One Week to Western States

I've decided to keep updating this post throughout the week as I have more to share.

Race coverage: 

iRunFar Men's Preview

iRunFar Women's Preview
iRunFar Prediction Contest
Karl Meltzer's Odds

Live Webcast during the race
Twitter Feed for #WS100
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6/22/2012

Not much more to be said.  I'm as ready as I'm going to get.

I just came across some last minute motivation.  iRunFar.com posted the group think predictions from their prediction contest.  The masses have me pegged at 11th.  I want to be top 10.

3AM wakeup call.  5AM PDT start.  That means 8AM for you folks on the east coast.  Check the links above for the live webcast and look for @iRunFar on twitter to follow the race.

Wish me luck. 

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6/21/2012

Sorry I didn't post yesterday.  I was just too busy packing after a regular workday to have time to update the blog.  No big deal, I didn't have much to say anyway.

But, I'm in Squaw now...well, staying in Truckee actually.

At the starting line.  The mountains look really big.

So, my travel went as planned today, but my parents who are coming out to crew for me had some issues and arrived in Sacramento about 8 hours later than scheduled.  I went ahead and drove out to Squaw though.  And on the way, I stopped at Drivers Flat (near the WS course a few miles from Auburn, CA) to do my little shakeout run for the day.  Everything felt really good.  I've been really nervous all week planning and packing, but as soon as I set foot on the trail I had a sense of peace.

From there, I headed to Truckee but the traffic was a nightmare for reasons I don't understand, so I diverted and went straight to Squaw to hear the expert panel discussion.  Got some good advice, said hi to a few friends, and just oriented myself with the starting area.  Afterward, I headed back toward my hotel in Truckee and stopped at a burger joint for dinner.  Not a fast food burger place, but a nice burger place where you can get avocado as a topping and a side of sweet potato fries.  Plus, I ran into WSER President John Trent while I was there, so it must be the place to eat 2 nights before the race.

Everything's good.  Weather feels great.  Legs feel great.  And hopefully I can get a good night of sleep.  Check-in and medical evaluations are tomorrow.

Just get me there!

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6/19/2012
Today I put in another 5 miles that included a mini 4x800m workout just to keep the legs feeling sharp. Everything is feeling good, I just can't wait to start running.  Speaking of starting to run, want to see some video from the first 30 miles of the course?

So, I'm ready to start talking about the weather now.  It was hot today again in Cincinnati, but it doesn't look like I really need the heat training anymore.

If that forecast holds it will be the 2nd coolest day in the history of the race.  I know some people would like to see it really hot to make things interesting, but I have a feeling that a really cool race could be quite exciting as well.  I wouldn't be surprised to see some folks adjust their strategy a little bit and the finish times could be really fast.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Even if the heat is not as bad as usual, there are plenty more factors that I will need to figure out to run well in my first 100 miler.

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6/18/2012
The weather here in Cincinnati is getting quite toasty, and I finally feel like I'm starting to acclimate to the heat.  Or maybe I'm just not running far enough this deep into my taper to really feel the effects. Who knows?  But if the current forecast holds for Auburn, CA then the heat may not be a huge concern anymore.  I'm not going to say anything else, because I don't want to jinx us.

I had a good run yesterday and got caught in a torrential downpour during the last mile.  That's always fun and refreshing this time of year.  I just did 5 miles really easy today at lunch and felt good even though is was warm and muggy.

Most of you reading this probably already know by now, but an accomplished ski mountaineer, Stephane Brosse, was killed in a fall this past weekend while attempting to cross Mont Blanc with Kilian Jornet.  Kilian was the Western States champion last year and was the clear favorite again this year.  As a result of the tragedy though, Kilian will not be racing WS100 as he mourns the loss of his friend.  Please keep Stephane's family and friends in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time.

With Miguel Heras announcing he's going to miss the race due to injury, and now Kilian being out under tragic circumstances, that leaves Ryan Sandes as the only Salomon international team athlete that will be competing as WS100.  The US contingent for Salomon is going to have to really step it up now.  Keep your eye out for Aliza Lapierre, Jorge Maravilla, and myself.

One other bit of news that you might be interested in is my pacer situation.  Some of you may have heard that Andy Henshaw was planning to pace for me, but he had to back out a couple of weeks ago due to a nagging injury.  Luckily, I had already recruited Dink Taylor to help my parents crew for me.  Dink's in great shape right now, is an experienced Western States runner, and jumped at the opportunity to run the last 38 miles with me.  Hopefully we can make it interesting.

Stay tuned...

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6/16/2012

We're a week out from Western States today.  I don't really have a lot to say, but I thought I'd do a quick post to let you know how things are going.

After the Western States training runs I did one more long run the following weekend.  I jumped in a local 50k that I've done the past two years.  It's mostly trail, but very flat and not technical.  Plus, Another Dam 50k is also a 4 loop course, so it was a great place to get in a supported long run.  I kept the pace really relaxed the first couple loops, making sure to stick to my plan and not get caught up in the race.  I picked it up a bit the last two laps, but never caught the leader, and was able to go straight into an additional lap.  It wasn't hot enough to really get in any heat training, but I was happy with my 38 miles for the day.  And in the 8 day period that included the WS training camp and AD50k I ran 163 miles.

After AD50k, I immediately went into my 3 week taper leading up to Western States.  It's tempting to want to sneak in some last minute hill training, and I heard a bunch of folks were also hitting the sauna to get some heat acclimatization.  But, on the advice of some very experienced ultra runners, I decided to shut it down, avoid the sauna, and just let the body get completely recovered.  

After a week of tapering, I expected to feel great on a little trail tempo run to keep the legs loose, but I didn't.  I actually felt awful.  I felt sluggish and the legs had absolutely no pop on the (small) climbs.  That seems to happen quite often during my tapers, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow when it does occur.  If I've been resting a week, I think my legs should feel good.  But the more times I go through this process, the more I realize that it takes more than a week.  I think this is because the taper period usually follows a very tough phase of training, as was the case this time.

But, a bad run like that allows doubts to creep into the mind, and I didn't want that hanging over me heading into the race.  So last Wednesday, after a few more days of recovery, I went back to my favorite trails and tried again.  Much better this time.  I felt great, and was climbing as well as I ever have before.  I just had to try the workout again to keep my confidence high going into Western States.

I'm really shutting down the mileage this week, but I'll keep a little of the intensity just to keep the legs feeling fresh.  Mother nature is providing some free heat training in Cincinnati this weekend with high temperatures around 90 degrees.  I'll be heading to California Thursday morning.  Wish me luck!

Western States Training Camp

To give myself every possible opportunity to be successfully at the Western States Endurance Run, and especially since this is my first attempt at a 100 mile race, I chose to spend Memorial Day weekend at training camp.  The WSER training camp is an organized event where runners can preview 70 miles of the course over this 3 day period.  Aid stations and bus service are provided to participants at a minimal cost. For someone who has never seen the course, and has virtually no ability to train on terrain that even remotely resembles the WS100 course, the training runs can be incredibly helpful.  In fact, the training camp and the Quad Rock 50 miler I did just over 2 weeks ago is the only highly-specific training that I will be able to do before Western States.

First, let me share a little background info on the race and the course for those that are unfamiliar.  The 100 mile trail race will be held Saturday, June 23rd in the Sierra Mountains between Reno, NV and Sacramento, CA.  The 18,000ft of climb that runners face on race day will be difficult, but there is even more descent in total and that aspect of the race wreaks havoc on almost everyone's quads.  The weather also plays a huge role in this race because it can be freezing with snow on the ground at the start, but the canyons can be over 110 deg F in the afternoon.  The course is roughly divided into 4 parts.  The oxygen-sparse high country is the first 30 miles of the race after starting in Squaw Valley and peaking out around 8,750 ft in elevation.  Then comes the tough canyons sections from Robinson Flat at mile 30 to Foresthill at mile 62.  Next is Cal St, a much more runnable section of trail (if your quads are still working properly) down to the Rucky Chucky crossing of the American River.  And then finally, from the river crossing at mile 78 to the finish is another very runnable section if you still have legs.  At training camp we were able to run the last 3 sections of the course.

On the first day, we met at Foresthill Elementary school, loaded up on school buses, and took a 1 hour ride to Robinson Flat (mile 30).  There was a light dusting of snow on the ground above 6,000ft and it was chilly enough that I had on gloves, arm sleeves, and a light jacket.  When I exited the bus, I started looking around for some familiar faces, but I knew very few people and there were probably several hundred runners streaming toward the trailhead.  By the time I took a few pictures and got ready to run, I decided it was unlikely that I'd find someone to run with.  So I headed for the single track.  The first couple miles was VERY slow going.  I didn't realize how many slower runners I had gotten caught behind.  We were crawling.  My first mile split was 18 minutes.  The trail was narrow and the line of runners was very long, but I eventually picked my way through.  After a few miles, the trail opened up to a fire road and I took off looking for someone running around my pace.

I got sucked into running fast on the gradual downhill just like I DON'T want to do on race day.  But this allowed me to catch Salomon teammate Jorge Maravilla and Victor Ballesteros just after the Dusty Corners aid station.  My pace cooled as we instantly fell into good conversation.  So good in fact, that we missed a turn back onto a single track trail and were 2 miles down the road before we realized our mistake.  It was easily corrected though and we turned around to return to the proper course.  Of course, now I'm behind all the people I was stuck behind at the beginning.  But everyone was more spread out now and most people were willing to let us pass.  I ran with Jorge and Victor for a while, but I kept going when they stop to chat with some slower runners.  I wanted to test myself a little on the big descents into the canyons.

Pretty sure we ended up way down there.

5 runners = 3 horses?

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful as I pushed through on my own.  The descents were fun and the climbs up Devil's Thumb and Michigan Bluff were tough.  The small climb up to Foresthill School surprised me a bit, but I shut it down when I ran into Aliza Lapierre (Salomon), Rory Bosio, and Paul Terranova.  I ended the day with 36 miles in 5:39 with 12,000' of descent and 8,500' of climb.  

The second day, we ran from Foresthill to the Rucky Chucky under near perfect weather conditions.  From Rucky Chucky, the official plan was to climb out 3 miles to a staging area where buses would pick up the runners and take us back to Foresthill.  I started with a big group and got some great course advice from veteran Scott Wolfe.  After the first big descent of 4 miles, Scott stopped to run with the fast ladies and I was on my own.  The Cal St. section is much more runnable than the previous day, so I naturally got into rhythm on this section.  I reached Rucky Chucky at 15.5 miles in just two hours.  It was going to take me no more than 30 minutes to climb out, and then I would have had to wait an hour for the first bus back to Foresthill.  So I just decided to run back on the trail.  This was a little risky because I would have to go 15.5 miles with no aid stations as the weather was heating up.  Plus, I would be climbing a significant amount on the return trip.  I made it back in 2:26 with no real issues, but I did run dry a couple miles out.  I tallied 31 miles on the day with about 13,000' of total elevation change.  Then I drove back down to the bus stop/aid station so I could get a hot dog and Coke.

The fast kids.

On Sunday evening, iRunFar and Montrail sponsored a panel discussion and dinner at a local community center.  I won't go into detail about it here because it was all video taped and will be shared on the web soon if you're interested in what was said there.  It was cool to hang out with a bunch of Western States legends and put names with faces.  I didn't learn anything race-changing, but there were many good reminders.  The hard part will be following their advice on race day.

On the third and final day, I was 19 miles ahead of schedule for the weekend, so I decided to relax a little and just enjoy the run.  Jorge and I hooked back up and spent the whole morning together.  This was another gorgeous and runnable section of trail.  I hope to have some legs left when I reach this section during the race.  I will say the last climb to the finish at Placer High School was kind of tough.  I imagine that it's going to be incredibly tough at mile 97 of the race.  22 miles in 3:07 for the day.

Jorge and myself at No Hands Bridge.

Sweet gear.

It was a great weekend and well worth my time.  It's so hard to put a course into perspective until you've run it. The training camp really helped me understand what I'll have to face on race day.  The names of the aid stations have so much more meaning now that I've run through most of them.  Plus, I got in some great training that I wouldn't have been able to do at home.  And I met so many great people who are also passionate about this crazy sport.

I can't wait to do it all again in less than 4 weeks.

This is the goal.  My final destination.

Addendum

Decisions, decisions.

In my haste to get this post out the door last night, I left out a few details which I think are important…like how I felt or what shoes I wore.  And those two things are actually quite related.  I was excited to finally receive a pair of the Salomon Sense just a few weeks ago.  But because their minimalist 4mm heel-to-toe drop is much lower than I'm used to running in, I knew I would need some time to adjust.  Over the last couple weeks, I’d run in them enough to feel comfortable testing them out on the course this weekend, so that’s what I did.  I spent all of Saturday and again on Monday in the Sense, but switched back to my Speedcross (I raced QR50 and LBL50 in these) to give the legs a break on Sunday.  Overall, my legs felt really good, but my calves definitely noticed the lower profile of the Sense.  My quads seems to handle the descents really well, even though I pushed them on Saturday playing catch-up.  The Sense is a fantastic shoe.  I’m just not sure my calves are ready to handle a 100 mile race in them yet.  I was considering  several options, one being to start in my Speedcross and switch into the Sense at Foresthill.  But when I returned home from California, Salomon had a brand new pair of the S-LAB 5 XT Wings waiting for me on the doorstep.  I had never tried this shoe, and honestly didn’t have very high expectations (I was more excited about the Missions in the box as well), but they felt great as soon as I slipped the pair on my feet.  I was so impressed in fact, that I opted to do an 8 mile run in them that afternoon.  I want to spend some more time in them before States, but the XT Wings could be the middle ground that I’ve been looking for between the Speedcross and Sense.  I probably wouldn’t plan to change this shoe during WS if it’s the one I decide to use.  

By the way, I'm really pleased with how the legs are feeling two days after the training runs.  My calves are still pretty useless, and the legs feel tired in general, but nothing else is even sore.  I hope that's a good sign leading into the race.

Back from the Dead

Quad Rock 50 Race Report

Although I didn't win the race, I came home with some goodies.

I knew it would be different. I knew it was going to be hard. As best I could, I attempted to imagine how tough Quad Rock would be before I started the race. But I couldn't fully comprehend the difficulty until I experienced it. Even so, it served it's purpose. I gained a sense of perspective that I didn't previously have. I learned a ton about myself, about running in the mountains, and about what I need to do to be successful at Western States. So I guess I have to declare it a success even though I was not even close to the winner.

This race was full of firsts for me. My first time racing above 2,000 ft in elevation...the elevation ranged from 5,000-7,000 ft. My first race starting in the dark and using a headlamp. My first ultra west of the Mississippi. And at least 6,000 ft more climbing and an equal amount of descent more than I'd ever run in a race. I sound like a rookie.

Although locals reported it was 85 degrees on Thursday, it was probably 45 degrees at the race start and was even colder on top of the mountain. At least the heat was not another factor that I had to worry about. As the race began in the chilly, pre-dawn darkness, I tried to settle in to a comfortable pace in about 10th place among both 25 miler and 50 mile competitors. I was carrying my headlamp in my hand since I'd only need it for about 20 minutes, and I concentrated on not falling and embarrassing myself over the first couple miles of non-technical trail. At 4 miles the climbing started. I would be either climbing or descending for the next 42 miles until I hit this point on the course again on the reverse trip.

The is the elevation profile compared to StumpJump 50k.

I was with Ryan Burch at the top of the first climb and feeling OK. I was told he was probably the guy to watch, but I wasn't going to try and chase him on the descents because he would fly down and my quads weren't conditioned for that. Sure enough, he bombed the first descent and left me. I chose to be conservative as instructed, but I don't think even Burch could have maintained that kind of pace descending late in the race. At the bottom of the descent we reached our drop bags and I took some time to take off my jacket. Burch was already long gone.

I knew my stomach was not in a good place very early. I struggled to get down a gel before the race even started, gagging on just a partial squeeze. I had some GI distress the day before and it seemed that my stomach still hadn't quite settled. Some of this was probably due to nerves, but it's hard to say how much, although I'm fairly sure it wasn't all nerves. So, I'm running along and not eating like I should have been.

Nutrition is a funny thing. I know that I have to eat, or I'm going to die.  And yet, I can't force myself to eat because it would come right back up. Hindsight may normally be just 20/20, but I think it's better than that when looking back at your ultras. I probably should have stopped for a few minutes early in the race and figured out what I could eat. But it's really hard to do that when you're in contact with the leaders and want to stay there. To make matters worse, the cool temperatures made me feel like I didn't need to drink very much, so I wasn't even getting normal calories from the GU Brew that I was carrying in my hand held. I usually drink coke when the gels aren't working, but I wasn't even doing that. I was doing everything wrong.

Although I hadn't been eating, I was still feeling pretty good after the 2nd climb of six total.  But as I crested the 3rd climb around the 3 hour mark, I was quickly running out of fuel. I was sluggish on the mild descent to the turn around point and knew I was in trouble. As I made the turn at 25 miles to run the course in reverse, I was in 3rd place and about 10 minutes back from Burch who was still leading. I had no power on the climb and hiked much of it. My hamstrings, glutes, and lower back were totally shutting down. After another lethargic descent dropping me to 5th place, I stopped at the mile 32.4 aid station, only having consumed 2 gels in 5 hours of racing.  

As the crow flies, it was only two miles from the start/finish, so it was the logical place to drop. I sat down and had Dylan Bowman try to call Ian Torrence (one of my coaches) to see if he thought I should drop out. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the cell phone reception was poor and we couldn't get through to Ian. I sat and stretched, rejecting every offer from the very helpful aid station volunteers that were trying to help me. Eventually, I ate an orange section. And then I started feeling hungry. Mark that as another first...the first time I've ever actually had an appetite in any race. I think I ate about 5 more orange sections.  

After hanging around the aid station for 10 minutes, I decided to hike the next climb and see what happened. I left the aid station just as sixth place was coming in. I hiked almost the entire climb and it probably took me an hour. My Garmin went bonkers at this point, so the details are a little foggy.  I had absolutely no power to climb, but I was feeling better otherwise. I was even able to take a gel with no problems. I made it to the aid station at the top and ate more orange sections. Again, I was just heading out as 6th place arrived.

The mountains were shrouded in clouds most of the time I was there.

Anything flat or downhill I could run, but even the slightest uphill I was hiking. It was strange because I had recovered enough to run downhill quite fast. My quads seemingly weren't affected too much by the descents like everyone had warned me they would be. So I hammered down to the aid station at 10 miles to go. My energy was back, and I was even getting my head back in the race thinking I might be able to catch someone over the last 7.2 mile descent if I could just survive the next climb.

I was forced to hike once again on the final climb, and it felt like it took forever. Once I crested, I had some more oranges and was off. I screamed down the fire road thinking I might still have a chance to break 8 hours. I ran well those last few miles, but came up a little short of my new 8 hour goal. I crossed in 5th place at 8:03.

For much of the race, I was not in a good place mentally. But I'm really proud that I was able to address my issues, turn my race around, and finish respectably. I've read that problem solving is one of the keys to finishing well at Western States. Hopefully this experience will give me confidence that I can tackle obstacles on the fly. I learned many other things as well. I've known nutrition is important, but I keep needing to be reminded how important. I've got to get this figured out before States or I'm toast. I learned I'm not a great climber, but I also think my nutrition problems and running the 100k just 3 weeks before QR hurt my climbing ability significantly. On the positive side, I was really pleased with how well I handled the descents, and I'm optimistic that will translate well to Western States.

And finally, you know what else I learned?  How to put on a heck of a race. Nick Clark and Pete Stevenson did an absolutely fantastic job directing Quad Rock in its inaugural year. Their attention to detail was meticulous. It was obvious that veteran ultra runners were running the show. When I direct a race one day, I'm going to do my best to follow their example. I think Quad Rock will quickly become a very popular race.

So while I feel like I could have run a lot better, it really was a pretty good day.  I learned a ton and met a bunch of really cool folks. Contrary to popular belief, it's not just running.

Full results here.

On my shakeout run the day before the race.

Quick gear review:
Shoes - Salomon Speedcross 3.  The best compliment I can pay them is that I didn't even think about them the whole race.  Traction was more than adequate and my feet felt great afterward.
Socks - Swiftwick Vibe One.  Zip, zero, zilch blisters...in a 50 mile race with 22,000ft of elevation change.  Wow.
Hydration pack - Salomon S-Lab 5. This was kind of a trial run and my first time wearing a hydration pack.  I found that it stays glued to my back and didn't bother me the whole race. I really liked being able to carry all my gels, powders and salt tabs on my person especially since I didn't have a crew. Although the bladder was filled with water, I actually didn't drink from it very much. I found that I just prefer drinking from my hand held bottle.
Shorts - Salomon EXO Motion short.  I was skeptical about these shorts at first, but they've definitely grown on me.  No chaffing or any other problems.  I'll be wearing them again.

Quad Rock Preview

In my last race report, I mentioned how I felt like not having a chance to think about the race definitely kept me from getting very nervous, and maybe even helped me run better.  Well, I’ve had plenty of time to think about this weekend’s Quad Rock 50 miler.  I’m plenty nervous.  Because I know it’s going to be plenty tough.

Very few people probably realize how different of a race this will be for me.  The 11,000ft of climb and equal descent that I’ll face on Saturday is by far the most I’ve ever seen, not to mention the altitude that could have a significant impact on my sea-level conditioned body.  To help myself and my readers gain a better perspective, I threw together this plot to show how different Quad Rock is compared to the toughest race I’ve run to date, StumpJump 50k.

Twelve miles shorter than the road 100k, but it will take me much longer to finish.

As you can see, there really isn’t even a comparison.  Quad Rock is all up or down.  There is no flat section on the course.  Since I spent the last couple months focusing on the World 100k, I’m not well-conditioned for this type of course.  I haven’t had a chance to do any significant hill work in the last few weeks because I was concentrating on recovering from Worlds.  Even if I hadn't run the 100k, it’s doubtful I’d be in much better shape for the climbs and descent, because we just don’t have that kind of terrain around Cincinnati.

But, Quad Rock is not the goal.  This is all about Western States.  This weekend’s race is intended to be a hard training run and benchmark effort to see where I stand as I begin focusing my training on WS100.

I don’t have the time and I’m not really qualified to preview the field, so I’ll let Ryan Burch handle that.  He did a good job I think and I don't really have anything to add.  Check his preview here.

It sounds like Leona Divide champ Dylan Bowman (@dylanbo) will be live tweeting from the race if you want to follow along.

Wish me luck.  I may need it more in this race than I’ve needed it in any ultra I’ve done so far.

2012 IAU 100km World Championships

There’s no way I could do this race justice by just doing a typical race report.  To accurately share the full experience, you must be able to appreciate the full set of circumstances surrounding the event.  As such, this account will be much more like a trip report than my standard race report.  Because it's so long, I've divided it into two parts, so if you just want the race report, scroll down and skip to "The Race."

Team at the flag ceremony and parade.

Getting to the Starting Line

My journey to the IAU 100k World Championship race didn’t actually begin with travel directly to the race.  Through an incredible amount of scheduling luck, my business was conducting a test in France the two weeks prior to the race.  It was really quite amazing how well the puzzle pieces fell into place that allowed me to travel to France early for work and get the body acclimated to the new time zone in advance, all while covering a test that someone from my office would have been at regardless.

My small car and small home for a week in France.

Of course, things don’t always work out so perfectly as planned, and this was the situation I found myself in on the Friday just over a week out from the Sunday race.  Our testing had finished much earlier than expected which is virtually unheard of in our line of work.  Normally, I would have just changed my flight and returned to the US, but with the race upcoming, it didn't really make sense to fly home just to turn around and fly back to Europe a week later.  I scrambled over the weekend to find other work in France that would keep me productive.  Luckily, we have some business partners near Paris that we work with extensively, and they were able to get me emergency access to their facility (not an easy feat).  Long story short, I turned a really sticky situation into a great opportunity to interface with colleagues in a way that hadn’t been previously available.  I did have to fly to Paris, change hotels and rental cars, but it was worth the extra travel and inconvenience.

I got to see some cool stuff in France, like Carcasonne.

And an old Super Guppy at an outdoor aircraft museum in Toulouse.

After wrapping up work in Paris Thursday afternoon, I flew into Milan the next morning.  US teammate Michael Wardian was set to arrive 15 minutes after my flight, so we were planning to meet up and share a rental car.  He had forwarded me the rental reservation, and both of us just naturally assumed that we'd be meeting at the rental car desk.  But I get to the Malpensa airport and there’s no rental car desk for the company he selected.  There’s no sign of Mike either.  And I don’t know where to meet if not the rental car desk.  To make matters worse, neither of us had phone service or internet access at this point (I had a dumb phone, but no way to reach him).  I check the reservation he forwarded me, and down in the fine print I see that you have to catch a shuttle bus to an offsite location to get the car.  Did Mike go there ahead of me?  I didn’t know.  Not wanting to be left, I decided it was best to get as close to the rental car as possible.

I jumped on the shuttle and was taken to the most unusual car rental office I've ever seen.  It was in a small corner of an industrial building that appeared to be a soda bottler or something like that.  It had a tiny parking lot and no rental cars parked anywhere in the immediate vicinity.  Of course, the employees spoke very little English to my zero Italian.  The good news was that Mike did have a reservation and hadn't picked up his car.  I knew he hadn't left me, so I waited.  I sat outside the office on my USA Track and Field rolling bag.  And I waited some more.  The rental car company seemed like they were doing pretty good business, so that was a little reassuring.  Finally, after waiting for around 3 hours, Mike appears.  His flight from the US had been delayed, so he missed his connection and arrived in Milan later than expected.  Crisis averted, but it's quite a helpless feeling to be stuck in a foreign country with no real means of communicating with anyone.

Does this look like a rental car office to you?

Our rental "van" actually was a blessing in disguise.

They give us a van type thing, which at first was a little odd, but I convinced Mike to just go with it because it would probably come in handy ferrying around teammates.  (Boy, was I right.)  We entered in the address of our accommodations on the GPS and it’s a 2 hour drive.  That was a little unexpected.  But the drive was mostly uneventful and Wardian generously shared some of the snacks he packed because neither of us had eaten a real lunch and it was looking like it would be 4pm before we arrived at our lodging.  We tried to make the toll-paying experience more interesting than it should have been.  I was still scarred from getting stuck at a French toll gate that didn’t accept paper Euros or credit cards.  Luckily the Italian one accepted credit cards and we only had to put the van into reverse once to get the job done. 

About an hour in, we pass the race location of Seregno, a small town on the outskirts of Milan.  But the GPS says we still have another hour to drive.  That’s not a good sign.  If it’s not immediately obvious, having a group of 12 very particular athletes, most of whom don’t have cars, at a remote location with very limited access to – well, anything – is a recipe for disaster.  I fear the worst as we turn northward heading straight for the mountains.  We pass Lake Como and start climbing.  We pass through a small village and really start climbing.  Climbing switchbacks.  I was surprised to see a big charter bus coming down the switchbacks.  I think word got out among the bus drivers, because I never saw another one up there all weekend.  We peak out around 4pm at over 4,000 ft with traces of snow still hanging around.

Heading for the hills.

Um, yes.  We ended up there in the clouds.

Our home for the next three nights turned out to be Catholic retreat lodge in a very small mountaintop village.  As soon as we walked in the door, the lodge staff unexpectedly offered Mike and I a specially prepared late lunch.  That was a pleasant surprise and was a good sign of things to come, as our hosts were incredibly accommodating in spite of the difficult situation not at all of their making.  Mike and I went for a shakeout run while they prepared our food.

Our mountaintop location would have been great if we had time for exploring rugged and remote trails.  But we were there to run a fast road race, not mountain trails.  We found a relatively flat half mile loop and made the best of it.  We had spaghetti sans marinara sauce ready when we returned to the lodge.  It was actually quite tasty with just olive oil and salt, but we were so hungry at this point, I think shoe leather might have tasted good.  But they weren’t done.  We then were brought a large frittata (just a plain omlette), French fries, bread and a tomato salad.  That was nice.

We made it!

Quite a ways down to the lake.

The room situation was not so nice, however.  We had large numbers of our party packed into co-ed rooms filled with bunk beds, and if a room was really lucky, then they had their own “private” bathroom.  One group of folks that stayed there Thursday night had already exited, choosing to find their own accommodations elsewhere.  That fact, combined with the hard bargaining of our team managers, resulted in Mike and I getting a pretty decent setup that we also shared with Joe Binder.  We really didn’t know how good we had it with just 3 guys in one room plus a bathroom until much later in the weekend.  I heard one room had 11 adults in it with one bathroom to share.

Olsen, Wardian, and Braje loosening up on our level loop.

As I understand it, when a race bids for the World Championship and gets it, they are responsible to arranging the accommodations for all of the teams.  A rustic lodge, an hour from the race start, on the top of a mountain, is not adequate for a race of this caliber.  The local organizing committee (LOC) was also supposed to provide shuttle buses for everyone staying at our particular lodge (US, Canadian, and Mexican teams).  That was an utter disaster because it took two stages of shuttles to get folks down the mountain and then onto the big buses.  And Italians just don’t seem to be able to tell time in general.  I heard later that there was a furniture conference in Milan that weekend that prevented the LOC from obtaining any lodging close to the race, but that’s no excuse in my opinion.  That’s just a failure of the LOC to do the proper homework.

The bottom line is that I was there to focus on running a fast race, but I wasn’t ever able to think about the race because I was so busy dealing with last minute changes in plans and logistical nightmares.  Not exactly the ideal setup.  Worrying about everything but the race does have its advantages; I don’t seem to get as nervous when I don’t have time to think about the race.

Henshaw proudly carrying the flag.

Our team coaches and volunteers were absolutely great though, constantly making adjustments wherever they could to help the team run well.  As a team, we opted to skip the official pasta dinner the night before the race, because if we had gone, we wouldn't have returned to our rooms until 11pm.  And we were already looking at wake-up calls prior to 5am on race morning.  Instead, we arranged to leave Seregno immediately following the flag ceremony and had our lodge prepare us a special pasta dinner.  I will say that the flag ceremony and parade was very well attended by an enthusiastic Italian crowd.  But I was happy to leave early and be in bed by 10pm Saturday night.  I slept quite well that night once I got to sleep.  Only the noisy return of the other teams that attended the pasta dinner bothered me a little bit. 

The Race

I awoke around 4:30am and got a quick shower as is my standard pre-race routine just to help the body wake up a little better.  The guy’s team all piled into the van that Wardian and I had rented.  I told you it would come in handy.  There was no way we were chancing our transportation to the race start on the unreliable shuttle buses.  As a team though, we didn’t have enough cars for everyone, so the women’s team had to take the buses.  I made the not-so-bold prediction that the race start would be delayed because we saw no sign of buses when we came off the mountain heading toward town.

Indeed, the race start was delayed, but only by 30 minutes, which I considered a major accomplishment at this point.  And our women’s team arrived in a sufficient amount of time to get ready to run.  As we headed to the start line, race officials confiscated Joe Binder’s waist pack and water bottle.  Apparently there was a new rule this year that no one bothered to tell us that you couldn’t carry a handheld during the race.  Are you kidding me?  I carried a handheld last year.  I would have been furious and my nutrition plan totally destroyed if I had chosen to do the same this year.  Luckily for me, not so much for Joe, I had prepared disposable bottles with my favorite raspberry GU Brew and a GU gel taped to the outside to pick up every 10k.  I’m still trying to figure out why I could carry my disposable bottle however far I pleased, but Joe couldn’t carry a reusable handheld.  Inexplicable!

Buried several rows deep at the start.

As if that wasn't enough, I found something else to get even more furious about before the gun went off.  Once the team finally made it to the starting line, we were stuck about 5 rows deep behind people that had absolutely no business being in the first row.  You expect this to happen in local 5k’s, but not in a World Championship race.  Now, I fully admit that starting position has almost no impact on the outcome of a 100k race; it’s just the principle of the matter.  But the damage was done, and I got a huge adrenaline dump after getting so upset over this.  When the race started I took off much faster than normal, and I wasn’t weaving through the slow people in front of me; I went through them like an ice breaker ship in a frozen sea, wedging myself in between people and pushing them out of the way.  My first mile was just over 6 flat.  Way faster than my expected race pace, but that adrenaline high I was still riding made me feel awfully good.

I found myself in the unexpected position of being the lead guy for the American team.  Rationally, I knew that I would need to back off the pace some, so I tried to settle in and get comfortable.  Andy Henshaw joined me a short time later and we were able to get settled in together.  The pace was still much quicker than I was aiming to run, but I felt really good and was locked in clicking off 6:20ish miles.  There were two Italian teammates running in lockstep with us for the first 40k.  This was very interesting because the Italian team was second last year behind the US, and we knew that they would be strong contenders for the gold this year.  The weather was cloudy and cool, with a little wind, nearly perfect for racing.  And my GU gels were going down quite well, an aspect of my race which I have struggled with recently.

Andy and I cruising together early.

At 40k I still felt good, although my lower back and butt had begun to ache a little.  I was worried it was awfully early for this to be happening, but my breathing was incredibly controlled.  It was like 6:20 pace had become conversation pace.  I could tell by Andy’s face that he was starting to struggle a little bit.  A short time later, I slowly pulled away from him and the Italian guys.  

My first marathon was 2:45.

I turned my focus on getting myself through the 50k mark.  The 50k became a mini-goal because I knew I was on track to run my 50k PR.  Granted, I have never run a road 50k, but nonetheless, a PR midrace would be cool, if not a little scary.

I split the 50k in 3:16.

I was running alone now and started mentally breaking the race into smaller, more manageable 10k chunks.  With only half of the race behind me, and running a blistering pace, I knew things could get ugly for me later in the race.  I tried to relax and ease off the pace to prepare for this eventuality.  But I just kept clicking off 6:20s.  I was locked in.  It was comforting to know that my nutrition plan was going really well, much better than any race in the last year or so.  But the sun was starting to peak out and warm things up, so I began popping salt tabs and taking advantage of the wet sponge stations to cool myself.

The 4^th loop (60k-80k) I expected to be difficult.  Everything was hurting by now even though I was still maintaining pace surprisingly well.  This phase of the race is usually the toughest mentally for me, but I knew this year there was no way I was going to quit.  I pressed only focusing on getting to the next aid station that was never more than 5k away.  

I split 50 miles in 5:17.

Fatigue came quickly right around 80k.  My calves suddenly started cramping.  My energy levels plunged.  I was worried that I was in big trouble.  I started focusing on surviving just to the next kilometer.  I felt like I was shuffling but the watch was still saying low 7 minute miles.  I was still drinking the GU Brew, but I couldn’t convince myself to eat another gel.  I started doing occasional 15-20 second segments of “pity walking” to help collect myself.  No one had passed me though since I left the group at 40k.  I knew I was still the first American and I would still run a really good time if I could just keep moving.  So I did.

My second marathon split was 2:49.

I was in survival mode until about 6 or 7 km to go.  It was then I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel again.  I started doing the math in my head trying to predict my finish time, desperate to run what I considered to be an acceptable second half.  My pace recovered somewhat as my will to reach the finish line trumped the total body pain that I was experiencing. 

With 3k to go, the course had a short hairpin turn extension where you could see anyone within about a about minute behind you.  A German runner was closing on me fast.  We made eye contact.  His eyes said, “You’re mine.”  I'm not sure what he saw in my eyes, but my mind was saying, "I don't think so."

The German that almost caught me.

I ran the last 3k on pride.  There was no way I was going to let this dude roll up on me this late in the race.  My GPS watch died at 60 miles so I have no clue how fast I was running, but it felt fast…definitely faster than I’d run since before 80k.  As we wound through an open field with just half mile to go, I knew I was going to hold him off.  I made sure not to leave any doubt though, and I kicked hard for the finish.

6:45:19.  5^th place overall.  1^st American.  

If that weren't enough, my top-10 finish automatically qualifies me for the 2013 US 100km team that will be racing in South Korea.

Jon Olsen and Mike Wardian finished less than 4 minutes behind me, and Joe Binder’s PR effort was enough to put 4 American men in the top 10.  Todd Braje ran well, but it definitely wasn't his best day. Henshaw had to drop out when he became unable to hold down any calories.  As a team, I really feel we ran great, but it wasn't enough to beat the Italians this year.  Giorgio Calcaterra won the individual title again this year with a PR of 6:23 (6:09 pace), and the Italians also put another team member in front of me.  Although we had all three of our guys well in front of their 3^rd man, it wasn't enough to make up for the time cushion that their first two runners provided.

The US Women’s team completely stole the show though.  Amy Sproston won the individual gold and led the team to a decisive victory on the team side.  The women put three runners in the top 5!

World Champ Amy Sproston!

Guys at the awards ceremony with our silver medals.

For all the logistical trouble that the LOC had the weekend of the race, the actual execution of the race was excellent.  Credit where credit is due.  The course was locked down and as well-manned as I have ever seen a course in my entire racing career.  It would have been perfect if it weren't for the donkeys and a herd of sheep on the course at one point.  But even that was so unusual that it was more entertaining than inconvenient.  Race organizers simply did a great job of making sure the runners didn't have to worry about anything except running fast.  And in the end, that's really what it's all about.  Maybe it's good to not have time to think about the race before you get to the starting line.  Or maybe it was that adrenaline shot I got from being trapped several rows deep at the start.  Whatever it was, I ran really well, so I guess I can't complain.

Post-race treat.  Gelato and free wifi.  Debatable which I enjoyed more.

Thanks to the IAU for the in-race pictures.  I also borrowed a few from Amy. Thanks!