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| First shot in the Sunsweet Duds. Photo: Bob/Drymax |
Pre-Race
Before the race, Timothy Allen’s wife, Krista, asked me if I had a goal for the race. My response, was, “No.” This was due to a couple factors: firstly, my fitness and mechanics were so inconsistent that it kept my expectations low. As such, my only two goals for Sonoma are the same for most races:
1.) To take only what the course will give me.
2.) To take only what my body will give me.
Beyond those, I had no lofty
performance goals for Sonoma – neither time, nor place truly loomed
large. But deep-down, my primary goal was to find and maintain efficient
mechanics – the ones that allowed me to run fast at Bandera – that I seemed to
lose over the winter.
The other factor driving my relaxed
approach was logistical: The weeks between Chuckanut and Sonoma were
tumultuous; I’d been so busy over the past month, I was truly living
day-to-day: just trying to get through the work day, get in my run, and hope
the rest falls into place. I got huge help from Tim and Krista, who
generously allowed Britt and I to travel with them for the weekend, thus
avoiding having to engage in such fundamental race tasks, such as getting a
hotel room, or…figuring out where the starting line is.
As such, when Tropical John Medinger
sounded the start-horn, it was the most relaxed I’d felt in weeks...
Race Day
It was a perfect day: cool, but not
cold; a very light breeze, and darkness that ceded to twilight just as we
arrived. I did a light kilo jog into the woods to warm-up (running into Fast Ed in the process!), strapped on my gear
and toed the line. The field was relatively small in number, but stout up
front. I nestled between Clark Bar and Mackey while Tropical John gave us some final
instructions. And, characteristic of the entire day and event, the sun
rose precisely when the horn sounded to start the race - perfect execution.
The 2011 course took us on 2.5 miles
of rolling pavement in order to let the field disperse. As such, with no
reason to hustle, the guys up front kept it very easy, as if the day was merely
an enjoyable jog in the woods (aren’t they all?). Mr. Palko took on the
rabbitting duties, per usual, and gapped the field over those first road miles
– the steep, paved downhills having seemingly no effect on his legs that
covered 50 miles at American River just a week prior.
The road helped me concentrate on
the “Tall-Arms-Hips” mantra, and the stride felt its best in
weeks. And with the relaxed opening miles, I found no problem rolling up
front with 2012 WTC Champ Gary Gellin, while the rest of the field hung
behind. I took what the course gave. When the road ceded to trail,
I felt reasonably comfortable as we descended lakeside.
The Sonoma course is a majority
out-and-back (other than the tail-ends) along the mountainous reservoir, known
for being up-and-down and packing a stout 10K of vertical gain. However,
I was pleasantly surprised to find several stretches of fairly flat running
over smooth singletrack. It was a beautiful course. Gary and I
traded off the pacing duties, including leading the pack into a 4-foot deep
creek crossing, before finally reeling in Jady to take the lead, out-right.
Despite the easy pace and forgiving
terrain, I was a bit uncomfortable leading. With the talent behind me, I
knew it was only a matter of time before things heated up. It began
slowly; first by Jorge Maravilla coming up from behind to help out, around mile
six or seven. I hung in behind him for a bit as the course pulled away
from the high-and-tight banks and inland.
After a good hour-plus of running
and the field inching along in a conga line (or as Hal put it, “The Pain
Train”), Tim gave us a solid Killian impression by charging out front to take
the lead. And just like that, our leisurely Saturday run became a
downhill stampede: within a mile, I went from first to twelfth. But I was
insistent on sticking to “The Rules”, and my body made it known it was far too
early to be pounding down the jeep road that led to our second creek crossing,
and first aid station at Warm Springs Creek (Mile 11.5).
After an aid fill, it was a majority
climb upward over the next 4.5 miles. It took no more than that aid fill
to completely lose sight of the entire lead pack, save a few: Gary and Dan-O, and Fast Ed in the rear. I
worked a bit to reel in the pack, but once there, I settled in. There was
no use in hammering; instead, I devised a new goal: to run the second half as
hard as I could to pace it as evenly as the outbound.
Gary helped that a ton.
Wearing a heart rate monitor, he kept things very chill on the climbs, so an
efforted pace became total relaxation as the four of us chipped along, chatting
and otherwise enjoying the sunny morning.
Before we knew it, we were within
meters of the Wulfow AS (Mile 16.8) But I had an issue brewing; so I stepped
off trail and took advantage of lush grasses for my “business”. Shortly
therafter I rolled into the AS and got a quick bottle exchange from Britt and
Krista, and I was down the trail.
I thought the fellas would be right
ahead, but it took me a good two miles to catch up, on the first of three
substantial (>500’) climbs of the course. We climbed along a gravel
road up the bank away from the lake, the four of us rolling into Liberty Glen
AS (Mile 19.6) together. Another quick fill – this time from “Royalty”
(The Lord and The Queen) – before descending once more to the lakeshore.
Gary and the crew kept things sane
on the descent. As we bounded down, I noticed some discomfort in my left
foot – a blister? Since using Drymax socks, I
haven’t had a single blister – that’s nearly a year of racing. But the
issue laid more in the fact that my shoes, saturated for over two hours, had
loosened in the toe box and my left foot was sliding around. It was
tolerable, but I knew I would have to address it somehow.
We descended within feet of the
water’s surface, before the course took us up yet another jeep road to start
the largest climb of the race to the turnaround. I was beginning to feel
good, to “get warmed up”, as I seem to do after 20 miles in an ultra – and
wished to push it a bit, but when I began to pull away, Gary said, “Piano!”
He explained the meaning to the rest of the group, but my music background knew
what he was saying: “Quiet!”, “Easy!”. Perhaps an odd command to
say – or heed – in a race, but I did, knowing that at the turn around, I wanted
to go “Forte”, and have saved enough to go “Fortissimo” in the last ten
miles.
We hiked several segments and
crested several false summits as we neared the lollipop turnaround. Gary
posited that we shouldn’t see the leaders come back on us – given that the
lollipop was over a mile long. But no sooner the utterance did a kid in a
blue
We were at least 2K from the
turnaround when he blew by, and not a minute later was Tim, followed by Jorge –
the former two looking solid, the latter looking a bit cooked. Seeing
those guys so far out front (“20 minutes?”) got me antsy, so as the
course leveled out, I pumped the gas out front of our group and rolled into
No-Name Flat AS (25.2). I got the bottles filled, a ton of gels and, most
importantly, I stopped to lace my shoes tighter. I gave Britt some
instructions to ready the Cover Roll and Leukotape at the next AS, in the event
the blister worsened.
I grabbed a handful of gels and
bolted from the AS, pushing the pace up the singletrack, back to the Jeep road
with Mr Tropical was manning the lollipop. To my dismay, I found out that
both Gary and Dan-O had gotten far past me in the AS, so I pushed first to get
to Gary. He and I ran down the long descent to the lake, and when we got
to the flat, my stride was a bit longer than his (how could it not be? Is he
even 5-foot? :p), so I pulled away. Down in the valley, it had begun to
heat up – and the fatigue of the day began to sink in on the climb back to the
20/30 mile AS. Over that climb I saw two guys up front – Leigh Schmidt
and Thomas Crawford(?) -- and over the course of our climb to the AS, passed
them both, before setting eyes on Dan-O, who was ahead but clearly moving
well.
Dan-O and I rolled into the AS
together. I got a quick update from Mr. Media Mogul on how we were doing,
and were dismayed to find we were still losing ground to Mr Jones and the other
fellas. Damn. It was now legitimately warm: I got a double bottle
fill and reluctantly gave-up my newly-acquired Sunsweet jersey to LB. Being
a darker color and somewhat heavy, I was desperate to lose any heat or weight I
could -- like John Candy and "The Barnacle" in the 1980s movie,
"Summer Rental" (Anyone out there
remember that? When he raced a boat-restaurant versus a yacht, and they were
throwing frozen dinners overboard to speed up?)
I caught up to Dan-O again after
handing off my shirt, and we descended the Jeep road once more back to the
single track. We came across the remainder of the field -- I think this
is really great, to give each other encouragement, especially when there's room
for both parties to run! Back on the single track, I nestled in behind
Dan-O. He offered to let me past, but I said, "I need to get
comfortable". I felt a little taxed and, given that there was 19 miles to
go, wasn't ready to push hard. So he and I rolled along.
Within a mile of the Wulfow II AS
(32.9), we came up on...Dave Mackey? He looked a little off; I asked if
he tweaked something, but he said his stomach was having a bad day. We
passed him just before rolling into the AS, where I again got bottle fills and
gel refills from Britt. Going into the AS, I couldn't help but jam to this
song in my head, given that I was rolling into the AS,
shirtless! (Does PI make "Animal Print Pants"?...) |
| (L to R) Dan-O, OOJ and Fast-Ed manning the ship around Lake Sonoma (Gary in the rear!) |
Though still 18 miles from the
finish, I felt stronger and more aggressive. I took over pacing duties
from Dan-O and pushed it down to Warm Springs Creek.
The stride mechanics felt awesome.
Between Chuckanut and race day, I realized I had totally locked up my pelvis
and wasn't using my hips at all. And more recently, I wasn't using my
arms to propel (rather, they were twisting wildly!). Heading back to the
finish, I had it all honed: good trunk and hip lengthening, and using my
shoulder blades to drive up hills. Moreover, I was doing an excellent job
of getting my foot beneath my body and avoiding braking. This was huge on
the downs, as I was able to let go and really fly.
Dan-O's a great downhill runner,
too, so he stuck right with me as we descended to Warm Springs #2 (38.2). I had
started to get my usual "pre-cramp blips", so I was certain to get
full bottles and lots of gels, especially knowing this was a 7+ mile length
between aid.
We crossed the creek together and
began the gradual, rolling ascent from lake level, climbing the Jeep track
where we'd stampeded down hours before. The pace was much lighter on the
inbound trip; though fatiguing and pre-cramping, I had no issue with the climb
and the effort felt measured. However, once we leveled off my body
turned: little sprinkles of gut rot and bonk haze appeared. Thankfully no
pit-stops were required for either, but I slowed and let Dan-O pass while I
fumbled in my tiny Zip-Loc for a couple S-Caps. I wasn't sure how
"down" I was, so I put one in each cheek and continued down the
trail. I bit into one and downed half of it with a bottle pull. It
tasted good, and within minutes I was feeling better.
The Jeep trail ceded to single
track, which opened into sunny, warm clearing through which Timothy Allen had
first broken things open. Dan and I shuffled up the wet, muddy footing
that led back into woods to drier, cooler singletrack. However, the
cramps-blips continued, so I went to down the remaining half-S-Cap when
disaster struck: as I tried to gulp the half-cap in my right cheek, the full
S-cap, which was nestled in the left cheek, got loose and burst wide-open into
my throat - coating every surface of my throat, including the top of my
trachea. HIUUUUUGH!
It stopped me dead in my track, like
being choked, or punched. I coughed and wheezed for several moments
before taking a bottle pull. This helped it wash down, and I was able to
begin shuffling down the trail. I coughed and coughed, shuffling and
shuffling, slowly recovering enough to reel in Dan-O after a good mile. "Welp...THAT PASSED!" |
| "...IIII think I'm gonna barf!..." |
 |
| "...Welp...That PASSED!" |
I coughed up salty phlegm for a
while as the course climbed up the high banks overlooking the southern shore of
Lake Sonoma. After expelling the irritant and feeling better (and, of
course, now fairly-well salted!), I took over pacing duties from Dan-O and
forged ahead.
My watch split read about thirty
minutes into the 7+ mile leg. Based on our collective fatigue and
struggles, we couldn't have been more than halfway to the AS (and likely 8
miles from the finish), but I shifted into "Get 'Er Done Gear", which
meant running aggressively. I grunted out the climbs, with quick feet,
saying aloud, "Killian Butt!" -- harkening imagery of
Killian's tighty-whities floating up Escarpment. I pushed the flats,
lengthening the stride with cues of "pelvis and hips", getting the
arms into action. On the downs, I asked myself, "What would Tim
do?" He wouldn't pussy-foot down these declines! I leaned
into the downs, and worked quick turnover, getting my feet quickly beneath me
to avoid any braking. And so it went, skirting through the horizontal
canyons and along the elevated shores, with just enough clearing (and just
enough good footing) to sneak a peek at beautiful blue water below.
I made good time, managed cramping
with ample S-caps and fluid, and generally enjoyed myself, seeing no one save a
couple hikers, until approaching the sidebar trail for the final AS at Island
View (45.5). As I past, one of the hikers yelled, "You're in
3rd!". I thought this was erroneous...but perhaps someone
dropped?
The final AS, unused on the
outbound, involved an extra quarter-mile+ running downhill to the aid, then
back up to the main trail. Just as I was turning off, I came upon Hal,
who was exiting. We exchanged brief pleasantries. I felt a drive to
get after him, but I knew he had at least a six or seven minute lead (given the
downhill/uphill half mile, +aid time) over me. But as I rolled down to
the aid, up came Jorge Maravilla, looking a little haggard. I flew past,
and into the aid -- gulping three colas, "Super-Trooper Style", and
getting the bottles topped off before rushing out.
Hal might've been too far up, but
Jorge was in my sights. I ran all the uphill out of the aid, back onto
the trail heading east. It wasn't long 'til I saw him ahead, and since he
was walking the hills, I was able to get around and past him within a
mile. He's a great guy, and very positive, even in the depths of
late-race suffering. I implored him to hitch a ride to the finish with
me, but he fell back as we once again climbed higher along the steep lakeshore.
The finishing four miles were
rugged, hilly trail -- as opposed to the rolling pavement on the
outbound. I dreaded this section, fearful of major climbs and
rollers. I was pleasantly surprised to find good, runnable terrain.
I ran all but maybe twenty seconds of this section, pushing and pushing the
flats and downs, repeating my new mantra: "Downhills are a
gift! Thank you!" and flying down, making the most of my gift.
Then, out of nowhere at a trail
fork, appeared Britt! She was running, carrying white cloth. "Craig
wants you to put this shirt on!". "OK!". It was
a whiter, lighter Sunsweet jersey. "How far to the
finish?" "Two-and-a-half!"
"Two and a half??"
I took the jersey and threw it on,
rolling down the trail. I reminded Britt not to run with me (as no pacers
were allowed) and pushed along.
A few more rollers before the wooded
canopy lifted to young growth and sunny skies. I could hear some
commotion - I was close. Then, a sign: "ONE MILE TO GO"
(another perfect touch by Mr Tropical and Co). I looked at my watch:
6:52:30ish. "Push it!"
I've had a fun habit of
incorporating my favorite LMFAO tunes into my "Brain iPod" over the
past few months. My favorite end-of-race tune is this one, my new blog namesake. it'd been playing
for several miles with enjoyment. Now, I sang a bit, and turned my
"shuffle" into a hard run, pushing the climbs hard to the road
crossing and final trail segment, within meters of the finish.
I was gonna be close, so when I
approached the parking lot for the penultimate turn, I hammered like mad --
legs driving, arms pumping, high-school sprinter style. As I turned to
the finish, I saw 6:59:4x, and threw it all down into the finish, punctuated
with fist-pump!
Final time: 6:59:55, good for 5th
place. I consider myself "3rd Human", with Dakota - and his
blistering 6:17 - being quite machine-like, and Tim being, well,
"half-Vulcan". That leaves Clarkie (6:52), and Hal (6:57) in 3
and 4.
It felt great to be on the fun side of seven hours. "They give out a lot less 6:59s than 7:01s! It's NOT a time they like to give out!" Also, I feel great to have finished "como NEEEEK, como HOOLLE...". Heavy company, indeed.
 |
| Kicking it into the line. My arms were pumping like "The Bushwhackers"! Photo: Bob/Drymax |
It felt great to be on the fun side of seven hours. "They give out a lot less 6:59s than 7:01s! It's NOT a time they like to give out!" Also, I feel great to have finished "como NEEEEK, como HOOLLE...". Heavy company, indeed.
Right behind me was Jorge and Dan-O
to round out the top seven, all of which snuck under Hal previous CR.
Post-RaceIt was a terrific atmosphere post-race: hanging out, cheering in the other finishers, and basking in the sun. Mr Tropical had some incredible post-race refreshment, and the bulk of folks hung around until the early evening, before cleaning up and reconvening at various tap rooms in downtown Healdsburg.
On Sunday morning, some sore
ankles/shins and a sound mind prevented going on a beautiful ten-miler with LB,
Queen and Nick. Instead, I hung out and stretched in the hot tub with
Timothy, before packing up and heading out for one more stop: a wine-tasting at
Wilson Winery. There, we were treated to lavish sunlight, views of the
surrounding vinyard and hills, and generous "tasting" pours of some
excellent fare. What a great punctuation on a terrific weekend.
I must say: Tropical John Medinger
and Company nailed it for this race. Nailed it. Everything was
perfect, from the race field size (not too much traffic on the trails), to the
start time (a luxuriously 6:30 AM in the sunrise!). Trail markings were impeccable, and aid stations seamless and helpful. Post-race had the best
atmosphere of any ultra I've run, yet. The weather helped, but so did a
certain, how does Dan say it? "IBU-ey-ness".
I will definitely return, hopefully
in '13. And next time, I'll stay an extra day to enjoy more wine and sun!
******
Race Highlights (for those who don't
want to dissect all that prose)- Traveling down and back with the Olson, including having a great pre-race run in Ashland with Tim on Friday. Thanks again for your generosity!
- LB asking me to be a part of Team Sunsweet! (More later...)
- Impeccable planning and attention to detail by Mr Medinger and his crew, starting with the 6:30 start time and ending with the Winery tour on Sunday! Top notch!
- Enjoying a beautiful and consistently runnable trail along Lake Sonoma, on a gorgeous April morning.
- Cool, refreshing creek crossings!
- Running with a few terrific masters: Gary, Fast-Ed and Dan-0
- Excellent crewing from Britt and Krista
- Running hard with Dan-O in the second half
- Making a strong push over the last six or seven miles to the finish.
- Sneaking under seven hours with a high-school caliber sprint!
- Post-race hang-out in the sun, with some suds, and some great folks.
- Sunday afternoon at Wilson Winery -- one last bask before returning to The Grey!
*****
Split Analysis:
AID
Outbound
Inbound
Start to Island View* 31:42 43:30
IV to Warm Springs** 56:24 1:08:47
WS to Wulfow 49:14 45:54
Wulfow to Liberty Glen^ 18:50 21:56
LG to No Name Flat 44:33 39:06
*Outbound was road, inbound was trail
**Inbound included extra 1/4 mile to AS; choked on S-cap!
^No idea what happened here (poor split?) - Out was uphill, In was downhill...
Start to Island View* 31:42 43:30
IV to Warm Springs** 56:24 1:08:47
WS to Wulfow 49:14 45:54
Wulfow to Liberty Glen^ 18:50 21:56
LG to No Name Flat 44:33 39:06
*Outbound was road, inbound was trail
**Inbound included extra 1/4 mile to AS; choked on S-cap!
^No idea what happened here (poor split?) - Out was uphill, In was downhill...
*****
Pacing: A-.
Pretty damn good. I felt I was even most of the day, even when leading,
even when hanging back with the "Masters". I'm a little
dismayed at my inbound Warm Springs split (68 vs 56, outbound!), but I also
nearly choked to death. As Nick said in his blog, I felt this effort to
be more akin to a "hard long run". My body agrees: post-race, I
was not super-fatigued, and I had an energetic week of work -- both rarities
after a 50M+ race.
My next, maybe ultimate, goal is to learn how to really push. In those final miles of the race, when I thought I was moving quickly, it occurred to me that I was completely aerobic, no more. Yet I felt I couldn't get into a simple "tempo" gear unless I was climbing. I feel that's really what separates me from the guys who are beating me by 45 minutes in 50 milers...
My next, maybe ultimate, goal is to learn how to really push. In those final miles of the race, when I thought I was moving quickly, it occurred to me that I was completely aerobic, no more. Yet I felt I couldn't get into a simple "tempo" gear unless I was climbing. I feel that's really what separates me from the guys who are beating me by 45 minutes in 50 milers...
Nutrition: B+.
Had gels at :25 intervals and good hydration, probably in excess, as I peed a
good 6-8 times. I took only a few pieces of fruit, and no other solids.
Negative points for choking on the explosive S-cap. I took a TON of S-caps at
the end, fearful of the cramps -- too many, I think, as I held onto fluid for
at least a day after that. That's another goal: to not be afraid to be
"low"...or to better titrate early so I'm not overloading, trying to
right the ship late-race.
AS transitions were solid, but again, Tim is my superior -- he literally doesn't stop, only slowing to grab bottles and gear from Krista. Is this feasible for me? We'll see...
AS transitions were solid, but again, Tim is my superior -- he literally doesn't stop, only slowing to grab bottles and gear from Krista. Is this feasible for me? We'll see...
Mental Toughness:
A-/B+. Strikes and gutters. Strikes for a
strong push over the second half. I don't know what it is -- but around
20ish miles, I sort of just "numb over" and can really start to
push. But before that? It's really a struggle to run aggressively.
Gutters: I came in with pretty low confidence in my fitness; as such, it was
not an option (mentally) to be aggressive early and run with the front pack
(this ultimately was a good thing, as I felt I "left some in the
tank" for the next nine weeks). It felt great to push the
second half (post- S-cap choke) and, once again, finish feeling like I
could go several miles (or hours more).
Mechanics.
A-. At Sonoma I "nailed it" more
than I ever have: I climbed really well, was able to push the downs
("getting the foot beneath"), and felt like I was really using my
pelvis and hips to get more speed and power from my stride, especially at the
end. My lateral shift was minimal (indicative by only a slight amount of
R adductor pre-cramp). NO soreness in either the quads or calves!
Awesome! And best of all: I was super-super-sore in the gluts, which is a
great indicator of efficient running.
The negative: I developed some R shin/ankle pain mid-race that was significantly painful - and remained so, this past week. It's better now, but I essentially have a defacto ankle sprain + tib anterior tendonitis. I'm not sure where that came from...but I do recall some symptoms there in the week preceding the race. I hope it gets better very soon...
The negative: I developed some R shin/ankle pain mid-race that was significantly painful - and remained so, this past week. It's better now, but I essentially have a defacto ankle sprain + tib anterior tendonitis. I'm not sure where that came from...but I do recall some symptoms there in the week preceding the race. I hope it gets better very soon...
*****
Check it out! Long-lost finishing footage of me at Lake Sonoma!
