San Lorenzo River 50K -- 5:10:47

Summary

I had a really good race on this beautiful and somewhat difficult course (5,175' of elevation gain and descent) in the mountains near Santa Cruz. I covered the 50.5 kilometers (31.4 miles) in 5 hours 10 minutes and 47 seconds (9:54 per mile average pace), which was good for 5th place overall out of 37 finishers. The weather was cool, and the trails were mostly shaded. The four hip-deep river crossings were actually rather fun! The approximately 2-3 miles on sand was different and unexpected and very slow. I think my hydration and calories and electrolytes and pacing were good, on the whole. I struggled a bit around miles 23 to 26, feeling tired and sore and having borderline-cramps, but I ate a lot and got through it. I also had some moments of tightness around my IT band on my right leg and although I felt good otherwise, the problem was getting worse and I was happy to stop when I reached the finish line.

Details!

It had been a long time since I've run the 50K distance -- over two years since the Lake Chabot 50K. The San Lorenzo River runs through Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, in Santa Cruz, and my wife suggested we sign up for this race, the San Lorenzo River races. Jennifer originally signed up for the half-marathon, but decided to do the 10K at the last minute. We were able to stay at a friend's house in Santa Cruz, which was very convenient. Jennifer's sister Lisa and hubby-to-be, Matt, ran the 10K as well.

My headband keeps the sweat out of my eyes, but it's got a certain dork factor.

The course consists of two out-and-backs, with a 4.6 mile extension half-way through the first out-and-back. We had to cross the San Lorenzo River on each out-and-back, so that would be four river crossings. Intriguing!

Race morning finally came around. I rested for about 8 hours, but I can't say I slept very much. My alarm went off at 5:30am, which gave me time to eat a quick breakfast (whole wheat rolls and an energy bar) in time for the 8am start.

It was going to be 6.9 miles from the start to the first aid station, so I went with two hand-held 20oz bottles that can be carried in my lightweight Ultimate Direction AK running vest. Parking was easy and there were three porta-potties there at the starting area. (I heard there were more restrooms nearby.) I met up with my friend Chris from the Coastside Running Club; he was doing the 30K.

Chris from Coastside Running Club

The race director, Wendell, gave us some instructions, including something about 50K runners needing to pick up a rubber band somewhere. (I think I missed a key sentence.) All of us 50K runners were asked to raise our hands and there were a good amount of us -- 40 maybe? Most people were in the half-marathon. Finally, promptly at 8am, we were on our way! Woo hoo! We had to do a little parade loop around the grass, to sort ourselves out by speed before hitting the single-track trail. 

I noticed a familiar form ahead of me, a short egg-shaped guy (sorry, that sounds unkind, but he has a distinctive shape) wearing Vibram 5-finger shoes. He had run in the last trail race I was in, in February, and he did the same thing -- sprinting to nearly the front of the pack and then a couple minutes later slowing down dramatically, making lots of people behind him try to get around him. Strange! Anyway, I got around him OK and I was in no hurry at the beginning, and along with a large number of half-marathoners and some 30K runners and marathoners, we made our way up the first steep climb.

I felt good and at ease and after a few minutes, I started checking my heartrate regularly, on my Garmin watch. The watch seemed to take an especially long time to "latch on". And then after it was giving good numbers, it started reporting garbage again (like 40 or 80 beats per minute, while working hard up the hill!). I soon realized that the battery must be dying on the heartrate monitor. Bummer! It was fine in the my last run with it. I should have replaced it about a month ago, just in case.

The miles ticked by and the scenery was really pretty. I love the redwood trees and the lush forest. There were lots of turns and intersections, but Coastal Trail Runs did a great job marking the course. I never had any confusion about where to go.

Around mile 3.6 came the first river crossing. I was curious! I had imagined that I might take a big jump and try to run in it, but that wasn't going to happen. The water was quite muddy on this first transit, probably because of the runners in front of me. There were many large slippery rocks, so I just marched across, holding the rope. The water came up to around my hip. The river was slow at this point, so I didn't feel any danger. It was fun!

A while later I saw the first place 50K runner heading towards me. He was fast and he made it look easy! There were a few more 50K runners in front of me, including the first place woman. The first place man and woman were a couple from Norway -- neat!

Nearing the first aid station, there was a long steep descent. I had some runners behind me and I'm sure that caused me to push extra hard. I kept on reminding myself that I was going to be back in this same spot several hours later and that I had a long ways to go. This section around mile 5 was hard on my quads and in hindsight, I think I should have taken this a bit easier.

Next came the "orange loop" -- a 4.6 mile extension for the 50K and 30K runners. I was quite surprised to soon find myself running on soft sand! There were stairs of sand climbing up to the peak and it felt really slow. I kept looking for where I was supposed to grab my rubber band, that would prove that I had done the orange loop, but I didn't see anything. I ran by the observation tower at the top, and I heard voices up there, but I didn't think to look up. I learned afterwards that the rubber bands were up a short flight of stairs. Oops!

Another runner caught up with me and he was in the 50K. He said he had run another 50K the previous weekend and that he was training for some kind of 12 hour "run with the devil" race. So, to Daniel Gallo from New Jersey, congratulations on your back-to-back weekend races and good luck on your goal race! He pulled ahead and soon was out of sight.

We headed back to the previous aid station (Henry Cowell Picnic Area) and then finally returned towards the start line. I caught up with Daniel again, who was pulling rocks out of his shoe. I was thinking, "You should use gaiters!" but I just said "hi" again and passed him. He would end up finishing just 19 seconds after me. He should have worn gaiters and he would have beat me! (I love my Dirty Girl gaiters.)

Somewhere in the next half hour or so, I felt my first tightness around my IT band, on the outside of my right knee. Oh no! It didn't hurt yet, but I knew from experience that this was the start of something bad that could get much worse, eventually causing loss of control of my leg and making running impossible. I started wondering if I was going to be able to finish the race. Fortunately, I made it to the next steep uphill, which is a lot easier on my leg. I also took a naproxen (an anti-inflammatory pain medication). The problem seemed to stabilize.

It was admittedly uplifting to be steadily passing the slower runners in the other races. Many of us gave encouragement to each other. I especially called out to 50K runners that I encountered.

I got back to the starting area, where there were lots of cheers for the 30K finishers and half-marathon finishers. It was a little bit dispiriting to have to head out again, for another 13+ miles. I made a quick stop, grabbing 5 energy gels from my drop bag (the race seemed to only offer caffeinated energy gels, which can give my heart a harmless but uncomfortable arrhythmia). I dropped off my useless heart rate monitor, too.

Onward and upward! I was heading north again. I felt reasonably good and I think I ran this uphill about as fast as the first time. It was pleasant covering the same pretty trails again. But eventually I noticed a sudden drop in energy and an increase in soreness. I felt borderline cramps, too. I slowed down a bit and became more cautious, to try to conserve my energy. I made sure to eat and drink and take my salt pills (about one per hour). I took a second naproxen.

I'm about to cross the river again, around the 3.5 hour mark.

Maybe two miles before the Henry Cowell aid station I came across the first place runner again. The Norwegian guy was still in first. But the shocker was that his girlfriend/partner was not far behind him. She was second overall! Cool! I didn't see them again until after the race, but she caught up with him and finished practically at the same time as he did, smashing the women's course record. Apparently, Malene Blikken Haukøy is a world-class skier and a superb endurance runner.

The first place woman, when she's not running.

I made it to the Henry Cowell aid station again, turned around, and steadily but carefully made my way back. For example, there was a low fence that we had to get over. This second time, I didn't try doing a running jump like I had the first time. There was a downed tree that we had to crawl under, and I didn't try to do a squat, but instead got my hands dirty, to save my legs. I walked more of the steepest uphills.

Eventually, I crossed Hwy 9, where the 10K turn-around was. There was an unofficial aid station there which I took advantage of and began to count on, so that I didn't have to carry as much water. I started feeling good again and soon I realized that there was only about 3 miles left! Woo hoo! I started to push the pace. I sometimes felt my IT band and I would back off the pace a bit, but otherwise I felt really good and the rest of my body felt like it could run much farther! I passed plenty of people in the other races, but us 50K runners were quite spread out by now.

As I descended to the finish line, on the last final steep hill, I couldn't sprint due to my IT band. It was having spasms and I couldn't have kept running for much longer. I let out a whoop as I saw the clearing. I heard some cheers and someone yelling my name! It was Matt and Lisa! That was so sweet for them to come back and see me finish.

Yay! I felt pretty good. I didn't have any cramps and my stomach felt good. I ate a big cup of soup and chatted a bit with Matt and Lisa. I picked up my medal for my 2nd place age group finish. It was a good day!

What went well

• I had a good solid race!
• My shoes and equipment mostly did very well.
• My training was decent, with two four-hour runs that had nearly 5700' of elevation gain. So, I was quite prepared for the hills.
• I started getting one minor blister at the end of my long toe of my left foot, but otherwise, my feet were in good shape.
• Coastal Trail Runs put on an excellent race, with thorough and easy-to-follow course markings.

Things to improve

• It was a bummer that my heartrate monitor's battery was dying, and so I didn't have that feedback about my effort that I'm accustomed to in races. Next time, I should replace the battery before a race.
• I probably should have held back a bit more on parts of the first leg, on the toughest descents.
• I got some bad chafing around my neck, due to the running vest pressing against my shirt. This didn't happen during my training runs, so I think it was bad luck that this particular shirt didn't work well with the vest.

Random data

• I estimate that I drank 200 oz of water, mostly (2/3rds) as sports drink.
• Ate 11 energy gels and a few handfuls of boiled potato chunks dipped in salt.
• Ate about 5 SUCCEED salt capsules.
• 2 naproxen
• Weighed around 167 lbs the morning of the race.
• Results
• My Garmin data

Boston Marathon -- 3:07:00

This was my 5th Boston Marathon and the whole experience was life-affirming, beautiful, glorious, loving, and powerful. And the race was challenging, as usual. Being a year after the bombings, there was a strong sense of taking back the marathon and loving Boston and the runners. "Boston Strong" was a common tagline.

Leading into the race, I was coming off a long-term injury to my iliotibial band or "I.T." band. This is the injury that plagued me for about 8 months last year. I wasn't able to run until the first week of this year. Between then and now, I gradually raised my weekly mileage and I got in the most important speed workouts and long runs, but I was also strangely unmotivated to keep track of my mileage or create a training plan. I didn't formally get on a plan until about three weeks before the race.

Looking at my Garmin watch data over this year, I got in 13 mostly solid weeks of 30 miles or more. My peak week was just 58 miles. (In the past I've hit multiple weeks of 70 miles.) I had a few 40 mile weeks and the rest were in the 30s. Between work pressure (March was awful) and fear of injury, I just didn't get in the runs I usually do. I knew this, and I could see this in some of my key workouts, so I came into the race with reduced expectations. I told friends that I would aim for 3:10 to 3:15.

Boston!
I was excited to be here! The city was obviously very supportive of the race. On one of my last training runs, I came across this amazing scene of inspirational banners that were written on by thousands of people from across the country and laid out in a big area of Boston Commons.

I filled out a square for the Coastside Running Club.

A church group recruited volunteers to hand-knit 7,000 scarves, of many different styles, but all with the blue and yellow colors of the Boston Marathon. Amazing! I was very grateful to get mine. Each scarf has a postcard or tag with the name of the person who created it. So, thank you very much Rosa from Nashua, NH! I love my scarf!

Amanda and I, showing off our scarfs

The Expo was huge and was very well organized. I went shortly after it opened on the Friday before Monday's race and the lines got very long for the first couple of hours but then got down to nothing. So, there was just a big surge at the opening of the Expo. I met up with my friend Amanda, a fellow running club member.

 I met up with my interesting and unusual friend, Ron McCracken, whom I first met at the 2007 Boston Marathon because we happened to sit next to each other on the bus ride to the start line. He was at the marathon last year for the bombings and the whole experience was traumatizing for him, so this year's marathon was especially important to him, as a way of having closure.

I got in some nice easy training runs while in Boston. The weather was cold but beautiful.

Race Day
Monday, April 21, finally arrives! I woke up shortly before my alarm at 5:30am and I felt good! I had gotten a decent night's sleep. I ate a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, grabbed two more bagels for the bus, and headed out of my hotel at 6am sharp. It's almost a mile walk to where the drop bags are collected and the buses pick us runners up. The organization was very impressive, with long rows of buses lined up in two lanes. (Previously, there was only one lane.) So, I didn't have to stand in line at all and was on the bus by 6:30am.

I ate the rest of my breakfast on the leisurely ride towards Hopkinton. I chatted with the guy next to me who was from the UK (an hour outside of London) and this was his first Boston.

The race organizers greatly expanded the field, by about 50% above normal, to around 36,000 entrants. So, the athletes village in Hopkinton was even more packed than in previous years. Yet, I felt like I had time to use the porta-potties (twice) and I didn't feel unduly crowded. I met up with Dan Rhodes, another runner from my running club, and we hung out for a bit.

The security was far higher than normal. There may have been snipers on the school roof and the whole perimeter was being carefully patrolled and observed. I felt very safe! And because we weren't allowed to have drop bags with us, we were all wearing throw-away clothes. We were an eclectic bunch. One guy was even wearing an old suit. Some were wearing older Boston Marathon jackets which I felt bad about because they were going to lose them unless they carried them.

Finally, we were ushered to our corals, as a part of Wave 1 (of 4 waves). I reminded myself to take it easy and run by heart rate and to have a grand adventure! Soon, we were off! Woo hoo!

I was happy to keep my heart rate at about 140 beats per minute for most of the first few miles. I felt comfortable and was enjoying the experience. The miles slipped by. The crowd support was fantastic. The volunteers were fantastic. I was surrounded by thousands of runners in front and behind who were running very similar paces. There's no other race in the world where you can have around five thousand runners who can run around a 3 hour marathon.

Wellesley college at around mile 13 was fantastic as ever. It was a scream tunnel! I loved all the signs that the young women carried. My favorite was, "Kiss Me, I'm Performance Enhancing!" I smiled a big goofy smile, I'm sure, but I stuck to business.

By around the half-way point, 1:33:12, I was feeling like I had had a good workout but there was plenty of gas left in the tank. I was hoping to have a negative split and to push harder in the 2nd half and get to a low 3 hour marathon. But I also knew I had some hills coming up at mile 16 and that I wasn't in the same shape as a year ago.

I was feeling some minor side cramps. My right little toe felt like it was being squished a bit and was likely getting a blister. I thought that maybe I was drinking or eating too much because my stomach felt a bit full and "sloshy". I ate an energy gel every 40 minutes.

Somewhere around mile 14 to 16, I felt my right iliotibial band, on the outside of my knee. It was hurting a bit and I imagined that if it suddenly became crippling, that I would end up walking for 13 miles. I was looking forward to the uphills at mile 16, which I knew would be easier on my leg.

I heard "Ron Little!" being shouted out. I turned my head, facing back to my right, and it was my old high school friend! "Allen Kachalia!" I shouted. Cool! I had tried contacting him prior to my trip to Boston, but I couldn't find any old emails. So, Allen, if you're reading this, get a hold of me!

I came across a very enthusiastic little person (or a dwarf, as her friends seem to call her). I've never seen a dwarf in a marathon before. When I passed her, she was moving fast and was high-fiving the spectators. Very cool!

source

I came across Dick and Rick Hoyt, as I have in past years. I've read that this will be their last Boston Marathon together. I congratulated them as I passed them. The father is 74 years old. Wow.

source, story

I attacked the Newton hills and my legs felt good. But my heart rate was rising and I sometimes felt weak, too. I didn't have that last gear or two that I've had on my best races. Being injured for so long and having an abbreviated training schedule was showing itself.

In the last miles, I was becoming more desperate. Here's me at around mile 23.5. I just wanted to hold it together.

Finally, finally, we made the right turn on to Hereford and then a quick left on to Boylston. The finish line was in sight! I tried to give a good hard finish and I see that my heart rate did max out (183 beats per minute). So, I think I gave it everything I could! I was very pleased to have had a solid race.

My stats:
Net Time: 3:07:00 (7:08 per mile)
Overall: 3543/31931
In Gender: 3281/17575 (Male)
In Division: 552/2628 (M40-44 Age Group)

My Garmin data.

For a really great race report with photos along the course, check out Scott Dunlap's blog. He ran a 2:55 while carrying a camera and participating in the festivities! Amazing!

It was very sweet arriving at the airport and seeing Jennifer and Claire with these signs.

It was good to be home, although I'll miss my friends.

Thank You

I want to thank the residents of Boston and the surrounding communities for being so incredibly supportive and loving. I want to thank the estimated 10,000 volunteers for all their hard work and cheerful enthusiasm that made this event possible. And I want to thank the Boston Athletic Association for putting on such a superbly organized event. Given that I have a bit of similar organizational experience, but on a much smaller scale, I was in awe at how big this operation was and how much work it took to put this event on so smoothly with so many runners. Thank you!!!

I want to thank my running club, the Coastside Running Club, for their companionship and camaraderie, especially during the weekly speed workouts, which I would have had a hard time doing on my own!

Finally, I need to thank my wonderfully supportive wife for encouraging me to get back into running shape and for taking care of Claire while I was gone. Thank you, Jennifer!

Random Data

Two days after the race, I weighed 163.0 lbs and I looked dehydrated. My true race weight was probably right around 165 lbs.

The organizers, the Boston Athletic Association, sent out a great list of facts about the race:

• 32,456 runners started the 118th running of the Boston Marathon.
• 31,931 completed the race from Hopkinton to Boston, which is a finisher rate of more than 98%.
• 54 push-rim wheelchair athletes started the day with 53 of them officially finishing.
• 48 mobility impaired athletes started with 44 completing the event. 
• 51 visually impaired athletes started with 48 finishing.
• There were 80 countries, and all 50 states (plus six U.S. territories) represented in the race.
• Meb Keflezighi (USA) became the first American man to win the event since Greg Meyer (1983), and the first American to win the open division since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach (1985). His time was 2:08:37.
• Rita Jeptoo's (KEN) time of 2:18:57 improved the course record set by Margaret Okayo in 2002. 
• With victories from Ernst Van Dyk (RSA) and Tatyana McFadden (USA) in the push-rim wheelchair division, they both captured the men's and women's 2014 Boston-London Wheelchair Challenge competition respectively.
• Joan Samuelson (two-time Boston Marathon champion) became the fastest 56-year-old woman in history with her time of 2:52:11. 1968 champion Amby Burfoot (4:42:48) and 1990 champion Gelindo Bordin (4:10:37) also ran.

Montara Mt Trail Half-Marathon -- 1:51:00

I completed my first race since my aborted attempt at Western States 100 last June. It went really well! I ran the Montara Mountain half-marathon trail race, which goes up and down Montara Mt and around San Pedro Valley Park in Pacifica, with 2900' of elevation gain. It took me 1 hour 51 minutes which is just a couple of minutes shy of my best performance on this course. I won a 2nd place age group (40-49) award and was 6th overall. I didn't trip or fall, which is a definite hazard on this course.

I could sense that my uphill pace was not as fast as I used to be able to do, but I was able to keep a good strong effort the entire time and I felt like I could fly on the downhills. Relative to the other runners, I was faster on the downhills and a bit slower on the uphills.

I've run this race twice before. In 2006, it took me 2 hours 1 minute 28 seconds. In 2007, it took me approximately 1 hour 49 minutes.

It was great seeing so many members of my running club, the Coastside Running Club. And my wonderful wife ran the 10K, with a 3rd place age group award. Good job, Jennifer!

IT Band Injury
I'm finally over an iliotibial band injury, thanks to finding a physical therapist that could help me. I think one of the keys to staying healthy as a runner is to do regular strength training. It doesn't have to be a lot, but go to the gym two or three times a week, or adopt a home workout, and work out the different muscle groups. For me, my gluteous medius muscles had gotten weak which caused my knee to bend inwards too much. Getting over my iliotibial band pain syndrome (also called iliotibial band friction syndrome) involved learning a few exercises and learning them correctly. The key ones for me were the clamshells, side leg lifts (being sure to point the toe downward when raising the leg), one-legged step downs, one legged sit-to-stands, and one-legged box jumps. If you have this problem, I highly recommending finding a knowledgeable physical therapist, who can test your IT band flexibility and determine the underlying cause, which is often muscle weakness. I went to Stanford Outpatient Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, in Redwood City, and my physical therapist was Jo. Thanks, Jo!

Random Data

• Weighed 169.2 lbs in the morning. (I've gained weight since I've run so little since early last May, when I injured myself.)
• 166.0 after I got home
• 167.0 the next morning

I carried around 16 oz of sports drink at the start and added another 8 oz or so at the one aid station at mile 7. I ran out of sports drink on the switchbacks of the Hazelnut Trail, and I wanted to drink more, but I seemed to have enough energy and I didn't feel like I had bonked.

I wore Hoka One One trail running shoes, which helped me fly on the downhills.

I highly recommend Coastal Trail Runs -- they put on well-organized affordable trail races. They had chip timing and finishers medals and dry-weave tech t-shirts. The trails were superbly well-marked.

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.