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Rob Flat to the River

May 25, 2013 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: 40s -> high 70s-80s (in the sun)

Comments:
The BIG PUSH.

Slept OK, but 0450 came early. Was not prepared with a good breakfast: no bread or other legit carb source, so I had a banana and clif bar and some peanut butter, but that was it. Managed to get out the door and ass-hauled up to the Curley residence...only to have to wait another half hour for Connor to arrive! UGHZ!

Sleepy on the ride up to MB, and once we got there, I climbed in the back and got some pseudo-sleep on the floor 'til we got to Rob Flat.

Conditions at Rob Flat were slightly chilly but not bad. A couple deuces and we were hitting the trail just before 0745.

Felt pretty shitty from the get-go: a mixture of fatigue and dread, knowing how BIG of a day it was going to be. Didn't wear the HRM, but kept things super-easy on the Little Bald climb. Felt better on the flats on top of the Bald, but the legs were clunky, making the downs more uncomfortable.

Ran into several early starters. I spied a few people up front, including what looked to be a hot chick in compression shorts! Got around to the south side of Little Bald and caught up to the hottie and another guy, and it turned out to be Emily Harrison and Ian Torrance. I chatted briefly with Ian but it seemed he wasn't interested in going our pace, so we pushed on. Minutes later, we came upon another guy - Paul Terranova! Awesome! Paul's a great guy and, just like that, our trio was a quartet!

Ran easy down Bald to the Jeep road to Miller's. Felt OK but was still tentative. Chatted here and there with Paul as we made our way to Miller's (:41?) and beyond to Dusty. Felt sluggish on those little climbs, and the mood was quiet on the roads going to Dusty. Really hyper-focused on mechanical efficiency and hoping the legs would warm-up. My other focus was pranking Matt Keyes, who made a *big deal* about his water jug at Cal 2 - his history of his hidden water being stolen, and how he 'wrote his name on it so people will KNOW who they stole from!". That said, I was intent on somehow getting my hands on a Sharpie marker and "adjusting" his bottle when we got there...

It was fun to hit an AS at Dusty - it felt like race-day! Got some soda and a brownie there (:27?), then left after a couple minutes. We had a four-person conga line on Pucker Point, where we immediately ran into Bruce LaBelle - I was hoping he'd run with us, but it turns out he was feeling ill and turned back. Pucker was...fine. The legs started coming around, gradually. The pace felt easy, but we were still making good time.

Had a luxurious deuce at a gift porta potty at Last Chance, then we rolled along to Los Canyones. I was perking up a bit by then, feeling better and knowing we were getting into the meat of the run. :10 to the Slab, then maybe a: 13 descent to the Swinging Bridge. Not bad, considering we passed a couple groups of people.

Stopped for water at the spring, then I declared, "I CHOOSE NOT TO RUN!" up to the Thumb. Sometimes you gotta save it for race day. So we hiked. Not 2 minutes into it did I hear an "OOJ!" with a "bro accent" - it was D-Bo! He hiked along with us for a bit, then decided to run away...only to retreat back to us...and then take off again! What a weirdo. Definitely characteristic of his training and performance: inconsistent, deficient in discipline. Chatted with him a bit about a few things, but not a whole lot.

Summitted the Thumb in :38 (?), all hiking, which isn't too bad. Waited up there for a good :05 for Connor to come up, who'd fallen off. Uh-oh. Once he arrived, the four of us rolled along to Deadwood for another treat of an AS, before descending to El Dorado. Our descent was legitimately fast, and - despite going easy on the "flat" to the cemetary, still split a :40.

Going up to MB was tricky - how do we do it "medium"? Hiking is easy, running a :31 is "dialed", but obviously not desired on race day. I led us out, shuffling as easy as possible. We ran the whole thing, passing Twiet on the initial climb, and rolling up on one other guy near the top. It felt quite easy, yet we still split a :34 to the AS at Carol's house!

However easy it was, I felt gassed. It was warming, too. I felt like I was fueling OK, but I still guzzled as much soda a possible, and ate another brownie, and restocked gels.

Fun aid station that included Monkey Boy, Carol, LB and Laurie, John Trent (WS Prez), and...Ann Trason! Man it was crazy to see her working behind the table! I really wanted to talk to her and introduce myself...but I didn't. Part of the reason was, if I did introduce myself, and she knew it was *us* from Carol's house, I thought I'd make her feel bad about not coming over. So I didn't say anything. In retrospect, I really regret that - I wish I'd said hi and thanked her for being out there, which was super-awesome!

At the AS, we ran into a shuffling Erik Skaden, who hung with us on our exit from MB into Volcano. The stride felt OK and I felt like we were moving pretty good. We lost Erik at the junction to the canyon proper (Jeep road --> trail). I thought we made excellent time in that descent, and I felt pretty good. On the outbound, fatigue was closing in. Ugh. Kept it super-easy on the ups and pushed the flats again. Once on the Bath trail and road, I was sluggish. Yuck. Rolled...or clunked, into Foresthill with a very ordinary :62 split.

It was warming, and I was not looking forward to Cal St. Tyler was nowhere to be found, so we stood around, guzzling Sprite. They had no gels or other foods (since this was a "non-aid station" and old had post-run food). While waiting, both BGD and I were convinced by the "Monsters of Massage" guys to get some work done, *before* running Cal St! With some R hip soreness and time on our hands, I hopped on the table, and BGD followed suit. Got worked over for about ten minutes, and it felt great! He released my R lateral hip/pelvis and jiggled loose a big chunk of our stiffness, and once off the table, we felt much better! Cool!.

No longer willing to wait (as it was now nearly 1:30), we rolled down the road to start Cal St...only to find Tyler at the end, at Cal St, proper! We started the descent as a five-some: me, BGD, Paul T, Tyler, and Erik, who'd caught back up.

Tyler was excited to run, and it showed: we made quick time down to the trail and once there, he started flying! And BGD was right behind him. Paul was quizzical: "They're going pretty fast, right?". "YES", I said. Paul and I hung back a bit as they gradually pulled away. It was getting warm, and I was getting WORN: I doused at each creek but tried my best of focus on the flat stride. Around that time it occurred to me: "We've been running FASTER than race pace, yet I haven't been race fueling". So I set my watch timer to :20 and took a gel, of four I had left.

Hit Cal 1 in :27, which is fast, but pretty doable on race day - given it's downhill and shaded. Cal 1 to Cal 2 SUCKED: exposed trail, uphills...ugh! Paul and I rolled along, as BGD flat took off on the "Dave Mackey Hills"; both he, then us, passed Tyler, who was fading. I did my best to focus on mechanics but I felt myself losing it: flexing a bit in the low back, and getting "sloppy" in my landing. Overall, my energy was flagging, yet I couldn't pound gels because I had a limited amount.

I thought for sure we wouldn't see BGD again 'til the river. I was hoping we wouldn't, because I wanted him to stick it. Yet, I thought it was possible we'd see him waiting at Cal 2. On and on we went, and thankfully, Elevator Shaft came quick! We shuffled down on clunky quads and made it to Cal 2, sufficiently cooked inside and out (:42/:69 overall). BGD was, indeed there, having bonked out. He did, however, do some "Cam Clayton Fueling" (3 gels at once), but was now nearly out of water and still feeling haggard.

Paul was done; Meredith was picking him up at Cal 2. We lingered just long enough to fuck with Keyes' bottle: "This bottle of water generously donated by MATT KEYES"/"Best used for rinsing: Butt hole, balls, TAINT!". That, and goodbyes took 4 minutes. I wouldn't let BGD jank any of their water, so I gave him some of mine, and out we went.

The "machining" of the descent from Cal 2 sucked - rough, stiff. It took an awesome descent and made it shitty and tentative. Sucked. Finally we got onto real single track that led to 6-minute hill. We ran it all, but slow - race-pace (:05). Took another gel on the top and with that, almost all my water was gone! F! So downhill we went. I felt OK on that down, but once on the light ups and exposed trail of Cal 3 and beyond...I went to shit.

The last five miles were tough, and got tougher. It was hot (though not really "race hot"), but we were both depleted: not enough water, not enough calories. Good race day prep, right? I go so fucking bonky that, if it werent' for the gradual downs to Sandy Bottoms, I might've had to stop and walk. Once on Sandy Bottoms, things turned around a bit and, albiet slow, we got in a decent rhythm.

Finishing camp on Cal St is both really special and really important. It harkens back to June of 2011, when, in my desperate attempt to prepare for WS, I traveled down to the course on my own and, with BGD's help (our first-ever "hang out"), got dropped off at MB and ran to Last Chance, then alllll the way to the River and out Driver's Flat - alone. After struggling so much with that injury, then struggling to do fifty miles alone, it was a powerful and emotional experience to finish that - alone, at twilight. That day, I was so grateful for the restoration of my health and running, and the probability of finishing my first WS, that I spent that solitary hike out to Driver's Flat, literally counting my blessing and being thankful.

Two miles out from Rucky, I related that story to BGD. I thought about the epic week we'd put in, and how enormously special that was. Indeed, I once again got emotional just thinking and talking about it: 48 fucking miles, 193 fucking miles in eight days! Incredible! Having him there for camp, preparing for one of the most special sporting events in the world, indeed is a special thing.

That, mentally and physically got me through the next mile or so 'til we hit the Jeep road at the river. BGD said, "just a mile and a half to go, two more uphills!", and went after it. But I was toasted. I was bonking and my legs were dead. DEAD. I'm not sure how much of that was the acuity of my situation...or the memory of what race day is like at that point - being spent at the river, yet having to cross and making that climb - and another 22 miles. That knowledge in mind, my brain just shut down. I struggled, just to run on the flats and downs. I walked some of both uphills, then shuffled my way, mercifully, to the final descent to the River.

Despite struggling the last 8 miles, I split a 2:17 overall (including :04 break at Cal 2); BGD put :03 on me in the last 1.5 miles. Overall, it took us about 6:45 to run that 48 miles...but more like 8hrs overall with all our breaks (including about :10 at MB and :30 at FH). Pretty solid...

I was so dead when I arrived, it was all I could do to lay flat on the picnic table. Topher and his GF(?) Kim were there, having just finsihed themselves. Mrs Curley hadn't arrived yet, so it was a small miracle that Kim blessed us with some water. After sitting for a while and getting some water on board, I staggered down to the river and sat there, soaking my cooked knees and quads. It felt good, but I still felt terrible. Ugh.

Christine showed right at 4, just minutes after Tyler appeared. He'd struggled, and was disappointed in himself that he didn't stick with us. But...we'd run a 2:15 for cripes sake! Once the car was there, I did a vigorous technu rinse, changed clothes, and then off we went, in a luxurious auto carriage up the road instead of hoofing. Glorious.

Overall, it was a good run. I didn't like to suffer that much, either physically or mentally: I would've preferred to finish on a high note. But I need to keep in mind how cooked our legs were going in, how relatively fast we'd run, and how little we'd fueled. I can hope that on race day - with rest, and excellent fueling - we'll feel a ton better.

Post-run: drove back to BGD's; ate, drank, iced, then got some pizza and beer. No hanging out with anyone - too tired to go back to Auburn.