Tuesday, September 25, 2012

A Teatise in Failure

I don't like to quit.....as a matter of fact it is one of my least favorite things in the world....but apparently sometimes it happens. Needless to say, the Flagstaff 50 miler did not go so well for me. Actually.....scratch that....it was going great....until it went completely sideways and I had to take a DNF.

Flag was for sure going to be a tough course, but I was ready, I ran or hiked over 180 miles in August including some pretty much all day affairs. I tapered hard in September because I know it works for me....even though I hate tapering and it drives me insane. I prepared in advance, had eating and hydration planned out.....I knew the course....and on race day I knew exactly what I had to do...I was calm...cool...confident....

Normally I'd break the race down section by section but since I DNF'd and am kind of mad about it I'm going to keep things short and simple. Miles 0-22 went really well....I was conservative, I followed my eating plan like clockwork and despite some tough climbs I was feeling good. I had just run about 5 miles with Christie Bane from TTR, the company and conversation was great and my energy was doing really well. I knew the second half of the course would be tough but as Christie said "Our current pace is very sustainable" .... I generally agreed with this as we closed in on half way..... then disaster struck....

I was running along all nice and happy and then bang.....I trip on a rock jutting out of the trail....now let me be clear....the trail wasn't technical...it was easy....I just wasn't paying crazy close attention and I caught myself on it.... At first I thought I just got jolted ....but I noticed myself slowing and let Christie pass me....I continued to slow down and she pulled away.....the front of my foot hurt a lot but I figured I could deal with it. I toughed it out to the mile 25 aid station and then began the climb right afterward.....about half way up I noticed my hip flexor was hurting now too....crap.... so the thing about hurting one side of your running (ex: my hurt left foot) is that your otherside tries to compensate to make it feel better.....this then screws up the other side too...usually in your hip flexor......

So the next six miles went like this.....

Descending: "My foot hurts"
Climbing: "My hip flexor is killing me"

I tried for over an hour and a half to talk myself out of DNF'ing but in the end as I rolled in to mile 32 aid station after walking most of the last 10 miles all I could really think of was "If I keep going I might get seriously hurt and have to stop running" ......so I did what I had to do and took the DNF..... The race director, Jamil Coury, gave me a lift back to the start and was in general really cool. On the positive side I did get a full 32 miles in and injury aside I felt able to turn around and do it again when I dropped....this means I'm training smart and racing smart....something I don't always do!

My friends Kayley and Brian were in town because they wanted to get out of Phoenix.......also I asked them to come see me finish....they made me feel a lot better by giving me some beer and telling me funny stories....

I thought it would take me a lot longer to write this race report...but in reality I just want this race in the rear view mirror....the DNF isn't sitting well....I'm already plotting some sort of "Redemption Run".....

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Tapering at Altitude

I'm tapering for Flag 50 which basically means after my 60 (ish) mile week I haven't been running a lot. But if I didn't do something I would totally freak out so I have been busy. Over Labor Day weekend I had kind of a grand tour of Arizona. First, I went up to Flagstaff and did a little camping and reading. The next morning I woke up at 0'DarkThirty broke down my campsite and hauled it in my car over to Humphrey's Peak with the goal of running up and down as a test of myself at altitude prior to the race on the 22nd.

Some Tea on the Stove
Early AM Trail
I started up and ran up the best I could.....but it was more of a power hike. I shot up the pretty quick and hit 12300 ft in (3000 ft of climbing and 4.3 miles of trail)  about 2 hours. Then my legs started to get wobbly and I started to feel like I was going to get sick off the side of the mountain. With maybe 300 vertical ft (and 1/4 mile) left to go I decided to turn around. I was one of very few people that far up the mountain and I was alone so I decided not to risk it.....altitude sickness hits you sometimes....in these cases its best to not be stupid.

So I turned around and jaunted down the mountain. As I started descending I felt way better....until I got lost....I ended up off trail for about 10 minutes before I found my way back.....note....if you have to slide down the hill....you probably aren't on the path anymore.  After my detour I got back on the path and started  running/hopping down the rocks.....I felt way better....and agile like a mountain goat.... I passed a ton of hikers some of which gave me a friendly "Wow good work!" and others a much more angry "What the %#%#$^ you aren't even sweating bro!" ...... I got down after a little over an hour of descent.

Went back to town....got some food......got some really good espresso to wake me up. Then I headed for the next adventure. I spent the rest of the weekend on the Mogollon Rim, which I highly suggest to anyone outdoorsy. I camped here literally the tent was right behind this picture:

I'd tell you where this is but I don't want you stealing the spot!
The Rim was great although quite windy! The next day I had a hike up Tonto Creek on the way back toward civilization......there was a hail storm....8 more miles!

Since then I've been continuing to taper and heal.....my drop bags are all set....11 days to Flag....I'm ready to bring it!