Megatomic
Lifer
Last year my buddy Jon decided to run his first 100 mile race. So I did what any idiot would do I volunteered to pace him throughout the night. The race was Virgil Crest 100. There is a small portion of the race that is on roads, but the vast majority is on highly technical trails. And theres major elevation gain: over 10,000 feet for the 50 mile course and 20,000 for the 100 miler. I wound up staying with him from 7:30 PM til just after 5 AM the next morning; we covered the entire out of his last out and back, just over 25 miles. It was grueling, but even in the dark I knew I loved the course. I decided that night that Id go for the 50 mile race in 2011.
And I did. I followed a training plan. I lost weight. I cross trained to strengthen my whole body. I pumped my mind up for the trials. I even trained for specificity. Or so I thought. Mother Nature cannot be predicted.
Race week arrived and brought with it warmer temperatures and rain. Lots of rain. Much of the course became a swamp, and where it wasnt swampy there was slick clay. I knew that the mud and clay would take their toll on me and the other runners, but I didnt expect it to be as nasty as it was.
Thursday night I slept well, I got over 9 hours of sleep. A good thing too as I didnt sleep very well at all Friday night. I may have gotten 4 hours worth, and those were fitful. Sheesh. Me and my boys woke up at 3 AM Saturday morning, took quick showers, ate and left for our 1.5 hour drive to the race. We were all in great moods and chatted it up the whole way there. My boys wanted to work aid stations again this year like we did last year. Theyd also be my crew at Lift House #5 aid station; Id pass through there 4 times during the race. This is where Id be changing shoes, socks, and shirts. We got to Greek Peak in good time, among the first of the commuters to arrive that morning. Check in went smoothly and all I was left with was one last evacuation before the race. Even that went well. Woot! Haha
Six oclock arrived with rain starting up again, it was a fine drizzle that didnt soak so it was ok. And with the Rams Horn sounding we took off. The first part of Leg #1 had us running around Hope Lake on a paved bike trail, so of course we were running faster than our ultra paces. But it felt good! That ended pretty quickly though as soon as we jumped onto the trail, it was mud, mud, mud. The guy I was running with lost his shoe in knee deep mud right in front of me when our double track turned into single track. Mine almost came off too, but I managed to twist my foot just enough when I was picking my foot up that it wrenched my shoe right out of the mud. Neato! And something strange was happening we were all staying bunched together. The mud was making it such that we all were pretty much running the same speed and it was cool. Lots of joking, laughing, and talking were going on. I love trail races.
So the Leg #1 ended at Gravel Pit and my son Ryan was there checking bib numbers as we passed. I didnt expect to see him there and we hollered at each other and high fived. It was super cool. I handed him my hat and head lamp as the sun was up enough that I could see on the trail without the lamp. I didnt stay long there; I refilled my bottle with Orange GU Brew and took off on Leg #2.
Not more than 1 mile into this section a large group of us made a wrong turn on the trail and got ourselves a bonus mile. Feeling fresh as we did we didnt mind, we just laughed and corrected our mistake. It was not much further into this leg that the trail got really technical with gullies and switchbacks to navigate. On a regular day this would have been amazingly fun, but on that day they were slippery slopes of mud and clay. The pace obviously slowed to a fast crawl and would not pick up much for most of the race.
And Leg #2 ended at Lift House #5 and there was my eldest son Adam crewing at the aid station tables. He helped me find the banana bread while a young lady refilled my bottle with Orange GU Brew. Seeing him there was a morale booster, the mud was already damping my spirits. And I didnt dawdle here either; I was in and out fairly quickly. And I began Leg #3, Alpine Loop.
Alpine Loop. Runners leave Lift House #5 and run up a black diamond ski slope. Because of all the rain and mud the RD made some modifications to the course and rather than go straight up and around the top of the mountain we would zigzag our way up and meander around the top of the mountain. Going straight up last year was far easier for me; I heard a few others make the same comment. There was a ton of drainage going on so the creeks and rivulets were full, it was impossible to keep your shoes and socks dry. It was on this first Alpine Loop section that I felt hot spots and chafing going on. My feet and ankles were taking a beating, but I knew I had a change of shoes and two changes of socks. I wasnt too concerned at this point.
And Leg #3 ended back at Lift House #5. Ryan was at the aid station this time with his brother. The two of them changed out my shoes and socks, refilled my bottle again, got me some fig newtons and apple wedges and got me going. The change of shoes would not work out well for me though. I went from my Adidas Vigor trail shoes that have awesome cleat like treads, to my Mizuno Wave Ascends that have no good mud tread on them. The dryness only lasted a few minutes. Sigh . On to Leg #4.
Leg #4 is a brutal section of the course as well, not a great leg to recover from the Alpine Loop. There is a lot of elevation gain and we actually hit the highest point within a 70 mile radius of the race, Virgil Mountain Summit. The trail also gets gnarly with lots of tangled roots and many stream crossings. But it was fun to run here, the shoes were dry (for a while) and the first of two Alpine Loops was behind me. And the sun started to come out here. I may have hit a second wind on this section, I remember being almost giddy for most of it. 
Leg #4 ended at Rock Pile. The Aid Station Captain that I had worked for last year recognized me and said that he was disappointed that me and my boys werent working there this year, but he had heard that I was running and that they needed my boys at Lift House so it was all good. He helped me through the station and pointed out the fresh cut pineapple. Let me just say this: OH MY GOD. Fresh cut pineapple is the perfect food to eat while running an ultra. I could have eaten all they had, but I reserved myself to just 3 chunks. And some chicken broth. And once again, I was in and out in under 3 minutes. And let me say this: aside from the mud and water, everything was going according to my master plan. I was very pleased.
Leg #5 would normally be a nice and runnable section of trail. But there was all that rain which resulted in mud pits and slick clay. Still, it wasnt too bad and I did enjoy this section. I was still running with the same group of runners that I was with earlier and our spirits were high.
Pulling into Daisy Hollow ended Leg #5 (the furthest point of the out in the out and back format of the race) and my good spirits. My stomach was starting to feel nauseous and the electrolyte drink they had up there was HEED. Even on a good day I cant stand HEED. I drank water while there, and some coke, but I had to fill up with the HEED. Not cool. I managed to eat a bit of stuff and swallowed a couple of Endurolytes; this probably saved me from barfing, for a while. I did linger here for a few minutes longer than I should have, the beginning of a very difficult time for me.
And now the second half of the race retraces our steps back to the Starting Line. I did fairly well on the trail back to Rock Pile (Leg #6), but when I stopped at the aid station I almost wretched. Instantly. I had to walk away from the station for a minute until my stomach got under control. I didnt eat anything here, not even the pineapple. I refilled my bottle with GU Brew and it tasted awful. I drank some ginger ale and a cup of Pepsi and made myself leave the station. I was in full blown depression on top of wanting to puke. Great.
Leg #7, back to Lift House #5, saw me at my most depressed. I was halfway back to the station and feeling like Id never make the time cut-off. My feet were killing me. I wanted to lay down and stretch my back out but didnt as I knew I wouldnt get up to run again if I did. And then I thought I was hallucinating I thought I saw my son Adam on the trail in front of me, even calling out to me. But it wasnt a hallucination, he was there. They had heard back at Lift House that I was having trouble and since I wasnt a contender for the win they agreed to let him run me in the rest of the way. This was an immediate shock to my system; I was out of my depression before we got back to Lift House. WOOHOO!
But just because my depression ended didnt mean my stomach problems were solved. When we stopped at the station I had that same almost immediate need to wretch. It was even worse than last time. Nancy Kleinrock and Joe Reynolds were there, luckily for me. She made me drink 2 cups of chicken broth and he made me drink some Ginger beer. In a matter of 5 minutes I was feeling better than I had in a few hours and almost ready to tackle Leg #8, Alpine Loop in reverse. And we were off.
It was horrible having to climb that mountain again with hamburger feet, but I was anxious to have it done with. Adam couldnt believe how ridiculous it was to have to power hike up the ski slope like that. And this was my second time. We laughed at the idea of having to do it a third and fourth time like the 100 milers would have to do later that evening. So we chugged along, anything remotely flattish that didnt look like a swamp we ran, everything else we power hiked. Finally it was over.
Returning to Lift House #5 for the last time brought a sense of triumph for having beaten the mountain, but it also brought a sense of urgency. I found out that I was 2.5 hours from cut-off. The sense of triumph actually helped me to get my head back in the game once and for all. My stomach problems were a thing of the past, and I changed my socks for the last time into my favorite Smartwool racers, ditched my Stinger backpack, and grabbed my headlamp it would be dark soon.
Saying good-bye to Ryan, Nancy, and Joe hastily, Adam and I took off towards Gravel Pit (Leg #9). The first 2 miles of the section are steep uphill road miles which forced yet more power hiking, which gave us an opportunity to munch down some banana and fig newtons. I also downed about half my bottle of GU Brew. By the time we got back to the trail, it was nearly dark outside, and very dark under the tree canopy. We quickly found the mud and slippery clay slopes of the switchbacks and gullies. In the dark they were absolutely treacherous and we had to take them slowly. But I have to concede, we enjoyed our time on this section. We talked about life outside this race and complained about the course. We also encountered a few of my buddies who were heading out to finish the 100. It was uplifting to see them all, and they encouraged me to keep it up, that Id finish as long as I kept up the pace. We also came across other athletes who were in terrible shape. They should have brought a crew to help them And at last we jogged our way into Gravel Pit.
The crew at Gravel Pit actually decorated with a theme: Star Wars. My son loves Star Wars so he was thrilled to see the sights. The station captain, a nice older lady, fed me some cheese quesadillas and Pepsi while my bottle was being refilled for the last time. When we were on our way out she asked me if I had any duct tape holding me together I told her no. Her reply? The Force must be with you then! It seems some people had to tape up their feet, so I wasnt as bad off as I felt. Woohoo!
The final stretch of the race. I have to admit, I knew Id finish at this point. I knew it would be close to the cut-off but honestly I didnt care. I was going to finish, I wasnt going to be DFL, and I was going to have a smile (of sorts) on my face. We passed other runners in this section; two of them didnt finish after all that time and effort. That must have been horrible for them. Just before we jumped off the trail onto the paved path that circles the lake we crossed paths with my friend Ed Edington who was valiantly attempting once again to finish his first 100 mile race. He was feeling GREAT and in an awesome mood. He would go on to finish the 100 mile event. Way to go Ed, you are my hero.
Around 3 bends Hope Lake Lodge came into sight, I was thrilled at the sight and actually broke into a full-on run, perhaps a 9 minute mile pace. Slow for you the reader, yes, but after moving my legs for almost 50 miles already it was lightning fast. Just as we approached the finish line we saw Ryan hollering and waving. So cool. Adam darted ahead to get his iPod Touch ready to take pics. 16 hours and 23 minutes was my official time. Done deal.
As I was being congratulated by my boys and the race staff I realized a few things: my knees and groin never hurt, and my IT Band never flared up. These are the nagging issues I have fought with for the past 2 years. What I did wind up suffering with were nasty abrasions around my ankles and waist, black toenails, and the last 3 toes on my right foot had sores where blisters had formed and been destroyed. But I had no problem walking. We snacked a bit, lounged for a few minutes, checked in with friends, and made our departure. On the way home Adam bought me some Dr. Pepper, never has a beverage tasted so good.
So thats it. My second attempt at finishing a 50 mile race brought me success. And now, still an idiot, I am wondering whether to go for 100 KM or 100 miles next year
And I did. I followed a training plan. I lost weight. I cross trained to strengthen my whole body. I pumped my mind up for the trials. I even trained for specificity. Or so I thought. Mother Nature cannot be predicted.
Race week arrived and brought with it warmer temperatures and rain. Lots of rain. Much of the course became a swamp, and where it wasnt swampy there was slick clay. I knew that the mud and clay would take their toll on me and the other runners, but I didnt expect it to be as nasty as it was.
Thursday night I slept well, I got over 9 hours of sleep. A good thing too as I didnt sleep very well at all Friday night. I may have gotten 4 hours worth, and those were fitful. Sheesh. Me and my boys woke up at 3 AM Saturday morning, took quick showers, ate and left for our 1.5 hour drive to the race. We were all in great moods and chatted it up the whole way there. My boys wanted to work aid stations again this year like we did last year. Theyd also be my crew at Lift House #5 aid station; Id pass through there 4 times during the race. This is where Id be changing shoes, socks, and shirts. We got to Greek Peak in good time, among the first of the commuters to arrive that morning. Check in went smoothly and all I was left with was one last evacuation before the race. Even that went well. Woot! Haha
Six oclock arrived with rain starting up again, it was a fine drizzle that didnt soak so it was ok. And with the Rams Horn sounding we took off. The first part of Leg #1 had us running around Hope Lake on a paved bike trail, so of course we were running faster than our ultra paces. But it felt good! That ended pretty quickly though as soon as we jumped onto the trail, it was mud, mud, mud. The guy I was running with lost his shoe in knee deep mud right in front of me when our double track turned into single track. Mine almost came off too, but I managed to twist my foot just enough when I was picking my foot up that it wrenched my shoe right out of the mud. Neato! And something strange was happening we were all staying bunched together. The mud was making it such that we all were pretty much running the same speed and it was cool. Lots of joking, laughing, and talking were going on. I love trail races.
So the Leg #1 ended at Gravel Pit and my son Ryan was there checking bib numbers as we passed. I didnt expect to see him there and we hollered at each other and high fived. It was super cool. I handed him my hat and head lamp as the sun was up enough that I could see on the trail without the lamp. I didnt stay long there; I refilled my bottle with Orange GU Brew and took off on Leg #2.
Not more than 1 mile into this section a large group of us made a wrong turn on the trail and got ourselves a bonus mile. Feeling fresh as we did we didnt mind, we just laughed and corrected our mistake. It was not much further into this leg that the trail got really technical with gullies and switchbacks to navigate. On a regular day this would have been amazingly fun, but on that day they were slippery slopes of mud and clay. The pace obviously slowed to a fast crawl and would not pick up much for most of the race.
And Leg #2 ended at Lift House #5 and there was my eldest son Adam crewing at the aid station tables. He helped me find the banana bread while a young lady refilled my bottle with Orange GU Brew. Seeing him there was a morale booster, the mud was already damping my spirits. And I didnt dawdle here either; I was in and out fairly quickly. And I began Leg #3, Alpine Loop.
Alpine Loop. Runners leave Lift House #5 and run up a black diamond ski slope. Because of all the rain and mud the RD made some modifications to the course and rather than go straight up and around the top of the mountain we would zigzag our way up and meander around the top of the mountain. Going straight up last year was far easier for me; I heard a few others make the same comment. There was a ton of drainage going on so the creeks and rivulets were full, it was impossible to keep your shoes and socks dry. It was on this first Alpine Loop section that I felt hot spots and chafing going on. My feet and ankles were taking a beating, but I knew I had a change of shoes and two changes of socks. I wasnt too concerned at this point.
And Leg #3 ended back at Lift House #5. Ryan was at the aid station this time with his brother. The two of them changed out my shoes and socks, refilled my bottle again, got me some fig newtons and apple wedges and got me going. The change of shoes would not work out well for me though. I went from my Adidas Vigor trail shoes that have awesome cleat like treads, to my Mizuno Wave Ascends that have no good mud tread on them. The dryness only lasted a few minutes. Sigh . On to Leg #4.
Leg #4 is a brutal section of the course as well, not a great leg to recover from the Alpine Loop. There is a lot of elevation gain and we actually hit the highest point within a 70 mile radius of the race, Virgil Mountain Summit. The trail also gets gnarly with lots of tangled roots and many stream crossings. But it was fun to run here, the shoes were dry (for a while) and the first of two Alpine Loops was behind me. And the sun started to come out here. I may have hit a second wind on this section, I remember being almost giddy for most of it. 
Leg #4 ended at Rock Pile. The Aid Station Captain that I had worked for last year recognized me and said that he was disappointed that me and my boys werent working there this year, but he had heard that I was running and that they needed my boys at Lift House so it was all good. He helped me through the station and pointed out the fresh cut pineapple. Let me just say this: OH MY GOD. Fresh cut pineapple is the perfect food to eat while running an ultra. I could have eaten all they had, but I reserved myself to just 3 chunks. And some chicken broth. And once again, I was in and out in under 3 minutes. And let me say this: aside from the mud and water, everything was going according to my master plan. I was very pleased.
Leg #5 would normally be a nice and runnable section of trail. But there was all that rain which resulted in mud pits and slick clay. Still, it wasnt too bad and I did enjoy this section. I was still running with the same group of runners that I was with earlier and our spirits were high.
Pulling into Daisy Hollow ended Leg #5 (the furthest point of the out in the out and back format of the race) and my good spirits. My stomach was starting to feel nauseous and the electrolyte drink they had up there was HEED. Even on a good day I cant stand HEED. I drank water while there, and some coke, but I had to fill up with the HEED. Not cool. I managed to eat a bit of stuff and swallowed a couple of Endurolytes; this probably saved me from barfing, for a while. I did linger here for a few minutes longer than I should have, the beginning of a very difficult time for me.
And now the second half of the race retraces our steps back to the Starting Line. I did fairly well on the trail back to Rock Pile (Leg #6), but when I stopped at the aid station I almost wretched. Instantly. I had to walk away from the station for a minute until my stomach got under control. I didnt eat anything here, not even the pineapple. I refilled my bottle with GU Brew and it tasted awful. I drank some ginger ale and a cup of Pepsi and made myself leave the station. I was in full blown depression on top of wanting to puke. Great.
Leg #7, back to Lift House #5, saw me at my most depressed. I was halfway back to the station and feeling like Id never make the time cut-off. My feet were killing me. I wanted to lay down and stretch my back out but didnt as I knew I wouldnt get up to run again if I did. And then I thought I was hallucinating I thought I saw my son Adam on the trail in front of me, even calling out to me. But it wasnt a hallucination, he was there. They had heard back at Lift House that I was having trouble and since I wasnt a contender for the win they agreed to let him run me in the rest of the way. This was an immediate shock to my system; I was out of my depression before we got back to Lift House. WOOHOO!
But just because my depression ended didnt mean my stomach problems were solved. When we stopped at the station I had that same almost immediate need to wretch. It was even worse than last time. Nancy Kleinrock and Joe Reynolds were there, luckily for me. She made me drink 2 cups of chicken broth and he made me drink some Ginger beer. In a matter of 5 minutes I was feeling better than I had in a few hours and almost ready to tackle Leg #8, Alpine Loop in reverse. And we were off.
It was horrible having to climb that mountain again with hamburger feet, but I was anxious to have it done with. Adam couldnt believe how ridiculous it was to have to power hike up the ski slope like that. And this was my second time. We laughed at the idea of having to do it a third and fourth time like the 100 milers would have to do later that evening. So we chugged along, anything remotely flattish that didnt look like a swamp we ran, everything else we power hiked. Finally it was over.
Returning to Lift House #5 for the last time brought a sense of triumph for having beaten the mountain, but it also brought a sense of urgency. I found out that I was 2.5 hours from cut-off. The sense of triumph actually helped me to get my head back in the game once and for all. My stomach problems were a thing of the past, and I changed my socks for the last time into my favorite Smartwool racers, ditched my Stinger backpack, and grabbed my headlamp it would be dark soon.
Saying good-bye to Ryan, Nancy, and Joe hastily, Adam and I took off towards Gravel Pit (Leg #9). The first 2 miles of the section are steep uphill road miles which forced yet more power hiking, which gave us an opportunity to munch down some banana and fig newtons. I also downed about half my bottle of GU Brew. By the time we got back to the trail, it was nearly dark outside, and very dark under the tree canopy. We quickly found the mud and slippery clay slopes of the switchbacks and gullies. In the dark they were absolutely treacherous and we had to take them slowly. But I have to concede, we enjoyed our time on this section. We talked about life outside this race and complained about the course. We also encountered a few of my buddies who were heading out to finish the 100. It was uplifting to see them all, and they encouraged me to keep it up, that Id finish as long as I kept up the pace. We also came across other athletes who were in terrible shape. They should have brought a crew to help them And at last we jogged our way into Gravel Pit.
The crew at Gravel Pit actually decorated with a theme: Star Wars. My son loves Star Wars so he was thrilled to see the sights. The station captain, a nice older lady, fed me some cheese quesadillas and Pepsi while my bottle was being refilled for the last time. When we were on our way out she asked me if I had any duct tape holding me together I told her no. Her reply? The Force must be with you then! It seems some people had to tape up their feet, so I wasnt as bad off as I felt. Woohoo!
The final stretch of the race. I have to admit, I knew Id finish at this point. I knew it would be close to the cut-off but honestly I didnt care. I was going to finish, I wasnt going to be DFL, and I was going to have a smile (of sorts) on my face. We passed other runners in this section; two of them didnt finish after all that time and effort. That must have been horrible for them. Just before we jumped off the trail onto the paved path that circles the lake we crossed paths with my friend Ed Edington who was valiantly attempting once again to finish his first 100 mile race. He was feeling GREAT and in an awesome mood. He would go on to finish the 100 mile event. Way to go Ed, you are my hero.
Around 3 bends Hope Lake Lodge came into sight, I was thrilled at the sight and actually broke into a full-on run, perhaps a 9 minute mile pace. Slow for you the reader, yes, but after moving my legs for almost 50 miles already it was lightning fast. Just as we approached the finish line we saw Ryan hollering and waving. So cool. Adam darted ahead to get his iPod Touch ready to take pics. 16 hours and 23 minutes was my official time. Done deal.
As I was being congratulated by my boys and the race staff I realized a few things: my knees and groin never hurt, and my IT Band never flared up. These are the nagging issues I have fought with for the past 2 years. What I did wind up suffering with were nasty abrasions around my ankles and waist, black toenails, and the last 3 toes on my right foot had sores where blisters had formed and been destroyed. But I had no problem walking. We snacked a bit, lounged for a few minutes, checked in with friends, and made our departure. On the way home Adam bought me some Dr. Pepper, never has a beverage tasted so good.
So thats it. My second attempt at finishing a 50 mile race brought me success. And now, still an idiot, I am wondering whether to go for 100 KM or 100 miles next year
