I wanted to write a bit to let folks know what worked for me......and what didn't
FEET: Hardrock is an extremely wet race with stream crossings and marshlands the entire course. My feet were wet from the river crossing at 2 miles straight thru for 46 hours until the river crossing at 99 miles.
AJW tip to wet your feet before long runs was an excellent one! The two weeks prior to the race I ran with wet feet 5-6 times- spraying them down with a hose (filling my shoes really) then re-wet in a local river 30 minutes in to the runs. I also did 2-3 hour yard work sessions where I wet my feet every 45min. This constant time spent in wet socks/shoes allowed my foot skin to toughen and all the looser/weak callus stuff to peel off prior to race day and thus in the race itself I had ZERO problems. I had one tiny blister on the side of my big toe that I did not feel, drained after, and it was sealed and healed in 24hrs. No other issues at all!!!
Shoes:- I wore my Asics 2110's road shoes that have 800+ miles on them and are a year old. They drained well, gripped decently, were light weight, comfortable, supportive but not restrictive and are lower to the ground than my Montrails. However, they have higher side walls around the ankle and this caused my most severe post race problem......I have swollen ankle bones on the outside (lateral malleolus) bilaterally and the right one was rug burned into a bloody area. Runing straight is no problem, but side hill action caused the side of the shoes to push into my ankle bones. Ouch.
socks: I changed socks 4 times for no good reason other than it FELT GOOD! I used white "jockey" socks that fit my feet well. They are all ruined with stains now but hey.
fluids: I drank plan water 100% of the time and filed my bottles from the streams and with snow probably 60% of the time. I'll let you know if I develop giardia. I also took in up to 12 cups of coke along the way (drunk at aid stations)
Electrolytes: I used maybe 8 or so NUUN tablets and one S! cap, then had GI trouble and for the last 26 hours of the race only ate salty food from the tables. Salt pills are overrated. I eat an extremely low salt diet, and was well heat acclimated prior to the race so my sweat has little salt in it. I wish I had not used the NUUN tabs at all. Pretzels is all you need.
Calories: I took in 2400cals of Cliff shot blocks, 4000+cals of pure granulated sugar (that I carried in a bottle then added water too to make a gel like slurry). I will use maltodextrin in the future as sugar worked great but has a taste to it, that I did get sick off, while maltodextrin is tasteless. I ate a strawberry milkshake (real deal ice cream from an ice cream shop), 1/2 a turkey sandwich, 1/2 a turkey sandwich with cheese grilled, 2 cups of pasta, 6 pop sickles, maybe 12 cups of coke, one zip lock bag of peanuts, M&M's, and one zip lock bag full of pretzels. during the 46:45. Pre-race breakfast was a liter of gatorade and 2 banana Power bars. I'm not sure how many calories this all is but it was ALOT! yet I was still hungry and bonky a few times. The caloric expenditure scaling 40% grade mtns at 14,000ft must be higher than 100 calories per mile.
I also recently read that Krissy Moehl took in 600cals per hour at last years hardrock....this is double the 300cals an hour max the stomach is supposed to be able to process.(according to my masters degree in exercise physiology learnings) Interesting.! Probably why she kicked ass. I watched Karl Meltzer pack his drop bags for the 2005 hardrock were he spent 18 minutes in aid stations total time. He had 60 gels. for 6000cals. And ate nothing else. Trying to run at altitude asks a lot of the old cardio system so much of the bodies blood is diverted away from the viscera (stomach/intestines) and shunted to the working muscles. this makes digestion of anything complex very difficult. This is why I chose to stick closely to simple sugar and away from harder to digest foods. During exercise at a high % max output (like I had at Hardrock) the common phenomonen of "take in sugar---recieve huge insulin spike----resulting in lowered blood sugar and BONK" is attenuated. Huge spikes in insulin output are not seen, so one does not bonk as hard after pure sugar intake as one would say when sitting on a couch. No, I am not as dumb as I may seem.
Due to efficiency of the body being able to utilize stored fat when running at x min/mile pace rather than burning glucose or glycogen, the better shape you are in, the less calories you need to take in. I am not in that kind of shape obviously! so I likily needed more calories taken in during the event than fitter/faster folks.
all in all it was a great experiement and I am glad to be back in better shape. It has been a slow climb out of the 2003-2006 duldrums, but I am getting there.
grindstone 100 in Oct and JFK 50 in Nov on the horizon
Friday, July 18, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Awesome Awesome Awesome
Hardrock 100 - 92nd- 46:45. SUPER HAPPY! I am a true hardrocker now having finished the course in both CCW and CW directions. Yep thats nearly 47 straight hours of movement. No nap, only stopped for 20-30 minutes at a few aid stations. Thats a LONG time to be out, and surprisingly it was not that bad. I was not overly tired/sleepy at all.
Silverton is a very special place and it felt like a big reunion to see so many falks who I have run with, been teamates with, and enjoyed their company at races before. Many folks welcomed me back to the race where I had a disappointing DNF in 2005 when I came in fresh off a stress fracture. As well as the race I really began to seriously make a name for myself in ultrarunning by my 36:18 in 2000.
2008 had been a great year for me in terms of life, happiness, and steady consistant running. After 4 poor years of haphazard running and injury, I now had 24 consistent months of training behind me and felt not only fit, but confident in my ability to finish and enjoy ultras again. I had run 10 good ones in 2008 alone. My year began with two 50k's in Jan, followed by two 40 milers in Feb, and 50 milers in March, April, and May with a 100k coming just 34 days before the Hardrock start in June. Due to my schooling and travel that 63 miler was my last run greater than 10 miles, but I knew it would be enough.
Since the race is difficult to get into (lottery) and alternates directions. And since this years run would be going the direction I had not run yet but wanted to......and our lives were still pretty uncomplicated...... I knew if I got in this year I had to go. I was 22nd on the waitlist initially and slowly moved up. When I moved to 9th on the list I bought plane tickets. One week later Dale Garland the RD called me to say I was in. Yes!
In 2000 I prepared by doing multiple snowshoe races in the winter followed by countless hill repeats and training in massachusetts and New Hampshire with superstar Sue Johnston and pal Steve Pero. I then finished 19th in my first 100 at the MMT 100 in May and managed to do a 39 miler in June along with repeats of 3,000ft climb "the Priest" in the Shenandoahs after moving to VA. I was working at UPS and in the best shape of my life. It wasn't easy, but despite arriving in Silverton on Monday of race week I ran well.
In 2008 I spent all of May and June running the flat bike path in Chicago and going to school. I managed the Ice Age 50 and KM 100k, but did no other long runs and no hills other than 2 stairs sessions were I climbed 1500ft. I was READY ! ha! Not!
Much of ultrarunning is confidence and a sense of knowing what you are going to think/decide before you get there. In previous 100 miler attempts (I think this was 27 or 28 for me) I have only dropped in those races where I was unsure if I could make it while standing on the start line. For this years Hardrock, I expected to finish. Not fast, but finish. I hoped for a 38hr run beating the 2nd sun set, but was not up to that task and figured that out on the first 2 climbs.
Anne and I started our quest on Wednesday morning (July 9th) flying from Richmond out to Denver. There around 10Am we picked up the rental car after a 47 minute wait in line (ugh) then began driving west on I-70. Beautiful mountains a=everywhere and we took our time crossing the state. by evening we were both feeling tired, dehydrated and had headaches, so we got a motel in Montrose, Co.
Thursday morning we made the drive south to Silverton passing thru the amazing Ouray and into the heart of the beautiful San Juan Mountians arriving into race headquarters about 30 minutes before check in closed. I had my vitals taken and medical bracelet put on. READY TO ROLL!
Splits:
Aid Station / Distance/ Time/ Minutes in Aid (#)
KT- 11.5- 3:46 (3)
Chapmans-18.9-6:36 (10)
Telluride- 27.8-10:18(13)
Krogers- 32.8-13:27(6)
Gvernors- 36.0-14:32(6)
Ouray- 43.9-16:35(16)
Engineer- 51.5-21:33(10)
Grouse- 58.4-24:09(31)
Sherman- 71.8-31:04(23)
Pole Creek80.9-35:35(7)
Maggie- 85.2-37:31(9)
Cun'gham-91.3-39:12(21)
Finish- 46:45 (2:35 in aid stations)
My race started out at dawn on friday with 139 other crazies. I ran with a camera and snapped pics as I went trying to always maintain a moderate effort level, never breathing too hard. Which at an average elevation of over 11,000ft is not easy. Headaches came all the first day each time I ascended over 12k, but by the 2nd day were not an issue. The lack of 02 just kept me from running anything with an up slope and kept me climbing slowly. Often I was like those guys you see on TV on Everest....walking a few paces then pausing to breath, repeat.
Hardrock is no joke and the one word description Rob Youngren stated to discribe it is right on the money: DANGEROUS. Why someone has not fallen to their death their I don't know. Right off the bat I was reminded of why I held this race up as special. After crossing a river via rope at mile 2 we began the first climb up into Putnam Basin. I had fallen in with a group of folks who I knew to run around 40+ hr in previous Hardrocks. Fellow VHTRC folks Mike Dobies and Billy Losey began pulling away and 68 and 72 year old superstars Hans Deiter Weisshaar and John DeWalt were behind me. I was okay and moving well. I reached the first aid station after a long long time (3:46) and realized this was going to take just about forever to cover all 100 miles. Much unlike The Amazing 23 year old Kyle Skaggs would go on to run exactly twice as fast as me finishing in 23:23!! this destroys the old course record, and will never be touched by anyone other than Kyle.
On the 2nd big climb I had a good time with 2002 Grand Slam classmate Roger Ackerman cresting the top only to be greated by a real life mountain goat! Faced with the euphoria of summiting this huge climb, seeing the memorial to the late Joel Zucker, greeting the mtn goat, then facing the fear of the rediculous desent down the scree feild was nearly too much for me. Then good buddy Steve Pero comes running up behind me bounding from one sliding landing to the next on the 40% grade descent. I was pretty much overcome in a moment my eyes filled with tears and I had all I could do to remain upright. This is what I came to Hardrock for. This is what I live for.
I got myself together picked up the pace running hard on the downhill toward Chapman Aid station and caught Steve and Super RD Joe Prusaitis. We moved thru a beautiful Aspen groove and then landed in the aid station for some much needed fuel and fluids. Now with the noon sun high in the sky it was hot. damn hot. luckily a few po sickles and refill of my bottles had me moving all be it slowly up the huge climb to Oscars pass. This took forever!!! And I seriously doubted weather I was in over my head. I had already made one big mistake. I did not leave a drop bag at Chapmans as I thought I would make it to 27 mile Telluride quick enough. Not so now I had no Clif shot blocks, and no bottle filled with sugar. I was OUT of energy and fading near the top. Luckily Billy Simpson climbing well on his surgically repair ankle shared a gel with me. I made the summit and began eating some snow as Joe topped out. Luckily the run down the other side was only 4,000 feet and would only take us a couple hours!!!!
For fuel I had set out 5 drop bags that contained clean socks, warm clothes, lights, and equally divided: 12 packs of shot blocks (2400cals, and one 4lbs bag of sugar = 6818cals) I ended up eating all the shot blocks and about 4500 cals of the sugar. Plus stuff off the tables at the aid stations. And yet often I was pretty hungry! My heartrate on the climbs stayed above 150...sometimes literally for hours. It would be awesome to know exactly how much work was actually done, and calories burned. By the way the race is retardedly long. like at least 8-12 miles longer than 100. Gauruntee it.
Once I hooked up with Steve we stayed together into Telluride running well but keeping eachother from going too hard. Steve has had lots of trouble red lining at Hardrock and losing his stomach. But not in 2008! We got into Telluride feeling great and after a big eating stop I began the 4,400ft climb up to Virginia's pass. It would take us 3 hours and 9 minutes to do this 5 miles, but man the glissading snow slides off the mountain were well worth it! With 1/3rd of the race done in less 14 hours we hoped for continued good luck. Another 5,000ft decending brought us into Ouray and the darkness. With the first days running done I still felt pretty good but that was about to change.
In Ouray, Anne met me with warmer clothes, better lights and a milk shake and cup of pasta. After filling up and heading out of there I began what would be multiple hours worth of GI trouble. In many ultras I have gone into preiods of uncrolled diarhea. It could be from being dehydrated (which I am sure I was) or a reaction to salt tablets (S caps previously or NUUN tabs now) that contain sodium bicarbinate= a known GI tract irritant to some, or something else. Whatever it is from. It sucks. 6 pit stops over the next 8 miles (and 5,000ft climb) made me miserable. So much walking and not feeling like taking anything in did not help me feel too peppy.
Steve and Joe moved on ahead and I slowly climbed in the dark. Once I got above 12,000 feet again it was freezing cold walking across snow fields and melting 33 deg water filled marshes. Each stream crossing stung with pain. When things go bad in a race, EVERYTHING seems to go bad. The engineer stations was out. out of food, out of purified water, out. it sucked. I had been looking forward to it for literally hours, then nothing. I continued to fill my water bottle with mtn run off and out of streams so that was not an issue, but I really coulda used some calories, or coke or anything.
After finally begining the descent to Grouse gulch I seemed to be over the diarhea, but man was I moving slow. I really had no energy to run and walked the long downhill road just waiting for sun rise. Scott B and Liz Walker came up behind me as the sunrise allowed us to turn off our lights. 24 hours in and I now faced the biggest mountain of the course: 14,048ft Handies peak.
In Grouse aid station I took my time. unloaded some heavy things from my pack (yaktracks I had not used yet, lights, jackets. But I had to keep warm clothes and rain gear and one hand held light because it was now clear that I would not make it to the 91 mile aid station where I put my 2nd set of lights before dark. ugh.
With the sun up and some scrambled eggs and a tortilla in my gut along with 4 cups of coke I began to climb in the 2nd days sunlight feeling okay. I caught a few folks back who had passed me up and managed to climb strong up into the snow fields. Here I stopped to put on sun screan as the 13,000 sun is rediculously intense. (I didn't get enough on for Friday and am now peeling on my neck and forehead!) Near the summit I hooked up with Paul Gross and his pace Ryan. We would stay together on and off much of the next 20 hours.
Once off the steep downhill I began having stomach trouble. I took a tylenol on the lcimb just prior to summititng thinking the pain releif would allow my quads to handle the big descent. but the uncoated pill on my empty stomach tore up the lining making me nausueous. I spent the next few hours sipping nothing but water hoping against hope it would turn around. Once we reached the dirt road the sun was blazing and I smartly dipped my shirt in some snow melt water and redonned it. Ever so slowly we made it to the aid station 72 miles in 31 hours. Not exactly fast!
I knew here that I would either be able to handle some coke and a bit of food and I'd continue strongly or I'd throw up and it might truly be over. 2 tums and 2 glasses of coke later I was nibbling some cake frosting and walking out of the aid station feeling ready to climb another 4,000ft mtn.
I climbed well and felt strong again taking in pretzles and two shot blocks in an alternating pattern every 15 minutes. Soon I was above the tree line once more and roaming in some of the most "out there" parts of the Hardrock course. Pole Creek loomed. This is an aid station packed in many miles by saintly aid station volunteers. Amazing stuff this race. Once here I once again knew I would finish and began running much more on the flats and small downs despite being above 12,000ft. I had no headache and was doing well catching some folks in front of me. The climbs and grassy hills prior to maggie guch were a challenge and I wondered if I would ever get away from the mud. Soon I was making the big decent to the aid station knowing I only had 15 more miles to go.
I ate pasta, turkey and peanuts at the aid station and walked out all fitred up ready for the steepest climb of the course up Big Boy Ridge. Despite my stomach feeling good I nearly threw up 15 feet out of the aid station. I pitched the remaining turkey in my hand and laughed it off. With Scott and Liz chasing me we made the huge ascent in no time and began our race against the dark. Lights came out on green mtn and our search for course markers became hugely frustrating. I lost those two and really could not see any markers with my 2002 LED light. It simply didn't throw light far enough. so I waited for those behind me to catch up. It was Paul and Ryan and together we found our way over around and finally down to the last aid station.
Anne had gotten a ride to the aid station and was happy to great me just before midnight. a strong 21 minutes here putting on warmer clothes, getting a 2nd light and taking care of some chafing issues was all I needed to get the energy up for the final 3,000 ft climb. I was a tiny bit worried about the final cut off but Paul assured me we had it in the bag as he had done 46:15 in 2006 and we were on that pace now. I relaxed some once we crested the final pitch and began walking the steep and rocky final mountain. My left ankle had some severe tendonitis in it now from rubbing on my trusty Asic gel 2120's I had had on the last 40 hours. Running felt awful an dI knew I didn't need to so I walked it on down down down. 4 miles on a crappy jeep road with fist sized stones beat me up before the final muddy stream crossing trail into town.
I hooked up with Richard and we managed to negotiate our way into town despite no course markings. I guess I had had enough as this really pissed me off. I didn't even muster a run to the official Hardrock marking the finish line. merely walked up and kissed the damn thing. Pissy as I was. Soon I was inside sipping a smoothie (thanks Andrea!!) and feeling much better.
I went to the hotel for a shower and a 90minute nap and was incredibly rejuvinated afterwords. At the awards ceremony I was as happy as I ever remember being. What a run. nearly 47 hours of movement. WOW.
See you in 10 years Silverton....maybe!
Silverton is a very special place and it felt like a big reunion to see so many falks who I have run with, been teamates with, and enjoyed their company at races before. Many folks welcomed me back to the race where I had a disappointing DNF in 2005 when I came in fresh off a stress fracture. As well as the race I really began to seriously make a name for myself in ultrarunning by my 36:18 in 2000.
2008 had been a great year for me in terms of life, happiness, and steady consistant running. After 4 poor years of haphazard running and injury, I now had 24 consistent months of training behind me and felt not only fit, but confident in my ability to finish and enjoy ultras again. I had run 10 good ones in 2008 alone. My year began with two 50k's in Jan, followed by two 40 milers in Feb, and 50 milers in March, April, and May with a 100k coming just 34 days before the Hardrock start in June. Due to my schooling and travel that 63 miler was my last run greater than 10 miles, but I knew it would be enough.
Since the race is difficult to get into (lottery) and alternates directions. And since this years run would be going the direction I had not run yet but wanted to......and our lives were still pretty uncomplicated...... I knew if I got in this year I had to go. I was 22nd on the waitlist initially and slowly moved up. When I moved to 9th on the list I bought plane tickets. One week later Dale Garland the RD called me to say I was in. Yes!
In 2000 I prepared by doing multiple snowshoe races in the winter followed by countless hill repeats and training in massachusetts and New Hampshire with superstar Sue Johnston and pal Steve Pero. I then finished 19th in my first 100 at the MMT 100 in May and managed to do a 39 miler in June along with repeats of 3,000ft climb "the Priest" in the Shenandoahs after moving to VA. I was working at UPS and in the best shape of my life. It wasn't easy, but despite arriving in Silverton on Monday of race week I ran well.
In 2008 I spent all of May and June running the flat bike path in Chicago and going to school. I managed the Ice Age 50 and KM 100k, but did no other long runs and no hills other than 2 stairs sessions were I climbed 1500ft. I was READY ! ha! Not!
Much of ultrarunning is confidence and a sense of knowing what you are going to think/decide before you get there. In previous 100 miler attempts (I think this was 27 or 28 for me) I have only dropped in those races where I was unsure if I could make it while standing on the start line. For this years Hardrock, I expected to finish. Not fast, but finish. I hoped for a 38hr run beating the 2nd sun set, but was not up to that task and figured that out on the first 2 climbs.
Anne and I started our quest on Wednesday morning (July 9th) flying from Richmond out to Denver. There around 10Am we picked up the rental car after a 47 minute wait in line (ugh) then began driving west on I-70. Beautiful mountains a=everywhere and we took our time crossing the state. by evening we were both feeling tired, dehydrated and had headaches, so we got a motel in Montrose, Co.
Thursday morning we made the drive south to Silverton passing thru the amazing Ouray and into the heart of the beautiful San Juan Mountians arriving into race headquarters about 30 minutes before check in closed. I had my vitals taken and medical bracelet put on. READY TO ROLL!
Splits:
Aid Station / Distance/ Time/ Minutes in Aid (#)
KT- 11.5- 3:46 (3)
Chapmans-18.9-6:36 (10)
Telluride- 27.8-10:18(13)
Krogers- 32.8-13:27(6)
Gvernors- 36.0-14:32(6)
Ouray- 43.9-16:35(16)
Engineer- 51.5-21:33(10)
Grouse- 58.4-24:09(31)
Sherman- 71.8-31:04(23)
Pole Creek80.9-35:35(7)
Maggie- 85.2-37:31(9)
Cun'gham-91.3-39:12(21)
Finish- 46:45 (2:35 in aid stations)
My race started out at dawn on friday with 139 other crazies. I ran with a camera and snapped pics as I went trying to always maintain a moderate effort level, never breathing too hard. Which at an average elevation of over 11,000ft is not easy. Headaches came all the first day each time I ascended over 12k, but by the 2nd day were not an issue. The lack of 02 just kept me from running anything with an up slope and kept me climbing slowly. Often I was like those guys you see on TV on Everest....walking a few paces then pausing to breath, repeat.
Hardrock is no joke and the one word description Rob Youngren stated to discribe it is right on the money: DANGEROUS. Why someone has not fallen to their death their I don't know. Right off the bat I was reminded of why I held this race up as special. After crossing a river via rope at mile 2 we began the first climb up into Putnam Basin. I had fallen in with a group of folks who I knew to run around 40+ hr in previous Hardrocks. Fellow VHTRC folks Mike Dobies and Billy Losey began pulling away and 68 and 72 year old superstars Hans Deiter Weisshaar and John DeWalt were behind me. I was okay and moving well. I reached the first aid station after a long long time (3:46) and realized this was going to take just about forever to cover all 100 miles. Much unlike The Amazing 23 year old Kyle Skaggs would go on to run exactly twice as fast as me finishing in 23:23!! this destroys the old course record, and will never be touched by anyone other than Kyle.
On the 2nd big climb I had a good time with 2002 Grand Slam classmate Roger Ackerman cresting the top only to be greated by a real life mountain goat! Faced with the euphoria of summiting this huge climb, seeing the memorial to the late Joel Zucker, greeting the mtn goat, then facing the fear of the rediculous desent down the scree feild was nearly too much for me. Then good buddy Steve Pero comes running up behind me bounding from one sliding landing to the next on the 40% grade descent. I was pretty much overcome in a moment my eyes filled with tears and I had all I could do to remain upright. This is what I came to Hardrock for. This is what I live for.
I got myself together picked up the pace running hard on the downhill toward Chapman Aid station and caught Steve and Super RD Joe Prusaitis. We moved thru a beautiful Aspen groove and then landed in the aid station for some much needed fuel and fluids. Now with the noon sun high in the sky it was hot. damn hot. luckily a few po sickles and refill of my bottles had me moving all be it slowly up the huge climb to Oscars pass. This took forever!!! And I seriously doubted weather I was in over my head. I had already made one big mistake. I did not leave a drop bag at Chapmans as I thought I would make it to 27 mile Telluride quick enough. Not so now I had no Clif shot blocks, and no bottle filled with sugar. I was OUT of energy and fading near the top. Luckily Billy Simpson climbing well on his surgically repair ankle shared a gel with me. I made the summit and began eating some snow as Joe topped out. Luckily the run down the other side was only 4,000 feet and would only take us a couple hours!!!!
For fuel I had set out 5 drop bags that contained clean socks, warm clothes, lights, and equally divided: 12 packs of shot blocks (2400cals, and one 4lbs bag of sugar = 6818cals) I ended up eating all the shot blocks and about 4500 cals of the sugar. Plus stuff off the tables at the aid stations. And yet often I was pretty hungry! My heartrate on the climbs stayed above 150...sometimes literally for hours. It would be awesome to know exactly how much work was actually done, and calories burned. By the way the race is retardedly long. like at least 8-12 miles longer than 100. Gauruntee it.
Once I hooked up with Steve we stayed together into Telluride running well but keeping eachother from going too hard. Steve has had lots of trouble red lining at Hardrock and losing his stomach. But not in 2008! We got into Telluride feeling great and after a big eating stop I began the 4,400ft climb up to Virginia's pass. It would take us 3 hours and 9 minutes to do this 5 miles, but man the glissading snow slides off the mountain were well worth it! With 1/3rd of the race done in less 14 hours we hoped for continued good luck. Another 5,000ft decending brought us into Ouray and the darkness. With the first days running done I still felt pretty good but that was about to change.
In Ouray, Anne met me with warmer clothes, better lights and a milk shake and cup of pasta. After filling up and heading out of there I began what would be multiple hours worth of GI trouble. In many ultras I have gone into preiods of uncrolled diarhea. It could be from being dehydrated (which I am sure I was) or a reaction to salt tablets (S caps previously or NUUN tabs now) that contain sodium bicarbinate= a known GI tract irritant to some, or something else. Whatever it is from. It sucks. 6 pit stops over the next 8 miles (and 5,000ft climb) made me miserable. So much walking and not feeling like taking anything in did not help me feel too peppy.
Steve and Joe moved on ahead and I slowly climbed in the dark. Once I got above 12,000 feet again it was freezing cold walking across snow fields and melting 33 deg water filled marshes. Each stream crossing stung with pain. When things go bad in a race, EVERYTHING seems to go bad. The engineer stations was out. out of food, out of purified water, out. it sucked. I had been looking forward to it for literally hours, then nothing. I continued to fill my water bottle with mtn run off and out of streams so that was not an issue, but I really coulda used some calories, or coke or anything.
After finally begining the descent to Grouse gulch I seemed to be over the diarhea, but man was I moving slow. I really had no energy to run and walked the long downhill road just waiting for sun rise. Scott B and Liz Walker came up behind me as the sunrise allowed us to turn off our lights. 24 hours in and I now faced the biggest mountain of the course: 14,048ft Handies peak.
In Grouse aid station I took my time. unloaded some heavy things from my pack (yaktracks I had not used yet, lights, jackets. But I had to keep warm clothes and rain gear and one hand held light because it was now clear that I would not make it to the 91 mile aid station where I put my 2nd set of lights before dark. ugh.
With the sun up and some scrambled eggs and a tortilla in my gut along with 4 cups of coke I began to climb in the 2nd days sunlight feeling okay. I caught a few folks back who had passed me up and managed to climb strong up into the snow fields. Here I stopped to put on sun screan as the 13,000 sun is rediculously intense. (I didn't get enough on for Friday and am now peeling on my neck and forehead!) Near the summit I hooked up with Paul Gross and his pace Ryan. We would stay together on and off much of the next 20 hours.
Once off the steep downhill I began having stomach trouble. I took a tylenol on the lcimb just prior to summititng thinking the pain releif would allow my quads to handle the big descent. but the uncoated pill on my empty stomach tore up the lining making me nausueous. I spent the next few hours sipping nothing but water hoping against hope it would turn around. Once we reached the dirt road the sun was blazing and I smartly dipped my shirt in some snow melt water and redonned it. Ever so slowly we made it to the aid station 72 miles in 31 hours. Not exactly fast!
I knew here that I would either be able to handle some coke and a bit of food and I'd continue strongly or I'd throw up and it might truly be over. 2 tums and 2 glasses of coke later I was nibbling some cake frosting and walking out of the aid station feeling ready to climb another 4,000ft mtn.
I climbed well and felt strong again taking in pretzles and two shot blocks in an alternating pattern every 15 minutes. Soon I was above the tree line once more and roaming in some of the most "out there" parts of the Hardrock course. Pole Creek loomed. This is an aid station packed in many miles by saintly aid station volunteers. Amazing stuff this race. Once here I once again knew I would finish and began running much more on the flats and small downs despite being above 12,000ft. I had no headache and was doing well catching some folks in front of me. The climbs and grassy hills prior to maggie guch were a challenge and I wondered if I would ever get away from the mud. Soon I was making the big decent to the aid station knowing I only had 15 more miles to go.
I ate pasta, turkey and peanuts at the aid station and walked out all fitred up ready for the steepest climb of the course up Big Boy Ridge. Despite my stomach feeling good I nearly threw up 15 feet out of the aid station. I pitched the remaining turkey in my hand and laughed it off. With Scott and Liz chasing me we made the huge ascent in no time and began our race against the dark. Lights came out on green mtn and our search for course markers became hugely frustrating. I lost those two and really could not see any markers with my 2002 LED light. It simply didn't throw light far enough. so I waited for those behind me to catch up. It was Paul and Ryan and together we found our way over around and finally down to the last aid station.
Anne had gotten a ride to the aid station and was happy to great me just before midnight. a strong 21 minutes here putting on warmer clothes, getting a 2nd light and taking care of some chafing issues was all I needed to get the energy up for the final 3,000 ft climb. I was a tiny bit worried about the final cut off but Paul assured me we had it in the bag as he had done 46:15 in 2006 and we were on that pace now. I relaxed some once we crested the final pitch and began walking the steep and rocky final mountain. My left ankle had some severe tendonitis in it now from rubbing on my trusty Asic gel 2120's I had had on the last 40 hours. Running felt awful an dI knew I didn't need to so I walked it on down down down. 4 miles on a crappy jeep road with fist sized stones beat me up before the final muddy stream crossing trail into town.
I hooked up with Richard and we managed to negotiate our way into town despite no course markings. I guess I had had enough as this really pissed me off. I didn't even muster a run to the official Hardrock marking the finish line. merely walked up and kissed the damn thing. Pissy as I was. Soon I was inside sipping a smoothie (thanks Andrea!!) and feeling much better.
I went to the hotel for a shower and a 90minute nap and was incredibly rejuvinated afterwords. At the awards ceremony I was as happy as I ever remember being. What a run. nearly 47 hours of movement. WOW.
See you in 10 years Silverton....maybe!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Hardrock Looms
An easy at home in VA:
Keys were a 10 miler with a mile- 6:36, 800- 3:06, 400-77 at the end for fun
a couple of hilly 8 mile runs
and three 2-4 hour total body work sessions clearing the back lot (raking, bending, cutting,ect)
At least once each day and for all of my runs this week I wet my feet (shoes/socks) with the hose and then worked / ran. I even re-wet by stopping by the river to step in it. The results have been great. I no longer am even bothered by getting my feet wet and the skin on my feet is in great shape.
I feel pretty fit going in to the race although am a bit heavy (for me) and will be starting the run with a 34 day span since my last LONG run (63 miles at Kettle Moraine) It would have been better to get in one more 20 days out, but studies at Northwestern got in the way of that.
I did managed to run down 17 flights of stairs daily during that month however and the great year of long runs to date I think will leave me more than ready.
The big question will be how I am able to handle the altitude as I am not landing in Colorado until 44 hours before the race starts. When I ran Hardrock in 2000 I arrived 5 days prior, and when I did Leadville I arrived 16 hours prior to those races. In both runs I had headaches when I was over 12,500ft. Leadville I got incredible dehydrated and lost 6lbs by 60 miles (from 130lbs). It was pretty miserable. In the hardrock race I had to walk EVERY uphill grade slope and was unable to eat and move at the same time. It is hard to suck air and chew/swallow at the same time. But, it did force me to take the time to sit & relax in the aid stations...eat all I wanted, then leave. Many aid stations I had to walk for a while out of as I was too full to run. I spent 2 hours and 18 minutes in aid stations during the entire 102 miles.
This year I plan to bring straight out of the bag sugar along in my pack to add to my water bottle along the route in order to keep calories flowing in and reduce the amount of REAL food I have to try and take in. mmmmmmmmmmmmm sugar! This is something that worked very well for me at CCC 100, RR 100, and AT 100, that I kind of forgot about.
Keys were a 10 miler with a mile- 6:36, 800- 3:06, 400-77 at the end for fun
a couple of hilly 8 mile runs
and three 2-4 hour total body work sessions clearing the back lot (raking, bending, cutting,ect)
At least once each day and for all of my runs this week I wet my feet (shoes/socks) with the hose and then worked / ran. I even re-wet by stopping by the river to step in it. The results have been great. I no longer am even bothered by getting my feet wet and the skin on my feet is in great shape.
I feel pretty fit going in to the race although am a bit heavy (for me) and will be starting the run with a 34 day span since my last LONG run (63 miles at Kettle Moraine) It would have been better to get in one more 20 days out, but studies at Northwestern got in the way of that.
I did managed to run down 17 flights of stairs daily during that month however and the great year of long runs to date I think will leave me more than ready.
The big question will be how I am able to handle the altitude as I am not landing in Colorado until 44 hours before the race starts. When I ran Hardrock in 2000 I arrived 5 days prior, and when I did Leadville I arrived 16 hours prior to those races. In both runs I had headaches when I was over 12,500ft. Leadville I got incredible dehydrated and lost 6lbs by 60 miles (from 130lbs). It was pretty miserable. In the hardrock race I had to walk EVERY uphill grade slope and was unable to eat and move at the same time. It is hard to suck air and chew/swallow at the same time. But, it did force me to take the time to sit & relax in the aid stations...eat all I wanted, then leave. Many aid stations I had to walk for a while out of as I was too full to run. I spent 2 hours and 18 minutes in aid stations during the entire 102 miles.
This year I plan to bring straight out of the bag sugar along in my pack to add to my water bottle along the route in order to keep calories flowing in and reduce the amount of REAL food I have to try and take in. mmmmmmmmmmmmm sugar! This is something that worked very well for me at CCC 100, RR 100, and AT 100, that I kind of forgot about.
Friday, June 27, 2008
DONE!
I'm DONE! Prosthetics program complete and time to go back home to Virginia.
2nd great news.... I'M IN HARDROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I actually got a call from the RD the day Western States was cancelled......which felt odd to be so happy when so many were so sad.
Another strong week of running while juggling final exams:
Sunday- off
Monday- 7 AM, 7 PM
Tuesday- 7 AM, 7 PM
Wed- 7 AM
Thurs- 7 AM, 7 PM
Friday- 7 AM
Fly out tomorrow wicked early in the morning
Chicago has been great but I am really eager to be home with Anne
2nd great news.... I'M IN HARDROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I actually got a call from the RD the day Western States was cancelled......which felt odd to be so happy when so many were so sad.
Another strong week of running while juggling final exams:
Sunday- off
Monday- 7 AM, 7 PM
Tuesday- 7 AM, 7 PM
Wed- 7 AM
Thurs- 7 AM, 7 PM
Friday- 7 AM
Fly out tomorrow wicked early in the morning
Chicago has been great but I am really eager to be home with Anne
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Moving on UP!!!!!!!
Guess who is number one on the Hardrock waitlist????????????
yep..
Read all about it here
Time to step up the stair workouts!!!!
yep..
Read all about it here
Time to step up the stair workouts!!!!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Week 7
Solid week: 63 miles- 9 runs, 1 tempo, 1 stair workout
Sunday- off
Monday- 7- easy
Tuesday- 7 AM, 7 PM - into head wind 44:02!!!!
Wednesday- 7AM, 7PM- sore calves
Thursday- 7 easy -
Friday- 7 easy following 6 sets x 18 floors stairs
Saturday- 7AM, 7 PM
Feeling okay, a bit overwhelmed.....settling in for a stretch of 5 tests in 4 days....Lab final, oral exam, practical exam, written lower extremity tests, written final exam..
Evaluate and RATE ME!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday- off
Monday- 7- easy
Tuesday- 7 AM, 7 PM - into head wind 44:02!!!!
Wednesday- 7AM, 7PM- sore calves
Thursday- 7 easy -
Friday- 7 easy following 6 sets x 18 floors stairs
Saturday- 7AM, 7 PM
Feeling okay, a bit overwhelmed.....settling in for a stretch of 5 tests in 4 days....Lab final, oral exam, practical exam, written lower extremity tests, written final exam..
Evaluate and RATE ME!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Week 6
Easy recovery week: 4 runs- 28 miles, 3 days off (Last week I got in 86miles)
got back into it on Tuesday with a commute run 7 miler that necessitated a couple walk breaks. Legs not overly sore, but still feeling the 100k slightly. The rest of the week felt pretty good, but nothing special
Saturday- 7 miles easy following my first REAL stairs workout:
6 trips DOWN 19 stories, 5 trips UP. each floor has 20 steps to it
On three of the up trips I took the steps 2 at a time and went real slow trying not to spring off the lower leg calf, but relying on the glutes/hamstrings of the leg stepping up to pull me up. After a couple trips of this it felt like I had been doing a bunch of lunges. I expected to be very sore today, but not much. that is exciting.
Since I have been doing one solid trip down 18 flights running M-f for 5 weeks now, the quads are in pretty strong shape. I plan on doing multiple sets every couple of days the remaining two weeks I am in Chicago.
Additionally I hope to run doubles (in and out from school the 7 miles) M-F these last two weeks. I gotta do something as I'll be flying into Colorado less than 48hrs before the Friday morning start of Hardrock. I am now number 7 on the waitlist!!
got back into it on Tuesday with a commute run 7 miler that necessitated a couple walk breaks. Legs not overly sore, but still feeling the 100k slightly. The rest of the week felt pretty good, but nothing special
Saturday- 7 miles easy following my first REAL stairs workout:
6 trips DOWN 19 stories, 5 trips UP. each floor has 20 steps to it
On three of the up trips I took the steps 2 at a time and went real slow trying not to spring off the lower leg calf, but relying on the glutes/hamstrings of the leg stepping up to pull me up. After a couple trips of this it felt like I had been doing a bunch of lunges. I expected to be very sore today, but not much. that is exciting.
Since I have been doing one solid trip down 18 flights running M-f for 5 weeks now, the quads are in pretty strong shape. I plan on doing multiple sets every couple of days the remaining two weeks I am in Chicago.
Additionally I hope to run doubles (in and out from school the 7 miles) M-F these last two weeks. I gotta do something as I'll be flying into Colorado less than 48hrs before the Friday morning start of Hardrock. I am now number 7 on the waitlist!!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Kettle Moraine 100................K
Sat- 100K- 14:00:16
A great course, great aid, awesome volunteers, super course marking, beautiful country, but
Worst conditions in my 75 ultra starts:
90 with 90% humidity
miles of open sun exposed running
torrential sideways rain, lightning and wind with tornadoes in the area
mud
bugs
I had great legs and no body issues other than massive dehydration that caused diarrhea from hours 4-8. Seven pit stops total left me reeling and led to me getting behind in caloric intake. I took time out at the 31 mile aid station (first out and back turn around). Probably spent 20 minutes using the bathroom, eating, drinking, getting salt, trying to cool off. slowly got things back in order and was running well again by the time the rains came 10 hours into the race.
at 10:50 into the race I sought shelter in an outhouse as the sideways rain and huge winds made running impossible. An interesting 15-20 minutes as I and two others who also sought shelter in there waited for things to calm down. Peeking out the door, the rain looked like a snow white-out. Since the county was under tornado warnings I thought the race might be called. But after reaching the next manned aid station all seemed to be a go. Rain continued on and off as I approached the 100K finish at 8pm. With darkness approaching and the thought of cold crazy rain helped me decide I had had enough fun for the day. I left the mosquitos to drain someone else dry!
a great training run for Hardrock......14 hours of movement, dealing with stomach issues, and wet pruned feet.
Now time to study....3 weeks of school remaining
A great course, great aid, awesome volunteers, super course marking, beautiful country, but
Worst conditions in my 75 ultra starts:
90 with 90% humidity
miles of open sun exposed running
torrential sideways rain, lightning and wind with tornadoes in the area
mud
bugs
I had great legs and no body issues other than massive dehydration that caused diarrhea from hours 4-8. Seven pit stops total left me reeling and led to me getting behind in caloric intake. I took time out at the 31 mile aid station (first out and back turn around). Probably spent 20 minutes using the bathroom, eating, drinking, getting salt, trying to cool off. slowly got things back in order and was running well again by the time the rains came 10 hours into the race.
at 10:50 into the race I sought shelter in an outhouse as the sideways rain and huge winds made running impossible. An interesting 15-20 minutes as I and two others who also sought shelter in there waited for things to calm down. Peeking out the door, the rain looked like a snow white-out. Since the county was under tornado warnings I thought the race might be called. But after reaching the next manned aid station all seemed to be a go. Rain continued on and off as I approached the 100K finish at 8pm. With darkness approaching and the thought of cold crazy rain helped me decide I had had enough fun for the day. I left the mosquitos to drain someone else dry!
a great training run for Hardrock......14 hours of movement, dealing with stomach issues, and wet pruned feet.
Now time to study....3 weeks of school remaining
Monday, June 2, 2008
"I'm Mr Brightside"
WOW! Commute route 43:29!!!!!!!!!!
Normally the route home takes me 52-57 minutes. Music makes a difference though. When I was rocking out to Mr. Brightside (the Killers) I looked up and realized I was already passing the statue that normally takes 24 minutes to get to and my watch only read 19. Music for me really decreases the RPE as we say in the exercise physiology/cardiac rehab world ( the rate of perceived exertion) It just doesn't feel as hard. But it'd be dangerous for me to run with music all the time as I'd over train....it be like running in college with competitive teammates racing everyday! Such a waste of all that effort. Besides, I still make fun of runners with headphones dangling.
Random thoughts on today's run from my head:
-Man that lake is pretty..turquoise like the Caribbean
- hey there is almost no wind today
- wow, it must be nearly 80 degrees (+20 from what all of May was here..cold)
-Look at all these people
- mmm bikinis
- a string bikini on her is not indicated...nor appropriate
- that dude is jacked
- Volleyball looks cool, but always hurts my forearms
- I probably suck
-I am getting better at this prosthetics thing though
- but, I did manage to cut up my thumb with a screw driver today
- and mixed up my foam wrong yesterday
- and had to re-do today
- suppose it is all just good practice, I am here to learn
- I did rock that anatomy exam last Friday though
- Dr. Ada Kelly of baylor Univ would be proud of me
- The one question I got wrong I had written down correctly at first
- then changed...I should never change my answers
- That homeless guy has shorts on today, good for him
- That dog seems to like the water
- Holy crap that girl has the best body I have ever seen!
- better than Divinci could sculpt
- better than a model
- wait Models don't have good bodies, just skinny
- thery are supposed to show off the clothes..muscles draw attention away
- why is my libido so high when I am away from my wife?
- The year in Egypt was like this too
- except no good bodies there at all to look at
-rollerblading looks fun
- I'd commute on rollerblades if I had some
- I am running faster than this bike rider.....he must suck
- No one is passing me today...running
- Madonna is cool
-so is Tool
- I run well with a goal
-I'm going to break my course record, for sure
-Beck is awesome
-Look at all those kids playing soccer
- soccer is way bigger today than 20 years ago when I was a kid
- or was that 25 years ago
-I graduate highschool 15 years ago this month..I'm old
-Haile G is my age and still breaking world records
- Ed Whitlock was running 3:00 marathons at age 73
-Why don't I train faster?
- I suppose this is good Hardrock training
- pancake flat, but with my breathing and heartrate a COOKING
- I'm number 15 on the waitlist, should I buy a plane ticket?
-I should write this all down in my blog
- ugh this is getting uncomfortable
- almost there now
- hey I need to get some milk
-cereal this morning with water on it sucked
- nice, catching the walk sign at the light
- sweat 43:29...solidly 4 minutes faster then ever
- how far is that again?
- 6.8? 6.6, 6.5?
-I'm getting there
Normally the route home takes me 52-57 minutes. Music makes a difference though. When I was rocking out to Mr. Brightside (the Killers) I looked up and realized I was already passing the statue that normally takes 24 minutes to get to and my watch only read 19. Music for me really decreases the RPE as we say in the exercise physiology/cardiac rehab world ( the rate of perceived exertion) It just doesn't feel as hard. But it'd be dangerous for me to run with music all the time as I'd over train....it be like running in college with competitive teammates racing everyday! Such a waste of all that effort. Besides, I still make fun of runners with headphones dangling.
Random thoughts on today's run from my head:
-Man that lake is pretty..turquoise like the Caribbean
- hey there is almost no wind today
- wow, it must be nearly 80 degrees (+20 from what all of May was here..cold)
-Look at all these people
- mmm bikinis
- a string bikini on her is not indicated...nor appropriate
- that dude is jacked
- Volleyball looks cool, but always hurts my forearms
- I probably suck
-I am getting better at this prosthetics thing though
- but, I did manage to cut up my thumb with a screw driver today
- and mixed up my foam wrong yesterday
- and had to re-do today
- suppose it is all just good practice, I am here to learn
- I did rock that anatomy exam last Friday though
- Dr. Ada Kelly of baylor Univ would be proud of me
- The one question I got wrong I had written down correctly at first
- then changed...I should never change my answers
- That homeless guy has shorts on today, good for him
- That dog seems to like the water
- Holy crap that girl has the best body I have ever seen!
- better than Divinci could sculpt
- better than a model
- wait Models don't have good bodies, just skinny
- thery are supposed to show off the clothes..muscles draw attention away
- why is my libido so high when I am away from my wife?
- The year in Egypt was like this too
- except no good bodies there at all to look at
-rollerblading looks fun
- I'd commute on rollerblades if I had some
- I am running faster than this bike rider.....he must suck
- No one is passing me today...running
- Madonna is cool
-so is Tool
- I run well with a goal
-I'm going to break my course record, for sure
-Beck is awesome
-Look at all those kids playing soccer
- soccer is way bigger today than 20 years ago when I was a kid
- or was that 25 years ago
-I graduate highschool 15 years ago this month..I'm old
-Haile G is my age and still breaking world records
- Ed Whitlock was running 3:00 marathons at age 73
-Why don't I train faster?
- I suppose this is good Hardrock training
- pancake flat, but with my breathing and heartrate a COOKING
- I'm number 15 on the waitlist, should I buy a plane ticket?
-I should write this all down in my blog
- ugh this is getting uncomfortable
- almost there now
- hey I need to get some milk
-cereal this morning with water on it sucked
- nice, catching the walk sign at the light
- sweat 43:29...solidly 4 minutes faster then ever
- how far is that again?
- 6.8? 6.6, 6.5?
-I'm getting there
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