First Loop

The plan was to hold a moderate pace, don't push and basically just cruise through the first loop. The first loop was a trek to the starting line of the loop I came to run. I expected to finish the first loop in 7:30 to 7:45 feeling good. I finished in about 7:50 feeling fairly beat up.

The starting pace was fine, easy running and walking the inclines out to the Sky Island climb. Everyone around me was in warmup mode, as was I. The climb up Sky Island felt good, and I ran around the top and ran down the back side. An easy run over to Ice Cream Hill. Again, the climb went well as did the run down the other side. Coming into Nachos, I felt good.

The cruise to Chapas was pretty routine. I was on my planned pace and feeling good. At the aid station, I filled bottles, grabbed a PB&J and left. A half mile out I realized that I hadn't drank the Ensure that I wanted. I let myself get distracted listening to other runners talking around the drop bags. Mental note not to do that again.

The leg to Cross Roads was again routine. At the aid station, I had an Ensure, more PB&J and headed out. I was leap-frogging the same runners all morning, so felt good about my pace. I wasn't passing many runners, nor being passed. The climb up the first Sister went well, but running down was starting to stress the quads. By the time I finish the Sisters leg and got back to Cross Roads, my quads felt worse than I wanted for that point of the day. Got some food, and started the welcome flats leading to Lucky.

Climbing Lucky was not as tough as in past years, but going down the back side was tough. Cairn's Climb and Boyle's Bump were basically the same - felt alright on the climb up, but struggled on the way down. A mental slump had set in after Three Sisters and continued to Cairn's, but passed before I got to Boyle's Bump. Coming into Lodge, I was mentally in a good place, but my legs were toasted. The plan was to sit for 5 or 10 minutes, eat some good calories, get gear for the dark and head out. The 10 minute sit would feel good.

Second Loop

With a rousing send-off, I started the second loop on legs that were much more tired than I had expected. I ran about a mile until the first steep climb, then walked. I walk all of the route to Sky Island, over Ice Cream Hill and down. By then the food had cleared my stomach and on the flats to Nachos, I was running again. I was actually moving well and feeling pretty good through this stretch and into Chapas. By Chapas, I was starting to get cold, so I got another shirt and a jacket at the aid station. I sat here for a while and ate a bit more.

The run to Cross Roads was a mix of running for two minutes then walking for two minutes and repeating as long as possible. The tendons around my knees were the most painful thing, but on the flats it was more a nagging inconvenience. I was leap-frogging a few runners along here. I fueled up at Cross Roads, knowing the climb over the Sisters would be slow. I was about an hour behind my hoped schedule, but wasn't loosing more time - yet.

Climbing the Sisters was not too bad. I was actually pleased with my ability to still walk up these hills well at that point. Coming down had become just short of torture. I had to go very slow and pick my footing carefully, as the quads and hamstrings were just shot. Paula met me on top of the ridge before the aid station, and we walked in together. More food, a warmer hat and back out on the trail.

The flats leading to Lucky were a nice break for my legs. My stomach however had taken a bad turn and was rebelling again everything. A few times, I felt close to barfing, but never did. As I approached Lucky, I saw runners' lights going up the climb. This was the first sign of other runners I had seen outside of an aid station since before the Three Sisters, and the last I would see for the rest of the race. That meant I wasn't passing anyone, but also, no one was passing me.

At Last Chance, I sat down, put on another shirt, and drank a Gatorade. My stomach wasn't handling food at all, but with only five miles to go, I didn't need any more food.

Cairn's and Boyle's were as tough as expected. Not bad climbing up, although tired, and torture coming down. The rocks along the ridges were keeping me from even trying to run. That may have been a good thing, with my level of fatigue. The rubber legs feeling was coming and going.

When I reached Boyle's house, I tried to run a bit. I wanted to run across the field to the finish, and needed to shake out the legs to see if they could still do any running. I ran a few strides - then had to walk. Tried a few strides, then no, it wouldn't work. But when I reached the last gate, I ran to the finish line. Not fast, but it was a run. The five miles from Last Chance to the finish took me almost 2 hours. I had hoped to do the second loop in 9 hours, it actually took me 10:45. That made a total time of 18:41.

Training

My volume of training miles in the last 10 weeks before the race were good for the pace I wanted to do. I had added one speed/tempo session and one hill session each week. The hill work helped a lot. I was able to do the big climbs with no problems, a nice change from previous years. I needed more hill or strength work, as the downhills really took a toll on my quads and hamstrings. Maybe I ran the downs too hard too early. This is an area I need to focus on more for next year. Perhaps stadium stairs or something like that.

I had built the long runs up to a 40 mile run (twice) and a 20-20 back to back weekend (once). I would typically have built to a single 40 mile run for this event. Doing multiples helped. I should have built the mileage earlier in the year and held it a higher level for longer.

I'm mixed on how much the speed work helped me. I need to find a good workout that will increase my running efficiency. I just haven't found the proper combination of pace and distance that accomplishes that.

Food

My primary foods during the event were Ensure and PB&J sandwiches. This was supplemented with PB crackers and gel. I drank water, Heed and Succeed Amino. Twice I had a cup of the roasted potatoes. They were much better than the usual boiled potatoes. I had a half a grilled cheese sandwich leaving Cross Roads the last time. This didn't set well with me. I don't know if it was the grilled cheese or just that after that much time, nothing was going to sit well. The Ensure seemed to work well for me, it went down easy and never bothered me all day. I guess I drank 5 or 6 thought the day.

I only had two electrolyte capsules in the morning. I was drink well and peeing regularly, so I felt I had enough sodium, etc. coming in. I didn't run into the dehydration issues I usually get during an ultra. Stomach and food issues didn't seem to be any problem until the last 10 miles.