Miwok 100K -- 12:49:58

Summary
I had a solid run at Miwok 100K. The weather was great and mostly things went well. I was just kind of slow and felt sluggish with heavy legs for most of the race. I ran and hiked the 62 hilly miles (11,800' of elevation gain) in about 12 hours 50 minutes. It was great seeing so many friends volunteering or in the race. I'm especially grateful that my wife and daughter volunteered all day for the race and then surprised me at the finish line!

Details
This race was important to me because I needed a qualifying race for Western States 100 and also I felt ready to revisit this challenging but beautiful and well-supported local race. I ran it previously in 2010, 2011, and in the partially cancelled version of 2013. If I'm not running it, I'm volunteering there, with my friends and family at my running club's aid station at Bolinas Ridge.

Leading up to the race, my training was light on the miles -- I'm not sure I ran more than 55 miles in a week. Fortunately, I had three consecutive weekend runs of 26 miles or longer and I had a bunch of mid-week 12-20 mile days which rounded out my training. Meeting friends on Tuesday and Thursday helped motivate me to get some more hilly miles. Also, I have been taking a weight-training class at the local community college on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I have gotten measurably stronger.

The race was due to start on Saturday, May 4, at 5am. So, my last chance for a good night's sleep before the race was on Thursday night. I fell asleep easily shortly after 10pm, but I woke up around 3:30am and I'm not sure I ever quite fell into a deep sleep. I probably should have taken a melatonin and/or an antihistamine to make sure that I slept through the night. I got out of bed feeling sleepy on Friday morning. Doh!

On Friday night, I took one Benadryl capsule, but I still tossed and turned a lot. I thought about my finish-line drop-bag and how I had not written my bib # on it. I finally got up around midnight and got duct tape and a marker, and wrote my bib # on it. My alarm woke me up at 2:20am. I was sleepy.

Saturday morning: it's Go Time! I tried to be efficient with making breakfast (2 English muffins with peanut butter and jelly) but I was still about 3 minutes late out the door. I met my friends Rebekah and Alan in their car at the Colma SamTrans Park and Ride shortly after 3am. Soon, we were off! Rebekah handed me some homemade doughnut holes. Mmm. Thank you, you two! It was nice catching up with them, but I was still kind of sleepy.

We got to the Stinson Beach parking lot just after 4am, and we had plenty of time to do last minute preparations, get our bibs, see some unexpected friends (Eric Vaughan, Jr.! Bryan!) and expected friends (Rachael! Mike!). I had enough time for one last porta-potty visit, took some photos, ate an energy gel (15 minutes before the 5am start time), and then we were off! Woo hoo! I was positioned about in the middle of us 444 starters.

A bunch of us laughed as we ran around the corner and then had to stop in about 20 seconds, due to the back-up of getting on to the Dipsea Trail. "Was that the race?", "Are we done yet?", people joked. Even though the trail was wide enough for 2 people side-by-side, there were so many of us that it must have taken a few minutes for the back of the pack to get on the trail. I jogged ahead of people when I got the chance, to try to reduce the crowding behind me. At one hill crest I could see the long snake of bright lights and colored clothes of all the runners in front of me, against the black of the night. It was a beautiful serene scene. Fun!

It was only 2.8 miles to the first aid station, Cardiac, which was at the top of the Dipsea trail, and as dawn slowly broke, I heard a bagpipe player! Cool! I thought he must be at the aid station. I looked around as we all started descending again and as time went on, I wondered where the aid station was. I finally checked the distance on my watch -- 4.2 miles. Doh! I had unknowingly run right past the aid station! I wondered if those around me had intentionally or accidentally done the same thing. There was no pop-up tent or any obvious indication to me that there was actually an aid station back there. It turned out fine. In the cool air, I wasn't drinking much and my 35 oz or so that I had at the start lasted until the Muir Beach aid station at mile 8.

Another runner noticed my Boston Marathon branded shorts. (They're really comfortable and they're my favorite long-distance running shorts now.) She said she had run the Boston Marathon this year and that this was her first 100K. I thought later, "Wow, that's impressive because I would not want to run these two races so close in time." The two races are less than three weeks apart.

At Muir Beach, I mentioned to a volunteer that I was going to use the restroom and someone said "to go in the woods" because the rangers hadn't unlocked it yet. I had to pee! Onward!

Shortly after leaving the aid station, I wanted to check my aid station mileage and timing chart, but it was no longer in my vest pocket. It had my predicted times for an 11 hour and 12 hour finish. Apparently, it had either fallen out along the trail or maybe I had accidentally thrown it away at Muir Beach. Well, it wasn't a critical error. I knew I could ask at aid stations how long it was to the next aid station.

Heading back out, on my way to Tennessee Valley, I crossed paths with those entering Muir Beach. Rebekah! Rachael! Mike! Chihping! They all looked good! I turned off, heading up for another big climb. I pushed a little harder on this climb and ran long stretches of uphill. Then we descended into Tennessee Valley and I arrived at the aid station at mile 13. I felt good. Janeth! Stan Jenson! Kelly Haston! I knew several people volunteering. Janeth handed me my drop bag as I arrived. Wow, what service! I stashed my headlamp and grabbed my 6 energy gels in a zip lock bag. This would be my only drop bag stop. I hung on to my arm warmers because I was enjoying having them around my wrists so that I could mop my face. Onward!

After another big climb, we were on our way to Bridge View. True to its name, there were sights of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sweet! Then we came across the front runners heading towards us! Wow, they were moving fast. I didn't feel very energetic. My legs felt heavy. Somewhere along the way, I stepped funny and an old hip / groin / thigh tightness problem surfaced in my right leg. It slowed me down further. Annoying.

Bridge View (mile 18.6) came finally and the crossing guards at the street were dressed up in costumes. That was fun. I quickly refueled, filling both 20oz bottles completely, because I knew this next leg was a long one, at 7.4 miles, with a big climb.

A quick note on food -- the race wasn't allowed to provide energy gels or energy blocks (Shot Bloks) due to trash problems of the past. My plan was to bring my own for about 100 calories per hour, and then have an additional 200 calories per hour of aid station food and sports drink. I brought along a ziplock bag to carry aid station food with me.

Heading back to Tennessee Valley was a slog. It was interesting to be asked by a polite volunteer that I needed to walk through the ranch, in case horses came by. OK. There were no horses near me. A tenth of a mile later another volunteer said I could resume running. I did. Finally, I arrived back at Tennessee Valley aid station. Kelly! Janeth! Stan! Thanks, everyone!

I hit the marathon distance (26.2 miles) right around the 5 hour mark, which felt good psychologically. I tried not to think about how far I had to go. Just get to the next aid station.

I sometimes felt like I was on the verge of cramps in my thighs, in the same place that hit me in the Woodside Crossover 50K that I ran recently. I slowed down.

The bluffs above Pirates Cove and Muir Beach were just gorgeous. I was grateful to be there and able to be running this race. I was grateful for the relatively cool weather with gentle winds and no rain.

The course dropped down into Muir Beach for the second and last time, at mile 30.3. I quickly refueled and was on my way again, munching on yummy potato chips.

Although it was only 5.2 miles, the climb into Cardiac (mile 35.5) was a slog. I was on borderline cramps again. I kept on eating and drinking. I tried to remember to take a salt pill every hour now, as I was getting warmer and sweating more. I think I took my first ibuprofen around here, to try to help with my right leg. A short while later (5 minutes? 10?), my hip tightness disappeared for the rest of the race. Nice!

There was more climbing and I was feeling warmer. I ran out of water and sports drink for maybe 20-25 minutes. I saw the front runner coming up the hill. Nice! He was about 14 miles ahead of me. Amazing. Finally, I heard some cheers from my friends at Bolinas Ridge! I was close! I descended into the aid station. Paula! Franz! They were working as crossing guards. Jen! Jennifer! Claire! They quickly took my bottles and got me refueled. I was so thirsty that I drank about 15oz of water on the spot and got refueled again by my daughter. Thank you, Claire! My wife handed me a stack of BBQ Pringles. Yummy! I said "Goodbye" and started jogging away when Jen Dill shouted that she still had my other water bottle. Oops! That's important. OK, with 40oz on me, it was time to go! Michaela! She was tracking the runners and she recorded my bib #.

I felt sluggish again. I think three runners passed me on the next section. I saw more of the front runners coming towards me. Finally, we made our left turn off of the Bolinas Ridge trail and on to Randall. There was a volunteer sitting at this left turn all day, to make sure we didn't miss the turn, even though the gate was heavily marked with pink ribbons. "Thank you! You're a saint!" I told him.

I still had a long ways to go, so I tried to hold back and preserve my legs. This was a steep 1.6 mile descent to the Randall Trailhead aid station. Someone shouted my name. Loren! Cool! I refueled. A growing sensation became too much, and I decided it was time for a longer porta-potty visit. Oh well, it happens. So, this was my longest aid station break. Time to go back up that huge hill. I remembered that the distance from here to the finish was exactly 13 miles. I'm getting close to finishing! I walked almost all of this steep uphill and drank a lot.

Jill Cole! She was making the left turn onto Randall. A short while later... Rebekah! She looked great and was running well. Rachael! She was running well and was far ahead of the cutoffs which caught her last year at the finish line. Mike! Looking good! Chihping! He was bringing up the tail of the race. He was in good spirits, but I wondered if he was going to finish in time. (He didn't, unfortunately.) I slogged along. I ran out of water for 25-30 minutes and wondered if I should stop eating if I didn't have any fluids; I continued eating. I did appreciate the shade and the lushness of the redwood trees here. It's a beautiful forest. It's so beautiful and the trails are so clean, that when I saw a piece of litter that could have come from a runner, I picked it up. I picked up 6 or 7 pieces of trash throughout the race. I enjoyed seeing my running club's inspirational signs as I neared the aid station; ours is the only aid station with signs like this. Somewhere around here, I took my second ibuprofen.

Finally, on a bit of a downhill into the aid station, I put on a good show and was moving well and was greeted by cheers. Yay! More BBQ Pringles! More water and sports drink! Ana! Jennifer! Claire! Jen! Franz! Paula! Bob and Jaymes! (I know others were there, too, but I'm forgetting who I greeted.) Thank you, my friends, for being there! I had forgotten that it was 6.2 miles to the finish line. When Franz told me, "It's just 10K to the finish", that was actually a let down; somehow I thought it was more like 5.5. Onward!

Maybe it was the Pringles, or maybe it was ibuprofen kicking in, or getting more fluids, or getting closer to the finish, but I started having more energy and was running the gentle downhills much faster and was generally running all of the uphills, too. I was catching up to another runner. I passed him. And then another. And another. I felt pretty good. My legs were fine and my limit was more about my heartrate. I didn't want to blow up and I still had a little ways to go. I passed another runner and another. I was starting to get desperate for that final right turn on to the Matt Davis Trail, which is a very steep technical trail with lots of roots, rocks, and steps. Finally, finally, I saw the flags marking it. "Holy $@#! It's the Matt Davis Trail!" I exclaimed to myself. I was so happy to see that.

I knew I had about two miles to go. I felt great. I ate my last energy gel. I passed another runner. And another. I hopped over roots, skipped down stairs, and raced along any smooth trail there was. I felt fast. It's moments like these that are such a huge reward, to be running strong and easily at mile 60. I caught up to another runner. Being on a single track trail can make it difficult to pass someone. "Hi there", I said. She said her knee was hurting and that she couldn't stop. She waved me by, but there wasn't enough room. Another bend in the trail came up and she waved me by again. I skipped past her, thanked her, and poured on the speed again. I was so close to finishing! I recognized the last bridge! Pavement! Cheering! I made the sharp left and got in a good sprint to the finish line. Woo hoo!

Tia Bodington! The race director put a finishers medal around my neck. I thanked her for putting on such a great event.

Jennifer! Claire! I was *not* expecting my family to be here. Nice! My muscles started stiffening up and they walked around with me as I hobbled. I got my finish-line drop bag that had my clothes and phone in it. I got some food -- a plate of fruit and some mac 'n cheese. Yum. I got my finishers shirt. I was expecting to stay there and wait for Rebekah to finish, so that I could get a ride back to my car, but I was grateful to get a ride from my wife and daughter and to talk about our day. Thank you, you two!

What went well

• I had a solid run, albeit not as fast as I used to be able to do.
• I didn't fall or get lost. Had a couple of stumbles on rocks, but it wasn't too bad.
• I didn't become too dehydrated or too low on glycogen. I didn't "bonk".
• I never became too sore. My feet were getting tender, but my legs stayed strong until the end.
• Carrying two 20oz water bottles worked well.
• I didn't wear gaiters on my shoes and I didn't need them.
• No real chafing. I was forming a blister in one place that I felt on the final descent with about 2 miles to go. It wasn't bad; I ignored it.

Things to improve

• I may have done a Thursday night work-out too hard -- I ran 5 slow hilly miles and then did an hour-long strength-training workout. I didn't feel "fresh" for the Saturday morning start.
• I lost my aid station and mileage chart at some point during the race. I should have taped it to a water bottle rather than tucking it in a pocket in my running vest.

Random data

• Friday morning weight: 170.4 lbs.
• Saturday night weight: 166.4 lbs.
• For food, I consumed 12 energy gels, 1 package of energy chews, lots of potato chips, and some quesadilla quarters.
• I took 2 ibuprofen and about 8 S-cap salt pills.
• I drank about 2/3rds Tailwind sports drink and about 1/3 water.
• Garmin watch data
• Preliminary results