Javelina Jundred 2014

I’ll be honest – the Javelina Jundred 100 mile race has never been on my radar.  It’s a loopy course in the Arizona desert with minimal elevation gain.  When I looked at the race from that description alone, it just didn’t look appealing.  After having to drop at the Hallucination 100 miler in September, I really just felt like I had some unfinished business for this season and as I scoured the list of remaining hundreds for the year, Javelina just seemed to be the only race that could possibly fit into my schedule.  Fortunately, the stars aligned and I signed up.  I’m very happy that I did.

I did have some concerns leading into this race.  I’ve had this odd issue in my back that has lasted for the last 4 months.  Last week, the symptoms changed enough that I couldn’t help but wonder if it would affect my ability to complete the race.  I also ran very little during the month of October after getting very sick.  I was able to get some miles in the week prior to the race, but my body just didn’t feel quite “right”.  However, after going back and reviewing my training logs, I found that this was almost exactly the same as my situation leading up to my fastest 100, Rocky Raccoon.  That eased my concerns a bit, and I just resolved to go in with one goal, and one goal only – finish.

I flew into Phoenix at 830pm Friday and got to my tent (transported from Boise and set up by Christie and Wayne Ebenroth – thanks guys!!!) a little after 10pm.  I was surprised that it was so quiet.  It was like a ghost town.  I toughed out a couple of hours of sleep and got up with plenty of time to get my mind right for the race.  I mingled a bit and chatted with the Boise Trail Runners contingent and lined up with Christie and April near the back of the pack. 

Loop 1 – 2:45:41 - Pace: 10:50/mile

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Black

The plan for this loop was to spend some time running with Christie and any other BTR as long as they weren’t going too fast.  With so many runners on the course - more than 500 – 100 milers, the starting pace was slow enough to ensure that we weren’t going to out too fast.  Christie, April and I chatted about some random things – the “butt smell” at Wilson Creek, April’s reactions to snakes on the trail, Christie’s birthday and some others.  The three of us were completely taken aback by the sunrise that morning.  Because I had flown in after dark, I had not seen that the race course was surrounded by mountains and foothills.  The colors that were peeking out from behind those peaks were stunning.  I’m still kicking myself for not bringing a camera.  The three of us picked up another BTR, Seth who had gotten a late start.  After about 3 miles, I looked back and did not see any of them.  It was pretty disappointing, since I was looking forward to conversations with my friends, but I certainly wasn’t going to run backwards to find them.  I was averaging 12 minutes/mile and that was conservative enough for me.  I got to run a few strides with Gordy Ainsleigh and found that he is all business during a race.  It was almost impossible to get a word out of him.  The rest of the loop was very uneventful.  I finished in approximately 2:45 and didn’t feel taxed in the slightest.  I ran through the checkpoint at Javalina Jeadquarters and got back to business.

Loop 2 – 2:59:20 - Pace: 11:43/mile - Overall Average: 11:16/mile 

Javelina has washing machine style loops, meaning that you reverse directions each loop.  Kind of cool, because you get the chance to see exactly where everyone is at.  I had seen the front runners of the race beginning at around mile 9 or so, and I was really curious where the rest of the BTR’s were.  If I recall correctly, April was closest, about 2 miles behind me.  Next came Lynette who was close to April and then the Trifecta of Sean, Drew and John about 4 miles back with Christie following shortly behind.  Everyone looked very solid.  I really enjoyed the first 7 miles of the loop leading from Javalina Jeadquarters to Jackass Junction.  The terrain is pretty packed down with minimal washouts and no real rocky sections that I can recall.  During this section, I was found myself running the same pace as another runner, and he said “just pass me – you know you want to.”  I really didn’t want to actually.  In fact, I was just about to take a walk break.  I looked down and saw that he was wearing a Boise State Broncos shirt.  It turns out that the runner was Raymond Mullenax, another fellow BTR.  Ray and I had actually battled each other back in March at the Pickled Feet 12 hour night race.  He didn’t realize, but he and I were less than a lap apart until he finished his day at (50 miles).  We chatted about this for a bit and then spent the next several miles talking about various 100’s that we had completed or attempted.  We passed the time talking about bucket list type races and I really enjoyed it.  It is very rare that I spend much time at all getting to talk to other runners mid race.  Either I’m stuck in no man’s land between the super-fast runners and the middle of the pack.  I spent the rest of this loop just cruising a long trying to keep close tabs on my water consumption.  Knowing that the 3^rd and 4^th loops would be the hottest of the day, I needed to know whether or not I was going to need to carry a 3^rd bottle for fluids.  I continued to drink to thirst, sticking with water and having one S-Cap per hour and a gel every 30 minutes.  With about 5 or so miles to go in the loop, I found myself surprised by the fact that the trail was so rocky.  I hadn’t been paying much attention during the first loop apparently.  I generally don’t mind rocky, techy terrain.  I was just glad that I hadn’t gone with the Minimus MT 10’s for my shoe choice.  With about 1.5 miles to go in the loop, I came around a corner and a coyote darted across the path, startling an oncoming runner and I. I was a little leery for the rest of the loop, thinking that there may be others around.  Fortunately, I didn’t see another for the rest of the race.  As I came into Jeadquarters, I stopped at my tent and grabbed my bag of supplies.  I chose to grab my sunglasses and collapsible water bottle.  I stocked up on gels and S-Caps and got back out on the trail. 

Loop 3 – 3:28:29 - Pace: 13:37/mile - Overall Average: 12:03/mile

This loop was kind of brutal.  Being out on the exposed trail with no shade to speak of really wore on me.  I wasn’t able to do any sort of heat training prior to the race, and even though the temperatures were a bit below average for the time of year, I still struggled.  I tried to stay ahead of any overheating issues by keeping ice in my hat, soaking my buff in water and keeping it around my neck and even keeping ice in my pack.  This certainly helped, but I still felt like I was being cooked.  The temperatures are part of the reason the Javalina has a ridiculously low finisher rate – somewhere below 60 percent over the entire history of the race.  So now, feeling like I was being cooked and going in the clockwise direction, I developed a really shitty attitude.  A shitty attitude isn’t uncommon for me, but this time it was a little different.  Normally, I will start questioning why I am doing the race in the first place, but this time it seemed to light a fire under my ass.  I grit my teeth and pushed on, thinking about my failures at Indiana and Hallucination and refused to let the temps beat me.  Sure, I might be forced to slow down, but I wouldn’t stop.  Just keep moving – until an aid station that is.  I did more sitting at aid stations in this race than I did in all of my races this year combined.  It was a necessary compromise between the Sun and I.  I needed the breaks from what was beginning to feel like relentless heat, so I sat in the shade of the aid station canopies and cooled myself with a white cotton t-shirt dipped in ice water.  Between aid stations, I would tuck the shirt under my hat and tie the sleeves beneath my chin to keep as cool as possible.  It worked very well if I do say so myself.  The final four or so miles of the loop were pretty miserable, but I just kept going slow and steady. 

Damn the sand and rocks... Photo Courtesy of Ryan Anderson

Loop 4 – 3:35:23 - Pace: 14:04 - Overall Average: 12:33/mile

The misery at the end of the 3^rd loop extended into the first 7 miles of loop 4.  This was pretty disappointing, because I really enjoyed this portion of the trail during loop 2.  I tried to drown out the misery with my Ipod but it could only help so much.  With about 1 mile to go until Jackass Junction, I saw that somehow I had caught up to Ray.  Before I could alert him, he turned a corner and fell pretty hard right in front of Kaci Lickteig who was running in 3^rd place overall.  We helped him up and checked to make sure he was ok.  Fortunately, he came out of the fall unscathed.  We guessed that where he had fallen was the same spot that another runner had fallen a few hours prior.  She wasn’t as lucky as Ray though – She would need several stitches to close the 3 cuts she got around her eye.  At Jackass Junction, I sat in a chair for a while cooling myself with ice while Ray pressed on.  I was getting more and more concerned about the time I was spending in the aid stations, but I kept telling myself that it had to be done unless I wanted to fail the race.  As I got moving again, everything changed.  The Sun hid behind the clouds, I caught a second (third?) wind and my “power song” for the race came on.  The song that pumped me up was Migra by Santana, and I must have listened to it more than 20 times in a row.  I was really moving and feeling good.  I came up behind Ray and told him that I was on a rush and had to go on.  He wished me well and I didn’t see him until the end of the race.  As the sun was setting, I was really racing the remaining amount of daylight.  I was thinking I would like to finish the loop without my headlamp, but I just couldn’t do it.  In fact, I’m glad I didn’t try and press my luck.  Less than a mile after putting on my headlamp, I came around a corner and came to a screeching halt before stepping on a 3 foot rattlesnake that was crossing the trail.  Pretty sketchy.

Loop 5 – 4:02:56 - Pace: 15:52 - Overall Average: 13:13/mile

I really started to hate the fact that there were so many damn loops in this race when I set out for this loop.  I tried to motivate myself by thinking that this was the last time I would have to run this loop in this direction.  By this point, I was feeling pretty well worn out.  Gels were starting to taste awful, and as I set out on this loop I was trying to down a slice of pizza and was really struggling with it.  I would take a small bite, and have to chew for minutes before I could swallow it.  When I reached the aid station, I filled one of my bottles with Gatorade and got my calories that way for most of the rest of the loop.  I managed to eat a cup of ramen at Jackass Junction which made me feel a lot better.  Somewhere between Jackass Junction and Rattlesnake Ranch, I met up with Jeff and Dondi and it was really nice to share a few words with them.  As I passed by them, I wished that I had a pacer.  I haven’t wanted a pacer since the Bear 100, but I was really feeling lonely after running this far and I really could have used some company.  Maybe I will consider a pacer again in the future after all. 

Loop 6 – 3:35:04 - Pace: 14:03/mile - Overall Average: 13:21/mile

How many laps to go?
Photo Courtesy of Wayne Ebenroth

I had completed this loop and came into the aid station feeling an unfamiliar twinge of pain in my right knee.  This pain had developed somewhere towards the end of the previous loop.  While the pain was irritating and uncomfortable, I had no thoughts of stopping.  I put on some compression tights to give a bit of additional support and also put a knee strap around the vastus medialis (had to look that up!) portion of my quad.  I tried to make this change rather quickly and get out on the trail, but I found myself lingering a bit, talking with Wayne about the other BTR’s that were still out on the trail.  Once I did get going, I started feeling better.  The compression and knee strap seemed to keep the pain at bay, so I just kept up my run/walk routine.  I had discovered that loop 5 had taken me just over 4 hours to complete and I was determined to finish this loop faster.  I was finished with sitting in aid stations.  It was cool enough now that I would have to keep moving if I wanted to keep my core temp up and with the knee issue I was having, sitting down would only mean having a hard time getting started again.  Shortly after passing Jackass Junction, I came across Michelle and Ryan and talked with them only a few minutes before pressing on.  Shortly before Coyote Camp, I tripped on a rock and rather than just falling down, I kicked my right leg out to break my fall and tweaked my hamstring and kind of “jarred” my back a bit.  I stood there for at least a full minute trying to catch my breath.  My mental state made this a much bigger deal that it really was.  I suppose I was pretty well stripped physically and emotionally at this point and I just wanted to stand there and scream.  Thinking back now, I find it rather funny how quickly I was reduced to a temper tantrum throwing child.  I think I managed to limit the outburst to only a few expletives.  After a quick stop for water at Coyote Camp, I ran as best as I could into Javelina Jeadquarters with a renewed interest in being out on the trail, knowing that I would only have a short loop left and could put this race to bed.  I crossed over the timing mat and saw that I ran loop 6 in 3 hours and 35 minutes, which was about the same pace that I ran loop 4. 

Loop 7(Short Loop) – 2:15:20 - Pace: 14:01/mile - Overall Average: 13:25/mile

#6  - Photo Courtesy of Wayne Ebenroth

I left for my final loop with a glow in the dark necklace on and an extra spring in my step that last all of about a mile.  My knee and hamstring felt like complete garbage now, and I ended up convincing myself that I should save my energy for the final stretch on the Tonto Tank Trail.  This was a terrible idea really.  I know that I could have pushed harder and finished stronger but I guess I lacked the motivation.  At that point, I knew that I would finish, and also finish in less than 24 hours and so I felt ok just moving along.  I did feel a bit more motivated once I reached the turn off to the Tonto Tank trail, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t open my stride up on the gentle downhill of the trail.  I did give it more effort than earlier in the loop, but eventually found myself walking a great deal of that section.  I did however, find an extra supply of guts and ran the final 2 miles into the finish somewhat strongly. 

Post Race

Here we are, 2 weeks after Javelina.  I’ve really taken it easy to make sure that my knee and hamstring heal up.  I’ve run about 12 miles since the race, and I am back to running with almost zero discomfort.  My knee is still a bit funky at times, but I think it is possible that it is aching mostly due to the 20 and 30 degree weather that we have been having.  I have a full range of motion now, so I am hopeful that I dodged anything serious.  Overall, I am still very happy with my performance at the race and thrilled to close out the season on a good note. 

Hallucination 100 - An Imperfect Storm

Such high hopes for this race.  The Hallucination 100 is held basically in my back yard, and on trails that I have spend a great deal of time on.  One would think that given the (relatively) easy nature of the course and time of year, a fast time and a great result would be possible.  The race is not without it's challenges, however.  The 4pm start on a Friday afternoon is a little iffy.  6 loops - no matter the course, just plain sucks.  This year in particular, it seemed that Michigan waited to drop the hottest and most humid day this summer on the starting day.

I started my day at work at my usual time.  I tried to plan out specific times to eat so that I would reach the start line feeling full and ready to rock.  This proved to be more difficult than I expected.  After some nutella filled tortillas for breakfast, a bit of chicken pasta for lunch and two more nutella tortillas a couple of hours before the race, I found myself 15 minutes pre race just feeling empty.  I took a gel just to get something going and lined up for the race.  I lined up pretty close to the back of the pack to ensure I wouldn't start out too fast.  This may or may not have been a bad idea, but I hated the choice as soon as the gun went off.  With all of the 100 mile and 100 k runners starting at the same time, I spend a tremendous amount of time walking at a pace so slow that it was uncomfortable.  Once the pack thinned out a bit by the first aid station, it was ok.  I was feeling pretty good aside from the heat and humidity.  After passing the first aid station, there is a long flat section that leads to the Potowatomi section of each loop, which I was really looking forward to.  I passed a lot of people on this section and started having fun on the mostly downhill section on the Poto.  I had to really hold back to make sure that I would finish the 16-17 mile loop in about 3:30.  At about 12 miles into the loop, the weather shifted and got quite crazy.  Tornado sirens sounded, the wind picked up and was so powerful, it was snapping trees in half and dropping branches on runners.  Fortunately, I wasn't one of them.  I came into the main aid station right on target at 3:28:47 and it was pretty crazy to see tents and canopies flying away.  I was really just in and out, grabbing more water, a couple gels and my headlamp.

On the second loop, I was able to make up a bit of time at the beginning of the loop since there was not anyone in front of me.  The second loop was really uneventful (unfortunately for this report).  I was having a little bit of problems with cramping in my legs, but nothing too terrible.  Really, it was just enough to make me think twice about pushing the effort too hard.  The rain during this loop was a welcomed addition.  I think it rained for nearly the entire loop.

The third loop was very much a repeat of the second.  On the long flat section leading the the Poto section, I met up with a runner named Charlie who seemed latch onto me for the mile-ish long section.  It was his first 100 miler and we mainly just shot the shit until I took a walk break.  He then caught up to someone else and I didn't see him until around mile 40 or so.  We ran together for the next few miles until I dropped him on the flat section leading back to the Bridle trail section leading back to the start/finish.  I was really happy that I was feeling so good at this point.  I left the last aid station of the loop after a quick stop to change the battery in my headlamp and got down the trail.  Shortly thereafter, I stopped to go to the bathroom and noticed that there was blood in my urine.  I worried about my kidney and if there was something really wrong, or if it was some typical ultrarunning trauma.  I tried to get moving but my mind had already started shutting my systems down.  I became tired, my legs started to hurt, my stomach felt sick and I just plain got scared.  I soldiered on, trying to force myself out of my funk and I made it in to mile 50 and sat down in the chair with Christy and told her what was going on.  I asked for her advice and she just deferred, asking me what I thought I should do.  The smart thing to do was to stop and not risk damage to my kidney.  After a long deliberation, that is exactly what I did.  Gathering my things we made the long walk to the car where I checked my phone and found out that the power had been out at the hotel for several hours.  My day would not be finished there  (That is another story)

A week after the race, my body is back to normal.  My legs feel like I haven't run a step in weeks - better than I've felt in a very long time.  My "plumbing" is back to normal and short of having a little bit of a cold, I'm in great shape.  After an intentional complete week away from running, I am ready to race with a renewed enthusiasm.  I've got the Foothills 50k Frenzy in Boise a little over 2 weeks from now.  Even crazier, I registered for the Javelina Jundred in Arizona at the end of October.  Though this season has felt like my worst yet, I just might be able to finish on a good note.

One can hope...

August 18 - August 31

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - 5.09 miles - 42:34
Nice easy 5-er down to NBP and back.

Wednesday - 6.01 miles - 47:04
3 out and 3 back via B2B trail as a decent little progression run.  Finished with a 6:28 final mile.

Thursday - OFF
Planned on 5 or 6 today, but was pretty tired after the volunteer cleanup effort and banquet work.  Ate food and got a surprise birthday visit from Kifer.  Wasn't too hard to talk myself out of running.

Friday - 5.54 miles - 50:36
Swapped typical on/off days.  Felt pretty shitty this morning after staying up visiting until 0230.

Saturday - OFF
With Kifer in town and my schedule more or less being planned for me, I had to miss out on a scheduled 15 for today.  No big deal, but I would have loved to get in some trail time this week.  Sick of the typical road routes that I have been restricted to.

Sunday - OFF
Got home from Cleveland this morning after gambling all night with enough time to drop Kifer at the airport and get home to find my parents here 3 days early.  No run for me today.  No complaining either.


Monday - 8.25 miles - 1:06:29
Happy birthday to me.  Not enough time to get 33 birthday miles in, but 8.25 miles on 8/25/14 was good enough for me.  Like all of my morning runs, an out and back along the B2B trail.  Not a pure progression run, but I pushed harder than normal for a morning run to be sure to get to work on time.

Tuesday - 4.01 miles - 30:27
Fitbit went kaput last night, and along with it my wakeup alarm.  Only had enough time for a 30 minute run, so I pushed a bit harder than yesterday to get at least 4 miles in.

Wednesday - OFF

Thursday - 5.06 miles - 41:12
Another morning run so as not to miss time with my family in the evening.  Woke up on time today though, so no rush needed.  This was more or less a steady state type of run.  Slow first mile and then hovered at 8:00/mile with a 137 average heart rate. (Skewed a bit because of the spike at the beginning of the run)

Friday - OFF

Saturday - 10.14 miles - 1:27:56
Got out to the Poto section for the race next week.  Rather than parking at Silver Lake and doing the usual route, I found a pullout and parked my truck right near the race entrance to the trail.  Today's pace was meant to be tougher than normal, and much faster than race pace mainly to build some last bits of confidence about the race.  I ran every step today other than the one time that I encountered some runners on the trail.  I got through the section ( Turkey Head) and found that it is only about 6 miles in distance and rather than doing a second loop, I did a couple of passes on the upper section mixed with some uptempo stuff on the dirt roads leading to the trail entrance.  Felt excellent today.  That humidity though....

Sunday - 5.05 miles - 42:30
Easy 2 miles down to NBP and chose to sprint the hill up and down to try and break 2 minutes.  Fell short by 2 seconds.  To be fair, I did have to slow a bit on the down hill because it was wet and traction was shit.  I'll get it next time.  Cruised home and had a bit of a problem regulating my heart rate.  Feeling good now as I write this, so no biggie.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty decent overall.  I'm a little disappointed in the total mileage from last week, but ending this week with the strong run on Saturday was pretty good.  I'm excited for this race finally.  The weather looks to be decent, and with my training and knowledge of the trails, I am confident I can finish well.

August 4 - August 17

Week of 8/4 - 8/10

Monday - OFF

The plan this week was to start doing double runs on Tuesday and Thursday, so nothing was planned or executed today.

Tuesday AM - 5.12 miles - 42:27
Easy miles before work.  Didn't really have time for any more.  I didn't complain about that though, since my legs felt sluggish the entire time.

Tuesday PM - 4.16 miles - 31:53
Over to County Farm Park after work for some miles.  When I got started, I felt like pushing the pace a bit.  I ran all of the loops - green, blue, yellow, red, red(modified).

Tuesday PM 2 - 2.11 miles - 1:03:08
Walking/geocaching with Christy as a recovery and also to explore the boardwalk in Gallup park.

Wednesday - 5.01 miles - 41:30
Managed to get 5 of a planned 10 miles in going through NBP and back through the south neighborhood.  Feeling an uncomfortable twinge in my left knee and I'm not liking it.  Cut the run short early and got some ice on the trouble area.

Thursday - OFF
Resting the bum knee.

Friday - OFF
Still resting the bum knee.

Saturday - 20.61 miles - 3:59:43
Met up for a group run and test of the loop I'll be running 6 times in a few weeks.  I didn't know how my knee was going to hold up, but I had decided before I arrived that if I felt any sort of sharp pains, I would cut the run short right away.  My pace was super mellow and I fell in with a guy named Elisha who would be running his first 50 miler and shot the shit about many different things.  The trail was really nice.  The first section is on a horse bridle trail, and I was nervous that it would be in as shitty condition as Waterloo.  Fortunately, that is not the case.  There are some solid climbs and just enough variation in the terrain to make things interesting but potentially very fast.  The second section is on the "Turkey Head" portion of the Potowatomi Trail.  Very familiar with this section.  I stuck with Elisha the entire time and when all was said and done, it felt like I hadn't even run a step.  Excellent conditions and having company for the first time in this state made this a great day.  I have high hopes for the race in a few weeks.

Sunday - 3.01 miles - 23:30
I wanted to stretch out my legs today and nothing more.  After how well my knee felt yesterday, I had no interest in pressing my luck.

Week of 8/11 - 8/17

Monday - OFF
Couldn't sleep last night for more than a couple of hours.  Up early this morning to help at work and when I got home, managed to doze off.

Tuesday - OFF
Repeat of yesterday.  Missed out on 10 miles tonight.

Wednesday - 7.02 miles - 55:37
Ran down through Riverside and Frog parks and back home through Depot Town.  Had to stop at the house for a quick(ish) bathroom break and then cruised down through the south neighborhood and back to get about a full hour in.  Very mellow.

Thursday - 11 miles - 1:30:52
Ran the Ford Lake Loop counter clockwise.  No water and no fuel run.  Took off after dinner and ran without looking at my watch once.  Absolutely gorgeous night out. Felt good!

Friday - OFF 
Resting up for the battle this weekend.  Back to back long runs.

Saturday - 20 miles - 3:25:34
Ran the Potowatomi Trail + Silver Lake Trail.  Took minimal fuel with me today, and ran a bit faster than typical 100 mile race pace.  Encountered a Heron on the trail and walked behind him for about a quarter mile.  One of the cooler things I've seen on a run.  Reminded me of a story that my Grandpa told me about a moose in northern Idaho that they drove behind on an old logging road.  The moose kept running on the road and wouldn't get off it, so my Grandpa and my Uncle Carl just kept following until the moose said fuck it and laid down in the middle of the road and refused to move for like 20 minutes.  It then got up and walked away casually.  Anyhow, felt really good all day, and cooled off in the lake for 20 minutes before heading home.

Sunday AM- 20.27 miles - 3:02:45
Got up somewhat early today and went down to the Lower Huron Metropark and planned to link up all three for a 20 mile out and back.  The rain in the air cooled things off quite a bit.  I forgot my watch, so I started up the Strava app on my phone and put it away and ran on feel.  I felt a bit haggard today but not so much that I couldn't handle the run.  I again ran on minimal fuel, although I used one additional gel because I was bonking impressively on the way back. Strava listed my moving pace as 8:42.  Kinda cool that I am able to pull off the second 20 miler of the weekend at my marathon PR pace. All in all, a really nice day today, and I am feeling very optimistic about the race on 9/5.  Training is now complete, and time to taper.  

Sunday PM - 1.7 miles - 36:33
Little bit of a recovery walk with Christy to reach my goal for the week and also just to stretch out my legs after sitting like a lazy ass all day.

Blogging Revisited - 2 Weeks of Training

It's time to get back into doing something worthwhile with this blog, and I figure that I can go back to writing about my training to supplement my race reports.  Here goes nothing.

Week of 7/21 - 7/27

Monday AM: 9.5 miles - 41:28 - Cycling
After the hard 20 mile effort yesterday, I decided on actually trying the commute to work.  I took Ellsworth basically the entire way there, and had no issues until I got to State St.  Then it got really sketchy having to cross over the freeway and into the circle.

Monday PM: 9.2 miles - 49:39 - Cycling
Decided to take the Eisenhower route home, and it wasn't much better than the ride in this morning.  While it was much safer, it was much slower.  The shitty road conditions also basically flattened both of my tires.  I'll have to re-think my routes when I try this again.

Tuesday PM: 5.5 miles - 45:30
Easy loop down to NBP.  Nothing special.

Wednesday PM: 8.1 miles - 1:09:41
Out and back to North Hydro Park and back.  The last few days of training are taking a toll on my legs.  Just cruised for the first 4 miles, and then after a quick bathroom break at the park, negative split the trip back.

Thursday PM: 1.5 miles - 29:26
Nice evening walk with Christy for a little active recovery and prep for the planned hard effort on Saturday.

Friday: OFF

Saturday AM: 33.6 miles - 7:42:31
Set out for my second attempt at the Waterloo-Pinckney trail at about 730am.  I felt a bit more prepared this time around knowing that once I hit the bridle trail I needed to stick to the yellow loop.  I took 4 handheld bottles and a full hydration bladder in my pack which worked out to 150 ounces of water.  Knowing that I could refill at the nature center, I felt this was ample considering the increased heat compared to the last attempt in May.  The plan today was to practice my race strategy, with the exception of using less fuel.  I would keep a consistent pace on the flats and downs, and power hike all of the ups, and worked well for the first 9 miles.  Surprise, once I hit the bridle trail, I got lost multiple times and ended up running in circles like I was in the Blair Witch Project.  Constantly finding myself off trail, getting eaten alive by mosquitos, and the overgrowth on the trails constantly slicing into my legs quickly made me realize that this was going to be more of a mental training run rather than a physical training run.  By the time I made it to mile 25, I was pretty much hating life and just ready to get the damn run over with.  I was starting to get very low on water, and feeling very uneasy, I stopped and checked my phone to see how far I was from the nature center.  Unfortunately, I had completely missed the turn leading to the nature center and was now in survival mode.  To make the day even more interesting, I managed to find my way onto the property of a prison right before crossing over into the Pinckney Recreation area.  After being stopped and questioned by some guards, I was able to convince them that I wasn't trying to stir up any shit, and they told me to get out of there.  The remaining miles of the run were pretty uneventful.  One foot in front of the other until I made it to the end of the trail at Silver Lake.  My reward for the day was a nice cool dip in the lake.  I don't plan on doing this trail again.

Sunday: OFF
I actually felt pretty decent today and could have gotten out for a run, but preferred to hang out with Christy and get stuff done around the house.  Actually talked myself into getting out for a run, but when I stepped outside, it was a torrential downpour and quickly settled back on the couch and didn't feel the least bit bad about it.

Week of 7/28 - 8/3

Monday PM: 5 miles - 39:41
Quick out and back to NBP.  Negative split the entire run, closing with a 7:09 final mile.

Tuesday: OFF
Too damn hungry to go out for a run when I got home and when I ate and digested, just didn't have it in me to get out.  Decided to chill and go for a double the next day.

Wednesday AM: 6 miles - 48:42
This was a bit of a quicker tempo run in order to get done in time to get cleaned up and to work in time.  Just a little out and back to the apartment complex down the way since it is the most well lit and safe route.

Wednesday PM: 10.4 miles - 1:23:36
Counter clockwise loop around Ford Lake with no water.  Felt super solid especially considering this was the second run of the day and also longer and at a slightly quicker pace.  Pretty stoked.

Thursday PM: 7.5 miles - 59:55
Typical NBP loop with the added loop out to the ballfields.  Negative split the entire run.  Very solid.

Friday: OFF
Resting for longer effort on Saturday.

Saturday AM: 20.1 miles - 3:29:18
Full Poto loop plus Silver Lake loop to get 20 miles in.  Felt really strong today for the entire run, and kept a 10:30/mile average pace.  One of those days where I could have just kept on going if I had more water and food.  Eaten alive by bugs.

Saturday PM: 3.66 miles - 1:29:21
Easy recovery walk with Christy down to NPB with Rookie.

Sunday PM: 10.11 miles - 1:25:08
Really didn't have it going on mentally for this run today.  Forced myself out the door to get to to NBP for a planned session of 15 hill repeats, but cut it short at 5 because I was interrupting a nice family's picture session.  Instead, headed home through the south neighborhood and home for a quick bathroom break, and then out to the ballfields and back to cover the 10 mile goal.  Felt great and this was a nice close to the week.  Always nice to get over 60.

Mohican Trail 100 - The Quest For Redemption

 The Plan

The plan going into this race had three essential parts.  The first was to go into this race with the mindset that aside from a broken bone or comparable serious injury, nothing was going to stop me from finishing the race.  The idea of a possible 32 hour death march to the finish was something I kept at the forefront of my mind from the very beginning.  The second was to revert back to using gel as my primary fuel source.  After the issues I had with Tailwind at the Indiana Trail 100, I just didn’t feel comfortable trying something new, and instead would go with what had gotten me to the finish in my previous hundreds.  The piece of the plan was both the most crucial and most difficult to adhere to.  I decided that I was going to start off with an average pace in the 13-15 minute per mile range and stick with it for the entire time.  In my previous events, I always went out quickly and would find myself nearly unable to run during the last 30-40 miles of each race.  I have always started off slow, but usually can only manage sticking to that plan for a short while before I talk myself into going faster. 

Loop One

Obiligatory "praying" photo - Christy always catches me doing this.

I chose to line up at the very end of the pack at the start of the race and ran with the pack through the park and onto the trail.  Once on the trail, it was an agonizingly slow walk up a gradual incline.  I kept having to talk myself out of picking up the pace and cutting in front of the conga line.  I kept repeating in my head “stick to the plan, stick to the plan”.  I was listening to a couple of older guys telling jokes and talking about some other ultra runs.  Dave and Greg were shooting for their 10^th and 11^th finishes and listening to them helped keep my mind off of darting around the pack – until sometime in mile 3.  At some point, Dave said he was going to stay in position for 5 more minutes and then was going to go around.  He asked if anyone was game, and I blurted out “YES!”  Dave shouted out at the 5 minute mark and we passed the group that we were behind.  We passed probably 12 people right there and got in with another group that we stuck with until the first aid station somewhere around mile 4.  I hadn’t drank much of my water up to this point so I just called out my number and kept moving through the aid.  I fell in with another group of guys who seemed like relative new comers to the ultra distance (based on their general comments) so I rolled along with them for a couple of miles until I just couldn’t handle being behind the guy who thought it was funny to fart in my direction.  I passed around and ended up talking with a runner named Aria, who happened to be from Oregon.  We chit chatted for a bit about our jobs, running careers and the Pacific Northwest.  Before I knew it, I was at a large set of man made stairs leading down to Lyon’s Falls.  Standing beneath the waterfall and getting doused with the cold water was invigorating.  The short section through the creek bottom gave way to the infamous hand over hand climb out and back onto the trail.  That area was a stunning sight.  Certainly nothing I would have expected to find in Ohio.  I soon found myself separated from all runners, and before I knew it, I had passed through the remaining aid stations and arrived at the start/finish.  I had told Christy to expect me there in around 6 hours, and I think I came in just beyond that.  Just a quick “I love you” later, I took off for the second loop with a fresh supply of gels and full water bottles.

Loop Two

Not being stuck behind the conga line of people during the first ascent of this loop was excellent.  I was still maintaining a slow but steady pace with lots of power hiking mixed with solid running.  After the second aid station on this loop, I met up with a runner named Tommy who was from Southwest Michigan.  We seemed to have the same approach to the race as far as pacing goes.  We were running the flats and downs well, but walking pretty much every climb.  We made our way down into Lyon’s Falls for the second time with me leading the way.  There are multiple points where you have to crawl either over or under some fallen logs.  I misjudged one of these, and mashed my forehead into one of them.  Fortunately, I was wearing a hat and the strap on in probably prevented me from splitting my head open.  After climbing out of the falls for the last time, we made our way to a point where Tommy’s friends were waiting for him.  I told him I would see him down the way and kept moving.  It was around this time that I started to feel some hot spots developing on my feet.  This was very weird for me since I haven’t really ever had any blister issues.  I guess the humid conditions combined with a few muddy sections and creek crossings were the culprit.  To this point, I had not stopped in any of the aid stations for longer that the time it took to fill water bottles, so I was actually kind of disappointed to resign to the fact that I would need to stop for a shoe change at the halfway point.  However, I knew that it was absolutely necessary.  I kept plugging along and realized that with 4 miles to the halfway point, I hadn’t had any low points or hit any walls yet.  Typically, I really tank somewhere between 23-26 miles and have to battle to get myself back in the game.  This gave me a great deal of confidence that my plan was working and I was proud that I had stuck to it as long as I had.  When I finished the loop, my overall pace was somewhere around 13:10/mile – right where I wanted to be.  I told Christy about me feet problems and she directed me to some ladies that were volunteering their time to help with blister issues.  They went to work on my feet, identifying the problem areas while I enjoyed a turkey sandwich.  I sat there for probably 20 minutes while they worked on me, but I knew that I would be much better for it when it was all said and done.  When I stood up, my body reminded me why I shouldn’t sit down during these things.  I hobbled over to my bag to grab my last items and told Christy I had to get the hell out of here.  After a quick kiss, I walked away and got back to work.

Halfway Point - Hot Concerned About Feet

Loop 3

The 3^rd and 4^th loops are shorter than the first 2, mainly for safety reasons.  The loops cut out the Lyon’s Falls section but adds on a short 2 mile bop between aid stations 2 and 3.   I met up with Tommy again for a short while and shared some random conversations.  He seemed to be moving along quite a bit better than I was so I just let him go on ahead.  I put in my headphones and just kept moving along, focusing on eating and drinking consistently.  After my stop for foot repair, my average pace had gone from 13:10/mile to 13:33/mile.  Part of me wanted to push really hard to get back to where I was, but I felt that it was still too early to consider deviating from my race plan.  That didn’t stop me from putting in a little more effort on the downhills though.  In fact, I kind of hammered the downhills from mile 20 on to the finish – something I’ve never been able to do.  When I got to aid station 3 (Covered Bridge) I tried to eat some Quesadillas that they had there but my stomach wasn’t having it.  This was a bit concerning.  My stomach was craving something more substantial that the gels that I had been having all day.  I turned my headlamp on at around mile 70 and when I made it into the Hickory Ridge aid station, I was very dizzy.  I didn’t want to mention this to the people working the station in fear that they might pull me from the race or make me wait around.  Instead, I grabbed 6 pieces of watermelon and sat in a chair and ate them.  One of the volunteers told me I shouldn’t sit down, but I just told him I had to get the food down.  Fortunately, he didn’t ask any other questions, but instead told me I was in 8^th place.  This gave me a surge of adrenaline and I jumped up and headed out.  The final few miles to the start/finish were a bit of a blur.  I know that I was pushing pretty hard to get out and started on my last loop.  When I got there, I was in and out, only filling my bottles and grabbing the last couple of gels that I would need to bring me home.

Loop 4

The Final Stretch - Running Under The Bridge 

Because I had sat down for so long before loop 3, I had to walk for a bit to get my body going again.  This wasn’t the case on loop 4.  I ran out of the park and back on to the trail.  Knowing that I was on my last loop, I felt like I could stop holding back.  I started to run more of the uphills and I was really pleased that I was still able to push the effort on the flats and downs.  Especially the downs.  Shortly after the first aid station, I ran into Tommy and I was very surprised.  He was walking and just mentioned that he was not a night runner and had no comfort that he would be able to run without injuring something.  I told him to keep working and moving and that I hoped to see him down the way.  (Unfortunately, it looks like he dropped.  I couldn’t find his name on the race results.)  I pressed on and actually pushed a bit harder to get into the 2^nd aid station.  Once there, again I tried very hard to be in and out, only grabbing some more water melon and dousing my head with ice water.  I was beginning to get sleepy, and the water really seemed to snap my head back in the game.  The next 2 mile section seemed to go very quickly on the way over to Covered Bridge.  A lot of the trail is downhill through here and I was going to take advantage of my legs allowing my downhill running as much as possible.  At this point, there was nothing to lose and everything to gain.  I had been passing people quite regularly for the last 10 miles or so, but I had no idea if who I was passing was on their fourth loop or not, so I had no idea if I was moving up in the rankings.  This changed at Covered Bridge.  I was again in and out, but this time I was leaving with a guy and a girl (don’t know which was the runner or the pacer) and I knew that one of them was on their 4^th loop.  I walked out of the aid with them and they wanted to talk a little so I obliged, but then mentally made a decision that I was going to run the next climb and hammer the down as hard as I could to not only put some separation between us, but hopefully demoralize them a bit.  At the time, I felt really cutthroat.  Now, I don’t really feel all that good about it.  I’m not in this sport for the high finishes.  Anyhow, I was able to climb that hill pretty well and I ran HARD down the next descent.  It felt great and I never saw them again.  From here to the end of the race, I didn’t see anyone else that was on the same loop.  The final aid stations came and went and on the last long descent off the trail, I just let go and let gravity do the last of the work.  Coming down onto the road for the last time was a very happy feeling.  I saw Christy on the road watching for me, and I gave her a bit of a fist pump but she didn’t see it.  Crossing under the bridge and up across the finish line was an amazing feeling.  I’ve never felt that good finishing a hundred, and it was even better considering the disappointments of Bear 100 and Indiana Trail 100. 

And Done.

Final Notes

• Final time was 22:22:20, 7^th place overall.  Highest finish in a 100 miler
• Total elevation gain was around 15,000 feet.  That made this course 2-3 times harder than Rocky Raccoon which is my fastest 100.  (21:46)
• This was certainly my most consistent 100.  My average pace at the end of the first loop was around 12:50/mile and my average pace for the entire race (assuming that it was in fact 100.71 miles) was 13:20/mile.
• Watermelon is probably my new go to solid food in ultras.  I ate a ton of it.
• No cramping or need for pickle juice at all!  First time since Arkansas Traveller!
•  Recovery from this race has been the easiest and fastest.  Very stoked!
• I dealt with chafing issues for the first time in a race.  Time to invest in body glide for the more humid ultras.
• I used the New Balance 1210 for the first half and the Pearl Izumi N2 for the second half.  The only thing I think I need to change about this is wearing the heaviest weight of Injinji socks with the 1210.  Either that or get a half size smaller the next time I buy them.  The N2 feels more rigid and stable and I think this was a good choice for the second half.  

Redemption

Bear 100

I have certainly been taking my time in writing this race race report.  Partly because I have started a new job and am working in a new state, but also because I have been trying to decipher my true feelings about this race.  After not being drawn for Western States this year, I decided that I wanted to run a more difficult 100 as my goal race for the year and that race was Bear 100.  I put in more training miles during my primary training block than I have for any of my other races and so I had high expectations of performing well at this race and ideally, finishing in under 24 hours.  I knew the goal was lofty, but I have also not pushed my body and mind to the point of failure yet.  The last couple of weeks prior to the race, I found myself to be pretty tired and fatigued, but injury and pain free.  I decided to dial back the training/maintenance miles and just rest up.  The mental and emotional effort of preparing to leave and start a new job, move and also the pressure I had put on myself for Bear was enough on me without the physical strain of my usual weekly mileage.

Christy and I flew into Boise on the Wednesday before the race to have dinner with my parents for my Dad's birthday and headed down to Logan the next morning.  After packet pickup and a nice dinner with the Boise Trail Runner contingent of Ryan and Michelle Anderson, Emily and John Berriochoa, Sam Collier, and Christine Kollar we headed back to the hotel to try and get some sleep before the race.  Surprisingly, I slept pretty well.  At the race start, I managed to link up with Ryan and we started the race together.  We lined up reasonably close to the start line and held a relatively quick pace through the neighborhood and up to the start of the trail where we would fall into a single file line of the first big climb of the race.  I took point, and kept a steady hike up the climb.  My intent was to keep my effort level low, but make sure that I was working so that I could not only make good progress, but also keep my body temp up.  The weather was around 30 degrees and there were intermittent flurries of snow and rain throughout the first 10 miles or so and when I left Fort Worth a few days prior, the temp was 94 degrees.  A pretty big swing for me, which effectively made my heat training over the summer precisely worthless.  Ryan and I started the descent and switched places and we really cruised down through some pretty awesome trail.  This was my second favorite section of the race.  There were a couple of times here that I thought I might be working too hard here, but I just stuck with Ryan until the first major aid station.  I quickly reloaded with gels and headed out after Ryan and after one mile, I decided that I needed to back off and let Ryan do his own thing.  I also started to have some cramping in my right hamstring that I just couldn't seem to beat.  At the next aid, I checked for pickle juice, but no luck. Miles 25 to 45 were really pretty uneventful.  I just kept moving, keeping an easy effort and trying to be as consistent as possible with my usual strategy - Hike the ups, run the downs and be disciplined with a run walk on the flats.  At Temple Fork, Derek Call joined me to run the next 6 miles into Tony Grove.  This section is more or less all uphill and it was quite muddy and slick.  We shared some pretty good conversation just catching up and enjoying the course.  At this point in the race, I was still feeling pretty good, but I was noticing that I had less and less strength to manage the climbs.  Fortunately, I was doing really well on the descents.  Derek and I came into Tony Grove after a pretty good downhill section.  I would be on my own for the next 10 mile section so I wanted to get some food and try to get warmed up before heading out.  I was freezing and having a hard time managing it.  I sat in the aid for quite a bit eating and keeping covered with blankets and jackets until finally I just needed to get going.  The next section was probably my best section of the race.  I managed to pass 17 people and I just felt like I was getting that second (or third) wind.  I came into Franklin Trailhead ready to pick up Derek and get to work.  We took off strong, but about 2 miles into the climb I realized that I was having a very difficult time breathing.  I tried to remain positive, but it only got worse.  It seemed like it took forever to make it to Logan River.  Coming into the aid station, I was very cold and in rough shape.  I ended up laying down in a heated tent to try and stretch out my torso and warm up hoping I might be able to restore my lung capacity.  Many people were dropping who were sitting near me, and I finally just got up and got moving.  The next section was probably my absolute worst, taking an eternity to cover the 7 miles to Beaver Lodge.  Derek and I arrived at about 5am.  Coming into the Lodge, I could see that my family had been pretty worried about me, which was warranted considering I was probably 6 hours behind schedule.  I sat down and I so mentally broken that I nearly dropped.  I found myself looking at the clock and thinking about my goal for the race and how I should be on the final descent at this point but still had 24 miles to go.  I didn't even want to say a word.  Instead, Derek did the talking for me and I laid down and rested for a full hour.  Christy sat with me and I pissed and moaned trying to find a reason for why I was even in the race.  I thought for a bit and ended up deciding that I had 12 hours to cover the remaining 24 miles and I would rather walk it in than DNF.  So, I put on my bravest face stood up and got my gear together.  As soon as I stepped outside, I completely broke down.  Derek helped console me like the good friend that he is while I had my little meltdown.  I then shook that off and reset the rules for the rest of the run. What could I do?  I couldn't run uphill, hell - I couldn't do that all day.  I couldn't run downhill, my quads were shot.  On the flats I might be able run/walk.  Here is what I settled on: 1)Hike all uphills as hard as I possibly could until I passed out 2)At least try to run the downhills 3)Run/walk as much as possible on the flats 4)Check in and out of the aid stations; no more sitting.  Derek agreed, and we got moving.  I'm a bit hazy on the rest of the run, but I remember the following:

1) I was in and out of the next aid station, only waiting long enough to get a cup of hot chocolate.  It was ridiculously cold here.
2) I broke the rules and sat down at Beaver Creek Campground in hopes that my sister would be able to use a roller on my quads.  Unfortunately, we got there before she did.  There was fantastic sausage and pancakes at this aid station
3) I broke the rules again at Ranger Dip, but it was again for my sister to roll out my quads.  It probably did more harm than good.  I had a really hard time getting moving again.  The climb out was miserable and the descent was brutal.

I ended up running an acceptable amount during the last 3 or 4 miles.  I think I passed 3 or 4 runners during this stretch.  It was good to finish the race, and it really meant a lot to have so much of my family there to see the finish.  My time ended up being 33:35:33.  Thinking back on the race, I still feel some disappointment about the result.  Considering how my body feels and how quickly I was feeling mobile after the race, I have to believe that my training was pretty good, all things considered.  I think I ran a very smart race for the first 61 miles and felt good doing it.  My body just didn't manage the altitude when it really mattered.  The only real success of the race is that I set a new PR for longest time running by almost 10 hours. Sometimes you just have to look on the bright side of things.