NorthFork 50k

It's hard to believe the NorthFork 50k is on Saturday. In years past I would probably be in full on freak out mode right now but leading up to this race I've been eerily calm and confident. When people ask how long a certain race is or how long I went on a training run I always feel like I have to "qualify" it if I'm not doing the longer race or run. How far is your race this weekend "It's just a 50k". yes I realize how silly saying "it's just" sounds when it's a 50k. Perhaps, going back to a previous post, I am still at a point where I have difficulty celebrating myself.

I've been in this position before, a week before a race, but this time I know what to expect for the most part. I know there will be moments of pain, moments of joy, moments of doubt and moments of confidence. I know all the trails, I know all the climbs, I know it gets hot out in the burn area and that there will likely be a thunderstorm at some point in the day. I also know I can finish, all I don't know is how I'll feel getting to the finish.

One of my biggest goals for this race is to conquer the food demons that plagued me a year ago in the 50 miler. While I won't be pushing myself to the same limit as I did then; 50k is still ample opportunity to have some major nutrition disasters and I want to mitigate that as much as I can. I ordered a big box of Raw Revolution bars and am planning on cutting them up like gummies and eating them along the race course. I've already got a few pickles in reserve that I am going to put in my drop bag at the Buffalo Creek aid station (we pass through it twice on for the 50k). Here's what my nutrition plan is looking like:

Stuff to carry while running:

• raw revolution bars
• sour patch kids
• gels (just in case of emergency)
• honey stinger or GU gummies (whatever is cheapest)
• nuun
• salt pills

Stuff to put in my drop bag:

• sour patch kids
• pickles
• protein (either hummus or tempeh wrapped in a cabbage leaf)
• nuun
• peanut butter cups
• honey stinger waffles

The aid stations have a lot of other items to supplement what I'm carrying (chips, M&Ms, sandwiches, ice, etc). I decided against doing the enduralite powder I used last year. That did not sit well with me and I haven't been training with it. I have been using nuun (both running and ultimate) and it's felt really good tummy wise. I learned my lesson with the pickle shortage last year and I'm sure they will taste awesome at mile 24.3. 

The weather is shaping up to be nice. Highs in the 70s, chance of an afternoon thunderstorm, but not to bad. I'm sure it will still feel hot but 70s is a lot better than 90s, especially when there's shade!

Other than nutrition, I do have a time goal for this race. My first 50k, Sageburner, was a tough one. I came in at 7 hours and 15 mine. I think I can get under 7 hours this go around. I have to figure out what that means splitwise during aid stations, but I think I can do it. I've run these trails so many times and I've got some good hard trail runs under my belt leading up to this. My achilles is feeling ready so all that's left is to lace up the shoes and go. 

I know some people (cough cough...mom...cough cough) are worried about me. My 50 mile experience does not inspire a lot of confidence. The Vegas odds might be in favor of me exploding on Saturday. To rest my critics, and the voices in my head, I feel a lot better prepared this time around. Not just because it's not 50 miles, 50k is not something to take lightly, I feel like I learned a lot from last year and have put in a lot of time figuring out how to run smarter and how to take care of my body better. There will be tough points, pain, discomfort, uneasiness. But that's all part of ultra running. I already requested a beer from Ryan at his aid station and hope to drink more than 1/4 of it! All that aside, I am going to listen to my body, make sure I'm eating, drinking, electrolyting and hopefully that translates in to a good race and a good week after the race. LFG  

Most Funnest Day Ever - or the 50mile recap

A lot can happen in 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds. A lot can happen to your body in 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds. A lot can happen in your brain in 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds. A lot can change in a person in 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds.

To avoid being overly suspenseful, I finished the 50 miler. If you haven't guessed from the sentences above, it took me 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds. I've struggled with the best way to sum up my experience, it's likely little bits and pieces of it will continue to trickle out through future blog posts. For the purpose of this post I'm going to take a page from one of my favorite podcasts; This American Life.

Each blog post I choose a theme and bring you stories on that theme. Today's theme; 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds.

Act 1: The little things. Over the course of 50 miles the little things add up.

Act 2: The fight. What happens when the brain, body, and stomach get into a fight?

Act 3: I get by with a little help from my friends. It's takes a village to finish a race, and sometimes a little rolling rock.

ACT I - The Little Things

This wasn't my first race. It wasn't my first ultra. It wasn't even the first time I was faced with spending many many hours out in the hot sun on my feet having to perform athletic awesomeness. Good performance is about nutrition, hydration, mental toughness, and physical preparedness and ability. I had all of these for the race. I had my go to nutrition - Gu gels as well as countless other things in my drop bags to supplement at aid stations. I had my go to hydration - salt bills and water mixed with HEED enduralite powder which packed electolytes as well as 300cal of per serving. I had mental toughness - I've been through enough shitty training runs and races to know I could get through a lot to finish. I had trained, I had worked for this. I was ready. Then things started happening...

It started out small. I tried to pass someone on a flat section at the beginning of the course and took a fall. Nothing major, but I had scraped my knee up good and could feel some soreness in my knees and ankle.

I stuck to my one Gu an hour plan and at about mile 8/10 I was ready to down my second Gu - strawberry banana. I ripped open the package and started oozing it into my  mouth and had the immediate reaction of wanting to vomit. I managed to choke the rest of it down, but it was brutal.

I made it to the mile 10.1 Homestead aid station and had Becca and Andy fill my waterbottle with HEED. It had some other HEED already in it, a different flavor, but I didn't really care much what it tasted like. I took off for Buffalo Creek aid station and my first drop bag stop.

I tried my third gu, it took my 20+ minutes to finish it, dribble by dribble into my mouth. Ugh...why did it make me want to puke?

The climb between mile 16 and mile 22 was tough, lots of walking. Lots of stomach pains. Not a lot of food/fuel.

I decided that the HEED was no longer working for me, I ran the section between mile 22 and mile 31.9 with only water and the food I managed to eat at the Rolling Creek Aid station (some watermelon, a piece of a candy bar, a part of a banana).

It was all those things, added up, that caught up to me from mile 31.9 on. The lack of fuel intake while running made it hard to find the energy to go faster. Since I was going slower, it also meant it took longer to get to aid stations where I was able to intake fuel. Can you see the pattern? I was unable to eat I know that had a huge impact on me, especially later in the race. I hadn't planned on having to come up with an alternative to fueling on the go, Gu has never given me trouble before. The HEED thing was weird too, I had done a lot of training runs with different mixtures and it always gave me  confidence that I was getting in calories through hydration. Not being able to ingest the two things I've always counted on was rough and it hurt me at the end of the race. I'm sure, looking at my splits, the  steep decline as soon as the lack of proper fuel kicked in was monumental.

ACT II - The fight.

Let me give you an taste of what my body, mind, and stomach were going through during the race in the form of a dialogue.

Stomach - Yeah, so I don't like what you're putting in me so if it's ok with you I'm just going to hurt here until it's gone.
Body - Well, we had an agreement Stomach. I'd put things in you and you'd turn it into energy so I could work.
Stomach - I know, but I changed my mind on what you can put in me. I want pickles right now and nothing else.
Mind - I'm trying to ask for pickles, but different words are coming out of my mouth.
Mind - oh, I got it, "Pickles, I need PICKLES". - what there are no pickles left? Oh...
Stomach - well I guess I could eat a banana and some chips, but it's pretty lame.

Body - Everything hurts a lot
Mind - well we need to keep going. This section is flat we should run
Body - nah, I've set everything on cruise control at an 18 minute mile so we're just going to do that for the rest of the race.
Mind - but the time cut-offs, we need to make the cut-offs!
Body - yep, 18 minute mile, ONE SPEED FOR EVERYTHING
Mind - I can override your system and make the legs go faster
Body - pretty sure you can't, I put a block on that, you no longer have control over your legs
Mind - I want ice, why do I keep saying salt?

Body - I have to pee
Mind - really, again?
Body - I have to pee NOW
Mind - ok, ok, go pee
Body - I forgot about the chaffing.

Mind - I don't know if I can finish
Body - well I'm just going to keep moving forward whether you tell me to or not
Mind - I don't know if I'll make the cut-offs
Body - ok we can try to go a little faster sometimes, stomach can you send me something?
Stomach - .....
Body - Stomach are you there?
Stomach - fu

Mind - There's .4miles to go, we're running
Body - fine
Stomach - fu

ACT III - I get by with a little help from my friends.

It literally took a village for me to finish this race. It took three friends and one dog to get me to and from the race. Of which I'm so thankful for. Kate, Spencer, Jimmy, and Atila can tell you what sorts of trouble they can get into for 13 hours 41 minutes and 46 seconds. The aid station people gave me food, ice, comfort, a chair. But more so they gave me something to look forward to every 4-6 miles. Knowing that I was one stop closer to actually stopping. Even if they ran out of pickles. Ryan had a beer for me at mile 46.2. At that was amazing, also because he had a chair for me to drink it in. I did drink it, only about 1/4 of it. But it was a delicious, cold Rolling Rock. Liz made sure I ate food at the aid station, even though I didn't want to. She gave me a hunk of some weird candy bar and the whole aid station cheered me on as I climbed back out and on with the race. Janice the race coordinator at the finish. Despite being the 2nd to last person to finish the race, they cheered with what I can only imagine was the same enthusiasm as when the first person crossed the finish line. And then she hugged me. Sweaty, tired, emotional wrecked me.

Erin - without whom I don't think I could finish it. I didn't know Erin until I met her at Mile 22. She joined me at mile 31.9 and spent some very intimate time with me for the next 6 hours. She went from being a friend of Liz who was interested in pacing, to someone who I couldn't live without. She put up with my brain refusing to work and freaking me out, my mood swings of optimism to crabby, and anything weird that my body was going through at any given moment which was a lot. We talked, we cheered when we saw a trail sign, we joked about obsessive compulsive tendencies like counting steps, and there was no question in my mind I wanted her to cross the finish line with me at the end.

Epilogue - Dehydration is a horrible

I thought I was in ok shape the day after the race. I had trouble eating breakfast, but I felt ok. Drank a few beers, took a nap, watched soccer. I was sore and just assumed that was that. Then I was flung into a pit of horribleness. I referred to myself as the walking dead for the next week. I was not prepared for the late onset dehydration, which Erin informed me can come on 2-3 days after a race. It was like I had the flu, without the comfort of knowing how to treat it or when it would end. I was chilled, I even have a small burn on my foot from putting a bottle of hot water on my skin to try and warm it up.  I had weird fever thoughts when I tried to go to bed at night. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't speak well or articulate my thoughts, and I couldn't eat. I managed to get down a bowl of ramen type noodles thanks to Dan and Allison and a couple vitamin waters. I'm happy to report that things are much better. Everything except for the food part. I've managed to start eating some more meals, but it's sad to not be able to eat normally like I am used to and love to. It's improving, but just at a slower rate than I want.

Will I ever do it again? - Time will tell. I will say that this was an awesome race, well organized, well put on, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to attempt it.

NorthFork 50 preview

When I first started writing a couple years ago I never really thought I'd get to the day where I'd be doing final prep for my first 50miler.

You paid money to run 50 miles?

It seemed like such an abstract thing that would happen in the future at some point, not something that was going to happen this Saturday at 7am. The realness of it all sunk in this past weekend as I prepared a novel length email for my friend Kate who is schlepping me to and from the race. I calculated estimated times for aid stations in case she wanted to catch me on the course and then it hit me, come Saturday I'd be actually doing it.

This past weekend was a flurry of errands. Here's what I got:

• 12 gels (10 Gu brand, 2 Honey Stinger fruit smoothie because they are delicious)
• 6 packs of gu chomps various flavors some with caffeine
• smokey tempeh (for protein in my drop bag)
• salmon jerky (for protein in my drop bag)
• a cheap watch (because I lost my other one)
• KT tape - I don't know if I'll use it or not, but it was on sale at Target
• gallon zipper close plastic baggies
• blister bandaid strips
• sunscreen.

I wanted to have something to look forward to eat in my drop bags. Unfortunately it's tough when you're at an aid station and the only protein options is turkey or peanut butter. I've eaten tempeh "bacon" during ultimate tournaments before it provided the right amount of salty, chewy, protein that I needed. I figured it'd be worth a shot and I don't really  need to worry about keeping it cold. I've got a couple other things on my list to get but I put a good dent on Saturday.

Unfortunately my body is rebelling against me right now and I'm trying to fight off the early stages of a cold (stuffy nose, scratchy throat etc). I purchased some zinc tablets and some throat lozenges and have been pounding those and Vitamin C, here's hoping for a full recovery before Saturday.

I went through the race website and put together all the info regarding elevation, turn by turn navigation, course map, estimated times etc. I'm going to make a pace card for myself to show me at each aid station what the estimated time should be for a 10hr race (ohhh how ambitious!) a 12hr race (the goal) and a 14hr race (the cut offs). I figured a 10hr estimation would give me some motivation or remind me to slow down a bit if I'm going to fast. Also I want to make sure I can actually spend some time in the aid stations so this give me an idea of when I need to be heading back out on the course.

Course Thoughts

I've been able to run a few sections of the course now which will be a big help. In total I've run about 38 miles of the 50mile course. There are some good climbs, but nothing compared to what you see at Quad Rock. The total elevation gain is 7,350 feet over the course of the race.  Here's what it looks like:

So pretty consistent up and down with a long downhill at the end. The race is almost entirely on single track with a few "service road" type sections that don't take up too much of the course. I remember the downhills being really fast and fun and I can't wait to stretch out my legs on them. Ideally I will have run a smart enough race I'll be able to run the section between the Meadows (miles 22.3 through 31.9) and final downhill. The climb from Buffalo Creek to Homestead isn't crazy steep, but it's long and I remember feeling tired doing it during the last training run.

There's some pretty hot, exposed sections of the course due to the two large wildfires that cut through the area in the past. I've been warned by a lot of past runners that these sections are hot, long and brutal. Especially during the heat of the day. I haven't settled on exactly how I am going to handle these sections, but I have some thoughts.

• A hat, I'm going to wear a hat, probably for most of the race. 
• A camelbak, I never got a fancy new hydration pack, but I've been running with the trusty camelbak for awhile now and it's been fine. I thought about just doing a water bottle since the aid stations are close enough to refuel, but I'd rather have more water, maps, food then needed and the extra water can be doused on my hat and put on my head for a quick cook down.
• Bandannas, I am thinking of packing some in the drop bags to dunk in water at aid stations or put ice in if they have it to get through some hot sections.

Temps are looking good for the day, the high is 74 and the low is 46. There are no storms predicted, but it's Colorado so it will for sure rain/thunder/hail at some point during the race. Perhaps I'll get lucky and it will be on another part of the course, or perhaps I will get lucky and the rain will come as I run through the burn areas. I'm also packing a lot of salt pills and will be taking those often.

Additional Gear thoughts:

I am still figuring out what to wear on race day. I've really enjoyed my new patagonia shorts, their pockets are good and they  have a nice back pocket which my old ones do not. I do think it would be wise not to try and shove M&Ms in the butt pocket despite their thick candy shell.

I think you're brain has a thick candy shell

I bought some additional icebreaker shirts/tanks and will likely pack a tank in one of my drop bags but start out wearing a shirt and probably arm warmers if it is in the low 40s at the start time. I am going to pack in my camelbak or in my drop bags the following:

•  a jacket 
• ankle brace
• long sleeve
• extra socks
• winter hat
• gloves 
• maybe pants. I highly doubt I'll need pants, but it's better to have them in a drop bag just in case.

Goals

So really, my ultimate goal for this race is to finish. It's my first 50miler and crossing the finish line will be the best thing ever. I'm sure I'll be all weird and emotional when I get to the paved path around the lake at the very end, knowing that I can stumble into the finish. Finishing will be huge, really that's the biggest and most important goal for me.  I do have some secondary goals:

• Finish in 12 hrs. I think with my training this is doable. If I feel good I see no reason why I can't make this happen
• Focus on my self and not get distracted. As we'd say on Molly Brown "IRRELEVANT", I'm going to focus on me, running, food and liquids. I am not going to worry about other runners or other people on the course and just be there because ultimately it's my two legs that will do the race.
• Not throw-up. I don't like throwing up and that just sounds really unpleasant.
• Drink a beer at the last aid station - Andy Jung said he'd have a cold one waiting. Hopefully by completing this goal I won't fail at the preceding goal.
• Be proud of myself, no matter what happens I'm proud that I took on this challenge.