So, it has been quite awhile since my last blog and though I have continued racing since States last June, I have kept the distances generally sub-ultra level and have not written about them. I have had some pretty good success with races varying from 25K to 50K through last Fall and into the early part of this year with WTC. Most of these races were regional from PCTR series and spent just trying to maximize some speed and avoid the longer mileage. Up until last Saturday I had not run anything over a 50K and my weekly mileage has averaged around 45miles - pretty minimal by any one's standards on the trails! I knew going into AR50, my third, that I would have some interesting challenges including over 20miles on the Parkway with little to no training on the pavement. My 50 miler in preparation for my goal race of Miwok 100K was to be LS50 last week, but with the course unrunnable the cancellation made for a last minute change to our home course. Going into the week for AR50 I hemmed and hawed about racing it or simply going out to enjoy the day. See, I had my first and only Boston coming into play 9 days later and though I plan to only cruise it with buddies and enjoy the pubs as much as the race experience I certainly didn't want to risk the trip. I also knew that if I dropped the money for AR I would not likely treat it lightly but I also didn't feel comfortable "racing" a 50miler with such few weekly miles under my belt. So the verbal agreement was to run the parkway with some of my closest friends and then see what the day brought each of us on the trails. I ran the majority of the parkway with Amy Schmich, Tony Overbay and Stuart Short with a sprinkling of time spent with other great runners like Rick Gaston, Tim Twietmeyer, and Rory Bosio. As hoped the parkway went as planned keeping the pace light and breezy filled with good conversation and laughter to let the miles cruise under our feet til we hit the trails where are souls could sing. Tony and I especially had some good laughter to generate for the group at our expense over a recent experience in the week regarding our Brooks ID sponsorship (details to remain confidential). Between multiple diversions off the parkway to water the oaks we managed to all separate ever so slightly after Sunrise with Stuart and Amy clearly running strong and having apparently stronger bladders than Tony and I. Amy stayed in sight and looked primed for a great day and I wondered if she would progressively move ahead eventually losing sight of her as had already happened with Stuart. Stuart had no business running with us anyway as I think he could challenge 7hours if he chose to race this course, but he is clearly wiser in his 20s than I am in my 40s and he has bigger fish to fry with TRT and Bear 100 later in the year. Tony, known for his extremely slow aid station turn arounds was up to his usual tricks hanging out too long and enjoying the extra attention "superstar" ultra runners get at these events. He should know better because such endeavors clearly cost him his Silver at States this year fooling around in his humorous/relaxed ways. No one can really blame him since the volunteers at all of Julie Fingar's races are stellar and make youfeel like home when you cruise into them. The first real climb, albeit short was the bluff over the Nimbus Dam and it was here that I caught up to Amy and exchange pleasantries as we smiled for the camera that we knew would be at the summit. From this point forward the race was under foot in my mind. Trails started to be intermixed along the parkway moving up towards Negro Bar and Beals Point and trails is what I run for! My spoken goal to the bunch was to strive for an 8-8:15avg pace coming into Beals and that was exactly what I did. I hit the marathon mark at 3hrs35min (8:12) and my Beals pace brought it down to 8:09. I seldom feel good coming into Beals as the long slow climb to the parking lot seems to last forever but I always feel strong leaving it knowing the trails lie ahead. I was especially excited this year because I had been nursing a bad right heel for months and it had been making me aware of its existence since mile 9 of the day. I had taken 500mg of tylenol somewhere on the parkway to keep it quiet but I hoped it would go to sleep once the trails only remained. Leaving Beals I was surprised to see both Stuart and Rory exiting, apparently they get more "superstar" exposure than I, so as we hit the trails we all seemed to be staggered about 40ft apart and remained this way for most of the day. Last year I ran so conservative to this point that picking off runners here was pretty easy, but this year I found that though I was running strong I was running likely where I should be and there were many miles where there was no one in front or behind. Having Rory and Stuart both cruising ahead of me kept me motivated just to keep them in sight and so the day went on. At Granite Bay I was surprised for two reasons. One I had hit the 50K mark at an avg pace 8:30 (4hr20min) well ahead of last year and two I briefly had sight of Galen Farris who was in the aid station as well and went on to run a very impressive first 50miler on his way to I'm sure a very successful WS in June. I knew at this point as we headed to Twin Rocks, Buzzard Cove and Horseshoe Bar we were going to be experiencing some of the more technical parts of the run with lots of bouldering and some mud bars from all the rain we have had late this year. Average time was sure to drop and I had time to spare. My goal was to PR (7hr50min) but secretly I hoped for 7hr30min (9min avg) both because it was what I thought I could do on a good day and because Rick, my buddy who was sure to be coming up on me anytime, was gunning for. Always good to have the best of people also be those who push you to be your best. I was surprised that the trails had actually dried as well as they had since just a couple weeks back this 22mile stretch took Amy, Jamie Frink and I nearly 5hours to pull ribbons after the training run but others like Rick spoke of the unhappiness of some of the thicker swamp like crossing that were clearly a pain. Getting back to the reason I decided to write this blog, which is to capture memories of my first and likely not my last DNF, it was about this time that my right foot started to become more than just a nuisance. By mile 33 the constant attempts to dance through the more technical parts of the course were wearing on my painful foot. It was clear to me it was now swelling dramatically as every plant of the foot became ginger. Following this feeling came a sense of weakness and instability even on the faster downs that I generally make up time in. I simply had no confidence to do anything more than favor off that foot even on the most level of downhill. I started to get concerned that a turned ankle could really be a strong possibility and looking back at my Garmin splits my pace for these three miles dropped to 11min avg. Surprisingly I was not getting passed as of yet but those I was running with were quickly moving out of sight for the most part. I got a temporary reprieve at Buzzards when my mind was diverted if only temporarily by the good wills of Matt Keyes and his ever popular ice cream station. He tried to convince me the dessert would make all better but I was too sour at this point to take him up on the offer. He mentioned Tim T would likely be his first taker not long behind me and I said if so, it would have to help his bronchitis that he had been battling for weeks as he shared with me on the parkway earlier. I opted instead for my second dose of tylenol hoping that if I masked the pain I would have the confidence to pull this thing off for the next dozen or so miles. As a PT I knew this was not only an unlikely possibility but an unwise one since trying to mask the pain that was warning me of an ever approaching injury was not only stupid but something I preach nearly daily to my own patients to avoid. Nonetheless we Ultra runners are more stubborn than we PTs are smart! The last few miles after Buzzards were spent with a bit of an extra effort between some good ol' fashioned cola and the tylenol. I did manage to get back to some 9min/miles as I played chase with a guy from Napa who's Spanish accent and my mumbling made for poor efforts at pleasantries. It was about a mile out from Rattlesnake that I let this guy go as I peed yet again and came to my senses. I had Boston to run in 9days! I had dropped hundreds of dollars already to spend the week with some of my best friends and I had tried and finally accomplished qualifying for that race after several attempts. I decided then that putting that at risk any further would be a devastating decision. My plan was to pull at Rattlesnake and call my buddy Curt for a ride. I would have to use the favor card that he expended on me at CIM this year and we would be even. With that decision being settled prior to Rattlesnake the only way I could justify it with my Ego was to finish with one last goal for the day! My pace was clearly slowing from the pain, both physical and emotional, and my garmin was noting it with each step and closing distance. I told myself this was a 41mile Ultra and Rattle was my new finish. I set a goal to run a 7hr30min 50miler and I have bargained my way to a safer 41mile distance but the pace goal still stands. I had to finish at a 9min/mile avg regardless of the pain! In the last mile I gutted it out on some very runnable but decent climbs to catch back up to Rory on the bluff just before the descent into the parking lot and shared with her my plan and also got a glimpse of Stuart as he too had descended into Rattlesnake. As I came into my drop with anger inside I could not help but allow that feeling to melt away as the crowd that is always so strong there was cheering away! I thought I would throw my handheld to the pavement in disgust but instead I turned to all, including some familiar faces like Dasie Yamagata and thanked them as I hit the stop button on my Garmin. 41mi 8:59pace!!!! I had done it - and so goes the lesson we all have to learn with anything. It is all about perspective both in life and out on the trails since the later is just a parallel of life itself. Goals are meant to be set, broken, adjusted and re evaluated in all that we do! Strong are the ones who reach for the next and realize those that have just been postponed are simply saved for another day!(The picture for this report is literally steps before my DNF if the pain on my face wasn't obvious of that). Besides the best part of the day was yet to be completed. Getting to the Overlook to share stories, chat with friends, drink some Blue Moons and watch my fellow runners attain their goal. It was great seeing the likes of Jesse, Rick, Amy, Jamie, Stephen and Tony come in one after another with varying levels of personal success and contentment in their eyes. That is really what this trail running is all about anyway! A special thanks to all the volunteers as usual throughout the day that were along the course. Stuart's parents who drove me to the finish thereby maintaining my free ride card from Curt for another day. Curt for being there to support us all as we came in with the beer and chairs unloaded and as always a special thank you to my family who allow me to challenge my limits and to be the best I can be for them and me; often at a cost of time with them. I am a blessed man in so many ways! The last two days have been spent moving from an inability to stand on my foot Sunday, to limping through the Zoo with my daughters, to walking normal yesterday and putting in a gentle test run of 3miles today prior to Boston. Now the real training starts - can I prepare to keep up with the boys drinking in Boston?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
American River 50 - 1st DNF!
So, it has been quite awhile since my last blog and though I have continued racing since States last June, I have kept the distances generally sub-ultra level and have not written about them. I have had some pretty good success with races varying from 25K to 50K through last Fall and into the early part of this year with WTC. Most of these races were regional from PCTR series and spent just trying to maximize some speed and avoid the longer mileage. Up until last Saturday I had not run anything over a 50K and my weekly mileage has averaged around 45miles - pretty minimal by any one's standards on the trails! I knew going into AR50, my third, that I would have some interesting challenges including over 20miles on the Parkway with little to no training on the pavement. My 50 miler in preparation for my goal race of Miwok 100K was to be LS50 last week, but with the course unrunnable the cancellation made for a last minute change to our home course. Going into the week for AR50 I hemmed and hawed about racing it or simply going out to enjoy the day. See, I had my first and only Boston coming into play 9 days later and though I plan to only cruise it with buddies and enjoy the pubs as much as the race experience I certainly didn't want to risk the trip. I also knew that if I dropped the money for AR I would not likely treat it lightly but I also didn't feel comfortable "racing" a 50miler with such few weekly miles under my belt. So the verbal agreement was to run the parkway with some of my closest friends and then see what the day brought each of us on the trails. I ran the majority of the parkway with Amy Schmich, Tony Overbay and Stuart Short with a sprinkling of time spent with other great runners like Rick Gaston, Tim Twietmeyer, and Rory Bosio. As hoped the parkway went as planned keeping the pace light and breezy filled with good conversation and laughter to let the miles cruise under our feet til we hit the trails where are souls could sing. Tony and I especially had some good laughter to generate for the group at our expense over a recent experience in the week regarding our Brooks ID sponsorship (details to remain confidential). Between multiple diversions off the parkway to water the oaks we managed to all separate ever so slightly after Sunrise with Stuart and Amy clearly running strong and having apparently stronger bladders than Tony and I. Amy stayed in sight and looked primed for a great day and I wondered if she would progressively move ahead eventually losing sight of her as had already happened with Stuart. Stuart had no business running with us anyway as I think he could challenge 7hours if he chose to race this course, but he is clearly wiser in his 20s than I am in my 40s and he has bigger fish to fry with TRT and Bear 100 later in the year. Tony, known for his extremely slow aid station turn arounds was up to his usual tricks hanging out too long and enjoying the extra attention "superstar" ultra runners get at these events. He should know better because such endeavors clearly cost him his Silver at States this year fooling around in his humorous/relaxed ways. No one can really blame him since the volunteers at all of Julie Fingar's races are stellar and make youfeel like home when you cruise into them. The first real climb, albeit short was the bluff over the Nimbus Dam and it was here that I caught up to Amy and exchange pleasantries as we smiled for the camera that we knew would be at the summit. From this point forward the race was under foot in my mind. Trails started to be intermixed along the parkway moving up towards Negro Bar and Beals Point and trails is what I run for! My spoken goal to the bunch was to strive for an 8-8:15avg pace coming into Beals and that was exactly what I did. I hit the marathon mark at 3hrs35min (8:12) and my Beals pace brought it down to 8:09. I seldom feel good coming into Beals as the long slow climb to the parking lot seems to last forever but I always feel strong leaving it knowing the trails lie ahead. I was especially excited this year because I had been nursing a bad right heel for months and it had been making me aware of its existence since mile 9 of the day. I had taken 500mg of tylenol somewhere on the parkway to keep it quiet but I hoped it would go to sleep once the trails only remained. Leaving Beals I was surprised to see both Stuart and Rory exiting, apparently they get more "superstar" exposure than I, so as we hit the trails we all seemed to be staggered about 40ft apart and remained this way for most of the day. Last year I ran so conservative to this point that picking off runners here was pretty easy, but this year I found that though I was running strong I was running likely where I should be and there were many miles where there was no one in front or behind. Having Rory and Stuart both cruising ahead of me kept me motivated just to keep them in sight and so the day went on. At Granite Bay I was surprised for two reasons. One I had hit the 50K mark at an avg pace 8:30 (4hr20min) well ahead of last year and two I briefly had sight of Galen Farris who was in the aid station as well and went on to run a very impressive first 50miler on his way to I'm sure a very successful WS in June. I knew at this point as we headed to Twin Rocks, Buzzard Cove and Horseshoe Bar we were going to be experiencing some of the more technical parts of the run with lots of bouldering and some mud bars from all the rain we have had late this year. Average time was sure to drop and I had time to spare. My goal was to PR (7hr50min) but secretly I hoped for 7hr30min (9min avg) both because it was what I thought I could do on a good day and because Rick, my buddy who was sure to be coming up on me anytime, was gunning for. Always good to have the best of people also be those who push you to be your best. I was surprised that the trails had actually dried as well as they had since just a couple weeks back this 22mile stretch took Amy, Jamie Frink and I nearly 5hours to pull ribbons after the training run but others like Rick spoke of the unhappiness of some of the thicker swamp like crossing that were clearly a pain. Getting back to the reason I decided to write this blog, which is to capture memories of my first and likely not my last DNF, it was about this time that my right foot started to become more than just a nuisance. By mile 33 the constant attempts to dance through the more technical parts of the course were wearing on my painful foot. It was clear to me it was now swelling dramatically as every plant of the foot became ginger. Following this feeling came a sense of weakness and instability even on the faster downs that I generally make up time in. I simply had no confidence to do anything more than favor off that foot even on the most level of downhill. I started to get concerned that a turned ankle could really be a strong possibility and looking back at my Garmin splits my pace for these three miles dropped to 11min avg. Surprisingly I was not getting passed as of yet but those I was running with were quickly moving out of sight for the most part. I got a temporary reprieve at Buzzards when my mind was diverted if only temporarily by the good wills of Matt Keyes and his ever popular ice cream station. He tried to convince me the dessert would make all better but I was too sour at this point to take him up on the offer. He mentioned Tim T would likely be his first taker not long behind me and I said if so, it would have to help his bronchitis that he had been battling for weeks as he shared with me on the parkway earlier. I opted instead for my second dose of tylenol hoping that if I masked the pain I would have the confidence to pull this thing off for the next dozen or so miles. As a PT I knew this was not only an unlikely possibility but an unwise one since trying to mask the pain that was warning me of an ever approaching injury was not only stupid but something I preach nearly daily to my own patients to avoid. Nonetheless we Ultra runners are more stubborn than we PTs are smart! The last few miles after Buzzards were spent with a bit of an extra effort between some good ol' fashioned cola and the tylenol. I did manage to get back to some 9min/miles as I played chase with a guy from Napa who's Spanish accent and my mumbling made for poor efforts at pleasantries. It was about a mile out from Rattlesnake that I let this guy go as I peed yet again and came to my senses. I had Boston to run in 9days! I had dropped hundreds of dollars already to spend the week with some of my best friends and I had tried and finally accomplished qualifying for that race after several attempts. I decided then that putting that at risk any further would be a devastating decision. My plan was to pull at Rattlesnake and call my buddy Curt for a ride. I would have to use the favor card that he expended on me at CIM this year and we would be even. With that decision being settled prior to Rattlesnake the only way I could justify it with my Ego was to finish with one last goal for the day! My pace was clearly slowing from the pain, both physical and emotional, and my garmin was noting it with each step and closing distance. I told myself this was a 41mile Ultra and Rattle was my new finish. I set a goal to run a 7hr30min 50miler and I have bargained my way to a safer 41mile distance but the pace goal still stands. I had to finish at a 9min/mile avg regardless of the pain! In the last mile I gutted it out on some very runnable but decent climbs to catch back up to Rory on the bluff just before the descent into the parking lot and shared with her my plan and also got a glimpse of Stuart as he too had descended into Rattlesnake. As I came into my drop with anger inside I could not help but allow that feeling to melt away as the crowd that is always so strong there was cheering away! I thought I would throw my handheld to the pavement in disgust but instead I turned to all, including some familiar faces like Dasie Yamagata and thanked them as I hit the stop button on my Garmin. 41mi 8:59pace!!!! I had done it - and so goes the lesson we all have to learn with anything. It is all about perspective both in life and out on the trails since the later is just a parallel of life itself. Goals are meant to be set, broken, adjusted and re evaluated in all that we do! Strong are the ones who reach for the next and realize those that have just been postponed are simply saved for another day!(The picture for this report is literally steps before my DNF if the pain on my face wasn't obvious of that). Besides the best part of the day was yet to be completed. Getting to the Overlook to share stories, chat with friends, drink some Blue Moons and watch my fellow runners attain their goal. It was great seeing the likes of Jesse, Rick, Amy, Jamie, Stephen and Tony come in one after another with varying levels of personal success and contentment in their eyes. That is really what this trail running is all about anyway! A special thanks to all the volunteers as usual throughout the day that were along the course. Stuart's parents who drove me to the finish thereby maintaining my free ride card from Curt for another day. Curt for being there to support us all as we came in with the beer and chairs unloaded and as always a special thank you to my family who allow me to challenge my limits and to be the best I can be for them and me; often at a cost of time with them. I am a blessed man in so many ways! The last two days have been spent moving from an inability to stand on my foot Sunday, to limping through the Zoo with my daughters, to walking normal yesterday and putting in a gentle test run of 3miles today prior to Boston. Now the real training starts - can I prepare to keep up with the boys drinking in Boston?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Geez, I didn't realize you kept it under 9s for 41 miles, nice! It was a blast running the parkway with you, and what you wore on the shoot is safe with me...for now. Can't wait to run with you again. Have fun in Boston! And yes, you pegged my aid station routine! :-)
ReplyDelete