Last Long Weekend Training Run ... of sorts

Well, this past weekend was a success. Boring from a training stand point but I had a lot of fun AFTER my run. I really struggled to get out to Tiger Mtn Saturday to do my proposed Tiger Mtn 50M (actually closer to 48 miles since I started in the upper lot). I had a tough time getting started as the FA loop really has become boring to me, especially at the beginning. I needed to put in a good effort so I decided to try and run the FA in about 3 hours, which should have been easy, then follow-up with a 12 summits of around 8-8:30. The weather was perfect for the run, not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for it to be warmer as it was Thursday and Friday of last week. So much for a bit of heat training.

The FA loop went very slowly. I didn't feel tired, just sluggish like I had no spring in my legs. Well, I probably didn't a week after the 12 hour. I ran the course in 3:10 - miserably slow. I did stop to talk to Janet Casel and Karen Wiggens as I was coming to the end. I stopped at my car to loose the light weight jacket, change hats, and get my 3 water bottles for the 12 summits run. I was in and out quickly and started towards the Bus trail and up to Nook. I felt strong on Nook and was holding back a bit, fearing I would be on a death march on the return trip. As it was, I was steady all the way through but couldn't run much of the steeper climbs I normally try and run. I ran up to East on the way out but really had to focus. The rest of the out loop was slow and I ended up at the other end in about 4 hours. I really wanted to make it an 8 hours (as opposed to 8:30) loop but it wasn't looking good. I had been texting Danielle (she and Maya are in Texas) and thoughts of taking her on a 6 summits run over the summer entered my mind. When I stopped to eat and refill my bottles, I sent a text to both Arthur and Shawn. Shawn was putting on a FA style 108 mile run which started at 6:30 AM and to which I would go to help crew following my run. On my way back, Shawn called me and was about 30 miles into her run. It was fun and kind of cool to be doing two different runs while talking on the phone (aren't we terrible with cell phones)? I had planned on keeping in touch so that I could see where the runners were when I finished; also so that I would know where to drive to as well. Arthur was planning on meeting me at Tiger, then I would drop him off so that he could run some of the second half of the run.

The return trip was no different although I knew that I would have to pick it up to make 8 hours. I couldn't run up East the second time but ran-walked-ran to the top. When I got there, I called Arthur to let him know that I would be finished in about an hour and a half. As I continued on, I wasn't sure that I would be able to make it. Again, my hydration was great, my energy was way up, but my legs were just sluggish. All good things as I look in retrospect. I kept thinking about the Subway sandwich that I had waiting for me in my cooler to keep me going. That and the idea that I told Arthur I would be there at 5:30 PM helped to motivate me some. I made it closer to 5:35, 8:10 for the 12 summits and 11:20 for the 48 miles.

In addition to Karen and Janet, I saw Jamie Gifford who was doing a 22 miler with Kerby (they had separated so I missed seeing Kerby). Jamie is running Bighorn in a couple of weeks and Kerby, Vermont in July. I also saw Brian Morrison out there. It's amazing how many locals use Tiger for their 100 mile training runs ... and not just for States.

Now the fun for me was going to begin. Arthur was waiting when I arrived, and he moved his jeep to the outter lot. I had him drive so that I could eat - by then I was starved. We called Shawn who was now heading towards the 50 mile mark. We would meet at that crew point and I would drop off Arthur. Shawn decided to wait for us so I don't know how long she was there waiting by the time we arrived. I volunteered to wait for the last person to come through so that Judy (Shawn's mom) could go meet the front runner. That gave me time to change and clean up a bit with baby wipes. I felt much better afterwards. Soon after, I got a call from another telling me the last guy was out of water and was still a couple miles out. I grabbed a bottled water and a Gatorade and headed out jogging down the trail. I was happy that I could bring a smile to his face when he saw me with liquid. We walked fairly quickly to my car where we got in and drove to the next crew stop and mile 68. He was done for the day.

There was a pretty good crew party going on when we arrived. There were some who biked the distance who were finished. The front runner was there and having trouble keeping anything down. We talked a while and finally determined that he was hyponutremic (spelling?). Too much water and not enough salt. He said he hadn't peed much and was drinking like crazy. The weather was good so he shouldn't have been sweating that much - he wasn't. We tried to get soup down him but that came up too. After about an hour (he was there 2 to 2 1/2 hours), he called it quits. He was going to have someone come get him but I thought that was silly, so I drove him back to his car - which was about an hours drive away. He managed to puke only once on the way down, and not in my car.

Back to the run and to the next crew point and mile 75+. Shawn was looking good but a bit disappointed that no one else was still in for the long haul. I told her she couldn't quit if her knee continued to be ok and nothing else was wrong. She cursed her knee (tongue in cheek) as it was doing very well. To the next crew stop about 6 miles away where I would take a nap. We had just gotten there (seemingly) and there were Shawn and Arthur knocking on the car window. I was fully awaken to the sound of my own car alarm as I had locked it before drifting off to sleep - and forgot that the alarm would go off if I just opened the door - duh! Shawn was in and out relatively quickly and on to the next section. I let her know that I wanted to pace her the last section (20.6 miles) if Arthur would drive my car.

Again, Shawn arrived to the next section in good shape and in good time, giving me another hour+ to sleep. Arthur called me just before they rounded the last corner which gave me time to wake up. I had already changed to a fresh pair of running shorts and road shoes, plus gotten Shawns water and food ready for the last leg. Off we went to finish Shawn's 108 mile run. She tried to convince us again that 88 miles was good enough - "Does your knee hurt?" Answer, "No - dang it!" - "Anything else wrong?", Answer, "No!" "Then let's go."

The trail that we were on, the John Wayne trail heading to Vantage, was dirt mixed with gravel, and big gravel in some spots. I felt good and watched Shawn to see if she showed signs of fatigue, delirium, or problems of any sort. She looked great - so I could easily over look the attempts she made to quit ;-) I was actually rather impressed at the amount of running she did in that last 20+ miles. She said that she had started out way too slow, but in retrospect the slow start is likely what helped her knee and helped her to feel as good as she did. While the trail was relatively "smooth" Shawn's emotions were a bit rocky ... like we've never been there. I can't tell you all enough what a champ she was. I knew she wanted to break down a few times and I told her it was ok, as long as she kept moving. I didn't ever have to say, "OK, let's start running agin." She was all over it. In fact, there were times when I wanted her to walk because I wanted her to shorten the running spells to prolong her feeling good. But she was determined to run as much as possible. Well, she definitely knew what she could do because we never really deviated from the amount of run versus walking we did.

At one point Shawn was looking to see the road (finish) around every corner. We could see the shadows above the river so I knew we weren't as close as we would like to be. It was starting to frustrate her as she wanted something concrete to see and say, "there's the finish," even if it was 3 miles away. Unbeknownst to her, I prayed silently a few times that the river would bend toward us as we turned a given corner and it would at least seem closer. On one corner, it did! I knew we were close but close is realtive. There was one point where I moved way ahead of her so that she could have a private melt down. She had a mini melt down and I think that really helped her. We talked about that a bit and she asked me if that ever happened to me - "yes!" It especially happened the first year of my ultra running and especially if I was running in the snow. I really have a tough time in the cold - it literally hurts from being forst bitten on my hands and feet, and in general I just can't stand the cold. I've been curled up next to a tree shivering and sobbing to myself on more than one occasion ... and those occasions were on 50K runs.

We got to a point in the trial where we knew we had less than 3 miles left so I called Judy to let her know we were close. They came out to meet us but unfortunately, they took a different trail. It was much like the entire run for Shawn, I can imagine anyway ... a bit anticlimactic. I cheered for her and made another phone call. I could see Judy and Jay (Shawn's brother) coming down the trail. Soon Arthur followed and they were all back to take pictures and congratulate her.

I'm so proud of Shawn. She is still new to ultra running but has come along so quickly. I was first impressed when she and Arhtur both ran CCC and finsihed well so early in their ultra careers. Now, running over 100 miles in a FA run that nobody would really know about; Now that's tough and takes guts!

Shawn's report


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