Quick Wasatch Recap

Well... I'm really happy to say that we somehow pulled this thing off, and with no small thanks to your guidance in those early days!  

I psyched myself up so much about how ridiculously hard it was going to be, that it didn't turn out as hard as I expected.  I never hit the wall or thought of dropping. It was certainly the toughest thing I've ever done on the whole, but there was never really like an intense moment of pain/misery or what have you.  I think this is probably because 1) Sarah had a really tough race (massive blisters, cramping, pulled hammy) so a lot of the time I wasn't running at my full, and 2) we came in with the mentality to finish instead of going fast or pushing for a particular time.  I think both of those things helped ensure that we didn't go out fast or took risks.

I think that really helped in training too.. when we gave up any ambition to get sub-30 (hah!) and just went for finish.  So much was riding on the race, that we didn't push hard in training (at least pace-wise) and just focused on staying injury-free and on getting our bodies ready to take 100 miles of punishment. This resulted in doing many really long runs (40+) at really slow pace!  We figured with a 36 hour time limit, if we can only keep moving, we should be able to finish, which is about what happened!

I did so great shifting my schedule to go to bed by 9 and wake up really early leading up to the race... and then I couldn't sleep well like the 2 nights before.  Ah prerace jitters!  So I think that affected my energy levels.  Though the first like 25 miles we made good time and then the adrenaline wore off and came a low... which went away after a 1/2 caffeine gu!  And then came my favorite section around mile 30 where we ran on top of a ridge with gorgeous views on each side, and that made me really happy. 

Getting into Big Mountain and seeing our crew, Sarah's family and a few friends was a HUGE BOOST!  I almost broke down crying.  They even made wedding shirts and were all wearing them!  We were SO good at not spending much time at aid stations and treating them as a buffet.  I was really proud of us.  I think we averaged 2-3 minutes and even skipped some... EXCEPT for crew stations where we averaged like 20 :).  We were all new at this and sometimes there were too many cooks in the kitchen.  Brighton was probably the craziest aid station I'll ever have.  It was so crazy getting in there feeling pretty shitty in the middle of the night, after being out there for a long-ass time, and a bunch of our friends and my co-workers are there all high energy and happy to see us.  It was kind of surreal.  I enjoyed double-fisting a Red Bull and a chicken soup :).

Another low point came sometime between Lambs & Big Mountain.  Sarah decided to stay behind a guy that I thought was going way too slow, and I started fretting about time, and that made me feel more tired, and there was a lightning storm in the distance that looked beautiful and ominous.  So I think there was definitely a little bit of running-partner tension going on there, but we both did a good job of mellowing out and encouraging the other person.  And having a pacer helped too.  

We started slowing down going towards Brighton.  Sarah had a nasty cramp before Mills, which turned into a pulled hamstring, and the long walk on the road to Millcreek really exacerbated her blisters.  So that was a long slug through the dark... I remember seeing that Scott's peak campfire from the distance.  So alluring and so far.  We did a good job having our pacers run ahead and refill us so we didn't spend much time at the aid stations, even the ones with campfires :).  Somehow we wound up getting to Brighton within our time frame of 5-7, just after 5.  

So at that point we knew we should be able to make it unless something bad happens.  After spending 25 minutes (!!!) at Brighton getting fixed, eating, and hanging out with various folks that came out, our crew ushered us out.  Elke, whom you've met, the only ultrarunner on our crew, got us at this point. While all of our pacers were awesome and helpful, it was particularly comforting to have all her experience during that last stretch.  Ironically we did not let our pacer set the pace.  Already feeling really beat and knowing that we didn't have to move particularly fast to finish, we were happy to slog along.  

Mile 90 was the lowest point for me.  After taking one of those Plunges or Dives, and then seeing the ribbon point to an uphill just as nasty and just as steep, oh how I was cursing the race organizers.  THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ALL DOWNHILL NOW!!! WTF?!  It was getting hot and I was still wearing my tights from the night.  So I had to yell for Sarah and Elke to slow down.  All in all it took 10 hours for the last 25.  We could have been a bit faster if we wanted to... but at that point we just wanted to finish and get married :).

And after we hit Pot Bottom... we just became really happy.  At this point we knew were were going to finish even if we crawled.  We got lovey-dovey and I called a couple of people at the finish to give them an ETA.  I felt giddy... which was an interesting feeling when combined with fatigue from having run 93 miles.  Elke made one last valiant attempt to set the pace... we tried to follow, but it was too hard and painful... and what for?  Just to get an extra 15 minutes off our time?  Na... let's just finish and get married.  

And having everyone out there throwing rose petals at us as we walked down "the aisle", oh it was the most magical moment of my life.  The whole thing was a dream at this point.  It got captured pretty well here: http://connect2utah.com/news-story/?watch=1&nxd_id=163277.

Oh and my stomach had no problems at all, luckily.  I mean at the end, I didn't want to eat anything but soup, and just took my gel and perpetuem as medicine every 20 minutes.  But no troubles.  And the sleep thing worked out OK too.  I think being a high-strung person, skipping one night of sleep wasn't a huge deal.  Finishing the race, I was SO stiff... I needed those hand rails in the bathroom to sit down (which weren't there!!!  Don't older couples ever take the honeymoon suite??).  But the most amazing thing was that the next day... I was able to jump around, dance wildly at our wedding, and pretty much do whatever I wanted!  I felt like there was a price that I should pay soon for putting myself through that... but it never came.  I was certainly fatigued the first few days of our honeymoon in Bali, but nothing prohibitive.  Sarah had a much tougher recovery, with elephant legs, 4 toenails coming off, and the pulled hamstring... but on about day 6 of the honeymoon, we couldn't help it but uprooted ourselves from a paradise beach with corals and snorkeling and climbed the island's highest volcano (5000ft climb in under 2.5 miles), so I guess we recovered OK :).

Yeah, so I think I'm sold on this 100 mile thing.  I'm right about to pull the trigger to sign up for AC. I definitely want to do this one while I'm still in LA.  And I also want to put my name in the bucket for WS.  In the likely event that I/we won't get in, I think we'll shoot for Wasatch or TRT.  My goal now is to get fast.  I really want to do one of these races where I push hard and give it my all.  Go to the brink.  Run more and faster!  Feel the wind against my face.  I'd shoot for under 24 if I get into WS, and def. sub-30 for Wasatch.  And Sarah and I will do a race or two together, perhaps a 100 and a 50.  We really do enjoy running together.  

Back into it

Well... we did it!  The quest from running 400m to running 100miles in just about a year.  I'd like to write a longer recap of the race... but never got around to it.  But I think the pictures and videos that are being put together by Michael Shlain will suffice for now.

On the whole, Wasatch was the hardest thing I've ever done... but it wasn't as hard as I expected.  I think because running together, there were times Sarah had to wait for me, and I for her.  Which means neither of us were running at our hardest.

And I think I'm hooked!  I'd like to run two 100 mile races this year.  Definitely the AC100 (Angeles Crest) in LA, and one more (Western States? *fingers crossed* - only 10% chance to get in through the lottery).  But more importantly... my goal this year is to get faster.  I want to push hard and go to the brink.

If I run Western States, I'd like to do sub-24.  If I was to do the Wasatch again, sub-30, perhaps 28-29, would be the goal.  Also I want to get faster to feel even more free on my run.  To feel the wind in my face more often than not.  To have more unbound energy instead of trudging up the hills.  That would be fun!  Oh, and if I'm faster, I can have more of a life while getting my runs in.  Running 30 miles in, say, 6 hours, would be much better than 10.

So to get there, I decided to push hard on my workouts and do more sprints/intervals where I push hard.  Now that I got the base mileage under my belt and my legs can take the punishment, I can focus on going fast.

Today I ran a 45:10 10K, which is by far my best time, though I never tried that hard before.  My previous best time was maybe 49 or 50.  It was HARD.  My legs performed just fine but I couldn't get enough air. Just panting and panting while occasionally able to get a full breath in which felt SO good... for about 10 seconds.

I could have squeezed a bit more out of me, though it was a good workout on the whole.  That's the hard part about running distance is figuring out early on how much to push now vs. how much to leave for the final lap.