See Gundy Run

Jed Smith 50k

2012-01-31T16:56:00.000-08:00

I wonder what I should set as my goal for this race. Considering I'm starting to get my legs stronger this early in the season, I'll probably set a 2:45ish pace for the first marathon to see how I hold it compared with my recent training and then hold on at the end for the last 8k. I guess I'll find out how I'm doing this Saturday!

2012

2012-01-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

2012! What a way to start it off.....2nd at the Brooks Fall Trail Run behind trail speedster Gary Gellin and off on Saturday to the Jed Smith 50k, a flat and fast road run to start the PAUSATF calender. Here's to a great season for us all! Go Tamalpa!

3rd Annual Running For The Wells

2011-09-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

Here's the text of a run summary I put together for Injinji for a press release. Overall, it was a great, great day!

"The 3^rd Annual Running For The Wells 5k/11k took place on September 10^th, 2011 in the Presidio of San Francisco in the Community Area of the Sports Basement store. This charity fun run and BBQ benefitted the Uganda water well building projects of World Harvest Mission. Runners were taken along the trails and bike paths of the Presidio in a loop which eventually brought them back to Sports Basement. Over 100 people ran, ate or both on a perfect afternoon in San Francisco. Guests were also given the opportunity prior to the run to meet San Francisco Giants’ pitcher Jeremy Affeldt, who founded Generation Alive (www.generationalive.org) to help meet pressing global needs. Jeremy spoke to the group prior to the run about the importance of clean water and how he got involved in the movement to provide it around the world. All told, the event raised almost $5,500, which will be used towards the construction of 2 water wells in Uganda.

Guests who ran and donated took home a pair of Injinji Performance Toe Socks. In addition, all donors were entered into a raffle with prizes supplied by our other sponsors. The prizes included Brooks shoes, Brooks bags, a Diakadi Body of San Francisco gift certificate, and San Francisco Giants tickets. Our presenting sponsor for the event was Injinji with additional sponsor support from Brooks Running, Diakadi Body, Foods Co., and Sports Basement."

Event Info Address: http://seegundyrun.com/Running_For_The_Wells.html

2011 Miwok 100k- The Recap and Looking Towards a Breakout SD 100

2011-05-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

There’s now over a week separating me from the 2011 Miwok 100k and I’ve actually had time to think about what did or didn’t happen out there. First off, it was an absolutely incredible day to be outside running. It was mostly clear along the coast and even with the wind kicking in ferociously in certain spots, it made for a rather enjoyable view of the Pacific Ocean. That said, I didn’t spend too much time looking at the Pacific with the twisting and rapidly shrinking trail along the ridgeline often taking the bulk of my attention.

Don’t get me wrong; Miwok was good about 90% of the time. That percentage will probably go up over time largely due to where this race leads me this year, but for now, I’m comfortable with 90%. Going into this race, I had done quite a bit of work running each section of the course individually and/or part of much longer runs in order to try to find sustainable paces. While I first was thinking about 8:45-8:55 overall as a goal, I really wanted to see how this unfolded in training with each individual section to see if it was sustainable based on current fitness.

I would run the old course to give me a good standard of my current fitness as well as the portions of the course which had changed to give my fitness a context within the 2011 course. The middle 34.2 miles had stayed the exact same while the beginning 16.9 miles and the closing 11.5 miles had been flip-flopped with a more difficult, steep climb up Conzelman Road added to the opening 7 mile loop back to Rodeo Beach. All in all, the outbound/inbound portions registered 33.9 miles (-1.7 miles compared to 2010) and 28.7 miles respectively for a total distance of 62.6 miles. I felt comfortable enough with the runs I had done, the overall and individual section goals, and my knowledge of the terrain on that course by the time race day came around.

In the end, I even ditched the trusty Garmin in favor of a simple stopwatch. The trails that make up the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are often so well marked that you are constantly getting feedback on whether you’re going too fast or too slow. I had splits on a homemade band on my right wrist not only by aid station, but by various key points in between such as the top or bottom of a hill, turn point, geographical feature (like a particular tree) or even a particular trail distance marker. I knew exactly what to expect, when to expect it and how to attack it. Although my homemade pacing band called for a 8:58 finish, I left what I considered to be time buffers on the final ¼ of the race that I thought I had could definitely hit for that 8:50ish finish.

Having endured the cancellation of the Lake Sonoma 50 and having not raced since February 28^th, the race start itself couldn’t come soon enough. The one nagging injury that had recently been plaguing me for the past 3 weeks was a calf strain that limited the types and frequency of my running. With most of the hard training in the bag, I worried less about my overall fitness than I did about how the injury would affect my ability to race hard. Still, I was very satisfied after a couple of short, quick runs on the course during the last week before the race that I would, at the very least, be able to maintain a comfortable pace and rythym without causing injury.

Although I’m not one for early race starts, I had plenty of energy for this 5:40 am start and felt calm and relaxed as the Rodeo Beach “Grunion Run” began with nearly 400 runners scurrying the first 150 ft. to make it to the Lagoon trail before the bottleneck began. I had my crew (Wilma, Uncle Andy, Mambo Jose) all set with their aid assignments, a couple of Tylenol already making their way through my system and nothing to worry about except putting one foot in front of the other. Let the race begin.

Start to Tennessee Valley – 11.1 miles - 1.29:00 split

I settled into the race early with Victor Ballesteros, who would later drop, by my side and Nathan Yanko just behind me in the distance. The climb up to the top of Conzelman Rd. has an 18% grade at its steepest, which I thought would be enough early to create separation between the runners up front. However, it seemed all the front runners (13-14) seemed content with allowing the pack to move along at a healthy, solid pace. I continued to sit right behind the lead pack with Scott Jaime and Phil Kochik just ahead of me.

I cruised back across the beach and towards the Rodeo Beach parking lot a minute slower than I expected at 56 minutes flat. At that point, I fully expected to take it easy going up Coastal Trail to the top of the hill (900’+ elevation), so I had built in a little extra time to get to Tennessee Valley. With the course in reverse, we did this extra climb early before heading down to Tennessee Valley rather than a climb up the Rodeo Valley Trail which overall was about 2/3 of the total climbing.

In some previous PCTR races which use this section up to Wolf Ridge and eventually to Tennessee Valley, I had generally timed out at 32-33 minutes at a decent effort which was exactly what I ended up doing this day. At this point, I strolled into TV in 11^th position with Scott and Phil right behind me and the rest of lead pack about a minute ahead. I was a minute ahead of schedule, which was just fine by me and fairly consistent with previous training efforts.

Tennessee Valley to Pantoll 20.0 miles - 2.52:00 (1.23:00 split)

At this point, I was fairly comfortable being passed by Scott and Phil since I was continuing to hit my splits for each climb and descent fairly consistently. For me personally, this is where I felt like I had a huge advantage coming in

I knew based on my experience and relative strengths that the top guys would put gaps of time on me on the climbs but that the key to my race would be whether I would be able to hammer the new downhills and flats at the end. I didn’t allow myself to get pulled into anyone else’s race, instead just focusing on getting to each turn and trail sign as I had mapped out on my homemade wrist band.

There are two major climbs in this section: After the initial ~0.3 mile paved downhill on the asphalt, there is a steep 500-600 ft., 1.2 mile climb up Fox Trail. This is followed by 2.2 miles of meandering fire road on the ridgeline towards the Miwok Trail and Hwy 1. I hit the top of the hill in 14+ minutes, the Miwok trail in 20 minutes and Hwy 1 in 32+ minutes at the 2:02 mark which was again 1 minute ahead of when I wanted to be there. While Scott and Phil moved off into the distance and Nathan continued to move well behind me, I kept the focus on getting through each sub-section quickly and efficiently.

After crossing the Hwy and dropping down 2.2 miles back towards sea level at Muir Woods Rd., there is a long 3 mile, 1500 ft. climb to Pantoll Ranger Station. With the introduction of sizable portions of single-track trail and winding uphill fire roads in the lush Muir Woods section of the course, you can’t see too far in front of you like the more open expanses of the first ¼ of the race.

At this point, I really began to feel alone out there with time and space to keep moving at my own pace. Without much of a struggle here in the early going, it was the perfect opportunity to simple focus on the task at hand without pushing too hard on these early climbs. Once again, course knowledge had helped me remain relaxed as I came into Pantoll once again 1 minute ahead of schedule. It was definitely slower than what I was capable of, but very manageable and sustainable with an eye towards keeping my calf discomfort at bay. If I simply kept in motion at a reasonable pace, I could keep turning this into a shorter and shorter race to the finish.

Pantoll to Bolinas Ridge 26.7 miles - 3.49:00 (56:00 split)

After a half a minute to walk out of the aid station and compose myself, it was off along the ridgeline. This is by far the most picturesque portion of the course with the view of the Pacific Ocean unobstructed and a steep drop off to our left. Of course, the trail also narrows considerably which means the eyes are often focused downward. About a quarter of the way through, Nathan came up and passed me from behind. I sent him on his way, just trying to stay within that 8-9 minute per mile range. Eventually I would be passed by one other, but my stride was looking smooth at that point and there was little need to press the pace too hard. I let the momentum take me on the downs and kept the legs moving on the ups. Before I knew it, I was at the aid station, once again 1 minute ahead of schedule. Even though I was pleased with nailing the early splits, I kept a business-like approach and flew right through the aid station after another effortless bottle/supply exchange with my wife Wilma. Socializing could wait until afterwards and apart from a little soreness in my quads and calves, I had a good rhythm going so far and taking the GU Roctanes religiously every 20 minutes seemed to be going well.

Bolinas Ridge to Randall 33.9 miles - 4.44:00 (55:00 split)

Everything about this section is about the anticipation of the quad busting 1100’, less than 2 mile drop down to the turnaround. If you get there in good shape, the downhill is 12-14 minutes of just letting the legs go before hitting the aid station right at Hwy 1 on the way to Point Reyes.

I kept moving along much as I had done in the previous section, stopping only once on a particularly steep portion to walk as a bit of mental break. You start wondering at this point when you’ll see the leaders coming back from the turnaround, but as I made it gate which marks the beginning of the westward downhill jaunt, I still hadn’t seen anyone yet. In fact, I was a bit surprised as the lead pack along with a few stragglers finally started appearing in small groups of 2 to 3 about 10 minutes before I hit the turnaround. Another seemless exchange with Uncle Andy and Uncle Jose to get two new ¾ full water bottles with NUUN got me on my way. At this point, I thought about taking an Aleve to deal with the current soreness in the quads and calves, but decide against it in my hastiness to keep moving.

Randall to Bolinas Ridge 41.1 miles - 5.54:00 (1.10:00 split)

After starting on my way, I took a minute pit stop to take care of nature’s call before continuing on up the hill. In training, I felt like I needed to hit 20 minutes going up the hill to give me a reasonable chance and wrapping this section up in 1:05:00. On my timing schedule, I gave myself 1:08:00 in order to take some of the pressure off to really try and hammer it at this point. Again, I was waiting for the return to Pantoll from Bolinas to try to amp up the effort and pace. With the break and a couple of well-timed power hiking breaks, I hit the top of the hill in 22+ minutes and was off again to Bolinas. I was starting to wear a bit, but I was very pleased that I kept in perpetual motion on the ups and the time seemed to go by quickly. I even got a kick out of Ian Sharman, dressed as Elvis, passing me just before the aid station. I was 1 minute behind schedule into Bolinas, but still knew that if I could get into Pantoll in just under 7 hours, the ability to run the downhills and flats which have been a hallmark of my good races might just help me once again.

Bolinas Ridge to Pantoll 47.8 miles - 7.00:00 (1.06:00 split)

I left Bolinas alone with no one within sight ahead of or behind me. It would eventually stay that way until the final leg of the race, which left me in a bit of deficit for that extra push I felt I needed. I power hiked up a tiny hill to help get my legs going again, but let the momentum get me started on the first downhill down into a wooded abyss before the ridgeline. While I generally enjoy interacting and encouraging the other runners coming outbound, it did seem to take a bit of my steam away when a few people seemed to react to my presence suddenly which caused me to stop on more than a few occasions. This is really the most problematic part of the course as far as runner traffic is concerned with the ridgeline barely big enough for two feet side by side let alone two runners moving in opposite directions.

It quickly became apparent that I would not hit my 1 hour flat goal for this section, but I didn’t panic and tried to keep moving to get in under 7 hours. While I now wish I had added a pacer at Bolinas to help mentally push me out of this mental rut I was falling into, I simply pushed onward with the expectation that a big 3 mile downhill after Pantoll and the addition of my pacer would help kick it into gear. My legs definitely felt a bit heavier, but my energy and stomach continued to cooperate beautifully. I was banking on the momentum out of Pantoll to help return the spring and authority with which I was running with earlier to my legs. A late surge into Pantoll over the final mile only got me in there at 7 hours flat.

Pantoll to Muir Beach 53.5 miles – 7:50:00 (50:00 split)

Still in 16^th place, the stop in Pantoll revealed major muscle soreness in quads, but again my mind got lost in thinking about my pacer, Pete, who had gotten caught in traffic as well as trying to screw my head back on straight to make a final push. I spent a minute walking through Pantoll and talking through a couple things with Uncle Andy and Uncle Jose before finally heading out onto the trail. After a slow 9 min/mile pace heading down the trail to start out, I tried to really let loose on the 2.2 mile long Deer Park fire road. I was hoping to catch some momentum to get into Muir Beach a little after 7:40:00. Having run this section as part of training runs, 40 minutes seemed very, very doable when my training runs had clocked it in the mid to upper 30s.

However, the quads didn’t seem to want to cooperate and every downhill stride brought with it a measure of pain. This brought with it the unforunate reaction to slow down and decrease my stride, which made me feel slow and lethargic on a section of the course that seemed to bring out the best in me in 2010 when I felt like I was flying effortlessly. Even the 2.2 mile mostly flat single track before hitting the pavement to Muir beach couldn’t cheer me up even though I could feel myself begin to run with a little more authority. I knew I needed some pain relief and Muir Beach couldn’t come fast enough, even if my average pace still hit 8:40ish/mile for the 5.7 mile section.

Muir Beach to Tennessee Valley 57.6 miles - 8.36:00 (46:00 split)

Once again, another section in 16^th place without a soul in sight. I finally picked up my pacer, Pete, who was fresh from navigating some major San Francisco traffic to meet me at Muir Beach. A combination of running and walking helped my body recover after taking an Aleve at Muir Beach. The flats and downhills provided good opportunities to get my legs turning over again and extend my stride. While exiting Pirates Cove and descending into Tennessee Valley, I remember starting to feel stronger again and opening up my stride more and more while ascending the final gradual paved uphill from Tennessee Valley to the parking lot. The Aleve was kicking in and although I lamented not taking it earlier, I felt good going into the final section.

Tennessee Valley to Finish 62.6 miles - 9.20:10 16th place, 8:56/mile pace overall

I made another seemless exchange for fresh handhelds with the uncles and gave my parents a quick wave while ascending the first of the last two climbs up Old Springs trail southward towards the finish at Pt. Bonita. The winds began to kick up in the early afternoon, providing a nice cooling effect. This had to be the part of the race I was most proud of, considering that my goal of sub-9 hours was out of reach. Based on a budgeted 43 minutes for this final section, I refocused and reset my goal for sub-9:20.

A quick glance back at Tennessee Valley about a quarter mile into the climb revealed that I would have company if I didn’t start to kick it into gear. A strong push up the 1.4 mile climb created the separation I needed to leave the man in white out of my rear view mirror. Descending down the Miwok trail on the 8 and ½ minute decent into Rodeo Valley, I finally caught sight of another runner who seemed to be coming closer and closer into view. He seemed to be moving well, but I set him out there as a target to catch to keep me hungry and motivated.

Once across Bunker Road and into the final 0.5 mile, couple hundred foot climb up the single track Coastal Trail, I felt myself closing in on the runner in blue and his pacer with my body responding well to my hunger to pick up the feet faster and faster. Pete encouraged me to keep pushing harder to catch him. With the runner’s pacer looking back at me periodically, about the only thing that kept me from catching him on the climb was the overgrowth of foliage on the narrow trail that kept whacking me and slowing me down. Once on Conzelman Rd., he was no more than 50 ft. in front.

While I tried to hammer on the road and take the shortest line on the road to close the gap, the strong ocean gusts seemed to sap my energy and keep me at bay. The runner’s pacer kept looking back to gauge the gap, but the pursuit became more and more just two guys on treadmills with one treadmill set out just a little further. I kept trying to close but as the end drew near, I couldn’t seem to get closer. The runner in blue, Topher Gaylord, would end up finishing in 9:19:44, 26 seconds before I did in 9:20:10. A valiant way to end the race, in 16^th place, just like I left Bolinas when passing a couple runners who stoppped there.

We did a lot of things right, which I think reflected the training and preparation which was supported heavily by Wilma and Uncle Andy among others. The pace overall was very sustainable (even for a longer effort) and the nutrition and electrolytes were spot on. The ability to sustain also leads me to believe that this is something that I could do in a longer race and gives me a wealth of confidence in what I’m putting together for the San Diego 100 in 3.5 weeks.

A couple of key errors I need to respond better to was the discomfort in my quads and pushing myself better when in my own space. The discomfort, in particular, really came into play on the flats and downhills between Pantoll and Tennessee Valley where a strong push through the pain in my quads would have gotten me very, very close to my 9 hour goal. It will be something that I need to respond to better particularly as I move to the 100 mile distance shortly. Getting the right amount of Tylenol or Aleve when I need it will help keep me pushing through all the way to the end. While the effort overall tells me there are great races to come as my calf gets back to 100%, I am thankful to God for the opportunity be out there doing what I do with great friends and family. The preparation helped me to really keep my head clear overall and just enjoy the experience making me hopeful that I can hit a top finish in San Diego to keep the ball rolling in 2011.

2011 Miwok 100k- T-minus 10 days

2011-04-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

On May 7, the long wait will be over and the first goal race of 2011 will begin. For what feels like an eternity, I’ve been training for the 2011 Miwok 100k with little reward beyond the post-long run trips to In-N-Out. With the Lake Sonoma 50 cancelled and the first 2 months of the year yielding a few opportunities to train by running some shorter distance races (3 half marathons, 25k trail race, 50k trail race), most of my training has been alone without much more than my thoughts, my prayers, my music and the sound of silence. And yes, every once in awhile, the sounds of wildlife rustling in the bushes. The races yielded a mixed bag early in winter training; the trail races were steady and crisp while the road races seemed more erratic and lacking in consistent rhythm/speed. This was a bit of conundrum, especially since it would seem more difficult on the ever changing terrain in trails races to develop a rhythym than the flatter, faster road races.

All the while, I simply kept making my re-acquaintance with the Miwok course (http://www.run100s.com/miwok/), using it for all my long runs in order to brand its twists, turns, ups and downs into my mind. Like a NASCAR driver at a race course, I’ve seen every angle and hopefully understand where to accelerate and where to lay off the gas. I ran the old course to help benchmark my fitness against previous racers and ran the new sections (most of which are the old sections in reverse) to help benchmark the time and effort difference. To say I ran out of gas last year after reaching the turnaround would be an understatement. What felt so promising over the first half of the race to finish around 9 hours ultimately became a grind. My legs became heavy on the returning climbs with only the finish line helping to spur me on in the last segment. The encouragement from runners still marching towards the turnaround and the views of Pacific Ocean expanding limitlessly on my right just weren’t inspiring enough.

In setting my goals for 2011, I shied away from predicting placing or time. This doesn’t mean I don’t have a time in mind for this race, but it does shift the focus to the process of building a foundation and that if I did that, good things would happen in biggest races. I wanted to put together a string of quality runs and quality weeks that reflected an honest attempt at developing consistent excellence while digging deeper into the core of who I am. I want this race to serve as a benchmark to come back to one of the principle reasons I started this crazy running adventure; engage God.

Maybe in recognition of this and simply the need to block out things which tend to distract me, I’ve tended to shun running with other runners this year in favor of running solo. While I’ve had company on a couple occasions and had a couple folks come out to crew some runs to simulate the race, I’ve spent significant amounts of time just being by myself. I rarely carry my phone with me on the run, so there have been no running pictorials to show. I’ve put few blog posts about the substance of my training, apart from the occasional Facebook status update. I think the only true record about my training miles is in a small Memopad file on my Blackberry. It was a time to still my mind and find peace in a world surrounded by chaos and uncertainty, much like it was back in 2001 running in the darkness on the perimeter road around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

I think in the midst of all this goal setting and experiencing the ups and downs of racing last year, I sort of lost track and kept focusing on what a clock or results sheet had to say about me. In the quest for faster times, I changed my focus. It showed up in ways that go unnoticed to most; the music I loaded into my iPod, the emotional swings during races and even in how I viewed the other racers. The things that I was using to focus myself were slowly pulling me away from reason I started this journey in the first place.

Sure, there are other reasons why I enjoy this long distance running, but none are as important to me as this one. In the Old Testament, I imagine what it must have felt like for Jacob wrestling with God and I see my own struggles with him played out in my everyday life as well on those select race days throughout the year. In my desire to engage God, there’s a desire to see the best in myself and the best in God played out on the landscape before me. All runners have their own reasons for taking on challenges like running 100 kilometers through hills of Marin County. Some want to see what their best effort yields, others may be wrestling with their own internal struggles and yet others may be simply seeing what’s out on the horizon. The answers to the questions may be coming soon.....followed by new questions, new journeys and new adventures. :) Godspeed.

Heading to the 2011 Lake Sonoma 50

2011-03-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

With the 2011 Lake Sonoma 50 only 9 days away, it seemed like an appropriate time to take a look at what a month March has been and where it all seems to be heading this year. While I haven’t raced since the Redwood Park 50k, I have taken the opportunity to continue to heal from my arm contusion suffered in February and put in some quality miles. I have also done a number of track workouts and tempo/long runs on the Miwok 100k course in Marin, which have yielded promising results. As my weight has crept back down to 166-167, my stamina and resolve to maintain consistency in my running has improved. While the end goal for my weight is still 162ish, I can feel that as the season kicks into gear that a lighter body has meant an easier time going up hills such as the Rodeo Valley trail or Coastal trail. While I may never be 140 lb., I believe that I can still fly right around 160 lb. The improved strength in my core and toned down body that I’ve worked harder to develop for this season will hopefully lay the foundation to take the next steps in my running career much as I did between Dec ’07 and Dec ‘09.

The most important of these Miwok course runs could very well be this weekend as I lace them up for a run from Muir Beach to the Turnaround Point and back to Pantoll Ranger Station. For those not familiar with the race, this equates to almost 27 miles and encompasses the two most important climbs of the race: up Deer Park Fire Road and 1.5 miles up from the turnaround at the highway (from Stinson to Pt. Reyes) to the Bolinas ridgeline. Deer Park Fire Road and that climb back up to the ridgeline represent the two key points where people’s races turn due to their relative taxing nature. People seem to either finish them feeling renewed with confidence and strength or lethargic and beaten down as they get back onto the quicker, rolling landscape that characterizes the ridgeline. While there’s still a possibility that this training run will get moved to after the LS50 due to the weather conditions, the most likely scenario has me doing this training run once before and once afterwards. While it could potentially have a residual effect on my race at Lake Sonoma, I anticipate that an abbreviated taper period should be sufficient to keep me fresh for the race. I plan on using Lake Sonoma as a checkpoint for Miwok, so a full 2-week taper period is probably not appropriate until before Miwok. At this point, my Uncle and I have gone over the general race plan and are in the process of developing a more definitive goal; we are definitely eyeing sub-8 hours, but I’m going to let these last training workouts play a role in swinging it one way or another.

Also on a side note, I just wanted to thank the individuals who have helped make this year a success so far. Although it’s hard to see since I’ve been patiently taking the time to train, 2011 couldn’t be a year for breakthrough without the efforts of my wife Wilma and Uncle Andy who have sacrificed time and energy to help me get ready for this year. My wife gives me the time and space to put in my evening and long runs because she knows how much this year means to me. Uncle Andy has been putting in time to help make my weekly track workouts at Kezar Stadium a success by watching my form as well as keeping me honest to the clock. While keeping motivated is always a challenge, it makes it a lot easier when I know I’ve got two people who can give me the proverbial swift kick to the arse when I need it. Sometimes recognizing the commitment and sacrifice of others is a powerful reminder that there is always more at stake than one’s own ego.

I also wanted to thank those organizations and companies who have put their faith in me to represent their brands this year. To Brooks, Diakadi Body, Injinji, GU and NUUN, I hope that my running reflects well upon you as my successes are a direct result of not only your products and services, but of the personal relationships that have been cultivated with folks behind these companies over the years. Thanks again and cheers!

God bless everyone and happy trails,

Gundy

Redwood Park 50k and the first 2 months of 2011

2011-03-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Snow? Mud? Rain? Freezing Cold? While weathermen and weatherwomen around the Bay Area had everyone on edge with predictions of a local cold weather armageddon this past Saturday morning, reality wasn’t quite as dramatic. The Redwood Park 50k in the Oakland hills this past Saturday was a cold one with frost and a couple of ice patches on the ground. In spite of large residual pools of rain and muddy hills along the course, the sky was blue and the air was crisp for a great day of running. There would be some downhill sections where I would need to show caution instead of the reckless abandon that I love, but overall it was a good step towards a successful 2011.

I didn’t want to try and torch the first 20k loop; rather, I wanted to keep it steady throughout the entire run and most importantly finish the race healthy. I’ve torched the first half of 50ks before when my body wasn’t trained up enough, only to be plagued by serious fatigue later in the race. I was targeting between 4:15-4:20, cognizant of the fact that I need to dial down some of the descents to stay healthy and that there would be significant wet patches, particularly on the climbs. In my head, I was thinking 1:37:30 (20k), 2:32:30 (30k) and sub-4:20 finish would be a decent training race and be a good steady effort.

Cruising in to the main aid station in 1:38:30, I took a minute to reload before taking on the 10k loop. At this point, I started to see a number of other runners from the other distances out on the trail, particularly the slower 10k runners coming back to finish. As I try to slow things down and stay consistent, I continue to make it a point to encourage the other runners in their own races with a simple “Keep moving” or “Good job”. Sometimes, pulling myself out of my own competitive vortex is a great way to simply enjoy what I’m doing as well as focus on running this race the way it was intended to augment my training.

It’s also on this 10k loop that I was noticing an increase in the number and size of the pools of rainwater along the course. Surrounded by redwoods on the floor of the park, the moisture simply doesn’t evaporate as well after a storm as the open ridge trails which make up the bulk of the 20k loop. I was constantly checking to make sure that as my shoes dryed out, the mud wasn’t becoming a dried cake that would add weight. After a sluggish climb up to the Ridge trail due to the mud, I picked it up coming back down from Skyline Gate through the Redwoods to ease in to the main aid station in 2:31:30 at the 30k mark. This was a minute ahead of the basic race plan I had come into the race with, which was just fine by me.

Again, I spent 2 minutes getting my gels out of my box setup on a table next to the trail, which would be way to long for a really competitive race but was just fine for this race. Heading out on the initial half mile climb, I finally felt some real sluggish in my legs. Since bruising my right forearm and scraping up my leg and hands 2 weeks ago in a fall out on the Coastal Trail, the one element of my training that suffered most were the intermediate tempo runs of 15-20 miles. It was already a hole in my training that I needed to fill, but the fall seemed to delay that training further. As I closed in on the 20 mile mark of the race, it became obvious that this is one hole that will need to filled in March.

I kept trudging along and at times moved quite fluidly. I looked back occasionly to wonder if I would see any other runner with 1^st place firmly in front. With about 3 +/- miles to go as I turned onto the Toyon Trail down toward the park floor, I was scheduled to finish 3 minutes slower than that 4:20 target assuming I finish the last section in the same time as the first 20k loop. After picking up some steam on the downhill and not seeing anyone within sight, I turned it back onto cruise control to finish the final loop in 1:53 and the race in 4:26, 2^nd overall. It wasn’t a dynamite race perse, but it was effective enough considering my health not being 100% and the conditions being as they were. The results this year are slowly taking care of themselves with a 5^th place finish at the Angel Island 25k (1:53) and now this 2^nd place finish here. At least I know that I’m on the right track as far as getting effective training to start the year. Besides, it’s always nice to see running friends out there like Mark Tanaka, who is also dealing with health issues but had enough to finish 3^rd overall.

The first two months of the year have seen me keep to my oft-stated goal to do 2-3 quality runs a week. Around those runs, I generally try to keep it easier in order to maximize my effort on the quality days of training. My wife has also been giving me the time and space to train properly, which has been a key factor in getting a good start to 2011 running-wise. I'm back down to 167 and continuing to trim down for the big races. It’s also been a really good thing for me and having my Uncle out with me at the track to keep my honest in my effort. This is just one step in the process, although I will look to a healthy Lake Sonoma 50 during the first week of April as a more serious gauge of what I should be able to do at Miwok. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to update some of my Miwok training here in the next couple weeks and give a more honest assessment for how I see the big race in May shaping up for me personally. For now, it’s back to training. :)

Cheers and God bless,

Gundy

Welcome to 2011

2011-02-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

Goals for 2011

1) Raise $14,000 for development programs with WHM in Uganda
2) Speedwork or tempo runs twice a week

3) No less than 50 miles per week, including recovery weeks
4) Get weight down to 163 lb.
5) Finish well

6) Kick butt

Setting running goals for the year is often just an extension of the natural human desire to want to aspire to something. Even then, setting running goals is often a crap shoot. 12 months is light years away, making goals set in January seem rather outdated in April. Last year, I had a number of result-oriented goals that made good sense when I made them, but often failed to take into account current health and other conditions necessary to turn them into reality.

In the process of setting running goals for 2011, I realized that in order to get to where I want to go with this running experiment, I needed to do things differently. While the desire to compete well is still strong, there comes a point where you know that you can only compete well if you train well. I need my body to be at its peak condition, which means taking care to run for quality as much as it is to run for quantity this year.

Goal 1 is a given; it keeps me grounded so that whether I come in 1^st or last, my passions stretch far beyond the race course.

Goals 2 & 3 are measures of consistency and quality in my training. I want to make sure that I put in quality runs every week and that every week has the quantity necessary to sustain an excellent performance from mile 1 through mile X. I want to limit those gaps where I am losing focus and losing ground.

Goal 4 is a measure of discipline and a recognition that being excellent at one thing (running) requires discipline in all things. Diet has never been a huge issue, but the goal is really to tighten the reins on what I need to do off the course to support what I do on the course. I am a whole person and although I still need to enjoy myself, I also have to be smart if running is something that I place as a priority at this stage in my life.

Goals 5 is there to remind me that the hardest thing is life is to finish well. That last 10% of any endeavor is always the hardest to do because of the temptation to be satisfied with the first 90% and not push the pain/discomfort threshold. It is the point where there is the most to gain and the most to lose. This year, I want to be most satisfied with the last 10% of each and every race because the race doesn’t end until I break the tape. Goal 6 is just one of goals that we all want to do in each and every area of our life. There’s no secret to it, although it really preceeds from the other 5 goals on my list.

As far as my race calender for 2011, I’ve streamlined it down trying to focus on a few key goal races for the year. I needed to stremline and prioritize if I wanted to expect peak performance at those goal races. I also needed to provide ample time between races to recover (minimum 5 weeks) and get back to 100%. As of now, my goal races for 2011 are the Miwok 100k, San Diego 100, Angeles Crest 100, Firetrails 50 and an as-of-yet unidentified marathon. Although Leadville is still pending depending on the timing of a mission trip to Uganda with my wife, it’s a reasonable healthy list of races. Miwok and Firetrails are especially good tests because I get to run the trails used in these two races all the time here in the Bay Area. Other than that, I am just looking forward to reconnecting with all my running friends again out on the trails and roads and wish everyone the best for 2011. The season is upon me fast and the Redwood Park 50k is 3 short weeks away....it’s just about “go” time.

Cheers,

Gundy

The Perfect Race

2010-08-06T13:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, it's been a little while. With the Angeles Crest 100 coming up and Western States behind me, I wanted to reprint the article/race report of mine that showed up in Ultrarunning Magazine. There's a lot I could post about my race and a lot of details there left to share, but with my current writer's block, this should give you a nice overview of what just happened.

The Perfect Race

When Roy Jones Jr. won a silver medal in boxing in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, it was certainly not the result that he had hoped for or even earned. I had seen a documentary about the circumstances surrounding it on television a week or two before. I hadn’t thought about it since, but at the time I remember it touching a nerve in me by how much Jones had out boxed the Korean boxer and how utterly stunned the result had left everyone on television. He had clearly given a performance worthy of the gold medal, yet in the end the record books do not read “Olympic Champion”. It was a sad irony that seemed to illustrate one of life’s enduring truths: you never get exactly what you deserve.

In the middle of the Western States 100 out on that lonely, isolated trail down to Volcano Creek from Michigan Bluff, it hit me that even if I had done everything that I thought I needed to do in this race, nothing was guaranteed. Roy Jones Jr. had fought the perfect fight and in the end it was not enough to guarantee him the result that he desired or deserved. This thought started a rather deep, internal discussion on the meaning of perfection.

At the time, I was a literal and figurative mess out there. I was being punished by a badly sprained left ankle early on going downhills and fits of nausea on the uphills. In fact, the ankle had grown so troublesome that I was intentionally avoiding pivoting on the left foot all together on downhills. A race that began with a disciplined beginning and a major ramp up from miles 32 through 44 was now cracking at the seams. The level of disgust with which I felt with myself was clearly evident to all around me, even as I strained to put my race back together again. It didn’t matter to me whether I failed at every race in 2010. After succumbing to elevation-induced sickness and general exhaustion in 2007, I was doing a poor job make amends for it here in 2010.

I had just seen my wife and a friend at Michigan Bluff, beaten down and in need of some inspiration along with a couple of new body parts. Coming away from the aid station, I steadily meandered down the trail, not concerned with much else other than trying to feel a little bit better. As the trail got steeper and more rocky near bottom of Volcano Creek, I tried to steady feet with each foot strike when Roy Jones Jr. entered my consciousness and with it a streaming internal discussion on expectation and perfection.

I had been acting like a pestilent child, not getting what I desired out of the race and choosing to wallow in my own self pity. Children lament when things don’t turn out exactly they imagine because they see things in black and white. To them, there is no acceptable outcome other than the one which they were expecting. It reminded me of times as a child watching the San Francisco 49ers play in the Super Bowl when I came close to tears more than a few times fearing possible defeat. A child sees no other outcome more important than the one they were expecting.

Maturity, in many respects, allows us to see the shades of grey in a black and white world. It sees beauty in unimagined possibilities. It also allows us to see that rarely is there a 1 to 1 correlation between the effort we put in and the results we receive. Nothing in my training or previous racing guaranteed an outcome; rather, it could only feed the internal hope for a given race.

The truth was that my family and friends who had come out to support me didn’t come just to see my post a particular time or come in a particular place. In my disappointment and disgust, I lost sight of the fact that those most important to me were there for no other reason than to support me because they loved me. I could’ve stopped right there, in my disappointment and disgust, and they would’ve loved me regardless.

We expect perfection of our imperfect selves in an imperfect world. I wanted perfection, but only the kind of perfection measured by results. I had expected the improvement in my running over the past year as well as the training and comeback from injury over the past 7 months to be rewarded with results. However, life doesn’t all of the sudden become perfect simply because we are participating in this “perfect” race. The race only magnifies the imperfections which are all around us and within us. In my moment of weakness, I had made it about myself.

I would go on to continue experiencing the nausea and the ankle instability the rest of the race, but from that moment on, it did not matter. I would continue to pursue perfection even if the results didn’t reflect it. In my struggles, there was something refreshing about knowing that I did everything I could to run the race well. Coming in second, whether that be to a competitor or to our own expectations of self, is never easy. Someone else sees the race you had while you see the race you should have or could have had. But in that final moment sprinting around the track at Placer High School Stadium, coming in 114^th never felt so good. 23 hours and 47 minutes after I started, my journey was coming to an end. I was not accepting mediocrity, but rather embracing the highest standards of sport which demand that we empty ourselves in mind, body and spirit in the pursuit of excellence. Others may be more celebrated or publicly lauded, but this was special to me because this was the day I found perfection. On that day, I had run the perfect race. Never before has taking home the silver felt so satisfying.

T-Minus 3 Days

2010-06-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

It’s down to the wire now….the hay’s in the barn and all that’s left is to countdown to race day. Am I excited? Yeah, I am. However, it’s always tempered by the fact that 100 miles is still 100 miles. I wonder why I chose a sport that never gets easier, but I’m going to at least enjoy this one. I’m in Lake Tahoe right now getting used to the elevation and making all the last minute preparations. For people unfamiliar with the terrain and course layout, there’s two really key points that will tell you all you need to know about how my race is going: Robinson Flat (29.7 miles) and Foresthill (62 miles). If I come into Robinson in 4:30 and Foresthill in 11:45, then I’ve got a real good shot at achieving my goal time of sub-19 hours.

Thanks go out to the following people:

Crew: Wilma, Kimi, Uncle Andy (Sugar Bear) and Uncle “Mambo” Jose
Pacers: Tara, Lori
Sponsors: Injinji, Brooks, GU, NUUN

Let’s go do it :)

God bless,
Gundy

P.S. For those curious about the race or what's going on, you can go to www.ws100.com for the live webcast.

Goal Race Psychology

2010-06-09T15:55:00.001-07:00

Miwok is over now and Western States is now upon me, so I thought it would be an excellent time to examine goal race preparation from a tactical and psychological perspective, which is a pertinent topic for all racers. With 2.5 weeks left until race day, I am pretty much as prepared as I’m going to be to execute what should be an excellent race.

One major confidence boost was the 45 miles I ran on the course on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, which included descending and climbing out of the canyons highlighting the major challenges of the race. My climbing was much, much better as compared to Miwok with a lot more pickup to my uphill paces. I feel much better about my sub-19 hour race goal, although I realize that success at the 100 mile distance still requires consistent execution and pushing through all the way to the end. That said, confidence runs often provide a psychological boost that one can maintain a particular effort level over the life of the run. In my case, it’s just one really long day.

One’s psychology going into a goal race can hinge on these little assurances that the body can handle the various unknowns. These unknowns come with them a certain stress that an issue which starts out as a pebble will eventually become a boulder. Alleviating this undue stress means coming into a goal race prepared. Whether it’s the food you eat or the gels you take or how fast to approach each individual segment, that preparation should be precise in detail and structure, yet flexible in execution. Life is full of surprises, so why should a race be any different? When a race presents 1000 different scenarios for how it will play out, it’s best to expect Scenario No. 1001.

Things develop so slowly in a 100 mile race that they often resemble the slow cooking a master chef employs to get the right taste. The focus always has to be on the process with the foresight to know that a good process will give you the best opportunity for good results. While the training is the major part of that process, allowing your race day plan to evolve at the race itself takes a major amount of patience and resolve. You develop your race day plan based upon the feedback you’ve received in training, and yet your body may present something different on race day itself.

I, myself, have 3 different pacing plans based on 3 different outcomes. While my race will probably end up resembling all 3 at some point, different sections of the course will yield various surprises based on how I feel and how much I’m willing to push. This is not to advocate that everyone’s best race means being conservative; rather, it’s a recognition that even with months and years of training and racing, what one is given on race day can still be a pleasant surprise or rude awakening. Those who are best at managing the necessary adjustments required are those who will psychologically be best able to weather the storms.

And if I don’t weather the storms? Well, a little divine intervention couldn’t hurt either.

2010 Miwok 100k

2010-05-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

The anatomy of a good race report is this: It is able to tell the story of your race in a thoughtful, engaging way that makes the reader feel like they were there. I will include splits and goal splits at the end of this report, but the real story for me lies in three key events which I will describe in detail. First, though, a quick summary of the mindset and goal coming into this race.

Coming off a rather vanilla 6th place performance at Skyline To The Sea 50k, I still came into the Miwok 100k with the idea that I wanted to take it to the course. I could not simply sit back on my heels and let the course wear me down, but I needed to assert myself and run with authority. Running with authority means running assertively, particularly in those single-track and small technical sections where it is easy to lolly gag and move gingerly. I needed to run hard, to help further dust off those calves in need of a more serious race to keep the training train rolling. I had a plan for a sub-9 hour race, but having slowly worked my way back from my previous calf strain, I was looking for consistent effort in my climbing as much as anything else. Still, there was the raw realization going in that while I would be very strong on the flats and downhills, the uphills would be where many of the top runners would hold a good advantage on me. If I could limit the lost time on the uphills, I would be in great shape coming back from Bolinas. Having run every section of the course except for a small 2 mile single-track section at the outset, there would be no surprises and no need to worry about anything else other than how I was running. Since Miwok has been a popular race as a precursor to the Western States 100, there are various theories for how one can take their Miwok performance and extrapolate a projected finishing time for States. Most people double their Miwok time, although there seems to be a some amount of variation depending on how one chooses to run Miwok and how well developed is one’s endurance.

I gave myself a range to run within which would tell me if I was on or off-pace. Each range came with it an absolute limit that, based on previous years’ performances, was the theoretical cutoff. I gave myself space to run faster on some sections and slower on others, knowing that my standing relative to the range would depend on the section being run.
The plan was solid and my capabilities had been tested against various sections of the course over the last 2-3 months. While at times during my training I felt incredibly lethargic out there, I had enough excellent runs that tracked well against a couple of other 8:xx:xx performances I was baselining against. It was the same strategy that used going into the Firetrails 50 last year which served me well last October when I cruised to a 7:25, 5th place finish.

The race at Miwok played fairly true to form, highlighting both my weaknesses (uphills) and my strengths (downhills and flats). I kept a brisk pace through the early going, moving continuously on the uphills and slamming the downhills, as I am prone to do. The race played out fairly close to my expectations, minus a few minutes here or there. Having reached Pantoll Ranger Station at mile 21.7 in 2:58, I felt a bit sluggish but nothing of any major concern. I had been drinking copious amounts of fluids and devouring 270-280 calories per hour in GU. Still, the uphills started to bother me and left me wondering why I wasn’t moving faster.

Key moment #1: After having been passed by a couple other runners and slipping out of the top 10, I seemed to find my groove again on the lonely single-track Coastal Trail which slithers tightly on the steep grass hillside overlooking the Pacific. While the views are stunning, the narrow trail makes it important to not lose focus. I was quietly ticking off the miles, but started feeling sluggish on the small climbs. To a Miwok runner, what I’m describing probably seems absurd considering the relative flatness of this section. However, even as I was moving along in relative solitude, I knew there would be other runners coming up faster than I was moving.

The silence was finally shattered by the swift, easy strides of Kami Semick. Kami may be much shorter in stature, but she is built like a rock and moves fluidly over a variety of terrains. Kami would go on to finish 1st woman and 10th place overall in 9:10:29. I would go on to follow right behind Kami into the Bolinas Ridge Aid Station (mile 28.4), but after that she would fade out of view until seeing her again near Randall Turnaround (Mile 35.6).

The significance of the moment had nothing to do with getting “chicked” ( a common, light-hearted ultra term for getting passed by a woman). It was the subtle beginning for what would become my crucial undoing during this race; my relative weakness on the uphills. While I would end up losing the most great majority of time against my 9 hour goal on the 1000’ climb back from Randall, this is where I could feel the race slipping from me. Sometimes we need to see what others are capable of in order to give us perspective about what we need to do better.

Key moment #2: After Tara came aboard to pace me, I spent the section from Bolinas Ridge (Mile 42.8) back to Pantoll (Mile 49.5) getting my head together and getting back into the race. It wasn’t that there was anything specific wrong with me; I just felt incredibly sluggish on the uphills. I could’ve been slightly dehydrated since I never did drain the kidneys during the race. Even that, though, is a bit of stretch since it wasn’t accompanied with the lightheadedness and general loopiness. Tara didn’t necessarily say anything; rather, she acted as a sounding board for all my meandering thoughts. I confess that I did feel bad that I subjected her to watching me curse out a solitary coyote on the hillside for no apparent reason. But in reality, the act of being pushed subtly and working to keep myself in perpetual motion worked to get the freight train moving again. And yes, at 170 lb., I was a freight train compared to some of the sticks out there.

All of this leads me to my key moment. Coming out of Pantoll, my pep had returned and I warned Tara that I would be cranking it for the next 3 miles of mostly screaming downhill. After warming up over the 0.5 mile flat, we started cranking it over the next 0.2 mile transition trail before over 1000’ ft. of decent over 2.2 miles down Deer Park Fire Road that can best be described as an out-of-control barrel race. We took the brakes off and kept cranking with ease. Soon enough, a little more than half-way down the Fire Road, we spotted two runners about 0.2 miles ahead. Even though one turned out to be a pacer, not too much seems to motivate more than seeing “ducks on the pond”. A couple minutes later while slightly cranking the arms to get a little more momentum going, I eased on by the two guys with a polite “On Your Right”. At that moment, one of the runners looked back to his right with a shocked look on his bearded face. I’m not sure if he was shocked just to see anyone or shocked at how quickly I was coming up on him; regardless, the look was priceless. It’s the kind of look that as a competitor, you love to see. It had the exact opposite effect that Key Moment #1 had on me; downhills and flats are definitely my strength. I feel like if I had to run a marathon right now, I would definitely be in the 2:40s coming off of my 2:51 PR run last year. My quads feel strong and my ability to navigate downhill trails with ease is definitely high. Part of it comes with my simple approach to downhills; why fight gravity when it feels so good to let it ride. This will become a key point at Western States, a net downhill course.

Key moment #3: After 58.5 long miles, it was 1000’ ft. up and 1000 ft. down to the finish at Rodeo Beach. 3.7 miles of dirt between the finish and I. After righting myself somewhat on the way to Pantoll, I stayed steady the rest of the way. Yes, I was still relatively weaker on the ups and stronger on the downs. But while there was some passing and being passed, I was in 19th place overall which was right where I was coming into Pantoll. The hardest thing for any athlete is maintaining focus when the original goals are out of reach. I had reached a point where top 10 and 9 hours were not in the cards, but I still had an opportunity to maintain my position in the top 20 in this ultra competitive race (no pun intended). The final 3.7 miles is over 2 miles of climbing 1000’ and about a mile and a half of hard, steep decent to the finish at Rodeo Beach. To make things more interesting, there are a number of steps and logs to go over at various times during the descent to mix in with asphalt roadway and winding dirt switchbacks.

Starting the climb, I was in 19th place and simply wanted to maintain my position. While 18th was just a minute in front of me and still well within my reach, I simply wanted to stay ahead of any pursuers. I told Tara that if we made it up to the top of the climb first, we could cruise on in from there. This first 1.4 miles up Old Springs Trail provides fairly good footing and many parts with gradual grades allowing someone to run/jog quite a bit. Some sections have dirt stairs built into the trail to help firm them up against erosion. A couple minutes into the climb, I spotted my nearest pursuer wearing a white sleeveless top and red ball cap. I didn’t feel like climbing much, hoping that the gap between myself and the next runner was enough to allow me to coast in. Tara, though, pulled a play from my own pacing playbook to get the ball rolling. “Let’s try and run for 30 seconds.” I’ll admit; this is one that I use quite a bit to have a reluctant runner getting the legs moving again on an uphill. It’s a simple request that helps speed up the inevitable grind that uphills can become and also help a runner find their legs again.

The first few cycles, it was a bit of grind to put in the full 30 seconds of running before 30 seconds of walking. But after a few cycles, I started to feel better about the rate I was moving at. My posture become more upright, I was slouching less, and I seemed to be able to pick up my legs with a little more gusto. On the flattish ~0.4 mile section near the top, I even stopped the walking altogether and kept a nice 10 min./mile jogging rythym. This carried over to the 0.2 mile connector section on the Miwok trail and the first slight downhill before two brutally steep ascents on the Wolf Ridge trail over the next ~0.7 miles. On the first of these two ascents, I peered back to see “The Man In White”, as I took to calling him, continuing to close in with less than a quarter mile between us. I knew that with the climbs, the time difference was more significant, but I still needed to hit the top of that final ascent first.

I moved quickly on the quick 0.2 mile downhill dip before the final quarter-mile climb to the top. I could see the 2nd place woman just ahead on the climb, but once she crested I simply retrained my focus on holding off my pursuer. With scree littering the trail of this quad-busting ascent, good footing was always hard to come by. My hands latched firmly to my quads as I kept driving through each step and turning over my burning legs more quickly. Those minutes felt like a lifetime with the only thing holding my attention being my upward gaze at the end of the rocky earth under my feet and the beginning of light blue skies at the summit.

I was not disappointed, gazing out on the ocean and Rodeo Beach below with a sense of relief releasing some of the building tension. With over 25 minutes into this section, I had only a mile and a half to go until the the finish. While gingerly starting up on the steep, narrow road outlining the ridgeline, gravity quickly sucked me in to pick up the pace. A walk became a trot. A trot became a jog. Finally, a jog became a nearly out of control run with gravity as my fuel and my brake pads (quads) worn to the metal. This half-mile barrel race hits a dip, going slightly upward before returning to the dirt and fine sand. I began losing touch with Tara, focused on putting distance between myself and the “Man In White”. At the dip, I glanced back only to see him coming down the road himself about 200 yards away. I just couldn’t seem to shake him.

This is where the race becomes part obstacle course, part road race and part trail race. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but when I hit the first set of winding stone stairs, I just took off and left Tara behind with a mile to go. The coming pursuer was now close enough to see clearly but not quite close enough to touch. Tara is not the first pacer that I’ve “ditched” in the final 5-10 miles of a race; I have a clear pattern of being motivated by pursuing runners and the anticipation of the finish. My uncles earlier had clued her in that it may happen and my intimate knowledge of this section of the course makes it much easier for me to anticipate all the various pitfalls. As a more experienced trail runner, I also find that I’m much more willing to take chances on the trails than less experienced trail runners. I moved with a clearer sense of urgency, bounding down stairs and leaping over logs that left me precariously close to taking a fall. Even with a water bottle strapped to both my hands, I reigned myself in a bit half way down one set of logs to avoid a catastrophic fall.

Once away from the steps and logs, I hustled on the winding, paved fireroad leading down from the WWII-era bunker. My uncles down below watched the action with no idea that I was the runner in the black cutoff shirt being chased since they were looking for a runner in black with a pacer. Uncle Jose remarked to Uncle Andy, “Look, that guy in white is going to catch the guy in black”. The “Man in White” had closed to within 25 yards with less than a half a mile to go and although I briefly entertained the idea of coasting it in and finishing together in an show of sportsmanship typical of ultras, the speed with which he was closing made me believe that he was pushing for my placing. I responded by continuing to push as hard as I could as I entered the final 3 short switchbacks on the winding trails which lead to the parking lot.

I resisted the urge to look, realizing that I would waste more in time than I would gain in comfort. After each turn, I expected that now would be the time he would pass me. But each time, I simply got closer and closer to the finish. It wasn’t until the reaching the short, 20 yard L-shaped finishing chute at the Rodeo Beach Picnic Area that I realized I would hold him off. Making that final turn, I charged through the finish line in 9:37:09 and gave my customary silent props to the man up above.

While the official finish times reflected a 1 second gap between us, in reality the “Man In White” would come through the finish line about 10-15 seconds later. I clapped with a smile on my face, tired but happy to have had the experience. Once he crossed the finish line, I walked over to him and we both smiled before giving each other a big hug. We laughed at what a crazy journey that final 3.7 miles had been; he kept trying to hunt me down and I just wouldn’t let him have it. We pushed each other harder and were rewarded for it with a nice way to end the day. It was a great moment where two competitors, when it was all said and done, could just appreciate what had happened. The roles could’ve been reversed, but the ending would’ve stayed the same: respect for one another and a sheer joy for having been a part of an exhilarating chase to the finish line to end 9+ long hours.

In some ways, the finish line is the line between heaven and hell. It has this funny way of turning struggles into learning experiences and making triumphs grow larger. Somewhere in the retelling of the story, it takes on new meaning and foretells the necessary steps for future successes. Sure, I can needle my weaknesses from this race and talk about what it will take in the next 6 weeks to finish Western States in 18+ hours…..but I can at least take heart in the simple fact that with some well-timed words and a little push, I seem to have no trouble finding motivation. Thank you to my crew, my pacer and Tracy Moore.

God bless,
Gundy

The Miwok Bet

2010-04-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Rick Vs. Gundy: Miwok 100k

The Prize: Lunch post-race

Since I won’t be doing the San Diego 100 in June and Rick didn’t get into Western States 100, it’s time for a little head-to-head action at Miwok. There’s nothing like a little friendly competition to help spur oneself to better performances and this one should be good. The competition is simple; we each pick a goal for the race and the closest one to their goal wins. However, beating your goal is worth more than coming up short. Every minute you beat your goal is equal to one point while every minute you come up short of your goal is equal to two points. The lowest score wins.

While this is predicated on both of us picking goals that accurately fit our current abilities (and not sand bagging), we’re competitive enough people with ourselves that it shouldn’t be a problem. I want to pick a goal that’s going to stretch me on race day, but that I think I have a 50% shot of hitting.

Originally, I had targeted 9 hours as my goal for Miwok knowing that slightly more than doubling my time would give me a guestimate for Western States. With my good training run on the weekend of the 10th and feeling good despite some nagging PF and calf issues, I’m ready to shoot for sub-9 hours at Miwok.

Here are the approximate thresholds/gating points in this race in order to finish under 9 hours:

1) Pantoll Ranger Station (21.7 miles) in 3 hours (8:45 am)

2) Bolinas Ridge Rd. (28.4 miles) in 4 hours (9:45 am)

3) Randall Turnaround (35.6 miles) in 5 hours (10:45 am)

4) Bolinas Ridge Rd. (42.8 miles) in 6 hours (11:45 am)

5) Pantoll Ranger Station (49.5 miles) in 7 hours (12:45 pm)

6) Tennessee Valley (58.5 miles) in 8 hours, 20 minutes (2:05 pm)

I always seem to want to go out quickly to warm up the legs and then slow between miles 6-10 as I start to settle into a rythym. The rest of the day seems to work like clockwork. Rick is setting his bar at 10 hours. She's also stated that if Rick and I both don't meet our goals, then she should get taken out to lunch by both of us. The big winner will probably still be my wife no matter what since I'm taking to Napa for our anniversary. It’s going to be a great day to race and a great tune-up for Western States.

There will be a lot of elite runners there and you can follow the race live at www.ultralive.net.

Skyline To The Sea 50k

2010-04-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

Going into the Skyline To The Sea 50k, I expected that this would be a fast race. With 3000’ of climbing and 5500’ of descent through the Redwoods on the Skyline to The Sea trail, it had the look of a race that would test my quads as well as my ability to maneuver on tight, steep trails. I had been warned ahead of time by Rick to position myself well from the outset since the single track trails would get tight early and often before opening up onto a few scattered fireroads in the middle. It ultimately opens up at the bottom of the hills where the final 5 miles is mostly flat and rolling fireroad with a few single track connector trails thrown in.

My initial expectations were to go for a Top 5 finish under 4 hours. It had been 3 weeks since the Lake Sonoma 50 and I felt that much of the residual effect of the calf strain which limited my training from early February through late March. The only thing that concerned me going in was a sporadic bout of inflammation in my PF which caused some minor discomfort. In order to finish well, a major key would be my ability to manage the race on a course that I had never run before. I wanted to give myself a shot to let the wheels go over the last 1/3 of the race. I spent some time before the race looking at the elevation charts and a few previous race reports to identify key climbs and key descents. There are three major climbs to take note of: 1) Just after the first aid station for 1000 ft., 2) The Gazos Creek loop from miles 16-20 and 3) Mile 22ish, during the final long stretch down to the ocean.

One of the more deceptive features of this course is its endless array of obstacles (fallen trees, rocks, etc.) and tight trails which can take away straightaway speed at times and can act as a detriment to runners who haven’t run it or seen it previously. While the quick drops can help a runner pick up a good amount of speed in a hurry, they often leave you with the choice to treat upcoming obstacles with a) respect, for fear of injury or b) indifference, looking for the quickest route past. While this description shouldn’t deter a runner from embracing the challenge of this race in a fabulous natural setting, it will at least inform you that in order to do well one needs to be proficient at making quick decisions with their feet.

After a relaxing Sunday morning drive (courtesy of my wife) with Rick and Billy to the starting area at Saratoga Gap, a nervous energy came over me while waiting for the race to start. It’s that anticipation of racing again, knowing that for the next 4 hours I would be focused and zoned in on simply moving through the redwoods with a smooth, consistent effort. The time I had spent studying the course and putting together my splits would be put to the test. It’s one thing to study an elevation profile; it’s a whole other thing to study a course in person.

After a quick 5 minute warm-up followed by a brief stretching session, I was ready to go. Once the pre-race briefing was completed, we were off down the trail. I had the gospel and rock blaring in the earphones and I was ready to go. The course began on a downhill slope with the trail narrowing to single-track for 6.5 net downhill miles (1000 ft. of elevation drop) to the first aid station. There is enough room to pass for at least the first couple of miles. I was in the 7th or 8th position, although the number of runners also included those in the marathon race. Leor Pantilat took the lead from the outset and slowly distanced himself as the redwood forests with its myriad of twists and turns made it difficult to see very far. In the early 2-3 miles, I let me legs go on the downhills and ultimately moved up to share the 2nd position with Kevin Swisher. He and I were only about 10-15 seconds ahead of a main chase pack of 4-6 runners, but continued to maintain our distance in the early going.

As we wound our way through quite a bit of hanging brush in particularly windy section on the hillside, my headphone cord kept getting knocked to the left or right. At one point, 19 minutes into the race, the cord came undone completely. I looked down quickly and though I had lost my iPod. I stopped, allowing Kevin to pass in order to look for it quickly. Within 10-15 seconds, I was passed by the train of other runners in the main pack. All in all, I spent a minute and a half looking for that darn iPod only to feel embarrassed to see it still clipped to my shorts.

As I started up again, I found myself alone in my own space. In one way, I considered it a bit of a blessing which forced me to focus on my own race. I didn’t feel particularly inspired to be out front, since I tend to run best at the back of a pack and don’t like the feeling of being pushed on a course which I had never seen before.

However, being in your own space brings with it other challenges. I had no one else around me with which to judge my pace against. Keeping contact with the main pack would also help me keep my fellow competitors (particularly those who were veterans on the course) in sight. This could have been a valuable resource since my Garmin had been reduced to a big stopwatch by the tree cover overhead. At that point, I just kept moving and figured that I simply needed to work on my own race.

One rather harrowing moment was having to cross Highway 9 in order to continue on the trail. A number of cars zoomed pass me, including a red Lotus, which had no intention of ever stopping. It took 15 seconds before I had an opportunity to cross. When I did, I put me head down in a full sprint to avoid becoming the latest road kill.

About a mile out from the aid station, I came up on the first runner who had passed me. He looked as if he had slowed significantly and I quickly moved past on the slightly uphill slope on the edge of a small basin. Coming into Aid Station #1, I was right on time at 46 minutes sharp. I was in fairly good condition and kept this stop brief in order to grab a couple of gels and get my bottle refilled. A big advantage of coming into the aid station alone was the ease of which I was able to get in and out quickly. 15 seconds later, I was off to tackle a 1000 ft. climb before descending again into Aid Station #2 4.7 miles later.

This 1000 ft. of climbing in the second section really highlighted one of weaknesses exposed with a calf that I didn’t have 100% confidence in. I allowed the psychology of being alone to somewhat dictate my physical exertion and walked steeper portions of the climb. It was a bit of downer, wondering if any of the other front runners had chosen to walk during these small sections. I was fatigued, but generally considered that to be par for the course since I tend to get into a groove after mile 10. While I was able to push through that fatigue at times, I clearly allowed it to take me out of my game in the early going.

Once I reached the top, I once again took off on soft, slowly rolling downhill before a quick climb to the 2nd aid station. The soft surface, blanketed by pine needles, provided a needed rest bit absorbing the impact of the downhill. My PF was giving me some minor discomfort, so the soft surface seemed to calm it down. I came up upon another runner during this section, a young Indian runner who was running the marathon. He was one of the first to pass me when I was looking for my iPod and looked as if he was pushing for a podium finish. After exchanging pleasantries as I passed, he kept fairly close to me for the remainder of the section.

I eased into Aid Station #2 at mile 11.2 in 1:28, about 5 minutes off of my appointed goal time. I knew that I had lost time with that walking episode, but was generally ok with the early paces. I needed to continue to work within myself to maintain a good rate of speed overall. I picked up another couple of gels and some water before scampering away for this long 4.6 mile downhill jaunt to the bottom of another basin. Two other 50k runners came up on us, leaving the aid station just after I did.

The four of us continued to push the pace as the top half of this section was filled with major rock formations and narrower trails. On a couple of occasions, I had to catch myself before sliding down the slick and sometimes wet rocks. You could tell a number of these formations had been there awhile

About 1/3 of the way through, I allowed the three runners behind me to pass as I re-tied my shoelaces (which would happen another couple of times). We continued to stay fairly tight together, although I dropped back somewhat when I fell on my backside prior to a creek crossing. I got a bit frustrated with my early pace, imploring myself to keep at it.

The section ends in a basin which was filled with numerous mud puddles, roots and large logs. The roots blend in quite well, which is a big reason I did a face plant at one point onto the trail. I was shaken a bit as I wiped the front of my sleeveless shirt, but all in all found the experience to be a bit of an awakening. Besides, this is a trail run so you need to get dirty every once in awhile. I also got onto my hands and knees to quickly slide under some of the logs. It was about then that I was starting to enjoy this race, which was starting to resemble an adventure races as much as anything else.

To my surprise, I entered aid station #3 at Gazos Creek in 2:02, which was now only 2 minutes off my pre-race goal splits (for a 3:50ish). I felt like I was losing time, but apparently I was picking it up once again. It was a pleasant surprise, putting me at 7:20ish min./mile clip for the last section. After a quick check-in with volunteer and trail runner extraordinaire Will Gotthardt, I departed northbound (the race goes east to west) on the 4.5 mile loop back to the aid station.

While leaving, I saw one of the 2- 50k runners in a yellow SCRC (Santa Cruz?) singlet who had passed me earlier. The third person, being a marathoner, had already departed not needing to do this add-on loop. I surmised that I was probably around 7th or 8th place and would probably need to pass at least two more runners to ensure a top 5 finish. We were now beginning the second of the three major climbs and this one also brought with it 1000’ of climbing. We started out on a fire road for less than a mile, which is a nice and steady grade. Fire roads are much easier to climb due to the firmness of footing and general predictability of the grade which allows a runner to get into a rythym.

I kept a steady rythym as my legs started to feel warm again. I sort of lost sight of the overall time goal, although I figured if I could get back to the aid station at 2:45 with 10.5ish miles to go that I would have a fighting chance at a sub-4 hour finish based upon the final section’s layout. Although the splits were developed with 3:50 in mind, they left a fair amount of buffer to shoot for that 4 hour time. Although I ran quite a bit of the uphills, I still walked the fairly steep grades near the top. The course opens up on another fire road near the top where the route gets fairly exposed. While most exposed sections are loathed by runners looking to stay cool on an otherwise warm day as this, it was a very nice change. The damp, cool air below the redwoods’ canopy had given way briefly to the warm, bright glow from the sun up above.

Eventually, a sharp turn off the fire road led to 2 mile stretch begun with a sharp, steep downhill and ending with a return to 1.5 mile rolling flats that we originally came into Gazos Creek aid station on. It was during this stretch that I had a chance to say hi to Steve Ansell and Harry Walther, who had yet to come into the aid station the 1st time to begin their loop. Steve and Harry looked good for a couple of guys who had run 50k prior to the race as training for an upcoming 100 miler. Steve asked me what place I was in, to which I replied that I didn’t know.

Shortly before I polished off the section, I finally passed that 50k runner in yellow, Stefano Parsado. I came into Gazos Creek at 2:45 with at least a shot at 4 hours. While I had fallen off the goal time of 2:36 (for a 3:50 overall) by 9 minutes, I still had a shot if I could get moving in a hurry. 30 seconds later, I was gone with 3 gels in my pocket and full water bottle. I knew I would probably have to be careful with the fluid intake with 9 miles until the final aid station and 10.5 miles total until the finish line.

Well, whatever visions I had of averaging 7:06 min./mile for this last section vanished when faced with the final long uphill climb that lasted for about a mile. I just couldn’t seem to get into a rythym and I decided to slow down in order to protect the right calf. Fortunately, once at the top of the climb, I knew the rest of the race would be a 3 mile downhill followed by 5ish miles on mostly rolling fire roads to the finish.

I had to stop a couple more times to take care of a loose shoelace as well as another faceplant. This final downhill is sharp and steep, punctuated by numerous obstacles. I was jumping over, under and sometimes around huge fallen trees and tree stumps. Other sections had fallen rock on the path, creating a potential slipping hazard with those that were wet. I rather enjoyed this section, taking care not to fall as I moved methodically to try and catch up to 1 or 2 others.

People on the trail told me I was 2-3 minutes behind the next runner, so I continued to try and gain time by jumping up and over obstacles every chance I got. At times, I had to be careful with quite a few Team In Training hikers along the trail. They looked at me inquisitively, probably wondering why I was moving so quickly on the narrow trails in this hiker’s paradise. I was in a hurry, but never in such a hurry that I got close to knocking anyone over. They seemed to know when to pull to one side or the other and I respected them by taking care to be deliberate with my own movements.

Once at the bottom and on the fireroad, I knew that I needed to get to the final aid station at 3:50 in order to get in under that 4 hour barrier. As the minutes rolled away, it seemed less and less likely. I had no Garmin reading and although I was moving quickly and smoothly, every turn seemed to lead nowhere on the endless road with limited forward vision. My fluids had long been tapped and my mouth was getting parched, although my gels were keeping me fueled sufficiently.

Passing one more marathoner, I cruised into the final aid station at the 4:02 mark to fill up on some electrolytes and down one final gel quickly. The quick 20 second stop was just enough to put my electrolytes back in balance once again. I took the next few minutes to marvel at the cool breezes and rustling trees signaling that the ocean was upon me.

With a half a mile to go on the final long straightaway, I finally spotted the next runner. It was too late for a pass, but I kicked it in strong finishing in 4:13 and good for 6th place overall. Not exactly the race I was thinking about, but still a good step towards restoring my lost endurance from injury. I needed that kind of race to get me back into the mindset of running fast, which requires strong, explosive calves rather than the passivity I’d been accepting during training lately.

Some of the key takeaways is the need over the next 2 weeks to loosen up my calves and my PF in the foot. I think the confidence to run up the hills I need to run at Miwok in order to hit 8:5x:xx will be huge. I’ve run a number of hills in training and the general strength is there; I just need to confidence to come through when it counts. Running at least 30+ miles for my long run each of the last 5 weeks (starting just before Lake Sonoma) is finally giving me the endurance back that I lost during that 6 week calf strain recovery period.

I don’t think the mental games that I allowed to plague me at this race will crop up at Miwok. I know the course inside and out and should be able to anticipate each and every turn, uphill and downhill. Knowing a course and the type of effort your body will tolerate as it progresses through that course can be a significant advantage. The best runners can often “feel their way” through a course, always tuned in to the subtle physiological cues about when to fuel, when to hydrate, when to back down and when to speed up. I don’t remember the last time I saw an elite marathoner wearing a Garmin on their hand. I feel like the additional miles I’ve put in on my long runs will ultimately lead to a much more relaxed and well-paced raced in 2 weeks. I’m going to need it at Miwok, which is a much more stacked race to score a Top 10 finish as compared with Firetrails 50, Rocky Raccoon 100 or Skyline To The Sea 50k. While somewhat disappointed in the consistency of my effort, I know that my time is coming and that I just need to keep working hard to meet it.

2010 Western States Challenge to benefit Well-Building in Uganda

2010-04-05T13:48:00.001-07:00

sponsored by Injinji, Brooks, Josh Moberg, P.T., and Diakadi Body

The Challenge: To raise $5,000 towards my yearly goal of $12,000 to build 4 water wells in Uganda. Each well built will help provide fresh water for over 1,000 people. To put it another way, every $3 you donate will give one person access to fresh water that is free of many water-born parasites and diseases. You can help me reach that goal by making a donation now towards World Harvest Mission's well-building program. All money donated goes towards this goal. Donations are tax-deductible and receipts will be sent to donors at the end of the year in addition to the email receipt sent to you by PayPal. For more information on the program and my personal involvement with the people of Uganda, click on the "WHM and Donations" button up above.

My Challenge: Run the Western States 100. My goal is to finish the race in less than 19 hours. All donors can additionally challenge me personally to finish with a particular placing or a particular time for additional donations. If I accept your challenge, I pledge to make a donation in the challenge amount if I don't meet it. Email me personally at gundy80@hotmail.com.

The Schwag: Every donation, regardless of amount, will receive a picture of the well-building projects in Uganda. For each donation of $25, you will receive 1 entry into the drawing for the Grand Prize pack which includes the following: 10 pairs of Injinji Performance Toesocks including one pair of their Nuwool socks and one pair of their brand new Compression socks. You will also receive a pair of Brooks shoes of your choice with a retail value up to $100 (per www.brooksrunning.com).

Second Chance Drawing: If you don't win the Grand Prize, there is a drawing for the Second Chance Prize which is a 1 hour personal training session or nutrition consultation with Josh Moberg, P.T. Josh is a personal trainer with Diakadi Body, www.diakadibody.com, a Personal Training and Wellness Center in San Francisco, CA. There is no need to apply for this drawing; all individuals entered in the Grand Prize Drawing who do not win are automatically entered in this Second Chance Drawing.

The Charity: All proceeds benefit the Uganda Well-Building Program for World Harvest Mission, www.worldharvestmission.org.

Be Part of The Challenge:
To be a part of the challenge,
1) Make a donation via the ChipIn icon to the right. Donations can be made via PayPal account or Credit Card. Again, every $25 in donations equals one entry.

http://seegundyrun.com/2010_WS100_Challenge.html

Looking Ahead to the 2010 Miwok 100k

2010-04-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

I guess it’s time to fast forward ahead from my last posting, which was a run down from my performance at the Rocky Raccoon 100 and a look towards the road ahead to Western States. Unfortunately, a calf strain in my right calf from Rocky Raccoon caused me to take a couple weeks off from running. Since then, it’s been a string of 4 weeks where I averaged about 50 miles per week. I’ve only had one run over 17 miles, and that was a 22 miler a few weeks ago.

Going into the Lake Sonoma 50, I was less than adequately prepared for an excellent race, although I went into it with the expectation that considering my most recent string of excellent races I might be able to pull one more out of the bag. The bigger goal was to get my body back in the game as far as long runs are concerned so that I can let it rip at Miwok on May 1st. Originally, I had been signed up for the Old Goats 50 Mile Run in San Juan Capistrano. However, when a spot off the waiting list opened up for me at Lake Sonoma, I took it. It was closer to home, had some good climbing (mostly rolling), and had gotten some great reviews from other runners.
Not knowing quite how to pace myself come back slowly from injury, I took splits from the previous year for a 7:55 finish. However, I came into the race knowing that I would not sacrifice the complete healing of my calf in order to hit the major climbs harder.

Needless to say, the end result seemed to fit with my current training. I got through mile 20 with no major issues, although the major climbing over the next 10 miles forced me not to push it before my lack of training kicked me in the butt over the final 20 miles. It wasn’t a bad day, finishing in 8:31 in 11th place, but it also wasn’t a great day. I felt like I was bonking over the final 20 miles, unable to really kick it into that next gear. It was a fatigue and “worn down” feeling that came over me.

I did see a few silver linings in my performance. While I did fade from 8th to 11th overall over the final 28 miles, in the past I would’ve allowed myself to slip further. When Devon Crosby-Helms, the first woman, passed me with 10 miles to go on a long 7.4 mile stretch and took that final top 10 position, I was at first anticipating a flood of others waiting to pass me. When that didn’t happen while continuing to walk significant portions of the uphills, the mental uplift seemed to invigorate my running on the flatter, downhill portions. While I couldn’t quite close the 2+ minute gap that had built between Devon and I at the last aid station, I did bring it together to finish stronger than I anticipated and run a number of those final uphills.

On a day without the injury hindering preparation, I felt like a top 5 finish was definitely a very real possibility, but that will have to wait until next year. I really enjoyed being out there and thought the course was just a really good, fair challenge. It demands a fair level of consistent effort to keep going over those rolling hills over and over again. The key is to not push too hard on the ups or go too lightly on the downs; consistent effort yields consistent results. While you can’t simply compare one section on the way out exactly with the same section on the way back,

I prefer to look forward from here with the Skyline To The Sea 50k and Miwok 100k coming up. A preliminary goal for Skyline, with it’s net downhill course, will probably be to try and break 4 hours. I may re-evaluate this goal with Miwok 2 weeks later, but going hard at Skyline will lead me right into my tapering period.

A larger goal over the next 3 weeks is to hit 3 consecutive 100 mile weeks with long runs of 30+ miles. This will prepare me much better for Miwok and beyond. This next 3 weeks, including Skyline, is crucial to my overall training. Although I’ve been under the weather the past week with work also bogging me down, I did a 32ish mile run on Saturday from Tennessee Valley towards Bolinas Ridge and back using the same segments that the Miwok course used. I treated certain segments like a tempo run and will do the same next weekend as I attempt to further measure myself against a few previous participants’ splits and hopefully give myself a good approximation of what I can do on race day. Based on what I did during those timed segments on Saturday, I am continuing to focus in on formulating a goal time somewhere around 9 hours. One really encouraging thing to come out of this run was that my calf seemed to respond fairly well, particular when going up Deer Park Fire Road towards Pantoll Ranger Station for that 3 mile stretch.

Other than that, life is good and Easter was good. Good Friday and Easter are two of the most important holidays on the calendar for me, so being able to spend it with family was good. It continues to remind me that running always has its place, which will never be #1.

A Year Built Around Western States

2010-02-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Having “grown up” running-wise at Badwater, I know quite a few people running the race and wish them all the best. I may ending up crewing and pacing for a friend, but that is yet to be determined. It was a difficult decision, but in the end I decided not to put my hat into the ring for this year’s edition. Instead, I will apply for the 2011 edition.

While it’s certainly possible to have “A” races two weeks apart making for a unique “double”, the nature of preparing for two unique races makes it difficult to come into both of them and expect to perform at 100%. My racing over the past 7-8 months has clearly benefited from being more discriminating about when and where I choose to race. There are only a finite number of times that we can “go to the well” and pull out an “A”-level race. We often consider going to the well to be simply a matter of willing that level of performance out of us, when in fact there is also a natural physiological fatigue from trying to do it too much. It is the reason why most elite marathoners race only 2-3 marathons a year.

The temptation is there to make a serious run at going under 27 hours at Badwater this year, but it is tempered by the fact that I also have unfinished business to attend to at Western States. There is an emotional weight of having an excellent race in light of my abysmal DNF performance at Western States in 2007. Based on my performances in the last 7-8 months, I am definitely on a major upswing and want to take full advantage of it by taking on challenges that I can give my utmost to achieving. I have an opportunity to have a special race in June that could exceed my current expectations. Considering the current state of the demand to get into Western States, this is something which may not come around again at an age when I should be looking to maximize every ounce of athletic potential I have. To allow myself to split my energies to get ready for both races could ultimately result in cheating myself. Badwater will be there in 2011 and hopefully this upswing will continue so that if accepted, I will be there for another “race of a lifetime”.

That being said, I’ve finally solidified a good portion of my year’s race schedule. While I’m still tinkering with adding more summer and fall races, the bulk of the planning is completed. I am relying on a number of fairly tried and true assumptions when it comes to crafting a training and racing schedule leading up to Western States. Heck, everything seems to revolve around this race, even my fundraising efforts this year, which I will announce on my next post. That said, here's list of some of my basic training assumptions:

1)Go Long: Not all the time, but I’ve made sure to add in a difficult 50 miler in Old Goats as well the Miwok 100k on May 1st. In addition to the just completed Rocky Raccoon 100, this should leave no doubt in my mind that I am prepared for the distance.

2)Prepare For The Course/Race-Specific Challenge: Old Goats will help me refine and work on the climbing aspects that will come into play in the Western States canyons. Miwok will give me another chance to run quick and long over the rolling, non-technical terrain. I should be able to double my time at Miwok to give me a good time goal to fix my eyes upon for Western States. Rocky was also important to me as far as preparing for the uniqueness of night running and battling through the late race fatigue. Oh, how easy it is to forget just how much of physical and mental struggle it can be to keep the legs moving in the late stages of a 100 miler.

3)Hit Triple Digits: There isn’t an exact science as far as miles per week is concerned. However, a general rule of thumb I follow is to hit 100+ miles a week once every 4 weeks. The addition of these races to the schedule should allow me to do this effectively without too much additional effort. Plus, racing can make hitting triple digits somewhat exciting in the midst of the long months of training for one particular race.

4)Rest: I never race on back-to-back weekends. In fact, I only average 1 race per month leading up to the big race. I hope that this will keep me fresh and not mentally tax me too much. I often get sucked into the “competitive mentality” during races, so abstaining from becoming a race junkie is a good decision. This is not to say that I’ll never race back-to-back weekends as a way to simulate race fatigue; it’s just that my back-to-back runs will generally be a combination of racing on Saturday and a more leisurely recovery running on Sunday after church.

Next Post: The introduction of the "2010 Western States Challenge", my new fundraising campaign with some pretty cool prizes for the donors.

Evolution of the Fear Gear- A Rocky Raccoon 100 Case Study

2010-02-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

It was only a week ago that I knew for sure that I would be running the Rocky Raccoon 100 in Huntsville, TX on February 6th. Without a contract position for the previous month, I had made a vow not to sign up for any new races until I got a new job. Fortunately, after searching and praying, I got the call I was waiting for a week and a half ago. I landed a 12 month contract at a medical device manufacturer here in the Bay Area, freeing me financially to spend some money on the entry fee for Rocky. I used miles for the flight, got a good deal on the rental car and planned to bring a sleeping bag to sleep in at Huntsville State Park where the race would be held. It would be the ultimate "travel race on a budget".

For me, one of the big drivers behind doing Rocky was the opportunity to do a 100 miler 4.5 months out from Western States. After investigating other potential 100 milers in the February/March timeframe in the Western region, the only other possibility was a rugged, mountainous Coyote Two Moon. In the end, I didn’t want to risk running a more intense race with more climbing than running. I simply wanted the experience of running into the night with that level of fatigue you cannot duplicate in any other type of training setting or race. Rocky has a reputation as a faster 100 miler with no super serious climbs, although the course redesign in 2008 replaced some of the straightaways that allowed runners to pick up good heads of steam with constantly twisting and turning single-track trails. It’s 5 - 20 mile loop format makes it a good choice for someone like myself who would be coming without the help of a crew or pacer as far as been able to organize my supplies efficiently and effectively measure my ability to hold pace throughout the race.
With the conditions mostly dry, save for a few nice sized mud pools, I expected the course to play out similarly to last year when just a shade under 16 hours took home the prize. The weather would be 15 degrees colder, with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s.

I went into the race with a rather simple pacing plan to do the first lap in 3 hours and add 10 minutes to each additional lap. This would put me with a finish of 16:40:00, which I thought would probably be good enough to at least be in the Top 5. It would help me to focus on staying strong through the end of the race, particularly when the mental games can start wrecking havoc. It was also a goal that wouldn’t wreck my legs or prevent from recovering quickly enough to continue training well the following week.

The one variable in this plan was how I was going to do without a Garmin. I had chosen to leave the Garmin at home and instead focus on my perceived effort and pacing off of other runners. Knowing that Jamie Donaldson would be at Rocky and that her effort last year had gotten here a sub-16:50 finish, I was determined to loosely use her as a gauge for whether I was going relatively too fast or too slow. One of my past failings at Rocky has been going out too fast and not focusing on a running a more consistent race. While I’m certainly not alone in this failing considering how easy it is to get sucked into everyone else’s race on this course, I need to continue to become a better tactical runner to maximize my performance. As a 2:51 marathoner, I don’t have the speed to win a 100 miler (the ultimate goal) by running as fast as I can for as long as I can and then expect to survive the resulting blowup. I need to rely more on my strength and endurance to stay in a race until hopefully surging late to create separation. I didn’t need to break 16 hours here as much as I needed to run a good race that would give me the confidence that I am on track for the Miwok 100k and then ultimately Western States.

After flying into Houston on Friday afternoon, I made my way to Huntsville where I went to Chili’s and enjoyed the dinner of champions: Chicken Tacos, Black Beans and Rice. With the carbo-loading process completed days before the race, I’ve always taken liberties the night before to have a meal I enjoy. One of the waiters at the bar, noticing my track jacket, correctly surmised that I was there for “the race”. He and the bartender took turns expressing their own desires to run a marathon, which I wholeheartedly endorsed.

After a restless night of sleep moving between my rental car (VW Beetle) and the concrete floor of an acquaintence’s camping area, I finally awoke for good at 4:30 in the morning on race day. I didn’t feel particularly good, but I wasn’t overly groggy which is a good thing given my normal disdain for waking up early in the morning. I spent the next 90 minutes prior to the race start getting my supply bags in order and positioned next to the outbound (right-hand) side of the trail at the race headquarters’ aid station. I would visit here once every 20 miles and each plastic bag of 6 Chocolate Outrage GUs and 6 NUUN electrolyte tablets had enough for a 3-3.5 hour loop.

My setup was designed allow me to save time by not having to rummage through my bag and think about what I needed. While I could have chosen to go with the offerings at each of the aid stations, GU and NUUN have become my staples at long races helping to keep my stomach at bay. A major reason for my increased success over the past 7-8 months is clearly due to simplifying my nutrition and these two nutritional supplements are a big part of that.

After some quick photos and chatting with friends, we were off at 6:00 A.M. With a forecasted high temperature in the 50s, I chose to go with a black technical top and a black base layer underneath it. Combined with my dark blue cap, black shorts, black compression tights and black over-the-calf Injinji compression socks, I decided to go with the “Jedi Knight” look. If anything, it certainly made my white Brooks racing flats stand out.

Right away, I settled into a large pack of runners upfront. I quickly found my light to have a less than ideal luminescence and after a mile and a half of running mostly in my own dark bubble, I slowed to allow the next runner to pass me so that I could supplement my light with their light. That runner turned out to be Jamie Donaldson, which pleased me considering that I was somewhat using her pace for this race as a baseline for my own race.

Along with a few other folks, we began trading positions back and forth depending upon time at the aid stations as well as moving a little faster or slower through certain sections. Once the light shone through for good 45 minutes after the start, I pulled ahead of the pack through the second aid station. Intermittently, I looked back to make sure I wasn’t trying to pull away too hard from the pack. Eventually they would catch up to me just after the Park Road aid station with 4.4 miles to go in the 1st loop. At that point, I made it a goal to get passed by at least one more runner before making it back to the start/finish area. This was a goal that I implemented first at the Javelina 100 last Halloween with the intention of disciplining myself to simply relax and not allow the emotional adrenaline that surges this early to push my body beyond that which would be good for me. Not only did I achieve that goal, but I exceeded it with at least a few runners scooting by me including Jamie.

I finished the first loop in just under 2:50 which was a little faster than the 2:55-3:00 loop I had envisioned. But, I wasn’t about to give the time back and instead focused on keeping close to a 3:10 second loop. I estimated that I was probably in 13th-15th place, which was just fine by me considering my overall time. The first 20 miles was about setting a tempo; the next 20 miles would be about maintaining that tempo. After a 3 minute break to get my nutritional supplies together, I quickly headed back on out.

Usually, I would’ve discarded the base layer with daylight now upon us. But, in keeping with the theme of simplification, I was intent on finishing in these clothes barring a major fall into one of the black mud pits scattered throughout the course. The weather was still rather comfortable and the second loop passed without much fanfare. A 3:10 loop translates into an average pace of 9:30 min./mile which, while rather unspectacular, was a pace that I continued to match or exceed between each aid station. I knew the distances between each station and used my stop watch to give myself an estimate of the average pace to that station. As long as I was able to match it, I would simply move on to calculating my time to the next station. This would be a race of small battles and if I could “win” a majority of them, I could expect to come out of this with a good time and placing.

While the theme for the second 20 miles was to simply maintain position, I quickly found myself passing quite a few people who were fading back. Each aid station brought with it the pleasant surprise that I was continuing to exceed the 9:30 min./mile for each section. I wasn’t exceeding it by more than 15-20 seconds at a time, but it was consistent. With the music playing, my body and mind were moving in rythym and the miles seemed to go by without much hard effort. I had moved ahead of Jamie earlier in this loop and was continuing to play leap frog with her as we both moved up the general classification. I saw a few people I knew, including the Jimmy Dean Freeman and the Coury brothers (the young race directors, Javelina Jundred) who were moving along at a brisk pace themselves. One of the nice features of this course is the opportunity to see other runners on the way out to start a loop as they are finishing.

At one point, I was in 6th or 7th place by my estimates since there was no clear, definitive answer from the aid station volunteers. It was rather early to be moving that high up the GC, which I had preferred to see happen in the 3rd loop. Nevertheless, I was pleased with continuing to stay at a healthy pace while always near my Badwater buddy Jamie. I would ultimately yield a couple positions in the final 4.4 mile section before hitting the start/finish area again at the 5:57 mark. Although I ultimately dropped a place in the GC, I was nevertheless right on target. Including the 3 minute break at the start, I had taken 3:07 for this second loop which was right where I wanted to be. I was continuing to feel good as far as my stomach was concerned, although a dull pain in my right knee was beginning to become an annoyance.

I got an unexpected boost at the start/finish area when Alan Gehraldi, a fellow Bay Area resident and Badwater veteran, offered to help me get my water bottle filled and prepped with NUUN. I took the opportunity to pack up with more GUs and switching out to another iPod shuffle. While the aid station volunteers could have probably helped me as well, having Alan there to do it gave me that added assurance that I had one less thing to worry about. Jamie came in a couple of minutes after me and left after a quick 20 second meeting with her husband David at the turnaround sign directly in front of me.

After taking an extra minute to relax and get my head together, I would start my third loop at the 6:02 mark looking to maintain a 10 min./mile pace and a 3:20 loop. About a mile after I headed out, I looked at the pouch on my water bottle realizing that I did not have my NUUN tablets for this 20 mile loop. There wasn't any time to go back to the aid station; I was resigned to the fact that I would have to go on and simply take whatever electrolyte drink they serve at the aid stations.
When I reached the first aid station 3.1 miles away, I took a seat for a minute while the aid station volunteers filled my water bottle with what I learned was Gatorade and fetched me a couple of acetametaphin. The acetametaphin was an attempt to kill the soreness that was creeping into my right knee and both calves. As opposed to ibuprofren, which has been linked to kidney damage, acetametaphin is generally safe as long as their's food in the stomach to act as a buffer. For some reason though, I didn't think to ask about the Gatorade. Although I was weary about the taste or long term effectiveness, I assumed it was Gatorade Endurance with little or no calories. Either way, I just hoped there were enough electrolytes to keep my body going well.

While the acetametaphin slowly kicked in, I continued onward at a brisk sub-10 minute mile running pace. My legs definitely didn't feel fresh, but I continued to pick up my legs well and avoid any potential obstacles or pitfalls. I would use the extra time to take short walking breaks leaving each aid station in order to keep my legs loose. At the next aid station, Dam Road, 3.1 miles away, I finally learned that it was regular Gatorade and not Gatorade Endurance. I knew Gatorade had less electrolytes but also over 100 calories for every 20 oz. bottle. I would have to adjust my GU intake down to approximately 1 GU per hour instead of the 2 GU per hour that I had originally calculated. I continued to add in banana and orange slices at each aid station to supplement my diet and help keep my stomach in check.

While finishing off the Dam Road loop to come through a second time, my GU packet didn’t go down right out on the trail, causing a bit of a gag while pausing briefly before swallowing it with a swig of Gatorade. While a seemingly minor inconvenience, the relative lack of stomach fortitude did not go unnoticed. Later, as I was coming back into Dam Road, the light headedness and slouched running posture that accompanies an electrolyte deficiency started to set in. I wasn’t upright or strong in my running; instead, I was lethargic and lazy with my foot strikes.

Electrolyte deficiency is a subtle condition, often coming on slowly. At first, you often feel like you can simply run through it and it will simply get better. It simply feels like the physical fatigue you’d expect later in a race. Then, all of the sudden, your stomach goes south fast and you find your body in a freefall. I tried to take in an additional cup full of Gatorade along with more banana slices and a piece of PB&J, but still felt somewhat out of it. The last looping section back to Dam Road had left me lacking with only one water bottle full of Gatorade to take in. With the next section only 3.4 miles, if I took my time and drank a full 20 oz of Gatorade, I'd figured I could start to right the ship.

That process of righting the ship took a little longer than I thought, lasting all the way back to the start/finish area. Those 7.8 miles total weren’t a grind, but the biggest difference was the lack of spring in my legs when going up some of the gradual uphills. Keep in mind that these are probably only 50 to 200 ft. in height, but the slight cramping from lack of electrolytes that cause muscles to contract and tighten wasn’t allowing my muscles to absorb energy in order to “spring” my body forward with any authority. In order to focus on my running, I found myself praying with more frequency and shutting off my iPod which was cluttering my mind with too much noise.

I was a bit surprised that I was able to continue staying just below 10 min./mile for my running pace. For this final 7.8 miles to the start/finish area, I started paying less attention to my overall pace and focused more on drinking in regular intervals. The back and forth with other runners also continued, athough I didn't believe I lost any placing. Incredibly, I actually moved up the GC from 13th to 10th position, highlighting how much of this sport is about consistent effort rather than running like a banchee. Upon my arrival to the start/finish area at the 9:19 mark, I could tell in Alan's eyes that he noticed my deteriorated condition. He moved quickly to get my water bottle prepped with water and NUUN while I took a seat on a camping chair next to the outbound path. The two previous years, this upcoming 4th loop had been my undoing. I just didn’t have the energy, physical strength or internal fortitude to see it through. This time, although I didn’t feel great, I didn’t feel bad either. I was definitely very “into it” at this point. I had just had a 3:22 3rd loop including that 5 minute break after the 2nd loop. I was also running pretty much according to plan with a small 11 minute cushion built upon the speed of the 1st loop.

Once Alan was done with the bottle, he also got me a cup of chicken noodles with broth and some bananas. I drank the broth, which was loaded with salts and ate the banana pieces for an added dose of potassium. While I originally intended this break to last 5 minutes became 7 minutes by the time I starting walking back into the great unknown. If there was anything to fear, it was whether I was going to melt down again. Memories are a powerful thing, but here was an opportunity to look beyond them. It was not lost on me that I had the chance to write a new, better chapter. It was 2010 after all. As I was praying for myself, I even had people back home praying for me and my stomach. We were calling on a little divine intervention to supplement the desires of my heart.

With this new energy, I started methodically rattling off the miles on my 4th loop. While my stomach seemed to recovering nicely with each gulp of NUUN water, my legs continued to feel sluggish. The toll was considerably noticeable in my calves going downhill in sections that at first seemed to breeze on by. Each application of my “brakes” brought with it an intense pain in my calves and left knee. Having taken two ibuprofren earlier in the race, I started contemplating when it might be appropriate to take two more.

I reached the 66.2 mile mark at Dam Road at a sub-10:30 min./mile pace and continued to remain on target. I worried less and less about who was in front or behind me, partly because I wasn't exactly feeling confident that I would make a surge. During the ensuing 6 mile loop back to Dam Road, I made my first acquaintence with Greg Stofka. It was first real conversation with another runner since early in the race. Greg and I traded stories over the next few miles until getting back to Dam Road. Greg was faster than I was on the downhill sections and I moved quicker on the uphill sections. We were both feeling the strain of the miles beginning to bear down, athough he had a little big bigger problem figuring out what to do about his blisters. I suggested he stop to put some NuSkin on his wound, although he seemed resolved that he could make it through to the end even with the blisters popped.

We both relished in the sight of the half mile straightaway leading to the Dam Road aid station in the distance. With the terrain slightly uphill, I surged ahead to make it into the aid station ahead of him. While I stopped to sit on a camping chair and wait for some ibuprofren tablets, Greg would leave a half a minute ahead of me. I continued to trudge on with the hope that ibuprofren would kick in soon and relieve the pain and swelling.

Not more than a half-mile down the road, I heard a familiar voice say "Jonathan". It was Nick Coury along with his older brother Jamil. It was nice to see another familiar face, although it also meant that I had most likely dropped out of the top 10 to 12th (or so I thought). Considering how strong they are with excellent finishes at the Hardrock 100 and marathon times under 2:50, I didn't expect to see much of them again. After exchanging pleasantries, they moved along ahead of me on a 1.5 mile single-track section. This exchange would ultimately become a major turning point in the race.

After finishing the slog along this single-track section, the course opens up on a fire road for over a mile towards the next aid station. Stuck in 11th place, I began this section on the fire road by walking a sharp 100 ft. long uphill. I had spent the previous 1.5 miles sulking a bit with the thought that once again had I let a great finish slip through my fingers. Within the past 2 miles, I had watched 3 fellow runners pass with with many more almost assuredly awaiting me.

At the top of the hill, I found the strength to begin jogging on the down and towards the flat. It wasn't much of a run, but gravity seemed to pull my legs along helping me begin to overcome the inertia that was keeping my legs stuck in neutral. Once on the flat, I started slowly increasing the speed as my legs allowed. No longer was the pain I felt only a few miles before overwhelming my mind. Maybe it was the ibuprofren kicking in? Maybe I decided that finishing top 10 meant too much to me? Maybe, considering the cyclical nature of a race like this, it was just my time to feel better? In a race like this, there was very little time to consider the reason I felt better. I just knew that it was time to roll with it.

Off I went, determined to make up the time and placing I had lost. Not more than a half mile up the road, I saw Greg up ahead. With less than 5 miles to go until the start/finish area, I caught Greg and we smiled at each other with grins on our faces while wishing each other well. After that, I was off "like a rocket". Each passing mile brought with it the joy that I was indeed running again and my energy level helped me keep me moving well.

Continuing to drink generously, I continued to pass other runners on the their 3rd loops while encouraging them to continue going strong. I passed the Park Road aid station with 4.4 miles to the start/finish area at just before the 12:20 mark as the sunlight faded away. I switched on my headlamp with my cap turned backward and hustled towards the end of the loop. Fire road became winding single-track which once again opened up to two-wide traffic. With less than a mile to go, I saw two headlights bouncing just ahead. It was the Coury brothers. I was in a chipper mood again, engaging them in a brief conversation about the fast-filling Javelina 100 in late October which they were directing. After a minute, I started to pull away from them before the trail quickly opened up to a clearing leading across a road and 0.1 more miles to the start/finish area.

After coming across the line together at the 13:05 mark, I quickly slipped over to a camping chair next to my supplies where Alan quickly met me to take care of filling my water bottle with water and NUUN. I sensed an opportunity to move out ahead of the Coury brothers by making this final major pit stop as quickly as possible. After loading up on 7 Chocolate GUs in my various pockets, I left in 2 minutes flat which was my quickest stop at the start/finish area yet. I didn't announce my departure in any way, shape or form. I simply slipped out quickly, hoping to go unnoticed.

Thus began what quite frankly was the most on-edge final 20 miles of a race that I've ever run. Throughout a 100 mile race, there are several gears you'll physically use. Most runners will operate between 1st and 3rd gear, slowly and steadily clicking off miles. Some will venture into 4th gear and a few select runners may crank it into 5th gear. While not always sustainable for long periods, 5th gear can be exciting and often kicks in when a finish line is near.

There is one gear that is not always used, but extremely effective for runners: the Fear Gear. While it's often brought out by runners pursuing from behind, it can also manifest itself when fear of losing a particular finishing time comes upon a runner. It is to long distance running what Nitrous Oxide is to street racing; the ultimate short term adrenaline shot tapping into our deepest competitive desires. While there are no universal rules governing its use or appearance, the Fear Gear can more succinctly be put as the fear of what is lurking in the shadows or the distance.

What added to my own anxieties as I kicked it into Fear Gear was the topography of the course. Because of the tree cover overhead and the endless twisting and turning that accompanies a good majority of the course, it becomes almost impossible to tell if anyone's coming up on you or you on them. You have no clue whether someone is on their 4th lap or 5th lap until you actually come up along side of them. The only thing you can do is simply put your head down and run. The first 3 miles went effortlessly, moving at a brisk 9:45 min./mile pace. But as the miles went by, the pace slowed frustratingly. This course plays out much differently at night, with the inordinate number of roots which litter the trails now shrouded in darkness. Even with a light, the course as well as fatigued legs demand that you slow down to ensure firm footing.

I kept finding that through each aid station, I would need the abbreviated rest afforded when volunteers would fill up my water bottles. Once they were done, I was immediately gone for fear that maybe in the moment the Coury brothers or anyone else for that matter would simply stroll on by.
15 miles to go, 10 miles to go. I was solely focused on the next aid station ahead. Each passing minute was a minute closer to the end. Soreness kept returning and and with each mile, a new twitch or pain appeared. Right calf, left calf, right knee, etc. To me, it became inevitable the someone, heck anyone would be pulling up along side me any minute.

With 7.8 miles to go, I had 88 minutes to go to try to slip under 17 hours. I tried to focus solely on the time goal to distract myself from the coming competitors. But with each straightaway or segment of trail, not a light behind me seemed to be closing in. Even when I was hitting 11 min/mile to 12 min./mile pace, there was no one out there except for those on their 4th loop that I was passing in front of me. When I got to the final aid station with 4.4 miles to go and 44 minutes to go under 17 hours, I kind of took off. The effort felt like I a lot, but in reality I was probably struggling even to keep 12 min./mile pace, While that's pedestrian in a road marathon, the effort to sustain that after 96 miles on the legs can feel downright painful.

My calves twinged after spending the duration of the race in racing flats which now had their tread flapping off the back of the shoes. It was go time and the only thing on my mind was the pain in my legs and simply ending this thing. Every half mile, I would peak back, see lights and shrug. Was it the Coury brothers? Was it Greg? Was it someone else? At that point, I wanted to leave this long straightaway section and get back to the single-track trail for the final 2.5 miles. If they only knew that I was out there right in front of them for the taking, then maybe they'd sprint past. But the shadows and lights in the distance would not move fast enough. With 1.5 miles to go, I passed a group of spectators who had camped out next the trail all day long. I smiled dimly, working harder and harder to get to those last set of open straightaways. 30 seconds later, I heard a yell go up behind me. They were close; really close.

But they would get no closer as I barreled down the trail, eventually crossing a road with the bright lights of the finish line in front of me 200 ft. away. After one more quick look back, I broke out a smile before finally raising my hands and crossing in 17 hours, 8 minutes and 4 seconds. It was over and I had a new PR for the course, 7th overall and 5th Male which got me an interesting Texas Fire Ant trophy. It was a nice day and a good run; I can't ask God for much more.

After a couple minutes trying to right myself with the help of volunteers, I was quickly let to a heated tent to sit down and unwind. A minute later, I learned the Coury brothers had crossed the finish line. We would later sit around the heater in the tent, along with a few others, trading stories about the race that was as well as other races we've done before. Jamie ended up scooting in at 16:54, one spot ahead of me in 6th place overall, 2nd woman. While she was a little less than 14 minutes ahead of me, she might as well have been on a different planet out in that darkness. Nick and Jamil never did know whether I was ahead or behind them because they had never seen me leave on my 5th loop. I asked them if that sound of cheering I heard behind me at the end was for them, but we never could tell. Greg's blisters ultimately led to his relative undoing, coming in overall in 17:55:57. Jimmy Dean Freeman, would had spent most of the day trying to patiently grind out 3:10 loops, would finish in 17:34:26. A couple others would ultimately join in with war stories of their own, turning our heated (I used that term liberaly) tent into a roundtable of wounded, sore-as-heck runners telling stories about the "glory day". It amazes me how inextricably our experiences were linked in the midst of a race where holding a conversation with another runner for more than half a minute was a rarity.

As for me, there's no more time left to look back at this race. Fear led to urgency which led to action; it is a powerful thing. Fear of the past can be an even more powerful thing. But the past is the past for a reason: because it already happened. What happens now in 2010 is what I have to work with. I need to look ahead, to the Lake Sonoma 50, the Miwok 100k and the Western States 100. I need to keep my eyes on the prize and that prize keeps getting bigger every day. If anything, I made a statement to myself that the best is yet to come.

Here's a small tribute to the greatest quarterback ever in light of the recent superbowl:

2010, The Year Ahead

2010-01-02T13:44:00.000-08:00

Here we are with Christmas over and New Year’s Day approaching. Did Santa bring you everything you wanted this Christmas? It’s a good time to reflect further on the year and look forward to the good things ahead in 2010.

The first place to start is to look back at the goals I set forward in 2009 with my actuals immediately following:

1)Raise $18,000 for development programs with WHM in Uganda
-$3500 raised
2)Run sub-30 hours at Badwater (if accepted)
-Ran 31 hours, 33 minutes
3)Get weight down to 169 lb. from a high of 181 lb. last year
-170 lb.
4)Run sub-2:50 marathon by the end of 09’
-2:51:59 at CIM, a 8.5 minute PR
5)Run sub-18 hours 100 miler
-20:31 at Javelina Jundred (100)
6)Finish top 5 at a 100 miler
-8th at Javelina Jundred (100)

It seems like with most of my goals, I came up just a little bit short. In some ways, it was a reflection of my choice to challenge myself. But in other ways, it was a reflection of a need to dig a little deeper. For goals 2 through 6, I was ahead of the target in the second half each time but just came up a little short. At Rocky Raccoon 100, I made an error in pacing and let some physical ailments overwhelm me mentally. At Badwater, I allowed my mental and physical exhaustion to overwhelm my focus on the goals at hand during the climb up Whitney Portal. At Javelina, I didn’t take care of my electrolytes consistently enough. Coming up just a bit short let me know that you can’t just get 70% right and sit on that in this sport. You have to keep fighting and work smarter to get that 30% righted when it does get off track. There is a struggle that takes place in each competitor throughout the course of these long races that takes a consistent attention to detail to overcome. I’ve gotten much better, but it continues to remain key to unlocking my own potential in 2010.

The two complete races where I came in right on my target were the following: the 4:25 5th place at the Angel Island 50k, which I used a tune-up for Badwater, and the 7:25 5th place finish I posted at the Firetrails 50 Miler, which I also used as a tune-up for Javelina. I’ve gotten much better at the shorter races, which is evidenced by these results as well as my 2:51 at CIM. These shorter races allow for more leeway as far as taking care of electrolytes or even the fatigue that comes with running through the night.

But…..when you come that close to so many goals, that is also a sign of good things to come. I like setting goals which will challenge me and cause me to dig deeper. I like goals that I can look at and honestly not know whether I’ll meet all of them or none of them. Goals should cause you to look beyond your current situation. They should have concrete gating points you can do continuous self-assessment, but also have an air of imagination and planning of where you want to be. Some goals should have much greater than 50% chance of happening and others should have much less. 2009’s been a solid year, but I want 2010 to be a great, more aggressive year. So, here are my 2010 goals:

1) Raise $10,000 for development programs with WHM in Uganda
2) Run sub-19 hours at the Western States 100
3) Get weight down to 164 lb. or less from 170 lb.
4) Run sub-2:42 marathon by the end of 10’
5) Run sub-18 hour 100 miler
6) Finish top 3 at 2 races and top 5 at 3 other races
7) Run sub-7:05 at Firetrails 50

The first goal is always try to take care of business with regards to the well-building program in Uganda. I’ll be rolling out a new fundraising program this year, although on a different scale with a different focus. I really enjoyed the fun run last year I helped put together, so we’ll see about partnering with Injinji and some other companies again to put on some fun events. The scaled down dollar amount is more a reflection of having a little less time to put in and a focus on probably 3 key events related to that fundraising. I ran out of steam last year, but doing a trail fundraising run in Los Angeles (Running For The Wells L.A.) is high on my list of things to do this year.

The rest of goals are meant to build upon my successes and increased leg speed at the end of 2009 and also develop consistency to my racing (goal 6). If I hit the time goals and didn’t hit the placing goals, I would probably still be pleased. The two race-specific goals are at the Western States 100 and Firetrails 50.

With a big fat DNF emblazoned on me from 2007, I owe Western States a much better effort to say the least. With an 18% (approximately) chance of hitting the lottery, I came up golden and intend on capitalizing on the opportunity. I also came up golden on the Miwok 100k lottery for the race held on May 1st here in Marin County, which will serve as the perfect all-out tune up effort. I hesistated to put a goal out there in cyberspace for Miwok, partly because I want my eyes squarely on the prize no matter what kind of race I post.

While Western States is clearly the 100 mile showcase race in the ultramarathoning world, Firetrails is a local Bay Area race that I’ve developed an affinity for due to its excellent race organization, tremendous views, and all-around good people whether runners, volunteers or race organizers. The proximity of the course to me also affords me a great opportunity to “baseline my fitness” against specific course sections prior to the race. It also allows me to do it with family and friends there to support me and lend a hand to get me in and out of the aid stations with supplies all ready to go. Besides, everyone loves “their” local race.

About the only thing on this list not race related is the weight goal. I found that to be a great help to me in the 2nd half of 2009 and believe it will be a big key going into Western States all the way through my fall goal marathon as far as allowing me to push the pace even more. At this point, I might be joining a local running club but I need to clear up some potential sponsor conflicts. It would be good to add an even greater social component to this long distance running that often takes us deeper into our own minds with the levels of isolation. While I enjoy running with people like Rick Gaston and others during training, it would be even better to expand that running social circle. I am friends with others who are runners, but the team component might help further harness my competitiveness for the sake of things outside of myself.

I’m still working on the race schedule for 2010 and apart from the Miwok 100k, Western States 100 and the rescheduled Angeles Crest 100 (from those fires last year), it’s still wide open. Is there another Badwater in line or is it time for a break? Is there a Rocky Mountain 100 in there? Maybe an East Coast Race? The New York City Marathon? Maybe a 50 miler down in So. Cal? We’ll see….. :)

For now, I'm in the midst of "Christmas Camp". I'm into day 9 and at around 132 miles. Hopefully today and tomorrow will help cap that off nicely and get my going into the new year after a short break after CIM in December. Happy New Year and may your lives be enriched and may your lives enrich others. God Bless.

Gundy

2009 CIM Race Report and a Western States Christmas

2009-12-08T00:52:00.000-08:00

Simply put, my goal was to break 2:50. While I envision trying to take 10 minutes off per year for the next few years (which is pretty out there), I felt like my fitness had grown so much over the last 7 months that it was worth putting myself out there. Even with some minor setbacks at each race, I had been putting together some well-run races at the Angel Island 50k (4:25, 5th place), Badwater (31:33:13, 16th place), Firetrails 50 (7:25, 5th place) and the Javelina 100 (20:31, 8th place). More importantly, I was putting myself in better position in these races to challenge for top spots going into 2010 with my established endurance base. CIM has become my go-to end of the year race over the past 3 years with the opportunity to run a terrific, faster marathon course that helps to propel me into an off-season filled with grinding, base-building runs and hours of cross-training. With 2:50 representing close to the upper limit for the wide marathoning ability range of top competitors and winners of many 100k/100 mile events, I knew it was important to try to set a good leg speed standard for 2010.

It was about 30 degrees at the start, but it surprisingly felt alright to me; it must’ve been those cold San Francisco nights recently. It remained in the 30s throughout the race, which caused me to keep my $1.99 CVS gloves on as well my arm warmers. While the cold weather was ever present, it never seemed to get so uncomfortable that it detracted from my running out there.

Even with a 3:00:32 PR, I knew I wasn’t taking too big of a risk to go for a 2:50:00. My tempo runs and speedwork was progressing well and put me almost exactly on target. While I didn’t have the breadth of runs that one usually has in a marathon-specific training cycle, I had 4 or 5 specific workouts in the last month that were spot on target. Perhaps the biggest variable was weather, which you can’t control and you just learn to live with. I didn’t fret the potential wind prior to the race, leaning on my year of intense long distance ultra races where weather varied from freezing cold and rain to scorching heat and wind. I find focusing on things outside of my control tend to distract me from my goals and make me less likely to focus on taking of the things I could control.

While not a pure 100% downhill course (as if one could ever expect that at any race), most of the uphill sections of the rollers are preceeded by downhills. Uphills and downhills tend to favor me relatively speaking due to my experience on the uneven trails. I tended to take a relatively aggressive approach to downhills while . Even with the heavy wind taking off seconds on various uphills, I found that my experience on steep trails allowed me to get lower and drive through the hills allowed me to gain on those around me during these sections. While taking an aggressive approach, it was worth it to me considering my relative strength on those 1st half miles.

While spending quite a bit of time pacing with another running friend, Larry and a couple of his friends, we moved along briskly at a 6:20-6:22 minute/mile average while chatting it up on and off. One of the spectators at mile 5 who caught me joking with another runner yelled jokingly, “No talking. You should be running.” I jokingly said to the runners around me, “Like that’s going to cost me the 1-2 seconds I miss my goal by in the end.” Beyond that, there wasn’t much that was eventful till mile 7. Yes, there were ups. Yes, there were downs. In the end, though, the only surprise was that the gap between my pace on the downhills and my pace on the uphills was 30-40 seconds per mile rather than the 20 seconds per mile that I originally intended.

The really strong headwinds came between miles 7-9 and another one after the half way mark for a few miles. I believe that I usually don't feel headwinds much since I tend to run lower to the ground with shorter strides, but this one was very noticeable. Runners formed small packs to try to blunt the impact of the wind. The problem with these packs was that even with wind slowing things on these hills by as much as 30+ seconds per mile, they eventually slowed even more. At that point 7-8 miles into the race, I said goodbye to this pack running; this was going to be my race to do it or not. They were beginning to run a much different race which didn’t play into my relative strengths as a runner. With runners occupying the right side of the road (or the “west side” next to building and trees) to try avoiding the wind, I moved towards the middle by myself to keep chugging along.

I hit the 10 mile mark in under 1:04, smiling as I passed my wife Wilma while she snapped a picture. I eventually hit the halfway mark in 1:23:33, which was 1:27 under my goal pace. I felt good, in spite of beginning to feel a mild heaviness in my legs. What worried me most at this time was that I was hitting a pleateau as far as hitting my per mile paces. A good indicator of my running prowess in the later stages of a marathon is often the point at which I start to pleateau. If I can get to mile 19 or 20 before using some of that “time in the bank”, then it’s usually a good sign that I can take it all the way. Still, I was planning on going big for that 2:50:00 and was willing to let it all the anxiety and inhibition go at that point, replacing it with a laser-like focus and a one-track mind. It was still “my race to lose”.

With the upcoming headwinds for the next few miles, the cushion under my goal pace dwindled to 1:00 at the 18 mile mark. I was beginning to lose time at a 10 second/mile clip. More importantly, I was losing time at a clip that had potential disaster written all over it. My mind was wandering, with thoughts of what a disaster could look like. 2:55? 2:58? 3:00? I kept trying to do the math in my head, trying to use whole minute paces to conjure up just how bad I could fall. The only thing I could do to keep myself on target was try focusing on the rest of the course yet to come. It was time to pick up the intensity, crank up Metallica’s “No Leaf Clover”, and get to work.

I remember a running friend of mine, Ron, reminding myself and others that the mostly pancake flat final 10k was a good place to let it loose. Passing under the inflatable wall overhang on the course, I continued to remind myself of that in my head. It felt like it couldn’t just be “my race to lose”. I still had to assert myself with the attitude that this was “my race to win”. Like the song “No Leaf Clover”, I imagined myself as a “freight train coming”. It took another ¼ mile to get started up, taking 3 tries to grab a GU packet from the volunteers lining the GU station around mile 20.5. Once I got GU down the hatch sans water, the surge was on.

As I pressed the gas pedal, the per mile pace fluctuated between the high 6:20s and the 6:40s. At the 22 mile mark, I was still even with a 6:30 pace and a 2:50:26 marathon. I continued to lose some ground against the pace goal over the last few miles, but was pleased that as I consistently pushed and was still able to hit mostly 6:45 min/mile on the Garmin while passing a few more runners. The flat, smooth run winding westbound through the residential areas of downtown Sacramento had a pleasant feel to it, with the tree releasing their leaves onto the pavement below and the spectators, U.S. National Guard officers and Police Officers ushering us towards the finish with smiles and hand claps.

To keep my intensity and pacing up, I would intermittently yell “Come On!” to myself out loud. I’m not sure if I scared any of the spectators, but it seemed most of them just kept cheering knowing that I was just trying to push until the end. I tend to keep most of the motivation internal, not wanting to expend too much energy to get myself going. In this case, I was close enough to the finish to let loose a little bit.

I dipped to 7:15-7:25 min./mile after the 25 mile mark due to spasms in my left calf which I first began to feel around mile 23. My right hamstring was also twinging and at this point I didn’t want to jeopardize the huge race I was having irrespective of the 2:50:XX. It was going to be a huge personal best marathon. To keep my mind off of things, I started considering what I was going to do at the finish line. At this point, it was a given that I would probably come in around 2:51 to 2:52 for the race, which was a huge accomplishment. Letting that fact sink in, a wide grin began to show on my face for all to see. I was at the end and I was enjoying it at this unspectacular, but steady pace. Even some rather serious war protesters on one of the final blocks, who seemed somewhat misplaced among the cheering crowd, couldn’t get me down.

Normally, I’m so intent of just getting it over with that after a quick point to the sky, I just stick my head down and drive towards the finish without looking at the crowd too much. It can sometimes lead to awkward faces on finishing photos. This time, though, I was pretty proud of the race I had run under the weather conditions (heck, under any conditions). Rounding the final 2 turns before the finishing chute, the huge grin stayed plastered on my face. I made a quick point with both index fingers upwards while looking towards the sky, always aware that it’s the One who makes it possible for me to run period.

As I barreled down the finishing chute, I soaked in the cheers and claps from behind the barricade. With only about 5-10 feet before the first mat, I stopped. In a continuous motion, I crossed my arms to mug for the photographer. Right after I started, with my weight now shifted completely back, my right hamstring suddenly seized up. That ended my attempt at hot-dogging quickly. I quickly hobbled across the mat and fell over just past it to finish just under 2:52. After the medical volunteer tried to help me up, both hamstrings seized up due to a lack of electrolytes over the final 10k. I was on the ground rolling over with a cinched look on my face and a as I tried to stop it. They ended up bringing over a wheelchair to take me to the medical tent.

Being taken to the med tent in a wheelchair wasn’t exactly the ending I envisioned. On the way over to the tent, they stopped to allow one of the volunteers to slip the finisher’s medal around my neck. I smiled over at my wife behind the barricade partly because I was really pleased with the race, but now dealing with the implications of my hot-dogging. Oh man! What a way to end my race.

After exiting the tent, I stopped to take pictures with wife as well as my friend, William Kasiyre and his family. William is a native Ugandan who is the president of World Harvest Mission, the charity I work with to build the water wells in Uganda. He and his wife Olivia graciously allowed my wife and I to stay with them at their house less than 10 miles from the starting line in Folsom. It was great to see them at the finish area outside the Capitol building and thank them in person for their contribution to my successful race effort.

When I started at Marathon #1, I ran a 3:47:XX. I had fun, but I was also young and undisciplined both as a runner and as a person. As much as I eventually wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I never had the training or discipline to do it. I also never had the open resources we have today with the rapid expansion of information on the Internet. It wasn’t until, ironically, that I decided to give myself a mental break from marathons by delving into ultramarathons 4 years ago that I began to develop the discipline which ultimately made the difference in developing myself as a knowledgeable, disciplined and more passionate runner than I ever was before.

If I made a mistake in a marathon, I suffered for ½ hour to an hour. If I made a mistake in a 50-100 miler, I could suffer for hours on end. Even as I made errors over the first year or two of the “ultramarathon experiment”, it forced me to take responsibility. It made me a better person because it forced me to dig deeper and really ask the question of “how badly do you want it?”, which in turn made me a better long distance runner. By plugging away, the gates finally opened and this past 7 months has yielded a complete break though at all distances at a variety of courses, and hopefully a whole slew of new break throughs in 2010.

Now, I am training and attacking the dream of seeing just how low my marathon PR can get by doing the antithesis of every major training program out there: by going longer and longer. Sometimes, I train well enough to finish, but more often than not, I want to train to finish well. I still commit myself to some of the basics of marathon training such as the long run, the tempo run, and the track work. However, by mixing in the types of never-ending, undulating ultramarathon trail and road runs that most programs avoid, I hope to prove that the physical and mental endurance/perserverance required to sustain oneself for that long can translate into major success/improvement at the marathon level. The marathon is my 10k, the 50 miler is my half-marathon, and the 100 miler is my marathon. I work from the top down and from the bottom up. I don’t know how low this marathon PR can go, but I plan to take it all the way. For now, I’m content to take my guaranteed entry into New York City and get myself ready to go after a sub-seeded entry to the Bay to Breakers. I’m also content to begin the process of gorging myself for the next 3 days and savoring a job well done before moving on to the next adventure which will be getting ready for Western States 2010! Even as I move on, I salute God, my family and all of you my friends who support me in all ways no matter what time I get. You free me from the burden of failure so that I can find success on and off the course.

Here are my key splits, based on the race’s mile markers:

Mile Split

5 31:46

10 1:03:38

Half 1:23:33

18 1:56:00

20 2:09:34ish

Final 2:51:59
124th place overall out of 7500 runners (registered)
1:23:33 1st half, 1:28:26 2nd half

Coming down from Javelina 100 and ramping up for CIM

2009-11-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Post-Firetrails 50, the preparation for the Javelina 100 didn’t involve too much in the way of running. Firetrails was a harder effort, which took a few days afterwards to physically recover from. Instead of running too long, I focued more on the tempo runs and speedwork that are the staple of my marathon training. It would allow me to push my body in shorter, focused efforts to get ready for CIM in December without taxing myself too much and compromising my fitness for Javelina.

What I ended up with, race-wise, is a hodge-podge of a lot of things. I enjoyed the warm weather in the desert north of Phoenix and ended up with a race that I can build upon. 20:31:45 and 8th place out of 250+ starters ain’t that bad.

Since I don’t have time to post a full report, I do want to touch on the positives and lessons from the race.

Positive 1: As always, the "crew" and pacer were awesome. Thanks to my wife Wilma, Rick and Lori for putting up with me. They got me what I needed in a timely manner and kept me smiling. Lori also had to put up with my stupid dry heaving 2-3 times over the final 20 miles. I sounded awful but hey, great ab workout!

Positive 2: My first 4 laps were right on target. I planned to come in at the 10:25 mark and ended up coming in at the 10:32 mark. I had banked a little bit of time over the first 3 laps and used it to slow myself on the 4th lap when the heat was at its most intense bearing down on people. While I think a change of clothing (going long sleeve to limit sun exposure or desert hat) and a little better electrolyte management on the 3rd lap could’ve yielded much better results, I was still able to clock a 3 hour lap (+6 min. break at main aid station). I allowed myself the space to slow down during the most intense sunlight, which resulted in a much faster 2nd half of the lap than 1st half.

Positive 3: My placings at the end of each of the first 4 laps were 20th, 16th, 12th and 9th. You can’t always use placing as a measure of strength, but consistently moving up the board in a race which always has folks blowing up later on was a good indicator that I was on the right track. I left myself more than enough room to make a run at 2nd or 3rd place based on my pacing and the eventual final times.

Positive 4: Even in a distressed physical/mental state, I still finished in 8th place. This is probably more a function of survival and grit than it is anything else. Battling most of the day with some top notch runners (and people), it’s good to outlast some of those folks (including some well-known names) even if it was a struggle. Top runners learn how to grit it out when things don’t go right.

Lesson 1: My NUUN tablets go everywhere with me. There is such a thing as not being flexible enough as far as food/drink, but considering the results of this race, a consistent flow of NUUN could’ve kept my GI from getting distressed. Instead, I allowed myself to go out there and take in the Gatorade mix they had at the aid stations. The beauty of using NUUN is the ability to accurately control electrolyte intake. While the aid station volunteers do a great service by providing electrolyte mixes, it may ultimately do a disservice by not giving you what you, the individual, properly need. The distress ultimately increased my lap times on the crucial 5th and 6th laps, where I should’ve made a good push for 3rd place instead of floating in 7th through 9th place. By itself, that should’ve gotten me back in the 18:xx:xx range. The constant flow of NUUN throughout Firetrails is definitely a big difference between the stronger finish there and the grinding finish that Javelina became.

Lesson 2: Now that Javelina is over, I think there are positives as well as key areas of improvement that I’ve already identified as I look at what kind of running goals I have for the next 12 months. I haven’t raced much as far as volume since the San Diego 100 slogfest, but each time I have raced has been a good result: Angel Island 50k: 5th place, 4:25. Badwater: 16th place, 31:33:13. Firetrails 50: 5th place: 7:25. Javelina 100: 8th place: 20:31:XX. Good, but not great. If my closing at Badwater (final 12.2 mile climb to Whitney Portal) and Javelina had been more on par with the rest of the race, the finishing places and times could’ve been much better. But, the fact is that at the time, maintaining a good time by not having a bad blow up and setting the foundation for ’10 was more important. I’ve done that and considering the brutal 2.5 month stretch with shin splints earlier in the year, I can be happy about that. I chopped 6 hours off my time in ’08 at Badwater and 5 more hours off my time in ’09. If I do it in ’10, what should I shoot for? Not sure.

Now that ’10 is fast approaching, it leads more into a discussion about what I need to do in the next 6 months to make ’10 the best year yet:

1) First Things First: Running 2:49-2:52 at CIM is clearly the first priority. 2:50 is around the upper marathon time limit for winners of 100 mile races as far as having sufficient leg speed to pair with top-level endurance in order to compete well. It will be tough, but some of my most recent tempo runs and interval times grade out on target in this regard.

2) First 100 Mile Race of ’10: The Rocky Raccoon 100. I’ve internally debated this quite a bit over the past few days. Admittedly, Rocky is not exactly a scenic course and with some course alterations put in place this past year, there are less and less of the clear views to enjoy the night sky. In addition, there is less of the “race course straight” trail which has been replaced by some much windier sections. This should lead to a relative increase in times for those pushing the envelope. BUT, I seem to respond well to resting the last half of December and getting off my butt in January to train. Plus, I owe this race a much bigger effort than I’ve had the 2 times I’ve run it. Because of the very real possibility of running sub-18 hours on this course, I would probably judge my performance on some different time metrics as well as overall placing. Still, I can’t accept setting my sights on anything slower than 18 hours. It would be a good opportunity to work on the racing aspect of ultra-running.

3) Miwok 100k: Regardless of whether I get into Western States, I will go all-out there (assuming I get into Miwok). It will be Firetrails^n as far as the intensity with which I plan on racing. I have never done Miwok but considering that the race is run on trails that I frequent all the time in training, I should be able to test myself against pre-defined small sections of the course prior to race day. Course knowledge should be valuable as far as understanding how to best use my energy. I’ve already started studying splits for the race and will test those splits to get a better idea of just how low I can drop it at this race. Right now, a rough baseline would be sub-9:45 hours, although that’s my starting point which can be adjusted accordingly.

4) 0 DNFs: This one is the most important goal of all, because even if I blow up at any race, I can not quit. I can’t let “I was going for it” be an excuse for mailing it in ever. Granted, if the injury was bad enough that a doctor/nurse seriously told me to stop, I would.

2009 Firetrails 50 Recap

2009-10-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

The details of the days prior to the race mostly consist of the same old, “I trained, I carbed up, and I showed up”. However, one of the more interesting things that played into my approach to this race was the cancellation of the Angeles Crest 100 in mid/late September. Without a race since Badwater in July, I saw Firetrails as an excellent benchmark race going into the Javelina 100 on Halloween and CIM in December. With the three week gap between Firetrails and Javelina, it was more than enough time to recover fully from a 100% effort.

In support of my effort, I got Uncle Andy to handle crewing until Skyline Gate (mile 37 aid station) where my wife Wilma and brother-in-law Wilfred would take over. Wilfred ran his first marathon in January and since then, has added two other marathons to his “running resume” including a PR at the San Francisco Marathon of 3:55 in August where I ran with him the final 10 miles. Uncle Andy has crewed me at numerous races and although this race doesn’t require a crew, his and Wilma’s services to pre-prepare water bottles with NUUN water as well as GU tucked into the bottle holders would prove invaluable at helping me shave precious minutes off of my final time.

The morning of the race, Uncle Andy and I arrived at Lake Chabot just before 6 am for a 6:30 am start. Having been up since 4:15 am with 5.5 hours of sleep the night before, I was surprised with how energized I felt in the morning. Usually, I’m a sleep-walking zombie clamoring for that last few minutes of sleep. I didn’t want to speak to many people before the race because that would eventually lead to conversations about what I’m shooting for and what’s my game plan. I didn’t need to rehash what I had been obsessing about for a week and I felt like most of the pre-race small talk would take my focus away. I just wanted to start running and start hitting those time splits I had printed out onto my homemade pacing band on my right wrist.

Going into Firetrails, I talked about using the previous year’s splits of another runner; that runner was Ron Guiterrez. I wanted to use as a starting point the splits of someone who was consistent in their performance. Even though I felt like he’d be a better climber than I based on sharing a short segment of one of my runs on the Headlands trails with him, I felt that my performance on the flats and downhills would even it out. Even though I wasn’t sold on using Ron as my “standard-bearer”, I felt I at least had a decent shot to hit them based on 2 key double-digit mile runs on key segments of the course to gauge my fitness against the splits. It also sounds rather weird to be using someone’s ghost from 2 year prior as my performance guage without telling them. Hehe. Oh well. I’m sure there’s a more calculated way to predict performance, but this is a start. :)

With the ultimate ultramarathoning couple Ann Trason (14-time women’s champion at Western States including 10 consecutive) and Carl Anderson (record holder on numerous ultra courses) to set us on our way, we would be in good hands with experienced volunteers to greet us ever step of the way. Just to boot, there was incredible swag and BBQ spread awaiting us at the finish to look forward to. I tucked myself into the third row of runners at the beginning of the bike path around Lake Chabot, inconspicuously blending away in the sea of headlamps. I turned the iPod on softly to keep tabs on the countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go! We were off into the coming dawn, a sea of humanity released from behind the dam.

I tried to keep myself from getting sucked in to the plethora of runners who always seem to push forward in the first couple of miles before settling in. After the first half mile, I started to quietly wade through the crowd. Up ahead, in a red and white singlet, was my good friend and training buddy Rick. Rick is known to be deliberately slow in the first ¼ of races only to surge ahead later in races. I had been in races past where I’d gone out too fast, only to be passed by Rick later in the race. While I probably have greater linear speed, Rick’s discipline and strength late in races are to be desired. I parked next to him briefly before he said the one thing I think I needed to hear. “Kill it.”

Two simple words that seemed to release me from going out too slow and emboldened me to take my 2009 surge to a new level, which started at the Angel Island 50k in late June and continued at Badwater in July. I can’t completely put my finger on it, but I’d compare it to an experienced competitor putting on the stamp of validity on your own race plan. I like to pride myself on running my own race and having my own internal fortitude, but even the recent successes came with the asterisk of not pulling all the way through at the end which relatively detracted from the overall result. I felt like I had never run a full race. Crazy, huh?

With that, I was off but still patient in my approach. I moved swiftly through the flats and downhills while employing the standard intermittent run/walk on the hills. The greater the grade, the more power walking to be done. Approaching the second aid station Bort Meadows at mile 7.9, I passed a couple more runners on a mild grade climb who came out of the chute wayyyy to hard. My band had 1:03; I came rolling through at 1:01:30. Right on target.

The next section takes a long, methodical 1.2ish mile uphill followed by a short 0.3 mile flat section before a mile-long screaming downhill. It was here that I started to settle in, passing a few more folks before beginning the day long duel with Greg Katzbauer, better known as “Red” to me for his red cutoff technical shirt since I didn’t know his name until after the race. He was moving slightly better than me on the downhills while I was faster on the ups. After hitting McDonald Gate at mile 10.5 at 1:23 still 2 minutes ahead of the band, about a mile worth of rolling ups and downs before opening up on a larger fireroad leading to Stream Trail in the valley of Redwoods behind the Oakland Hills. With Red out in front of me and Victor Ballesteros (who finished 11th at Western States, 2nd at Miwok 100k and winner of numerous 50k events) a little ways past, we continued to make good time. We passed one other runner, Ron Guiterrez, who I chatted with briefly before creating some separation focusing solely on Red and Victor in the distance. This was probably the first time I realized I was really in The Race. I figured Victor was probably running 3rd with Chikara Omine and Dave Mackey off like banchees out of sight since the start. In my head, I did the math placing Red in 4th place and myself and Ron tied for 5th place. However, the competitive aspect was still about hitting splits rather than chasing individual runners. I merely using these other runners to help pull me along as long as the pace felt sustainable.

Red and I passed each other before the final mile long climb to the Skyline Gate aid station off of Skyline Blvd. along the Oakland ridgeline. Knowing that I would get into the aid station at 15 miles below my pacing split of 2:03, I relented a bit on the final 0.25 miles of climbing to come in at 2:00:30. While Red went off to the left to the aid station table, I grabbed a fresh water bottle of NUUN water with gels loaded in the carrier and gave him my empty one as I scooted off.

We continued to trade places through Sibley Preserve (mile 18.4) and then the Tilden Park Steam Train aid station at mile 21.7. Each section was marked by a shaded downhill into a green valley before gradually climbing back up again. The cool morning mist kept things rather comfortable while waiting for the impending sunshine. I met Uncle Andy again at Tilden Park, quickly swapping water bottles with carriers and barely glancing at the aid station volunteers before announcing my number while leaving. I was 5.5 minutes ahead of the pace band at about 3:00:30 and still feeling solid in spite of a little stomach instability caused by the gel only approach. Popping a few Pringles and a quick switch to the Chocolate Outrage GU instead of Vanilla helped to settle it down quickly.

A windy 0.5 mile climb up a paved road gives way to another 0.5 mile downhill before opening up on fireroads which wind quickly downhill with a couple gradual hills to Lone Oak campground and the 26 mile aid station. At the top, I even tried to make small talk with Red with a “Getting Hot” comment while smiling as the sun started to shine overhead. The lack of response was like, “Ok, guess he’s not the talkative type”. About this time, we also encountered the marathon runners who started from Lone Oak 2.5 hours after we started the 50 miler. I gave a few of them “Good job”s and gave my running friend Joe Kelso a fist bump and a smile as I descended and he ascended a cruising rate of speed. He knew I was having a good day already, ready to keep rocking the course. At times, I even let myself go while aligning my arms like the wings of an airplane. I hit the 26 mile mark (which ended up being the turnaround on this mostly out n' back course (except for a slightly modified finish as compared to the out bound starting section) at just a shade under 3:35 and still 5 minutes ahead of schedule.

After an unusual 1 minute long pit stop due to a refueling issue, I finally got back on the trail back up to Steam Trains. One of the interesting features of the race is that with an out and back, you get to see all your pursuers come towards Lone Oak while you’re climbing the hill back to Steam Trains and guesstimate your gap on them. Ron came by about 1 and a half minutes after leaving Lone Oak, which represented approximately a 2.5 to 3 minute gap (considering I was going up at a slower pace than they were going down). I briefly lamented taking the full minute at Lone Oak, but didn’t dwell on it further while focusing on getting up the hill and hitting that next split.

About the time I got to the top of the hill along the ridge and began the windy 0.5 mile descent to Steam Trains, I started thinking about Red again. 30 miles into the race, I gave myself a minute to think about the what ifs. Before this race had even begun, I thought a 7:25 would be good for a top 10, but even I had told a couple co-workers that a top 5 was a stretch. Here I was with 20 miles to go, 5th place in hand and 4th place up ahead a little ways. This felt good; this felt really good. I was just going to keep cranking the tunes and trying to hit the splits. After meeting Uncle Andy at Steam Trains for one last exchange, I was still only 4:22:30 into the race, 4.5 minutes ahead of the pace split. The split difference was tightening, creating a dual race against the clock and Red.

At Sibley, I found out I was about 10 minutes back of Red and 3.5 minutes ahead of the pace split before narrowing the gap with Red to 8 minutes at the 37 mile Skyline Gate aid station and expanding my lead over the faceless pace split to around 6 minutes at 5:23ish on the clock. I came down the 0.15 mile road leading to the aid station on the ridge with a big grin on my face, cognizant that for once, I was doing what I set out to do. I told Wilma and Wilfred I’d be there by noon and it was now coming to pass. I switched to a full water bottle/carrier with NUUN and Chocolate GU with Wilma while grabbing a couple of GU Chomps to chow on from her hands. I shouted to my ultra running friend Steve, who was working the aid station, “What place am I in?”

“Fifth”, he replied with a smile. “You’re doing awesome”. I gave him my thanks and let out a “Let’s Go!” as Wilfred and I descended into the redwood forest below. Wilfred and I methodically moved through the valley floor, clocking sub-8:30 minute miles as we cruised along. I just needed to keep moving and keep seeing sub-9:00 min/mile paces on my GPS watch, that is when I actually got signal. The Garmin kept intermittently going out of GPS signal, but that feeling of constantly moving well kept me from feeling that I might be off-pace. The need to be reaffirmed by a GPS was no longer there. The quick hitting intervals between aid stations gave me all the feedback I needed.

I smiled broadly, chatting briefly with Wilfred as the miles ticked away. I balanced the desire to push with the desire to maintain a constant pace. I wanted that finishing time more than I wanted that chase. Ignited by that constant motivation to “Kill It” and the mix of Gospel, Hip-Hop and Hard Rock blaring through my iPod, I knew I needed to finish strong. At times, Wilfred fell behind my pace but was still able to catch up. There was no time to wait; it was "GO" time.

I ended up maintaining the 6 minute cushion on the pace splits with an average 9 min/mile pace going into the 41.5 mile McDonald Gate aid station (and 8.5 miles to go) while again chopping Red’s advantage on me to 5 minutes. I just had to keep pushing with the final monster mile long, several hundred foot climb waiting to tear me down. With 2.6 miles total until the next aid station at Bort Meadows, I just wanted to keep moving.

The climb to the top of the hill out of McDonald was long and hot. The weather in the East Bay was heating up into the 70s and the highly exposed fire trails allowed the sun to bear down. Wilfred quickly fell behind but continued to encourage me to keep pushing forward. The pace splits called for an almost 11 minute/mile average in this section, about the same as the section from Lone Oak up to Steam Trains. I knew if I could just keep my feet moving, I still could move swiftly enough over the last 1.5 miles. I mostly power walked, with small sections of running. I kept looking back, for both Wilfred as well as Ron. I had done well to keep moving up to this point, but I knew I was leaving time on the course by intermittently walking some uphill sections of the smaller roller hills. I kept encouraging some of the marathoners I passed by, blasting "Remember The Name" by Fort Minor on the iPod. This was the 5% pleasure and 50% pain.

Before I knew it I was at the top of the hill 15 minutes later. I quickened my turnover and pace as soon as the hill flattened and the terrain took on a greater and greater downhill slant. 10 minute miles, 9 minute miles, 8 minute miles, 7 minute miles. On tired legs, I use downhills as a way to overcome inertia and generate the energy needed to lengthen the stride and get moving faster. I only looked back a couple of times without seeing Wilfred. Just focus on what's ahead, forgetting what is behind is all I told myself.

Slipping through the cow gate to the parking lot aid station at Bort Meadows at the 6:32 mark of the race, I saw Wilma there waiting for me with a new bottle and GUs. The aid station folks let me know I was still a number of minutes behind Red (they never said exactly). Still, I had a 6 minute cushion on my pacing splits and the end seemed closer than ever with only 5.9 miles to go! After chopping down on a few more Pringles for a couple of seconds, I began walking backwards away from the aid station. I was ready to go but there was no Wilfred.

Just as I thought that, Wilfred was slipping through the cow gate and getting a refill on his bottle. I quickly pipped in, "Come on", waving my hands for Wilfred to come. I wanted to go! I laughed briefly before he came over 20-something seconds later. One of the aid station volunteers briefed me on the race up front so far, walking with Wilfred and I for 45ish seconds as we left the aid station. Soon, we were off and running. This section was shorter on the way to the finish than on the way out, with mostly flat and downhill terrain. The trail quickly closed to a lush, moist area covered in vegetation. Once at the final aid station with 3 miles to go, it would open up to a fire trail with 3 miles to go and then to a bike path over the last couple of miles to the finish on the lawn at the Marina.

I only needed to average sub-9:00 minute miles to achieve the 7:25 finish, and 8:00 minute miles would get me a 7:19-7:20 finish. If I could do either of these things, I would probably maintain my top 5 finish. I kept eating the GU and felt like I was moving briskly, but still the GPS was only giving me readings of 9:00-10:00 minute miles. It even went as high as 12:00 minute miles, which I thought was probably an aberration due to the vegetation cover. Minutes ticked away as one turn lead to another, only to lead to yet another turn and more trail to run. Wilfred was now gone, a ghost runner pushing me forward with the mere idea of his presence. He had gotten me through the hardest hill and although he planned on making it through to the end, I had completely out run him with only the end driving me forward.

I kept glancing at my watch as the minutes ticked away. 6:42, 6:47, 6:52, 6:57. Closer and closer, I kept hoping that the next corner would be the aid station, only to be greeted by more trail and another blind corner. 6:58, 6:59. Then, there it was. 7 hours and 30 seconds on the race clock and the aid station personnel 50 feet ahead. rounding the corner, I shouted my race number, "108!", before kicking it into gear to the last 3 mile stretch. I was now only 1.5 minutes ahead of the pacing splits.

Out of the dense foliage, I popped out onto the fire trails and soon I saw Lake Chabot once again. Just hang on, I thought. Just hang on. I wasn't thinking much about Red, who I hadn't seen in almost 20 miles. I was still chasing 2007 Ron and that 7:25 goal, while being chased by 2009 Ron. Once on the road, my stride opened with 2.5 miles to go and the miles kept clicking off as I crossed the dam and followed the path adjacent to the lake's west edge.

I must've watched every 0.2 miles on my watch go by, but with the end so near the pain had subsided to a mere annoyance. 7:10, 7:15, 7:20. With every 0.2 miles to go by, the threat of 2009 Ron catching me faded and the closer I was getting to 2007 Ron. With about 0.7 miles to go, I still needed a strong finish.

Bearing down with my eyes forward looking for the grass ending, I thrust my arms while moving faster and faster. Sub-8:00 min/miles, sub 7:30 min/miles, and then sub 7:00 min/mile pace. More and more people appeared, letting me know how close I was. Elation and soreness overcame my body, each one pushing me further. I was so close to tasting a job well done and ending the perpetual soreness that was enveloping my leg muscles.

Then, it happened. To the left came the green lawn and the large race clock came in view. "7:25:35". I thrust my arms wildly in a full sprint with my chest and head forward from my torso. Go, go, go. With hands raised, I crossed the finish line in 7:25:58. A couple steps beyond the finish, I collapsed to the grass. I had done it. Officially, 5th place overall out of 231 starters. I ended up 5 minutes out of 4th place. It was by far my most complete race effort ever from beginning to end. Not a bad day's work and hopefully it portends of more to come as I get another step closer to my goals and dreams.

"Are you OK?", people asked.

"Yeah, I'm OK", I replied.

"He does this at every ultra. He's OK", Wilma quickly chimed in. I turned over and smiled.

2009 Dick Collins' Firetrails 50

2009-10-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

With a few weeks since our successful "Running For The Wells" run in the Headlands (click the photos link below), it’s time to return to racing. Tomorrow is the Dick Collins’ Firetrails 50. The race is an out and back course held in the East Bay up here in Northern California. It’s a favorite of veterans and rookies alike for its nice mix of extremely runnable single-track and fire roads, as well as some challenge climbs as you work your way from the valley by Lake Chabot all the way to Skyline Gate and the Tilden Park area ridgeline. The race is scheduled on the same weekend as Fleet Week in the San Francisco Bay, meaning runners can also expect loud fly-bys by the Blue Angels as well as reasonably warm early October weather (typically Indian Summer here).

In developing a plan for this race, I started with a friend and fellow ultrarunner Rick Gaston’s 2008 race as a baseline. While I spent last year’s race pacing a friend of mine through her first 50, Rick was racing it. His running style of waiting it out early before turning it on late is definitely one to be mimicked, reflecting the patience and discipline that for me was part of my own relatively successful race at Badwater this year. However, the 50 mile distance is a much quicker race which challenges me because it is much closer to the marathon as far as that feeling of always “needing” to be in motion. After that, I went lower, looking at times that seemed to be good approximation of stretch goals. I took the splits from one performance in particular out to the course itself on some key segments to see how they felt to me and to give myself an approximation of where I needed to be on the course (away from aid stations) at various times. After a couple of extremely solid runs, I came up with this: a 7:25 goal for the race.

Since many trail courses aren’t the evened out, flat-ish races expected out on the roads, it leaves many of us in the dark about what we should expect of ourselves. This is particularly true when we race a course for the first time. We have relative expectations based on elevation profiles, but the option to run on a course is not always available for a more accurate representation of our capabilities. Having run on the course over the past couple weeks, I really honed in on whether this was even possible in my shorter runs out there in comparison to previous racers. Throwing away all the placings from previous years (which are more a product of who shows up and in what condition they’re in), I wanted a goal that will stretch me and cause me to work hard. With Javelina 100 in 3 weeks, I have the perfect opportunity to race as hard as I want without compromising that race. With CIM on 12/6, I have the perfect opportunity to continue add strength and endurance to the speed I’ve been working on during my weekly tempo/speed workouts.

Races are a great opportunity to stretch ourselves, particularly because their competitive nature tends to bring about a higher level of performance that can rarely be duplicated in the sterile, solitary capsules we often train within. For me, I’m looking forward to a course PR, killer training for the 100, and a good indicator that the speed and mental stamina is there to take it all the way at CIM to big PR. For all the other runners out there, I wish you the best in going after your own goals on that course. At minimum, we’ll all have some great weather to do it in.

Gundy

Photos: "Running For The Wells"

Race Recap: Running For The Wells 11k- Marin Headlands

2009-09-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hey,
It’s been a crazy month of September so far with the Angeles Crest 100 cancelled by the wildfires in the Angeles Crest forest. I’ve never had a race cancelled due to natural causes, even if this fire was caused by arson (which is abhorrent in light of the consequences and deaths resulting). The one nice thing was that it gave me some time over the past 2 weeks to really hone in on putting the finishing touches on the 1st annual Running For The Wells 11k- Marin Headlands which was a major undertaking(http://www.seegundyrun.com/Running_For_The_Wells.html). We ran the event as a fun run starting at the Rodeo Beach Picnic Area near the lagoon. Runners ran about 0.7 miles to the Miwok Trail before going another 0.6 miles to connect with Bobcat Trail. Then there was on a gradual 2 mile uphill leading to Alta Trail. At the peak of Alta Trail near the intersection with Morning Sun Trail. On a clear day, Alta trail offers picturesque views of Mt. Tamalpais, Corte Madera, Tiburon, Belvedere and Angel Island on towards the East Bay. Runners then began a gradual descent on Rodeo Valley Trail, which normally offers views of the Golden Gate and San Francisco. The trail levels off at the bottom before reconnecting with Miwok and the run finishes right where it started.

Well, to say the event was a success was an understatement. Considering the dry lightining and thunder from the night before and the grey clouds in the sky on the morning of the event, we still had about 30 runners at the event and over 10 volunteers who helped setup, cook breakfast for the runners and cleanup afterwards. I had quite a few family members there helping out with my wife Wilma, my parents and Uncle Andy helping out with the preparation and at the start/finish, and Uncle “Mambo” Jose heading up the aid station. In addition, I had Steve, a director from work at Abbott Vascular, and his daughter joining Uncle Jose at the aid station. Sky and Pete, friends via the Runner’s World Forum helped man the grills and Alice, a friend of Wilma’s helped with the food preparation. Rick, an ultrarunning friend and training partner, was busy marking the trail earlier that morning (starting at 6:30 am) while Mike Lim was sweeping it at the end to ensure everyone got back alright. I couldn’t have done this alone and I hope I didn’t forget any of the volunteers.

While the sky never quite cleared and the light storm intended for Monday came a couple days early to intermittently drizzle on our run, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves out there. While most of the participants aren’t regular runners and those that are don’t always venture off-road, it was great to see everyone stretch themselves beyond their normal comfort zones in a place that has been home to many of my own training runs. I really wanted people to see it in all its beauty and although the weather didn’t fully cooperate, I was pleased beyond compare with how everyone brought a great attitude along with their great generosity. No injuries, no shortage of good food (chocolate chip pancakes…mmm) and no shortage of good company.

The best part of the run? Combined with other off-line contributions, we have raised over $3,000 which means one well will get built soon and we’re on our way to building a second well. To those that know me, East Africa and Uganda in particular are places that are deep in my heart. I loved seeing the faces of these villagers last year when I was there as they expressed the gratitude for those who’ve supported World Harvest Mission’s well-building in the past. Some will say that their problems are too much for one person to overcome, but we’re proving that with a little bit of teamwork we can steps to move things from “impossibility” closer to “reality”. I really believe that the Lord endows us with the ability to stretch beyond what we can imagine and having the runners and volunteers help to do that through this event was an inspiration for me. I am encouraged even more to consider making this an annual event and I will be consulting with folks in the Los Angeles area about an event down there in early November. We’ll see….:) Either way, feel free to support the well-building effort by making a donation via the PayPal at http://www.seegundyrun.com/ or at http://www.seegundyrun.blogspot.com/.

A huge thank you also goes to Injinji who helped me provide a pair of Injinji socks to all the runners who donated and all the volunteers. They have always responded to my calls for assistance with a helping hand, so I definitely thank them for that. Maybe some day I can come up with a race performance worthy of their support of my various running endeavors.

Good times, indeed. There’s only one thing left to say on this post: Thank You for your generosity in the past, generosity in the present and generosity in the future. God bless.

Gundy

Pics to Follow Soon!

2009 Badwater Ultramarathon Picture and Video Montage

2009-08-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Uploaded Videos:

"This is a photo and video montage of Jonathan Gunderson and his crew's run at the 2009 Badwater Ultramarathon. The crew included Andrew Safont, Peter Day, Kevin Chuck, Nick Garcia, Mike Lim and Wilfred Yun. Thank you to God, the crew, family and friends for being there with me through thick and thin. I also thank Injinji, Brooks, NUUN and GU for all their support, including their products which helped make this race a success. For more information about Jonathan's fundraising for wells in Uganda and to donate, visit Jonathan's website at www.seegundyrun.com. The race website is www.badwater.com, with the 2009 edition webcast archive available."

Running For The Wells

2009-08-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hey,
This website has been a little hard to manage, but I'm finally getting ready for a major upgrade. Until then, I've got a great race report from a fantastic race at Badwater this year. We'll get the picture slideshow up soon and all the videos up on YouTube. I hope you enjoy reading the report; it was almost as long as the training and race itself....hehe.

Also, we're still doing the fundraising for the wells in Uganda. We're trying to get to $18,000 to build 6 wells in Uganda for about 7,500 people affected. We'll be fundraising continuously this year, so feel free to donate anytime. We build a well everytime there's $3,000 in the bank to do it. Also, if you'd like to join us for our "Running For The Wells" run in Marin County on September 12th, go to the following link for information and registration instructions: Running For The Wells. Click on the "WHM and Donations" Tab on my website, www.seegundyrun.com, for information on the organization we work with, World Harvest Mission. If you want to donate, click on the "ChipIn" icon to the right. Affecting the lives of those who can never repay you is always a good thing.

God bless,
Gundy

2009-08-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

2009 Badwater Race Report

2009-07-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Since some of you were following the race, I thought I'd share some of my experiences. I was running this year to raise money to build wells in Uganda. For those interested in supporting it, you can go to http://www.seegundyrun.com/How_To_Give.html
*******************Pictures to Follow in Another Post Tomorrow***********

Coming down from the top of Townes Pass and into Death Valley once again, it was like coming back to the scene of the crime. I know every straightway, every curve, every incline and every elevation sign. Every inch of pavement and every foot to be climbed are ingrained into my memory. Every place that we passed conjured up images of me hunched over with my mouth wide open and pain in my stomach. This climb had come to epitomize the agony of races lost at the last two Badwaters. This is where the bully took my lunch money, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back. If this year was going to be different, it would have to start here.

It’s hard to look at this race and not first be intimidated by the first 42 miles, which stay mostly at or below sea level while hemmed in by the towering rock plateaus which form the side walls of the Valley. It stays consistently above 120 degrees F most years, peaking at temperatures above 130 degrees F near the sand dunes just before Stovepipe Wells, the 41.9 mile time station. But for me, the valley was no longer as intimidating, having long lost its mystique as a place of death in my mind. My preparation based on my previous experiences, my training and my equipment, like my Injinjis or my Brooks road shoes, had created the best possible circumstances from which to expect success.

Instead, the intimidation came principally from the 16.8 mile, 5000’ ft. climb from Stovepipe Wells (41.9 miles, sea level) to the top of Townes Pass. While my misery on this climb was probably predicated by some lack of discipline or lapse in taking in the proper electrolytes or water in the first 42 miles, the combination of the climbing and a ferocious headwind on an exposed highway have been more than sufficient to tip my stomach over the edge and into a cycle of trying to recover and perform at the same time. Most experienced ultra marathoners recognize nausea as a part of races this physically demanding, although I think they’d all agree that boot n’ rally isn’t the ideal way to maximize performance.

I had built my entire race strategy on being in the right condition in order to be able to hammer this hill with my stomach intact and ready to fly down the other side with an over 3300’ drop over 9.4 miles before a 330’climb into Panamint Springs (1940’ elevation). Each of the last 2 years, I’ve been unable to take full advantage of the drop to help generate the speed and momentum to get out of Panamint and climb up to Father Crowley’s Point (4000 ft. elevation). I had no choice but to be disciplined through Death Valley if I was going to expect a result any different than last year’s race.

I had the right crew assembled in order to beat that theme of discipline and pacing into me. With a couple late replacements, our crew consisted of 4 veterans and 2 rookies. My co-crew chiefs Uncle Andy and Pete had crewed for me at 3 and 2 Badwater races respectively, while Kevin and Nick had crewed in 2007. Our 2 rookies, Mike and Wilfred were both fairly enthusiastic role players who had some experience with marathons. Each of them was either a close friend or family with whom I had pretty established relationships. While apart from Pete I could not expect too much pacing from most of them, they were all athletic and they all brought a passion for helping us (and me individually) succeed. Their personal race experiences were primarily running half-marathons and marathons. As successful individuals in their own right, they were all willing to subjugate their own desires and comforts which humbled me as I trained and would hopefully humble me as I raced. They committed themselves to supporting me as a runner, in my well-building in Uganda and in my dedication to representing God, my family and myself with the best race possible.

Going into the race, we had prepared a spreadsheet detailing expected paces and pacing responsibilities through various sections of the course. I would pick up my first pacer, Wilfred, at the 35 mile mark in the Valley. From then on, I would have a pacer with me except for a 5 mile downhill stretch starting at the top of Townes Pass. During certain sections like the climb from Stovepipe to Townes Pass, we put multiple pacers so that guys would feel comfortable switching in and out while continuing to support me as I ran.

The best thing about these guys was their attitudes. They came prepared to execute the plan. Thanks to Pete’s wife Kimi, we were armed with data from each of the three previous Badwaters from previous checkpoint times to comparisons with the Top 10 from 2008 to a 2009 pacing strategy. In consultation with the crew chiefs and the rest of the crew, we set a pacing strategy that capitalized on my running strength of closing strong and utilized the best pacers for each section. Two primary areas of improvement were to be from Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs and from Darwin to Lone Pine. We would slow down somewhat compared to last year between the start at Badwater to Stovepipe Wells (mile 41.9) in order to stay in the proper physical and mental condition to attack the climb out of the Valley.

Of course, no plan can be executed without the proper training. I had been hurt with shin splints for almost 8 weeks between March and May after the Napa Valley Marathon, which severely limited the amount of running during that time. In addition, my impending marriage in May further limited my training. One key race I ran as I gradually started getting better was the ultra hot Diablo 50 at the end of April. I kept it at a slow pace, finishing in just under 12 hours in the 90+ degree heat with over 12000’ of climbing. The difficulty of the race gave me a hint that in spite of the limited miles, I still had a good base to work from. The road back began just before the wedding and picked up steam throughout the month of June.

With 100+ miles per week, I made sure to do quite a few long gradual hill runs to simulate the long climbs associated with Badwater. I even had the opportunity to run with various crew members in order to encourage them in their own training. All in all, it was a successful month as evidenced by a 4:25 5th place showing at the Angel Island 50k. Running at 85% effort, I shaved 28 minutes off my time 2 years ago when I also used it as a tune-up race for Badwater. The runs I was doing and the weight I was losing were starting to pay some dividends. I would be around 171 lbs. by race day, a full 10 lbs. lighter than the year before. With the new found confidence, we had set forth one race plan for finishing just under 30 hours and that was what we were going to roll with.

After arriving in the Valley at 11:00 AM, Pete and I went for a short 2.5 mile run before I checked-in at the Death Valley Museum in Furnace Creek. The crew finished preparations on the van after lunch. Gathering the crew at the vans, we used the same process as last year to split up the supplies between the main crew van and the support van. The main van would have all of the main medical, food and water supplies. It would have a round cooler with just ice, a 100 qt. cooler with drinks and food for both runner and crew, and a third cooler with “grey water” for use with the ice towels being draped on my neck every couple miles. In the back next to the hatchback, there would also be a small Rubbermaid container with a sampling of all the “most used items” including electrolyte tabs, a couple bags of chips, a Clif bar, and small trail mix bags. This would allow for quick and easy access on the fly. The support van would serve a dual purpose by holding the ice coffin/cooler I would soak in periodically during peak heat as well as keeping all the extra water and food supplies that would not fit in the main crew van. We did an initial load of ice into the coolers to cool down the drinks while planning on a refill the following morning prior to the race. We also left 2 seats and a 2nd row seat bench remaining in the main van since that would fit the maximum number of crew members we would have on duty at all times.

As part of their initiation, Mike and Wilfred went to the pre-race meeting later in the afternoon. I’m only required to have one crew member with me and with a repeat of many of the crew instructions, going to this meeting has become a rite of passage for any new crew members. After dinner, while I left for a photo session with a photographer for My Midwest Magazine (in-flight magazine of Midwest Airlines) for an article on the race later this year, the crew continued preparations and relaxed in the room.

Upon my return, I made it in time to finish watching “Dodgeball” with the team while they prepared final food and got some block ice to put in the coolers. We mostly joked around before I finally went to bed around 10:30 pm. While most years, I have a desire for more picture-taking and bonding time with the crew, this year was about simply taking care of business. We’d been here before and been through all the formalities; what we needed was to simply focus and go out have a great race together. I always have a hard time getting sleep the night before a race, particularly because I’m regularly so much of a night owl. This time, though, after a brief personal prayer time, I was fast asleep within 15 minutes dreaming about what tomorrow would bring.

I was up at 5:45 am and ready to go. The 7 hours of sleep had done me well and I felt alert and ready to get ready. After a warm shower, putting on my clothes, strapping on the Garmin watch and turning on the Ipod, I relaxed over by the van while listening to some tunes. One of my favorite pre-race songs is “Stomp” by Kirk Franklin. It’s a mix of gospel and hip-hop with a lot of energy to get me going. Believe me, I’m a really slow riser so anything to get the blood flowing is a good thing.

I let the crew take care of all the other details and after a quick fuel up, we were off to Badwater around 20 till 7 in the morning. Uncle Andy, Pete, Wilfred and Mike were taking the first shift to Furnace Creek with Nick and Kevin taking care of checking out of the hotel room. At 7 am, 1 hour before my start, I ate 2/3 of a Cliff Bar and a small piece of banana to get my stomach going. 20 oz. of G2 washed it down and I was ready to go. Finding the right amount of food and fluid to eat before a race can be a complicated thing since everyone has their own opinions and their own routines. In an attempt to refine my own routine beyond just empirical evidence, Pete had sent me a New York Times article with the advice of an exercise physiologist recommending a fist full of food and 20 oz. of fluid 1 hour prior to a race. This would give the body enough time to digest and process it prior to the race. Having tried this a couple times during the week prior to the race and considering how small an appetite I have on race mornings, it seemed like a solid strategy.

Arriving at Badwater, I went through my routine that I had adopted last year. Use the restroom, get weighed in with the medical staff and go pray silently by myself out on the salt flats. Alone at this point, I kneeled and silently prayed to the Lord. I thanked him for humility and grace in our journey, that we would be safe and that he would take my ambitions and give me a race that he would be proud of. I needed to set aside the past and look only at the present: 135 miles of road and only one way to get to the finish.

After dispensing with the formalities of photos, speeches and a rather beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, it was time to go. Positioned at the right in front, I did not care about anything more than getting this race started. People would tell me later that it looked as if I was zoned out with my “game face” on, whatever that is. With my headphones on and music playing softly, my eyes gazed squarely in front of me. Chris Kostman, the race director, kept looking at his watch until the final countdown begun. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5”. I planted my feet in anticipation of the start. “4, 3, 2, 1, Go”.

From my outside front position on the start line, I quickly moved towards the front. After being in front for the first mile and a half, 4 to 5 other runners moved out in front of me. Like last year, we targeted a 9 min./mile average during this section, which would eventually drop to 12 min./mile between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. I was surprised with the number of runners who were out in front of me at this point, since I would generally consider my pace to be aggressive and most of the frontrunners still to start at 10 am.

The 17.2 mile section between Badwater and Furnace Creek is generally the least exciting of the race. It mostly rolls with a few long rises and a few long descents. For the most part, it’s a good time to develop a routine with the crew as far as servicing me as I went. Drop the water bottle to the side and hand the ice towel around the neck to the 1st person. Take the hat off to start getting sprayed down with ice water by the 1st person running along side me. Let the 2nd person place the ice towel around the neck as I jog by. Self-adjust the ice towel before the 3rd person puts ice in my cap and hands me a new bottle, gel or food if needed. Finally, self-adjust the cap and keep on running till we do it all again in a mile. It’s not something that you do at any other races, so doing it while continuing to maintain forward motion is somewhat of an art form that can actually save quite a bit of time and momentum. After 2 or 3 stops, we had a good rhythm going which allowed me to continue to maintain focus on establishing a good hydration, electrolyte and fueling base early on.

For hydration and electrolyte needs, we would stick primarily with NUUN in water supplemented by S-caps if necessary. For this first section, we alternated the NUUN water with regular water every mile. In another New York Times article Pete had sent me, the author espoused taking large gulps of fluid every so often rather than sipping the bottle. This was in line with what Uncle Andy had also been trying to get me to do for over a year. Apparently, the gulping gets the stomach going quicker to process the fluids rather than sipping which allows traces of fluids to continue to slosh around in the stomach and can upset the stomach. The only difficult thing for me in this section was just finding the appropriate intervals to take these gulps. Sometimes it was 1.5 minutes, other times it was 3 minutes and other times it was 2 minutes. With a bit of practice, every 2 minutes seemed to keep my mouth continually satiated while not leaving much fluid to slosh around in my stomach.

About half-way through this section, a nagging pain made it became apparent that a couple of Aleve would be necessary to keep my comfortable throughout this first day. I quickly signaled my needs to the crew who responded by the next mile with a couple of blue pills for me to take down with some Lay’s potato chips. Beyond that, I just kept looking at my watch and continuing to keep track of my pace which I was able to gradually bring back to our goal pace from an early, quick start.

By the time we reached Furnace Creek, all but one of the runners in the wave were in front of me as the others who had been in front of me began to fade back. I cruised on in at 2 hours, 36 minutes, which was dead-on with what we had targeted. Although it was 9 minutes slower than last year, I continued to feel refreshed and ready to hit the heart of the Valley.

Kevin came on board at this point with Pete and Mike departing to help prepare the ice baths in the second vehicle, a cargo van. The next section between Furnace Creek (mile 17.2) and Stovepipe Wells (mile 41.9) puts most runners at the least amount of ease. Temperatures are continuing to rise and you feel the most isolated with the salt flats, rock formations and rolling san dunes among many natural geological barriers keeping you from seeing ahead very far. Many areas appear to be picture perfect doubles for other areas creating the illusion that as much as you are running you are not really “going anywhere”. Today, with the temperatures topping out officially at 127 degrees and unofficially near the sand dunes at the low 130s degrees, the weather would more resemble what it was in 2006 during my first year.

With an average of 12 minute miles as the goal for the section and 2- 5 minute ice baths
planned between Furnace Creek (mi. 17.3) and Stovepipe Wells (mi. 41.9), I looked to keep my pace steady around 10:30 min/mile. This was difficult at first, but after a brief nauseated moment at mile 20 forced me to take an S-cap to rebalance my electrolytes, I was easily scared straight. We quickly moved away from giving me straight water and went exclusively with the NUUN. Continuing to slow my pace, I finally was able to maintain 10:20 min/mile about 7-8 miles into the section. The uphills were always slower than the downhills, but in the end it all averaged out. After that brief scare, I found a terrific running rhythm while continuing to take large gulps every 2 minutes. The constant need to keep checking my pace and monitor my fluid kept my mind occupied, with the crew keeping me relaxed with their music, dancing and upbeat attitudes. I kept the tunes rolling on my Ipod, using the space to focus on each small section of road I ran by. As I continued to most all of the 6 am runners and the remaining 8 am runner, I sometimes had trouble telling our van apart from the rest until I started using Kevin’s yellow Cal basketball shorts as a sign of which crew was mine.
The best times during this section were the two ice baths. We scheduled them for miles 25 and 35, but also tried to gauge my general condition to adjust if necessary. I always preferred to do them in the middle of a downhill so that when I finished, I would still have some downhill running to get my legs going again. I ended up getting in the “ice coffin” at miles 26 and 35 for slightly more than 5 minutes at a time. The “ice coffin” is essentially a 165 qt. cooler filled with water and ice on the bottom. I submerge my upper body and mid-region into the cooler before a layer of ice and more water is poured on top of me. As an added bonus, we used a block of ice to keep the back of my head cool as well as support my back and head better than last year. Although I never seemed to feel overheated or wanted to pop in the van for a few minutes while I was running, the “ice coffin” sufficiently kept me from getting close to that breaking point. At times, I even felt too cold when in there. But it was enough to keep me lucid and keep me moving.

At around the 35 mile mark, Wilfred came on as a pacer. Since this was his first visit to Death Valley, I was a bit concerned about his well-being. Every few minutes, I chimed in and asked him if he was good. He was just happy to be out there, supporting me in this desolate pace. Wilfred continued to say that if he could run in this place, he could finish the upcoming San Francisco Marathon well. In less than a year of more serious running, Wilfred had come a long way as far as getting himself into better running condition. His two previous marathons in 2009 were a good training for this experience and he seemed to run with ease behind me at our 10:30 min/mile clip. It was nice to turn off the music and just run free by the Sand Dunes. It was close to 2 pm and the temperatures were still fairly warm, although the occasional wind gusts felt cool to my body.

After 3 miles, Wilfred left me and went back to the van a little dizzy. From there, it was Uncle Andy pacing me for 1.25 miles. Before the race, Uncle Andy had trained diligently to return from injury by running consistently at Lake Merced. He also joined Mike, Pete and I for some of our training runs, doing shorter distances than we were but long enough for his purposes. His training showed as we were humming along at 10:15 min/mile pace when he predicted prior to the race that he’d probably only be able to run at a 13:00 min/mile pace. From there, Pete took me the final couple miles into Stovepipe Wells, clocking us in at 7 hours, 13 minutes. While we were two minutes slower than last year, we were light years ahead as far as my physical condition was concerned. We were also 30 minutes ahead of my expected time according to our time chart. My running posture was still very upright and I had no major pain in my body to slow me down. It had been a good day so far although the climbs lay in wait.

After a final 10 minute ice bath 0.2 miles ahead of the Stovepipe Wells time station, we would finally begin the climb up to the top of Townes Pass with a goal pace of 16:00 min/mile. Mike and Kevin would be pacing me in this section, which begins with a rolling first couple of miles before settling into a long, slow graded climb. Powerful heated wind gusts often blow directly at or to the side of the runners. The key to this section is to keep moving consistently. The temperature drops as the elevation rises, so the higher up I can get the cooler it will feel to me.

Starting out, I had to continue to remind myself that I had no reason to celebrate or get too overjoyed yet. This is where I was going to make up huge amounts of time as compared to last year’s 36 hour, 21 minute performance, so there was nothing to get too excited about getting through the Valley. Humility was the order of the day and anything could still happen. Starting out, Mike and I walked for a couple minutes to get the legs moving. With the first couple miles not as steep as the rest of the climb, we then proceeded to get into a pattern of running 1 minute and walking 1 minute. Even though Mike had threatened me with bodily harm if I didn’t stick to the pacing, he was becoming the most enthusiastic crew member about me getting up the mountain as quickly as possible.

By sticking with a pattern of 1 minute running and 1 minute walking, we were able to easily time my gulps of NUUN water every 2 minutes to coincide with the immediately conclusion of the running portions. At times, we shift the pattern to include more power walking as the grade got steeper. The most walking we did was a 1 minute of walking and 4 minutes of walking pattern. We adjusted the pattern accordingly if there was a long enough flat or downhill that I could convince my pacers to run with me or if there was a runner ahead who was close enough to pass.

I would find out later talking to others that there was a big headwind coming down the mountain, but I don’t feel it at all. For the most part, the pattern kept me disciplined going up the hill and I felt good enough that I could power walk anywhere from sub-15 min/mile to 16:30 min/mile. By adding in the running, I was able to keep a consistently strong pace up the hill. Mike and Kevin kept close tabs on our pace, but I still had my own Garmin on just to make sure. Kevin brought the same enthusiasm as Mike to pacing, but he also put the clamps more on my attempts to run too much. Unlike Mike, Kevin had personally witnessed my stomach meltdown on this hill in 2007.

For the most part, the climb was rather uneventful. Walk, run, walk, run, walk, pee, run, walk. Mike had never been a crew member or paced at an ultra marathon event before, so it was interesting to see his shocked reaction that I had perfected the technique to peeing while walking at the same time off to the shoulder. There wasn’t much talking, but the miles seemed to go by effortlessly as the sun waned in intensity overhead. Each few hundred feet up in elevation brought with it a coolness that made walking and running more and more tolerable. I continually relayed back to the van my condition, which was still totally lucid and aware. It allowed me to better communicate my needs, whether it was some more gel, more potato chips or a fresh ice towel.

The closer we got to the top of the Pass, the more excited I grew inside. Even as I tempered my enthusiasm with the continued prayer to God that continue to have grace and mercy upon us in our journey, I couldn’t help but be pleased that this climb would no longer “own” me. And then I saw it. The road sign signifying the top of Townes Pass and almost 5,000 ft. of elevation. The parking lot was less than 0.2 miles ahead where the van was parked. I crossed the road and ran towards the van, a big grin on my face. 11 hours and 33 minutes into the race and 4 hours and 10 minutes after my ice bath at the outset of this climb, I was at the top and feeling good. I took a short 3 minute break to relax, get my leg muscles rubbed and chow down on some hot home fries from the Panamint Springs grill courtesy of Uncle Andy. It was a shorter break than we planned, but Pete was good to let me go with my legs still feeling fresh and not wanting my legs to get tight.

I slapped the Ipod back on again and started rolling down the hill. I ramped up quickly from an initial 11:00 min/mile pace with the descent getting steeper and steeper. At one point at the end of the first mile downhill, I was hitting sub-7:00 min/mile pace. While it sure feels good and looks good on the watch, it wasn’t sustainable in the long term and I began to make a more conscious effort to moderate my pace as best I could. Eventually, I slowed to between 8:00 min/mile and 9:00 min/mile, which allowed gravity to do most of the work for me while helping to preserve my quads by braking as little as possible.

To see Panamint Valley during the day for the first time in 4 Badwater races was a thing to behold. Although I was not looking forward to warmer weather at the bottom of this valley, I reveled in the soft glow that the setting sun created around us. The freedom of simply letting gravity was unmistakable; I even allowed myself to make airplane wings with my arms as I maneuvered around the turns and took some moments to simply let my eyes wander. This was what I was supposed to feel like the last couple of Badwaters. This is what I was missing when Panamint Valley was dark and the only thing on my mind was whether my stomach would revolt against me once more. This felt incredible.

After the first few miles, Pete and Uncle Andy let me know that Wilfred would be coming on to pace me at the 5 mile mark of the descent. Wilfred’s value in this section was not so much on these screaming descents, but in keeping me moving once the road bottomed out at around 1600 ft. elevation at mile 68.1, about 9.4 miles into this small section with 4.2 miles left to go. The elevation rises by over 300 ft. just before the Panamint Springs resort and the time station.

I continued to move briskly, barely able to keep my safety vest on which was flapping in the breeze. 10 minutes later, Wilfred came on and away we went. It was still light out, although the sunlight was fading fast. Towards the bottom of the descent, the grade began to start leveling out which allowed my quads to rest even more. At this point, I noticed my Garmin had lost power. It was not unexpected since my Garmin Forerunner 305 unit has about 13 hours of battery life. The downside was that I was missing the check and balance that kept me on target as far as my pace was concerned. I was more than capable of pacing myself, but with 68 miles on my legs I didn’t feel like I could totally trust a feeling.

While Wilfred kept me moving, I had no idea how fast I was going and Wilfred had no GPS watch on. We had an extra Garmin in the crew vehicle, but my interest in just getting the section done overrode any desire to force him to put one on with such a small distance left to Panamint Springs Resort. I ultimately ended up slipping to an over 12:00 min/mile pace for these last 4.2 miles. While it was almost 2 minutes over my minute per mile pace for this mini-section, he was able to keep me moving continuously with a smile on my face. As I came up on Panamint in a cool 13 hours and 54 minutes for the 72.3 hours so far, I let myself grin again upon seeing “Death Valley” Jack Denness and his wife Mags smiling at me. I was over 4 hours ahead of last year’s time into this time station when vomiting kept me off the course for 45 minutes and more importantly, I hadn’t much of a hint of major nausea. I was in the driver’s seat and this race was beginning to feel special.

3 years ago, Mags was there at my first Badwater working the same time station. She took care of me as I came into the station and most of my veteran crew members from that race always remind me of her words which still make me smile: “You did this to yourself”. While her words were most appropriate during times of struggle, they still applied now. As much as I had been responsible for my times of severe stomach struggle due to not getting my nutrition and electrolytes right, I was also partly responsible for the success of executing a terrific race strategy. While much of the credit for the race strategy belongs to my crew chiefs and my crew who helped keep me to it, I did play a part in not allowing my stubbornness and anxiousness to keep me from executing well. I also executed my training as well as possible under certain limitations so that I could come into this race with a more realistic shot at being at this place in this time. Could it have been a better time with certain tweaks? Of course. Could it have been better considering my history? If so, not by much.

Now that I was seated by the roadway, Pete brought me my microwavable Chef Boyardee “Spaghetti and Meatballs”. Our plan called for a 15 minute break, opening with eating some more complex carbohydrates and finishing up with a short nap with muscle rub down. While the pasta sounded good during planning, I looked at my meal with a slight frown on my face while continuing to mix pasta in a tomato sauce. “Gundy, this is what we planned going into this. You were going to eat some pasta now so you don’t bonk later.”

“I know, I know,” I replied, even if I really didn’t want want it now.

The appetites of ultra runners can sometimes switch on a dime, with cravings coming and going along with one’s physical condition. One minute Lay’s potato chips can seem like heaven and the next minute, it’ll be a frozen fruit bar. I finally relented and began to dig into the mini-dish, which had over 200 calories of energy. I mostly picked at it for a couple minutes while sipping at the tomato sauce before finally making the plunge to eating the spaghetti and small meatballs. About half-way through the dish, I handed it back to Pete. “I finished half of it and it’s got over 200 calories.” At that point, I just wanted to be done with it and get it away from me.

Pete and I went off to the cabin near the roadway so I could lie out and let my legs relax. We had been on break for almost 5 minutes, which left me about 10 more minutes in my planned break. The minute my head hit the pillow, I quickly dozed off while Pete worked to rub out the backs of my legs. Those 10 minutes felt like 10 seconds, because the next thing I knew Pete was tapping at me to tell me it was time to go.

Honestly, I can get pretty groggy when first waking up from a deep sleep and this definitely wasn’t one of those light cat naps. I spent the first half a minute turning myself around and looking around the room to get my bearings straight before walking out of the cabin and back towards the highway 100 ft. away. The van was parked down the road another 100 ft. where the crew was assembling, but I did not want to waste my energy going down only to come back up again. I waved back at them before beginning the long 7.8 mile, 2100 ft. climb up to Father Crowley’s point. I knew my pacer Nick would catch up with me shortly; I wasn’t going anywhere that quickly to start out.

For the first time in the race, I felt my food sitting heavy in my stomach. The best way to describe it is a small lump near the belly button that isn’t painful, but is definitely not digested. After running a wonderfully executed first 72.3 miles, I wasn’t about to let this hiccup get in the way. The first 2.9 miles of this small section climbs 1,000 ft., making it wiser to power walk most it while waiting for flatter sections to run. As far as my stomach was concerned, I started out slow with the hope that I would eventually be able move faster as my stomach emptied. I worried less about that pace of the climb at this point considering that I had built up a now 45 minute cushion against the 29 hour, 40 minute pacing plan we had developed.

After a few minutes, Nick finally caught up to me, taking my water bottle so I could focus solely on knocking out some miles. I don’t remember too much from our conversation, in part because of the irritation in my stomach. My stomach was starting to feel gassy and the only thing I really wanted to do was pass the gas so I could feel better again. Finally, 3 miles into the climb I felt it coming. I sat down on the road barrier on one of those steep, narrow turns and took one of the most enjoyable restroom breaks of my racing life. Nick ran back to the van to grab some toilet paper me as I relished the moment. Suddenly, I felt well again with my body purged of excess pasta and excess gas. All of that pressure inside of my GI system was gone as well as the excess “weight”; I was ready to roll once again.

Even in flats where I wanted to run more than I did, I backed off due to the extreme camber of the roadway. With little shoulder to run on, it made it difficult to get too much momentum going when cars passed by going down to Panamint Springs. I was in the middle of a more gradual uphill section, sandwiched in between two steep climbs. Even though I didn’t run much, I was power-walking at a rather brisk pace. I chose not to ask Nick for very many pace updates, confident that even with some of my cushion used up I would do well on the section from Father Crowley’s Point to Darwin’s Turnout (mile 90.1) while saving the energy for big race from Darwin to Lone Pine.

With Uncle Andy, Kevin and Mike working the crew van, I kept hearing references to the Spirit of Badwater which only made me smile. It was a term used by someone at the race in 2007 to describe the bright lights of the cars ascending and descending into Panamint Valley from Townes Pass. While the lights themselves are a cool sight, the term was in no way an accurate description of this man-made phenomenon. When the crew used this term, I smiled more for how it reminded me of the crazy quirks of the individual who “coined” it.

Nick and I didn’t see very many lights ahead of us, which was very different from previous years. I often used other runners as benchmarks to pass on the climb but with our terrific performance so far, we were left with quite a bit of empty, dark space to inhabit. I would occasionally look down to the left of the roadway only to see large drop-offs leading to open plateaus below which were illuminated by the bright moon above. This was in sharp contrast to the sharp climbs, during which we were often hemmed in by the peaks or sheer drop-offs which had seemingly no end.

Mile after mile went by with ease as the night sky brilliantly lit up by stars overhead on this clear night. The lights behind me on the road were still at least a mile back with the twisting landscape obscuring any view of potential runners in front of me. My goal pace was 17:48 min/mile and although I was losing time to that goal pace, I was still moving well and feeling well. The final 2 mile climb to the top of Father Crowley is always the toughest with the narrow shoulder and multiple false summits. Even with the previous experiences to draw from, I was still fooled by the sheer number of twists and turns in the roadway.

When I describe Father Crowley’s lookout, it may sound like I’m describing a small town or waypoint with gas station. In reality, it’s a small dirt parking lot overlooking Panamint Valley down below. There is a small monument in the middle dedicated to the real Father John Crowley who served in the area and became the first priest to celebrate mass on top of Mt. Whitney. With a slight downhill tilt to the lot, it’s always important to put the vehicle in park or risk watching your van plummet a thousand feet before ending up in some rock crevasse.

With our crew van parked at Father Crowley with only a ¼ mile left to run, we finally saw Jamie Donaldson’s crew van pull up and park just off the roadway. It turned out she wasn’t too far behind me, although she did have an almost 2 hour cushion on me due to the staggered start times. Since it had very little to do with the race I was running, I brushed it aside in my head as I ran over to our van 25 ft. off the roadway. During the three minutes I spent in the van, I failed to ask the crew about exact pace as compared to the schedule, but the crew assured me that I was doing fine. It was somewhere around 1 in the morning, which meant to me that I still had a considerable amount of time to run sans the sun. I didn’t feel a need to press further, comforted more by the fact that I couldn’t see a scenario where I had lost the whole 45 minute cushion in that one climb.

Unlike last year, I didn’t feel a high amount of fatigue coming upon me at this point in the race. I took the opportunity to sit in the van as a chance to eat some more Lay’s potato chips and keep gulping on the NUUN water. Mike was in the van with me, checking in and making sure I felt alright. After about a minute in the vehicle, I was anxious to go and asked the crew to move the van closer to the road before I got out again. I know, it seems like a rather silly request to move 25 ft. back to the road before I started running again. While it would seem incredulous even to me if I made the request 20-30 miles into the race, I was now at a point where I wanted to spare my muscles having to do any extra work beyond the 135 miles.

A minute later after some quick maneuvering of the van, Mike and I were off. Although there is 1000 ft. of climbing in this 10 mile section, it is barely noticeable to the runner apart from a couple big rolling sections. The weather had cooled considerably at 4000 ft. elevation, relatively speaking. It’s all relative when you’re talking about a temperature drop of probably at least 40 degrees from the peak temperature of 127 degrees (in the shade) during the daytime.

Mike and I walked portions of the uphills starting out while waiting for the first rolling downhill to pick up momentum to start moving quicker. Still, we were maintaining a brisk sub-13:00 min/mile jogging pace going up the hills which helped to offset the intermittent walking. About a mile into this section, Jamie came up behind us with her pacer. We offered each other greetings and then I let her go on her way.

Jamie continued to jog the uphills rather than walk certain sections and jog/run others. She slowly pulled away from us, which again did not concern me in the least bit. I wanted to keep her in our sights to allow myself to be pulled into her pace, but it wasn’t necessary. A mile and a half after she passed, we finally passed Nick Hollon, the final runner from the 6:00 AM wave. He was moving slowly at the time but continued to chip away. I looked around to see if Akos Konya, one of his crew members and another runner who I’m friends with, was around but didn’t see him before moving onward.

The course took a big left turn at this point before entering a gorgeous plateau inhabited by numerous Joshua trees. Looking left and seeing the outlines trees set against the dark background allowed my mind to continue to wander off when necessary. This is the beginning of a five mile stretch with a few long, sloping hills before taking another left turn onto the top of the plateau that leads straight towards Darwin’s turnout. It is a “no man’s land” portion of the race course; not quite close enough to consider letting loose but definitely far enough into the race to feel the build-up towards finishing.

Kevin and Mike took turns pacing and my legs started to loosen up again on the long, 0.25 mile downhill sections. We would run 1 minute and walk 1 minute on the uphill sections, saving ourselves for the continuous running stretch when we were atop the plateau. Once we reached the plateau, I could no longer see Jamie’s van in the distance. Mike started to lite somewhat of a fire under me when he mentioned that we needed to pick it up if we wanted to stay on schedule. I ran as much as I can but still insisted to walk some on the uphills. I was starting to run low on energy and was struggling to battle through the fatigue. I tried to eat more GU and take a couple of Enlyten Energy strips, which seemed to perk me up temporarily. But, I was still fighting and still struggling against the mental games of being so close on this plateau but knowing that the time station would only appear in the distance ½ mile away.

Eventually, I saw it and told Mike, “There’s the time station”, in a relieved but trailing voice. We surged a bit in the final mile and I immediately ran over to the van to take a seat in the front for a few minutes. My total time at the 90.1 mile mark was 19 hours, 20 minutes, 4 minutes behind the pacing schedule. It was 3:20 AM and not a soul in sight, although Jamie and her crew had come through 7 minutes earlier. I was exactly where I needed to be, considering the pacing schedule also was for 29 hours, 40 minutes which was 20 minutes faster than the goal sub-30 hour race. I told Pete I needed a nap for 5 minutes before we started up again. Of course, before I knew it, Pete opened the door exclaiming, “Alright, it’s been five minutes.” I immediately replied, “I need 10 more,” conking out again.

At that point, I started to shiver with the relatively cool air hitting my skin. I was beginning to mentally and physically unravel, simply overcome by the fatigue in my body. Upon awaking again, Pete exclaimed, “Ok, we’ve gotta go now if you want to hit the sub-30 goal.” I was a little bit disoriented, but the stern tone of his voice meant business. This is what we came here for and it was time to suck it up and get moving. It was for moments like this that Pete was here; to get me out of the low points, treat me like a whipping boy and back moving again. I explained to him that I was freezing and he arranged get me my lightweight windbreaker out of my gear bag. It’s a little bit crazy when you think that I was actually going to use the windbreaker. I brought more in case I needed it going up Whitney portal, but with the winds gusting and temperatures in the 70s (from what I found out later) it was too cold for this runner.

At the 19 hour, 45 minute mark, we finally left Darwin’s turnout with Pete now pacing me all the way into Owens Valley to Lone Pine. After he instructed me for the first minute to walk, I was able to slowly work my way into a jog for the next couple of minutes before finally starting to run again. For this 32.2 mile stretch, I would need to finish it in about 6 hours and 30 minutes to have a shot at going sub-30 hours. That translates into around a 12 minute/mile pace, which can get more difficult if the winds turn towards you. The portion of road from Darwin to Keeler (mile 107.8) is a mostly smaller rolling net downhill, although you really need to gain momentum on the downhills to get up and over the uphill portions effectively.

Pete would read off my paces every few minutes, getting faster and faster. Within the first mile, my 25:00 min/mile walking pace had become a 10:00 min/mile running pace again with the wheels beginning to turn. The first few miles of this stretch are primarily a low grade, flattish downhill which is great for a runner like myself looking for momentum. Pete continually reminded me that Scott Jurek refers to downhills and the pull of gravity as “Free Speed”. “Free Speed”, huh? I really liked that analogy and kept repeating it in my head as we moved on through. Pete knew that the last 10 miles into Lone Pine can be a grind with the rising flats and ferocious headwind that tends to characterize it. With a small tailwind helping to propel me, I needed to take advantage of the “Free Speed” wherever it was being given to get me off to a good start.

I made a conscious decision to let Pete continue to monitor my pacing and nutrition for this section, only taking opportunities to look at my watch every few miles. I needed to let go of that responsibility and only focus on my strides and continually gulping down my NUUN water. Pete is as meticulous a person as they come, always concerned with the details. With Uncle Andy the lawyer and Pete the law student at the helm, details were always emphasized. Although his expertise is more tilted towards swimming, he and his wife Kimi were at the forefront of designing this race plan and studying the racing patterns of other top runners. He understands sports nutrition as well as anyone on the crew and is a great athlete to boot. Most importantly, he is a great friend and having paced me at Badwater and other ultra events previously, I was more than willing to trust him to pace me well and keep me moving towards my goal.

The miles seemed to fly by like magic. Nick and Kevin manned the crew van, putting a smile on my face while they bumped the tunes every time they went by. They would even stop to dance at some points, It was mostly hits from the 80s and 90s like “Living On A Prayer”, but I was hardly complaining. I let Pete handle all the exchanges of water, GU or any food and instead focused completely on the road. Pete would simply hand me what he wanted me to eat at the correct time intervals. I was also continuing to go without the ice towels around the neck or ice in the cap, hoping to forego the need for major cooling until we were close to Lone Pine. Not having to slow to allow the changing of caps or the towel to go around the neck kept me in a constant rhythm. The only major adjustment I made was to get rid of the windbreaker after the first 5 miles, having warmed up sufficiently.

About 6 or 7 miles into the section, Pete mentioned that we were doing sub-10:00 min/mile and asked me if I wanted to slow down. I replied, “Nope. Let’s keep this train moving”. I knew the terrain would naturally slow at various points during the long run to Lone Pine, but I wanted to take advantage of this “Free Speed” I had in front of me. Right around this time, I remember being amazed that we were actually “doing it”; that we could actually come in with a plan and see it unfold as we had planned. I also felt invigorated, like I was part of this other race; the competitive race. It created this atmosphere that seemed to feed my running right now. Even though I was also going after this time goal, I was now chasing something more than just a ghost.

The road snakes through an open, desolate plateau marked by random gravesite markers. Eventually, it drops down through narrow openings in the hillside to a dry lake and the town of Keeler below. The narrow openings are not natural and were probably blasted open with TNT many years ago to create a more gradual downhill grade for the roadway.
It is in this section around the 100 mile mark that the road swings up and down much more, requiring the runner to get sufficient momentum on the down swings before powering back up again. I called out to Pete, “There’s Burberry Hill”, which was important for two reasons. One, it was a section Pete had named Burberry Hill after my wife’s love of Burberry purses. Two, it meant we were fast approaching mile 100 and the big 3 to 4 mile drop towards the flats just before Keeler.

Every time we ramped back up a rise, Pete would remind me, “Swing your arms”. It got to the point where I would try and pre-empt him, calling out, “Swing the arms” just as the rises began. Kevin and Nick continued to jam in the crew vehicle, keeping everything loose out there while. They even took photographs of me taking a short minute to squat to go Number 2 next to the roadway, which we all laughed at together.

We passed the 100 mile marker a little before 6:00 AM with almost 22 hours elapsed in the race. Once through the narrow opening in the hillside, the view opens up to Owens Dry Lake and Keeler in the distance. This is by far one of the cruelest views of the race, with Keller still over 6 miles away and Mt. Whitney far off in the distance. You tell yourself you’re still an hour away and yet your eyes make it seem like it’s 20 minutes away. Every mile you travel seems like a waste of time when it seems like you’re still 20 minutes away. Hurry up and get there already!

What then transpired around mile 102 was by far the one thing I never expected to happen. About a half-mile in the distance, there was Jorge Pacheco walking with his pacer. Jorge Pacheco?!?!?! The defending champion?!?!??! The one everyone expected would make a run at the record. Granted, he was still 2 hours ahead of me based on his start time. Still, it was a bit shocking to say the least. Then off a half-mile to a mile further down on the next rolling rise in front of Jorge was a runner that looked like Jamie.

Off to the shoulder, Kevin and Nick were parked a quarter mile short of where Jorge was running. Just off to the side and out of view, Kevin was jumping up and down wildly which brought a short-lived smile to my face. I don’t take pleasure in anyone’s misfortune, but I think having seen me struggle before and to see me running so strong at that moment, it reinforced how far I had come from races past and how much more I was starting to enjoy being part of the “other race”.

As we passed by Jorge, I gave him a fist bump and tried to encourage him. “It’s all good. We all have bad days. Keep moving.” Shortly thereafter, I passed by Jorge’s crew van saying hello to an ultra running friend, Jimmy Freeman, who was crewing for Jorge and was now encouraging me to keep running strong. I acknowledged him with a short word and smile while continuing onward. After that, I was gone with my eyes fixed forward and no turning back.

Upon reaching the bottom of the hill and the main intersection of the 190 freeway and the 138 freeway, there was still 4 miles of flats and gradual uphill to go until Keeler. About a mile out, I stopped to walk briefly and get my bearings straight. Pete and I were continuing to plug away, even if our eyes continued to tantalize us with thoughts of being closer. Even with all the downhill portions of the last section, the uphills and a couple brief “nature breaks” had taken enough time that I still needed to average 13 minute miles the rest of the way to Keeler.

Once past Keeler, there is a gradual rise and fall before hugging the hills to the east going northward towards Lone Pine. Nick and Kevin went back to Lone Pine to get ready for the final climb while the other guys came back on to run the crew vehicle. As we started this final section towards Lone Pine, the back of my heels started throbbing more and more. I reached down to try and get what I imagined was a pebble at the back of each foot. What I got was a layer of dead skin from broken blisters. My shoe laces had been a bit loose for much of the race to accommodate for any foot swelling, which left small gaps between the back of the heel and the back of my shoes. While it made for a more comfortable ride, it also created a situation where sliding in the shoe was bound to cause some friction at the back of the heel and at the front of the toes. The front of the toes were fine for the time being, although I did feel some pressure on top of my right little toe. You often don’t think about this type of pain for a great majority of the race when you are concerned with everything else going on. But with the pressure on and the pain somewhat amplified, it’s hard to ignore from both a physical and mental standpoint.

This was really the beginning of this 14.5 mile section that was turning into a grind. I alternated between a brisk walk and running. Pete kept imploring me to dig deep and reminding me that I would have to keep moving quickly if I was to have any shot at a sub-30 hour finish. There was little humor and very little smiling with so much at stake. I kept moving briskly, but suffered from lapses in my physical and mental fortitude. Once, I insisted Pete pop the blister on my right small toe due to the discomfort even though it was clear he wanted me to keep pushing and keep moving. That was a few minutes there that I could ill-afford to lose.

The first 9 miles lacked the ferocious headwinds of previous years, allowing me to keep moving at around a 11:00 min/mile to 12:00 min/mile pace. You could see the direction of the headwinds by looking at the nearby grasslands. At times I surged in response to coming up to the crew. With the time now past 8:00 AM and the temperatures expected to hit 100 degrees F in Lone Pine, the crew once again started giving me ice towels. Although I accepted, I also limited the frequency of changing the towels to keep my momentum moving as much as possible. Also, with us running low on my tried and true Chocolate GUs, they sprinkled in some other more fruity flavors much to my dislike.

This was another road which appears to have no end, although at some point 9 miles into this section, you take a 90 degree turn towards large rolling flats and the main freeway running through Lone Pine. I could finally see the turn up ahead although we had another 3 miles to get there. Pushing and pushing, all I wanted was to make the turn. The mind games played by every false summit, false turn or false ending can cause a man to go insane. All I was focused on was that turn, using the crew van which would go ahead 1 mile after each stop as a gauge for the exact distance. Cars and big rigs kept whizzing by to run supplies out to crew vans, go back to one of the small outposts or simply passing through Death Valley. Each pass brought with it the residual blow back from the displaced air that would’ve knocked my hat off if I wasn’t holding on to it each time.

Once we reached the turn, Pete just kept pounding into my head that I had to keep moving. I knew that every rise and every downhill was getting me that much closer. Find the crew van, make it to the crew van, and then repeat. I was dejected that it was already 9:30 PM and we still had over 4 miles to go, but Pete kept me moving. 3 miles, “There’s the freeway”. 2 miles, “Time to make the turn onto the 395.” Once on the 395, we alternated between walking and running with the camber of the roadway slanted at a 45 degree angle for the first mile of the home stretch. Once on the sidewalk, we started jogging once again, cruising towards the Dow Villa, and finally the Lone Pine time station. I could see Uncle Andy up ahead; I was dejected and relieved. Don Meyer was out in front waiting for me with his familiar yell for every runner that passes by: “Elite runner coming in”.

Unaware of my elapsed time, I was finally told that we arrived at 10:19 AM, or 26 hours, 19 minutes elapsed. Honestly, I was a bit shocked by this expecting that the intermittent walking had knocked me down time-wise a little harder. I kept apologizing to the crew profusely, my head drooped somewhat from the total exhaustion I was feeling and the feeling that I had let them down. I even apologized to Pete who had been pushing me so hard. Pete responded, “Are you kidding? I’m so proud of you.” The rest of the crew responded in kind, letting me rest with Wilfred stopping across the street at McDonald’s to bring me back a few fries.

The irony of my apologizes was that in reality, I actually still had a shot at going sub-30 hours considering a 3 hour, 30 minute final 12.1 mile climb was not out of the question. After a 12 minute break last year, I climbed it in almost 3 hours, 45 minutes. But at this point, I was completely beat and was unable to muster the mental or physical strength to keep going at that kind of pace. My uncle let me know, “Hey, just go at your own pace.”

After 20 minutes of lounging and trying to get un-sore, I finally headed out slowly with Kevin at my side. We began at a walking pace, making the turn half a block from the Dow Villa Motel and onto Whitney Portal road. It was hard to get my legs going again; sometimes a break can re-energize you and sometimes it only compounds the soreness in your muscles. This time, it was the latter which let me know right then and there that this would be a long walk up. Unlike last year, where I had Dave Horner racing near me to push me faster up the hill, there was very little company around. I walked, pulling my broken body towards a finish.

About a mile into the climb on the initial flat section of the road, I pulled over to do a “Number 2”. After finishing, I felt a queasy feeling in my stomach. Before I could go any further, I hunched over in a squat and puked the McDonald’s fries. Some how, extra grease and fat didn’t seem to sit to well at that moment. I followed it up with a few dry heaves before pulling myself upright to begin moving slowly again. At that point, it just merely exhaustion rather than a full-on revolt by my body. I would have to slowly rebuild my electrolytes and put some calories in me, but even that was a bit painful. I wouldn’t eat my staple of Lay’s potato chips because my mouth was incredibly dry, the GU didn’t appeal to me a whole lot and the bananas were causing me to use Nature’s Restroom too much for such a small section of the race.

The rest of the climb was predictably slow and a bit painful at times. If I had been climbing as usual, no one would have passed me. But on this day, I saw a few of 10:00 AM starters from Pam Reed to Jorge Pacheco (again). I didn’t care too much in the moment. I tried to follow on their coattails as they went by to power walk faster and even jog, but it was often too brief to make a negligible difference. A parade of crew members assisted in pacing me at various points: Kevin, Nick, Mike, Uncle Andy and finally Wilfred. They continued to remind me of what a great race we were having, but I was having none of it. I just wanted to end. About the only thing keeping me going was the electrolyte water, the Enlyten Energy strips and a little bit of heart. The crew seemed ecstatic to be finishing early on Tuesday and kept great attitudes and more great music playing on the way up to Mt. Whitney Portal.

I had no watch on, but I clearly recognized all the physical landmarks of where the finish line was. With 2.5 miles to go, I picked up the walking pace to a relatively brisk 18:00 min/mile pace for a few minutes before dropping down slightly. I knew we’d be slightly over 31 hours, but just wanted it all to end. After the final switchback, I put a little smile on my face and little more effort into my feet. The finish line approached and everyone on the crew joined me for the final 200 ft. “sprint”. I was able to put some more pep in my feet and break out into a jog before finally crossing the finish line at 1:33 PM on Tuesday, 31 hours and 33 minutes after we started. It felt good to be back.

Maybe if I hadn’t stopped at Lone Pine, I would’ve regained my composure and broken that tape in under 30 hours. Heck, what if I hadn’t lost 2 months of training to shin splints? My crew put in such a tremendous team effort and made me feel like I had nothing else to worry about except running. Who knows? They might as well call any 100+ mile race the “What If?” Ultra marathon since races that long often leave you with as many things to nitpick about what you did wrong as they do answers about what you did right. I lost a few places during that final climb, but it didn’t matter much. I will still probably look back at this race and remember how incredibly lucid and physically together I was. I will remember that most of the places that had haunted me in the past became merely points on the road on the way to my destination this year. It made me believe that so much more is possible for my ultra racing if I can keep running with the kind of discipline I was able to maintain. 5 hours is still a very nice improvement, even if I’m still left with the feeling that there remains unfinished business. We’ve improved every single year and if I do it again, I intend to see us take an even bigger leap forward. I do know that if I run this race again, there will be no more stopping at Lone Pine. There will be no more lagging after Keeler. There will be no more stopping at Darwin. There will be a smaller break at Panamint Springs. I will be faster up Townes Pass and faster through the Valley. I will be 5 lbs. lighter than this year. There will be no lingering weaknesses mental, physical or spiritual left not dealt with. I will pray more, run more, train more and raise more for Uganda. Ora Et Labora, meaning “Pray and Work”. If I run this race again, I already know what my goal will be and what my ultimate goal will be. But that I’ll keep to myself because sometimes my goals aren’t God’s goals. The most important goal is to represent God well so that at the end of the day it can be said, “Job Well, Done”. For now, I leave you with this small memoir of my experiences….Time to exorcise some more memories at Angeles Crest.

Angel Island 50k and beyond

2009-07-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks, especially with June a prime training month for me. Having set it as a month to really drive home my training, I've spent a lot more time out on the trails and roads than in front of the computer. It's been good to focus on those things and I've been blessed to have been given that space by my new wife. The Badwater Ultramarathon has always been the #1 focus of this training, and this year it's no different. 2 years ago, I ran the Angel Island 50k as a way to tune up a week before the Badwater. This year, it was 3 weeks before, which gave me the perfect opportunity to race harder (but not all out) and get the kind of quality 50k workout that I needed at this time.

So, on June 20th, I went out to the Island. I didn't have a Garmin on during the race, but the rough split came out to 2:03 1/2 in the first half (all 3 loops) and 2:22 in the second half (all 3 loops again) for a 4:25:XX finish which was good for 5th place overall. While the overall place doesn't matter, what does matter is that I ran a 4:53:XX two years ago. With a comparable effort for this tune-up "training" race at 85%, I was able to shave 28 minutes off of my time. Although it's one of the tamer Pacific Coast Trail Runs' courses with a little over 4000' ft. of gain, it was still a nice race. Most importantly, I felt spry and strong and didn't suffer from the "fade". While I would've liked to have held on for 4th, it is what it is. I appreciated the nice, warm day and had a good run to boot.

Overall, in spite of not going all out, I think the time reflected a couple of good omens going into Badwater. #1) Weight-loss does make a difference, particularly when it comes to climbing. Right now, I'm hovering a touch above 170 which is excellent. I was 181 (with shoes) at the start of last year's Badwater and probably a comparable weight for the race in 2007. I will probably end up around 169-170 before race day, which makes a huge difference as far as the pounding my body will take over 135 miles. #2) My general fitness is better. I wouldn't have necessarily said this a month before this race, but the proof is in the pudding. I felt relaxed and kept my focus on my goal coming in of a sub-4:30 race the entire time. People would pass or be passed regardless.

Now on to bigger fish to fry. With Badwater in less than 2 weeks, I've been pleased that I will end up with 400+ miles in the month like I had hoped. Most importantly, I've gotten the 100 miler under my belt, ran a good 50k trainer, and kept my running and diet consistently good. My eyes are still on that sub-30 goal that I had at the beginning of the year, but now that the physical taper is on, I'm working with my crew chief to make sure our pacing plans fit with our goals and my current strengths.

Two other things: 1) I just added a Twitter page, so check that out if you please. 2) I'm working on adding a Spot Messenger to friends and family can track my crew's location (and by proxy, mine) via GPS on Google Maps. When I have that info, I'll give it to everyone before the race. I'll have a friend back home Twitter the updates on how we're doing and what's going on.

I am excited for this race! Also, if you get the chance, please consider giving to support the Wells in Uganda project. Go to http://www.seegundyrun.com/ and click on the ChipIn icon on the right hand side of the screen. I will hopefully have big news to report on supporting this project in the next week, with some charity runs in the works and some other possible tie-ins. Fundraising's been slow, but we've been blessed generously by a few folks in particular. We'll just keep trucking away through the summer to hit the goal.

If you want to follow the race, go to http://www.badwater.com/2009web/index.html or you can track me at http://dbase.adventurecorps.com/individualTd.php?e=2037

God bless and see you all on the other side of this race.

Gundy

June- San Diego done and Badwater Approaching

2009-06-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Hey,
Sorry I haven’t written in awhile. Going on a honeymoon and planning a wedding will tend to make things rather busy. In the beginning of May, I finally kicked the shin splints that had plagued me for 2 months. Of course, this happens as I’m getting ready for a wedding. Fortunately, I was able to get some running in before the wedding and even on the honeymoon. The island that we were on in Fiji (Matamanoa) had a trail that ran the length of 1 mile from one end to the other. It was pretty much two large hills without any real straight terrain. I would run “Island Repeats” back and forth in the mornings for an hour after breakfast. In New Zealand, I ran with my childhood friend Tim Gibb in a local park that surrounded a lagoon. While the distances were 4-6 miles at a time, it did help get my body back into the swing of things. When I returned, it was 1 week before the San Diego 100, which I intended as a benchmark of my fitness. I want to make sure that June is filled with 100+ mile weeks before a week and a half taper to Badwater.

The San Diego 100 was really a tale of two races. On the one hand, I ran a very relaxed 9:29 first half. After a 9 minute break, I came back into mile 70 at 13:50 still feeling relaxed and confident as the sun set and darkness approached. On the other hand, the last 30 miles were a tale of how to simply grind it out. The section from mile 70-76 was a slog fest. After a 10 minute break to prepare for the night time weather, I didn’t realize it heading out, but an insufficient light from my headlamp made seeing through the thick grasses below a challenge. On several occasions, I knocked my feet into rocks and stabilizing logs on the dirt pathway. I was slowed to a crawl on the rockiest sections, leaning backward for fear that in the fog that one wrong step could lead to a faceplant. A 1:52 for that section was just the beginning. The slow pace cooled my body down, giving me the shivers that mentally started to challenge me. I broke for 30+ minutes, and that was the end of my 20 hour pursuit. The rest of the night was filled with freezing rain, a heavy mist that gave me less than a few feet of visibility for significant distances, and a mental outlook that was more focused on just getting through. 25 hours after I started, I finished. While it’s easy to look at the final 30 and see some level of failure, I think the value of that 30 miles will bear itself out at Badwater.

Ultrarunners are always searching for that mental toughness that will allow them to “flip the switch” and turn it on even in the darkest of circumstances. We expect the worst to happen, but we also expect the best of what we have to offer to come out. Being able to fully experience the kind of sleep deprevation and mental darkness that comes with an experience like I had in San Diego this year will only help me when I’m struggling in the middle of the race to get over the pleateau and turn on the jets from Darwin to Lone Pine. Putting the full 100 miles on my legs will help to boost my training and help me make June the kind of month I’ve needed for awhile to have an A level performance at Badwater this year. It’s been an awkward year with the training sporadic due to the shin splints and other circumstances, but I’d like to think that by forcing me to switch it up, I will come into this year’s race a little bit fresher. My steely focus is firmly fixed exactly where it needs to be. With this experience to fuel me and the full support of my crew behind me, I’m still eyeing a sub-30 hour finish even with a few hiccups this year (which are to be expected and planned for). We're also getting a Spot Messenger so you can track us online in real time where I am at. More details to follow next update.

I’m back and I’m looking forward to a great month training with my crew and baking in the sauna again. I’m also looking forward to building some more wells in Uganda. I’m trying to negotiate with a company to make financially supporting the wells a more regular thing for them. Stay tuned. Be sure to donate if you can on the website, www.seegundyrun.com. Saving the lives of those who can never repay you is always a good thing.

God bless,
Gundy

Time to Meet El Diablo, 2009 edition

2009-04-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

After agonizing over this decision and 5 weeks of torturous shin splint pain since Napa, I've decided to run the Diablo 50. Although I lament the training time lost, I also know that with the base I developed in January through early March, I should be ok fitness-wise. What I really want to know is where I'm at based upon where I want to be. With my hybrid approach to training (ultra endurance with marathon speed work), I have a number of key targets to hit in the marathon and San Diego 100 to try to give me a better read on meeting my goals for Badwater. I feel good about making an attempt at Diablo and hopefully if there is any discomfort, it won't be too bad and it won't be related to this recent injury. I'm really not sure exactly where this injury came from, but I've looked at everything from shoes to stretching to muscles imbalance to muscle tears. I have never been injured like this in a long time and hopefully won't have to deal with it again. The biggest loss hasn't been the exercise since there are other ways I've been trying to do it (elliptical/bike/etc.). No, the biggest loss has been the stress relief; I've been more tired and more stressed without an appropriate physical outlet. Although I've tamed my expectations for this race, I will nevertheless push it if I feel good and the opportunity presents itself. I hope to show enough discipline over the first half of the race to put myself in good standing to finish strong.

And as a quick reminder once again, we're raising $18,000 to build 6 wells in Uganda to serve over 7,000 people. If you can help, go to http://seegundyrun.com/How_To_Give.html. Please help if you can! :)

Wish you all the best and God bless,
Gundy

Update in a Paragraph

2009-03-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in while so here's a brief summary of the last month and a half in a paragraph. Rocky Raccoon was a tough one, with a 9:30ish split through 60 and feeling good. A badly sprained knee and some general discomfort led to a final finish at 20:14. Tough, but I still believe that my yearly goals are still in sight. My speed felt very comfortable and in good condition leading towards the San Diego 100 on June 6th. The Napa Marathon was a pretty smooth race through a steady and somewhat heavy rainfall. It was a bit slower than I was tracking at in training (3:02 vs. 2:56 based on training bases) but a solid, disciplined effort in less than ideal conditions. I am incorporating heavy doses of tempo and interval work into my training over the next 3 months, so that I continue to build my marathon capability to stay on target for my yearly goal in the marathon. Oh, and I got accepted to run Badwater again. So I'll be using the Diablo 50, Quicksilver 50 and the San Diego 100 as precursors to the race. What can I say.....I'm just praying that my training and my experience will take me over the top this year. Discipline, as always in this sport, is the key so that in the last 1/2 of these races I can let it ride. And one final thing, we're raising $18,000 to build 6 wells in Uganda to serve over 7,000 people. If you can help, go to http://seegundyrun.com/How_To_Give.html

Gundy

It's been awhile

2009-03-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ahh.....blogging has taken a back seat for awhile, but I'll be back at the end of the week! When you run a lot, sometimes it's hard to take time to blog as much as I'd like.

Heading to Texas to tackle the Raccoon

2009-02-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

Time to round ‘em up and head to Texas!

It’s time to head to Texas for the Rocky Raccoon 100 in 3 days, so I figured it was time to write something new on this site/blog. Life is good right now….in fact, life is always good. It’s already 1 weeks into 2009 and the season is getting underway. I’m sure, like most runners, January is dedicated to getting back into the swing of things. I do a number of what I like to call “for the love of it” runs, focusing less on pace and more on simply enjoying being out there. For most of January, I spent Saturday morning/early afternoon enjoying the trails of the Marin Headlands and Mt. Tamalpais area. On a couple of the runs, the idea was to keep approximately the same pace I wanted to run at RR. On another one of the runs, I was just out there to enjoy nature and getting a gang-load of miles. My runs went 32, 42, 30 and 30 miles respectively.

I reduced my running workload, with tempo runs thrown in, during the week so that I would go into each of these long runs with a little bit of a fresher body. It really helped and the times/mileage for those long training runs is a nice confidence boost going into the race on Saturday. My weekly mileages in January peaked at 85. While my mileage this week should top 130 (with the race on Saturday included), I plan on focusing this week as well as the following 2 weeks on intense speed/tempo training with 80 mile weeks in the cue to get primed for the Napa Marathon.

As far as the race on Saturday is concerned, I have probably the same worries as everyone else. As always, the biggest concern will be nausea induced by electrolyte imbalance and/or dehydration. One reason why I focused on making sure I got those long runs in, especially that 42 miler, was to come into this race with a measure of confidence in my hydration and fueling strategy. During most of those runs, I mixed in GU and eGel(Crank) with trail mix and bananas. One of the reasons my run at Mother Road 100 in November was going so well was probably due to using almost all solid foods. While this course doesn’t lend itself to the easy exchange of supplies possible at Mother Road (which was an open road race with a small trail section), I do plan on going to the Costco and picking up a bunch of bananas, trail mix packs, and mini-chip packages.

During the race, I plan on quicker first loop with the slowest being loops 2 &3. After that, I’m just hoping I have enough in the tank to take to get around/close to first lap time for the rest of the race. While I’m flexible on this depending on how I feel, this is definitely how I think it’ll shake out best. The goal is sub-17 with flexibility to go down further if its warranted or adjust up if necessary. As always, I’ll constantly evaluate where I’m at and go from there.

Of the other competitors, I’m probably most excited to see Jamie Donaldson again. Having raced with her twice at Badwater, it’ll be nice to see her out on the trails. She’s definitely a dynamic racer who races in the mold of a Scott Jurek, patient and deliberate in her approach to a race. Her race this past year at Badwater was eerily reminiscent of Scott’s 2005 Badwater, finally moving into 1st position with 1/3 of the race left to go. That patient approach is what is so hard to come by, particularly in a race like Rocky which almost lures you in to the “go for broke from the start” mentality.

I met her for the first time prior to the 07’ Badwater and was pretty shocked that she had seen the Google video of my team’s race in 2006. Sometimes when you post things there or on YouTube, you automatically assume that no one really looks at that stuff. Of course, she ended up become an internet ultrarunning phenomenon not only because of her talent, but also her perserverance in the 07’ race to continue up the Mt. Whitney portal climb with debilitating shin spints. It’s that commitment and perservering spirit that we all strive for in this sport and makes it pleasure to see her wherever our paths may cross.

I'm still figuring out the fundraising program and how that's going to work, but when I get it together, I'll be sure to post all about it both here and at my website. I’m pretty excited about this race to set the year off on the right foot, literally and figuratively. I’m sure that echoes the thoughts of most people when it comes to that first race of 09’. It’s time to pack up, toe the line and get moving. Time to let it ride….

God bless,
Gundy

2009: New Year and New Challenges

2009-01-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

Hello, 2009!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s a new year. I’m pretty excited going in to this year considering how 2008 ended. I’ve been giving my body a chance to recoup while spending time both in the gym and out on the trail. I did a 50k at Rodeo Beach at about 70% at the end of December as a training run to get myself jump started for training for 09’. Overall, I’m primed and ready to go. I set a few goals/resolutions for 09’ which include the following:

1) Raise $18,000 for development programs with WHM in Uganda
2) Run sub-30 hours at Badwater (if accepted)
3) Get weight down to 169 lb. by the Napa Marathon and maintain that weight
4) Run sub-2:50 marathon by the end of 09’
5) Run sub-18 hours 100 miler
6) Finish top 5 at a 100 miler

Some of them are probably easier than others, but I’m not afraid to put it out there and let it ride. I’m not afraid to fail and realize success is never guaranteed. However, considering what a good ending to 08’ with Mother Road 100 and CIM, I feel really good going into 09’. I hope to go out there and exceed my expectations for myself. I’m trying to stay away from the “A” goal, “B” goal and “C” goal stuff, because I find that for me, if I get too caught up in it I sometimes settle for less than I should. I know the “top x” goals are more dependent on who’s running and how they’re running, but since I hate to nail in on an exact time right now, they correspond to about the goal times I’m looking at. Placing is one of those things takes care of itself as long as I take care of the running part. While I’d love to far exceed those goals and I train with targets beyond those goals, they represent excellent physical, mental and spiritual tests. Of course, the most important goal is always listed at #1. Here’s to all of us going far beyond our expectations in all the areas of our life in 2009 and to the people and things that God has placed in our lives to help us get there.

God bless,
Gundy

2008 California International Marathon (CIM) Race Report

2008-12-15T23:54:00.000-08:00

So here it is. My CIM race report: From Folsom to Sacramento.

I was looking forward to getting back to the road, having spent a good deal of my year on the trails. CIM was a way to help bridge the training time between November to Rocky Raccoon 100 in February. I like to race, and had been yearning for the opportunity to get that sub-3 at this marathon as evidence that I’d be ready to take another big step forward in my ultramarathon racing. People seem to have this impression that if you run ultramarathons, you will automatically lose your marathon speed. But, I’ve used a hybrid approach to training, combining the core elements of road marathon training with the longer, course-specific runs of trail running. As I’ve progressed in running ultramarathons over the past 3 years, I’ve found that my speed has been developing in part due to the muscular strength required to run the ultra distances. While admittedly most all of the marathons I’ve run over the past 3 years have been either with others (as a part of their goal races) or not at 100%, each year I’ve been able to run one goal race and continue to drop my personal best in the marathon. CIM has been “that race”, as much for its place on the calendar and proximity to San Francisco than anything about the course profile. I try to choose races for a variety of reasons, but I must admit that sometimes it’s fun to find a course where you can turn and burn.

Going into this race, I had been dealing with soreness and tightness in my right hamstring for over a month. Running the Mother Road 100 had actually helped to loosen it up and stretch it out, but it still persisted at highest intensity effort. The 4 weeks of training were not much to write home about and I wouldn’t have even gone for sub-3 if it wasn’t for a couple of key marathon pace runs in the two weeks prior to the race. I’m not too much of an advocate for the taper, so I did my traditional week long taper. What can I say? I like to run and find that my body is looser and more ready to go with the shorter taper than most marathoners.

In effort to skip the details that often clutter a good story, let’s skip straight to the race. With a cool 36 degrees F start and mid-40s F high temperature, it was a great day to race. While slightly lower than the “ideal” 50 to 58 degrees F, it didn’t matter in light of the awesome cloud cover and spirited crowds that gathered at strategic intersections.

Here it is:
0-13.1 1:28:20 (Chip)
13.1-End 1:32:12 (Chip)
Final 3:00:32

Honestly, I didn’t pay too much attention to splits, especially since course topography can vary between miles. The volunteers kept calling out 6:47 pace, which sounded good to me. In a race that was a wild-card as far as performance, I just paid attention to how I was feeling and making sure that I put out “even effort”. It helped to have the 3 hour pacing group nearby to pal around with for the first 9-10 miles. I spent the next 10 miles going back and forth with a running friend, before he faded back and I spent the rest of the race trading places with individual runners. I maintained that lead on the ever-thinning sub-3 hour group till 23+ miles. Having a time advantage on the group by 25 seconds, I had planned for a slight fade. But with the hamstrings tightening up, it took just enough off my closing speed before a final finish of 3:00:32. While a little disappointed I didn’t drop the opening half by about a minute considering how fresh I felt, I had no reason to be disappointed with being 33 seconds off of a predicted 2:59:59 finish. It just felt nice to run a good PR and set it up well for a killer 09’.

Of my two remaining goals for the year, a sub-3 marathon represented the greater prize. It represented an increase in marathon speed that most don’t associate with runners who dabble in ultramarathons. I still have longer term goals for the marathon and it holds a place in heart as the place where all this running stuff began. I believe that to the contrary, the road and trail ultras have made me stronger due to the emphasis on climbing and downhill running, as well as the persistent mental/physical effort that one is forced to endure.

I’ve targeted getting to 2:50:xx as a sort of standard-bearer to have the right combination of speed and endurance to fully compete at the 100+ mile distance. I have the endurance; now, I just want to add the necessary speed to support that strength. While I believe that may take until sometime in 2009, I believe it can be done with the right combination of weight loss and intense training. I have always run at around 180 and believe this is the year to reshape my body at around 169 to compete effectively. It’s been a long process to lose the weight/muscle that has served me well in many other athletic pursuits, but necessary at this key juncture if I want to compete as a runner more than just an athlete. This has meant trying have appetite control in the face of pretty darn good-looking holiday meals! It is often quoted that each pound lost equates to 2 seconds per mile; hopefully, I will lose the weight in a way that will not compromise the necessary power and speed. At least my knees will thank me for not having to carry as much of “me” as they usually do.

Going forward, I feel great going into next year. 3:00:32 is good, but not good enough. I’ve set the bar for a sub-2:53 “A” goal and 2:54 “B” goal at the Napa Marathon on March 1, 2009. In addition, I have started to formulate goals for the Rocky Raccon 100 in Huntsville, TX in Feb. of 09’ (don’t want to state them quite yet!). Most importantly, I’m already at 175 lbs. and hope to work my way to that ideal 169 lbs. by mid to late February. I can say with certainty that I have my eye on applying for Badwater again in 2009 as my “A” race, which will make it an incredibly busy year in general. I will do whatever it takes to make myself faster, stronger and tougher. Even in this rainy season in the Bay Area, I will find a way to make it to the track or the roads or the trails to do whatever I need. After the Napa marathon, Uncle Andy has already formulated a training plan which will include 10 x 1 mile hill repeats up Twin Peaks in San Francisco and Mt. Tamalpais twice a week in order to prepare for both the climbs at Badwater as well as the climbs at many 100 milers.

As the year winds down, I’ll be setting my other goals for 2009 in the next couple weeks as I set my race schedule for next year. I’ll also be setting goals for fundraising for a new set of projects in Uganda. I am thankful that my running can be a powerful witness to my character and support the work holds the highest place in my heart. Good times are ahead. Merry Christmas and God bless,

Gundy

Mother Road 100 Race Report

2008-11-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve written a full-fledged race report. I know this is a trail running forum, but I figured since there's been a couple other threads on this race, I might as well post. I’ve actually been focused on writing a book proposal for a publisher in my free time, which is humorous considering the likelihood that I could ever get a book published is very small. In fact, when they ask for qualifications, one of the ones listed will be “Runner’s World Forum- Contributor”. This report will be more of a short synopsis rather than a griping tale of triumph and despair, simply because I don’t have the time to create that sort of intrigue….so here goes nothing.After getting patience beaten into me in a few of my recent 100 milers, it was time for a different tack. Going into the Mother Road 100, there was both a lot of anxiety as well as a lot of excitement that this would be a “corner-turning” race. Looking at the race profile and being aware of the general topography of Route 66, I expected this race to be flat at times, but mostly rolling from peak to peak. The first 10-15 miles of the race were rather uneventful, marked by random oil rigs, American trucks whizzing by, and miles of open fields. The most exciting thing were probably the police cruisers that were escorting us out of Elk City. In a marathon, the only one with a police escort is generally the leader. In this case, the entire field followed behind the cruisers. I cruised through the 16.4 mile mark at 2:20:xx, having already intentially started the process of slowing down to 9:00+ min./miles. I was in 6th place at this point, enjoying the fact that I was in a very nice position where I could continue to run alone but maintain a comfortable pace going forward.The first major checkpoint was at mile 30.5 at the Route 66 Museum. Reaching the museum in 4:22:xx, I needed a short break to let my body settle down. Over the last 5-6 miles, I could feel myself start to strain to maintain focus and my posture began to suffer as my stomach began to sour slightly. It was too early to let this race slip away from me when we had so far to go and had already positioned ourselves well, moving from 6th to 2nd from the last checkpoint. We made a concerted effort to not use gels during this race, and stick with solid foods as long as I could take it. Keeping things simple, I pretty much only ate Lays chips, ginger snap cookies and bananas. Every once in awhile, I’d stick in a sugar wafer or different kind of chips/cookies. While I primarily only drank NUUN mixed in water, we also added Propel and G2 at times to add some sweetness. As distances increase, my tolerance for various types of food decreases. This decision was partially aided by Northwest Airlines, who conveniently misplaced my second piece of luggage with a few extra clothing items and all of my GUs. Northwest would eventual return the luggage, a day AFTER I returned home. At various times, I even allowed my mind and eyes to wander, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of the Midwest plains. There is quite a bit of history attached to Route 66, and it was great to have an opportunity to take it all in. This included, among other things, copious amounts of road kill. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that Route 66 was still an active road. Over the next 10 miles, the incessant rolling roads continued, broken only by the need to go over (or under) the overpass over Interstate 40. Route 66 often paralleled I-40 for a great deal of the first half of the race. With the aid stations often 10+ miles apart, I would sit in the crew vehicle at times when the sun exposure started to bear down on me. It was taking its toll, but the rest minutes were crucial to keeping me mentally engaged while waiting for the body to “turn the corner”.It was around mile 41-42 that I could feel my body and my pace strengthen once again. I was starting to hold the 10:00 min per mile pace again, intermittently dropping under it for shorter stretches. I was continuing to take advantage of the rolling hills by going down them at or below 9:00 min per mile pace and taking it easier of the ascent. I would throw in 1 min walking times going uphill to take in nutrition before starting up again to give me added momentum on the downhills. I was still holding onto 5th place and although 6th place kept trying to close the gap, I would continue to maintain it through the 50 mile checkpoint. Just before the 50 mile checkpoint, I could see 4th and 3rd place in the distance but chose not to go after them. Instead, I was focused on using the walking breaks to keep my legs fresh in anticipation of strong close over the last 1/3 of the race.After coasting in at around 8:16 to the 50 mile mark, I took 6 minutes to regroup and drink 2 cups of chicken broth. The nutrients and high sodium content hit the spot, tipping the electrolyte and energy scale back into balance. The result of this was a renewed sense of purpose and mission, as well as a more upright running posture signaling that not only was I back in the driver’s seat, but that the engine was just getting warmed up. Only a half-mile out of the aid station, the 4th place competitor was crossing the road to get back out on the course after being tended to by his crew. He looked dazed and unsure of himself, with his head wandering and his legs moving gingerly while trying to run again. I greeted him warmly, wished him well and just kept on moving. Another mile down the road, I could see the 3rd place competitor cresting the next hill as I began down the hill I was on. While the ups and downs were somewhat scattered, these hills were much more uniform in length (anywhere from 2/3 to 1 mile, I think) had a clear rythym to them. The most important thing at that point was developing a strong rythym in order to maintain the 10:00 per mile pace through the rest of the race. I continued to see sub-17 hours as a very real possibility, choosing to focus on my time rather than placing, which would ultimately take care of itself. Passing people was the least of my concerns when an epic blow-up could be lurking in the distance. After catching up with the 3rd place competitor around mile 53, we seemed to change positions back and forth with some measure of frequency. He continued to try to run all sections, while I took a different tack. I would run the downhills at a sub 9:00 to 9:30 min. per mile clip, but I would always give myself a minute of walking about half way up the uphill sections. This allowed me to use some different muscle groups, clear my head and even munch on some food without sacrificing time towards my ultimate goal. I was also believed this would allow me to save muscle strength to significantly drop my pace over the last 10-20 miles. In addition, I was also taking short periods to put on colder weather clothing, keep taking in solid food, and even spend a minute or two in the crew vehicle getting warm. We continued to go back and forth until finally around mile 62.5, I took off for the last time. I was too physically strong to continue holding back and I had grown tired of hanging around him. In no way did it reflect any enmity towards the other runner; it was merely a way to give myself a psychological edge in order to finish strong. By mile 67.5, the gap had grown to 0.75 miles and I just kept pushing forward. The volunteers at the 67.3 mile aid station pegged me at well over 20 minutes behind 2nd place and even further behind 1st place, which kept me solely focused on the sub-17:00 hour race goal and not on the two runners in front of me.After polishing off a strong section with a 9:10 final mile, I arrived at the 73 mile aid station surprised to see the flashing lights of the 2nd place runner in the distance. Things were rolling along quite nicely. After a cup of hot potato soup and putting on more cold weather gear, I was off on my own on the 6 mile off-road dirt section of the course that gave me the isolated feeling of being in “Sleepy Hollow”. The section has a decent amount of foliage, which creates a sort of “tunnel-like” feeling with no end in sight. Away from the concrete, the weather shifted and with some wicked winds picking up, it created a wind tunnel which brought a chill to my bones.As I met my crew member at the outlet from the dirt back to the pavement in the town of Geary, I had originally thought of running with her from here to the end and picking up the vehicle later. However, with the conditions so cold and our formula working well, we didn’t want to mess with a good thing at the time. This is where it got interesting. We were supposed to go on Hwy 273 East, so when we reached an intersection without any markings or signs on the ground as was expected, we simply kept going. There were no signs anywhere that we could see looking ahead. All other major intersections had multiple ground markings painted on as well as one of those two-sided ground signs often seen outside small shops.12 miles later, after continually checking to make sure we were on 273, we realized the truth when there was no aid station. 12 miles and over 2.5 hours later while freezing through winds, humidity and temps in the 20s and low 20s. The time we took reflected the breaks needed to keep the body warm and somehow try to keep clothes dry to stay warm out there. As much as it hurt to be out there, it hurt even more to discover what happened. When you’re one of the first runners out there, there are no “others to follow”. In fact, the only painted symbol on the roadway was on the right hand side (as opposed to the runners being on the left) which was covered up when my crew member stopped for me on the spot to get me another sweater to wear. There were no two-sided signs and the supplies left unmanned were tucked away to the right on a porch that is not very visible from the roadway at night in the quiet, dead-still town of Geary at night. I was spent, emotionally and physically. As much as I could’ve gone back out there at the 17:25 mark (after working with my crew member to sort out what had happened and finally figure out what the race officials recommended) and a little over 21 miles to go, I let it go. To be up there with a chance to close the gap and overtake 1st and 2nd was both awesome and taxing at the same time. The emotional drain when I finally got the news from my crew member was definitely a lot to take in at the moment. I know that I should have just finished, but then I was thinking about all these crazy rules of the race and the flight home to mom’s 60th birthday celebration in SF later that day, and I just decided to rest for at least a few hours before going to the airport to fly home. Should I have just gone back out there and finished? Probably. It probably reflects somewhat poorly on my character considering those who struggle just to make it in 29:59. For that, I do hope that this is more of an abherration than the sign of a long term defect. But in this case, that excitement and anxiety left me fully drained when I figured out that we had taken the wrong road. There was also a bit of an appreciation for the mental drain that those in front go through while jockeying for positions during a race. It adds a layer of excitement, anxiety, and physical strain that can push an individual closer to that “edge”. Usually, races leave me with something to go back to the drawing board with to figure out. In this case, there was nothing about this race (apart from the missed turn) that wasn’t executed well. Sure, the down period between mile 30 to mile 40 wasn’t exactly flawless, but our reaction and execution of our recovery strategy was excellent. Besides, I always plan for this as a down period partly due to the body being drained of stored glycogen. I was so proud of my crew member for helping me manage a race that reflected everything that I had put into planning. It played incredibly well into my strength of closing out the last 10-15 miles of 100 milers incredibly strong. While I was building to closing out with 9:00-9:30 min. miles to finish, I guess I’ll have to save it for next time . It’s enough for me right now to know that a sub-17 hour race as well as the eventual 1st place time of 17:17 were well within my striking range. While normally I would come away from this feeling like nothing good happened because of the non-finish, I am genuinely excited about the future and can still say, “Mission Accomplished” (somewhat ). Next up: CIM and Rodeo Beack 50k.

Stay strong, take care and God bless.

Gundy

Year Winding Down

2008-10-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

I know it’s been awhile, but I did want to update the site with all the comings and goings. First off, in September, I completed 2- 100 milers: the Rio Del Lago 100 in the Folsom/Auburn area and the Angeles Crest 100 in Southern California (just north of the eastern L.A. valley area). I was tremendously challenged in both races, with a badly bruised left big toe and sprained right knee over the last 75-80 miles at AC and temps around 100 degrees at RDL. They both took a lot out of me and left me in precarious straits. But, I’m pleased with how we recovered to finish strong in both circumstances. A special thank you goes out to my pacers at both races: Mambo Jose, Mike Moseby, Lora Liu and Rick Gaston (www.365ultra.blogspot.com). It was an awesome opportunity to run with them by my side to perservere. I’ve always enjoyed bringing and introducing friends and family to the world of trail running (particularly 100 milers) through experiences like pacing or crewing. It may or may not be something that they do in their lifetimes, but they get the taste of what I go through and we get to share that together. I never want to take their contributions to my own successes for granted.

As far as my goals for the year, I’ve hit all but two of the goals. It’s not like I had that many goals to start out with (listed below on the front page of the site), but it does show a good measure of success at transitioning to the wear and tear of these longer races. While still wanting an even better time at Badwater, I was happy with the 36 hour finish and the 16th place finish, which does represent a step forward. While I’ll still be shooting for a sub-30 hour finish if I get accepted next year, my body’s ability to recover from low points more rapidly is encouraging. The two goals left on my list for the year are a sub-3 marathon and a sub-20 100 miler. Of the two, the easier one will probably be the sub-20 100 miler. I just paced a friend to a 8:58 hilly 50 miler, minimizing the wear and tear on my body and giving me the confidence that at the level of effort I gave, I could’ve gone another 50 on the course in the same time or less. I just need to relax, limit the anxiety, and run a smooth and even race. Running a road race like the Mother Road 100 in flat lands should allow me to dial down the effort over the first 50 while finding the right rythym to keep trucking all the way through to the end.

The harder race for me should be the sub-3 marathon, considering the intensity necessary over the shorter distance. While I have incorporated major marathon training elements into my training, the marathon distance can turn on much smaller, less predictable events like a shoe lace coming loose. The one thing I haven’t focused on, but represents a big step forward in this event is weight loss. While my body fat level has dropped since starting to run ultramarathons about 3 years ago, there still is room for improvement. At about 5’11” and 179/180 lb., I’ve been able to compete well, but not well enough. I’m not getting up hills fast enough and while there could be a training component to address, I’m also carrying more mass up the hills that some of the other competitors at my height. It wasn’t until Lance Armstrong lost his weight (albeit, under rather dire circumstances due to cancer) that he was able to be come the elite climber he needed to be in order to win the Tour de France. There is simply a major advantage to the lighter athletes going uphill when gravity is pulling with a greater force on larger masses.

So here it is, in the midst of getting ready for these pivotal races, that I want to be 10 lbs. lighter by year’s end. They say that in marathons, a pound lost can translate into a 2 second drop per mile for one’s pace. 10 lbs. can represent the difference been just barely crossing the sub-3 hour barrier and making a run at a sub-2:50 marathon, simply by carrying less weight on the body frame. While some of this loss may come from losing fat, there’s also a desire to lean out the larger muscle in my quads and legs. The primary driver will have to be my diet, with a secondary driver being the use of a smart weight training program to complement my running.

Don’t get me wrong; I have no desire to be a stick figure runner particularly when my frame has always been built more for contact sports like basketball and lacrosse rather than running. But, the body is an amazing gift and just as it has taken time for it to simply adapt to running these distances, it’s going to take the next 3 months for it to take the next step forward.

I’ll post a preview of the upcoming races next week, along with the long-delayed part II finale of the Badwater report. Stay strong, run hard and God bless.

Gundy

Part 1 of 2- 2008 Badwater Race Report

2008-08-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of 2

You always remember your first time. The first time you rode a bike, the first time you hit a home run, the first time you drove a car, and the first time you ran a marathon. There’s just this magical feeling that comes with setting out on a new adventure. I remember the first time I laid eyes on the heart of Death Valley from the top of Townes Pass. It just kind of hits you how far the landscape extends out and wide, and how quickly the temperatures rise as you descend to the Valley floor. To be in it is much like peering out from the bottom of your own grave.

For me, going to back to Badwater for a third Badwater Ultramarathon carried with it a different set of emotions and thoughts. The first time out there, the mind was pre-occupied with casting visions and dreams of all the sights and sounds I would encounter. The second time out there, I was focused on not making the mistakes of the first year and working with a mostly fresh, new crew from the previous year. This year, though, I had done everything possible to be primed for a great run. That awe and wonder that captivated me with the first trip to Badwater was replaced by a sense of comfort and calmness that only comes from knowing one’s advesary. Instead of tall peaks and long valleys, I was focused on all the little things that would help shape my final performance. While never losing sight of the fact that it’s always a great thing to finish, I knew that my expectations of myself were much higher. This demanded an attention to many things which had gotten lost in past year’s “big picture” thinking.

It all started with putting together a veteran crew, with 5 of the 6 crew members had already done at least one “tour of duty”. There were family members, college friends, roommates and church friends. Pete, Kimi, Uncle “Mambo” Jose, Mike and Jeff had all crewed for at least one Badwater and been apart of other trail race adventures. Each one of them had also paced me for various size segments of other races, The only member of the crew who hadn’t been to Badwater, Trish, would be able to lean on the other’s experiences. As a costumer in the entertainment industry, her experience at handling actors and actresses made her ideal for the task of handling an ultrarunner whose grasp of reality could erode at any time. In fact, each and every one of them possessed an easy going personality that allowed them to easily roll with the punches.

But of all their talents and abilities, the most important quality of all was their personal relationships with me. I personally value loyalty among all other attributes, and they are among the most loyal and dedicated people I have ever met. They believe strongly not only in what I was doing as an athlete, but also what I was doing as an ambassador for God in Uganda through the well-building and development. I consider them all friends/family for life, which is especially relevant considering that I was trusting each and every one of them with my own life out there. That may seem like an over dramatic statement, but considering the environment and the stress it places on the body, it is not too far fetched. They each came with the attitude that we were all part of a team and that team’s goal was to get us from Badwater to Mt. Whitney Portal as quickly as possible. We would be able to draw on our past experiences to define the areas which had worked well as a team and improve on the areas that had contributed to past issues.

My crew and I did extensive research into various aspects of my previous two Badwaters to identify the areas I needed to focus on as the runner and they needed to do as the crew to ensure a successful journey. These areas included the following aspects (among others): a) 3 scheduled ice baths in the Valley from Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells to further assist in cooling the body and increasing nutritional intake, b) Scheduling shorter breaks with more frequency prior to previous years’ “trouble points”, and c) rigorous pre-testing of nutritional and electrolyte/water consumption strategies. Pete and Kimi created numerous pre-race charts which we used to identify problem points and integrate rest/fueling to meet those challenges. The time charts would be structured around the premise that my strength as a runner was a) an ability to “close” a race over the last ¼ and b) the climbs up Townes Pass (mi. 41.9 to 58.7) and from Panamint Springs (mi. 72.3) to Father Crowley’s Point (mi. 80.1) would be the single biggest turning points of the race. In particular, the climb to Father Crowley’s Point is an 8 mile climb with about 2500 ft. of climbing that comes during the night after an exhausting daytime section. A strong climb up Father Crowley’s can propel a runner into a 10 mile flat/moderate uphill section before one last 32 mile flat/downhill rolling section to Lone Pine (mi. 122.3).

Our pre-testing included a number of key races leading up to the big race. The biggest testing ground of all would be the Running With The Devil 50 miler around Lake Mead in Las Vegas two weeks before the race. I would only end up running 40 miles of it to preserve my body, but it would prove to be invaluable at predicting what would work best during the first 40 miles of the race through the heart of the Valley. It resulted in adding and subtracting from the variety of foods and supplements that I’ve previously used in races. While supplements such as the Hammer E-caps had been difficult to swallow at last year’s Badwater, we made sure to include it as part of the nutritional offering for the simple reason that sometimes you don’t always know exactly what’s going to work at what time. Having backups for the backups is important when the personal stakes are so high.

This planning/training gave me a certain freedom from worrying what the crew was doing and focus on the task of running. The first year, success was measured by survival and maybe a medal and a buckle. The second year, success was measured by improvement over the first year. This year, success would be measured by how big a leap forward I could take considering we would be able to apply the lessons learned from the race the first two times as well as 3 years of ultra running. While nobody knows exactly how the body will react on race day in those extreme conditions, I could no longer personally accept just “getting through” and instead had set me sights on making significant progress towards my ultimate race goals. I didn’t want to be the poster child for being able to We needed to exhibit the discipline and use the knowledge we had acquired in order to get the breakthrough I was looking for. We had set forth multiple race and time plans, focused between just under 30 hours to 36 hours.

Like the year before, the plan called for the crew to rendezvous at the Furnace Creek Ranch on Saturday July 12th, two days before the race, in order to finish off the preparations and do a final review of the crew/runner responsibilities. This was effective the year before, as a way to get settled in and help both the crew and myself further acclimate to the surroundings. Even going to the sauna on a regular basis or basking in whatever summer heat there is in the Bay Area cannot mirror the feeling of being in the Valley of Death. This is even more important for the crew considering that the level of training they go through to get ready for the heat is no where near the training the runner goes through. By making sure that the crew was comfortable with the surroundings, I would ensure that their efforts to keep me going would be maximized. In addition, we would use this extra day in Death Valley to get organized and ensure that each member of the crew knew where everything was in the van and that I could have a certain expectation of the level of service I would receive each time I passed them.

On that Saturday morning, Pete and Kimi would pick up one of the crew vans in Las Vegas, while Mambo, Trish, Mike, and I would pick up the second crew van in Los Angeles. While Pete and Kimi’s plan to pick up miscellaneous supplies in Las Vegas and be in the Valley be early afternoon went according to plan, my plans in Los Angeles were less than smooth. The morning was spent haggling over rental car reservations until I finally picked up the second crew van just after noon time, grab some lunch to go and head out.

This year, we took an alternative route to Death Valley, going east from Los Angeles before picking up the 15 Fwy to Las Vegas. After slipping around the Angeles Crest mountain, we took Hwy 138 westbound through the back country to Badwater before meeting up with Hwy 190 just before the Furnace Creek Ranch. In previous years, we would go through the Mojave to Lone Pine first to drop off any extra vehicles before taking Hwy 190 all the way to Furnace Creek. The nice thing about this was that since Hwy 190 was the route for the race, it gave people the chance to enjoy the various sights on the race course prior to the race. But this route would be longer than the route we took, which translates not only into time lost (considering we were already late) but also gas burned.

While traveling up the 15 Fwy we were hit with the one thing you can’t always expect in the middle of July: thunderstorms. The forecast had called for a small chance of storms, but in an expanse as vast as that desert region, the movement of storms can be unpredicatable. The sky, covered in a blanket of greys and black, had opened up right over us. With about an hour on the 138 before hitting Furnace Creek, we took our time on the back roads that were now intermittently covered with sand and dirt left over from the storms. We even turned off at one point to take some photos of everyone. The storm was the perfect backdrop, providing the pictures with a palatte that would be a reminder of what awaited us later on. The silver lining was that it made the local weather much more tolerable. It was still warm and incredibly humid, but without direct sunlight we didn’t have to worry too much about our skin getting burnt.

With Pete and Kimi waiting, we didn’t stop at the Badwater salt basin. Instead, we paused the car for a brief moment to take in the view at the bottom before jetting the last 17 miles into Furnace Creek Ranch. It was like I’d remembered; a number of small pools of water next to that long, winding salt-encrusted lake bed. When we did arrive at the Ranch, Pete and Kimi happened to be in front of the General Store next to the main entrance. It was a little embarrassing to be a few hours late from our original 2 p.m. redezvous, but better late than never. Fortunately, Pete and Kimi were able to check-in to the rooms I had reserved and relax.

Furnace Creek Ranch has the feel of an old west dude ranch when you first arrive. It was built as the sister property to the Furnace Creek Inn, Furnace Creek Ranch is by far the preferred place where most of the runners and crew will stay before the race. While there’s always smattering of tourists at the Ranch on race weekend, . It’s proximity to the start at Badwater and numerous supplies make it ideal for an easy morning before the race. Besides, where else can you gaze out at the hottest place in North America while hitting a 5-wood at their golf course?

After a short break to set up the sleeping arrangements, do introductions with the crew, and move our supplies into the room, those of us who just arrived broke for dinner. Dinner was a nice opportunity to relax and unwind from always being on the go. After spending Friday night working late, we left in the wee hours for Los Angeles to pick up Mike and Trish before leaving for the Valley. I think the only time I stopped to relax was the half hour we took to get some food and rearrange the supplies we were taking with us. Besides, there’s nothing like a nice plate of spaghetti with a huge meatball to take the edge off.

Nightfall brought with it a light rainfall, which felt incredibly good in the warm air. However, it also brought with it some measure of anxiety. With the course traversing incredibly dry terrain, any rain can washout roadways. The weather forecast had called for clearing on Sunday and Monday, which was good. As far as performance, I wasn’t really worried about the high humidity affecting me too adversely. So you trade extreme dry heat for a hot and humid heat? The common denominator is still planning on hot weather. I always build into my heat training a few trips to the wet sauna in order to get somewhat used to high humidity in case of a situation like this. Everyone has to run in it, so whatever it ended up being, we’d all enjoy it together J

Usually a night owl, I succumbed to the desires of the rest of the folks in going to bed at around 11 instead of watching a movie. Well, it paid off because I was up bright and early at 7 a.m. on Sunday. After showering and getting dressed, I headed to the General Store with Kimi and Trish. I noticed the weather was still not above 90 degrees and overcast sky kept the sunlight from bearing down. Instead of the heat acclimation hike that I had slated for us, we decided to take advantage of the overcast weather and get the supplies into the crew vans now.

Gathering the crew at the vans, we went through the process of splitting up the supplies between the main crew van and the support van. The main van would have all of the main medical, food and water supplies. It would have a round cooler with just ice, a 100 qt. cooler with drinks and food for both runner and crew, and a third cooler with “grey water” for use with the ice towels being draped on my neck every couple miles. In the back next to the hatchback, there would also be a small rubbermaid container with a sampling of all the “most used items” including electrolyte tabs, a couple bags of chips, a clif bar, and small trail mix bags. This would allow for quick and easy access on the fly. The support van would serve a dual purpose by holding the ice coffin/cooler I would soak in periodically during peak heat as well as keeping all the extra water and food supplies that would not fit in the main crew van. We did an initial load of ice into the coolers to cool down the drinks while planning on a refill the following morning prior to the race. We also left four seats remaining in the main van since that would fit the maximum number of crew members we would have on duty at all times.

I pretty much stayed away from this process since knowing where things were would be less of a priority for me as the runner. Trish and I were in charge of writing my name and number on the back, front and side windows of the crew vans. With limited numbers of special marking pens, I couldn’t get too creative. However, I did find space to sneak in a couple smiley faces and a “Go Oxy” in honor of my alma mater, Occidental College.

After finishing off the vehicles and the crew being satisfied with the final organization of the vans, I took off just after 11 a.m. with fellow runner Alan Geraldi to the pre-race check-in. It started at noon, but with a long wait to be anticipated, it didn’t hurt to walk over to the Death Valley Museum and get in the front of the line where the check-in and pre-race meeting would eventually held. The rest of the crew were off on their own to eat lunch, use the pool on-site, or just use the time as they pleased.

The long wait at the Museum finally ended and within 15-20 minutes I had picked up all the swag, shirts and gear I needed before going back to the Ranch. Lunch consisted of a pre-made sandwich before Pete and I decided to lace up our shoes and gofor a short couple mile jaunt up the road to the Furnace Creek Inn. The Inn is perched on the hill a mile up from the Ranch. It is a national landmark, having been built around the turn of the 20th century when the Valley teemed with workers mining for borates. With a day spa, natural spring pool, and lush gardens surrounding a few ponds, it stands out as a . Closed in the summer, the Inn accommodates the influx visitors in the Winter when the weather is decidedly cooler in those parts. Once arriving at the Inn, we took a quick 10 minute look around before turning around and heading back.

After hanging around for an hour, it was time to head to the 1 ½ hour pre-race meeting at 3:30 pm. The meeting is mandatory for runners and at least one crew member. They show the brief video from last year’s race, run through the main safety points and highlight certain rules. The highlight of the meeting is at the end, when all the runners are introduced by name on stage and there is a group photo. Many of the speeches are variations of previous years’ speeches and although some are quite humorous, it makes the meeting less than appealing for veteran crew members. The veteran crew members unanimously agreed that Trish should go to the meeting with me, as a sort of initiation so she could get the “full experience”.

As always, we ended up meeting a few of the volunteers and runners I’ve gotten to know over the past couple Badwaters. I ended up chatting with Dean Karnazes, who was right behind me in line. We wished each other a good race, from one San Franciscan to another. He has always had one of the more muscular physiques of the Badwater runners but this year, with all his desert running, looked as skinny and lean as I’ve ever seen him. The veins popping out of every corner of his arm were insane. I can’t say I had the same look myself, but if anything, this race teaches you that speed out here come in a lot of different forms. I was just hoping that all the gym work and intense June runs had leaned my body sufficiently to where it needed to be.

The meeting itself was pretty much standard protocol. Well, except for the flash flood warning for Badwater basin. With the storms moving through, they honestly didn’t know what it would do to the course. While the area near Mt. Whitney was been hit and other areas were experiences delays to clear roads, it was anyone’s guess what the final outcome would be. Although I was optimistic with the skies clearing earlier in the day, weather in the desert can change on a dime. The most humorous moment came when the CHP representative showed us how AAA will open your car if you lock your keys in it here in the Valley. He pulled out a rock in his right hand with the letters “A-A-A” painted on the flat face. The meeting took a much more serious tone when the race director mentioned that one of the long-time participants/volunteers would not be racing this year due to the recent dissapearence of his son while hiking over July 4th. If anything, it put back into perspective the place the race holds in all of our lives.

In another “real life” moment, the race director announced that 2007 competitor Don Fallis was battling colon cancer. Don was well-known because although he didn’t finish due to severe back spasms, he made a spirited entrance to the post-race party in Lone Pine (122.3) right at the 60 hour time directly from being out on the course. He was a true warrior out there and in honor of that spirit, we each wore a “I’m on Don’s Team” t-shirt provided by the race officials for the pre-race photo.

Night Before: In a bit of detour after the meeting, I made sure to show Trish the small airstrip tucked away behind the museum as well. It’s really rather neat to think you can take a private plane and land there. We drove the ¼ mile back to the Ranch. With the flash flood warning in effect, we decided to skip the 17 mile trip to the start in favor of a group trip and pictures up at the Furnace Creek Inn. Everyone wore their new Badwater race t-shirts, and we quickly made our way to the oasis that Pete and I had found earlier. After snapping a number of shots near the gazebo and among the palm trees at the pond, we went back to the café for dinner. The Furnace Creek Café is one of two eateries at the Ranch. It pretty much serves standard American fare at a pretty reasonable price considering your options are limited.

By this time, we were getting concerned about our 6th crew member, Jeff, who was scheduled to join us around this time. Jeff and I both went to Occidental College, later becoming roommates and I was a groomsman in his wedding. Jeff was an outdoors person, always interested in exploring. I can’t say I was really worried about Jeff. But with the flash flood warning changing the road conditions and both of us out of cell phone range, we were unsure where he was at this point. Of course, as luck would have it, shortly after we sit down at the Café, in comes Jeff. Finally, the crew was all there.

After chowing down, we made our way back to the rooms for some minor, last night arrangements. While the crew members hurried back and forth, arranging the leftover items, I was left to sit there and “try and relax”. Around 9 pm, I just couldn’t stand it any longer. If I was going to get some sleep that night, I would need to work off at least a small portion of this excess enemy. So, I grabbed Mike to go with me on short 1.6 mi jaunt from our room to just up the road from the main gate.

It was nice to get out of the room. Being around all those people, I needed to get back into my own space. Mike thanked me for bringing him along on the journey, but in truth it was me who was thankful to him. We were mere hours from the start of the journey, . Our friendship with each other had seen quite a bit; broken relationships, broken finances and a few pick-up basketball games to name a few. This was just another shared struggle to add to the foundation of our friendship. Oh, how good it felt to be back where I belonged.

Before finally going to sleep, the crew and I held a short prayer time back at the room. It’s always good to ask for God’s grace, especially when faced with a daunting challenge. Humility is always the order of the day here. There is no room for pride; the race simply won’t allow it.

6 am: Rise and Shine! After a good 7 hours of sleep, I was surprisingly lucid. I hate race morning, but at least I got an extra couple hours compared to some 100 milers and marathons. Looking around the room, I started to smile. There was just this sense that after all the months of training and racing, I had finally reached the culmination. At the same time, you also start wondering if all you’ve done will translate over well into the actual race.

Race morning at Badwater is supposed to be as stress free for the runner as possible. As the runner, the only thing you should be doing is taking a morning shower, nibbling on some food, and putting on the race clothes. The crew takes care of all the details. Still, I wanted something to keep me occupied. After a quick shower, I nibbled on a Clif bar and banana. Around 6:50 am, I took a couple of salt/electrolyte capsules in order to firmly start the race fully fueled. I shuttled back and forth between the room and the crew van, checking things such as radios and clothes. It probably didn’t add anything to preparations except to give me something to do like a baby and their pacifier. Just before leaving at 7, I took the customary pre-race trip to the restroom, got into the van and we were off.

Pete, Kimi and Trish accompanied me to the start to handle the first leg from Badwater to Furnace Creek. This section requires less people because the runner requires less servicing. The temperatures tend to be lower and the strain of the journey doesn’t begin to bear down (in my experience) until the section between Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells. The ride out was pretty quiet, with some chatting back and forth. It wasn’t as quiet as the first year or as chatty as the second year. I felt like I was in that happy medium between excitement and focus. Often, I prefer to spend this time gazing out on the landscape and listening to music.

Most of the music isn’t too emotional; I try to keep things a little lighter at that point to settle into an even-keeled emotional state. Sometimes, if I find a song I like, I might actually play it a few times prior to the start. The song of choice this time? “New Shoes” by Paolo Nutini. It’s rather tame, but with catchy instrumentals and creative lyrics. Besides, what could be more appropriate for a race that often forces its participants to put on new, larger shoes due to foot swelling in the heat?

On arrival around 7:25, it was the same as years past. Get weighed in, use the restroom again, and say hello to various folks. After weigh-in, I made a point to walk out onto the salt flats. Alone at this point, I kneeled and silently prayed to the Lord. I didn’t say much, simply sitting in the presence and allowing the silence to speak to me. After a minute or two, I got up and returned to the crowds.

I paid no attention to the runners around me. Even during the runners group photo at the Badwater sign, I didn’t really say anything. In spite of the anticipation and the overwhelming yearning to put aside past disappointment and make this a year to remember, I wouldn’t allow it to show in my demeanor. While emotion can be a powerful ally, now was neither the time nor place to display it.

Ten minutes before the start, we moved to the starting line on the roadway. Occasionally, I would glance towards Pete and Trish to my left in the crowd of crews, race officials and media who were snapping pictures. I was in a mental vacuum, a sort of black hole of thoughts. I had washed away all the thoughts of previous races and was ready to run my race. While others were either joking or smiling or crying (yes, crying), I stood there with little emotion. I had the crew I wanted, the plan I needed and the training necessary to get it done the way I wanted to get it done.

Finally, after all the speeches, anthems, and runners getting last minute supplies, it was “Go” time. With a couple minutes before the start, the crews were allowed to give their runner any last minute items, at which time Trish slipped me one water bottle to keep my company for the first couple miles. Chris Kostman, the race director, kept looking at his watch until the final countdown begun. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5”. I planted my feet in anticipation of the start. “4, 3, 2, 1, Go”. Off we went, with most jogging and some walking. From my inside front position on the start line, I quickly moved towards the front.

Badwater to Furnace Creek:
After a half-mile of trailing the “early leader”, I firmly planted myself out in front. It’s not so much as if I was gauging myself against anyone else as it was just a part of the race day pacing plan. Having an 8 am start, I want to take advantage of those cooler temperatures before mid-day. While the advantage is somewhat diminished by having to begin the climb up Townes Pass during a warmer time of day, it was important to me to let the legs loosen up during this first section from Badwater to Furnace Creek. We had initially targeted a 9 min./mile average during this section, which would eventually drop to 13 min./mile between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. I was just moving along, minding my own business.

I had 3- 5 minute ice baths planned between Furnace Creek (mi. 17.3) and Stovepipe Wells (mi. 41.9) and had already planned on a slower pace through the heart of the Valley, so this quicker pace at the outset did not worry me much. Having experienced intermittent ITBS during the year, the thing that concerned me the most would be roads with an unevenness or were banked. Most of the roads in the valley have an even grading and even if I did feel some discomfort, I had no reservations about popping the Aleve as necessary. While not always recommended, it had become my all-purpose drug of choice for how easy it went down. For the time being, I was just concerned with making sure I established a good hydration, electrolyte and fueling base.

The pit stops every mile were rather mudane at the outset: drop the old bottle and cap, grab the new bottle and grab a new cap with ice in it. Every couple miles, I would also get a new ice towel around my neck. It was important that right from the outset, I kept my body temperature down and did not allow my perceived comfort to dictate my actions.

Back From Badwater and Africa

2008-08-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a great race! Even with all the ups and downs, 36 hours and 16th place overall was a great finish. Enjoy the slideshow, with the race report and the report of my Uganda trip (incredible) are coming in the next few days. Sorry I've been delinquent on this all. The training and being swamped at work just took over :). AC100 is next....I'll be skipping Headlands Hundred this year to focus on it.

Thanks to the Crew: Pete, Kimi, Trish, Jeff, Mike and MamboThanks to the Sponsors: Injinji Socks, Brooks, Arrowhead Water and JM Hyde!Cheers and God Bless,

Gundy

P.S. I just want to give a HUGE thank you to all the donors who have already given for the Wells in Uganda! I am pleased that as of now, we have $12000 (including off-line contributions). Over 5000 people will be affected by these four wells!

Back From Boston

2008-04-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hello,
So I’m back from the Boston Marathon! Wow, what a race! This was my first Boston marathon, and it was everything I expected it to be. I think it can be hard for some to go back to road races after moving predominately to trail races, but I still love a good road marathon. While I’m loathe to the commercial culture which has slowly continued permeating the marathon culture over the past few years and tend to prefer the picturesque views at many trail runs, Boston seems to have everything all in one package. Its history is unmatched, its route unchanged, and its championship history legendary. While I was a bit turned off by the puffed up chests and ego displayed in conversation with some of the participants, I found most of the city preparing for their party with enthusiasm and charisma.

For some, it’s a chance to show off their marathoning talents on the marathon world’s biggest stage. For others, it’s the culmination of many years of working towards this race. And yet for others, it’s a reward for the charitable work they’ve done to help others. Just to put the level of competition in perspective, a 3:00:00 time at other regional races like San Diego’s Rock N’ Roll Marathon or the L.A. Marathon or the Honolulu Marathon will put you in the top 100, at this year’s Boston Marathon would leave you in 1239th position. I know it may sound like I’m overstating what many already know, but it is probably the most competitive of the major U.S. marathons. Nonetheless, the Boston Marathon represents very different things to many different people.

By the time race day came, I already had 3 days of sightseeing under my belt and really considered the Marathon and extension of the Boston experience. I found the crowds to be invigorating, almost intoxicating. The route winds through suburban Boston through small towns, with even smaller roadways. It can feel crowded with so many runners out there and the pockets of people who fill the sidelines of the route. But it is those same people that create the intimate race experience. I could just imagine that these same people had probably been out here having a good time and cheering on runners in generations past. I was not only a part of the race’s tradition, but I was probably also part of their Patriot’s Day tradition as well. I was merely a footnote, but a proud footnote nonetheless. Whether it’s the Wellesley girls that line mile 13, the Hash House Harriers handing out beer at mile 19 or the enthusiastically hammered co-eds at Boston College, the energy of the spectators is infectious.

The trip itself was truly an experience, a reward for the countless other races I’ve done. While I thought about sub-3 for maybe the first few miles of the race itself, I slowed to enjoy the experience. I was content to spend the necessary time to slap hands with many spectators (particularly children), get hugs from the Wellesley girls, and yap it up with the Boston College co-eds as I ran by down the last hill into downtown Boston. It got particularly emotional as I crested Heartbreak Hill. This was it; although there will be other Boston Marathons to PR, this race was my reward. It took a while to get over the hump, but now that I was here, I wouldn’t let the moment get away. I didn’t feel better than anyone or any more “elite” than anyone other runner out there who is striving for their reward; I was just happy that my hard work had delivered a satisfying reward. It meant more to me to be able to soak in this view of the city, these spectators along the course and then meet my brother downtown for a celebratory beer.

Here are the pics and a video from the finish area taken by the PowerBar folks of my brother Daniel and I. Onward to Uganda in less than 2 weeks……

Cheers and God Bless,

Gundy

Training Miscellaneous and Boston Excitement

2008-04-14T17:39:00.001-07:00

Hello again!
It is now 7 days until the Boston Marathon, and I am definitely excited. I was supposed to go on a training run with Alan Giraldi, a fellow Badwater entrant, but that was scuttled. I’m looking forward to running with him next week sometime after Boston if he’s available. As for Boston, I’ve never been there so I’m trying to plan the right itinerary. While there’s a lot going on that’s associated with the race, I do want to enjoy the city with those coming along. One must do: Tour of Fenway Park. Other than that, it's pretty much whatever. While on the whole, I think East Coasters see themselves much differently than West Coasters, the city definitely has much to offer the traveler. Besides, how else can I convince people to come on my crazy race adventures if I don’t at least offer a little bit of non-running related fun? Hehe.

As far as training’s concerned, a good 50 miles on the weekend helped me close the week well. Although I’m scheduled to taper leading to Boston next Monday, I’ll probably try to put in 45 miles total over the next four days. But the intensity for those miles will be very mild; more of fun runs than anything else. I just want to relax and enjoy the scenery of San Francisco before I really ramp down on the weekend before the race. Easy runs are great because they’ve just been reminding me of why I love running in the first place; the freedom to wander and be in my own space. I have to start taking a camera with me so I can give you all a glance at what I’ve been seeing. Since my training weeks include Monday-Sunday, next week will be two big mileage weeks (almost 100 and 105 miles) prior to leaving for Uganda.

One thing I am not excited about lately is this persistant ITB Syndrome. It has been getting progressively better, with targeted stretching becoming the norm. However, I don’t want this to persist, particular as I get closer to the meat of my season. The best thing for me to do right now is to rest when I can, ice after workouts, and stretch diligently. I might go with orthodics at some point, but the isolation of the pain to the right knee makes me wonder if there’s something going on related to my ACL tear from 10 years ago. Oh well; we’ll see.

I just want to give a HUGE thank you to all the donors who have already given for the Wells in Uganda! I am pleased that as of now, we have $1720. This is such a blessing and although there is much work to do in order to raise the total of $6000, I am hopeful that the generosity will continue and the work of friends/family who are also fundraising will pay off in the end. I hope that the people who have/will give will be blessed in their giving. A big thank you as well to the friends/family who are fundraising; I have full confidence that they will be successful and blessed in their efforts as well. Doing things for those who can not pay you back helps to re-center the heart, mind and spirit on that which is most important in the world. Good stuff, indeed.

God bless,
Gundy

Onward To Boston and Africa

2008-04-01T00:11:00.000-07:00

So, I’m back at it again. It’s been 3 weeks since my last post, and most of my time has been devoted to training, planning the Africa trip, and getting my fundraising back up and running (www.seegundyrun.com). I finally put together the training plan up until Badwater, which includes the time I’m spending away in Africa. While the trip does come in the middle of the training schedule, I’m hopeful that in the early mornings there I’ll be able to get 5-6 miles in before I eat breakfast and start my day’s itinerary. I don’t want to take away at all from what I’m doing there which is meeting with villagers where World Harvest Mission has built wells, speaking in local churches, and speaking with local schoolchildren. So, the mornings will probably be the best time to run. As far as heat training, that should be no problem there, considering that I’ll be on the equator.

I am incredibly excited about going there. This is why I work were I do and why I go the extra mile in my running. Sometimes I have a hard time explaining the whole 100 mile runs to people, but something like this speaks for itself. I love the people there and this is just an opportunity to connect my running to the greater purposes which fuel me. While there, I will visit the villages where the wells we. That way, I can show the sponsors the tangible places and people whose lives will be affected by their giving. The great thing about working with World Harvest Mission is that no money goes to administration since the organization is run by volunteers. So when they give $25, all $25 is put to work in the field to do the work. Probably the most exciting thing is seeing friends I worked with last time there. It’s been almost 6 years, so hopefully I recognize them. I'll post pics of my last trip to Africa in my next update.

As far as the running is concerned, the Boston Marathon is now 3 weeks away. I’ve had some IT Band stiffness over the last couple weeks, so I’ve been alternating rest and running. ITB is a common injury in trail running due to the uneven terrain which can stress the IT Band which runs down the leg.

While I’ve still be able to get my weekly long runs of 25, 23 and 20 miles, it’s limited some of my shorter runs and forced me to run them at a slower pace than usual. Although my lungs and aerobic fitness is still excellent, it keeps me from those faster paced tempo runs which help stretch the ability to keep a quick pace. I’m still targeting a sub-7:00/mile pace, just trying to best gauge how the IT issues will affect my overall performance. I expect that my marathon PR under 3 hours will probably not occur at Boston, but will probably have to wait until the California International Marathon in Sacramento in December. By then, I’ll have a good mix of speed training and long run fitness from my numerous ultras to take a hard look at setting an initial target of 2:55.

I’ve finished my initial training calendar for the rest of the year leading up to Badwater. The major goal race in the calendar is the San Diego 100 on June 7th. Another key race I just added in the past week is the Running With The Devil 50 Miler just outside Las Vegas (http://calicoracing.squarespace.com/running-with-the-devil). It’s the last weekend of June, about 2 ½ weeks prior to the Badwater race. It’s a road race which will give me one last opportunity to evaluate my hydration, electrolyte and nutrition in a super hot environment. I plan on going at a pace commensurate with my expected pace for the first 42 miles through the Valley (10 min/mile pace), trying to be as even and consistent with my pace as possible.

What’s your goal race for the year? How are you preparing for it? How does each aspect of your training? Are you just running or are you adding weights, core and back exercises? These are questions that I continually ask myself, and hopefully you’re asking yourself when you’re mapping out where you’re going this year and in life.

Ok, it’s time for me to get back out there, keep stretching and make it happen. Take care, run hard and God bless.

Gundy

L.A. Marathon and Back to Badwater

2008-03-10T19:55:00.001-07:00

Three words: 2008 Badwater Ultramarathon. Here is a copy of the acceptance letter I received:

"Hello Gundy:
Congratulations! You have been accepted to compete in the 2008 Badwater Ultramarathon. You are part of a select group who will participate in what is recognized across the globe as “the world’s toughest footrace.” In the near future, we will include your name and biographical information on the online roster. When we do, please check it for errors....."

2008 is truly a year of redemption. In addition to the new races I’ve added (ex: Rocky Raccoon 100 at 20:58), quite a few of my races are opportunities to redeem the races I had last year over that 4 month period where I was dealing with persistent nausea. Badwater is a part of that, the golden stamp and the ultimate 2008 goal race. It gives me a whirlwind of emotions; happy that I get the chance to make “the third time a charm”, but aware that whatever I did to prepare the last couple years, I want to do it even better. I am acutely aware of the challenge, but this is an opportunity that I have to have the race of a lifetime and put my stamp on this race if I can put it together. A big grin comes to my face as I think about toeing the start line once again.
Once again, I will be running to raise money for World Harvest Mission. World Harvest Mission is a non-profit Christian organization doing relief work in East Africa. This time, we have set a goal of $6000 in order to build two wells in Uganda. Last year, we raised close to $3000 for child sponsorships in Uganda and this year we’ve doubled the goal. But in order to do that, we need your help. Every small amount helps; you can help people have access to the precious water they need where they live. I’ll be putting up a link to a website in the coming few days for this fundraising. I will be visiting Uganda this year and will visit the villages which will benefit from your contributions. Hopefully, I will work with friends there to provide you with pictures of the villages.

I am pleased to welcome back Injinji and Brooks as my two year-round sponsors; now I’ve added Arrowhead Water to my list of Badwater sponsors. I wrote to them about the race and the fundraising being done as a part of this year’s Badwater. Arrowhead stepped up and is helping to support us with over 40 gallons of water, which is tremendous. It’s great to work with sponsors who believe not only in my mission as a runner, but in my greater mission as an individual. Thank you, Arrowhead; I look forward to both the race and the charitable fundraising as a part of that.

I ran the L.A. Marathon this past Sunday, which was awesome. I had a tight back from tweaking it a week and a half ago, so I ran a solid first half and eased up on the second half to keep the back/legs from tightening up too bad. 1:30 first, 1:48 second…..The first half felt very easy and I feel good that I’m on the right track to go for a sub-3 at Boston, even if there is still much work to do. I have a soft spot in my heart for this race, because unlike any other marathon/race I’ve been a part of, it is truly “the people’s race”. Whether it’s the huge crowd support, the runners from all walks of life, or the plethora of neighborhoods the race travels through, it is always a special experience. I am also pushed on by the strangers yelling my name (on my bib), handing out food/drink or banging a drum. I don’t know if I’ll ever get that feeling at another race.
I’ll update the training log in the next few days. Even with the week off for the back injury, I still have time to keep the miles going in the right direction.

UPDATE: Another big opportunity is that I’m starting up a running program with a local Christian drug/alcohol rehabilitation center, CityTeam, in Downtown San Francisco. We're pretty much all ready to go. We will start shortly. I’m trying to emphasize how to get the men to improve their physical health and take better care of their bodies as they recover from their addictions. It’s just a great opportunity to show them, without the pressure of having to go towards a goal (at least at the start), how running fits in with the center’s mission to improve the physical, mental and spiritual health of each of the men in the program. I’m hoping to get some support from Brooks, so we’ll see where that goes.

Take care, run hard and God bless,

Gundy

Lead up to Rocky- Pacifica 50k

2008-01-22T17:08:00.000-08:00

What’s up?
It’s been a great two weeks of getting back into the swing of running. Training for the past two weeks has been 70 miles each week. Not super big mileage, but enough to keep me healthy while getting some key targeted runs. This past weekend, I had my last major tune-up before the Rocky Raccoon 100: Pacifica 50k. With 7100 ft. of elevation gain in 31.4 miles, it’s a good strength builder looking ahead towards the other 100 mile runs this year. I kept a nice even pace, with the following times on the loops: 1:04, 0:59, 1:03, 1:22, 1:06. The 1st and 4th loops were the 11.3k and the other loops were the 9.3k loop. The 4th loop was an anomaly, in part due to my desire to keep my legs fresh for Rocky Raccoon and also the stimulating conversation taking place between myself and two other runners. Normally, I would have kept pounding the trail with jogging on the flatter sections. I chose instead to enjoy the company and the conversation on the trip up to North Peak before picking it back up on the return trip back down to the aid station. It was a bit weird though, since it seemed to placate my usually competitive nature. I’m hoping this is a blessing in disguise and has a positive effect on Rocky Raccoon performance. I try not to get too competitive at the 50ks, trying to instead use them as base builders and speed work where appropriate. All in all, though, I still finished in a respectable 5:48, 6th place out of 44 starters, when all was said and done with the aid station stops. Still, at least once this year, it would be nice to have a top 3 finish at a 50k, even though it is the 100s where I want to compete the best.

This week, I’m looking at a 100 mile week, with 15 miles each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then a late night/early morning 18 miler/ 32 miler back to back runs on Saturday morning. That way, I have Saturday and Sunday all day free to do whatever. Then, I’ll start the taper for the following week with a few easy runs. I am excited to go back out to Texas. I haven’t been there since last March for my cousin’s wedding just outside Houston. I’ll be flying into Houston and then traveling to Huntsville for the race. One small benefit of the race is a chance to see my cousin and his wife again. It should be great, especially going to a place that’s really foreign to me. I’ll be seeing them at some point on Saturday during the race and on Sunday noon time when the race is over. I like to travel with a purpose, and although doing a big race can be a purpose in and of itself, traveling to see family, friends or just to do some work your passionate about is sometimes a little bit sweeter.

People don’t always realize this, but traveling to a race and then competing can definitely take its toll if you let it. It’s enough to be running 100 miles, but to add to it the stress of being in a new city, sleeping in a different bed, and not always knowing everyone around you can be overwhelming. I’ve always enjoyed adventure, so that’s really the approach I take. Going to Huntsville is just another adventure and another chance to see a part of this country that I see very little. I just hope I don’t run into any gators out there!

I have a friend who will be taking pics and I’ll start to include video of this race as well as some of my “only for Badwater” training methods, for those of you interested in the race. The application is due in less than a week and I'm almost finished with it. It's definitely a strong application, but nothing is ever guaranteed. Of course, I think I'm just as excited about returning to Africa in the first half of 2008 for 2 to 3 weeks. Either way, I'll be doing things that I'm passionate about and always keeping my eyes on the prize that's most important.

I definitely have to put some more pics up here for 2008, especially considering the places I get to go. It'll be nice to look at all these pics 20 years from now and remember the good times I had and the great people I shared them with. Also, I’ve updated the training log on the right hand column. Enjoy.

Stay strong, run hard and God bless.
Gundy

Getting Ready for Rocky- The first 100 miler of 08'

2008-01-07T00:46:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks of training have gone well, with a 70 mile and 80 mile week respectively. I will try to bump that up to 90 miles and 100 miles for the next two weeks, before slowing down to a much lighter load prior to the Rocky Raccoon 100. I know there are other runners who believe in consistent weeks above 100 miles, but I am not one of them. I have enjoyed playing basketball and using some of the other cardio machines at the gym (when I don’t feel like running in the rain), which have helped me feel better about the time I’ve been putting into my runs. I’m making a conscious effort to include activities I already enjoy doing to enhance my focus during my runs. So far, so good.

While I wasn’t 100% happy with my race at the Rodeo Beach 50k on 12/22, but there were some positives out there on the trails. I was really sick going into the race, continually trying to fight off a cold I had caught the week before. The time in the race where being sick really took its toll was over the final 20k loop. On the first major ascent of the 20k loop, I felt like my energy had been sucked out of me. I started to suffer from just being plain tired, continually wiping my nose and spitting flem. I felt better over the last 10k, but still tired from the lingering illness. The major plus from the race was feeling the benefit of my road marathon racing on the downhills. I flew downhill, hitting sub-6 minute mile speed at times while moving efficiently over the somewhat uncertain footing of the terrain.

Rocky Raccon, which once felt ages away, is now only 4 weeks away. 4 weeks until I’m back attacking the 100 mile distance again. The goal will be to have a negative split between my first half and second half. With 5- 20 mile loops, it’ll give me an accurate look at how my first half loops compare to the second half loops. Considering the relative flatness of the course (5500 ft. of elevation gain and 5500 ft. of elevation loss) and being the first 100 miler of 2008, I have shaped my pacing plan to a sub-20 hour finish with the following tiered-goals for the race:

1) Finish the race
2) Finish under 24 hours
3) Finish under 20 hours
4) Finish under 18 hours
5) Finish under 16 hours, 40 minutes

The goal for the race which I believe I’m well trained to reach is goal #3. I will adjust accordingly, but I plan on running the first two loops in 3:30 minutes and 3:40 minutes, with 6 minutes of breaks on each lap. From the first lap on, I will gradually increase the number of calories coming from solid food sources to control potential nausea. I’m concerned more with setting the stage and laying the foundation for a race like Badwater in the summer. Oh well…..even the best laid plans still require tinkering during the race, so I’m prepared for anything both positive and negative.

Time for me to go to bed….I’ll post the training log tomorrow.

Stay strong, run hard, and God bless,
Gundy

2008- A Look Ahead

2007-12-17T00:11:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

It’s a little over a week until Christmas, which means a lot to celebrate. I know quite a few other bloggers have posted their “Christmas Wish” Lists, so I don’t want to bore you too much. Last weekend, I posted about my Top 9 favorite items/grub to use. This week, I’ll keep it short and list my Top 5 Bay Area running routes. Keep in mind that while I know there are other routes in the Bay Area, these represent routes I’ve run personally. In no particular order:
1) Mt. Tamalpais- Only 2600 ft. of elevation gain the ocean, but its compressed into a short distance, which makes this a favorite for training for big climbs in races.
2) Mt. Diablo- It’s much further away from me in San Francisco than Mt. Tam, but Mt. Diablo in the East Bay packs a close to 4000 ft. elevation climb which will definitely test me prior to major races with a large uphill component.3) Dipsea Trail- 7.1 miles one way, but a two way trip yields 5000 ft. of elevation gain and 5000 ft. of elevation loss. Its varied terrain, high difficulty, and quiet trails are great after a stressful week.4) Novato (San Marin area) to Pt. Reyes- 40 miles roundtrip from my parents’ home is a trip through wide open diary and farm land in Northern Marin. It is a road run, but peaceful nonetheless.5) San Francisco Twin Peaks- 7.7 miles roundtrip from my house. It’s 900 ft. of elevation up and down, combined with incredible views of the ocean and downtown, make this an easy choice for this road route.

I’ve also set forth my proposed 2008 race schedule in the lower right hand column, which doesn’t necessarily set it in stone, but it gives a clear idea of where I want to go and what I want to accomplish this year. One notable

Key Races:

2008 Rocky Raccoon 100
2008 Boston Marathon
2008 Badwater Ultramarathon (if accepted)
2008 Angeles Crest 100

These are races that I consider “review” points, races where I can evaluate my progress towards reaching my long-term running goals. While some of the other races in the year may prove to be more valuable in evaluating this due to the unpredictability of long-distance running (particularly ultras), each of these races represents very different types of challenges as well as premier events where the competition will hopefully fuel a higher level of performance. Rocky Raccoon is a flat, fast trail course which will give me a baseline for my speed on the trails in an early 2008 race. The Boston Marathon is a road marathon which, although challenging compared to other marathons, will give me a chance to “let it fly” compared to the ultra scene. My goal prior to Badwater is to run a sub-3 hr. marathon as a sort of speed development goal.

Accountability and Game Plan:

As a sort of accountability for myself, I have decided to post my training on a week-by-week basis in 2008. While I always give myself the flexibility to adjust to life events, I want to accountable for the type of training that leads to the type of results I desire. I will start at the end of next week with this past week and next week’s training.

I hesitate to put down specific hour goals here for each race. It’s not so much that I don’t have goals; it’s that I do not want to boast about things which I have not done. While I believe that I am capable of much more, I can not speak of “talent” that is unfulfilled.

However, to give you an idea of how I approach each race, I go into each race with specific race plans that are geared around multiple goal tiers. It might help in your own goal setting as you push the limits of what your body is capable of. I caution those that are reading this to make sure you apply this appropriately to the particular race.

The first tier is a very low baseline. For a 100 mile race, considering the unpredictability of the endeavor, the first tier is almost always to finish. I know there are other runners that would rather “DNF” than show a poor race time, but I believe this would hurt the integrity of my personal purpose in ultrarunning. While this does not preclude me from a DNF (of which I have 2), I consider a DNF only acceptable for me when my health is threatened or I miss a cutoff while recovering from an unspecified maladie.

The second tier is a more conservative goal tier. It accounts for the occurance of some bigger issues (nausea, major muscle pain, major joint pain). The third tier is the training tier, which my training has been geared for. It represents a bigger step forward and fits with my running development plan and yearly goals which I discussed in a previous entry.

Finally, the forth tier is a stretch goal. It represents a clean race, with few issues. With the emphasis this year on negative splits (faster second half than first half), this would represent close to even splits for the first half and second half of a race (dependent on the overall layout of the course). Anything beyond this is usually gravy on top. While I expect these goals to change as my running ability changes, this provides a framework going into a race. If I feel terrific after the first half, maybe I pick up in the second half. If I run into issues in the first half, maybe I have to reset the race goals. It’s such a fluid process. Going into the race, I examine splits from previous races and use them to match my tiered goals. I take into account the terrain and profile of the course as well, and how they play into my relative strengths/weaknesses.

Ok, that does it for me. As always, run strong, finish well, and God bless.

Gundy

P.S. I found this inspirational story, which further reinforced my focus on “Finishing what I start”. It’s a reminder to me to follow the words of Paul in the New Testament about finishing the race:

October 20, 1968, Mexico City, Olympic Stadium, 7.00 P.M. The closing ceremonies had just been completed. The spectators and athletes, still warm from the euphoria of the celebration, were gathering their belongings to leave the stadium. Then the announcer asked them to remain in their seats. Down the boulevard came the whine of police sirens. From their vantage point, many in the stadium could see motorcycles with their flashing blue lights, encircling someone making his way toward the stadium. Whoever it was, he was moving slowly. Everyone remained seated to see the last chapter of the Olympics take place. By the time the police escort got to the stadium, the public address announcer said that a final marathoner would be making his way into the arena and around the track to the finish line. Confusion was evident among the crowd. The last marathoner had come in hours ago. The medals had already been awarded. What had taken this man so long? But the first sign of the runner making his way out of the tunnel and onto the track told the whole story. John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania, covered with blood, hobbled into the light. He had taken a horrible fall early in the race, whacked his head, damaged his knee, and endured a trampling before he could get back on his feet. And there he was, over 40 kilometers later, stumbling his way to the finish line. The response of the crowd was so overwhelming, it was almost frightening. They encouraged Akhwari through the last few meters of his race with a thundering ovation that far exceeded the one given the man who, hours earlier, had come in first. When Akhwari crossed the finish line, he collapsed into the arms of the medical personnel who immediately whisked him off to the hospital. The next day, Akhwari appeared before sports journalists to field their questions about his extraordinary feat. The first question was the one any of us would have asked, "Why, after sustaining the kinds of injuries you did, would you ever get up and proceed to the finish line, when there was no way you could possibly place in the race?" John Stephen Akhwari said this: "My country did not send me over 7,000 miles to start a race. They sent me over 7,000 miles to finish one."

2007 leading to 2008- Time for Boston

2007-12-08T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hey,
It’s the beginning of December, which normally represents the “slow” season in the running world. I’m working on my race schedule for 2008, which should be interesting. Most people go inside for the winter, with travel and family responsibilities taking precedence. While I have many of the same responsibilities and time constraints, I don’t want to lose the training base which I’ve developed. I also don’t want to just stop running, which during the sometimes stressful holidays can provide a quiet rest bit. Besides, I’ve always loved the feeling after a hard run in the cool winter when your breath looks like smoke and your exposed head and arms steam.

Last year, I ended the year with a flurry with the Quad Dipsea and the California International Marathon (CIM) in back to back weekends. This year, I skipped the Quad Dipsea so that I could just focus on CIM and not leave myself with any residual tiredness before the race. I’ve not really focused on marathons over the last couple years, instead using most of them as training runs for longer races. A couple times, I’ve tried to run Boston Marathon qualifying times, but the lack of consistent speed work left me tired during the home stretch at the end and in the end I failed. The Boston Marathon was always an eventual goal of mine when I started running marathons in 2001, so doing CIM was a way to get back to the matter and try to deal with some unfinished business.

Well, I finally did it. I ran the 2007 California International Marathon (www.runcim.org) last Sunday and came away with a 3:07 finishing time. It was just a great moment, an opportunity to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Over the last 0.2 miles, I got a little emotional, thinking of how far I’d come in my running career and how I had finally achieved a long term goal that I had set aside for a time.

I’d been feeling rather lethargic the last week and a half, when I tweaked a muscle in my right lower back. It was so bad, that I could barely get off the couch at Thanksgiving. I even thought I might be at least 5-7 lbs over what I need to be to compete with those real skinny dudes. But, over the last 5 weeks since the Javelina Jundred, I honed my speed work in addition to the speed work I started in early October. I made the commitment to go to the track at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco and run 800m intervals on a consistent, weekly basis back in early October. The crazy thing about the race was that at one point I was almost 5 minutes ahead of 3:10 pace and if I hadn’t slowed to ensure I wouldn’t pull a hamstring I could have done a 3:05. It was by far the best long race of my life; With a 1:31:31 first half and a 1:36:20 second half, this was by far the most consistent long race I had completed. The first half of this race is always a little faster with the downhill sections. There will always be a decrease in performance from the first half to the second half of a race. But by aiming for negative splits (from the first to second half of races), I was able to produce a disciplined performance that was consistently under the goal pace. I do have to say that I was a bit surprised later to find out there was over 4100 ft. of elevation drop and 3800 ft. of elevation gain. That is still a significant amount of change, despite its reputation as a faster course.

It has been a long journey started when I trained for 6 weeks to run my first marathon (which was the first time over 4 miles in 11 years) in 2001. Now, I’ve done it and it felt incredible….and I’m ready go for sub-3, when I’m not running 50 or 100 milers! No Western States for me next year (didn’t get selected in the lottery, but Boston and Badwater in 2008 make for a mighty fine start to the 2008 Race Schedule. Remember to always run hard, stay strong, and God bless all who have made 2007 a great year, and 2008 a year I will never forget.
Since it is the Thanksgiving season, it’s only appropriate to give thanks for the things which we all enjoy. In running, our gear can make a world of difference, particularly when you’re doing a marathon, 50k, 50 mile or 100 mile run. It keeps our minds on the trails rather than our waist pack slipping or the nagging blisters in our shoes. I’m most thankful for my following Top 9 gear/grub list (in no particular order):

Injinji Socks (www.injinji.com)

These things come in all sizes and materials (coolmax and nuwool). I ran marathons and ultramarathons. My feet tend to sweat a lot, so getting these socks in time for my first Badwater Ultramarthon in 2006 was definitely a lifesaver. The only time I got a blister in them was when I ran in a shoe 1.5 sizes too big.

Brooks Cascadia (www.brooksrunning.com)

The best part about being a part of the ID (Inspire Daily) Program with Brooks is the opportunity to work with their new products. When I was looking for a trail shoe which ran more like my road shoes, I developed an affinity for the Cascadias. I’ve used my current pair for three 100-mile races last year, and they’re so comfortable that I might be using them for my first 100-miler of 2008, Rocky Raccoon (www.tejastrails.com/Rocky.html).

Brooks Burn

While I know many people who stay exclusively on the trails (because of wear and tear), I still love a good road marathon. I don’t use these shoes all the time, because the cushioning is less than what I normally need (at 175 lb.). But these have worked great for me, including during my marathon PR. They’re light enough to not drag me down, but just enough cushion to race without knee problems.

Garmin 301 (www.garmin.com)

I know many people have upgraded to the 305, but my 301 works just fine. I like the way the 301 fits on my wrist compared to the 305. The heart rate monitor, GPS system and other nice features keep my training on track. Plus, it fits just fine on my wrist.

CamelBak Classic 70 oz. (www.camelbak.com)

Some people like using waist packs with multiple water bottles. While this works well for convenience to refill them at aid stations, the CamelBak takes the pressure off my lower back and puts it on my shoulders. With frequent muscle tightness in my lower back and my shoulders strong, this is the perfect long run tool. It works well in mountainous races where the distance between certain aid stations is over 7 miles.

Timex IronMan Watch (www.timex.com)

This is an interesting one, I know. I also listed the Garmin, which gives a runner a tremendous amount of feedback about their running. Sometimes, though, it’s nice not to be “tuned in” to all the data. Especially during a marathon, it give me just enough information to keep me going. It can help me learn to listen to my body and adjust the pace accordingly.

Hammer Gel (www.e-caps.com)
Nasty tasting? Sometimes. Do I prefer GU? Sometimes for shorter races (marathons). Despite what are its drawbacks are, I can’t deny that the stuff flat out works. While I do have to be careful how I use it because I do need to take solids with it for my stomach during ultras, it is the one thing that will get me going instantly “on contact”.

Jolly Ranchers (www.hersheys.com/jollyrancher)

Who can resist Jolly Ranchers? They give me the pep I need when my blood sugar level drops later in a race. An added bonus is that by letting one of them dissolve in my front lip, it keeps the salivary glands pumping to keep my mouth from going dry.

NUUN Electrolyte Tablets (www.nuun.com)

I’ve been having problems taking in electrolytes, dissatisfied with the various electrolyte pills out on the market which have started irritating my stomach. The NUUN tablets work great and make my water more like a fizzy flavored soda so I can take in electrolytes gradually.

Two Crazy Uncles

Honestly, I almost consider these two as performance enhancing drugs. Everybody should have a couple of crazy uncles willing to follow them to some pretty interesting locals (i.e. Death Valley). Where others won’t go, they’re there.

Javelina Jundred and 2008

2007-11-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

I’ve returned from the 2007 Javelina Jundred (http://www.javelinajundred.com/), which was a terrific 100 mile race, with almost 150 starters. It was successful from a number of different standpoints. In order to mix it up a little bit, I will shy away from the usual play-by-play and try to give you a brief summary of what happened.

-Ran terrific for the first 31 miles (two loops)
-Slowed on loop 3 due to increase in temperatures (over 100 in certain spots)
-Puked after completion of loop 3 and 5, as well as one other occasion
-Took recovery breaks of 1.5 hours total during race
-Recovered to finished the final 20 miles in 4 hours
-Finished well in 24 hours

Now you may be saying to yourself, “He puked again? I thought this was solved.” Well, one of the primary reasons I completely bounced back at mile 80 was the introduction of mass quantities of Lay’s potato chips and Ginger Snap Cookies into my diet. At one point, being my first ultra by myself, I let my mind run a little wild when I was hurting and thought about a) quitting ultrarunning, b) hated family and friends, and c) hated my own life. It was bringing out the best and worst of my emotions. I needed something with a little salt, some sugars, a bunch of fats, and some other carbs to top it off that my stomach would like. The salt came in quantities that my stomach could handle and it felt awesome. At some points, I was almost running away from my pacer, Robert Andrulis, who volunteered at mile 75 to pace me the rest of the way. I met Robert when we both ran Badwater in 2006, and it was nice to chat with a friend who knew how to send my mind on a vacation while my body started kicking into gear. I was just wired like crazy and running like a banchee up and down those hills. I am going to continue to pour on the solid foods in my future 100 milers, which will continue to help balance out my system and give my digestive system food it’s used to. I’m not going to completely abandon the gels and powder drinks, because I think some supplementing is necessary to get all the proper nutrition. But, the balance is shifting, and packing a light Clif bar is going to become more standard in my running repertoire. While never totally satisfied, considering I’ve been only running beyond the marathon for 2 years, I’m content to be where I’m at.

Right now, I’m slated to run Rocky Raccoon in February, which is a fairly fast, flatter course. I’ll be setting the following goals for myself, which I’m going to follow up in training with specific runs/target times that my uncle will hold me to.
· Sub-24 hours- Standard goal
· 22 hours- Good goal
· 20 hours- Better goal
· 18 hours- Best goal

While most of my training will target the 20 hour goal, in order to better incorporate many of the nutritional lessons I’ve learned this year, a conservative 1st-50 targeting 10.25-10.5 hours will be the goal. I am a closer; I love to turn n’ burn over the last 20 miles of a race. Psychologically, the last 20% of an ultra gets me incredibly excited and optimistic, which translates over into how I run. But, in order to do this, I have to have something left in the tank. I believe that I will both feel better physically (especially the stomach) and have the sustained muscle strength if I focus more on negative splits. This is especially true of a loop course (20 mile loops) such as Rocky Raccoon where you can accurately measure performance comparing the 1st 20 mile loop with the 5th 20 mile loop.

A few goals for 2008 include:
· Limit breaks at aid stations in 100 milers to 5 min./max, 2 min. preferred (which I’ve started implementing)
· Continue intense speed workouts at local track at least once a week
· Make better use of solid food to combat nausea
· Make the 100 mile race a focal point for training
· Run better marathons as a base for running better ultramarathons
· Use at least two-fixed time races as times of experimentation/refining
· Run a sub-20 hour 100 miler
· Use “Negative split” principle where applicable (not always true depending on terrain)
· Use 1st 2 Badwater experiences as opportunity to make big leap forward in 2008

Now, I know a lot of these will require a definite increase in my training regimen, but I think that, along with the natural growth curve that comes with the changes in my body to be more runner-like (rather than, say, like a lacrosse-player or basketball-player), I have a definite opportunity to grab hold of here.

It's November, which for most people means time to go indoors and hibernate for the winter. When I was living in Los Angeles, I always enjoyed when Daylight Savings ended. I used to run around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena when I was living in Los Angeles. I have run the Los Angeles Marathon every year since 2001, and with the race always slated for early March, the bulk of training occurred during the cold winter months.

I got a rush out of running in the cold darkness, punctuated by the filtered light of the fog-covered intermittent street lamps. It gave me a feeling of empowerment, that feeling of working hard while other retreated to their warm houses or to the treadmills at their local gyms. I wanted to work hard while others slept; I wanted to feel the coldness of winter to remind me of the cold nights I had suffered before. I always tried to out run that feeling, but I never could quite do it. I'd run myself into exhaustion, so that as I stood with my arms on my hips, I could watch my breath steam up in the cool air. I'd take my shirt and hat off briefly, allowing my body heat to continue to produce steam. It was then that I knew I was alive. I want the feeling rekindled in me once again.

Besides one marathon (CIM) and one 50k slated for December, this is a month to get well and work on speed. Speed is something a lot of ultrarunners lose because it becomes an afterthought in training. But, the more fit (correlating with heart rate/effort) I am at the 26.2 mile level, the easier it will be for my body at the 100 mile level. Stay strong, keep movin', take care and God bless.

Gundy

Friends + Races = Timeless Moments

2007-10-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Hey,
I'm back from the San Diego 100! I've been sick lately, so I ended up taking the 50-mile finish option and save my strength for another 100 mile race (Javelina Jundred) this coming weekend. This has been a year of triumphs and dissapointments for me, so Javelina provides me with another opportunity to finish off my ultramarathon season with a big finish. I'm just trying to run this race with discipline and focus, to run with a consistency of effort that will keep me moving well all the way to the end. The finish will take care of itself. One of the highlights of the race in San Diego was the opportunity to share the experience with my friend, Trish. Uncle Andy was going solo as my crew in San Diego, so Trish volunteered to come out and help. I think she really enjoyed the opportunity to see what many ultramarathoners go through with the ups and downs. I think the hardest thing for any runner who is pushing their limits (no matter what they are) is to manage the emotional roller coaster. It's hard to quantify the emotions and physical difficulties the roller coaster elicits unless you see it person. Having Trish there in person to see it and appreciate it was great. Being able to share you passions with others in a meanful way are moments worth remembering, and having friends to share them with is priceless.

Let me put in another plug to all you runners out there to check out the Runner's World discussion board ( www.forums.runnersworld.com/eve). Sometimes the hardest thing for me is feeling like I'm on my own planet, not necessarily surrounded by other runners who have the same goals. A lot of you are starting 5ks all the way up to 100 mile ultramarathons. Regardless of your distance, sometimes having a forum of like-minded people to bounce things off of is a great thing. I know for me, it's been invaluable in the way of just getting information as well as inspiration. You get a wide range of people with a wide range of goals, from finishing the race to trying to win the race. No matter what, you always seem to get treated with respect no matter what the question.

I am always truly blessed to be alive. I'm praying for those affected by the Southern California wildfires, which affect the victims and all of us who love and play in the outdoors. Getting ready to race next weekend, which will be a treat. Stay strong and keep movin'.

God bless,
Gundy

AC100 and onward to San Diego

2007-09-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Latest Update 09/26/07
Hey,
So, as I just celebrated my birthday this past weekend, I have finally had time to sit down and digest both the recently completed Angeles Crest 100 and the upcoming San Diego 100 in October. While I think most reports (mine included) often are filled with superfluous detail, I’ll try and cut to the chase with this one. If I had one word to describe the theme of this race, I would have to say “Reversal”. Let me use the word in a sentence about the race. “The cause of my 4 reversals was quite simply electrolyte deficiency”. There we go. For those of you who haven’t been exposed to the term, a “reversal” simply refers to throwing up. I used it quite liberally when describing my 2007 Badwater experience, but decided to use it again here to spice things up.

I counted reversals at miles 42, 49, 50 and 68. For the first 20 miles of the race, I moved rather effortlessly up and over the hills to the top of MountBaden-Powell (9300 ft. elevation) before starting the long, rolling descent back to a reasonable altitude. While I planned accordingly for the change in elevation, the one thing about a electrolytes is that the pills will often “explode” all at once, depositing their contents in the stomach. I had not been taking in the electrolyte drinks and solids which would have buffered my stomach while taking the pills. The result was a general weakening of my system that slowed things way down and could only be assuaged by finally stopping at Chilao Flats (mile 52.8) to get some help from the medic.

Amazingly, after a long break at the aid station, I was able to pick myself up and finish strong. While I did have to stop to take care of the reversal at mile 68, I finished with a flurry, ripping off 10 minute miles overall for the last 8-10 miles as I picked my way down the hill and up the uphills. I felt good to be free, free to run.

When people ask you, “What was your finest race?”, the first thought that runs into many heads is the race you had your best time or placed the highest. And while I am still learning and striving for that “perfect race”, for right now I am content with knowing that like life, these races are an imperfect science at best. The greatest expectation that I can have of myself is to “race to win”, leaving everything out there with only the expectation that where that takes is me is where it was meant to take me. The resulting race at the 2007 AC 100 has left me with an insatiable hunger to get out there in San Diego and race (race smart, that is). When I ran at AC, I felt very comfortable maintaining a 20 hour race pace overall. When I had to stop, I was left with the uneasy feeling of trying to reconstruct a body that had been thrashed on the inside.

Ultras are the act of placing the body under enormous stress for an inordinate amount of time. In many cases, it’s about maintaining that complex balance that only a complex body like that of a human would require. Run, drink, eat and digest all in the same motion continuously for hours on end. Perfect balance is impossible, and yet it is what all ultra runners are trying to achieve. Being perfect in the attempt is all to be expected. In the 2 years that I have been running ultramarathons, I’ve been learned a great deal about myself and my body. I charge on with the wisdom of Corinthians yearning me to “run the race to win”, stretching for the finish line with the knowledge that my best is yet to come…..Will San Diego be the place where potential meets reality? No matter what, I am always truly blessed to be alive. Stay strong and keep movin'.
God bless,
Gundy