My "Ultra" World: CFE-Based Training, Competing, and Always Learning: G2G 2014 Race Report/Reflections (Part 6 - Friday September 26, 2014

I had no problem sleeping all the way up to the 6 am music alarm this morning. Actually, I really had to pull myself up and out of my sleeping bag. I wasn’t sore, but the lack of a comfortable sleep for several days now, in combination with the cooler morning temperatures accompanying our slowing increasing altitude, was starting to wear on me a bit. However, knowing that it was the last long day of running, I knew I could get myself going and feeling good with a little effort. So I got up, changed into my now really beginning to feel dirty shorts and shirt, and slowly made my way across the goat heads minefield towards the hot water tanks on the other side of camp.

Once I finished eating, I packed up my bag, which was now becoming noticeably emptier and light. In fact, everything was now fitting just fine in the main part of the bag, including my sleeping pad, which was previously strapped to the outside of my bag. This was good, particularly because I figured that it would be best to not have anything sticking out to my sides heading through the slot canyon, which I suspected would get narrow in places. While I was packing up, I also noticed that my cheap disposable hotel slippers were a bit heavier than when the race started due to sand making its way into the mesh and slowly accumulating. As such, I made the decision to just ditch them. There was only one more camp to hang out at that night, and in the worst case, I would just wear my running shoes around Camp 6. (This turned out to be a great decision, as Camp 6 was actually setup in a field of soft grass, which meant I could just walk around without any shoes at all).

In normal fashion, we slowly started gathering near the start line. Once lined up, Collin gave his daily briefing and then invited Tina (who usually started near the back of the pack) to come to the front for the 3…2…1…Go! Collin also asked Tess what time it was in his microphone as he prepared for the countdown, and without missing a beat, someone in the back of the crowd (I think Dan McSwiggan) yelled out really loudly, “It’s time to make the doughnuts!” Shortly thereafter, Collin said go, and we were running.

As we rounded the first turn, to my dismay, we were again immediately met with deep sand, which continued for about a mile. It was a really awful way to have to start the day; my legs were already burning. Even so, we were quickly out of the sand and descending down one of the steepest, rockiest mountains of the week. Despite sliding with every step, a few of us used this as an opportunity have some fun and separate a bit from everyone else by flying down at an obviously unsafe speed. And after about 5 minutes, we flattened out into the slot canyons, which would offer the most spectacular views of the week, in my opinion at least.

For the next 2-3 miles, running through the slot canyon was awesome for a few reasons: (1) the views were great, as amazing sandstone walls rose up both sides of me and at times had me running through openings that were only a couple feet wide; (2) the terrain was fast and nice to run on; and (3) I ran this entire section with Ken, Garth, and Michele, as we took turns running in the front of the field, peloton style. About half way through the canyon, we came to 3 ladders set up by the organizers to help get down some of the larger drops. For the first 2, the drop was only a couple of feet, so we all just jumped down into the soft sand forgoing the ladder. Upon reaching the 3^rd ladder, however, we came to an abrupt stop because there was about a 15 foot drop to the bottom. Getting down this ladder required us to descend one person at a time. The good news was that we were in the front, so the wait time was minimal for all 4 of us to get to the bottom and continue on (I am pretty sure that at some point during the day there was a major traffic jam at that ladder).

Arriving at CP1 marked the end of the slot canyon. All of us quickly filled our bottles and moved on. Very quickly, we again realized that there was more sand to run through! Still, I was able to stay pretty distracted as I ran all the way to CP2 with Ken and Garth. Roberto also joined us during this stretch, and as a result, so did his camera team, which drove slowly behind us for several miles. After a long gradual descent, the 4 of us, along with Michele, arrived at CP2 together.

The stretch from CP2 to CP3 primarily consisted of dry river bed, which meant large rocks to cross and some uneven footing. Unfortunately, about half way through this section (and half-way through the day, i.e., ~14 miles in) is where I rolled my ankle pretty bad. It was the first time it happened all week, but it painful. And consequently, this is where I separated from Ken, Garth, and Roberto. After the roll, I decided to take it a bit slower on this section to avoid any major injury. The other thing we had to do on this section was passing through a wooden cattle gate that was attached at the top by a heavy wire loop. I was alone at this point, and apparently, I had no idea how to re-close the gate (i.e., reattach the wire at the top) after passing through. In short, I struggled like crazy to push the gate close enough to reattach the wire. To be honest, given the amount of force I had to apply, I wondered how some others were going to be able to perform this task. It was like trying to push a prowler loaded with 200#. Of course, I later learned that there is a very easy trick to close the gates with ease (i.e., lift the gate slightly and the wire will slip right over the top). Sadly, however, I learned this too late, as I really strained my trap muscle driving into that gate, and it would really bother me the remainder of the day. To summarize, this section really ruined the great day I was otherwise having.

Finally, just before CP3, there was a major climb up the mountain using switchbacks. The climb wasn’t too bad after what I had just experienced, and the arrival at CP3 was welcome. What followed to CP4 and to the finish, however, was really not welcome, at least not from my perspective.

The remainder of the course consisted of about 9 miles of open road, which is great if you like that type of thing, but for me, it’s boring, and with a hurting ankle and shoulder, all I could do was think about my pain. I suppressed it the best I could and continued moving, running in intervals. Even so, every time I started running it took enormous effort to try and forget about how bad my ankle felt. Looking back, this whole section of the course was annoyingly slow for me. I am not sure I could have done much else, but given how great the first 14 miles went, and how good I was feeling, it should have ended much better. And while my time was still pretty good, it should have been better.

I passed through CP4 and continued down the road. About 1.5 miles from the finish, a truck passed me and hanging out the window was Vanessa yelling and cheering me on. While this would usually re-energize me, I really felt like hell at that point, so I could barely even crack a smile, which is usually pretty easy, even though faked, on a moment’s notice when you come across a camera/person during one of these things. I had hit the absolute peak of wanting the day to be over.

Luckily, I wasn’t far from the finish, and as I came over the upcoming hill, I could see the finish in the near distance. I mustered up the best hobbled jog I could and somehow made it across the finish. I was immediately met by Ken, Garth, and Vanessa who helped me remove my pack. Shortly thereafter, I was met by Yuri (one of the volunteers, an ultra-runner, and a massage therapist) who guided me to the medical tent to get my ankle looked at and give me an unexpected, but very welcome, massage. The massage helped me relax a bit, and despite still walking with a limp, I was moving a little bit easier overall after my visit to the medical group.

After my standard routine of changing and eating, there were actually a number of notable things that happened at camp that afternoon/evening. First, we all learned of nearby watering hole, where it was initially suggested that we could go for a dip. This idea was quickly shot down, however, as we learned it was also a watering hole for cattle and that we shouldn’t risk going in. Nonetheless, there were a couple competitors that decided to risk the possibility of disease and went for a dip anyway. No one in my tent, thank God!

Second, a few of us again got a good dowse from the water tank lady. However, it was much cooler at the higher altitude of Camp 6, and the sun quickly dipped behind clouds. So it was actually a little chilly after the cold water rinse. Third, people started ditching any remaining food/snacks they did not want/need, which meant many people were digging through boxes looking for additional snacks/food, myself included. I was lucky enough to come across some M&M’s, which I shared with my tent mates, and some energy chews, which I intended to eat before the final stage tomorrow morning. (Side note: I was really excited to find the Stinger Energy Chews because I had spent the afternoon asking around to see if anyone had an extra gel/chew/etc that they were willing to share. I was only about 3 minutes out of 6 place, and I was intent on making up the time on the final day. I figured the pure sugar, which I had avoided the entire week, would give me the extra boost I needed to go all out for 7 miles).

Finally, that night, people were hanging out later than normal because they were waiting to see what time they would be starting the final stage the next morning. Specifically, everyone knew that there was going to be 3 heats departing in the morning (i.e., 6am, 7am, and 8am), but no one knew where the cutoff would be until very late that evening. It wasn’t until about 8:30pm that they posted who was in what heat, and as a result, it created a massive crowd of people hovering around a pinned 8 ½ by 11 piece of paper in the dark for about 30 minutes. And after all the waiting, talks began around camp that they might have to shorten the final stage, and have everyone start at the same time, because of the incoming bad weather. For now, however, we all just enjoyed hanging out by the fire for a bit before heading to our tents to get some sleep. It was our last night, and everyone was excited to pretty much be done!

That night, after we did finally get to sleep, a bad storm started creeping in on us, and with it, much cooler temps followed.

- In the final installment: a bad storm, a briefly angry me, a sprint to the finish, and pizza -

Start of Stage 5: