San Diego 100 Race Report

Well here we go again just three weeks after finishing Keys 100 I was toeing the line again for another jaunt through the woods but instead of the blistering heat and humidity of the Florida Keys it would be just outside of San Diego in the Cuyamaca Mountains. Weather plays a huge factor in this race as most of the course is exposed but unlike in prior years when it was hot this year was cold, windy and foggy. So much for the heat training that I have been doing in the sauna. The race consists of a 50 mile loop which you do twice. The 50 mile loop has you go out in one direction for 20 miles before returning to the start and heading out in another direction for another 30 miles before returning again to the start. You This has its advantages in that you know what to expect the second time around and its disadvantages as you know what to expect the second time around.

I came into this race hoping (a) to survive 2 100s so close together and (b) to crack the top 5. I felt like the race would be between the two old vets Ben Hian and Tom Nielson and as long as my legs did not fall off somewhere I could get by with a top 5 finish based on the competition of the field.

The race started out like a track meet again with a solid group of 6 to 8 runners taking off trying to keep up with Ben but within the first 16 miles a few of the front guys were dropping back and one guy even dropped around mile 16. After the first aid station (Sunrise at mile 5.9) you hop onto the PCT and for the next 6 miles you have some rolling hills but nothing major to deal with. The only factor here was the strong gusts of wind at times that brought me to a stop and at some points blew me off the trail (I guess it pays to weigh a little more).

I got into and out of the 2nd aid station rather quickly and started to make my way to the 3rd aid station. At this point I caught up to another runner and we chatted for a bit mostly about how many times within the first 12 miles we had eaten some rock and funny enough during that conversation we both fell at separate times. Since he started out too fast he quickly dropped back and once again I found myself alone on the trails and in 5th place after completing the first 20 mile loop.

The next 30 mile loop is where you get a few of the longer and more technical trails and here is where I started to really struggle. I did not find this section to be very enjoyable as I am not the
greatest technical runner out there and I started to have a real low that would last for the next 25 miles. I could not get out of the funk and soon after starting the loop I was passed and moved into 6th place. I could not shake the lows and started to hate everything around me and even considered dropping around at mile 50. As the loop went on I was able to make up ground on another runner and then on the runner that passed me earlier on in the loop and moved into 4th place. This gave me a little more motivation to keep going. Around mile 35 I caught up with Tom Nielson (2nd place finisher) and we slowed down and spent the next 10 miles talking about running, secrets to running 100s and about AC. We both started to hold back as we knew there was still a lot of miles to go and we both wanted to save our legs for miles 75 on. After a bit of talking Tom wanted to pick up the pace so I let him go and settled down into my own pace as my legs were starting to feel the pain from the Keys 100 and then the 72 miles at WS camp a week after that. As I was coming into mile 50 I was still set on dropping but what do you know, Kyle was there and that lifted my mood. Kyle would be my pacer from mile 70 on and since he drove down that morning from the OC I could not drop as it would not be fair to him. So with a fresh new outlook on the race I went over to weigh myself before starting the next 50 miles. I was down just about 7 lbs and knew this was the issue that I had to deal with right away.

Off I went on my next 50 miles and refocused on one aid station at a time. The next one was Sunrise (5.9 miles) and I took my time getting there to conserve energy. When I got to Sunrise AS I got the final lift that I needed. I worked this aid station last year and the same guys were there this year. I spent a few minutes talking with them and ate a turkey sandwich and took my recovery drink. Once I left that aid station I immediately felt better with food in my stomach and my recovery drink in hand it was now time to start running. The next 15 miles were a blast as I was enjoying every minute of being on the trails. I was also slowly making up time on the 3 runners in front of me. I was certainly happy to complete the 20 mile loop and picked up Kyle so that we could start out on the next 30.

What a difference a familiar face makes as I hated the 30 mile loop the first time around but with Kyle singing, dancing and enjoying himself it changed my perspective of this loop and the way I ran. After a while we caught up Tom and his pacer (T Moore) and we played leap frog for a while until they took off and then I was back in 4th place and accepted that is how I would finish. Kyle kept pushing me to make this more of a race but I was certainly happy with 4th place as this was just a training run. Around 90 miles in we passed Fabrice (who was in 2nd until Tom passed him) and that put me in 3rd place. From there Kyle kept putting the hammer down on me so I had only one option and that was too keep up. We rolled into the final aid station (7.6 miles from the finish) about 6 to 7 minutes off of Tom (2nd place) but I took my time here and made sure to get some calories in me so that I could finish strong. I was in no hurry but Kyle wanted to get going. I told Kyle that I want to grab 2 gels for the finish and one more gel to mix in my water bottle. He asked what flavor in the water bottle and I replied I do not care. So off we go and while making our final climb of the evening I suck down an Apple-Cinnamon flavor gel and chance it with my gel flavored water. Turns out the gel he put in my bottle was Espresso flavored - not a great combo if you think about it. We kept hammering away at the miles and then finally hit the last 3.5 mile section which is mostly downhill and I found my legs and we ran hard. I told Kyle that I wanted to get under 18 hours and 25 minutes (my trail 100 pr). As we were nearing the finish we were on a rocky downhill section and as luck would have it I hit a rock and fell and cut me knee on another rock. Kyle quickly got me up and running in no time. As I saw the finish line I put on a solid sprint and took a peak at the clock and when I crossed it read 18 hours 23 minutes. I was more excited about the new pr then the fact that we closed the gap to less then two minutes behind second place and less than 8 minutes behing first place.

The funny thing is that I was using it as a training run and did not care if I cam if 3rd, 4th... but now a few days later I am disappointed b/c I was so close to 2nd place and really close to 1st
place. The top three all finished within 7 minutes of each other.

A few funny moments of the course - taking my first sip of espresso gel water; falling and in the one water bottle was my electrolyte drink that splashed me in my eye and when Kyle filled my one bottle with an electrolyte drink the cap was not screwed on all the way and when I went to squeeze the bottle the cap shot off and a good portion of the drink ended up on my shirt.

One lesson learned was that I can go on gels and not take in solids but I have to find a liquid calorie drink as well. I was down 7 lbs for the first 50 b/c I was only doing gels but not enough of them so a liquid drink with calories would have really helped.

Oh well so there you have another novel. You think I would get better at this since all I do is run! Special thanks to Michelle, Kyle, Donn, Summer and Mieko who all kept me going in their own way.

Up next WS and I get to return the favor as I am pacing Kyle and then Badwater where I get to be a part of Tony's crew. Should be an exciting two months.