Cath returned to the States for her cross country US driving trip a couple of weeks ago and it was great for Dez and I to get to hang out, drinks some beers and have dinner with her. It was also fun that I got to run the Las Vegas Strip with Cath before she left out to Cali where she would run the Run-de-Vous 100 miler and not only run it but get the overall win! Super Job!!
The last couple of weekends I have been running up at Mt. Charleston which is about avg. 9000 feet and the trail is always nice. My last weekend run up there was 24 1/2 miles and felt pretty good, I then took a couple days off and noticed I had some left knee pain which was part of my meniscus. I tried running one day and simply would not happen, so I knew I had to get a little help from my great friend Chiropractor and ART Speacialist Dr. Victor Leach. I previously had KT Taped my knee for support and then when I saw Victor on Thursday he performed some great ART technique along with some KT support and homework exercises for me to perform before all my runs. Good stuff as I was a little worried overall because the Once in a Blue Moon 12 run was the next night.
I arrived at the Once in a Blue Moon timed event about 5pm, race started at 7pm and runners of 1, 3, 6 or 12 hours would be partaking the 1.2 mile figure 8 course all through the night. Since I had not run I was simply wondering how far I could actually go. My goal was to get 50 miles but since the knee thing started I would go for as long as I could without pain or at least walk because I wanted to get a full night experience, even if I had to walk. After setting up my "aid-station" as the 6 and 12 hour runners could have a small area, I parked in the far parking lot and then walked about 1/2 mile to the start. I met some other runners I knew and Cynthia at last minute had signed up and was going to run the 6 hour event.
As I finished last minute preps to start all was good and as usual the nervousness of starting had set in. About 125 runners gathered near the starting line for last minute instructions from the race director of Calicoracing.com, Joyce. and then we were off. It was somewhat crowded the first 3 loops but then the 1 hour runners finished and that cleared some of the runners. I didn't have any pain or discomfort to the knee which was awesome and so my running felt great. I ran pretty much non-stop for the first 10 miles. Since the race started at 7pm it was already dark and the 3 hour runners had finished there was areas where you were simply running alone for a short time, which was nice. I chatted with several runners and friends along the way.
Somewhere about 3-4 hours into the event I had grabbed a pancake from the aid station table, put a spoonful of jelly on it and I was sipping on some of my Clip2 by Succeed. Now I am not really sure what set my stomach off but something did not settle with it and I started having a cramping feeling and a blah stomach. At first I thought it was the pancake and these days my system just doesn't like this type of foods anymore during racing but then I later thought it could have been the Jelly as it had been sitting outside. Overall, I am not really sure but I was in the SUCK ZONE! not only that I was somewhere around mile 13-14 and I always seem to hit my "Wall" between 14-18, not sure why, just happens.
So as I walked along and swam in my self misery of stomach blahs and cussing my existence for being out here on the stupid 1.2 mile course, I was looking for every excuse I could come up with to stop and go home, but since I have some experience with this I knew I just had to wait it out, however long it would take. I would stop at my cooler and take a couple of minutes to relax and start again but even doing that 2x didn't work so on the 3rd time instead of sitting down I decided to lay down.
I laid down for about 10 minutes, trying to get comfortable on the ground but there was this bigger rocks poking in my mid-back so I could never really settle in which was probably a good thing because I would have gone to sleep. After the 10 mins I got back up, mixed up pre-ready Isagenix shake (more on that later) and poured some Dr. Pepper in my hand held bottle and started walking after drinking half of the Isagenix shake and, sipping on the Dr. Pepper. After a few minutes the Dr. Pepper started to flatten out which was fine with me as it seemed to go down a little easier. It was also waking me up from the caffeine, I had not drank any type of soda in over a month so it definitely nice to enjoy. By the time I came back around to my cooler I poured the rest of the Dr. Pepper in and kept going and next thing I know I was back to running and feeling better! I was also past the 18 mile mark and out of the SUCK ZONE and on my way.
I continued to feel good the rest of the race and didn't have any more GI/Stomach issues and about every 2-2.5 hours I would drink some sort of caffeine, Red Bull, Dr. Pepper or RockStar but when I tried the RockStar I found it to be too sweet and it just didn't taste good but the small amounts I took in did help in the caffeine department. I didn't get sleepy the rest of the run, small lags in energy and that's when I knew it was time for more. Izaac finished up helping with the race after the 6 hour group and then joined in to help pace me along the way. We chatted and caught up on lots of things during the run/walks and it actually made the time and loops go much faster.
Famous Isagenix! That's right, this is another event where Isagenix just saves the day/race! Earlier when I ate the pancake and jelly that caused the stomach issues I had not eaten anything since. Dez arrived for a short time about 10pm when I was in the Suck Zone and I asked her to put 1 scoop of IsaLean in my shaker and I would get it in a couple more laps. She prepped it and then had to leave and after I had laid down and as I said I got up drank the shake down and started walking. It was right thing to take my stomach into a happy place. After that I would drink another 1 scoop Isagenix IsaLean shake about 2 hours, so 3 more before the end of the race and aside from that I ate 1 Chocolate covered Biscotti when the Sun came up, 3 Strawberries and that was it. The power of Isagenix is simply amazing! The body needs all those nutrients and simply brings you back to life!
By now its early 4 am and Izaac is about to leave to head home and super star and good friend Connie Dockendorf, who had run the 3 hour event and her awesome family who were also out there to help while she ran; had decided to come back after a few hours sleep and help pace me the last couple hours! So it was changing of the guards and now Connie and I were off and moving. It was great again as Connie and I got to catch up and lot of things and was also super fast in the crewing department when I needed to stop at the cooler for anything. The time once again just seemed to move right along and next thing I know the Sun is starting to come up. It was a cool sight because the Blue Moon is still full in the sky on one side and the Sun is coming up on the other. As the 7am hour finish was approaching, Joyce told me I had 20 minutes till finish time and asked if I wanted to go around the loop again, I quickly said heck yeah and kept going. I quickly calculated as best I could where I needed to be at the turn around to make sure I made it back to the start, although she was counting partial laps, I wanted to make sure I completed the lap, so at the turn around I was doing great and ran the downhill section all the way back to the timing mat. Connie had ran ahead to get some pictures of me finishing and when I came around the corner Joyce said, You have 5 more minutes do you want to keep going and drop a glow stick for partial lap credit? I said Sure Do! I was in the zone!! and off Connie and I went listening for the cowbell/horn to end the race at 7am. I realized I had run pretty fast on the last lap and banked some time so I thought, 5 minutes, that's like another 1/2 mile if I keep going so I walked as little as possible and Connie encouraging me and helping me push and soon I looked at my watch and said 7:00am and I was at the half way turn around part so that's where my race ended. I continued to walk and caught up with another runner that was moving pretty slow and simply out of gas. We chatted the rest of the way to the finish and then I got my medal!
Overall, it was a good race event. I had never thought I would run a loop type course simply because of the boring repeats of the loop but actually it wasn't that bad. I would say that bad part is having your aid station stuff there every lap to stop and get something which costs you time in the long run but its also a good thing to have it there because you are never more than 15-20 minutes away from something that can save your race. The course was all asphalt with a slight uphill grade on one side and downhill on the other side. The downhill portion was nice because it also gave you a view of the Vegas valley/Strip and all the lights which was great to see as you ran. Of course the Full Blue Moon was awesome and provided enough light on the trail that I didn't even use a headlamp or flashlight the entire race.
At the finish I drank a full Isagenix shake, several more strawberries, large cup of coffee, and a banana. I would drink another Isagenix shake about 3 hours later when I was at home, with Ionix, Greens, 3,6,9 oil, and some frozen mixed berries, Awesome recovery stuff! Being as the race was Friday night at 7pm, I was up for work at 6:30am and stayed away for 28 hours as after the race I had to take my dog Kooper to the vet for a quick check up, with my race number still attached to my shorts, and sporting my new race shirt.
Saturday afternoon my feet were definitely sore and tired as well as my legs feeling more tired than sore. Sunday feet were still sore and a little more tender with my legs just being sore. Today, Monday, feet feel sore, no longer tender and legs feel tight so recover is coming along great!
Rio Del Lago 100 is up next, 33 days and counting.. I still have some solid work to put in to make the race a little more comfortable, although its a 100 miles so its not really at all comfortable! ha!
rockon'
