you could see a lot of runners were pummeled by the humidity and were moving slower than they had expected. Quite a few runners looked extremely dehydrated and I heard quite a few stomach related complaints. Seeing the conditions of the runners made me focus on hydrating while waiting even though I was in the Porta-Potty about 15 times. The heavens opened up and some gnarly lightning and thunder accompanied by rain drenched 10 Bear on and off for an hour or so.

The Pacing Begins - Mile 70.1 Camp 10 Bear Aid Station
An hour ahead of schedule, my runner came into 10 Bear at the 70.1 mile mark right at 5pm (13 hours in). He had obviously been running near the Top 20 runners, but as he shuffled into 10 Bear I could see that he was hurting, but definitely not near that red line … yet. However, he did mention in passing that he contemplated dropping thinking that he had gone out too fast, but I think I pressured him into going out. While he took care of his feet, I grabbed his drop bag and got him some M&Ms, cookies and HEED. We set out from 10 Bear at a decent walking pace in preparation of the trail uphill that was upcoming. We handled the trails at a slow, but easy pace and this pace was quick enough to have only 2 runners pass us while passing one ourselves. Andy and I strolled into Seabrook (74.7 miles) which is a small aid station along a gravel road and my runner was starting to get a little cranky; however, I still wasn’t concerned because we were moving at a decent enough pace and a 20 hour finish was still well within our grasp. However, once we left Seabrook, I realized my runner was in serious mental trouble.

When you’re pacing, I think you’re almost more conscious of the things you have learned from running and reading content from other ultrarunners than when you are actually running your own race. I could see that there was nothing medically wrong with my runner, but that he was hitting a major mental hurdle and it was only getting worse. Again, the talk of dropping at West Winds started especially as we encountered some steep, very muddy single track trail. As horse riders passed us saying how we looked good, his comments were all very negative and defeatist. For this section, my approach was to not be encouraging nor discouraging, but more mathematical and tell him that this is a common feeling and that once he was beyond West Winds he would leap the mental hurdle.

77 Miles Down - West Winds Aid Station
We arrived at West Winds and the situation didn’t improve as much as I thought it would. He was turning down water stating he couldn’t drink anymore water (not a good sign as this will lead to other medical problems later) although he was still eating. To his credit, he didn’t stay at West Winds for more than 5 minutes and was back out shuffling along. This ended up being the calm before the storm and we jogged a nice gravel road section passing a few 100K runners and we arrived at the unmanned Goodmans aid station. I was actually thinking we had a real chance of keeping a decent pace and still obtaining that 20 hour goal until we left Goodmans and night started to roll in.

It amazed me from the pacer’s perspective that you can actually watch a fellow runner deteriorate mentally right before your eyes. As dusk was setting in and it started to become darker, the incessant pleas to quit, DNF and just sleep started raining upon me. Again, I tried to be more analytical about the situation stating that “it’s a normal reaction to night rolling in and we’ve all been there”. Our conversation for the next 2.6 miles was straight out of a bad marriage with him saying what he wanted and not listening to a word I said and vice versa. It was an extremely long 2.6 miles for me because I continued to walk silently when all I wanted to do was squirt my water bottle at him. We finally arrived at Cow Shed and he immediately stated his intentions to lay down and he took two blankets and laid face down on the ground outside the tent. When he went down, I was starting to think that he wasn’t going to get over the mental hurdle. After staying down for 30 minutes, I caught a break when the Vermont bugs started biting his face causing him to be uncomfortable enough to want to keep going. I knew he was leaving not because he wanted to run, but because he wanted to leave so I was dreading the long 5 miles between Cow Shed and Bill’s, but slowly we left the great volunteers there.

It's important to note that it was so humid that the night time air was so foggy that our headlamps were rendered basically useless as you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you. This fact added to Andy's demoralized state as progress was difficult to discern.

The 5 Mile Road to Bill's & 88.6 Miles
I did all that I could to keep him upright those next 5 miles. He was wobbly. He couldn’t walk in a straight line and the slightest elevation change brought him close to toppling over. In this section I was completely silent because there was no piece of encouragement that would drive him further so I instead opted for focusing on nothing but our forward progress. It took almost a full 2 hours to get to Bill’s and there were several times I actually caught him to prevent him from falling over. We crashed into Bill’s (88.6 miles) and he immediately headed to a medical cot and I thought for sure our race was over. At this point it’s about 11:30pm and I know that any significant amount of downtime, with our current pace, might mean missing out on a sub-24 hour buckle finish. As he laid down in the cot, the determining struggle began.

Disaster Strikes
Heading into Bill’s, my runner kept stating how Bill’s had medical personnel and that he should be checked out and maybe they would pull him. Translation – he didn’t want to quit, but he didn’t want to run anymore and he wanted someone else to make that decision for him. Knowing this I decided I wouldn’t make it easy on him or medical personnel. As they questioned him how he felt, I interjected stating that medically he was fine and had urinated 3 times in the last 3 hours, he was still eating, but that he was just tired, needed to drink more fluids and was more of a mental issue. I, of course, said this loud enough for my down runner to hear. They took his blood pressure and monitored his oxygen level and they were both in excellent condition. We wrapped him up in a foil wrap and a blanket and the waiting game began. I watched him try and rest as other runners were coming in and most in much worse physical/medical shape than my partner. The minutes tick by and it’s 12:30am and we’re still down and I’ve given up all hope and I’m starting to make plans to pace another runner, Jeff, the rest of the way. A medical volunteer comes over and gives my runner a yellow Vitamin Water which he sips slowly and then pours the rest in his water bottle. Miraculously, he decided to try and get up and says we’re going to give it a go. We tie the foil wrap around him like a cape and out of Bill’s we go just before 1am with 3 hours and 11.4 miles left for a sub-24 hour finish.

After being down a total of 90 minutes, his decision to get up at the minute he did was an amazing feat of mental strength on his part and saved his race.

Don't Call it a Comeback
Out of Bill’s we moved very gingerly at first and I told him that this was normal after an extended period of downtime because your leg muscles will stiffen. I tried to encourage him to try and run some and what do you know – he could walk quickly/jog again. He became alive with excitement screaming out all types of jibberish and I was now motivated to switch gears and become the “pushy pacer”. I knew that I would have to take advantage of the energy burst now, get him close to the finish and hope that he could stay motivated enough to fight through the inevitable pain. Luckily, not only did his energy level dramatically increase, but so did his belief in my abilities to get him in under the 24 hour mark. Our pace quickened to around 12-15 minute mile pace depending on the terrain’s slope which was going to make it a very close finish.

My goals for the next three add stations, Keating’s, Polly’s and Sargent’s, was to have Andy give me his water bottle, I would fill it up as he got food and for him to continue out of the aid station in under a minute. I would then fill up my water bottles, grab some food if needed and then sprint to catch Andy a few hundred yards beyond the aid station. When we hit Keating’s (92 miles) our pace was solid and I now had him believing in a sub-24 and I turned into the encouraging “Great work/Good job/Looking strong” pacer. Instead of running side-by-side, I decided to run in front of him to call out terrain issues as well as to set the pace to push him a little more to stay with me. To his credit, very few times did I have to turn around and slow up as he did a tremendous job of powering through those tough, last 11.4 miles. Polly’s is a great, late race aid station (95.5 miles) and we arrived at 2:40am with only an hour and 20 minutes to get in. As a comparison, Andy informed me that the year prior, when he was feeling good, Polly’s to the end took him 1 hour and 8 minutes so we were living dangerously close to not finishing in time.

4.5 Miles to Go - Can We Pull Victory from the Claws of Defeat
Then, a disaster strikes as we make it to the end of road out of Polly’s to find a T intersection and no trail markings (plates or glow sticks). I sprint back up the small hill to find that we missed a left turn off and shout back down that we had, in fact, missed a turn off. We lost about 2 minutes and now I was really starting to worry that we weren’t going to make it. To his credit again, Andy didn’t let his motivation level slide and we took advantage of the non-trail terrain. The terrain between Polly’s and Sargent’s is nothing but gravel roads and our plan was to keep as fast a pace as possible since Andy informed me that the rest of the race after Sargent’s is single track trail. Andy and I arrived at Sargent’s (97.7 miles) with ~45 minutes left until 4am.

By this time, we had built up a nice little convoy of 3 runners and 2 pacers and I really believe we all fed off each other’s energy. One runner, Christopher Martin (who we passed earlier and said he “didn’t have the heart to get sub-24), was now right on our heels looking extremely strong and motivated (in fact, he stated that the year previous he finished in 26+ hours so this was a great finishing time for him). I, again, led the way helping the runners navigate the trail and when we hit the .5 mile mark to go with 17 minutes left, we all started to celebrate while keeping our pace up. With about a quarter mile left, we could hear cheering in the distance and we all started shouting back. After emerging from the woods, I left Chris and Andy to cross the finish line, arms raised together, in 23:49 with less than 11 minutes until the 24 hour buckle cutoff.

A Little About Me After 30 Miles
Interestingly enough, I was so worried about Andy finishing and keeping a good pace for the 3 runners to follow that I didn’t notice my own deterioration in the last 2.3 miles until after we finished. I wouldn’t dare stop and re-tie my shoe, which had become undone, so I developed 2 gnarly blisters on my right foot. While I wasn’t anywhere near tired, being in a rush and completely consumed with Andy’s condition would have put me in jeopardy if my pacing duties were extended as I would have had downtime to deal with the blisters and other irritations. My body responded extremely well and I had tons in the tank and still had the ability to change speeds when needed, but I learned that even at a short and slow 30 miles that a pacer needs to make sure to account for his needs as well so that he is still helpful to his runner. Pacing was an extremely rewarding experience and an adventure where I gained a lot of valuable insight into common runner problems and how to combat them. Hopefully, next year, I’ll be receiving my silver buckle with Andy who I am sure plans on running the Vermont 100 again.

Here's my humble recap of my first attempt at 100 miles.

Pre-Race
I drove solo from Long Island, NY for 8 hours on early Friday morning to head towards Raleigh, North Carolina for my first attempt at a 100 miler. However, I had injured my ankle about a month ago which really limited my running to about 20 miles a week, but I continued to do 2-4 hours of elliptical work so I was in good cardio shape, just not good runner's shape. Needless to say, I was a little worried about how my ankle would hold up especially when dealing with the downhills which seemed to hurt the most during my training sessions. I didn't stay at the park (although I paid for a cabin) and decided to make the Comfort Suite on US-1 my home for the night (great hotel btw). When I come back next year, I plan on flying into the Raleigh Airport instead of driving to make things a little easier.

Actual Race
Loop #1
I met up with Jesse Leitner (who finished 11th in the 100 and PRd a 50 time too - congrats!) at the Comfort Suite and we headed over to the race site together. While it was cold the previous night and we were expecting temps in the 30s-40s when the race started, I was surprised to find myself perspiring while warming up in just a tee shirt and shorts (i.e. not a good sign - I'm 5'11", 185 - not exactly the prototypical long-distance runners body). We had heard in the pre-race meeting that most runners go without a flashlight at the beginning, but I decided I definitely needed one after trying to navigate back towards my car before the race (I highly recommend a light if you plan on running alone in that first hour). The race started and I went out at a very comfortable sub-10 minute pace and found myself in the top 25 or 30 I think. At around mile 3, I found myself running with one other runner - Jesse! (odd how I had never met him before and now I was running with him). We kept a very comfortable pace even talking a bit while running as we cruised into the first manned aid-station (right before the 7 mile marker). This was easily my favorite aid station in any race with all the volunteers being extremely helpful (more on that later), but it also signified the hardest part of the course was upcoming. For anyone running this race, miles 7-10 are the hardest in the loop with the steepest, longest hills on the course. Even though I felt good, I started to walk these uphills as everyone cautioned me to make sure to take the uphills easy so I was able to walk easily up the hills and most of the runners behind me followed suit. By mile 10, I started to purposefully slow myself down some as I was on sub 2 hour pace for the loop so a few runners including Jesse passed me. I entered the Start/Finish at around 2 hours exactly and felt great - no perspiring, no heavy breathing, heart rate low, no cramps, no blisters and my ankle feeling great (in fact, I hadn't thought about it once until Jesse actually asked how my ankle was doing).

Loop #2
This loop was pretty uneventful, but again I decided that since my goal was to just finish the 100 in any time (dream goal was sub 22 hours, realistic goal was 24 hours), I decided to slow myself down again and run an even slower pace - especially with how the heat was starting to turn itself up. I ran pretty much by myself the entire time, took my time at all the aid stations to drink plenty (I didn't carry water since this course has water every 2.5 miles and it seemed pointless to me, who didn't really care about my finishing time, to carry water unnecessarily). I ended up finishing this loop in about 2.5 hours - still really good pace, no complaints, no blisters, no cramps, ankle holding up well.

Loop #3
Here comes the heat. By this time, it's about 10:30 and I won't finish this loop until 13:40 or so and while the time is extremely unimpressive, it was more a personal decision to slow down as much as possible while not getting demoralized that runners were passing me (it's hard to go in with a goal of racing against the course and then not being affected by your competitiveness when runners pass you). Everything was working well for me, but by the time I got to the manned aid station at mile 32, a few volunteers noted to me that there were dried white sweat streaks down my face and my hat had a white ring around the top of it. I spent 5 minutes eating pretzels and one of the volunteers gave me a paper towel ice bag to put under my hat and on the back of my neck to cool off some. As I left this aid station, I decided to walk as much as possible because I sweat a lot and it would be smarter to save myself for the cooler hours and not fight a losing battle keeping myself hydrated and fueled properly. I finished this loop without incident, albeit very slowly and headed out for the 4th loop after calling home to let them know I was feeling great. In fact, I think I even said "I call you in about 7.5-8 hours after I finish another 3 loops". Yeah, oops.

Loop #4
Now, I believe the temps are up to 80 degrees and this is easily 30 degrees warmer than any temp I have run in for 7 months. Even still, I was feeling great - no cramps, no blisters and the heat was bad, but not to the point where I was sweating badly so I decided that when permitted I would continue to run to make sure I didn't get tight and to find shade as much as possible. In my effort to find shade, I would run on the edges of the trail where the trail is a little softer. At around mile 41, I stepped in a soft spot, twisted my ankle and it was all downhill from there. I came into the manned aid station slightly lipping and I took my time, ibuprofen and debated what I should do. I figured I would continue to move forward, hope that the aspirin would kick in and try and run the flats and slight upgrades (oddly, the downhills hurt my ankle a lot more so walking the downhills was my only option). The last 5.5 miles of this loop were sheer torture. I didn't see any runners during this time except who I assume was the female leader Jamie and when I saw her coming up from behind, I decided to try and run some which was a huge error on my part. I started to overcompensate for my ankle and the rest of my body didn't like that much at all. I ended up limping the last 2.5 miles into the Start/Finish and was faced with the following decision -

50 miles completed in 10:30ish.
Could I walk 50 miles in 19:30 hours?

I definitely could if I wasn't injured - heck, I could probably walk it in a lot less than 19 hours. However, faced with the tasks of having to drive home alone 8 hours and then recovering from an additional 50 hours on a bum ankle, I decided to drop at 50. Although I was so pissed I couldn't go on that I skipped the aid station and a volunteer actually chased me into the cabin to ask if I wanted anything (the volunteers were so amazing, I didn't know people that nice actually existed), in retrospect it was the right decision as 2 days later my right ankle is so tender I can barely touch it no less walk around.

I ended up finishing 33rd of 107 50 mile finishers in a time around 10:25ish - slower than I would have liked, but I was happy considering what I went through for the last 8 miles.

What I would do Differently?
Next year, when I come back I plan on -
1) Flying down to the Raleigh Airport - the driving was way too much to do solo.
2) Bring thicker shoes - I ran with North Face Arnuva 50s which kept my feet in great condition, but the miles directly in and out of the Start/Finish are ripe with rocks that bruised my feet through the thinner bottoms. I almost switched to my XCRs, but decided that they weren't broken in enough and that the risk of blisters was too great.
3) Basketball Taping the ankle - I play a lot of basketball and I should have taped the ankle in much the same way I do for basketball to prevent rolling it. I was worried that running 100 miles with it taped would be a bad idea, but maybe it would have slowed me down even more while offering me protection.

Thanks goes out to everyone involved in pulling off this race - it's highly organized, the trail is amazingly easy to follow (only in one spot did I see runners stop and get confused which was right by mile 4 or 5 where you could either correctly go left uphill or right downhill and there were pink signs down both directions), the aid stations were incredible and everyone was super friendly. I'll be back next year without a doubt.

Recently, when I heard that PayPal would be offering additional security through a keychain security key (or key fob), I immediately signed up that day even though I rarely use PayPal and Ebay. For me, I want to be an early adopter of two form authentication since most Internet users really should be protecting themselves in every available manner (from themselves in many cases). I applaud PayPal and Ebay for implementing this additional layer of security before any of my banks have and I hope that more institutions follow suit.

First, I paid $5 USD to get the security key. I ordered the security key over a month ago and was surprised when it came today in the mail. If you haven't seen an image of the key yet, I've included one below -

Activating your security key is extremely easy. All that you need to do is browse to PayPal's security key page, enter in the serial number on the back of your key fob, press the key's button to generate a 6 digit number, wait 30 seconds and then retrieve a second number. If successfully activated, your security key will be attached to your account. I logged out and logged back in to test the new system and loved the simplicity. After successfully entering in my email address and password, I was now presented with an additional screen asking for my 6 digit number instead of my normal Account status screen.

It's that simple.

With all of the talk of Ebay hackings and PayPal insecurity, any user that relies on either of these services would be foolish to not spend the 5 dollars to add yet another level of security. This security key provides protection against those phishing attempts that are lucky enough to catch you with your guard down since even if they sniff out your email and password, the 6 digit security code will prevent them from fully accessing your account. You'd have to say - PayPal is definitely on the right track and got "it" right this time.

The following is a list of my music albums listed first by genre and then in alphabetical order. If you know of an album that I currently do not have listed, but you think matches my musical tastes, please let me know. As you can see, I have a very vast musical collection that spans across many genres due to my association of music to my moods (like most people).

My album list is generated every night off my computer and automatically uploaded to the web server so this list is constantly being updated. The process is written in VB.Net and utilizes MS SQL Server 2000's SQL Server Agent for process scheduling.

Alternative & Rock (156 Albums)
A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
Aerosmith - Honkin on Bobo
Aerosmith - Oh Yeah Ultimate Aerosmith Hits
Alice in Chains - Greatest Hits
Audioslave - Audioslave
Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin
Barenaked Ladies - All Their Greatest Hits
Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
Beatles - Abbey Road
Beatles - Beatles for Sale
Beatles - Help!
Beatles - Let it Be
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Beatles - Please Please Me
Beatles - Revolver
Beatles - Rubber Soul
Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band
Beck - Mellow Gold
Beck - Midnight Vultures
Beck - Mutations
Beck - Odelay
Beck - Sea Change
Bjork - Greatest Hits
Blink 182 - Dude Ranch
Chevelle - Wonder What's Next
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Coldplay - Blue Room
Coldplay - Parachutes
Coldplay - X & Y
Collective Soul - 7even Year Itch
Collective Soul - Blender
Counting Crows - Films About Ghosts
Courtney Love - America's Sweetheart
Cracker - Forever
Cracker - Kerosene Hat
Deftones - Adrenaline
Deftones - Around the Fur
Deftones - Deftones
Deftones - Minerva
Deftones - White Pony
DMB - Before These Crowded Streets (1998)
DMB - Busted Stuff (2002)
DMB - Crash (1996)
DMB - Everyday (2001)
DMB - Listener Supported (1999)
DMB - Recently (1994)
DMB - Remember Two Things (1993)
DMB - Some Devil
DMB - Under the Table and Dreaming (1994)
Eric Clapton - Me and Mr Johnson
Eric Clapton - Story
Evanescence - Fallen
Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies
Foo Fighters - Everywhere But Home
Goo Goo Dolls - A Boy Named Goo
Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up the Girl
Goo Goo Dolls - Hold Me Up
Goo Goo Dolls- Gutterflower
Green Day - American Idiot
Green Day - Dookie
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Guns N Roses - Greatest Hits
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion I
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion II
Harvey Danger - Little by Little
Hoobastank - The Reason
Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder
Incubus - Fungus Amongus
Incubus - Make Yourself
Incubus - Morning View
Incubus - Science
Interpol - Antics
Jet - Get Born
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Junior Senior - Don't Stop the Beat
Kinks - Fab Forty (The Singles Collection)
Kinks - One of the Road
Lenny Kravitz - 5
Lenny Kravitz - Baptism
Lenny Kravitz - Mama Said
Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park - Meteora
Linkin Park - Splitting the DNA
Live - Throwing Copper
Liz Phair - Liz Phair
Lostprophets - Start Something
Lostprophets - The Fake Sound of Progress
Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane
Meat Loaf - The Very Best of Meat Loaf
Nickelback - The Long Road
NIN - Further Down the Spiral
NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
NIN - The Downward Spiral
NIN - The Fragile
NIN - Things Falling Apart
Nirvana - In Utero
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York
Nirvana - Nevermind
Oasis - Be Here Now
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Oasis - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Oasis - The Masterplan
Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory
Our Lady Peace - Gravity
Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines
Pearl Jam - Binaural
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pearl Jam - V.S
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Pearl Jam - Yield
Phish - A Picture of Nectar
Phish - Billy Breathes
Phish - Farmhouse
Phish - Hoist
Phish - Junta
Phish - Lawn Boy
Phish - Story of the Ghost
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Radiohead - Com Log
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Radiohead - Kid A
Radiohead - OK Computer
Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Radiohead - The Bends
RATM - Battle of Los Angeles
RATM - RATM
REM - Automatic for the People
REM - Fables of the Reconstruction
RHCP - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
RHCP - Californication
RHCP - Greatest Hits 2003
RJD2 - Loose Ends
Rod Stewart - The Best of
Saliva - Survival of the Sickest
Silverchair - Diorama
Silverchair - Neon Ballroom
Simon & Garfunkel - The Simon & Garfunkel Collection
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
SOAD - Steal this Album
SOAD - System of a Down
SOAD - Toxicity
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits
Sublime - Sublime
The Doors - The Best of The Doors
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
Weezer - Make Believe
White Stripes - De Stijl
White Stripes - Elephant
White Stripes - Life on the Flipside

Dance & Techno (11 Albums)
Basement Jaxx - Remedy
Basement Jaxx - Rooty
Chemical Brothers - Come with Us
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Crystal Method - Legion of Boom
Daft Punk - Discovery
DJ Q Bert - Battle Breaks
Donna Summer - The Best of
KLF - The White Room
KMFDM - Money
KMFDM - UAIOE

Hip-Hop & Rap (465 Albums)
2 Live Crew - As Nasty as They Wanna Be
2 Pac - 2Pacalypse Now
2 Pac - All Eyez on Me
2 Pac - Don Killuminati The 7 Day Theory
2 Pac - Ressurection
2 Pac - Strictly 4 My N.i.g.g.a.z
213 - The Hard Way
50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin'
50 Cent - Guess Who's Back
50 Cent - Guess Who's Back Again
50 Cent - No Mercy No Fear
50 Cent - Power of the Dollar
9th Wonder - Black is Back
Aceyalone - Grade A
Aesop Rock - Float
Akinyele - Vagina Diner
Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days
ATCQ - Beats Rhymes & Life
ATCQ - Low End Theory
ATCQ - Midnight Marauders
ATCQ - People's Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm
ATCQ - The Anthology
ATCQ - The Love Movement
AZ - A.W.O.L
AZ - Do or Die
Bad Boys - 10th Anniversary The Hits
BDP - By All Means Necessary
BDP - Criminal Minded
BDP - Edutainment
BDP - Sex and Violence
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
Beastie Boys - Some Old Bullshit
Beastie Boys - The In Sound from Way Out
Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs
Beatnuts - Intoxicated Demons
Beatnuts - Milk Me
Beatnuts - Street Level
Beatnuts - The Originators
Big Daddy Kane - It's a Big Daddy Thing
Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane
Big Daddy Kane - Taste of Chocolate
Big Pun - Capital Punishment
Big Pun - Yeeeah Baby
Binary Star - Masters of the Universe
Binary Star - Waterworld
Binary Star - Waterworld Too
Birdman - Fast Money
Biz Markie - Weekend Warrior
Black Eyed Peas - Behind the Front
Black Eyed Peas - Bridging the Gap
Black Eyed Peas - The Monkey Business
Black Moon - Diggin in Dah Vaults
Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
Black Moon - Total Eclipse
Black Moon - War Zone
Black Radical MKII - The Undiluted Truth Vinyl
Black Rob - The Black Rob Report
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Black Sheep - Non-Fiction
Blackalicious - The Craft
Blahzay Blahzay - Blah Blah Blah
Block McCloud - I Was Drunk When I Made This
Bow Wow - Wanted
Brand Nubian - Everything is Everything
Busta Rhymes - It Ain't Safe No More
Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes
BWP - The Bytches
Camron - Come Home with Me
Camron - Confessions of Fire
Camron - Purple Haze
Camron - SDE
Canibus - 2000 B.C
Canibus - C True Hollywood Stories
Canibus - Can-I-Bus
Canibus - Hip-Hop for Sale
Canibus - Lost Lyrics (DJ Rukiz)
Canibus - Mic Club The Curriculum
Canibus - My Name is Nobody
Canibus - Rip the Jacker
Canibus - The Brainstream
Cappadonna - The Pillage
Cappadonna - The Struggle
Cassidy - Split Personality
Chingy - Jackpot
Chingy - Powerballin
Chino XL - Here to Save You All
Chino XL - Lyrical Messiah
Ciara - Goodies
Clipse - Lord Willin'
CNN - The Reunion
CNN - The War Report (1997)
Cocoa Brovas - The Rude Awakening
Common - Be
Common - One Day it Will All Make Sense
Common - Ressurection
Common Sense - Can I Borrow a Dollar
Copywrite - The High Exhaulted
Cormega - Hustler Rapper
Cormega - The Realness
Cormega - The Testament Year
Cormega - The True Meaning
Cunninlynguists - A Piece of Strange
Cunninlynguists - Dem Bois from Da Souf
Cunninlynguists - Southernunderground
Cunninlynguists - Will Rap for Food
Cypress Hill - Black Sunday
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill III (Temples of Boom)
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill IV
Cypress Hill - Stoned Raiders
Cypress Hill - Till Death Do Us Part
D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice
D-Nice - To Tha Rescue
D12 - D12 World
D12 - Devil's Night
Da Band - Too Hot for TV
Das EFX - Dead Serious
David Banner - Certified
David Banner - Mississippi the Album
De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State
De La Soul - Stakes is High
De La Soul - The Grind Date
De La Soul - Three Feet High and Rising
De La Soul - Timeless
Dead Prez - Get Free or Die Trying
Dead Prez - Let's Get Free
Dead Prez - Revolutionary But Gangsta
Devin the Dude - Just Tryin ta Live
Diamond D - The Diamond Mine
Digable Planets - Beyond the Spectrum The Creamy Spy Chronicles
Digital Underground - Sex Packets
Dilated Peoples - DETA LIDeracy Project
Dilated Peoples - Expansion Team
Dilated Peoples - Neighborhood Watch
DJ Clue - The American Idol Part II
DJ Clue - When Animals Attack
DJ Green Lantern - Countdown to Armageddon Part 2
DJ Green Lantern - Invasion Part Two Conspiracy Theory
DJ Kay Slay - Addicted to Beef Part Two
DJ Kay Slay - The Streetsweeper Vol. One
DJ Premier - Bootleg Volume C (Mixtape)
DJ Premier - Check Ya Mail
DJ Premier - Premier's Premium
DJ Premier - Reality Check
Do or Die - D.O.D
DOC - No One Can Do it Better
Dr. Dre - 2001
Dr. Dre - Look Out for Detox
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Dylan - Life After Diddy
Eminem - 8 Mile Soundtrack
Eminem - Don't Call Me Marshall
Eminem - Eminem is Back
Eminem - Encore
Eminem - Infinite
Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem - The Eminem Show
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
Encore - Layover
Eric B & Rakim - Paid in Full
Erick Sermon - Chilltown New York
Fabolous - Ghetto Fabolous
Fabolous - More Street Dreams
Fabolous - Real Talk
Fabolous - Street Dreams
Federation - The Album
Four Horsemen - The Horsemen Project
Fugees - Blunted on Reality
Fugees - The Score
Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap - The Tunnel (1999)
G Unit - 50 Cent is the Future
G Unit - Beg for Mercy
Game - Classified
Game - Nigga With Attitude
Game - Stop Snitching Stop Lying
Game - The Documentary (Advance)
Game - Untold Story
Game - Untold Story Volume 2
Game - Who Got Game
Game - You Know What This Is Vol. 2
Gangstarr - Daily Operation
Gangstarr - Hard to Earn
Gangstarr - Moment of Truth
Gangstarr - The Ownerz
Ghostface Killah - 718 Stapleton to Somalia
Ghostface Killah - Bulletproof Wallets
Ghostface Killah - Ironman
Ghostface Killah - Pretty Toney
Ghostface Killah - Shaolin's Finest
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele
Ghostface Killah - The Wally Champ
Gravediggaz - 6 Feet Deep
Gravediggaz - Pick the Sickle & the Shovel
Gravediggaz - The Demo Tape
Gravediggaz - The Demo Tape (1993)
Guerilla Black - Guerilla City
GZA - Beneath the Surface
GZA - Legend of the Liquid Sword
GZA - Liquid Swords
GZA the Genius - Words from the Genius
House of Pain - Shamrocks & Shenanigans
I 20 - Self Explanatory
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Ice T - Gang Culture
Immortal Technique - Miscellaneous Songs
Immortal Technique - Portable Immortal
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Volume One
Immortal Technique - Revolutionary Volume Two
Inspectah Deck - The Movement
Inspectah Deck - Uncontrolled Substance
Inspectah Deck - Undadogz Volume One (DJ Storm)
J Five - Sweet Little Nothing
J-Kwon - Hood Hop
Jacki-O - Poe Little Rich Girl
Jadakiss - Kiss of Death
Jadakiss - The Champ is Here (Big Mike & DJ Green Lantern)
Jay Z & Linkin Park - Mash Up
Jay Z - Black Album
Jay Z - Blueprint
Jay Z - Blueprint 2 The Gift and the Curse
Jay Z - Grey Album (Dangermouse)
Jay Z - Hard Knock Life Volume Two
Jay Z - In My Lifetime Volume One
Jay Z - Life and Times of S. Carter Volume Three
Jay Z - MTV Unplugged
Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
Jay Z - Silver Album (RJD2 Mix)
Jay Z - The Dynasty Roc La Familia
Jay Z and R Kelly - Unfinished Business
Jay Z vs. Illmind - The Black and Tan Album
Jay Z vs. Kno - The White Albalum
Jeru the Damaja - Divnie Design
Jeru the Damaja - The Sun Rises in the East
Jeru the Damaja - Wrath of the Math
Jin - The Emcees Properganda
Jin - The Rest is History
Joe Budden - Joe Budden
JT - Untold Story
JT - West Coast Resurrection
Juelz Santana - What the Game's Been Missing
Jungle Borthers - Raw Deluxe
Jungle Brothers - J. Beez wit the Remedy
Jungle Brothers - Straight Out the Jungle
Junior Mafia - Conspiracy
Kankick - The Traditional Heritage
Kanye West - College Dropout
Kanye West - Kon the Louis Vuitton Don
Kanye West - Late Registration
Keith Murray - Enigma
Keith Murray - He's Keith Murray
Keith Murray - The Most Beautifullest Thing in this World
Killa Beez - The Sting
Killa Beez - The Swarm
Killah Priest - Black August
Killah Priest - Black August Revisited
Killah Priest - Every Knee Shall Bow
Killah Priest - Heavy Mental
Killah Priest - Priesthood
Killarmy - Dirty Weaponry
Killarmy - Doomsday (Bootleg)
Killarmy - Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
Kool & the Gang - Celebration The Best of Kool & the Gang
Kool G Rap - 4 5 6
KRS One - Keep Right
KRS One - Kristyles
KRS One - KRS One
KRS One - Prophets vs. Profits
KRS One - Return of the Boom Bap
KRS One - Spiritual Minded
KRS One - The Sneak Attack
Kumasi - God is So Kind
LA the Darkman - Heist of the Century
Last Emperor - Palace of the Pretender
Last Emperor - The Lost Empire
Leaders of the New School - A Future Without a Past
Lil Jon & The East Side Boys - Crunk Juice
Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz - Kings of Crunk
Lil Kim - The Naked Truth
Lil' Kim - Hardcore
LL Cool J - 14 Shots to the Dome
LL Cool J - All World (Greatest Hits)
LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J - Mr. Smith
LL Cool J - Ten
LL Cool J - The Definition
Lloyd Banks - Best of Lloyd Banks 1 (DJ Famous)
Lloyd Banks - Best of Lloyd Banks 2 (DJ Famous)
Lloyd Banks - Best of Lloyd Banks 3 (DJ Famous)
Lloyd Banks - The Hunger for More
Loon - Loon
Lord Finesse - From the Crates to the Files
Lost Boyz - Legal Drug Money
Ludacris - Back for the First Time
Ludacris - Chicken and Beer
Ludacris - The Red Light District
Ludacris - Word of Mouf
Main Flow - Hip Hopulation
Mase - Double Up
Mase - Harlem World
Mase - Welcome Back
Masta Ace - Disposable Arts
Masta Killa - No Said Date
Master P - Good Side Bad Side
Mathematics - Love Hell or Right
Max Julian - Smoke N Roll
Memphis Bleek - M.A.D.E
Method Man & Redman - Blackout
Method Man - Tical
Method Man - Tical 0 The Prequel
Method Man - Tical 2000 Judgement Day
Miri Ben - Ari the Hip Hop Violinist
Missy Elliot - Missy's Madness
Missy Elliot - This is Not a Test
Mobb Deep - Amerikaz Nightmare
Mobb Deep - Hell on Earth
Mobb Deep - Infamous Allegiance Part One
Mobb Deep - Infamy
Mobb Deep - Juvenile Hell
Mobb Deep - Murda Muzik
Mobb Deep - The Infamous
Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
Mos Def - Black Star
Mos Def - The New Danger
Mr SOS - SOS for President
N.E.R.D - Fly or Die
N.E.R.D - In Search of N.E.R.D
Nas - Carry the Cross
Nas - Carry the Cross Chapter 2
Nas - God's Son
Nas - I Am
Nas - Illmatic
Nas - It Was Written
Nas - Nastradamus
Nas - Prematic (Demo Tape)
Nas - Stillmatic
Nas - Streets Disciple
Nas - The Lost Tapes
Nas - Unreleased and Rare
Naughty by Nature - Naughty's Nicest
Nelly - Country Grammar
Nelly - Nellyville
Nelly - Suit
Nelly - Sweat
Neptunes - Neptunes Presents Clones
Nice and Smooth - Nice and Smooth
Nine - Cloud Nine
Nine - Nine Livez
Noreaga - God's Favorite
Noreaga - Melvin Flynt Da Hustler
Noreaga - N.O.R.E
Northstar - RZA Presents Northstar
Notorious BIG - Life After Death
Notorious BIG - Platinum Instrumentals Presents B.I.G. Beats
Notorious BIG - Ready to Die
NWA - Niggaz4Life
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Obie Trice - Cheers
Old Dirty Bastard - Nigga Please
Old Dirty Bastard - Osirus
Old Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers
Old Dirty Bastard - The Dirty Story - The Best of ODB
Old Dirty Bastard - The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones
One Man Army - Project F.E.T.U.S
Onyx - All We Got Iz Us
Onyx - Bacdafucup
Outkast - Atliens
Outkast - Speakerboxxx The Love Below
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother
Pete Rock - Soul Survivor
Pitch Black - Pitch Black Law
Pretty Ricky - Bluestars
Proof - Searching for Jerry Garcia
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 911 The Enemy Strikes Black
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Puff Daddy - No Way Out
Q Tip - Amplified
Raekwon - Immobilarity
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Raekwon - The Lex Diamond Story
Rahzel - Make the Music 2000
Rakim - The Master
Ras Kass - Rasassasination
Ras Kass - Soul on Ice
Ras Kass - Verbal Murder
Redman - Ill at Will Mixtape Vol.1
Redman - What Thee Album
RJD2 - Deadringer
RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke
Roots - The Tipping Point
Royal Flush - Street Boss
Royce 5'9 - Build and Destroy
Royce 5'9 - Death is Certain
Royce 5'9 - Rock City
Royce Da 5'9 - M.I.C
RZA - Birth of a Prince
RZA - Ghost Dog Way of the Samurai Import
RZA - RZA as Bobby Digital In Stereo
RZA - The Cure Mixtape
RZA - The World According to RZA
RZA as Bobby Digital - Digital Bullet
Sabac - Sabacolypse
Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust
Salt N Pepper - Very Necessary
Sean Paul - Dutty Rock
Sean Paul - The Trinity
Shawnna - Worth tha Weight
Shyheim - Manchild
Shyheim - The Lost Generation
Shyne - Godfather Buried Alive
Singe - The Epidemic
Slick Rick - The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Slim Thug - Already Platinum
Slum Village - Detroit Deli
Slum Village - Prequel to a Classic
Smif N Wesson - Unreleased Rawkus Album
Smif N Wessun - Da Shinin'
Smif N Wessun - Reloaded
Snoop Dogg - Paid Tha Cost to be Da Boss
Snoop Dogg - Rhythm & Gangsta The Masterpiece
Snoop Dogg - Top Dogg
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
Snoop Doggy Dogg - The Last Meal
Souls of Mischief - 93 Til Infinity
Special Ed - Youngest in Charge
Styles P - A Gangster and a Gentleman
Sugar Hill Gang - The Essentials
Sunz of Man - Saviorz Day
T.I. - Urban Legend
Talib Kweli - Beautiful Struggle
Talib Kweli - Quality
Terror Squad - True Story
The D.O.C. - No One Can Do it Better (1989)
The Firm - The Album
Timbaland & Magoo - Under Construction Part II
Tone Loc - Loc-Ed After Dark
Tony Yayo - Thoughts of a Predicate Felon
Twista - Adrenaline Rush
Twista - Kamikaze
Twista - Resurrection
Twista - The Day After
Twiztid - Mutant Volume 2
U-God - Golden Arms Redemption
U-God - Mr. Xcitement
Ultramagnetic MC's - Critical Beatdown
VA - Rawkus Presents - Soundbombing II
VA Promo Only - Urban Radio December 2004
Virtuoso - Word War 2 Evolution of the Torturer
Warren G - In the Midnight Hour
Westside Connection - Terrorist Threats
Wu Tang Clan - Enter the 36 Chambers
Wu Tang Clan - The Iron Flag
Wu Tang Clan - The W
Wu Tang Clan - Wu Tang Forever
Wu Tang Killa Bees - The Swarm Vol. 1
Wyclef Jean - Welcome to Haiti Creole 101
Xzibit - Man vs. Machine
Xzibit - Restless
Ying Yang Twins - United State of Atlanta
Young Buck - Sraight Outta Cashville
Young Buck - Street Life Mixtape (2004)
Young Buck - T.I.P
Youngbloodz - Everybody Know Me (Advance)

Miscellaneous (13 Albums)
B2K - Santa Hooked Me Up
Barry Manilow - Ultimate Manilow
Barry White - Love Songs
Douglas Adams - HHGTTG BBC Albums
Men at Work - Business as Usual
Nintendo - Zelda Melodies
Soundtrack - Bad Boys 2
Soundtrack - Barbershop 2
Soundtrack - Boyz N the Hood
Soundtrack - Honey
Soundtrack - Kill Bill Vol. 1
Soundtrack - Shrek 2
Soundtrack - Tales from the Hood

Pop (58 Albums)
10,000 Maniacs - The Wishing Chair
Aaliyah - Aaliyah
Ashlee Simpson - Autobiography
Avril Lavigne - Let Go
Beyonce - Dangerously in Love
Britney Spears - In the Zone
Christina Aguilera - Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera - Just Be Free
Christina Aguilera - Stripped
Dido - Life for Rent
En Vogue - Soul Flower
Enrique Iglesias - Enrique
Enrique Iglesias - Escape
Fiona Apple - Tidal
Inxs - The Greatest Hits
Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
Janet Jackson - Damita Jo
JC Chasez - Schizophrenic
Jennifer Love Hewitt - Barenaked
Jessica Simpson - In This Skin
Jessica Simpson - Irresistable
Jessica Simpson - Sweet Kisses
Jojo - Jojo
Justin Timberlake - Justified
Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Kelly Clarkson - Thankful
Mandy Moore - Coverage
Michelle Branch - Hotel Paper
Michelle Branch - The Spirit Room
Nick Lachey - Soulo
Norah Jones - Come Away with Me
Norah Jones - Feels Like Home
Prince - Musicology
Prince - The Hits 1
Prince - The Hits 2
Pussycat Dolls - Pussycat Dolls
Sarah McLachlan - Afterglow
Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Sarah McLachlan - Mirrorball (Live)
Sarah McLachlan - Solace
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing
Sarah McLachlan - The Freedom Sessions
Sarah McLachlan - Touch
Sheryl Crow - C'mon, C'mon
Sheryl Crow - The Very Best of Sheryl Crow
Stacie Orrico - Stacie Orrico
Sting - The Very Best of Sting & The Police
Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls
Train - Drops of Jupiter
Train - My Private Nation
Train - Train
U2 - Achtung Baby
U2 - Best of 1980 - 1990
U2 - Best of 1990 - 2000
U2 - Joshua Tree
U2 - October
U2 - Pop
U2 - The Unforgettable

R&B (65 Albums)
112 - 112
112 - Hot & Wet
112 - Part III
112 - Room 112
Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor
Alicia Keys - The Diary of Alicia Keys
Allure - Chapter III
Avant - Ecstasy
Avant - My Thoughts
Avant - Private Room
B2K - B2K
B2K - Pandemonium
Bobby Brown - Greatest Hits
Bobby Valentino - Bobby Valentino
Boyz II Men - Greatest Hits
Brandy - Afrodisiac
Brian McKnight - U Turn
Carl Thomas - Emotional
Carl Thomas - Let's Talk About It
Christina Milian - It's About Time
Craig David - Born to Do It
Craig David - Slicker than Your Average
D'Angelo - Brown Sugar
D'Angelo - Voodoo
Destinys Child - Destiny Fulfilled
Domino - Domino
Erykah Badu - Baduism
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
Ginuwine - Back II Da Basics
Ginuwine - The Life
Ginuwine - The Senior
Houston - It's Already Written
Jagged Edge - A Jagged Era
Jagged Edge - J.E. Heartbreak
Jagged Edge - Jagged Little Thrill
Jamie Foxx - Unpredictable
Joe - All that I Am
Joe - And Then
Joe - My Name is Joe
Lauryn Hill - Miseducation
Lauryn Hill - MTV Unplugged
Luther Vandross - Dance with My Father
Mario Winans - Hurt No More
Marques Houston - MH
Mary J Blige - No More Drama
Montell Jordan - Get it On Tonight
Montell Jordan - Life After Def
Montell Jordan - R U With Me
Montell Jordan - This is How We Do It
Musiq - Soulstar
Mya - Moodring
Next - The Next Episode
Nick Cannon - Nick Cannon
R Kelly - Chocolate Factory
R Kelly - The R in R & B Greatest Hits Collection Vol. One
Ray J - Raydiation
Soundtrack - You Got Served
SWV - Release Some Tension
Total - Kima, Kiesha & Pam
Total - Total
Usher - Confessions
Usher - My Way
Usher - Sex Appeal
Usher - Usher
Young Gunz - Tough Luv

"Whoever dies with the most money, wins" - Danny Devito in Other People's Money

I'll admit it - I want to have as much money as possible and I am always looking to make more money, save more money, work smarter, research the latest "get rich scheme" and put in the work to try and make those things happen. However, a lot of "let's make a lot of money" plans don't give entrepreneurs a virtual world to test their knowledge, strategies and "reaction" times. However, one popular method of investing money would be playing the stock market and the Virtual Stock Exchange allows beginning investors to practice their researching and pricing techniques.

Recently, a few friends have created portfolios and have been able to use this virtual world to evaluate exactly how accurate our research is and whether or not our instincts are correct. In addition, VSE teaches investors the patience needed to deal with a volatile market and to not overreact to poor stock performance. VSE allows users to create a group that your friends and you can use to create a competition based on each other's portfolios. VSE provides extensive trading options including long and short positions, limit and stop trading, margin accounts and commisison/interest calculations. If you're looking for a group to join, the group name is "Hagrin.com" so create your portfolio today and let's make this money!

Many of my close personal friends know that when Google came out and then again shortly after (my ex will testify that when it was at the 150 range that I said in the car to her that she should buy it because it would go to 400), I told everyone that this was the can't miss stock of our time. I, and many others, was proven right.

Now, I will give you the next big stock to invest in and hold onto for about 5-10 years: SHLD.

Sears Holdings Corporation, led by Chairman Edward S. Lampert, is described as a "broadline retailer", but many investors will call SHLD a "virtual hedge fund". To understand why this is important, we need a quick history lesson. For ease, I will quote this MarketWatch story:

So, he has the track record, the experience and the price is affordable to the common man. However, at around 175-180 dollars a share, isn't it priced out already? Not so if you believe Lampert who describes SHLD as a "$55 billion startup." How many startups do you know that have 55 billion dollars in assets to play with at its "inception"? In addition, the options market is generally a "big money" game led by those with the most to win and lose. When looking at option pricing, you can see that the 1 year and 2 year pricing targets are in the 200+ dollar range meaning at least a 10% increase in the next year or two. That's a pretty good ROI with a stock that has a Beta value of -0.13.

SHLD marks the first entry into the Hagrin.com Virtual Stock Picks tracker. I locked in my pick at the beginning of the day at 178 so we have -

We'll track the performance of my picks over time and see if we can make some people some money. And yes, I do plan on investing my own real money in my picks so my money does back these wild speculations.

A while back, I wrote a review on the Nike+ iPod system and identified a lot of pros and cons. One of the cons that I had mentioned was that Nike was trying to force the owner to constantly buy Nike branded running shoes based on the unique design needed to slip the transmitter into the sole of your shoe. However, it seems a lot of people were put off by this idea and hacks/adapters and DIY kits have sprung up to help Nike+ owners use their system with non-Nike shoes.

Instead of endorsing one particular product (because I actually do use Nike running shoes for the road running I do here in New York), I figured I would present you with a list of user contributed options from Digg (definitely read through the comments for more options than just the first link). Hope this info helps people looking to use the Nike+ system with their favorite non-Nike sneaker.

If you need to contact the people responsible for Hagrin.com, try one of the following:

Email: hagrin at gmail dot com
IM: Google Talk: hagrin at gmail dot com
(links written out to avoid automated webcrawlers)

Please provide the reason for contacting me in the Subject of the email as I use rules to appropriately label certain Hagrin.com related issues. I check my gmail almost real-time between having Gmail open in my broswer, the Gmail notifier from Google Talk and the Blackberry Mobile Gmail application so email or GTalk are the best methods of contact. I rarely use AIM anymore or ICQ so if you have that old contact information, you probably won't reach me.