Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Georgia Jewel race report

The main goal of this summer's running training was to make an attempt at the unsupported fastest known time (FKT) on the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT). Lots of training miles on big hills with a pack on. As I was getting set for the final few weeks of training for the TRT, there was some rumblings about how it felt strange to do only one actual race this year (Cruel Jewel in May). Alicia suggested that I can do a 100 three weeks after the TRT trip - I would already be trained and can just coast for those 3 weeks. She found that Georgia Jewel (+/- 16.5 K ft elevation gain loss and several significanntly rocky sections) fit the bill quite well - plus no travel required. So, yeah, Georgia Jewel was an afterthought to the main event of the year - TRT.

As things went, the TRT FKT attempt was a bust. I bailed out a bit less than halfway (total is 173 miles) because of the slow going - whether due to the cold, altitude, or over-training without sufficient recovery. After about 84 miles (in 30 hours), I realized that I was going to be way off the FKT pace. And, had no interest in destroying my legs further just to finish the loop. With that, a 84 mile run at altitude became my last long training run for Georgia Jewel. Yes, there are substantial mountains in GA, but altitude is not ever an issue. Overkill, anyone? Oh well.

Closer to the race, when I looked up the entrants list, it occurred to me that I could actually place pretty high.  Still, this race being an afterthought, I never felt too excited. Then, three days before the race, I got a weird tweak in my right knee. Even the evening before the race, that knee remained a bit bothersome. I trucked over to Walgreens and bought a knee pad. When I later tried that pad, I found that a size S/M is not quite made for my legs. That did not stop me from using it during the race. To use a rock climbing terminology, it was my psycho pro - one that I had to pull up an adjust every 5 miles. Yes, it was that kind of race at the start for me. And, it started at 5 am (ughh).

The first 2 miles of the race are on pavement going uphill, and that allowed the field to thin out quite a bit. After that, a very rocky single track for several miles (aptly named "rock garden"). The trail eased up a bit after that till the first full aid station (mile 10). From that AS to the next - Snake Creek Gap (mile 17), I ran a fair bit with another runner, Richard. We got to mile Snake Creek Gap at about 8:30 AM. Between that and the next full AS (John's Mountain - mile 25), I felt quite good and pulled ahead of Richard. For the last half of this section, I ran into several 35 mile racers coming the other way. The resultant constant stream of mutual cheering meant that I arrived at Johns Mountain AS in good spirits, despite a gnarly half mile section of rough rock steps towards the end of this section.

Things went well for most of the next section. Well, except for a bit on gravel road with roughly strewn golf ball sized gravel. It was here that I started running into the 50 milers coming the other way, and learned that I was in the 3rd place. I hadn't really thought about the place till then, and just figured that the first two people must be quite a bit ahead of me. Although I was maintaining a steady pace, I didn't think I was going particularly fast. In fact, I was beginning to feel that my legs were not fully ready for this race so soon after getting beaten up on the TRT. Accordingly, the thought of speeding up to try to catch up with the leaders didn't sound very exciting.

A couple of miles before the next full AS (Manning Rd - mile 34), my legs started to complain (my knee was still doing okay). I had already decided before the race that two aleves are all I am allowed. Hmm - I am a third way done. There goes the first one. These two miles and the next 3-4 miles after the AS were the low points, It took a lot of mental effort to keep moving, but the thought of losing the 3rd place kept me trudging along. That, and the thought of pumpkin pie waiting at the Narrows AS (mile 40). The final few miles to that AS are on the road and utterly horrible. If it were not for the aleve kicking in at the right time, it might have been very tough to continue.

Anyway, the aleve kicked in and I got to the Narrows in reasonable spirits. It was good to see Molly, and even better to have the pumpkin pie. Oh wait, did I just mention my mental ordering out loud? At that aid station they told me that I was now in the second place (one of the leaders had dropped out), and was only 10 minutes behind the first guy. That did it - I was going to race from that point onwards.  I had never been so close to the leader in any ultra I had done. I settled into a routine - power walk uphills, run downhills, and alternate between power walking and running on flats. It was going well till I got within 1.5 miles of the halfway (turnaround - since it is an out-and-back course). Power lines, dang it! Fairly brutal.

About a tenth of a mile before the turnaround, I saw the first guy coming the other way. I had indeed closed the gap by a few minutes! When I got to the turnaround - Alicia! She quickly refilled my water, and I took off after drinking some coke at the aid station and grabbing a rather large slice of pizza to take with. The section from the turnaround to the Narrows aid station (mile 60) went smoothly. Not too far after the return trip over power lines, I ran into the 3rd guy coming the other way. He seemed to have made up some time over me. That pushed me further and I increased the running time to walking time ratio on flats a bit.

Then, at about mile 58, I took the lead in an ultra for the first time in my running career! At that point, of course, I did not know if I will be able to keep the lead for too long, but that was pretty exciting. Also, as I was catching up with the other guy, I noticed that I was a bit faster on uphills and he was doing downhills somewhat better. That knowledge could come in handy later, I thought. I got to the Narrows AS about half an hour later, and Alicia and Molly quickly refilled my water as I munched on some food. They were excited to see me get there in the lead. However, I wasn't quite the model guest who would stay and exchange pleasantries - I left almost immediately. I wanted to leave before the other guy got to the AS and, maybe, gain some psychological edge.

I thought I was doing well between the Narrows and the Manning AS, but he caught up with me at the latter AS (mile 67). Then ensued a back and forth tussle for the lead for about a mile. Here, the knowledge that I was a bit faster on uphills gave me a mental boost - most of the section from the Narrows AS to Johns Mountain (mile 75) is uphill! Soon, I stopped seeing his headlamp behind me. Despite the uphill, I made it to Johns Mountain in a reasonable time. I did not have a watch, so I asked one of the AS volunteers the time. It was 11 PM. My original desire of under 24 hours was very unlikely at this point - with 26 miles remaining in 6 hours, when I had taken 5:15 for the reverse segment at the beginning of the race. The main goal, now, was to keep my lead.

With that goal in mind, I changed my headlamp batteries, changed my socks the third time (a few stream crossings on the course), surveyed my long list of blisters (at least two on each foot), grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich from the AS, popped my second aleve and set off. Despite the rocky steps, the first downhill section went fairly quickly, and soon I was into the rolling section for a few miles before the climb up to Horn Mountain. The descent from Horn Mountain to Snake Creek Gap was pretty fun - with a fairly smooth trail and the aleve kicking in. I made it to Snake Creek Gap about 1:10 AM. There, I learned that the second place guy was 20 minutes behind me at Johns Creek. Although it felt good to gain some time on him, the race was far from being over with more than 17 miles still remaining. One bad segment for a few miles and he could easily catch up with me. However, I sat down on a chair at the AS for a few minutes - for the first time in the race - while Alicia fed me my elixir (a cold starbucks bottled frappe). 200 calories of pure joy (read, sugar) and 200 mg of caffeine. I had only had a couple of small cups of coke till then in hopes of an extra kick at this aid station.

By 1:15 I was on way. Alicia was going up the first mountain with me. She was pretty excited about my lead and thought I probably had the race in the bag. I was getting cautiously excited. The first climb went pretty fast, then Alicia had to go back. I chugged along at what I thought was an okay pace for a bit, before slowing down. There was a fair bit of pain at this stage - especially with the blisters bursting left and right and starting to bug me a lot. When I got to the next aid station (mile 91), I had taken 1:45 to do the last 7 miles. I asked the volunteers at the aid station if they had heard anything about when the second guy left the last AS. One of them said that two guys have left the last aid station after me.

"Do you know how long ago they left the aid station?" I asked.
"Not that long ago. Maybe an hour and a half ago."

Uh-oh. If I left 1:45 ago, and the second guy left about 1:30 (meaning 1:25 to 1:35, maybe), then I may just have a 10 minutes lead now! I better get my act together! For the next several miles, I was running whenever the rocky sections would allow me and sometimes even run on the rocky sections with not much regard for ankle twists or anything. Once in a while I would look back to see if there was a headlamp behind me. A couple of times, as I looked back, my headlamp would reflect on the trail blazes and I would panic thinking that it was a headlamp. Power walk, run, run some more, power walk up the hill, barrel downhill, and don't even think about stopping to pee. When I got to the rock garden, I could only walk for a while and I started having the mental image of the second guy blazing by me. Oh well, try to run again. After what seemed like an eternity, I emerged from the singletrack and onto the dirt, followed by the paved road. These last 1.5 miles were pretty horrible - downhill on hard pavement, with my bothersome knee acting up a bit and the burst blisters. I could not slow down - I had no idea how far behind the second guy was! Finally, I saw the finish area about a couple of hundred yard ahead, and looked back one more time. I saw no headlamp, and was now fairly sure that I will win the race. Later, the results showed that I won by about 2 hours.

So yeah, 24 hours and 29 minutes after starting, I got to the finish. Any remnant disappointment at spending the whole summer training hard for the TRT with nothing to show for it disappeared. I realize that 2015 was not the most competitive year for Georgia Jewel, but screw that - I won my first 100 mile race!

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Cruel Jewel 100

“I am going to cut off my f*****g piece of s**t hamstrings and feed it to the raccoons!” That thought imprinted very vehemently on my mind as I stomped my hiking poles on the trail in the middle of a 1200 feet steep climb starting out of Old Dial Road at mile 75ish. Two points of note here – one, luckily, I did not have a knife/machete/sword/epee etc. Two – the use of the word “steep” in the previous sentence is superfluous when describing any section of the Cruel Jewel (CJ) course. The course is 108 (or, thereabouts) out-and-back with over 30K ft of elevation gain/loss. The course website says 33K ft – I am not sure about that number, but I won’t argue too much. It is a hard course, but not particularly technical. There are some occasional rocks/roots, but, for the most part, the trail is very runnable. On the downhill sections. Last year, I did CJ, but the course was what I considered a baby CJ course. Due to rains (and general BMTA a**holery), they had to reroute the “back” part of the “out-and-back” through a significantly easier section. Accordingly, although I officially did CJ 100 last year, I thought I had cheated to gain the finish.

So yeah, fast forward to 2015, and here I found myself at the CJ 100 starting line. Coming off of several good training runs, including doing SCAR a month ago, I was feeling pretty good. I had set myself a very challenging goal time of 30 hours (time limit is 48), and that (and adrenaline) played a bit of a role in the first section of the course – 21 miles from Vogel State Park to Skeenah Gap. A subsection of this – about 4 miles between Fish Gap and Rhodes Mountain (~mile 20) – is probably the hardest part of the course with the climb up Rhodes being pretty ridiculous. I thought I was not pushing myself too much, and still I found myself at Skeenah in under 5:15. That was almost half an hour faster than I had ever done that section! On the plus side, I got to run a bit with Kevin (from Philly) and Lee (from Akron) for a bit on this section, and that was fun. Another exciting part was getting to the Fish Gap AS and diving into the scones that Molly made. As I rambled down to Skeenah Gap, I saw Alicia. I wasn’t expecting to see her for another 5 miles – so that was a pleasant surprise.

I was feeling pretty good at this point, and the feeling stayed on till the next aid station at Wilscot Gap. Mostly – I started having some issues with my stomach. It had been pretty muggy (80ish and humid), and I may have had more neat water than I probably should have had. And, then, came the first signs of rosy things not continuing to be so. The next section between Wilscot and Old Dial road (miles 26 to 32) went much slower. Correction – the section between Wilscot and Deep Gap (26 to 42) was fairly slow. My hamstrings started complaining (although not the point stated in the beginning of this post), and I had to bite the bullet and take alleve around mile 40 – sooner than I would have liked. Just after Old Dial Road, Lee and, then, Kevin passed me and I think I was quite grumpy at that point. I tried to keep up with them, but they were faster (probably to escape a grump).
Descending to Deep Gap, I saw someone running up the trail faster than I was going down it. Karl Meltzer was already 18 miles ahead of me! I stepped aside and said “good job” and got a dismissive “thanks” in reply. Oh well. After deep gap, I got to a very annoying part of the course – Aska Lollipop done counterclockwise. Now, this section is quite fun going clockwise, but awful the other way. All the nice smooth downhill sections in the clockwise direction are now unrunnable uphills.

 The last 3ish miles to the turnaround are on the road, but not too bad. There I was – 13:15 hours after the start to the turnaround. On the way back, there is an extra 5ish mile section – so, I was not quite halfway. Still, I thought I had a reasonable chance at being under 30 hours. And, then (well, not immediately) came the section between Old Weaver Road and Stanley Gap. Halfway between the two gaps (mile 66ish) just before the sun came up, I started having a lot of trouble staying up. I got passed by Kevin and another guy (I will call him the Bostonian due to the way he pronounced “coffee”), and they both seemed a bit concerned about my state. I assured them it was just a passing phase and I would feel better once the sun came up. And, soon it did and so did I. Things from there back to Old Dial Road (mile 75) went reasonably well, and I caught up with and passed Kevin.  And, then, came the climb up on BMT (Benton Mackaye Trail) from Old Dial Road with its cutting-of-the-hamstrings shenanigans. Somehow, I managed to crest the climb just before the downhill into Wilscot Gap.

At Wilscot, I caught up with the Bostonian and he was surprised to see me – he said he thought I was done with when he had passed me at dawn. I guess, I might have been – had it not being for my quads strengthened by countless feet of jarring downhill on SCAR a few weeks ago: I could still maintain a decent pace on downhill sections. As I started up from Wilscot, I soon ran into Alicia who was doing her run backward on the course from Skeenah. That really perked me up and the section to Skeenah went pretty smoothly. There, Alicia gave me my elixir –  ice cold Starbucks frappucino! I checked the time – I had just over 6 hours remaining till the 30 hour mark. That was going to be tough – 21 miles on (mostly) the Duncan Ridge Trail. But, maybe… Let’s just give it a try.
In the section between Skeenah and Fish Gap, I passed two people, and surprised myself by taking just over 1:30 on this section. Still a chance to get under 30 hours! Then, things got bad, and I took almost 3 hours to get to the next aid station at Whiteoak Stomp (almost 8 miles). I had to take a short break midway to pop my second alleve of the race.

In the state my hamstrings were in, I was dreading the climb up Coosa. But, I didn’t realize I had a secret weapon there – Alicia had turned up at that crew stop and offered to go up Coosa with me! It was slow and painful, but I was perked up now to make up Coosa without too much whinging. On the big downhill (about 2200 ft in about 4 miles), I realized that my tired quads still had enough juice and I ran down at a reasonable pace. I caught up with Lee and someone else halfway down Coosa. I was reasonably buoyed up at this point that even the most annoying section between Wolf Creek and Highway 180 (3 miles of uphill that it just steep enough to not being runnable, but you don’t really feel you go anywhere) did not damped my spirits too much. And, then final mile. I was in a lot of pain, but tried to make it a sprint finish (or, what felt like one). Final time 30:44 – a bit over what I had myself a goal of, but still very satisfied with the result.

With the slow going and pain at mile 40 before the first alleve kicked in, I was toying with the idea of dropping out. But, as someone formerly famous once said – “pain is temporary, regret is permanent, and drugs take you far.”


PS: There were reports of course marking being tampered with on the Benton Mackaye Trail. Given how much BMT Association (BMTA) hates runners and their ongoing efforts to ban races (or, probably even anyone going over 1 mile/hour and not carrying a 60 lbs pack replete with banging pots and pans hanging outside), I would not put it past someone from BMTA doing that.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

SCAR

Lately, I have been sort of moving away from racing ultras and doing long, seemingly pointless, runs on my own. I am not fast enough to be even remotely competitive in organized ultras and I get similar (or even more, in some cases) satisfaction in finishing a hard run. Last year, it was the JMT, and this year, so far, it was SCAR.

SCAR is short for Smokies Challenge Adventure Run. In general, I shy away from things that have the term "adventure" in them officially. Or "tough" or other words that convey a similar sentiment. However, SCAR is not an organized event, and the acronym is just a stand-in for something really cool - run across the Smokies on the Appalachian Trail in a day. So, 72(ish) miles with +/- 19000 ft of elevation change. With aid/crew/bail out only accessible at about halfway, it is a bit committing. I decided to do it northbound - starting at Fontana Dam and going to Davenport Gap.

Before the run, I had been pretty apprehensive - weather looked a bit iffy, bears usually just wake up hungry around this time from their winter slumber, and so do snakes (copperheads and timber rattlers in the Smokies). I am mortified of snakes with diamond heads and oval eyes. But, I knew that once I started the run, I would feel better, and the statistics are on my side, anyway - no hiker has yet been eaten by a bear or a snake on the AT. As far as training, I felt pretty good - had trained quite a bit on hills this spring. However, I had never run this section of the AT - so, that was unknown,

On Friday (April 17) evening, I made Alicia drive me to Fontana Dam (1700 ft) to drop me off. I started from Fontana Dam visitor center at 10:42 pm and entered the boundary of the Smokies on the AT at 10:49 pm. The first several miles on the AT are uphill, but very gradual, and the trail is pretty smooth. However, despite the gradual feeling nature of the trail - one quickly gets to above 4000 ft (and remains above that for most of the time). I wasn't pushing myself at this point and thought that if this type of trail continues, this is going to be a way easier run than I had thought. As it turned out - I was very wrong. The "fun" starts with the climb to Rocky Top (or, some name like that), just before Thunder Mountain, and keeps on till the end. The overall thing is quite brutal - no wonder it is worthy of being called a challenge.

It had rained quite a bit recently, and the trail was very muddy. That was not an issue on the gradual parts, but as soon the trail angle became steeper, the slick muddy trail led to a fair bit of sliding backwards and wasting energy. When that started to happen, I rued my choice of shoes for this first section. So, yeah, the trail not only got inherently harder, but also became more slippery. Either due to having to work more due to the slippery trail, or due to some flaw in my stride, my hamstrings got pretty tired by mile 25. Great - only 47 more miles on tired hamstrings. To keep my spirits up, I kept telling myself that the final 5 miles are all downhill (3000 ft drop in about 5 miles at the end), and my quads are still quite good.

I didn't see any bears or snakes. I saw several frogs on the trail. However, they seemed unfazed as I passed by them - they didn't even attempt to move when my feet hit the ground mere inches from them (narrow trail). It was slightly disconcerting to me - I can't even scare a frog, so what chance do I have against a bear or a snake?

As the sun was coming up, I realized that I was going to be a bit behind schedule (I had told Alicia to expect me at Newfound Gap - the only crew stop at mile 41ish - around 12 hours after dropping me off at Fontana) - but probably by not a lot. However, as the morning progressed, I started to feel sleepy and the going got to be a struggle for a while. Time for a caffeinated Gu. After the gel kicked in, I recovered. However, more time was lost by then, and I got to Clingmans Dome (~6600 ft) about an hour or so after I had expected to be there. On the plus side, the views from the trail were absolutely spectacular. A bit after Clingmans Dome, I ran into Alicia running up from Newfound Gap. We, then, ran to Newfound Gap - about 13.5 hours after the start, where actual food and coffee was waiting for me. I changed into my Hokas to get ready for the downhills. As I sat dawdling at the stop for a bit longer than necessary, Alicia kicked me back on the trail - "Onwards!"

The second segment began with a big uphill. And. although the net change from Newfound Gap to Davenport Gap is about minus 3000 ft, the most of the net loss is at the very end: there are still very significant climbs for a while. The trail is mostly pretty decent too - however, my trashed hamstrings meant that I could only run downhills and uphills were a slow shuffle. When I tried running the few flat sections that were there, my hamstrings immediately started complaining.

The slow going was getting to be frustrating (maybe I should just accept the truth and embrace the name of my blog), and I decided to try something different. So far, I had been using hiking poles. I stopped using them on uphills to see how that would work. After a bit, I realized that my average pace had inched up a bit (on an equivalent terrain). Hmm - maybe my use of the hiking poles is inefficient. People sometime ask me (and other distance runners) what I think when I am running. I usually say that whatever catches my mind at that moment. Analyzing my hiking pole usage is a prime example of that. Anyway, from that point, I used the poles only for rough downhills (of which there were plenty towards the last part of the trail).

About 10 miles from the finish, I thought I had a shot at finishing in just over 22 hours. I even texted Alicia such an optimistic time (there are a few places on the trail that one can get cell signal). Then, began the first of the two big descents. The first one was very bone jarring - several jump downs over big wood steps. I could still go at an okay pace for a while, but soon, the pain of repeated jumps over wood steps took its toll. I slowed down a bit more - but still though I had a chance of being under 23 hours. However, on another downhill section, I twisted my gimpy ankle a bit. That made me slow down substantially - more out of being careful than due to any issues with that ankle. For the next couple of miles, things started to fall apart. I probably was going 2 miles an hour on the top of the last downhill for a bit. Then, I realized that if I don't get my act together, I will miss the 24 hour mark! That spurred me and I started running at a reasonable pace again. About a mile from the finish, I saw a headlamp on the trail. Alicia! At 10:15, I got to Davenport Gap (2000 ft) - well and truly scar'red - everything hurt. But, glad to be done - even though I was a couple of hours slower than I had planned. Still, (barely) under 24 hours (23:33 or 23:26 depending on where the counting started - Fontana Dam Visitors Center or just after the Dam at the apparent boundary).

In hindsight, I made two mistakes. One - starting so soon after all the rain. The muddy trail was quite slippery in the first half, making me work significantly more on the uphills. Two - inefficient use of hiking poles. My natural tendency is to have big arm swings. However, that translates to farther apart hiking pole placements, In turn, that leads to taking bigger, hamstring unfriendly, steps on uphills. Either I need to practice using hiking poles more efficiently or not use them at all on uphills. Well, add a third mistake - using my piece of s*** Salomon shoes for the first half. I chose them for the night section because they have high ankles for added support that is pliable enough for an easy jog (I wasn't planning on anything more than an easy jog at night). But, the sole rubber is pretty bad - these are trail hiking shoes with no traction on anything other than probably bone dry fire roads. Or, maybe, not even on those.

Despite the pain and the muddy unpleasantness, it was still fun. And, I would probably try it again (maybe southbound next time) at some point.