About 19,000 feet elevation gain (and similar loss) on a loops course with several out and backs. Four climbs of about 1,000 feet, six climbs of about 700 feet, and rolling hills. Trails were a mix of double track, single track, some nice groomed walking trail and some roads; with the double track usually being riddle with large rocks. Starting in Kennewick, Wa and going to Prosser and back.
I finished in 19 hours and 57 minutes.
First; some pictures....
The goal; a ridiculously awesome looking belt buckle.
At the start; I wasn't really feeling that awake yet.
The start.
The first climb at the start.
Mile 22.5 aid station.
Mile 75 aid station with my mom.
Bam. That's the quick version.
Now onto some ramblings....
As kids growing up, my brother and I were huge hockey fans and living in british columbia naturally we were Vancouver Canucks fans. We started really following the NHL just before Trevor Linden was drafted by the Canucks. He was my hero, playing hockey in the streets we would pretend to be different players from the Cancucks teams we watched; Linden, Bure, McLean, etc. And so when the Canucks made their run to the stanley cup finals in 1994 it was dream street. They were the underdogs, and they did so well. Captain Canuck Trevor Linden seemingly willed the team from behind several times in the playoffs and we were in game 7. I will never know what it means to play in the Stanley Cup, let along the NHL, or even some sort of professional hockey at all. But at the time, watching on tv, we felt like we were there. Losing by one goal in game seven of the stanley cup final; I could only imagine how one would feel.
After the last whistle of the last game, while the confetti was flying and the New York crowd was cheering and the Rangers were celebrating there was the briefest camera shot of Trevor Linden on one knee beside the boards, face in his hands. I can only imagine the disappointment of coming so close to winning the cup, feeling like you could do it, and not getting the job done. While I may not know exactly how that would feel; I think the feelings I felt last year after DNF'ing at several races (100 km, 148 km, 120 mile) were similar. These feelings of knowing I could do it, and failing were what drove me to train with more intensity and commitment than I had the previous year. And the feelings I felt after finishing this 100 miles; definitely not like that at all.
While training I would often imagine how I thought the race would go. Of course your thoughts will naturally be coloured with the events of the past, so I would imagine scenarios where I would envision needing to push through adversity to be able to finish. I would imagine horrendous struggles such that I would require immense mental effort to push through. I even imagined a rather specific scenario with four ideas bouncing around; a monkey (representative of the DNF monkey I carried on my back), an angel telling me to stop because I shouldn't hurt myself, a demon driving me to push too hard, and a rotating set of people that I know that would be feeding me good advice and encouragement. The monkey would sit on my back in the middle of my shoulders, it looked like that stuffed monkey that you often see with a symbal in each hand, clapping them on the sides of my head and telling me I can't do it. And I would imagine that the four ideas would have an argument of sorts, and one of them would have to win in order for me to drop or to finish.
During the race, none of that happened. I just ran happy. I started out having nice conversation with other runners, I kept it easy to start, I was singing to myself at times, got to see all the runners during the out and back so I got to share high fives and cheer for everyone. I got to share great time chatting with old friends and new times. At no point during the race did I experience anything resembling pain, yeah muscles were a bit sore, but no strains, twists, mis-steps, rolls, bruises, falls, no blisters, no toenails to be lost (well my one big toe feels slightly off), I could walk the next day. Up until mile 85 I felt like I was running the best race I could have for me. I didn't think about anything, I just went. It was a perfect day in terms of weather conditions. The scenery was fantastic, we were on the only mountains in a relatively flat area, we had a light drizzle of rain in the afternoon which was perfect, the sunset was amazing, the just past full moon was a wonderful guide in the night, (the earth didn't spin fast enough that day for me to catch the sunrise while running). Food consumption was way better than previous races. I ate way less than previous races, stuck to 90% liquid nutrition, my stomach felt great and I had good energy through the whole race, my stomach never felt off or hungry, and I had enough energy to push at any part of the day.
Let's do some number crunching...
There was 18 aid stations; my crew saw me at 9 of them, so including the finish I have 10 segments to compare. (times are recorded by crew so a little approximate)
Start - Aid Station 3: 15.5 miles
Climbed and descended first three mountains.
2 hrs 30 minutes. Pace: 9:40 min/mile.
Felt pretty good, mostly walked the uphills, just chatting with other runners, going very easy comfort level of running. Not much push. The start of the race I saw two runners start out real hard, it was easy to let them go, but the few behind them that were going a little less hard it was tough to talk myself out of chasing them. So I started chatting with a friend who was in the race about the main goal, finishing. That made it a little easier to be patient. Over the next three mountains I had some good chats with other runners, kept it easy. A bunch of us all got lost in the flat section between climbs one and two. The course was marked with pink ribbon and flagging, and we saw an orchard with pink flagging... whoops wrong way. (remember this for later), but we found our way back, didn't run the exact course for a wee bit, but the 20 of us that did that probably added maybe a half mile distance extra. Coming into aid station 3 I was probably somewhere between 15th and 20th position. (I wasn't concerned about placement, only using this for context).
Aid station 3 - aid station 4: 7 miles.
Pavement and gravel road leading to a different set of mountains.
50 minutes. Pace: 7:08 min/mile.
The whole deal where there was absolutely no trees anywhere made it hard to find places to go to the bathroom. I was running down the road along some orchards and went to go in front of a rock wall, right before the property owners all started driving down their dirt driveway on their ATV's. Had to wait another 5 miles to find anything resembling a tree. Rough. I got passed by a couple runners on this section, that's ok. I was still running easy and not yet ready to step up the effort level yet.
Aid station 4 - Aid station 7: 14 miles
Start of this section was most difficult climb of course, and the longest section between aid stations (9 miles). Rolling hills, with beautiful views running along a pretty sweet ridgetop.
2 hours 30 minutes. Pace: 10:43 min/mile.
The very start of this section was a 1/2 mile climb that was super steep. I wasn't yet pushing, but I just power hiked this section the way I would normally do, and started passing people, I think I passed 5 runners in just this hill. Then the next couple miles I started to pick up the pace and moving my way up the field. Once I got to running along the ridgetop above the steeo climb coming out of aid station 3, I was in the mood to run. It was perfect way, defintely felt absolutely zen. This is where I started trying to pass people, I would see a runner in the distance, and would slowly catch them and move on. By aid station 7 I was in about 6th to 7th place.
Aid station 7 - aid station 9: 10 miles
Mostly forestry road, jeep trail, and a little roads. Some single track with a couple tough climbs.
2 hours. Pace: 12:00 min/ mile
Aid statioon 9 was the turnaround of the out and back section, so I got to see all the runners ahead of me, that was nice to be able to cheer them all on. I came in to the turnaround in 5th. Still feeling good, the pace was a little slower, but for the conditions I think it was still feeling good.
Aid station 9 - aid station 11: 10 mile (same as last section but reverse)
2 hours. Pace: 12:00 min/mile
I felt like I was maintaining a good pace, just being steady. I ended up passing another runner here.
Aid statioon 11 - aid station 14: 20 miles
3 hrs 25 minutes. Pace: 10:15 min/mile.
It got dark during this section. I was carrying with me two headlamps from when I saw my crew at aid station 11; I tried to put off using them as long as possible because I really like running at dusk. At aid station 13 the lead woman caught up to me just as I was heading out, and then she passed me for good a mile before aid station 14, she was running great. I feel like physically I could have kept up, but it's like as soon as the sun sets I lose mental acuity (bam bet you didn't think you'd have to run to the dictionary, props if you didn't have to) during the night and lose speed. Picked up my 3rd headlamp at aid station 14, one one the head to see flagging, two on the chest to see slightly ahead and at my feet. And yet I still feel slightly off running at night.
Aid station 14 - aid station 16: 9 miles
1 hrs 45 minutes. Pace: 11:40 min/mile
I felt like I was still running decent here, in the orchard section where I was running on gravel road I was striding well. But again, I really struggle at night and when I feel lost even in the slightest I slow down.
Aid station 16 - aid station 17: 5 miles
1 hour: 12:00 min/mile.
Definitely started to slow down. My mom said I was talking funny at this aid station. This was a loop section, running through very faint trail at the start and then up a steep peak, and then trail back. Walked the start, because you know, it's night and that's how I roll I guess.
Aid station 17 - 18: 6 miles.
1 hour 50 minutes. Pace: 18:50 minutes/mile
Yeah, read the pace of the section and that about tells the story. And it was also one of the easiest sections of the whole course. The first few miles were on road. Except there wasn't that much marking, and someone at the last aid station had said something about turning right into a culvert after a billboard. Well I saw four billboards before any arrows, and I was running on roads which felt wrong, and then I talked to the motorcycle volunteers who said to turn right, but then the arrows pointed left. It all led to so much slight befuddled my mind is already confused from being night time and feeling lost so slowing down. And I hadn't yet gotten really lost. Running under the road in the culvert was neat, singing and echoing was cool. Then I headed up the second mountain we did, but in reverse, which was fine. Except for how I didn't come up the exact proper way to go up, and could not see any flagging. I ended up starting to shout out hoping the aid station could hear me (they couldn't as they were at least 1/2 mile away). I saw a headlamp following me a mile away, so I actually stopped and waited for the headlamp to lead me in. We headed to the next aid station together.
Aid station 18 - finish: 3 miles
1 hr 7 minutes. Pace: 22:20 min/mile.
After coming into the last aid station I felt rough, not physically, but mentally. At mile 95 I swore for the first time in the race, for the first time in the day I felt something other than awesome. The trails coming out of the last aid station were uphill, but they were switchbacks, and super well groomed trails, and should have been runnable. But instead I just couldn't do it and walked up the hill watching the headlamp ahead of me getting further away. I wasn't negative self talking, but I started rationalizing that it would be okay no matter what time I finished. I got to the top of the last climb, and knew all I had left was a sweet descent on well groomed trail and I started running again, I don't know how fast I was actually going but I felt like I was flying. I was back into elation zone; the trails weren't really marked, but it seemed clear so I just kept following the natural turns, until I saw some arrows, and followed them straight into an orchard. Yeah that seemed wrong. Worst part was the last thing I did was to hammer hard a steep downhill. So after a loud scream at the moon I hiked back up to the last place I felt like I knew I was going, and start jogging. I felt like I was good again, but after a couple minutes I saw some oil tanks which I didn't recognize from near the start, and felt like I should be near the start/finish but didn't recognize anything, so I felt lost, and probably took another turn. In my head I was willing to bushwack to the finish if I could see it. I felt so lost. And with only a mile to go. In all my time getting lost another headlamp was approaching, so we joined up, both felt lost but eventually found the finish line. And collapsed. 19:57!! I ended up being 4th overall, 3rd man.
My goal coming into the race was truly to finish. But I would always want to be able to put in my best effort. I feel pretty awesome with the time I finished with. Really not concerned with my placement relative to others, my time relative to me is the only thing that concerns me. I worked hard in training, and being able to have a easy comfortable 100 mile race was the result. I still have some things to work on. The way I completely slowed down the last 10 miles, losing mental focus and getting lost cost me time. But still, I'm still very pleased with my time. My food intake felt nearly flawless; although maybe I should eat just like 10% more calories/carbs in the last 30 miles as that might keep my brain moving. And I need to remember that just because I feel slightly lost I should still keep my legs turning, rather than walking. At no point after I walked was I unable to run again, and at no point was I in anything close to excessive pain.
It was definitely the right decision to start easy before pushing. But I feel I could start to push a few mile earlier, and I can maintain my push harder further in the race. I managed my nutrition way better than ever before, felt very good. But I think I can do better by eating just a bit more in the latter stages of the race.
I'm not sure if I'll go back, but right now I'm thinking I will. Fixing the getting lost and losing mental focus in the last two sections could save me 45 minutes, and better training could shave more time off. I feel like I could get under 19 hours next time, maybe even sub 18. If/when I go back, I will go back with a specific purpose, knowing the course knowing exactly how I will kick its ass. Meeting and exceeding my expectations, and feeling like I laid down a good race; I felt like a real athlete for the first time in my life.
I'm not sure what to do for the second half of the year for racing. I had been thinking about registering for Plain 100, but I'm not sure anymore. Having 18 aid stations, and being able to have crew see me 9 times was pretty darn useful. Plain has only one drop bag location, no aid stations. I don't feel like I'm quite to a point where I want to take that on yet.
A secondary goal of the race was to try and convince my mom that what I do for kicks isn't as dangerous as she thinks. So I took her along as my crew. I don't think I succeeded 100% but did a bit to convince her, maybe just because she could compare me to others. She got to see other runners as well as me. I never changed my shoes because I never had foot pain or blisters. I never had stomach issues, I never had excessive pain. My mother told me that other runners would be screaming at their crew, screaming in pain as they were taping/doing other things to their body. Seeing other runners blisters etc. Watching other runners sitting in chairs in pain. And she just saw me chillin having a super awesome day.
Yeah, that about sums up my day. It was super awesome.
What now?
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