UTMB reflections

UTMB was my 23rd ultra marathon and despite it going much shorter than expected (DNF due to not making the time cutoff at the 50k mark), it was a fairytale race.  I knew people called it a dream race but as I headed over to France to the start line, I was ready to call it my retirement from ultras race.  I burnout from training almost 8 weeks prior and while I was mentally prepared to go through the hell of a hundred miler, I really wanted to take a break from racing.  In early June I performed poorly in the Eagleman 70.3 half ironman.  At that point I had a choice of whether to defer my Ironman Lake Placid or attempt to train both for a hard 100 miler - UTMB and my first Ironman.  A bit beaten from the race, I accepted the challenge and knowing I was behind on training, I poured 2.5 to 3 hours a day into training.  I often sacrificed sleep and trained alone to fit everything into the day.  I ran the Vegan Power 50k on June 22nd in a strong PR in the 50k distance, I even beat some of my slower marathon times on the road.  However, just two weeks later on July 4th my IT band flared up on mile 40 of a what was supposed to be a 50 mile bike ride (that got reduced to 45).  Two days later was the Finger Lakes 50 where I intended to do the 50 mile distance as my longest run for UTMB.  I had to drop to the 50k and walked the last few miles due to IT band pain.

I recognized I was over training and backed up training the next few weeks.  I ended up DNFing Lake Placid Ironman, my quads being shot from the Whiteface Sky race the week before, my legs struggled on the bike portion of the race and I didn’t make the cutoff after the first loop.  It was tough, mostly because of how much the costs to do an Ironman but other than that, it was a relief.  The finish line of the Ironman was an amazing atmosphere but after some reflection, I really don’t like to spend that much time on the bike (I enjoy 30 to 50 miles bike rides with friends on scenic trips with plenty of breaks but training 50 miles is just not fun for me) and I am not going to further pursue that route of athletic endurance.  The time between Lake Placid and UTMB was pretty short, just a month.  I was happy to get back to hiking with friends and spend time outdoors in the mountains as part of training but I didn’t mentally feel inspired to do a hundred miles.

However, all that changed when I got to Chamonix and saw how beautiful the alps were.  Over the next few days the running community would help in reminding me of why I started running in the first place.  To explore and go on adventures!  It’s really as simple as that.  For most of my running history I didn’t really care about times and PRs or about being “smart” about training and I was able to do some crazy things.  In my quest to become a better runner, I have poured over training books and listened to all things running related podcasts.  However, I may have ignored the adventure aspect of running that fueled my love of the sport in the first place.  I started doing races more for their timing in my calendar than actually wanting to explore the place.  So despite my “A goal” of the year being what one could call an utter failure, I left France excited for my return to UTMB.  It may take a few years to get back on the start line due to the lottery but that’s okay, there’s plenty of adventures and places to explore on the way back to that infamous starting line.  I’m far from retiring from ultras!

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.

The road to UTMB - Chapter 6 - Ironman Lake Placid

I signed up for Lake Placid Ironman shortly after finishing the half ironman.  My friend Cathy was thinking of signing up and I was sure she would.  I had the idea of doing an ironman someday but the idea still seemed crazy.  It was a bit exciting to sign up for something crazy though, I was more willing to do things like that when I was young.  I sort of think if I started running at 30 instead of almost 23, I probably would have process more logically in my running life.  Maybe I won’t have gotten into ultras till way later.

While I started swimming before June, my training for the Ironman didn’t really start until the week before Eagleman where I used a few vacation days to get in some bike rides.  I ended up with no open water training going into race day but I had spent more time in the pool than ever before.  I still wasn’t doing 4k monster workouts that my beginner training plan said to do but I spent an hour three times a week in the pool.  My bike training on weekdays mostly involved riding on the kissena velodrome for 1 to 1:30 hours 2x a week and then a 5ish hour long bike rides on the weekends.  I struggled on the long bike rides to be honest, I never got fitted for my bike and I just didn’t have the time to experiment too much.  I kept a 50 mile running week, I still had a monster 100 miler to finish only a month after the race.  I did plenty of short bricks as well.

I poured a lot of time into training, 1:30 to 2 hours in the morning, getting up at 4:30 and about an hour in the evening.  After about a month, however, it started catching up to me and I collapsed in the finger lakes 50 a little more than 3 weeks before the race.  After that training went flat, I had to take a week off to recover and I still wasn’t feeling excited and motivated to train afterwards.  Cycling was a drag and while I loved going on 30 to 50 mile bike rides with friends, I hated training for 50 miles.  A week before the race I took part in the White Face Sky race.  Only 25k long that gains 8000 feet.  On paper it sounded logical, a short run that goes with taper but with enough elevation gain that starts my final preparations for UTMB.  The race went well till the second alpine loop.  That’s when my hiking muscles were taxed and I slowed down tremendously.  My quads however were strong or so I thought.  The following week leading to the race my quads were very sore.  This race might have been the single biggest mess up going into the race.

I picked my friend Yin up in Manhattan drove to Lake Placid.  Yin pretty much slept the whole way over.  I initially had my google maps on avoiding tolls so it took me on an unfamiliar route which I eventually took it off around Lake George to save some time.  It didn’t seem like it took much longer avoiding traffic but I made a wrong turn and at the point I just wanted to get there sooner.  The only bib pickup was on Thursday and Friday, which was a big shock to our group and probably one of the reasons why I won’t ever do one again, it just seems like a huge waste of a vacation day to me (compare that to UTMB that even has bib pickup day of the race).  I checked other locations and it was even worse for Maryland Ironman where you had to pay extra to have the bib mailed to you and still had to check in on Friday.  Bib pickup was exactly like the two Ironman 70.3 in Lake Placid.  We picked up our Ironman bags from the Ironman store where Cathy heavy debated buying something but also didn’t want to jinx it buying it before the race.  Afterwards we did a swim on the swim course.  I didn’t venture pass the first buoy, despite having swam here so much, the fear of open water still rang in me.  We then washed and cleaned our bikes, mostly with the help of Jackie.   Then the group stressed about what to put on the transition drop bags.  Unlike the half ironmans, the full had a changing tent that you had to go through with and a volunteer would get you your transition bag.  You have two transition bags, swim to bike and bike to run.  You also get a warm bag where you could put slippers, maybe a jacket if cold on your way to mirror lake for the swim portion.

The next day we did a shakeout bike ride.  Immediately my quads burned on the bike but the pain got manageable in a bit and I didn’t worry too much.   The run portion of the brick shakeout went okay.  Next was dropping off our bags and bike at the Ironman village.  A man explained the drop bag situation.  Even though we were required to drop our bags now, we still had access to them tomorrow and could still make small adjustments.  However, without a transition area you did not have a place to put your air pump.  You had to give the pump to someone not racing if you wanted to fill up the day of the race or try to borrow from someone else racing.  It’s definitely not an ideal situation.  The rest of the day was just relaxing for us.  We were staying in Keene and the others decided to go to a dinner in Lake Placid with some Trilife club.  It was a lost of an hour, 30 minutes each way which I didn’t want to deal with.  I made some dinner and just watched TV for a bit.

The morning of the race, Cathy and I left first.  We wanted to get a spot in the closer parking lot and then take the shuttle.  I ended up confusing parking lots and not getting the closest shuttle.  Oaf, too early in the morning.  Anyway got to the start, put wet suit off and dropped the running drop bag that was to be accessed after the first loop.  The bike portion also had a drop bag for after the first loop but I decided I would carry everything with me.  Critical to my nutrition strategy was the spring energy speednut gels.  These gels had 250 calories to them so I didn’t need to carry as much food or worry about grabbing bananas at aid stations.  For the swim I had an extra pair of goggles and a gel in the chest area of my wetsuit.  I heard from the group that it is possible for someone to hit you and your goggles to break.  The gel was to take after the completion of the first lap.  After the first lap, you get out of the water and move a little to close the U shape.  There is a water station in between.  I took a gel before the race started and planned to take gel before the second lap.  I was terrified of cramping during the swim, something that happened the last time I was here in the Ironman 70.3 that past fall.  This time I had a good breakfast and two gels so hoped it was enough!  Two QDR members who I wasn’t expecting at the race wished me good luck with help get some courage in me.

I started with the last wave of swimmers, around the 2 hour mark.  It was a friendly group and we made a little bit of small talk before starting.  The swim started off great.  I quickly got over my fears and got into a groove.  About halfway through the first lap, some of the people that started much earlier started passing.  Not too much of a problem.  3/4s of the way however, swarms of people were pushing through.  This caused to veer left off course for quite a bit.  It was a brawl in there.  First loop finished with some scratches on my neck but that’s lucky the worst of it.  I took the gel as planned.  The second loop was empty and quiet.  I wondered if I was going to make the time cutoff.  I stuck to the groove.  This was the first time in open water that I didn’t have to breath after each stroke.  I still could only breath off one side but could comfortably breath every 4 strokes.  About halfway through I caught up to a few people.  I then tried racing them and went back and forth with a few.  The swim ended up going smoothly, no cramps and I made it through with some nice even splits.

Next was the run to transition which was pretty uneventful.  I grabbed my own drop bag, changed and ended up grabbing my own bike.  Think the volunteer missed a number of my bib and was looking at the wrong place.  The bike ride started off okay.  I was in good speed and it felt comfortable.  However after about 30 miles I started struggling mentally and physically.  The miles felt long and I could feel it in the quads.  The last 10 miles, mostly uphill were a huge struggle and I got looped by many people.  I ended up not making the 1:30 pm cutoff for the bike course by 13 minutes.  To be honest I was relieved to have not made it.  Another loop would have been hell and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to make the final bike cutoff.

Afterwards I hung out with David and Jenny and cheered for the rest of the group.  We had food and all.  It was pretty relaxing.  I had concerns about the recovery from the Ironman in relation to my UTMB race but guess that’s over.  I definitely think Whiteface was the major reason for the quads burning out in the race.  The finish line of the Ironman was fairly amazing.  I could see why people are attracted to the race, you feel like a VIP for the day (unless you don’t make a time cutoff, then you’re just in the way).  The strength of the even is their ability to draw out volunteers (probably more of a community thing - the area gets a lot of money from the outdoors).

The smart thing was to not train for both a hundred miler and an ironman but that's just how timing went.  I wanted to race with friends and this was the year my friends were doing it.  It doesn't seem like they would be doing it again and the cost of an ironman is crazy high.  I'm not looking at it again, I had the experience and I could understand why it attracts some people but I could get a similar experience in ultra trail races for much cheaper and much more scenic and that's what attracts me more.  I want to be in mountains, up high in them, not the roads that pass through the valleys around them.  The race however was useful in getting me to figure out what I really want out of the endurance route I been pursing.

The road to UTMB - Chapter 5 - Finger Lakes 50

One minute I’m feeling great, on track for a huge 50 minute PR. Perhaps even my first sub 10 hour in the 50 mile distance. I’m easily keeping up with a huge pack of runners, maybe even with the mid pack of the 50kers. I checked the competition of my age group on ultrasignup and while I’m not clearly on the top, I have twice the race results than any of my peers. 26 results there vs the 13 I saw in the 50 mile group. Maybe I’ll win my age group (probably no award for it but still would feel nice). Then, all of sudden my IT band on my left leg flares up. I try to ignore it, hoping it would fade away but it lingers.  Eventually I have to stop to attempt to stretch it out. I bend my left leg toward my butt but it hurts the farther up I go. In a moment I went from having what felt like would be my best 50 miler to a long day. 

The Finger Lakes was my 4 th Ultra of the year in my build up to UTMB. It was supposed to be my longest run, a confidence booster towards the race. I had done two 50 milers in the early spring and a 50k two weeks ago where I got a massive PR. That 50k was followed by series of PRs in short distances further boosting my confidence in my abilities. It’s been a lackluster year compared to last year where I was PRing like crazy and getting them fairly easily. This year I have been fighting for each PR pretty hard and barely getting a few.

My IT band flared up two days ago, on July 4th, towards mile 40 of my 45ish mile bike ride. Despite resting the rest of that day and taking Friday off it didn’t fully heal by race morning. I shrugged it off and figured that after my muscles warm up, it’ll go away. I also started waking up with heel pain on my leg foot but it went away after a minute or so of walking so I thought nothing of it. Just some stiffness.

I ran the race two years ago where there was a torrential downpour as a training run for my first hundred miler. I dropped down to the 50k due to how crazy the weather was. I also ran it with no sleep, driving straight to the race after having hung out. I got met Akira who also ran the race through strava and we had communicated here and there about ultras and races. Akira was also running it this year as a tuneup for Twisted Branch 100k.

I woke up the morning of the race at midnight, the race started at 6:30 and I wanted to get there 5:45ish to do bib pickup, bathroom and warmup. I ended up leaving a bit later than expected and got there at 6 am.  I originally had the Friday off and was planning to get there the day before but a sudden meeting Friday morning cancelled that. I still got to leave the office at around 3 pm so I was able to get some sleep in.  With a 4.5 hour drive however, it wasn’t an ideal situation. For breakfast, I prefer eating 3 hours before the race so I ate some bread and peanut butter on the drive over. I wasn’t able to find any of my gels but I saw that the description of the race said that they had fully stocked aid stations. I interpreted that as including gels, though I did notice there was no nutrition sponsor.

I parked my car on the side of the road, changed into race gear and got bib pickup. There were only 3 porter-potties and a sizeable line so I wasn’t able to go to the bathroom before race. I briefly met Akira on the bathroom line before I decided I didn’t want to start the race late. I also was not able warmup but I figured that with 50 miles, I had plenty of time.  The 50k and 50 milers went off together so I wanted to be cautious that I wasn’t running too fast I positioned myself mid-pack. I saw a couple of Dashing Whippets jerseys in the start. I learned of the race from a Brooklyn Trail Runners meetup event post (note, I ended up never running with the group).

The race started off without fanfare. We ran on a road for a little bit before breaking into single-track. I held back the effort level, it’s going to be a long day. The 50 miler consisted of three 16.5 mile loops with one .5 baby loop. My original plan was to average 13 minutes a mile the first loop, then 12 minutes a mile, and finally finish with 11 minutes a mile. However, I felt great in the first few miles despite holding back so much and found myself close to the 11 minutes a mile pace. The idea of achieving a massive PR in the 50 miler quickly took over my mind. The sub 10 in the 50 miler has been my goal since getting a 10:40 in the Cayuga trails 50 in my last ultra in 2018 (North Face SF got cancelled). This course was much easier in terms of elevation gain and there were good chunks on road which would lead to faster miles.

There ended up being no gels in the aid stations so I decided to eat peanut butter sandwiches (about a quarter of one each time) and drink up on Gatorade to get my calories. Theory wise it sounded like it could suffice but I know my body works best with gels.  It was a super humid day.  Within thirty minutes of running I looked like I took a dip in a lake from all the sweat.  Despite the IT band problems I finished the first loop, 16.5 miles fairly well.  I started struggling in the second loop.  Akira caught up and another man - Paul I think.  We ran together for a good chunk of the loop.  Paul talked a bit about how NYC has a stranglehold on the Catskills, where he was from, due to it being where the city gets their water from.  Eventually my IT band flared up and I lost both of them.  It got so bad that I had to walk the last 3 miles in.  Part of the course was on dirt road due to trail closure and I still wasn’t able to jog.  I got looped by first place female doing the 50 miler.  At this race, you have the option on race day to drop down from 50 miles to 50k which I did.  I was still one of the last to finish the 50k and did worse than two years ago where I had no sleep and despite being so much fitter now.  The course was also easier this year due to the trail closure which eliminated one of the hills.  Afterwards I met with Akira and it was nice to talk with him a bit.  I recall a woman asking me if I was okay and I responded that I was good.  Another racer asked if I started cramping on, he saw me stop to stretch early on.  Great community!

The race highlighted something I should have seen beforehand.  I am willing to put the time into Ironman training and ultra marathon training simultaneously, something like 2.5 to 3 hours a day.  However, after a month, it looks like I ended up over training.  Perhaps it is possible but building a base for the Ironman training over a few months might have been a better, smarter approach.

The road to UTMB - Chapter 4 - Vegan Power 50k

To be honest, I registered for this race because I’m vegan too and I was interested in meeting with and running with other vegan runners.  It’s been on my radar since last year when I joined the facebook group for it.  Over time I have been warming up to the idea of doing loops.  I have always considered it boring but I have realized that when the going gets stuff, it’s much easier to imagine points you have to reach rather than miles (which might feel like forever at that point).  Though it does work the other way, if the going is rough - you get the option to quit.  I registered in December 2018 for the race and got an interesting intro to the facebook group “Vikram Singh’s ultrasignup page reads like a love story to painfully hard races…” which I hadn’t really thought about but I guess it is sort of true.

The long drive to Western MA from NYC had me fairly tired by the time I got to the race.  Bib pickup was fairly quick.  A plain white shirt with some hammer (nutrition sponsor) products.  There was a real bathroom so I used that and then took a quick nap.  The course is 6 laps on a 5 mile loop and the relay and 50k started together.  Later in the day the 25k started.  The loop was fairly flat trail with some roots here and there to keep you alert and a small muddy section.  The race started with a small speech and it was mentioned that part of the reason of the race was to prove vegans could this without animal protein.  I sort of thought that was odd since ultramarathons and being vegan seems to be pretty common.  

The race started!  The loop starts with a tiny uphill on a dirt road section before hitting the trails.  As soon as we hit the trails, some of the people around me started breathing hard which was sort of alarming to me since it was very early in the race.  I passed a few people shortly and ran behind a man wearing long pants.  I thought it was a bit odd since it was summer but maybe he was from somewhere farther up or was doing the relay and just forgot shorts?  Think it would have been doable for one or two loops.  At the midpoint aid station I passed him.  I got passed a little bit after by two people.

I ended a little behind a Lindsay and followed her till the end of the loop.  At the start of the second loop I passed her but she was close behind.  It sort of pushed me to keep the pace when you have someone behind you.  Eventually we joined Juliene and started talking a bit.  Lindsay has run the 25k race before and is now doing the 50k.  Her brother is also running the race but she considered him the real runner (she ended up being 3rd place female).  Juliene is also from NY - from Peekskill, NY and also a marathon maniac.  She’s primarily a marathoner but has done the finger lakes 50 before.  I think the company really helped me stay strong.  I struggled on the fourth loop and we got passed by Lindsay.  Juliene and I ran up to the last 2 miles together where I was able to pick it up slightly.  I was a bit sad to lose her but we were close to finishing so I wasn’t too worried about her.  

There isn’t much to say about the loop, it’s forested and exactly what the description says.  It’s a singletrack that winds a lot so that makes it a bit more difficult but by the 4th and 5th loop, you’re an expert of the trail.  Like I said earlier, you could start to visualize points instead of mileage so that helps you continue mentally.  I finished in 5:45:47, an 11:06 pace and a massive PR in the 50k distance.  A lot of the assist in this was due to running with people!  Afterwards I hung out and cheered for a bit.  They had vegan pizza which was so great.  I took a picture with Juliene and just relaxed.  Then there was some light rain and I went back to the car.  I should have rested some more but I decided to start driving back.  I had some sleepy miles on the wheel that wasn't smart.  Eventually I stopped at a scenic point and took a quick nap.

This race gave me a strong confidence boost towards UTMB.  Success seems to be on the horizon!

The road to UTMB - Chapter 3 - Eagleman 70.3

Eagleman 70.3 was my third go at the Half Ironman distance and a buildup race to Lake Placid Ironman. The idea of doing it came from David. David DNF the swim course of the Syracuse 70.3 and signed up for Eagleman afterwards. I borrowed David’s swimsuit for my second go at Lake Placid 70.3 where I finally got through the swim and finished the race getting my first half ironman finish. When returning was when I first learned of the race. I told Jessica who has been interested in doing a half ironman and then my triathlon friends. Slowly there ended up being a group of six of going, five of us from the Queens Distance Runners team!

Five of us, Cathy, David, Matt, Yin, and I, along with Cathy’s boyfriend David rented a cottage about 20ish minutes from the race. I picked David and Matt up and used the bike rack I got from a friend Omar. It was only my second time using the bike rack and I needed some help from David in setting it up. It actually is pretty simple but it’s a bit nerve racking watching your bike hit bumps on the rear view mirror. We stopped by a dinner on our drive down Only problem with random dinners is the difficulty in getting vegan food without asking for modifications but I think I was okay with the food. We only stayed for one night so leaving NYC Saturday morning, bib pickup and bike drop and then racing Sunday.

We found street parking close to the Great Salt marshes easy enough and simply cycled the two blocks or so into the race village. We got our bibs which took quite a while to pick up. My previous two pickups at Lake Placid have been quick and smooth. I learned that the swim course had been moved to another side due to the water being too choppy. As soon as I heard this, I started thinking that the swim may be cancelled. I hadn’t prepared at all for the half ironman and the swim has always scared me. Sure I was still running and I tried jamming in a few bikes rides the week before but it was the swim that I was most worried about. Cathy and the others caught up and we attended orientation together. We learned that the swim course was supposedly in shallow water which was a big relief. It also led to quite a few jokes about our swim strategy. Cathy and Yin decided to swim a bit. I wanted to swim, however I also wanted to just relax for the race. Can’t cramp anything in at this point so I chose not to swim. My car, David, Matt and I were starving so we ate a Mexican place. I wanted to get this potato dish but the cheese was already mixed in it so I got it with avocado and black beans instead. How I wish there were easier vegan options. Then some grocery shopping and onwards to the cottage. The other group had already got in and were now leaving to get groceries and eat dinner. I thought of joining them for ice cream afters, a place had sorbet options, but I wanted to focus on relaxing and not doing too much do declined.

Race day came and the first thing we were relieved to see was that the race was wetsuit legal. Two days before the water temperature was too high and yesterday the water temperature was just barely below. A little bit after, just as I was about to start putting my wetsuit on, it was announced that the swim was cancelled due to safety boats not being able to be on the course. I jumped up for joy! The swim was freaking me out that morning. Then came the long wait to start the bike course. The atmosphere of the race became more chill. I met another man from Queens, Christian who was a strong swimmer and obvious disappointed. I hung out here and there with my friends trying to kill the time. Eventually we were off and boy did the bike start off fast. I made it to 18-19 miles an hour which was fast for me but I thought I could hold it since it was a flat course. I was still easily getting passed. About 20 miles in I started feeling pain from the bike seat rubbing against my skin. I have always used bike shorts but I forgot them and was using a tri suit that was a bit too small for me. It probably didn’t provide enough padding, also my seat was a bit in an angle sit it dropped a year ago. I was using my road bike instead of my tri bike so I didn’t really spend time trying to fix it since I was doing tris and all. In short, just unprepared. Eventually the pain became so great that I had to start taking breaks after 25ish miles. I would have to stop pedaling and stand on the seat for a bit. Around mile 33ish I found a position where the pain was bearable. I still had a slow 8 miles. I slowed down a lot and the race was essentially over me. I finished the bike ride but already knowing I performed badly I did an easy 2 hour half marathon. I mostly passed older racers at this point. Not a great race on my part but it fired me up and got me to start considering serious training for the full Ironman at Lake Placid.

I was the second last of my friends to finish. I was able to eat a bit and drop some things and watch the last of us come in to the finish. We decided to do a celebratory some time later. Our car ate with Jessica and her boyfriend. I had some eggplant pasta dish, pretty sure it wasn’t vegan but I tend to be more vegetarian after races. The post food options for the half ironmans are always pretty disappointing (especially when you compare them to some of the trail races I have been to). David was really looking forward to getting a cinnabon on the drive back but they were all closed by the time we got north enough to the NJ rest areas.

If it was just the race itself, I would say it was a bad experience but having friends to drive around with and hang out before and after made the trip a good one. Grateful to have other crazies in my life!