Bear 100 Race Report

"How are you doing?"  Ellen Parker, eventual 3rd place woman in 23:53 asks as I collapsed into a chair next to her with a cup of broth and blood running down my back.

"I've been better." was all I could manage to say in response.

We were at mile 70 and I had just fallen about a half mile from the aid station, catching a toe on a descent, slamming to the ground where a frozen tree root and half buried rock halted my slide abruptly.  I thought I heard a crack and felt sure that my shoulder and/or shoulder blade was ripped from my body.  I slowly rolled over, got up, collected my water bottle and stood there wondering why I was doing this to myself.  I had no answer, so stumbled down the rest of the descent and came into the scene above with a spunky Ellen, being crewed and paced by Krissy Moehl and Matt Hart, when she asked me the unanswerable question.

Backing up to the start of the race, the temp at 6am Friday morning was warmer than last year and I knew it would be hot mid day.  We got underway and trotted down the road toward the opening climb of 4,000 ft to Logan Peak.  I got into a nice groove in about 9th place behind the lead pack and remained in that position for much of the next 10 miles.  Shortly after the first aid station, Nikki Kimball came by and was moving quickly on the descents.  She'd pull away, then I'd make up space on the climbs.  I kept focusing on trying to preserve my quads on the descents because the Bear course is one race where trashed quads can end your day.  I was quite a bit ahead of my splits from last year and was focused and confident on a mid 21 hour finish.  Last year Bear was my first 100 and I finished in 23:05 with long aid stops, getting lost, and generally taking it easy, so 21:30 is definitely within reason.

I switched shoes at Leatham Hollow (mile 20) due to a painful blister on my heel and got underway with Ben Woodbeck (Diana Finkel's husband) and we chatted happily jogging up the road.  Before reaching Cowley aid station at mile 30 I had put in a hard effort to drop a loose group of five guys.  I was feeling great and just refilled my water and grabbed a pbj sandwich before starting the huge 2.2 mile climb out of the station.  This 7 mile section went well and at the end of it is a short out and back spur to the aid station.  I was enthused to see that Nikki was only 5 mins up on me and Mike Ferris was 6 mins up.  I was feeling good at mile 37 and it was beginning to get hot.  I felt the first twinges of cramps in my shin area and then in my inner quads (groin down to mid-thigh).  Last year I had a very rough patch through this section; it's exposed and in the heat of the day, so I was mentally prepared for it.  However, I still suffered greatly and just couldn't get caught up on hydration.  I could see far in front of me and far behind.  Using a distinct large bush Nikki was running by, I found that she was still only 6 mins up on me by the time I reached the same bush.  That, and the fact that there was another runner in front of her (representing 8th place) basically right in front of me, gave me hope that I'd pull through this bad patch.  If I could just make it through the next 7 miles to Tony Grove aid at mile 52, it'd start cooling off, night would emerge and I would run well, like I normally do at night late in these races.

I caught up with a struggling Mike Ferris shortly before Temple Fork (mile 45).  We separated but met back up after a long 5 miles of suffering.  My race was unravelling and I got passed by a few guys.  I caught back up to Mike, who was struggling too, him with very low energy, me with very bad dehydration.  He was planning to drop at the next aid (Tony Grove, mi 52).  I finally convinced him to continue, "Just take your time at Tony Grove.  Eat and drink and sit.  You'll come around quickly and feel so much better for finishing, even if it's slower than you hoped" (he was originally shooting for a top 3, much like myself).  Mike sat and ate pizza and broth, finally continuing on in much better shape and finished in 25:11, 30 mins in front of me.

I spent the same amount of time at this aid station, cup after cup of Heed (the most disgusting fluid on the earth) and water.  My stomach wasn't happy and I felt nauseous but started the hike out of the aid.  I made a mini-recovery after an hour or so.  Ted Mahon (9th at Hardrock) took a wrong turn and appeared behind me.  I followed him into Franklin Basin aid station at 7:06pm, a solid 1:59 split over the 10 mile section from Tony Grove, mostly because I was concerned about getting to my drop back with lights, since sunset was due at 7:20pm.  I spent 18 mins at Franklin (mi 62), changed shoes/socks, tried to eat, changed into long sleeve shirt, tied wind jacket around waist, getting ready for a long, cold night mostly. If I could manage the next 38 miles in a pedestrian 10 hours, I'd have a 23 hour finish.  At least that's what I kept trying to tell myself in some hope of pushing away the growing pain in both quads.  They were hurting and I feared the descents to come.

This brings us up to the beginning of this report where I fell and was eventually slumped in a chair next to Ellen Parker, watching as Krissy brought her a French press of hot gourmet coffee.  I got up and left the aid since I was getting colder by the second.  I don't really remember the next section much other than bumping into none other than Wayne Rancourt from Idaho.  I could hardly believe it.  I met him last year in almost the exact same area at the exact same time and we ran together for much of the race, with me finishing just 20 mins or something in front of him.  This year was different.  We were both having a rough time and he was particularly upset that he (we) might be off course.  I reassured him we were fine.  After some hesitation and a little back-tracking here and there to confirm we were always on course, we made it to Beaver Creek Lodge aid at mile 75.

The next several hours were a mixture of intense cold (oddly, it was hotter in the day than last year and colder at night as well), water crossings, trying to remember to choke down a gel every hour or so, and searing pain in my quads.  I could get into a shuffle run on flat or slight downhill slopes but anything steeper was a lesson in new levels of pain.  We reached Ranger Dip, the last aid station at mile 92.  Remaining, there was one crazy wall of a climb and then the 4 mile elevator drop descent that I had been  dreading since mile 50.  The climb was fine, slow but do-able.  The descent was heinous.  The pain was so incredible that after about 5 mins the pain would make me nauseous and dizzy.  Wayne and I had agreed at mile 77 that we would finish together, regardless.  He was in rough shape too.  I could climb mostly faster but he could descend faster.  We worked together and I couldn't help but bitch about the descent and would catch myself and shut up.  People were passing us constantly.  I would guess we were passed by at least 15 people over the last 9 miles.  We jogged across the finish line together in 25:41, 30th and 31st place.

Before the race Todd Gangelhoff and I talked about how we both would love to run a perfect 100 some day.  He had a rough one too.  After running strong for much of the race, he developed a sort of charlie horse in his thigh that left him to hobble in a couple hours after I finished.  I had a great run going for 46 miles, had a bad patch, recovered a little, then spiraled into a deep, dark well of crazy suffering.  I'm not sure I'll be able to do Slickrock 100 in 12 days; I was certain I wouldn't be able to walk for a week and planned to skip it but we'll see.

Thanks to Wayne for helping me focus and providing nice company during the "dark hours".  Thanks to Todd for letting me crash in his hotel room the night before the race.  Thanks to Rae Jean for babysitting my dog while I ran.  And thanks to Leland Barker and the kind, attentive aid station volunteers.  Running these things solo with no pacer or crew is the way I like to do them but I appreciate the smiling volunteers who somehow help soften the razor edge pain these races often induce.  It was a humbling race.  Thanks to McDavid for their continued support, both literally and figuratively.

Bear 100 quick recap

Finished bear 100 miler in 25:41. 22,000 ft of climbing starting in the wasatch mtns of Utah and finishing at bear lake in Idaho. Quadriceps were shot after 65 mi and basically walked it in the last 30mi. Disappointing but finished.

Big congratulations to my buddy Nick Pedatella for taking the win in 20:55.

Bear 100 Preview

Bear 100 Elevation Profile

Check out the preview and predictions over at Inside Trail!

Solo Routine Broken

Craig powers up an early, soft climb

I've been running solo for a month, so it was nice to have a buddy who was working a few hours away make the trip over to have dinner, then run 19 miles the next morning.  Craig just ran (rocked) his first ultra last week, so he's in that honeymoon phase where running is glorious la, la, la!


Far removed from the honeymoon phase of ultras, I'm more in the phase (of this season anyway) where you are sitting shirtless on the sofa watching Jeopardy and yelling at the wife for another can of PBR.  Bear 100 in 5 days?  Big f-ing deal, let's run for 3.5 hours.  The pace was relaxed and we (I mostly, due to my hermit-ism lately) talked constantly.  Typically beautiful day in the 80s and sunny and we didn't see even one other runner on the trail.  I haven't seen ONE trail runner in a month here.  Time to move on already?

Not sure what to do with Pippit while I run Bear.  Hopefully, we'll find a sitter.  He jumped in Craig's truck the minute he opened it to leave and was ready to go home with him.

"Don't forget the beer, Craig.  Let's hit the road!"

All around, good day and great company.

Inside Trail and Wordpress

It seems Wordpress took Inside Trail down.  I'm working on it (read: waiting forever for their reply to my email) currently.  One of several reasons I would prefer a stand alone website that I could manage.  If they're going to rip a blog down without warning, at least have a system in place in which one may restore the site quickly.  It was a damn good post today too.  I'm going for a run and hope to have it fixed by the time I get back.
Tim

run, sleep, surf

That's about the extent of my daily existence recently - run, sleep, surf the web for work.  Still poking around for work while I watch my small funds dissolve.  Broke my hydration bladder in my Nathan pack.  Any hydration company looking to sponsor someone racing around 1,000 miles this year, give me a call (preferably before the Bear 100 next week - I'll die of thirst and it'll be on your head).

The good thing is my running is consistent and I'm in better shape than last year at this time.  Hell, the daily run is the highlight of my day.  Kinda like Pippit's highlight is his daily walk.

Pippit knows when it's time to walk and gives me that "look", as seen here from earlier this week.

Along with the consistency of training, I get to sort of reset my life.  I figure a reset is good for my iPhone, so why not for me as well?

AJW has started the ethnocentrically glazed talk of UROY.  He points out that Ian Sharman isn't technically an American, but neither is Nick Clark (corrected by a friend - Nick apparently has dual citizenship, so I'll use Ellie Greenwood as my example).  This is one of several problems the UROY award and its organizers are going to need to address.  UROY, if only for a North American citizen.... Dave Mackey stands alone.  If they open it to UROY of the world.....?  hmmm, I wonder.

Bear 100 in 10 days.  Ready to rip.

Wasatch 100 Preview

Photo mrc-ultra.blogspot.com

"One Hundred Miles of Heaven and Hell"

In the true spirit of American ultrarunning, when you do something tough, you look for something tougher. Inspired by the Western States 100, five entrants ran the first Wasatch 100 in 1980.  Two of them finished after 35 hours.  The next year saw a 40% increase in participation with seven people starting the race.  No one finished.  Now, after 31 years, one of the most difficult 100 mile runs in the US will see 250 “lucky” lottery winners lining up at 5am this Friday morning to start yet another odyssey through the jagged, rocky trails of the Wasatch Mountains.

Read the rest of the piece at Inside Trail

Desert Solitaire

Surrounded by mountains, endless trails.

I've said it before.  I love running in the high desert.  I've thought about it a lot, especially during the runs, and can't describe why I enjoy it so much.  Anyway, I've gotten back into a good training groove following Leadville and feel like I should run well at Bear.  An update on the course conditions was emailed today and the description read, "outstanding condition", which is nice to finally hear after continually running races with abnormal overgrowth, rivers running high, abundant snow...  They did point out that a couple of the river crossings are high and wet feet might be difficult to avoid.  One thing I've learned this year is that I don't mind wet feet for racing.  Actually, depending on how many miles my dogs have pounded, it feels pretty nice to wade through ice cold rushing water.

The body feels perfect.  It'll be tested tomorrow when I hit a long run.  Last year on this day I ran 41 miles on the Colorado Trail with Scott Jaime, who, at the time was celebrating his one year anniversary of running the entire CO Trail.  I'm not sure I feel like going 41 miles tomorrow and definitely don't need to run that long but 25-30 with some good climbing (impossible to avoid here anyway) for sure.

I'm also now registered for the new Slickrock 100 in Moab, which takes place two weeks after Bear.  Slickrock looks like it has everything one would want in a 100.  Wander over to the well done race website and take in the photos and description of the course.  I wouldn't be surprized to see Karl's name pop up on the entrants' list.  If his back is better, this is a course he loves "running on the moon".

At the start of the season my hefty goal was to run five 100 milers.  Slickrock will be the sixth (assuming I finish Bear).  Bear is where my whole love of 100s began last September and to say I'm excited to run fast there this year is an understatement.  I'll miss having Aric Manning there as my crew but I'm looking forward to zipping through aid stations this time around and not having a friendly face there giving me an excuse to linger and chat.

Things I'll do differently this year:
No watch
Hydration pack the whole race
Change into Hokas later in the race to prepare for the audacious 5,000 ft descent at the end
I might use trekking poles.  Certainly enough sick climbs (23,000 ft climb) to warrant their use
McDavid compression (people ask how I recover so fast with almost no effect of all these 100s - McDavid)

Interview with Salomon Running's Adam Chase

Looks like a team training run...  Actually, it's Team Salomon leading the charge at UTMB (Salomon)

Interview with Salomon Running's Team Captain, Adam Chase. Explore the supremacy at Inside Trail.