Salt Flats 100, I came, I ran, I bailed

I need to remember the words in this picture.

Prologue - 

I had these big plans again this year to do both the Zion 100 and the Salt Flats 100.  Thank goodness they were three weeks apart this year, and not one week apart.

I had been checking the weather the week before the race, like I always do.  I don't like weather surprises in a race.  It was calling for cool (50's and 60's during the day, low 40's at night).  I can handle those temps.  It was also calling for a 50% chance of rain Friday, going up to 90% Friday night.  If you have wondered what exactly a 50% chance means, according to the weather service, a 50% chance means that 50% of the forecast area will experience rain at some point during the forecast period, the other 50% of the forecast area will not experience rain.  That meant for Friday night, 90% of the race area would see rain.  I don't like running in the rain.  You get wet, you get cold, it's miserable. 

Anyway, in anticipation, I packed every drop bag with some sort of dry, warm clothes, beanies, gloves, long sleeve t's, stretchy pants, etc.

I went out Thursday evening, checked into my room late and managed to get a somewhat reasonable amount of sleep before getting up early.

I made it out to the race start with about an hour to spare, so i just sat in the car to keep warm and waited.  Unlike past years, it was overcast, so there would be no spectacular sunrise.  At least the temperature wasn't too bad, maybe in the upper 50's with a slight breeze.  All this would change later in the day.

Race time -

I caught up with a few friends as we waited for the start and Vince got us started right on time, 7am.  We all began our 16 mile trek across probably the flatest ground on the face of the earth, yeah, there was no elevation gain or loss here.

I found myself running alone for the vast majority of this race.  This is something I really like about running ultras and smaller races.  I don't mind chatting with other runners, but for the most part, I like to be alone and run my own race rather than someone else's.  Just me, the course and time.

The first few aid stations were pretty uneventful.  In and out in just a few minutes or less at each one.  My times were mostly according to my plan, maybe a bit slower, but I'm always optomistic with my race plans.

We didn't do any climbing at all until we left the aid station at 22.6 miles.  At that point, we make a climb of about 1000' in about 3 miles or so.  I usually walk most of this, but I tried to at least trot some of the less steep parts this climb.  Downhill to the hastings Cutoff aid (31 miles), short stop, then out to the most remote part of the course.  9 miles north, then 10 miles back, six of it on the mud flats.  The mud flats is probably the most monotonous part of the course.  Walking this was not an option, so i just put my head down and ran.  During this time I could see showers starting to form across the valley against Pilot Peak. At least they stayed on that side of the valley....for the time being.

I got back to the Hastings Cutoff aid (50 miles) in pretty good time, 10.5 hours, so I was still on track to go close to 24 hours.  As I was sitting there, all of the sudden the wind picked up and it started raining.  This did not bode well I thought.  I took off from there into a vicious headwind and pelting rain.  I got about a quarter mile out and seriously thought about turning around, but I kept going.  After a bit the rain did stop, and the wind actually died down quite a bit and it was a pleasant run to the 61 mile aid station.  by then the sun was setting and peeking out from under the clouds.  I was hoping beyond hope that maybe there would be good weather overnight.  As I ran to the 67 mile aid station, I could see some stars.  I made pretty good time going back over Silver Island Pass and to the aid station at 74 miles, but just before I got there, the rain started coming down again.  It was different this time, gentler, steadier, and without nearly as much wind.  By the time I got to the 74 mile aid station, I was getting damp.  When I left there I remembered that I had put a garbage bag in my pack just for this.  I dug it out, put it on and kept going.  It helped for awhile, but this section was uphill and just steep enough that I couldn't run and generate any body heat to keep me warm.  I started getting colder and colder.  Not only that, but the rain was picking up and it was getting a bit windier, and the temperature was dropping.  Now I was cold, wet, and miserable.  I knew I had more dry clothes at the Nevada aid station (80 miles), but I also knew that I had a 1500' climb ahead of me and that it would just get colder and windier.  I finally got to the Nevada aid station at about 2am and shortly after decided to pull the plug.  The thought of another 20 miles of being cold, wet, and miserable was a bit much.

After deciding to pull the plug, I still had to wait over two hours until someone could pick us up and take us back to the start.  I had changed into my dry clothes, but I still never got really warmed up.

 

Aftermath -

So that's it.  Another 100 mile DNF.  As usual, when I DNF I learn something.  This time is no different.  I've been trying to figure out what I could have done differently that would have allowed me to finish.  Warmer, dryer clothes?  That would have helped.  I don't have any rain gear to speak of, and I certainly didn't bring it along other than a rain shell and stretchy pants.  Don't think that would have kept me dry for long, certainly not another 20 miles.  So yeah, rain gear would have helped.

I think what it really boils down to or me this time (and maybe other times as well), is a lack of patience. 

I was on a pretty good roll time wise.  Had good weather prevailed, I maybe could have gone sub-24, who knows.  Other than being cold, wet, and tired, I felt good, no body issues to speak of, no injuries.  If I had the patience to wait for an hour or two to try and warm up a bit more before venturing out, that may have made the difference.  My trouble is, I couldn't see beyond the misery I was in at the moment, I just wanted it to end now.  I mentally checked out.  Would having a pacer have helped?  Who knows there as well.  If I had a pacer and told that person to not let me drop for any reason other than injury, would that have kept me going?

So, I think the key lesson here is patience and seeing beyond the miserable present.

So yeah, I am kind of disappointed at not finishing.  Course conditions were epic to say the least, but others finished, and I really had no reason to not finish other than a lack of patience and will.  I just didn't want to be out in that crap. 

This guy camped out Thursday night.  It was dry then.

6" of water out on the salt flats

 

Other stuff -

My mile splits were remarkably consistent for the 80 miles I did run.  Check out the table.  I slowed down on the uphills obviously, but the flat miles were the same.

Salt Flats splits
Mile	Pace	Elev (ft)
1	12:23	-3
2	9:46	0
3	10:14	3
4	10:08	0
5	10:07	0
6	10:35	0
7	10:38	0
8	10:41	0
9	10:53	0
10	13:04	0	Aid station
11	13:11	0
12	10:31	0
13	10:25	0
14	11:04	0
15	10:20	7
16	14:36	7	Aid station
17	11:25	-10
18	10:30	6
19	10:29	28
20	12:27	14
21	11:19	-19
22	11:34	71
23	16:36	202	Aid station
24	16:01	396
25	15:50	356
26	16:08	-19	Aid station
27	11:07	-411
28	10:34	-361
29	10:28	-205
30	12:17	27
31	12:22	53
32	20:58	36	Aid station
33	13:10	-70
34	11:33	-37
35	12:01	10
36	14:14	102
37	17:53	271
38	15:47	101
39	11:36	-279
40	18:32	64	Aid station
41	12:43	-303
42	11:54	5
43	11:21	1
44	12:19	-3
45	13:25	-3
46	11:15	0
47	11:32	2
48	13:42	39
49	13:48	84
50	14:15	11
51	32:15:00	6	Aid station
52	13:44	-32
53	11:43	-83
54	13:24	-13	Aid station
55	13:10	1
56	13:00	3
57	12:38	7
58	16:46	7
59	13:34	-1
60	17:06	0
61	11:15	-6
62	19:49	7	Aid station
63	15:14	117
64	14:44	63
65	15:57	-114
66	11:54	-73
67	13:04	-15
68	28:28:00	123	Aid station
69	18:42	291
70	17:56	178
71	14:47	-238
72	18:38	5
73	16:04	20
74	27:08:00	22	Aid station
75	17:50	56
76	17:18	103
77	18:24	25
78	20:31	-35
79	19:06	-116
80	19:04	-84
0.8	1:28:03	-73	Aid station

 

 

Mile	Split	Elevation change
1	9:57	-3
2	9:46	0
3	10:14	3
4	10:08	0
5	10:07	0
6	10:35	0
7	10:38	0
8	10:41	0
9	10:53	0
10	11:27	0
11	12:39	0
12	10:31	0
13	10:25	0
14	11:04	0
15	10:20	7
16	11:08	7
17	11:25	-10
18	10:30	6
19	10:29	28
20	12:27	14
21	11:19	-19
22	11:34	71
23	15:21	202
24	16:01	396
25	15:50	356
26	13:28	-19
27	11:07	-411
28	10:34	-361
29	10:28	-205
30	12:13	27
31	12:22	53
32	12:44	36
33	12:48	-70
34	11:01	-37
35	12:01	10
36	14:14	102
37	17:02	271
38	15:40	101
39	11:18	-279
40	14:59	64
41	12:38	-303
42	11:54	5
43	11:21	1
44	11:58	-3
45	13:25	-3
46	11:15	0
47	11:32	2
48	12:59	39
49	13:48	84
50	13:26	11
51	12:49	6
52	12:34	-32
53	11:43	-83
54	13:24	-13
55	13:10	1
56	12:50	3
57	12:38	7
58	14:32	7
59	13:30	-1
60	14:22	0
61	11:15	-6
62	12:53	7
63	15:14	117
64	14:44	63
65	12:04	-114
66	11:54	-73
67	13:04	-15
68	16:06	123
69	17:48	291
70	17:43	178
71	13:49	-238
72	14:22	5
73	15:56	20
74	15:04	22
75	16:32	56
76	16:55	103
77	17:30	25
78	18:36	-35
79	18:55	-116
80	17:45	-84
0.8	13:13	-73

It was one of those races

Prologue –

Where to start.  Hmmm, so I went into the Zion 100 this year with a bit more confidence than last year.  Last year I ran a pretty solid race and finished in 28:30.  I had gone down there with the expectation of not having any expectations except to finish and to have a good time.  I did both, probably the most fun I've ever had running 100 miles.  Well, this year I had the expectations of having a good time again, and running a bit quicker.  I met one goal and failed in the other.

I had more miles on the feet this year than I did last year at this time, so that led me to believe that I could run a faster time.

This year I also went with the intention of not having either a crew or pacers.  I hadn’t completed a 100 mile race without a pacer in a couple of years and wanted to run it “clean” so to speak.

However, this year I had the opportunity to have my lovely wife crew for me.  She found out that she didn’t have to work on Friday so I asked her to come down and crew.  She said yes with a bit of fear and trepidation in her voice, as she has never crewed for me.  Spoiler alert, she did fantastic, never got lost, knew just what to do, definitely a big help to me.

Prerace -

Thursday evening?  Got down to Hurricane late, late, late, like midnight.  Three hours of sleep is about all I managed before having to get up and make our way to the Virgin city park.  I managed to chat with a few friends and other runners I knew before about 180 of us took off into the dark.

With Colleen Zato and Steve "Old Goat" Harvey

Putting our game faces on.  Steve is 70 and was attempting his first 100 mile run in 12 years.

Game time -

The first section took us up the Flying Monkey Trail to the top of Smith Mesa (here’s a bit of history behind the test area there).  This year Matt added a section of new trail to the top that was nice and technical.  It even involved a bit of scrambling.  After the scramble there was a nice bit of single track on the top of the mesa before we got to the first aid station.  Then it was a nice long downhill on dirt and ratty old paved road to the next aid station at the highway.  I came in there feeling pretty good.  I was meeting my ambitious time goals that I had set.  A short stop there and I was now on the JEM trail along the Virgin River.  Very cool trail that follows the edge of the cliffs above the river.  The next aid station was the Virgin Dam, and Karen met me here for the first time.  It was nice to

Some views from Gooseberry Mesa

Gooseberry Point, yeah, it's a long ways down

see her smiling face.  Now on along some 4 x 4 trails to the base of Gooseberry Mesa and our second major climb of the day.  Something like 1500’ up in a bit over a mile.  Yeah, it was pretty steep.  The nice thing about this climb is that as you get near the top you see and hear all sorts of spectators cheering you on, then you pop out on top and there’s the Goosebump aid station.  Anyway, by now I was kind of spent.  Karen was there and had my drop bag ready, got me what I needed and kicked me out.  At this point (31 miles) I wasn’t feeling it.  This is a fairly runnable section but I ended up walking or slowly shuffling most of the way out to the Gooseberry point aid station.  After a quick trip out to the point, I came back to Gooseberry, tanked up on some Coke and headed back the 5-6 miles to Goosebump.  By now I was feeling a bit better and managed to run most of the way back.  I came back into Goosebump and Karen and Jo Agnew were waiting for me.  Kelly Agnew came in right behind me.  Big surprise as he’s usually way ahead of me.  I guess running 130 miles the previous weekend in less than 24 hours was taking its toll.  He would go on to go under 24 hours for this race, so something lit a fire under him.  The guy is a major running stud.

Well, I got out of Goosebump and headed for Grafton.  I did manage to run most of those six miles and was still on my time plan, but it was getting harder to do.

Karen tending to my every needs at Grafton

This year Matt added a six mile trail loop out of Grafton that was pretty cool running.  Virtually all single track, a bit of a climb, great views.  After that loop, I ran pretty strong down off of the mesa and over to the climb up to Eagle Crag.  The climb up to Eagle Crag went ok, not strong, but steady.  Back down off eagle Crag I managed to run most of the downhill but once I hit the flat road section, it was a walk.  I just didn’t have the energy to run and I knew that the climb back up to Grafton was not easy.  However, I did manage to make the climb pretty strong, passed a couple of people and got back to Grafton where my lovely wife once again crewed flawlessly.  After some serious calorie intake, I was out and heading back to Goosebump.  This is where the wheels started to come off, roll down the hill, and got lost never to be found again.  I walked virtually every step of the six miles back to Goosebump.  I think I was a pretty sad sight getting back there.  I was doing ok, just tired, sleepy, and feeling kind of rough.  Karen sat me by the fire and let me sleep for about 15 minutes.  After some more food and a change of shoes, it was back down that steep climb that we came up back at mile 31.  I was not looking forward to this one, especially since I had changed into road shoes.  With no grip on the dirt and rocks, it was a pretty hairy descent but I made it down unscathed and even managed to trot the few miles across the desert to the Dalton Wash crew access point.  Now I had the few miles of climbing up to Guacamole Mesa.  This.was.slow.  I was so sleepy that I sat down to catch a few minutes of sleep but couldn’t.  I think I finally made it up to Guacamole aid at about 4:30am.  Here’s where crew is nice.  I totally forgot I had a drop bag here with dry clothes and lots of calories.  Instead I just grabbed some stuff at the aid station and headed out on what I knew would be a very long nine miles.  And it was, it took me right at four hours to get back.  While I was out on the Guacamole loop, most of the 50K runners went flying past me.  I knew a bunch of them, including a bunch of fellow HUMR’s.  It was nice to see their smiling faces, get hugs, high fives, etc. from them and others.  I even had a doctor offering me drugs (nothing illegal).  I assured everyone I was doing fine, just tired and slow.

Finally got back to Guacamole aid at 9:30am and once again totally forgot I had a drop bag.  By now the sun was up, and I was waking up.  I managed to trot most of the downhill miles off the mesa.  My goal for the last 9 miles was three hours or less.  I figured most of it was downhill, the sun was up and I was smelling the barn.  The last few miles were uneventful, just like the rest of the race.  The best news I heard all race was when I passed the turnoff for the Walsh aid and a group told me I had less than a mile to the finish.  I figured that it was still 2.5 miles.  I told them they’d better not be lying to me and they assured me they weren’t.  After crossing the highway and a short trot through part of the town of Virgin, it was time to cross the finish line.  I was glad to be done with this one.

Looking pretty rough at the finish line.  Glad to be done.  Photo: Breein Clark

Aftermath –

Many, many thoughts here. 

All during the latter part of the race I was trying to figure out why I had no energy.  I had plenty of calories, I was hydrated very well.  I finally figured out that I did not have any of the really long 30-50 mile training runs needed to perform well at 100 miles.  I had more overall miles this year over last, but nothing over 29 miles in one shot.  You can complete a 100 on the type of miles I did, but to do it well, those really long runs are essential.

I got blisters on my feet in weird places that I’ve never gotten blisters before.  Same type of shoes, La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0’s, that I have worn for many 100’s.  Nothing that would take me out of the race, but uncomfortable at times.  This is the first 100 in a long time where I changed shoes to try and get my feet more comfortable.

Food?  I had Ultragen in every drop bag and used it faithfully except at Guacamole.  I ate way more bean burritos this year than I did last year.  I was a major gas bag as a result but between those and Ultragen, I stayed fueled with no stomach issues at all.  Pickle juice works once again.  Tastes good, and it can get you back in your game.  I’m a big fan of the stuff.

I also discovered that I have absolutely no dance moves after 61 miles (I don’t have any dance moves at all).  Jennilyn Eaton was shooting some 100 mile dance party moves from lots of runners.  Yeah, mine was pretty sad and pathetic.

Trying to explain to Jennilyn that I have no dance moves after 64 miles.

I did have a good time in spite of my slow time.  I met some people that I haven’t had the chance to meet and wanted to, I saw plenty of friends, and had a great weekend.

Karen did a fantastic job of crewing me for the first time.  She thought so I didn’t have to.  She asked the right questions, got me the stuff I needed, and kicked me out of the aid stations and down the trail.  Perfect.

So, 100 mile finish number 19 is in the books.  My final time was 29:57:10, good enough for 82^nd place out of about 180 starters and 115 finishers.  Next up is Salt Flats 100 in less than three weeks.  Hopefully I’ll do better here.

 

All that effort for this