Seeing how it's been half a year since I last posted, I figured I should give myself a kick in the butt. What better to post about than my trip to AZ for the Javelina Jundred!
I wound up flying out to CO a week before the race to visit with my parents in their new home. Fabulous... and cold and snowy! Didn't see a whole lot of CO as I only spent 2 days there before driving through Utah to see Arches National Park and Natural Bridges National Monument. I must say, it can be nice to travel with parents... they have a National Parks pass... and they like to eat out... and they pay! Woohoo!! We wound up getting snowed on in UT as well and it followed us all the way to Flagstaff. After 3 days of travel I picked up my rental car and took off for the Phoenix area while my parents headed for home in CA.
I rolled into the McDowell Mountain Park mid-afternoon on Thursday to find set-up was well underway. The truck (a ~25 foot UHaul, packed FULL) had already been unloaded, canopies were getting set up and food sorted by aid station. I joined in with all the work until almost sunset, then a bunch of us gathered around a table for dinner. Friday morning I was up early, before anyone else, so I headed to S-bux for a coffee run, as I hadn't brought a mug, coffee or press - oh no!! After coffee and breakfast I headed out with another volunteer, Gail, to mark 2/3 of the course. Had a great time previewing the course and in great company. Then back to camp for a cold shower, lunch, and more volunteering! By mid-afternoon pretty much everything was set up and I went to check in with the researchers.
I had signed up to participate in the study on Hyponatremia during the run, which mean a few blood draws during the race, sweat patches every loop, and peeing in collection bags. Mostly it was from personal experience (Massanutten this year) that I was interested, but I do kinda enjoy being a lab rat - free tests! They got all my information, weight and a pre-race blood sample. Then I waited around for packet pick-up to begin. Got a spiffy duffel bag with water bottle and a long sleeve wicking tee - great schwag! Then waited around for dinner and chatted with other runners I knew. Dinner was uneventful (and not filling enough). Afterwards I took off for some last minute shopping at Safeway - namely a pre-race beer!
Race morning arrive far too soon. I was woken up before my alarm by the steady stream of people shuffling past my car to the restrooms... ugh... 4am. After a bit I pulled myself out of the warm comfort of my sleeping bag to begin getting ready... dressed, breakfast, get a few toes taped (2 toes started randomly falling apart the day before.... big hunks of thick skin falling off... eeep!!), check-in, get weighed again, lay out gear, etc. About a half hour before the start I bumped into Donato, a fellow ultrarunner / triathlete who lives in San Francisco. I'd met him ~2 years earlier at some races while I was still living in CA. Before long they were calling the runners over to the starting area, just a few minutes to go before the start!
And we were off!! Woohoo!! I found myself running along at a conservative pace, chatting with Donato. This was his first attempt at 100 miles, with his longest previous run being 58 miles at the SF One Day the previous fall. The first 5.2 miles was the only section of the course I had not seen while marking the day before. It also happened to be the rockiest/hilliest section... relative to the rest of the course... but by no means is the course hilly or technical! Eventually we made our way around to the aid station, quick stop, then on to the next. The early miles passed relatively quickly, with the last 5 miles of the 15.4 mile loop being a gradual downhill. Donato set off to change into his French Maid dress while I headed for the research tent for a weigh-in, change of sweat patch and to record all the food/drink I had consumed. After a ~5 minute stop we were off again, heading out on the same loop, but in the opposite direction.

The second loop went just as well as the first. We ran most of the gradual uphill to the first aid station, getting may cheers for our costumes - more so for Donato the French Maid. At the first aid station I stopped to "Pee for Science". Turns out, peeing in a bag is not an easy task... and I should have chosen the gallon sized bag rather than the quart sized bag... bigger opening makes things easier! That stop took waaaay to long and I had to kick up the pace to catch up to Donato. After a mile or so I pulled up to Phil (I had met him a month earlier at Delaware 100), with Donato just ahead. I chatted with Phil a bit, who seemed to be running well despite a lack of training before pulling ahead and taking off up the trail. I ran alone for the next several miles until Donato caught up to me with less than a mile to finish lap 2.
Back to the research tent... new sweat patch, food diary, weight... and a blood draw as well. Refiled my pockets with food and headed out for lap 3. The weather was beginning to heat up and despite the sunblock I had been applying, I was feeling crispy-fried (partly due to sunburn from Friday). All the way up to the first aid station I played leap frog with another runner. The heat, not enough food the first lap, and dehydration were making it tough for me to keep a reasonable pace. I wasn't able to do much running while drinking enough to prevent dehydration. The entire loop I drank both 24oz bottles dry between each of the aid stations (~5mi apart). That's 144oz in <3.5 hours! I forced myself the run the 1.2 mile flat/downhill stretch into the second aid station, where I again stopped to pee in a bag. Amazingly, despite all the fluids... things were not looking good... they were looking... ummm.. dark yellow... yikes! I can't drink anymore! Grabbing more food and water from the aid station table I realize Donato is there - he had taken off ahead of me after the 2nd loop. We head out with another (annoying guy) close behind. Although the path is slightly downhill, we walk pretty much the entire 5 miles back to headquarters. Probably from the heat and running the previous lap hard, I'm feeling really trashed and wondering how the heck I am going to run another 60 miles!
We stagger into HQ at the end of 3 laps (46.2 miles) at 3:40p and again I head for the research tent. I think by now we had reached a silent agreement to stick together as long as we ran about the same pace. Despite encouragement from volunteers and statements about the temperatures cooling, I am not really looking forward to heading back out, but stopping isn't an option. Since it is uphill back to the aid station - and still warm - we take off walking. After 4 miles or so, Donato got a 2nd wind and we start running. Ugh! I hadn't gotten my second wind yet, so this seemed like a LOT of effort. And by running, I really mean shuffling along at what must have been slower than 12:00/mile. But hey, we'd covered over 50 miles in under 11 hours, cut us some slack here! Onwards and upwards, over rocky and rolling terrain to the next aid station. A mile or so from the next aid station we heard feet coming up fast behind us - another runner who was flying downhills, but not going so fast up. We chatted briefly and I thought he seemed a bit familiar - turns out I had run a bit with him (or rather, he was following me) at my first 50 miler 2 years previously. Shortly after, the leader Dave James caught and passed us, now 31 miles ahead of us!! We continued together to the next aid station where I found the pizza had finally arrived. Huzzah!! Pizza and coke was just what I needed. The 3 of us took off together, racing the setting sun, and my 2nd wind finally arrived and I left the guys in the dust. Heheh!! :-D It felt goo to stretch out my legs a bit - downhills helped - but I also knew it wouldn't last long. Sure enough, as I slowed a bit a couple miles later, Donato caught up to me. Unfortunately, it was now starting to get a bit dark. The moon was up, but we were running downhill over a rocky path. A light would have been nice, but I was managing ok, however Donato was still wearing his prescription sunglasses, also no light. I stayed in the lead and tried to point out as many obstacles as possible, hoping I wouldn't head the *thump* of him tumbling onto the trail behind me. We made it down off the rocky section and walked most of the flats in to headquarters.
100k done and time for another blood draw. I had been feeling better, but the long stretches of running had taken their toll. Ok, so it wasn't a great idea, but it felt really good at the time. As we set off back up the trail neither of us has the energy or will to run - hey, it's uphill! Getting to the aid station I check my watch and see it took us nearly 2 hours to get there - only 5.2 miles! Uh-oh! I was still holding onto hope of a sub-24 hour finish, which had still be within reach at the beginning of the lap, but was now beginning to fade. Heading onto the next stretch we made a few attempts at running, but it definitely took time to settle in. Eventually we got the momentum going to run the last mile to the aid station. About a mile or so out of the aid station Donato's wife joined us in running back to headquarters. We made it a solid 1.5 miles of running, then walked the rest of the way in. 77.4 miles done!
Things were feeling worse, but I felt like 5 of 6.5 loops was the point of no return - so close to the finish that there would be no stopping. I took my time changing my shoes and grabbing my lights, food and water before we took off for loop 6 with Brian (Donato's friend) pacing us. We had made good time on the previous loop so I was still desperately clinging to hope of a sub-24 finish. After a couple unsuccessful attempts at running I began to accept that just finishing, even if it took 25-26 hours would be fine. But as we continued over the next few miles the pain in my hips and knees intensified and the ibuprofen was no longer doing anything. Not good. I was really hurting and dropping sounded nice, but it was tough to think about after covering 80% of the distance. A long stop at the aid station (mostly me waiting for the port-o-john and stripping off the socks & gaiters that were shredding my ankles) then we started shuffling out. We made it less than 100 feet before Donato announced he was done. His hip had locked up and he was shivering uncontrollably from the cold, even with the space blankets we had gotten. "Oh thank god. I'm stopping too!" We inched our way back to the aid station and announced we were dropping. They asked if we wanted to walk the 5 miles back to Headquarters. Hahahahahaaaaa!!! No way!! So we waited around for about an hour to get picked up and driven back.
I stopped back at the research tent for a final blood draw before they wrapped me up in a giant sweatshirt, the space blanket and laid me out on a chaise lounge under a sleeping bag. I lay there for a few hours, taking short naps but not really sleeping - my left hip was hurting too much to really allow sleep. Morning arrived and I got up to shower and eat before breaking camp and heading out. After some aimless driving around in search of compression socks, a nap in my car and more driving I settled on a lunch spot. A local Mexican restaurant where I ordered a margarita and the huevos rancheros breakfast. Wow! The margarita was like a fish bowl and the breakfast came with pancakes. Margarita and pancakes on the same table!! Awesome!!! Stuffed myself silly and headed for the airport.