Just another training run- NOT! (12 summits)

Anyone who has ever trained with Van Phan knows that you have to be in pretty good shape even for a mere "training run." I love Tiger Mountain and my slightly editted version of the 12 summits run is the life blood of my 100 mile training program each year. I generally run the 12 summits run with vigor, sometimes doing repeats on some of the climbs because I can't get enough of them. Such was not the case yesterday.

During the week prior, I did my normal road runs and ran a bit too hard actually, on Wednesday and Thursday - finally taking Friday off. I was sure that Tiger would have too much snow to do the 12 summits run. So Thursday I came up with some alternate training routes, emailed the ideas to Van and asked her to call me later that evening. She assured me that there would be no snow and allowed a "if we can't get through, then we'll take the alternate routes." Mostly, I just wanted to put a bug in her ear in case we needed to change mid-course so that she wouldn't be too disappointed. I've run 12 summits in the snow (and the dark) before and as cold as this winter has been, I'm tired of running in the bad weather. As many know, I hate the snow. I'm terrible at snow running and most of all, I hate being cold. I've had frost bitten fingers more than once along time ago (not running related) and my fingers get excrusiatingly pained in the cold. So, yeah, I was scared!

I wore my 6 year old yellow Autumn Leaves shirt that I had worn last weekend. I knew this would keep me warm and since I wasn't sure if we would have rain or snow, I decided to wear my heavy rain coat, that I also wore last weekend. As it turned out, we had mild weather and I sweat my butt off. But, I'd rather be hot than cold so it was fine. I also took my snow gloves and extra stuff and put it in a day pack (that I bought because it rides higher on my back), and which has a medium sized bladder. I hadn't worn a hyydration pack in a few years on Tiger. They tend to hurt my lower back, but this one worked well.

First 3 summits
Well, as we started the climb up Nook trail, I found out Van wanted to practice her uphill running. That's cool, I could still keep up with her with my fast walking. We both got overheated very quickly and she took of one of the two shirts she was wearing. I finally gave in and took off my jacket. To the top of T3 in no time, we decended slightly and ran much of the climb to T2. Down T2 then we ran only a small portion of the climb to T1, albeit we still climbed it pretty fast.

Across the NIER bypass trail and down Bootleg was a nice break. The trail to East was easy to find without snow and someone had move the sign from the ground to the first tree about 10 feet in. It's much easier to find in the winter without all the overgrowth. I'd forgotten that since I hadn't run 12 this early in the season in a few years. If you've been on this trail in the past year or so, you know they've done some clear cutting in the middle of it. This allowed for no protection of the larger trees that remained on the trail and there were some blow downs that no doubt occured during our two big wind storms over the past few months. The blow downs blocked the trail and Van and I were able to crawl under-over-and around until we got to the other side. Arthur and Shawn had left about an hour earlier than us and had only been on the 12 summits run when I took them out last August. It was not too tough for me to find the trail from here but I knew where the trail "should have been." How they would find it was a mistery to me (ends up they didn't and took an alternate, bush-wacking route). We continued on and had to climb under, over and around a few more new blow downs to get through, but nothing too difficult. Next, the climb to East Tiger road, which is probably as steep as Section Line ... just not as long. Van started out running and I said, "it's a walker for sure." She didn't balk and started a swinging those arms, power hiking up and up and up.

3 more summits
Once we got to the road, I challenged her to run that to the top, which she and I both did. Now some relief with the downhill and some rolling road to the Middle climb was ahead of us. We ran the entire way and started up the short climb to Middle, running just the first part. Up and over and we were to a fairly long downhill section that winds downward. Nice place to lay the hammer down if one is inclined. In this section, I always think to my self, "what goes down, must go up," as we of course have to come back this way. We did well here and on the road climb to the trail to the South Tiger trail. Ariving at the bottom of South, we saw Shawn's and Arthur's hydration packs (this is a dog leg - a silly up and down but necessary as it's the 6th & 7th summits). I was tempted to move their packs but tempered my impish ways this time ;-) We saw them coming down as we were close to the top. Though we had reached the 6th summit, we still had a couple of miles to go to get to the road. This is the traditional spot to leave supplies for the trip back. I suppose one could carry enough supplies to make this a shorter (30 mile) 12 summits run but I've never heard of anyone doing that. Tiger is fairly dry most of the year and I can't imagine anyone being able to, nor wanting to, carry enough water.

So, on to the road we went and eventually caught the other two just as we reached the end. Van and I had brought both cars and just left one there rather than dropping supplies off. It's not necessary but I was sorta glad we did. I was ready to take off that jacket and replace my shirt. When I opened my hatch to my car, I realized "duh" my extra shirt was in my bag that I had left in Van's car at the other end. Luckily, Van had an extra Seattle marathon shirt. Also, luckily it was a bit "big" on her and fit me - albeit a bit snug. While I was at it, I grabbed a dry hat - I was drenched in sweat and was happy to get dry, eat my peanut butter and honey sandwich, and replace my day back for my waist pack and 3 hand held bottles.

The return trip - summits 7-9
The others had taken off before we did but I was glad that we had taken our time. So off we went, Van starting to run right away. I was still eating my sandwich and drinking some of the gatorade I had in one of my bottles so I walked fast to attempt to keep up - throwing in a jog here and there so as not to get too far behind.

By the time we got to the short climb right before the power lines, we had caught back up to the others. I wanted to have us all go back together but Van and I were moving at too fast a pace. Van agreed that we should wait at main intersections so that we could show them the way back. We continued to run and now I was feeling pretty good. So good that I was smothering Van (sorry Van) and she had to pull off the trail to let me by. I didn't realize that I was on her heals. We kept running for the most part until we got further into the thick trees. I started to power walk and run and we were soon at the bottom of South again. A quick up and down but still no Arthur and Shawn. I didn't think we could be that far ahead of them and Van offered that maybe they skipped the climb. I know it's not as easy to find on the return trip and I've missed it a time or two in the past. Coming out of the trail from South and on to the downhill road to hook back up to the TMT (on the way to Middle), we were stopped by three ladies on horse back. They asked for directions and collectively determined they were heading the right way. It was weird how many riders we saw out there that day. I think our count was at 8 at that point. Anyway, we continued on got ready to enter the climb to Middle. We stopped at the wooden gate and made a big arrow out of branches to show the others which trail to take. After a short while, we saw Arthur on ahead of us - he was wearing a bright yellow shirt and was easy to spot. We caught them just as we all were starting to get to some of the real climbing. I told them we would wait at the next intersection but Arthur said they were going to short cut the way back. I think he needed to get home by three and was not going to make it running the normal route. Once we moved on passed them, I was gearing up for the big climb. I was running a good flat section and continued as we started to climb. It was at that point I started to feel queasy. Now what! I realized that I had already finished half of my water supply (30 oz) and that it was probably too much water. I had also forgotten to get the salt tabs from my day pack. I continued on and stayed ahead of Van, leading the way up to Middle. This is one of my favorite climbs but I wasn't enjoying it today. Van was on my tail and I did all I could to keep up the pace. I like to really push the last section power walking but it was all I could do to continue at the pace I was going. Finally to the top and down the other side. We ran down the road to the gate where we were stopped yet again by a couple of ladies on horse back asking for directions. I explained to them how to get to Middle 'cause that's what they asked for but said I didn't know how the horses were going to get through the gate and up the trail (I also don't think they were allowed there). But they were smarter than me (tongue in cheek) and said they were going to take the other road and get there - which was fine with me ;-) Van took off as I was still walking away from them and she started to climb the hill that was ahead on the road. I was really feeling bad now but had stopped drinking water at this point. I wanted to ask Van if she had some salt to spare but she was too far ahead and I didn't have enough energy to yell.

This road is long, especially if you're not running all of it and we weren't. I jogged a couple of uphill sections that Van was walking so that I could stay close to her. Eventually, we were going up the final short climb before we got to the road that leads up to East. Van looked back to see where I was and I had started running again, so I was not too far back. I ran walked the climb until I caught her. As we started up the road, I told her I wasn't feeling well. Told her my sympthoms and she offered some salt tabs ... good thing too because I had forgotten I was going to ask her for those (note to self, bring salt to next week's double). She offered me two and I said 'yes if you can spare them.' She could. That eventually helped but it took a while. I kept up with her walking and dropped my bottles off by the road at the spot we had to come back to to head down. I kept one bottle just in case. Here, I challenged her again to run to the top. She tried and made it a good ways before she relented. I kept going but just for a few steps and stopped myself. My legs had a lot of lactic acid, which probably attributed to my queasiness. I walked a bit and then started running again to the top.


9 down, 3 to go
We headed down and got to the trail quick, picked up my other two bottles and continued on. I asked Van to lead as I wasn't going to have the strength to take the pounding of the downhill all in one shot and would have to walk some. I was able to keep up with her on the way down. It was pretty uneventful going back through the trail here but we had the blow downs to content with still. We got through that and through the trail. At the bottom of Bootleg, Van was ready to start running up again. I wanted to eat and told her where to turn at the top. I ate the half peanut butter and honey sandwich that I had in my pocket and started the climb. I had taken one of my gloves off to eat and really didn't want to loose it (should have put it in my pocket). A little further and I noticed I had dropped my glove. So, back down I went (I'm a glutten for punishment for sure). Found it and PUT IT IN MY POCKET DUH, along with the other. When I got close to the top, I could see Van waiting for me at the mud hole (you'd have to be there). Anyway, we continued on and I trudged along the best I could. Now it wasn't so much the queasiness and just plain lack of quad power. Ran walked the NIER bypass trail and ran up the last little climb to the hiker's hut at T1. Van was waiting and when she saw me, started down hill. I tried to not get too far behind, which was now becoming a recurring theme and would be for the rest of the run. We climbed to T2 and Van was running at the start. I was proud of her giving it all she had but I knew how difficult it was and didn't attempt it myself. Up and over T2 and downhill now, into the home stretch almost. There's a little "hump" that I ran up and over and down the last little stretch before the switchbacks to T3. Got to the top just behind Van. 12 summits completed!

12 summits completed - now the home stretch
She wanted me to lead but I said, 'No, I will be stopping to walk some because I can't take the pounding all the way to the bottom.' She led and I stopped 2 or 3 times on the steeper downhill parts. I was staying pretty close and eventually felt like I could keep running, so I picked it up to catch Van. I caught her and went on by, leading her the rest of the way down ... I was so ready to finish the downhill and had not been looking forward to it. We finished in a time of just under 7:20 -Wow! A new PR for me, and so early in the season. I was glad that we had done this run. In April, I hope that I can get out there for a couple more. I know I can run under 7 hours on this course and with Van pushing, I think it's doable.

To home for a nap or ...
I wasn't expecting to get home before 5 but now it was just turning 3 and I was almost home. As I was coming up my street, I saw my wife heading over to the neighbors. She saw me and waited until I drove by. I asked what they were up to and she said, 'We're going to the movies.' I asked her which and she said, 'Oh, you're going to be mad. We're going to see 300.' She said that because she knew I wanted to see that movie with my son ... who had already left with the neighbor's son to get the tickets. It was 3:15 and the movie started at 3:45 I was told. Ha! I can make it. I called my son and ran my stuff into the garage. Then I ran up the stairs (you heard right), and jumped into the shower to scrub off as much of Tiger Mtn as I could in 5 minutes. Out the door by 3:30, I was on the road hoping to miss the red lights. My wife was going to be waiting outside with my ticket. I hit only one red light and was at the theater parking lot by 3:43. ha-ha! I ran (you heard right) to the theater to meet my wife who was just inside the doors. 'Wow,' she said, 'Did you use soap.' - like that matters ;-) She bought me a diet coke (dang movie places don't have diet pepsi), and I had grabbed some peanut butter crackers and red licorrice as I headed out of the house. Great recovery meal by the way.

I enjoyed the movie emensely. It was a total testosterone movies so wasn't sure why the girls wanted to come, but hey, I like chick flicks!

There were a couple of touch and go moments where my legs cramped up and I shot out of my seat - you're laughing right now aren't you!

The next day
Today's Sunday, the first time in a long time I was able to sleep for 8 hours without waking up. I got out of bed and woke up Danielle to tell her to get ready for church. I was taking my time and finally came down stairs where my wife and son were eating some migas that my wife had made (Mexican breakfast: corn tortilla strips with egg and cheese). My daughter was there and was not showered or dressed. I asked her what was up and she said, 'Look at the clock - spring forward remember.' Obvioulsy not! I was bummed but I'm still taking my "day of rest," sitting on the couch with my laptop.