American River 50 Mile Run - AGAIN

American River 50 – (April 6, 2013) –Race Report

I’d been very happy with my training leading into this year’s race and was really looking for redemption from last year’s –uh—meltdown at mile 33 (or so).  So I’ve done a lot more longer runs capped by running 30 mile Ohlone Trail with Bryan which had almost 9,000 feet of climbing.  That run was a real confidence builder since it was so epic, lasted over 7 hours, and I had no stomach issues going with just GU gel and water.  My right foot (the one with the neuroma) held up nicely too.

Unfortunately, about two weeks ago both Achilles/calves were tweaked after a run.  I’ve done a lot of resting to try to heal, but I was pretty nervous about whether they would hold up or not. 

Jan and I headed out to Sacramento around 2:00.  Hit some traffic but got to the Fleet Feet store for check-in.  No prob.  Nice carbo load dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory.

Headed over to the Larkspur Landing hotel which is only about 1 mi. from the start of the race.  Very convenient.  The hotel was also going to set out breakfast at 4:00 a.m. for the racers.  Very cool.

I’d been checking the weather for both Sacramento and Auburn over the last 10 days.  The projection for rain has continually gone lower and lower.  Still the morning temp projection was for the mid-40’s, a bit cool.  Come Saturday morning, though, it was already about 55 degrees.  

Ready to start the day.

Just as we were getting into the car to head over to the start of the race, a lady named “Steph” from Virginia who was staying in the hotel who was also doing the race and asked for a ride to the start.  So the three of us headed over to the start of the race and got a parking spot right across the street.  A good omen for sure.  

A kiss to Jan and we’re off. The camaraderie at these races is always great. 

What great weather to be running.  Not too warm, not too cold.  Running along the river with the trees.  Very nice.  I really made a point to “enjoy the day”.

I was planning on taking it out a bit slower this time thinking that last year I may have used up a bit too much energy when I hit the “marathon mark” at just under 4 hours.   Everything was going according to plan.

After a few miles, I am running next to Steph.  We strike up a nice conversation and the miles pass.  At the 10-mile mark, I start my strategy of running 9 minutes and walking 1 minute.  Bryan did that last year and swears by it.  Hopefully that would help me keep a bit more energy in the bank in the later miles.  Steph kept running, but eventually I reeled her in again and we would leap frog for the first half.

Last year, during the first half, which is all flat, I got some sort of knot/cramp in my left quad.  It didn’t really affect the first half, but played a big role in my demise in the hilly second half – especially the downhills.  This year, no quad problem.  Yeah. 

Last year, I started feeling shooting pain in my right foot in the first half.  This year, no foot problem.

I see Jan at 14 miles and we restock my running pack.  All’s good.  Head out and realize I forgot to reapply Body Glide to the inner thighs which I had “noticed”.  So I head back and reapply it.  Smart move.  I would end up reapplying each time I saw Jan and never had any “issues”.  Yeah.

Here's me at 14 miles

Finished the marathon mark at about 4 hr. 30 min. and felt fine.  30 min slower than last year, but I felt this would enable me to be a heck of a lot faster in the second half.  Bryan was at the rest stop there and would end up pacing me during the second half.  I put on my trail shoes at this point and am good to go.  Everything was right on plan.

Hey, Bryan looks pretty good. Oh, that's right - he hasn't started running yet.

It was soooo cool having Bryan there.  He would point out obstacles and tell me things to be on the lookout for.  It was nice to just let him do the thinking.

We eventually hit the trails and every time the trails would flatten out or we’d hit a downhill, my specialty, we were passing lots and lots of people.  And my heart rate was staying right in the correct zone, one I knew I could maintain all day.

Last year, everything came unraveled just after 30 miles, so I was anxiously awaiting getting to and  breaking through that barrier.  Boom.  Smashed through it.  We were just cruising along. Mile after mile.  Feeling good.

I would next see Jan at the stop that’s at Rattlesnake Bar, at the 40.9 mile mark.  I would say that last mile was tough.  I think Bryan could sense something before then because he kept calling out the distance like “just one mile till you get to see Jan”, etc.  We pulled into the aid station there and that’s really the first I remember feeling not good.  I was feeling a bit light headed at one point and was torn between wanting to sit down and not wanting to sit for fear I wouldn’t want to get up.  At that point, I couldn’t bear the thought of looking at another GU gel. 

We head back out onto the trails and before long my stomach is shutting down.  I am starting to feel nauseous.   I can’t force another damn GU in.  And now I’m not drinking enough.  And even though I was staying on schedule with my enduralytes, I am sure they were not getting processed.  In fact, the front of my ankles and my shin muscles started cramping on the uphills.  Very strange.  Fortunately, there were lots of rollers and I would pretty much recover on the flats and downhills.  Despite what was going on with my stomach and shins, it seemed I was still able to run basically normally on the flats and downhills. (We’ll see if Bryan recalls it that way or not).  

Relentless, forward progress.  That was what I kept telling myself.  And we just kept moving forward.  On one longer stretch of uphill, however, my shin cramps absolutely forced me to stop.  I was panicking.  I literally had to sit on the side of the trail for a minute or so.  That was really the first time I remember thinking, “oh no, I don’t think I can finish”.  

Bryan got me up and we started moving forward again.  Again, as the trail leveled off, Bryan asked “do you want to run for a minute?”  I don’t know if it was really a question or just his polite way of saying “hey, let’s get your ass in gear”.  Either way, my recollection is that almost every time he “asked me”, we started running.

The next thing I remember is Bryan was saying we were almost at the end of the trail and were approaching the base of “The Hill”.  That starts a 3+ mile very steep dirt/gravel road which eventually becomes a paved road.  STEEP. 

Unlike last year when my stomach really forced me to stop frequently on The Hill, this year I kept moving forward.

The next thing I knew, Bryan was telling me the last aid station was just ahead.  Bryan is ordering me to take in some calories.  “Here, try some banana”.  I did put a piece in my mouth but I ended up spitting it out.  I was just too nauseous.  He was offering me everything on the buffet table.  I think I tried a bite of something.  All of a sudden, I was feeling worse. There was a truck (yes, a white one) next to the tent and I walked over and was grabbing the tailgate.  My head was literally spinning.  I thought of the movie Rocky and said to myself “ah oh, he’s going down”.  And that’s when I tried to employ one of Bryan’s training strategies – the “Reboot”.  In other words, I started to hurl, big time.  Bryan was right next to me, probably holding me up.  I was sooooo out of it. 

Eventually, I regained my senses.  Then, I got a cramp on the lower end and was like, oh no, I am going to have diarrhea.  Fortunately, there was a regular bathroom about 100 yards away so we made our way over there.  It reminded me of one of those times you get the flu and you’re sick at both ends.  Anywhoooo, so now that my body had absolutely no nourishment or fluid, what better thing to do than head 2 more miles uphill?  Bryan kept getting me to try to take more fuel, but I was about ready to punch him if he offered me one more GU gel.  He did share some of his energy drink though.

When the terrain leveled off a bit, we started running again.  If I was starting to cramp up, we slowed to a walk.  But always forward progress.  Always. 

So after a bit, I see Jan coming down towards us.  So the three of us started making our way up to the top.  Jan actually did a better job of running this year !  Must be her fancy new knee brace.

Finally, there is just the steep driveway up to the parking lot.

Then it’s FLAT, onto the grass around the bend, and under the finish line !  Finish time: 11:09 about 30 minutes faster than last year.

But the nausea just wouldn’t go away.  We eventually piled into the Prius with me laying down in the back seat.  I had a plastic bag just in case.  Uh, turns out I needed it within just a few minutes.  There wasn’t much inside me, but now I was back to zero.  We took Bryan to his car and then hustled back to Pleasanton.

I showered, drank some 7-up soda and felt much, much better.  Ate some crackers and things started returning to normal.  Yeah.  I fell asleep right away but actually woke up after just a couple hours.  So I meandered downstairs and ate some more.  By morning, I was all back to normal.  Jan invited me to do the Loop Ride and I felt good enough to go with her.  First ride on my tri bike in about 6 months.  The legs actually felt pretty good, better than last year.

After having a little bit of time to reflect, I’ve now – finally – figured out that my body does not tolerate gel for anything lasting longer than 6 hours.  I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to figure that out (setting aside the general stupidity, of course), but there are sooo many variables that can cause stomach issues.  But IM Arizona – took liquid fuel the entire bike ride.  So no gel until during run.  No stomach issues.  Devil Mountain Double (200 mi. bike ride), a bit of variety in fuel – no stomach issues.  Oh well.  Given that 3 out of my 5 super endurance events have involved stomach problems, can’t say I want to do another, or that Jan would let me even if I did.  Right now, we’re both saying no.

Special thanks to Jan for all her love and support.  I am soooooo lucky to be able to spend such great quality time with her on the trails and on the roads.  Thank you to Bryan.  We shared a special bond, but I just don’t know how I could’ve completed that event yesterday without your encouragement, camaraderie, friendship, and support.  And thanks to Jim, Pam, and Jerry for helping me get in all the necessary training and always help the time pass soooo much more easily, and humorously.