Running with Elke

Today we did day 1 of Western States training weekend in Auburn, a small town 30 miles east of Sacramento.  Western States 100 is the oldest hundred miler in North America (at least).  It's very prestigious.  To qualify you have to complete another 100 or a 50 miler in under 11 hours.  And after that, the chances of getting in through the lottery are about 12%.  So many ultra runners start their year by traditionally submitting their WS lottery forms.

Auburn claims to be the Endurance Capital of the World, or so the banners say around town.  Well, today that was proven to be true.  Hundreds of runners congregated for the WS training weekend, which is open to everyone, not just WS participants.  It consists of a 30 mile day on Saturday, today, and 20-milers on Sunday & Monday.

The original course of the 30 mile day was diverted because one aid station site was inaccessible due to snow.  So Elke, our new friend whom we met at Mt. Diablo, invited us to join her and her running buddies to run a different route, since she didn't like the new diverted course.  We happily accepted.  We were also joined by Annette, Elke's friend whom she paced at WS last year to a successful finish.

Well... the run today was almost as much chatting and hanging out as running.  We kept running into other ultra runners even on our diverted course.  And Elke knew all of them!  At one section we couldn't run for 2 minutes without stopping to catch up and hang out.  And at one point we ran into some friends we've met at Mt. Diablo.  There were ultra runners EVERYWHERE! 

Apparently Auburn has a really strong ultra community.  Even the county DA is an ultrarunner (and of course Elke's friend).  We've met a few legends.  One guy, Bill, easily in his late 60s, has done the Leadville 26 years in a row.  Another guy, Tim, has finished WS in <24 hours some 20+ years in a row and running.  And we saw the guy who started it all!  WS was originally a horse race.  And some 40 years ago this guy had a problem with his horse, so he asked if he could just run it... and he won!  And so the Western States 100 mile Endurance run was born.  He was an old, bearded, gnarly old guy with ripped legs like the incredible hulk.

Running with Elke was really really fun.  She's very positive, social and experienced.  And it looks certain that she'll pace us for the Wasatch, which significantly improves our chances of finishing.  That'd be amazing.  We had lots of good conversations and she gaves us lots of tips as well, particularly not to dawdle at aid stations, like I tend to do. 

The run itself was gorgeous.  We spanned 3 canyons, going down and up, down and up, down, and then all the way back.  The forest was lush and the canyons so deep and beautiful.  And each one had a river on the bottom.  There was a river crossing in the beginning which required some wading, so it was running on wet feet. 

My knees acted up quickly, since they're not fully recovered from Silver State.  Luckily Elke gave me some Aleve, which made it OK most of the way.  It took us about 9 hours to do 32 miles, but considering the terrain (this is the hardest climbs during WS), being social butterfiles, and not trying that hard (we need to save something for tomorrow and Monday!), this is not bad. 

On the whole it was great fun, we've met lots of cool people and enjoyed being part of the community.  Apparently we're gaining a little bit of fame as Elke has been talking about our crazy plan.  We had people come up to us with "OMG you're THE COUPLE."  Everyone here thinks our idea is really cool... compared to most folks in the outside world who think we're crazy.

More Ultra, More Experience, Making Progress!

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because we've kept busy running! 

We ran the Silver State 50 miler last weekend out by Reno.  Everyone was afraid the course was going to be snowed in, seeing all the snow on the West side of the mountains... but the snow thins out a lot on the East side, Reno side.  So we could see snow along the trail and it made for a gorgeous view of the mountains in the distance, but we didn't have to trudge through it. 

It was also our first run at real altitude - 4700-8200 feet.  Which made the first 4-5 hours pretty rough for me, in addition to having to be at the start line at 6 while only getting like 4-5 hours of sleep due to waking up at like 3 a.m. from pre-race adrenaline.  I was breathing pretty heavily during that time until I got acclimated. 

The first 8 or so hours in general were rough.  I had a few short-lived sections where I felt good, but on the whole felt low energy and my muscles felt full of lactic acid.  Then around mile 30 we hit a nasty downhill and my knees just got shot, particularly my left.  Ugh... I was felt sooooooooooo beat and frustrated and in pain.  I gingerely walked some of the steeper sections, and hobbled the rest of them.  And I knew that after that, we go back up to the 8200ft summit the second time, and then 10 miles of donwhill to the finish.  It was not looking good.

Finally we hit the 34 mile aid station, 1 hour before the cut-off!!!  Compared to Mt. Diablo which we hit 15 minutes before cut-off.  So we were still making really good time and pace, much better than Mt. Diablo (which was way more brutal, by the way.  I decided that terrain is a much tougher challenge that being at high altitude).  We were doing about 13 minute miles, which is really good for us for this sort of terrain and distance. 

Well, I took my time at that aid station.  And some kind soul gave me two ibuprofens.  I later found out that ibuprofens are actually really bad during running because they're hard on the kidneys which are already in overdrive from processing all that water, gus, and other junk.  But it made my knee pain go away and that's all I cared about.  The last 16 miles I surged.  I felt GREAT.  I never had a race or a long run where I felt better towards the end than the beginning... but that was it.  I just got into a rhythm and felt like I could keep going.

Sarah had the opposite race.  She was having the run of her life, literally, for the first 2/3, and then ran out of steam as I surged.  So she supported me when she was feelin good and I felt shitty and vice versa. 

Also, I have to give special thanks to the race organizers and the aid station volunteers.  The course was amazingly well marked.  Not only was there a ton of flags, but also there was chalk powder arrows!  And at intersections, they even crossed out the wrong way, with chalk powder, and wrotee "NO".  Classic. 

One of the best moments of the race was at mile 40 aid, after climbing back up to Mt. Peavine.  We decided to change shoes.  And I miraculously found a pair of clean socks in my drop bag which I was perfectly willing to put onto my filthy feet.  Well, one of the volunteers was like "Oh, don't you want to wash those first?"  As if it was a perfectly normal thing to wash one's feet on top of a desert mountain at mile 40 of an ultra.  Well, apparently it was, as she handed me a bucket of water with a sponge, and then dried my feet off with a paper towel and gave me vaseline to put between my toes to prevent blisters.  Pure bliss.

The race felt very personal and I got more of a sense of the community.  I think because this is Reno's big race of the year. 

We finished in 12:47, well before the 14 hour cut-off.  I feel good about our progress, about our ability to run together, help each other, and overcome problems and adversity as they arise.

My First Ultra = Pure Brutality

I started writing a play by play narrative of the race... but regretfully I simply don't have the time right now to complete that monster, so I will post what I have, then summarize nice moments from the race, and conclude with general thoughts on the race and our training from my email to Kristen Farley, an ultrarunner who has been helping guide our training.

The Mt. Diablo 60K is perhaps the hardest race the Bay area has to offer.  Scaling Mt. Diablo twice, it features 11,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. To convert it into Wasatch terms, that’s 29,000 ft over 100 miles compared to 27,000 ft for the Wasatch.

Trying to nurse my shin, I haven’t really run for a month.  I was feeling pent up energy and desire spend another day out on the trails.  I read in Runner’s World that the whole concept of carbo-loading, as most people imagine it – eating a giant bowl of pasta the night before the race – wasn’t actually a good thing.  So we didn’t do anything particularly different with food, other than making sure that we were eating a lot and drinking lots of water the day or so before the race.  Also, I thought I would experiment and take a Salt Stick capsule before going to sleep to see if it helps me retain more water.  I think it did as I didn’t pee as much as normal in the morning… but not for long enough – I raced to the bathroom the minute we got to the race’s parking lot.

Worried about my shin, I bought a pair of Brooks Cascadias on recommendation of a salesperson at Fleet Feet.  While my old Asics have worked for me so far, I wanted something with fresher cushioning.  I insisted on buying them in size 10 even though I was told it felt like it was too small for me.  But it felt nice and tight and my foot didn’t wobble inside.  I like a particularly tight fit on my running shoes.  Since wearing new shoes for a race like this is a big risk, I made sure to pack my torn up but trusty old Asics into my drop bag.

The whole drop bag concept is very useful.  I didn’t realize its power until now.  A drop bag is simply a bag with your stuff that the race organizers transport to whatever aid station you choose (where drop bags are offered).  There were two drop bag-enabled aid stations, so Sarah and I packed a drop bag for each of them. 

[end of pre-composed narrative, followed by quick segments, including pictures]

-- ultrarunners really don't run uphills.  Even on the first mild uphill all but the frontrunners started walking

-- we had nice conversations with a few folks while walking up

-- we stayed in the "middle of the pack" until after about the first 10 miles; made summit in a pretty good time, maybe 3.5 mph. 

On our way to the summit for the first time

 -- we inadvertently cheated by cutting a little bit of the course on the way down from the summit by following another pair of runners and not paying attention. they missed the turn and so did we.  we admitted to our indiscretion at the aid station and ran a lap around the campground to call it square.  changed from new shoes to trusty but beatup and tractionless old Asics.  new shoes turned out to be too small.

-- the mile 14-19 loop was perhaps the lowest points of the race for me.  i expected it to be relatively easy and quick... but it just went on and on.  i started overheating, was worried about the 3 p.m./mile 27 cut-off and was running on fumes.

-- took about 15 minutes at the aid station to eat food and regroup.  probably could have been faster, but felt like i really needed it.  

-- convinced Elke, and experienced ultra-runner we met earlier, to run with us instead of dropping out.  she had some asthma issues and was not doing well earlier.  it was great to have her company and conversation.

On our way to Rock City - so pretty!

-- the next 5 miles to "Rock City" were relatively straightforward, except for getting too hot, dunking my head into nearby streams and taking off my shirt and getting burned.  Rocky City was indeed that.

-- here Elke came out faster than us from the aid station and we didn't wind up catching her.  Instead made the last 2.8 miles uphill walk (mostly) to the cut-off point with Martin, an experienced ultrarunner who is 57 (we found out later!  looked like late 40s!) and another one, Nadia (?).  I was focused on making it before the cut-off, though we still had good conversation.  He recommended his shoes, Sportiva Wildcat, which I will probably try.  He's running Western States where we're going to volunteer, so we'll see him again.  He was really nice and encouraging.  Just kept telling us how great we're doing.

-- made the cut-off with 15 minutes to spare.  Sairy was having some breathing issues - perhaps from feeling like she was getting sick in the few days leading up to the race.  so we took a little bit of time at this aid station.  while she was taking care of herself, I made sure to pack some caffeinated gus for her for the long trek down.

-- hiked up 1.6 miles to the summit with Sairy and Kyle, another first timer.  refilled water at the summit to prepare for the final stretch of 8 miles of brutal/steep/technical downhill

Tackling the last big uphill on the way down

-- it sucked.  mainly because my left knee was really acting up at this point.  and due to not having any treads left on my old trail Asics.  Sairy had to slow way down for me on the downhills.  i had to walk pretty much all but the gentlest slopes.  some places were so steep and treacherous that with my knee and treadless shoes, i pretty much had to hold on to branches and roots while going down at a snail's pace.  it was frustrating as i clearly had energy and juice left as I was being able to run fast and with full strides on flat sections.  my mental state was fairly deteriorated and i just wanted to be done.  kept looking over at the mine site (which was really cool-looking - they pretty much took out the side of the mountain so we could see all the layers inside) where the race started to gauge how far down we were.  ate some gus and honeys.

-- at one point sairy asked me if i had any caffeinated gel, and i handed her the mocha flavored (disgusting!) clif shot with caffeine which i packed at the last station from our drop bag just for her.  she was pleasantly surprised.  and i think that's the whole point of doing it together - we take care of each other.

-- we speeded through the last mile or so of relative flat.  the applause and smiles at the finish line was one of the best feelings ever.  both from having finished and from how happy people were for us.

-- everyone commented how smiley we were... i suppose that makes us ultra-runners... to go through those last 8 miles of pure suckage and still have a shit-eating grin from having done it all.

Still smiling!

*************************
The thoughts below are what I wrote to Kristen, our ultra-mentor.

-- We loved being in the community for the first time.  The 60K had only 40 entrants and felt like many folks know each other.  Everybody was really nice and we got to run and chat with a few of them.  Made some friends - somebody who is also doing Silver State, and another runner who will be running WS.  Also made friends with another experienced runner who may pace us for the Wasatch.  Learned a lot just by talking to people.

-- It was REALLY REALLY HARD.  We've never done anything this intense, both in distance and elevation change.  The average grade is even tougher than the Wasatch.  So it was certainly good trading (albeit at lower altitude).  We had a relatively easy time hiking even the steepest uphills consistently, which is a good sign.  However, my knee acted up in a way it never has before, so we lost a lot of time on the downhills that we shouldn't have.  Perhaps it was due to not running for practically a month leading up to it as I was trying to nurse my shin.  We barely made the first cut-off - 27 miles in 8 hours, and finished 30 minutes before the final 12-hour cut-off.  I tell you, those last 8 miles of brutal/technical downhill were really trying on me.  With my knee in bad shape by then and no traction on my shoes (more on that later), we were doing 20 minute miles.  I suppose it's good practice for that Wasatch ending.  The frustrating part was that I clearly had more juice left - the minute we got a relatively flat section on the trail, I was able to run fast at full strides, but had to slow down to practically a walk at even slight downhills because of my knee.  I think it was just a bad day for the left knee - it felt fully recovered by Tuesday, and we just did a 22 mile hilly run on Friday, 5 days after Diablo, where the knees felt fine, so that's good. My shin felt generally fine too.  

-- We're starting to understand what you meant by how running together is this much harder.  While we've yet to hit those miserable lows you speak off which are going to be mismatched, we did slow each other down by being strong at different things that day.  I was doing better on uphills and flats while Sarah was rocking the downhills.  But we went at the speed of the slowest person.

-- Learned a few things about Nutrition.  First, the Clif bars that work for us so well in training sounded completely disgusting during the race.  I was only able to get down 2.  Also eating another bonk breaker and random potatoes chips & stuff at aid stations. And of course gels.  One Surprising revelation was that I _love_ the Honey Stinger gels while running.  Good to know!  Thanks for the tip of trying everything at Zombie runner :).  Also the Salt Stick capsules worked great for me.  In 11 hours of running in the heat I drank close to 12 liters of water, took a capsule roughly every hour and was peeing regularly and never had any cramping sensations.  I do think that I wasn't consuming enough calories per hour.  I made it through the race, but I think it'd need to be able to eat more for the Wasatch.  So my next food goal is finding more things I can eat on the go that are not sugar, like those frozen costco burritos (hey, they warm up to room temperature while running!)

-- Quads quads quads!  Wow, never have my quads felt so beat.  They didn't start feeling normal until day 4. I think I was compensating with quads for my knee, so they took a particular beating.  But this is not an unlikely scenario for the Wasatch, so I need to get my quads way stronger.  More hills!!!

-- Shoes!  I thought I'd try new, relatively cushy shoes to help protect my shin, so I got the Brooks Cascadias.  I put my worn out old Asics in my drop bags.  And had to change into them after 10 miles.  Still trying to find the right shoes.  Maybe I should just get me another pair of the Asics since they seem to work for me and experiment during the off-season.  They just feel so big and thick.  I love being able to feel the trail.

-- Bring a hat!  And sunscreen.  This is our first run in heat, really.  I started overheating, especially my head, so I took off my shirt, which helped with the heat, but got brutally burned.  It was worth it!

In conclusion... we have a bit more preparation to do than we thought.  I think we'll try to rack up another race or two.  And the 30-20-20 Wasatch training weekend a week after the Silver State should be good training.  Once that's done, we'll take stock and decide how to best spend our remaining 3 months.  Seeing how beat my legs felt after Diablo, I think I need a lot more long, hilly runs under my belt.  Because they're going to have to take almost 3x as much punishment at the Wasatch.  Maybe I could have gone another 10 miles on that course.  But another 20, 30, 60...?  I don't know.  Perhaps if I was going really slow.  So we def. want to do more long hilly runs, more training at high elevation (we'll be doing training weekends in Tahoe on our own, maybe do the Tahoe Rim Trail route or something), and those 24 hour hikes you recommended.  We'll be going to Utah for 5 days on July 4th weekend and we'll do as much of the course as we can.  And we'll probably come back to Utah again before the race.