Dawn - Sometimes An Ultrarunner

Dawn - Sometimes An Ultrarunner

February 10, 2024

Oracle Rumble Half Marathon, Jan 27, 2024

This was not an easy race!   Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns.   Falling would have probably involved a cactus.  But mostly it was hard because Jim was on my heels the entire way.  He used to be 25% slower than I was.   I could time our races like a metronome.  Then he started getting faster.  And faster.   
Before the start I told Jim he would only be 3 1/2 minutes behind me today.    And then I had to go out there and work my bum off to make that happen.  Got a blister to prove it and everything.   In the end, he was 5 minutes slower, but he did have to stop to pee!  So I'm gonna have to work harder to stay ahead of him now.  

The race was just north of Tucson, Arizona, in Oracle State Park.   Hence the name?   Beautiful sunny day just like I expected in Arizona...hopefully it's snowing or raining at home and getting that part of winter out of the way.

Great photographers capturing this course!  







January 10, 2024

The Last One Standing Ultra, Dec 8-9, 2023

 Now for something new and different.  

The Last One Standing is a 6 mile loop race.  Every 90 minutes you have to run one loop of the course.  If you can't finish by the cutoff time, your race is done.  

To make it harder, it's held in December, close to the shortest day of the year.  

If that's not bad enough, it starts at 3 pm, so for most average runners, only the first 2 laps are in daylight.  Everyone but the real beasts quit sometime between sundown and sunup.  

AND, it's probably going to be cold.  Yes, it's held in St. George, Utah, but it's winter, and it's cold.  

https://www.sgcity.org/lastonestanding/


I tried to get an extra bit of sleep the night before the race started, but that's like trying to catch water in your hands.  I spent the morning packing up a bunch of cold weather camping gear, and the food I would need.  At midday, I went down to the park to register and set up my tent.  Inside went my sleeping bag and mat, plus all the spare clothes I might need to stay warm, phone charger, snacks, flashlights, etc.   It was close enough to my house that I could then go home and rest again for a few hours.  

It was a beautiful day, and I started the first lap wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  That wouldn't last but it was nice anyway.  1st lap challenge:  50 jumping jacks before the start.  The loop was almost pancake flat with a bump after the first mile.  It was very runnable on pavement along the Virgin River.   My goal was to run the distance in under an hour and have 30 minutes to rest each time.   I ran the first loop in :53 and came in first.  Not that such things matter...it meant that I probably went out too fast!   

I crawled in my sleeping bag, changed into warmer clothes because it was already feeling cooler, and ate some rice and pork from Mo'Bettahs.    Then I rested.   That part was really nice on each lap!  

2nd lap was light enough not to need a flashlight yet.  2nd lap challenge: Wear a santa hat and beard.  It kept my head warm but the ponytail pompom made me happy not to have long hair.  :53

3rd lap was dark and I went with hat, gloves, sweater, race pack, and an emergency windbreaker.   One headlamp was enough light to see the ground but I carried a backup.  56:

4th lap get in a routine of a steady pace.  Chatted for a few minutes with Ashley,  Amber, and Sarah, who clearly COULD run faster than me but were choosing not to.  (Ashley won Badwater last year too!).  It helped pass the time.  :57

5th lap.  Challenge: Carry a raw egg the whole way around.  Mine made the journey :)   Could my headlamp batteries last 3 laps or did I need to switch them out?  These are the questions I needed to answer as I crawled in my sleeping bag.  Need to eat...went with licorice, potato chips and more rice and pork.  Carrying a small bottle and making sure I drink it on each lap  :59.  30 miles total so far.  

6th lap got a late start as I was reluctant to get out of my tent.  But that would just make my rest shorter on the next round.   Didn't catch up to anyone to chat because they were all ahead of me.  1:00

7th lap at midnight.  Made sure I got out on time this lap.  Ashley had changed into a gingerbread man costume or something...yes she had 17 changes of costume for this race!  This one looked nice and warm!  Chatting distracted me from thinking about my knee hurting a little. 1:01  

8th lap changed shoes assuming my carbon plated road shoes might be tired and a new shoe would help.  So wrong.  The new ones felt flat and yuk and I lost a minute per mile in springiness.  Plus it was getting really cold and my knees hurt and it was that time of night when you really don't want to be running.  Discovered pineapple juice in my cooler.  Yum.  1:14

9th lap not much time to rest with my slowing pace.   Changed back to my original shoes.  Handwarmers weren't really working and I was starting to get really cold but didn't have enough energy to put on a warmer pair of tights.  Not generating enough heat to stay warm either.  1:19

The branding iron to mark each lap was the warmest thing around!

10th lap gave up any hope of finishing as running was really painful but walking felt fine (I hdan't walked at all, just run and laid in my tent!).   Took a longer break, put on my biggest puffy jacket and set out to walk the whole loop.   I was still freezing the entire way and knew I would not make the time cutoff.  1:37

That gave me 60 miles and I crawled back in my tent for a minute to warm up my hands enough to pack up my gear.  Packing up was harder than running!  It was just getting light as I walked to the car.  The thermometer said 28 degrees!   No wonder I was cold.  I left my cooler open as it was colder outside than inside!  

Of the 15 hours I spent racing, I spent 11:49 running and about 3:30 resting.   Luckily my tent was right by the finish line so it was a quick switchover.  


 

I came in 22nd out of 105 runners.  15 men and 2 women survived all 17 loops to run 102 miles.  Kudos to them!  

Results are Here:  https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=100567

My nearest tent neighbor Joshua finished the whole distance!





November 14, 2023

San Luis Obispo Spartan Ultra, Nov 4, 2023

 I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the starting line of this race.  With two weeks to go, I threw my back out of alignment, and was having trouble tying my shoes much less walking or running.   With the help of my chiropractors and a liberal use of peptides, I slowly started to feel better.  

The race was close to my mother-in-law's house in CA, so we were there anyway to visit her.  With 24 hours to go, I risked a few burpees, didn't feel any pain while moving, and decided to race!  

The venue was set in the middle of a vineyard.  No water on course, no fires, and not many hills made this a very fast race.  We started in the dark, and needed a headlamp for a good 1/2 hour...I've never run an Ultra this late in the year before.  But I was grateful for the hours of cool and chill weather as temps were supposed to climb into the 80s by the afternoon.  

An Ultra Spartan usually takes me between 8-9 hours to race.  There's always 2 loops of a 13 mile course plus a little extra zinger on the first half, so I plan on 5 hours to get to transition/halfway bag, and then 4 more hours to finish.   On this course I was back in transition at 31/2 hours which meant my pace was faster than usual (and the course was a little short).  

I had a bag of ice waiting for me in transition, but it was barely hot enough to need it at 9:30 am.   I kept waiting for my back to hurt, but never even felt a twinge and I was grateful for that!   My pace did slow on the second half...I had only managed 3 runs in the previous month since my marathon and that's not quite enough.  

Only 1 woman passed me the whole day and although I kept her in sight for hours I was behind by 15 minutes at the finish.  I hoped that she wasn't in my age group, and thankfully she wasn't!   I finished in 6:45, about an hour ahead of anyone in my age group.  Yay.  

I caved to common sense and didn't race the Super and Sprint the next day.  No reason to push my luck and reinjure something.  Jim raced the Trail Half Marathon, kicked ass as usual, and finished in 2:14.   Not sure if I would run head to head with him right now, he's getting really fast.  













 



October 12, 2023

St. George Marathon, Oct 7, 2023 - and a new Personal Record!

Let me tell you the best news first.  I finished in 3:29, which is a 14 minute PR for me and exceeded my wildest goal for a finish time.  Everything went right.  

https://www.athlinks.com/event/137781/results/Event/1058753/Course/2393408/Bib/5437

St. George is now my favorite road marathon course.   It's sort of down hill the first half, then a little hill, then sort of flat, then mostly downhill the second half.  In other words, it's amazing.  

And not just because I got a PR!   

Organizers, I have a suggestion for you.  Need more cowbell!  I'm only sort of kidding.  On a lonely stretch of pavement it's nice to hear one...they sound so cheerful!  Reminds me of happy cows in beautiful pastures in Switzerland.  

My training went pretty well.  I actually did some speed training.  I actually did some down hill runs.  

My training volume is lower than normal this year.  I'm averaging 12 running miles a week, and about 5 miles of hard hill hiking.   Most of my training a month before the race was a backpacking trip up to the highest point in Utah at 13,500 feet.   That counts as a run, right?  I also summited a couple of other high peaks as well.  

With a month to the race I read a book about nasal breathing and decided to train with that method.  I did two 4 mile runs breathing through my nose (!), one of them speed work, and some breath hold training while walking the dog.  I managed about 18 miles of nasal breathing during the race.   The Veyo hill was a little hard, so I walked for a few seconds and used my mouth to breath, and then the final miles of the race were hot and tiring and I couldn't hold the concentration.  But that was 18 miles more than I thought I could do it!    Photo for proof!  See my mouth was closed :)

My watch malfunctioned at the start (too many GPS watches in one place?) and I felt like I was running fast but my speed seemed slow.  After a 6 miles I checked the watch mileage against the mile markers and realized it was 1/2 mile off!  That's about when the 3:20 pacers caught me up and I realized I had been running too fast, not too slow.  Oops.  

I started the race with a 12 ounce bottle of Coke in my hand.  That lasted me for the first half of the race.  Then I switched to water for a few miles, then added water to my squishy bottle with my drink mix to carry the last half.  No stomach issues at all.  

At 12 miles the 3:30 pacers caught up to me, but the pacer (how did he have breath to speak?) said they were 3 minutes ahead of pace.  I felt good, and sped up a little, and when we hit the sweet downhill overlooking Snow Canyon, I held a 6:37 mile pace for over a mile!  

With 6 miles to go I started to feel the pace.  I stuffed a bag of ice in my bra, held some in my hand, put some in my hat.   The last 3 miles were torture and I did lose a little time...I think my pace would have put me at about 3:25 if I had held it.  

With 1/2 mile left to go my shoe came untied.  Tying it was torture too and cost me valuable time.  

After the finish I was super depleted and unable to do much, even talk.  I soaked my feet in ice water, sipped on water, and tried not to throw up.   Even 90 minutes later I felt pretty out of it.  Definitely didn't drink enough while racing but I know myself and what I'm capable of and I pushed my limits.  I can say I really prefer trail racing and I will probably go back to that as I enjoy the scenery and the pace changes a lot more.  

We had a lot of friends racing as well, including Addie, Chad, Jim and Sylvia and lots of others from all over!.   Sylvia won the women's marathon in 2:36 for the 4th time!  Jim ran his fastest half marathon in 1:42, which is faster than I've ever run a half, so I've definitely created a monster.  

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2023/10/07/ggg-jj-santana-sylvia-bedford-win-back-to-back-st-george-marathon-titles/


Here's the nuts and bolts of my nutrition for the geeks. 

Best recent addition to my supplements: Copper - instantly decreased muscle soreness post-workout.  See vigeohealth.net for further guidance, as it needs to be balanced with other nutrients.  

Week before:  Extra salt, creatine, BPC-157 (oral and injected), colostrum, enzymes, bromantane, and essential amino acids.   Daily vitamins a bit more than usual.   PEMF, Massage, Chiropractic adjustment.  

Morning of race:  Keto hot chocolate, mixed nut packet for breakfast (not the best but it was an early bus ride to the start).  MOTS-c, Cerebrolysin, Kava, Ketones, Caffeine, Nicotene Gum.   Yes I threw everything I knew might help at this race!  

Race nutrition:  12 ounces of coke, 1 ounce kava, 1 ounce ketones, 1/2 packet drink mix (UCAN, MCT powder, EAA's, Colostrum, LMNT), some water.  

October 1, 2023

Kings Peak Backpacking, 17-19 Sep 2023

 It was 10 years ago almost to the day.   We had made it to within 100 meters of the south summit of Kings Peak, and we could see dark clouds rolling in.  We ditched our goals and high tailed it as fast as we could down to treeline.  By the time we had set up our tent and got in it had snowed 2 inches!  

This trip was different.   Deb and her dog Luna and I made our approach from the north, through China Meadows.  The weather was gorgeous.   It was supposed to be 3 days of sunshine, calm breezes, and a clear blue sky.   

Deb's pack weighed at least twice mine...she did have dog paraphernalia and a big first aid kit, so I volunteered to carry water and the stove.   The hike in to Red Castle lake was surprisingly flat, and seemed to go on forever.  It was kinda muddy even from recent rains, and chewed up with horse tracks, but followed a nice stream and was shady through nice pine forests.   Our starting elevation was 9500 feet or so, and even a flat trail with packs made us work to cover the miles.  

We covered about 10 miles and found a nice campsite overlooking a small lake.   We had just enough paper to start a fire and it was all the things camping was supposed to be...cool but not cold, no bugs, beautiful scenery, and a gorgeous sunset over the water.    I did get a little cold in my tent...I put on all the clothes that i had, and warmed up a nalgene of hot water, and just managed to stay warm.  In other words, I packed perfectly and I'm grateful nothing went wrong.  lol.  

Our second day out was the big portion of the loop.  But the sun stubbornly refused to pop over the hill, so we lit another fire and took our time with breakfast.  Luna was a trooper, and had less foot trouble than Deb, who was struggling with some blisters.  Some tape and a spare set of socks helped.  I think Deb just chose not to complain too much, as her feet were a mess by the end!  

We had chosen to make a big loop to get to Kings, and left our valley as we slowly climbed above treeline.   There was plenty of water in every little stream...this is not a year to worry about the next water source.   We kept up a good pace but the high Uintas are tough going with lots of rocky trails, shale, and loose rocks.   

Kings Peak is not a beautiful summit, I have to say.  At 13,500 feet it's the highest point in Utah, but from around the area it's hard to even tell which one it is.    The trail zigzagged it's way up to the saddle just below the summit.   There we could ditch our packs for the final bit, which was dusted with fresh snow.  But we were in shorts and a light sweater and the sun was bright. 

We hadn't seen anyone literally all day until reaching the saddle.  Now we were on the main "day hike" trail to the summit.   Keep in mind that it's still a 26 mile day hike to reach the top!  But on such a nice Saturday, we probably saw about 20-30 people making their way up and down the rocks to the summit, at about 1 pm.  They had a lot way to go still to get back to their cars.  But so did we, in a sense.  

The rocks up to the summit were a breath-stealing slog.  Luna was the only one of us still going full speed.   We figured we were getting close, but confused by whether the highest point was the south summit or the north.  One guy passed us going down and cheerfully told us it was only 45 minutes more.  Hmmm.   We actually arrived in about 5 minutes so perhaps his sense of time was crooked.  

It was nice to start going downhill again for the day.   But the day was creeping on and there was no time to waste sitting around.   Down, around, and down some more brought us into Henry's Fork Basin.   We turned off the main trail and walked along the path that would get us back to China Meadows.  Our goal was a nice lake somewhere before the sun set and our legs gave out.  

After 15 miles and about 8 hours of hard hiking we found a great lake.   The moose were there first, and one was standing in the middle of the lake eating something.  We must have given him a fright, because he galloped awkwardly out of the lake and dripped off somewhere around the corner.   Not to be dissuaded, we followed the trail around the corner too and found a little campsite that was just perfect.   Two moose peered at us from a few hundred meters away and neither group seemed to care about the other.  We kept Luna tied up by our camp tho.  

Two moose were in the middle of the lake eating contentedly for hours as we set up camp and made dinner.  I went to collect firewood and found the original two moose still just chilling where we had first seen them.   They locked horns and tussled a little and I gave them a wide berth.  

Another cold night but I was more strategic about my sleeping clothes and felt warmer.   The water in the dog bowl was frozen solid by morning tho.  Moose snorts woke me up and by the time I got out of the tent he was back in the middle of the lake eating again.  Deb used all her skills to start a final fire (there was a lot of downed wood from beetle kill trees), and I ate pad thai for breakfast, made heartier by adding instant mash potatoes.    I'm pretty sure that only tastes good when camping.  

Our trail out had some choices, but included a gradual hill up and over a ridge.  At the top, we considered a shorter trail (it might have saved a mile), but randomly met up with two guys at that intersection.  They advised us that the shorter trail was a mess of downed trees, and to follow the horse trail instead.  The horse packers had blazed a trail through a lot of fallen trees and it was longer, but probably quicker to follow their way.   It was a pleasant walk through the woods, and Luna learned to jump over logs on her leash rather than run under them.   She had good recall but we were worried she would run 50 miles each day and wear her pads off.   On this trip she never seemed to tire and gave Deb a nice sled dog pull up the hills!  

Back on the main trail to China Meadows, it was almost hot, and we were grateful to see the miles tick off.  11 miles later we were back at the car.  Gave us a total of 37 miles in 3 days.   By car it was 3 hours back to our houses, and in those couple of days the oak trees had started turning red!   Fall colors are amazing.