Expect the unexpected

When  you are running 100 miles with 15 to 20 aid stations, 8 or 10 drop bags, every imaginable weather condition and temperature possible there is a pretty good chance something will go a-rye before the race is over.  I have run three 100 mile races and each one has presented a few unexpected challenges.  A few I could never have imagined, like loosing a cue sheet and back up flashlight with 60 miles to go.

At Pinhoti, the section from mile 45 (Silent Trail AS to mile 55.3 (Adams Gap AS) was the most challenging  section of the race for me.  It is a very difficult, rocky trial that requires total focus on every step.  When you factor in a very dark night and cold temperatures, it was tough, even by Wasatch or Leadville standards.  I had been running about 12 hours by the time I hit this section and the temperature was around freezing.  If you look at the course profile below, there are a couple of 500 ft climbs but they were not the problem.

I had done a couple of night runs in training and the Katcina Mosa started in the dark.  This was the first time I had run this long at night and I remember feeling like there was not another soul for 20 miles in any direction.  Earlier a girl had been running with me but she stumbled and took a pretty good fall.  I stopped to see if she was OK and she said she was but was going to slow down.  I had been running alone for what seemed like several hours when I began to hear a noise.  I thought it was music but I could not tell where it was coming form.  As I ran, the sound would fade in and out but eventually became more distinct.  Yes, it was music and it still sounded very far off.  I was still in very dark woods with no sing on anything, anywhere.  I had run this section in a training run and I knew I was getting close to Adams Gap.  I had crossed a creek I remembered so I knew I was on the right trail.  Finally I started the climb I thought led to Adams Gap and the music was now getting louder.  Then in the black I saw what I thought was a twinkle of light off through the woods.  Then I saw more light and I knew I had made it to Adams Gap, and was I ever glad to be there.  The aid station volunteers had a huge fire burning and someone gave me a cup of hot soup.  (That was the only aid station all night that had any soup left by the time I arrived.)  I sat down by the fire with my soup and that is when I learned another ultra truism. "Beware the fire!"  It felt so good to sit there in the warmth of that fire, friendly people are all around, a couple of other runners are sitting around, appearing to have no intention of ever leaving, so I just sat.  I would start to think about getting up and heading up the gravel road, into the cold dark night.  My mind would say no and I continued to sit.  I probably sat there 10 or 15 minutes, maybe more.  I rationalized that I was three hours ahead of cutoff and an hour of my intended pace.  (Of course, with no cue sheet, I didn't realize I had lost chunks of time every mile I had run since dark.)  I did finally force myself out of the chair and start off into the cold, but it was hard.  Surprisingly, after a few minutes of walking/running, I felt good and ready to take on the rest of the course.  I had learned my lesson.  I now make a point never to get too comfortable at an aid station.  Usually I don'e even sit down unless I need to change shoes or socks.

Another unexpected thing happened at Pinhoti in 2008.  At the Blue Mountain AS at mile 34, a remote aid station, that can only be reached by about a one mile hike.  This is the final AS before the fairly easy climb up to Bald Rock at the top of Mt Cheaha.  I arrived and was informed that they just ran out of water!  It is six miles to the next AS and I was almost out of water too.  This sounded like a repeat of Katcina Mosa,  but this time I was not the one that screwed up.  One of AS workers said there was one coke left in the cooler so I took it and headed off.  Have you ever tried to run with a bottle of coke?  Running shakes up the coke so it builds up pressure.  I could feel the bottle expanding in my hand so I allowed the pressure and some of the coke to spray out.  Then I put the lid back on and started running again.  Fifty yards lated, I had to open it again.  This time I smashed the plastic bottle as much as possible without squeezing out any more coke and started off again.  I made it about 100 yards before having to open it again.  After a few minutes of this ridiculousness, the Coke finally ran out of fizz and I resumed a more normal running style.  I was able to reach the Bald Rock aid station without any problems and thanks to the coke, without getting dehydrated.  The bad thing was, at that point, I was on a 27 hour pace which meant almost 1/3 of the runners were behind me.  Hopefully someone was able to get more water to that aid station, I never heard.

I have already talked about leaving my fanny pak with cue sheet and flashlight at Bald Roch in the Pinhoti.  In my next race, Leadville in August of 2009, I lost my flashlight (yep, the same one,) somewhere after Twin Lakes at mile 60.  In one of my early posts on equipment I talked about why I now run with a headlamp and a flashlight but I will go over that again.  When running at night with a headlamp, the light projects no shadows from the perspective of you eyes.  The light source is directly above your eyes so everything appears flat.  You can spot rocks and roots if they are a different color than the surrounding terrain, but if a rock is the same color as the dirt in the trail, it is almost inviable.  Depressions in the trail simply disappear.  I had this problem at Leadville, after loosing my flashlight.  Some of that section of the trail was on a jeep trail and occasionally I would step into a hole that I did not know was there.  That will get your attention.

I have backup equipment for everything that is critical.  All this extra gear goes in a bag that Marye Jo takes to each aid station.  Often, parking is not allowed near aid stations and crews have to walk , sometimes quite a ways which is why she takes the bag to all the aid stations.  At Leadville, I had an extra flashlight and batteries in the supply bag.  When I realized I lost the light I called Marye Jo and asked her to be sure the extra flashlight was in the bag when her met me at the Half Moon aid station.  Actually, the Half Moon has no crew access so she met me a couple of miles down the road at "tree line" where the crews are allowed to meet runners.  Once again I could see all the holes in the road.

At Leadville I carried the flashlight along with two water bottles.  I found it was no problem to carry the Nathan "Quick Draw" bottle and the flashlight in the same hand.  I simply held the flashlight against the water bottle and pointed both where I wanted to see.  At Wasatch I had decided to run with trekking poles because of the amount of climbing, 26,882 feet of it.  I could not figure any way to manage a flashlight and a trekking pole in the same hand so I came up with another system.  I purchased a Surefire Saint Minimus head lamp and wore it around my waist.  The power is infinitely adjustable and it projects a "flood" type beam versus a spot.  I aimed it at the ground close to my feet and used the headlamp to watch for obstacles in the distance and to see where the trail goes.  This system worked great and I intend to continue running at night in races this way.  It leaves both hands free.

The picture below is just before the start of the Wasatch 100.  If you look carefully, you can see my trekking poles sticking out of my backpack, the Nathan X-Treme 3Liter Backpack.  I am carrying my flashlight because we would be running about an hour in the dark.  I only use the poles for climbing or steep descents so I did not use them at the start.  By the time I started up the first climb it will be getting light and I could stash the flashlight until I reached my first drop bag at the Francis Peak aid station at mile 18.76.  I only have one of the "Surefire" lights and I put it in the drop bag for the Big Mountain AS at mile 39.4, the last drop bag location before reaching Lamb's Canyon, mile 53.1.  I knew it would be dark before I reached Lamb's Canyon.

The most significant unexpected can be the weather, especially in the mountains in the Western US where you can find yourself in a blizzard in the middle of August.  I have been fortunate that all of the 100 mile races I have run ("started" might be a better word) have had great weather.  That 100K was another story.  As I have mentioned before, when I ran out of water in Katcina Mosa half way up the climb to Windy Pass the temperature in Salt Lake City hit100 deg.  The normal hight for August is 85.  The highs had been about 85 for the three weeks leading up to the race.  The high was 85 on Thursday when I arrived for the race.  Friday it jumped to 94.  Saturday it hit 100 but by Sunday it was back to 85.  I was just lucky.  Wasatch came very close to having really bad weather last year.  The day before, the upper sections of the mountains received sleet and snow with very high wings all day and rain fell at lower elevations.  Driving to the start the last storm came through the valley and off over the mountains about one hour before the start.  The weather ended up beautiful late in the day and cooler than normal.  As you can tell from the pictures it was cold and foggy until mid afternoon.  The run goes right by the Francis Peak Radar Dome which looks like a giant "golf ball" and I never saw it. It is actually visible form the SLC Airport.  That first morning we were running through snow from about half way up "Chinscraper" the first climb.  Take a look at the pictures I took on the first climb and along the ridge of the front range.

 Just below Chinscraper

 This is Chinscraper

 Climbing along the ridge line

Running along the top of the Wasatch Front Range Crest.

The views left something to be desired that first morning.  By late afternoon it cleared up and you could see for miles.

More Preparation for the Pinhoti 100

If you saw my training log in the previous post you know how much/little I ran getting ready for Pinhoti, now I will try to remember as much as I can about how I managed all the other preparations.  I registered as soon as I found out about Pinhoti after The Katcina Mosa 100K .  I was then committed.  I think the early registration is important because once you have entered, there is a degree of urgency to training and getting everything else ready.  Not to mention that you will probably not get in the race if you wait.

This would be a lot easier if I could type!  I constatnly reverse letters in wrods and have to go back and fix them.  It is a real pian!!!

The first thing I needed to do was to figure out a pace schedule to determine when I would need to be at each aid station to stay on pace.  Normally, I  simply "guess" about how fast I will run the race and find four or five people that finished about that same time the year before.  I copy their splits on a spread sheet and average the times.  Then I will find 3 or 4 runners about an hour slower and about an hour faster and do the same.  As I am selecting the runners whose time I will use I try to find people that ran at a consistent pace throughout the race.  That is, all the selected runners should run similar splits all through the race.  Some start out too fast and finish slow.   Some will have run a faster pace and took a long bread at some point.  I do not use those.  Most runners that finish about the same time will have hit each aid station at very similar intervals.  These are the runners I pick.  After averaging each groups times between aid stations I transfer the average times to a cue sheet.  If I expected to finish in 28 hours, then I would list the aid stations down the left column.  I would put 27 hours, 28 hours, 29 hours and "Cutoff " across the top.  I then list the averages I calculated for each finish time.  Actually, at Pinhoti, the cut off time was 30 hours,so I skipped the 29 hour time and listed cutoff times.  When you are running that close to the cutoff times, all that matters is staying ahead of them.

This was the first ever Pinhoti 100 so there were no previous years race times to go by.  Todd Henderson, Pinhoti RD, had  created a pace chart for a 15 hour pace, 24 hour pace, and 30 hour paces (30 hours was the cutoff) on his web site.  Here is a link to his pace chart.  He had run all the course in segments and estimated the times based on his runs.  This time I decided to shoot for 28 hours and created a cue sheet with 27, 28 and cutoff times.  I estimated splits by figuring where 27 and 28 would fall between the 25 hour time and the 30 hour.  During the race this all worked great up to Bald Rock aid station #7 at 40.95 miles, the top of Cheaha.  I was on a 27 hour pace and felt great.  The sun would be setting about 30 minutes after I left AS 7 and it would get cold, so I went in the bathroom at the aid station (Cheaha State Park) to change into warmer clothes.  Unfortunately I left a small fanny pak and my arm warmers in the bathroom.

Trouble was, my cue sheet and my flashlight were in the fanny pak.  The flashlight was a backup.  At that time I only run with a headlamp so I wasn't concerned about the flashlight (except that it was expensive and I liked it.)  The flashlight was an Fenix LD20 and I did get it back, but dropped it at Leadville and this time it was gone for good. I did have extra batteries in  two drop bags so I did pick up a set at the next aid station, Adams Gap.  The big problem proved to be running without a cue sheet so all night I had no idea how fast I was going.  I found I could not tell up hill from down hill in the dark and apparently ended up walking way to much over night.  I had been almost three hours ahead of the cutoff at Bald Rock so I just tried to keep that same pace.  As it was getting light I reached Power Line aid station at mile 79.53 and asked how long it was until cutoff.  The guy told me about one minute.  I was shocked.  I had lost three hours over night and never knew it.  I took off and by the next aid station I had pulled back ahead a little.  By the end I had gained back an hour and finished in 29:01.

Tod had created a high resolution topo map of the course showing the aid stations. He also had the elevation profile that I placed in the previous post.  I printed out the profile and pulled up the course map on the computer.  I also printed the cutoff times for each aid station.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the course was like in sections that I had not seen, and tried to imagine running them.  I don't know how much good that did but it was more of that mental preparation.

Next, I needed to know where I would be as it started getting dark.  I used the 30 hour pace just to be safe.  The race started at 6:00 am, just as it was getting light so no headlamp or flashlight were needed at the start.  I estimated I would need my headlamp at Bald Rock (mile 40.9) but its cutoff was 6:12 pm, so it could be dark before I got there.  I decided to leave a flashlight at AS 5 at mile 27.6 because that was the last AS that allowed drop bags before Bald Rock.  I left a  small LED flashlight at aid station 5.  I placed it in the small fanny pak with my cue sheet!

The run takes place the second weekend in November so the temperature could range anywhere from 20 to 90.  As it turned out, the weather was great, cool days and just below freezing over night.  I ran in shorts all day so I knew I would need to change to warm clothes at night.  I estimated I would be at Bald Rock before I needed any warm clothes so that is where I put my tights, hat, gloves and jacket.  It was cold at the start so I wore my arm warmers all day.  I also stuck a couple of pairs of trail shoes in two drop bags later in the race, just in case.  I knew there were a couple creek crossings, one of which I posted a picture of from the Cheaha 50K which follows the Pinhoti course in the opposite direction.  I placed dry socks and blister tape in each bag.  I will go into more detail about the other stuff I put in drop bags later.  November is traditionally a dry month and it had not rained appreciably for at least a week so the creeks were very low and I never got my feet wet.  It was raining lightly while driving to the prerace meeting and back home but it stopped by race time.

Even though there was supposed to be soup at the night aid stations I put a few cans of Campbell's "Soup-at-Hand" in the overnight drop bags.  As it turned out, all but one of the aid stations I reached at night were out of soup by the time I got there.  I ate some of a couple of the cans I left in the bags.  The rest of the race went pretty smooth although I was afraid I would not make the 30 hour cutoff right up the the last few miles.  I hit the pavement about 5 miles from the end and felt good and then realized I was going to make it.  I had called Marye Jo about 15 miles out and told here when I expected to be at the end so she could meet me.  As it turned out,  I covered that 15 miles a lot faster that I anticipated.  She was going to run from the finish to meet me and I originally expected to see her about 4 miles out.  As it turned out, I met her about half a mile from the finish and I was so happy to see her.  I was afraid I might get to the finish before she even got there.  I was thinking about stopping at the entrance to the track and waining for her. We ran together to the football stadium in Sylacauga (the finish) and while I circled the track to the finish, she ran across the field to get a picture.  Part of the reason I ran so fast is I knew she was going to be there to meet me.  You will not believe what an incentive having you wife or a friend or family member waiting for you is at the end.

I ran Pinhoti with out any crew help.  In a way, it was really satisfying to be able to do it that way.  Marye Jo was at Leadville and met me at all the aid stations that allowed crew access.  She was up all night driving to aid stations and waiting in the cold.  I like that way a lot better because you have an incentive to reach every aid station.  Besides, I didn't want to let her down by not finishing.

Preparing for the Pinhoti 100

After being able to run only 40 miles of the Katcina Mosa 100K I knew I had a lot of work to do in three months to have any chance at finishing the Pinhoti 100.

I pulled out my old training log and listed my workouts starting at the end of May 2008 up through the Pinhoti 100 in November.  This is not the main points or major runs, this is 100% of every run, bike and swim workout I did in that 5 month period.  You will noteice, I was also training for a triathlon in July.  I did a lot of bike riding didn't I?

The times shown in red are my long runs. The bold type indicates races

2008	Training Log
Date	Description		Time	Distance
May 31	Oak Mtn-Trail run – loop		04:40	22.5 mi
Jun 16	Run – Houston, Tx – flat		03:20	25 miles
Jun 20	Lookout Mtn -Stage Race- (One stage only)		03:40	22 miles
Jun 22	Run – Oak Mtn – 4 Hill Reps - Green Trail		02:11
Jun 25	Swim – Oak Mtn		57 min
Jun 28	Run – Oak Mtn – 6 hill reps - Green Trail		03:25
Jul 02	Swim – Oak Mtn		54min
Jul 04	Peavine Falls Run		01:04	8.2 miles
Jul 04	Bike 2 laps Oak Mtn after the Peavine Falls Run			36 mi
Jul 10	Swim – Oak Mtn			900 yds
Jul 13	Chattanooga Waterfront Tri		02:45	Olympic
Jul 17	Run – Oak Mtn – Red		02:30	14 mi
Jul 19	Run Oak Mtn– Red+3 hill reps - Green Trial		02:59	16 mi
Jul 23	Run Oak Mtn–2 hill reps - Red Trail		Tornado Run	8.4 mi
Jul 26	Run Oak Mtn– hill rep		02:50
Aug 02	Katcina Mosa		13.5 hours	39.5 mi
Aug 06	Run Oak Mtn– +2.5 hill reps - Red Trail		02:30
Aug 09	Run Oak Mtn– Loop		02:55
Aug 12	Run Oak Mtn		2 hrs
Aug 16	Run Oak Mtn – Night Run		05:50
Aug 19	- Aug 25 - Short Runs		?
Aug29-Sept9	Telluride – 8 days
Sep 02	Ran up Tomboy Road		01:25
Sep 03	Hike up Ajax Peak from Bridal Vail Falls 3 hrs.
Sep 06	Imogene Pass Run		03:48	17 miles	8 Weeks Out
Sep 08	Ran Bear Creek to Wasatch Trail		2 hrs
Sep 13	Training Run for Pinhoti – I20-Cheaha		05:35	25 miles	7 Weeks Out
Sep 16	Run-from Home 2 Laps 3,000 ft climb		02:05	13.36 miles
Sep 18	Run-from Home 1 Laps 1,500 ft climb		01:11	7.5 mi
Sep 20	Training Run - Pinhoti–Adams Gap-Cheaha-back		05:30	Night back	6 Weeks Out
Sep 23	Run-from Home 1 Laps 1,500 ft climb		01:15	7.5 mi
Sep 25	Run-from Home 1 Laps 1,500 ft climb
Sep 27	Run Oak Mtn		2 hrs
Oct 04	Stump Jump 50K- Chattanooga		06:48	50K	5 Weeks Out
Oct 07	Run Veteran's Park		01:50
Oct 09	Run Veteran's Park		01:10
Oct 12	Oak Mtn-Trail run – loop		07:18	30+ miles	4 Weeks Out
Oct 14	Run Veteran's Park		1 hr
Oct 16	Run Veteran's Park		2 hrs
Oct 19	Oak Mtn-Trail run – loop		3.5 hr		3 Weeks Out
Oct 21	Run Veteran's Park		1 hr
Oct 23	Run Veteran's Park		1.5 hr
Oct 26	Run Oak Mtn		2 hrs		2 Weeks Out
Oct 28	Run Veteran's Park		2 hrs
Oct 30	Run Veteran's Park		1.2 hr
Oct 31	- Aug 2 - Helped with Florida Ironman				1 Week Out
Nov 05	Run Veteran's Park		1 hr
Nov 08	Pinhoti 100		29 hr	100 mi

The run no July 23rd was the run I decided to do because there was a line of severe thunderstorms headed directly toward Oak Mountain State Park and I thought it would be fun to run in the storm.  I planned to run up the red trail for a few hill repeats because it comes up between two ridge-lines until it finally reaches the crest of one of the ridges at 2.25 miles (since lightning hits the ridges, usually.)  The crest of the ridge was my turn around point.  The thunder was getting closer as I reached the ridge and started back down.  By the time I had descended about half a mile the bottom dropped out and lightning began hitting the ridges all around me.  The trail turned to a river and I could no longer tell where I was stepping.  I was a little concerned about running in ankle deep water with all that lightning so after about another 3/4 of a mile I stopped at trail head with a 3X6 cover over a park map.  As I stood there the wind picked up dramatically and stuff started raining down out of the trees.  I was very concerned that one of several  large pines by the sign might fall so I stood where I could keep an eye on them.  After about 30 seconds the wind increased in velocity even more and began to shift around to my right.  Over  another 30 or so seconds the wind shifted by about 120 deg. and continued blow harder.  Now large limbs and  pieces of trees were coming down all around me.  Instead of staying under the small shelter I took off deciding I preferred being a moving target which was a really dumb decision.  Now I was running out in the open, still running in ankle deep water, limbs were still raining down and I was still about 3/4 of a mile from the car.  About the time I decided I should go beck, the wind began to subside and the lightning seemed to be moving off.  I made it back to the car and within a minute or two the downpour tuned to a steady rain and the thunder was definitely moving away.  So I headed up for a second hill repeat.  Now I saw the damage from the storm.  Eight or ten large trees were down along the trail, including one laying across the trail.  It was an exciting run!  Since I get caught in bad weather pretty often anyway,  in the future I will leave running in storms to chance.

Looking back, I am amazed I even finished Pinhoti considering the amount of time I ran .  For Leadville and Wasatch I ran a lot more.  I will post my training logs later. 

Next, I will go into the actual planning I did for Pinhoti.

Steps to running a 100 miler

There were three signs at the start of the climb back over Hope Pass at the Leadville 100 in 2009.  The first read, "If you can't Run, Walk."  The next said, "If you can't Walk, Crawl."  The final sign read, "Just Keep Moving."

Plan at least one year ahead for that first 100 mile race if you are stepping up from 50Ks.  It will take that long to train and know if you are ready.  The best way to know you are ready is to build up to that 100 miler in logical steps. If you run your first 50K in April, for example, and feel good abut how it went, then find a fifty mile race.  I would also recommend continuing to run a 50K every few months, "speed work."  You will be build your mileage gradually so you can stay healthy and the races help you hone your ultra skills.  After the 50 mile race, find a  100K.  As I have mentioned in earlier posts, things that work for training runs do not necessarily work in races.  By racing, you will be able to sort out what does work and what doesn't.

 There is another reason to run races at regular intervals.  You are working for a short term goal, not just training.  I have never been very successful at "just" training.  Every training run I do preparing for a race.  I do a lot better on those hard, long, training runs if I am building toward a peak just before a particular race.  Normally that race needs to be in the near future.  Things have changed a bit since the Pinhoti in 2008, Leadville became my immediate goal.  Every run was aimed at that single goal.  After Leadville the next goal became Hardrock.  Now every time I put on my "Dirty Girl Gaiters" I am training for Hardrock.  I haven't been drawn in the lottery yet, but maybe next year.  I'll be training!

Lets say you run that 50K in April, pick out a 50 mile race in the fall or early winter.  Next, find a 100K for Spring. (Another 50 miler will do, 100Ks are harder to find.)  Obviously, if you live in the southern half of the country you have a lot more options.  If you do live in the north you might even want to take a long weekend trip and travel to a race in the south or warmer parts of the west.  Chicago to Atlanta is less than 600 miles.  Going out of town to a race makes it more of an event.  It's a lot like shaving arms and legs while training for an Ironman.  You know it will make absolutely no difference in you final time, you are going to wear a wetsuite,  but each time you shave you are doing a little mental preparation.  All that planning along with the training makes the race a real event.  Besides, it is always nice to see some new scenery.  Select a date and go the Ultrarunning Online and check out their calendar.  They list virtually every ultra in the country and provide links to the race websites.  Then take a look at pictures and select one that looks like it would be enjoyable to run.  Consider the location, and what there is to do in the area.  If you have family and they will be accompanying you, consider what would make the trip fun for all.  You shouldn't have all the fun!

Two years ago, when I ran Leadville, after the race we drove over to Telluride Colorado to spend the rest of the week.  This is my favorite place on earth and my wife loves it as much as I do.  We usually ski there once each year, except this year, and go back in the summer.  We hiked a lot and ate a lot.   (I could not believe I felt like hiking up a mountain three days after Leadville, but I did.  I even ran some.) Telluride may have more great restaurants per capita that any place I have ever been.  In 2010, we stayed at the Canyon's Ski Resort in Park City, where we have a condo, during the Wasatch 100 race, then drove up to the Tetons for several days and spent a couple of days in Yellowstone.  The Wasatch 100 course actually comes up behind one of the lifts at the Canyon's, called 9990 (the elevation at the top.)  While skiing at the Canyons in early 2010, I knew I would be running Wasatch, so I traversed to the right from the top of 9990 over to the ridge-line and looked down on Desolation Lake (actually it was covered in snow, but I knew where it was,) location of one of the very remote aid stations in Wasatch.  Where I was standing within a few feet of the actual trail we would run in the race.  Later we skied a couple of days at Alta (best skiing in America) and took the Supreme Lift up to the far east side of the resort.  We skied back to the boundary fence and were looking directly at Sunset Pass and Sunset Peak, mile 78.5, the high point of the course.  It was exciting and inspiring.  Check out my website davidtosch.com. I have several pages on Telluride.

The logical steps to progress from a 50K to a 100 mile race is 50K, 50 mile, 100K, 100 mile.  I didn't think I needed the 50 miler in there so I skipped it and went straight to a 100K.  I didn't pick an easy 100K but the hardest I could find, the Katcina Mosa in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.  Here is the elevation profile.

I ran the Imogene Pass Run for the first time in September 2006 and again in 2007.  Since I had been training all summer for the IPR I decided to try the Dizzy Fifties 50K in Huntsville, Alabama in November.  That was my first 50K.  Then in March of 2008 I ran my second 50K, the Oak Mountain 50K here in Birmingham.  By then I had decided I wanted to run the Leadville 100 the following year.  At that point I knew nothing about running ultras and had no idea if I could ever run 100 miles, much less Leadville.  I started looking for a "test" race.  That was the Katcina Mosa just six months away in August.  I stepped up my training and felt confident I could do it.  Boy, was I ever wrong.

I realized before reaching the top of the first climb (a very gentle10 miles long climb that gained 3,500 ft,) I had not done anywhere near enough hill training.  Five miles later I drank a cold cup of Gatorade at Rock Canyon aid station at the bottom of the first descent and had to deal with atrial fibrillation the rest of the race.  Next, I ran totally out of water half way up the third climb up to Windy Pass and the temperature that day reached 100 in Salt Lake City.  I couldn't turn around and go back because the aid station workers would all be gone by the time I made it back. (I was near the end.)  There was no cell phone reception anywhere back there so I couldn't tell anyone where I was.  I had to continue.  I was without water probably no more than an hour but in the heat and intense sun I thought I might die before I reached the Windy Pass AS on top and water.  The next aid station was Little Valley about 10 miles away.  It felt more like 20 and by the time I finally reached that aid station I was only about 30 minutes ahead of the cutoff but I had no intention of continuing.  I sat down and waited for the aid station to close and helped clean up.

Although I didn't finish I learned a lot. John Bozung, the RD of Katcina Mosa and the Squaw Peak 50 mile run (a very well known run) holds the record for running the most consecutive marathon length races, one each month for over 20 years.  Now he only runs ultras.  (If he runs a 100 mile race, that definitely covers the marathon length.)  He gave me a lot of information on how to run ultras.  There were a lot of very fast runners in the race and during the prerace meeting and the early stages of the race I talked to other very experienced ultra runners and learned even more.  Another thing I learned was, if you are wearing a hydration pack, take the time to pull the bladder out and see how much water you add!!!!!

When I got home I decided I was going to run Leadville in 2010, almost exactly one year away, but I was still not sure I could do it.  Then I noticed there was going to be a 100 mile race right here in Alabama in November, the First Annual Pinhoti 100.  I had three months to get ready.  If I finished Pinhoti, I would register immediately for Leadville. I knew I was going to have to do a lot of very hard running over the next three months.  One thing that really helped was that Todd Henderson, Pinhoti RD, had several training runs over several segments of the course, including a night run over exactly the section of the course I hit as it got dark.  That was a very difficult section that started after descending  from the top of Mt Cheaha and extended  to Adams Gap, about 14 miles.  (A "gap" would be called a "pass" out west.)

I thought I would throw in another elevation profile.  This is the Pinhoti 100 and if you enlarge it you will notice it gains 16,180 feet.  It actually has more elevation gain than Leadville simply because you are either going up hill or down hill the entire race.  I can actually only remember one relatively flat spot on a trail about 50 yards long.  We did run about a mile on a pretty flat gravel road and the last 4 miles were flat.

I will stop here and pick up the training and preparation I did for Pinhoti next.

Running That First 50K

I know I said I was going to write about overuse injuries, but that takes research and research takes time.  I don't have much time right now so I am going back to what I have already done research on, running!

As I have said earlier, there is little difference between running a marathon and running a 50K.  Of course the 50K will take longer but at the end, you will feel about the same.  So if you have run a marathon or two or more then sign up for a 50K trail race in your area and run it.

I am going to step back in time and talk about how I selected my first 50k and what I did to get ready for it.  I really thought it would be a lot worse than it was and I did way too much planning and most of that planning was a total waste of time.  I would have run just as fast if Friday night I decided to get up early Saturday Morning and drive to Huntsville and run the race with NO PLANNING.  There is one difference now. There are not many 50K runs or any ultra races that allows race morning registration.  In face, if you don't register weeks or months ahead you may not even get in.  Read yesterday's post!

Two local examples of races that fill quickly are the Stump Jump 50K in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Mountain Mist 50K in Huntsville, Alabama.  These races are very popular local races and both are tough.  They both fill within few weeks or days of the opening of registration.  Another comparable race is Mt Cheaha 50K that I mentioned yesterday.  If you live anywhere in the southeast I would highly recommend any or all of them.  I would not recommend them as a first 50K however.  All three end with brutal, climbs in the last few miles.  Mountain Mist has two, 700 ft climbs in the last 7 miles.  (At the top of the first climb, a slip could be fatal.)  I know, these are short climbs if  you live out west but that is about a high as a climb gets around here.
The first two pictures are from the Mountain Mist 50K.  The start was in the fog with mist falling and the temperature was about 34 deg.

The next three pictures are from the Mt Cheaha 50K

The first picture was taken on the climb up Mt Cheaha on a section called "Blue Hell," a one mile long climb that gains 1,100 foot. The climb begins just past the lake in the picture, at mile 29.  The Pinhoti 100 course follow the same route in the opposite direction and descends Mt Cheaha over this section, then climbs back up to the ridge line to the left and follows the ridge for most of the next 56 miles to the finish.

There are a few creek crossing.

The view from the top.

This is a great report on the Cheaha 50K written by INOV-8 team member Eric Charette.  It is worth reading if you are interested in the race.

It is a good idea to pick out a relatively easy 50K for that all important first ultra.  Of course, I strongly recommend my race, the Run for Kids Challenge, here in Birmingham, May 28th.  It is everything a first race should be.  The trail is smooth, most of the time, and relatively flat compared with other 50Ks.  The trail surface is covered in fine crushed rock and is almost like running on an old cinder track, the kind I raced on in high school in 1968.  You don't even need trail shoes.  It is a professionally designed 5K course where many local schools train and race.  Regional and state cross country meets are also held there.  The course is actually almost exactly 3 miles around so a 50K will be eleven laps.  That means you pass by the aid station every 3 miles.

So pick out a good race that is not too far from home.  My first 50K was the Dizzy Fifties, a multiple loop course on Monte Sano in Huntsville, Alabama.  (The location of the Mountain Mist.) It just happened to be coming up a few weeks after I decided to try a 50K.  That is literally how I chose it.  I had trained all summer  on trails for he Imogene Pass run held in early September.  I decide it was time to try something a little longer.

My only experience with long endurance events was on bike rides I had done around the southeast.  I knew peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were really good after struggling up a 7 mile climb and bananas even tasted pretty good.  I filled a water bottle, made a few sandwiches, gathered some cookies and about 20 GUs.  (I had no idea how many I would need so I took plenty.)  When I got there, everyone had brought a cooler or bag for their supplies, except me.  I never thought about a bag, I planned to leave it all in the car since parking was close to the course.  That worked OK but it did cost a little time.

Actually, I only went to the car twice during the race to get a couple of gels and 1/4 of a sandwich.  There was plenty of stuff to eat at the one aid station you passed through twice each lap.  The only electrolytes I used back then were Enervit tablets that I had learned were great when you started to cramp up on the bike.  Of course, I only ate one if I started to get a cramp.  The course is a double loop with a 4 mile and a 5.59 mile leg and 700 feet of elevation gain each 9.59 lap.  (They throw in a 2+  mile section at the first to reach the 50K distance.  I realized real quick that one central aid station really simplified things if you plan to use drop bags.  Pile everything you could ever need in a cooler or bag, or both, and it is right there every lap.  Another plus is you can also drop whatever you don't want to carry the next lap. If it is cold at the start you can wear a jacket, hat and gloves which I often do.  As it begins to warm up pull off a layer and leave it.  If the weather changes and it gets cold or starts to rain, grab a jacket the next time by.

There is one other reason a multi loop course is good, but I should not mention this one.  If you do have to drop out, it is never too far back to the car.  Of course you would never DNF for any other reason than a serious injury, well, I guess death would be acceptable.