Sunday 24 August 2014

Ultracation, the Fun Times to the Disappointment


Last week I was on an ultracation that started on Wednesday at Manning Park, it was part camping, part ultrarunning in the Fat Dog 120 mile endurance run. Kyndra and I arrived at the camp site in the afternoon with beautiful weather for us to enjoy. We quickly set up camp so that we would have lots of time to relax. As we finished setting up the tent and sleeping quarters, Gareth and Katie pulled up. They were also eager to setup camp.
We decided to set up a tarp over the cooking & eating area so if there was rain we would be dry while cooking. I decided to nominate myself to climb on top of a car's roof top get the rope over a branch. This was an extremely smart idea since it help test my balance and had to be careful not to dent the roof with my fat ass. This was not going so well, so Kyndra suggested using trekking poles as spears with the rope attached was a better idea. Time seems to fly by and we had a blast that night. We feasted like royalty, for our supper we had patty pan squash, savoury apple & onions, veggie quesadillas with salsa & guacamole. For desert we had dips ahoy and hot chocolate.

Thursday morning Gareth and I were up early and decided to walk over to Lightning lake to see if the finish line was set up for the race, sadly there wasn't anything there and we headed back to see if the girls were awake and ready. Just as we arrived at the camp site the girls slowly made their way out of the tents with big smiles to start the day. Thanks to Katie we had some very filling oatmeal with lots of nuts and dried fruit. After breakfast we headed to the lake to have a stroll around and check out the wildlife. Kyndra has a special relationship with animals, they come right up to her for food and eat out of her hand.

Checking out the route
Kyndra and her special relationship with animals
Cute little guy eating his treats

Nice little runnable section at the end
Pointing out Skyline

After feeding the marmots, we headed back to camp taking the loop around the lake. We needed to fill up our stomachs with some tomato basil soup, sandwiches & salad. As we were cleaning up from our delicious lunch, Dustin and Bayly showed up. It was Dustin's birthday and he was ready to party, but first he needed to set up a tent and get his drop bags ready. Dustin and I are very different when it comes to our running, I use a spreadsheet and carefully calculated out my calorie intake through out the run with extra food just in case, I need to train a lot and often just to able to finish. Dustin just throws some food in zip lock bags, maybe has a beer or two and is ready to run, always faster then me.

Once he was ready we headed over to the drop bag area to drop off our bags and pick up our race package before the race briefing. By this time we were wondering where Shawn was, he was suppose to be here for the afternoon and was no where in site. Lucky he showed up just after the briefing and we decided to treat ourselves by heading over to the pub for some food. I decided to go with an order of wings, chicken strips and fries; not my usual pre-run dinner but did the job. That evening there was a bit of rain that night and sadly Dustin & Bayly's tent was a little wet, the rest of us were okay. Poor Dustin and Bayly ended up sleeping in a car for the night. 

Drop bag drop off location
Me with my drop bags

Aid station supplies
Package pick up
My mugshot to ID the body if I'm lost
Dustin's mugshot
The runners with their pacers
Gareth being Gareth

Nice

Fun times at the pub

Some serious conversation

Shawn looking cool as always

Team Ultrafirm, no softies allowed

Friday morning I was up and quickly was getting ready to head out. I had a helping of Katie's oatmeal and was ready to go, doing my double checks on the car ride to the start. I was nervous but felt ready to tackle the beast, I was a little worried since this would be almost double the distance of my last race, Vancouver 100. We got to the start line and checked in, said hello to other runners and took in the beautiful sights. We all lined up on the bridge waiting for the start, as soon as we hear the bear banger go off, there was over 100 of us starting to make our way up the mountain. I started off with Dustin right in front of me and instantly knew I was going too fast, I kept up with him for about 60 minutes before I let myself slow down to a more comfortable pace. The climb was long with some steep sections but I managed to keep a smile the whole way up, I even saw a guy with a Vancouver 100 patch on his bag from a couple of years ago. There were some breathtaking views on the way up and there wasn't anywhere else that I wanted to be. 

All smiles and ready to start
Dustin's custom backpack
Start of the race
Looks like someone is excited about the first climb
Making my way down to the start
Getting a pep-talk from Kyndra
Pacer love
Looking down at the start bridge
Someone is having too much fun
Part of the crew
The aid station come up quicker than I thought it would and it was a nice surprise, I loaded up with some food and drinks before making my way up before the decent. I stopped and took a few pictures but honestly the pictures do not do the terrain justice. The sights were just breathtaking. At the top, I could see Red Mountain just steps away from me but no time to climb that peak, I was on a mission towards Ashnola River Road to meet my crew. The meadows and down hill through the trees was amazing and the narrow trail was easy to follow. Since I was still feeling fresh I was bombing down where I could and walking in the more technical areas. I was lucky to run with lots of different people on this section. As I was getting close to the aid station there was a guy taking photos of the runners. I picked up the pace a bit because I was excited to see my crew.

Heading to the top of Cathedral
 
 





Getting into Ashnola River Road
Getting treated like royalty

Getting escorted out

Getting into Ashnola River Road station, there was some real energy around. My crew had be fed and out quickly so I can continue with the next climb, Flattop Mountain. The climb up took a lot out of me, I was moving at what felt like a snail's pace uphill, many people passed me. Once the terrain levelled out I was able to pick up the pace and power hike much of the top section all the way to Trapper aid station. Where I quickly repacked from my drop bag, had some food and coke to energize myself for the long 21k section to Calcite. Shortly after Trapper, I have some unbelievable cramping on my left calf that made me scream in pain. It slowed me down a little but I kept going. By the time I made it to Trapper Lake, I had a few down moments, mostly through the muddy bog but the views made it hard to say down for long. I pressed on until I got to the meadows and was anxious to get to the next aid station by now, since I didn't know how far I was I had to press on and just ride the highs and get through the lows. I meet many nice people along the way were we chatted for a bit. I realized the training I did on my own really helped out with the lows of the race. 








Just as it was getting dark and I wanted to catch up to a couple people that were ahead of me, all of a sudden something brushed my legs and I let out a scream like a frighten school girl, I looked down to see what scared me I realized it was just my jacket fell out of the bungee. I didn't want to waste time putting the jacket back again so I wore it like a cape and soldered on. Shortly after I caught the group, while running as a threesome, I heard something running downhill through the forest but wasn't sure what it was. The sound followed us for quite sometime and the whole time I just hoped that it would just stay in the trees and not come out on the trail. Thankfully we never got to learn what was following us. By the time we were at Calcite I was tired and wanted a break, and to my surprise I saw Dustin sitting there with my drop bag, poor guy was out and done for the race. I had some broth, cheese quesadillas and coke before saying bye to my little buddy and headed towards Pasayten River for the river crossing. This was a very runnable section where I was making up some good time. As I was running, I saw a truck drive by along the gravel road just above me and some people yield at me asking where Calcite was, when I responded, they knew my name. This really shocked me, but turns out it was Gareth and Bayly going to pick up Dustin. I give them the best instructions I could and we went our separate ways.

The downhill to the river crossing was brutal, just felt like a shear drop but lucky the North Shore mountain prepared me for terrain like this. Once at the river, I put my poles in one hand and grabbed the guide rope with the other and made my way into the river. The water was cold, just above the knees and the current was strong. A couple of times I almost lost my balance. On the other side of the river there was a fresh pair of socks for me as well as some tasty treats. I knew I was close to my crew now so I thanked volunteers for their help and pressed on to Bonnevier where I was hoping to have a bit of a rest, boy was I wrong about that. The road section was easy and felt relatively quick but by now I have lost all judgement of time. Once in Bonnevier I unloaded what I didn't need, told my crew that all I want for food in my bag was gels and dates. Someone brought me food from the aid station while Kyndra and Gareth quickly changed my socks again, by now my shoes were almost dry and I was saying it was a good time to take a small break, Kyndra was having none of that. She got me on my feet and started walking with me, can't remember what she said to me but by the time I was finished my broth, she took the cup out of my hands and with a gentle nudge up hill I was out of the aid station and was heading uphill again. The short break did make my legs feel energized. By far this was the most memorable stops and can't thank the crew enough for getting me out and moving quickly. 

Getting in at Bonnevier

Getting taken care of by Gareth

Checking for other food options

No rest for me, need to get climbing

Getting escorted out

Once I was on the service road up to the trail head I was making good time, I even got to turn off my headlamp and do a little stargazing. That didn't really last more then a few seconds because walking uphill while looking at the sky really doesn't work. I passed by the section where the 70 milers would be joining the race and continued my trek to the trail head. I didn't let the dark night ruin my momentum. In the dark forest I made some good time climbing with some fellow 120 milers. We climbed together for a couple hours before Kevin had to slow down because of blisters on his foot. Paul and I played leap frog for a bit before he over took me and continued on. As I got on the ridge towards Heather I was dying for some hot food, I kept calling out but got no responses then in the far distance I saw green glow sticks calling to me. As soon as I was at the station the volunteers asked if I wanted a hot quesadilla and my response was, “YES PLEASE!”. Someone got me a blanket and some hot broth to warm me up. I only used to blanket to loosely cover myself as I was still hot from the climb up to the top. Peter (one of the race directors) commented on how well I looked at the top, and I let him know I was still feeling strong. This was my longest stop, time flew by as I ate and rearranged my pack to have fuel for the down hill. I knew Nicomen Lake was about 14kms away and in my mind this would be a quick decent down, I could not have been more wrong. I covered the first 5kms with a slow but steady pace and got to the sign directing me to Nicomen Lake, 9kms. I started to pick up the pace where I could but eventually it became a slow crawl for me. I had no idea how far I was from the aid station when I made the decision to stop and have some food. As the 70 milers were passing me, one stopped to say hello, it was Brad Cockrane, he was setting a blistering pace. I meet him last year after the Frosty Mountain race, it's because if him I heard about this beast. We wished each other luck and I finished my little rest stop before continuing. When I finally made it to Nicomen Lake aid station I only had two things on my mind, coke and will I make the cut off at Cascades. The guy at the station said it was very runnable all the way to Cascades and I should be able to make it but sadly there was no coke. I quickly looked at my watch and realized I am setting a personal best for my 100k time at about 24.5hrs with 3 significant climbs, not bad for the first half I thought to myself. I had some salted crackers and took off like my shorts were on fire trying to make the cut off. I was about 18kms from a change of shoes and 26kms from seeing my crew. I thought as long as I can get to Cascades I would be fine.


After about an hour to hour and a half of making good time I started to slow down considerably. My right knee was hurting, my muscles were fatigued, I felt like I had my first blister on my left foot and my left angle just started to throb. Sadly I realized this was becoming a difficult moment for me to continue. All I could think about was getting to Cascades so I could talk to my crew, but I slowed down to pace so slow that it was becoming slowly apparent that my chances for finishing this race were getting slim. I was moving at an estimated pace of 2 to 2.5kms an hour and trying to move any faster hurt my ankle even more. I kept telling myself there is still time to get to Cascades before the cut off just get there. I could hear Sean's voice in my head saying, “Do whatever it takes to get to make the cut-off and worry about how you'll feel later.” This helped a little but once the sweeps caught up to my I knew my race was over. I hobbled along the trail and eventually one of the sweeps ran ahead to see where I how far I was. He brought back some coke with him and said it's just over a kilometre back to the road, where my crew would be waiting to pick me up. As I got close to the road I saw my mom coming up the trail, I had to smile and didn't want her worry about me and the state I was in. Bayly and Dustin were also there. I told them what happened and we piled into the car where my dad drove us to Cascades for the first aid people were going to look me over.

When I got there Katie was there to get me food, I found out that Kyndra was able to pick up a runner to pace with. She quickly was getting ready, I wished her luck and she was gone. I was checked over by the first aid people before we headed back towards towards camp. After a shower we headed towards the pub for some dinner, I called it an early night because I had to be up by 2AM to go with Katie to see the finishers and catch Gareth and Kyndra bring home the guys they were now pacing.

The end of my race

Getting some food in me

Feet don't look bad at all

Chatting with Peter

Kyndra getting ready

Runner and pacer ready to go


Katie and I were at the finish line just after 2 in the morning on Sunday, still didn't know when Gareth would be in and not sure if Kyndra's guy made it to Skyline before the cut off. It was awesome to cheer on the finishers but I also felt sad. Katie finally saw a runner across the lake and said, “that's Gareth's run, he always runs like this” and proceeded to demonstrate Gareth's running style, I laughed because I realized it was so true. We saw Gareth bring Gary home and as Gary cross the finish line, he just stood there asking, “Where's my buckle?” in his calm but determined voice. Shortly after we saw Kyndra bring home her guy. We all celebrated at the finish line congratulating the finishers.











As I write this I have had a week to reflect on my first DNF, what can I say, “IT SUCKS”. No amount of, well you gave it a good shot actually makes it any better. By now my left ankle swelling has gone down, the muscle soreness was gone in less than two days and my knee issue is only a problem when I've been sitting for long periods of time. So I have to ask, did I not push hard enough through the issues to make it at least to the next station, did I let my mind give up, did I wuss out, or was it that I tried to quadruple my distance in less than a year and my body just wasn't ready for the punishment of a 100miler. All these things now race in my mind as I sit here without a buckle. What now, I have been taking it easy, preparing for my next run and reading about other runner's DNF experience and have gained some insight into what others have gone through. I wish it turned out differently, and I'll never know what would of happened if I just pushed on with the pain, can't remember if it was really that bad. One thing I will be doing before my next attempt, I will do more back to back day with long hikes and runs.

In the words of Ian Torrence from irunfar.com:

The DNF is a result of us knocking on that door. Next time use a battering ram!”

I think I did show up at Fat Dog just knocking, next time I'll be bringing the battering ram and a few stick of dynamite just in case, you can never have too much fire power to tackle a hundred+ miler or any other run for that matter.

I want to thank Kyndra, Gareth, Katie, Shawn, Dustin, Bayly, Heather, Peter and all the volunteers that make an event like this possible. I was an amazing experience and I will be back to conquer this course.

I've added a few links for those who want to battle their DNF:


Here's some humour about DNF (I did the first thing on the list):

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