Marion Rotary Marathon

I had registered for the Marion Marathon for a few reasons. Primarily it fit into my training plan for the 100 mile ultra I was going to run in June and I just couldn't pass up a marathon, road or not, that was so close to home. This inaugural event was being held literally 30 minutes from my house. So it had been on my calendar for a few months. Then on the Monday prior to this race, some terrorist assholes decided they would bomb the Boston Marathon. They killed three innocent people and wounded over 170. The entire week prior to this marathon was spent with America riveted to the television as the manhunt for these cowards commenced and finally ended less than a week later with the killing of one terrorist and the capture of another. I won't go into the whole scenario because they will be talking about it for years to come. Suffice it to say that the running community was shaken to the core by this senseless attack on what is usually a happy occasion full of triumph.

I thought for a while that the organizers of this marathon may overreact and cancel. But I was happy to find out that they merely tightened up some security measures and decided the show must go on. I also decided to run this race in solidarity with the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. I would do this by carrying the US flag for the entire marathon. I arrived about an hour early on race day. Enough time to visit the facilities and get geared up for the race. Since this was to be a training run I was going to carry a hydration bottle as well as the flag. It was slightly chilly and threatened rain but generally looked to be a good day to run. I really had no expectations for the race. I was hoping to finish somewhere between 4:30 and 5 hours.

There were about 400 1/2 marathoners and about 200 marathoners moving toward the start line. I saw the police K9 patrol sweeping the start area before the race. I made some small talk with a friend of mine Darrell, who was running the half marathon, while we waited. After the National Anthem and the invocation the gun went off and we headed out. As usual I was well hydrated and I had to stop literally 300 meters after the start to hit the porto potties. This would be a recurrent theme during the race as I stopped for the call of nature about 5 times during the race. Someday I will get this hydration thing down.

The course headed north over the first 3 miles on a road that was hilly but closed off to traffic. We then took a right along a highway that was also closed to traffic for another couple of miles before taking another right and heading back south. Once we headed back south the roads were no longer closed and we had to stay to the right of the coned area. Approximately mile 5 I saw my friend Kelly up ahead and I eventually caught her and we exchanged some words of encouragement. I was feeling pretty good and joked with her that I was going with the go hard and blow up early technique on this race. I had found a comfortable place to carry my flag and had just settled into a nice pace. At mile 6 I got some more support from a lot of my running friends that were manning an aid station. Just about that time I caught up with another running acquaintance ,Clayton. He was running his first marathon and we would swap places back and forth for a few miles. Me passing him and then him catching up when I stopped to water the grass. The route headed south for about 5-6 more miles before starting a wandering track through the town of Marion.

It was about mile 10 that I decided I had a chance to set a personal record. I had previously run a sub 4 hour marathon the spring of 2012 and I thought I could do it again today. If  I could just hold my pace I would be good. Of course this being a race in Marion Iowa we had to run up the soul sucking and steep cemetery hill about mile 13. I don't think I have run any race in that town, and I have run more than one there, that didn't include that hill. But it wasn't to be the last hill. Once we passed through the cemetery we headed east back through town and then eventually turned north again to head out of town. I was still feeling good at this point approximately mile 18 or so and was well under PR pace.

 However once we headed out of town , going north along the highway, the weather we had been promised materialized. There was about 5-10 minutes of sleet, which was no big deal but it was the wind that started to make the difference. Once the buildings no longer blocked the wind it hit us on the side at about 20 mph. My flag kept flapping in my face and whipping me in my eyes. Once we hit the top of the course and took a right to head back east we were running into the teeth of the wind. Full force into your face, it was hard to move forward. I wasn't fatigued but the mere act of running against the wind slowed everyone down. I saw my cushion start to dwindle but I was still under PR pace. Eventually we turned back south for the last 3 miles down the same road we had originally started on heading the opposite way. Someone in the intervening hours since I had last saw this stretch of road had added a bunch of rolling hills that I didn't remember. Between the hills and the wind I had to put out a good effort to maintain my previous pace. I looked at my watch and saw I had 10 minutes and what I estimated as about a mile to go to beat my PR. I focused my gaze on the last hill as I could see runners ahead of me turning left and heading into the football stadium to the finish.As I crested that hill and turned into the parking lot I glanced at my watch quick to see I had just a few minutes left. I lengthened my stride as I hit the high school track and ran the last 300 meters with a purpose. I crossed the finish line approximately 2 minutes under my previous best marathon time in 3:51:34. I was extremely happy with this race and I am looking forward to my 50 mile race in 3 weeks.

Red Shamrock Trail Race

My friend Ross has been turning me on to more of these shorter trail races lately. I enjoy doing them because it keeps me off the road but I can still race. Also in the smaller races I am more competitive. This race was just a little over a 5K and it was held in Hickory Hill park in a town (Iowa City) about 20 miles south of where I live. I had ran in Hickory Hill park before but mostly at night so I wasn't quite sure what to expect during daytime conditions.

I had to work an ambulance shift the night before ( poor planning on my part) and we had a call early in the morning so I didn't get a lot of sleep the night prior to the race. But that is semi normal as my schedule is always packed full of work,school and running. I arrived about an hour before race time and picked up my number.

This race had no shirts but they did hand out these cool water bottles that had the race logo on them. So that was different. There was a little confusion and disorganization handing out the numbers but eventually it all got straightened out. After getting my number I went and sat in my car  for about 30 minutes, staying warm, as it was right around freezing despite it being mid April. About 20 minutes before the race I stripped down to my Team Red White and Blue t shirt and my shorts. I then ran just about a half mile of warm up and hit the porto potty.

Quite a few of my running friends where on hand for this race and we stood around talking in the cold waiting on the start. Eventually it did start and with  a "Ready,Go" from the race organizer, we took off. We started off on the high school track and did almost a full lap before heading across the grass and into the park. My strategy was to get ahead of as many people as possible because I thought there wouldn't be much room to pass once we got on the trail.

 So I was ahead of all but about 5 people when we hit the trail and headed downhill into the park. However I could hear people right on my tail as we took a left and headed along a fairly flat gravel portion. In the distance probably about 100 meters or so ahead, I could see my two friends Ross S and Ross K battling it out with another runner for first as the headed towards the woods. I wanted to keep them in sight as long as possible but lost them never to see them again once they hit the treeline. As I hit the treeline we ran up hill then downhill in what would become a recurring theme during the race. After a short flat section we turned right and uphill again. It was on this hill I was passed by two guys that looked like triathloners based on what they were wearing. One looked to be in my age group so I tried to keep up but his long legs left me behind.

My Garmin buzzed just about the top of the hill and I had ran a 7 minute mile for this first mile. I could hear people behind me however so I channeled my inner Kilian Jornet and bombed the downhill figuring I would either crash or gain some distance. Then we turned left and headed for another flat section ending in another hill. During this section a young lady passed me as we headed up a twisty hill. I tried to maintain my pace and run upright because I had plans to run some more after the race and didn't want to injure myself. I glanced behind me at this point and saw my friend Kelly about 30 yards back. As we went downhill again and then uphill she also passed me. She gave me some words of encouragement and pulled away going up the hill. Are you seeing a theme here? I need to work on some hills. This is the second or third race Kelly has caught and passed me on a hill. At this point I had hit the 2 mile mark running about a 7:40-8:00 mile. I couldn't see for sure as my Garmin was a little foggy. The last mile was pretty standard but smack dab in the middle of it was the biggest hill of them all. I did feel good as I powered up it because I passed the young lady that had passed me earlier. I looked a head though and there was a kid about 12 years old ahead of me. How did he get there? He must have been in front of me the whole time. I spent the rest of the race trying to catch him but it was not to be. This kid was pretty fast for his age and maintained our separation. So I took the last left and headed up the hill to the finish line. Crossing the finish line I hit my Garmin stop button at 25:00 on the dot. I ended up averaging 7:45 per mile which is pretty good for a hilly muddy course. Ross S ended up being 1st overall and Ross K was third. Kelly took 1st female. I think I came in 2nd in my age group and 10th overall. That is my story and I am sticking to it. After the race Ross S, I and Kelly ran another 2 hours and 50 minutes to get in some extra miles. Was a good day.

April 9th Redux

I can't believe it has been 10 years. It seems like just yesterday I was laughing as Ian was running for cover from the artillery while dragging the satcom radio by the handset all the time yelling " WE ARE EXPERIENCING HEAVY FIRE!!!!" I miss those guys..best time of my life. Please enjoy my post from 2 years ago.

So their I was hugging the ground like a little bitch trying to see how much of my body I could fit into the 2 ft wide 2 foot deep trench I was sitting in. Meanwhile Iraqi artillery shells were hitting less than 5 meters away raining shrapnel, rocks and dirt down on top of my Ballistic Helmet, Personnel, Ground more commonly known as the “Kevlar”. My Special Forces A Team had been calling devastating air strikes on the Iraqi Division dug in along the Kani Domlon ridgeline in Northern Iraq for about two weeks and I guess we pissed them off. The Iraqis had taken a terrible pounding and I had observed some of them even shedding their uniforms and deserting via a tractor earlier in the day. I had also observed about thirty of them turn into little pink smears on the grass as a B2 bomber unloaded its entire payload on their bunker.
We had been operating out of some fighting positions the Iraqis had abandoned as they retreated before the Kurdish Pershmerga and US Special Forces teams that had infiltrated Northern Iraq. The Iraqi military had consolidated their defense in a loose ring around the strategically oil rich city of Kirkuk. Occupying many concrete bunkers that were spread about five hundred meters apart; the Iraqis had also replicated their tactics of the first Gulf War and set some of the oil wells on fire. Apparently this was done in an attempt to obscure their positions from our aircraft. Earlier as I peered at the enemy positions through my binoculars and worked up coordinates for the next strike, I wondered if I would be permanently affected by breathing in all this oil smoke which covered us like a thick but slightly greasy fog.
However as I was getting more intimate with the Iraqi countryside I was worried about the more permanent problem that seemed to be facing me. It was about 2300 and pitch dark. Prior to nightfall we had seen some artillery fire land about 2000 meters away but didn’t pay it much attention other than to note it for our situation report. But now as half the team was preparing to bed down and the other half was on watch, the artillery started to bracket our position. The enemy observers added and dropped in range until they let a full blown fire for effect loose on our position.
My commo guy was yelling into the satcom radio that we were experiencing contact; meanwhile I was rousting the rest of the team trying to get them under cover. “Here it comes again, boys” I said as we heard the muffled report of the Iraqi artillery that was followed not to long after by another series of earth shattering and ear ringing explosions. The Kurdish Major who was my counterpart on this patrol, grabbed my arm and was trying to yell something about the incoming in my ear. However between his broken English and the noise I could only catch the word “Peshmerga” as he shook his head in a negative fashion. Was he trying to tell me we were not the primary target of this barrage? Was he trying to indicate the primary target was the Peshmerga forces that had been probing the Iraqi positions along the ridgeline?
Primary target or not when under stress soldiers always fall back on their training, every school I had went to from Basic Combat Training to Ranger school had drilled into me that when you are on the receiving end of an artillery attack you un-ass the area as quickly as possible. So this is what we did, I instructed my team members to grab the small amount of gear we had around our position and to load up in the white Land Rover Defender four wheel drives we were traveling in. We piled into our vehicles and clipped our night vision goggles to our helmets. Meanwhile the Kurds loaded up in the one rusty suburban they had for transportation. Except for the red tracers flying down the valley toward and around our position and the artillery flashes surrounding us there was no light. We drove in blackout conditions using our night vision goggles to navigate as the Kurds followed behind in their vehicle. My plan was to try and find another location to set up shop, one that had not been compromised by the Iraqi observers. Everyone was at a high state of alertness as we drove across the Iraqi countryside paralleling the bluff that ending abruptly at the steep valley that it seems Peshmerga forces where advancing up towards the Iraqi positions.
We were approaching a linear danger area (road) when suddenly my driver who was our senior weapons sergeant yelled “Ambush!! We have men and weapons on the road!!” He immediately threw our vehicle in reverse and tried to break contact. Unfortunately he forgot we were the lead element in a line of 4 vehicles. The vehicle immediately behind us managed to stop but was hit in the front fender by my vehicle as it backed up. The third vehicle in line was the Kurdish vehicle which continued the accordion effect and slammed into the spare tire on the back of the vehicle in front of it so hard the front of their vehicle was pushed into the radiator cracking it and busting a headlight. I yelled at him “What the fuck dude, you need to fuckin think before you go hauling ass!!” Meanwhile, whoever he saw on the road had disappeared, if they where even there at all.
So there we were in the middle of no mans land with two smashed up vehicles, one which was barely drivable. I had my team members pull security as I tried to assess the damage by red lens flashlight. We were barely 1000 meters from where we had just experienced the artillery attack and I felt like the leader of the ass clown circus as I tried to explain to the Major I was sorry we had destroyed his truck. I determined our best course of action was to return to base and see if we could repair the Kurdish truck. Our patrol base was in the village of Klawkut which was about 10 kilometers east of our current position. We limped back to base with the Kurdish vehicle in tow, driving thru the countryside of Northern Iraq it took us 4 more hours to move those 10 kilometers and we arrived at out patrol base about 0400 exhausted. After waking up my Team Leader and explaining the situation I told the guys to bed down and figured we would sort things out in the morning.
The next morning we reported what had happened to our company headquarters and we were instructed in no uncertain terms to get our asses back out there and establish a new observation post. So I loaded my team back up in our vehicles, taking only 2 Kurds with us we established a new OP a little farther north of our previous position. Shortly after we arrived we received radio traffic that we were to engage no one west of a particular gridline on the map. Shortly after that we received word that the Iraqi forces had deserted the ridgeline and Peshmerga where streaming hell bent for leather towards Kirkuk. I informed my Team Leader that the Kurds where heading towards Kirkuk and agreed to link up with them at a small village that we had used as a reference point before. As we waited at the linkup for the remainder of our team we saw a regular parade of buses, cars, dump trucks, and pickups filled with Peshmerga streaming south west along the main highway to Kirkuk. What happened when they got there is another story.
I found out later that April 9th was a watershed day for the invasion of Iraq. It was the day the famous statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled. It was the day that Baghdad was taken and the Iraqi forces collapsed. Although I will never know for sure I believe the fierce direct and indirect fire we experienced on that evening was the last attempt of the Iraqi forces to cover their withdrawal as they melted before the onslaught of American air power and Kurdish foot soldiers. For me the evening of April 9th will always stick in my mind as the night I had a fender bender in the middle of a firefight.

We Run 5K Spring 2013

Jay and I decided to run this race as his first 5K. I wont say he trained alot for it but he was ready. I really don't have alot to say about the race other than it was very well run by our friends at WeRun. Jay put out a maximum effort and PR his 5K distance time. He ran and walked to a time of 36:39. Next time he will get below 35:00. He has the potential.

The Kaihogyo

100 days ago I accepted a challenge. The challenge was a modified version of the Kaihogyo that some buddhist monks in Japan attempt. Only 13 monks have accomplished the Kaihogyo since WWII. The Kaihogyo these monks attempt involves 100 days times 7 years of consecutive ultramarathons. They must run 30 km per day for 100 days. After the first year the monks must complete the Kaihogyo in its totality or they must kill themselves.

The Kaihogyo I engaged in wasn't anywhere near as dramatic. A group of ultrarunners spearheaded by @endurancejer  http://jerryarmstrong.blogspot.com/ decided to try our own version of the Kaihogyo. We would run no less than 5 miles per day for 100 consecutive days.

Below are excerpts from my training log and some photos taken during the challenge


My legs were really feeling the 11 hours of wrestling officiating I did this weekend. Especially on the hills. It was all good though. I ran the first 30 mile plus week since my last ultra. Ramping it back up

Kaihogyo day 5- after two days on pavement I was back on the trails. Normally after only 2 hours sleep I would have called this a rest day. But not today

Kaihogyo day 10- did a lot of thinking on today's non jog. Got some life decisions looming. On a good note 10th Group 10K and Ranger School 5 mile standards surpassed again today. The raisin still has it.

Kaihogyo day 15- icy icy group run. Plus a few warmup miles

Kaihogyo Day 20- Left with a headache and returned feeling good. Tried out my new Garmin 310XT. Mileage is shorter than on my phone but I like it

Kaihogyo day 25- 1/4 of the way through the challenge..and the beat goes on

Kaihogyo day 30- 20 degrees warmer today no wind..mahvelous simply mahvelous

Kaihogyo day 35- sidewind,tailwind,headwind,sidewind,headwind..it was windy

Kaihogyo day 40- lots of activity along McLoud Run trout stream

Kaihogyo day 45-nice tour of doucheville on the indoor track. God I hate the gym..I know some tough guys and all you sleeveless fucktards are not them. Also INSIDE LANE FOR RUNNERS!!!!

Kaihogyo day 50- Icy conditions made us take our group run to the indoor track. And the group was really just myself, Brian T and Ross S. Wasn't too boring doing 73 laps, we talked about ultras a lot

Kaihogyo day 55- crappy crappy day... But all better now. I saw 4 bald eagles and left Mr Negativity out in the snow

Kaihogyo day 60- Ford Fairlane..migratory waterfowl..eagles

Kaihogyo day 65- Midwest weather + wet running pants +long que for the wife's washing machine= the irony of a guy in a #trailrunnernation shirt on the treadmill

Kaihogyo day 70- warm up, Trek the Trails 4 mile trail run and the cool down. Ross S, Brian T, Peter K, Ross K, Kelly T all there. Ross S overall winner. Ross K, Peter K, Kelly T and myself all won age groups. Speedy group

Kaihogyo day 75- 3/4 done..not sure how I feel about that. Did a little recon of the Ellis Park Golf Course. Urban trail running #ultrachat

Kaihogyo day 80- tour of Lisbon/Mt Vernon..not sure if tired or just tired

Kaihogyo day 85- legs were a little dead after yesterdays snowy 50K but got in the minimum #ultrachat

Kaihogyo day 90 again - yeah I miscounted again. The math is not my strong suit. Also I am going to have to bring a compass on my runs with Peter K from now on.

Kaihogyo day 95- bright idea.. Lets do a trail run today. 5 feet into woods slip on ice hit my back so hard I thought I broke a rib. Commence 5 minutes of coughing and nausea. I looked like a spastic monkey. I finished on the road

Kaihogyo day 100- The Kaihogyo has ended as it started. My favorite loop on my favorite local trails. The challenge- Run 100 consecutive days, at least 5 miles a day. The result- 100 days, 735 miles, 7.35 mile per day average. Effortless

So what did I learn during my challenge..this Kaihogyo?. I learned that the Kaihogyo is not the hardest thing I have ever done physically or mentally..not even close. Rather I learned the Kaihogyo is like an ultramarathon. A 100 day-multistage race ultra. Like any ultramarathon I had my ups and downs. During parts of the race I was feeling euphoric, during other parts I bonked. I ran a lot of the race with friends but most of it I was alone. But like every ultra eventually the end was nigh and I finished. And I finished better for it.

Turned Out To Be The Best Decision I Ever Made

Allow me to get serious and a bit confessional. If I was in a 12 step program I think this is step 12. Were I witness to others. Tomorrow March 8 marks my 12th year of sobriety. Not one drop of alcohol has crossed my lips except for communion wine in those 12 years. For a guy with my love of beer that is a fairly significant achievement. As I tell others "I didn't quit drinking because I didn't like it, I quit because I was too good at it."

The impetus for this 12 years of sobriety was the worse hangover imaginable, I experienced this head splitting malady after going to a birthday party at a German NCO club in Bavaria and imbibing in beer and jaeger shots until who knows when because I don't remember. I woke up on my bunk in a sleeping bag covered in puke. I felt like a shit sandwich for the next 4 days barely able to move off the coach. I decided I better take a sabbatical from drinking for one day. Each day since then I have decided that the chance of another hangover isn't worth it. As time has gone on it has become easier but trust me sometimes I walk down the beer aisle of the grocery store and just window shop. Sometimes I think..well maybe just one or maybe a non alcoholic beer. But then I think whats the point?

I started drinking when I was 14 years old. I was at wrestling camp and an older kid I was rooming with had his brother's ID. We went to a local bar and he got a six pack of Michelob. I drank 3 in the alley behind the bar and got blind staggering drunk for the first but not last time in my life. I don't remember much after the alley except for playing pool in the student lounge. I do remember people laughing at me the next day saying I had been messed up. I used to steal Black Velvet whiskey out of my Dad's liquor closet and put it in a Hardee's cup and sip it in math class at school. I started drinking in bars 2 years before I was legal because I knew the bartenders.

Once I joined the military it was all hands on deck. Drinking was part of the culture. We used to buy kegs of beer on a Friday and have parties in the barracks that were epic. Shooting starclusters signaling flares down the hallways and using grenade simulators as firecrackers. One time I bet a guy he wouldn't eat my pet fish alive..I lost. Once I got to Special Forces..well what goes on deployment stays on deployment. Lets just say we knew how to decompress after a mission.

When I was stationed at the Special Warfare Training Center as a Military Freefall instructor it was drink and jump..then repeat. We would make 6 freefall jumps a day and then drink at the NCO club until we shut it down. We would wake up the next morning and jump some more, sucking on the oxygen bottles on the aircraft to sober up on the way to altitude.

I was a highly functioning alcoholic, I was never late for work. I did physical training everyday that was not only tough but competitive. I risked my life in training and on missions multiple times. I did my job but often with a beer in my hand. I was never much of a liquor drinker but I would drink almost a case of beer a day.

And then I quit, no 12 step program, No meetings, I just quit. Something clicked in my head and made me decide that it wasn't worth it. I now admit I had a problem but it is hard to see from the inside until you are on the outside. I definitely do not judge others, I think that would be hypocritical. I drank like a fish for over 25 years but I can tell you what to do now because I quit? No that isn't me. I tell myself I am on sabbatical, that someday I might have a beer, but it wasn't today. Each day I make the best decision I ever made.

Hawkeye 50K 2013:50K Are Ultras Too

So this was the third running of the Hawkeye 50K. This race is on my list of favorite races because it was my first ever ultra marathon, it is really close to my house, and I personally know the race director Tim Smith. I have ran all three iterations and the weather has been different for every running. This year it decided to be 7-20 degrees and snowy as opposed to last year when it was up in the 80 degree range.

I woke up the morning of the race and made my way to the start in the Coralville lake area about 20 miles south of where I live. As in past years the 50K course was two 15.5 mile loops of road/trail around the lake. The 25K race was one loop of the same course. I arrived and made my way to the small lodge where the runners where congregating. I chit chatted with a group of friends most of whom were doing the 25K but one friend Lacey was going to attempt her first 50K. We talked about race strategy a bit and I mentioned that a sub 6 hour time was my goal. Our friend Ross told her that if she could see my red Team Red White and Blue shirt she would be in good shape.

So at the appointed time we all lined up behind the large snowbank about 20 feet in front of the starting line.

 

With a Ready, Set, Go we were off, in a display of jubilation I hurdled the snowbank rather than go around it. Eventually though we all funneled into the single track trail for the first mile or so we would be running in the woods. I was getting my running legs together and just easily followed the pack through the woods until we were dumped out on the service road that led us to the highway we would run along for about 4 miles. As in past years this first third of the course was fastest as everyone had fresh legs and subconsciously I think the 25K runners pushed the 50K runners somewhat. I tried to keep it easy as I listened to Planet Money on my iphone. About the 4 mile mark of the race we turned left into the town of Solon and hit the first aid station. I was feeling so good at this point I just grabbed a handful of M and M's and kept running.

As I turned back into recreation area on the gravel pack that ran along side the reservoir Lacey came from behind me. We decided to run together for awhile and we chatted and ran the next 9 miles until we hit the dreaded spillway crossing. I think it was in this section where unbeknownst to me my race started to fall apart a little bit. I was having so much fun talking and running that I forgot to stay up on my hydration and nutrition plan.

Once crossing the spillway, which despite my fears, I managed to do without getting my feet wet this year. We started the hardest part of the course. I had lost contact with Lacey during the spillway crossing so I just headed up the hill. The next 5-6 miles of the course were snowy,steep, muddy, and an all around ball buster. It was almost impossible to run uphill as the cross country skiers had chopped the snow up on the trails making it slippery and mushy. I found that if I powerwalked or took really short choppy steps I was able to get up the hills fairly efficiently. This section took a lot out of me and although I finished the first lap in 2:41, I was starting to feel nauseous.

At the halfway point I refilled my and bottles and took off a layer of clothes as it was starting to get a little warmer. I briefly talked to my friend Ross who had won the 25K in a time of 1:40 and was going to pace Lacey on the second lap. I mentioned that I thought they might catch me and I was going to get started on the next lap. Miles 15-20 reminded me that 50K are ultramarathons too. I had come into the race with somewhat of a complacent attitude. I mean I have complete 50 miles races, I ran 90 miles during my attempt at the 100 mile distance. I had just finished a 50K feeling pretty good on not much training 4 weeks prior, what was there to worry about? The problem was I let myself get behind on nutrition , a cardinal sin of ultrarunning. Ross and Lacey caught me at the first aid station as I was coming out of the woods after I had attempted to vomit. I must not have looked very well because when I told them I was going to run my own race they didn't even argue with me. Soon they were out of sight. For the next few miles I tried to get the nutrition issue under control, I pounded the fluids and continued to eat as many gels and Honey Stinger waffles as I could stomach. It started working and I started feeling better. Now that the temperature had risen somewhat the part of course that was frozen on the first lap was a sloppy mess on the second. But wonder of wonders I started passing people. By the time I got to the second aid station I was feeling pretty good. Another friend of ours Brian was the aid station captain and I asked him how far ahead Ross and Lacey were, he told me 3 minutes. I grabbed a few PBJ and headed out. My thoughts kept going back to the 2010 Western States race when Geoff Roes had been 15 minutes back from the lead and feeling bad, but he had regrouped and eventually won the race. This motivated me and when I got to the spillway it was in my mind to catch them. I felt much better going through the rough section on the second lap. I was on autopilot with one goal. I actually saw Ross, Lacey and a few other of our friends at one of the switchbacks. I yelled to them that I was going catch them. It was not to be however, as Lacey ran a great first 50K finishing in 5:33 and coming in 2nd female. I finished in 5:50:16. I felt pretty good about this race overall however. I learned that you can't underestimate any race. I learned you can bring yourself back from the darkness. Although it wasn't my fastest ever 50K time it was my fastest on that course. I beat my time from the year prior by 20 minutes in much much worse conditions. I call that progress.