Tim Cronk 2018 Antelope Canyon 50 mile Ultra
The Race- Antelope Canyon was my 2nd trail 50 miler and 3rd time at that distance counting the UMFL run. Located in Page AZ , known for Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Slot Canyon, Glen Canyon Damn, Rainbow Bridge, and Lake Powell , Heather chose this race last year after she raced Monument Valley 50k. In my previous life , I had been to Page for other activities , so I was looking forward to going back to experience it from a different perspective.
Travel, Camping, Check In and Weather- We drove the MOHO complete with dogs up to Page on Thursday, checked into the campground .7 miles from the start/finish of the race. Thursday night brought a little bit of fresh snow. Walked the dogs and went for a short taper run in the snow, feet got wet and cold, glad the race wasn't Friday. They moved the packet pickup to a Community Building to keep us warmer. Unfortunately it was farther from our campground but still within walking distance . Packets picked up and drop bags dropped off, back to camp to relax. It warmed up to the high 30's/low 40's that afternoon, with a little sun, most of the snow melted. The forecast for Saturday's race day was for a low of 25 and a high of 42, sun and light winds.
Prep and Excuses- 2018 is my year of the Ultra, specifically the goal of the 100 mile distance in July. After 2017 tri-season its been all about the run, the trail run. Since early December I have pretty much dropped the swim/bike and replaced those with strength in the gym and hiking in addition to trail running and run intervals... While I've been averaging well over 50 mpw for the last 12 weeks I was far from 100% and lots have gone wrong. 4 weeks ago I raced a 50k and strained something pretty good in my left calf. Run intervals and strength training were dropped to baby this injury for the last month. A week before Antelope I got sick, havent been sick in years. Showing up fat (discipline has been lacking but maybe it will keep me warm), under trained, over tapered, lingering niggles in the calf, and some congestion from the cold. Just stayed focussed on getting to the start line as "healthy" as possible , with plans of continuous movement, at a pace I could sustain for 50 miles, and the results would take care of themselves.
The Race- Got up at 4am, ate, drank coffee, short walk to check weather and get things moving, took care of business... Dressed in a medium thickness pair of Nike tights, Under Armor base layer upper, 2nd long sleeve upper, smart wool socks, Altra Lone Peak Shoes, gaitors for the sand, HR, watch, hat, gloves with hand warmers, headlamp, pants and jacket for the walk to the Start. Ultra Aspire running vest with 2 liters skratch, bar, blocks, gels, TP/bag, key, Aquafor, and an extra-jacket, to carry and weigh me down cause I just hadnt gained enough weight. Drop bags at miles 20/33 and another at 38 contained sun glasses , hat , extra shirt, 2 pair extra socks, 1 pair extra shoes, extra bars,blocks, gels. NOTE: on drop bags , it is even more important that Triathlon to make your bag stand out LOUD and CLEAR among the others..
Left the campground at 5:30 for the 6am start. Arrived 5:45, took extra pants/jackets off at 5:50, ate gel, dropped morning clothes bag off, walked the remainder to the start, 5:55 lined up , 6am start right on time... The 50/100 milers started at 6am and the 55k started at 7am. Heather stayed in the MOHO , walked the dogs, and left for her 55k at 6:30. The start was a mix of double track/ single track sand , with 2 or 3 scrambles up short but steep slick rock climbs , before settling out on mostly sand . Since it was dark we all had headlamps but needed to be careful reading the terrain for the first hour or so. The course is divided up into 3 sections each returning near the start. The first section is an out and back -First few miles go by quick and you come to the first slot canyon in about 4 miles, get thru that , back on sand, Antelope Canyon comes up at around 7 miles, unfortunately it was still pretty dark for good pictures here but they have to get you out of it before the tourists arrive, shortly after Antelope Canyon I got lost following the group in front of me, we finally figured it out, reversed course and went back to find the turn we missed, looking at the file it cost me 1.7 miles and 16:21 minutes, back on course we were now stuck behind a group of slower runners that did not get lost, this next section was single track and hard to pass, the guy behind me is running in the scrub brush trying to get by, I slow down and move over, and said you know in a few minutes we'll be back in the large sandy wash and you can pass as many of these people as you want but I'll be happy to let you go by, he looks at me and says thanks alot for the "insanity check", I said I feel your pain but this is probably good for us to not over do it trying to make up for lost time and I'm gonna save my energy for later. Back in the wash and sure enough plenty of time to pass anyone who was slower. Drinking every mile, eating every 30 min was the plan but it was cold and hard to follow, probably went more like drink every 2 miles and eat every 45min. They warned us at the beginning if you were using a straw based pack that it could freeze, since it was well below freezing everytime I drank , I would then blow the fluid from the straw back into the pack. Once the sun came up I discontinued this. The first section out and back is done in 16 miles, there was an aid station you pass twice but no drop bags. 5 miles to the next section, a 13 mile loop around Horseshoe Bend Area, the aid station was at mile 20/33, I stopped both times to eat, drop off headlamp, top off fluid, lots more sand getting down to the rim, then it was rather difficult route finding along the rim with lots of slickrock scrambling, find marker, move towards marker, find another marker, repeat, felt like I was constantly changing direction and was very slow going, slick rock gives your body a pounding even when going slow, never thought I would be happy to see sand again but it felt so much better and was actually faster not having to route find as much, I ran the last few miles down to the 20 mile AS with a girl from Canada, lost her at the AS but picked her back up and ran the same section back up after the 33 mile AS with her again. When we passed through the 38 mile AS someone said something to her about running the 100, I just about shit myself as I had assumed most of the 100's to be behind me unless they were gonna win it , at first I told her what a Bad ASS she was, this was to be her first 100, asked her name incase she dropped me, then I teased her about how cold it would be that night and I would come watch her finish on Sunday am after sleep and pancakes, she said the plan was to keep moving to stay warm, and shortly after that she dropped me again LOL, mile 38 is the beginning of the last section a 11 Page Rim trail, this had the nicest surfaces and should have been the fastest section, but the wheels were coming off and was more about just moving not speed. I ran into "Canada" one more time as she was exiting AS mile 42 and I was entering it. The last 7 miles were pretty lonely, the only people I was passing was some of the 55k stragglers, but at least no one was passing me. Run/walk/drink/eat same thing I had been doing all day, but I found the "hills" I was walking to be smaller and smaller. Around mile 46 I got a text from Heather, she was done , and the dogs had survived the day in the MOHO, awesome that means she already walked back to camp. I texted her I was 2-3 miles out and kept moving. Keeping an eye on anyone in front I maybe catching and anyone behind who maybe passing me I kept moving albeit slower and slower... At mile 48 Heather and the Dogs showed up to greet me, a quick selfie and on to the finish line...I finished 48.8 miles in 9:44 which was good enough for 1st place in AG and 14th OA, only in an Ultra can you get lost , log an extra 1.7 miles in 16 minutes, and then still do OK as long as you keep moving... I was a bit disappointed number 2 guy in my AG was catching me and came to within 3 minutes of doing so, as I pride myself on slowing down less than my competition, I did feel slightly vindicated to find out he DID NOT run the extra 1.7 miles . Heather took 2nd place in her AG with a 32.5 mile 55k run:-)
The relive on STRAVA is pretty cool for this race.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1424330383
Lots of the surfaces looked like this. Some wider, some narrower, some deeper, some shallower..... Lotsa SAND
Couple shots from the last slot canyon (not Antelope) still amazing .
The slots were all one way (not enough room).
Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend.
The hill behind the campground, top of hill is the last aid station (1 mile from finish but used more for the 100 milers doing laps on the Page Rim) After Heathers 55k in 7:49 she walked back to campground, released the hounds who had been cooped up for 9 hrs, and walked to top to catch me coming in for the last mile.
Finisher's Medal... No Buckle just bottle full of sand , so you dont forget, they told me to top the bottle off with the sand I took out of my shoes :-)
S
The Aftermath- My Calf held up really well, in fact it feels 100% now... My right hip is now bugging me and I have been doing nothing but rest and easy walking since Saturday. The lingering cold was not an issue but I did cough and hack quite a bit Saturday night. Here it is 4 days later and I still have quite a bit of congestion... After going to the 50 mile well 3 times now, I am still looking at the 100 mile distance as absolutely impossible. I know its not, I have never lacked confidence, but its still one of those things I just cant imagine. We will see , July is a long way off. BTW "Canada" did not make it, she did however make it over 27hrs, something again I cant even begin to imagine. Respect!
Suffer Score- There was quite a bit of talk about the STRAVA suffer score of this race. I dont put too much thought into HR but I will say my Zones within STRAVA seem appropriate... For instance my Z4 is 166-184 and I consider my threshold HR to be 172ish. I did not ever feel like I was pushing my self in this race, concentrated on just a steady effort. Below is some comps of my 3 trail races this year and a road 5k .
3.2 miles , 21:38 time, 6:44pace, 85' elev , 178 avg hr, 88 suffer score
16.5 miles , 2:17time , 8:21pace, 1700' elev , 165 avg hr, 346 suffer score
32.5 miles , 5:38time , 10:21pace, 4600' elev , 159 avg hr, 660 suffer score
48.8 miles , 9:44time , 11:59pace, 4100' elev , 147 avg hr, 640 suffer score
I'm thinking my 100 mile avg hr will be 130 ???
Weight- I'm alway amazed by how much the body fluctuates, but since I complained about it , I thought I would include it. For reference I raced KONA and IMAZ between 117-120 in 2017.
Friday day before race- 132.4
Saturday AM race day - 130.2 pre
Saturday PM race day - 129.7 post
Sunday day after race - 128.2
Monday 2 days after - 131.8
Tuesday 3 days after - 134.6
Wedsnesday today - 131.6
EDIT: couple more notes I forgot
Garmin Heart Rate - when I walked/hobble the 15 minutes back to camp, I turned my watch on, my average HR was 100 for this walk, however my Garmin HR Recovery check said POOR! This has never given me a FAIR or POOR that I did not agree with... Definitely more reliable than those HRV systems IMO which constantly gave me incorrect (relative to my thought/feelings) readings.
FUEL- in 9.75 hrs I consumed 1.5 cliff bars, 7-8 gels, 12 cliff blocks, 2-3 pieces of peanut butter/jelly wraps, couple half cans of mountain dew, and maybe 3 liters of sports drink ... Breakfast was pretzel roll, peanut butter, dates... Afterwards and not feeling too good was ginger ale, saltine crackers, plain pasta, half avocado vegemite sandwhich, and very small amount of icecream (that got consumed the next day)!
Travel, Camping, Check In and Weather- We drove the MOHO complete with dogs up to Page on Thursday, checked into the campground .7 miles from the start/finish of the race. Thursday night brought a little bit of fresh snow. Walked the dogs and went for a short taper run in the snow, feet got wet and cold, glad the race wasn't Friday. They moved the packet pickup to a Community Building to keep us warmer. Unfortunately it was farther from our campground but still within walking distance . Packets picked up and drop bags dropped off, back to camp to relax. It warmed up to the high 30's/low 40's that afternoon, with a little sun, most of the snow melted. The forecast for Saturday's race day was for a low of 25 and a high of 42, sun and light winds.
Prep and Excuses- 2018 is my year of the Ultra, specifically the goal of the 100 mile distance in July. After 2017 tri-season its been all about the run, the trail run. Since early December I have pretty much dropped the swim/bike and replaced those with strength in the gym and hiking in addition to trail running and run intervals... While I've been averaging well over 50 mpw for the last 12 weeks I was far from 100% and lots have gone wrong. 4 weeks ago I raced a 50k and strained something pretty good in my left calf. Run intervals and strength training were dropped to baby this injury for the last month. A week before Antelope I got sick, havent been sick in years. Showing up fat (discipline has been lacking but maybe it will keep me warm), under trained, over tapered, lingering niggles in the calf, and some congestion from the cold. Just stayed focussed on getting to the start line as "healthy" as possible , with plans of continuous movement, at a pace I could sustain for 50 miles, and the results would take care of themselves.
The Race- Got up at 4am, ate, drank coffee, short walk to check weather and get things moving, took care of business... Dressed in a medium thickness pair of Nike tights, Under Armor base layer upper, 2nd long sleeve upper, smart wool socks, Altra Lone Peak Shoes, gaitors for the sand, HR, watch, hat, gloves with hand warmers, headlamp, pants and jacket for the walk to the Start. Ultra Aspire running vest with 2 liters skratch, bar, blocks, gels, TP/bag, key, Aquafor, and an extra-jacket, to carry and weigh me down cause I just hadnt gained enough weight. Drop bags at miles 20/33 and another at 38 contained sun glasses , hat , extra shirt, 2 pair extra socks, 1 pair extra shoes, extra bars,blocks, gels. NOTE: on drop bags , it is even more important that Triathlon to make your bag stand out LOUD and CLEAR among the others..
Left the campground at 5:30 for the 6am start. Arrived 5:45, took extra pants/jackets off at 5:50, ate gel, dropped morning clothes bag off, walked the remainder to the start, 5:55 lined up , 6am start right on time... The 50/100 milers started at 6am and the 55k started at 7am. Heather stayed in the MOHO , walked the dogs, and left for her 55k at 6:30. The start was a mix of double track/ single track sand , with 2 or 3 scrambles up short but steep slick rock climbs , before settling out on mostly sand . Since it was dark we all had headlamps but needed to be careful reading the terrain for the first hour or so. The course is divided up into 3 sections each returning near the start. The first section is an out and back -First few miles go by quick and you come to the first slot canyon in about 4 miles, get thru that , back on sand, Antelope Canyon comes up at around 7 miles, unfortunately it was still pretty dark for good pictures here but they have to get you out of it before the tourists arrive, shortly after Antelope Canyon I got lost following the group in front of me, we finally figured it out, reversed course and went back to find the turn we missed, looking at the file it cost me 1.7 miles and 16:21 minutes, back on course we were now stuck behind a group of slower runners that did not get lost, this next section was single track and hard to pass, the guy behind me is running in the scrub brush trying to get by, I slow down and move over, and said you know in a few minutes we'll be back in the large sandy wash and you can pass as many of these people as you want but I'll be happy to let you go by, he looks at me and says thanks alot for the "insanity check", I said I feel your pain but this is probably good for us to not over do it trying to make up for lost time and I'm gonna save my energy for later. Back in the wash and sure enough plenty of time to pass anyone who was slower. Drinking every mile, eating every 30 min was the plan but it was cold and hard to follow, probably went more like drink every 2 miles and eat every 45min. They warned us at the beginning if you were using a straw based pack that it could freeze, since it was well below freezing everytime I drank , I would then blow the fluid from the straw back into the pack. Once the sun came up I discontinued this. The first section out and back is done in 16 miles, there was an aid station you pass twice but no drop bags. 5 miles to the next section, a 13 mile loop around Horseshoe Bend Area, the aid station was at mile 20/33, I stopped both times to eat, drop off headlamp, top off fluid, lots more sand getting down to the rim, then it was rather difficult route finding along the rim with lots of slickrock scrambling, find marker, move towards marker, find another marker, repeat, felt like I was constantly changing direction and was very slow going, slick rock gives your body a pounding even when going slow, never thought I would be happy to see sand again but it felt so much better and was actually faster not having to route find as much, I ran the last few miles down to the 20 mile AS with a girl from Canada, lost her at the AS but picked her back up and ran the same section back up after the 33 mile AS with her again. When we passed through the 38 mile AS someone said something to her about running the 100, I just about shit myself as I had assumed most of the 100's to be behind me unless they were gonna win it , at first I told her what a Bad ASS she was, this was to be her first 100, asked her name incase she dropped me, then I teased her about how cold it would be that night and I would come watch her finish on Sunday am after sleep and pancakes, she said the plan was to keep moving to stay warm, and shortly after that she dropped me again LOL, mile 38 is the beginning of the last section a 11 Page Rim trail, this had the nicest surfaces and should have been the fastest section, but the wheels were coming off and was more about just moving not speed. I ran into "Canada" one more time as she was exiting AS mile 42 and I was entering it. The last 7 miles were pretty lonely, the only people I was passing was some of the 55k stragglers, but at least no one was passing me. Run/walk/drink/eat same thing I had been doing all day, but I found the "hills" I was walking to be smaller and smaller. Around mile 46 I got a text from Heather, she was done , and the dogs had survived the day in the MOHO, awesome that means she already walked back to camp. I texted her I was 2-3 miles out and kept moving. Keeping an eye on anyone in front I maybe catching and anyone behind who maybe passing me I kept moving albeit slower and slower... At mile 48 Heather and the Dogs showed up to greet me, a quick selfie and on to the finish line...I finished 48.8 miles in 9:44 which was good enough for 1st place in AG and 14th OA, only in an Ultra can you get lost , log an extra 1.7 miles in 16 minutes, and then still do OK as long as you keep moving... I was a bit disappointed number 2 guy in my AG was catching me and came to within 3 minutes of doing so, as I pride myself on slowing down less than my competition, I did feel slightly vindicated to find out he DID NOT run the extra 1.7 miles . Heather took 2nd place in her AG with a 32.5 mile 55k run:-)
The relive on STRAVA is pretty cool for this race.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1424330383
Lots of the surfaces looked like this. Some wider, some narrower, some deeper, some shallower..... Lotsa SAND
Couple shots from the last slot canyon (not Antelope) still amazing .
The slots were all one way (not enough room).
Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend.The hill behind the campground, top of hill is the last aid station (1 mile from finish but used more for the 100 milers doing laps on the Page Rim) After Heathers 55k in 7:49 she walked back to campground, released the hounds who had been cooped up for 9 hrs, and walked to top to catch me coming in for the last mile.
Finisher's Medal... No Buckle just bottle full of sand , so you dont forget, they told me to top the bottle off with the sand I took out of my shoes :-)
SThe Aftermath- My Calf held up really well, in fact it feels 100% now... My right hip is now bugging me and I have been doing nothing but rest and easy walking since Saturday. The lingering cold was not an issue but I did cough and hack quite a bit Saturday night. Here it is 4 days later and I still have quite a bit of congestion... After going to the 50 mile well 3 times now, I am still looking at the 100 mile distance as absolutely impossible. I know its not, I have never lacked confidence, but its still one of those things I just cant imagine. We will see , July is a long way off. BTW "Canada" did not make it, she did however make it over 27hrs, something again I cant even begin to imagine. Respect!
Suffer Score- There was quite a bit of talk about the STRAVA suffer score of this race. I dont put too much thought into HR but I will say my Zones within STRAVA seem appropriate... For instance my Z4 is 166-184 and I consider my threshold HR to be 172ish. I did not ever feel like I was pushing my self in this race, concentrated on just a steady effort. Below is some comps of my 3 trail races this year and a road 5k .
3.2 miles , 21:38 time, 6:44pace, 85' elev , 178 avg hr, 88 suffer score
16.5 miles , 2:17time , 8:21pace, 1700' elev , 165 avg hr, 346 suffer score
32.5 miles , 5:38time , 10:21pace, 4600' elev , 159 avg hr, 660 suffer score
48.8 miles , 9:44time , 11:59pace, 4100' elev , 147 avg hr, 640 suffer score
I'm thinking my 100 mile avg hr will be 130 ???
Weight- I'm alway amazed by how much the body fluctuates, but since I complained about it , I thought I would include it. For reference I raced KONA and IMAZ between 117-120 in 2017.
Friday day before race- 132.4
Saturday AM race day - 130.2 pre
Saturday PM race day - 129.7 post
Sunday day after race - 128.2
Monday 2 days after - 131.8
Tuesday 3 days after - 134.6
Wedsnesday today - 131.6
EDIT: couple more notes I forgot
Garmin Heart Rate - when I walked/hobble the 15 minutes back to camp, I turned my watch on, my average HR was 100 for this walk, however my Garmin HR Recovery check said POOR! This has never given me a FAIR or POOR that I did not agree with... Definitely more reliable than those HRV systems IMO which constantly gave me incorrect (relative to my thought/feelings) readings.
FUEL- in 9.75 hrs I consumed 1.5 cliff bars, 7-8 gels, 12 cliff blocks, 2-3 pieces of peanut butter/jelly wraps, couple half cans of mountain dew, and maybe 3 liters of sports drink ... Breakfast was pretzel roll, peanut butter, dates... Afterwards and not feeling too good was ginger ale, saltine crackers, plain pasta, half avocado vegemite sandwhich, and very small amount of icecream (that got consumed the next day)!
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Comments
A few thoughts:
- Your HR seems pretty high. I've pretty much used the MAF formula for 50 milers and greater. It's 180 - your age + 5 since we've been at this for a while. For me at 44, that means keeping my HR around 140. I'll let it drift up to 150 for a short time on climbs and whatnot. I think you're on the right track of 130 for your 100 miler. If you have another 50 miler lined up, consider trying it at MAF. I actually thought my first 50 miler was pretty easy because I averaged something like a 136 HR. For a 100, that HR becomes the governor to keep the last 50 from being death march (well, it will be a death march anyway, but just less of one).
- If you have a Fenix 3 or 5, you can download the course to your device to keep from getting lost. About 1/3rd of the ultras I've run navigation has been an issue for the other runners. I just looked down at my watch and followed the direction the arrow was pointing. If you don't have a Fenix, you can use your phone. Gaia is popular for the iPhone. I used an app called Backcountry Navigator on my Android phone as a backup for the Bear. You will feel certain you're going the wrong way on your 100 at some point. I pulled out my phone to confirm that my watch wasn't lying to me a couple times.
- On weight...first off 130s is a long way from fat. Second, have you measured your body fat? I say that because ultras take much more strength than road running. Most long-time ultra runners look more like weight lifters than Kenyans -- at least in their legs. I think that is need for durability. You may be packing on more muscle.
Congrats again! Hope we hook up sometime soon for an epic adventure.But the jury is still out on who gets the award for Cronk Toughest Endurance Achievement: Heather and her outstanding 55K race; you and the super-tough 50-miler; or the doggies for enduring 9 hours in the MOHO
I've got a couple of questions. Did you target a HR to stay at throughout the race or just run by feel? I like the MAF idea of @Gabe Peterson as I do many runs just a little higher than this anyway. Also, how do you make your pbj wraps? Sounds better than a smashed sandwich. Looking forward to following your ultra journey this year.
As for the HR, I decide to not use it anymore.. Since ive read Lionel Sanders mention "if I need to hit that HR for that speed, so beat it" - dunno if that could apply to ultra but I am following that path since a few months and I am seeing progress.
I've used that blow-back technique also, but to keep my water cool, not avoid freezing!
Re: HR - like a little bird, Tim's ticker just flutters away. It's a size issue - smaller people have smaller hearts, even when hypertrophied by training. Smaller heart = smaller volume each beat = more beats to get the needed O2 to muscles.
Seriously, though, what a spectacular step on the journey heading towards 100 mi this summer. Stay safe and healthy.
Where's the UMFL race report?
Below you can see the ranking changes from when I got lost for 16 minutes, losing 39 places, going from 14th to 53rd in 1hr 16minutes , getting stuck behind those slower runners, and then working my way back to 15th in the next 5 hrs.
Interesting Stat from Garmin- Total steps on race day 99043
My Hip still hurts- no running yet, just walking, back in the gym, bike, swim and some hiking... Will take it really easy until the hip feels better and think I will be fine for R2R2R as long as I am able to get in long hike days... I will also probably stand down on a 30k trail race coming up in 2 weeks, I'll go watch Heather, maybe volunteer...
@Peter Noyes- YES to the Ultra Thread I need you and GABE there. I would agree my HR might have been a little low but not much, but more importantly felt like I didnt work that hard early on , didnt stop me from feeling as bad as I did later on.
@Derrek Sanks - So much of this is mental over physical, a friend of mine I know I have mentioned before, who actually completed a 500 Mile Ultra said there is absolutely nothing you can do , to physically prepare yourself... Its completely mental ... He goes into it undertrained with the idea he will be even hungrier when the suck comes.... Actually the sand is not bad, its just slow, but its slow for everybody, this is something we need to accept when you go from running on smooth roads to trail running.
@Gabe Peterson Thanks for being the leader in this madness! HR comes up a bunch but I really didnt think mine was too high for this even. I do not monitor it and as you can see in the comps it automagically adapts to the various times/distances....NO FENIX but I am buying the 935xt soon... Some of the guys I was following DID have the course downloaded on watches and phones, but you have to watch it , part of the reason a few of us were lead down the path we knew they had the course and we just followed.... The turn we did miss was clearly marked but when your a lemming its easy to miss... Gaining Muscle? LOL you havent met me in person yet have you? Soon someday soon.
@Jorge Duque Thanks for reading!
@Paul Curtin The Bad Ass award? Thats easy - I'd give it to the last finisher of the 100 miler, Larry Hill , 63 years old, finished in 29:45... The dogs would definitely be runner up though.
@Tim Sullivan - No specific HR target , I just track it and look at it later .... PBJ wraps were taken off the course, you think Ironman is a buffet just wait until you do an Ultra... I'm gonna drop my own bars/blocks and just go with gel flasks and eat real food as I see fit at Aid Stations.... There is always something that appeals... Heather had a vegemite sandwhich in one of her drop bags, she got to the AS and they had avocado, between that pickles, and chips , she was in heaven... I usually go for sweet and she goes savory.
@Francis Picard HR already mentioned, wear , dont watch, just analyze later.... With your energy, enthusiasm, and ability to have fun you will laugh your way through the ultra distance's... Cant wait to watch you tackle them!
@Al Truscott Ever the teacher, supporter, and mentor, I always look forward to reading your thoughts/comments/take aways from my Race Reports... As usual spot on with the hummingbird HR :-)
@Brian Hagan To have had, in any way shape or form, influenced your decision to do UMFL , by doing things like this, that really makes me happy. I cant even begin to tell you how excited I was to watch you and Stephanie. I pulled up my files each day to watch along, checked the weather 2-3 times a day... And pestered the Crew's for updates.... x2 looking for that UMFL RR.
@Gary Lewis Hey why dont you sign up for?.
https://ultrasignup.com/entrants_event.aspx?did=49816#id805523
Lots of distances to choose from... We are signed up for the 30k but I may have to stand down. Practically your backyard? Be great to see you! BTW we are camping right there.
Our Boy Scout Troop is having their inaugural 5K/10K race that day, so I am out. We can always use more runners if you drop out of the ultra. www.troop99race.com
Our Troop packs the water back into those mountains for the AS on the Xterra Trail Run. If the trail is the same as their 20K, I would never make it. Lots of tough climbing.
that when I was getting ready to attempt the Bike Everest... Apparently
there is now some kind of work around for the 920 as well.
1) did the gators actually help to keep the sand out?
2) if no, did you dump sand at the aid stations?
3) did you ever actually change your socks mid-race?
4) did you tape your toes/feet before putting your socks on?
5) any blisters?
I also agree with the little hummingbirds having higher HRs. I have never been compared to a hummingbird, more like a giant Turkey, and accordingly have a much lower max HR...
Congrats to you, and especially to Heather... You guys are Rock Stars!
1) did the gators actually help to keep the sand out?
YES, Altra Lone Peak and gaitors worked great
2) if no, did you dump sand at the aid stations?
virtually none in my shoes
3) did you ever actually change your socks mid-race?
NO but I had socks and shoes in drop bag, passed it at mile 20 and mile 33
4) did you tape your toes/feet before putting your socks on?
No tape... I did aquafor my toes a little
5) any blisters?
NO, couple of toenails sore , some peeling skin, no blisters tho.... I think my size 7 Altra's are just a tiny bit too small which really sucks because they make size 7, 8, then they introduce the half sizes.
No One would confuse you with a hummigbird... But I'd say Golden Eagle or California Condor (Not a Turkey :-))
2 years ago I did a 32 mile trail race over extreme terrain, boulders, lakes, hills, while raining at 40 degrees. This took place in the Texas Hill Country at a place called Bandera. It humbled me. It was so much more difficult that I had previously imagined. I gained some insight, appreciation and respect for what has to get done to accomplish the feats in these events and how it compares to IM racing.
Tackling 50 miles over that terrain is a great accomplishment in so many ways. Mentally, physically and I dare say spiritually when you are staring down the last 10 miles with 40 miles of fatigue on your body.
Loved the report, the pics, and the feedback from the team. All extremely inspirational!
When is R2R2R?
Congratulations IM!
SS
I'm surprised you did not have a crew or pacers to run with. Is that only in the 100 milers? The terrain and pictures remind me of the books by Carlos Castaneda. The magic-like and spiritualism of the vast and lonely desert. Very inspirational. Congratulations Tim ... it does not surprise me that you pulled this off despite life.