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Ran a 10k - Official Thread (7 Viewers)

Zasada said:
Done.
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Well la di da I think I'll just look at my goals from last year and roll out of bed and run 100 KMs because I'm Canadian, eh, because @tri-man 47 disrespected me when he didn't think I could do stuff but in reality I can do stuff so I just threw on like 3 toques and did a push-up to warm up and ran a lot so at the end of the year I can say "Done" when my goal comes up even though I said "done" like in the first week of 2022 and didn't even need an toques because I did this in Texas, eh.

 
gianmarco said:
Well la di da I think I'll just look at my goals from last year and roll out of bed and run 100 KMs because I'm Canadian, eh, because @tri-man 47 disrespected me when he didn't think I could do stuff but in reality I can do stuff so I just threw on like 3 toques and did a push-up to warm up and ran a lot so at the end of the year I can say "Done" when my goal comes up even though I said "done" like in the first week of 2022 and didn't even need an toques because I did this in Texas, eh.
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I thought it said 100 miles but then realized it's just 100 KM.  :coffee:   

:rolleyes:   Fantastic race, @Zasada.  Ya got a ticket!!!

 
Wind chills in the teens below zero today, so I headed to the basement for a treadmill long run, an endeavor that’s way harder mentally than it is physically. 
 

16 miles done, and I wanted to quit after 5.

Early flight tomorrow for work in Fort Lauderdale, where it’ll be a 100-degree swing to the 85° “RealFeel” when I get off the plane. Not looking forward to the heat, but I am looking forward to dinner tomorrow night with he of the flowing locks, Mr. @JShare87.

 
gianmarco said:
####tiest race report ever.
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HOKA Bandera 100K Race Report

This is a pretty boring one, guys.  If you want good reading, I suggest one of @SFBayDuck's races.

TL;DR:  I finished 100K because I got very lucky with fueling, and the ultra community bailing me out of poor planning.  And there were rocks.  Lots of rocks.

Preamble

I was at a fitness peak in Spring 2021, but the races I was targeting kept getting canceled or life interfered with them.  Then I got injured in the summer, taking two months out of my running.  Fitness regressed immensely.

But I was signed-up for a 100K on my home trails in August.  Given that I was untrained, I knew finishing it wasn't in the cards, but I figured I could just treat it as a long (supported) training run and see how far I could get.  I DNF'd after 40K/2,000m.  I planned on that outcome, but it still sucked to take my first DNF.

But over the course of Q4 I spooled my running back up, culminating in a "December to remember".  Set PRs in monthly distance, elevation, and time.  I had a couple very good runs in training.  With some supportive words from @gianmarco, I was feeling more confident.

I had signed-up for the Bandera 100K back in June.  Yes, when I was injured.  I needed a goal/carrot, and winter Ultras are hard to find.  Plus it was closest to my (DFW) home, and was a WSER qualifier (if I'm going to run 100K, I might as well do it at a qualifier).

After my strong December, I was feeling good about racing shorter distances, but that 100K snuck up on me and all of a sudden, I'm flying south from Calgary with all my racing gear.  And my wife couldn't make the trip (because reasons).  

Race is on a Saturday am, so I drove down Friday night.  Hotel about 45 minutes from the course.

Nervous sleep, get up, poop, poop again, free hotel breakfast (eggs and a bagel for the road), two beet juice shots, and into the car.  Foggy morning, air is cool (50F), but 100% saturated.

The race is two, 50K/1,000m loops.  My assigned start window is 0700-0730 (start at your leisure in one's window).

Goals:  "Dream" goal of <17hrs and a WSER lottery ticket.  "Realistic" goal of finishing before the 24hr cutoff.  "I'll be pissed if I don't at least do this" goal of one 50K loop.

First 50K Loop

After leaving my drop bags, I pick up my chip and bib, get a photo taken at the start, and off I go.

The temps are quite cool, but the air is thick with moisture.  The fog and light rain are not optimal, but honestly I prefer it to bright sun and (even moderate) heat.

I had never run this course before, but read as much as I could about it.  First 2/3s of the lap were very rocky.  Between that, and the cutting sotol, it was definitely not a course you could tune out on mentally.  My strong December (12,505m/41K' of elevation) had my climbing legs ready, so the climbs, while rocky, were not too taxing.  Bombing the downhills is never my strength, and even less so here with all the rocks.  Wet rocks.  Loose rocks.  So many rocks.

With @gianmarco's advice to fuel properly echoing in my head, I'm making sure to drink from my chest nipples as frequently as I can.  The aid stations were nicely-spaced and frequent, meaning I could safely empty both 500mL flasks and not have to worry about going far with no water.  Plus, the cool temps were fantastic for keeping me mostly sweat-free.  Not that I could tell, because I was pretty much soaked from the fog/rain anyway.

Each aid station was an exercise in refilling my tailwind, and eating a couple oreos.  Taking a quick break as well. 

There was basically no cell phone service anywhere in the park, but at the top of the hills sometimes I could get enough of a signal to text my wife an update on where I was.

About 1/3 through, I'm already seeing another runner barfing at the side of the trail.  Yikes.  Is this my future?  I hear so many stories about GI issues on ultras, especially for new runners. 

At about the 2/3 point the rocks disappear (except for a climb/descent at the end of the loop) and the course becomes quite runnable.  Very slight uphill grade.  I was feeling good at this point, and actually passing a ton of people.  I thought about walking, but I was ahead of my target pace, and had convinced myself that if I could push a ~7hr first loop, then I could walk the entirety of the second (if I had to), and still make my "dream" goal.  So I ran this section 100%.

Got the first loop done in 6:20, which was well ahead of my expectations, and really took the pressure off.  I parked myself at my drop bag, changed my hat/shirt, two more beet juice shots, two naproxen, and grabbed my portable charger to charge my phone, watch, and headset on the course.

There's a guy beside me in the drop bag area who's just spent, and telling his friend that he's going to drop.  I feel lucky that I'm not at that point (yet) and can keep going.

So I took another poop, and off for lap 2.

Second 50K Loop

The fog was lifting, and the rain was stopping.  I was dry now after changing my shirt and hat, and while the temps were climbing (~65F), there was no sun and I was feeling good.  Whenever possible, I ran to "bank" more time for my goal.  I knew I didn't have to run, but I wasn't sure what the future held for me, so I ran whenever it made sense (less-rocky downhills and less-rocky flats).

The biggest mental coping mechanism I had was adopting a "just focus on getting to the next aid station" approach.  I never tried to think about "100K" and how crazy that felt.  "It's just 8K to the next aid station, 8K is easy."  When my watch read "Lap 78" off to me, I didn't hear "78km", I heard "only 5km to the next aid station".  That really helped.

For the second loop, I switched to caffeinated Tailwind.  And stuck with the "couple oreos" for solid food.  Caffeine is a confidence-booster for me, and I think it really helped here.

At about 70K it got dark, and I had to don the headlamp.  Which is where the only real hiccup of my race occurred.  I estimated that a set of batteries would get me 2.5 hours on the headlamp, and I had two sets.  But after 1.5 hours, the first set were dying, and it was very, very dark.  So dark.  Cloudy, no moon, no city lights.  If I turned off my headlamp, I wouldn't be able to see the ground at my feet.  Or, more importantly, the course flags (which were extremely reflective and frequent, but with no light, 100% invisible).  I was doing the math in my head and figured I would have to complete at least 1hr in the dark with no headlamp.  I had my phone, and backup battery (which only had a little charge after using it to charge my phone, watch, and headphones).  Could I do 1hr+ of the course using my phone's LED?

At about 80K, and with my headlamp getting quite faint, I come across another runner barfing.  I stop and ask how she's doing.  She said she was doing OK, but she was going to have to walk it in.

I walk with her for a bit, and we chat, and I ask her if I could mooch her light for a while so that I could shut mine off and save battery.  She was cool with that, and it was a race-saver for me.  After about an hour of walking together and chatting (she's a doctor, from the area, and run a ton of ultras -- I later saw she was the top female in the masters category) we get to the final aid station.  Close enough that I'm sure my second set of batteries will get me to the end.  So we part ways there, and I try to run as much of the last section as the terrain will let me.  Knowing I have my <17hr goal in the bag as long as I don't do something dumb and break an ankle being too aggressive in the rocky areas.

So I get to the finish, get my buckle, and call it a race.  I actually feel better than I did after my two street marathons.  Just like after my first ultra.  I'm now even more convinced that street marathons suck more than ultras.  Maybe I could fix the former if I fuel better?

I had left a blanket in the car so that I could sleep in it if I had to.  If I was in the same mental/physical shape as I was after my street marathons, that would have been required.  My wife knew how I was after my marathons, and as such pushed me before the race to sleep in the car after this ultra.  But I was lucid.  So I drove back to the hotel, got some snacks and a Miller Lite, and stared at my new belt buckle for a while.

  • 14:56:12 official time
  • 133/390 starters overall
  • 102/243 among men
  • 29/81 among men 40-49
25% of the field DNF'd.  

I got very, very lucky for this race:  The weather, while nowhere near perfect, was my kind of ""not-perfect".  Cool and cloudy.  My fueling strategy went fantastically well (despite being my first 100K).  I stuck with Tailwind the whole race, tried to drink as much of it as I could, and limited solid food to a couple Oreos every aid station.   Very lucky to not have to learn the hard way what works for me and what doesn't.  The final element of luck was the ultra community.  Having that runner willing to share her light with me, despite her being in rough shape, was a race-saver.  There is no way I could have seen the flagging without it.

Many thanks to @SFBayDuck and @SayWhat? for being my inspiration.  Reading their stories and seeing their accomplishments really motivated me to try this myself.  @gianmarco doesn't know this, but his confidence-building messages to me over the last few weeks helped get me to the start line on Saturday (I was debating a DNS just days before the race). 

And finally thanks to the whole 10K gang here who gets me out day after day to train.  Love you guys.  

 
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@Zasadadude!  What a race, way to execute.  You beat your A Goal by 2 freaking hours!  Wish I had been in the thread more recently, I didn't even know you had this on the calendar.  Thanks for the tag so I didn't miss your report.  Every one of these throws a few curveballs at you, and it's all about how you handle those.  Sounds like you nailed it.

And now you're in the WS100 lottery come December!

 
gruecd said:
Wind chills in the teens below zero today, so I headed to the basement for a treadmill long run, an endeavor that’s way harder mentally than it is physically. 
 

16 miles done, and I wanted to quit after 5.

Early flight tomorrow for work in Fort Lauderdale, where it’ll be a 100-degree swing to the 85° “RealFeel” when I get off the plane. Not looking forward to the heat, but I am looking forward to dinner tomorrow night with he of the flowing locks, Mr. @JShare87.
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Something I just heard yesterday that was pretty cool:

"The mind wants to quit before the body does"

 
Holy CRUSHED it @Zasada!  And a WSER qualifier as the cherry on top!  That’s so damn impressive.  Loved the race report too.  Seems like you had most everything dialed in pretty well.
 

Now go on and get yourself a good headlamp after you beat the lottery odds and get selected in December! 

Cheers brother!!

 
Zasada said:
HOKA Bandera 100K Race Report

This is a pretty boring one, guys.  If you want good reading, I suggest one of @SFBayDuck's races.

TL;DR:  I finished 100K because I got very lucky with fueling, and the ultra community bailing me out of poor planning.  And there were rocks.  Lots of rocks.
Click to expand...
You stomped out 100k and I quit because the 5k was too hard, other than that we're like the same  :hifive:

Great job, really impressive accomplishment

 
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SteelCurtain said:
No update on the @gruecd/ @JShare87 candlelit dinner from the other night?

I'm sure @gianmarco is not pleased.
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It was a nice, quiet dinner. @gruecd shot it shot, but I told him I wasn’t comfortable with anything more than dinner given his relationship with our mutual friend @gianmarco. Seriously, it was nice seeing and catching up with the big guy. 

 
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JShare87 said:
It was a nice, quiet dinner. @gruecd shot it shot, but I told him I wasn’t comfortable with anything more than dinner given his relationship with our mutual friend @gianmarco. Seriously, it was nice seeing and catching up with the big guy. 
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I saw those flowing locks, and I couldn't help but give it a try.  You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.  :shrug:  

But really, as any of you who've met him can attest, just a down-to-earth, humble guy who's gonna run a hell of a marathon if his body ever cooperates with him.

 
Back-to-back R2R2R-focused workouts yesterday afternoon and then again early this morning.  Yesterday was a long circuit workout that had me on the verge of puking, and then right back today with a 45-minute hike on the treadmill at 13% incline.  I think I finally hit the "low" point that has me re-focused on diet again, too.  I've got almost 11 weeks to drop about 13 pounds, which should be entirely do-able.  Feeling good about this thing.   :thumbup:

 
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gruecd said:
Back-to-back R2R2R-focused workouts yesterday afternoon and then again early this morning.  Yesterday was a long circuit workout that had me on the verge of puking, and then right back today with a 45-minute hike on the treadmill at 13% incline.  I think I finally hit the "low" point that has me re-focused on diet again, too.  I've got almost 11 weeks to drop about 13 pounds, which should be entirely do-able.  Feeling good about this thing.   :thumbup:
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I saw on Strava one of your assignments was "10% as fast as you can for five minutes".  How fast was that?

And a staple of my training way back was 15% treadmill @ 3.3mph for an hour.  

What is your time estimate for R2R2R?  I'm booked to go a ~week after you!  Hopefully all the water sources will be turned-on!

 
SteelCurtain said:
gianmarco said:
What's the benefit of a team registration vs. individual?
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Some people guess its a little better odds, but I'm not sure I've seen that confirmed anywhere.

The benefit is...if you are thinking "I couldn't bear to go to Berlin without seeing @SteelCurtain" then this is your shot. 
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The brilliant @SteelCurtain idea of grouping a team & upping our odds paid off.  Stoked for a trip to the fatherland (vaterland) in Sept. 

 
Well.  It’s been a good run but I think the challenge I’ve been doing is coming to an end for me. The wind is howling here and it’s going to be frigid tomorrow. With windchills at -10 to -20, I’m not sure I have any interest in grinding through 15 miles in that.  Plus snow on Monday would make 17 tough too.

i joined this challenge to keep me running in the winter which is typically a very tough time motivation wise for me.  So in that end, it was a success.

Maybe I wake up early and feel super motivated but I think that is really unlikely.  Thanks for following along on the journey!

 
SteelCurtain said:
Well.  It’s been a good run but I think the challenge I’ve been doing is coming to an end for me. The wind is howling here and it’s going to be frigid tomorrow. With windchills at -10 to -20, I’m not sure I have any interest in grinding through 15 miles in that.  Plus snow on Monday would make 17 tough too.

i joined this challenge to keep me running in the winter which is typically a very tough time motivation wise for me.  So in that end, it was a success.

Maybe I wake up early and feel super motivated but I think that is really unlikely.  Thanks for following along on the journey!
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If you keep this thing going through Monday based on what's forecasted you'll one up your Indy-NYC back-to-back.

 
MAC_32 said:
If you keep this thing going through Monday based on what's forecasted you'll one up your Indy-NYC back-to-back.
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Good point, but @SteelCurtain doesn't seem to have the fortitude for that.  He did pretty good for this challenge ...nothing noteworthy that he'll look back on with pride, but reasonably interesting while it lasted.  Tough break for his talented friend who ran a slow 13 miles with him, only to see him fade a day later.  The good news is that he can relax in the morning and play a round of Wordle.

 
Two kids with covid in the house for the last 7 days. I have felt like crap all week - by some miracle tested negative. No energy at all - been going to bed early every night. Finally feeling a little better tonight.

Kids are fine thank God. Gonna try and run tomorrow but not gonna be pretty.

 
Do any of you have any recommendations for HM training plans that are ~12 weeks? I'm going to be signing up for a 4/30 race that's 15 weeks out.

 
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