Mad City 100k Race Report

USATF Road 100k National Championship - Madison, WI

Me with race director Timo.

There comes a time in some races — some, not all — when you just want to quit.  I mean, quit the sport, not just the race.  You wonder why you repeatedly enter these events where you purposely push your body and mind to such miserable depths.   I would argue that if you've never felt this way, then you've never truly raced.  You've never pushed yourself to your absolute breaking point, the limit of your abilities.

It happens in 5k's and 10k's as well as marathons and ultras, but it's different in ultras.  The pain is short and intense in a 5k; a stabbing pain you must endure for only a few minutes.  The pain is much less intense in an ultra.  It slowly creeps in and gradually drags you down.  The problem with ultras is that you have a lot of time to think about it.  When fatigue sets in and you still have hours left to run, the feeling of despair is nearly overwhelming.  You think, "Why do I continually subject my body to this type of punishment?"  There is no logical answer in that moment.

Splitting 3:26 for 50k, but not feeling as good as I would have liked.

This was the state of mind I found myself in approaching the 50k mark at the Mad City 100k.  While not disastrously fast, I had allowed myself to be pulled through laps 2, 3 and 4 several minutes faster than I had intended.  I was surprised that the pack of leaders went out relatively conservatively, and after running a relaxed first 10k loop, I was lured into staying within sight of a group of contenders.   I had just passed a slowing Zach Gingerich and moved into 4th place when the first signs of trouble appeared.

My crew (dad) and aid station.

As I was coming into view of the start/finish line at 50k, I began feeling a twinge of nausea and a little light headed.  "Whoa, that's not good.  Especially this early."  I could never remember feeling that way in any race so low in intensity.  My dad was there crewing for me and reminded me that I was 4 minutes ahead of goal pace with a 3:26 50k split.  I decided I could afford to burn a minute to stop and use the porta-potty.  I had been avoiding nature's call for a couple laps, but I had apparently underestimated how badly I needed to go.  I spent a good 30 seconds to a minute taking care of business.  It was only after I returned to the course that I realized that I needed to use the bathroom so bad that I was making myself sick to my stomach.


Gingerich had passed me back and put some distance on me, but I felt much better.  I was upset that I had let the situation get that out of hand, and the legs were still feeling more fatigued than I had expected.  Even with thick, low clouds and temps in the 40s, my calves were threatening to cramp very early.  I backed off the pace a little more in an attempt to collect myself.  I also increased my S!Cap salt tablet intake to 2 per 10k loop.  I knew it was important to continue taking a GU energy gel every hour and suck down as much GU Brew electrolyte drink as my stomach could handle.

I spent the remainder of the 6th lap pouting and feeling sorry for myself.  This is where I wanted to quit.  I didn't know why I was running anymore.  I tried to convince myself the self-doubt wasn't rational.  I had been able to repass a struggling Gingerich, was in 4th place, and still ahead of goal pace.  I would just finish the 6th loop, I bargained with my mind.

By the time I finished the that loop I had moved into third place and was only 3 minutes out of 2nd place.  And my pace was still respectable.  "Might as well do another lap," I thought.  The pace correction served me well and the body started to feel much better.  I maintained a good pace and mentally got my head back in the game.  If I could make it to 80k, I knew I would be able to survive the final 12 miles.  Then I started hoping that the leaders went out too fast and would come back to me.  So I just kept moving.

Andrew Henshaw killing it.  He must have been sub 5:20 at 50 miles.

At 80km, I was told that the leader, Andrew Henshaw, had 16 minutes on me.  I knew he was out of reach barring a catastrophic meltdown on his part.  But 2nd place was still only 3 minutes ahead and looking weaker.  I hit the 50 mile mark somewhere around 5:35 and got a little boost from knowing I was 18 minutes faster than my time at the JFK 50 miler.  I put my head down and kept running.  The calves were cramping in spurts now, mostly on the uphills.  I'm glad I chose to wear my Nike Pegasus road shoes.  I brought my marathon shoes (Saucony Fastwitch 2), but ultimately decided to go with comfort and efficiency over the lightweight and low profile option.  At 6:45 pace, I just feel more smooth and comfortable in my regular trainers.  I think my calf cramps would have been even worse had I been wearing racing flats.

With less than a mile to go before 90km, I was able to see 2nd place for the first time since 50km, and he was fading fast.  I caught up to Todd Braje, three time national champion and two time US 100km team member, just as he entered the start/finish aid station.  I don't think he even knew I was coming, so it must have surprised him as I passed when he briefly stopped at the aid station table.   But I also don't think he could have done anything about it if he had known I was closing.  His fight appeared to be gone.  I crossed the timing mats, picked up my last bottle from my dad and began my final loop without stopping. 

I continued to fight cramps in my calves on the uphill sections, but was still moving well for the most part.  My confidence was building that I would be able to maintain my pace and finish as I entered my favorite part of the course; a slightly rolling 2.5 mile section that cut through the University of Wisconsin's arboretum.  For the first time I briefly stopped at the "backside" aid station grabbed an orange slice and a cup of coke.  I think the coke gave me an instant boost.  Looking back, maybe I should have hit the soda more often.  Or maybe I just knew I was almost done.  

With 1.2 miles to go, I realized that I still had a chance to break 7 hrs.  I don't remember my last mile split, but it was quite possibly my fastest mile of the day.  All the pain was temporarily forgotten as I crossed the finish line in 6:59:12.  Second place overall, making me the runner-up to the 2011 US 100km national champion.  

All smiles now as I cross the finish line.

The USATF representative informed me a short time later that my time would qualify me for the US 100km team that will be competing in the Netherlands this fall.  The team won't be officially announced until June, but there aren't any more qualifying opportunities so it's all but certain I've made the team.

And then I remembered why I race.  Why I compete.  Why I put my body and mind through the trials that I do.  Because the harder something is to achieve, the more satisfying it is when you actually accomplish your goal.  That was my goal.  To make the US 100km team.  It would have been so easy to quit at 60km.  I'm so proud I didn't.


Race Results
My Splits
GPS data for a loop I ran the day before (GPS not allowed during the race) 
http://www.usaultrarunning.com/100km-team

Couldn't have done it without my dad.

Love the USATF logo.  Can't wait to wear it and the US flag.

Mad City Preview

The Objective:
The Mad City 100k, to be held April 9th in Madison, WI, is the USA Track & Field National Championship for the road 100km.  More importantly, it serves as a qualifying race for the USA World 100km team.  The 100km World Championship will be competed in September 2011 in Winschoten, the Netherlands.  I would very much like to represent the US in the Netherlands this fall.

How to Qualify:
Qualifying for the team is somewhat involved, but here's the executive summary.  There are 6 slots for the men's team.  Two of those spots and already filled from previous qualifying events/times.  The winner of the Mad City 100km automatically qualifies for the US team.  The remaining positions are filled based on athletes' performances at other qualifying events.  If you want to know the details click here.

Clearly, winning the race would be nice and remove any doubt about making the team.  But a fast time at Mad City could also qualify me for the team.  The third and fourth slots already have pretty fast qualifying times which will make them hard to displace.  That fourth slot is held by a 7:01:36, but there is a big gap on the performance list back to the 5th fastest time of 7:15:11.  To have any reasonable chance of making the team, I'll need to go sub 7:15.  It will more than likely take something faster than that though.

The Course:
Straight off the website: "The 100K Solo race will consist of 10 laps of a 10K loop.  This loop is Madison's most popular 10K race course, which takes runners along the shore of Lake Wingra, through scenic neighborhoods, and through the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. The entire course is pavement or sidewalks."

The Competition:

While the quality is high, the entry list is relatively short, so I've done a little research on the registered competition.  Let me preface this by saying that I don’t know any of these guys.  I haven’t met them or ever raced them to my knowledge.  Everything I’m reporting here was found on the good ole internet.  And I definitely could have missed some results.  Realendurance.com was very helpful in my research, but it doesn’t include things like road marathon times, so it would be easy to miss that type of result.  There could be late registrations and I could have overlooked a contender as well.  If so, no disrespect was intended.  Anyway, here’s the scouting report:

Todd Braje (34 yrs old)  – Todd was on the World team last year and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.  He’s been on fire lately racking up his 3^rd individual USATF National Championship last October at the Tussey Mountainback 50 miler with a time of 5:43 which is a new course record.  He then broke the CR at the Rocky Raccoon 50 miler in February with another 5:43.  He finished second at the Way Too Cool 50k in March.  He was also ranked 6th in Ultrarunning Magazine's North American ultramarathoners of the year in 2010.

Zach Gingerich (31) – Zach is an experienced ultrarunner who seems to tend toward the longer races like Badwater, which he won last year.  He also won the Arrowhead 135 mile race, Umstead 100 Mile (13:23), and a 24-hour race last year.   But, he also ran the fastest 50 miler in the country last year with his 5:35 at Des Plaines River.  This guy has great range and will be tough to beat.  Oh yeah, he was ranked third best on Ultrarunning's list last year.

Mark Godale (41) – Mark has a very impressive and lengthy ultra resume.  He went 3:17 earlier this month at the Camusett Park 50k, finished 6^th at the Bandera 100k in January, and was 5^th at the Tussey race that Braje won last fall.  I don’t think you can pick him as the pre-race favorite, but if the leaders screw up by going out too fast or something, this is the kind of guy that might sneak up and steal the thing.

Andrew Henshaw (25) – The young one has the speed.  He ran 2:26:39 at the Miami Marathon on January 30^th.  But he’s also got quite an ultra resume for his age and it includes several 50 and 100 milers.  He ran 5:56 last spring at American River 50mi coming in 2^nd behind Geoff Roes.  This guy worries me a bit, because he and I have virtually identical marathon PRs, and I’m used to having the upper hand when it comes to leg speed in these long races.

Chad Ricklefs (43) – Chad’s another guy with a long ultra resume who appears to have focused more on road ultras and what I call “trail lite” type races.   He is the only guy on this list who ran Mad City last year (7:16:52) and went on to run 7:01:36 for the US at the IAU 100k World  Championship race.  He also ran just under 6:07 at JFK 50 mi in 2009.  Chad’s got invaluable experience in this type of event and is sure to be in the mix.

Devon Crosby-Helms (28) – Yes, this is a female and she won’t be directly competing with the boys, but I still think she deserves a mention.  She’s an experienced road 100k runner and holds the female course records at Tussey (6:28) and JFK (6:29).  I'm not as familiar with the women's side of things, but she appears to be the clear favorite to me.  And if I bomb the race, I'll be looking over my shoulder trying not to get chicked.

Me (29) – If you use the same methods I used to research these other guys and try to rank me objectively, I think you can only come to one conclusion:  I’m the least experienced guy on the list.  Really, all I have is a 2^nd place, 5:53 at JFK 50 mi last fall.  Sure, I have a bunch of fast 50k’s over the last few years, but everyone knows 50k’s aren’t a “real” ultra.  If you really did your research you’d know that I ran a 2:26 road marathon a little over a year ago.  I think my speed looks as good as anyone on this list, but I am still unproven at the 50mi+ distances. 

Here are the questions in my mind:  Was my JFK race a fluke?  Was it just a one-hit-wonder in my first attempt at the distance?  Can I do it again, plus 12 miles?   Was my training appropriate for this type of race?  How will an all road surface affect me?  What will the early April weather in Wisconsin do?  Can I stay in control early and run a reasonable pace?

The Prediction:

So, what’s my prediction?  Ha.  I have no clue.  This race looks wide open to me.  Anyone mentioned above has a legitimate shot at winning.  If Michael Wardian or Chikara Omine were registered at this point, I’d have to give them the nod.  But they’ve already qualified for the 2011 US 100k team based on their performance at Worlds last year and aren’t currently on the entry list for Mad City. 

The Strategy:
Run my race.  Try not to get caught up in the excitement early, because this is kind of a long race.  It's going to take at least a sub 7:15 and probably faster.  Getting my nutrition right will be important, but thankfully my dad will be there crewing for me and it shouldn't be a problem.  I think that's all I want to say right now.

The race starts at 6:30AM on Saturday.  You can follow my progress on race day via the webcast which will record each 10k split.  You can also follow me on twitter (@rundavid1) for before and after updates.  And I might even try to teach my dad how to tweet for me during the race...no promises there though.

Back to Work

Just wanted to post a quick training update for this week.  If you read my last post, you know that I was on a ski vacation last week and was quite happy to have run 65 miles (with 6 of 7 runs above 8000ft).   The week before that was low as well, only reaching 75 miles because I spent a weekend out of town attending a friend's wedding.  So this week I decided to just play it by ear and see how I felt.  But I also knew, with only 3 weeks left until the Mad City 100k, this would be my last big week of training before I needed to start tapering. 

Monday's run confirmed that my legs were indeed tired from a week of snowboarding and running at altitude.  I still felt out of rhythm on Tuesday, but wanted to hit the track anyway.  Sometimes a little track work is just what the legs need to blow out the crap and feel fast again.  The workout was 2x2mi (10:40, 10:37) w/2min easy + 1 mi (5:11).  I left the track with confirmation that my fitness was just fine.  I just needed some time to get back into my routine and feeling normal. 

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all easy runs where I continued to search for my normal stride.  Each run got progressively better, but I've definitely got a little tightness in the lower back and hamstrings. 

Saturday I planned to meet up with a local ultra runner, Harvey Lewis, and run easy with him for a while and then take off when I needed to do so.  I wasn't even sure how many miles I would try to get in.  I was just going to see how I felt.  We ended up joining up with a couple other guys who were running a 10 mi hill tempo loop.  It wasn't what I had in mind, but the pace was mild, so it wasn't a big deal.  After the hill run, Harvey and I headed off on our own with no particular destination in mind.  We were just running and talking.  Before I knew it, we were dropping into downtown Cincinnati - a place I hadn't yet explored on a run.  But I was feeling good and I decided that it would be fun to visit Kentucky.  So we crossed the Ohio River and ran a little on the other side.  By this point we were close to 20 miles in to the run and I was still a long way from home.  Harvey had run great to make it this far with me, but I was unintentionally picking up the pace and our average had just dropped to sub 7 min pace.  He backed off knowing he was going to pace a half marathon the next day, and I headed home.  Eager to get home, I really started rolling.  My last 4 miles were around 6:20 average pace.  And I was 3:06 for a total of 27 miles.  I think that's the longest non-race training run that I've ever done.

That put me at 80 miles for the week.  Might as well try to hit 100 even with Sunday's run.  So I did.  On a flat, mindless out-n-back run, I started tight and slow, but loosened up nicely for the second half and finished just over 2:15. 

So, 100 miles for the week at an average pace of 6:45.  Very pleased with the weekly total, and especially this weekend's work.  Less than 3 weeks to the 100k champs and time to start tapering.

What kind of time do you think I'll be able to run for the 100k?

Vacation (aka Cross-Training)

Stefanie and I at Breckenridge.

This past week I was on vacation.  It was a vacation from work and my typical running schedule, but it actually turned out to be a pretty big week of training, all things considered.  You see, I'm not really a lay-on-the-beach-for-a-week vacation kinda guy.  I like to be doing stuff.  And one of my favorite things to do is go skiing - or snowboarding to be specific.

The uphill view from our condo.

A sweet deal on a friend's condo led us to Silverthorne, CO which is close to the ski resorts of Breckenridge and Keystone.  It's also happily situated 8,700 ft above sea level.  The ski resorts themselves just go up in elevation from that point.  I've been skiing several times before, but it's been a long time since I've stayed that this kind of elevation for any length of time.  And I don't remember running at this altitude either.   Let me just say that it was tough running at elevation.  It didn't help that our condo was located on a mountainside where my only options were to run up or down.  And if I chose down, well, then I had to finish going back up.

Stefanie and I, joined by our old friend Matt, were scheduled to arrive at our destination around 4:30pm on Sunday.  A tractor-trailer accident resulting in a closed interstate made for an interesting detour through a snowy Loveland Pass and a 7pm actual arrival time.  Our 1.5 hr drive was turned into a 4 hr drive.  Not fun.  And I still had to run.   Seven miles on the dark, snowy roads.  You'll find that 7 miles is a common theme.  That's how many miles I ran every day that I was in Silverthorne.  I guess it's an arbitrary choice, but 50 mpw is sort of my self-imposed minimum mileage.  I find it's best just to pick 7 miles a day and not give myself an option, because motivation to get out and run is pretty low while on vacation even for a running nut like myself.  Plus, I knew that I'd probably be able to run more Saturday and Sunday following the weekdays of skiing.

Monday morning I got up and put in my 7 miles before heading to the slopes.  I averaged around 7:30 pace for most all of my runs during the week, but it felt more like 6:30 effort - or faster.  Tuesday, same thing, I ran before skiing.  Most of the time, when I'm traveling with or visiting others, I try to get up and run in the morning before things get going.  I find that reduces the chance that I will get stuck doing something in the afternoon/evening that might interfere with my run.  But I don't particularly like running in the morning.  The slopes closed at 4pm which left me with plenty of daylight, so I switched over to running in the afternoon on Wednesday.

Me all geared up with Peak 8 in the background.

When you're snowboarding from 9am to 4pm, the legs tend to be a little tired for the run in the afternoon.  So it would only make sense on Wednesday, knowing I still had to run in the evening, that I would take the ski lift as high as it would go and then proceed to hike the rest of the way to the summit of Peak 8 at 12,998 ft.  If the skiing itself wasn't cross-training enough - climbing at 13,000 ft, in snowboarding boots, through soft powder snow, with the wind trying to blow you off the mountain - now that is serious cross-training.  It was only about 150 vertical feet of climb, but I had to stop several times to rest.  When I finally reached the summit, I was sucking wind like I'd just run an all-out mile.  It was so much fun that I repeated the challenge on Friday in even windier conditions.

The convoy of all the other crazies hiking to the summit.

On top of the world.

Double black diamond - the only way down from here.

I continued running my easy 7 miles in the evening on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but Thursday's run is worth noting.  I ran 2 miles up the mountain from our condo to a snow-covered trail.  I carried my YakTrax and slipped them on just before I hit the trail.  The snow was packed down by previous trail users and the YakTrax gripped beautifully.  It was really a treat to run through a forest blanketed in white.  I even encountered some cross-country skiers and quickly passed them.  I was so excited that I clocked a 5:10 for the final downhill mile on the road back to the condo.

The Saturday we wrapped up our vacation and were leaving Colorado presented a unique opportunity for me.  It's a long story, but there turned out to be a 5 hour gap between Stef's flight out of Denver and mine.  I decided to take this opportunity to go run on the Magnolia Road that I've read so much about.  After dropping Stef and Matt off at the Denver airport, I drove an hour to a spot just west of Boulder.  I continued driving up a paved, windy mountain road until the pavement ended.  This is where 'Mags' begins.  A 7.5 mile long dirt road, just above 8000 ft in elevation where many great runners have logged countless miles.  I parked on a small pull-off and began running with my camera.  I never run with a camera.  The road is rolling and climbs a manageable 400 ft from the start to the turn-around.  But the elevation is killer for a guy used to sea-level running.  For the 15 mile roundtrip, I averaged a measly 7:15 pace while running at 6 min/mi effort.  A long week of skiing could account for some of my fatigue, but the legs really felt decent.  I was hurting for oxygen though.  That was a very weird feeling.  I guess I expected to feel that way in Silverthorne.  But, here, on the road where the Colorado cross-country team trains, I expected to be able to run closer to a normal training pace.  I didn't fully appreciate the brutal effect the elevation has on this run.  Mags is beautiful in its own way, and I encourage any runner who has some time in the Boulder area to seek it out and experience Magnolia Road for yourself.

Enough warning signs for you?  Don't start running here.  Drive up 4.5 miles
to where the pavement ends and the dirt begins.  You'll be glad you did.

Magnolia Rd with snow-capped mountians in the background.

Magnolia Rd elevation profile.

Prior to arriving in Colorado on Sunday, I spent Friday and Saturday in San Diego for a college friend's wedding.  The weather was absolutely perfect for running, and I wondered aloud on Facebook why I was choosing to spend the majority of my vacation in Colorado as opposed to staying in San Diego.  After my week in Colorado though, I know I made the right decision.  I loved every minute in Colorado.  And although I wore more clothes, I was strangely never cold while running.  Obviously, I love skiing enough that I would sacrifice a week of optimized training just a month out from the USATF 100k to hit the Rockies.  I also can see why so many of the top trail ultra guys love Colorado enough to make it their home.

Last time down the mountain for my girl.

Singles

I normally consider my "running week" to be Monday to Sunday and log my miles accordingly.  But this week I am going to do something a bit different and tell you about my Thursday to Wednesday week of running.  Why?  Well, last week I spent Monday-Wednesday recovering from the Sylamore 50k, and this Friday I leave for a week of vacation.  So the front end of last week and the back end of this week are going to be boring.  And let's just be honest here, what I did in middle makes me look way cooler.

Before I get to the details, I think this would be a good opportunity to share one of the key features of my personal training plan.  I want to use my blog to occasionally share some of my training philosophies, and I felt it was important when looking at my past 7 days of training to understand the distinction of running this kind of mileage in singles as opposed to padding the mileage log with what I consider to be "junk" doubles.

Singles.  By my definition, singles simply mean a single run per day.  Now, depending on my audience here, you might ask, "What other kind of training philosophy is there besides running once per day?"  It's actually quite common for collegiate and elite post-collegiate distance runners to run more than once in a 24 hour period to boost their mileage.  You may have heard runners talking about doing "doubles" - and that's exactly what they were referring to - running twice in one day.  From my experience, it seems serious runners start considering double runs at around 70 miles per week. 

While my weekly mileage is consistently over 70 mpw, I almost always get my mileage in on just 7 runs per week.  This is largely a personal decision, but one I find works well for me, especially when considering the time constraints imposed by a full-time career. 

A typical double would be a 5-8 mile easy run in the morning or evening, depending on when you do your primary workout, and could happen just one day a week up to six days per week for really advanced professionals.  The purpose of a double is that allows you to increase your mileage with less stress on the body than the same amount of mileage in singles.  It's logical that two 5 mile runs, with 10 hours of rest in between, are less demanding on the body than one 10 mile run.  But, you also get less training adaptation from those two 5-milers than you would from the single 10-miler (assuming you can stay injury-free).  And your total time spent on the double preparing, running, and showering afterward takes up more total time out of your day than it would for the one 10 mile run.  There is something to be said about an easy second run "flushing out" the legs and aiding recovery, but that hasn't proven to be all that helpful to me personally.

For me, waking up at 5:30 AM to be out the door and running at 5:45 usually means I'm extremely tight and still half asleep.  I would do more than half of my run at 8 min/mi pace (1:15 slower than my average recovery pace) just trying to warm up my muscles to a normal functional ability.  I believe I get more benefit out of a single 12 miler at 6:45 pace, than a 6 mile/9 mile double.  And maybe the worst thing to me is that the double would come at the expense of about an hour of precious sleep.  I believe proper sleep is one of the most overlooked aspects of a complete training plan, and I know I don't get as much as I should even running just once a day.

  

[Disclaimer: Everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you.  If you aren't over 60 miles a week on singles, don't even think about doing doubles yet.  I also spent many years gradually building my strength up to the point where I could run 100 mpw in singles.  Lastly, I'm training for 50k's and 100k's, not 5k's and 10k's.]

If you're still reading, you probably want to know what I did last Thursday to Wednesday that would cause me to get out my soapbox, so here goes: 

Thursday:  9 mi @5:40 pace on the treadmill

                 with 3 mi warmup and 1 mi cooldown for 13 mi total

Friday:      Easy 12 mi in 79 min (6:40 pace)

Saturday:  25 mi in 3 hrs, 

                (7 mi road warmup, 14 mi tough/muddy little trail race, 4 mi road cool down)

Sunday:    15 mi really easy in 1:44 (6:56 pace)

Monday:   12 mi easy in 82 min (6:50 pace)

Tuesday:   Track workout: 2 mi warmup, strides & drills, 

                2x2mi w/2min recovery (10:38, 10:33)

                + 6 mi on the roads in 35:30 (5:55 pace), 1 mi cooldown. 

Wednesday: 12 mi in 81 min (6:45 pace)

Weekly Total: 102 miles in singles (average 6:42 pace)

That's a pretty gnarly week of training for me.  Good thing next week is vacation and a down week. I need it now.  I can tell that level of training is right at the limit of what my body can handle.  Let's hope it wasn't too much.

Results from Saturday's race - Frosty 14 Trail Race.
Some good pictures from Frosty 14 - I'm on pages 1 and 13.