Gorge Waterfalls 50K.

Gorge Waterfalls 50K.  my first ultra marathon trail run.  so much to say, its hard to even begin. 

it kind of hard to grasp, that its actually over.  7:23:20 sounds like a really long time, but it was gone in a flash.  it was over so quickly.  but even though i was in the zone and this went smoothly, it was actually a really hard run.  the distance was long (longer than i've ever gone before), the elevation gain was huge (my GPS watch calls it ~7400 ft of gain and ~7400 ft of loss), and the trail was very technical in lots of places (very rocky and sharp).  a few runners i paced for a while had volunteered at the 100k the day prior, and we talked about it while running.  so much of that race the day prior was before dawn, and i heard that there were a lot of bloody runners at the aid stations.  so i took it careful through the technical portions.  I was amazed by the variety of trail conditions.  one side of a mountain would be trapped in shadow - wet, misty, muddy, cool, ferns, deep forest.  then the other side would be baked by the sun - dry, arid, pine needles everywhere, hot.  from deep forest to open arid trail in the space of a few minutes.  it was just incredible.

the trail head

my time was not stellar, in fact it was kind of long for a 50k.  but every ultra is different, and this was a hard one.  my finish was about 198 out of about 300 (about 300 finished out of 380 registered, and I'm not sure how many DNFs there were, versus people just not showing).  not incredible, but the fact is, I was concentrating on enjoying it as much as possible while making each aid station with plenty of time to spare before the cut offs.  I left the 1st aid station maybe an hour before the cutoff, the 2nd aid station still about an hour before the cutoff, and the 3rd station about an hour and a half before the cutoff.  I finished the run with an hour and 37 minutes to spare.  and i felt strong and had energy left.  a lot of various pain (hips, quads, calfs, lower back), but lots of energy.  I owe this my refueling plan.  i only stopped at the aid stations long enough to fill my camelbak and grab my food.  then i would walk the next quarter mile while i ate, then back to running.

view of columbia river gorge and the Bonneville dam

my drop bags and gear bag plan worked out just fine.  I took an empty gear bag to the start (bus ride), so I could ditch some layers prior to starting.  so i wore pants and a long sleeve shirt and a jacket to stay warm during the wait.  I left the pants and jacket in my gear bag when we started.  then i left my long sleeve shirt in my drop bag at the 1st aid station.  I had packed my drop bags with everything i could need, no matter what the weather.  each bag had dry socks and a t-shirt, a PB&J sandwich, a bag of trail mix, 4 gu roctanes, and a kleen kanteen full of nuun water.  i even had a spare set of shoes at aid station 2.  honestly, the weather was perfect, and i never needed the socks, shoes, or shirt.  there were multiple stream crossing and some thick mud, but my feet stayed dry.  with aid stations every 9 miles or so, i felt it better not to run with a full camelbak (too much weight).  I only filled the bladder halfway.  then at each aid station i refilled the bladder with the nuun water in my drop bag (just to the halfway mark).  was the perfect amount of hydration for each leg.  i didn't even eat my third PB&J, and I only finished one of my bags of trail mix.  having more food and gel than i needed was better safe than sorry.  especially since i didn't need to carry the weight with me the whole way.

i ran as much as possible.  i ran every flat, every downhill, and every smooth uphill.  I walked the most extreme elevation gains, and i walked a few really rocky sections.  this plan worked for me, and i kept my average pace well under what i needed to avoid cutoffs times.  the pain really set in on the final 6 miles, after aid station 3.  in particular, from mile 25.4 to mile 27.6, it was a 1450 ft elevation gain (up alongside multnomah falls).  1450 ft in 2.2 miles, then back down the same amount.  on the way up, i power hiked, hands on thighs.  my lower back started to ache, my calfs and quads were screaming.  but i never stopped.  and when the trail crested and started back down, i ran again.  i had to dig deep to be able to start running again, running through the discomfort and ache.  just kept telling myself to just keep moving, just keep chipping away, just keep the forward momentum.

i definitely enjoyed the middle third of the race the most.  the trail was mostly singletrack, and things had been bunched up and a little crowded for the first 8-10 miles.  but the first aid station was a stop, and then the trail just opened up.  in a run of this distance, no two people are really going to run the exact same pace (unless they are trying to stay together).  if someone has a pace faster than you, they get ahead, and then they slowly open up that lead further and further.  likewise, after you pass someone, you tend to slowly creep further and further ahead.  so after everybody settles into their pace, the trail really opens up.  for this run, this came together after the first aid station.  i honestly felt like i didn't see another runner for miles.  just one every once in a while.  sometimes i felt so alone i was afraid i lost the trail, but i kept on going.  and it was always OK.  the only places the trail got crowded were the few major waterfalls that are kind of tourist attractions.  the race director begged us to please not shove any tourists off the cliffs, as he wanted to be able to get his permit again next year.

the first place on the trail where i had to run through tourists

So my training plan had me well prepared, my gear and drop bags worked great, and I had an awesome experience.  I just can't believe its done and gone.  I am so glad that i could pick this goal, choose this race, train as hard as I did, and finish as strong as i did.  this race was simultaneously the hardest most excruciating thing I have ever done, and also the most incredible running experience i have ever had.

technical portion of rocky trail.  needless to say, i walked it

54 miles in a week, over the peak now.

so feb was the peak month of training for my upcoming ultramarathon trail run.  I'm a numbers guy, right, so i added up a few stats. 

feb was exactly 4 weeks, sun 2/1 through sat 2/28, which makes stats easy.
in 28 days I ran 187 miles with 11,198 feet of elevation gain (and same loss)
in 28 days I burned 26,222 calories from running alone 
in one week, I ran 54 miles with 3258 feet of elevation gain (and same loss)
on 2/28, i ran a full marathon 26.2 (followed by a trail run the next day).
on 2/25, I ran 1,416 ft elevation gain (10x600m hill repeats)

54 miles in a week is the high water mark.  I have never done anything like this before, and i can't imagine i will ever do it again.  I am over the peak.  I can do this plan.  I can do this run.

the peak is coming

Last week i broke 50 miles.  fifty.  five zero.  in one week.  that's more miles than i have ever run in a week.  my saturday run alone was 24 miles, the longest training run i have ever done.  i am looking at this as an incredible accomplishment.  50 miles in a week felt an impossible feat, yet here i am.  its done and I'm still going.  and in general, i still feel pretty good.

but the kicker?  next week is gonna be more.  after this week's "recovery" (probably just over 40 miles for the week), next week will be the peak week of my training plan.  It should be approx 53-55 miles, with a full marathon on saturday.  wed will be 10x600m hill repeats.  10 hill repeats.  sounds awful.  it just feels unbelievable that i could casually contemplate the idea of a 53 mile training week with a full marathon saturday.  The peak is coming.  if i get through the next few weeks, i can anything i set my mind to.  it's that simple.  find a goal, create a plan, deal with failures along the way.

5 and a half weeks to go.  its gonna go off.

22 miles. eating and running. what a blast!

wow, what an eventful run on saturday.  or more importantly, what a smooth, uneventful run is more like it.  I am continuing in my deliberate methods to experiment, trial and error, to find the best practices to support my upcoming 50k.  Just like the 50k partner relay at Bridle Trails taught me a lot in how to pack my gear drop bags for the aid stations, saturday's 22 mile run taught me some new tricks to deal with re-fueling. 

distance runners talk about "hitting the wall" or "bonking".  your body can typically store enough easily accessible energy (glycogen) to burn for approx 18-20 miles.  then your body runs out, and needs to convert fat to energy.  this is *way* harder to do, and your body wants to say "nope, forget this".  your brain says "stop", you feel like hell, you get depressed, it all seems terrible, and you would give anything to just quit and lie down.  yeah, that's The Wall.  its coming, its just a matter of how long you can hold it off.

say your body burns roughly 800-900 calories an hour.  You are only really physically capable of absorbing 250 or so calories an hour.  so no matter what, you are on a downhill slide towards a crash.  then couple it with the fact that running forces blood flow to your muscles and extremities and basically shuts down your digestive system.  eat too heavy/hard, and you run the risk of throwing up, stomach cramps, and other GI issues that i just won't go into.  your typcial energy gels can be taken roughly every 20-30 minutes (depending on your tolerance level).  they are fast energy, super easy to digest, and roughly 100-150 calories each.  taking in these calories is just an attempt to stave off the inevitable, to prolong the time you have before you hit the wall and your brain turns inside out.  I have used gu roctane gels (added caffeine) for all my marathons, but i still always hit that wall, about 20 miles in, and its brutal.

and then comes the ultra.  I remember reading an article that described an ultramarathon as "“eating and drinking contests with a little exercise and scenery thrown in."  its seriously a calorie deficit activity, and you need to plan accordingly.  most ultras have pretty well stocked aid stations with a variety of food.  but you don't want race day to be the first time you try eating on the run.  could make for a miserable DNF with gut issues.  So for my last 3 really long runs (22, 24, 26), i am planning on carrying some real food and stopping, eating, then continuing.  Saturday was my 22 miler.  I convinced my good friend Jess to run this with me, and we hit the Centennial Trail in Snohomish.  long, flat, no traffic, easy miles.  11 miles in, we stopped, and i ate half a PB&J sandwich and about half a cup of trail mix (peanuts, almonds, cashews, raisins, M&Ms).  Then we ran out the remaining 11 miles.  I tell you what, this was fantastic.  of course my whole lower body body hurt like hell (hips, quads, hamstrings, knees, calfs, heels).  legs felt pretty bad.  but i never hit the wall.  i never felt like i needed to quit, or start walking, or wanted to get hit by a car just so i could get a ride back to the trailhead.  I definitely had some energy left in the tank when i finished.  now, there are several factors in this: we ran a little slower pace (to save energy - this was training for both of us, not a race day), i added this new method of fueling, and just having company helped keep me positive.  having someone to talk to for 3.75 hours of running helps keep you engaged and Jess and I had a good run.  but i am putting a lot of credit into eating halfway through.  I seriously didn't bonk, and i felt pretty damn good mentally/physically after we finished.  stiff and sore, but really no worse than i felt after the 16 i ran last saturday.  and nothing at all like how horrible i felt during long runs of comparable distance.  none of the mental anguish, no unreasonable desire to just give up and quit.

so on my upcoming Long Runs (2 weeks from now, and 4 weeks from now) i am going to continue with trying to introduce more food while i am out there.  i'm really excited about making this work.  I am looking forward to packing my gear bags for the aid stations in the 50K Gorge Waterfalls.  Combine my takeaways from Bridle Trail (the benefit of changing into clean/dry shirt, socks, shoes) and my new food strategies (eating solid foods every 10 miles or so), and I am going to give myself the best chance possible to finish this in a reasonable time.

1/21/15. the hilly run that didn't happen...

so I did not run my miles today.  the plan called for a 60 min "hilly run", and I didn't go.  I ran hard last week, 46.5 miles, my highest mileage week ever.  Over the weekend, when i had a saturday 20 mile run and a sunday 1 hour run, i was also volunteering/judging at a local crossfit competition.  more than 12 hours on my feet at the event, during which i took a break to run my miles, then got back on the floor.

I really ran myself down.  it feels like i have been fighting off a cold since sunday.  my throat felt funny last night, and i was a little congested when i woke up. all over sluggish feeling, and achy.  So when the alarm went off, i decided i needed the rest more than the miles.  in my head, i realize that missing a day, or even a week, will not likely have any effect on my general level of conditioning.  In all honesty, I  feel i could run a 50k tomorrow.  it would hurt, and it would take a long time, and recovery would be difficult, but i could do it.  the next 10 weeks are more about training to perform better, to run faster, to handle the elevation better, and to recover faster.  a few lost days will not hurt me.

but i am having trouble letting go of the run.  i am feeling guilty, and i am having regrets.  i worry about my training plan, and my upcoming 50k.  my confidence is a little shaken because i missed a training day.

I am just trying to tell myself that a few missed days to get over a cold are better than running my body into the ground, and facing an even longer recovery.  we'll see what tomorrow brings.  if i skip tomorrow, then Friday is a regular rest day, and i can jump right into the long run saturday, trail run sunday.  i hope i feel better soon. 

2015 Bridle Trails Winter Festival 50k trail run, pair relay

Ran the 2015 Bridle Trails Winter Festival trail run on Saturday night.  I did the 50k pair relay with my good friend Jess.  As per usual, i always get nervous before I run with Jess.  It's like she's a real runner and i'm some hack poser runner.  I feel the need to work hard to keep up my end of the bargain and not let her down.  It was a 50k pair relay, run in loops of 5.2 miles around the state park.  it could be split any way you wanted, handing off the bib/chip every loop.  One pair team had runner A do 3 loops, then runner B do 3 loops (15.6 miles each, 25k each, total of 50k for the team).  Another pair team had runner A do 1 lap, then runner B do 1 lap, then runner A did 2 loops and runner B did 2 loops.  We went with every other lap.  It was an experiment - we thought maybe having a lap on followed by a lap off would be easiest.  5.2 miles is not that far to run on trail, and having a good 45-55 minutes between laps to recover would be a good thing.

some variables to try and account for included the temperature (low 40s), the weather (mist/rain) the trail conditions (rumored to be wet/muddy/horseshitty), and the fact that the run was at late afternoon into night and it was going to get dark fast.  I packed practically as much gear for this one run as i did for my entire week in Berlin.  3 changes of running clothes (T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, socks, shoes), 2 jackets, 1 towel, GPS watch, Ipod, gloves, hat, headlamp, flashlight, buff, dinner/snacks, water, etc. 

it was actually a smaller event that i anticipated.  looking at the registered bib numbers, there were 97 solo 50k runners, 6 pair relays, and 7 team relays.  Jess brought a lawn chair, we set up our gear in a corner of the gear tent.  it worked well.  Jess took the first lap.  it was pretty crowded (the 5 and 10 mile runners doing 1 or 2 loops were pretty thick).  i took the second lap, when things really started to open up.  it was mostly light for my lap, and i was able to get the feel of the trail.  it was not very technical (mostly horse trails through the woods) but was fairly muddy.  after Jess took lap 3, my next lap was fully dark.  it was a little slower because i hit every bit of mud (no getting around it in the dark at speed).  it got pretty lonesome fast as we got down to only the 50k'ers out there.  i really felt alone for most of my run.  maybe passed 3-5 runners each lap, but never saw anybody in between.  for my final lap i chugged a noxplode and tried to open it up.  not a lot of gas in the tank, but my 3rd lap was only a minute or so slower than my first lap (when i was fresh and it was light out).

after every lap i ran, i was able to change into dry shirts, eat some food, drink some water, sit in the chair or stand next to the propane heater, and just generally recover.  I ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup or so of trail mix, and a Gu Roctane after each lap.  i wore one pair of shoes/socks for the first 2 laps, then switched out to the clean and dry pair for the final lap.  my new headlamp was just fine, i didn't bother to bring the flashlight. 

No, we did not win.  For dual teams, we came in 3rd.  The winning team was Uli Steidl and his wife Trish.  Uli has won the Seattle marathon something like 10 times.  The Steidls set the Bridle Trails 50k relay Course Record 10 years ago, and came back to set a new one on Saturday night.  They spanked us royally.  But the 2nd place team was only 14 minutes ahead of us (only about 30 seconds per mile faster).  The next team after us was about an hour longer than us.  So I think we held our own.  More importantly, though, we both had a blast.

so in retrospect I think the plan worked out as expected.  having some recovery time let me run each lap almost fresh.  i didn't see any real loss in performance from the 1st lap to the 3rd.  but it was difficult.  getting cold and stiff after each lap was cumulative.  my lower back was really aching by my final lap.  i got really stiff and sore, and i really felt it the next morning when i went out for my recovery run.  stiff/sore hips/hamstrings/lower back.  but in all this was a really fun run, and i had a great time.  i think i picked up some valuable experience that will help me pack my gear bags for the gear drop areas of the gorge waterfall 50k in march.

1/8/14. surprise. How about a dual relay 50K trail run on Saturday night?

all right, well sometimes a race just falls in your lap.

my good friend Jess emailed me about a 50K dual relay trail run coming up this weekend.  team of 2, take turns running a 5.2 mile loop of trail run, hand off the bib/tracker to your partner so they can run their lap.  50K, 31.1 miles total, 15.6 miles each.  6 laps total, 3 each.  it starts in late afternoon so it will rapidly get dark in the woods.  a relay trail run with headlamps and flashlights.  she brought the idea up tuesday afternoon, asking if i wanted to run with her in this saturday night race.  this is pretty short flow, and i'm more of a long term planner (pretty detail oriented).  so this is little out of character for me, but i'm gonna do it.

http://www.seattlerunningclub.org/Events/Bridle/bridle.html

I'm really excited, this should be a lot of fun.  its a little hard to plan for (and not much time for planning).  i have experience gearing up for a marathon.  i have plans on how I will equip my drop bags for the gorge waterfall 50k.  but planning for a 50k dual relay (25k each) where i will likely run an hour, rest an hour, run an hour, and so on, is kind of strange.  get real hot and sweaty, then stand around in the dark and cold for an hour, repeat 3 times.  I guess in addition to my headlamp and flashlight, I will need a gear bag with food, warm/dry clothes, 2nd pair of shoes, blanket, maybe even a camp chair.  since its going to be 3 separate runs, I'm actually thinking of maybe not wearing my camelbak or even carrying any water on the trail.  maybe I'll just stockpile some food and water at the waiting area.  but i couldn't resist going and buying a new headlamp last night.  i had done some comparison shopping back before christmas, and then decided i didn't really need it.  i had selected Black Diamond as the manufacturer, and then reviewed the Cosmo, the Spot, the Storm, and the Revolt. I considered brightness vs weight vs projection distance vs battery life.  No one product is the best at everything, but I selected the Spot as the best compromise.  130 lumens (on max), 70m beam distance (on max), 50 hr run time (on max), 3 AAA batteries, 3.25 ounces.  Ran over to REI last night and picked one up.  It's awesome.  i went into a dark room and compared the beam to my old headlamp (TJMaxx special).  it was like day and night.  I wore the Spot on my 8 mile run at 5am this morning, just to make sure there were no issues.  I used the light a few times, but mostly turned it off to save the batteries.  i was really just wearing it to see how it felt, adjust the strap, make sure i could stand it, etc.  You never want to try your new gear on race day.  The Spot seemed like it will work out fine.

this is going to be so awesome.  I'm getting really stoked just thinking about it.  50K trail dual relay at night, in 2 days...