Monday, December 2

Muddy Madness at First Cavinti Adventure Road and Trail Marathon 2013

It was not the electricity black out nor the wind and heavy downpour of  rain or the mud pits can almost stop me from finishing this race,  it was my close encounter with 5 village dogs. Miraculously I got out of it with only minor rip on my technical shirt and calf compression from the barbed wire fence. Scared to the bones but thankful.

Cavinti Adventure Road & Trail Marathon 2013, my 3rd consecutive weekend of having a race. Up in the local community of Cavinti where it has been raining, together with my Ayala Triads running family and a lot more familiar faces in the running community, we started the race an hour after the original time of gun start. It has been raining and windy even before the race started. Total blackout of electricity few minutes before gun started did not stop the adventurous spirits of the runners, support crew and organizers to enjoy the race.

Full and half marathon runners were released at the same time. After a little over 7km (just my estimate distance) from gun start that covers the paved road we enter a rough road evident to be muddy even before running through it. This now started my endless muddy adventure. With one goal in mind, to get out of this mud  of different intensity injured free,  I stayed focused at all times. Admittedly, it was really a new adventure for me. After a while of struggling and hoping for a much harder part of the road at some point I just step wherever my feet landed, sometimes laughing out loud from sliding on slippery parts and almost falling.  I managed to stay balanced and keep my upper body clean from mud ..until..something happened... my right shoe got vacuumed on a deep soft mud. I tried pulling my foot but to no avail, I decided to pull my leg, and pull my shoe with my right hand and still no luck, now I used my two hands. After few seconds of struggle I managed to pull it out but with mud up to my elbow on both arms. I wished I could have brought out my camera and take a photo of myself but not possible. After few steps of walking on the mud with only sock on my right foot I managed to put on my shoe again. With the absence of  a running water to clean myself from,  I run with mud on both arms, hands and legs. My hope of getting out the muddy portion after an hour becomes several hours,  until I said to myself, I'll just enjoy and don't mind how long will this take me. This was my longest distance of running on the mud so far.

Until finally I came out of the muddy part and now on the paved road again with a water station. Thank God, I am done with the mud portion and I can clean my hands. 12km more to the finish line. I can relax a bit now. The marshal told me there is a flowing water few kilometers from here which I really look forward to it. I can finally wash myself. After the water spill way and passing by another aid station with local delicacies (sumang casava and espasol), I decided to carry few extra, putting it inside the back part of my shirt. Thanks to my hydration belt, it holds my shirt and keep my take away food from falling. A little heavier now but no problem with me, I know I will be happy after. After almost 2km (estimate) of running I pass by a huge house with red gate, one by one dogs came out barking at me, until there were 5 of them. All my life once a dog will bark I am really afraid of it and I tried my very best to overcome this fear. There were several times on my races in the past that I am successful with it, there were times that I had to wait for the next runner to arrive no matter how long that will take. And on this particular instance, I tried my best to keep calm and don't mind them, just keep on walking, but Oh My God, they never stop barking and they really swarmed at me. One dog came forward, my instinct was to throw my bottle of C2 drink, but they never stopped. I decided to run towards the fence thinking of climbing the tree, I landed on the barbed wire. Whahhhhh....good thing the owner of the house came out. I stood up trembling, checking my self for any scratch, wound or injury, miraculously I only got a tear on my shirt and calf compression. I asked the lady owner to walk me a little further to be a little away from the dogs. Up until now that I am writing this part, I  am still scared of the expereince. And the rest of the distance becomes 'mind all dog' thing for me to the extent of waiting the runner behind me if I see a dog few meters ahead of me or ask the locals if there are dogs in the house and ask them to walk with me until I will pass by the part that has dogs. The dog encounter live through my mind up until I cross the finish line.

I am thankful I made it through the incident unharmed by the dogs or by any sprain or injury. Aside from my isolated drama,  it was a great race all in all. The rain that welcomed us from start to finish made the run a lot cooler. I haven't been that wet on the entire duration of the race. The free mud packs from the mud pits and mud paddies gave me a good leg muscle workout.

I survived the mud with my Altra Lone Peak trail running shoes, it plays a great role in keeping me injured free and safe from the slippery mud, the front hole continuously drain the water once I pass through swamp and water areas. Together with my half ankle gaiter it kept any pebble and stones from coming inside the shoes. Wearing calves compression was a good decision. It keeps my legs unscratched from my dog encounter, it may have a big hole now but I can always sew it. Changing from tight shorts to running shorts made my run more comfortable which I think was a good last minute decision. Bringing a headlamp helped the first few kilometers of the race but was never useful at all after that. Sunglasses was no use at all and the sun visor. The fluid belt was of good use but I wish I had my simple hydration bottle ( I miss that terribly, I should get one soon). Bringing trail food of chocolates and nuts help me stay energized and nourished. Chia seeds and gatorade gave the taste buds variety of flavor while on the race. A thicker Nike tank top protected the side of my boobs from the barbed wire encounter.

Kudos to the organizer, Joseph Prince Baltazar, his team and the LGU of Cavinti. The decision of delaying the race an hour after made sense for it will be too dangerous to be running on the mud when it is still dark.  For me. the intervals of water station was fine and ok. Though I only stop few times, the buko juice being the first one followed by the beginning of the road after the mud area, then at the spill way followed by the one with suman cassava with C2 with ready with rolyo for take away suman. A roving aid station with egg and soda is a big relief. It's also great to see locals involved in the race by manning the different aid stations. The marshals on some intersections were a big help. Areas for improvement (my own opinion) more trail signs on some intersections especially on the muddy area or some marshals. At the finish line, it must have been great if the race organizer will be there at all times to welcome the finishers and hand the medal (for there was one) and take a good photo after, a marshal to assist where to get the finisher shirt and finally where to get the free meal as promised on the event announcement. There was no food available after.

A route that goes around the different beautiful scenery of Cavinti, it was really a worth place to run. I thank God for another adventure injured free. Next stop will be Milo. 

Wednesday, November 27

CM50: Clark- Mayamit Falls 50-Mile Trail Race 2013

Certified Bad Ass Ultrarunner? Do I deserve to be called such?  I woke up this morning with a smile on my face despite my sore body. I did it. Yes, I did it.  I know I came to the race unprepared, I haven't been logging a descent mileage the past month, always been thinking of  doing such but really I never find the motivation to do it. I joined races on weekends but I just drag myself to finish the race. I know I have to work on my speed but up until now I can't get my acts together and start doing it.

CM50, on its 3rd year now. I know the race event , I run parts of the race course, had trek and run parts of the lahar area several times, and Sapang Uwak to Mayamit Falls is my training ground in preparation to my several races in the past. But I never joined this event nor run the entire race course. I heard so much stories about CM50 from my ultra runner friends who did race in the past, it is known for it's brutal course. And this year I thought I will have this race pass again on my lap. But I was meant to be here, to be part of this race. One slot opened with a longest distance, arrangements with the Race Director were made, looks like all were set including my ride but not myself, I am not too sure if I am really ready for another race. Coming from a 55km race the previous weekend, all I hope for is to have a kind legs and a cooperative stomach.



Picture courtesy of Rashel Pena
Facts about the race:
CM50 is the finale of the race series with CM42 as a qualifying race. This is an out-and-back course on footpath connecting Clark to the scenic Miyamit Falls in Porac, Pampanga. It is an old trail used primarily by Aetas. The route will take runners from Tennis Court area of Clark Parade Ground (Start/Finish line) at Clark Freeport Zone (formerly Clark Air Base), Gate 14, Sacobia River, Puning Spa, Sitio Target, up the dirt road covering the sugar cane plantation, Sitio Ebus (Aeta community), down to the expansive Pasig-Potrero River (river crossing), parallel dirt road along SCTEX, Crow Creek (Sapang Uwak), passing through the Aeta community, then up to Miyamit Falls and the peak (about 3kms to caldera of Mt. Pinatubo) and back to Clark.

NOTE: This is a physically demanding race. Runners are strongly advised to train properly for it.

Course condition: Gravel road, fire trails, dirt road, river and lahar crossings, single tracks and partly asphalt/concrete road.

 ALL LOCAL TIME:

Time: 1am to 7pm for 50 miles
1:30am to 5:30pm for 60K


Time barrier: 18 hours for 50 miles
16 hours for 60k
 


Race Proper
 
Few minutes past 11:00pm we finally reach Clark, Pampanga grounds. That was really a very fast ride. We had to rush to the starting line to claim our race bib. Lots of familiar faces, most  runners were already set and ready for the race,  just waiting for the race briefing and gun start. Had to stay focused and think clearly what food I need to carry on my hydration pack that hopefully will sustain me for over 17 hours. My drop bag did not reach on time but it is all fine. Fixing my things while partly listening to the race briefing, I really do not know if I really understand fully what was being said. Multi tasking at the knick of time is just too complicated but one thing I put clearly in my mind, I will do my best to stay on the trail, follow the trail signs, run with other runners, not be lost and just have fun while pushing within the time that I set for myself. That is the plan.

Standing at the starting line while waiting for the count down to come was exciting. I am not just with the few elite ultra runners of the country but also with few great runners from Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Australia. With our head torches on, we proceed with the race after hearing the final count down. Full of energy and hope, I just proceed with my own slow running pace. From road to trail until it leads to the start of the lahar area. The trail signs of big orange flags and blinkers  are very visible and made things easier for runners to navigate on a dark night passing through a no permanent trail lahar site. Each of us has to  pass through several river beds with mostly ankle deep water. I push a little faster on sand and walk on water until I reach the first aid station 10 minutes before my target time. I am not too hungry yet but I opted to get small bite of food. First 7km done.

The next 9km distance passes through mountain trails with ropes, lahar and river crossing again, some parts of hardened road. I was with other runners and trail signs are always visible. Though it started to drizzle, I can still feel the humidity and I am sweating all over. Until few meters before the next aid station, still on the lahar area is another river to cross, this time not so wide but raging one. I though to be extra careful in crossing but to the contrary I got off balanced and fell on the water. With my front part submerged in the few inches below the knee deep water I regain my balance with sand all over may face, and on my clothes. I check my left knee, ankle and legs for any injury, all fine and no pain, thank God. Oh well, what a good way to cool off myself. I continued on and reach AS2 30 minutes before my target time. 16km off the distance. A few sip of mountain dew (which  leads me to trouble later on the race). From As2 to As3 will be mostly rough road and sugarcane plantation and I am glad I did not get lost on the area that trail signs were not so visible. I was on track until I reach the road which is already a familiar terrain for me. I was still dark and I reach AS3 with my running family on the aid station, Ayala Triads. So happy to see them.

Though I did not have any drop bag for my food, I just eat whatever is available on the station. Feeling a little uneasy on my stomach, I started to drink few sip of cowhead choco milk. I proceed to the next station. I am already familiar on this terrain, I know too well when is  the next uphill and downhill, the next bend and curve. Yes literally,  for I have been here several times. The rough road has been newly cleaned and cleared, I just do not know if its because of the race or it was just scheduled to be cleaned. I reach AS4 more than an hour ahead of my scheduled time, refill my hydration, drink more choco milk again and proceed with the next 10km distance to the peak and the turn around point of this race.

This is the part of the trail that I haven't run in the past and I am glad I hook up with Benj. It's a single track trail that goes up and down the mountain slope with beautiful scenery from time to time. It is here the we started meeting the fast runners on their way back to the next station. As the 10km distance seems to be taking forever and the turn around point seems to be nowhere to be found, I had to start digging deep on all the steep uphill and gaining my strength on the downhill. I really wish I brought with me my trekking pole. Last minute decision of taking it off from my gear was not a good decision at all. Later the gusty wind pick up and fog covered the scenery as we come to the ridge of the race course. Until one final push is the turn around point, finally. While others take time to sit down and rest, after my number has been noted by the marshal without wasting my time I proceed back. Two hours before the cut off time and an hour ahead of my target schedule. On our way back I asked Benj if we have the luxury of time (he has done this before and he said he was one of the buzzer beater then). When he replied that we are just in time, its where I think, oh know, I am not even safe from the cut off time yet. Going back to AS4 is another challenge. I have to navigate the terrain that I push deeper earlier, which means its the same effort. Until after sometime I just let Benj and Jon go ahead and I slowed down a bit. Reaching AS4 is a big relief, though I am an hour earlier from my target schedule I know I am into a little trouble. My stomach. I cannot eat much solid food anymore, I have been thinking of my pears and other food and my protein drink.

Two kilometer downhill to the falls will be easier I thought but I cannot hold my stomach anymore. I go off trail and did my thing. Nature calls and I just cannot hold it anymore. Thank God tissue paper and wet ones are my mandatory running items.  That took off few minutes of my time but I was glad I did it, it was a big relief. Few runners pass me by  but I did not care. With drizzle on and off since we started and a downpour of rain came, the trail became slippery, I had to navigate on a slower pace just to avoid injury and accident. And finally I arrive at the falls. Of the several times that I visited this place, it was only this time that I take a deep on the water and it was a refreshing feeling. After few minutes I proceed back but it was already a struggle for me to reach  the 2km uphill trail to the Junction station. I feel weak and tired.  I am on my slowest uphill push. I arrive the junction station an hour earlier than my target time but I only forced myself to take any solid food available. With legs now sore, I proceed down to the next station. I know it will take me longer on this part of the trail as I always do in the past.  I arrive AS3 an hour to spare from the cut off time. I have to use the toilet again, look for food after and find some cold drink. Thanks to the support vehicle with kind crew who offered me cold sweetened banana, lots of ice cubes and rice. I take advantage of taking some solid food. The way back to AS2 took me longer, arriving an hour and 55 minutes after. With my tired legs I just cannot run a faster stride on the road and trail anymore. All the more the steep ascend becomes challenging to negotiate with slippery ground now.

My hope of reaching 2 hours before cut off at AS1 was short of 15 minutes, giving me an hour and 45 minutes to cover the remaining 7km to the finish line. Having done this part on less than an hour earlier, I know I am safe from the cut off time. But the river swell and becomes wider and deeper, and its getting dark again.  I thank the several runners who walk, run, crawl, held my hand as I cross the river, show me the shortest way to tackle on the lahar area.  I thank God I managed to go out of this part really safe and not getting lost. The last 3 km is all road but I cannot run any faster pace and bigger stride any longer. Those runners that I run ahead few hours ago all catch up with me, but it was all fine, I know I will be on time before the cut off. I am so glad and happy as I step on the grass ground with 20 minutes to spare from the cut off time. Few more strides I will be done with this. I continue with my running pace until I cross the finish line. It was already dark, I got few of my friends worrier but I know I can make it. 

It was one tough race. With a tight cut off time on a varied terrain, this is not an easy race to do, it isn't be given 2 UTMB points if not because of that. Huge congratulations to the race organizer, Atty Jon Lacanlale for a well organized trail race  with international standards,  markers  and trail signs of big orange flags with blinkers as well as reflectorized orange and gray tapes and orange spray paints with yellow caution ribbons are all very visible and clear, volunteers and race crew are very friendly, aid stations are well stocked with variety of food  and hydration. The crucial curves and intersections has marshals to make sure runners safety. Ropes are set up on danger terrain.

The 87 kilometers race course of road, mountains, lahar and river crossings including that of sugar cane plantation,  and trails of steep ascends and wicked descends, with some heat and drizzle  may not give most of the runners any chance to relax and rest but it makes the race more exciting and fun. On my personal note, the full gaiters helped a lot on keeping  my shoes clear from sand and pebbles. There was never a time that I had to take off my shoes and clean it. I may got three small blisters on my toes but it was all manageable. One thing I should have brought though is my trekking pole, it could have been of great help. I fail on my nutrition and hydration this time which a continues learning and experiment  for me as I go on with my extreme adventure.

I thank the generous people who made it possible for me to be on this race, to Joseph Sibal, Bernard Enriquez and Russel Hernandez, may your kind heart be always rewarded thousand folds back.  I thank the Lord for giving me the strength, the faith and the grit to finish the race. The mountains will always be my home.

Next stop will be Cavinti Trail Run.





 
 

Tuesday, November 19

Unli Hot Hills at MAP 50KM 2013


Main objective of joining the race:  will be my training run which includes my training for proper hydration and nutrition.

Probably I am one of the last few registrants of this race. With my scheduled deployment as part of the volunteer team for Yolanda to Borongan Samar got postponed and has to wait for further notice, I managed to arrange things two days before the race. Thanks to the arrangement of Russel Hernanadez, and the generosity of Joseph Sibal and for the understanding of the Race Director, Sir Rodel Mendoza.

I came to the starting line really unprepared, with less sleep coming from my volunteer work at Villamor Airbase and my very first long run after my G2G race, I did not expect really a good performance, I will treat this as my LSD ( long slow distance run) as I really did not have any good long run prior to this race. At least I will be forced to do the run.


The race started 4:30am, still dark but manageable, without any headlamp, I just had to be with other runners that has light and making sure that I am not on the inner lane to avoid danger from motorists. After less than a kilometer after gun start was  the beginning of the many uphill on the race course. As I treat this race as my training run, I did not mind the distance I covered, and what distance I still need to do up to the finish line. I push hard on the never ending uphill and run with caution in all the descends. One thing I noticed, there are lots of marshals on the course of the race to make sure of  runners safety; marshals on the road, roving marshals on motorbikes and cars. Aid stations are well stocked with  variety of food and hydration drinks.

A cloudless day with the sun shining to its brightest was another chance for me to do heat training. I push even harder as the sun shines and the mercury goes higher. It was really hot and warm. But I might as well finish it faster. Maintaining my pace even on the uphill, downhill and flats I consciously hydrate and eat even in between stations. I crossed the finish line 4 minutes over 8 hours of running (unofficial) with a happy stomach with a bonus of 4.69km making it a lotal of 54.69km distance. I reach my goal of finishing the race treating it as my training run and one race that I manage my hydration and nutrition well. And I crossed the finish line without blisters though burned from the sun.

Despite my goal of treating this as my training run, I can say this is not an easy over 50km race distance. One of my hardest 50km road race if I may say. With lots of uphill all through out the course plus the heat of the sun, and most of all running on one of the busiest national highway in the country, this is not an easy race to do. I salute to all the runners for having the courage to stand at the starting line, congratulations to the finishers for pushing despite the inconveniences. Kudos to the organizers, you did a good job out there. I did not only come to Atimonon to do rock climbing but now I can say I also run your highway.

At the end of the race I am glad I attain my goal of having a good training run,  able to maintain proper nutrition and hydration with no acid reflux this time. Knees are still ok and stomach is happy which I hope I will be able to maintain the same thing on my next race.

Next stop will be CM50. Thank you to the generous persons who share their resources.

I thank God for giving me the strength to run and finish ultra races.  

Wednesday, September 18

Perfect Your Downhill Running Form



Want to blow by your competition? Learn how to tackle the downhill.

If you’ve ever woken up with burning quads the day after a hilly race, you can probably blame all the downhill pounding. Although running uphill may feel more difficult from a cardio perspective, going downhill well is challenging—and a lot harder on your body.
Here’s why: Muscles contract in two ways—concentrically (muscle shortens: think picking something up) and eccentrically (muscle lengthens while contracting: think putting that something back down). “Eccentric contractions are much more costly from an energy and wear and tear perspective,” says Dr. Ivo Waerlop, D.C. “Running downhill requires lots of eccentric contraction, especially in the quadriceps and lower leg muscles.” Mastering the downhill with proper form will put less stress on your legs and can help you make up time in your next race.
RELATED: The Upside Of Downhill Training

Form tips for going fast downhill

Lean forward from the hips, not the shoulders. Gravity naturally pulls you downhill. Avoid the urge to lean back and focus on keeping your body perpendicular to the ground. “As you increase speed, move your center of gravity forward with you; not enough and your feet are sliding out from under you, too much and you’re on your face,” Waerlop says.
Use your arms for balance. When running downhill, we don’t need the forward-back arm movement for power like we do on flats and uphills. Although it may look ridiculous in race photos, XTERRA world champion Lesley Paterson recommends flailing your arms out to the side for balance. “It can help give your body the control it might need if speed takes over or a sudden change in direction is needed,” she says.
Engage your core. Think of your abs, glutes and back as your stable base that your limbs work around.
“Circle” your stride. Because you don’t need as much power from the knee drive (thanks, gravity!), keep the feet under the body and don’t overstride. “I often do an almost circular motion—especially if on steep terrain—rather than driving the knee straight through in front of the body,” Paterson says. “It allows more extension out the back and a chance to relax some of the muscles in the follow-through.”
Look down the hill, not at your feet. Waerlop says when you look at your shoes, it induces neck forward flexion and actually facilitates your flexor muscles, which “turns off” the hip extensor muscles (glutes, hamstrings, back muscles)—the ones which help keep you upright and neutral— increasing your risk of falling forward.
Imagine hot coals under your feet. Keep contact time as minimal as possible. “I like to feel as though I am ‘dancing’ over the ground, just lightly touching it with my mid-/forefoot and springing right off again,” Paterson says. This is even more important for off-road running, when you need to be more versatile with where you plant your foot and for how long.

Perfect Foot Position

Think of your foot as a tripod, with the three points being the heads of the big and little toes (at the ball line) and the heel. This tripod needs to be level for the foot to function optimally. If you are too much on your heel, your shins need to slow the descent of the foot, which can lead to shin splints. If you land too much on your forefoot, your calves have to work harder to lower your heel and will exaggerate any forefoot abnormality you have in your gait; this will place additional stress on your knees. —The Gait Guys, Drs. Ivo Waerlop and Shawn Allen

Quick Tip

New (or suck) at running downhill? Descend with your feet turned sideways. As you gain skill, point your feet more progressively downhill.
****
Jene Shaw is a senior editor at Triathlete magazine.

  • By Jene Shaw
  • Published Aug. 6, 2013
  • Updated Aug. 7, 2013 at 8:28 AM UTC


  •  

    Tuesday, September 10

    8 Adventure Travel Tips

    by Jimmy Chin
     
    jimmychin_insta_renan
    Planning your great escape? Here are a few travel tips to ensure (well, increase the likelihood) of smooth sailing. Of course, hitting a few bumps in the road can be a good thing. A friend once told me “It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong….”

    1. Stay flexible. Not the yoga kind (although that helps). Plans can change. Buses run late. Luggage gets lost (see #4). Ultimately, the success or failure of your trip from a happiness/fulfillment standpoint will come down to how well you managed the unforeseeables. Remember this: the best stories you later tell will be of the chance encounters, the follies and the unexpected. Roll with it.

    2. Know the customs/culture of your destination. This is part due diligence and part survival skill. At the very least, you’ll avoid an embarrassing or awkward situation. No joke — it can also keep you out of jail, or worse. Remember Michael Fay? While we’re on it, it won’t hurt to learn a little of the language. Just some basic phrases will be enough to make you feel like you’re fitting in, and shows you care enough to try.

    3. Play the guest. Respect + humility. Those two concepts will get you everywhere, in my opinion.

    4. Pack lightly. You may be going for two weeks, but pack like you are going for one. Ditch the four “night out” get ups and the three pairs of board shorts. The extras will only weigh you down, especially if your adventure consists of a significant amount of foot travel. If you can get away with it, pack only what can be carried on the airplane. Nothing is worse than arriving at your destination airport only to find your checked luggage never made it out of Phoenix. Here are some of the essential items that I always take with me.

    5. Have a connection. If you don’t have one, find one. Tap into the 6 degrees of separation and find that friend of a friend living in or around your adventure destination. This is particularly helpful on trips to foreign countries where tourists are targets and hustlers are rampant. You’ll want someone you can trust advising you on the best places to eat, stay, explore, etc. If you don’t know ANYONE, make a connection. Stay wary and on guard, but don’t be afraid to make friends. Not everyone is out to fleece you.
     6. Document the trip. Take photos and keep a journal. You may think you’ll remember every last detail, but once the trips start adding up (and hopefully they will) you’ll be thankful that you have some old pages to pore over and photo galleries to click through. And when the grind starts wearing you down again, pull this material out to get motivated for your next adventure. (Read my journal entry after surviving an Avalanche.)
    Did someone say pack light?7. Know your strengths and limitations. You can’t just decide one day to climb K2 and go do it the next. While it’s absolutely okay to try something new on your next adventure trip, you might not want to make Half Dome your first rock climbing experience. And even the most seasoned mountaineer needs to train before tackling an Everest. Do yourself a favor and brush up on the skills needed for your adventure and work some fitness into your daily routine.
    8. Aim high. This is adventure travel, not R & R at a beach resort. Challenge yourself. Try something new. It could turn out to be your next passion in life. (That’s how I found surfing.) If you’ve made the commitment to adventure, make the commitment to get out of your comfort zone at some point along the way. Trying something new, getting humbled is always exciting and makes for the best trips. A good schooling and little suffering along the way of an epic adventure can make the daily challenges of life back home infinitely more manageable when you get back.

    (Here are some more thoughts on Leaving Your Comfort Zone.)
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    Minimalistic Fuelling



        
    Image

     
    As far back as I can remember its always been very rare to cycle or run with a group of athletes who don’t have some form of colored drink in their water bottles or some spare change for that awesome sugar stop at the petrol station at around the half way mark. It seems that dependency on some sort of fuelling has not become just a necessity, but also the norm and I battle to find an athlete that even has the confidence to exit home without his or her fuel stash for fear of hitting the dreaded wall.
    Now before you think here comes another weirdo who advocates keeping it all natural and only train and race on water, which I admit I am ;-) , I am also the director of an endurance supplement company which provides fuel :-) .
     
    So how is it that on one hand I market endurance supplements yet on the other I am giving you a hard time for using them? It’s quite simple, supplements have a time and a place when they are suitable but they are not something to be completely dependent on. In actual fact the less dependent you are on a supplement the better the effects when you do use it. 
     
    So firstly lets talk simply about how your muscles get their fuel to function. Muscles need energy to contract and this is done utilizing a chemical called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is primarily produced by our mitochondria. Carbohydrates, Fats & Proteins all get converted to ATP under a variety of conditions. Carbohydrates are more easily converted when exercise is done at a high intensity while fat is converted at lower levels of intensity. Protein is not a nutrient that is generally used to power muscle activity. Simply its a poor form of fuel and primarily used more for tissue repair.So lets keep the focus on carbohydrates and fat. 
     
    Glycogen (natural carbohydrate stores) is the quickest accessible fuel in the body and a person who has topped up glycogen stores will be able to provide anything from 90-120 minutes of energy to their system while performing at a high rate of intensity. Fat is a longer access path, but a truly desirable one as a gram of fat has twice the power as a gram of carbohydrate. Have you ever seen fat fall off a grill into a fire, it bursts into flames, this is very similar to what happens in your body, it fires the muscles extremely well when harnessed, it’s an incredibly strong form of fuel and if you are efficient at using your fat stores it will see you a long way. 
    Now the next question is how do you tap your fat stores? This is really dependent on the type of athlete you are, what you consume before and during exercise and the rate of intensity you are performing at.

    Fat requires oxygen to be properly utilized (aerobic level of activity). If you can picture someone racing at a high intensity and he can barely breathe well then you are not tapping into your fat stores as you are not able to take in sufficient oxygen to be utilized for fat conversion. In this case glycogen will primarily be used. At this high rate of intensity an athlete will on average see 90 minutes of fuel, if he is really in a good condition up to 120 minutes of fuel. Lactic acid build up takes place at the same time that glycogen is primarily used and its really very difficult for the general athlete to sustain an incredibly high rate of intensity for such a long period of time. So what actually happens is a combination of glycogen and fat become your energy sources, as pace will land up varying.
     
    This just demonstrates the importance of pacing yourself during an event in order to ensure you are able to spare as much glycogen as possible by using fat as the primary source of fuel if you are able to. The above is just a general idea of how the concept of fuelling works based on intensity.
    Now lets throw fuel or supplements into the picture. If an athlete is performing at an extremely high intensity for longer than a 120 minute period you will want to try and spare the glycogen levels by consuming carbohydrates which are co-utilized for fuel as opposed to glycogen only. A percentage of glycogen is spared but not continual sparing, it will still deplete in time. The carbohydrate intake will just extend its rate of depletion, and the sugar to the brain will give that “feel good” feeling which assists performance perception. A carbohydrate dependent athlete actually has to have that brain feel otherwise he goes downhill :-)
     
    Fat on the other hand is an unlimited resource, you could easily do 50 marathons on your fat stores alone, even if you are lean its incredibly powerful. There are some issues with using fat though. The first is most people are carbohydrate lovers, and the brain will be magnetized towards sugar intake :-) and the second is that he rate at which fat is burned for fuel is too slow to support an extremely hard effort. 
     
    The issue of wanting carbohydrates during exercise can obviously be resolved easily by consuming carbohydrates during exercise, however if you still want to harness your fat it would be in your best interests as an athlete to train your body to utilize fat as a fuel source at a higher rate of intensity which can be done. That way when your glycogen stores are depleted and fat becomes your sole fuel source you will not have to slow your rate of performance down too much in order to stay in a zone where you don’t bonk (hit the wall). 
     
    What are the advantage to becoming a fat efficient athlete:
    1. Definitely you will  notice a difference in body composition and lean muscle mass which will bode well for performance as you might be at a very optimum race weight which previously might have been too heavy.
     
    2. Health – Preventing the excessive carbohydrate cravings and endurance athletes truly do fall into this trap of excessive sugar cravings post exercise. This causes pendulum swinging of blood glucose and insulin levels and you do put yourself at risk later on in life for weight issues, cholesterol or diabetes. Pendulum swinging leaves athletes especially endurance athletes eating inconsistently, I see it often. Lindt Chocolates become the order of the day. 
     
    3. Performance – I can tell you this, you will start to perform far more consistently when you are fat efficient. The longer the event the far better you will manage. Your nutrition worries will be quite easily sorted and your focus will be mainly on effort. You will become an expert at managing your training and training nutrition where your energy levels will be far more balanced. When an athlete experiences sudden dips in energy levels its a terrible feeling and leaves you feeling fatigued and weak, however when you are fat efficient these peaks and troughs are so much closer together on the height scale that you don’t go through that personal hell most athletes tend to find themselves in at some point in a long endurance event.
     
    4. The dreaded bonk – What bonk??? seriously if you are fat efficient chances of you hitting that wall are so slim. The transition from glycogen depletion to fat fueling is so transparent you wont feel it as much as an athlete who really has to have his glycogen because he is not fat efficient. 
     
    5. Time – Yes you will have more time :-) . Imagine waking up in the morning and having a cup of green tea then going out on a 3 hr run or a 5 hr ride and all u needed was water. No prepping your food intake or bottles etc and having to stress about things that much. 
     
    6. Save Money – Yes, you will save a lot of money. OK, the fact that I own an endurance company means you will buy less of my product as you will use it more sparingly :-) . However your health is far more important to me and I mean that sincerely. No need to live on a supplement, use it when you need it. You will also save money on food expense. If you are fat efficient you definitely wont eat as much as you do when you are pigging out on carbs and Lindt chocolates ;-) . You eat less frequently so its a savings. I have run the numbers and even though carbs are cheaper, lets face it sugar is cheap you will save. You will also save on medical bills in the long run ;-) .
     
    So how do you become more efficient at utilizing fat for energy. Its actually quite simple, BUT I will say this you need to be consistent and disciplined. It also takes time, its not something that changes overnight but with time you will notice differences in your ability to fuel efficiently and you will start to find a zone of awesome balance, without the big roller coaster ups and downs experienced by most endurance athletes.
     
    How do I become a fat fuel efficient athlete?:
    1. Nutrition, Nutrition Nutrition 
    I cannot stress nutrition enough. It does not help to have a very high carbohydrate diet, especially consuming carbohydrate foods which cause blood glucose spikes. You are doing yourself a complete disservice not just from a performance point of view but also from a health point of view. The way to naturally become fat efficient ie: burn off fat through proper nutrition is to reduce your carbohydrate intake, and when you do consume carbohydrates ensure the timing of consumption but especially the types of carbohydrates that you consume. Ensure they are stability carbs and not those that send you on roller coaster rides, so stick to low GI carbs its far better, only use higher GI carbs post hard workouts, unless you are racing.
     
    I always tell people if you want to use and lose fat you need to learn how to eat fat. Its amazing how many people avoid fat, however fat is good for you don’t be persuaded into thinking the opposite. Paleo is a very big diet path these days and I don’t object to anyone going the low carb high fat route, I actually do myself however with slight modification.
     
    An endurance athlete putting in around 20 hours or more of training a week will find that time for glycogen replenishment on a low carb high fat diet might be a little longer than usual and this is because of frequency of training which will ultimately lead to fatigue and decreased levels of performance. So I generally recommend two types of modifications and either one is actually OK.
    My preference is to increase carbohydrate intake dependent on training days, time and intensity based. As an example on a single training session day my carbohydrate intake could be around 75-100 grams of carb intake, but on a double session day it could go as high as 175-200 grams. With experimentation over the past 12 years I have found this to work best for me, however some of my clients require as much as 300-400 grams and some can get away with less. Each person is unique and my advice would be to deplete carbohydrates slowly and then find that point where you feel performance and balance is achieved. The type of carbohydrates consumed and the timing of those types of carbohydrates are also significant.
     
    The second method is what is called periodization so this could be following a low carb high fat diet for 6-8 days, followed by a carbo-loading period of around 3 days. This still allows the body to be fat adapted so that even during exercise your body will be trained to utilize fat very efficiently. The problem with periodization is of course timing, if you get it wrong especially before a race you might land up in trouble and flat. The second thing is that when you are consistent on a diet and you suddenly make a change expect some digestive issues and some discomfort. Some athletes still like it, I tend to avoid it. I rather focus on fat efficient eating based on the kind of training day and I find this to work best.
     
    2. Training If you want to burn fat during exercise then you need to train accordingly and this means watch your fuel intake before and during training. The only reason to take on supplements during a training session is to for three things.
     
    1. Very long hard session and you need to keep your glycogen stores topped up as you have another session shortly after.

    2. The intensity and duration of the session is very high and without a supplement you will not achieve your session goal.

    3. Training your gut (You cannot race on a supplement you have not tried, tested and gotten used to and I always recommend setting aside one or two sessions a week to mimic race nutrition to ensure you have it down packed). 

    My advice is quite simple, and this is what I follow which works for me, but time periods will vary for many people depending on how efficient they are and how good their nutrition and fitness levels are. 
    • Up to 2 hrs of even a very hard session there is no need for fuel water is sufficient. However you HAVE to ensure a quick intake of carbohydrates and protein immediately afterwards in order to start the recovery process right away. Secondly you need to then consume a proper recovery meal which I suggest is balanced, complex carbs, protein and fat. A hard 2 hr session will deplete glycogen so you want to recover for the next. If your next session is only a few hours later than you might want to pre-fuel or fuel during this kind of session.
    • Long Slow Sessions -Whether cycle, run or swim, if this session is at a fat burning intensity then DONT fuel it with anything except water, if you are able to. Confidence will come with time, BUT the worst thing you can do on a session like this is take in gels or other spiking carbohydrate products because you are completely mitigating your ability to burn fat and you are most likely just gaining weight as opposed to losing.
      Make these session productive. I have done many rides of 5 hours or more on water alone, even 36-40 km runs BUT I have been doing this for years and my body has become very adapted over time to using fuel as fat at these intensities. People often ask me whats low intensity and that really needs to be perceived effort, or within a comfortable HR zone. As an example, my run pace over 36km’s on water can be 4:40 pace BUT for someone else it might be way to hard and they would need something slower. Some of the elite athletes I deal with can run on fat at 4 minute or just sub 4 minute pace which is incredible, BUT that is a very comfortable pace for them and they are in a fat burn zone. Last week I did a 5 hour water ride at 31 km’s/hr average, but just to demonstrate that I did not weaken as I often get told but you battle to finish without proper fuel its not actually true. On the way out on this out an back ride, I was averaging only 27-28 km/h on the way back I had to ride significantly harder to average out that pace but was fine. I was still within my limits. 15 years ago if I tried something like this even for a 2.5 hr ride I probably would have hit the wall so bad someone would have had to come and fetch me ;-) .
      So I understand there is a start to this, it is a process but in time you will definitely become a fat efficient athlete.
    • Now lets say its just NOT possible for you to go on water, you are not adapted and not confident. It’s quite simple. Fuel yourself on your session BUT with a difference, fuel with non-glucose spiking products. Something that’s low to medium GI something that keeps your insulin levels low enough to ensure you are still burning fat yet making your brain happy and there are products that allow you to do this. 32Gi Endure I have to mention is exactly designed for that. It releases glucose at a slow enough rate making your brain happy and allowing you to still tap your fat stores. The other thing you can do is only take on water for 2 hrs and then introduce your nutrition so that your body has moved into a fat burning zone before you start consuming and this is done by many elite athletes, until they can increase the time on water.
    • Lastly I don’t suggest water training like this every single week and every single session. Start with a one or two and slowly build up, remember you need to recover you need to also understand what your next workout is and you need to fuel yourself accordingly.
    In conclusion I just want to emphasize that at first glance maybe you think this is crazy or not for you, but I can tell you from personal experience and from the many people I deal with on a daily basis, this is certainly the direction to take, not just from a performance but from a health point of view. Remember baby steps get you there it does not happen overnight.
    Get stuck into this journey and you will never look back.
    Good luck
    m :-)

    Thursday, September 5

    UTMB 2013 - Anton Krupicka's Review About the Race

    No unfortunately I decided not to join the race this year. This has been on my list this year but due to something that came up I decided to drop this race. I could have still push to join it, but it was just really impossible for me to be there. Looking at the finish time of my friend who joined the race, I though it was a right decision that I did not push to be there. With my training and how I perform in some of the races, I am not too sure if  can really make it. 

    With an intention of trying my luck again next year, I want to keep a copy of the analysis of this great runner for my personal reference.

    utmb_start
    Photo: Salomon Runinng (Damien Rosso).

    I dropped from the 2013 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in Trient, Switzerland on Saturday morning—139km and 17hr after the start in Chamonix, France, but still 29km from making it all the way around the mountain. Curiously—despite the DNF—UTMB was one of the most pleasant, even serene, racing experiences I’ve had out on the trails. However, sometimes a few pieces of gristle are all it takes to bring a halt to our silly ambitions, and, if you let it, completely transform your outlook on the day. I’ve tried to not let that happen, but I’m a competitive bastard, and it takes constant attention on my part to keep my perspective firmly situated in the much-vaunted “bigger picture”. Sometimes you really want to win the fucking race, though. Or just finish, even. And when you don’t, it’s disappointing. Big surprise.

    Like anyone, I’d heard all the stories of UTMB’s rampaging opening pace and over-the-top starting line pageantry, so in the days—months, even—leading up to the race, I continually reminded myself of the need to begin conservatively. I’ve ruined at least three 100mi races in my career by being overzealous in the first half, and I desperately wanted to avoid that here. I knew I was fit; success was going to come down to a matter of attentive race-day execution.

    Upon arriving in Chamonix three weeks ago, objective number one was to preview the  track by running from town to town around Mt. Blanc. Doing so allowed me to experience the entire course, but I also aggravated the backside of my right knee—the one that I hyperextended and whose fibula I broke two years ago—on the 20km/5000′ drop from Gran Col Ferret into Praz de Fort in Switzerland. Obviously, this section alone wasn’t the sole culprit—injuries are typically the result of accumulated stress—but I knew this long, gradual, fast-running downhill would likely end up being the deciding factor in my race two weeks later (and it was). Of course, in compensating for my locked-up hamstring I also managed to inflame my left achilles tendon.

    I took three days off after the tour around the mountain and was extremely fortunate to meet Graeme Waterworth—a physio from Boston running UTMB—for a pair of extensive rehab sessions before the race. This all helped a great deal, and I did the best that I could to willfully squelch any doubts I had about the soundness of my legs, but if I was being honest with myself I knew my wheels weren’t entirely 100%.  Racing 100mi through the mountains as hard as you can is all about irrational confidence and optimism, so I didn’t have much use for acknowledging any chinks in the armor.

    UTMB’s format presented me with many new race logistic wrinkles—mandatory equipment that required wearing a race pack, a 4:30pm start time, running through an entire night, etc.—and I came out the other side pleasantly surprised to have thoroughly enjoyed all of these things. Wearing a pack made the 5-6hr gaps between crew access almost trivial as carrying 20-25 gels at a time was a non-issue; I never even came close to running out of fuel. The afternoon start meant that I slept like a rock the night before, essentially with zero nerves (with American pre-dawn start times I usually only get an hour or two of fitful snoozing). And running through the entire night was a total blast—my lighting system worked flawlessly and I never got drowsy, only ingesting caffeine from the odd gel and a few ounces of Coke along the way. In fact, I almost preferred the night—I found it much easier to stay present in the moment when your world is essentially defined by the beam of your headlamp.

    I’ve never experienced anything like the race start. Electric doesn’t even begin to describe it. Sure, it’s part Euro dance party, part claustrophobia, part melodrama, but beneath all that is a palpable sense of everyone being in this thing together, all striving toward the common goal of getting around the hill as quickly and efficiently as possible. It’s hard to find communal activities with that much positive energy bouncing around and I think it’s important to not trivialize that. It’s pure craziness, in the best possible sense of the word.
    Despite that, I found it quite easy to quickly settle into a reasonable, comfortable rhythm. For me, it’s easy to be conservative when the pace is clearly ridiculous. It’s usually harder for me to maintain that patience, however, after the initial energy has died down but dozens of kilometers still remain before the real racing begins. During the couple kilometers of road before hitting the trail I fell in with the TNF triumvirate of Mike Wolfe, Mike Foote, and Jez Bragg. Once we funneled onto the trail, the humid early evening air of late summer, long shadows, and jockeying of pack running all immediately transported me back to early-season cross-country races in high school. The positive vibes were sky-high for me.

    In Les Houches, at the base of the 2500′ bop up to the Col de Voza, the Wolfepaw and I finally trotted past Nuria and Emma—the lead women, both of whom I’d been sharing a house with for much of the time leading up to the race—at the base of the steep stuff and settled into a nice rhythm of easy jogging and purposeful hiking. Unsurprisingly, I could already feel the hamstring tightening, but I knew there wasn’t really anything I could do about it so just pushed it out of my mind. We were effortlessly passing loads of people and I generally felt great, especially as we ascended into cooler temps.

    By the top of the hill, I’d gapped the Paw and was even beginning to catch occasional glimpses of Seb and Miguel far up ahead, so I didn’t feel any need to be going any faster. The downhill into Saint Gervais (21km) is weird. It doesn’t really look that steep, but it definitely feels steep, and awkward. It’s at just the most awkward grade where one still employs a real running stride, but doing so imparts some serious pounding on the quads. It felt awkward when Joe and I recced it and it felt even more so now with a gimpy hammy.
    Town was a blur of screaming crowds, but I do remember passing Seb in the aid station. I was surprised to see him that far back, and, unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling well and would drop at Les Contamines. The trail from Saint Gervais to Contamines rolls gradually up the valley, and there’s very little hiking in this section except for a couple short, steep bops. I remember getting a little annoyed and worried about my hamstring, but soon enough I emerged into the madness of the Contamines aid station, the first place to see my crew. I chugged two bottles of water, Joe traded my sunglasses for headlamps, informed me that I was 12min off the lead (Julien Chorier), stuffed my pack with gels for the next five and a half hour section to Courmayeur, and I was off. I gained a little boost from seeing Timmy leave the aid only a minute or two before me, but I was most excited to get to the real climbing at Notre Dame de La Gorge so I could do some hiking and de-stress my hamstring.
    Crowds in Contamines 30km. About 12min off the lead. Photo: Bryon Powell/iRunFar.
    Crowds in Contamines (30km). Still about 12min off the lead and in 20th place or so. Photo: Bryon Powell/iRunFar.

    I caught a couple more runners on the run to the base of the climb, but once on the hill I really started moving through the field. Notre Dame was a magical scene with campfires and burning stumps lining the bottom of the hill. I saw my friends at Buff a little ways up, which provided another boost, and once the real hiking started at the La Balme refuge I was so excited to finally be on my preferred terrain of alpine singletrack.
    Marching up to the Col du Bonhomme. Photo: Salomon Running (Damien Rosso).
    Marching up to the Col du Bonhomme. Photo: Salomon Running (Damien Rosso).

    Before I clicked on my headlamp, I caught up to Kiwi Vajin Armstrong, tapping away with a pair of sticks. Vajin is always uber-positive and here in the middle of the night on a mountain pass in France was no different. He’d missed his crew at Contamines but was cheerily headed to Courmayeur with his back-up lights and without his preferred energy food. We chatted briefly, wishing each other luck, but most importantly he gave me some unexpected but very encouraging news…passing him put me in 8th place (up from 32nd only 20km earlier) and he claimed within 6min or so of the lead. Good to know, especially since I felt my efforts in the alpine were even more comfortable than the lower-altitude flat running we’d been doing.
    I reached the summit of Col du Bonhomme at 9:06pm amidst a thick fog, but Dave James (there reporting for iRunFar) confirmed that the leaders had come through at exactly 9pm and Timmy was only a minute or two up. I caught another runner on the moderately techy, 15min, ascending traverse over to Croix du Bonhomme and then began the 1000m vertical drop to Les Chapieux at 49km.

    The top half of this was a blast—lots of rutted cow paths to choose from—and I passed Timmy here and caught up to Jonas Buud, but the bottom half was an endless stretch of long, sweeping, gradual switchbacks that wrecked my hamstring as Jonas disappeared back into the dark. By the bottom I was cramping in my hip flexor from the compensation, but it was impossible to be in a bad mood with the atmosphere at the aid and the fact that I could see three lights stretching out on the 30min of paved, runnable uphill to the base of the Col de La Seigne climb.

    I didn’t actually catch anyone on the road, but once we hopped onto the gradual uphill trail that leads into the steeper switchbacks heading up to the Col, I passed Jonas and easily caught up to Julien who was running with two others. Julien tucked in behind me, leaving the other two behind, and we quickly bridged up to the leading duo of Xavier Thevenard and Miguel Heras. And just like that, I was in the lead group of UTMB.
    Upon reaching Xavier and Miguel, the pace slackened noticeably (Xavier was in front setting the tempo with a pair of sticks, with Miguel hands-on-knees dutifully marching behind) and I was happy to settle in to what felt like a very casual effort. In our quartet, it seemed that Miguel and I were climbing the strongest as we were constantly having to rein ourselves in from clipping Xavier’s heels and it seemed like Julien was sort of reluctantly tagging along, like if he were on his own he’d be climbing a touch slower. For my part, I didn’t care if we started walking on our hands; Miguel and Julien were the two guys I was probably most concerned about leading up to the race and as long as I was within reasonable contact of them, I was happy. Of course, Xavier would actually go on to win the race.

    Our walk to the top of the hill was very nice. Unlike Col du Bonhomme, Col de La Seigne was crystal clear with brilliant stars and nary a breeze. Although the four of us were literally always within an arm’s reach of each other—usually closer—not a single word was spoken the entire way up, nor on the descent to Lac Combal and the Arete Mont Favre climb. Out of the Lac Combal aid, Miguel assumed the pace-setting duties and Xavier must’ve lingered longer in the aid because he didn’t catch back up until the descent off Mont Favre down toward the aid station at the Masion Vielle refuge.

    At the beginning of the Mont Favre climb, Miguel sort of awkwardly stumbled and I found myself in the front, so I set the most relaxed tempo possible that wouldn’t have been comically slow—I was determined to stick with my plan of patience. Miguel and Julien seemed content to just follow. On the downhill, however, I purposefully went even more easy so as to baby my hamstring. Finally, a couple of minutes before Maison Vielle, Julien asked to go past and the four of us immediately launched into a much more frantic pace on the rest of the (now steep, tight, and dusty) descent into Courmayeur, the de facto half-way point at 78 kilometers.

    I again quickly chugged water and re-stocked gels with my crew at Courmayeur, and with nothing better to do, jogged out of the gym in the lead. Miguel caught up a few seconds later and we navigated our way through the silent streets of town toward the 2500′ grunt up to the Bertone checkpoint. Once we hit the trail I let Miguel take the pace as he seemed determined to push the pace on this hill and open a gap on our pursuers of Julien and Xavier. I could hear Miguel breathing heavily and thought it was a little early to be going so hard, but my effort felt easier than Miguel’s sounded, so we marched our way up the dark switchbacks in tandem, reaching Bertone together and continuing on as such for the rolling traverse over to the Bonatti refuge. A pit-stop and a headlamp battery change at Bonatti allowed Miguel to push out a temporary gap but I easily caught back up on the descent to Arnuva, where I led us in to the aid station (95km).
    Following Miguel on the climb from Courmayeur to Bertone. Photo: Salomon Running/Damien Rosso.
    Following Miguel on the climb from Courmayeur to Bertone. Photo: Salomon Running/Damien Rosso.
    Thus far, everything about the race had gone remarkably to plan. While our pace was steady, it felt easy, so I was pretty sure we didn’t really have that substantial of a lead, which was fine with me. I knew it was still so early and the real racing was yet to begin. Despite being determined to not push until at least the far side of Grand Col Ferret (100km)—and ideally not until Champex Lac at mile 76—I immediately gapped Miguel at the foot of the Col Ferret climb. The top third of the climb was increasingly windy and foggy and I gradually felt myself getting a little nauseous as well. I slowed my pace even further as I fished around in my pack to don a jacket and then I kept it there in an effort to keep my stomach happy. I was in the lead of the race but still had 40mi to go so didn’t see any need to be pushing the pace at all. I veritably strolled to the top of the pass then, nearly missing the check-in tent in the fog, and started down the other side, happy to get out of the cloud and into warmer air.

    When I stopped about 10min below the summit to restow my jacket, I was unsurprised when a headlamp came cruising by me—despite deliberately taking it easy up the hill my hamstring was again noticeably checking my abilities on the gradual downhill grade. I was surprised, however, that the new leader was now Xavier and not Miguel. I couldn’t really push in pursuit on the rest of the gradual descent into La Fouly, due to my hamstring, but I was a bit surprised when Bryon Powell informed me there that Xavier had grown his lead to 5min. On the flat road through town, though, I had some very encouraging pep in my legs and was still extremely optimistic about my chances of catching back up once we got to the 1500′ climb up to Champex-Lac.
    In the Fouly aid station, 111km. Bryon Powell lurking. Photo: Ian Corless.
    Leaving the Fouly aid station, 111km. Bryon Powell lurking. Photo: Ian Corless.

    The next 4-5mi over to Praz de Fort are a continued net downhill, and all the running was taking a real toll on my right hamstring. It was super frustrating that I couldn’t push because of a simple mechanical glitch in my leg, and when it came time to start making a move on the climb to Champex I found that my left achilles was now also predictably quite overworked from compensating for my hamstring.
    Praz de Fort (117km) and a stack of firewood, just before daybreak. Photo: Jordi Saragossa.
    Praz de Fort (117km) and a stack of firewood, just before daybreak. Photo: Jordi Saragossa.

    As a result, I couldn’t run this climb nearly as hard as I would’ve liked—and had the energy to do—and I could sense that my ability to actually race was rapidly disappearing. I ran into the Champex-Lac aid tent with Miguel right on my heels, but it hardly mattered, I could only gimp so fast at this point. In an attempt to change the stresses on my legs and hopefully off-load my achilles a little I stopped to quickly change shoes in the aid station, swapping out 110v1′s for 110v2′s with additional heel lifts inserted.

    Miguel and I exited the tent together and he was obviously hurting but still had the energy to give me a knowing wink and wry smile as we left the station. Miguel was the competitor I spent the most time with during the race, and it was a pleasure to run with such a wily vet, especially since our previous tandem racing experience had been cut short at Cavalls del Vent last fall where he had succumbed to the rain and cold. I was especially impressed with his UTMB performance this year, since I had been witness to just how much effort he was putting forth so early in the race (Courmayeur). On the run through the streets of Champex along the shore of the lake, though, my hamstring wouldn’t let me stride out enough to match his pace.
    Hobbling out of Champex. Photo: Joe Grant.
    Hobbling out of Champex. Photo: Joe Grant.

    However, the true hobbling didn’t start until we crested the hill on the edge of town, and the course went gradually downhill for the next couple of kilometers on a wide, smooth fire road. Miguel disappeared into the distance, and I had a minor case of deja vu as this was exactly where my hamstring had been the worst on my tour around the course two weeks earlier. On that particular morning, Tim Olson’s wife Krista had dropped me with ease in this very same spot.

    The Bovine uphill is sections of flattish trail punctuated by much steeper pitches that would normally deliver you at the summit in quite a hurry. Not so today. The steep terrain was murder on my achilles and I soon found myself actually walking backwards up the hill on the steepest inclines. I stopped several times to loosen and re-tie my laces, trying in vain to find some way to make my achilles operable. After what seemed like ages, I finally made the summit and started down the other side, but now, of course, my hamstring was in total rebellion and my downhill progress was pathetic. This was doubly frustrating because even with ~25k’ of descent on my legs, my quads were still rarin’ to go. Javier Dominguez finally caught up to me on the descent as I was stopped to re-tighten my shoe laces—I couldn’t believe that it took so long, but I guess that’s just the way the game goes in the late stages of a 100mi. No one is moving particularly quickly (though I thought he was running impressively well on the downhill at that point).

    Eventually, I limped the rest of the way down the hill into Col de Forclaz where Kilian and Emelie’s encouragement couldn’t even heal things, and then just before Trient, Julien came running by (putting me in 5th place) looking like he was on his way to recovery from a bad patch. Once I finally gimped into the aid station, I stopped for a long time to get my hamstring and achilles taped in a last-ditch effort in at least being able to finish. Of course, things were far too gone for taping to do much of anything at that point, and once I left the aid to test things out I knew I was done. The medical person there was concerned about my inflamed achilles and the possibility of rupture if I continued on it, especially since I was now compensating like mad for it.
    Leaving the Trient aid station (139km). Photo: Trails Endurance Magazine.
    Leaving the Trient aid station (139km). Photo: Trails Endurance Magazine.

    And that was my race.
    Ultimately, the decision to drop wasn’t even really a decision. Now, even with hindsight four days later, I have no regrets about it (especially given the states of my hamstring and achilles now, post-race). If I were to have a do-over on my whole trip to Europe, the main thing I would change is touring around the mountain in, say, four days instead of three, so that the stress on my body wasn’t so high.

    There is no doubt that I’ll return to Chamonix in the future to give UTMB another go, probably even next year. There are a lot of things about the race that I find to be a big turn-off, but there’s no denying that it is the pinnacle in 100mi mountain racing in terms of international competition and profile. All of this talk about a 100mi “championship” in the ultra community is really pretty redundant in my eyes, because UTMB already exists. I feel the course is very fair—non-technical, not at high-altitude, but enough climbing to keep it honest. The organization accommodates entry for top athletes. The only real issue with it, I think, is that it falls about two weeks too late on the calendar. According to pretty much everyone I talked to, the weather notoriously turns crappy the last week of August and is predictably brilliant in the few weeks leading up to that. We lucked out this year, but as the past five years have shown, this year’s weather was an anomaly.
    Finally, a tip of the proverbial hat must be given to Tim, Mike, and Rory. Tim and Mike certainly didn’t have their best days on the hill, but they soldiered on with grit and determination and found a way to get it done, yet again. And as other’s have already noted, Rory’s run was most likely the performance of the year on the women’s side.

    As for me, priority number one is to get healthy, and I’ll make a determination about UROC once I get home to Colorado next week and see how my legs are responding to some running again. Thanks for everyone’s support and following along, I’m as (probably more) aware as everyone else what a rough go this summer has been on the performance front for me, but I don’t plan on stopping trying any time soon.


    Wednesday, August 21

    Water Encounter - Ganito Kami Sa Makati - Experiencing "Maring"

    Tropical storm Maring coupled with the torrential rain brought by the southwest monsoon (Habagat) bring much hassle and damage to lots of families in the very heart of the country, the Metro Manila area and its neighboring provinces. Others said 'blame it to the rain', others  vulgarly expressed 'blame it to the corrupt politicians who put to their own pockets what is suppose to be the budget for infrastructure', or the illegal loggers or no proper disposal of garbage. My opinion, each one of us has our own little share of what happened and repeatedly happening almost every year.

    Monday, early morning scene in the front street.
    Here is my share of experience as my weekend spent at home come face to face with the fast rising unwelcomed water.

    Metro Manila has been my second home since I come and study my college eduction here, now even much longer than living in my birth province, Siquijor. And there was never looking back after that, from school to work, sum total years of over 23 now. Most of that is in Pasay City, with minimal transfers, actually 3 moves within the same city. Until last quarter last year we decided to move to the neighboring city, the business capital of the country, Makati. My postal address now sounds 'sosyal', but honestly that is just a small bridge away from where we used to live for almost 10 years. Aside from the sophisticated sounding address, we also have to pay the price of being a Makati resident, paying much higher electricity rate than the amount we used to pay before. Others said that is zoning, nasa Makati ka e. We got to live with it. 

    Our neighbor's street.
    And of my 23 years stay in Metro Manila, 22 of which is in Pasay and  almost a year in Makati, I had my own experience of flood when rainy season comes. From flooded streets of UST, yes 4 years of walking on the flooded streets of Dapitan, Espana, Pinoval to the long boulevard of Taft just to reach Pasay, to the overflowing creek in Don Bosco in Makati that I had to ride trysikad with my American Boss braving the waist deep water along Pasay Road and a lot more. But never was there a time that the water ever get inside our over populated small apartment.

    Tuesday, Pasay Road. Grab from Bojo's album.
    Until yesterday. It has been raining since Friday. Saturday was manageable, Sunday was still ok but in the evening it already started a heavy down pour. On the  morning of Monday, the front street is already flooded, almost waist high  but as the rain stop in the afternoon so is the water subsided and cleared up. But in the evening it started raining again, now with lightning and thunder on a longer duration. Other areas were already flooded. Tuesday, 3:00am I was awaken by another pounding downpour of rain. If the past nights, rain drops has been a melody in my ear as it has always been, at that time it has become scary, it's just too strong. Doze to my dreams again until I hear my sisters calling me. Water in the ground floor. Am I dreaming? No, its for real.

    Tuesday, Pasay Road, grab at Bojo's album.
    It's 5:00am of Tuesday. As the rain continuously pouring the water is now unstoppable. I got up groggy from my sleep got alive when I step the ground floor on ankle deep cold dirty water. With so much things to elevate, I don't know which one to attend first. My brother's boxes and things ready for their grand adventure as they will migrate to Canada in the next few days or the rest of our things. But I have to be composed and think clear and fast. With my sisters, yes 4 ladies in the house, we had to carry one by one what ever we can to the second floor. Some things are beginning to get wet but we have to keep going. In less than two hours water goes knee deep high already. We managed to bring higher most of the things except the big furniture, those that I was able to accumulate on my almost 20 years of working. As the water goes higher, we decided to switch off the main electricity switch. No electricity no internet connection now. Surprisingly, we manage to elevate the two door refrigerator full with frozen goods inside. 

    Tuesday, at Jing's place.
    This is my very first time to experience being flooded on my own house. Though our place is just beside the Barangay Captain's house of this area, we did not hear anything from him. I don't know when is the best time to evacuate. We do not hear any announcement from the outside either.  After things became calmer, I instructed my sisters to pack some basic personal things in case we need to evacuate, call it over acting but honestly I really do not know what to do. And despite the chaos, we still do some order.

    My friend Janice's place.
    Managed to cook food on the flooded ground floor and eat decent meals.
    Stock more drinking water on the second floor.
    Secure our main source of food, rice and lots of salted dried fish.
    Flash light ready and spare batteries.
    Ready with water proof jackets and some clothes. 

    Here's the most challenging part on situation like this, when nature calls,  where to do it. Mountaineering style. Where to pee, first option is at the roof top by the emergency exit of the house but with some neighbors looking from afar from the higher nearby buildings peeping by their windows as they are watching the flooded street. I had to climb up several times while the ground floor is still flooded . Not so appealing but I no other choice. My sisters opted to do the other solution, use the trash can as common pee pot (improvised arenola). But when it has to poo, now comes the very major challenge. How to do it then. Use what I know on high camp waste management on high altitude climbing beyond basecamp, carry your own waste.  So into the plastic bag and put it on a much sturdy container. Yucky, but we were left with no other option.
    Diane's place at Magallanes Village.
    Early evening the water subsided to ankle deep high and 9:00pm it all cleared up. But we have stay awake for it was still raining but not as heavy and as long as the other night. With the water totally cleared up we also decided to switch on the electricity and we had to reconnect the internet. Thanks to the persistence of my youngest sister, she was able to make it work after several hours of finding a way to make it work.

    Managed to elevate the fridge.
    Most of us take turns on sleeping making sure someone is awake to watch for the water, until our neighbor Nang Edith and ER drop by the house to bring food for us at around 2:00am. The following day is so much better, we just had to clean up the remaining things that are wet for we were not able to manage to bring up the day before. 

    Up to this moment, we leave all things how we arranged it yesterday, two couches elevated by monoblock chairs and big empty cookie cans, refrigerator still up on the cooking area, water dispenser at the stairs going to the second floor,  chairs for the dining table and bench are still up. We decided to leave it that way and wait for a sunny day in the next few days for we are too afraid it might rain and get flooded again. We cant even think now how to bring down the refrigerator. The two rooms at the second floor are all mess up with all our things. 

    No that's not us, just taken from someone's album.
    What an experience but despite all that,  I am thankful to God for keeping us safe. I thank my family and friends for all your prayers and concern, to Amy and Shine for making an effort to send an sms message just to make sure we are safe and doing fine. Thanks to Xenon for his prompt reply when I randomly thought of asking help from him, I missed few hours when he had rounds near our place but his assurance that we will will be fine in our area is more than good enough. Appreciate all your thoughtfulness. Now is the time to clear up the mess brought by the flood. 
    When left to nothing to do and cannot sleep, decided to read.