First Placement!

Coming into the Big Trees 50K this Sunday I had no expectations.  Having paced Sarah for 12 miles of Miwok 100K, getting little sleep the previous two nights, and a capricious foot, I decided to just go out there, run my best and not worry about the time.  This attitude proved to be key and I am going to work to adopt it going forward.

I wasn't even planning on doing this one until a week ago.  I decided I should have a hard run to cap off these few months of training before going to Utah and Europe where I'm planning to take it easy.

So I got up at 6 a.m. (after going to bed at midnight due to coming back late from Miwok the day before), and headed out to Joaquin Miller park in Oakland.  At the start line I was treated to running into Jenny, an old friend from Caltech who happened to be running the half marathon, as well as Myles, a friend from running.

It was going to be a hot day, so I packed extra Salt Sticks, put on lots of sunscreen and wore a white shirt and hat.  And as always, I carried my 3.5L capacity Camelback.  Also, taking a cue from my previous race where I got dehydrated and cramped up, I started my morning with a chicken soup (running days are the only times I eat normal canned soup nowadays, after going on a low salt diet - it's a good excuse!), tea, orange juice, and 1L of Gatorade.

Unlike my previous race, the Woodside 50K where I really wanted to break 5 hours, I toed the line relaxed.  I told myself that I want to feel good for the first 1.5 loops (the total course is 2.5 loops) and then I will push it on the last loop.  So I took off at a leisurely pace, letting folks pass me easily.

After a short flat section, we came to a steep uphill, where I powerwalked and passed a few people.  Then came the first downhill.  And the downhills for me are very important for a few reasons.  First, I'm really good at them and they're ridiculously fun!  The more technical, rocky, and rooty, the better!  When I'm feeling good, I can just fly down.  Second, with my current strategy of walking/taking it easy on the uphills, I blaze the downhills to make up the time.  Third, the downhill lets me gauge how I'm feeling this day.

So the first downhill came... and I flew!!! Yes, this is going to be a good day after all.  I don't know how well I will do, but I'm feeling good and it's going to be fun, so that's what matters.

The next section had a progression of uphills and downhills.  I caught a bunch of people on the downhills and was blazing fast enough that I wouldn't see most again even when I was walking the uphills.

One particularly fun one was so steep I couldn't even see down it until I was all the way on the edge.  Without hesitation I flowed over the edge, letting the roots, rocks and bumps guide me, like a stream flowing down a mountain.  Nearing to the end of it, I let myself pick up speed until and all out sprint through the short flat section that followed.

SO MUCH FUN.

Had fun running with a couple of half-marathoners.  I kept passing them on the downhills and they would pass me on the uphills.  We'd just wave each other through, and exchange a few words as we passed each other. Blazed through the aid station with just a water refill.

Then came the long exposed uphill leading up to a long exposed ridge.  It wasn't hot quite yet, but I was sweating.  I knew I was going to be passing there two more times and it was going to be rough.

Second time around my downhills were still blazing - a great sign - but the heat was starting to take its toll.  My uphill progress on the exposed ridge slowed down.  I caught with a fellow 50K-er named Micah.  The first 50K-er I saw.  We ran, or more precisely shuffled along, on the hot, exposed, uphill fire road for a while.  I enjoyed having his company through the tough section.

Then we ran into Myles under a tree.  Looks like his stomach was having some issues and he needed calories, so I handed him a Stinger stroopwafel.  And shared some water with Micah from my ample 3L bladder.  Given my cramping experience at the last race, I was taking extra care to stay hydrated and making sure I had plenty of salt.  I was taking salt practically every 30 minutes, a large amount for me.  But it proved to be the right thing - I didn't cramp the whole time.

As we neared a large intersection, I didn't see any ribbons.  Then a guy holding a bunch of ribbons in his hand motioned us in a particular direction.

WAIT A MINUTE!

Is this this guy taking down ribbons?!?!?!  Both Micah and I panicked a little bit.  The guy claimed he was from the aid station, trying to put the ribbons back up after somebody took them down.  Eventually I believed him, but was skeptical.  It was a pretty shitty feeling knowing that there are some people out there actively trying to fuck us over for no reason.

Luckily his advice did indeed take us to the aid station.  I was happy to know that there were folks out there watching our back as well.  I passed Micah around this time and was on my own again, going back to the start line for my final loop.  Blazed another scree-y downhill on the way down - a good sign.  More ribbons were taken down close to the end of the loop, so that was a little bit distressing, but I found my way back.

Jenny already finished her half and helped me refill my water.  I was getting really hot and starting to get less coherent.  I knew the last loop was going to be very rough.  But there was no option but to go back out there, which I did.

And it was rough.  The heat made even the easiest uphills difficult, and the tough vertical uphills excrutiatingly slow.  My breaths would get heavy and shallow even if I increased my effort just a tad.  And the downhills weren't so blazing anymore as my muscles started to get trashed from the heat and exertion.  So I focused on moving forward and drinking water.  This was getting annoying too because I just kept getting air in along with the water and burping.  It made me feel bloated.  But I was peeing often and clear which meant I was well hydrated. 

I didn't see a single 50Ker for about 7 miles or 1.5 hours, until catching up to Melanie around the second aid station.  The guys there were super nice and refilled me for the third time.  Melanie took a few shots of Pepsi.  I decided that sounded temping and took a shot myself.  Only to remember my burping issue.  DOH!

Well, at this point I knew what was coming up.  The 4 miles of hell on the really hot exposed uphill fired road on top of the ridge.  Here we go again.  At this point it became about grinding it out and finishing.  While it would be nice to get under 7 hours, I just wanted to be done and be out of the heat. 

I was completely alone on the ridge.  That is, without other runners.  I passed people here and there, but at that time it was like we were of different planets.  My cheerfulness that was with me for most of the race was fading quickly.  I stopped making eye contact and focused on just moving forward.

And so I chugged along, uphill after uphill.  Thinking the next uphill was the last one... only to be met with one more... and again, over and over, until I groaned with exasperation upon meeting yet another.  And eventually I made it to the aid station.  Another runner, Carl, was there gearing up for the last 1.7 miles.

I had plenty of water and didn't need anything else.  So after chatting with the awesome aid station folks for a minute, I took off for the final stretch.

And ran into the finish in under 7 hours.  There one of the Tims (the two Tims that run InsideTrail) congratulated me on being third.

THIRD?!?!?!

Holy shit, I placed.  My best placement ever by far.  How did that happen, with such a slow time?  Victory by survival.  The top time was only 5:55.  Looked like many folks who would normally be faster than me dropped out or were slowed down by the heat and various problems.  My preparation with pre-hydration, and not pushing the pace initially really paid off as I picked off 4-5 people in the second half.

I enjoyed chatting with the few other folks that finished.  I felt a sense of camaraderie with them as we were the few that stuck it out and overcame adversity.  One of the Tims placed #10 at Miwok the day before, so it was fun hearing his account.  I ate lots of watermelon and enjoyed not having to move.

The next day my legs felt just fine.

I think this marks a turning point in my running.  I felt prepared and experienced on the trail.  I knew how to take care of myself and came in with a good attitude.  And I did really well.

Now that my downhills are really good, I'm going to focus on getting stronger on the uphills.  While being able to blaze downhills helps a lot, it's being strong that makes a runner.  Thinking about it mathematically, we spend a lot more time on the uphills then downhills.  So getting 20% faster on the uphills will make me significantly faster than squeezing out another improvement on the downhills.  If I can improve my uphill, flying downhills will give me the edge.

I'm excited about Angeles Crest 100!!!

Just when you think you've got nothing left

It's been a while since I've done hill intervals, following pulling something in my back in early December. I think hill intervals are key to getting me faster, and my back got better, so it was time to get back into it.

I was dreading it - they hurt and are really hard!!!

This hill, near our house, is about 336m and about 175 ft up or just over 800ft of elevation gain/mile. Pretty healthy as far as hills go.

Anyway, after having a rough day at work (despite it being from home!), I was now looking forward to the hill as a way to leave that all behind.  I wasn't sure how my back was going to react and wanted to do at least 4, and ideally 8.  The most intervals I've ever done on any hill interval work out is 6.  So 8 would be uncharted territory.

I felt pretty sluggish from the start and I think having a stressful day certainly was resonating in my body.  Despite that, I did it in 1:48!!!!  Besting my previous record by perhaps 7 seconds.  I forgot my watch in LA and kept time on my phone, running with it in my hand.

It slid from there to 2:01 and 2:06.

On #4, I died.  The latter part of it I was reduced to shuffling and barely kept myself from walking. Negative thoughts coursed through me, about how this is a terrible day for hill intervals, how I'm not feeling it at all, I'm not having fun, everything hurts, things are not right.  I comforted myself knowing that I would have accomplished my 4, the minimum, and could go home when I'm done.  Needless to say, the time sucked, at 2:31.

And felt exhausted.  I was pretty sure I was going to go home.  After catching my breath at the top of the hill, I started trudging down.  It sucked.  My quads were complaining at every step.  I felt weak and dizzy.  But a faint voice in the back of my mind pleaded with me not to quit yet.  It said, "take a jogging break, as you were going to, then see how you feel."  This voice also said that you don't get better by quitting when things get tough.

So I got down, went to the car to put on a warm jacket (I was so slow going up and down I started getting cold), and started jogging.  I felt so shitty that even jogging was hard.  I walked a big part of it.

But as I was getting back, I found myself not wanting to end it yet.

So I found myself back at the start line.  Uttering "what the fuck are you doing?" I pressed the "Start" button on the phone's time and went up the hill.  My goal was just to make it up the hill without walking.  Just to prove to myself that when I thought I had nothing left, I can squeeze out one more.  So I took it pretty easy.  It didn't feel like a sprint anymore, but a moderate uphill jaunt.

Well, moderate or not, I got 2:27, beating the previous time.  And it didn't feel too bad!!  Well, now this was a lot easier than I expected, let's do one more.  And so I did, in 2:26.  My first negative split!  And still feeling not too bad.  Maybe the first 4 were just warmup, and now I'm actually in gear.  Now I knew I was going to do 8.

The next one was another negative split at 2:21.  And still feeling not too bad.  So I knew I could do better.  My goal for the last one was a 2:15.  I decided to take it easy on the first half, so I could floor it on the second.  It's the second half where I found myself losing a lot of time.  So that's what I did... and got a 2:07!!!  A far cry from the first couple of times, but those don't count for much thanks to fresh legs.  What a comeback!

I felt so happy at the accomplishment and still do.  My day went from bad to awesome in a heartbeat!  And motivating myself to bounce back without anyone else being there to push me is a big confidence booster too.  The Ultrarunning mantra of just keep moving forward really helped.  Right when I felt the shittiest, I told myself that I would just do a little jog instead of quitting.  When jogging got hard I walked.  And then I told myself I would just do one more.  And then I caught my wind.

Right when you feel the worst, just keep going just a little bit longer, and you'll discover that you have more than you think you do.

Bayfront Park - new training ground

Took a little over an hour after work to bike over to the Bayfront Park for a quick workout.  I can already see how it's going to become my default training ground/terrain park.  Created over a landfill and Cargill salt mines, it's not nature's most wonderous wonder.  But it's got gorgeous views of the bay, beautiful sunsets and a plethora of birds of all shapes in sizes, ducks, geese, and even herons.  Most importantly, it's only a 12 minute bike ride away.

A hundred roads, paths and trails spiderweb this fairly small space (about 2 mile perimeter), so I can have a different run every time if I wanted to.  Just go randomly in any direction.  The fun part is that it's got a few good hills, even if small.  So I can really have fun here sprinting up and down the mounds.  There is also one little hill with two paths going down it which are steep and technical.  So even though the hill's only like 25 feet, those would give me some technical downhill/balance practice close to home.  I can already envision sprinting up and down like 10 times in a row.

I'm back!!!

After practically taking a month off due to pulling something in my back at the Death Valley Marathon, I'm finally back on the trails!  So excited to be running in the mountains again.

Did Black Mountain today - 10 miles, 2500 up/down - in 1:50, which was either my best time or second best.  Was super stoked to be up on the mountains again.  Physically, didn't feel particularly great during most of the run... but I suppose the time speaks for itself.  Made it down in 39 minutes and my back held up despite pushing it hard.

Ice ice ice!