Day 106 - Monday - I was going to do my Sunday one hour run today but then I started thinking, what for? This is the week OF the race and that one hour won't help and maybe only hurt me. It's only monday and I'm already over thinking this week.
Day 107 - 5am - Track time! Eight miles with a little speed work. Dennis is there and runs the first six as we discuss having a conference call with Amy and Elece. We need to make sure we know where everyone will be and at what time. Of course a large part of this is predicated on how I'm running and at what pace. The goal is to run approximately 12 minute miles. Dennis is going to be my pacer at the 26 mile point. He will run 15 miles and hand me off to Amy, who will run the final 9 miles. Dennis and I were so focused on the details of this conversation that we ran 3 miles without realizing it. The time had gone by so quickly.
Day 108 - Wednesday - Conference call day! We all went over the game plan. I would run 12 minute miles which would put me at mile 26 around 11:12am. Dennis would be there around 10:45am ready to go. Amy would catch up with Elece a little earlier in the day and Elece would take me to the start of the race and then hit some of the aid stations. I was going to send text messages out at any aid station that Elece didn't make. We're all ready for race day.
Day 109 - 5am - Last track workout! This is going to be an easy 6 mile run. Dennis and I run and talk about the race. I'm starting to get more anxious about the race. It is a distance that I never had any thoughts about running. Now after reading an article in Runner's World about a first timers experience in a 50 miler and reading that a "beginner friendly 50 miler" was right in my backyard....oh boy! When Dennis and I were training for a marathon and Dennis modified the training program from 4 days to 3 he would say, "trust the program", and he was right. He went on to run a personal best, sub 4 hour marathon and I ran a personal best 4:20. Again he would say, "just trust the program". I tell Dennis I want to really think about how I'm feeling at miles 30, 40 and 50. I have never run more than 27.3 miles at any given time and want to know how I really feel at those particular points in the race. Tonight I'm driving up to Amy's house to stay through the race weekend. She just bought her first house and has some things for me to do. This will help keep my mind off the race.
Day 110 - Friday - Today I'm picking up my race packet. I head up in the morning to Fleet Feet to get my packet. The store is in a little retail strip center. The parking lot is almost full. There are only 20-25 people at the store picking up their packets. I go to the start of the line and start through the process. I can hear a few people talking about previous Ultra's they had run and some of the issues they over came to finish them. The funny part is the look on their faces wasn't about how horrible it was but that it was just part of the deal of running an Ultra. It's not "if" you'll have pain, it's "when" you'll have pain. I work through the line and head into the store to look around. I start looking at the two choices they have of salt tablets. This guy named Kirk who works there walks up and says, "we sell a lot more of this one, I noticed you were reading the labels and comparing them". He said the aid stations would also have these. I then started talking to him about the race. He said the aid stations are unbelievable. They are well stocked with all kinds of drinks and foods. I told him this was my first Ultra and he said it was also going to be his. We wished each other luck and I started heading back to my car. I no sooner walked out of the store and I started to hyperventilate. My mouth went dry and I started getting jittery. I got in the car and called Dennis. I told him what was going on and he started laughing. He said, "that's so cool". That made me start laughing. I couldn't believe I was hyperventilating just from picking up my race packet. After talking with Dennis for a little while I started to laugh more about how I was handling the anxiety. I don't run very fast. I'm a middle of the pack kind of runner but I have finished every race I've been in. I'm proud of that but this race I was starting to have doubts. The race is still a day away! Elece came up to Sacramento tonight to join me at Amy's. We had pasta, salad, garlic bread and a little wine for dinner. I set out my race stuff for the tenth time, go over all the details again and again and then head off to bed.
Day 111 - Race Day!!!! I get up at 2am! Way to early. I go back to sleep for 30 minutes, 2:30am. I go back to sleep for another 30 minutes. That's it 3am and I'm getting up. I go start the coffee. Elece is still in bed. I tell her I'll wake her up in a little bit. I make myself eggs and bread to go with my coffee. I have a glass of orange juice with my Mila. We are going to leave the house at 4:30. I know this is earlier then we need but I am way to nervous to take any chances. Elece gets up and we head out the door. We arrive at the start of the race before 5 am. The race will start at 6. We sit in the car for awhile and then I can't take it any more. I have to get out and move around. We head over to the porta potties. Oh christ we only 15 more minutes until the start. This is not really problem but for me exhaling is a problem. Elece and I walk to the starting line. She takes a couple of pictures, gives me a kiss and then 10, 9, 8,....and we're off. Oh shit! I remember telling people when I run marathons there are only two things I have to do, one, cross the start line and two, cross the finish line. What happens in between is almost irrelevant. Amy wrote me a note this morning that said just that. The first aid station would be at the 5 mile mark. There are 750 of us who were registered to run the race. It was amazing to see so many of them starting out really fast. I kept thinking jesus they are going really fast. How are they going to keep up that pace for 50 miles. I remembered the advice I had gotten from a friend of Holly Wick, Jenny who said "start out slow and if you think you are going slow, slow down some more". In the beginning of every long race I had been in there is always a group or two that do a lot of talking early on. I mean they are very talkative. Some of it appears to be nervous energy and some of it just simple conversation. I remember this one group of 5 guys. The one guy was talking up a storm and the others were yaking a lot. About mile 14 there was not a word coming from any of them. From my experience this is typical. As the race goes on people start getting tired and the second thing to go is the talking. My first mile I ran 10:30. This was not a good sign, I was going too fast. I slowed down, I thought. I ran the next mile, 10:35. Oh boy, I have got to slow way down. Then I remembered Jenny also saying that she would run 5 miles and then walk for 10 minutes. This would give her the 12 minute miles she was looking for. So I thought if you can't slow down to a 12 minute mile then walk the difference. Sure enough at mile 5 I was at 52:30. Not only was I going to walk for awhile but Elece was at the first aid station taking pictures and cheering me on. She would send text messages to everyone so I didn't have to. This was a really big deal for me. Trying to text while running or even walking was going to be a pain in the butt. I would do it if I had to but thanks to Elece I didn't have to. I should have walked for 7 minutes but after 5 I couldn't take it any more and started running. For about the first 18 miles the race is run on the American River Parkway. A nice flat bike/pedestrian path. You could run run on the asphalt or on the dirt trail along side the asphalt. With the exception of the cyclist who were rather obnoxious the rest of the people who were either walking or running on the parkway were very nice and supportive. By the hour and twenty minute mark I was settle in and running very comfortable. Elece was at every aid station up to the 26 mile mark. I don't how she managed to navigate through a town she doesn't know yet do it with such a short time frame in between. It's really nice to have someone at every aid station cheering you on, taking pictures, sending updates to people and not passing out from the smell. Most of the aid station were 3 to 4 miles apart. The longest we had to go was 6 miles. Part of the time I ran along side people and we would start talking. There were three gentlemen in particular who had run this race before. I had asked all of them for any tidbits of information that would get me through this race. They all talked about how great the aid stations were and they also talked about "the damn wall". The "damn wall starts around mile 46.5 and you have to climb it up to the finish line. One of them said try to save some energy for the wall, the other said he just walks it and the last said there is coke at the bottom of the hill, load up and let the sugar rush get you up the hill. I'm only at mile 16 and I still feel really good and all of that seems manageable. Except I've never run that far before and I'm not sure what kind of shape I'll be in at that time. One of the three gentlemen was a guy named John. He was a Vietnam Vet who had a lot of experience running Ultra's. I was running with him up through mile 18. He was telling me when you get to the trails, the ones after mile 26 "you run when you can, and walk when you have to". I tried to stay with him through the aid station at mile 18. This was a mistake. I rushed through and didn't take my salt. This would come back to haunt me in a short while. Mile 18 is at the Nimbus Dam overlook. You have to climb a short steep hill to get to it. After this aid station you start into the trails. I started to get cramps halfway to the next aid station. Not only had I not carried my fuel belt with me at this time there wasn't any water sources along the way. The next aid station was only 4.3 miles away but I could've used that water earlier. My mistake for not staying with my game plan. Up to this point I was following the plan pretty close. I was a little bit ahead of schedule but not to much. After "running when I could and walking when I had to" I finally make it to the next aid station. I take additional salt tablets in hopes of making up what I lost. I am know at mile 22.6, just 4 more miles until Dennis gets to join me and I'll be over halfway. The next leg is mostly uphill but the salt is starting to kick in and I can start to run more. All things considered I don't feel bad at all. I'm a little tired. I finally make it to mile 26.7, Beals Point. This is where I had my drop bag with clean socks and my trail shoes waiting for me. This is also where I was suppose to run into the aid station and "my crew" would have everything waiting for me. A chair, my socks and shoes out of the bag but I don't see any one. What the hell????? Where are they? Elece had been at every aid station before this and now where is she. Oh Oh, what happened? No Dennis, no Elece and no Amy. Oh man something went wrong. I sit down and change out my socks and shoes and get ready to take off when I see Dennis. Where is everyone? Dennis says, "Elece is just a minute away and I need to give her my bag". Dennis had a bag with clothes that he could change into once he was done pacing me. I thought, no problem we are ahead of schedule and just then here comes Elece and Amy. Ok, everyone is alright. I only have 24. 3 miles to go!!! We take off and Dennis says, "I'm here for you". I said great let me walk for a little bit to get my legs moving again. The break was too long and my legs were a little stiff. We finally take off and after about 5 minutes Dennis starts to realize he can't let me tell him what we should do. If he lets me tell him what to do I'll want him to get me a taxi and drive me to the finish. So he changes from I'm here for you to just follow me. Being a pacer is not really being a friend. It's being pushy at a time when you really need it. Dennis would push and push until I couldn't go any more and then he would give me a little break. We are now in the hills on trails that are not all that smooth and easy. The uphills might be steep or have rocks and roots running across them or all of the above. The same for the downhills but he got really good at picking the spots to pick it back up. It also didn't hurt that we would come around a corner and see someone ahead and say "let's get him". This really was more of a mind game then a competitive thing and it worked. The next aid station was Granite Bay, mile 31.7. I've never been this far before. I'm tired, a little sore but I've only got 18.3 miles to go! From this point up to mile 41 I wouldn't be able to see Elece or Amy. Thankfully Dennis is talking through much of this run. It was the kind of talking that I didn't have to answer back with a lot of words but more just observations. One thing in particular that really stood out. My breathing was becoming very labored. At the time I didn't realize it. Dennis asked If I had read the current issue of Runner's World. I said no and he started to tell me about this article. It was running without your ipod. Dennis said the article talks about running without your ipod and just focus on your breathing and your foot strike. He no sooner says this then I realize my breathing is almost out of control. I immediately start to control my breathing and start to relax. I don't know if was aware of my breathing or if it was just great timing on his part but it worked. Another thing that happened, I learned to run through cramps. I'd never done that before. I would walk through them. It was easier to run through them and they would go away quicker if I ran through them. So during the run if I started to cramp I would tell Dennis and he would immediately start us running. When we came into the aid station I would take more salt tabs and fluid. There was one particular aid station that had ice cream cones. Can you believe in the middle on nowhere they had damn ice cream cones. I couldn't stand the thought of eating ice cream but not Dennis. He took one and let me know how good it tasted. It was at these aid stations that the people working them would come up and ask you if need water or GU and if you did they would take your bottles fill them and bring them back to you before you could even get into the aid station. Chicken soup never tasted so good!! Dennis and I had been running for about 3 hours when we came up on Rattlesnake Bar. This was at mile 40.9. This was the aid station where Dennis would stop running and Amy would pace me to the finish line. This was also the first time I had seen Elece in the last 3 hours. Before we had gotten to Rattlesnake Bar I told Dennis what Runner's World had said about this race being beginner friendly race. He thought it wasn't an easy course and if this was beginner friendly what are the others like. We had trained in the hills around Petaluma and had done a few trail runs on the coast but the constant up and down for this many miles was hard on the legs. I told Dennis "Amy has no idea what she's in for". Hell I didn't know it was going to be like this and I've been staring at the course map for the last four months. I also thought she would be too worried about me to really be a good pacer. Boy was I wrong about the good pacer. At Beals Point (mile 26.7) I started to know I would finish. My mind was starting to lock in and if I had to crawl I was going to get that damn jacket. There aren't any medals, you get a jacket for completing the race in the allotted time. Now at mile 41.9 I told Amy, "take me to my jacket". We take off and she immediately starts pushing me. What the hell! She says," come on you can do it, keep moving". Who the hell are you and what have you done with my daughter. She picks up where Dennis left off. We ran the flats, the downhills when they weren't too steep and walk the big uphills. There are parts of the trail that are on a cliff. I mean straight down to rocks you're ass is going to be dead cliffs. AND there is no fence or net to stop you. Thanks for playing hope you enjoy running the after life ultra. Amy did a great job and then we ran into "the damn wall". The damn wall is this "hill", it's more like a mountain with a 6 -8% grade. This wall starts at mile 46.5 and climbs for a half mile or so and then levels off. Now "levels off" means not as steep. If there was snow on this "hill" it would be a black diamond run. That's how steep and after 46.5 miles of hills this is just cruel. The surface at this point is loose rock. This is a little hard on my already tired feet. Eventually we make it up the hill to an asphalt road that is still climbing but at least it's not as hard on my feet. It's at this point that Amy is starting to feel toasted. Welcome to my world kid! It's a long slow climb for the both of us. We finally get to an area where you might be able to run and it's at this point that my left leg is starting to lock up. Like it doesn't want to move any more. Not a good sign. I say to Amy lets try to run. We start and what a joke. My legs are just not in the mood. We keep going for all of 100 yards. That's it let's walk. Again we start to run, again not for very long. And then I see the "1 Mile" marker. Oh my god look Amy? Amy says, "don't you get an adrenaline rush now and start running up that hill". I couldn't help but feel the rush. No I didn't run, it was still uphill and steep enough not to. I wanted to get to the finish line and I was going to make it. Finally we come around the corner and there is Elece and Dennis. Oh man we made it!!! Amy says" come on we have to run across the finish line". I said wait until we get into the shoot area. I don't think I can make it any further then that. We get into the shoot area and slowly run across the finish line. 50 miles in one day!!!! Unbelievable! Hello jacket! I'm very happy, proud of what I just accomplished and lucky to have the people around me that I have. Dennis and Amy who did an outstanding job of pushing me. There were a few times when the fatigue was starting to get the better of me and I thought I was going to throw up. And then one of them would say, "let's go". Crap, can't throw up now. I now understand how valuable a pacer can be and the pushier the better. Elece, the ultimate "crew" a one woman crew no less. Amy said it best, "I don't know what or how we would have done this without Elece". She was amazing throughout the entire training process leading up to this weekend. I'm a lucky guy.
Day 112-Sunday - Recovery Day! - We went to bed around 9:30 Saturday night and at 3:30 I woke up wide awake. I couldn't believe it. Elece asked me if I was alright. I said I think I'm getting an adrenaline rush. My mind was thinking about what had happened on Saturday and couldn't relax. Finally we went back to sleep and woke up around 7:30. A body inventory check, Quads? Sore. Hamstrings? Sore. Calfs? Sore. From the neck down? Sore. Not horribly but sore. We all get up and have coffee. There is left over pizza and I couldn't help but have a few slices. Around midday Elece heads for home and I follow soon after. All in all I feel pretty good.
Week Sixteen Totals - I finished the race!! 50 miles at 50 years old! That's the total. This has been an extraordinary experience. Learning to run long runs on both Saturday and Sunday and surviving them. Running 60 miles a week for multiple weeks. Learning that I could mentally stand up to this challenge. Not at any time during the race did I think about quitting. Once I hit the halfway mark I knew I would cross the finish line. I found an inner strength I didn't know I had. Having a training partner like Dennis help get me through the training and pace me through what I considered the hardest stretch of the entire race. Having the opportunity to finish this race with one of my kids help make this more special. This amount of training is difficult on its own but add kids and a girlfriend and it can be disastrous. Not at any time did my kids give me any grief about the amount of training I was doing. And Elece, not only was she very supportive during the race, she was encouraging and supportive throughout the training. From April 1st on she would send me a homemade card with words of support and encouragement. During the training I wanted to go for a hike in the mountains. I asked her to go and told her we'll just go for 9 miles. She says alright and off we go. I mis-read the map and we ended up going for 13 miles. It was a long long hike. She didn't complain, or get upset in fact she just laughed when I said I added up the distances wrong. This wasn't a flat leisurely stroll. This was a hilly fast paced hike with a very steep climb to get back to the start. So the difference between 9 miles and 13 is a big deal. Like Amy said, "I don't know how or what we would have done without Elece". I am the lucky guy! Dennis asked me after the race if I would do another. I said oh yea. I have no desire to train for a 100 mile race but I do want to run another 50. There is something about this distance and the community of people who run these races that is different from any other race I've run. Dennis heard this from a runner, "this is not a race of speed, it's a race of endurance". To those who have read this blog thank you and I hope you enjoyed it. The blog was Elece's idea. I had no intention of doing this. I really have enjoyed this experience. I should have paid better attention in english classes. Alright, who's in for a 50??????
