Nanny Goat Ultra: Lessons Learned

After running 61 kilometers (38 miles) for my birthday last January I decided that I would like to run an ultra marathon race. A local one if possible and the Nanny Goat 12/24hour 100mile race in May fit the bill. It is a one-mile loop course on a horse ranch dotted with lots of orange trees and other assorted trees like Eucalyptus along Victoria Avenue.

I did not sign up right away as I was intimidated by the prospect but did start training as if I were going to run it. I started ramping up my distance and working into doing back-to-back long runs on the weekend. It was hard at first running at the slower pace but I did finally adapt to it. The toughest part for me was when the weather started getting warmer. I found it hard to be out on training runs of 4 hours or more in the hotter weather but I knew that there was a great possibility that I would be running in those very conditions during a 24-hour race.

In the Goat Pen just before the race!

 I found that I really struggled after the 3.5 to 4 hour mark on warm days but did not link this with a lack of salt. I simply thought I was not acclimated to the warmer climate as yet and just needed to run in the heat more. I did find that dry heat with a 20-degree dew point or lower did not bother me nearly as much as say a 50 or 60-degree dew point day with overcast and relatively low temps in the 70’s. While above 60 degrees is not really ideal for running anyway there was a huge difference between running at 70 degrees with a 40-degree dew point and bright sunshine and 70 degrees with a 65-degree dew point and overcast. For me the difference was astounding. I have come to believe that heavy sweaters have the most trouble with higher dew points than average to low sweaters.

I found that I needed to take in 50 ounces or more of fluids an hour to try and stay fully hydrated in this kind of weather as opposed to only about half that in 50 degrees and a 40-degree or lower dew point. This is apparently why I did not have that much trouble running 38 miles in 7 hours and 20 minutes back in January starting at 4:30am. I was hoping with the extra training to be able to do close to the same at Nanny Goat in the 24-hour race.

My last two long training runs of 27 miles were an omen of things to come. The first one was actually planned as 27 but I really fell off during the last 7 miles. The next one a week later was planned as 30 miles but my ankle and heel were killing me by mile 17. I also wasn’t feeling so great at that point but kept on running. By mile 26 I was really struggling and my left heel and ankle were really getting tight and sore. I decided that if I could get my wife to pick me up at the 27-mile mark, with an easy access to the trail for the road, that I would take her up on it. Truth be told, if I weren’t feeling so badly other wise from dead legs and stomach problems I probably would have gutted it out even with the heel and ankle problem.

That was three weeks out from the race and I did not run again for 5 days do to my heel and ankle being sore. Then next few weeks I did not get in nearly enough running. I know I was tapering but with the little running I did it was a super taper. This was mostly due to the weather combined with my heel and ankle problems not healing as quickly as I would like.

The day of the race came and most were relieved to see that the morning would be mostly overcast. I on the other hand was not excited about that at all as along with the 60+ degree starting temperature and overcast was a 60-65 degree dew point. When the dew point and the temperature are almost the same it means that the humidity is pretty close to 100%. Also when I am able to stand around in my running clothes feeling perfectly comfortable before a race it does not bode well for me. Those were the exact conditions that occurred.

Other than some initial intestinal problems and maybe drinking a little too much during the first 2 hours of the race I managed to stay fairly comfortable for the first 5 hours albeit at a much slower pace than I had hoped for. Somewhere between 4 and 5 hours I started having stomach problems and preferred water over my Perpetuem sports drink. I was taking electrolyte capsules every hour but between the capsules and what my drink provided I was only taking in about 450mg per hour of sodium. Because of my sweat rate and the fact that I leave a lot of salt on my skin it would appear that I should have been taking in close to 3 times that amount of sodium.

Me at mile 25

I was falling into a brain fog and I was really forcing myself to take in any nutrition at all. My urine output and color was fine yet I was feeling extremely hot even when I was just sitting for the 20 minutes rest I took at about 6.5 hours into the race. I was walking as much or more than I was running by that time. This was my first time having gone that long of a time in these weather conditions and while I could get away with it in a 4-5 hour marathon I was not getting away with it here.

In hind sight I wish I would have known that it was a salt problem and I would have sat or walked slowly for an hour or two while I built my blood sodium levels back up. I, however, was not thinking clearly and was in such distress that I could not imagine keeping this up for another 16 hours or more.

At just a little under 8 hours I decided to sit a while and see if rest would revive me again but after about 30 minutes or more of sitting and trying to drink I felt it was best to stop and live to fight another day.

I had made it 30 miles in just less than 8 hours and yet 4 months earlier I had run 38 miles in just 7 hours 20 minutes and did not feel at all bad at the end. In fact I was able to give a 200-yard sprint at the end of that long run. Here I was all spent and 8 miles short of my longest run and that wasn’t even a race.

It took until noon the next day before my brain fog lifted. I weighed exactly the same when I got home as I weighed when I left home that morning. I, however, could not eat a full meal all evening. I could only manage small snacks here and there. I really did not want breakfast the next morning but forced myself. By noon my demeanor was returning to normal but my legs still felt like lead and I was extremely sore. This all leads me to believe that I was in the early stages of hyponatremia from my blood sodium levels being to low. I did have some of the classic symptoms, although I was not cramping, but not everyone does.

I am anxious to test out my hypothesis of too little sodium, but the experience has left me with a feeling of anxiety about doing another long run in the heat. I am sure that will wear off soon and I will be able to test out my theory as there is plenty of summer left, although we don’t often get 65 degree dew points during the summer months in the inland Southern California area.

I hope my story can help someone else diagnose a problem they are having doing long runs in the heat and or high humidity and solve it before they have a disappointing result in a race because of it.

Happy Trails,

Russ Barber

My 38 Mile (61K) Birthday Celebration Run

Well it has been way to long since my last blog post so it is high time I write about one of the most epic runs I have done to date. I have always wondered what it would be like to run an ultra distance and decided that this year I would give it a try and run 61K for my 61rst birthday. I turned 61 on January 14 this of this year and ran the distance on January 18^th. You can view my Garmin Connect stats of the route here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/4319876

I planned out a relatively flat, nearly 10K course that I could run in the city of Redlands, CA. It was pretty well lit so I would not have to wear a headlamp. I would be able to refill my bottles with fluids with a minimum of disruption from the run and perhaps even run a bit with a few friend from the Redlands Runegades if I timed it right.

I was a bit apprehensive about the run but I had increased my weekly mileage to an average of 50 a week up from about 35, and had been doing back to back long runs on the weekends. This gave me a little more confidence but still it was unknown territory for me and I would be running the vast majority of the run all by myself.

I started the run a few minutes past 4am on a Saturday morning. The weather was nice and cool which was definitely in my favor, as I don’t do heat well. It is kind of weird running at 4am with almost no traffic and hardly ever seeing a soul the first two hours of the run. There were a couple of places that lighting was not all that good and I had to make sure I lifted my feet a little higher than normal at these sections.

I had decided that I would try and bank a little time by running the first 10K at my normal long run pace and heart rate (HR), which is about a 140-143HR. The first lap went well averaging a little less than a 9min pace. The next lap I decided to try and drop my HR down to about 130 but that lasted for only the first mile as it was hard to make myself run so much slower than I was used to and overall I was only about 3-4 beats a minute slower on average for the second lap.

I met up with some of the Runegades on lap 3 and we ran together for about 2 miles before they split off going a different direction. It was nice to interact with them and it gave me a lift to my spirits even though I was definitely not in any real distress at that point in my run. It was a little easier by this time to run at the lower HR and slower pace and I was feeling great the whole way. I guess I had over hydrated the day before as I had gone to the bathroom more than I was used to on a long run by now. The cooler weather was also making it hard for me to drink as much as I had wanted to and most of my nutrition was in my fluids.

By mile 19 it had turned full daylight and was beginning to warm up. I forgot to mention that there was close to a 10-degree temperature difference from the higher portion of the route to the lower portion during the first 3 laps. This would change somewhat as the run went on.

I did not have any trouble with loneliness as I have done quite a lot of solo running. However after I reached the marathon distance, even though I was not racing, I began to feel just a little lonely and it seemed that time dragged on a little bit more from this point on. My legs were definitely feeling a little weary by this time but I told myself that I only had 2 more laps to go.

From this point on it was not hard at all to run at the lower HR and even on the downhill sections of the run I was not tempted to run too fast. The warmth was beginning to affect me a bit at this point but just mildly. I also said hello and waved to a few of my friends just as I started my next to last lap, which gave me a little lift to my gait.

When I got back to my truck for my last pit stop I was joined by Robin Derdowski and Jim Glick for the last lap. It was really nice to have them join me for this lap and I am sure that I averaged 30 seconds faster per mile just because they were with me. I am very appreciative to them for running this with me after they had already run about 15 miles earlier that morning.

After we got to the top of the last uphill and turned to the last quarter mile of the run I decided to see what I had left in my legs and picked up the pace surprising myself with how well I actually felt. I then broke into nearly a sprint to the end. This told me that my mind had been lying to me about how I felt and it was just trying so save me by telling my body to conserve my energy, as it had never gone this distance before.

Overall it was not as hard as I had imagined it would be and I know without a doubt that I could have finished another 12 miles for a 50 miler. However that was not my intent and I had accomplished what I had set out to do which was run my age in kilometers. My total time, with no watch stoppage, was 7hours 23 minutes and 10 seconds. Average pace: 11:39 with an average moving pace of 10:27. My average HR was 129 compared with my usual long run HR of 141.

This had inspired me to sign up for the Nanny Goat 24-hour race in Riverside, CA on May 24^th. I have been trying to up my mileage again to 50+ miles per week hoping to peak at 70 miles and doing several back to back long runs with my longest hopefully being 20 and 31.

As I write this I presently have had a little setback with sciatica again but feel sure I will be back at it soon. Last weekend I ran a 17 mile trail run on the PCT and followed it with a 15 mile run the next day in the morning and a 12 mile run in the afternoon.

Follow me on my journey as I prepare to run my first ultra marathon race on May 24 and 25.

Happy Trails,

Russ Barber

An Interview With The Jester Part II

What extra training do you do to get ready for Badwater?

For Badwater I usually try to get in some extra miles in the hottest part of the day, and ramp up my weekly mileage to around 80-100 miles, if my schedule allows. Didn’t do that this year, and my finish time suffered greatly. Since I live in SoCal, the heat here is the same heat as BW’s dry heat just “a degree or two” lower. Some people will also sit in the sauna for increasing periods of time. I tried that once while training for my first BW and just got too bored, so I didn’t do it again. Luckily for me I do okay in heat, so I don’t require that much extra heat acclimation.

Did you do any practice runs with your crew this year or any year?
No. It would be nice to do that, but they’re already sacrificing the better part of a week, so I don’t want to obligate them to anything extra. Besides, my wife is now an old pro as crew chief so she’s pretty good at getting them up to speed on the fly, during the race. There’s actually not much to it. Get the water bottles prepared with my drink of choice, have a new hat with ice, have the water sprayer ready as I come by, swap the old for the new, see what I want for the next stop, get in the car, drive one mile ahead, repeat. Then do it 134 more times! Rather tedious work for the crew actually.
Do you get cranky during the race and if so do you have any antidote to tell?
Well, you’d have to check with those that have crewed for me over the past three years, but overall I think I’m a pretty easy going runner. I think the only time I get a little impatient is when I ask for something I want at the next stop, and it’s not ready. I don’t want to waste time by waiting, so I’ll tell them to have it ready for certain at the next stop. I’m sure I probably get a little short with them at that point. I think if I started to become a pain in the butt, my wife would tell me. You can’t afford to piss off your crew by being a jerk, because they could just drive away and leave your sorry butt to cook out there.

Are you allowed pacers at any point during the race?
Yes. If you’re over 65, you can opt to have a pacer for all 135 miles, otherwise your pacer can’t join you until the first check-point, which is Furnace Creek, 17 miles into the race. This is for logistical purposes, since everyone is crowded together in each of the three wave starts (about 30-35 runners per wave), and we are running on open state highways. Once we get to the first checkpoint, we’re a few hours into the race and pretty much spread out. And to clarify, the pacers aren’t pacers, in the truest sense of the word, in that they are required to stay behind the runner, not actually “pace” them. Now what a pacer is allowed to do, which is against the rules in most other ultras, is mule for their runner. In-other-words, they can carry their runner’s water, etc.
Are you allowed to run any significant distance with other racers?
Yes, you’re allowed to run the whole race with another runner, but the problem with that is that you’re not allowed to run side-by-side, only single file, so with two runners and their two pacers there would be a congo line of four people, not the most fun way to run with another person. Again, this is strictly for safety reasons on the busy highway. One runner could theoretically set the pace for another runner, but I think that would just be too difficult to monitor, so there’s no rule against that. There is a point were we climb from Stovepipe Wells at mile 42 up to the top of Town’s Pass – 17 miles with 5,100 feet of gain – where there is usually a head wind, sometimes pretty strong, so that would be a good place to draft off of another runner. I’ve never drafted off of someone, or been drafted off of, but I guess it’s legal, and would sure save a lot of energy.
I know when I run marathons it seems that my kidneys shut down and I really don't have to eliminate during the race. It would seem that you must have to drink enough to eliminate some during the race.
Yes, some people have major kidney issues, and have even had kidney failure at BW. I’m lucky in that I’ve never had any kidney problems there, or at any other race. I’m pretty good at taking in the proper amount of fluids, which is a ton, so not a problem for me. I’ll typically go 8 to 12 hours before taking my first pee, but the color is always good – lemonade. Urine the cooler of Kool-aid (urine in the blood) or Coke (really seriously under-hydrated) is really bad and would require some immediate attention. That’s also one of the tasks of the crew, to monitor urine output – volume, color, and flow. Luckily for me I’m always coherent enough to monitor it myself and then report my findings to my crew to document. Some runners can become so disoriented and incoherent that their crew actually have to directly observe their urination output. This is why you should never be on a BW crew. It can be a pretty nasty job.
What do you eat and drink during the race?
It varies from year to year. Drink wise I will take some electrolyte drink like Gatorade, which can get old real quick, so the crew will switch up flavors every couple of hours. Sometimes I only feel like drinking water, especially if I get “gator gut” (fluids aren’t processing through and just sit in the stomach). I also like V-8, Starbucks Frap’s, Muscle Milk or some similar protein drink. Last year I got to a point where the only liquid I could stomach was Sprite, so I did about 40 miles pretty much on Sprite alone. I’m also quite religious about taking S-Caps (electrolytes and essential minerals in pill form). Food wise depends on how I’m feeling. It’s so darn hot for so much of the race that you really don’t have much of an appetite that first day. I might eat fresh juicy fruits like pineapple chunks, oranges, grapes, and watermelon. I also like Pringles chips, sliced pickles, sliced tomatoes with salt, and sliced avocado with salt. For something sweet, I’ll have pudding cups or fruit cups with the sugary syrup, and licorice. I’ve also recently started eating Payday candy bars at my ultras, so I’ll add that to my menu for BW, if I run it again.
Is there any point during the race that you considered stopping and if so how did you overcome that urge?
No, I’m real lucky that not finishing is never an option in my mind, so I’ve never even considered quitting. I suppose if I ran into some real serious issues, I might consider quitting, but that would only be if I, or Martha, felt my health could be seriously compromised if I continued on. Badwater is such a high profile race, and so many people have committed to get their runner to the finish line that the DNF (did not finish) rate at BW is actually quite low. This year I think there were 15 out of 97 that didn’t finish, and that was about double from last year (this year was hotter than normal at 125 degrees). For most 100 mile races, a 30% drop rate is actually pretty good, and 40-70% drop rate is typical on the really hard 100s. It also helps that there is an application process that tries to get 100 of the most qualified ultra runners out of the applicant pool of runners from around the world.

Anything else you would like to share about your experiences doing Badwater?
Out of the 52 100 mile races I’ve done, Badwater is absolutely the most amazing ultra race of them all. I would do it every single year if they let me in (and I could afford it – it’s actually quite costly to put together a BW crew, including the entry fee of $1,000.) In spite of all the scary stories you might hear about BW, it’s actually a blast. And even though it is by far the hottest race I’ve ever ran, I wouldn’t say it’s the most difficult race I’ve ever ran. But then again, my ultra strengths are heat, street, and big miles, so it’s not as hard on my body as it is for some others. The first few times I read about BW, including Dean Karnazes ‘Ultramarathon Man’ I was totally scared off by even the thought of running it, but after talking with a few people that had done it, and getting a good number of 100 mile races under my belt, I slowly came around to where I couldn’t wait to crew, and then to run it myself. If anyone reading this is thinking about doing BW, I would definitely talk to those that have ran it, and then crew for someone. You might find that Badwater will suddenly go from the scariest race you’ve ever heard about, to the top of your bucket list. Maybe someday you’ll be running it with me, or I’ll be crewing for you. Jester on . . .
Thanks,

Russ

Thank you Ed for the interview!

Happy Trails,

Russ

Mission Inn Run-Half Marathon Race Report

I have been looking forward to this local race in Riverside, CA for weeks now as a test to see exactly what kind of shape I am in. I have been struggling with injuries for the last few years that keep setting me back, but for the last few months I have been able to run with near full health and it has made a big difference. In fact I have not been 100% myself since early 2004. That is a little over 9 years since I have been in my best running form. The frustration of coming back, then getting hurt (not always running injuries) has played with my psyche to the point of wondering if it is all worth it. Bottom line is, I love running and while they are nice, I don’t need PR’s to keep me going. Still there is something about wanting to perform at one’s best possible self that drives me to keep on trying.

Earlier this year I had a 7-week layoff from injury and a 3-week layoff prior to that. That is significant time off especially since they both came after a significant improvement in racing form.  For the last 2 months I have been able to really up my total weekly mileage from around 35 a week to 50 and 60 a week. I have also been doing intervals and repeats on Tuesdays and Tempo runs most Thursdays.

Two weeks ago I tweaked my right shoulder and had to curtail my running, both pace and distance. A week ago Saturday I decided to try and run a fairly hard run at HM pace for 5 miles of an 8-mile run. While running downhill, at a 6 minute pace on a steep section, I tweaked my shoulder again but continued running anyway at HM pace. After the run I knew I had hurt my shoulder even more and as a result took the next 5 days completely off. I was tapering anyway this week but I did not plan on this steep of a taper. I ran 2 miles Thursday and 4 miles Friday, taking Saturday off. Both runs my legs felt quite refreshed, but I still had some shoulder pain, however, significantly reduced.

Sunday morning race day is here: November 10, 2013, about 53 degrees and mostly sunny. Almost perfect running conditions. It would warm up about 10 degrees during the race but the dew point was so low that it did not matter much.

My plan was to run at an average HR of 157 beats per minute for the whole race. I knew that it would take nearly 2 miles for my HR to ramp up and that I would mostly have to go by feel the first two miles of the race. Partway into mile two we started the only significant hill in the race. I kept watching my Garmin to make sure that I did not go too far above my target HR. It was hard to keep it below 160 on the uphill, but for the most part mission accomplished. Then came a short but very steep downhill section where I passed about 5 runners. As we turned the corner it mostly flattened out and I found myself settling into a pretty steady stride.

Just past the two-mile mark someone in a gold colored top went past me with grayish hair. A possible age group contender I thought to myself. I tried to listen to his breathing as he went by to get an idea of his effort. I couldn’t really tell for sure but I did get the impression that he was just a little labored for this short distance into the race. I let him go and continued running my own pace. As we came around the backside of Mt Rubidoux, onto the bike path and finishing mile-3, two more runners passed me that I thought could be in my age group. The first one’s breathing seemed fine but the second one did seem a little labored. Again I let them both go but asked the second one what his age group was. He either didn’t hear me or ignored me.

After about mile-6 another runner passed me who could be in my age category and I was thinking looks like I may not place like I was hoping for. Still I wanted this to be a test of my condition. By this time into the race I was running quite well and had been on my second wind since about mile-3. I was doing well at maintaining my HR, right around 157, but did occasionally dose off and fall down around 154. This only happened a few times and became apparent when I was passed by someone I didn’t think should be passing me.

Soon after the mile six marker I came up on one of the guys who I thought had been breathing a little harder than he should earlier and asked him his age group. This time he responded, “50-54. And you?” “60,” I replied as another guy running next to us laughed. Then the runner in the 50 category said, “Oh man that hurts,” to which the man who laughed replied, “I shouldn’t be laughing, as I’m only 41.”

The levity provided me with a little bit of a lift and the next time I looked at my Garmin I was at a 160 HR. Whoa!  I slowed it back down to a steady 157 HR. I was almost right on my pace as we hit mile 7 at 7:59 average pace. But my Garmin was also reporting me as having gone .07 miles farther than the mile marker, which meant that I was actually a little slower than that if the mile marker was correct.

I wanted to increase my pace but I felt I should keep on track with my plan. Soon we made the turn a round, and shortly after hit the mile 8 marker. Once again my watch read that I was at 8.08 miles. It would be mostly downhill to mile 12 from here but it would only be a very slight downhill and there was a slight breeze in my face. The breeze actually felt good as it was beginning to warm up just a little by this time. I had now passed all of the possible age groupers I had spotted earlier except for one, including the first one in the gold colored top. I was then passed by one of my friends, Tom Kenefick. I wanted to try and keep up with him but continued to maintain my HR. Every time we went under an overpass he seemed to gain a little more on me until by mile 12 he was at least a minute ahead. At mile 11 I had increased my HR closer to 160 and tried to keep it there the rest of the way.

By mile 12 I knew I was not going to reach my goals. I had two goals in mind; one of setting a new PR, which was now over 10 years old, and the other was breaking 1:45:00. Still I wanted to do my best. Soon we came to the next most significant hill, which was only about 150 to 200 yards long, but at the end of a race it seemed gigantic.

After finally hitting the top of the hill and turning the corner I again increased my HR up to about 162. I did not know if I could hold it the rest of the way but I was going to do my best. With about .4 miles left I kicked it in and pretty closely maintained about a 7:15 pace to the finish getting my HR up to 167.

I crossed the finish line and my Garmin said 13.2 miles and a time of 1:46:18. My official time was 1:46:22. I was just 34 seconds from my previous PR of 1:45:48, and that was on a course with a net downhill while this one was about a 0.0 net. I also placed 3^rd in my age division. When I say my previous PR, I mean on a fairly normal course. I did have a 1:35 at Fontana in 2003 but that is about an 1800-foot drop in only 13.1 miles so I don’t count that as a PR.

I am very pleased with my result and it should translate into a Boston qualifying time at Tucson on December 8^th. I need a 3:55 to qualify for Boston and feel I should have no problem getting 3:50 or better.

An Interview with the Jester - Part I

If you are pretty heavy into ultra distance running then you have probably heard of the “Jester” by now. Even if you have not have heard of him I thought it would be nice to get to know him. He has a Facebook page with quite a following called Run Jester Run Friends. http://www.facebook.com/groups/RunJesterRun/

His real name is Ed Ettinghausen, and he has been making quite a name for himself in the world of ultra distance running. Having completed the Badwater 135 race several times, considered by most to be the toughest foot race in the world. He finished the race in 2011 in 13^th place out of 95 entrants. He had a little tougher race in 2012 but still managed to finish in 23^rd place out of 96 entrants. He ran it again this year finishing in 24^th place overall in a time of 36:17:12. It is hard to compare each race with another from year to year, as start time, weather conditions and many other factors are never quite the same. The only thing that is always the same is the distance of 135 miles across the desert at the hottest time of the year.

Ed is one of the most humble men I have ever come across. He really is not one to brag about his accomplishments but I have asked him to do this interview for my readers and me. I thought I would try and get into the mind of the Jester by asking him a few questions concerning himself, his family and the world of ultra running.

Here is Part I. It consists of only two questions and answers. The answers are a little long, but very interesting, so I only included the two to make for a shorter post.

Runner’s Mania: What prompted you to start running in ultra races?

Jester: I ran my first marathon when I was 17, in high school, and I was hooked. One month later I ran my second marathon and ran a total of five marathons in a nine-month period. The next 28 years was a big dry spell for marathons. I was focused on family and work obligations and didn’t make the time for running. I did one marathon in 2000, with three of my kids, who were 11, 9 and 8 at the time. My 11 year old finished in 5:42, and I crossed the finish line with my 8 and 9 year old in 8:40. That was a very long day. It was another nine years, March of 09, for my next marathon. I ran another one in April, and then in early May I ran a local small marathon in Chino Hills that was a 1.8 mile loop around Ayala Park.

There were also 3, 6, and 12-hour race option taking place at the same time. I choose this race so that I could run the marathon while my youngest daughter, 14 at the time, could run her final long run, before running her first marathon in June.

While waiting for the race to start I noticed a car in the parking lot with a Badwater 135 sticker on the window. I got the notion that it would be fun to run a little bit with each runner and try to find out who this Badwater runner was. There were only 26 runners, so eliminating my daughter and myself, which left just 24 possibilities. Mind you, at that time I had absolutely zero interest in running the Badwater ultramarathon, but I had a curiosity about that ‘crazy race in the desert’. Besides I wanted to get some advice about possibly running a 50k, and I figured that maybe I could get some pointers from this guy on doing my first ultra.

After running with a couple of folks, who weren’t the mystery Badwater runner, I struck up a conversation with a guy running in cyclist compression shorts named Steve Teal. He was there for the 12-hour race, and was training for a triple Ironman distance triathlon, so needed to get some long miles in. Sure enough, this was the guy. He hadn’t just ran Badwater once, but had ran it four times.

He was happy to share his Badwater experiences, which were totally mind blowing to a guy that had only ran a couple of marathons. Although his stories were enthralling, my real intention was of course to pick his brain about running my first ultra, sometime way, way, way in the future.

We ran quite a few miles together, and by the time we were done he had convinced me to sign-up for my first ultra, two weeks down the road. This was a new 24-hour race around a one-mile course in Riverside, CA called Nanny Goat. I really didn’t think I was ready to jump from marathons into an ultra-marathon fray, but he convinced me that I had enough training and had nothing to loose. Since any mileage would count in the 24-hour race, I could go at my own pace, run or walk as fast or slow as I wanted, and I couldn’t DNF, a big plus in my book.

If it wasn’t just two weeks away, I might have talked myself out of it, but I registered for the race as soon as I got home that day. I heard someone once say that 90% of a race is just showing up. I don’t know about that, but I did show up and somehow made it through the whole 24 hours. I ended up with 102 miles for a third place finish. The rest, as they say, is history.

Runner’s Mania: I heard you made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. What can you tell us about that?

Jester: Well . . . kind of. Here’s the story. At that same marathon in Chino Hills where I met Steve Teal, I also met a woman from Corona named Yolanda Holder, also know as ‘The Walking Diva’. She introduced me to a running club she belonged to called Marathon Maniacs, which I joined. This group has some pretty hardcore marathoners that try to squeeze in as many marathons as they can into a year. Yolanda was planning to break the Guinness World Record for most marathons in a year by a female in 2010, by running 100 marathons. Again, not something I had any interest in at the time, but it did plant a seed.

In the summer of 2010 I heard about a nationwide contest sponsored by Runner’s World Magazine and New Balance running shoes for most race miles in a year. The winner would receive $25,000 for their favorite charity. Although by the time I joined the contest in August I had already ran about 32 marathons and four ultras, including one 100-mile race since January 1st, I was only in 5th place, with a little over 1,000 race miles, so I decided to step it up and see what I could do by the end of the year.

In the next five months I ran 38 marathons and 17 ultras, including six 100+ mile races, finishing the year with a 72-hour race in which I ran 238 miles. My total race miles for 2010 were just over 3,000. I barely beat out Yolanda, who had finished the year with 106 marathons to set a new marathon Guinness World Record.

Winning the contest was quite rewarding, especially when my chosen charity received that $25,000 check. Since I was already on a roll I decided to go for the male record for “most marathons in a year.”  My friend and fellow Marathon Maniac from San Antonio, Larry Macon, had also ran 106 marathons in 2010 finishing the last one with Yolanda. That broke his own previous male world record of 101.

Guinness allows any 365 consecutive day period to count for their records, so I decided to see how many marathons I could do in the next seven months. I finished my one year streak on July 16, 2011 at Badwater 135, which was my 135^th marathon/ultra in 365 days setting a new world record. I celebrated by running another 100 mile race four days later.

The amount of paper work and red tape required by Guinness to verify a world record is pretty extensive, for even a single event, but I had 135 separate events to provide documentation for. Guinness assigned me a case number and agreed that once I submitted the required documentation and they were able to verify each event, I would have the new world record.

Simple enough, just get all the paperwork together. Knowing the herculean task before me, I found plenty of ‘more important’ things to do, like running 100-mile races, so I procrastinated getting the paperwork together. Besides, who would try to do more than 135 marathons in one year, so why rush it?

In early 2011 at the Death Valley Trail Marathon I met a chap from the U.K. named Traviss Willcox who was hoping to break the world record himself. He had started his 365 days on Jan. 1, and by the time I finished my 135 in July, he was not on a pace to break the 135 marathons, but could still break 106. I promised Traviss that I would hold off submitting my documentation until the end of the year (another reason to procrastinate) to see if he could break the 106. He ended up doing 114, so I agreed to wait until he got the world record for 114, and then I would submit my 135 after Guinness verified his new record.

In the meantime Larry Macon had completed 113 marathons, and submitted his documentation to Guinness in January 2012, which Guinness confirmed within one week. Larry had just broken his own record for a second time. Although both Traviss and I had more marathons in a year than Larry, with Guinness it’s all about whose record is verified first.

 Guinness is a private U.K. company that has two revenue source, book sales and world record processing fees. There are three options for getting a record verified by Guinness. Submit the required documentation and pay the approximately $3,500 processing fee (the fee is actually in Euros, so the actual amount changes dependent on how the dollar is doing compared to the Euro) and Guinness will guarantee to verify the record within seven days. Option two is to submit the documentation with the app. $500 processing fee and Guinness guarantees to process the paperwork within one to two months. And for those that would rather pay nothing, Guinness does have the third option of no processing fee, but there’s also no guarantee on the timeline.

By the time Traviss finally had all his paperwork in order and submitted to Guinness it was March of 2011. For seven months Guinness kept requiring additional paperwork from Traviss, always offering to speed up the processing time for a fee. But finally by October of 2011 Guinness completed their verification process and awarded Traviss the new world record, with 114 marathons.

Finally, over a year after I had completed my 135 marathons, keeping my promise to Traviss of waiting until he got his Guinness World Record, it was time for me to submit my documentation and finally claim my rightfully earned record.  

All would be well and good, except during this whole process, Larry Macon was quietly stacking up marathons. By the end of October Larry had already surpassed Traviss’s 114 and was about to surpass my 135. There was no way I was going to pay the $3,500 fee, which I knew Larry would do without batting an eye. Besides, what would be the point when I knew I didn’t really hold the record if someone else had surpassed 135 but I beat them to the punch by getting my paperwork in before them.

So, on December 31, 2011, Larry Macon ran his 157^th marathon of the year. By the first week in January 2012, Guinness had already verified that Larry Macon was the new marathon king, with the Guinness World Record for Most Marathon Races in 365 Consecutive Days – Male.

There you have it. That’s the story behind my almost Guinness World Record.

But wait, there’s more! Guinness also gave me a case number for setting a new Guinness World Record for most race miles ran in one year, which I did around 4,500. Even Larry’s 157 marathons wouldn’t beat that. But at this point I really don’t feel like putting in the required effort it would take to claim the record. On the other hand I do have an interest in breaking the world record for most 100-mile races in one year, which is currently 36 held by my friend Liz Bauer. My friend Scott Brockmeyer holds the male record, at 28. So I’m seriously thinking about next year going for both the most 100-mile races in one year, while simultaneously trying to surpass my 4,500 race miles. We’ll see . . .

Cactus to Clouds an Epic Hike

Since I started hiking, about seven months after my first marathon back in 2000, I have always wanted to do this hike called "Cactus to Clouds." I first heard about it while talking with a hiker I met at the top of San Gorgonio Peak. He told me about this hike were one could go from near sea level to almost 11,000 feet in a single day hike. He said he tried to do it at least once a year, usually in the late spring or early fall. I looked the hike up on the internet and several local hiking books. They all said it was one of the toughest day hikes one could do and that it should be done with someone else who had done it before as the trail gets quite faint at times, with a lot of false trails made by the local wildlife such as dear and mountain goats.

The first 9.6 miles of the hike ascend 7900 feet for an average incline grade of 15.6%. Since there are some relatively flat areas of the trail and even some bits of downhill at times this entails climbing some grades in excess of 20% at times.

The day of the hike was Saturday, October 27, 2013. This would be almost exactly 13 years after I had first heard about it and now the time had finally arrived.

Several of our group had spent the night in Palm Springs, CA as the hike begins at the back of the Palm Springs Art Museum Parking Lot. The rest of our group met each other and drove in together from Redlands, about a 50 minute drive. Most of us got up that morning at about 2:00am. We left Redlands at around 3:20am. We met the rest of the group at the museum and by the time we were all packed up and ready to start it was about 4:40am, and pretty dark. It was also about 60 degrees which was actually just a little warm at first.

We donned our headlamps and began the trek. It was immediately apparent that this was going to be a steep and long hike. It didn't take long for our heart rates to climb and we had started at only about 450 feet above sea level. What would it be like when we reached 6,000 feet and above?

The trail became faint in several places very early on, mostly because it was quite rocky and not a lot of vegetation. I was leading and got us off on a wrong turn. We then had to back track a bit and Dev took over as he had the first part of the trail on GPS with his phone. This helped out quite bit as the trail was pretty tricky to spot at times. We quickly caught on to the fact that someone had blazed some of the rocks with blotches of white paint so they could be spotted a little farther ahead and this also helped out.

Dev, being young and in better shape, was setting a pretty tough pace for us as my heart rate was climbing to about 150 which is my maximum range for a marathon. I knew that I couldn't sustain that HR for more than about 4 hours so I commented that we should slow down a bit that I could not keep that pace up for over 12 hours or more. So Dev still went ahead scouting the trail while I led the rest of us at a more reasonable pace of around a 130-135 hear rate. Dev would wait for us whenever he was about to get out of sight.

We took short one to two minute breaks about every half hour or so and about every two hours we took a 10 minute or more break. After we had climbed for about an hour it was really awesome to look back toward the city lights from our elevated height! Below is a picture just before sunrise.

As with all hikes there are some who are slower and faster or having a good day or not so good day. So it was with our group. But we would always try to keep those behind in visual or hearing range and when we would lose sight or sound of them we would hold up until they caught back up to us. It was not a race but neither did we want to be in cold darkness any longer than necessary on the way back.

For the most part the trail was a relentless uphill trek but there were a few breaks here and there. The first 2 hours of the hike were in mostly darkness and then when the sun came out it began to warm up quickly. At least it was fall. The predicted high for the day at Palm Springs was 91 and we knew we would not get anywhere close to that, but still the sun would beat on us for the next 3.5 hours as there was no tree cover.

The last 2 miles of the hike to the saddle, just before the tram, were probably the most intense as far as elevation climb goes, but thankfully we did have some tree cover from time to time on this part. I can only imagine the difficulty encountered for those who try this in the heat of the summer. Some have actually died or have had to be rescued off this side of the mountain for underestimating how difficult it is and not taking enough food and water with them. Most of us took close to 1.5 gallons each with us and many said they went through all or most of it by the time we got to the tram 8 hours into the hike.

There are some pretty spectacular views of the San Bernardino Mountain Range to the north when doing this hike. Below are a few pictures.

Those last 2 miles of the initial 9.6 miles to the saddle took close to 2 hours to complete. It was very steep and rocky, with some places requiring a little pulling with the arms and hands up and over boulders etc. We took breaks a little more often on this section and at one point had a fairly long nutrition break.

After reaching the saddle at about 8300 foot elevation we took another 10 minute break and then headed out on the short .5 miles to the tram station. A lot of hikers call it quits at this point and take the tram back down to the parking lot, about 4 miles from Palm Springs and about 7 miles from where our vehicles were parked. We still had an 11 mile hike in front of us.

At the tram station, we took a very long break and most refilled water bottles etc. After our long break at the tram station we continued on for hour final 5.5 mile trek to the summit of San Jacinto Peak at 10, 834 feet. Even though this section was only about 2500 feet over the next 5 miles, a much less steep ascent than we had just accomplished, we were also at a much higher altitude and already tired from the earlier steep ascent. It was now after 1pm and we knew that we would probably have a little darkness again on the way back.


This section of the hike had quite a bit of tree cover and combined with the higher altitude it made for a much cooler trek. After about 2-3 miles in it got cold enough that I decided to put on my wind breaker and gloves and I was glad I did as it would only get cooler from there. Once we reached the intersection from the trail coming from Humber Park to the south side of the mountains from Idlewild, CA we had some more great views.

From here it was on up to the summit. We fully intended to just continue on to the summit and eat a good snack there but a little over a half mile from the summit most of u, including me, were beginning to feel the effects of glycogen depletion and we decided to take a much needed nutrition break. After about a 10 minute break we made out final assault on to the peak. Just before the peak there is a small rock cabin for rangers and hikers to be able to take shelter in from severe weather. Just past the cabin the trail ends and one has to climb a hundred feet or more scrambling over large boulders to reach the summit.

Finally we reached the summit of San Jacinto. While it was a bit cold, thankfully the wind was not blowing badly so we could keep our footing much easier and not get quite as cold as it could have been. Here are some pictures from the top. The two oldest from our group were Warren Johns and me, Russ Barber at the ages of 68 and 60 respectively. I am to the left in the pictures of the two of us. We both figure that we are in about 3:50 marathon shape at the time if that gives you any indication of the shape you need to be in to do this hike successfully without killing yourself.

The trek back down the boulders to the trail can be a bit precarious but it is not to bad as long you you don't hurry. From the trail back to the tram seems to be a very easy trek compared to everything else we had done that day. About half way back Dragana and I left the rest of the group behind and began running back. Shortly we ran into Tito who was waiting at a fork in the trail, not wanting to take the wrong one he had waited for the group to catch up. He had gone ahead earlier. We left our headlamps off until about 6:30pm when we just could not quite make out the trail enough to make sure of our footing. Even with a headlamp the shadows can make for unpredictable results in figuring out the footing of the trail, but we were able to keep a bit of a jog going and when not jogging we were walking quite fast. We made it back to the tram station at about 7pm for a total of about 14.5 hours for the whole ordeal. The others arrived about 10 minutes later and we all gave each other high fives and hugs. It truly was an epic experience. Almost all of the others said they would probably never do it again but were glad they had done it at least once. I suspect they will change their minds in the days to come as the bad parts of the memory fade and mostly good memories remain. We had a bit of a fiasco waiting for a cab that never came setting us back about 60 minutes more than it would have. Next time we will have a car at the parking lot and shuttle back and forth.

Here is a link to my Garmin Connect page where you can view all the stats from the hike: C2C Hike Garmin Connect .

As to the difficulty of this hike, about half of us had done Whitney within the last two years and all felt that this hike was definitely tougher than Whitney. Backpacker magazine considers it to be the 5th toughest day hike in the united states Americas Hardest Day Hikes . All those in our group were runners and capable of running a full marathon.

I definitely suggest that you have a least one person who has done the hike to the tram station with you, as this will greatly help in finding the trail. 

Happy Trail,

Russ

30-Day Fitness Rebound, Final Update

Well I am over two weeks late writing this update to my August 30-Day Fitness Rebound, but here it is! Unfortunately I was not able to do a definitive final run in the same weather conditions etc. because we have had very unusually high temps combined with high humidity, some nights not even getting below 74 degrees. I did have a significant long run at the end of week three that I will attempt to extrapolate from to give you an idea of where I ended up. As you recall I had not run previous to this for 8 full weeks and wanted to test how my fitness would rebound over the 30 days of August. Here is a recap of where I left off beginning with my initial test.

See initial article here: http://runnersmania.blogspot.com/2013/08/30-day-fitness-rebound-begins.html

I ran 6 miles at a 10:43 Avg. pace per mile. My first mile was at a pace of 10:11 and my last mile was at a pace of 11:13. That is about a minute difference. Based on experience I know that these two extremes will get much closer together as I regain my fitness over the next 30 days. I also expect my overall pace to get faster. So I am going to look at 3 metrics for evaluation as to how much fitness I can regain in 30 days.

1. Average Heart Rate: 139.  My goal will be to be within 2 beats of this number, on either side, for my test on August 31.
2. Average pace per mile:  10:43 per mile.
3. First and last mile pace: 10:11 for first mile and 11:13 for the last mile.

Here are my progress stats end of week one:

       1.  Average Heart Rate: 142 Just a hair over my goal. 
       2.  Average Pace Per Mile: 10:06. 
       3.  First and Last Mile Pace: 9:39 for first mile and 10:41 for the last mile.

My average pace per mile improved by 37 seconds, but the difference between first mile time and last mile time stayed exactly the same at 62 seconds.

My next test run was actually a 12-mile run instead of a 6-mile run, but it is the closest run I have in this time frame under nearly the same conditions, at least starting conditions.

Run on August 24 Week Three:

1.      Average Heart Rate: 143 Two beats over my goal but not bad for a 12 mile run.

2.      Average Pace Per Mile: 9:35.

3.      First and last mile pace: 9:27 for the first mile and 8:46 for the last mile.

4.      Approximation of first and last: 9:27 for first mile and 9:46 for mile 9.

My average pace per mile improved by 68 seconds over my initial test run while the difference between first and last mile, based on approximation, was only 11 seconds.

Unfortunately the first and last mile comparisons are not valid as this was an out and back 6 miles each way where as the initial course was out and back ½ mile each way, with each mile being exactly the same terrain. In this last test the first mile was uphill and the last mile was down the same hill. However, mile 9 would approximate the same difficulty of hill the first mile so I used it as an approximation.

As you can see in just 24 days I had a significant improvement from what I had lost. During the 8 weeks of no running. I might add that during week 3 I had to take 4 days off because my left heel was too sore to run.

I believe that these results would have been even better over the same course and only 6 miles but the results speak for themselves. Unfortunately the following week the temperatures climbed and the humidity and dew point soared with dew points reaching into the low 70’s at times and greatly affecting my times, as I was not acclimated to such conditions.

Subsequent to this I ran a very challenging 20-mile run with 2400 feet of continuous elevation gain over 7.3 miles and 3400 feet of elevation loss over 12.7 miles on September 13^th, with an average pace of 9:42 and a PR for me on that course.

I not only regained my previous fitness in less than 30 days after an 8-week break from running but also actually improved on it

Happy Trails,

Russ

30-Day Fitness Rebound Week One Update

It has been a really good week. I was going to wait until tomorrow to report but my body was getting a little tired and I am not sure I will run tomorrow, at least no more than a mile. So far I have run at least one mile 8 days in a row for a total of 32 miles including a 10-mile long run. I am planning on running at least a mile a day through the month of August. In addition I have cycled twice for a total of 47 miles doing a 1-mile run at the end of each ride in 80+-degree temperature. 

So last Friday I set some benchmarks to compare my progress, here is a review: (See post)

I ran 6 miles at a 10:43 Avg. pace per mile. My first mile was at a pace of 10:11 and my last mile was at a pace of 11:13. That is about a minute difference. Based on experience I know that these two extremes will get much closer together as I regain my fitness over the next 30 days. I also expect my overall pace to get faster. So I am going to look at 3 metrics for evaluation as to how much fitness I can regain in 30 days.

1. Average Heart Rate: 139.  My goal will be to be within 2 beats of this number, on either side, for my test on August 31.
2. Average pace per mile:  10:43 per mile.
3. First and last mile pace: 10:11 for first mile and 11:13 for the last mile.

Here are my progress stats end of week one:

       1.  Average Heart Rate: 142 Just a hair over my goal. 
       2.  Average Pace Per Mile: 10:06. 
       3.  First and Last Mile Pace: 9:39 for first mile and 10:41 for the last mile.

My average pace per mile improved by 37 seconds, but the difference between first mile time and last mile time stayed exactly the same at 62 seconds.

Overall I am very happy with my progress and could not really wish for a much better result in just one week. I would like to have seen the difference between my first and last mile be less than the week before but overall I really can’t complain at all. To improve by 37 seconds in one week is a very significant improvement.

So let’s review my goals for August 31. I stated last week that I would like to be back to an average pace of a 9:30 pace per mile under the same conditions or as close as possible to the same conditions. At this point I am already halfway there. Does that mean I can reach my goal in just 2 weeks instead of 4 weeks? Probably not, as I expect my progress next week to be somewhat diminished over this week. I would really be greatly surprised to reach my goal by the end of next week.

Have you ever chronicled a fitness rebound? What kind of gains in fitness did you expect and how did your result measure up against your goals and expectations?

Quite frankly, I would never have guessed that I would be able to knock off 37 seconds in just one week. Part of this is probably do to running at least one mile each day and also doing some cycling on a couple of my easy days. I did not cycle at a particularly hard effort, in fact both rides were fairly easy efforts overall. I ran only one stressful workout and that was the 8 hill-repeats I ran Tuesday night and even that was conservative because I felt my heel tighten up so I did not run the full twelve repeats I had planned.

Let me know about your comeback experiences!

Happy Trails,

Russ

30-Day Fitness Rebound Begins

Ok so an 8-week layoff from running really sucks, especially when you are just sitting or lying around, in order stay off your feet so you can heal an injury. So this morning I am out doing my normal 6-mile run and I realize that I am probably running close to 60 seconds slower per mile than I did 8 weeks ago and I feel weaker too. Well, it was actually 9 weeks ago as I have already been running again for a week now. On the lighter side, how many people can lay off 8-weeks and then go out and do a 2-mile, 4-mile and 8-mile run in 4 days time? I have to be happy about that. And, I wasn’t nearly as sore as I thought I would be the next day after the 8-mile run last Sunday. I was sure I would be walking around like I had run a marathon instead of only 8 miles.

So I have lost some fitness for sure. Now I am thinking how much can I get back in the next 30 days, counting today? I had to go back to early May to find a run that came close to matching the same conditions. This run was 9 miles instead of 6 and it had a lot more elevation gain but I ran a 9:45 avg. pace. Because of the extra hills and distance I would handicap it and say I would probably have done about 9:30 on the same course and conditions as today. I suck when the temperature gets above 60 degrees with bright sunshine and a relatively high dew point of around 55. Today, according to Accuweather, it was 68 degrees at the finish with a dew point of 56 and bright sunshine to boot.

Ok, so now I have a baseline of a 9:30 pace in conditions of 66-68 degrees with bright sunshine starting my run at about 8:00 in the morning. I would easily be 30 seconds faster per mile at 55-60 degrees and a 6:00am start, but I started too late in the day. What a slacker I am. Never mind that I didn’t get to bed until 12:45am, but enough of the excuses, that was my own fault!

So this morning I ran 6 miles at a 10:43 Avg. pace per mile. My first mile was at a pace of 10:11 and my last mile was at a pace of 11:13. That is about a minute difference. Based on experience I know that these two extremes will get much closer together as I regain my fitness over the next 30 days. I also expect my overall pace to get faster. So I am going to look at 3 metrics for evaluation as to how much fitness I can regain in 30 days.

1. Average Heart Rate: Today it was 139.  My goal will be to be within 2 beats of this number, on either side, for my test on August 31.
2. Average pace per mile: Starting pace is 10:43 per mile.
3. First and last mile pace: Starting is 10:11 for first mile and 11:13 for the last mile.

Do I have a goal in mind you ask? Well certainly. My goal is to be back to an average pace of 9:30 per mile under the same conditions or as close as possible to the same conditions. Is it possible to reach that goal for a 60-year-old man? Yes, it is possible but not probable. So why do I set the goal so high? I always like to reach for the possible and maybe beyond what I might think possible! If I fail I still gave it all I had and made it a good fight. If I succeed then of course I set new and more challenging goals for myself in the future.

So what is my main goal for the remainder of 2013? I would like to qualify for the Boston Marathon again. To qualify I will need a marathon time of 3:55 or better. To actually be sure of getting accepted I will probably need closer to 3:45 or better because, the faster you are the earlier you are allowed to register. My personal best was almost 11 years ago at StGeorge, UT with a time of 3:33:40 for and average pace of 8:09 per mile. I would really love to match or beat that time from 11 years ago. Is it possible? Once again the answer is yes. Is it probable? Again, the answer is no. However, I am making it my goal to PR at the Tucson Marathon on December 8, 2013.  That would assure me an entry in the 2015 Boston Marathon.

Me at St George Marathon 2002 Where I qualified for Boston with a time of 3:33:40.

 

These are some lofty goals for me for sure, but first things first. That means I will be working on the 30-day fitness rebound goal. If I make that goal it greatly enhances my chances of meeting my year-end goal of a marathon PR and Boston Qualifier.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my progress and final results.

Happy Trails and see you at the finish line,

Russ

A Matter of the Heel

Those of you who have been following my blog know that I have been trying to rehab my left heal for the last 6 weeks after breaking three ribs two weeks earlier. The heel has been bothering me for well over two years now. The ribs are completely healed and I have started running again. Day one of running was yesterday for a slow 2 miles and day two was today for an even slower 4 miles with a dew point of 60 degrees. Very muggy run! Glad it was only two miles.

The heel was a little sore about 3 hours after my run yesterday and today it was a little sore and tight before I ran but not enough to cause a limp. The pain is kind of a warm burning sensation right at the attachment of the Achilles to the heel bone. As I started running this morning I had a little more ache, than when I was just walking, to the heel for the first half-mile then it went away and I was fine for the rest of the run. After the run I could feel a deep burning sensation just like before I started. It was the same feeling I had before starting rehab only not as intense. The rehab consisted of wearing a boot to keep the heel stationary, and twice a week physical therapy to strengthen my foot, calf and soleus muscles.

While I am not back to where I was when I started therapy, I can tell that the heel is basically doing the same thing as before. I will take tomorrow off and see if that helps but I am not confident that it will do much but calm down a little and then flare up when I run again. This is very frustrating! I feel as though I have wasted 8 weeks that I could have been running and would have only lost 2-3 weeks from the ribs.

I guess I will try and run 3 days a week, cycle 2-3 days and swim one or two days. Swimming can be done on the same day as a run or bike ride. Hopefully by cross training in this way I can still maintain my running fitness without aggravating the heel much more.

From here I guess I need to continue to try and convince the doctor(s) to help me find the true source of my problem. I still feel that it is a nerve problem stemming from my lower back, my hip or the piriformis muscle in the buttock area. This is called Piriformis Syndrome. This muscle can get inflamed and cause the sciatic nerve to become inflamed and subsequently affect the whole leg all the way down to the foot. The problem is getting insurance to cover doing the MRI,s needed to see exactly where the inflammation is occurring. Ugh, it is all so frustrating.

Either way I have decided to train for the Tucson marathon on December 8^th.  I should have plenty of time to train for it as it is about 19 weeks away. That gives me 16 weeks of training and 3 weeks to taper. Hoping to run 6-8 miles this Sunday, even if it is really slow.

Bottom line is that the conservative treatment, with therapy, has not worked at all. I didn’t really expect it to but I was hopeful, and that kept me focused during the whole ordeal. Here’s to hoping for miracles. I can run but I am held back from doing my best because of this stupid heel. Here goes cross training. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for letting me vent! LOL!

Happy Trails,

Russ

PS. The interview with the Jester, AKA Ed Ettinghausen is in the works. Hopefully I will have it all ready sometime early next week.

Rehab Of Heel And Ribs Almost Complete

Many of you know already that I have had some forced time off from running. For those of you who are not aware of how I got to this point see: ( Struggling With Downtime )

Today I cycled for the first time in 7 weeks. I have not run yet and will not try until I am given the go ahead by my physical therapist (PT), next Thursday. He said he would give me a protocol at that time which would probably involve only walking and cycling to begin with. In fact, I was not given the go ahead to cycle as of yet but I just could not resist the opportunity to try and see how the heel would respond. So far the heel seems fine and cycling, while bothersome, never did inflame it as much as running. I usually only noticed a problem hours to a day afterward. It has been 4 hours and so far no noticeable problem. The ribs are pretty much completely healed, as I do not notice any soreness unless I do some sort of extreme movement or pressure in the wrong place. Cycling was no problem for the ribs ( See: Trail Run,Fall, Broken Ribs, Oh My) at all, and I am sure running would not be either.

I have 6 more days until the walking boot comes off. I know I will want to try and run immediately but my PT says he will put me on a walking protocol first and graduate to running. This will be tough, but no one wants this to work more than I, so I will follow the protocol. He said cycling would probably be OK also.

Hopefully the epidural shot I received last Monday in my sacroiliac joint will be a more complete and long-term solution to my heel and leg problems. Within 3 days of the shot I noticed a significant relief in my left hip and leg, allowing me to increase my flexibility by almost six inches in several stretches including touching my toes from a standing stiff leg bend and even down to the second finger joints being bent. Another stretch that I had been doing was from a seated position bringing my left foot up and crossing it over my right knee while bending forward at the waist. This stretch would often elicit a slight shock like sensation from my hamstrings to my heel. Not only has this disappeared, but I can now lean forward touching my head to my left leg at the knee, whereas before my head was about 6 inches away. In two days I see the pain doctor and he will hopefully prescribe at least one or more future injections to completely calm the hip and leg soreness from the nerve problem. The relief I have gotten is significant enough to verify that the main problem is a nerve inflammation

My plan for the future is to start training for another marathon as soon as possible whether or not my heel is completely better. The reason for this is that the next course of action, if it is not better, would be surgery and I do not want to be out any longer than I have to being off my feet. I would rather go into surgery from a state of maximum conditioning than to go in already having lost 10 weeks or more.

So, I have my sights set on training for the Tucson Marathon in December. I may also do a trail Ragnar in the meantime. Pray for my heel to be completely healed within the next two weeks!

Looking forward to training again very soon!

ON a lighter note, I am hoping to score an interview with The Jester, AKA Ed Ettinghausen. He is a rather prolific ultra marathoner who has just completed his 3^rd Badwater 135 mile ultra marathon, from Death Valley to the Mt. Whitney portals. This race is considered by most to be the hardest foot race in the world with temperatures reaching near 130 degrees and upwards of 150 degrees and more at road level. Make sure to check back soon!

Happy Trails,

Russ

My Bear Story

This article has nothing to do with running, but as I said in the preface to my blog I will occasionally write about gold prospecting so here is one of my prospecting stories.

Early one fall, about 12 years ago, I decide to do a little gold prospecting. I drove out the 15fwy, north to Hwy 138 and headed east toward Silverwood Lake. I turned off at Little Horse Thief Canyon to the north of the highway. The road was fairly rough and driving it was a slow task. About 10 minutes later I got to the claim and started scouting it out.

I had been here a few times before so I had a place in mind up one of the side tributaries of the small creek. I took off on foot walking up the creek bed looking for just the right spot. I soon spotted a place where the bench material was clearly sitting on top of a layer of caliche. And I knew, from pervious experience, that the best gold would be lying right on top of the caliche because it acts as false bedrock. The gold in this area is pretty fine although a few nuggets have been found, most of them have been pretty small. There is however, quite a bit of fine gold, and I was looking forward to seeing that color in the bottom of my pan.

I decided to walk back to the truck from the bank above the creek bed, just to get a little different view of the surrounding area. As I walked along I saw some fresh berries on some bushes and could tell that someone or something had already picked or eaten most of them. A little farther down I saw bear scat and could tell that he or she had enjoyed quite a meal from the berry bush. Not only that but the scat was fairly fresh, probably not more than two hours old.

I got back to the truck and made several trips back and forth carrying my equipment and buckets. I had six 5gallon buckets that I wanted to fill with screened material, and later run it through my small Gold Buddy at home in my spare time. There was no water in the creek at all and I did not have a dry washer or I would have used that.

I had gotten a late start and knew I only had about 2 hours to work before dusk. I was working with my back to the creek and my face to the bank. I had worked a fairly large opening into the bank and had quite a bit of material to screen through into buckets. Since the gold was really fine I was using a screen of ¼ inch. I wore gloves with rubber coating on the palms and fingers so as not to scrape up my hands too much. I was working mostly on my hands and knees as worked the material out from the bank.

The time passed quickly and I noticed that it was starting to get dark. I needed to start carrying things back to my truck before it turned to dark to see my way. I began to hurry a little more as I was not quite done. All of a sudden I felt a hot breath on the back of my neck and knew that some kind of animal was behind me. I could not see what it was without backing my body out of the small cave I had dug into the bank. I reached for my 38 Smith & Wesson revolver from my holster, holding my breath, my heart pounding I slowly removed it. My mind flashed back to having seen the bear scat earlier and I was really thinking that it could be a bear. The hair was standing up on the back of my head as I slowly turned to see a dog wagging his tail and licking my face knocking off my hat in the process. Where he had come from and how he found me I will never know for sure, but I was extremely relieved to know that it was a dog and not a bear. He did have tags and I figured he must have just wandered of from someone else hiking in the area. Then I remembered having seen a building that could have been a living quarters about a mile farther down the road once before. I then figured he must have come from there and did not try and take him back with me as he looked well fed and cared for.

I had just enough time to get everything in my truck and leave before it turned really dark, then I heard a voice calling, “Rusty, Rusty” which must have been the dogs name as he took off running in the direction of the voice. I got everything into my truck just before dark and then headed back home with a great story to tell.

Latter that weekend I ran my material and did find some pretty good gold. It was nothing to get excited about but still worth it just to see that yellow gold in bottom of my pan.