Ahhhh... Another year older now and, so far, my new age fits pretty well :)
I decided to kick off the day following my birthday with a bit of a blog overhaul. While it is more like a revamping of the previous look, it is a change nonetheless. Hey, baby steps :) I kid you not, I played around with a dozen other layouts and thingies and after what was probably hours, I ended up picking a layout that is almost identical to my previous layout :) Heh, go figure.
It's been a full two WEEKS since I've taken a single running step. And, you know what? It's not horrible. But I don't really recommend it if you enjoy being sane and normal ;) Those two gnarly blisters I got under my big toenails brought me to my knees (on a "manageable pain" day, the feeling was akin to what I imagine it feels like to have your nails yanked off with pliers...nice, huh?). So, after a week of no running, Geof had had enough. He set up his road bike on the bike trainer and demanded that I ride. I resisted for a short bit, staring down the foreign contraption with laser eyes. I poked and prodded it, circled it, and then decided maybe I'd give it a shot, but I wasn't happy about it...
I'm thinking maybe I should write an Ode to the Bike Trainer blog post! But, that would be sacrilege on this running blog :-) So I will simply state that said Trainer has been a godsend for me this past week. I get to move my legs and sweat like a pig all without leaving the apartment! I was lamenting how high maintenance every other activity is compared to running, so this was a perfect solution. Plus, my new bike is now in the construction phase so I look forward to its arrival in the coming weeks, bam!
Sidenote: Dornbox Bikes is the place to go if you're looking for a top notch, custom made ride sure to turn heads. Chris Dornbach is a genius...which is really good because I know NOTHING about bikes, other than that they have two wheels and a seat :)
Anyhow, the blistery toes are on the mend finally and it's looking like running is indeed in my future :) You know when you get in a spot where you can't do a whole lot (injury/setback, gross blisters, etc.) and you feel like you'll never run again? (I know, talk about dramatic.) Know that eventually you do get to the other side of it. You will run again. That's how we humans roll. I'm now trying to use my forced down time as time to work on some weak areas...hips, glutes, calves, feet...so that when I do return to running I'm not right back where I left off, expecting new results. That's the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again while expecting the outcome to be different. Working on the weak stuff, while NOT running, will hopefully position me better. I'm also thinking about revamping my approach to running...low mileage still (under 40-50 mpw), but shuffling things around and adding a little bit of (but not too much) speed work. We'll see, plenty of time to work on this in my non-running state :) I also need to start some research on new road shoes. It has come to my attention that my feet are now just wide enough that I can't wear my road shoes without getting an annoying side-of-the-ball-of-my-foot blister. Any suggestions for cushioney, neutral road delights? We already know how much I love my trail shoes :)
Back to my baby steps...
Crash, out.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Rio Del Lago 100M: Who Needs Toenails Anyway?
"I have a strong and healthy body...I have a strong and healthy mind...don't cry, don't cry...I'm going to finish this thing, I'm going to finish this thing...Whoa, is that fire in the hole? Somebody put it out!!!...Ooooooooh, man, that hurt, I'm losing those toenails for sure...Do I need to puke? Nah, wait, take that back, BLEEEEEECH!!!!...Why do I always get stuck behind chicks talking about Ironman? For the love of God, WHY?!...That smells, is that me?...Man, I feel great!...K2 is a sissy hill, K2 is a sissy hill...so is Cardiac Hill...Can't wait to see Geof, can't wait to see Geof...EFF my left big toe hurts like a mutha...C'mon Gaines, get 'er done!!!...EFF, it's hot...EFF, I'm going to puke.....................Oh my gosh, I'm going to finish, I'm really, really going to finish!...Leadville, you can kiss my ASS!"
Peeps always ask what goes through my head during these things. Well, there's a small sampling. Particularly the first two things. This is going to sound a bit new agey and weird, but I've recently taken to daily positive affirmations (thanks to Geof's suggestion) to help bolster my mental game. I came up with a number of things on my own to repeat daily to myself, and the first two things were my affirmations of choice while running the 2010 Rio Del Lago 100M. I guess it worked :) Put it out there, and then all the universe will conspire to make it happen. Thank you universe :)
Rio Del Lago takes place just outside of Sacramento, CA, in Granite Bay, and makes its way up to Cool, CA (which was most definitely the HOTTEST part of the course...how cruel). You then turn around to go back where you came from, and then continue on down and around Lake Natoma, then back to where you started, in Granite Bay. The first part of the course from Cavitt School to Cool and back was the BEST...rolling, dusty singletrack along the American River, parts of which were on the Western States Trail and included a run across the famed No Hands Bridge. No Hands Bridge is heaven and I look forward to going back there :)
The course itself isn't overly challenging when you compare it to, oh, say, Leadville or Wasatch, or even Western States...but, an "easy" course? Not even close. It's one of those deceptively tough courses, strewn with rocks and roots and so much dust I was blowing brown stuff out of my nose for the couple of days following. Gross. It's also hot. The weather was cooler than originally projected for the race, and didn't rise much above 90. Add in the very exposed course and you have one heck of a hot day! Peeps were dropping like flies because of the heat apparently. There are two vicious climbs, Cardiac (very apropos) and K2 (again, apropos), which will awaken your every cell and remind you to pay attention, but they come early and aren't repeated. If you've climbed Hope Pass, these are nothing, but it does take some special technique to make your way up without going all anerobic and what not. I passed people like it was my business on K2, but what a doozy!
The rest of the course is very, very rolling and the last 50k are incredibly rocky and curse word-inducing, but considerably easier since it's dark and cooler. I could have done without all the pavement running in the final 7 or so miles, but whatevs.
Okay, that's enough of a boring description of the course :)
I'm starting to get all starry-eyed and girly remembering race day. You know when you have a really bang-up time, when everything just seems to go really right and no matter how much it might have hurt for awhile, you always look back and remember it as "the best time of your life"? That's where I'm at :)
The short of it? I finished! With a new PR! 28:21:29. The official results are incorrect, showing me as coming in at 28:05. I'm flattered, but it's not right. Oooo, and I got a fancy shmancy 20-29 age group award...2nd place chick. And, what's cooler, is it's something I can actually use!
Was this redemption? I'd say 50/50. Was it what I wanted? 100%. Did I feel pressured or stressed? Not a hint of either. For me, this race was exactly what I was looking for. The experience I had at RDL this year has made me realize a few things: mountainous races are not my thing right now, the Leadville experience was too much of a production and not my scene either, oxygen is a GOOD thing, so is being able to run because you have access to things like...oxygen, and losing your cookies during a race can actually serve you well. My DNF at Leadville stung at first, then it subsided almost completely, and relatively quickly actually. But, I had all this fitness and drive still lingering, I wanted to do something. RDL was perfect timing in every way. So off to Sacramento we flew, along with Brian and Kelly, of course.
After a quick pre-race meeting where they warned us about the possibility of course marking sabotage (oh, great), weigh-in, BP check and packet pick-up, we headed to dinner at the king of classy Italian dining, Olive Garden. That will be the last time I eat a plate of fettuccine alfredo and two bowls of salad the night before a race. Holy over-active colon! Steve, Geof's uncle, joined us for dinner as well. Steve was going to be joining Geof as a member of my crew, and on Saturday morning, Gretchen would be joining the crew crowd as well. What a lucky gal I am, I had a really great cast of characters helping me out, and no drop bags to worry with!
At the starting area, we had to be weighed again, and since we got there so early (6 a.m. start time) we just bummed around taking pictures, gnawing on plain bagels and relaxing. The tiny gym at Cavitt School was buzzing and jammed with the 100+ runners (94 hundo runners and a bunch of 50k runners) and their crews. It was funny to observe the relatively relaxed scene compared to the start of Leadville, and even Rocky Raccoon. There was really good, positive energy in the air and I was on cloud 9 imagining the day ahead of me on the trail with these folks.
At Horseshoe Bar - mile 57.02, a volunteer handed each of us a glowstick necklace. I still have mine :) Just a little something fun for the run and we got lots of compliments on them, lol. Getting onto the trail that goes around Folsom Lake we worried a bit about the trail markings...there weren't any. It's a good thing there's really only one option around the lake, but it was still a little unnerving to not see any flags. Clearly, someone had taken it upon themselves to remove all the flagging during the day. What jerks. What's the point? There were a whopping two flags on the 9 mile stretch from Horseshoe Bar to Cavitt School (mile 66.96). No matter, we were enjoying ourselves, even running a lot of the ups. A confusing sign at the levee had us scratching our heads, but I knew the school was straight ahead. I also knew Geof and I were going to need to figure out the sign for the next portion of the race. We eventually reached the chain-link fence around the fields behind the school and ran around the perimeter. I was so happy to reach this point, and feeling so dang good! I ran to the gymnasium slightly less than 2 hours ahead of the cutoff, and hopped inside, arms wide open, to a MASH scene. Whoa, it appeared a lot of peeps were having a lot of trouble. I wanted to get in and out of there, fast. Geof was all set to go and after another weigh in, battery change and some refills, we were outta there! I regaled Geof with my excitement over the last 22 miles with Gretchen, "we ran almost every step of that trail, it was awesome!!"
Mentally, I was passing with flying colors. I was still doing really well with keeping in the moment. Other than that one mental dip just before I lost my cookies at Maidu, I had had a really awesome mental race, not to mention physically, too. My stomach was holding tight and my feet were feeling better in my road shoes. The next 33ish miles were going to be a lot less rolling, more runnable and include a good bit of paved bike path/urban running. Carrying a handheld light, in addition to my headlamp, helped avoid the tunnel vision sickness I've gotten in the past from having only one light. Awesome. Geof and I clipped along the levees, up and down some hills and around Lake Natoma. Mentally, I decided I just needed to get to Hazel Bluff AS at mile 89 under the cutoff and then I could take my time getting to the finish (the RDs would honor any finish time as long as you made the mile 89 cutoff); the final 11 miles would be my "party miles". This helped me to break up the last portion of the course and made it feel less daunting.
I was still keeping up on my nutrition and very diligent about the salt and calories. I was really craving some ramen noodles, and when we arrived at Negro Bar to one fabulous volunteer manning a huge pot of ramen noodles, I rejoiced. YESSSSSSS! I downed a cup of the steamy goodness, grabbed more gels from my peeps and we headed out again. Negro was the only AS that had a generator going, and actual lights...how strange. Geof and I were talking about how important something as minor as the sound of a generator running is during the night portion of these races. Hearing that gentle whirring sound is like a beacon of hope for the runner in the night. I don't know why no other AS had this, and I won't even get into the whole no lights thing here. At Hazel Bluff (mile 77.33) we were ahead of schedule a bit, so Steve and Gretchen were sleeping in the car. I asked a volunteer how far to the next crew station and he responded with a very typical (of this race), "I don't know." But he didn't stop there, he had to share that he did know it was about 12.5 miles round trip, to get back to them at mile 89. Okay, now there is a prime example of information I did not need at that point. Suddenly, 12.5 miles felt insurmountable. We ambled over to the car as Steve rolled out, very surprised to see us :) I grabbed more gels and another Starbucks Doubleshot and then we headed out. This was where there was a lot of paved bike path running. I mentioned that I thought if we saw this part during the day, we would never run in an area like this voluntarily. Geof agreed, and I added that running in the woods with rattlesnakes and mountain lions was less worrisome to me! Suffice it to say, it was a little sketchy running in such an unfamiliar and urban setting.
We passed a lot of zombie-like runners, reduced to hobbling. We were still running pretty well and I was already forgetting the 12.5 mile comment from the volunteer. The turn-around point was within reach and I knew I was in no danger of missing any cutoffs at this point. I decided that I would allow myself one nap, at the turn-around station, since I hadn't taken one at Cavitt School as I originally thought I might. I was feeling a little tired, but not horribly so. One quick nap would take the edge off :)
At around 4:25 a.m. we arrived at Mt. Lion Knoll (mile 83.63), the turn around. I checked in at the AS, grabbed a cup of the most amazing tasting butternut squash soup and then headed back down to the parking lot where a thick blanket was laid out for me on the pavement and a chair for me to elevate my legs with. I rolled myself up like a burrito and zonked for 15 minutes straight. I wouldn't call it the most restful sleep ever, but it felt so incredible to have my legs elevated, back flat and eyes shut. Wow, that was blissful. My crew woke me up and helped me to my feet. I immediately put on my Rocky Raccoon 100 fleece sweater as I knew that laying flat like that was going to give me serious chills if I didn't put on something warm asap. That fleece worked like a charm! It's nice to know I've learned a thing or two in my experiences. No matter the temperature, if you've been running all day, gotten some sun, and then lay down for even a minute at night, you are going to get chilled. Even at Badwater that happened to our runner. So, if you are going to stop for any measure of time during the night portion of a race, have something warm to put on. Otherwise, you'll be battling the chills for some time and that zaps your energy like few other things do.
Usually, after making it 80 miles, I have a pretty good feeling I'm going to finish. There are few things that will stop me, and on this day I could feel it in my bones. I was going to do it. But, I wanted to get to Hazel Bluffs (mile 89) before claiming it a sure thing. The next 7ish miles back to Hazel after the turn-around were pretty unremarkable due to the urban setting, but Geof and I were moving along well. One major, major lift was seeing Brian and Kelly heading for the turn-around about 3/4 of a mile out of the station. We were both absolutely elated to see them there. Brian was going to get 'er done!!! This gave me a good little boost that carried me to Hazel Bluffs feeling really good, albeit ready to be done! We arrived with the sun rising behind us, and just shy of 2 full hours ahead of the cut-off, as it had been for me all day. Sweet :) I decided to leave my hydration pack here and opted for one bottle of plain water, and one bottle of Gatorade. I also grabbed my sunglasses and tied my fleece around my waist. I now knew I was going to finish, without a shadow of a doubt. My head was in a great spot and my body still felt incredible. I grabbed a cup of chicken noodle soup from the aid station, silently forgiving the volunteer that had made the 12.5 mile remark earlier on :) The same guy now announced to me, "head down this hill here, round the corner and then guess what? You will be in the single digits!" This made me very happy :)
The trail out of the AS was very steep and rocky and I made sure to stub my toe one more time here. I said aloud that I was without a doubt going to be losing my left big toenail, and possibly my right one, too. Blech. The remaining miles felt much longer than they actually were, but that is par for the course at the end of a 100 mile race for me. It's funny to look back and remember at mile 12 how I thought, "wow, I'm already 12 miles in, only 88 more to go!" And, now I was thinking how awful it was that there were 9.5 miles left to go, ha! Perspective. Once on the bike path there was a lot of walking mixed with running. My feet were pretty unhappy with me, but I knew I needed to keep moving. Each step gets you that much closer to the finish. Geof mentioned he thought I'd probably be able to PR at this rate. Ooo, a PR, that would be fun :) I stopped at every port-o-john we passed, and happily noticed my hands were back to their normal size and my feet didn't feel as puffy in my shoes. Negro Bar II came up pretty quickly somehow, and after a 30 second stop in the chair, we continued on. Gretchen and Steve were wide awake, it appeared, and I was so happy to see them at each stop in the night. I was feeling pretty darn lucky for the crew I had with me :) They let us know we'd see them one more time before the finish, at Folsom Dam Park.
I was pretty much over the whole paved bike path thing, and all the cyclists riding on the left side of the path (um, what's up with that? Everyone on a bike was riding on the left side), and the sun, and the eerie chanting coming from the Folsom Prison alongside us (yep, the Folsom Prison, a la Johnny Cash :)). Arriving at Folsom Dam, we checked with a volunteer on Brian's status. There was a question mark next to his bib number and she said they were unsure if he was still out on the course or a DNF. This didn't sit well with us, and we both chanted, "C'mon Gaines, git 'er done!" as we made our way towards the finish a mere 3.1 miles away. I now had two full bottles of ice cold water as the day was heating up, and this made those final few miles more bearable. Eventually, the levees came into view and Geof proclaimed we were getting really close. Oh, sweet redemption, you will be mine!!
We rounded the corner on the final levee, and I recalled at that moment that there was less than a mile to go. Suddenly, the entire day and night began to run through my mind. I said we should run to the corner and then walk some, but I found myself continuing to run...all the way to the finish. The chain-link fence appeared before us and we followed the trail around the perimeter one final time. "Oh my gosh, I'm gonna do it, again. Holy shit!" was all I could say. Down the hill and onto the blacktop of the playground, across the basketball court and onto the timing mats.
I was done. A new PR of 28:21:29...whoa, that was pretty cool.
Fact: Tri Berry Gu tastes exactly the same coming up as it does going down. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...
Fact: I run way better after 40 miles. It hurts less.
Fact: I've never felt so good running 100 miles. Heck I've never felt so good running 10 miles. That's effed up.
Fact: It really is easier to be a chick...when your nails fall off you can just paint the nail bed :)
Fact: Sharkies are multi-colored. I really thought they were blue, and as soon as I realized they were multi-colored, they tasted different...
Fact: Glow stick necklaces make you run faster, and pee more often.
Fact: RDL is hands down my favorite 100 mile race so far. I think I will be back to this one :) That stretch along the American River totally makes the race.
Fact: Brian is a 100 mile runner now. Welcome to the club, m' man...so what's next?? :)
Fact: When other people fart on the trail, no matter how out of it I may be, I will laugh every single time.
Fact: I've never...evacuated...my colon so much in one 28 hour stretch. WTF?
Fact: The one thing that I went into this race with an issue with (my right ankle/calf), and truly thought I might not finish because of it, never once actually bothered me, and the slight swelling was gone by the time I finished. It's a mystery.
Fact: I'm not proof-reading this before I hit "Publish", sorry, it's just so dang long of a post now!
Fact: If you've made it this far, thank you! I love my readers!!
Fact: RecoFit calf sleeves are the best piece of running attire I own.
Fact: I smelled like total BUTT by the time I finished. I think Geof was offended by my stank...
Fact: This belt buckle totally kicks ass...
Peeps always ask what goes through my head during these things. Well, there's a small sampling. Particularly the first two things. This is going to sound a bit new agey and weird, but I've recently taken to daily positive affirmations (thanks to Geof's suggestion) to help bolster my mental game. I came up with a number of things on my own to repeat daily to myself, and the first two things were my affirmations of choice while running the 2010 Rio Del Lago 100M. I guess it worked :) Put it out there, and then all the universe will conspire to make it happen. Thank you universe :)
Rio Del Lago takes place just outside of Sacramento, CA, in Granite Bay, and makes its way up to Cool, CA (which was most definitely the HOTTEST part of the course...how cruel). You then turn around to go back where you came from, and then continue on down and around Lake Natoma, then back to where you started, in Granite Bay. The first part of the course from Cavitt School to Cool and back was the BEST...rolling, dusty singletrack along the American River, parts of which were on the Western States Trail and included a run across the famed No Hands Bridge. No Hands Bridge is heaven and I look forward to going back there :)
The course itself isn't overly challenging when you compare it to, oh, say, Leadville or Wasatch, or even Western States...but, an "easy" course? Not even close. It's one of those deceptively tough courses, strewn with rocks and roots and so much dust I was blowing brown stuff out of my nose for the couple of days following. Gross. It's also hot. The weather was cooler than originally projected for the race, and didn't rise much above 90. Add in the very exposed course and you have one heck of a hot day! Peeps were dropping like flies because of the heat apparently. There are two vicious climbs, Cardiac (very apropos) and K2 (again, apropos), which will awaken your every cell and remind you to pay attention, but they come early and aren't repeated. If you've climbed Hope Pass, these are nothing, but it does take some special technique to make your way up without going all anerobic and what not. I passed people like it was my business on K2, but what a doozy!
The rest of the course is very, very rolling and the last 50k are incredibly rocky and curse word-inducing, but considerably easier since it's dark and cooler. I could have done without all the pavement running in the final 7 or so miles, but whatevs.
Okay, that's enough of a boring description of the course :)
I'm starting to get all starry-eyed and girly remembering race day. You know when you have a really bang-up time, when everything just seems to go really right and no matter how much it might have hurt for awhile, you always look back and remember it as "the best time of your life"? That's where I'm at :)
The short of it? I finished! With a new PR! 28:21:29. The official results are incorrect, showing me as coming in at 28:05. I'm flattered, but it's not right. Oooo, and I got a fancy shmancy 20-29 age group award...2nd place chick. And, what's cooler, is it's something I can actually use!
Was this redemption? I'd say 50/50. Was it what I wanted? 100%. Did I feel pressured or stressed? Not a hint of either. For me, this race was exactly what I was looking for. The experience I had at RDL this year has made me realize a few things: mountainous races are not my thing right now, the Leadville experience was too much of a production and not my scene either, oxygen is a GOOD thing, so is being able to run because you have access to things like...oxygen, and losing your cookies during a race can actually serve you well. My DNF at Leadville stung at first, then it subsided almost completely, and relatively quickly actually. But, I had all this fitness and drive still lingering, I wanted to do something. RDL was perfect timing in every way. So off to Sacramento we flew, along with Brian and Kelly, of course.
After a quick pre-race meeting where they warned us about the possibility of course marking sabotage (oh, great), weigh-in, BP check and packet pick-up, we headed to dinner at the king of classy Italian dining, Olive Garden. That will be the last time I eat a plate of fettuccine alfredo and two bowls of salad the night before a race. Holy over-active colon! Steve, Geof's uncle, joined us for dinner as well. Steve was going to be joining Geof as a member of my crew, and on Saturday morning, Gretchen would be joining the crew crowd as well. What a lucky gal I am, I had a really great cast of characters helping me out, and no drop bags to worry with!
With the Brelly at the pre-race meeting...so excited!
I think I slept pretty well the night before, but that may have been aided by an overdose of the spray adhesive that Brian was using to tape his feet in the room we were all sharing ;) The usual pre-race preparations took place and Brian and I were all set to get 'er done before long. I decided to start out in my new Sportie Cats, my trusty Atayne CHUG shirt, Drymax Max Pro socks, RecoFit Arm Coolers and RecoFit Calf Sleeves, along with various other items of necessary clothing. I did opt for the gaiters this time, and thank goodness I did...by the first sock change at mile 44 you could see exactly where my gaiters didn't cover (the dust and grit were experts at getting into my shoes even with the gaiters). At the starting area, we had to be weighed again, and since we got there so early (6 a.m. start time) we just bummed around taking pictures, gnawing on plain bagels and relaxing. The tiny gym at Cavitt School was buzzing and jammed with the 100+ runners (94 hundo runners and a bunch of 50k runners) and their crews. It was funny to observe the relatively relaxed scene compared to the start of Leadville, and even Rocky Raccoon. There was really good, positive energy in the air and I was on cloud 9 imagining the day ahead of me on the trail with these folks.
Brian and I have on our race faces at the start
At precisely 6:00 we were off, running into the early dawn hours. I carried a small handheld light for the first 30-45 minutes of running, until the sun illuminated the trail enough to not need anything. The first ~12 miles are run around Folsom Lake on a very rolling dirt trail, and since they get zero rain in this area it was verrrry dusty. I pulled my Buff up over my nose and mouth more than a few times when runners in front of me kicked up some of the grit. This section of this trail was really pleasant and switched between single track and wider doubletrack. I got stuck behind a train of women talking all about how tough Ironman is and that this was just a training run for their next IM. Yea, see ya at the finish line (FYI, none of those women finished...). Disclaimer: I have nothing against IM, I have some wonderful friends who enjoy them, but I always manage to get stuck behind people who talk incessantly about those races and how amazing they are. Minor pet peeve I guess :) Onward!
After jumping on my first chance to pass up the IM chicks, I sailed along some really rocky and technical sections of the trail, taking quick glances to my right to check out the awesome scenery that is Folsom Lake...simply stunning, really! I bypassed the first two aid stations as I was full up on liquids and had a tight nutrition schedule to stick to. No deviation today! Mile 11.93 - Rattlesnake Bar - was the first crew accessible aid station and I was pumped to see my man and Steve. At around mile 10 I noticed a very familiar sensation coming over me...I needed to pee, sweet! This was very good, especially considering it took me 40 miles to need to pee at Leadville.
Coming into Rattlesnake Bar. Photo courtesy of www.therundown.net (Charlie N.)
I rolled into Rattlesnake Bar in about 2.5 hours, right on schedule, and considering I walked the equivalent of about two miles in that first section, I was quite pleased with my arrival. A quick swap of my Perpetuem bottle and a check of my water supply in my pack and I was off! I was feeling great, and I got a nice little surge from seeing Geof and Steve's smiling faces. The next crew station would be Auburn Dam Overlook (which, from what we could tell, was no dam, and no overlook to be seen, lol) at mile 22ish. I left Rattlesnake smiling and feeling pretty awesome, setting off down the trail, hoping the field had spread out some. The first 50k runners were already headed back by this time and they were very polite and stepped aside as we crossed paths on the singletrack trail. "Go ahead, you've got a LOT more ground to cover than I do today! Yea hundred mile runner!" That made me smile to myself :) I ran a lot of the next few miles solo, passing a couple folks, getting passed by a couple folks, rolling with the hills, drinking at regular intervals, keeping up on my salt intake, keeping an eye on my hands to see if they were puffing up. It was now starting to warm up pretty good, but the shade of the trail kept runners pretty cool at this point still.
I was concentrating pretty well and reminding myself to be in the moment. Too often in a race, I find myself forward-thinking and worrying about what's coming up next. I think that's a bit of a mental downfall. This time I would keep my head in the precise moment I was actually in at any given time. Relish the trail beneath my feet, enjoy everything around me and listen to my body. I would get to the big climb when I got to it and I would deal with it one footfall at a time. This strategy made a huge difference in where my head was throughout the race and it made the experience that much more positive. I recommend trying it out!
I'm not sure what the mileage was, but it was a couple miles before Cardiac Hill that I ran up behind a train of three people. I hung behind them for a bit gauging the pace and their conversation style. They were running my pace (sweet!), talking walk breaks at the exact moment I was craving one (bam!) and their conversation was light and pretty entertaining. I decided to hang onto these folks and really, really enjoyed the trail with them until Maidu (~mile 21). The climb up Cardiac gave us an insider's view of just why it was named that, and I thoroughly enjoyed keeping pace with this group. They pulled me along when I likely would have slowed considerably and gotten lazy, but it was never outside of my comfort zone. Jenny was the women's winner a number of years back, and she was leading the group. Joey was charged with making sure she kept an even and relaxed pace during the hot hours of the day, and I'm not sure what the other gal was doing with them, but they all clearly knew each other well. After cresting Cardiac, the trail runs along a canal and is very flat and shaded. It was lovely! We all stopped to dunk our hats in the frigid water of the canal and then rolled on. One more guy tacked on behind me and was thanking me for pulling him along all that way. I said to thank the ones ahead of us! I loved this section.
Running along the canal with my adopted posse, heading to Maidu (~mile 21)
Rolling into Maidu, I took another potty break and then kept on moving, leaving the group at the aid station. It was only another 1.5 miles to Auburn Dam where my crew was meeting me. The rest of the way along the canal and nicely shaded still. I saw the amazing Monica Scholz up ahead (whom I met climbing up Hope Pass during Leadville) and worked to catch up to her. I finally caught up as we were cresting a paved hill leading up to the Overlook. Past the bathrooms (ooo, real bathrooms!) I ran down to the AS to the smiling faces of my awesome crew and Kelly. Gretchen joined us here and I was pumped to finally meet her in person. She gave me a huge hug and then we set about refilling my bottles, removing my arm sleeves, checking to make sure my iPod was working and a quick potty break in the f'real bathrooms (which even had soap, running water and paper towels...heaven!). It was really warm by now and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The next section was going to be much more exposed so Geof lathered on the sunscreen for me. I had noticed a bit of an uncomfortable rubbing on the outside of my right ankle and wasn't sure if my shoe was rubbing it, or if it was my calf and achilles butting in. It looked a bit like my ankle was swollen compared to my left side, but since it didn't hurt I left it alone and quietly worried about it as I rolled out of the AS, Geof warning me about the net downhill section ahead of me, "take care of those quads!" I turned on my iPod for the first time all day and brushed out the negative thoughts about my ankle and put myself back in the moment. Ahhhh, bliss :)
This section was much better marked (less course sabotage I guess) and I just put my legs on autopilot and went with the flow. I was much more downhill running and I began to notice my left hammy tightening up so I altered my form a bit to rely a little less on the hams and this seemed to work pretty well. It was around this time that I remembered my left big toe. I had smacked the bejeezus out of it on a rock earlier and it was now throbbing a bit on each steep downhill footfall. But it went away quickly again once I was back on flat trail and I forgot about it again. Until, of course, I smacked the bejeezus out of it again...and again...and again. I was loosing count of how many times I smacked that left toe on a rock. Crimeny! No matter, this section of the course was MINDBLOWING! It was a slightly wide dirt trail following along the American River in all its amazing glory. I barely saw a soul on the trail, except for one dude who looked exactly like Tony Krupicka...same hair, same shorts, same shirtless abs...spitting image. I was really looking forward to crossing No Hands Bridge and knew I was getting close to it when I saw a few more people heading up the trail. Normal, everyday runners, and they cheered me on loudly as I ran passed them. I love this place, I thought to myself more than a few times along this section of the course :) As I rounded a corner I saw No Hands come into view and I instantly got goose bumps! Wow, it's freakin' palatial compared to how I pictured it! Just then, my favorite Coldplay song came on and I was in heaven. I imagined all the fast feet that have crossed this very same path in search of a Western States buckle, and it was all I could do to not shout at the top of my lungs that I absolutely loved this place!
Arriving at No Hands Bridge I, feelin' groovy
It was super hot now and while Steve and Geof set about filling my bottle and water, I downed some more nutrition and salt and Gretchen got some ice for my Buff to keep around my neck. Ahhh, bliss, again. This next section was nicknamed K2 and was going to be a super steep ~1.5 mile climb. My hands were a tad on the puffy side by now, so I needed to make sure to keep an eye on them. The trail turns once and then puts you at the base of K2. A sign states "Caution: Very Steep Climb", or something to that effect. I laughed a little bit and thought to myself that clearly they'd never climbed Hope Pass in Leadville, or Naval Run in PA. I kept my head in the moment, jacked up the iPod as my favorite butt kicking song came on (Static X "Dirthouse") and resigned myself to the baby steps Joe Judd recommended I employ up Hope Pass rather than my usual long strides, eyes down and not focusing on anything further than the next two steps, shoulders back, abs tight. The result? Dude, I smoked that hill and everyone I passed on it!! I couldn't believe how quickly I moved upwards. I knew there were 7 false summits and I checked them off as I hit them, ran the short flats, and then got right back into my baby steps on the climbs. I never went anerobic and my breathing was just slightly above normal rate. I kept hitting repeat on my butt kicking song and before I knew it I was at the summit! I felt like a gazillion bucks :) I did notice that the further up I got, the puffier my hands got, to the point of tingling when I had them hanging down. That was weird, but as soon as the climbing ended, they went down enough that there was no more tingle and I could make a fist. I made sure to pee the next chance I had and this helped a good deal. The heat was really becoming a factor, but other than my hands I felt great still. The course took us through wide open golden fields with long runnable stretches. At one point, when I was getting close to the next crew stop, at Cool Fire Station, I noticed a woman ahead of me off course. I yelled to her repeatedly, but she must have had music on as she heard nothing. Luckily, the course met up with the trail she was on, but then at a T intersection where it was clearly marked to go left, she turned right. I remembered her from the start of the race so I knew she was in the race. I yelled again and again after her, but to no avail. I quietly hoped she'd figure it out and then I turned and continued on my way. Yikes, I would be so miffed if that happened to me! (Note: this chick ended up finishing about an hour after me, thank goodness she made it!)
The Cool Fire Station at mile 29.84 was a big crew stop, and anything but 'cool'...it was freakin' HOT! I finally caught up to Brian at this point. He was enjoying a popsicle when I rolled in, yum. After not one, but two bathroom stops (I knew that fettuccine alfredo was a bad idea...) I downed an ice cold chocolate Ensure (so good!), got more ice in my Buff, bottle and pack and headed up the trail after Brian. This section was brutal. Hot, hot, hot. Very exposed and rocky. I stubbed my left toe a couple more times and even stubbed the right one once. Eventually, I caught up to Brian and we power walked the rolling sections and kept each other company during a mentally challenging part of the course. It never seemed to end. We went back and forth with a few other people, but otherwise it was an empty trail. We got to a paved road and then the heavenly Knickerbocker AS came into view. Yes!! Brian sat for a spell and asked if I'd wait, so I gave him 30 seconds :) We dumped ice into our hats and Buffs and then put our heads down and headed up the road for the remaining 1.6 miles back to the Cool Fire Station. I made quick business of getting out of there after some refills of water. My stomach was starting to feel a tad funky, but nothing alarming. I decided to grab some banana, that was pretty yummy. Yet another bathroom break (this is some sort of record for me...I actually did lose count of f'real bathroom breaks after stop number 7) and then I took off back down the trail, headed for No Hands Bridge again. Music on full throttle and I was sailing. I felt pretty good still and ignored the little yelps of my stomach. I kept the pace a little more relaxed as I figured the heat was starting to play more of a role. I also went from taking salt every 45 minutes, to every 40 minutes. Not a huge difference time-wise, but it really did seem to help during this stretch of exposed trail.
The race organizers were really awesome and opted not to have us run back down K2, and instead had us turning down a trail that would bring us gently down and around the face of the hill. Still very downhill, but much more palatable for this not-so-good downhiller. My toes were jamming into the front of my shoes and that didn't feel too good, but I was just so glad I found the trail that I didn't mind it too much. This section heading back was really crappily marked. But, I found it and found my way back to No Hands. I was feeling my stomach more and more and was trying to think of something to do about it. I sat briefly at No Hands while my awesome crew did their thing. My ankle still wasn't bothering me, but I was letting its slightly swollen appearance bother me. I let Geof know that I'd want to change my shirt, socks and shoes at Auburn Dam, and confirmed with Gretchen that she'd be jumping in to pace at that point. Sweet, I got some renewed energy knowing that. This next section would be net uphill, but I knew it wouldn't be that bad since it was pretty rolling. I plugged the headphones back in and danced my way across No Hands Bridge, eating up the scenery. "Man I love this place", was all I could think :)
My music kept me good company on the less than four-mile trip back to Auburn Dam. I thought about how consistent I'd been all day and how much fun I've been having. I was keeping a very steady pace, something new to me :) My left foot was bothering me and I was letting myself worry about it. I decided I needed a new distraction, so I began to sing, loudly. A song came on that I knew all the words to and I belted that mutha like I was Aretha Franklin! I checked behind me a couple times to make sure I was still alone, and kept on singing. It felt so good! It was releasing a lot of tension and getting my mind off other things. I highly recommend trail serenading :) Before I knew it, I was climbing the short hill back up to Auburn Dam and ready for a slightly longer stop. I weighed in again here and was surprised to see I was still at my starting weight. There were a couple other stops where we were weighed and I found that I maintained the same weight the entire race...something new for me! I changed my shirt and socks here as planned (I opted not to change the shoes just yet for some reason), drank a Starbucks Doubleshot for some much needed energy. My ankle appeared fine and my feet actually looked great, albeit quite dirty :) My stomach was a little distended so I knew I was going to need to change something, I just didn't know what. I could feel a low spot approaching quickly and I was scrambling in my head to figure out how to dodge it. It was time for a second dose of Tylenol so I took that, along with more salt and after a stop at the potty, again, Gretchen and I were off! Gretchen was going to run the next ~23 miles with me, back to Cavitt School where Geof would then jump in for the remaining 33 miles of the race.
Gretchen and I heading out of Auburn Dam Overlook - mile 44.29
The fresh socks and shirt felt good, but my stomach was getting less and less happy. My feet felt better and as we got to the canal I stated that I'm usually pretty quiet and that we may be walking a good bit. I was feeling that low point come on strong suddenly. Gretchen was awesome and assured me she was fine with whatever I wanted to do. What a great chick :) As quickly as that low point sunk in, it seemed to lift and we were running along the canal, I in front and Gretchen behind me. Ah, this was better. Maidu II was just 1.5 miles up the trail and it appeared seemingly out of nowhere. I headed for the port-o-john immediately, and as I sat there I thought, "something needs to happen". I stood to leave and then I turned around and it happened. I dry heaved into the hole in the ground, and then made the mistake of observing the contents of the toilet...that's all I needed! I lost my cookies, and lost them good! A few more heaves and I was good. I stepped out of the port-o-john and hobbled over to the tent where I sat on top of a cooler. "Well, let's just say...I need to replenish some calories!" I felt like death warmed over and was wondering when that great feeling that supposedly follows a mid-race puke fest would come on. I'd never purged during a race and will actually usually avoid it with every ounce of energy in me. This time, I just let it happen, and now I was worried about what the consequences of that would be. I had just eaten a Gu, taken salt and Tylenol and now I need to replenish that and then some. I ate some saltine crackers, and a kind volunteer offered me a Pedialyte popsicle. That frozen delight tasted a-maz-ing! Just then, Brian ran up to us. The three of us hung there for a couple more minutes while I ate more food and even downed another gel, this time I decided to stick with my Powerbar Gels, rather than the gross Gu gels I'd been using. Gretchen helped me up and then we slowly made our way down the trail a few yards, with Brian in tow.
Now, I wouldn't say it was immediate, but it did seem to come on out of nowhere. I started running, and running, and running. My legs were moving better than they had all day. I remember wondering whose legs these were! Brian was still with us for a ways longer and after making the steep descent down Cardiac (yowza, my left toe was screaming now!) we didn't have him behind us. There was only one major course marking flub along the American River section at this time, it was a fork in the trail and thankfully Gretchen ran ahead to see which way we were supposed to go. Brian caught back up and waited with me while Gretchen did her trail reconnaissance.
We were clipping off the miles and I felt incredible. I got back on my nutrition plan, surprisingly, and never had another issue with it the rest of the race. I eased back on the salt now that the sun was going down and kept it to one per hour. Running along the American River and Folsom Lake at sundown was awesome and Gretchen and I were chatting up a storm, almost entirely non-stop. Walking steep ups, but then back to running the flats and downs. I could NOT believe how good I was feeling, and I could NOT believe I was talking while running! We laughed about my having said I'm usually quiet :) We talked about everything, laughed, swapped race stories, talked about our jobs, how we met Stacy of Wilderness Running Company, music, concerts, etc. I was having a freakin' blast. We rolled into aid stations smiling and laughing. At some point the sun completely disappeared and the lights came on. I wasn't sure how I'd fare in the dark...would I get insanely tired like at Rocky Raccoon? Would I get cranky? Would I get tunnel vision from my headlamp? None of those things factored in this time. I felt like I was running the same as I was when the sun was still out. I took only one misstep and fell to the left into a soft patch of yellow straw-like grass. Phew, glad I didn't fall into the rock bed in front of me! A couple of pit stops in a field and I was good. Arriving at Rattlesnake Bar, I took some more Tylenol and decided to change my shoes. I could feel my feet were swollen, which is normal for races of this distance, and the back of my right shoe was really irritating my achilles, so I switched into my road shoes. It felt like my feet filled in every ounce of those shoes! My left toe felt huge, but I couldn't see well enough in the dark, and I was just so happy to have that tension off my achilles. I grabbed some Sharkies and my pack and we headed back into the night.
Rattlesnake Bar - mile 55.09
At Horseshoe Bar - mile 57.02, a volunteer handed each of us a glowstick necklace. I still have mine :) Just a little something fun for the run and we got lots of compliments on them, lol. Getting onto the trail that goes around Folsom Lake we worried a bit about the trail markings...there weren't any. It's a good thing there's really only one option around the lake, but it was still a little unnerving to not see any flags. Clearly, someone had taken it upon themselves to remove all the flagging during the day. What jerks. What's the point? There were a whopping two flags on the 9 mile stretch from Horseshoe Bar to Cavitt School (mile 66.96). No matter, we were enjoying ourselves, even running a lot of the ups. A confusing sign at the levee had us scratching our heads, but I knew the school was straight ahead. I also knew Geof and I were going to need to figure out the sign for the next portion of the race. We eventually reached the chain-link fence around the fields behind the school and ran around the perimeter. I was so happy to reach this point, and feeling so dang good! I ran to the gymnasium slightly less than 2 hours ahead of the cutoff, and hopped inside, arms wide open, to a MASH scene. Whoa, it appeared a lot of peeps were having a lot of trouble. I wanted to get in and out of there, fast. Geof was all set to go and after another weigh in, battery change and some refills, we were outta there! I regaled Geof with my excitement over the last 22 miles with Gretchen, "we ran almost every step of that trail, it was awesome!!"
Mentally, I was passing with flying colors. I was still doing really well with keeping in the moment. Other than that one mental dip just before I lost my cookies at Maidu, I had had a really awesome mental race, not to mention physically, too. My stomach was holding tight and my feet were feeling better in my road shoes. The next 33ish miles were going to be a lot less rolling, more runnable and include a good bit of paved bike path/urban running. Carrying a handheld light, in addition to my headlamp, helped avoid the tunnel vision sickness I've gotten in the past from having only one light. Awesome. Geof and I clipped along the levees, up and down some hills and around Lake Natoma. Mentally, I decided I just needed to get to Hazel Bluff AS at mile 89 under the cutoff and then I could take my time getting to the finish (the RDs would honor any finish time as long as you made the mile 89 cutoff); the final 11 miles would be my "party miles". This helped me to break up the last portion of the course and made it feel less daunting.
I was still keeping up on my nutrition and very diligent about the salt and calories. I was really craving some ramen noodles, and when we arrived at Negro Bar to one fabulous volunteer manning a huge pot of ramen noodles, I rejoiced. YESSSSSSS! I downed a cup of the steamy goodness, grabbed more gels from my peeps and we headed out again. Negro was the only AS that had a generator going, and actual lights...how strange. Geof and I were talking about how important something as minor as the sound of a generator running is during the night portion of these races. Hearing that gentle whirring sound is like a beacon of hope for the runner in the night. I don't know why no other AS had this, and I won't even get into the whole no lights thing here. At Hazel Bluff (mile 77.33) we were ahead of schedule a bit, so Steve and Gretchen were sleeping in the car. I asked a volunteer how far to the next crew station and he responded with a very typical (of this race), "I don't know." But he didn't stop there, he had to share that he did know it was about 12.5 miles round trip, to get back to them at mile 89. Okay, now there is a prime example of information I did not need at that point. Suddenly, 12.5 miles felt insurmountable. We ambled over to the car as Steve rolled out, very surprised to see us :) I grabbed more gels and another Starbucks Doubleshot and then we headed out. This was where there was a lot of paved bike path running. I mentioned that I thought if we saw this part during the day, we would never run in an area like this voluntarily. Geof agreed, and I added that running in the woods with rattlesnakes and mountain lions was less worrisome to me! Suffice it to say, it was a little sketchy running in such an unfamiliar and urban setting.
We passed a lot of zombie-like runners, reduced to hobbling. We were still running pretty well and I was already forgetting the 12.5 mile comment from the volunteer. The turn-around point was within reach and I knew I was in no danger of missing any cutoffs at this point. I decided that I would allow myself one nap, at the turn-around station, since I hadn't taken one at Cavitt School as I originally thought I might. I was feeling a little tired, but not horribly so. One quick nap would take the edge off :)
At around 4:25 a.m. we arrived at Mt. Lion Knoll (mile 83.63), the turn around. I checked in at the AS, grabbed a cup of the most amazing tasting butternut squash soup and then headed back down to the parking lot where a thick blanket was laid out for me on the pavement and a chair for me to elevate my legs with. I rolled myself up like a burrito and zonked for 15 minutes straight. I wouldn't call it the most restful sleep ever, but it felt so incredible to have my legs elevated, back flat and eyes shut. Wow, that was blissful. My crew woke me up and helped me to my feet. I immediately put on my Rocky Raccoon 100 fleece sweater as I knew that laying flat like that was going to give me serious chills if I didn't put on something warm asap. That fleece worked like a charm! It's nice to know I've learned a thing or two in my experiences. No matter the temperature, if you've been running all day, gotten some sun, and then lay down for even a minute at night, you are going to get chilled. Even at Badwater that happened to our runner. So, if you are going to stop for any measure of time during the night portion of a race, have something warm to put on. Otherwise, you'll be battling the chills for some time and that zaps your energy like few other things do.
Usually, after making it 80 miles, I have a pretty good feeling I'm going to finish. There are few things that will stop me, and on this day I could feel it in my bones. I was going to do it. But, I wanted to get to Hazel Bluffs (mile 89) before claiming it a sure thing. The next 7ish miles back to Hazel after the turn-around were pretty unremarkable due to the urban setting, but Geof and I were moving along well. One major, major lift was seeing Brian and Kelly heading for the turn-around about 3/4 of a mile out of the station. We were both absolutely elated to see them there. Brian was going to get 'er done!!! This gave me a good little boost that carried me to Hazel Bluffs feeling really good, albeit ready to be done! We arrived with the sun rising behind us, and just shy of 2 full hours ahead of the cut-off, as it had been for me all day. Sweet :) I decided to leave my hydration pack here and opted for one bottle of plain water, and one bottle of Gatorade. I also grabbed my sunglasses and tied my fleece around my waist. I now knew I was going to finish, without a shadow of a doubt. My head was in a great spot and my body still felt incredible. I grabbed a cup of chicken noodle soup from the aid station, silently forgiving the volunteer that had made the 12.5 mile remark earlier on :) The same guy now announced to me, "head down this hill here, round the corner and then guess what? You will be in the single digits!" This made me very happy :)
The trail out of the AS was very steep and rocky and I made sure to stub my toe one more time here. I said aloud that I was without a doubt going to be losing my left big toenail, and possibly my right one, too. Blech. The remaining miles felt much longer than they actually were, but that is par for the course at the end of a 100 mile race for me. It's funny to look back and remember at mile 12 how I thought, "wow, I'm already 12 miles in, only 88 more to go!" And, now I was thinking how awful it was that there were 9.5 miles left to go, ha! Perspective. Once on the bike path there was a lot of walking mixed with running. My feet were pretty unhappy with me, but I knew I needed to keep moving. Each step gets you that much closer to the finish. Geof mentioned he thought I'd probably be able to PR at this rate. Ooo, a PR, that would be fun :) I stopped at every port-o-john we passed, and happily noticed my hands were back to their normal size and my feet didn't feel as puffy in my shoes. Negro Bar II came up pretty quickly somehow, and after a 30 second stop in the chair, we continued on. Gretchen and Steve were wide awake, it appeared, and I was so happy to see them at each stop in the night. I was feeling pretty darn lucky for the crew I had with me :) They let us know we'd see them one more time before the finish, at Folsom Dam Park.
Arriving at Negro Bar II - mile 94.43
I was pretty much over the whole paved bike path thing, and all the cyclists riding on the left side of the path (um, what's up with that? Everyone on a bike was riding on the left side), and the sun, and the eerie chanting coming from the Folsom Prison alongside us (yep, the Folsom Prison, a la Johnny Cash :)). Arriving at Folsom Dam, we checked with a volunteer on Brian's status. There was a question mark next to his bib number and she said they were unsure if he was still out on the course or a DNF. This didn't sit well with us, and we both chanted, "C'mon Gaines, git 'er done!" as we made our way towards the finish a mere 3.1 miles away. I now had two full bottles of ice cold water as the day was heating up, and this made those final few miles more bearable. Eventually, the levees came into view and Geof proclaimed we were getting really close. Oh, sweet redemption, you will be mine!!
We rounded the corner on the final levee, and I recalled at that moment that there was less than a mile to go. Suddenly, the entire day and night began to run through my mind. I said we should run to the corner and then walk some, but I found myself continuing to run...all the way to the finish. The chain-link fence appeared before us and we followed the trail around the perimeter one final time. "Oh my gosh, I'm gonna do it, again. Holy shit!" was all I could say. Down the hill and onto the blacktop of the playground, across the basketball court and onto the timing mats.
Geof, Steve and Gretchen at the finish
After getting weighed one last time (still the same starting weight!), a BP check (slightly lower than the start) and getting my buckle, we checked with an official to see about where Brian was. Still a question mark, huh? We were positive he was finishing and held onto that glimmer of hope that he was still out there. I pealed off my shoes and put my feet into Geof's Crocs. After a quick pee break, a brush of the teeth and washing my face, I parked myself on one of the lawn chair chaises and passed out in the men's locker room, surrounded by half-dressed men, and a naked dude showering in the open shower across the room from me. Keepin' it classy. Of course, I was passed out hard and had no idea what was going on around me, but Geof kept an eye on me :)
After some time, I woke up to the sound of loud, cheering voices, "Go get Paige, Brian's here!!" I sprang up as best I could and hobbled around the corner to the entrance...he made it!!!! Holy hell, he made it! I was so spent, dehydrated, and so foggy from my nap that I couldn't form tears, but I was so happy that, were I in a normal state, I would have been bawling. Finisher rate for CHUGs? 100%!!!
Kelly, Brian, Brian's Buckle, Me, My Buckle, Geof (there is also a good deal of stank in the picture, but it's sort of hard to see because of the glare from our buckles ;))
So, let's see. It's been precisely one week since we set out on this journey, wow. Time flies :) I had such an incredible time and looking back I am astonished at how well I executed my 'plan'. I vowed to keep it much more simple and not stress the small stuff, or even the big stuff. I managed to keep my head in the moment, my stomach in check after my little potty dance at Maidu II, and I only fell once on the entire course, bam! Also of note, I never cried, not once. This is a first for me. I always find myself reduced to sleep deprivation tears during these races, even during 50 milers. It's annoying as hell and really zaps my energy. Somehow, remaining in the moment allowed me to work through things better and never get caught up in anything too much. Taking the preemptive nap at Mountain Lion Knoll helped enormously, I'm sure, by avoiding getting into a serious sleep debt situation, like at Rocky Raccoon (where I totally lost it and fell into a deep, dark and lonely spot). Having Gretchen's very upbeat and fresh personality with me when I hit that brief but very low low at Maidu really changed things for me and got me back on my feet fast (literally!). Thank you Gretchen for giving up your weekend for me!! I loved having Geof's Uncle Steve there to witness his first ultramarathon, and that I was able to give him a pretty good experience by being in such a good spot most of the time. I hear he's chomping at the bit to do it again, for Geof's next race! Heck yea, Steve, and a big thank you for all your help out there, and for also giving up your weekend so I could run around in the woods! And, of course, where would I be without my number one, Geof? He was only three weeks out of his Leadville finish, but he toughed out those final 33 miles with me, after having been up all day and night for me. How'd I get so lucky?! Thank you, sweetie :)
One, two, three times a one hundred mile runner. Third time's the charm :)
And now for some final, closing thoughts on the 2010 Rio Del Lago 100 Mile run:
Fact: Tri Berry Gu tastes exactly the same coming up as it does going down. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...
Fact: I run way better after 40 miles. It hurts less.
Fact: I've never felt so good running 100 miles. Heck I've never felt so good running 10 miles. That's effed up.
Fact: It really is easier to be a chick...when your nails fall off you can just paint the nail bed :)
Fact: Sharkies are multi-colored. I really thought they were blue, and as soon as I realized they were multi-colored, they tasted different...
Fact: Glow stick necklaces make you run faster, and pee more often.
Fact: RDL is hands down my favorite 100 mile race so far. I think I will be back to this one :) That stretch along the American River totally makes the race.
Fact: Brian is a 100 mile runner now. Welcome to the club, m' man...so what's next?? :)
Fact: When other people fart on the trail, no matter how out of it I may be, I will laugh every single time.
Fact: I've never...evacuated...my colon so much in one 28 hour stretch. WTF?
Fact: The one thing that I went into this race with an issue with (my right ankle/calf), and truly thought I might not finish because of it, never once actually bothered me, and the slight swelling was gone by the time I finished. It's a mystery.
Fact: I'm not proof-reading this before I hit "Publish", sorry, it's just so dang long of a post now!
Fact: If you've made it this far, thank you! I love my readers!!
Fact: RecoFit calf sleeves are the best piece of running attire I own.
Fact: I smelled like total BUTT by the time I finished. I think Geof was offended by my stank...
Fact: This belt buckle totally kicks ass...
BAM!
P.S. I am most definitely losing my left toenail, but I may get to keep the one on the right. I had an enormous blood blister under my left big toenail; it lifted my entire nail from the bed...can we say, disgusting? The right wasn't nearly as bad, and already looks infinitely better. Toenails, who needs 'em anyway?
Check out Geof's crew report from the race HERE.
Crash, out.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Oh, Sweet Redemption
I did it, again :) I'll follow up with another one of my usual, exhaustive race reports complete with pictures and gnarly descriptions. But, for now, I just wanted to share that I got 'er done.
Once, twice, three times a hundred mile runner. I like it.
Rio Del Lago 100M was an awesome little adventure. Results are HERE.
Results Disclaimer: the results show me finishing in 28:05:58...that's wrong. While I enjoy that number, it is incorrect and I'm going to have to go by my own watch time, which is 28:21:29. Still, that's a PR for this chick!!
This was a really smart race for me and I'm very proud of how I executed and followed through. I'm also super proud of my very good friend, Brian. After four previous attempts at the distance, Brian finally got his 100 mile buckle. SO FREAKIN' PROUD OF HIM!!
A big thank you, of course, to my amazing crew: Geof, Steve, and Rockstar Gretchen! It would not have been the day that it was without them :)
Crash, out.
Once, twice, three times a hundred mile runner. I like it.
Rio Del Lago 100M was an awesome little adventure. Results are HERE.
Results Disclaimer: the results show me finishing in 28:05:58...that's wrong. While I enjoy that number, it is incorrect and I'm going to have to go by my own watch time, which is 28:21:29. Still, that's a PR for this chick!!
This was a really smart race for me and I'm very proud of how I executed and followed through. I'm also super proud of my very good friend, Brian. After four previous attempts at the distance, Brian finally got his 100 mile buckle. SO FREAKIN' PROUD OF HIM!!
A big thank you, of course, to my amazing crew: Geof, Steve, and Rockstar Gretchen! It would not have been the day that it was without them :)
Crash, out.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Wah Wah Wah...
How annoying.
So after a full day of work and distraction (but not too much distraction), the negative thoughts have dwindled into single digits, just as I knew they would, and walking up and down the long hallways at work has actually regained most of its usual enjoyment. But I can feel that tight ache that resides somewhere either at the attachment of my achilles and gastroc, or in the soleus (I've yet to determine the culprit), sitting on the sidelines, waiting for me to make the wrong move. It's anyone's guess how things will go on Saturday. It makes me downright sick, but what can you do? All I can really ponder is, "mother eff, why now?" :)
Things felt weird during my usual morning calf work and stretches on Monday, but I pushed it aside because I couldn't link it to anyting specific (very unlike me) and then went out for our planned run. That was silly of me. It bothered me most of the run, and so did my right glute for that matter. While I was very much enjoying my usual company of Geof, and the added bonus of our friend, Kalina, visiting from out of town, my right leg was begging me to stop before we hit the turnaround. Now, it hurts to raise up on my toes and my usual speed walk is out of the question, not to mention running.
Again, how annoying.
I guess all I can hope for is for my efforts to make it disappear before the race on Saturday, or at least shut-up long enough to let me have a great race. Heck, I'll even settle for a "good" race at this juncture :)
Times like these beg the question, what does running actually mean to me? You?
It's lots of things to me, but mostly it's something that makes me feel good and gets me outside and takes me neat places I otherwise wouldn't visit (can we say Grand Rivers, KY? Leadville, CO? Fountain Hills, AZ? West Windsor, VT? Huntsville, TX?). But, this is something I can explore further at a later time, perhaps during another sulk-fest? Okay, maybe not, but I intend to delve deeper into this. There needs to be a better balance (and, of course, as I type that, the infantile part of me says, "But I don't wanna!!").
Wah, wah, wahhhhhhh.
In other news, I recently finished reading a really incredible book, The Alchemist, and I keep trying to integrate the underlying theme into my own life...with zero success. But, I love the story and can appreciate what its message is. I won't give that away, you need to read it to find out :) I think this will be a book that gets re-read over and over again. It's that good.
Wish me luck, I think I need to bank a whole lot of it for this weekend!
Crash, out.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Renewing My Vows
I was inspired to renew my vows with my number one trail shoes this evening. Cheesy? Duh. But one day you, too, will find that perfect pair of shoes with which to share the trail and will feel compelled to share just how you feel. Love is precious, so I'm getting up on top of that mountain and shouting it out to the world (blog-land)!
Dear La Sportiva Wildcats (aka Sporty Cats),
I promise to always share the trail with you, through thick and thin, wet and dry, singletrack, fire road, crushed limestone and the occasional paved road (but not too much road because that's just wrong).
Through the good times and the bad, victories and defeats, you will always be my number one trail shoe. Look at you, with your perfect autumn/Halloween colors, you are all but begging me to lace you up and take you for a spin. How adorable are you?!
My very first pair of Sporty Cats were there for me along that winding and rooty trail in Huntsville, Texas, through all those tough long training runs at Palos and Waterfall Glen, through the seemingly endless stream crossings out of Twin Lakes, up and over Hope Pass in Winfield, Colorado. You shared the triumphs with me, and you hugged my feet tight as I swallowed the bitter pill of my first DNF ever. You were there for me, and held up at the seams (literally), draining quickly and allowing me to run (and death march) with dry feet.
Sporty Cats, you always seem to know just what I need, when I need it. My (nearly) blister-free feet thank you each time I lace you up, and my Drymax Max Pro socks are the perfect compliment to your slightly wider toe box, snug heel cup, sewn in tongue and ballistic rock shield.
I pledge to always reach for you in times of trail runs, to believe in your ability to get me to the finish line, wherever it may be. Your low weight and cushion-y sole make my heart sing. I look forward to sharing the next trail with you soon and placing you in my shoe closet alongside my very first pair of trusty Sporty Cats. Don't worry, you'll get your 100 mile fix soon, too :)
Love,
Paige
Thank you Wilderness Running Company for continuing this love affair. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a pair of Sporty Cats in their life :)
Crash, out.
I promise to always share the trail with you, through thick and thin, wet and dry, singletrack, fire road, crushed limestone and the occasional paved road (but not too much road because that's just wrong).
Through the good times and the bad, victories and defeats, you will always be my number one trail shoe. Look at you, with your perfect autumn/Halloween colors, you are all but begging me to lace you up and take you for a spin. How adorable are you?!
My very first pair of Sporty Cats were there for me along that winding and rooty trail in Huntsville, Texas, through all those tough long training runs at Palos and Waterfall Glen, through the seemingly endless stream crossings out of Twin Lakes, up and over Hope Pass in Winfield, Colorado. You shared the triumphs with me, and you hugged my feet tight as I swallowed the bitter pill of my first DNF ever. You were there for me, and held up at the seams (literally), draining quickly and allowing me to run (and death march) with dry feet.
Sporty Cats, you always seem to know just what I need, when I need it. My (nearly) blister-free feet thank you each time I lace you up, and my Drymax Max Pro socks are the perfect compliment to your slightly wider toe box, snug heel cup, sewn in tongue and ballistic rock shield.
I pledge to always reach for you in times of trail runs, to believe in your ability to get me to the finish line, wherever it may be. Your low weight and cushion-y sole make my heart sing. I look forward to sharing the next trail with you soon and placing you in my shoe closet alongside my very first pair of trusty Sporty Cats. Don't worry, you'll get your 100 mile fix soon, too :)
Love,
Paige
Thank you Wilderness Running Company for continuing this love affair. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a pair of Sporty Cats in their life :)
Crash, out.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
"How Did I Get Here?" A Leadville 100 Race Report
I'll spare you the gore if you just want the outcome: this is indeed a Leadville DNF story...
The sky was that late afternoon, hazy sort of bright and only just beginning to turn shades of purple and pink as the sun began its slow descent behind the mountains, but inside my head all was dark and suffocating. I fell into the abyss and was scrambling to climb out but found myself with nothing to grasp. It was like a bad dream, but it was so very real.
I kept thinking to myself, "How did I get here?"
As I pulled off the steep trail at a switchback, I leaned down and grabbed onto a smooth log on the ground and sat on it, sobbing with heaving gasps, unable to catch a full breath. "I can't, I don't want, I just, I can't, how?..." I couldn't even form a sentence. I had words in my head, but they came out solo between short breaths, not quite stringing together to form a coherent thought. I felt...dreadful.
The mountain had beaten me. It had beaten me good. You do these sorts of things, you step outside of your comfort zone (in this case, I took a running, pole-vaulting leap outside of my comfort zone!) to learn more about yourself, to see what you are made of. I didn't like what I saw. I saw fear, weakness, frailty. I saw my race ending, a smug race official clipping off my medical wristband, thinking to themself, "rookie." But what gripped me most and only tightened the further up that mountain I headed was the fear of damage not just to my ego, but to my well being. It was over for me, I knew this, but it needed to be on my terms at that very moment. The lack of nutrition, salt and oxygen in my body surely blinded my judgment, but I knew deep down, this was it.
For the first time in a race, my mind got the better of me. The one thing I really had going for me was actually failing me.
LEADVILLE TRAIL 100 RUN...A Lesson in Futility.
Waaaay back in January was when it all began, officially. Geof, Brian and I submitted our race entries, paid our fees and set the plan in motion. I had all the time in the world to prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead of me. And, after pulling through a dark spot during Rocky Raccoon 100 the following month, I felt confident in my ability to push through the muck and get it done. But lets be real here folks, Leadville ain't no joke and I knew it was going to hurt in more ways than one and that the challenge was going to be greater than anything else I'd put myself through. There was no way to gauge just how tough I was going to need to be to get through it successfully.
Well, now I know :)
The flight and drive out to Leadville went very smoothly, and after a stop off at 11,990 ft. Loveland Pass...
...and more pee breaks than I can count (lets just say I managed to pee 7 times from the time we took off from Chicago to the time we grabbed our stuff from baggage in Denver...I lost count after that), Brian, Kelly, Deanna, Geof and I arrived at the steps of the Leadville Hostel.
This is a fanTASTIC place to stay if you ever find yourself in the area. I'd go to Leadville just so I can stay at the Hostel, it was that good! Anywho, we enjoyed a tasty dinner at the pre-race feed down at the gymnasium after picking up our packets, and then tucked in for the night as we had an early start to the day on Friday.
Medical check-in went smoothly...
...followed by the pre-race meeting (which was P-A-C-K-E-D). The gymnasium wasn't really meant to hold 700 bodies so I found myself heading outside to catch a breeze to avoid a fainting spell! Geof and I stood in the doorway and just as we planted ourselves there, in walks Tony Krupicka. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little star struck. But lets not over analyze that :)
Our fantastic crew (Rob, Rina, Lucy and Tom) showed up just in time to catch the crew briefing, and afterwards we all gathered outside to head over to High Mountain Pie to give our taste buds a delightful, doughy treat. We all gave them 16 thumbs up for the food and general awesomeness of the place.
After lunch, we headed back to the Hostel to begin organizing our drop bags. What a pain in the butt it is to do these, but a very necessary pain in the butt. It's tough to put these together when you have no idea what to expect from the weather, not to mention your stomach. I think we spent about two hours on this little task, and got to the courthouse lawn just in time to drop them off before race volunteers hauled them off to the various aid stations along the course later that evening. Once that was done, I felt like I could finally relax. I had my crew bag all organized and ready to go, my clothes and shoes laid out for the morning, a delicious lasagna dinner in my belly, and, for the first time pre-race, not a single non-water beverage (maybe that was my first mistake!!). Surely, I kid ;)
I don't really remember the run up to Treeline, but I feel like it involved roads again. Then again, I may be confusing it with the lead-up to Fish Hatchery. But, I digress. I was feeling groovy, swapping spots with Brian, back-and-forth. He's a great downhiller and I'm more of an uphiller. Nothing really stands out here, other than I noticed that all the aches that ran with me the first part of the race were now non-existent and everything was feeling great. Treeline is about mile 27 and replaced the original Halfmoon AS, which was inaccessible to crews. However, there is a new Halfmoon (II/Box Creek) that is at mile 30, so aid was close together here, unlike the rest of the course. Coming into Treeline, Rob met me along the dirt road, "I have a surprise for you!" "What? Is it Geof??" "It is!" I couldn't help it, I teared up I was so freakin' elated!
I should note that I really hit it spot on with my clothing. The weather really cooperated (sun, 60s) and rain was never even threatened. I ran the whole time with a rain jacket around my waist or on my pack, but never needed it. My RecoFit leg sleeves kept my legs warm and feeling really good. And, of course, my Atayne CHUG shirt just looked smokin' hot :) And, yes, I did in fact wear my treasured racing pearls under my Buff.
I was on cloud 9 now that Geof and I were running together. He keeps me moving faster than if I were on my own, but still within my comfort zone. Plus, how could you NOT want to stare at those legs for another 70 miles?! :) Again, I digress. It was a quick jaunt up to the Halfmoon II AS where I grabbed a couple more gels and Geof topped off my Perpetuem. After that, I think the trail actually skirts around Mt. Elbert, which is pretty cool. Lots of gorgeous terrain, shady, quiet, calm. Eventually the course takes a downhill turn and you ride that all the way down to Twin Lakes, which was the antithesis of that serene trail we were just on. It's a very rocky final descent and super steep, but then your are in the middle of a full on human zoo. Watch out, runners coming through!! Geof's friend Julia met us at the trail head and ran with us to our crew. Geof changed into trail shoes and I grabbed a long sleeve shirt to tie around my waist. I decided that since I hadn't peed since earlier in the race, and we were now at mile 39.5, I should try to make amends with my bladder.
This was a great waste of time. I wasn't concerned though since my hands weren't puffy and my stomach and legs felt great. I just needed to drink more water. I was, however, starting to get moody, which usually means I need fuel.
The sky was that late afternoon, hazy sort of bright and only just beginning to turn shades of purple and pink as the sun began its slow descent behind the mountains, but inside my head all was dark and suffocating. I fell into the abyss and was scrambling to climb out but found myself with nothing to grasp. It was like a bad dream, but it was so very real.
I kept thinking to myself, "How did I get here?"
As I pulled off the steep trail at a switchback, I leaned down and grabbed onto a smooth log on the ground and sat on it, sobbing with heaving gasps, unable to catch a full breath. "I can't, I don't want, I just, I can't, how?..." I couldn't even form a sentence. I had words in my head, but they came out solo between short breaths, not quite stringing together to form a coherent thought. I felt...dreadful.
The mountain had beaten me. It had beaten me good. You do these sorts of things, you step outside of your comfort zone (in this case, I took a running, pole-vaulting leap outside of my comfort zone!) to learn more about yourself, to see what you are made of. I didn't like what I saw. I saw fear, weakness, frailty. I saw my race ending, a smug race official clipping off my medical wristband, thinking to themself, "rookie." But what gripped me most and only tightened the further up that mountain I headed was the fear of damage not just to my ego, but to my well being. It was over for me, I knew this, but it needed to be on my terms at that very moment. The lack of nutrition, salt and oxygen in my body surely blinded my judgment, but I knew deep down, this was it.
For the first time in a race, my mind got the better of me. The one thing I really had going for me was actually failing me.
LEADVILLE TRAIL 100 RUN...A Lesson in Futility.
Waaaay back in January was when it all began, officially. Geof, Brian and I submitted our race entries, paid our fees and set the plan in motion. I had all the time in the world to prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead of me. And, after pulling through a dark spot during Rocky Raccoon 100 the following month, I felt confident in my ability to push through the muck and get it done. But lets be real here folks, Leadville ain't no joke and I knew it was going to hurt in more ways than one and that the challenge was going to be greater than anything else I'd put myself through. There was no way to gauge just how tough I was going to need to be to get through it successfully.
Well, now I know :)
The flight and drive out to Leadville went very smoothly, and after a stop off at 11,990 ft. Loveland Pass...
Medical check-in went smoothly...
...followed by the pre-race meeting (which was P-A-C-K-E-D). The gymnasium wasn't really meant to hold 700 bodies so I found myself heading outside to catch a breeze to avoid a fainting spell! Geof and I stood in the doorway and just as we planted ourselves there, in walks Tony Krupicka. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little star struck. But lets not over analyze that :)
After lunch, we headed back to the Hostel to begin organizing our drop bags. What a pain in the butt it is to do these, but a very necessary pain in the butt. It's tough to put these together when you have no idea what to expect from the weather, not to mention your stomach. I think we spent about two hours on this little task, and got to the courthouse lawn just in time to drop them off before race volunteers hauled them off to the various aid stations along the course later that evening. Once that was done, I felt like I could finally relax. I had my crew bag all organized and ready to go, my clothes and shoes laid out for the morning, a delicious lasagna dinner in my belly, and, for the first time pre-race, not a single non-water beverage (maybe that was my first mistake!!). Surely, I kid ;)
Turquoise Lake...we would be running around this gem in the dark wee hours of the next morning, so I'm glad we got a chance to check it out in the daylight beforehand. Not too shabby, huh?
We set our alarms for 2:00 a.m. (gross, right?!) and somehow I managed to wake up at 1:37 without assistance...that was weird. At least I got a very good night's sleep that night and the previous one. Wild Bill (one of the proprietors at the Hostel) insisted we "evacuate" (his words, not mine!) as soon as we woke up, eat and then get ready. I decided to take his advice and it seemed to work out just fine :-) The rest of the troops awoke without any pushing and very soon the Hostel was buzzing like a generator! Whew, talk about excitement in the air, and we weren't even at the starting line! I focused on keeping my cool though as my heart rate was already going to be elevated due to the altitude, I didn't need nerves raising it any higher.
At 3:15 we headed for the starting line at 6th and Harrison just in time to do a final racer check-in and then play the hurry-up-and-wait game. Suddenly, it was all very real. We were there, finally. It was no longer a story playing out in my mind, a visualization, it was actually really real.
Geof and I with our amazing crew: Rob, Tom, Rina and Lucy
With Brian and Geof
As you can imagine, it was a bit of a zoo with almost 700 runners toeing the starting line. After some quick words, the RDs sent us off into the cool morning to begin our 100 mile journeys.
I'll not give a blow-by-blow of the course because I think everyone else and their mother has described the LT100 course in painful detail...emphasis on painful. Anywho, after a really great warm-up of a run down a dusty dirt road and then some wide double-track trail around the lake, the sun began to rise over the mountains, casting a beautiful glow between the trees. I should note that even though there were a gagillion runners out there, I never had an issue with the "single track" which was actually quite wide and allowed plenty of room for passing in most sections. Coming out onto a road, we were led into the first aid station at 13.5 miles, May Queen. At 2h:35 minutes, and just five minutes behind schedule, I was pumped to see Rina standing to the left of the tent, and to my surprise, so were Rob and Tom! We planned on having Rina stick with me all day, and the boys were going to take care of Geof since he was planning on shooting for a sub-25 hour finish and thus moving much quicker than I.
"So what are you guys doing here? Where's Geof?"
I look like a bug with my clear-lens sunglasses :)
I look like a bug with my clear-lens sunglasses :)
Turns out, Geof was only about five minutes ahead of me at that point. Rina had a fresh bottle o' Perpetuem ready for me and the guys handed me more gels and swapped out my clear lenses for my dark lenses since the sun was up now. This was a smooth and fast turn around and I was out of there quickly. I couldn't remember what the next section was, but as I headed up the road out of the AS, I knew it wasn't going to be a fast one.
It's a rocky climb up some mound of dirt and I recall thinking to myself, "what the eff is this?! And why wasn't this on the course description?" I found myself stuck in the middle of a long train of chatty dudes and decided to just zone out rather than plug in the iPod. Eventually, the climbing shut everyone up pretty well :) Sherpa John passed me for the first time here and I smiled as he passed and said hello. I love seeing familiar faces on the trails. Eventually, the climb gets out of the trees and we're on a steadily climbing and switchbacking dirt road. I still had no clue where we were. I was looking for powerlines, thinking maybe it was Sugarloaf, but it just didn't seem like I'd come that far already, and it certainly wasn't anywhere near as bad as a lot of people described it.
Turns out, we were climbing Sugarloaf Pass :)
I caught up to and then passed Brian, making sure we could keep our own paces. I was power hiking like a mutha and really enjoying it a lot. Eventually, the steep Powerline descent began and Brian shot by me like a bat outta hell. I gingerly ran down, saving my knees and quads for later battles. Sherpa John passed by me again here...wait a minute, what? He was having some GI wars with nature. We eventually got onto a boring road section that went on for a ways, and then brought us to Fish Hatchery. This is a place where fish...hatch. I didn't see them, but I did see Rina's smiling face running out into the road telling me to run up to and through the barn, grab some more gels, and then come back to her on my way out. I loved that they were stocking my favorite gels, Powerbar Gel, so I grabbed a buttload of them and brought them back with me. Rina, of course, was on top of everything and had my next bottle and gels ready for me to swap out. I was then on my way to Treeline.
I don't really remember the run up to Treeline, but I feel like it involved roads again. Then again, I may be confusing it with the lead-up to Fish Hatchery. But, I digress. I was feeling groovy, swapping spots with Brian, back-and-forth. He's a great downhiller and I'm more of an uphiller. Nothing really stands out here, other than I noticed that all the aches that ran with me the first part of the race were now non-existent and everything was feeling great. Treeline is about mile 27 and replaced the original Halfmoon AS, which was inaccessible to crews. However, there is a new Halfmoon (II/Box Creek) that is at mile 30, so aid was close together here, unlike the rest of the course. Coming into Treeline, Rob met me along the dirt road, "I have a surprise for you!" "What? Is it Geof??" "It is!" I couldn't help it, I teared up I was so freakin' elated!
Geof decided it was futile to push to chase a time he wasn't going to hit, and miss out running together, so he decided to wait for me at Treeline. After a quick shoe change (into my La Sportiva Wildcats) and removal of my warm top layer, we were off on the trail, together. My favorite way to be :)
I was on cloud 9 now that Geof and I were running together. He keeps me moving faster than if I were on my own, but still within my comfort zone. Plus, how could you NOT want to stare at those legs for another 70 miles?! :) Again, I digress. It was a quick jaunt up to the Halfmoon II AS where I grabbed a couple more gels and Geof topped off my Perpetuem. After that, I think the trail actually skirts around Mt. Elbert, which is pretty cool. Lots of gorgeous terrain, shady, quiet, calm. Eventually the course takes a downhill turn and you ride that all the way down to Twin Lakes, which was the antithesis of that serene trail we were just on. It's a very rocky final descent and super steep, but then your are in the middle of a full on human zoo. Watch out, runners coming through!! Geof's friend Julia met us at the trail head and ran with us to our crew. Geof changed into trail shoes and I grabbed a long sleeve shirt to tie around my waist. I decided that since I hadn't peed since earlier in the race, and we were now at mile 39.5, I should try to make amends with my bladder.
This was a great waste of time. I wasn't concerned though since my hands weren't puffy and my stomach and legs felt great. I just needed to drink more water. I was, however, starting to get moody, which usually means I need fuel.
Heading out of Twin Lakes, and towards the motherload: Hope Pass
They say you should get out of Twin Lakes before you see the front runners coming through, so we were feeling good when we were halfway through the marshes out of TL before we saw Tony Krupicka running towards us. Bam! So, yea, how about those stream crossings? These were another thing that got a lot of "hype" and were actually nothing. Yea, there were about seven in a row, but they were shallow, and the actual river crossing had a rope across it to help you stay upright, and it wasn't any deeper than my knees. The cold water felt GREAT on my hot spotted feet. I decided to do without gaiters for this race and subsequently got a good amount of dirt and debris in my shoes, nothing too horrible, but my Drymax Socks were unhappy with my decision. Ah well, I still only ended up with one blister that disappeared in a day :)
As we headed for the Hope Pass trailhead, Geof strongly suggested I take a gel, as I was now Ms. Crankypants. So, I did, and as we ascended higher and higher I noticed I was feeling better and better. Isn't that weird? I could tell throughout the day that breathing was slightly more labored up in the higher altitude, but it wasn't bad and just required me to take it a tad easier to avoid going anaerobic. However, climbing Hope Pass was a slightly different story. While we were both getting winded more easily, climbing 2499 feet in about 2.5 miles (or something like that), we kept on moving. We did stop a number of times to sit on a log along the trail and get our heart rates down to a human level. We also spent some good trail time with Monica Scholz, chatting it up with her. She is just lovely! Her Leadville finish is her 16th or 17th 100 mile finish of 2010. Freakin' amazing. Anywho, little by little, and baby step after baby step we made it out of treeline and before too long, we came upon the Hopeless Aid Station at just before 3:00 (an hour and a half to spare on the cutoff time!), just under a mile from the top of the Pass. Llamas are the only way to get all the AS supplies up top, so they were grazing in the open field. We stopped for a short bit to lower the HR and get some water, and then trudged on, finally tackling the rocky stretch that led us to the top of the Pass.
I wish I had had a camera for the top, but I'll tell you it looks just like all the amazing photographs I've seen of it. Breathtaking...literally! Standing 12,600 some feet above sea level, drinking it in. How cool! It was windy and brisk up that high, but at least the sun was out in full force. Not much time to kill here, so we immediately set about the steep and ROCKY southern descent, moving aside for all the uphillers because we are just nice peeps :) Holy EFF, where did these rocks come from? It's like they imported them from the Sucky Rock Place in Suckville, USA just to make this section suck worse than it already did. It was a long trail of suck, causing a suckfest to commence in my head.
I should have told myself to shutup. This was the first crack in the foundation.
Finally we make it back below treeline, and it's more moving to the side for others, smiling, saying hello to familiar faces and generally enjoying myself, but still knowing there's a major battle about to wage war in my head. I was not hungry so I hadn't had a gel for a bit, and my hands had become pretty puffy by the time we hit Hopeless AS, and I still had yet to pee a second time. I knew this meant to stay off the salt, and keep up with the liquids to force myself to pee. Of course, no salt meant my stomach was going to start going south, not to mention my mental faculties. (Who has a faculty in their head? I dunno, but that's what they say :))
People were very encouraging, but I was starting to get really irked by everyone saying the bottom was "really close" "just a few minutes down the trail" "you're almost there!" Honestly, runners who've been on the trail for 50+ miles, at altitude, should NOT be giving distance estimates, ha! So, when we did finally reach the bottom of the trail and turned onto the dusty road to Winfield, I was only slightly demoralized. Then we determine it's another 2.5-3 miles UP this really awful road to get to the turnaround. My mind entered a whole new level of darkness. To add insult to injury, we'd managed to lose almost all of our time cushion and were now pushing the cutoff at Winfield. We had just 45 minutes to get up there and turn it around. AND the dusty crappy road was filled with crew cars flying by us kicking up dust and dirt so I pulled my Buff up over my face to keep it out, but still managed to fill my lungs with it.
Geof was getting more vocal about his worry surrounding the impending cutoff and I quietly ran behind him a few strides, sulking and falling ever deeper into a strange feeling of despair. Every corner felt like it was going to be the aid station, but it was just another long stretch of hellish uphill road. I couldn't believe how quickly I'd fallen in the last couple of hours. I was trying to channel that happy place I felt running through a random mountain meadow on the climb up the north side of Hope. Nothing. As we finally neared the aid station and could hear the buzz of a packed house, Geof waited for me to get to him and grabbed my hand. I was now hyperventilating. Whoa, where did that come from? I couldn't form tears, so clearly I was dehydrated, which set me off into a mental tailspin. Geof voiced his concern over missing the next cutoff since we were so close to this one, but added, "You know we have to leave this aid station, right? We have to try." I came undone.
Finally getting into Winfield...I was bummed to say the least
After getting weighed in the med tent (I'd actually lost .4 pounds, but my hands still looked like jumbo marshmellows!) and moved along, our crew made quick business of getting us out of there. Rina was jumping in with me and Tom was joining Geof. I finally managed to pee, hooray! and down a Starbucks Doubleshot. Rob gave me a S!Cap and then we were out of there, with 8 minutes to spare. This was far too close for comfort.
On the road back out, Rina was saying all the right things and being such a good sport, and I was such a basketcase. All I could think about was how we had only 3h:45m to climb up and over Hope Pass, when it just took us almost 5 hours to do it the first time, on far fresher legs! I couldn't come up with a way that it was going to happen. I was pissed. I choked down a gel, thank goodness, and drank water like it was my job. But something was still off. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of something, but what, I couldn't tell. We ran and walked that 3 mile stretch and I hated every footfall. Tom and Geof were just ahead of us, mimicking our stride. Eventually, we made it to the trailhead and began the climb up. I almost immediately began talking myself out of it. It was so strange to actually be in the spot I was in, totally demoralized and completely stripped of any happy place. I was toast, and it happened so quickly; I never saw it coming.
Not more than a mile up and I'd had it. My breathing was heavily labored and short, my stomach was souring, my hands were getting puffier, I didn't want anything to eat that I had on me and I was starting to shiver. This was it. I was sobbing, shamelessly, uncontrollably. Geof was holding me trying his best to comfort me, to convince me to go on. I couldn't. Tom did his best to make me laugh, and I couldn't even muster that. I knew that if we continued on together, neither of us would make the cutoff, but I knew that Geof, on his own, would make it. I just knew it. I begged him to go on, and after quite a bit of this, he finally decided he'd go on. I could tell it wasn't easy for him and that it hurt maybe as much as it hurt me to turn around, but I knew I was only going to hold him back. Heading back down that mountain was crushing in a way I've never been crushed. The last 8 months flying through my mind, seeing Brian shuffling up the road to Winfield, having missed the cutoff, and telling us to, "Keep moving, go get it!" and seeing all the haggard souls snailing up the mountain in front of us. This hurt, but there was no turning back now. Coming upon two trail sweepers, it suddenly became completely undoable. They clipped off my medical bracelet, officially ending my race...and I completely lost it again. How did I get here?
I'll reiterate, Rina was SUCH a good sport and had nothing but positive and encouraging things to say to me. It actually softened the blow of my very first DNF, so for that I thank her deeply. Riding in the back of a Search and Rescue truck on the way to Twin Lakes, I stared out the window and did my best to compose myself, knowing I had a long night ahead of me still. My race was over, but Geof's was just beginning.
THE LIGHT SIDE OF THE MOON :)
Geof came screaming into Twin Lakes with Tom at 9:25, 20 minutes ahead of the cutoff...yes, that means the dude ran up and over Hope Pass in 3h:25m...um, who DOES that?! Rob, Rina and I were momentarily speechless. Snapping to it, we got him into dry shoes and warm clothing. He was a man on a mission. I knew right then this was his race and he wasn't going down without a fight!!
The rest of the night went much like this and I was SO proud to be out there crewing for him, getting to see this bare-knuckle-fighter side of his running. Everyone was frustrated with the ridiculous cutoffs, and Geof managed to fuel his run with that frustration, moving back through the course as smoothly as he had the first half of the race. I was blown away! While the night was long and cold, mixed with intermittent sleep and plenty of laughs thanks to Tom, it certainly turned into a far more rewarding experience than I had envisioned as I climbed down Hope Pass, defeated and broken. How did I get here, again?
As the night faded and slowly turned into a gleaming day in the mountains, the sun warming our faces again, we headed out of May Queen for the final time. After showering at the Hostel, we grabbed Brian, Kelly and Deanna and walked down to the finish line to await Geof's arrival. I was struck with bouts of sadness as I stood there, overwhelmed by those crossing the finish line, knowing they fought the good battle and came out the other side, knowing that on this day they were far stronger than I. I struggled in those final hours with how to balance my intense disappointment with myself, and extreme elation over Geof's incredible accomplishment. How can I be envious and overjoyed at the same time? I decided I needed to forget my own selfish issues and revel in the awesomeness of what Geof was about to do. As he suddenly appeared at the bottom of the hill, easing up towards the finish line with Rob I was overcome with this all-encompassing feeling of complete happiness. He was doing it, he was really doing it! That's MY man!
As soon as he crossed the line, he walked right over to me and held me tight. We both were completely overcome and I could feel it coursing through him as his torso shook in my arms. Talk about an emotional finish! Ay yaya, I'm getting all misty just typing it! With a time of 28h:21m, Geof got 'er done. Take that Leadville, with your crappy cutoff times, high altitude and 45% finishing rate! :)
And now for some deep thoughts. I don't know that I'll be back at this one, but I sure am glad I tried. It did show me that I have ginormous...gonzagas...for even attempting this one, as a flatlander, with low-mileage and very little hill training. So I do give myself credit for it. I honestly feared this race, and it's the first race where deep down I knew there was a high probability of not finishing. And yet, I still went for it. I'm patting myself on the back :) This race also showed me that most, if not all, obstacles reside within your mind.
"If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." (Not my quote, I'm not really that insightful, but someone else is, I just can't recall who.)
This experience has taught me not to take my mind for granted; it is a powerful tool that must be reigned in before it gets out of hand. I'm not sure where I lost it out there, but I did manage to find it before we left town. After a few days of letting my first DNF sink in I think I've finally gotten over it. I don't feel bitter, as I thought I may, and I certainly don't feel like I need to rush back there to get my "revenge". Actually, it's the opposite. I respect that race and what it is, and I respect the fact that it's not really my thing at this juncture. Those mountains take no prisoners, and that's fine with me; I think I'm a better person for the experience. Cool, huh?
We had amazing crew support for this and I am very much indebted to Rina, Rob and Tom for all their help. A big thank you to Joe Judd for showing up at Twin Lakes, dressed and ready to pace, and there I was bundled up and a hot mess, feeling sorry for myself. Luckily, Joe was able to find another runner to pace. Thank you ALL! Rina, you are truly wonderful.
Ya' know, maybe one day I will return, if only because it's a beautiful course, but it would only happen after having lived at altitude with plentiful access to really awesome mountain running :) I do see many Colorado mountains in our future...muhahaha!
I'm thinking we should just change the name "2010 LT100" to the "2010 LT54" :-) Hey, I got a pretty decent long training run in. And it would be irresponsible to have all this training under my belt and not use it...watch out!!
So you actually were looking for a successful LT100 race report? Oh, okay, well you can read Geof's race report HERE :)
This picture cracks me up and I wanted to share it...Brian and Geof, on the way to medical check-in :)
Crash, out.
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