pacing Lucca at the Seattle Marathon

Wow! For three reasons.

1. 2018 is the SEVENTH time I have run the Seattle Marathon with Lucca.
2. Somehow I frequently manage to injure myself several weeks prior to this event so end up running a marathon essentially "off the couch". Ouch.
3. Lucca doesn't seem to be slowing down so this isn't getting any easier!

Thankfully (surprisingly?) I managed to get the job done and not so surprisingly Lucca keeps logging Boston (and New York, etc.) qualifying times. Way to go Lucca!

I'll get the Martin stuff out of the way stat so we can talk about the real star here, Lucca.

In my early years of running, I would routinely get overuse injuries. This was in part because I was overusing my body but also because I was not wearing the best shoes for me and because I did not know how to take care of myself. This year my injury was a real accident and not related to running at all. On October 20 I was riding home on my scooter when it slid out in a corner and I landed on my ass. Hard. Say hello to soft tissue injury! This injury was bad enough that I couldn't do anything for one week and could only do light gym work the second week. The third week I was able to ride my bike to work but I couldn't actually run until a little later. This left me just a few precious days to get in some miles and to taper/rest.

Hahaha...

Okay, the first thing I abandoned was the taper. After a couple of super duper cautious and short treadmill runs I ventured outside, my progression went like this.

Oct 21 - I try to ride my bike before I realize how serious my injury is and abort and hit the couch, sideways, because I can't actually sit on anything
Oct 22-28 - go stir crazy
Oct 29-Nov 11 - some light gym work + walking
Nov 12 - 3 miles on a treadmill
Nov 13 - stair workout
Nov 14 - 3 miles on a treadmill
Nov 15 - 6 miles on pavement
Nov 16 - 2 miles on a treadmill
Nov 17 - 6 miles on pavement
Nov 18 - 10 miles on trails
Nov 20 - stair workout
Nov 21 - 6 miles on a treadmill
Nov 22 - 10 miles on trails
Nov 23 - 6 miles on pavement
Nov 25 - Seattle Marathon

Now for the real story.

Lucca's official 2019 Boston qualifying time is 4:00 but because this race is so darn popular, her "improved" time is 3:55. So we set out with a goal of 3:55 and a dream time of 3:50. Lucca's Marathon PR is just sub 3:45 but she was recently coming off of a three-week break from running so didn't have the luxury of ideal preparation either.

Some numbers:
3:55 = 8:57 pace
3:50 = 8:46 pace

We both agreed that as long as we were seeing an 8:50 pace on our watches most of the time we should be good.

Ready, set, go!

As in years past, I carried all of our nutrition. Not needing to stop at aid stations in ANY race reaps you big rewards and hey, there is no rule that you have to use the nutrition supplied by the event so as usual, I was about the only person looking like I was heading out for an all-day adventure in the woods instead of like someone running a supported marathon.



I had two bottles up front and an extra one in back and I was carrying enough gel for both of us. I was also carrying my wallet (which contained my bus pass) and phone so I wouldn't be stranded in the event of a worst-case scenario. One real benefit of wearing a vest is you can use it to stash your clothes and as it happened, we had a freaking perfect day for running. It was a little cold (for me anyway) at the start but by the finish, neither of us were wearing gloves, Lucca had ditched her Buff and I would have been more comfy with one less shirt. Not too shabby for late November in Seattle! Another bonus of carrying your nutrition is you always get to eat/drink exactly what you want. And yes, I'm looking at you Hammer Nutrition, this stuff is SO good.

This year we got into the runner's corral a bit too far back. You would think it's easy to pass people on a four-lane road but not so much when it's this many people. At the very least you need to expend some extra energy weaving in and out of the crowd and it took us all the way down 5th Ave where we finally turned onto the I-5 Express Lanes before we saw the 3:45 pacer. Whew, now we could relax and slowly let them get out of sight again. :)

The course for the Seattle Marathon was new again this year. Gone is the iconic, scenic stretch along Lake Washington Blvd and instead we got to run a big out-and-back along the Burke Gilman Trail. And then another out-and-back on the Burke Gilman Trail.

First, some history.

Last year, because of Link Light Rail construction, the promoters had to abandon the out-and-back on the I-90 floating bridge. To make up for the lost miles they added some (hilly) miles in the Arboretum and to get to Lake WA Blvd from downtown Seattle you had to climb up and over a ridge. I guess some people complained about the extra elevation gain?! Anyway, this year they kept pushing the Burke Gilman route as a good thing.

"That's 25% less elevation gain on the half marathon course and 21% less on the full marathon! You're welcome."

Road runners... sheesh.

When I first heard that we were running on the Burke Gilman Trail I was 1) horrified (so flat, so boring) and 2) worried that this relatively narrow stretch of pavement would cause real safety issues with running traffic going in both directions. On a trail that is super popular on the weekends! Thank goodness my fears were mostly unrealized. When we saw the lead trio of runners, they only had one lead bicycle in front of them which I thought was insufficient but everyone else was spread out enough by the time they got to the trail to avoid any serious issues. The turn around on the Burke was kind of tight tho...

The route took us from Memorial Stadium south down 5th Ave as usual which is pretty cool. You are running under the Monorail so if you don't watch out, you might run into one of the concrete supports for the track. :)

From 5th Ave we turned onto the I-5 Express Lanes and headed north. On most any other day this would have been a highlight since these lanes are covered and it's usually pissing rain in Seattle this time of year but on this day it was just a few miles of running on really worn out concrete. Not that exciting. Until you pop out into the open, then you have a great view of Lake Union and Gas Works Park. And the race course is FIVE LANES WIDE. We took the 42nd St exit, dropped down one block to the trail and headed north on the Burke Gilman.

Lucca was doing great so far! And luckily, so was I! Our main concern here was just not going too fast. We still had the 3:45 pacer in sight but it's tricky to slow down just a few seconds per mile, especially since our GPS watches were telling us we were running anywhere between 8:00-10:20 pace. Not so helpful.

Running on the Burke was thankfully not nearly as bad as I anticipated. I was predicting a massive, soul-sucking experience mixed with chaos from all the race and recreational traffic but luckily my imagination was (as usual) overly active and running along with Lucca was pretty fun. We sipped, snacked and chatted our way out to Magnuson Park and then back to Fremont. On the way it was a thrill to see David Papineau who was running his 50th marathon on his 50th birthday. Boom! He was easy to spot due to the pointy, sparkly birthday hat he always wears at this event.

Lucca was stellar. I kept track of the elapsed time and whenever I handed her a bottle or gel, she took a sip or gulped it down. And when we had drained our first bottle, she even managed to pull the full bottle out from my vest and swap it with the empty one while we ran. Awesome. I guess I hate taking my vest off while running...

After rolling through Fremont we ran the second out-and-back which takes you a little further down the trail toward Ballard. This section was dull and had it not been for the Hale's Brewery aid station - WHERE THEY WERE HANDING OUT ACTUAL BEER - it would have been hard to muster much enthusiasm. As we ran past this aid station table, I saw some growlers out of the corner of my eye and reflexively my body swerved right toward the table.

Me: "Woah... are you guys handing out beer?"
Hale's Volunteer: "Yeah, but hurry up, they're kinda trying to shut is down..."

By this point, my body was fully and completely locked into our 8:50 ish pace. And I was exceeding my fitness by a LONG shot. In fact, I had not run a road marathon since this time last year and I had not run this long period since the Pine to Palm 100. Yikes!

After stopping to drink that tiny cup of beer I set off to catch Lucca. Oh. My. God. It was everything I could do to run at an 8:00 pace for the quarter mile or whatever it took to catch her. I'm just glad I was able to!

When we got to Fremont we turned left up Stoneway for what I thought was the last hill. We climbed up Stoneway for a few blocks and then turned left to climb up to Aurora and then climbed the gentle hill that is the Aurora Bridge. So far so good.

I had purposefully not been obsessively checking my watch every 30 seconds so when I glanced down near the top of the bridge with just over one mile left to go and with about 10 minutes to go before we hit 3:50 I got pretty excited! As we started to descend I tried to calmly tell Lucca that I thought we could make 3:50.

If you have ever been close to your limit you know it's easier said than done to increase your pace. But I wasn't worried, I figured if we just didn't slow down 3:50 was in the bag! I just wasn't going to advertise that fact too loudly since it's never over till it's really over.

Then we turned right off Aurora. And we were faced with a 3-block climb. Oh no...

Lucca dug deep. Eating and drinking were not going to help at this point so it was just a matter of pushing harder and gutting it out. We did slow down but we did not walk! And boy was it nice to finally turn left and see the entrance to Memorial Stadium ahead instead of the traditional last hill the old course had.

I tried to gradually ramp up the pace on the descent and Lucca was totally game! As we entered the stadium I was moving about as fast as I could and Lucca was right in front of me. I could see the clock above the finishing arch and right then I realized we were going to be a few seconds short of 3:50 but only seven!



You want proof that Lucca pushed hard? Here you go. Magically, her husband Bil caught this on camera.



But as soon as Lucca threw up (and it wasn't much at all) she was fine. Way to go Lucca!

What an awesome/amazing tradition! These past few years I have just been signing up for the Seattle Marathon as soon as possible because that is the least expensive price but more importantly, I'm 99% sure Lucca and I will be on the starting line again. Even if I get injured.

After the race, Lucca and I limped around for a bit and soaked in the relative warmth. It was a spectacular day! Then Lucca and Bil walked back to their hotel to get cleaned up and to take the train home to Leavenworth. I put on some warm, dry clothes and walked over to Feierabend to meet some friends for beers and brats. Yes, that walk felt good. Oh yeah, so did the food and drink.

Here's to another year of running with my sister! And here's to Lucca for being so darn rock solid throughout and being willing to dig that deep at the end. Did I mention we had consecutive race numbers? That was fun. And hearing the race announcer mention both of us as we approached the finish - while pronouncing "Criminale" correctly - is so cool.

Here are all the pictures and videos.

Results

• Another year of bonding with Lucca. Priceless.
• official results

Nutrition (before)

• water

Nutrition (during)

In total, the two of us consumed the following.

• 2 large bottles each with 2 scoops HEED, 1 scoop Endurolytes Extreme Powder, .5 scoops Fully Charged, 1 Race Caps Supreme, 1 Anti-Fatigue Cap, 1 Endurance BCAA+ Cap
• 9 Hammer Gels

Nutrition (after)

• 3 scoops Recoverite
• 3 Tissue Rejuvenator Caps
• 1 Floyd's of Leadville 50mg CBD Softgel

Gear

• Topo Athletic Ultrafly 2 shoes
• Stance socks
• Brooks undershirts
• Dynafit knickers
• Old Navy shorts
• Craft long sleeve undershirt
• Topo Athletic team shirt
• Hammer Nutrition trucker hat

Moran Constitutional Relay

Way back in 2015 I got invited by some friends to participate in the Ragnar Northwest Passage relay race. It was a blast! So when I heard about the Moran Constitutional Relay, I immediately plagiarized the Ragnar team name (Whistle Tips) and invited those same friends. #doneanddone



First things first. I didn't know what "Whistle Tips" meant until this weekend, here's the scoop.



Hahaha... Kids.

This relay race had 12 legs and our team was six people so we each got to run twice. Eight legs were held on Saturday and four on Sunday so two people had to double up on the first day (but then they were didn't have to run on Sunday). Leg length was about 3-8.5 miles but the shorter legs usually had much more elevation gain so the time it took to run each leg was roughly equivalent. Case in point, three of the shorter legs gained about 2.000'.

When we chose our legs I told everyone I didn't care what I get. Guess what legs were left over, the two with the most vertical gain. :) I got to run up the Power Line Trail climb on Saturday to Little Summit and on Sunday I ran up the Cold Spring Trail from Cascade Lake to the top of Mt Constitution. Go!

One trick with relay races is coordinating transportation to transitions. Ideally, it's an exercise in hurry up and wait. You get there a little (not too much) before the runner shows up so you have time to warm up but not so early that sit around and cool down. It can be hard to predict when each person will finish their leg, that's part of the excitement.

I have run these trails several times during the Orcas Island 50k. The climbs I was supposed to "run" up are pretty much 95% hiking during an ultra so I was a little psyched out but freshness makes a HUGE difference. On this weekend I ran every step of both climbs. Yes! And being able to do this was an enormous confidence booster, it made the climbs much less intimidating.

I'll cut to the chase.

• My time on the Power Line Trail climb was 51:01, that was almost four minutes slower than 1st place but about 50 minutes faster than last place.
• My time on the Cascade Lake to Mt Constitution Summit climb was 43:50. 1st place baby!
• It's hard to estimate your finishing time, I ran up to the Mt Constitution Summit so fast I beat my teammate I was handing off to by almost 10 minutes! Good thing we were not hyper-competitive. :)
• Our team took a wrong turn. Twice. That cost us about 15 minutes in total.
• Our team was great! We had some beers the night before, after the first day, and after the second day. That's my style.
• Rosario is THE place to stay. And the spa is included.
• Island Skillet in Eastsound is awesome! But they are not open late so don't delay.
• A co-ed team is the way to go!

I recommend this race! It was well organized, most meals are included and the trails are all amazing.

Here are all my pictures, too bad no one got any of me actually running...! :(

Results

• 4th - Overall leg #4
• 1st - Overall leg #10
• 9th - Overall Team
• official results

Gear

• Topo Athletic MT-2 shoes

running through The Enchantments

Believe the hype!

I have been trying to do this run for years. Twice I got turned away because of forest fires and once because of an injury. I guess the fourth time is the charm. I'm SO glad to have made it out here.



The Enchantments are in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness just outside of Leavenworth, WA. It's a series of (enchanting) alpine lakes in an area that was carved out by glaciers which left behind tons of exposed granite. The rock is (I think) alternately bleached from the sun and black from lichen which makes for spectacular scenery.

At times you are running across giant stone slabs that have been worn smooth, almost like the sandstone Slickrock Trail near Moab, UT. In other spots, the rock is jagged and sharp. All the lakes are an incredible blue and the water is crystal clear.



The trail is about 20 miles long. Some over-achievers will also run the eight-mile connector (four miles of pavement and four miles of a steep, dirt road) but we opted for the aptly named Loop Connector Shuttle. I approve of this option.

Most people will hike or run this trail in late September or early October as that is when the Larches turn. If you time it right, the hills are on fire.



If you plan on camping up here you need a permit which is really hard to get because The Enchantments are so popular this time of year. Through runners needn't worry about a permit.

I did this run with a Seattle Running Club (my running club) group. We took a lot of pictures! So many in fact that I can't possibly highlight them all in this blog post. Instead, here is my entire photo album.

Did I mention that we had amazing weather? The stars sure did align for this run.

The only bummer was spraining my left ankle pretty badly with about four miles to go. I heard what sounded like a ligament snap and for a few minutes I was on the ground feeling pretty awful. Experience has taught me that movement is best so as soon as I could I started to walk and eventually I was jogging. I managed to run the rest of the trail but had to walk tight corners and rocky sections. Hopefully this heals soon, it's the third time I have sprained this ankle.

Oh yeah, and the pack I took was too small. It was cold at the start and up top so whenever I wasn't chilly I had to tie some items around my waist. Boo Hoo.

Nutrition (before)

• water

Nutrition (during)

• 2 large bottles each with 1.5 scoops Perpetuem, 1.5 scoops Endurolytes Extreme Powder, .5 scoops Fully Charged, 1 Anti-Fatigue Cap, 1 Endurance BCAA+ Cap, 1 Race Caps Supreme
• 1 Hammer Bar
• 3 pouches of baby food
• water

Nutrition (after)

• 3 scoops Recoverite
• Whey Protein Bar
• pizza & beer at the Blewett Brewing Company

Gear

• Topo Athletic Ultrafly 2 shoes
• Stance socks
• Topo team shorts
• Hammer Nutrition sleeveless running shirt
• Hammer Nutrition long sleeve running shirt
• long sleeve fleece top
• Buff
• Topo Athletic Trucker Hat
• OR gloves
• Salomon Advanced Skin 5 Set
• Garmin Fenix 3 GPS watch

Pine To Palm 100 Mile Endurance Run

In this distorted, niche community of ultra running that I sometimes get lost in, people have started to say things like, "100 miles is not that far." Well it is. And although you can have a very rewarding time running (and walking) 100 miles, and although #type2fun is still mostly fun (thanks to the human brain's amazing ability to selectively save the good stuff while discarding much of the bad), for most people it takes (lots of) training, support, and a few years to get it right. I'm here to tell you that I am most people. I ran the Pine To Palm 100 Mile Endurance Run for the first time in 2016 and did not have a great day. I've wanted to come back and get it right ever since. #doneanddone


[Photo credit Ben McKinley.]

Thanks to Hal Koerner and Rogue Valley Runners for putting on an epic event.


First and foremost, thanks to Shelley. She drove most of the eight hours down to this race, supported me from start to finish (while getting exactly as much sleep as I did), and then drove ALL THE WAY BACK HOME so I could relax. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thanks also to Lucca (for once this post is not just about me). As we led our separate lives after college we had unintentionally grown apart for some time. I like to tell the story of me emailing her and my father six years ago after completing my first ultra all excited and proud. Lucca replied, "Oh yeah, that's a cool race, I've done it."  Boom! I had no idea she was into running, much less ultras. Fast forward to now after running four editions of the Seattle Marathon together, one 50k together and traveling to Switzerland for an amazing race together and wouldn't you know it, running has helped us get to know each other again. How cool is that?

And I can't forget to thank Bil (Lucca's husband) and Danielle (Lucca's pacer). And my accidental pacer.

Sometimes you just get lucky. It happened to me once when I ran the Cascade Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run and then happened AGAIN at this race... Huge thanks to Ben McKinley for being proactive and seeking out a runner to pace after his buddy had to drop. And Ben was a super pacer! We talked about tons of stuff (kids, football, skiing, being tall), not much if it related to running. Which is just how Martin likes it.

ASIDE - so there I am running up the dirt road to Dutchman Peak when this car pulls up next to me and the driver rolls down the window. "Hey, do you want a pacer?" Uh, yes please. We introduced ourselves and agreed to meet at the aid station. When I got there Ben was nowhere to be seen but this guy has quantities of team spirit. Once he did get there and discovered I had already left, he freaking ran me down! It was on a section of the PCT about five miles later and I could tell a headlamp was gaining on me. I decided to pull over and let them by and the runner said. "Martin...?" That made my day. Or night as it were.

Let me jump right in with the knowledge nuggets. I try to learn something every time I run an ultra. I can only do so many of these things and at this point, I'm not getting any faster so I figure I should at least "enjoy" each one a little more.

• Nutrition during a 100 is tough. I've absolutely nailed it all year long but all the other races were 50k or 50 miles. I tried to apply the same formula here and I stumbled, figuratively. This is a work in progress for sure.
• Although I'm not a faster runner than when I started this adventure in 2012, I am smarter and that's worth a ton. I was just reading a quote from Karl Meltzer (the winningest 100-mile runner ON EARTH) who said that he is much more efficient than he used to be and that this is the main thing which keeps him competitive. I concur. I keep spending less time at aid stations, being smarter about what goes in which drop bag, tweaking and tuning my gear and nutrition, getting better at pacing myself, and it's paid off big. Usually (read: hopefully) it's me passing others at the end of an ultra and not the other way round.
• Having a crew and pacer is fantastic. I have never started a 100-mile race intending to have a pacer but happened into one twice. And having Shelley support me at two of these has also helped a bunch. All that no-trekking-poles and loving-the-solitude-of-the-woods stuff only goes so far. For me.
• Speaking of which, trekking poles rule. Hey, not everyone uses them or even likes them but wow do they work for me. I have a herniated disc in my lower back and anything I can do to keep my spine aligned is a godsend as the day wears on. Now my legs/fitness are the weakest link which is the way it should be. Not some dumb, old injury.
• I have never listened to music during an ultra prior to this race. I took along an iPod Shuffle and turned it on around mile 60. Wow! That was nice.
• Changing shoes and socks is also nice. I changed both (and washed my feet!) at mile 43.5 and then socks only at mile 67.
• It takes time for a body (especially my body) to adjust to this kind of distance. I know, right? When I started running I had loads of fitness from bicycle racing and ramped up my miles way too fast and consequently had various injuries that I could have avoided. It's just been the last two years that I have finished ultras and only felt tired and sore instead of destroyed or hurt. And you know what? I like this feeling better.
• Trekking pole quivers are cool. More about that later.
• Shoes matter! OMG do they matter... I continue to be blown away by how comfy my Topo shoes are. Unless I stub my toe or similar, I have not had a single foot issue all year long. No blisters, no bruised toenails, no problems in other words. That's pure gold.

For a change, it wasn't just me taking pictures at this race, it was everyone else! Here are some highlights/lowlights in chronological order.

Here I am warming up outside of the Applegate River Lodge (where we stayed the previous night) before heading out to the start. I recommend this place by the way. Quaint building and gas/food/beer/wine across the street. Also, lots of blackberries around and no one appears to want them.

[Photo credit Shelley Criminale.]

The start. And you can see me on the right in the red shirt 18 seconds in.


[Photo credit Shelley Criminale.]

I don't have a photo or movie (or soundtrack) of this but the crew at the Steamboat Ranch aid station (mile 21.5) were playing all Mac Miller all day long. They were young and male, go figure. It was kind of touching actually.

Pulling into the Seattle Bar/Applegate River aid station at mile 28.5. If you listen closely you can hear Shelley comment that I am ahead of schedule...


[Photo credit Shelley Criminale.]

Someone else's support crew, doing yoga while they wait...


[Photo credit Shelley Criminale.]

Someone who looks a lot fresher than me.


[Photo credit Lucca Criminale.]

Leaving the Squaw Lakes aid stations at mile 43.5.


[Photo credit Danielle Micheletti.]

One of my favorite sections of trail around mile 50. Turns out Lucca thought so too.


[Photo credit Lucca Criminale.]

The Squaw Peak fire lookout. This is at the top of the first out-and-back which you need to run after arriving at the Hanley Gap aid station (mile 52).


[Photo credit Lucca Criminale.]

The Siskiyou Gap (mile 73.5) aid station. The night was an ocean of DARK and every aid station was an oasis of light. It was super cool.


[Photo credit Ben McKinley.]

How Shelley felt after having this guy park behind her with his headlights on for two hours.


[Photo credit Shelley Criminale.]

Shelley helping me at the Grouse Gap (mile 80) aid station.


[Photo credit Ben McKinley.]

Bil helping Lucca at the Grouse Gap aid station. Lucca discovered that plain yogurt was working for her. I am taking notes.


[Photo credit Danielle Micheletti.]

Lucca sumitting Wagner Butte at mile 86. That's right, still looking fresher than me.


[Photo credit Danielle Micheletti.]

Danielle and Lucca on top of Wagner Butte.


[Photo credit Lucca Criminale.]

Lucca finishing her second 100-mile race!



This race was a new experience for me. Cascade Crest starts later in the morning so unless you are pretty speedy you will finish in daylight. And the last time I ran this race I also finished in daylight. Finishing in the dark was not so bad!

I usually save maths for the very end of a race but this time I started working things out way too soon. Prior to the start, I had the brilliant idea of having Shelley write splits on my forearm so that I would have a gauge for my pace.



I used splits from Phil Kochik (owner of Seven Hills Running Shop) who was the slowest sub-24 time in 2016 (he finished in 23:30). The numbers wore off in a hurry (turns out a Sharpie is no match for 100-mile sweat) so I kept asking Shelley how I was doing compared to the splits. And she kept telling me I was ahead! I think it was 30 minutes the first time I saw her at mile 28.5 and it crept up to FIFTY MINUTES by mile 80. Of course, it didn't take long for my mind to race (way) ahead of my body and soon I started to fantasize about a sub-23 hour time.

Was I having an inspired day or was I going to pay the proverbial Pied Piper? Turns out a little of both.

When you get to the Squaw Lakes aid station at mile 41 you need to run a 2.5-mile lap around the lake. It's pretty darn flat but I had to walk a couple of times. This is what happened to me in 2016 so I was getting worried.

But when I left the Squaw Creek Gap aid station at mile 59.5 and started marching up the road, I felt much better than I did in 2016. Two years ago I was about ready to throw in the towel here and this time I was looking forward to meeting Shelley and to the lights and music this aid station is known for.

By the time I got to Dutchman Peak (mile 66) in 2016 I had thrown in the towel big time. It still amazes me how I finished that race. This time I got out of my wet clothes stat, drank some broth and started right back down to the parking lot where Shelley was waiting for me. I was cold, but not defeated.

ASIDE - this course is super scenic and the aid stations and volunteers are awesome but the actual course marking is not so hot... I got confused once heading up to Stein Butte around mile 37. The trail I was on went straight ahead but there was also a trail that went up to the Stein Butte Lookout on the right. Where was the ribbon located? On a bush right in the middle of the intersection. C'mon... The two guys I was with at the time spent at least five minutes exploring the lookout trail until I convinced them (and myself) that we needed to continue straight. Thank goodness I was right. Another time I was on the PCT and suddenly the trail dumped you out onto a four-way dirt road intersection. For the life of me, I could not find a ribbon. I walked at least 50' down each road looking and letting my headlamp linger. I eventually found the ONLY ribbon marking the trail and was able to continue.

On the way up to Wagner Butte (around mile 83), I got "stuck" behind two other racers and their pacers and I didn't have the zip to pass them. We did eventually scoot by on a descent but as soon as we established a gap I promptly had a moment of indecision about the route. Suddenly the trail went down pretty steeply and I vaguely recalled that once the trail got steep, you were on the final descent to Road 2016 and the Weasel Creek aid station at mile 90. I did NOT want to miss the out-and-back to Wagner Butte so told Ben to stop. We spent at least 10-15 minutes dorking around with his iPhone trying to get enough of a signal to see where the heck the trail to Wagner Butte was. Without success. While we were standing there, the four runners behind us caught up. My indecision was enough to make them pause too so now we all stood there for a bit until we finally decided that since none of us had seen a sign for Wagner Butte, straight must be the correct way to go. It was, whew.

On this four-mile out-and-back I definitely started to fade. Twice while scrambling to the final summit of Wagner Butte I put my foot down, put weight on it, and felt myself start to tip backward. Yikes! I was tired.

When we got to the Weasel Creek aid station all I could do was stumble over to the support crew truck, lean against it and pee into the woods. Ben was nice enough to grab my pin flag from my pack while I was peeing and handed it to the race staff. And then I had to sit down in a chair. Ouch. I managed to yank myself out of my stupor and get moving in fairly short order but for all my planning of running these last 10 miles they started out at a walking pace.

Eventually, I managed to break into a jog but it didn't last long. I had one sustained stretch of jogging (not even five minutes I suspect) so it was walk/jog for the next eight miles. Finally, after we had been on the MTB trail for a bit, I started to speed up.

Just after the last aid station at mile 95 we stopped one more time unsure of the direction to go. There had been a mountain bike trail sign on the right that was causing Ben to hesitate but we double checked the route description (since my brain was shot at this point) and quickly realized we just needed to continue down the road. I guess running at night does sometimes have disadvantages.

Just before this dirt trail turns to pavement Ben's headlamp died. Luckily he had a replacement so he told me to run ahead while he switched lights. I felt a little bad leaving him but did as I was told. One mile to go!

And then it happened. As I hit the pavement I had a vague, uneasy feeling in my guts. Within the span of perhaps 60 seconds that vague feeling became extremely specific - I was going to shit my pants.

ASIDE - I've had to poop in the woods before, most people that hike or run do. But not during many races. In fact, only during two. The first time I got saved by an outhouse at the Badger Mountain Challange 50 Mile earlier this year. This was the other race. Usually, I'm good to go if I can attend to my business prior to the start, these ultras tend to shut my system down... not so much today.

As I ran along clenching my butt cheeks tighter and tighter it became patently obvious there was no way in hell I was making it to the finish without really embarrassing myself. What to do...? Here I was running through some expensive homes in suburban Ashland and there were streetlights along the road.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and finally, I had to do something. In this case, "something" meant hopping off the side of the road that wasn't lit, sliding down a hill covered in dry leaves, grabbing a tree to arrest my slide, turning off my headlamp and dropping trow.

Oh man, how do you spell relief? Never mind, you get the idea.

As I was crouched in the leaves I saw Ben's light approaching. "Hey Ben, wait a sec... I had to take a nature break!" I scrambled back up to the road (not an easy task, those dry leaves were slippery!) and managed to rejoin my pacer.

There was no time to be gained here and I could finally smell the barn (olfactory reference intended) so we just ran it in.

To sum up this maths distraction, if I had not hesitated at intersections and made the correct navigational choices I could have gone sub-23. Oh well. As Ben kept telling me (I must have been lamenting my lost minutes), my time was awesome and in short order I was in full agreement with him. Plus, navigating is part of these events! My only goals going in were sub-24 and winning my age group. I had accomplished both (by a big margin!) so shut up already.

Here are some more stats from this run.

• Garmin Connect claims I burned almost 12,000 calories. I think I agree. I weighed myself Thursday morning and was 190. Two days after the race and after eating this on Monday (I'm writing this post on Tuesday) I am still at 180 lb.

• Apparently, my stomach is not as "iron" as it used to be. After finishing I could barely eat or drink anything. After a shower and a nap, I went back to the finish to cheer on Lucca. On the way, I found Standing Stone Brewing Company and could only manage this sampler size glass of beer.

I'm proud of how easily I got my Salomon Custom Quiver to work with my older, not-designed-to-work-with-the-custom-quiver pack. I found some existing loops, attached the quiver, wrapped tape around the hooks to prevent them from sliding off and ditched the elastic "4D Trekking Pole holder". Then I ran the synch cord through another existing loop at the bottom of the pack and used the same tape to reduce the size of that opening. It worked great. I am SO MacGyver.





What an experience. Thanks to everyone that helped make it happen. There will be more.

Turns our Ben McKinley made a video of his pacing experience.



And Lucca also wrote a fantastic race report.

Here are all the pictures and videos.

Results

• 1st - Men 50-59
• 25th - Overall
• official results

Nutrition (before)

• cold brew coffee, no cream or sugar

Nutrition (during)

• 6 large bottles each with 1.5 scoops Perpetuem, .5 scoops Fully Charged, 1.5 scoops Endurolytes Extreme Powder, 1 Race Caps Supreme, 1 Endurance BCAA+ Cap, 1 Anti-Fatigue Cap
• 8(?) large bottles each with 2 Enduolytes Fizz tablets (I like Grapefruit and Cola)
• lots of grapes, watermelon, oranges
• 3 quarters of a PB&J
• 3(?) cups of soup/broth
• coconut water, yogurt smoothie, fruit smoothie, coffee drink
• plain water
• string cheese

Nutrition (after)

• 3 scoops Recoverite
• 3 Tissue Rejuvenator Caps
• 2 50mg Floyd's of Leadville CBD Isolate Softgels

Gear

• Topo Athletic Ultrafly 2 shoes
• Stance socks
• Patagonia Strider Pro shorts 7"
• Hammer Nutrition Short Sleeve Running Shirt
• Hammer Nutrition Visor
• Craft undershirt
• Topo Athletic Arm Sleeves
• OR wool liner gloves
• Anker battery pack & Garmin charging cable
• Garmin Fenix 3
• Salomon ADV Skin 5 Set
• Salomon Custom Quiver
• Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z Trekking Poles
• Black Diamond Iota Rechargeable Headlamp (at the start)
• Black Diamond Icon Headlamp (through the night)