My buddy Mike from Detroit gave me a chance to sit down at the mic and talk about my race at Kettle Moraine 100 with him.  Grab yourself a coffee and give it a listen.

You can find more of Mike's interviews and musings over at his podcast site.  http://dirtdawg.podbean.com/

The Setup

My good friend and one of my training partners John Cash (not the singer) and I hit the road mid-morning on Friday to drive up to Le Grange, WI. I was running the 100 mile and John the 100k with the Tahoe 100 in his near future. It was hot heading out of the St. Louis area and it was not any cooler in Le Grange. The mercury was over 90 degrees in both place and while some of that heat was around the last two weeks in our neck of the woods, it was happening all of a sudden in Wisconsin. The problem for me was since I was tapering I was not really spending much time in it so by no stretch was I ready for it. Luckily, the forecast showed that it would not be much over 80 on Saturday and that there may be a bit of rain in the afternoon. This would be ideal... if it happened.

The Course
The course is made up of 2 parts. The first is a 100k which is a 62 mile out and back. This is the Start/Finish of the race as well as the entire course for the 100k runners. The second part of the course is a 38 mile out and back. The course itself is almost all off road, made up of wide Nordic trails, rolling prairie, or winding single track. Due to how the trail winds along the area, aid stations are highly accessible via road by both crews and the volunteers. The longest distance traveled between aid stations over the entire 100 miles is 5 miles and most of the time you travel no longer than 3 miles to either a manned or unmanned location.

To say it was a hot day is a bit of an understatement. Now, I'm not talking Badwater hot but 77 degrees at 4:30 am in Madison, WI the first week of June is a bad sign. The forecast had called for 80, but with the sun yet to rise and that mark already approaching, 80 would be here and gone in no time. John and I got our stuff put together then headed out the door for a short 10 minute drive to the race start. When we arrived I could not believe how many people were out. 121 people were lined up for the 100 mile and 60 rolling in the 100k. I was able to meet up with my friend Ryan Dexter who was going to be crewing for me during the day, then pacing for me though part the night. It gave me great confidence to have such an experienced and talented runner in my corner, plus with my time crewing and pacing Ryan during the McNaughton in Vermont 200 the last 2 years, we've spent a fair amount of time together on the trail. Returning from my Leadville crew later on in the day would be Dema and Randy.

I did the normal stuff when we arrived, chatted, lined Ryan out with some simple directions of food. Basically, have Nuun ready to go in one bottle and water in the other. Hand me a few gels every time I see him, and if it gets hot, fill up my bandana with ice. Besides that it was pretty simple, eat from the aid stations and keep moving. We took off when the RD said "GO" at 6am.

 The Race

I always try going out nice and easy. I wanted to hit the 50k mark in about 5:30. I cruised along, chatting with others and we ran. I hit the first mile or so in 9:45 and pretty much held that effort for the next 30. The problem was it heating up fast. I was soaked so I finally took my shirt off to avoid chaffing from that wet heavy fabric rubbing on me. The prairie areas were rough. 100% exposed wide trail with tall grasses on each side. It was already hot in here and going to get worse the next time though. Ryan was there at every crew accessible spot to crew and the non-crew accessible to snap some pictures. I hit the 50k mark in about 5:18. Ahead of where I wanted to be but the temps were suffocating. I stood there for a bit, sponged off, and took in a lot of watermelon, bananas, and anything else that looked good. I shot back out of the aid station to work my way back toward the prairie sections again.

Luckily at some point, the sun sat back behind some clouds when I was on the single track. I was hoping it would hold on until I was though the prairie but it was short lived. I hit the exposed sections and I have to guess it was over 100 degree for the heat index. No shade, hardly any breeze, all the tall grasses seemed to hold the heat in. I was fading really fast. The next time Ryan saw me was around mile 37. He started pushing calories hard and I tried to put down as much as I could over the next 10 miles. I popped out of the prairie section around mile 47 and into the aid station. Everyone was talking about how bad everyone looked and I seemed to be doing well. I ate more food then took a salt pill and within 10 seconds, I stepped away from the aid station and just puked up everything that was in me. Not to be gross, but in terms of volume, I did not know my stomach could even hold the amount of liquid that came back out. I sat there a second then Ryan said "I'll give you 30 seconds then you need to get going" I just said, "nope, I'm going now" and stood up really quick to try to jolt myself going again. I drank a cup of water and got back on the trail. I had not gone 50 feet and it all came right back up. I decided I had to let things settle, so I told Ryan I was going to hold off on anything for a bit.

I was just sipping a little here and there to keep my mouth wet as I moved along. I actually felt better but knew I had to start getting calories and liquids going again soon. The temps were too high to wait anything out too long. I took one gel, one SaltSick pill and a mouthful of water in a 5 mile stretch. When I saw Ryan again he said "take these" and opened his hand. It was 2 SaltStick pills. He then told me “I want both of these gone by the next time I see you in 5 miles.” It was 2 water bottles; one with double Nuun and another with something he takes that had electrolyes in it (still don’t know what it was exactly from a product standpoint). All this worked and I started coming back. My electrolyte balance had been way off and I was too far under to get the fluids out of my stomach. This super push of fluids and salt was just what I needed.

Even with a renewed mental attitude, my legs were killing me. They took a beating with me messing up my fluid intake. I was cramping and just working way too hard. Everything hurt. As I was closing in on about mile 56 or so I hear "Travis!" I was my buddy John. He had some of the same issues I had early on in the race and had caught back up to me. We worked our way back in to the 100k mark together. Chatting and just trying to keep the motivation high. There are mile markers on the ground and since this is an out and back I could see where I sat in the overall. Surprisingly, I was not that far out. Zach Gingerich was about 7 miles up on me, followed 2 miles back by Mark Tanaka, then after another 1/2 mile or so by my friend Paul Shoenlaub, then Jacob Joseph, who I had been running with several times during the day. That was about it until the finish line. John and I crossed the 100k mark together. He could have picked up some time here but he held back with me to keep me motivated and help me though a really low spot. That’s a good friend and training partner right there!  John finished 7^th in the 100k!

When I arrived at the 100k mark I see Dema and Randy waiting for me. Earlier, Ryan has asked if I wanted them to bring anything and I said; "McDonalds hamburger with no onions, fries and a coke" and BOOM! they delivered. I was in a daze here, mentally very cloudy. I was just dreading the idea of going back out for 38 more miles. I sat down, had Dema massage my calves, and threw on my calf sleeves. I ate my burger and drank this coke. It was good, really good. Ryan was ready to get out there with me so I got my head right and got out of there. I was the 7th 100 miler through but 5th and 6th dropped so I was in 5th leaving at the 12 hour and 19 minute mark.

I ran down Jacob and took a hard pass on him. He tried to hang for a minute but I just pressed it to open a gap. I was not sure how much I really had in the tank, but figured if I could make a good showing here maybe he would back off. It either worked or he was just hurting as bad as everyone else as I opened this up and did not see his headlamp behind me again for the rest of the race. I was now in 4th and had some serious folks in front of me. Badwater champion and the course record holder, Zach Gingerich, previous winner and super solid runner Mark Tanaka, and my friend Paul who was 16th overall at Leadville last year along with being a Mountain and Grand Slammer who at 51 is running better than ever, which is saying a lot.

I just tried to keep working hard. I did not have much of anything left. My right quad was trashed and I could hardly lift my leg up, but somehow I was still moving forward so what the hell, keep going, what else did I have to do?  Ryan and I were leaving the Highway 12 aid station as Zach was coming in. He has about 8 miles on me.  This was a very positive moment for me. He looked bad.. really bad. Just like me and everyone else. Even though this was not playing out like I wanted it to, it was not for anyone else either and I was still in it. Not only that, but I was in the hunt! As we approached the aid station at mile 81 I saw the two guys in front of me. 1st was Mark who was hurting but still moving forward at what looked like a good clip. Next was Paul who had climbed up to just a minute or so behind Mark. Paul told me to keep working and he was glad to see me out there. His wife Cindy gave him an update on my puke explosion at mile 47 so he was not sure if I would be still out there or not.

This was again good for me. I was gaining confidence that I was running with a solid crowd and it was not over yet. I hit the Rice Lake aid station at 81 miles and sat down for a minute. I drank an entire can of coke and a full cup of soup. I was still not what I would call 100%. Even given the mileage I was moving really slowly to what I feel like I am capable of. The daytime had put the hurt on me. My quad was at the point where I could not run up even the slightest incline. For lack of a better term, it was not firing. However, I can do a mean power walk so when it was not flat or down hill, that’s what I did. Randy hopped in for this leg with me. We worked our way back and just tried to hold down a decent moving pace. Speed was out so consistency was in. Before I knew it, we were back at the Highway 12 Aid Station. Again, more coke, more soup and off we went. Ryan was trying to get me worked up. "You're in it, go get it!" I crossed over the timing mat leaving the aid station and the volunteers yelled "You are 6 minutes behind Mark!" It was actually more like 10 but hey, I liked the encouragement.

Randy and I just kept pressing ahead. As I came into the unmanned aid station on Duffin Road, I caught the reflective trim of Mark’s shorts as he was climbing the hill across the street. He was right there! Now, I get that he was way below his best time out here, but not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be within striking distance of someone of his caliber. We left the aid station and within 15 minutes or so, I had passed him. By the time I hit the Bluff Road aid station at 92.8 I was sitting in 3rd place. I again grabbed for the soup and soda and kept moving. It was a pretty great feeling to be sitting in 3rd place at this point. But it was far from over. Mark is a great runner and letting up was not an option no matter what type of shape I was in.

Dema was running with me now and we just talked and kept moving. He made me a deal to run the flats and downhills, and then walk the uphills. This is how I run pretty much every race so it was not much of a deal for me but at least we had a plan for the next 7 miles. The last 7 miles are a familiar place since it’s the first section of the out and back for each leg, meaning this was the 4th time I had ran this section today. The next aid station out of Bluff was less than 3 miles away then from there it was less than 5 to the finish. Since there were mile markers on the ground I decided I want to hit each one in 15 minutes. This broke it down really easy for me. Everything hurt bad, my right quad was so worthless I could hardly pick my leg up to get my foot higher than about 4 inches off the ground..... not the best thing for a trail race. Fortunately there was not a lot of technical footing left. We landed each of the next 3 mile markers out of the aid station at almost 15 minutes on the nose each time. I kept looking back to see if Mark was closing in on me. It was so hard to tell because there were still 100 mile relays and 38 mile fun runners on the course. However, Mark and I use the same headlamp so I can identify it. I turned to see a single bright headlamp in the distance and thought, "here we go, just hold on." I tried my best to move the pace up and just then I see the red glow of the clock just though the trees. I'd made it! I hear a huge scream of "TRAVIS!!!!!" from Ryan. I shuffled my way across the finish line exhausted in 21:39.44. Ryan, Randy, Dema, John, and my good friend Tommy (whose girlfriend won the women’s 100 in 23:30) were all there to celebrate with me. Hugs all the way around from me. Also, 2nd place finisher Paul Shoenlaub stuck around to see me finish, which was a fantastic gesture. Paul is a fellow SLUG, and someone who really gave me some great advice along with letting me tag along on some of his workouts out at Leadville last year. I have a ton of respect for him and to see him there really meant a lot. I sat down, ate some food and just took it all in.  It was a very unrealistic feeling to be done this close to the front.  I waited for Mark to come in a mere 13 minutes later and cheered as he crossed the mat.

Final Thoughts

Guts is what it took today.  Not just from the folks up front, but from everyone on that course.  Times were roughly 3 hours slower than most years (almost equal to 2010 due to severe storms.)  The Finishing rate was 38%.  I was truly amazed at the effort given at this race.  Tim-O and Jason were excellent RD’s.  At no point did an aid station not have what I was looking for.  Every place was loaded to the gills with ice which is hard to do with a running crowd of close to 200 for the 100 mile and 100k, plus the addition of the relays and the 38 mile fun run at night.  Well organized and off the charts in terms of service.  Along with that I had great friends and crew that were with me through the good and the bad and it made all the difference in the world on getting me to the finish line on a very hard day… and night.

I've been getting in lots of quality miles to date this year, training with a group of very solid runners that make me go beyond my normal levels, getting faster, and even climbing better. On paper I'm better now than last year. However 3 Days had me looking to make changes. I started rethinking my caloric, salt, and fluid strategies. Thinking, for some reason, that they were not working. How could all the things that worked last year stop work now? Well, they hadn't, I just became a basket case because for the first time in a long time, things did not go how I expected. I needed a reset.

Enter the Double Chubb 50k that is put on by my club, the St. Louis Ultrarunners Group. This is an 85% single track trail and 15% gravel/dirt road race that takes place just west of St. Louis. It fills up fast and is usually quite competitive. The course is a 15.5 miles out-and-back repeated twice for the 50k. To think about the course profile picture a bowl, high on both sides and flat in the middle.  Total climb is around 3300 feet. The flats are where the really fast guys can fly so even if you are not good at the technical sections on the front and back half of the course you can make it up as the trail hugs the curves of the Meramec River.

To start my "reset" I decided to do away with my normal uniform of red shirt and black shorts, instead asked my 3 year old daughter to choose. Of course I could not just let her pick any random thing she might come up with so I laid out some shorts and shirts that I had trained in and knew would not cause chafing. She went with a pair of blue GoLite shorts and a black Salomon sleeveless shirt. I then decided to give some Drymax mid-weight the nod over my trusty Darn Tough trail socks as there was rain coming down and more than likely would be more on race day. When it came to shoes I had thought about wearing the Salomon Speed Cross 2 to have a bit more traction in the mud but ultimately determined that my go to shoe is the Mountain Masochist and I was sticking with them. A reset is good but going with footwear that I have less confidence in was out of the question. However, I do have two pairs of the Masochists so I again turned to my daughter to choose between the orange and the green pair. She chose orange. Ok, all done on the clothing, no fussing, no worrying, just put on something new and ignore the superstition.

For fueling I decided to keep it simple and use what has worked for me in the past.  Stop questioning and thinking about all the things I read and thought may have been the issue at Syllamo.  I used 3 Nuun tablets, 4 GU Roctane, 1 Cliff Shot Turbo, a few Endurolytes, and threw a Honey Stinger Waffle in my bag to eat after the first out-and-back was finished. I carried Nuun in a small baggie and popped a tablet in my bottle at the aid station on each end which roughly translated to 20oz an hour. It was only about 50 degrees so overheating was not an issue. I consumed a gel ever 1/2 hour and Endurolytes when I felt like I needed too along with the occasional handful of M&M's and a sip of cola.

The goal time for my race was not to be thought about. All I wanted to do was run my race. Last year I had a road 50k the weekend before running Chubb so I ran without going overboard and was just under 5 hours. This year I was coming off of 40 miles pacing duty but at a slower pace on trail so did not feel as banged up but still knew I was recovering a bit. I just wanted to be solid and do what I do best. No worrying about people around me or what place I was in, nothing. Just run within myself, be controlled, stay relaxed, and see where things land. With that said, in my head I had thought about a 4:30-4:40 finishing time. To do it I wanted to run even spits. The course is not an even out and back, it's about 7.5 out and 8 back, plus there is more climbing on the way back so I figured I'd shoot for a 1:05 out and a 1:10 back then just repeat it again if possible. If the pace felt too hard, I'd back off.

I hit the starting area, caught up with my buddies, then got moving it when the RD's said "Go!"  I just settled into a sustainable pace as I talked with some friends as we ran together for a bit. Hit the first aid station, took a gel with a small cup of water then kept cruising. I come to the flats and found a pace I could hold down and kept moving. I rolled into the aid station at the turn around in just under an hour. A little quick but not out of control. Said hi to the AS workers and my buddy John who was working there. Ate a handful of M&M's and got out of there right as 1 hour and 1 minute clicked over on my watch. Everything felt good and I was running around the top 10 for the 50k.

I bombed my way down the hill then chugged though the flats again. Took another gel at the aid station in the middle of the course then worked my way up the big climb on the bluff. I took the climb in chunks. Run a little then walked a bit until I was up it then hit the downs hard. The first lap was over in 2:06. I grabbed my baggie of items for lap 2 then got a water refill at the aid station. My buddy Tommy, who won Potowatami 100 the weekend before, was working the AS. He helped me get set and ready to go back out and gave me a promised high five. I took a few minutes here. Nothing major but 3-4 minutes for sure. I took off and ate my Stinger Waffle as I walked up the hill to the trail head. Dumped my trash at the top and got back at it. My stomach was a little off so I dropped the pace a bit to let things settle. Finally everything was good and I picked it back up. My legs felt great and I was running the descents hard. This time I passed the middle aid station all together and kept pressing on.

The weather had taken a toll on the trail. The rain the day before paired with the drizzle all morning along with the foot traffic was making things a bit slick out there. It was not bad, just enough that there were spots where you had to fight to keep from slipping which can wear on you. I finally emerged out of the muddy flats and hit the gravel section with standing water on it. As I closed in on the climb before the aid station I saw the 50k leader Ben Creehan a little over 20 minutes ahead of me. I headed up the climb and did not see another runner for about 5 minutes. It was Chad (informed me I was in 7th) who had been training with us a bit followed by another friend Steve. I was really excited to see 3 of my buddies in the top 3 spots and even a little more excited to know where I was and that I was not too far out.

Another fast stop at the aid station then back out with my watch at 3 hours 13 minutes. I ran down the 6th place runner by the time I hit the bottom of the hill. I was doing my best to keep moving through the slick mud knowing that it would be over soon.  I approached the middle aid station and saw a few runners 100 yards or so in front of me. I'd made up some ground the on 4th and 5th place runner. I grabbed a cup of soda to get the energy up and get through the last 3 miles. I overtook Steve just after the aid station. I was still not worried about where I placed, I just wanted to get under 4:30 and run a complete race. I worked my way up the bluff then just opened it up on the way down. I finally caught 4th place with about a 1 1/2 to go. We talked for a few seconds going up a climb then I passed him and got moving again. Looking at my watch I knew 4:30 was happening so I was excited about that. As I was coming down the hill I could see my wife's car so I knew they'd be at the finish line. I got really pumped here. I had landed the race I needed to for me. I could throw Syllamo out the window as an off weekend and just take it all in.... almost.

One of the "fun" things about Chubb is just after you come off of the trail you get a nice downhill section of road where you can see the finish. However, you get one more steep little climb before you get to finish the race. It's about a .5 mile horseshoe section of trail with .25 up and .25 down. I looked at my watch and it said 4:16 and this section took me about 5 minutes on the first lap. So I dug deep and ran/walked this thing until it leveled off then just slammed down the hill to try to get under 4:20. I crossed in 4:19.34, 4th overall.  I thought a 4:30 was within reach but just under 4:20 was unexpected. 

The moral of the story is sometimes you need to remember what you do best and do that. It's really easy to get bogged down in details, superstitions, and what others around (and on-line) you are doing, but ultimately you have to look at your body of work, take confidence in it, and just execute with no expectations.  You might just surprise yourself.

 

The Leadville Trail 100 is one of the “big ones” as far as 100 mile runs go.  It’s been around for over 20 years, starts in a town who’s elevation is 10,200 feet above sea-level, never drops below 9,200 feet, historically about 50%  who start will finish, and has 2 climbs (going out and coming back) that reach an elevation of 12,600 feet.  All in all, there are just enough things stacked against you to make this already daunting task, a little more daunting.

I was lucky enough to be provided the opportunity both from work, and more importantly, my wife to get out to Leadville about 2 weeks early to try to acclimate to a very foreign high altitude climate.  I grew up and continue to live in Illinois so mountain peaks are pretty rare.  Heck, hills that climbs much over 200 feet are scarce in my neck of the woods.  On top of that, I’ve only been above 10,000 feet one time and that was during a little weekend get-away to Denver 2 years ago where my wife and I took a hike in Rocky Mountain National park.  Ok enough of that.  You get the picture, I am a flatlander.

The Double Chubb 50k is put on my by my ultrarunning group the SLUGS.  It is held just west of St. Louis, MO on the Chubb trail which is a 15 mile out and back with a short but steep climb on the Chinkapin trail to round out the 15.5 miles.   This race is a popular one that sold out in 5 days!! It is a fast trail with about 3000 feet of climb.  The majority of the climb comes on the front and back end of the course with the middle section hugging around the curves of the Meramec River and giving some flat single track to open it up and run. 

With me just coming off of the pavement pounder Mad City 50k last weekend I was not quite sure how everything would hold up.  I decided a few days before the race to keep it somewhat conservative and just use the big bulk of running these 2 races to hammer out a solid month of total mileage.  I found my buddy Stuart Johnson and asked him his goal time and he said 5 hours.  I thought that may have been a bit much, but asked if he minded if I ran with him as long as I could and he was good with it.  Then my friend and SLUGs president Lee said Stuart was going for the masters record and that I had to keep him moving and get him in in 5.  “Ok,” I thought “now I have a mission for this race”  We hit the start line and were off.

Stuart and I ran together the entire time.  He led the first out and back up until the last bit.  I had discovered over the last few aid stations that he did not mess around at aid stations at all.  He got in and out of them fast! I had to drop a few things off and needed to fill both my bottles so I took a lead on him blasting down the Chinkapin trail and tried to build some time so we could get out of the AS together and he still filled up and was out first.  I need to work on how I come in and out of AS more.  I should be ready with lids off and know what my plan in about a 1/10 of a mile or so out of the AS.  We ran this first lap in around 2:23.  We were on pace for 5 hours but did not leave a lot of time for error.

_{coming down the Chinkapin trail with 25k down}

I caught back up with Stuart and we walked up the asphalt hill to the trail head and started running again.  Stuart made a comment that I needed to “short leash him” through the flats to keep him running.  I was feeling good and said that I would take the lead through the flats and try keep the pace up to hit that 5 hour mark.  We worked our way down the rocky winding section of the course down the West Tyson bluff then hit the open prairie section.  We had several miles of flat running from here so we just kept chatting and tried to keep the conversation up.  At one point I said, “let’s run until the hill then we’ll walk up it.” He agreed and we kept going and going and going.  When I said it, I thought it was just around the next corner.. not so much, it was like 10 minutes away still.  We finally got there and power walked up it.  I saw my buddy Jason who had already been out to the turn around aid station, he was cooking and looking great!  We hit the aid station and I looked at my watch and told Stuart that we needed 14 minute miles to get 5 hours.  That seems pretty do-able but the back section of the course was the hardest part.  Yes, we had the long flat section but as soon as we were off of it, it was about 1200 feet of climbing on technical trail and that was going to be slow so we needed to push it in the flats to build some buffer.

 Stuart and I trying to keep the pace up in the flats

We hit the last AS with about 3 miles to go.  I put in just enough water to get back to the Finish line and we headed out.  We worked our way up the rocky slow moving bluff and just ran when we could even if it was just a few hundred feet.  We finally started hearing people talk and knew we were close.  Now we just needed to get down the asphalt road and then up and down the Chinkapin section to secure 5 hours.  Stuart was having some cramping issues but kept powering through.  I looked at my watch and we were at 4:56 something and I was getting nervous, about a sub 5 finish.  I told Stuart I was going to power it in and he was good with it.  Turns out there was no need for it.  The finish line was less than 2 - 1/10th of a miles away.  We could have walked it in and made it.  I came in with my wife and daughter there yelling for me (you can hear them in the video below) along with the other finishers, like Jason who landed a 4:30 after being 4 weeks off his first 100 miler!!!!!  Stuart came in about a minute later breaking the 5 hour mark and setting the new masters record by around 20 minutes. 

 

Stuart and I after the race

Afterward we hung around for several more hours cheering in friends and other runners as we chowed on food and drank a few cold ones.  It was an unbelievable day on the trail. It’s one of those rare days where everything is right from trail conditions, weather, to picking the right shirt to wear, the aid stations were awesome and the RD’s David and Victoria did another bang up job on this race.  Just an awesome day. 

post race chatting and calorie consumption with fellow SLUGS, David Stores, Kyle Gibb, myself, Jason Eads and my daughter Gianna

Other notes:

• Ben Creehan – won the overall with a blazing time of 3:37!!
• Christine Crawford – Ran strong as usual and took the women’s overall.  I’m not sure on exact time but I’m guessing its was around 4:40 or so.
• My friend Howard ran his first ultra in a while on a brand new trail for him and went negative splits to finish under 6 hours.

This past weekend I traveled to Madison, WI to run a 50k.  The Madison road race only goes by one name and it’s the Mad City 100k.  Yes, I said road race and judging by the field up there I was not the only trail runner who decided to pound the pavement for a while.  Mad City has 3 options.  100k, 50k, or 50k relay.  The 100k is the USATF National Championships so I was lucky enough to be on the course with some very talented runners. The reason I chose to run this race was simple.  My friend Ryan Dexter (who I along with others will be pacing/crewing for him at the McNaughton Vermont 200) asked me to come up and hang out for a bit before our journey to the east coast next month.  I was a little unsure of running this road race then turning around and running Double Chubb 50k this weekend but I figured "why not? this will be good training and miles for Leadville in August.”  I arrived at the packet pickup to find Ryan had run there.  Not a surprise given he had already ran over 100 miles during the week and not not even run the 100k yet.  We listened to the pre-race meeting then headed to his place to meet the family and have some dinner.  When we arrived it seemed the entire neighborhood was outside playing.  His three boys, Chase, Dash, and Cruise all came up to meet me.  I also met some of his other neighbors, all of who had played one part or another in pacing or crewing for Ryan one time or another.  A really great group of folks.  His wife Christina (a marathoner and Ironman triathlete) had made some dinner for us that we scarffed down then headed off to watch Zombieland (which was pretty good in a weird way).  Afterward, Ryan and I talked about running and training and I felt like I was talking to someone that just “got it.” It was unbelievable talking to him and listening to his philosophy on training and how it fits into his life.  Even with having over 15 ultras under my belt I still don’t fully know what works best and how to fit it all in. Ryan had some great insights that I will be putting in to practice right away.  This right here made the trip completely worth while. Ryan and I before the start of the 100k The 100k kicked off at 6:30 am.  Toeing the line were some serious names in the ultrarunning world.  Krissy Moehl, Greg Crowther, Annette Bednosky, Meghan Arbogast, Chikara Omine and Melanie Fryar, to name a few.  Top performances were expected with a chance to get on the USAFT National team and compete at the world 100k Championships held in Gibraltar this November.  FAST running was all around.  Mix these top speedsters with us 50k runners and the 50k relay at 8 am and you ended up with a great crowd of folks all at different levels all giving what they had for their respective distance. Loop 1 -10k I start races pretty conservative (my friend Jason calls me a sandbagger).  No difference here.  Nice and easy for the first loop.  Check out the scenery, learn about this 10k loop that I am going to repeat 4 more times and make sure to get fluids in.  The course was mostly asphalt winding though a park, with a small stretch of sidewalk, then back into the park asphalt.  The back part of the course wound though a neighborhood then onto a road where to my relief there was a dirt and gravel shoulder to run on to give me a break from the hard street.  I came in 57:01.5 averaging a 9:10 pace.  Loop 2 - 20k This loop was highly uneventful.  I usually need about 50 minutes to an hour to feel “right” and once I do, I can just put on the cruise control for a while.  That is what happened, I locked in at a sustainable pace and just kept moving ahead, enjoying the company of other runners and the great weather. I checked off my 2nd loop in 53:42.8 for an 8:38.7 pace per mile. Loop 3 – 30k Let’s keep this short for this loop and just say I maintained my pace.  53:31.5, pace 8:36.8 Loop 4 – 40k Starting this loop I started realizing that I was doing ok.  I was holding down a respectable pace by this trail runner’s standards and I would actually go sub 4 hours on the marathon and barring anything crazy, should be able to hit my 5:00 goal with even some time to spare.  I was not hurting bad by any means, but needed to focus in on doing the right things over the next 12.4 miles to keep it together.  I had been drinking NUUN and consuming mostly GU Chomps with an E-Cap thrown in from time to time, but stopped at the aid station a little over 1/2 way though the loop at the 3.8 miles to get a little more salt in. The sun was beating down and the temps were around 70 so my sweat rate increased.  I ate some pieces of boiled potatoes with salt on them and a cup of water and took off again.  I finished this loop in 53:29.0 with an average pace of 8:36.5 Loop 5 – 50k Here I was  3:37:45 into the race and 24.8 miles down and still kicking.  It dawned on me that I could almost walk this loop and hit my 5 hour goal.  I instead decided to pick it up a little and get this thing over with.  I still was not running my hardest, just elevated my effort by about 5% over the last few loops.  I threw down a Jet Blackberry GU to help with the last push.  I caught up with Ryan (sort of, it’s a loop course so “catching” is not actually passing).  He had gone out fast.  He hit the marathon mark around 3:15 and was sub 4 hours on the 50k.  He was walking when we got together and told me he was feeling good early on, so he just kept running fast and now he was paying for it.  He said he’d try to run with me a bit and we chatted.  I was pulling away and asked if he needed anything when he came around on the loop. He said he was good and I took off to wrap this thing up.  I looked at my watch and realized that 5 hours was good and that 4:30 was doable.  I grabbed a quick cup of water at the aid station then charged ahead.  One of the relay runners came by me and we chatted for a minute then she decided to take off since this was her only lap.  I decided she would be my rabbit and I would not let her out of sight.  I stayed close all the way to the finish and crossed the line with a lap time of 50:53.1 averaging 8:11.3 for the loop.  My total time was 4:28:38 averaging an overall pace of 8:38.8. Overall I had a great time at this race.  The weather was perfect.  I was able to share a course with some elite runners which was a treat in itself.  On top of that I received some great advice from someone who even in the ultrarunning world runs long.  Lastly, I surprised myself.  I went up here to run even splits which I pretty much did.  I just figured that those splits would have been closer to 9:30 than 8:40.  I also was not destroyed.  This was an elevated effort for me but not a full race effort. I still had gas left in the tank and I know that if I would have been up there to race it could have knocked a fair amount of time off.  That’s a great feeling to have.  It lets you know that your training is progressing and that your base is getting better and better year over year.  Another race for the books and another great experience.  Now.. back to the trails!!!

3 Days of Syllamo is a stage race that takes place just outside Mountain View, Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains.  Day 1 consists of a 50k, day 2 is the 50 mile run, and day 3 is the final run of 20k.  For those wondering, that’s a 93 mile weekend all together.  This race took some thought to pack for.  Usually it’s one set of clothes to run in and then some layers in case the weather changes.  This one included planning for 3 days of running of various distances so I just packed the best I could without having to bring my whole closet.

3 pairs of shorts, 2 sleeveless shirts, 1 t-shirt, arm warmers, 3 pairs of socks (2 Darn Tough, 1 x Teko), 2XU calf sleeves, then the just-in-case items of CW-X 3/4 tights, wind breaker, and my Inov-8 line up of X-Talon 212’s, Flyrock 310, and Roclite 295

I took off from home around noon on Thursday so I could get down to Blanchard Springs campground in Allison, AR around 5:30pm to pick up my packet and meet up with my buddy David Wakefield who was kind enough to let me crash at the cabin with he and his wife.  I had initially planned on running in the team competition with my friend Caleb Chatfield but plans fell through so I decided instead of trying to find a partner, I’d just drop into the individual stage race to see how I fared.  I was not quite sure how I’d hold up over a 3 day event but my training has been pretty consistent the last few months with the exception of a week and a half in February when I traveling a lot for work and was sick.  I picked up my packet, met with David then headed out to grab some food before retiring to the cabin to try to get some sleep.

Day 1 – 50k

Luckily the first day does not start until 9am.  This is great for those traveling in that morning or to people like me who were on the road most of the day before.  David and I were up well before we needed to be, mulling around the cabin, eating, drinking our morning beverages.  Mine is good old coffee.  We jumped in my truck and headed to Blanchard Springs campground. 

For the day I was keeping it pretty light.  I sometimes get bogged down in gear and end up with too much on me so I wanted to try to stay light.  For shoes, I was wearing my Inov-8 Roclite 295’s.  Good protection underfoot with great traction in a 10.5 ounce shoe.  I carried an Ultimate Direction Fast Draw Plus water bottle and holder in each hand with NUUN in each.  In the pocket of the water bottle holder I had a package of GU Chomps and in my shorts pocket I had 2 NUUN tablets, a couple of Endurolytes and a GU Jet Blackberry gel.  That was it, no drop bags, nothing extra.  I carried with me about 500 calories and if I needed anything else, I’d grab it from the aid stations.  The temps were going to tap out in the mid 50’s so I wore a short sleeve shirt with my arm warmers.  This ended up being the perfect amount of everything.

This course was tough.  Lots of tricky footing and climbing.  Steve Kirk, RD, had stated that “… 50k would be a great run but the 50 mile would be tough.”  This kept running through my mind as I danced around rocks and marched up the hills.  “Damn,” I thought  “If this is the easy one, tomorrow is going to be awful!” I just kept marching along, walking the ascents and running the flats and decents.  I met up with Cassie Scallon (WI) and Paul Turner (AR) and ran with them for a while.  Neither were running the full stage which made me a little nervous but I felt comfortable so I decided to hang with some company for a while.  This is what I love best about ultras.  The three of us moved back and forth in a line on the single track, taking turns leading and chatting the whole time.  Eventually Cassie who was only running the 50k decided to put the gas down and power it in.  I figured that was not in my best interest and maintained what felt to be a good effort without going overboard. 

I came in to the last aid station and out of curiosity asked what number I was.  “You’re in 8th” the person told me as I stuffed my face with food.  I was pretty surprised by this statement.  I felt I could run in the top 1/4 of the field but really had nothing substantial to base it on.  My stomach had been with me all day and with lots of miles left to go this weekend I figured I should keep putting the food in to aid in recovery.   I left the aid station and Paul hung back.   After a bit, I looked up ahead and saw my friend and fellow SLUG Paul Schoenlaub.  This actually worried me a bit.  Paul is a good ultrarunner.  He’s ran Hardrock, Leadville, and Western States to name a few.. some of those under 20 hours.  I slowed a bit when I caught up to him.  He’d been fighting a cold and let up a bit.  I was going to just cruise in with him, but he encouraged me to get going.  I just kept it easy the rest of the way and ended up 7th for the stage and only about a minute ahead of Paul.  I was actually within seconds of my 50k PR.  I run trail races and they differ sometimes by a lot from course to course so it’s not exactly a 1:1 comparison like a flat road race might be but still to finish 31 miles in 5:36.56 (on a tough course) and not be destroyed was ok by me. Interestingly enough I was not that far from the winner of the stage either.  Leif Seed had crossed in 5:07 and with 50 tough miles the following day, anything could happen.

I chugged down some Ultragen and stood in the cold spring fed creek for 20 minutes after coming in to help with recovery.  I don’t know how much each helped but it sure felt good to ice down.

Day 2 – 50 Mile

I was talking with my wife on the phone getting ready to go to bed after the 50k.  She asked how I was and I said “I don’t know what the hell I was thinking doing this stage thing.”  She just laughed and said “you’ll be fine.”  She was right, I just needed to get bed and rested for tomorrow.

We woke up around 4 for the 6am start.  I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal, peanut butter and honey along with a few cups of coffee.  I had brought my 2XU calf sleeves along.  I had worn them for training runs but never in a race, but if there was a time where I might need some extra support it was today.  I slipped them on then began to treat the hotspot I had on my left foot.  I had left my left shoe a little looser that I should have for the terrain and ended up with a small blister on the ball of my foot.  I lanced it then covered it up with a blister guard then brought out the old duct tape. Then came the Teko socks and the slightly more supportive Flyroc 310’s

We hit the starting area and David was feeling pretty rough.  He had grabbed 2nd the day before but was just coming off of the flu and it seemed to still be hanging around.  We worked our way to start line for this out and back 50 mile run with an elevation profile that showed 14,000 feet of climb (I think that number was high but it was still a lot of climbing).  My strategy was simple.  Start out slow, walk anything that resembled a hill and when I get to the turn around see what I had left.  I cruised the first hour or so with some fellow SLUGS, Stuart, Ellen, and Don.  We talked and just had a good time then after we hit about 5 miles I decided I was feeling ok and decided to pick up the pace.  I brought my headphones along for the day because no matter what race I run, I always seem to end up running alone.  I ran off and on with another group of runners until about the 10 mile mark.  From here on out if was just me cruising along by myself until I hit an aid station. 

I came to the aid station around the 18 mile mark and asked out of curiosity what place I was in 7th.  “Not bad.” I thought to myself.  I threw down some chips, potatoes with salt, and a few gummy bears and headed out.  I just tried to stay consistent and keep my head right.  Before long I was out at the aid station at mile 23.5 (which I did not know the mileage of).  I saw Leif and Ashley in the tent getting their bottles and stomachs filled up.  They were the leaders and were about 2.5 - 3 miles ahead of me.  On this short 1.5 mile out and back I was going to get to see the next 4 runners who were ahead of me.

The first person I see on the out-and-back is Paul, he’s bounced back and feeling good and running really strong.  Next I see David who tells me he’s going to drop.  He’s been sick and not able to keep anything down. I exchange a few words of encouragement and keep pressing on.  Next I see Jamie Anderson (who came in 14 minutes ahead of me in the 50k) and Alyssa Godesky.  Both look good and we all exchange words of encouragement.  I get to the turn around and make my way back.  This little section was fun.  You got to see a lot of people either coming or going and give each other a thumbs up or high-fives and hopefully feed off of each other’s energy.  I see Ellen and Don here and they are all smiles which really helps.

I’m back at the mile 23.5 (now 26.5) aid station and see David wrapped in a blanket.  I ask him one more time if he wants to come back out with me but he declines.  He informs me that this is past the half way point.  I laugh and say “Seriously, I figured this was in the low 20’s or so!”  I became pretty excited here because I had “picked-up”  about 3 miles.  I think this goes to show where my head was at today.  I was not worked up about much.  I just cruised along and enjoyed the day.   I filled up my gut again.  Drop a NUUN in each water bottle from the baggie I was carrying and got out.  I’m feeling good and ready to pick it up now that I am pass the 1/2 way point.  I take off out of the AS and immediately miss the turn back on to the trail.  I realize it then turn back around and go back.  I ended up losing about 5 minutes here.

I’m back at the aid station from mile 18, now 31.5.  With David out, I’m now in 6th.  I ask where the next 2 are in front of me and I am informed they (Alyssa and Jamie) are about 7 minutes ahead.  I grab a few things from the AS, pick through my drop bag for a few items I think I’ll need in the closing miles and head out.

The next manned AS is about 9.5 miles away and there is an unmanned water station about 1/2 way.  I was hammering the downhills and just feeling good.  I was hustling up the climbs with a fast walk and running smooth when it was flat … which was not very often.  I see a couple of coolers up the way.  I was to the unmanned AS.  Just as I crossed the little creek and was about a tenth of a mile away, I see Jamie finishing up filling his bottle then he spots me and takes off.  I had almost made up 7 minutes in the last 5 miles.  I eventually caught Jamie and Allysa who had been running together for a bit.  Man was I glad to see them.  They were the first people running the same direction as me that I had been around since about mile 10.  They asked if I had ran the day before and I said, “yes, sorry.”  I could tell they were doing fine, but hated to damper their spirits by telling them I was a stage competitor.  But, in true ultrarunner fashion they stepped aside and told me to go.  I even said I’d hang with them for a bit just for the conversation but they would not have it and told me to get moving.

I was alone again but approaching the next aid station at Barkshed 41 miles in.  My cousin from Little Rock said she, her husband, and son would come down and try to meet me on the course.  As I looked down from the trail running along the bluff, I could see their red car below and knew they had made it.  I charged forward feeling energized and also trying to bank a little time so I could talk to them for a bit before taking off.  This was the last manned aid station and I had single digits to go.  I was feeling pretty good but did not want to run in on fumes.  I was stuffing my face, drank down some beef broth, and chugged some coke.  Rocket fuel!!  As I looked over at the sheet taking down the names of runners who were through, I noticed something.  The first place male (Leif) from day one had dropped which put me in third and meant I had a chance of moving up in the overall.  I said I had to go to my cousin Jennifer and her husband Bryan (who had ran Little Rock Marathon the weekend before, way to go Bryan!!) walked with me back to the trail head.  I thanked him for coming (and taking pictures) and told him I’d see them in a bit at the finish line.

  

 coming into Barkshed AS at mile 41

Now I was sitting in 3rd place for the 50.  Crazy right?!?!  I knew Alyssa and Jamie were strong runners and could not be that far back so I was going to have to work to stay ahead.  Not only that, but Jamie had 14 minutes on me going into today so I was going to have to hit it to make that up with so few miles left.  I have a general rule of thumb when I am wearing headphones that  I won’t touch the controls, I just take whatever the next song is and go, but I gave myself a pass to hit next if the song did not fit the pace I was trying to run.  I was running hard and really focused so focused on running that not once, but twice in the next 9 miles, I lost the trail and had to back track.  The first time I got confused by the arrow coming off the trail onto the fire road.  One clearly showed to go right, but there was another one that ran all the way across the road and pointed straight at me.  “Did I come from that way?” I thought.  There did not appear to be any single track there but the arrow was throwing me and  I just did not remember going across this bridge up the way.  I ran back and forth from the trail head to the bridge twice (about a tenth of a mile) to get my bearings.  Finally after about 5 minutes I decided to go over the bridge and soon spotted a couple of water jugs at the unmanned AS.  With 4.5 miles since the last AS and 4.5 to get to the finish line I decided I had enough liquids to get me in and kept going.  Now things were looking familiar again, right?  I crossed out into this open grass prairie, hopped a log, climbed up a short little climb and had lost the trail.  I walked a little bit and could not see any more of the blue flashes marking the trail.  I walked back down, retraced my steps and again ended up on this little bluff overlooking the river again but no trail.  “DAMN IT!!!!!!” I screamed then grinned to myself a bit over the situation.  I was trying to make up time running, but was shooting myself in the foot by not looking.  Sort of like running late for something, so you speed and get pulled over only to make yourself later.  That’s exactly how I felt.  Finally I went back to the prairie area and walked forward paying extra close attention this time.  There was the maker! The trail forked and I took the wrong direction.  Had I been paying attention I would have not done this.  “Geeze, I’ve got to get my head out of my ass” I thought.  I pressed on hard and knew the finish line was close.  I was running along the bluff and could her people talking.  They saw me from below and I heard the cow bell (thanks Jennifer) and cheering.  I was so glad to be closing in on the finish.  When I crossed the finish line I just threw my water bottle to the side and smiled.  Happy to have ran well but really ready for this one to be over.  David was waiting just on the other side of the Finish line and gave me a big hug and pat of the back.  He is a stats hound and said right away. “Jamie has 14 minutes on you, where is he?”  I told him I passed him with about 12 or so left and was not sure and that with me losing about 10 minutes to getting lost 2 more times he could not be that far behind. 

  

I really did not care that much.  More than anything, I was really pleased with my 2 performances on a tough course.  I had ran a good 50k the day before then backed it up with a strong 50 miler.  I felt like this was a really great start to 2010!.  I hugged my cousins and grabbed some Ultragen, and some bean, rice, and sausage that was cooking up at the finish line.  I saw Alyssa and Jamie coming down the hill and they finished 18 minutes after me.  Since David and Leif had DNF’d and my 3rd place finish today I was sitting in 3rd overall by just a hair under 4 minutes over Jamie.  This was crazy!  However what I was hoping to be an easy 20k to finish the weekend might not be.  I might have to really run it hard to stay in 3rd.  I picked up my stuff and headed toward the truck.  Jennifer, Bryan, Corrigan and I were going to go get some food. 

We ate some burgers and fires (and I had a chili cheese dog and a shake too) and talked for a few hours.  I had a great time visiting with them and was really happy they made it down.  We said our good-bye’s and I headed back to the cabin.  David was down but was giving me the run down on the next day.  He just told me “Make Jamie beat you.  You have 4 minutes on him so just get on his heels and make him determine the pace.”  Ok, I thought, that’s what I’ll do.  Luckily I was exhausted or the thought of having to actually race the next day would have kept me up all night. 

Day 3 - 20K

I was up and feeling solid.  Not 100% by any means, but given the fact that I had 80+ hard miles on my legs, I could not complain too much. David got up and ate breakfast with me and chatted about the day.  I had brought my uber light X-Talon 212’s for the 20k but decided to forego the racers and stay in my Flyroc’s again.  I again put on my calf sleeves and duct taped my feet.  I was out the door and ready to do this.

Unfortunately, the race would not happen.  A runner had taken a wrong turn somewhere in the last 9 miles of the course and had not come in the day before.  All the runners decided to stop the race and go look for the missing person (who was found and ok).  I wrote an article for iRunfar.com where you can find more details.

Overall

While I was bummed to not run the last day, I was glad to be a part of the effort to find the missing runner.  I was also really pleased with my performance.  It really goes to show, anything can happen in ultras.  There is a lot of distance out there to cover and anything can happen and did.  A previous year’s overall winner was out early with an ankle roll and the top 2 men from day 1 both DNF’d the 50 leaving the it wide open for the upper mid packers to fight for a spot.  I hung around just long enough for things to fall my way and finish in 3rd.  My friend Paul finished 2nd and Ashley took the overall, running great both days. 

A stage race is a great format that I will do again.  It really is a test of your training and knowing how to run enough to do well but hold back enough to get back up the next day and do it again.  You have to eat and hydrate during the race on day 1 in anticipation of the next days.  You have to get food in after the race to make sure you are not calorie deprived.  You also have to figure out ways to minimize swelling and breaking down.  It is a great testing ground to find out if your entire training plan is correct.  On top of the personal stuff, you also get a chance to hang out with some great people for a few days as opposed to the normal one day race format.  The course, the people, the RD, the AS workers, everything about this race was good.  I recommend anyone wanting to try something new while getting to take in some really beautiful scenery.

Sorry for the delay here.  I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how to write this thing.  It was a beautiful and brutal course that really beat me up.  There could be some inaccuracies in the section descriptions, but I think I am close.

The Drive Up – I was lucky enough to have my father-in-law and crew chief extraordinaire volunteer to take some driving time of the 11.5 hour trip from Troy, IL to Lutsen, MN.  We left Thursday night and drove up to Madison, WI and grabbed a hotel for the night so we did not have to take the whole trip in one shot.  Got up, ate some breakfast and hit the road again. 

We arrived in Lutsen around 3 with a few hours to kill so we grabbed the aid station map and went to Oberg Mountain aid station and checked out the trail a bit.  This trail section was not bad, but was a good preview of what was to come from a footing standpoint.  Lots of roots and rocks coving this single track section.

Start – We started this point-to-point 50 miler in the town of Finalnd, south of the finish at Caribou Highlands Lodge in Lusten.  We all gathered on the road listened to a little pre race briefing then were off.  We were on the road for about a 1/4 of a mile then turned left onto the Superior Hiking Trail.  The trail had some tricky footing with some good softball sized stones scattered about but for the most part this section was relatively flat without much climb only some rolling hills here and there.  I ran with a some folks from Illinois, Iowa, and some native Minnesotans.  I locked in with a guy named Paul who had ran the course before (both the 100 and the 50) and was moving at a similar pace as me and we stayed together for a fair amount of time.  

Sonju Lake – We rolled into the aid station at Sonju Lake and filled up our water bottles.  I usually don’t spend much time at the first aid station, but they called out that it was over 9 miles to the next one so I decided to refill everything and eat a pretzel or 2.  This next section of the course was SLOW moving.  We basically would drop down to the river, then head up the Sawtooth Mountain range.  Lots of rocks and roots riddled the trail.  All of the terrain made you work for it.  The roots and rocks were not just there, they were tall, meaning you had to lift your feet higher than normal.  Below is a picture of my crew (Ron) the day before. Those type of roots were a common occurrence on the trail.

 

Crosby Manitou State Park to Sugarloaf I don’t remember much here except that the last 9 miles were painfully slow and I was glad to be done with that section.  I was still with Paul for a bit longer when we rolled in here.  I do recall this section not being that rough and was able to up the pace a little, which was welcome after the slow climbs on the previous section.

Sugarloaf to Cramer Road – I started feeling pretty rough though this section, which is normal for me.  Usually around the 20 mile mark I start getting a little blah.  The temps had started to rise and the humidity was already way up.  I am guessing it was in the 70%’s.  I hit the Cramer Road section and was about 25 miles in and feeling pretty rough.  Luckily Ron was there at the aid station to give me a pick me up and get me going.  The heat and humidity took it’s toll on a lot of runners and a significant number of runners dropped at this point.

Cramer Road to Temperance River – 25 -32.7 We were lucky enough to get a nice douse of rain at this part.  I was hot, grumpy and grimy feeling so this was perfect!  I met a guy from BC at this point (Brett.. I think) and we cruised together for this entire section.  He was feeling rough and I was coming out of it so we just helped each other though and talked.  This was his first ultra… what a pick!!  My legs were really starting to feel rough though here, but the views were unreal!  I was on top of a mountain.. literally.  Now this is not Everest or even the Rockies but man this was sweet.  I really wish I would have brought my camera for this section.  Ron was waiting at the aid station and said lots of people came out saying “this part of the course was the hardest”  He said that he heard that with every section  and being a point-to-point, it may have been true that each section got progressively harder.

Temperance River to Britton Peak –32.7 - 37.5 – This section of the course was again rough.  The climbs here were just unreal.  Fellow ultrarunner David Wakefield (3rd overall in the 50) said after the race when we were talking “I guess they don’t believe in switchbacks up here!”  It was so true.  Everything was straight up or straight down… and the straight downs were killing my legs.  I came into the aid station at Britton Peak and again said bent over with my hands on my knees breathing hard “that section was rough!”  Ron helped me refill water bottles and reloaded my E-Caps.  As I was getting ready to get back on the trail, fellow SLUG Jeremy Bolt and Matt (who I shared some time with earlier) came in.  I decided to run with these guys for a bit.. but it was short lived.

Britton Peak to Oberg Mountain 37.5 -44.9 – This was pretty much the end for me as far as running went.  I lead Jeremy and Matt for about 1/2 a mile then my right ITB locked up and I was forced to walk….. the entire rest of the race!  This sucked.  I though about dropping once I hit the Oberg Mountain aid station and was actually convinced that I would.  I just kept walking and watching people pass me.  It was miserable, I was in 10th overall and now a parade of folks are cruising by me and there is nothing I can do.  I saw the signs on the trail for the Oberg parking lot and decided, “I’ve come this far, might was well finish as long as I can make the cutoff.”  I rolled into the aid station and there was Ron asking how things were going.  I told him I could not run anymore and had to walk it in so if he wanted to see the trail, he could just walk it in with me.  He was up for it so he started getting himself ready to go.  While at the aid station, I ran across Curt.  I had met Curt at the PCT50 back in 2007.  We talked for a while and he asked how my daughter was.  Which I thought was great because when we had met, my wife was 7 months pregnant and did not even make the trip to Oregon.  He had just remembered.  Once again, you can’t beat the people involved in ultras!!  Kurt took good care of me.  Grabbed me some food, some aspirin and was just good to have there and lift my spirits.  We said “good-bye” and Ron and I started walking.

Oberg Mountain to Finish 44.9 – 52 –   Ron and I walked together in the dark for a LONG time.  There were some tough climbs and of course the continued tricky footing.  It was especially rough for Ron since this was not something he does and it was dark out so we only had flashlights and headlamps for a light source.  We cussed and laughed and talked about the course and the day.  It was really great to have him out there with me.  I wish I would have been running, but then Ron would not have been able to go out there and see this section of the course in it’s entirety so I guess it worked out pretty well.  We finally popped off the trail onto a gravel road, the end was near!  We kept walking and could finally see the Caribou Lodge coming up.  I mustered up enough to grit my teeth and “jog” it in for the last few hundred feet to the finish line.  I crossed in 14:13 minutes.  I had walked for about the last 6 hours!

Finish Line – What a great way to finish a race!  We ended on the back patio of the Caribou Highlands Lodge.  Other finishers were there hanging out and talking.  I was really glad that I had not pulled out because I would have hated to be sitting here with a DNF hanging over me.  I talked with David Wakefield about the course and we both agreed (and so did the finishing times) that is it a very hard course. 

Looking back I can say that my legs were not prepared for the amount of decent that this course offered.  Which is a great lesson to learn without a doubt.  Now as I sit here, still a little beat up, I know that if timing works out, I’ll be back to this course next year to try my hand at it again.  If not, I got to see a beautiful course and saw that if I dig deep enough I can still get the finish.

First things first… I finished!! I crossed the finish line at 7:32 am Sunday morning after 25 hours, 32 minutes and 54 seconds of me and my crew’s hard work. Good for 4th place overall.

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Early in a race is always a blur to me. I don’t really remember anything specific happening. I try to just take it easy and relax. I caught up with my ultra friends that I had not seen in a while, made new ones, and just cruised along. The only thing I really was concentrating on was keep my food and drink in check .

Somewhere along the way, I did not keep my fuel in check. I was over drinking and not taking in enough salt. My stomach started to feel horrible at around 30 miles. Also, my right knee was killing me! I was trying to keep a positive attitude and kept telling myself “This too shall pass.,” but it wasn’t it was getting worse, both symptoms. I started doubting if I could finish like then, when all of a sudden, a grumbling happened way down in my stomach. I stepped to the side of the trail and puked my guts out! I stood there for a minute and evaluated the situation, an older gentleman said" “you need more salt, I’ve been there” and handed me a few salt pills. My stomach did not hurt anymore. I was getting a re-do on my liquids-to-salt intake. Ok, one problem fixed, now when I get to the start/finish, I’ll change out shoes and go from there.

I came around the corner and spotted the start/finish. My cousin Dylan, who had came to crew and run some with me, was standing there cheering. I ran over and gave him a big hug.

Then I heard a huge cheer of “TRAVIS!!,” it was my wife (Micaela), daughter (Gianna), mother-in-law (Jan), and father-in-law (Ron). This was great pick up, just what I needed. They asked how I was and I explained the puking incident, changed shoes then asked Dylan if he wanted to take an early loop with me so he could see the course in the light. He was up for it, so I changed my shoes, which I had no plans of doing at all during the race, I had brought extra just in case, good thing. I felt great. Everything was back on track. My family met me again at the 1 mile mark after the trail loops around and comes back near the start/finish. It’s funny how things went from me feeling really down to great within about a 3 mile span. We ran really well on this next loop as the course was packing down more and more. There was still lot of mud, but overall a huge improvement as the day went on.

I hit the 50 mark and was feeling great.

While we were out, my father-in-law (who was crewing for me through the night) and wife set up an crewing area for me. All of my gear was there along with a tent if one of them needed to get a few winks

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Since it was just past 6pm and the sun would be going down while I was out on this one, I grabbed my arm warmers, some thin gloves, a stocking cap and my head lamp. I had Dylan hang back so I could use him later on. Ron grabbed a burger for me while I refilled my water. My wife and daughter were still there and I said I’d be back around 9 or so. They decided to stay for one more loop before they would say their good nights. I headed out to the trail again.

I began down the muddy slope eating my burger and just smiling to myself. I was now past the 1/2 way mark. Every step I took meant that there were more miles behind me then in front of me. No problems at all to speak of, besides the general crappy feeling of having feet that had been wet for hours and the fact that I could not even think about taking another sip of Perpetum, both of these things could be dealt with. About 3/4 of the way through the loop it got dark. I turned on my headlamp and just enjoyed the feel of the “new trail.” Even though I have run here before and had ran 5 other loops this day, in the dark there is no real sense of distance or what is coming up so in an odd way its almost like being somewhere unfamiliar. As I was finishing out 60 I decided it was time to address my feet. This worked out well as I got to spend a little bit of time with Micaela and Gianna before theny went back to the hotel for the night. There was a hot spot on the ball of my left foot and both pinkey toes hurt pretty bad, I had Ron grab me some soup while Dylan and I worked on my feet. We got my socks off and cleaned my feet off. There was a lot of grit on them. The Mizuno’s I was wearing are fine shoes, but they are very porous. Porous is great for stream crossings, but there were also letting in a lot of sand on silt from the creek. My knee had not hurt since I changed them but I had to do something before my feet got any worse. We slapped blister guards on each pinkey toe and I decided to try some duct tape around my foot to cut down on the fiction. Both of these worked great. I said my good-bye’s, kissed Micaela and Gianna good-night and went out for another by myself.

I left for 60-70 with my soup in one hand and water in the other. I had ditched the Perpetum as I had carried the same bottle for 2 laps and barely drank any. Water, Edurolytes, and soup was pretty much my diet for the next 10 hours. We cruised along, running in the flat areas and marching up the hills. I still felt great. This was serious mileage for me. I’d never been above 52, so the fact that I was still kicking was strange, but I figured I’d just go with it, since you never know when it will go away. I came around again, grabbed Dylan to pace and a pair or warmer gloves and headed out for 70-80.

I continued on the next 30 miles like this with an exception of a much needed shoe change and foot doctoring at mile 80 (which Dylan and Ron handled like a pit crew). I felt like a machine. Not in a “you’re a machine!” type of way, but in a singular task focused kind of way. I sort of zoned out and just did what I had to do to get through the each of the remaining loops. My agenda was as follows:

1. At the Start/Finish fill up water and eat a burger or soup
2. Eat some fruit at Totem Poll
3. Get hot soup at Heaven’s Gate
4. Eat a caffeinated gel just before returning to start finish
5. start at step 1 again

Then all of a sudden I was back around for the 9th time. This was it, the final loop. I needed to have a 3 hour loop to hit under 26 hours. Every lap so far had been under 3 hours, but did not want this to be the one that was over. I was starting to feel it and was just trying my best to stay focused and knock this thing out. I approached this lap just like every other, tasked based. Dylan and I headed out for the last time. I was starting to realize what I was about to do. It was pretty overwhelming, but I had to keep that in check. I still had a few hours and a nasty course waiting. I did not want to lose focus and have something dumb happen like falling or roll an ankle, so I just kept pressing on. After we hit the 1/2 way mark I was getting pretty excited. We got there in around 1:20, just needed to duplicate the effort over the next remaining part of the course to hit my sub-26.

Everything on the last loop was like a list,

• Totem Poll aid station - check
• Stream crossing 1 – check
• Golf Hill – Check
• bridge marking 1/2 way- check
• etc

I was just checking off each part of the course that I would not be seeing again. Finally I crossed the last creek crossing and worked my way though the last mile of the course. We climbed the last big hill, ran past the Frisbee golf course, hit the last little bit of trail, turned left then ran our way toward the Finish Line. Dylan was already with me, Ron was out there with Gianna and we all ran it in together.

I could not believe it was over. The whole thing had been so consuming of my life over the last year that when I finally stopped, I unraveled a bit and started crying. The thoughts of my time spent training, wife’s support and sacrifices, how awesome Dylan and Ron were to be out there all night long to get me through this, the physical and mental exhaustion of just going hour after hour after hour, all rushed over me at once. It was an amazing experience that I could not have done without the great support of my family. I’ve thanked them a lot already, but I’m not sure if it will ever be enough to show how grateful I really am.