The road to UTMB - Chapter 8 - The Fairy Tale race

With UTMB starting a 6 pm I decided to sleep in race morning, I ate breakfast at my apartment.  Strava had another event with just met and greet athletes after their run/hike event.  I didn't want to do any physical activity before the race on race day so I skipped their running event.  At the event I met Paul Leak who I have heard before in the runners of NYC podcast.  He recognized my Queens Distance running shirt and we talked briefly.  He works for marketing in Strava now but use to work for NYRR run center and knew Kevin Montalvo.  I got some strava socks and free coffee from the event.  Next was a nap and then I went to the pre race buffet.  I ate some plain pasta loaded with egg plants and mushrooms.  Got some water and french bread.  Next was dropping my gear bag.  I had my second pair of shoes, a size up Altra Lone Peaks, along with gels and a third headlamp (in case one of my two headlamps I had to carry went bad, I wanted to always have two headlamps with me).  Bag drop was where bib pickup was and noticed for the first time it was a rock climbing gym.  Took a final nap.

I headed to the city center for the race.  Had to take a bit of a back entrance to get to the city center, there's arrows leading the way but the main area was already full of runners at 5 pm, one hour before race starts.  I wanted to be in the back anyway but if you want to be near the front, you would have to be there well before the 6 pm start time.  I started back near the church.  I was sort of hoping to see Jerry and start off with him but it was late already and I didn't want to shoot a text this late in the game.  No need to add any potential stress at this point.  I found it annoying that family members and loved one of the runners kept zigging in and out of the area where runners gather.  Some pushed their way through pretty aggressively without any apology.  

From the screens I could see a bit of the elite runners.  Music started playing and the runners seemed pretty hyped.  Did not seem like they were going for a 100 miles, most of them would be out there for 42ish hours, but instead a fun 5k run.  I ate a gel and then the race started.  It was jog walking getting out of the city.  It was too crowded for anything else.  The crowds were amazing, tons in the city and many were out as we left Chamonix on the road to the trails.  The first three miles are fairly straight road and then it climbs a tad bit here and there following the river till it reaches Les Houches.  I jogged my way through, probably near the back of the pack.  Then the route starts to climb on road.  People seem to start struggling right away and I pass a few with easy.  It turns from road to a wide trail, seems like a ski trail to me.  It is pretty steep but manageable and I feel like I make good progress.  Then the steep downhill where I hold back.  A few pass me and I pass a couple.  I didn't want to blow out the quads just yet.  Made it to Saint-Gervais in fairly comfortable and good shape.  My glutes did start feeling a tad sore which was unusual but I was sure it would pass.  I grabbed two pieces of French bread at the aid station and refilled water.  I started with only 500 mL of water, one bottle and it was good to fill up the second one here.  I continued jogging forward.  It was fairly easy terrain and we got to Les Contamies.  

There I found out there was only 10 minutes till the aid station closes.  I got some rice in soup and moved forward.  There seems to be an area where crew could access you.  I wasn't aware of course cutoff times at all to be honest and had I knew, I would have pushed more on these easier parts.  I started running more harder after this on the flats but the course got uphill soon.  I made good time on the uphill but made it to the aid station La Balmc with 4 minutes before closing.  Now I started panicking, I refilled water and was able to grab 3 pieces of oranges before I left.  If I paused a bit I should have stocked up on food as I only had two gels left but I didn't think it through.  I knew what items was the aid stations but didn't have a plan for them and how to restock with enough calories to keep going.  We were required to wear jackets from this point.  I was feeling warm but had to do it.  It got cold a bit farther up so grateful for this requirement.  I continued forward strong in my opinion upwards.  Saw some cows with cowbells on them.  The trail turned a bit rocky and less steep and I felt more at home here.  I started passing people but eventually the trail got steeper and smooth again.  Eventually my calf muscles, not being in this sort of activation for so long before started wearing out.  I slowed down and it got colder.  I took a break, put on my running tights and kept going.  Took a second break and then on my third I put on gloves.  Thankful to the mandatory gear as it kept me warm.  Altitude was probably affecting me as well.  Eventually I was moving alone.  I couldn't see anyone ahead.  I should have taken this as a warning of going too slow but it didn't register at the time.  I must have totaled 12 minutes at break.  I ran out of gels and soon got hungry.  Looking back now, I should have packed a lot more food.  I had the space for it in my running pack.  I should have also gotten more of those 250 calories speednut spring energy gels or the 200 calories Trail Nut butter if I was concerned about pack weight.  It kept looking like the uphill was going to head but every few minutes I would look up and there was still more to go.  The stars were out at full force though and it was beautiful.  Despite the dark I could also tell the terrain was nice.  I made it to a checkpoint where they scanned my bib.  The group seemed pretty quite, maybe they already knew that I would DNF soon.  

The downhill came and I wasn't really able to make up time.  From trail marker to trail marker I saw the different routes to move downhill and I sometimes took a 1-2 second pause to figure out the best one.  Maybe if I was following people it would have been easier to figure out.  I was comfortable being out in the dark with my headlamps to this point but now when figuring out downhill routes I was starting to feel inexperienced.  I hadn't practiced running at night at all for the race.  I passed 2-3 people on the downhill and made it the 50k mark at Les Chapiex.  There I found out I missed the 5:15 cutoff by almost 30 minutes.  I was definitely disappointed, despite not feeling strong in the last few miles I was no where near hitting the wall.  I just need some time to refuel in calories and I was sure I could continue strong.  My Garmin Fenix 3 in ultra tranc mode showed 36 miles and seeing the course profile showing that I was instead at 50k (31 miles) was a bit demoralizing and there was another good climb right after which more demoralizing.  I stuffed myself with three bowls of rice in soups, some French bread, and Overstims bars.  The bus to take us to Courmayeur was coming in a half hour so we had time to relax.  The others looked pretty beat.  I think I saw a few Taiwanese runners there with me, a stand with Hong Kong statement on their packs.  The bus ride to Courmayeur took a while and there I got my gear bag and took a short bus ride to Chamonix.  Courmayeur was beautiful and a bit of me wanted to check out the area, maybe take a gondola up to the mountain but I was sweaty and still ran a 50k.  I wanted to go back and recover as soon as possible.

It was seeing cool seeing runners from everywhere but I didn't talk to people like I normally do in American ultras.  Maybe farther down the line people would have been more talkive?  That aspect of the race felt weird.  The crowds however were super amazing and I enjoyed it more than any world major.  I hi fived 20 kids in the first few miles, by the third aid station got offered beer three times and my name was called out more times than any race before and I didn't even make it to the 1/3 mark.  Chamonix was stunningly beautiful.  I didn't try to get a crew to come with me, the thought of having people traveling all the way to Europe, take a bus for 1-2 hours to see me for three minutes for 40 plus hours seemed like a way too much ask.  Crew however would have been able to better supply me and probably knew what the time cutoffs were, could have pushed me to succeed.  The problem with the race is that with one drop bag, crew's ability to resupply you is a huge advantage.  When I got to Chamonix and realized how beautiful it is, I realized that crewing won't have been that bad of a ask.  It could be a mini vacation.  It was also difficult figuring out fun things to do when you are alone in a new country and all of a sudden have free time.

For something that went right in the race, I was happy with the Salomon Advance Skin 12 liter bag.  A lot of kangaroo like pockets - my water, gels, head lamps, and bowl - spoon were easily accessible while the layers were in the main pocket in the back.  I was happy with the pack weight, though I could have shaved off some weight with a long sleeve and wind jacket combo instead of a thick - fleece type of long sleeve but I thought the fleece be more useful if I actually needed it.  I was fairly comfortable running with the weight.

My trip to Chamonix, overall was pretty good price wise despite me doing everything last minute.  I flew to Paris roundtrip for $400ish, my apartment reserved via Airbnb was $330, the race was $280 , transportation from Paris to Chamonix would have totaled about $160ish.  I do think next time I would fly to Geneva and pay the extra to fly there to take off some stress of navigating the French public transportation systems.  Food was a tad cheaper than NYC prices and much cheaper than food I found in Geneva but that maybe because I went for vegan only places in Geneva.  I usually did two meals a day, a post run brunch from grocery stores and a lunch-dinner meal for Indian food.

I have new ideas for training and things to do next time.  I would either invest in a treadmill or find a gym that has 40% incline grades or so (not sure if gyms would have that so probably will have to buy).  I would also do more races focused on preping me for UTMB.  Maybe a 100ks in the spring to prep the legs a bit, and more sky races in the US (or Europe even if flights are cheaper).  I definitely think, as someone that lives in NYC and trains primarly on road, I could do it.  Some thoughts for races to help prepare near NYC are the breakneck marathons, it gets 10,000 gain in 26 miles, a higher ratio than UTMB, Maintou's Revenge which gets 15,000 gain in 54 miles (about the same ratio as UTMB) and the Whiteface Sky race which gets 8,000 gain in 15.5 miles (this one is a bit of a drive but doing the ascent one day which gains 3,300 feet in 2.3 miles and then doing the full skyrace the next day seems like good training).  

I however would not qualify for the UTMB lottery next year.  I used my 2017 races to qualify for the lottery last year and this year.  I didn't do a 100 miler last year and was planning to use UTMB to qualify for American races and perhaps enter the lottery again for next year (with the intention of probably winning in 2021).  UTMB wasn't a dream race for me till I got to Chamonix and saw the beauty of the mountains and the amazing community.  Now I really want to try again but I try to calm myself.  I could run the Oman by UTMB race during Thanksgiving weekend which would kill both the North Face Endurance Challenge SF race and the California International marathon, in addition to a whole bunch of money, and bypass the lottery for UTMB next year.  I still think I would need the points and that I'm not sure about.  I'm still a bit confused about the new point system.  The points are reduced to 10 points instead of 15.  However, I believe that the point system is now by distance instead of distance plus elevation gain.  Previously races with elevation gain kind of got an extra point.  So a hilly 50 miler had 4 points while a less hilly one has 3 points (compare North Face NY vs SF, the NY has less than 7000 gain and SF has over 10,000 gain, while NY is much more technical and SF smooth trails, SF gets 4 points vs NY's 3 points).  Now it looks like all 50 milers would get 3 points so I would probably have to do two 100 milers to qualify.  That's a bit difficult to do in a year on my current fitness.  I would qualify for the CCC lottery (33% chance of getting in) so thinking of doing that and perhaps the Val d'Aran by UTMB (really want to explore the Pyrenees mountains) on July 4th weekend to start the process of qualifying for the lottery in 2021 and maybe getting in 2022?  Still easier than getting in Western States!  I'm also thinking of running the course over 4 days, with 19 villages the course going through, it should be easy enough to resupply food and find sleeping accommodations for.

Really excited to try again but going to focus on finishing off the rest of the year.  Next is the Berlin marathon, NYC marathon, North Face SF marathon and then CIM.  Next year I'm already signed up for Houston marathon and Altanta marathon.  I want to do Maintou's Revenge next year and will probably look to do Breakneck marathon in the spring to help prep for it.  Have to decide about Val d'Aran, registration opens 10/7/19, with 10,500 meters gain I would have to make sure I'm on top of my vert game.  Breakneck and Maintou seem like good build ups to it though.  A winter speed focus on marathons for speed, then shifting to vert focus for a few months sounds like a interesting year!

The road to UTMB - Chapter 7 - Pre Race

Chamonix Day One

After a day of airplane, train and bus from Paris, I made it to Chamonix!  I wanted to do a group run first thing this day and I had several choices.  I choose the latest run I could find on facebook at 9 am, mostly because I was too tired in the morning to do the 8 am ones.  This one was lead by Trail butter.  I have had trail butter on one or two races before in Oregon back in 2017.  Run the Alps also led the run and they host 4 day runs over the UTMB course (Tour du Mont Blanc), among others things I'm sure.

Getting in late last night and the tight time transfers between my methods of transport meant I really had nothing available for breakfast.  I ate a spring energy peanut butter gel and walked to the coffee shop where the run was going to head out of.  It was only 4 minutes from where I was staying.  I had some trouble finding the place on google maps however, there was a series of shops that went inwards from the middle of the block.  Google maps kept saying it was a separate block that showed I had to go through some private driveways to get to.  Lucky the group didn't leave right away, it actually leave some 15ish minutes after the meetup time.  I would find out in all the events I attended in Chamonix that starting on time was more of my NYC culture.  The coffee shop had some healthy desserts of which I ate two pieces of.  I talked a bit with one of the Run for Alps leader and took two Trail butter samples.

The run started, we jogged through the city and went up La Flora.  I could see some of the booths, still closed at the moment.  The point had some nice views.  I talked to the guy from Trail Butter, Jeff who is from Oregon.  Eleven out of the fifteen points I used to get into UTMB came from Oregon so we briefly talked about Oregon Ultra races.   I talked with Jacob from Czech.  He did UTMB last year and was just here this year to enjoy being in the Alps.  Definitively a little jealous and reminds me maybe next year I'll be more adventure focused instead of just getting my adventures through races.  I lost the group on the final uphill to La Flora.  Group pic and then run down where I was behind the group again.  I think I may have been the only one in the group doing UTMB so I didn't think twice of not being able to keep up with everyone's else easy pace.  Back at the coffee shop I met a woman from SF whose boyfriend was doing of the races.  She didn't know people ran beyond 26.2 before meeting him.  I was pretty relieved to find most of the people speaking English in the group.  In my commute to Chamonix from Paris, while everyone did speak a little English I wasn't always able to communicate effectively to figure out train and bus schedules.  I ate the Trail Butter IPA flavor which I found unique and delicious.

Afterwards I got groceries.  I must have butcher saying Bonjour cause the cash register immediately asked if I speak English or Spanish.  Ate a real breakfast back at the apartment and took a quick nap.  My next thing was to go to the expo and do some last minute mandatory gear shopping.  The expo is pretty similar looking to the holiday villages we have in NYC.  A lot more fancier than any expo I been to before in any race.  Particularly I was looking for a waterproof pant shell and an emergency blanket (sort of those post race blankets you get).  I got both easily enough.  I walked around the expo for quite a bit.

Next was meeting up with Jerrry, another Queens based runner doing UTMB!  We met at the finish line and got drinks.  Talked for 1.5 hours.  It was nice seeing how he got here, he did a 100 miler back in 2003 and then focused on marathons.  I think in his late thrities, he noticed he was slowing down and went back to ultras.  He did CCC, which is a sister race covering the last 100k of the UTMB race, last year.  I learned useful things from talking with Jerry and we talked for 1.5 hours.

Then was the quest for dinner.  I had to possible things for that night.  One was a North Face event titled meet your heroes where North Face athletes talked and took selfies and such.  The other, more interesting to me, was the Strava event about running stories from a vary of guest speakers.  The strava event started at 7 pm and was out of tickets (free event but had to register via event brite) so I was going to the North Face event.  The strava event mentioned that at 6:45 pm they would release some at the door tickets to people at standby so I thought of doing that but I decided to go to the North Face event at 6 pm since that was a sure thing.  It was 5 pm so that didn't leave much time for dinner.  I would have wanted to eat Indian since it would be pretty filling but went to a English pub place called Poco Loco.  I got the vegan falafel bowl.  The dish was pretty disappointing, it came with 4 small falafel pieces, some pieces of watermelon garnished with some delicious topping and a lot of cabbage.  So pretty much nothing.  Ate and went to the North Face event.  I saw one of two athletics talking pics and talking as I headed to the basement where the event was held.  They didn't check phone or anything for pre registered food.  They had a spread of French looking snacks, mostly cheese and dried meat.  I was able to eat some grapes and a mushroom tortilla wrap.  They also had beer and wine of which I took a glass of beer.  The event was in a tiny space in the basement of their stores.  No chairs, people had to sit on the floor.  It was packed, it felt really hot and by 6:30 pm they still didn't start so I left and decided to try for the strava event.

I got to the standby line for the strava event maybe around 6:35.  I was the first on line!  I talked to the second guy on line about qualifying for UTMB.  About 6:40 pm they let us in.  It was an amazing event.  Heard Sally and Lucy talk, both whom I have heard before on podcast.  Saw a barley's movie which probably scares me more of doing the race than anything.  After the event I saw a bunch of people running to the finish line area.  I headed over and saw a large crowd had gathered.  First and second place of TDS came in a few minutes of each other.  The crowd energy was amazing, maybe the best I ever seen in a race and this is coming from someone who taken part in two world majors races.  TDS started 4 pm the day before and it was 10 pm now.  The course changed this year, 20k was added to it, making it a 145k technical race.  I wanted to hang around and cheer longer but decided that sleeping would help the most for my race in two days.

Chamonix Day Two

I would have wanted to do another shakeout run with a group but the events I found didn't list their routes and I didn't want to risk it.  I decided to to do one of the strava routes that strava had created for people during the week.  Most of the routes ranged in the 10k distance and difficulty was based on elevation gain.  The strava hub was at Big horn which was a block from where I was staying.  I decided to do their route to the waterfalls and just ended a bit earlier in the city center to do some more window shopping.  Once I left the city however, I found it difficulty to navigate through the strava app route.  In the city, the map shows city blocks but once in the trails, you are just following a line.  I ended my run at 6.66 miles at the race booths of the expo which I hadn't checked out yet.  I picked up a few brochures and entered the lottery for three lotteries for free race entries.

I got my last piece of mandatory gear which was a 100 cm times 6 cm wrap.  I actually couldn't find one of that length, got a 90 cm x 6 cm wrap and hoped no one would notice.  Went through bib pickup and mandatory gear check which went pretty smoothly.  It was pretty much what you would expect.  You got your bib, showed ID to get it.  Then went through mandatory gear.  They checked about six things in the list - headlamps with spare batteries, waterproof jacket, running pants, whistle, warm hat, survival blanket, and phone.  I got Indian food which seems to have had the most vegetarian options for me.  I attended a runner's film festival, also a strava event that was hosted by Jaybird.  Event was great and really had me wanting to do a fast run.  They had some speakers afterwards, talking about women in ultra running and urban running experience trailing running for the first time.  I went to a Turkish place for a second dinner and got the vegetarian option.  This was also a big disappointment as it was just a wrap filled with cabbage (and cheese but no cheese for me so just a cabbage).  I stuck to Indian for my meals afterwards.

Mountain Lakes 100 Round Two

15 miles south of Mt. Hood, about 160 runners attempted to run/walk/crawl 100 miles with a time cutoff of 30 hours. 81 finished. I was the 81st finisher at 29:47:44.

A Goal: Under 26 hours
B Goal: Under 30 hours (finisher)
C Goal: Finish 100 miles

Strategy
Keeping up my calories was an important strategy for the race. I had to eat for the second half. I decided to drink glukos (the on site sugar water drink), use the on site gu gels, my own few maple gels, apples, mandarins. I aimed to keep an easy 4 miles an hour pace...I would say that is about a 12 minute mile road pace for me (easy around 130 bpm heart rate).

Martha who placed third women at the Volcanic 50k greeted me at the start line. She was volunteering at the first aid station. After learning I was doing this race she said would remember my name. I wasn't expecting her to remember (she was a bit tipsy) but she did. She said it would be good to hear your name called out at the aid station.

Part I - The Winter Marathon - Miles 0 to 26 miles
Before the race started I found out that the first quarter of the race had snow. The first drop bag was right after this. Some people had a pair of shoes to switch out. I did bring an extra pair of shoes but kept them in my second drop bag at mile 55. The first three miles was the usual wide dirt road to separate the paces. Martha was at the aid station and it was nice to say hi to someone. I read the sign that said 97 miles to go and I remember not really being able to understand what that meant. As soon as the route turned to trail, the snow appeared and I started passing people fast. I got alarmed at the rate and decided to stick to a group at the middle of the pack. In addition to the snow the first 26 miles of the race is the most technical. Eventually I found the group too slow and soon followed some people that were passing by (it's hard to pass people on single track) and we formed another mid pack group. One runner I pasted called me sir making me feel old (I was the the 5th youngest person racing). I think people were just struggling with snow. I guess with the hot and dry summer in the PNE it was a new variable. I found it easier than running in mud. I eventually passed this group as well.

The snow gave out for a little bit at the half marathon mark and people then started passing me. It was hard to see that to be honest. I'm already running at a slow pace and seeing others pass you...but I had to keep reminding myself to run my own race. Then the snow returned but this time it was mostly icy water. The water burned. We passed up the first aid station again around at mile 23 where Martha was and it was good to hear my name (she was right). Then back to the dirt road to the start area. Around mile 24 I felt that I had to go to bathroom (#2). This was the first time I felt like this during any race. The feeling went away after a bit so I ignored it.

Part 2 - Shit Happens - Miles 26 to 55
Last year I DNF at mile 55, simply making it 55 was going to be a strong mental boost to me. A elderly lady helps grab food for me at the aid station. She really wanted me to sit down for a bit and eat but the chair is dangerous in my mind. I wanted to be in and out asap. At my drop bag I replaced some food and grabbed two apples. I held the apples in each hand and start running, slowly eating them. The trail turns to the PCT with rolling hills. Not technical and felt pretty easy. 3.6 miles to the next station I meet Moe who dressed as a butler in the 90 degrees Volcanic 50k and helped finishers get food and drinks. I also saw a woman from Rochester who I met the night before (I wore my Finger Lakes 50 finisher hoodie) so a bit of a NY connection. Moe grabbed my garbage (which included apple scraps) and I got refueled in liquids. At this point I started thinking of going to aid station to aid station, like how in mirror lake in lake placid my only thoughts were to go buoy to buoy. I don't think of the miles to come. Around mile 34 I had to go to bathroom. I knew there were no porter potties till mile 55. I held it in. It started hurting and the miles started feeling longer. I have done many trail races, hikes, backpacked, and camped a few times but I had never had to go outside behind some bushes (many backpacking sites have compost toilets). The pain became unbearable and at mile 38 I found a spot behind some bushes away from the trail. Felt a lot better afterwards but the problem didn't end there. I went another two times within 7 miles (I got more efficient each time) and once more at the porter potty at mile 55. I couldn't digest food. I started drinking ginger ale at the aid stations. I had no idea what was causing the problem so I continued to eat gu gels. At mile 37 a runner named Diana passed me. She was happy to find another runner after running alone for a while. I saw her again at mile 44 where I joined a group of runners. It was night now and it was nice to run with people. There was 4 of us, Peter, Diana, I and Franco. Franco was barely keeping up but he probably saw the value in running with people. The group ran a bit slow but it was still early in the race and decided to run with them till the next aid station. Peter who was leading had to go to bathroom and then Diana led. Lost Franco too. Diana ended up hitting a uphill too hard and needed a breather. I passed and all alone once again. Aid station 49 is special to me. Last year I reached here pretty late and the volunteer say you on the way back (we pass the aid station again at mile 75). She said the same thing this year too. Diana caught up at the aid station and we ran the next 5 miles together. We talked here and there but it was just nice being able to hear someone behind you. We reach the aid station at about 11 pm, 1.5 hours before the cutoff.

Part 3 - The long night- Miles 55 to 70
This leg of the race was a 15 mile loop and the first part where you are allowed pacers. Most people used pacers, some had two (one for the 15 mile loop and then one for the 30 miles back). The entire race is very crew friendly (race starts at 8 am, the first 26 miles is a loop back to the start so you could see your runner off, sleep for a few hours and then catch up with them in the way back before driving to mile 55, then it's another loop back to the aid station at 55/70 before the runners heads back to the start/finish). I went to the aid station captain hoping they had medicine for the stomach, I had stopped eating completely. After talking for a bit, we determined that I over dosed on gu gels. I went on a diet of vegetable broth with potatoes and ginger ale for the next 20 miles, eating whatever bits of fruit the aid station had. At this point energy wise I was fine but legs were pretty beat. Diana surged past me with her pacer. I try to keep up but I took a minute to grab hot shot, a shot drink with a lot of salt that is suppose to prevent/stop cramming. I quickly lost Diana but soon the woman from Rochester passes by. She was pacing another person and invited me to join the group. I follow them and my pace improves. We pass up a lot of people but I lost the Rochester team after the next aid station. Alone my pace fell and people pass me soon afterwards. I tried focusing on my breath to get into a mediation mode but wasn't able to (something to practice in the future). Near the second aid station of the loop I got slightly lost and followed another group of runner and pacer team to the aid station. That's one advantage of the pacer, following the trail markers for you. The last 5 miles of the loop I was alone and it was mentally tough. I soon realize that I'm physically alone at that moment but with all the support I have gotten to simply be there at that point, that I'm not really alone. I think of friends and family and use these emotions to stay strong. I focus on passing tree by tree. Make it to one tree, then to the next. Okay I'll take a break at that tree over there, okay maybe a few more. As I approach back to the main aid station at mile 70. I break into tears which quickly gets me dizzy. I reach the aid station at 3:45, 1:15 before the cutoff. My left shin starts bugging a little before I reach the aid station.

Part 4 - "To run an ultra is to keep going when everything else wants to stop" (lost where I got the quote from) - Mile 70 to 100
Now all that was left was the return back to the start. I had 10 hours to finish, pretty comfortable time wise. To regain calories I started eating processed food - candy, Oreos, anything with sugar. I meet Diana again and she passed me once again (she ran faster but took longer times at aid stations). She was in high spirits. My left shin that was bugging a little before flared up. I found out that if I landed my left foot on the toe the pain wasn't bad. By this time my quads were pretty burnt too. I did a mix of running and walking. I decided to lift my compression sleeve to let my shin breath. I ended up double wrapping the hurting part and it felt better. I went with it. At the next aid station I sat on the chair and took off the compression sleeve from my right leg and double wrapped my left shin. This aid station was also the one where the volunteer wished to see everyone on the return. It took me a year but I made it back. I continued to run walk. There was a beautiful sunrise on the horizon. Around 7 am I saw I got a messenger message from Brenda saying go Vikram and a text from Jian saying good luck. I guess I got service at some point during the race. That helped and I once turned to thoughts of friends and family to keep going. At mile 88 I reached the second last aid station. Every runner there looked done. Diana was there too, sitting in a chair with a face in a lot of pain. I thought she was done but a mile later she would pass me. She said she wanted to quit twice. I would not see her again. I also met Martin, a retired 62 year ago who DNF with me last year due to a time cutoff in a race in Montana (he started the race two hours late, I didn't). He was pacing a young man. Martin also did this race last year and succeeded in finishing where I DNF. It was weird but nice seeing him. Miles 88 to 96 were the most difficult. I walked in a limp, my left hand pushing down my left quad to walk. I thought I looked normal but a team passing by asked if my ankle was okay. I was spent and up for more than 24 hours, a bit sleepy. I walked to the aid station at mile 96. It was a very long 8 miles. It never came. I counted course cone markers to pass a bit of time. Towards the end of that walk I realized I wasn't going to make the 30 hour time cutoff. I tried running the downhills but that only caused to me walk slower whenever I stopped. I had no more to give. As approach the final aid some runners passing by gave a few words of encouragement but I knew it was over for me. I had no regrets, I was trying my best.

At the final aid station I ate some m&ms and refilled one bottle with glukos. I had one hour and 10 minutes to do 3.6 miles. It didn't give me any hope. I fully intended to limp walk the rest in pain. As I was leaving, a man told me how much time I had and then he said that Martha wanted me to finish. I woke up at those words. I ate a gu gel (after over 12 hours of not eating one being afraid of upsetting the stomach) that I had left in my pocket and after hours of feeling beat and unable to run, I ran hard. Uphill, downhill, lung burning it didn't matter. Somehow I was able to keep going. All I think and hear was my breathing. Time sped up. With about .3 left to go I met two runners who finished and had gone back to cheer. They told me I only had one hill to go up and then down to the road. It was great hearing that. I broke into tears hitting the road about .1 miles from the finish. I tried to hold it in as I finished. A few people were still cheering and I thanked them on the way. I broke completely into tears at the finish. Another runner's pacer who finished 4 seconds before me gave me a long hug. Then I got hugs by both race directors and in the process I knocked the belt buckle out of the RD'a hand. The belt buckle is like the medal of 100 milers.

It's funny isn't it? After all my strategies failed, what saved me were the words that a stranger said from another stranger wanting me to finish.

Afterwards I found out that my compression sleeve fix for my shin caused swelling but lucky elevating it quickly reduced that. It wasn't a good idea. The shin recovery however will have to wait a few days to figure out. It still hurts and feels tender. I had no crew but people volunteered all over to help me. Everything from getting my drop bags, food and drinks, medical help, and even walking with me, carrying my running vest and two bags to the car. All strangers, only got one of their names (Pamela from Seattle who helped me to the car).

I was the last official finisher and thus the last to get the belt buckle. I saw two others finish the 100 miles but just a little bit too late. I was going to be in their shoes but I was lucky enough to hear what I needed to hear at exactly the right moment.

As you could tell, my race was far from perfect but somehow I kept moving. I finally know now what it means to run an ultra. It was never about the distance, it was about about being completely broken down and then finding the strength to keep going. That eventually wears out and you have to keep digging to find another one. I read about this before but it was completely different to experience it.

Mountain Lakes 100 - Preconditions - The Journey

Last year, the cold and with quads hurting for miles I quit the Mountain Lakes 100. I had only gone 10% farther than my previous longest run (a 50 mile race). I still remember it clearly, my quads started bugging at mile 30ish and we're hurting by mid 40s. I slowed to a walk and not prepared for the drop in temperature of the night, got cold. The hard cutoff was at mile 70, I knew I wasn't going to make it and couldn't imagine going farther so I quit at the aid station at mile 55. I still have mixed feelings about it, I remember how horrible I felt but I also feel like quitting is against the idea I have of myself.

I sort of fell into a running slump after the race, I still ran races but wasn't doing well and just not motivated. I knew I had to try the 100 miler again but sometimes I would play with the idea of missing registration in my head. It wasn't till I was asked about it during a hike in January that I decided to definitely do it.

Also in January I happened to randomly pick two books to read where nutrition was played a big role. Finding Ultra and Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition which slowly convinced me to changed my diet (I had to go through a couple more books as I figured things out). That started me on a course to slowly lose 50 pounds and with faster recoveries, I went from 25 miles a week of running to 60 plus miles a week while still biking and swimming (a bit). I gained free speed and for the first time since my second year of running I was crushing my previous PRs in all distances.

I decided to run more ultras this year and made destinations a part of the fun. A 50k in the Santa Montica mountains by LA, a 50k in the desert by Las Cruces, a 100k by the beautiful gorges and waterfalls by Portland, 50K in the finger lakes forest near Ithaca and another 50K around the volcano St. Helen. Training runs were also in the beautiful close by Palisades and Harriman state park, extending to the White and Green Mountains of New England.

Another strong boost to my running was joining a running club or two. During a run in March I met a man who ran with me for a while. We talked about running quite a bit and he encourage me to join a running group. I applied for Queens Distance Runners that night. Shorty after I moved from eastern Queens to western Queens and I ended up close to a whole bunch of running groups. On my second day, with boxes still to be unpacked I found out that WoodsideSunnyside Runners were doing a long run starting a half mile from me so I joined them. They clubs have been a good motivation to go running but I also drew inspiration just from seeing people so devoted to running. I started doing speed workouts for the first time and even followed my first training plan ever.

For September I decided to complete in three different types of endurance events. A Half Ironman (triathlon with 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13 mile run), Spartan Beast (14ish mile obstacle course racing up and down a mountain) and this 100 mile trail race. I didn't make the swim cutoff for the Half Ironman which cut that race short (bummer but next time)! After a two day mental break I started running again, without biking or swimming I ended up running more than scheduled but recovery seems okay. I did well on the Spartan race but scraped my right knee. I haven't been running since then to allow myself to cautiously recover. Last shakeout run is tomorrow! Feeling excited!

I know I'm physically capable of running 100 miles, the struggle is going to happen between the ears.

Picture: Sunrise at Olallie Lake, the start/finish of Mountain Lakes 100