Thursday, April 18, 2019

The road to UTMB - Chapter 1 - Lake Sonoma 50


A goal:  Sub 10 hours
B goal:  Sub 11 hours 
C goal:  Finish (sub 14 hours)

To put things into perspective of the goal, I would say that the sub 10 effort on this course is equal to running at 9:15ish pace on flats for 10 hours (at least for me).

Lake Sonoma is a competitive 50 miler and a Western States Golden ticket race.  The top two Men and Women get entry into Western States (a 100 miler whose usual route is via a lottery with 2% chance of getting in).  The course is an out and back on mostly smooth single track trails.  Despite the 10,500 feet of elevation gain, it’s known for being a fast course, though it's said that nobody been able to negative split the last 12 miles.  The golden tickets attracts a lot of elites to this race and it was my first time seeing so many.  I probably learned about the event through the ultra-runner podcast and joined the lottery after North Face CA was cancelled (another competitive CA 50 miler).

The race was my first ultra of the year and I decided to experiment with training.  Instead of focusing on the classic double long run, I focused on faster 10-14 mile runs.  I spend years running long distance events so the idea was that my body was already use to the muscular demands of being on your feet for 10+ hours.  Instead of slow 20+ runs I would focus more on fitness by working on the mid distance - 10-14 mile running 7:30 pace or faster.  I had a long string of races to get me to that faster pace effort.  

The day before
I decided to join the shakeout run held by the race organizers the day before.  It was a 4 mile road run in the town of Healdsburg starting from Healdsburg Running Company.  The route pass through some vineyards which was scenic but it was the yoga afterwards and the chance to talk to other runners that was attractive.  Otherwise I would have probably done a 4-5 mile shakeout on the beginning/last miles of the race.  I also was able to do packet pickup right when the running store opened.  I forgot to pack nut butter, a higher calories food than gels but didn’t see any in the shop.  At the shakeout, Salomon was doing shoe demos and I didn’t pack any road running shoes so I decided to try out their Sonic RA’s.  The shoes felt normal so probably not something I would buy.  The shakeout started off 9:15ish pace and progressed to 8:40ish.  I fell behind a bit, keeping my pace to what was easy for me (9:20ish).  Yoga was immediately after in the Coyote Sonoma.  The restaurant had some nice open space in the front and yoga mats were already set up with some water.  The yoga class was pretty good.  Easier than a normal yoga class but enough to get some sort stretch.  I did yoga the day before the SF marathon two years ago and found it useful.  There was one move which enables you to put some body weight on your calves, it was like a foam roller for the calves that I think would be really useful when traveling.

On the way back to the running store I talked to another runner Amanda who was doing her second 50 miler.  Originally from VA she worked in CA now as a professional baker.  At the stalls at packet pickup I got a sample of squirrel nuts butter (chafing cream) and spun a wheel at a bluff station to get a free bluff hat.  This was probably the most useful goodies ever as I planned to use both the next day.  I chaffed the last two races on the right nipple and I chaffed on the QDR easy run last Monday in the same model of shorts I race in (the shorts might have been slightly higher up than normal leaving some skin next to each other which I could fix by keeping it at the normal location but not taking any chances, cream everywhere).  Some of the course was not shaded so I thought the hat would be nice, plus in the many stream crossing of the race I could dip the hat in the water to cool a bit.  I also picked up cheap sunglasses from Salomon station.  Afterwards got lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant and then drove to the Ranch at Lake Sonoma where the start is.  The drive over, you could see vineyards everywhere!  At the start/finish location, I met a volunteer who was setting up the finish line.  He was from Hawaii and also helps organize the HURT 100.  He mentioned that they had a few NY finishers.  He suggested that I drive down the first 2.4 miles of the course, the only part of the course that was on road, and see the turn into the single track.  Then he suggested that I go on marina road and see the single road crossing at 50 miles, a quarter mile of the finish and visualize.  I did both and then headed to the hotel to check in and rest, before heading out to eat dinner.  I decided to stay in Santa Rosa instead of Healdsburg, it was a 10 minute longer commute each way but saved over $50 a day.  I ate dinner at a vegan buffet style place, Gala’s Garden and went to bed around 8:30.  I laid everything I plan to use before going to sleep.

Race Morning!
I woke at 3:30.  The race started at 6:30 and I wanted to get breakfast in.  I then set up a bit more and took a 20 minute nap.  I got a Yerba matte English mint can and then proceeded to the race site.  I got there about 5:45 which was a bit later than I wanted.  The parking lot was full so I had to do road side parking.  Making last minute adjustments to my drop bag and putting the bib got me to the race around 6 am.  I immediately went to a long porter potty line.  Took a little over 10 minutes.  On the line, I overheard a runner say that she’s from Midtown West (Manhattan).  I then label my drop bag, while I had the option of having two bags transported through the course I decided to go with one at the halfway point.  In that bag I had a stick of gel and my anti fatigue capsules.  A volunteer helped get my drop bag at the right truck, spelling my name with a B.  

My plan was to depend on mostly aid stations for calories and hydration.  My rabbit vert shorts comfortably held 6 gels and still had one pocket for garbage gels.  I also wore a Nathan belt which held two longer science in sport gels and a 16 oz. water bottle on the back.  I also carried a 16 oz. bottle on one hand.  I was supposed to attach a collapsible cup to the belt but in my rush forgot to.  It was about 6:20 by the time I finished with the drop bags so I proceeded to do a super quick warm up.  Jogged a bit and did two strides at 7ish minute pace.  Got myself to the middle of the pack.  In my rush I didn’t switch my Garmin from road to trail run but I think that worked out.  My road setting had an alarm every 40 minutes to remind me to eat.  In my rushed state I only saw one elite - Camille who has set a world record on the 100 mile distance.  The race started promptly at 6:30.

The plan was to eat every 30 minutes.  There was a water only station 4.5 miles in and then an aid station with food 11.5 miles in. Thus I needed to carry enough gels to make it that far with nutrition in point.  The goal was to consume about 180-200 calories an hour and 8 ounces of water an hour.  I wanted to finish the first 25 miles of the race comfortably and then fight for my life the second half. 

Start - the magical miles
The race begun with the usual horn, if there was a pre-race speech I completely missed it in my quick warm up.  I wanted to average an easy 9 minutes a mile doing the road portion.  I read a race recap from years ago where the guys going for a top position went out sub 6 minutes.  The first mile is rolling and I get 10 minutes, the second is downhill and I get 8:15.  Good enough!  The course then goes to single track downhill and it harder to pace yourself as you start flying.  

The next 2.6 miles go by extremely quick and I reflect on how lucky I am to be able to run this.  Before I knew it 5 miles had passed and now remember why I like trail running so much.  Road running is pretty much like being on a treadmill comparably.  I’m on the fast side for the downhills and jog the uphill.  I blast through the first water station at 4.5 miles having only drank about 4 ounces.  The arches of my feet ache a bit but it soon disappears.  Possible because 25 miles on the superiors was not enough to break them in.  I past these two runners who are talking a lot and they soon catch me on the next uphill.  I feel like I’m holding back a lot on the following downhill but I decided that it’s best to hold back and stick with them.  It’s only 7 miles in the race after all.  I’m careful not to rush down the downhills as I don’t want to blow the quads out.  I been sick the last week and a half and I feel some remains of a headache at mile 7.  A group forms, sometimes the leaders change between the two men that talk a lot and a women with a pink vest, and we make our way to the first fully stocked aid station.


At the aid station I gobble down half a peanut butter sandwich and pickup 2 Gu gels and refill my water.  I keep my handheld filled with pain water.  I haven’t started using the water in the back.  The group separates as warm-up time is over and people either linger in the aid station or start speeding up.  I hold the same effort level, keeping to the plan of getting to mile 25 comfortably.  My calves however start complaining but easy enough to ignore.  Shortly after departing the aid station, I see a man who he is clearly chaffing badly.  I feel sorry but nothing I could do.  He could turn back and get help from the aid, probably cost him like 4 minutes but he seemed determined to go forward.  I notice the back of my shoulders are rubbing and make a mental note to put squirrel nut butter on it.  The scenery gets nice and I see a runner, while walking quickly up a long incline, take her phone out and quickly snap a picture of the valley.  I am immediately jealous that I didn’t bring my phone.  Shortly after I see a professional looking photographer on the course.  A runner was approaching from behind me and I think she slowed down a bit for the photo before then passing me.  


No Such thing as a comfortable marathon 
I started to mentally struggle and by mile 15 I felt like I’m in a bonk.  I been sticking to the plan, a gel every 30 minutes and an anti-fatigue capsule every 40 minutes.  I decide that I need more calories and I will eat a gel every 20 minutes instead.  I been feeling hot since 9 am so that might be contributing.  I throw out the idea of running a comfortable marathon, I already feel pretty tired.  It’s going to be a struggle to the end!

At the water station at mile 16.9, I refill my handheld bottle with Gu brew and take another Gu gel.  The Gu brew taste like unsweetened ice tea which I love since the gels are sweet enough.  My body is reacting well to the gels and the next fully stocked aid station is 1.9 miles away so I feel motivated to struggle along as I get to stop again and eat in 20 something minutes.  Another photographer is also set up ha little past the water station.  I find it difficult to look at the photographer long enough to get a good picture and also look at ground long enough to not trip.  The equipment of the two photographers is much fancier than what I am use to seeing in trail races (or even road races for that matter).

I made it to the next aid station and while looking around I notice something I never seen before.  A Red Bull.  My first gel was caffeinated and I was planning to take another caffeinated gel after 3 hours which I did but here was something with caffeine and high calories.  I chugged it down immediately.  I also ate a few chips and grabbed three more Gu gels.  


The Climb
The next few 6 miles were almost all uphill on a wide fire road type of trail. The men elites start blazing down on their return from the turnaround point.  In 3 hours, they had already gotten 11 miles ahead of me!  As I climbed uphill in a walk I said the typical words of encouragement, “good job”, “nice work”.  I passed a couple people in the uphill but the no shade and heat made things a struggle.  A man in a green way too cool shirt walked with me.  He asked if it was my first Lake Sonoma to which I said yes and he said I was doing pretty well.  He pointed out Dakota Jones as he passed by.  I didn’t recognize him but definitely recognized the name.  Dakota has won the race twice before and is quoted as calling the course death by thousand cuts.  After a big climb, crew and speculators were set up encouraging us forward.  After the first few top runners past, the next ones were also encouraging us as they passed by.  4 hours in I saw the elite women blaze through.  The top 4 were super close to each other, maybe two minutes apart and they still had 20ish miles to go.  The miles went by smoothly with all the encouragement going around and then I hit single track which immediately makes me feel better.  Shortly after I make it to the turnaround aid station.  A volunteer quickly helps me refill both my bottles.  It’s clear on how quick he moves me long that he is an experienced runner.  I switch between Gu brew on my bottle and plain water on my back pocket.  I remove my bluff wrapped around my arm and put it in my drop bag.  I took it off my neck two minutes into the race.  I take another Red Bull before heading back.    I forget to restock my anti fatigue pills or use the squirrel but butter on my shoulders.  I also see the Hawaiian volunteer who gave me some tips the day before.  

Rise so high
I don’t if it was the second Red Bull, being halfway done, or just the kindness of the volunteers but I start feeling great.  I feel like I’m supposed to be out here doing this, that this is my destiny.  My mind plays the crowd cheering my name.  Except it’s not Vikram, Vik, Vicky, or Vikbase (the name on my bib) that they are chanting.  It’s my oldest nickname, given to me by my uncle at birth, Harry.  A name that very few people know.  My mind also starts playing the hook to a pop radio song Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.  “Off the deep end, watch as I dive in, I’ll never meet the ground...sha-ha sha-ha we’re far from the shallow now.”  Both these things Killian describes in his book Run or Die and I wonder if reading it influenced me to experience the same thing.  The way back involves a .4 shortcut (which gets made up later in the race) which I guess helps the single track crowding a tad.  A volunteer directs me to the turn.  She looks up my name and says some encouraging words.  The trail goes back to the fire road but this time it’s downhill for 5+ miles.  The fire road makes it easy to pass people climbing up.  With my spirits high I encourage the climbers.  I say go, go, go “bib number” and then say good job.  I see Amanda too who says she doesn’t know if she could make it.  I tell her not to think negatively.  I cruise to the aid station in high spirits to where I got my first Red Bull.  Here I take another Red Bull, I take some squirrel but butter and apply it to the skin on my shoulders that were rubbing.  I also take a quarter of a peanut butter sandwich and more Gu gels.  A volunteer squeezes a cold water sponge on my neck and head before sending a nice shock to the system.



The Low
Leaving the aid station, at mile 30.9 the high state I was in disappeared and I was back to the struggle.  A couple of runners past me and I am unable to keep up to their pace or even long enough to grunt behind them.  Soon I hit the photographer again and on a patch of a rocky uphill I sprint uphill to look strong for the photo.  At the next water station I take another gel and refill the Gu brew.  I continue jogging along.  The unrelenting heat with no shade or stream crossing at this point of the race hurt mentally.  I hit a wide dirt road and after it winds a bit it goes back to single track.  A woman wearing a red vest catches up and I offer to let her pass.  She says I’m death walking too.  I don’t if it was the pressure of having some behind me, the offense of my pace being called death walk, or that simple exchange of words but I was able to start jogging hard up the hills.  She didn’t stray far behind though.  One thing I would notice is that others are able to hike a lot faster than I could hike and then run downhill faster than me.  My jog uphill is only slightly faster than their hike.  I would love to adapt their strategy but I am not able to hike up that fast which reveals my weakness in hiking.  It’s a weakness I noticed since my first 50 miler four years ago, something I thought I had improved on with better fitness.  My watch was short one mile by the first aid station (11.5 miles in) so I looked at my watch and hoped it was off by at least 2 miles now.  I sort of lied to myself, saying that I must be close to the next aid station.  A little further down the man in the green way too cool shirt runs down the opposite way and tells me that the aid station is less than 1.5 miles away.  This motivates me and I keep up the effort.  It feels like forever but I eventually reach the aid station.  I refill water and Gu brew, take 4 gels and drink half a can of Red Bull.  They have bacon, bean and cheese tortillas at the aid station.  I would have taken a tortilla if it wasn’t the cheese.  I see one being made with just bean on it but I didn’t want to linger.  I grabbed a few chips, wishing there was more real food options.  I didn’t stop to look or ask how many miles to the next aid.  Its mile 38 and I just need to make it to the next one.  Then I should be close enough to the finish.

Death Walking
Pass the aid station is the stream crossing with rope.  I went through it so smoothly in the morning and now I was shuffling along it like an injured man.  Shortly after the woman with the red vest passes.  On the downhill after another stream crossing I notice something poke my left foot but I don’t want to stop to check it out.  I can’t ignore the feeling after a while so I stop and poke my finger through my shoe.  Don’t find anything so I conclude it must be nothing.  Again I feel it on the next downhill.  I stop at the next straightway and pull out the shoe and find three small rocks.  Three runners past by the time I get my shoe back on.  

Why Suffer?
After a few hours of suffering alone in the wood, the question of why creeps in.  I started having doubts to why I was even here.  What was the point of this?  Is the pursuit of endurance even worth it?  Isn’t this enough already?  I don’t have any emotional attachments to the race, I was kind of just there because all the cool kids were.  I had nothing to respond to my creeping doubts.  In one of his books, Dean Karnazes says something like suffering is the essence of a life worth living but at that moment I wanted to be comfortable, I rather be on the beach reading a book and watching the waves go pass by.

One foot at a time
I can’t get out the negative headspace I start putting myself in so I try food again.  I take two gels 15 minutes apart to try to get out of the bonk state.  Each gel gives me about 8 minutes of being able to jog comfortably before I go back to suffering mode.  I feel a lot of salt on my skin and wonder I been consuming enough electrolytes.  I accidentally switch back to a gel every 25 minutes, completely forgetting any sort of strategy I had.  Part of breaking down the overall goal is to have smaller goals that will help you achieve the bigger goal.  Getting in enough calories per hour was supposed to be my smaller goal but I didn’t have the mental capacity to keep track.  I would have loved some sort of quick fix to get me moving again.  Eventually I ran out of gels and water.  I was pretty numb to finding out that I was out, my focus remained to just move on.  I try to take notice of the sunlight reflecting the leaves, how green everything is, the branches and scenery.  I feel okay for a bit but the mind eventually wanders back to the pain.  I’m just in survival mode.  Eventually I see the turn for the side trail for Island Pond aid station.  You could easy past by it and skip it but you get a 15 minute time penalty.  A lot for a .4 miles.  I overheard a runner early in the race remarked that the real penalty for skipping it was not having water for the last 6 miles.  On my descent down I see a man struggling to walk.  It looks like he twisted his ankle.  He was sorry that he was unable to step out of the trail to let me pass but it was easy enough to go around.  I refilled the bottles both with Gu brew and grabbed 3 gels for the final stretch.  I saw a man with a red shirt that was part of the group of runners I was in from around 7-11 miles.  The limping runner makes it to the aid station as I leave.  He said he DNF long ago.  I guess he had to make it to an aid station to get help.  I continue the short climb up to the main trail.

In mud you lie
I forced down one of the gels.  Back on the main trail I had 4.5 miles left.  I started telling myself that every few minutes I would be a quarter mile closer to finishing and let that motivate me.  Miles were like 16-17 minutes a mile at this point but I didn’t care.  I kept shuffling.  The race ends on an uphill and I was dreading the final uphill, I thought it would be a massive 2 mile climb up.  The downhills continued however and I was grateful for them.  I knew a death hike uphill would sap any remaining strength.  At least on the downhill I had some speed to get miles moving along and I really just wanted the miles to click away.  Eventually I get to 2 miles away.  I turn my head and see the runner with the red shirt approaching.  Knowing that he is as dead as me, I decide he will not catch me.  I start running hard, which at that point is 13 minutes a mile.  I’m able to keep it up and the next 1.5 miles go by in a good speed.  I hit a muddy patch though and walk through it.  On the last mud patch my left foot sinks in and I fall forward.  My handheld bottle in my leg hand gets muddy as well.  I wasn’t drinking anything at this point anyway but now that option was gone.  The mud killed any momentum I had.  I went back to death walking.  The course passed the barn where the finish line is.  Like you could see it but then you go off the side and climb uphill first.  I find it cruel in my broken state.  I made it to Marina road where I visualized the finish the day before.  A car with a boat attached to it zooms by.  I wonder if they even noticed the half dead runner about to cross.  Cross the road and I know it’s just a quarter mile but I start walking up the hill.  I slap myself and go into a run.  The barn comes into view and I run into the finish.  There’s two timing mats and I hear my name and where I’m from announced.  Upon finishing, I get a seat right by the finish.  One of the race organizers gets me a bottle of water and I just sit for a while.  I see another finisher also pretty muddy.  One of the runners that passed me 5 miles ago is also sitting there.  I told her I was happy she passed me.  Those brief exchanges of when people say good job as they pass by make you feel a tiny bit better in the dark spots.  

Dying 
After sitting for a bit I decide to walk a bit and collect my finisher vest (so much better than a medal) and my finish line drop bag.  A volunteer helps clean my muddy bottle.  The plan was to change my clothes in a porter potty but I decided I was too weak.  I grabbed another water bottle and fruit can drink and sat down. My calves which have been complaining most of the race have now started screaming.  My belt had gotten under my singlet and chaffed me a bit and I had sunburn at other areas but those were mere discomforts.  I immediately consumed a Unived recovery drink by mixing powder into my Gu brew bottle.  It didn’t mix well, I probably need a blender ball, but drank the liquid and solid chunks anyway.  Then I just sat there, waiting for my calves to stop hurting.  My feet got cold from my muddy shoes but I was too weak to change them.  I sat there shivering till a man name Troy came up and offered to get something for me.  He got me two slices of pizza (there post-race pizza and Mexican food being cooked), along with chocolate milk, more canned juice (by my request - I wanted things with high calories) and more water.  I ate the pizza (not vegan) and consumed everything else except the milk.  I’m pretty sure Troy was another runner too.  I felt better but still too weak to move around.  He said things would get better.  I continued sitting.  Eventually I got cold again and started shivering again.  A woman came and offered to get baked potato or tamales to which I responded both.  She got both and lucky for me, the vegetarian tamale.  The baked potato was a bit hot but ate both and felt better.  I saw the midtown west runner finish and Dean Karnazes finish to my surprise.  I looked closely at his bib and it read Karno which I know is his nickname from his book “The road to Sparta”.  The guy at the finish covered in mud when i finished was the famous videographer Billy Yang.  I did not know he did ultras too.  After sitting for about eighty minutes I finally felt strong enough to start shaking out the legs.  I finally switched my shoes, usually the hotel towel I brought to wipe the mud.  I started walking back and forth 20 yards.  I recalled my first marathon when I was lying in a medical tent after finishing and the doctor commenting how your body was able to go 26 miles and now you could barely move.  50 miles is a pretty unimaginable distance, even to me as someone that has done the distance a few times.  After a few minutes I started walking to my car which was not in the parking lot but about a quarter mile away on the side of a road.  A volunteer from warmup springs saw me and offered a ride.  I hesitated at first but I really didn’t want to go on the downhill so I accepted.  She told me a lot of runners dropped, probably due to the heat.  I got to my car pretty quickly and thanked the volunteer.  I spent another 30 minutes slowly changing in the car.  I looked up the results too.  The women’s race was pretty close between 4 runners till the end and the men’s race was between two people.  I saw looked up Dean’s time and was kind of surprised I beat him before seeing that he was 56 years old.  He probably ran to the start anyway and will run home.  The runner I met yesterday Amanda did end up dropping halfway.  I myself DNF my third 50 miler.  There’s more variables to longer distances and finishing a distance once does not guarantee future finishes.

After the 30 minutes of resting in the car I drove back to the hotel.  A bit tired I drove 5 mph under the speed limit (comparably a lot better to my 100 where I was only able to drive half the speed limit).  A car with a boat attached to it sped past me, so fast that a paddle fell out and got ran over by cars.  Getting out of the car after reaching the hotel my left quad started cramping leaving me leaning on the car for support.  Lucky it went away after a few seconds.  Finally made it to the bed I wanted during the dark moments and I found out that I can’t sleep.  My body was in survival mode for so long that it was hard to turn off.  I spent the next few hours reading and watching everything Boston marathon.  I decided I would eat an entire box of vegan pizza the next day.  Sweet things were not were appealing, I think due to all the Gu gels.  Regretted buying that Trader Joe’s dark chocolate bar before the race as my award for finishing the race now.

Results
Race performance wise, I did pretty poorly.  11:26 is much slower than what I was aiming for.  I hit the times I was pursuing for a bit over 60% of the distance before slowly ending up in a crawl.  I probably could have started off slower and done better but if anything the race shows me that sub 10 hours is very possible for me and that I will soon be able to run the entire 50 miles, even if it has a ton of elevation gain.  I race to explore the unknown.  The hells I go through are just the price to pay.  Time to recover, reflect, readjust and try again!

Food count:
27 gels – 2,700 calories.  21 of them Gu gels, 2 science in sport, 1 Unived caffeine, 1 Unived mandarin orange, 2 Hammer gels.  Favorite flavor was the hoppy gu gels, it didn't taste sweet at all which I liked.
3/4 of a peanut butter jelly sandwich - 240
1 Oreos – 53 calories
Handful of potato chips – 137 calories

Liquids:
Red Bull – 3.5 cans – 770 calories
Gu Brew – 70 oz – 1312.50 calories
Water – 98 oz

Estimated Total:  5,212.50 calories