Western States 100 -- Hoped for a Miracle

Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, the big daddy of ultras, the one I read about in Dean Karnazes' inspiring Ultramarathon Man many years ago -- I was in! I had gotten into it on my third attempt six months ago, thanks to my running club, the Coastside Running Club. This race has a long rich history, and was a horse race until 1974, when the first runner, Gordy Ainsleigh, did the race on foot, in under 24 hours. This race is superbly well organized with a small army of volunteers supporting the runners from Squaw Valley to Auburn, CA.

For the week before the race, to help acclimate to the altitude, I rented a house with my friend Franz and our families stayed there. It rained for the first few days and then it got hot. We all had a good time and Claire played well with their two boys. There was a nearby lake that we all enjoyed.

We went on some nice hikes...

Me and Franz, laughing about something

Sadly for me, I was coming into the race with an injury, illiotibial ("I.T.") band syndrome, that I got apparently at the Miwok 60K (race report). With 8 weeks before Western States, I thought there was plenty of time for the injury to heal itself, and I did stretching and strengthening exercises and massage with very little running. Yet, as the date approached, I was still as injured as ever and couldn't run more than a mile pain-free. I could bicycle and use certain gym equipment like the StairMaster or an elliptical machine, and even run up steep hills, but running on level ground and especially downhills quickly brought up the pain and caused me to stop. If I persisted through the pain, I felt like the side of my leg was having spasms and that I was losing control and would fall over.

I told my chiropractor friend, Dan Rhodes, that I would do a test run three days before the race, and if I could run one hour pain-free, then I would start the race. Well, the test run went pretty well going uphill, but on the descent, I could only run a few minutes before the familiar tightening feeling came and then pain, and after that I could only run downhill for a few seconds at a time. Still, my overall average pace was just under 15 minutes per mile and for the race, I only needed to average 18 minutes per mile, so I thought there was a chance I could finish the race and I decided to go ahead and start it. That was Wednesday. The race was on Saturday.

On Thursday, my sense of optimism took over and I thought I would do another test run, hoping for a better result, and it was much worse than the run the day before. I couldn't run for more than a few steps at a time on level ground or downhill, with 3 or 4 minutes of walking in between each attempt. But I could still run up steep hills and I could still walk fast pain-free, and my average pace for that "run" was around 15:10 per mile, if I recall correctly.

I also caught some kind of cold and my throat hurt on Thursday morning. Oh no! It was much much better on Friday morning, though.

We visited the race center at Squaw Valley to do some shopping, see some celebrities...

Hal Koerner and Franz and Franz's son, Max

...and take a Gondola ride. Fun!

Thursday night, I had an excellent night's sleep, but on Friday night, the night before the race, with my alarm set to wake me at 3am, I tossed and turned and I couldn't relax or stop thinking about my likely impending doom. I think I had a nightmare about having to drop out of the race.

Race day! I ate a couple of small bowls of oatmeal with half a banana and an English muffin with some peanut butter and jelly. Franz and some of his crew (Jen and Hao) and I hurried over to nearby Squaw Valley. A few minutes after we left our rental house, I asked if we had brought everything. Franz's water bottles were left behind! We had plenty of time to go back and get them and get to the race start for our final weigh-in and to pick up our bibs. My race weight, with shoes and running clothes was 170.6 lbs. All these weeks of not running have added on around 5 lbs, unfortunately.

We met up with Mike Weston, the third member from our running club. Everyone is in good spirits. Finally, 5am comes around, and with the traditional shotgun blast, we are off!

For 95% of us, the first few miles consists of hiking, due to the steep climb up to the Escarpment aid station. The dawn light and bright lights under the ski lift illuminate our way -- no need to carry headlamps. With a fast hike, my heart rate quickly got up to the mid 150s. Take it easy, I kept on telling myself. There's a very long ways to go!

The views of Lake Tahoe were gorgeous. I wish I had a camera. There was lots of excitement at Escarpment at mile 3.5. I got my two 20oz water bottles filled and then I was on to the first serious downhill.

I decided to jog down, nice and easy. After a few minutes, the familiar tightening sensation began, on the outside of my right knee. But it didn't become painful! I was hoping for a miracle. What if I was cured?! I tried different ways of orienting my right foot and I found that if I rotated it outwards a bit, like 10 degrees, that the sensation was totally tolerable. If it didn't get any worse, I could absolutely put up with this all day and night. I was so happy! I was on a serious runners high. This was the most running I had done in 8 weeks. I even had dreams of finishing in under 24 hours. My average pace so far became an absolutely blazing 14+ minutes per mile. (Considering my low expectations, this was fast!)

In anticipation of the intense 100F heat later in the day, I got on top of my hydration early. I ate a salt capsule every 30 minutes and an energy gel every 20 minutes. Due to all the drinking and my slow pace, I ran out of water 20 minutes before reaching Lyon Ridge at mile 10.5. No worries. I kept on eating on schedule (thinking to Miwok and how I stopped eating when I ran out of water and how that was probably a mistake).

After filling up and leaving the Lyon Ridge aid station, within a hundred meters I had gulped down half a water bottle. Oops. I thought of turning around and refilling, but I didn't want to go back down this hill and I thought it would be OK if I ran out for another 20 minutes before the next aid station. Well, I ran out of water for 33 minutes before the next aid station! Worrying! The day was warming up. I had some good conversations with a couple of other runners. I was passed by a handful, when I took it easy on some of the downhills. Be patient, I told myself. I kept on trying to imagine being on these trails 12 and 20 hours from now.

At Red Star Ridge, I had my drop bag waiting for me, which would contain a special ice-holding bandana and two water bottles. I wasn't originally planning on filling the bandana with ice here, but the aid station volunteer suggested it and so, sure, why not. I'm glad I did! I guzzled a full 20oz while in the aid station, refilled it, and left now carrying 60oz of sports drink and 20oz of water. I was wearing the Ultimate Direction AK race vest which holds two bottles in the front and can carry two more in the back. Comfortable and convenient!

The day was getting warmer and I was becoming very grateful for the ice cold bandana around my neck. I was hiking fast on the uphills and running slowly on the level ground and downhills. I was so happy!

Then, for no apparent reason, within a matter of a handful of strides, my IT band starting hurting. Don't panic. I told myself I would simply walk fast for 20 minutes and then try running again. 20 minutes go by. I tried running and there was no difference at all. Then walking started hurting. Oh no! I stopped to do my special stretches (the pigeon stretch from yoga), which required getting on the ground, with one leg stretched straight behind me and the other leg folded in front of me, and leaning over on the folded leg. Other runners asked if I was OK. One woman said "I can't stretch like that on a good day." No improvement. I stopped again. Stretched again. Took off my shoes and applied more Body Glide. (I was feeling some hot spots in my left foot.) Tried again. No improvement. Stretched again. No improvement. Many more people passed. Every step with my right leg hurt a lot. Damn it! I'm guessing these last few miles were taking 20+ minutes each. My average pace for the day fell greatly, like to about 16.5 minutes per mile. I was still comfortably ahead of the cut-off time, but how could I possible hobble for over 75 miles?! I was seriously worried that I would end up stuck somewhere on the trail if I continued for much longer. I decided I would have to drop at the next aid station.

photo credit: Chihping Fu

photo credit: Chihping Fu

I finally arrived at Duncan Canyon aid station, staffed by the Quicksilver running club from the Bay Area. They were great and had a western theme going. I explained what was going on...

photo credit: Chihping Fu

I was sooo disappointed. Tears were shed. The aid station workers tried to convince me to go on. Chihping tried to convince me to go on. If we were at mile 80, then sure, I could try hobbling for 20 miles. But with 76 miles remaining, it just seemed ridiculous and even dangerous to try to continue. I got my yellow wristband cut. It was over.

I hung out in the shade, and got a good tip for another kind of stretch to do. I got the radio operator to call in a message that could be delivered to Jennifer, letting her know that I had dropped and would meet her at Foresthill. I met Loren from my running club who is also in Quicksilver. He offered me a ride to Foresthill when the aid station had closed. Thanks, Loren!

I got to see the remaining runners come through, including the guy who started it all, Gordy Ainsleigh. Cool! Mike Weston came through, struggling with a stress fracture in his foot. He continued on, even though he thought he was unlikely to finish. I got a nice sandwich at the aid station, helped clean up a bit, and painfully walked down a long hill to Loren's car.

I finally got to Foresthill and by sheer coincidence, Jennifer had driven all the way to Yuba City (to drop Claire off) and returned within minutes of me arriving. Nice! I hung out with Franz's crew, let friends and family know what had happened to me, via Facebook. I got to see the lead male runners come through (Timothy Olson, with Hal Koerner just minutes behind).

Jennifer and I said goodbye to Franz's crew and left to go to my running club's aid station at Auburn Lake Trails, mile 85.2. I at least wanted to say "hi" to everyone. Even though I was quite tired and was probably sick again (people told me I looked pale). I decided to spend the night here and hang out with my buds and let Jennifer off the hook. (The original plan was for her to volunteer while I ran the race.) Jennifer took off to get Claire and then our dog and head home.

Coastside Running Club's Auburn Lake Trails Aid Station

Amanda waiting for the next runner. It's Christmas in June!

Franz Dill comes through! And he's given the Halleluha Goat by Eric Vaughan.

I took two one-hour naps, but otherwise was pleasantly busy the whole night and morning. I got to see Franz come through! Great job, Franz!

Finally, it was time to clean-up and head home. Good job, Captain Margaret! This was our second year staffing this aid station, and I think it was a resounding success. I hitched a ride with Norm, Mor, and Amanda, and tried to stay awake for the three hour drive home.

So, all-in-all, it was quite an active eventful weekend. I started the race hoping for a miracle. It didn't work out, but I made the best of the situation that I could.

The Good

• The Ultimate Direction AK Vest worked quite well
• The Hoka One One's were comfortable, in terms of running on rocks and rough terrain, but my left foot developed several blisters. Perhaps the shoe laces weren't tight enough?

The Bad

• Had to drop at mile 23.8 due to my IT band injury.
• The Nathan 20oz water bottle dripped a lot unless the nozzle was pushed in. It was new to me, and several runners behind me warned me that I was losing water. I prefer the Ultimate Direction water nozzle style instead.

The Random

• 170.6 lbs weigh-in on race morning, after breakfast and with my clothes on. I felt fat.
• I accidentally packed two caffeinated energy gels in my running vest, which gave me some bad heart palpitations later that afternoon. I can't take caffeine any more!

Miwok 60K -- Too Short and Too Far

Well, I finished!

It was supposed to be the Miwok 100K, and I was really focused on it. Perhaps too focused. I had a lot of difficulty sleeping the two nights before the race. Then on the morning of the race, we discovered that due to danger of fire, that the race would be shortened and start three hours later.

So, it wasn't the 100K race I had planned for. My friend Franz and I decided to run 7+ miles right away, to get in more miles for the day. Mentally, this wasn't a race any more, but a supported training run. I got in touch with my running club members who were staffing the Rodeo Valley aid station, and with my pacer, Amanda, to let her off the hook. The race time arrived.

So, was it a race? Or was it a training run? I switched back and forth. But when the going got hard, and I was dehydrated and slowed down, I just lost heart. I gave up mentally and just cruised in to the finish. It was a long slow unpleasant slog.

Coming down the Dipsea Trail, a couple miles from the finish, I felt a weird tightness around my right knee.It wasn't painful, but it was strange. Two days after the race, I couldn't run even a mile without my IT band in my right leg painfully tightening or inflaming or whatever. Injury. Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run at the end of June was now in jeopardy.

Why did things fall apart so badly? Well, my weight came down suddenly the day before. I forgot to take food when I needed to and I didn't keep up with my salt intake and water. I think mentally, being so tired really affected me. I got in around 44 miles for the day, but at a high cost. It's been three and half weeks since the race and I haven't been able to run more than two miles at a time.

Oakland Marathon -- A Turn Too Far

Early in the morning, before the race

This was my second running of the Oakland Marathon. Three years ago, I ran the inaugural event and I was really impressed by the overall organizational effort and attention to detail. It was a top-notch event with a varied and interesting course through many diverse neighborhoods of Oakland. My positive memories were also helped by the fact that I set a personal record at the time and came in 9th place out of 946, with a 3rd place age group win.

This year was excellent, too, except for one particular intersection. The race was very well organized and considering the complexity of the course route, they really did a great job. There must have been a hundred intersections that had police or volunteers or cones. Unfortunately, all it takes is one problem with the course to seriously derail a race.

"I think here is where I missed the turn."

Yes, out of 20 road marathons and almost as many trail ultramarathons (I've lost count), this is the first time I got seriously lost in a race. I would expect this to happen out in a forest, far from crowds, where it would be easy to miss a small colored ribbon attached to a bush, that indicates a turn. But in a big-city marathon, with nearly a thousand marathoners, I was quite surprised to find myself at mile 26.7, according to my watch, and in theory a half mile beyond the finish line, but with no finish line in sight!

Here's how I described what happened to the race officials, in an email later that day:

Good afternoon,

I had a good race in the marathon this morning and I really enjoyed the experience, except for the very end. I want to thank your team for pulling off such a complicated event and giving the runners a first-rate experience. The volunteers and police and the whole community were great. Thank you!

Unfortunately, I and a small number of other runners (full marathon and possibly relay) accidentally left the course at around mile 25.7. I'll report the facts as best as I can and I'm hoping I can receive a timing adjustment.

After mile 25, and thinking I was on track for a 3:01:30 finish or so, I put in a last burst of effort but I never saw the finish line. Instead I was surrounded by much slower full-marathoners. When my watch showed 26.7, with no finish line in sight, I suspected that something was wrong, but I know that the reported GPS distance is always more than the certified distance. When I saw the mile 18 marker, I knew I had somehow gotten way off course. I stopped and turned-around and worked my way back, at a slow jog (I was cramping and exhausted and despirited). I asked directions and a policeman pointed me to the shortest route to the finish line. I crossed the line in 3:19:05 (the reported net time), with my watch showing 28.2 miles.

Here are the facts as best as I can tell.
1. I left the marathon course around mile 25.7. If you take a look at the attached "missed turn" picture, or if you look at the map of my run on Garmin Connect, you'll see the route I ran. You can compare it with the "correct route" attached picture, which is a zoomed-in portion of the nice PDF map you guys provided.
2. At the point of this missed turn, I was following cones and I and a few other runners near me and another guy a couple hundred meters ahead all believed that we were on course.
3. Crossing 14th St. at this point was "weird" because traffic control seemed strange. Another runner and I remarked about this. So, in hindsight, that was a clue.
4. Immediately after crossing 14th St., a course monitor on bicycle passed me and I told him that something was wrong about the way we had to cross that intersection. He slowed down and spent some time on his phone, texting or entering data or something, and then he took off, in the same direction I was running. He never said anything to me.
5. I started coming across much slower full-marathoners.
6. Eventually, I figured out that I was off course and that I was running with people who were about 8 or 9 miles behind me.
7. I made my way back to the finish line by asking directions, and explaining that I was off course, and taking the shortest possible route.

I then went on to ask for a timing adjustment and explained what I thought went wrong. Their response was:

I apologize for the course mistake at Sunday's Oakland Running Festival. Unfortunately our course marshal it seems didn't show up and the person who laid out the cones made it confusing.

I thought I covered the marathon distance in 3:01:10, but they offered 3:02:07, which was fine. Close enough! As of this moment, a week after the race, that gives me 2nd place in my age group. Cool!

So, other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? :-)  No, seriously, I did have a good time and I enjoyed the race overall, and I would run it again. The crowd support was less than I remembered it being three years ago, but there were some great moments.

Even if I had stayed on course, I would not have beat my time from three years ago of 2:59:03. I'm probably not quite in as good as shape (over the hill!) and I also ran the first couple of miles a little bit too fast (7:04 and 6:57) whereas three years ago, I was a bit more careful and stuck to a plan better.

For a terrific race report that shows what we marathoners experienced, please check out Scott Dunlap's blog here. The first-place woman, Devon Crosby-Helms, also wrote a great race report and she had troubles with the same intersection I did.

Jessica filmed me at nearly mile 6. Do I always look this slow? 

I found the finish line! I tried to put on a good show, but I was wiped out and demoralized.

I got my finisher's medal and I feel pretty good physically.

Hanging out with brother-in-law Stephen. Thanks for being there!

Thanks for being there, sis!

Stephen and Jess, after the race.

Me and Stephen, after the race

Random data:

• Weight on race day morning: 165.6 lbs.
• It was fun seeing the 1st place half-marathoner pass me. It was as if he was sprinting. A long while later, the 2nd place half-marathoner passed me. Those are the only two half-marathoners I saw.
• My Garmin data is here. Compare to the 1st place woman's, for example: here.

Update 5/27/2013:
I received a nice trophy, "1st place male marathon masters" for finishers over 40 years old, and a check for $150! Cool! I should point out that I was actually the 2nd place masters finisher, but Scott Dunlap got into the top 5 and so received a cash prize for that and was thus ineligible for the masters award.

Lake Chabot 30K -- 2:20:17

I had a good race at this Lake Chabot 30K, put on by Inside Trail Racing.  The organizers listed the distance as being 18.4 miles, with 2800' of elevation gain, and the course goes around the beautiful Lake Chabot in Oakland, CA.

This was a repeat of last year's 50K in many ways, including carpooling with my very accomplished running friend, Jen Pfeifer. But unlike last year, I wanted to run a shorter distance because I have the Oakland Marathon just a month away, and I didn't want to have to go through a longer recovery that the 50K would entail.

Jen picked me up at 6:15am, which was plenty early for the 8:30am start. (I think we were parked at 7:05am or so.) I saw several other friends, the air was cool and crisp, and soon enough, we were off!

The course was very well marked, including the novel practice of using a special colored blue ribbon to mark trails that we are *not* supposed to run down. For the first couple of miles, I hung with Jen and my friend Dan Rhodes, from my running club. I thought we were running a bit on the fast side, but I didn't have the pace information showing on watch. (I got a new Garmin 910XT, and hadn't configured all the screens yet.) Jen informed us that were running right around 7 minutes per mile. It felt a bit fast, but doable.

Dan was in the 50K and said he would treat this race as a supported long run. Yet, after a couple of miles into it, he started pulling away from me and Jen. He's a fast runner, but even for him, this had to count as a race, and he had a whole half-marathon to go after I would finish!

Somewhere in the hills, near the gun range (which wasn't so annoying as last year for some reason), and perhaps on the Brandon trail, Jen continued going straight up a steep hill, not seeing the pink ribbons on the trail heading to the left. I called out to her to get her back on the course. Close call! So I got to return the favor from last year, where she pointed me in the right direction when I was about to miss the trail markings.

I made a special effort on the short but steep uphills, to run every step. Last year, for the 50K, I "power hiked" on the steepest sections, to keep my heart rate down. I also let loose on the downhills. On one of the miles, Jen called out "6 Oh 3". I didn't quite understand her and she explained, "we ran that last mile in 6:03". Oh, wow, OK, that was a bit fast for me. My heart rate was high, but I felt in control.

Jen's plan was to run 8 miles on the easy side and then pick up the pace for the last 10 miles or so. So, I'm huffing and puffing and in total race mode, and she puts in her ear buds and gently pulls away from me. (Or maybe I was slowing down a bit or both.) My heart rate seemed high and I was only half-way done, so, I didn't want to push too hard. We passed some runners who were either in the 30K or 50K.

Eventually, I started running into the half-marathoners, who didn't take this 10K extension that the 30K runners did. I was starting to feel cramps coming on and was really feeling the effort, so it was a nice mental boost to be passing other runners. I tried to drink more. I was eating an energy gel every 45 minutes. I was looking forward to seeing the lake again, because then I knew I would be just a few miles from the finish.

My legs started feeling heavy and I couldn't sprint up the short steep hills any more, and my heart rate fell a bit, and I fell further behind Jen and could no longer see her up ahead. I passed Colleen, from my running club, who was in the half-marathon, and we yelled encouragement to each other. I recognized that I was nearing the finish and there was a helpful "1 mile to go" sign, but I couldn't really sprint, as I was very close to having bad cramps. Finally, I rounded the corner. *whew* I was glad to finish!

All-in-all, I'm happy with the results. There were some strong competition in my race, but I got 2nd place in my age group of 40-49. And I finished just about a minute behind Jen, which I take as a good sign. (She was first place woman by about 17 minutes!) My friend Dan was about 45 seconds in front of me at the 30K mark and he went on to have a strong 50K finish.

So, for my first race of 2013, I'm happy!

What went well:

• No trips, no falls, and I didn't get lost.
• I averaged about 7 minutes 27 seconds per mile on some hilly terrain, for about 18.4 miles.
• No chafing or blisters, except relating to my new heart rate monitor. (See below.)
• I had a good time!
• My new Garmin 910XT watch seemed to work great. (I had broken my Garmin 310XT in a fall a few months ago, and the super-glue gave way.)

Things to improve:

• I got some cramps and I probably pushed a little too hard in the middle of the race. I think I would have had a slightly faster time and a slightly better experience if my hardest effort were towards the end.
• I may not have drank enough or had enough salt.
• I dropped my water bottle once.
• The Garmin 910XT's heart rate monitor band really dug into my chest. I knew it was likely to cause chafing and I had used Body Glide, but not enough and not in all the right places apparently. The strap wasn't too tight -- I started the race with it too loose and I had to tighten it shortly after the start. I have to go back to using the Garmin 310XT's heart rate monitor for anything over an hour's run.

Random data:

• I don't know how much I weighed because my scale's batteries went dead, but I think I was between 164 and 165 lbs.
• Ate an energy gel every 45 minutes.
• Results are here.
• Garmin data is here.

nice shirt & mug!

California International Marathon -- 3:01:32

Not your typical puddle. Photo source: here. Click to enlarge.

This was my fourth running of the California International Marathon, in Sacramento, and it had the most running friends and the worst weather of any of them! This was also my 19th road marathon. The wind and rain were comically bad, and were concentrated primarily before and during my running of it. About 30 minutes after I finished, it stopped raining at the capitol and was basically a nice cool day for the remainder of the day. Funny!

But back to the beginning...

It was great carpooling with my running friend Rachael and her husband, Bob. The Expo had lots of interesting things for sale or on display, as usual, and it wasn't too crowded in the early Saturday afternoon.

Me and Rachael

I ran into my friends Franz and Jen and their son, Max. Franz was aiming to qualify for the Boston Marathon and he had trained very well, successfully transitioning from ultramarathons, including many 100 mile races, to being ready for a 26.2 mile road race, which is basically a 3 hour sprint for him.

I got to meet up with my friend Dana who was also trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I had previously run the San Diego Marathon with her (it was a training run for me).

Dana!

My training had been about 80% of the target mileage of my aggressive training plan. I had missed a number of runs, including one long run, to try to get over a sore left heel. Plus, life has been extra busy in November. So, I knew that beating my personal record (2:55:52, in New York City two years ago) was not going to happen, but I hoped to beat 3 hours. As the race day drew near, it appeared that the weather was going to be a significant factor.

The night before, I stayed up a bit too late (11pm) but had a fun time at a party with a friend of mine and my wife's, Elise. I even had a glass of wine and did a bit of dancing! (Thanks again, Elise!) I also had the usual pre-race excitement which made sleep difficult. So, I woke up at 4:14am, before my alarm went off, and was feeling rather groggy. I quickly ate some of my usual pre-race foods (banana, oatmeal, and bagel), and was looking forward for the adventure to begin at 7am!

Some other friends from my running club (Mor, Margaret, and Jim) picked me up at 5:15am and we got to near the start area with plenty of time. The rain and wind were very heavy now. I was anxious to get on the bus for a last short 2 mile shuttle ride and then I had plenty of time (50 minutes?) to use the porta-potty and drop off my drop-bag. It was cold, wet, and very windy. I was very impressed that so many volunteers were out there in the rain for us runners. I sought shelter at this gas station...

Looking for shelter wherever we could. The gas station store was packed.

Finally, the start time drew near and I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts and wrapped in a thermal aluminum-foil blanket. Although the air temperature wasn't bad (low 50s), with the wind and rain, I was nearly shivering and was anxious to start.

My plan was to take it easy at the beginning and to gradually speed up and to monitor my heart rate. I found my friend Mor again and we positioned ourselves with the 3:25 (3 hour 25 minute) pace group. This was further back than my previous runs of this race.

The national anthem was awesome, with an exceptionally good singer, and then a couple minutes later, we were off! The first noticeable problem was that so many runners threw away their garbage bags and temporary clothes directly on the ground behind them, right in the path of thousands of runners behind. So, even though only 3 or 4 hundred runners were in front of me, it quickly became hazardous. I bundled up my space-blanket and tossed it far to the side of the road.

It felt good to be running! I wished Mor good-luck and I took it real easy and gradually pulled ahead.

I tried to gradually increase my effort, keeping my heart rate below 150 bpm for the first 5 miles or so. A handful of runners passed me in the first mile, but mostly I was steadily passing people early on. The wind was coming from the south and the course mostly headed west at first, but at mile 6, we turned left on to Fair Oaks Blvd and the headwinds were ferocious. I tried to find other runners to block the wind for me. I hopped from one clump of runners to the next, recovering from the effort when I arrived at a group. My pace slowed down for these 5 miles of headwinds to slightly slower than 7 minutes per mile.

I was steadily passing runners and I caught up to the 3:10 pace group, maybe around mile 11? Another guy caught up to me and was running basically at the same pace, so we ran together for a few miles, steadily passing people. He introduced himself as Tim, from Yuba City, and said he had run a 5K race the day before. (Ouch!) And he said he completed an Ironman triathlon just two weeks earlier! (Double-ouch!) So, I felt like I was running with a super-stud but I also thought there was no way he could do his best in this race. I wasn't surprised when he fell off the pace and I pulled ahead. I looked him up in the results (hi, Tim Mallen!) and he had a great race, finishing in 3:08:01. Congratulations, Tim!

At the half-way point, I felt a bit tired, but overall was in good shape. The time was 1 hour 32 minutes. I wanted to finish the second half a bit faster. I was focused next on getting to mile 16 and gradually picking up the pace a notch. Then get to mile 18 and pick up the effort again, but still have enough "in the tank" for the most difficult miles, from 22 to the finish, and to have a strong finish.

Mile 16 -- only 10 miles to go! I realized that I seemed low on energy, so I ate another energy gel 20 minutes early. (I was eating one every 40 minutes.) I was also consciously drinking more sports drink than in past marathons, to try to combat my typical problems with cramps in the last miles.

I was becoming more and more focused on "keeping it together". The effort was becoming more difficult. My heart rate was in the mid-160s. I was still steadily passing runners and I caught up to the 3:05 pace group. Suddenly my left shoe felt loose. No way! My shoe laces were coming untied! I had double-knotted it! So, for the 2nd time ever in a marathon race, I stopped and re-tied my left shoe. I was quick about it (5-6 seconds) and I soon caught up to the 3:05 pace group and passed them.

Mile 20 -- just 10K to go. Finish strong! But there's still plenty of time to fall apart, so I tried to be cautious, too. "Keep it together" was my mantra. I thought I recognized the runner in front of me. I slowly passed him. It was Franz! I was so on the edge of falling apart that I couldn't really talk much and I focused on keeping the pace and I slowly pulled ahead.

The last miles were getting more difficult and I didn't think I could safely go faster for miles 22 to 24. Getting desperate. Plenty of other runners were struggling around me, but I was still passing everyone steadily.

Mile 25 ticked by in 6:41. A runner behind me called out, "Hey, Ron!" I think I waved, but I couldn't even manage to look back or to say "hi". It was my friend and running club member, Dan. At mile 26, I saw Jen (Franz's wife)! She took this picture:

Almost done, at mile 26! Photo credit, Jen Dill. Click to enlarge.

Almost there! I poured on the effort, rounded the corner from L St. on to 8th Ave and made the final left turn to face the capitol building and the blessed finish line. Hard sprint. Woo hoo! 3 hours 1 minute and 32 seconds. I was quite happy with that! Arms in the air!

Me and Franz, at the finish area. Photo credit, Jen Dill.

The sharp contrast between minutes before the race, where I'm running the fastest, and minutes after the race, where I'm suddenly extremely sore and hobbling around, is humorous to me. It took me about 30 minutes to get my drop-bag, say "hi" to Franz and his family, and start watching the race. The rain stopped.

I missed seeing Mor (3:37:02), who reported afterwards that he was on pace for a massive personal record right up until mile 23 when "a switch went off" and he hit the wall and bonked big time. He still set a personal record though, by about 5 minutes. Congratulations, Mor!

I did catch Rachael finishing strong and I took this picture.

Rachael, determined and focused at mile 26. Click to enlarge.

I managed to hobble over fast enough to see Rachael in the finish area and to share that special moment of happy relief at having accomplished a very difficult task. Tears were shed.

It was good seeing friends after the race. I commiserated with my friend Dana, who was bummed that she had missed her goal by just over 4 minutes. And then, it was time to leave, as Rachael and Bob (my ride home) had to check out of their hotel.

What a wild adventure! All-in-all, I'm very happy with how I raced and I did about as well as I could have hoped, all things considered. My left heel started feeling tender again and I had a couple spots of bad chafing, but basically, I survived, happy, tired, wet, and uninjured.

Random data

• A good photo gallery from the Sacramento Bee is here.
• Results
• Weight, two days before: 166.1 lbs. Once again, I failed to lose 5 lbs.
• My Garmin watch's GPS data, heart rate, and mile splits are here.

As usual, I need to give a huge thanks to my wife, for making it possible for me to train for and participate in this event. And I want to thank Rachael and Bob for the ride and their good company. And I want to thank my friend Elise for hosting me and saving me the hotel expense.

Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Mile -- 8:23:44

Ron, Shani, Amanda, Gary, Jill, Prudence, post race

Dick Collins Firetrails 50 mile race is an excellently organized race that's been around forever -- 30 consecutive years! It runs along a series of beautiful state parks, from Lake Chabot's marina, in Oakland, to the northern edge of Tilden Park in Berkeley, and then back. It's got some intense hills, with 7800' of elevation gain, but is mostly runnable and is considered on the fast side, as far as a trail race is considered.

elevation profile

This was my second running of it. Three years ago, it took me 8 hours 10 minutes and was a real break-through performance at this distance. (Race report.) I did struggle for many miles then, so I thought there was room for improvement. My goal for this time was to match that performance or improve on it a bit.

Coming into the race, my training felt spotty. I missed about 5 or 6 training runs due to my involvement with the Half Moon Bay International Marathon, as one of the assistant directors. Plus, for some reason, I just didn't have the mental energy to actually construct a training plan. Strange! Somehow, having a good race at Tahoe Rim Trail 50 mile, also without a training plan, let me off the hook. I tried to get in all the long runs and I mostly did, but I never got over 26.5 miles at once. A 31 mile training run would have been better.

It was a nice treat to have two friends from my running club, the Coastside Running Club, in the race. This was Amanda's first 50 miler and only second ultramarathon. Gary had run many 50Ks and even a 100K prior to the race, so he was certainly ready. This was my fourth 50 mile race.

So, the Saturday comes along and my alarm wakes me up shortly before 4am. I had a couple small bowls of oatmeal and a small banana and then I met Amanda and Shani at 4:45am. Shani was so committed to being Amanda's pacer that she wanted to go to the race start with us. Very nice! Time-wise, this was enough to drive across the Bay and get ready for the 6:30am start. But, we made a couple of miscalculations.

Amanda, with her friend and pacer, Shani looking on, doing last minute prep.
(Sorry for the surprise photo, Amanda! And why wasn't I finishing getting ready?! We're late!)

It was rather a long walk from where I parked to the race start -- several minutes each way. Amanda had to rush to the restroom and I thought that there was no need to bring our drop bags with us. (Drop bags contain everything we might need at some point in the race.) In this case, our drop bags were for the start and finish. So, it's pitch dark and my headlamp was in the drop bag. Doh! So, we walked slowly to the bathrooms. Then the men's restroom had a long line already and only two toilets and the line moved very slowly. After getting through that, I got my bib and racing chip (this was the first ultra I've run that used a race chip and timing strips; nice!) and then rushed over to meet Amanda and Shani at my car. They had been waiting for me. Suddenly, we had only 5 minutes to get to the start line! I rushed and loaded up with energy gels, put on my heart rate monitor, sunscreen, etc., and as I was rushing to the start line, the race started! Doh! Another first -- the first ultra where I wasn't ready at the start! I dropped my drop-bag off and rushed to the start, ran across the start line, started my watch, and I was off!

I was at the tail end of the race, but was far from being alone. I started quickly passing people. I caught up to Amanda and we chatted a bit. I started watching my heart rate and felt like I could safely go faster, so I wished Amanda luck and started passing more people.

It was a cold crisp morning and I felt great! What an adventure! "Don't run too fast," was my repeated mantra. "It's going to be a long day."

I enjoyed chatting with others on occasion and enjoyed the scenery and just kept on moving smoothly and easily. Coming into the aid stations, I tried to be ready to know what I would need. I was quick and efficient, taking maybe 10-15 seconds to fill my water bottles, grab a bite to eat, and get moving again. I noticed that I often passed people in the aid stations, even if they were slightly faster than me on the trails.

The miles ticked by. The scenery was beautiful. I love Redwood Regional Park especially, with its giant redwoods and lush forest and fast soft and smooth dirt trails. There were amazing views of the San Francisco Bay later on, including the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was gorgeous.

A map of the course, on a poster at the start/finish area. Click to enlarge.

Eventually, we saw the first place marathoner, in the Golden Hills Marathon, running towards us. Fast! And then the stream of oncoming marathoners built up and then dwindled. The trails were wide enough for two-way traffic, so that wasn't an issue.

I was feeling good and wanting to have plenty of energy for the finish. I was looking forward to meeting my friend Prudence at mile 26, as she was going to be my pacer. A pacer keeps their runner company and helps them not get lost and offers advice and motivation.

I saw the front runners in the 50 mile race, on their return journey. So fit and fast. Amazing!

There is a long long descent to the turn-around at the Lone Oak picnic area in Tilden Park. Prudence! Yay! I realized coming into mile 26 that I was behind my time from three years ago. I didn't feel like I could safely run any faster. My heart rate was frequently around 155 beats per minute and I had a long way to go!

We hiked and slowly jogged back up this huge hill. I tried to gradually increase my effort. My hydration and food consumption seemed to be going well. I had urinated three times already, was taking a salt capsule every 45 minutes, and an energy gel or some kind of food every 20 minutes.

I kept up a good solid effort, but I just wasn't as fast as I would have liked. I passed some people but I got passed a couple of times, too. There was one woman, in a purple top, who was especially fast and ran every step of the uphills and she and I passed each other a few times in the first half. We repeatedly caught sight of her ahead of us, but couldn't catch her. She became one of my motivators. (Even though I never caught her, it turns out that I did run the race faster than her, thanks to the chip timing. Good job, Clare Abram!)

After about mile 40, the race started feeling gradually more difficult. When I started feeling that cramps weren't very far away, Prudence reminded me to take more salt and drink more. My stomach felt fine, so I was able to drink more even though I wasn't thirsty. This seemed to work and I kept the cramps at bay.

For 5 minutes or so around this time, my heart started having a "fluttering", kind of like a jitteriness that can be caused by caffeine. I've felt it before and it's benign and was diagnosed as atrial premature complex, to be precise. But still, it's disconcerting to see my heart rate monitor suddenly jump from 155 to 188 or so. I felt fine otherwise and kept on pushing. I mentioned this to Prudence and I wondered if she knew CPR.

heart rate weirdness, from my Garmin data, at mile 40

I made a mental mistake at the Bort Meadows aid station, at mile 44.1. I thought this was the last aid station and that I had only 4.5 miles to go. Not quite right! So the next aid station was a surprise and disappointment, and then I had just 4.5 miles to go. I was feeling more desperate but was still in control and moving fast and strong. Finally, I saw Lake Chabot. Yay! So close! And the finish is fast and paved, with only short steep hills. I started pouring on the speed. I became very focused and had a kind of mental tunnel vision. I didn't smile or look at any of the pedestrians. I stopped talking with Prudence. I was just focused on running as fast as I could without blowing up and falling apart in cramps.

I recognized the marina. So close! I rounded the corner and there was the finish line. Whew!

Prudence and I, shortly after we finished

So, I was about 13 minutes slower than three years ago, but I was in 21st place instead of 23rd last time. Among male runners, I was 20th place this year and 20th place three years ago. So, I had a very similar overall performance but a better execution this year. I never had a real "low" where my energy and speed and spirits fell precipitously. It's very common to go through multiple lows and highs in these long races, so I take this as a sign of decent pacing and race execution.

Immediately after the race, I started feeling light-headed. I got some food and drink in me and kept on walking. No cramps! After an hour or so, I felt much better. I got to cheer my friends Gary and Amanda as they came in. I got to chat with a few acquaintances. Everyone was in good spirits and it was a wonderful picnic-like atmosphere.

Rachael, a friend of Prudence and an acquaintance of mine, finishes

Gary finishes! Great job, Gary! We're wearing matching Coastside Running Club shirts.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed this race. I'm very grateful to all the volunteers and race organizers who worked so hard to put on a good event like this. The course markings were fantastic, with thick lines of chalk to keep us on course. The schwag was excellent -- a nice jacket, tech shirt, and wine glass, all in a nice canvas bag.

Things that went well:

• My hydration and food consumption seemed to be good. At the end of the day, after dinner, I had gained a half pound since first waking up.
• My pacing seemed to be as fast as I could handle and I stayed strong the entire race.
• Didn't get lost.
• No trips, no falls.
• Equipment all worked great.
• No chafing or blisters.
• No injuries.
• Carrying two 20oz water bottles worked well again. I put sports drink in one and water in the other. I drank about twice as much sports drink as water.

Things to improve on:

• Train better.
• We should have brought our drop bags from our cars when we arrived. We were rushed and I crossed the start line about a minute late. 

Random data:

• I weighed 166.1 lbs the morning of the race. I could stand to lose 5 lbs.
• Ate a Salt Stick capsule about every 45 minutes. I took an extra one around mile 44 or so.
• Race results.
• Garmin watch data.

As usual, I owe a big thanks to Jennifer for letting me have the whole day for this race along with many hours of training.

Mt. Ashland Hill Climb -- 2:24:27

Claire and Jennifer!

The final climb is crazy. Even hiking is difficult.

Hal Koerner, et al, getting a ride down from the finish area

(I wrote this two years after the race.)
It was a good tough uphill race. The ending really surprised me, when we had to scramble up the side of the mountain.
Time: 2 hours 24 minutes 27 seconds
Bought a pair of shoes from the famous Hal Koerner, who owns the Rogue Valley Runners running store. Hal also ran the race.
Results.