The road to UTMB - Chapter 2 - North Face NY 2019

The North Face Bear Mountain 50 miler is my eighth or ninth 50 miler, depending on if you count the 54 miler Maintou’s Revenge as a 50.  This race was my first 50 miler 4 years ago.  Back then, I went into races without training - I easily got away with finishing marathons (at a slow 5 hours+) without worry of DNF.  Here I found myself chasing cutoffs from around mile 20.  I really didn’t think I would make it past the first hard cut at mile 29.  I was somewhat content with that, at least I would have gotten a marathon in.  I got a second wind and made that cutoff with 10 minutes to spare.  I saw the despair of the back of the pack in ultras.  People mentally broken, struggling to move their bodies.  It’s a lot different than my experiences at road marathons.  There, even the back of the pack is cheerful.  Here is looked more like people trying to survive.  I struggled through to the next aid station where I got revived just in time from the encouragement of the volunteers.  I ran the rest of the race hard, making it through the 41 mile hard cut off with 2 minutes to spare and the final 14 hour cutoff with 4 minutes.  The race taught me about low points (“the wall”) that everyone experiences at marathons but it also taught me about the high point that comes shortly after.  I ran the 50k version of the race in 2016 and the memories of the volunteers that cheered for me rang strong in my head.  I skipped 2017 and in 2018 I volunteered at an aid station, I made a special point to try to encourage the back of the packers and afterwards caught up with some friends and cheered on till the last finishers.  The area is also the location of my first and second hikes.  The first of which I was fairly overweight and struggled through the whole way.  So I had a lot of emotional attachment to the location and race which I thought would be advantageous to my performance, more so than simply having knowledge of the course.  With Lake Somona as my long run 3 week before and feeling well recovered, I felt like I was in good shape for the race.  It rained all night the day before the race which I knew would lead to many muddy spots.  This removed the stress of any time goals.
I decided to not to do the official shakeout run with Dean Karnazes the day before because it started at 7 am and I thought it better to sleep in a bit more two days before since I won’t get that chance the night before the race (race started at 5 am but the last shuttle to the start from the parking lot left at 4:15 am).  I did a short shakeout during lunch as I ran to bib pickup and back.  I opted to go to work, go home straight afterwards and then sleep early.  I figured if I slept at 8 pm, I could get almost 6 hours of sleep before waking up, set my bag and then make it to the shuttle bus to the start.  I ended up going to sleep at 8:40 and got about 5 hours of sleep. 

Things in the morning were going well till I realized I didn’t wash my QDR singlet from the Leatherman’s loop six days ago.  I had left it in a bag in my car and it had skipped my usual laundry run.  I didn’t have another tried and true racing shirt or singlet so I quickly put it into the washer on quick wash mode and then got in the dryer for 10ish minutes.  I decided to just go with it and hang it in the car.  A few minutes later, in the car I decided I should just wear it and let my body heat dry it out.  Another lesson!  Always pack your things beforehand.  Making things a bit more complicated was my strategy of carrying water and gels via three methods for the race.  With two drops bag points that I would hit at miles 23, 29, and 41 (you do hit the first bag drop point at mile 4 but that’s really too soon for anything) I would use my Ultimate Direction North racing vest (with the GPS/cell phone cover removed) till mile 23.  Then I would drop the vest into my drop bag, grab some gels and a 16 oz. hand bottle for the next 6 mile loop which ends back at the same mile 23 bag drop.  Next I would drop the bottle and get the vest back for the next 12 miles.  At mile 41 I would once again drop the vest and use my hip belt that carries a 16 oz. bottle on the back for the last 9 miles.  Why a hip belt the last 9 miles?  Well once of the ascents on the last 9 miles is technical enough to need my hand to go up so I wanted two hands for that.  The hip belt gets put on like a pair of shorts so it would a bit uncomfortable to put on after 41 miles on the leg but I figured it’ll be worth having the hands free for that one section of the climb. Fog hit sections of the drive up limiting my vision to just about half a block ahead of me to causing the drive to be slightly more stressful than normal.  

Made it at 3:53 to the Anthony Wayne parking lot and got a shuttle bus to Bear Mountain around 4 am.  I pulled out my drop bag tabs and attached them during the ride.  At Bear Mountain I continued setting my drop bags, I grabbed a three of the huckleberry favored gels and put them in the drop bag going to camp Lanowa (mile 23, 29).  Next was a porter potty bathroom visit, then drop the other two bags (one was a change of clothes that stayed at the finish).   I went to bathroom again, I think more so of nerves, nothing came out.  I met Ami briefly who was also doing the 50 miler.  Among the chatter of the people I noticed a few West Point students and Canadians.  The announcer at the start said some deep things - how millennials of star dusk lead us to be here today at this point to accomplish our destinies.  I was in wave 3 and the waves went off just a minute after each other so it was pretty quick start.  Instead of the 7 am start in California, the 5 am start required the use of a headlamp for the first half hour or so.

Hold 

Knowing I went out too fast in Lake Sonoma I decided to start off slower this time.  With 3 miles of gradual uphill right away, I didn’t set a pace goal but rather went with effort level.  Placement going into single track is usually important in trail races but I did a preview of the first 7.5 miles a week after Sonoma where I decided I should make a move on the road portion of seven lakes drive and along the preceding wide ski trail 6 miles in if I still felt like I was moving too slow.  The race quickly got congested and I was aghast that people were trying to avoid mud.  It’s spring in NY, there’s going to be mud.  I ended up walking a bit more than I wanted to due to the congestion.  Perhaps I should have tried to out faster?  Still had plenty of miles for placement though.  Ami who started a wave behind me caught up for a brief moment and then lost her.  She did a 20 mile run two weeks ago at a good pace so I thought she would probably pass me at some point.  She was probably being extra cautious, it being her first 50 miler and all.  I started out with my Queen’s marathon beanie but it soon got too hot so I removed it.  The headlamp on my bare forehead didn’t feel as comfortable but I knew it was only for a few minutes longer.  I continued up conga line till the first aid station at Anthony Wayne.  

I blew past this first aid station.  Runners seemed to have crowded up here for some reason.  The next part was a short technical single track where it would be difficult to pass people so I would think people would want to keep moving.  You had the option of dropping off your headlamp at this aid station so maybe that’s what people did.  I simply packed it into my vest, along with the Queens Marathon beanie.  Other than those two, my pack only had gels and water.  I did a training run 2 weeks before and I knew exactly how this section of trail curved and moved.  This was a bit surprising to me, since trails in the same area kind do tend to look the same and I only been in this area a couple of times over the last few years.  I moved well in this section and soon we popped into seven lakes drive and started a short road section south.  I didn’t however move well on the road and many pasted me here.  This not moving well on the road would be a constant theme of the day.  We soon merged left into the silver mines ski trail where immediately we were greeted with mud.  For the most part, I would go straight through the mud, knowing that there will be mud spots later on and I didn’t want to waste precious energy avoiding them now.  I continued pacing myself, it had spread out quite nicely but no real groups yet.  I continued my strategy of jogging the uphill’s but with more room I started running down hard.  My quads didn’t get sore from 10,500 feet of loss that Lake Sonoma had so I wasn’t worried at all about them here (less than 7,000 feet of loss).  Bear Mountain descends were steeper so you moved faster downhill with gravity’s help anyway so it made sense to not hold back.  This was more to my liking, perhaps because it’s more familiar.

Learning from Lake Sonoma that a gel every 30 minutes wasn’t enough I decided to eat a gel every 25 minutes.  I started off with 6 gels and would restock in the hammer gels the race provides.  I would always leave an aid station with at least 4 gels on me.  Unlike Lake Sonoma, aid stations here were more frequent, most were 4ish miles apart.  As I passed by Silver Mine Lake I recalled looking at the lake for the first time 4 years ago.   Back then, I saw pockets of steam rising from the lake.  It was incredible beautify with the sun rising in the background.  Today it was cloudy and I saw no such effect.  The route climbs out of the ski trail to a single track climb.  I hiked most of it up.  It then descents quickly to the Silver Mine aid station at mile 8.7.  I grabbed a few chips, ate a small piece of white potato and refilled my 8 oz. bottle with water (I carried a 16 oz. bottle and a 8 oz. bottle in the front of my vest with a backup 8 oz. in the back).  I stuck to drinking only water the first 35 miles.
Steady
Out of the aid station, the trail starts fairly easy.  Somehow, I still trip over a small rock on a turn which causes the runner in front of me to ask if I am okay.  I reply that I’m grateful for the toe guards that trail shoes have.  We soon merges with the long path and the trail gets technical.  While there are no great mountain ascents, the trail is still fairly rocky.  On a steep technical descent that a runner in front of me struggles with, I decide to pass her by going off to the side and end up slipping, landing on my butt.  I get up immediately with no pain which helps relieve any fear I had of future descents (I know I can’t get hurt, even if I fall).  I occasional hit rocks but the toe guards on my trail shoes protect my feet.  Each hit though wakes me up and I start paying attention more.  Groups start to form but I’m not interested.  I don’t allow anyone to pace me.  The ascents, descents, and the rock hopping of technical terrain makes it difficult to pace with effort levels.  I often slowed down on the flat, non-rocky terrain to check myself and my effort level.  During these straight stretches I often fall behind the group.  Then over descents and technical terrain I easily catch up.  It’s way too early to start attacking anything and I don’t want to make any extra effort to keep up with anyone.  Eventually I end up leading the group. 

We pass by beautiful Lake Skannatati and the aid station there.  At the aid station I ate more potatoes and left a bit full.  I didn’t want to take a gel while having a full stomach so I skipped my next gel.  As we move along, I notice the Times Square rock and immediately recognize the area.  I’m in one of my favorite areas of Harriman state park!  As we approach mile 20, I briefly talk with another runner.  He has done the race a few times and we talk about the course and how most of the elevation gain is almost over with.  We exit onto a road and make our way to Camp Lanowa.  On this road section to the camp I easily get passed by the group.  I catch up to a woman, Veronica who is doing her first 50 miler.  I told her I’m doing my 9th depending on if you count a 54 miler.  She immediately asked if it was Manotu’s Revenge which surprised me.  When I asked on what inspired her to do her first 50 miler she says she lives close by and wanted to show her 4 year son that mommy could do fun things.  I mentioned that I was feeling hungry and she offer a gel but I declined.  I wanted to stay faithful to my 25 minute gel.  I would learn from the race that my body is better able to process the gels than real food.  Gels simply made me feel like I had more energy than real food and I don’t feel stuffed.  This sort of goes against the preference for real food ideals I hold.  I started feeling a side stich as I got closer to the aid station and I figure it may have been because the running vest was on too tight, limiting my breath.  Doesn’t matter as I was to switch to handheld soon.

At the aid station I stick to my strategy of switching water carrying methods to the handle held bottle.  My bib number 10 gets me an upfront placement of my drop bag and I am able to get everything I need quickly (though I do see how having a crew could turn my 2 minutes at the aid station to 20-30 seconds).  Despite having gels in the drop bag I grab a few from the aid station in case they run out on my return.  The route goes on an uphill where a group of West Point College kids past me.  I past Veronica as well.  A man with an English accent catches up to me and I offer to let him pass.  He declines saying we are going about the same speed.  He asks about the flag on the back of my singlet and I replied that it was the flag of Queens County.  He was happy to have learned something new on the trails.  This reminded me of a 50 miler in Arizona where a man name Jeff taught me all the plants around while we ran together.  The trail turns into a wide gravel fire tower roads.  I yo-yo with a college age looking kid.  Every time I passed him I would say the typical trail running encourage thing.  “Good job”, “nice work”, etc.  On the third one he thanked me and said I was helping him which made me feel good.  On a flooded section, I dashed straight across while the English accent man goes to the side to avoid.  He jokes about alligators in the swamp.  I remark that I’m happy there were no rocks in it (looking at you Lake Sonoma).  He soon passes me and catches up to another man.  He probably started talking to him as the man looked like he was struggling and then all of a sudden got super powered when they started running together.  I slowly fell behind them.  This section is 6 miles long but the easy of the gravel trail makes it short time wise.  Back on the road heading to back to Camp Lanowa I get passed by Veronica and the college age looking kid I was going back and forth with.  I got my bib marked by a woman who recognized the singlet.  She mentioned that she thinks her cousin was part of the team, Valerie Lores, to which I responded that yes, I know her!
Fire!
Back to the racing vest.  In my rush in the morning I forgot to pack my anti-fatigue pills into my racing vest and had left them at this drop bag.  I made sure to pick those up but I forgot to empty out the headlamp and my beanie from my vest.  I loaded up on potatoes and once again felt full.  I would skip my next two gels, opting to take the anti-fatigue pills instead.  The North Face Endurance Challenge races allows pacers for their 50 milers.  Pacers here are different than pacers in road races.  A pacer in an ultra joins a specific runner in the latter part of their race.  In this race, a pacer could join either at mile 29 and/or mile 41.  So you could have one pacer run 12 miles with you, then have another run the last 9 with you, have one pacer run 21 miles with you or simply have a pacer run the last 9 miles with you.  Veronica got her pacer and mentioned that her legs feel fine but she just went out too fast.  They then charged on ahead.  Pacers are definitely a huge advantage in races.  The trail now went onto old fire roads.  Wide but muddy at many spots.  I tried catching up to Veronica and the group around her.  I was starting to feel tired and would have liked to at least be around people.  My shoelace got untied twice on my left foot and by the second time I went to fix it, I lost sight of everyone.  Alone, the pain started creeping in but I welcomed it.  I knew I would start hurting at mile 30 something.  Learning to beat the pain is what I came for.  I rallied in my mind thinking about it.  I told myself that this is what I came for, that I today I say no to the god of death.  The announcer words about this being my destiny rang in my head.  I was able to keep my effort level high. 

Soon I met another runner, Adam who grew up in Westchester and now resides in Manhattan.  When I asked about what inspired him he said he heard about ultras back when he was in college and decided that he would do one day when he got older.  He then turned thirty and decided it had to be soon.  He did the Bear Mountain trail marathon 2 years ago, the 50k last year and is now the 50 miler.  On a downhill I decide to go down fast and Adam gets stuck behind someone.  On the following road section Adam catches up again.  I feel that he could go faster but he decides to stick around and talk.  It’s his first 50 and he is being cautious.  I walk a bit and then use the cones marking the course as points to start jogging between.  Back into the trails I continue talking with Adam, we talk about triathlons, my goal race of UTMB, the difficultly of training on trails in the city.  I asked if he was part of any running club or team and he said he had odd hours making it difficult to run with others.  I briefly talk about my 100 miler and he says he can’t imagine doing it but he likes the idea of doing a hundred.  Talking makes the miles click away.  On a descent I lose him a bit but I keep an eye out to see out hoping he catches up. 

I make it to Tiorati aid station, here 4 years ago is where I got revived thanks to the encouragement of the volunteers.  Back then, by the time I arrived they had ran out of water. A volunteer has some in his car and ran to get me some.  There was no real food left, just cliff gels and I got my pack filled with ice while I waited for the water.  I was advised not to drink too much and to book the next 10k to make the cutoff.  They told me that I could make it and that I could even see the Pacquiao vs Mayflower fight later at night. 

As I finish stocking up in the present, I see Adam pass by, not stopping at all.  I pass a man with tattoos on both his arms.  We been going back and forth for miles and we will continue for a quite few more.  The trail is rolling hills and I make it to the next aid station, Owl Swamp.  The aid station looks different but when I reached here 4 years ago, they were already packing.  Back then, I asked how I was doing on time and the man looked at his watched and asked if I really wanted to know.  The women tells me to run what’s runnable.  I immediately start sprinting uphill before she yells out her statement.  I realize that I should hike technical uphill, that being desperate doesn’t mean being stupid.

Past the aid station in the present, the trail goes uphill a bit and then has a long downhill descent.  The downhill helps I gain momentum and I realize that I can’t stop, I have to keep using the momentum I am getting from the downhill.  I ran through the muddy, swampy area harder than ever, passing many people.  The trail merges with the 50k and marathon route.  I thought merging with these runners would be a boost since I could say hi to more people but the ones I started catching were struggling, death walking marathoners.  I try to say encouraging words but most don’t respond, clearly they are beyond their element.  Near the end of the long descent is a short uphill and I complain to some 50k runners about it.  I could see the Palisades Parkway on the side and I know I am close to Anthony Wayne parking lot.  I’m close to the mile 41 aid station.  I kept thinking in my head that even if I walk the last 7 miles it won’t be so bad.  Here I was running strong to mile 41. 
You can’t outrun death

At the aid station, I struggled a bit to find my drop bag, not as neatly organized as Camp Lanowa.  Once found, I stick to my plan - drop the vest and put on my hip belt.  I refueled my bottle with heed, stocked up on gel and ate some more potatoes.  There is a road section, maybe a quarter mile long before it merges with a mountain bike trail.  I’m very familiar with this area as I hiked and trained here quite a few times.  However shortly after I leave the aid station, I find that I could barely move my legs.  I can’t even walk at a normal pace.  I’m shocked at the betrayal of my body.  My mind quickly enters into a negative headspace.  UTMB now seems impossible.  I can’t even do 41 miles, how am I going to do one of the hardest 100 milers in the world?   In Europe, with over 4x the elevation gain of this race?  I decide that I should stick to marathons and 50ks; that I’ll quit after this.  Anthony Wayne is the parking lot where I parked my car and I think of how great it would be if I could jump in my car and just sleep (I didn’t have my car keys however).  I strongly thought about turning around and heading back to the aid station to DNF.  I tell myself that I didn’t have anything left to prove, that I already did 50 miles plenty of times; that it would be okay to DNF.  Even with those thoughts swarming in my head, I guess I was too stubborn, I continued forward.  In my quarter mile zombie walk, 9 people walked pasted by.  Three told me that I could comfortably hike the rest of the 9 miles and finish the race.  Yea, that’s really what I want to hear.

When I finally made it to the trail, I slowly found some movement in my legs.  Soon I am able to run downhill's and jog the flats.  As I gained momentum I realize that my legs had gotten stiff; I had probably spent too much time at the last aid station standing around.  With this knowledge I decided that I would keep moving the rest of the race.  I hiked up the technical bald face climb, the same climb which lead to my decision of using the hip belt over another handheld.  On the steep descent that followed I told a runner about how what I just learned…that continuing to move is critical at this stage.  Soon I pasted by two Achilles guides guiding a runner for the 50k.  One of the women recognized my QDR singlet and asked if I knew Kevin and Jeff Munoz to which I said yes.  They were trying to get their runner to start running.  I wished I could stayed a bit longer to chat but I knew I had to keep moving.  I was trying to outrun the death of my legs.  A little past I saw a ranger that was coming to help a blinder runner.  I guess to help out the Achilles group.  I didn’t realize at that point but running blind in this kind of terrain is simply amazing.  I would imagine Rock the Ridge type of gravel road “trails” to be better suited.  Perhaps even the Greenbelt 50k or the road 50k championships in Long Island.  Pretty amazing.  I soon pasted the runner with the arm tattoos, for like the fourth time.  I also encouraged him to keep moving. 

Home
At the next aid station I refilled my bottle with heed.  I was slightly annoyed that I had to refill from the Gatorade jug instead of a gallon bottle which would have been faster.  I was racing against my body’s clock.  If I linger too long, I knew that my legs would get stiff again.  4 years ago I was here stuffing my face with M&Ms and taking my time through the aid station.  A volunteer advised me to not spend too much time.  I didn’t understand at first but shortly after I learned why.  My legs stiffen up back then as well and it took quite a while to get them back. 

Now here I was, refilled my bottle while doing toe ups, toe taps to keep my legs moving.  I rushed out of the aid station and almost forgot to thank the volunteers.  As I moved on, I started hitting an emotional high.  It was probably the strongest feeling I had during a run in a long time.  The pain from my body simply disappeared.  The stiffness, soreness, even mental tiredness of being awake since 1:40 am slowly faded gone.  All doubt disappeared too.  There simply wasn’t any room for anything but running now.  The trigger felt like it was purely emotional.  I held back tears.  I hit many highs after low points over the years but this felt completely new.  With my refreshed body I started running like the race just started.  To sort of explain how strong this state was, I caught up to and passed people at miles 46-49 that passed me at mile 30.

I met a man, one of whom tried to encourage me on back when I was zombie walking.  He commented that I got a second wind and I joked that I was back from the dead.  I then proceed to run the steep and long uphill up Timp’s pass.  The descent was very rocky and I was slightly upset that I couldn’t take full advantage of the downhills as I had to careful with my steps.  A runner commented that she would rather go up that rocky section seven times than descend it.  As I continued along on single track, some people had to step off the trail to let me pass.  I cried at the realization of how painful it must be to stop your momentum, even if you are just walking, to let me pass.  I started breathing harder, maybe going more into animal mode but after a mile or so I calmed down.  The pain never returned.  I caught up to a man I haven’t seen since mile 20.  He commented that this was his 5th Bear Mountain and he keeps coming back to it despite all the pain he feels now.  He also had a high a little bit ago but it weaned out.  He was running strong and we ran side to side.  Eventually He went over to the side when the trail narrowed to allow me to past.  I wasn’t planning on speeding up but I decided to not waste his efforts to allow me to past.  I ran faster.  He encouraged me to continue to ride the unicorn.  I caught up to Veronica and her pacer, still going strong and told her she was killing it.  Like the first aid station of the race, I blew through the last one.  I immediately thanked the volunteers as I went through.  I past a bunch others from shorter distances and I tried to encourage them.  They said positive things to me as well.  I knew I was home and that spurned me on.  

Out of the underpass tunnel back to Bear Mountain, two women encouraged me on, yelling QDR.  I was only able to read the word “trail” on their gray shirts.  Heading towards the finish I got slightly confused on where to go.  A women running in front of me made a right and left and I followed.  Without her, I was ready to run straight through the parking lot to the finish.  (This being said, the race is super well marked and organized, they definitely went all out to make sure you don’t get lost).  I managed a final sprint to the finish, around 7:20 minutes a mile pace.

After finishing I saw the runner in front of me use a hand sanitizer which I used as well.  Pretty cool that they had it, they also had sun screen and breakfast at the morning, definitely a step above many other races.  I grabbed two of my drop bags - the finish line one and the Camp Lawona bag.  My Anthony Wayne’s bag did not come in yet.  I proceed then to get hammer recovery drink and food.  Sadly the only vegetarian option was pasta salad so I got a whole plate of pasta salad with a sprite can.  I then sat on a table and slowly started eating.  Despite surviving mostly on gels the whole day I didn’t have much of an appetite.  I knew food was important however.  I talked at the table with a bunch of other finishers.  A man talked about the Spartan Ultra beast in Killington being harder despite being 20 miles shorter.  Two men, when I mentioned I will be doing UTMB, spoke of the beauty of Chaminix (France, where the race starts and ends).  I met a runner from Brooklyn, Nate and we talked quite a bit about triathlons as a gateway drug to ultras, his Bigfoot 200 race coming up and my UTMB race.  He is running the Vermont 100 next to continue his build up.  I confessed that I been looking at the 200s for quite some time but been too chicken to pull the trigger.  Ami soon found me and told me she DNF at mile 35.  She couldn’t run anymore and didn’t want to hike the remaining 15 miles.  Having DNFed 3 ultras in a row 3 years ago I tried to optimistic about it and told her not to doubt her decision in the future.  Nate got joined by his group, a Japanese runner from Harlem and another runner, John, who volunteered as a sweep.  I didn’t notice it before but it seems that there are quite a lot of Filipinos in ultras (at least in NY).

In the shuttle bus back I talked with a man from Westchester.  He was also doing the Vermont 100 and was impressed that I was doing UTMB.  He joked about me taking on Killian to which I replied I’ll bring some bees.  We talked a bit about training spots in Westchester - Rockefeller State Park was his favorite.  I dropped Ami off in Astoria which was nice since I got someone to talk to on the drive back.

Despite the finishing times of Lake Sonoma and Bear Mountain being quite close, the race experiences were polar opposites.  With no out and backs in the course in Bear Mountain I didn’t see any of the front pack.  While I always enjoy company, I stuck to my own pace, dictated by my effort level.  With better pacing I was able to avoid bonking till mile 41 versus the mile 13 at Sonoma.  When that low point finally did hit me though, it hit a lot harder than any of my low points in California.  In return, my high was so much stronger and I felt like I finished stronger than 3 weeks ago (it’s hard to compare times between trail races since terrain is a major impact on time).  I was able to talk with more people, both during and after the race in New York than California.  While the calves did hurt at points during beginning parts of the race, it was the quads that got trashed this time around.  Perhaps my calves are finally getting use to zero drop shoes?  Or perhaps this indicates the amount of elevation loss is not the only factor to quad soreness, terrain and speed might have been a more important variables.  Or perhaps all the hops and jumps that technical terrain demands does a number on the quads as well?  

Perhaps the most important lesson is that I really need to work on my mental game.  I should know that low points come and go and I should stay positive.  I really let my head go in a bad headspace, lucky I wasn’t around others.  I heard that misery loves company and that the negative headspace is contagious.  I need to devise ways to get through aid stations quicker and I’m going to have to think hard about food.  Could I survive 100 miles on gels?

UTMB, my goal race of the year, seems more daunting for me than ever before though.  A little more than 3 months to try to change that.

Mount Mitchell Challenge 2018

Mount Mitchell Challenge!

In the winter of 2016-2017 trail runner magazine came out with an article about the best winter races.  The one that caught my eye was the Mount Mitchell Challenge.  A 40 mile race that goes to the top of the highest peak east of the Mississippi.  Unfortunately, the lottery for the race was in September of the year before so I missed 2017.  Out of the five lotteries that I entered for 2018 running races, this was the only one I got in.

The race goes from the town of Black Mountain through the private college community of Montreat and then up double track trails till it hits the Blue Ridge Parkway.  From there it traditionally goes on road into Mount Mitchell state park and then to the summit!  This year, they changed the course to cut a bit of the road part to the top and instead go through the single track, rugged Old Mitchell trail.  Then we took the road back down back to the double track to a slightly different route back into Montreat and took smaller roads back to the town Black Mountain.  The race has about 4800 feet of elevation gain and of course you have to get back down!  For reference to my city folks, Harlem hill has about 82 feet of elevation gain.

The elevation gain wasn’t the crazy factor for me.  Just in NY, close by Breakneck marathon had 10,000 feet of gain in Coldsprings and the Whiteface Sky race in the ADK has 8,000 feet of gain in just 18 miles.   The new factor for me was that 1/3 of the course was on the road and most of the rest was on double track where I’m use to my ultras being out on single track.  So the course overall is easier and I feel like you could get away with training mostly on roads for this one.

I arrived to North Carolina two days before race day.  I did a moderate trail in Montreat run up Graybeard Mountain via Graybeard trail and then made a loop going down the West Ridge which went through some of the seven sisters (short hills) before descending back to Montreat.  9.1 miles and 2700 feet of elevation gain!  I planned to use my Nike Trail running shoes that I got for free from my 100 miler in the fall for the race but on this trail run I found that in the descent my toes hit the front.  The shoes were too small.  I recently got max cushion shoes and while they are comfortable, I found them extremely heavy when they got some mud so I switched back to my Brooks Puregrits.  These shoes have finger wide holes on both sizes and easily have done more than 600 miles but my quest for trail running replacements haven’t been going well.  The day before I did an easy trail run in the River trail by the agricultural Ward Wilson College, a flat 5 miles.  The Town of Black Mountain is by Asheville which the podcast hosts of No Meat Athlete are from.  One of the host specifically moved to Asheville because it was more vegan friendly so I was excited to eat around as well.

The Fear of Pain

I recently realized that I could run a lot faster than I previously thought.  I have always run at a comfortable pace for most of the race before pushing hard at the end.  I always thought it of it as running smart.  However, from racing shorter distances I realized that I didn’t even know what I was capable of.  When was the last time I blew up during a race or hit the wall?  I was determined this race to start off a bit faster than what I would usually do and see what happens.

Nutrition

I did both my practice runs wearing my Ultimate Direction SJ racing vest but in the race briefing the night before I learned that aid stations were only 5 miles apart.  So I decided to waist belt and double bottle it.  I had one ultimate direction hand handle and another Salmon soft flask that wraps around your wrist.  The Salmon flask has a pocket where I stashed a few gels and my waist belt stored my gel flask and more gels.  I brought 24 Science in Sport gels for $7 during a promotion they had so I used them for gels and I used my hammer gel flask which stores about 5 gels in a tiny bottle.  I planned to use the Science in Sport gels first, they had water in them so I used them to get some of my water needs in well.  At aids stations I usually ate two orange slices and then moved on.  I drank about 28 ounces of water during the almost 7.5 hours I ran the race.  Overall I felt like I didn’t need much.  I ate my first gel at 45 minutes and then ate another every 30 minutes or so.  Halfway I ate half a banana and near the marathon mark I felt slightly off so I ate a few chips and a shot cup of coke soda.  I ended up not eating half my hammer gel flask.

Start line

I parked at the finishing area of the race about an hour before start time.  Easily got a spot.  I had laid out half my gear out in the dashboard of my car the night before.  Bad idea, in the 20 minute drive quite a few things fell and got tossed around.  It took me about 45 minutes to get ready.  I actually had to rush out with one of my bottles only a fourth filled up.  I ran about a half mile to the start, got in the bathroom (thank goodness for a real bathroom at the start) and joined the 500+ runners at the race 3 minutes before start time.  Had enough time to tie my shoes and move near the back of the pack.  The race has two distances, the challengers who are doing the 40 miler and the marathoners who will run only to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then turnaround.  500 people was a lot for an ultra and it had a road running start feeling to it.

The first 13 miles

The first 3 miles of the race were on main roads going to Montreat.  I maintained about 10 mile pace with some steady elevation gain.  I passed a few people here and there.  Then we hit the double track where the pace quickly picked by.  Passed a lot of people in the next few miles here.  It was hard not to get excited when you finally hit the trails.  Despite the uphill the pace was quick but I stuck with it.  I passed by the first aid station without getting anything.  The next few miles you started to go back and forth with some people which allowed for some small conversations.  A guy gave me some of his dried mango which I found delicious.  Conservations were a mostly about where you’re from, training, and gear you’re wearing.  I met a man that is running this race for the 19^th time and he talked about someone else on course that is doing his 21^st one (that’s every year since the race started).  This man ended up running a lot faster than me and it blows my mind that someone who started running this race when I was around eight years is still crushing it!  As the trail got steeper I fell into a jog walk but still moved on the quick side.  Around mile 11 I started seeing the marathoners going back down. 

The Road Ascent

At around mile 13 we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and started a 2.5 mile ascend up on road.  I drove up this road the day before to take some pictures from the summit of Mount Mitchell.  Recently, I stopped carrying a phone with me while racing (since I should be focusing my attention on moving faster) so I like to take my time the day before getting the photos.  It was weird seeing the road from this point of view.  I started jogging up, I figure that road would be a good way to do well on time but about a mile in, I got passed by three individuals walking.  So then I started walking but I couldn’t walk as fast as these three.  I fell about .8 of a mile behind by the end of the 2.5 mile road ascent.  Then the course turned to single track, rugged trail with plenty of roots and rocks.  It was very similar to Catskill terrain.  It was also wet from the light rain and fog.  I made good time here, easily passing those that passed me earlier.  I talked a bit with a man from Atlanta before I picked up the pace.  I kind of just went whatever pace was natural for me but people afterwards would tell me I crushed it there.  Two miles later and we end up right below the summit.  A volunteer marks an S on my bib.  Summit and turn around to the aid station.  I eat a bit more here since I’m halfway done before moving on.  Now the way back down is all roads till we are back on the double track.  I was expecting to make good time here.  Maybe 9 minutes a mile but I found my pace to be around 10:30 a mile.  I didn’t practice running downhill fast so I wasn’t able to pick it up here.  I found it different that running downhill on trails which I am somewhat good at.  Halfway through the three that passed me on the initial road climb passed me again.  I started feeling off towards the end of this section and then I touched my neck to find that there was a lot of salt on it.  As I hit the aid station at the end of the Blue ridge parkway I decided to drink a shot cup of coke with a few chips to get some salt and calories back in.  I passed a few runners here with my shorter time on the aid station.

The Double Track Downhill

The double back down was pretty rocky.  I sorted of noticed on the ascent but on the downhill I guess your feet hits the ground a bit harder so you feel it a lot more.  I did well here.  I passed by quite a lot of runners.  I talked briefly with a man from Burlington, NC, it seemed like quite a few people were here from there.  He was pretty impressed that I could manage this race while training in NYC.  The double track became less rocky but still downhill and I slowed a bit here.  There were quite a few splits of the trail and the course wasn’t marked that well in my opinion.  On the way up there were so many people so I had no trouble finding my way but now I was running alone 95% of the way.  I checked the map of my watch on a few of the splits; I pretty much had to assume that the larger trail was the right way.  After what the first aid station on the way up was is now the last aid station on the double track trail the trail became a very steep downhill.  I flew down but at one of the turns I couldn’t tell if I went the right way (again marking wasn’t as frequent as I’m used to).  So I went back up and found out that I was going the right way.  I wasted two or so minutes here which sucked since I was moving so fast. 

Back to Black Mountain!

The double track trail ended on Montreat roads and now the road descend was crazy steep.  It was the steepest road downhill I ever encountered (even steeper than San Francisco marathon downhills).  I passed by an aid station manned by Montreat college students.  As I got closer to finishing I thought about tips about moving fast that I have gotten recently.  I focused a bit on picking my legs up a bit.  A small section cut through park trails and in one of them I spotted orange marking in the middle of a stream and more orange marking on the other side.  It was hard to tell at this point if they belonged to the race or not.  I jumped to the giant boulder in the middle and was ready to jump into the stream to get to the other till I realized that the orange marking on the other side was no way a trail.  I must have wasted 3-4 minutes figuring this out and then proceed to continue the usual route.  Found more orange marking so I assumed that the other orange marking were a county or town mark for something else.  Rest of the two or so miles went smoothly.  The race ended with a loop around Lake Tomahawk.

After the race they had food in a community center building.  They had some delicious mushroom soups and I filled up on bread with peanut butter, bananas and pinto beans.  I talked with a few of the finishers and even a bit with the overall winner Morgan.  He finished the race in 4:20, more than three hours faster than my 7:23!  Others that finished the race said it was easier with snow since that covered up rocks.  It was the second hottest temperature of the race, high 60s in the bottom and high 40s on top.  After a little more than an hour of relaxing and talking I went back to Asheville to get a postcard which ended up being a lot harder than I thought.  Next was dinner and then the 10.5 hour drive back to NY!  I had two free beers that I could have claimed where they were doing the overall awards but I thought that to be a bad idea before a long drive.

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

Spartan Beast Killington

The idea of back to back challenges in difference endurance events actually came from a podcast interview with the founder of the Spartan race while driving to my second marathon 3 years ago!

Strengths: Experience with ski trails (in the summer)! Ski trails are wide, treeless, grassy and are steeper than regular hiking trails. Last year I raced on Wildcat Mountain and Whiteface mountain ski trails, both are also 4,000ers. Whiteface Mountain has the steepest ski trail east of the Rockies so I already done worse than Killington. I also have loads of experience of running in muddy trails.

Weakness: Upper body strength, not good with burpees, lack of experience with obstacles.

Preconditions: I didn't specially train for this race, I started off with some pushup and then pullups strength training but as training for my 100M went to peak weeks, strength training was the first thing I cut (swim was second and I paid for that last week). I did do trail runs which ended up having significant elevation gain. Killington ended up being my tenth 4000er of September. Despite not knowing what I'm getting myself into I was confident that I was fit enough to handle anything that comes. I heard stories of friends cramping in the Spartan race and made sure to have good nutrition. I didn't know how long the race would take but figured I aim for 6 hours, I usually consider being around twice the time of the fastest person good for middle of pack.

My confidence dropped a bit when I saw that the time cutoffs for when you were required to have a headlamp on you. Made me rethink how long this would take. I liked that you had to climb a small wall to get into the start line area.

The race started off with an immediate uphill and the front of the pack started off running it. I just power hiked, doing the usual ultra-running strategy of not running up unless I could see the end/top. The first few obstacles were getting over small walls and such. There was a monkey bar a bit in and I successfully crossed it. That's my first time! Afterwards there was a barbed wire which I found pretty easy to crawl under but it was longer than any barb wire I faced in other obstacle course races. This one wasn't muddy, sometime I didn't realize I would appreciate on the second one. The Z-walls were my first failed obstacle. Had to pay with 30 burpees.

The Bridge obstacle was the only one I seen pictures of beforehand. It involved swimming a bit to a rope ladder, then climbing it and then swinging on 3 dangling ropes to hit a bell. We were required to have a life vest which made swimming freestyle awkward. I switched to back stroke and relaxed swam my way to the bridge. I felt pretty comfortable, very refreshing, in the open water, I guess swimming 86 minutes last week at Mirror lake helped eliminate some fear. I failed to hit the bell from the dangling rope, another 30 burpees.

Around mile 5 I met Jeff. We had been passing each other here and there. I would pass on the uphill and he would pass me on the downhill. We talked a bit, found out he worked in NYC for five years before moving back to the Ohio/Kentucky area. After the
bridge the non-ski trails became muddy which added to the fun. The ski trails are still weird to me but as soon as the route gets some trees, rocks and roots I get into my element and have so much fun.

Some getting over obstacles initially look like you need to get your hands to the top and pull yourself up which is why I thought my lack of upper body strength (I could barely do more than 20 pushups in a row) would be a big weakness. However, after observing some people I found out that after getting your hands to the top, you could swing and crawl your legs to the top and get it over which reduces the body weight you need to pull up. Ends up you don't really need strong upper body for most of the obstacles. Going down my first 7 feet wall my knee banged against something on the way down. I felt like it didn't hit any muscle so I knew I was okay but I guess the force of the impact made my brain go into limp mode. I limped for the next five minutes to the next obstacle.

Around mile 7 I saw people starting to tire out. I started telling people good work or good job as I passed, common practice in ultras. People did interesting things like walking uphill backwards and running downhill sideways or in S shapes like skiing. I could remember when I tried things like that when I was younger.

Sandbag carry wasn't bad as I thought it would be, it felt like carrying a heavy backpack. I imagine the backpackers found it easy. Going uphill with the weight had me focusing on breathing. On the second sandbag I was running downhill with it. I did however struggled with the bucket carry, not because of the weight but because the bottom rims dug into my hand (I could see how gloves would have helped here). At mile 10 we hit the death march which I been hearing people talk about along the way. It was a steep ski trail climb, maybe a mile uphill then fell into some regular trail running before merging with the sprint Spartans and then a steep downhill. This was all normal terrain to me so I went through it with ease. I tried cracking jokes to people as I passed on the uphill to help keep the mind off pain, one person kept up with me for a while. It was weird seeing the sprint Spartans...the beast Spartan were all suffering and now we merged with a group that were out as a family thing. They even shared burpees! The obstacles got more frequent towards the end and I failed a few of them. The burpees got pretty tough, it got to the point where I had to take a few seconds break after 5 of them (something to work on if I do this again).

I had to do burpees near right at the end because of failing the javelin throw. A few feet away was a jumping over fire and then the finish line. Not enough distance for me to recover from the burpees. I’m pretty sure the finishing pic is of me looks like I’m dying.

I finished in 6 hours and 6 minutes, my garmin says 14.8 miles with 10,640 feet of gain! 12th in my age group. Arms are sore from the burpees and forearms and knees scratched from the barbed wire crawling but pretty good overall. No trouble walking down the stairs but I can’t run down them.