Pocatello 50, my 20 mile adventure.

It has been a challenging Spring in the area of training.  Directly after the Buffalo Run 50 miler I began having lower leg pain.  The pain was coming from an aggravated peroneous longus.  The only answer to getting back to running was physical therapy and some time off.  Then I caught a nasty cold that took me out of commission for 10 days.

I signed up for the Poacatello 50 in December and this race was going to be a building block in training for the Wasatch 100.  Unfortunately, losing about 7 weeks of training left me feeling unprepared to take on a very challenging 50 mile course.  I chose to opt out of the 50 mile event and take on the 20 miler.

If your keeping score, the 20 miler is leg 3 on the chart above and features 10 miles of relentless climbing and nearly 5000' of total elevation gain followed by some pretty extreme downhill.  The course proved to be a great challenge of endurance and quad strength.

This peak is a welcome sight and marks the end of a lot of climbing on leg 3

I completed the 50K (legs 2&3) last year and continue to be impressed by how well organized and beautiful this course is.  The weather was nearly perfect on race day.  Blue skies, cool breeze, wild flowers, well stocked and helpful aid stations all led to a great experience.

For fuel I used one 5oz flask of Strawberry Vanilla Perpetuem.  I like concentrating it into a pancake batter consistency and can cram 405 calories (3 scoops)  into one flask.  To hydrate I carried 1 liter of water in a bladder w/ straw and used S-Caps for electrolytes.

The race was very enjoyable and I decided going in that I was going to treat it like a training run.  I completed the course in 4:28 and had a great journey through some truly breath taking country.

And now I would like to share a story of why I would choose to surround myself in a community of trail runners vs any other group out there.  The community has proven to me time and again to be kind, generous & trustworthy.  Case in point, my friend Aric and I were walking toward the start line.  Aric was wondering if he should leave a change of shoes in the car rather than sitting them out near the start/finish line.

I quickly responded by saying that I feel like I could leave a wallet sitting out in plain site loaded with cash and it would either be turned in or simply left alone.  Smash cut to 10 minutes later while getting ready to start the race.  I had a gut feeling that I had left my password unprotected iPhone sitting on the trunk of my car.

Aric told me that was crazy and not to worry about it.  I debated running back up to the car to retrieve the phone and ease my mind but the race was about to start so I didn't.  After the race was over we hung out for post race activities which included loaded baked potatoes and mingling with other trail runners.

It was getting late so Aric and I decided to head back to the car for the 2 hour drive back to Utah.  Upon arriving at the car I made a point to look at the trunk first to confirm my suspicion that I had left my phone there.  It wasn't and I immediately became nervous.

As I walked around to the front of the car I noticed something on my windshield.  It was my phone!  When I went to pick it up it was stuck to the windshield.  Then Aric I stood in disbelief when we realized what had happened.  Not only had someone retrieved my phone off the back of my car but they had gone out of there way to find a piece of packing tape and taped it to my windshield.

By doing this it would ensure that there was no way that it wouldn't be noticed.  It would be directly in my line of sight if I tried to drive off.  The phone as mentioned earlier was not password protected and therefore would be easy to do all kinds of things with.  I'm happy to report that not one phone call had been made, no text messages sent and no pictures taken.

That's all for now, next up Soft Rock...A 3 day tour of the Hard Rock 100 course.  It features 67,000 feet of elevation change over 100.5 miles.  This will quite an adventure!

Hard Rock 100 course, OUCH!

And now, since I wrote this One Sunday morning I leave you with this incredible tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa2XnouRXKo

My fastest 50 miles...so far

3/23/2013

2013 marks my 3rd consecutive year of running the 50 mile Buffalo Run event on Antelope Island west of Syracuse, UT.  Coming into this race I was feeling good and prepared.  I had just run Moab 55K four weeks prior and went out of my way to keep my mileage up in preparation for Buffalo Run.

Due to poor trail conditions after Moab, I was forced to get in some along runs along the pathways of Davis County.  As miserable as it was at the time, I feel it paid great dividends when it came to race day.  My goal was to do back to back weekend long runs until the week before the race.The first 15 miles of this race have 95% of the elevation gain of the entire 50 mile course.  This means almost 35 miles of relatively flat (road like) running.  

The race started at 6 am and the conditions were windy and very chilly.  I started out and remember being cold especially my hands, so cold I could not operate my iPod until mile 3.

• For the record...I would like to offer a special shout out to my iPod.  I couldn't have done it without you buddy!
• I tend to not listen to songs.  I prefer to listen to albums in there entirety when out on a run. Here's what I listened to (Hey, this is an archive.  It might be interesting to look back 10 years from now to see what I was listening to)  From mile 3 in this order (Artist/ Album)
• Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
• Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
• Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
• Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
• Spoon - Gimme Fiction
• Spoon - Transference
• Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (again)....hmmmm, why all the Spoon?
• Rush - Hemispheres (the song La Villa Strangiato 3 times)
• Rush - Clockwork Angels
• Foo Fighters - One by One  (the song All My Life 5 times in a row)
• Jim James - Regions of Light and Sound of God (parital, finished race)

Looking back now my music list seems a bit strange and eclectic.  All right, enough of that and back to the race.  My trek to elephant head aid station was uneventful and I ran a steady pace all the way to lone tree.  At this point there is a very steep but relatively short road up to elephant head.  

I walked most of this section until I reached the top.  As I approached elephant head aid station I noticed the volunteers were diverting traffic to the elephant head out and back.  I know it is an option to do split rock first and nobody was going that way.  I was well stocked on water and chose to blow through this aid station get the split rock out of the way.

While back doing split rock I was pretty much all alone until something went past me moving faster than I can imagine.  It was the race leader (at the time) and he was flying down split rock road.  This was somewhat deflating when I realized I was about 90 minutes into the race and was already about 5 miles behind the leader.

By the time I hit the switch backs, the eventual race winner Scott Jaime came hustling past me.  I gave him room to pass and wondered for a moment if I could hang with him.  The answer is a resounding NO.  I tried chasing him for about 30 seconds and decided I was WAY out of my league.  One thing about very talented runners is they make it look easy.  Oh well, back to my own pace and eventual arrival back at elephant head.

The highlight of this aid station was seeing Harrison Fluman passing through and heading toward Whiterock.  Congrats to Harry who ended up finishing 5th overall.  I still had elephant head to do so I dropped my pack, ate a GU (the only one I ate the entire day, more on that later) and knocked out one of my favorite trails on the island.

Upon arrival back to the aid station I grabbed a bottle of premixed perpetuem dropped my headlamp and headed out.  The trip back to Whitereock was fun and I enjoyed seeing the 50K runners coming through.  I remember seeing Shawn, Debbie, Jarrod, Corey, Brad, Alicia, Mike and many other familiar faces.  I made it back to Whiterock in about 3:15 and remember feeling strong with little or no fatigue.

BJ, who is affectionately known as Squeaver due to his awesome artistic abillity to animate squirrels that look like beavers greeted me at the Whiterock (HUMR) aid station.  I told him I was good and decided to just keep moving right on through. I was making my way up the fence line when I was greeted by super stud trail runner Kelly Agnew.

Kelly looked wiped out and slightly incoherent due to the fact that he had recently finished the hundred miler in 10th place with an incredible time of 20:24.  We chatted for a few moments and I was off again.  I made my way up the road another 1/2 mile or so and saw Aric & Jarod who (off and on) I ran the next 30 miles with.

The weather was still cold and windy but the wind was at our back all the way to the ranch which is just under 12 miles.  I ran the entire way to the Frary aid station and was feeling very good.  I am convinced that Hammer Nutrition's product called Perpetuem was key to my low levels of fatigue and sustained energy throughout the race.  Aside from the one GU I had at elephant head, I used perpetuem pre-mixed in 5 oz flasks (2.5 scoops per bottle which is about 338 calories).  I went through 5 of these flasks throughout the day supplemented by water in a handheld and S-Caps.

My goal for the day was to not linger in aid stations which is very easy to do.  I spent very little time at Frary aid station as was my plan for all the aid stations I visited throughout the day.  About a mile out of Frary I once again crossed paths with the eventual race winner Scott Jaime.  I also saw Harry, Ryan and Jon on my way to the ranch.

I made to the ranch just as Aric was coming out.  I went in filled my water bottle, grabbed my final two bottles of perpetuem from my drop bag and headed out.  The way back to the ranch was cold and we all faced headwinds all the way to the fence line where we headed up toward lakeside trail.

On my way back to Frary I saw many friends and familiar faces.  I saw Forrest (who I gave a big bear hug) and shortly thereafter saw first time 50 milers Randy, Matt, Misti & Dan (congratulations!).  The prior 2 times I have done this race, the wheels pretty much fell of at about mile 38.  This time was different.  I was feeling so good I didn't even stop at the Frary aid station.  By now I was starting to realize that I was going to beat my PR of 10 hours by a lot.

I'm still trying to explore in my head whether I have become more able to run through fatigue now or if I am experiencing less fatigue due to better hydration, nutrition & training.  Perhaps it's a combination of both.  Regardless, I started having visions of going sub 9 hours and kept chugging along and not giving into the HUGE temptation to walk.

By the time I made it back to the mountain view aid station, I once again had an Aric sighting.  I filled my water bottle ate some salt (ran out of S-Caps) and headed up the big hill and toward Lakeside.  Aric and I chatted for a while as we headed toward the bushwhack section and final aid station.  Aric stopped at the final aid station near Lakeside and I pressed on.

The end was now near and I was on my favorite trail on the island, Lakeside Trail.  I train on this 3 mile stretch regularly and it is very familiar to me.  Just as I was coming around the final bend of Lakeside I heard a whistle.  I turned around and there was Jared who I hadn't seen since the ranch.  Jared Clark is some kind of freak of nature who can go out and run a 50K or in this case 50 mile race with little or no training.

By this time I could see the finish line and it was nice to chat with a friend for that last painful mile or so.  We trotted along and ended up crossing the finish line at nearly the same time.

I ended up finishing the race at 9 hours 14 minutes.  This is 46 minutes quicker than my time last year and 66 minutes quicker than 2 years ago.  Ultimately I am very happy with the result.  I came up about 14 minutes short of my goal of 9 hours but am not disappointed.  I went out and gave it my all.

I experienced little or no foot fatigue throughout the day and had no blisters at the finish.  I wore Altra Lone Peak shoes with Smartwool socks.  My feet were feeling so good that I never did swap out my socks or shoes throughout the day.  The conditions were cold but bright and Smith Parallel glasses helped protect my eyes.  I wore the same Pearl Izumi shorts the entire race.  The shorts are made of a lightweight breathable material with built in compression shorts which remained comfortable with zero chafing after 9 plus hours.

The after race festivities involved greeting my family, mingling with some of the best people I have ever met, a few PBR's and some tasty stew.  It was truly inspiring to see so many friend take on new challenges (Dan Frey 50 miles, Randy Steinfeldt 50 miles, Matt Weeks 50 miles, Misty Alessandri 50 miles, Corey Vigil 50K, Jarrod Garr 50K) just to name a few.  Post race recovery has been fairly uneventful.  Aside from the usual quad soreness I'm ready to get back out on the trails.


A final shout out to Jim Skaggs the race director and all the wonderful volunteers who are coordinated by the super awesome Britta Trepp.  Thanks for making this race such a wonderful experience.  I'll be back for more next year.  Up next...The Pocatello 50 miler on June 1st.

Moab Red Hot 55K race report

Moab Red Hot 55K Race Report

2/16/2013

Well, ready or not the 2013 race season is upon us and Moab Red Hot 55K was a great way to kick things off.  The cool temperatures and sunny, cloudless skies were a welcome break from the toxic air and snow covered trails that I have attempted to train on over the past couple of months.  The red rock and dirt covered with just a skiff of snow was truly a sight to be seen.

A little about the course:  First off, I underestimated it.  For some reason the vision I had in my head of running along red dirt single track with a few rolling hills was nowhere near reality.  It was more like running a few jeep roads combined with running across, over, around, under a giant piece of rock all day long.  Much of the course was like playing a seemingly endless game of find the flag.  These flags were hanging in branches; laying under rocks and in some cases seemed to be hiding from me.

I started out with a comfortable pace that I felt I could maintain and pretty much stayed at this pace for most of the day.  The aid stations along the way were well stocked and helpful.  Overall, this race was fairly uneventful and enjoyable with the following exception.

I fell not once or twice but THREE times!  WTH is wrong with me?  I have gone out of my way in cross training to work on balance, core strength and flexibility.  I have even incorporated yoga into my regimen over the past few months.  I ran 33.5 miles and suffered no residual soreness other than a sprained wrist, scuffed up knee and bruised ego. ALL FROM FALLING!

One of the first things I learned when brewing beer is that you can never take your eye off the boil.  The problem is every time you turn your back on a boiling batch of water hops and barley it boils over.  Well, I have developed a new motto…Never take your eye off the trail!  My third and most embarrassing fall happened about 100 yards from the finish line when I looked up to acknowledge a few people cheering for me.  In a split second I went from elated I was about to finish to complete humiliation. 

My finish time was 6:58 and I’m fine with that.  This brings me to a point I have forced myself to explore over the past few days.  Why am I perfectly content being average when it comes to ultra running?  I hear people talking about how disappointed they were in their performance or beating themselves up that they didn’t hit a projected time.  I often wonder why I don’t feel this way.  Am I not a competitive person? Am I running these insane distances for the wrong reason?  Should I be pushing myself harder?

The conclusion I have come to is NO.  I may not be the fastest, most graceful or skilled but I run ultra’s for the exact reason I want to.  In fact, I am doing things now that I didn’t even realize were humanly possible 5 years ago.  For me, it’s all about the journey and finish times do not diminish my pride of accomplishment.

This may sound strange for someone who is lucky enough to be on a sponsored ultra team.  Aren’t sponsored athletes supposed to be up on the podium or at the very least running somewhere near the front of the pack?  Well, maybe I was just in the right place at the right time and a voice from the middle of the pack was given a chance.

I want to offer Aric Manning a big Thank You for pulling together the HUMR ultra team.  If you’re wondering, HUMR stands for Happy Utah Mountain Runners.  There are 10 athletes on our team and I sometimes wonder how I ever made the cut.  We have received gear and financial support from the following:

·         Pearl Izumi

·         Smith Optics

·         Petzl

·         Rooster’s restaurant & brewery

·         Bomber Athlete

·         Buffalo Run

·         Stuart Roofing

·         Arete

·         I hope I didn't forget anyone

Finally, just a few words on fueling strategy and gear, for carbs and calories I used strawberry Perpetuem that I pre-loaded into 5 oz flasks.  I supplemented the Perpetuem with whatever sounded good at aid stations.  Gear wise I used Altra Lone Peak shoes, smart wool socks and Adidas compression socks.  All of my clothing (shorts, shirt, jacket and beanie) were Pearl Izumi.  As it turns out, the beanie can be converted to a yamaka (it’s a long story).  The final piece that I was grateful to have was Smith Parallel sunglasses.  It was extremely bright out there!

Well, I guess that’s about it.  This has proven to be more of a self exploration than a trail report.  I’ll be checking back in a few weeks.  Next on the race schedule is The Buffalo 50 miler.  It will be my third year in a row running this race.  I finished in 10 hours flat last year and would like to shave an hour off that time this year.  If I don’t, oh well.   I’ll enjoy the adventure!  Thanks for reading and I’ll see you out on the trails.

Bear 100 Race Report

Bear 100 race report

9/28 -29 2012

With several months of training under my belt, I approached 100-mile race with nervous confidence.  After all, I was going into unknown territory.  I had completed two 50-mile runs during this calendar year but that was just half of what I was about to take on.  Adding to my anxiety was the fact that my brother had suffered a brain stem stroke just one week prior to race day.  He has recovered remarkably and was able to re-gain strength in his right side and speak clearly after just 3 days in the hospital.

The fact my brother had experienced such a terrifying event at the young age of 42 made me even further realize that I’m very lucky to be able to take on such a monstrous challenge.  I also decided that it was going to take something pretty serious for me to drop out of this race.   In the big scope of things, we’re not talking about life or death with a race.  Sure, it’s painful and pushes a person to their absolute limits but it’s nothing compared to the challenges people don’t choose to take on.

On with the story, the first 36 miles to the Rt Hand Fork aid station were relatively uneventful.  I was cruising along at a moderate pace and was on my projected pace for the first few aid stations.  My approach was pretty simple; start out slow and steady, keep moving, hydrate well and avoid “sweet,” calories (sweet seems to turn my stomach after a few hours).  I stuck to this plan and pretty much drank straight water and used Perpetuem for energy.  In my drop bags I had an assortment of jerky, nuts, Payday candy bars and a few sweets in case I had a craving.

Not Leatham Hollow but a pretty cool picture from an area  nearby

I’ll never forget heading down the canyon to the Leatham Hollow aid station.  From the top looking down was one of the most incredible sights I had seen in my life.  I mentioned to several people that the view changed my life, which may be an exaggeration but the view was spectacular!  The canyon was lit up with yellows, green, pink, red, orange and the light was hitting it in such a way that the hillside seemed to glow.

At mile 36 I picked up Corey Vigil who was planning to pace me from Rt Hand Fork to Tony Grove.  All was going well and we kept a pretty good pace up through Temple Fork aid station.  Just past this aid station was the first time the Bear took a swing at me.  Nausea was starting to set in and we had about 2800’ of elevation gain over the next 5 miles staring back at us.  Suddenly, nausea turned to full on vomiting.  It started as just a little puking at first and we would press on.  A friend of mine who is a physician assistant caught up to me and gave me some Zofran (nausea medication) and advised me to place it under my tongue.  It was very bitter and led to very violent puking, which turned to dry heaving when everything available in my stomach had been purged.

Not feeling well here

After taking several breaks, I wondered if this is how my adventure would end.  I decided that the only way back was to get myself re-hydrated and start eating.  Slowly, it started to work.  I began to feel energy coming back and the nausea had left and never did return for the rest of the race.  After getting to Smithfield Canyon junction I was able to start running again, Corey and I cruised into Tony Grove aid station, which is about mile 51.

This aid station I was given the royal treatment.  I was both surprised and grateful to all the people attending to my needs.  Aric Manning had a chair out for me, Jim Skaggs was fetching me food from the aid station and Dan Frey was getting my gear ready for the next section.  An additional bonus at this aid station was my wife, 3 daughters and my mother had made their way to the aid station to greet me.

Happy Birthday Dano!

Dan Frey and I headed out of Tony Grove and into the dark.  It wasn’t as cold as I expected and I did my best to just keep moving.  At this point I was about 52 miles into the race and officially had passed into higher mileage than I had ever gone.  Dan was patient with me while trying to urge me to move a little quicker.  I was somewhat stubborn and just wanted to walk.  We were ascending White Pine Canyon Ridge when Dan asked me to stop for a second.  The next thing I new, he was jamming a noisemaker in my mouth and putting a birthday hat on my head.  It was his birthday and we celebrated right @ midnight.

We had a good laugh and I sang the happy birthday song to him and we were off again.  We both kept our hats on for the next couple of miles.  The next section had a lot of downhill in which we walked some ran some ultimately making it to the Franklin aid station.

These were great, I had them in all my drop bags

Franklin Aid Station

                 Dan and I got out of Franklin pretty quickly and began yet another long climb and I was getting tired.  I don’t even remember the last time I had stayed awake over 24 hours.  My body began revolting to this whole no sleep thing.  That’s when the yawning began and continued over the next couple of hours.  Into the darkness, we continued trudging along.  We made our way over to Logan River aid station.

This aid station turned out to be one of my most memorable.  They had a fire going, chairs set up and most importantly had grilled cheese sandwiches that were fresh off the grill!  For some reason they tasted like the best thing I had ever eaten.  I had 2, warmed up by the fire a bit and we were off again.  The next section included about a 1000’ climb to Preston pass followed by a descent to Beaver Mountain where I picked up pacer #3.

Pacer number 3 was Aric Manning aka Manners.  His job was pretty much whipping boy.  I was in no mood for running and pretty much walked most of the last 25 miles to the finish.  I was fatigued and in the mood for this adventure to be over.  Aric was great at trying to keep me motivated.  These last 25 ‘ish miles are pretty blurry.  However, it was the first time during the race I had experienced hallucinations. 

Seeing things that weren't there

I’ve heard it can happen but have never actually experienced the bizarre phenomenon of sober hallucinations.  At one point I stopped Manners and was trying to point out the largest bull elk I had ever seen.  He played along for a moment and was really looking for this figment of my imagination.  I insistently kept pointing out what clearly wasn’t there.  As it turns out, I was actually looking at an old dead tree and my mind was filling in the gaps.  Hallucination number two happened around mile 90.  I stopped Manners and asked him why there was a car in the meadow ahead with a man out playing with his young child.  Again, he had a puzzled look on his face and urged me to consume more calories and keep myself hydrated.  I can’t even explain hallucination number two.  It seemed so real to me. 

At this point I am pretty much on a zombie death march.  The thought of quitting never even entered my mind.  The thought of finishing and being able to rest did cross my mind a lot.  Thanks to several chunks of grilled Italian sausage wrapped in pancakes at the Beaver Creek aid station, I was able to grind out the next few miles to the Ranger Dip aid station.  I was in and out of Ranger Dip pretty quickly and now heading up the steepest climb of the entire 100-mile excursion (Thanks for saving that for mile 93).

The climb out of Ranger was a grind.  I tried to keep moving.  However, fatigue was taking its toll.  I slowly ascended with intermittent stops along the way.  Relieved to see the top I knew the rest of this run was pretty much downhill.  There was just one problem, at this point my legs were so fatigued that it was all I could do to just try to trot once in a while.  I had heard that many people feel the end is near and find a new gear.  That was just the case with my friend Joel Hatch who came flying by me with such exuberance that he actually jumped and clicked his heels over a knoll just ahead of us.

I wanted to join Joel in his bolt to the finish but just couldn’t.  At this point I was beaten down.  I knew I was going to finish but just could muster up the ability to string together more that about 100 yards of running at a time.  So we mostly walked to the road where I began to trot.  This is where we ran into BJ aka “Squeaver.”  I was so happy to realize this journey was officially about over.  Manners and Squeaver got me to near the finish line and then peeled off to allow me to cross the line.  It was great seeing the crowds of people and all the HUMR’s cheering me on. 

I crossed the line, shook the race director’s hand and realized I DID IT!  My first 100-miler was in the books.  My wife and 3 daughters greeted me and were happy to see me finish this long journey safely.  I was escorted over to a chair where I was once again given great treatment.  My daughters pulled my shoes and socks of and helped clean me up and get changed into some clean clothes while others were getting me food and drinks and making sure I was comfortable.

Done!

Hugs

Lounging and getting cleaned up

This was definitely an adventure I won’t soon forget.  The course was beautiful and the aid stations were friendly, helpful and well stocked.  Also, kudos to the Bear 100 organizers for one of the best post race meals ever.

Speedgoat 50K 2012

Speedgoat 2012 Race Report

Hello and welcome to my first race report ever.  I distinctly remember having butterflies and being very nervous when I pointed the cursor to the submit box and clicked enter for the 2012 version of Speedgoat several months back.  I was intimidated by this race and it turns out justifiably so.  I am relatively new to the Ultra scene and Speedgoat is legendary for being one of the toughest 50K’s in existence.  Additionally, the race director seems to pride himself on adjusting the course making each year more difficult than the last. 

As it turns out, everything I heard was true and this race did not disappoint in the challenging department.  To make things a little more interesting on this day, I was battling the pain of a recently cracked rib which I received during a trail work mishap the week prior.  I was told by the doctor that running will not make the crack worse, it certainly won’t help it and the bottom line is it will be uncomfortable.  With that not so helpful bit of information, I decided that this would be a day filled with pain and why not just make this little setback part of the adventure.

I felt relatively good starting up the first big climb to Hidden Peak.  I had trained hard and tried to get in as much vertical as possible in the weeks leading up to this race.  I remember passing through the first water station around mile 4 and realized I had barely drank any water.  I made a mental note to get on top of my hydration as this was going to be a very long and hot day.  I arrived at the Hidden Peak tram and was happy to see a few HUMR’s (Britta Trepp, Bryce Warren & Cory Johnson) greet me.  They offered encouragement, assistance and a Popsicle.

As I descended off hidden peak, I recall being blown away by freshly bloomed purple and orange wildflowers.  I was in awe which was quick disrupted by fatigue that was already setting in.  I skipped the Larry’s Hole aid station and headed straight for the next climb on the course which was relatively uneventful.  However, the section after this climb was one of the most difficult sections of the entire course for me.  It was a 2 mile section that descended about 2000’ through what I can only describe as a dry river bed.  It was extremely rocky and technical.  This section slowed me to a near crawl and I lost a lot of time.  I have battled ankle injuries over the past year and the last thing I wanted was to turn an ankle in this rocky horror (yes, the wh version of that same word would also apply).

Thankful to be through this section, I was now out of water.  Uggggh!  I promised myself I would keep hydrated.  I saw Shawn coming out of Pacific Mine as I was entering, she assured me the aid station was a mile or so down the trail.  During my journey to the aid station I also encountered Manners and Joel and was happy to see some familiar faces.  I was very relieved to arrive at what proved to be my favorite aid station.  I was greeted by someone spraying a mister on me and a cold towel to place on the back of my neck (THANK YOU AID STATION VOLUNTEERS).  After chugging water, eating potatoes with salt and filling my bottles I was off again.

I was able to get about 100 yards out of the aid station and was struck by tragedy.  I tripped over a rock.  This trip was followed by a thud and many curse words.  I stood up, assessed the damage (scuffed up hand, elbow and knee) and was relieved that I had protected my sore rib.  I put the embarrassment of crashing and burning and decided I needed to make up some time.  “Keep moving,” I told myself.  On my way out of the Pacific mine I was happy to see another couple of HUMR’s (Forrest and Alicia).  The climb out of Pacific Mine was slow and steady.  I knew I was getting way behind my projected pace and made an effort to make up some time.  I was feeling surprisingly refreshed and was able to pass many people who had entered the zombie death march mode.  I made the second pass through Larry’s Hole topped off my bottles, had some fig newtons, sipped some Big K Cola and pressed on.

This next section can be summed up with three words, Mt F’ing Baldy.  I got to the base of this beast and was sure the volunteer was pulling my leg when he pointed up the hill.  “Where’s the trail,” I stated.  The volunteer just smiled and told me to follow the flags.  For the first time in this race, I wanted to quit.  It’s hard to describe this section, from the bottom looking up; it looked like I needed ropes.  Ironically, as I started to ascend this beast my iPod was playing the following lyrics:                                                    

Strapped down to my bed, feet cold and eyes red.
I'm out of my head am I alive? Am I dead.
Sun kissed and Sudafed Gyro scopes and infrared
won't help. I'm brain dead. Can't remember what they said.
God Dam%. Sh$@ the bed.

It seemed to sum up exactly how I felt at that moment.  BTW, the crazy lyrics are from a song called Rosetta Stoned by the group Tool.  Yep, that’s how this HUMR rolls.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made it to the top of Baldy and worked my way down to the tunnel aid station.  I was happy to see a couple of HUMR’s (Breein and Jim) fueling up at the aid station.  I topped off drank half of a beer (why not?) that Jim somehow was able to get from the aid station and was once again on my way.  The tunnel was perfect!  I thought long and hard about just lying down in the cool air and taking a nap.  The tunnel ended unfortunately and to my horror we were descending.

I was happy to get some relief from all the climbing.  However, I knew going down was bad because it mean just one thing . . . I still need to get all the way back up to Hidden Peak.  The trail descended about 1000’ and then the bonus, MORE CLIMBING!  Now it’s getting later in the afternoon and the heat is peaking.  It was a long, hot climb.  By the time I got to the ridge, I was completely spent!  A special thanks to Lindsay and Britta for providing a Popsicle and much needed morale boost at this point.

I inched my way to the Hidden Peak aid station where I was greeted by Larry who was very helpful in helping me get rehydrated and fueled up for the final push.  Much to my surprise, I ran into Joel and Ryan who informed me that we were finishing this sucker together.  HUMR’S Unite!  We waited for Jim and Breein to get in and get fueled up and then we were off for the final 5 miles (all downhill).  The six of us were joined by fellow HUMR Britta.  Time to find that finish line!

The last five miles were pretty uneventful.  I had reached the point that I just wanted this experience to be over.  My legs were shot and I was not able to keep up the pace I had hoped for.  I was actually OK with this.   I knew I was going to make it back and even though I was going to go over my projected finish time I had conquered Speedgoat 2012.  The seven of us got pretty scattered during the last 5 miles and I ended up crossing the finish line at the same time as Breein at  10 hours and 8 minutes.  DONE, FINALLY!  At the finish it was fun mingling with friends and meeting new people.  This day proved to be one of the most challenging experiences of my life.  I plan on learning from my experience and be back to take it on again next year.