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.
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.
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 caloriesGu Brew – 70 oz – 1312.50 calories
Water – 98 oz
Estimated
Total: 5,212.50 calories