Adventures in Afghanistan: Running on Lockdown

Posted on May 12, 2012 by ultrarunnergirl

Today is the first day I feel seriously caged in.  I’ve actually been surprised so far at how easy the transition has been.  I thought that it would be really tough coming to Afghanistan, but the truth is that I’m living in a self-contained little bubble that keeps me (almost) completely shielded from whatever is going on outside the compound’s walls.  Precisely because our movement is so restricted, everything is brought in for us to try to make life as normal as possible. My office, my home, my corner store, my local cafe, my gym and my friends are all within spitting distance.  I have satellite television in my apartment, rice krispies and peanut butter on the shelf and Canada Dry club soda in the fridge. There are outdoor BBQs on the weekends and the occasional party in the social center at night.  The other day I was lying on the grass in the sun, diet coke in one hand and ipod in the other, and I almost forgot I was living in a conflict zone.  

Up until now, I felt like these reinforced concrete walls outside my window were keeping the ‘bad guys’ out; today, I feel like they are simply keeping me in.  Each time I pass by one of the main gates of the compound when I’m on my running route I have to fight the urge not to just keep going and burst through to the other side. I can’t help but stare at the beautiful mountains outside the compound and wish I could just run straight for them.  It is an unrealistic fantasy, but one that I entertain in my mind several times a day.  Sure, it has only been about two and a half weeks – seriously just a blink of time.  Some of my neighbours have been here for YEARS.  And I’m out on R&R in less than four weeks.  I’m not suffering by any stretch of the imagination… This is supposed to be a hardship posting, but I certainly don’t feel hardship in the day-to-day.  I’ve come to the realization that the hardship will be in the week-to-week and the month-to-month. 

There have been a few moments over the past few weeks, however, when I’ve been brought back to the reality that I do live in Afghanistan.  You may have seen it in the news, but the other week there was a pretty major suicide attack on one of the international compounds up the road.  I got up around 6 am to go for a run and I heard a boom, but I thought it was probably just a truck loading or something along those lines.  It didn’t even occur to me that it could have been something serious.  So, I changed into my running clothes, laced up my shoes, put in my headphones and headed out to do my loops around the compound.  Strangely, I noticed that I was joined on my run by a number of our armed security guards running to their posts.  We have a number of guard stations around the compound, but I had never seen them ALL manned until that morning.  Hmm, something wasn’t normal.  Then I saw the smoke rising over the compound walls in the not-so-far distance. After half a loop of my usual circuit I was ordered back inside my apartment and told to stay inside.  I texted my ultrarunning friend up the road to see if he was okay and sure enough, there had been an attack on his compound.  My bubble wasn’t penetrated that day, but his sure was.  Okay, maybe I’m not living in a weird little resort after all.

Random suicide bomb attacks aside, I have happily kept up with my training.  Since I arrived 2.5 weeks ago, I have covered 270 km of this compound on foot.  I have already memorized where the potholes are in the UNICEF parking lot; how many seconds it takes to run around the helipad; and how many blue chairs have been scrapped behind the new apartment blocks.  I have used every trick in the book to keep the route interesting, adding in random loops, running sections in reverse, zigzagging between apartment buildings and hopping over garbage in between containers.  Sometimes I make funny faces at the guards to try to make them laugh and other times I salute them to thank them for keeping us safe. I’ve run in the dry midday heat (and almost thrown up) and in the cool nighttime rain.  I would be surprised if there was an inch of this compound that my feet hadn’t yet discovered.

My favourite run so far happened a couple of nights ago.  I had a long day of work and was feeling pretty tired.  I wasn’t really that enthusiastic about heading out to do my hamster-wheel run, but I decided to give it a shot.  The sun had just started to set and the breeze was starting to pick up a bit.  Usually there are at least a few people out for a walk around the compound in the evenings, but there was hardly anyone out that night so it was pretty much just the guards and me.  There was a storm off in the distance, but it never actually reached us.  Instead of getting pelted by torrential rain, I was treated to the most amazing light show as I ran up and down the compound roads.  The sky glowed with bursts of purple light punctuated by the occasional white lightning bolt… it was beautiful.  I even liked the way it lit up the barbed wire on top of the walls, creating crazy shadows on the ground. At one point it almost felt as if the lightning was timed with my footstrikes against the pavement.  Instead of running for my planned 30 minutes, I stayed out for two hours until the wind picked up and I couldn’t brave the swirling dust around my face.

It is hard to put into words what it is like here.  But I will keep trying.  I’m setting my sights on my first R&R… or R&R&R!  I have found a race in Madeira, Portugal, where I will be resting, recuperating, but most importantly running.  Check it out: Madeira Ultra.  Being able to run freely in a straight line for hours on end? Psh. Surely I won’t even notice the 105  kilometres passing underneath my feet.

Until then, it is back to the hamster wheel for me…

Filed under: "Life" (aka misc.) | Tagged: , | 9 Comments »

Packing for a Multi-Day Race: What to Bring and What to Leave Behind!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by ultrarunnergirl

In preparing for my move to Afghanistan, I had to whittle down all of my belongings for the upcoming year to two bags. I chose to fill the first bag with work clothes, head scarves and sandals.  The second bag was dedicated to running clothes, head torches and running shoes.  The hardest part was figuring out which of my fourteen prized pairs of shoes I could bring with me, and which ones I would have to leave behind.  I narrowed it down to eight pairs, then five, and finally three.  Okay fine, I added one more pair back into the pile, leaving me with four lucky pairs of running shoes that would get to tread on Afghan soil I hated to leave the others behind, but it had to be done – I simply didn’t have any more space.  I was practically bringing more pairs of running shoes than underwear as it was already (er, almost).

Packing for Afghanistan was tough, sure, but I knew that if I missed out on something vital, I could at least pick it up on my R&R after just six weeks.  Any mistake I made could be rectified with a little bit of time.  Packing for a multi-day race, however, isn’t as forgiving.  If you pack the wrong thing, or forget something important, it could mean the end of your race – or at least guarantee a very unhappy one!   Generally speaking, you want to bring as little as possible in order to keep the weight of your pack down, but you want to avoid the pitfall of taking it too far, leaving behind some key essentials and making yourself uncomfortable, hungry and unhappy. That is why I’ve dedicated this blog post to imparting a few tricks of the trade that I’ve picked up over the last few years…

**Feel free to add some of your own ideas in the comment section below, especially those of you that are competing in RacingThePlanet’s 250 km self-supported race in Jordan starting this upcoming weekend!

1. Triple-check your mandatory equipment

Usually in a multi-day, self-supported race like RacingThePlanet or Marathon des Sables, there are certain mandatory items that you will have to bring.  This is NOT where you want to cut corners! They are mandatory for a reason.  Not only are these items probably pretty important to have, but there may be serious penalties – including disqualification – if you fail to show that you are carrying them with you throughout the race.  In RacingThePlanet Nepal in November 2011, I thought I had double-checked my mandatory equipment. Sleeping bag, check. Flashlight, check. Two pairs of socks, check… But when I unfurled the pairs of socks, it turned out that it was only three individual socks instead of four. Darn it! For the next six days of running, I had to rotate my three nasty socks from foot to foot to make sure that I didn’t wear any of them out too much.  Sigh. Like I said, triple-check, okay?

Drying the prized possessions

2. Identify other ‘essential’ items… and then only take half

I guarantee that a lot of the items you think are ‘essential’ now, won’t seem like it after you carry them a couple hundred kilometers.  Make a pile of all the things you think you can’t do without for the race.  Then separate that pile into super essential and only moderately essential.  You got it – leave the latter pile behind.  This might seem like a ridiculous process, but trust me, you will be happy to get rid of the extra weight.

For example, I often get asked how many pairs of underwear I take with me on a race. Underwear? Are you kidding me? No way.  If I’m bringing shorts, they usually have built-in underwear and that’s good enough for me. And if I’m wearing compression tights, underwear is completely pointless.  Shampoo, deodorant, soap? No, no and no. Leave it behind.  You’ll survive.  This is a race, not a beauty contest (er, or contest in hygiene… get comfortable with throwing that out the window…).  Everyone else is going to stink to high heaven, so you might as well join the crowd.  The better you smell, the more aware you will be of how badly other people smell, so save yourself the trouble!

That being said, everyone is different, so really try to think about your own comfort level. I know a couple of gorgeous (and tough!) South African runners who wouldn’t dare go on a race without a little pink lip gloss and a compact mirror. Y’know what?  Rock on ladies!!  But for the purposes of this post, just know that what seems like a tiny item now can feel like a major burden later on.

3. Plan your calories, test your food

Your food is probably THE most important item in your bag and this is where you should focus most of your time in planning.  You want calorie-dense food to get the best bang for your buck. I know it seems a bit overboard, but really, the best way to do this is to do the math!  Yup, head on over to that grocery store with your calculator.  Divide the number of calories by the number of grams per serving and you will get your magic calorie-to-gram ratio.  Generally, you want to be hitting at least a 3 and up to a 5.  To give you a sense, here are some popular items:

  • Gels/gu: these only have around a 2 or 2.5. While they might be good for marathons, they are REALLY heavy to bring in a self-supported race, so I usually only bring a couple caffeinated ones for a little pick-me-up during the long stage of the race. Not a weight-friendly source of calories!
  • Potato chips (crisps for you English folk): these have around a 4.5 or 5, so they are a favourite race food of mine. Plus, they are a good source of carbs for energy as well as salt (don’t get the low-salt variety), which can help keep your salt levels in check during those hot desert races.  Crush them up to save space and voila, you have a space-saving, weight-saving snack.
  • Nuts: as one might guess, nuts are a really good source of high-calorie food. Macadamia nuts top the list at around a 5.5 or 6 calorie-to-gram ratio, while other nuts are around a 5.  Just remember though that it is tough to really digest a lot of fat while you are on the go, so don’t really too, too heavily on nuts as a food source.  Mix them with chocolate-covered raisins for a good fat + sugar boost.
  • Pepperoni sticks: very calorie-dense – around a 5! And again, you’ll appreciate the salt. Yum.

I usually take a dehydrated meal (such as Expedition Foods or Mountain House) for my breakfast and dinner, and then eat a bunch of little snacks throughout the day while I’m running. I then have a package of good ol’ ramen noodles for my post-run meal, which sometimes falls around lunchtime but sometimes doesn’t come until much later in the day!  Ramen are a good race food because they are high-calorie (around a 4), you can crush the dry noodles up into a small, compact bag to save weight, and the high-salt content tastes REALLY good after a long run.

In terms of snacks to eat on the go, I split my calories about 50/50 between my liquids and my solids.  So that means that I get half of my calories through drinking (adding powders such as accelerade or perpetuem to my water) and half through eating.  Everyone is different, but I find that this helps give me a steady flow of calories without making me feel sick.  You don’t want too much food bouncing around in your stomach, but if you’re out running all day, you can’t survive on sugary juice alone (helloooo gut rot).  Plus, the powders tend to be heavy….

Now, the food game is a tricky one.  You are usually required to carry 2000 calories a day, which would be fine if you weren’t running a marathon over sand, dirt or mud. 2000 calories is woefully little, but it is difficult to bring much more.  You WILL be in a calorie deficit the whole time.  Bring additional calories above the 2000 mark depending on your size.  Some  like to live on the edge by bringing as little as possible and relying on the fact that others will drop out of the race and leave extra food behind. This is a tricky strategy that can seriously backfire (and technically you are violating the ‘self-supported’ rule, although I tend to think this strategy is all a part of the game… at your own risk…).

4. Get rid of packages, containers, and any sort of wrapping

This is a key one. Look at every item you have and get rid of any sort of wrapping or package that it came in.  Take batteries out of the cardboard covering, take nuun tablets out of the plastic containers, advil or tylenol out of the plastic, dehyrated meals out of the foil, nuts/chips/chocolate out of the bags…. And put everything inside ziploc bags and cling wrap, which is much, much lighter.

This WILL save you weight. Before my race in Australia, I weighed everything before and after replacing commercial packaging with ziploc bags. I was shocked to find that it made POUNDS of difference. I won’t go as far as snapping my toothbrush in half (okay, I did that once), but you get the idea.

5. Allow yourself one treat bag

I am pretty keen on the treat bag. Yes, it is extra weight… but you are guaranteed to have at least one really low moment during the race where you will NEED a boost. This could be a good cup of tea, a piece of chocolate, a little ball of peanut butter (ah, my fav), photos from home, an ipod, or that pink lip gloss. Whatever.  Just figure out what makes you feel better in your lowest moments and put it in that emergency bag.

6. Pack one contingency bag

This is your little ziploc bag of non-food emergency items.  Among other items you might think of, I always take with me a needle as well as duct tape.  Why are these important? I’ll give you two real examples.  In my race in Namibia, I was wearing some fancy gaiters that I had bought from the States to help prevent sand from getting into my shoes and tearing up my feet.  Well, little did I know that I would be running on some sharp rocks rather than soft sand on the first day.  These gaiters lasted about an hour before the straps holding them onto my shoes broke and my shoes were filled with grating sand. Darn it.  Well, with my trusty little needle and thread I took my two head buffs  and sewed them over my shoes as a form of makeshift gaiters. They worked brilliantly!!! Without them, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to make it over those dunes.

Check out my homemade gaiters!

In Australia, the holder of one of my water bottles on my backpack broke right a couple of days into the race. With the help of my duct tape, I was able to hold everything together and carry on. I would have been really struggling without it!  (Tip: make your own little roll of duct tape by wrapping it around a pencil to save space/weight).

7. Don’t play the comparison game

Okay, you’ve read the tips, you’ve packed your bag and you’re ready to go. You show up at the race thinking you are fully prepared. Then, you turn around and see someone with the tiniest, smallest bag you’ve ever seen. Panic ensues. You think, “what did I do wrong???”  The answer is, probably nothing.  Sure, it is good to collect tips from other people on packing (like now!), but it can be really stressful right before a race, especially if you can’t do anything about it. Try not to get too caught up in the pre-race panic.  Some of those people with those super tiny bags – even if they are seasoned runners – are going to wind up seriously struggling in the race, and their packing style shouldn’t necessarily be followed. I’ve seen it happen.  Just try to think about it logically before you throw away half your food and gear.

So, this is just a start, but I hope these few ideas will get you on your way! I’m always picking up new ideas so please post your own comments/tips below.  And gooooood luck to everyone this weekend in Jordan!

xx

Filed under: Practical Advice | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Ultrarunning in Afghanistan

Posted on April 29, 2012 by ultrarunnergirl

This isn’t going to be a normal blog post.  I thought I was going to break my blogcation by writing a post about Running Technique, How to Pack for a Multi-day Race, or maybe Trail Running Tips for (kick ass) Women.  But alas, I’ve made some big changes in my non-running life that warrant a different kind of blog post today…

I’ve moved to Afghanistan.

My new outfits... Luckily, no head scarf required while running! My bandana will suffice :)

Yes, UltraRunnerGirl now lives in Kabul, Afghanistan inside a UN compound.  As some of you may or may not know, when I’m not running, I am avidly pursuing my career in international human rights. I have been seeking a hardship posting for some time (I was getting soft in New York City) and so for the next year I will be working for UNAMA, the UN peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

When I told my friends and family of my plans, the first words out of their mouths were, “but, what about your running??”  The security situation is continuing to deteriorate in the country and with many countries pulling out their troops, there is no sign that things will improve.  As such, my freedom of movement is severely restricted.  I live, work and play inside a guarded compound.  I have a view of a concrete reinforced barrier wall topped with barbed wire from my bedroom.  If there are no major problems expected, then I am allowed to travel from one UN compound to another inside an armored vehicle.  There are only a few places in town that I am approved to visit for short periods of time. Walking around outside the compound is completely prohibited.

Frequently, however, I am not allowed outside the compound at all.  Like this past weekend.  It is kind of like being in jail except you haven’t done anything wrong, and the guards treat you really nicely.  I am allowed to fly out of the country every six weeks or so for a one week break, but getting to that six week mark might be tough.

I do have access to a gym here, but right now only two out of the five treadmills  are broken and they require a 15 minute break every half hour in order not to overheat.

Before I left, most people told me I would have to quit running.  They said it would be impossible to keep up my training while living on lockdown… but I arrived here determined to prove them wrong.  As long as I have a tiny bit of space – just a little bit – anything is possible.

So, on Wednesday, I mapped out a 1 mile (1.6 km) route using the roads between buildings in the compound and got through a 10 km run. The next day I added on a few loops and back-and-forths and made a decent 2.5 km route.  This will do just fine for me. Over the past four days, I have managed to clock 70 km on this little path.  Yes, it might be boring, but I will take a boring run outside any day over no run at all.

I’ve found ways to make it a little bit more interesting, running parts of the route in reverse at times to mix things up, waving at the various guard stations I pass along the way, and simply letting my mind wander.  Out of respect for national staff working within the compound, I have to be just about fully covered (no gym shorts allowed).  The temperature is pretty good right now, but this will become much more of an issue in a month or so when it starts to get really hot.  I figure I will have to run during the night in order to escape the heat, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it!

I will try to keep you all up to date with my running adventures.  I have an entry to the formidable Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc this year (100 mile non-stop race through the Swiss, French and Italian Alps) and I’m still planning on doing it!! I don’t know how I will get hill training in from here (there aren’t even any building above two floors so stairs are impossible)… but I’ll find a way to get ready.

And on my next post, I’ll get back to our regularly scheduled program and give you some tips on how to pack for a multi-day race!

Thanks for following – I’d love to hear your own challenges in getting your training in, wherever you are in the world!

xx

Filed under: "Life" (aka misc.), Training | Tagged: | 14 Comments »

Trail racing etiquette – rules for roaming the trails!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by ultrarunnergirl

Earlier this month I headed out with my buddy Zandy Mangold to New Jersey for my first ultra trail race race of 2012: the Watchung 50k (or, if you decide to take the ‘scenic’ route as I did a few times, the Watchung 55k).  I tried doing this race three years ago, but wound up with a nasty pelvic stress fracture about 15k in and had to tearfully drop out (…after another 15k hobble on broken bones, of course).  The Watchung 50k was and is the only race I have never finished and I was equally apprehensive and eager to tame the beast.

It was an absolutely BRILLIANT day out – the sun was shining, the temperature was in the 50s, and above all, my pelvis stayed intact (bonus… or bone-us?  *snicker* sorry).  The best part about the race, however, had nothing to do with the weather or with my own race performance.  It didn’t have anything to do with the honey-glazed donuts, mini-butterfingers, or doritos chips that were available at the aid stations.  It didn’t even have to do with the fact that I avoided chafing (a rare occurrence for me – score!).  The best part about the race was the brilliant company I was racing with.

This race made me start to think about one of the main reasons why I was attracted to ultras in the first place.  I had done marathons before – okay fine, one marathon – but it seemed so, I don’t know, competitive to me.  Everyone was standing on the start line with their headphones in, bouncing up and down nervously, and trying not to talk to anyone in order to “get in the zone”.  I, on the other hand, would try to chat people up, crack a few jokes, even do a few crazy lunges while twisting my body from side to side really quickly to try to ham it up a bit.  Little did I know that marathoners are NOT there to make friends. Oh no, they are there to get a PB (personal best)…. to religiously check their watch every five minutes to make sure they are on pace… and if they start falling off their intended split times, well, watch out for those elbows because they will poke you in the ribs if you get in their way! Yikes.

See, check out the guy to my right - not having nearly as much fun as I am pre-race start, right??

No, marathons were not for me.  I wanted a race in which I could take my time getting warmed up. A race that took my eyes away from my watch and onto the trails.  I  wanted a wonderfully chilled out and competitive race.  For me, that is ultras.  Sure, they are intense and competitive at times – but in a fundamentally different way than marathons.

Like this girl and I at the Watchung race. We were neck and neck for pretty much the full 50 km. She was ahead… then I was ahead… then she was ahead… then we ran together… If we had brought a marathon mentality to it, it would have been exhausting.  Quite simply, there is no room for that out on the trail! We chatted, we encouraged each other, we talked about other races we wanted to do… We were each running our own race, and we didn’t get caught up in the competition of it.

I realized afterwards that we had both followed the unspoken etiquette rules of trail running and that is why we meshed so well.  Yes, like the cycling rules in the Tour de France, there are some key rules I’ve been able to discern over the years for happy (ultra) running on trails…

1.  Running with others

DO: Suss out whether the person(s) you are running with want to talk, or whether they just want some silent company. If you are nattering away and getting grunts for responses, your running partner is either telling you to be quiet, or is so tired he/she has lost the ability to speak :)

Take turns taking the lead. It is more tiring to be out in front because you have to do all of the navigating, but some people find it harder to be in the back because they feel like they are mentally behind.  Switch it up to keep things fresh.

DON’T: Clear your nose to the same side as your running partner, or if anyone is trailing behind you. Seriously gross.

Don’t go overboard with the ‘ultraspeak’.  Ultrarunners get carried away when they are in packs… nothing wrong with it – and it can be darn funny – but it can also alienate the rookies and come off sounding completely obnoxious.  For a HILARIOUS example, watch this (it had me laughing on the floor!!) (“I don’t even warm up until mile 30″ – yes, I have said this…)

2. Passing others

DO: In the words of my umbrella-toting diva, “to the left, to the left!”  Give out a little warning when you are coming up behind a runner and shout out “on your left” (usual passing lane) or if you must pass to the right, “on your right”! I have to say though, after running in both North America and the United Kingdom, I think the running passing rules follow driving.  If you pass on the left driving, do the same in running. So in the UK, “to the right, to the right!”

Give some words of encouragement, but don’t go over the top (or you’ll sound patronizing). A simple “good job” or “keep it up” or “how are you doing?”

And people pass you, definitely tell them “good job”. Try to feed off their strength, rather than resent the fact that they are passing you.

DON’T: Sneak up behind people. As funny as it is to make someone dive into the bushes, it is just not cool.

Don’t make physical contact when you’re passing, if possible. While runners are comfortable getting all cozy with other racers on the start line of the NYC marathon, trail/ultra runners prefer their space. A light pat on the back or shoulder is okay though :) (aww….)

Don’t wear headphones in both ears if you are on single-track trail. It makes it way too hard for you to hear people coming up behind you, and you won’t be as aware of what’s going on when you are getting ready to pass someone else.

3. Coming into aid stations

DO: This is an important one. If you’re running into an aid station with other people, generally try to keep the same order that you’ve been running in for the last little while.  So, if you’re generally running in second place in a group of five, don’t try to sprint at the last second to reach the aid station first. That’s a quick way to lose friends FAST.

Say thank you to the volunteers. They often just get an earful of grumbles and complaints, so it helps to recognize that they have been standing outside in the snow/heat/rain all day just to serve you!

Exchange pleasantries with other runners if you haven’t been speaking on the trail. Come on, spread the warm and fuzzies.

4. Struggling runners

DO: Stop to help runners you see on the trail that are really struggling.  You might be in first, you might be on your way to your best trail/ultra race ever, but you’re not going to win a lot of points with the trail running gods if you pass someone in need.  I’m not saying you have to drop everything – 15 or 20 seconds is all you need to stop, make eye contact, and gently ask “hey buddy, you doing alright?” We all hit a low point at some stage of the race, or at some point in the season, and sometimes it makes a world of difference just to know that someone else is reaching out.  That might be just enough to get that person through a slump.

Offer food. Offer water. Offer electrolytes. Offer whatever you have.  You’re in a better state, and somewhere down the line someone else will pass on the favour.

DON’T: Make light of what a runner is going through (unless you can tell that person really needs to laugh at him/herself!).

Don’t do what a girl did in a race I was in a few months ago…! – and a runner actually stepped over my sprawled limbs and kept going with a cursory “oh you’re okay?” over her shoulder as she sped off.  I’m not one to hold a grudge, but seriously?? Sigh. Hmph. I might think twice about offering her one of my gummi bears next time I see her in a race…

5. Finishing

DO: Finish strong, but if you’ve been running with someone(s) for a while near the end of the race…

DON’T: …try to rush ahead and sprint to the finish.  It’s just not really fair (unless you both cheekily decide to gun it – then that can be F-U-N).  If you’ve paired up with someone and you guys are within sight, it is a nice thing to wait for the other person.  Come on, it ain’t the Olympics, right?

I’d be really interested to hear any of your etiquette rules/tips for happy running – comments welcome!

:)

Filed under: Practical Advice | Tagged: , | 14 Comments »

RacingThePlanet Nepal: 250 km race through the Annapurnas…

Posted on December 24, 2011 by ultrarunnergirl

As many of you know, last month I ran RacingThePlanet’s 250 km self-supported footrace in Nepal…And (surprisingly) WON! It was a very tough race, with an incredible women’s fleet (including second place woman Samantha Gash), but I ultimately came out alive.  I know I’ve been quite absent on the blog lately (blame New York – it has swallowed me whole!), so I’m reposting the blogs I wrote during the race, which originally appeared on the RacingThePlanet website.  I promise to follow up with more shortly… lots more to come in the New Year.
Happy trails – bring on 2012!

A "before" photo

DAY ONE – CHECK!
20-Nov-2011 09:29:17 AM [(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time(US & Canada)]

In many ways, the first day is the worst one of them all (until the second…and third…. as one of my tentmates reminded me!) But seriously, I get really wound before the first day. After almost two weeks of virtually no physically activity and heavy feeding schedules, I always feel before the first day that maybe I’ve just forgotten how to run and I’ve actually turned into the kind of person who sits on the couch all day and eats chips (not that there is anything wrong with that).  Maybe my legs won’t remember how to move in sequence. Maybe I’ll get a cramp as soon as I start.  Maybe my feet will just seize up in protest from the two weeks of neglect and refuse to move. Hey, it isn’t logical, but it is possible, right?? Running is what grounds me, and without it for a week or two and I start to doubt the months of training…

But as soon as that start happens, with some yelps and whoops of excitement and nervousness, and I feel better. This is what I came for. I try to tune out everyone else in the sense that I don’t worry whether someone is in front or behind, if I’m last or first. I just concentrate on moving forward at the pace my body allows and I know it will all work out just fine. My legs and I have spent months working together for this day, and after that first race start it is like I’m reintroducing myself to them. Hey legs, are you up for this??

The first 4 km were relatively flat (Nepalese flat, as we were told), and then it was straight uphill. And up. And up. I was cursing my training around NYC, which lacked hills to say the least.  My heart rate soared through the roof – somewhere hovering over the himalayas perhaps – and I watched the sweat drop off my forehead and onto the stones underneath me. I didn’t seem to be the only one struggling. At one point, one poor guy behind me started throwing up. I don’t know if it was from the exertion or from the bug that seems to be going around (more on that later), but he was in bad shape. After what seemed like forever, I finally crested the top and started the long descent.

The course very much reminds me of Vietnam, although without the mud (at the moment).  We are running through lots of remote villages and each time we pass a group of small children, we are greeted with high-pitched choruses of ‘namaste!’  The adults have also gotten into the trailside cheering, offering a namaste or two with hands pressed together in prayer-like mode, or occasionally clapping. A few kids yelled out my race number in English and a group of Japanese hikers got very excited when they saw my Canadian flag. Honestly, it was better than the crowds at any marathon.

Nepalese women greeting us at Camp 1

I made one wrong turn – unfortunately uphill – but luckily I couldn’t have lost more than 10 minutes. Others weren’t so fortunate. I would not have gotten first today if Sam Gash hadn’t lost her way, but I have no doubt she’ll shoot ahead tomorrow. She’s been hanging out here in Nepal for a while already and even done stage 4 already. The alititude and the hills seemed to be a breeze! I, on the other hand, was using max effort today and don’t think I can do any better tomorrow than I managed today. It is a great pleasure running with such a strong women’s fleet. It’ll be a touch race, no doubt.

After the race today I headed down with a few other runners to a wonderfully cold river beside campsite. That freezing cold water will do great things for recovery for the legs. Tonight, we are expecting another cold and wet night inside the tent. There are 7 of us, but it is a very tight squeeze. Smallest tents of any of the races I’ve done. We learned last night that we cannot close the door or the vents, despite wanting to keep out the cold air. We woke up this morning to the sound of rain… inside the tent. Without any ventilation, all of the condensation and body heat produced an indoor rainshower and soaked all of our sleeping bags!  I didn’t bring a sleeping mat to save the weight, but I’ve found cardboard boxes by the campfire today to place under my sleeping bag for tonight. SCORE!

The race start (nerves are high!)

Wish me luck for tomorrow. Thanks to the blog readers who have sent messages – very sweet!! Would love to hear from anyone and everyone… family, friends, and blog readers.  Love and miss you all. Tomorrow will be tough. Trick will be not to get sick. Apparently lots of drop outs already from vomiting. Yikes. One of my tentmates was throwing up today on the course. Fingers crossed he’ll be okay.

xxx

STAGE 2
21-Nov-2011 09:17:56 AM [(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time(US & Canada)]

Today was wildly successful… simply because I finished.

 

I suppose it was inevitable that I would get sick, but I really didn’t expect it to happen. I knew I was feeling off yesterday, but I thought it was just nerves. I barely had anything to eat during the stage, and my appetite was pretty much non-existent afterwards. This is really not like me! I am somewhat known for being able to shove back copious amounts of food… Anyway, I heard that one of my tentmates was ill. I didn’t think much of it until Mark, a second tentmate and close friend, started throwing up his ramen noodles a few hours later.  I had this sinking feeling that it would hit me too, but I convinced myself for a while that I was just being paranoid…

 

Still without an appetite, I knew I needed to get some calories in so I dipped into my extra snack bag (saved only for those low moments) and pulled out a saran-wrapped ball of peanut butter and some chocolate. Surely that would make me feel better.  I tried to lie down in the tent to get some sleep, and then started to feel very cold… Looking around at the other competitors in their shorts and tshirts, I realized something was wrong. I was inside my down sleeping bag with long pants and a jacket on, and just starting to feel warm. Then, at about 7pm, the vomiting started.

 

Sick as a dog...and dreading the run

I panicked. Vomiting and diarrhea were not part of my race plan. I felt simply awful. Not only physically, but mentally. The nausea, the cramping, the bloating… and knowing that I would have to get up in the morning and run 32 km with serious elevation…. well, it wasn’t good. All I wanted to do was curl up in a comfy bed, watch movies and eat lipton’s chicken noodle soup while my mom patted my head. Instead, I was facing sleeping in a cramped, cold and wet tent and forced to puke in a hole in the ground filled with other runners’, well, you get the picture.

 

I was in good company though. About a quarter of all runners had visited the medical tent with this bug. In fact, it got so bad that the sherpas had to build three or four new toilets in the night.

 

I made it through the night, but not without a few midnight trips to the ‘toilets’. I wasn’t getting better. In the morning, despite not having had dinner or any food in me since about noon the previous day, I wasn’t hungry in the slightest. I knew that I would have to eat SOMETHING if I was going to make it through the day. I managed a few bites of oatmeal, but when my stomach immediately started cramping I knew I’d hit my limit.

What made matters worse was that as yesterday’s leader, I was forced to wear a special bright yellow jersey. I just wanted to hand it over to one of the other girls right then and there! All I had to do was get through the day. The doctors said it was a 24 hour bug, so if I could just put one foot in front of the other and finish, I would be happy.

I don’t know how it happened, but I finished today on virtually no fuel. I couldn’t eat during the run and I had nothing in the tank from yesterday… But somehow it happened. Somehow my body pulled through and I did it. I can’t tell you how relieved and how ecstatic I am now to be sitting at camp.  The elevation was insane (100m of elevation is the equivalent of 1km on the flat in terms of perceived exertion), so even though the horizontal distance was only 32 km, it felt like much, much more.

I could barely look up without getting nauseous, and I was pretty wobbly from the lack of calories. At one point I fell pretty hard – full face plant – and showed up at the next checkpoint with blood running down my knee and mud all over my face.  I must admit, I did have a pity party or two, but a few things lifted my spirits today. One was the kids.  No matter how horrible I must have looked, they all greeted me with such beautiful, innocent smiles that I couldn’t help but smile back. Namaste! Namaste! Eventually my namastes sounded more like ‘namememe…’ but they got the picture. A couple kids got so excited seeing me run by that they followed me fr probably twenty minutes in their school uniforms. Completely unabandoned and eager to push the ground under their feet as fast as possible. It was amazing.

 

The second thing that really helped was the other runners. The other top girls, especially Catriona (sp?) and Sissel, knew I was having a rough day and they gave me such positive encouragement on the hills as they passed by (Sam was already too far ahead!).  One of the other male runners said at one point that he hoped his daughters would grow up to be like me. Seriously – if I wasn’t so dehydrated, I would have cried! That’s why I love this race series. You can’t find people like this just anywhere.

I finished in third today, which is a small miracle, all things considered. Sure, I came into this race wanting to do well… but you know what? I was so humbled by today, that I would be just as content feeling tired, but healthy. We come here for a physical challenge, for a mental challenge, for a chance to be brought back down to earth from our crazy everyday lives. Whether that challenge comes in the form of competing for first, or whether it comes competing against the bug in your stomach, it achieves the same goal. I am grateful – so so so grateful – for finishing today and I hope to be able to raise my head tomorrow and enjoy the view. That is the only thing I hope to accomplish. Anything else will be a bonus.

Tomorrow is straight uphill, with a steep climb at the end. Downhill seems to be my forte so it won’t be my day race-wise, but again, if I can get through without a major stomach upset it will be a victory! One guy broke his finger pretty badly today – he could see the ligament, ew – so I will be extra careful tomorrow on those rocks… Amazingly strong guy. He is, of course, continuing.

My friend Eric, who also happens to be camp manager here, says ‘run with your heart, not with your feet’. I think that is how I got through the day. My heart is stronger than any other part of my body, and today I gave it a workout.

I would love to get messages from you, so please do write if you have even 5 minutes of time. It helps pull me through.

 

Love to all and happy trails.

ultrarunnergirl

 

KILLING THE BUG, ONE STEP AT A TIME! (STAGE 3)
22-Nov-2011 09:17:20 AM [(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time(US & Canada)]

It is hard to accept being taken down by something you can’t even see. Maybe it would be easier to accept defeat if I was attacked by a snow leopard, rather than an invisible microbe… But I’m starting to see the light.

I’m not sure my blog was posted for stage 2 (hopefully soon!), but I got attacked by the bug that is going around camp. It has hit five out of seven of us now… I am improving though, thank goodness. I’ve gotten rid of the V, and now just working through the D. I managed down about 200 calories of dinner last night and 200 calories of breakfast this morning, but all things considered that wasn’t a lot of fuel for 38 km of uphill today.  The ‘D’ has also made me quite dehydrated, which has complicated things. But mentally, I felt like a million bucks today (whereas yesterday, I felt like about 50 rupees!). Just knowing that I was on the mend helped bring me out of my dark place and I wasn’t fearing the day nearly as much as I was yesterday.

We crossed a couple of cable bridges today, which were stunning, but not for the faint of heart! We were not allowed to run on them, so I employed my best speed walk possible while ensuring that I never looked down. A surefire way to lose my 200 calorie breakfast on a fragile stomach!  It was a long gradual uphill today for about 33 km, all on jeep track.  We were following a fast-flowing river for most of the way and running through villages. Lots of encouragement from the locals. Throughout this race, I have been told by a number of young kids “you are number two boy!” which has been rather amusing. The race was advertised on the radio, so a number of villages were prepared.  Yesterday, one of the villages even prepared a banner for us saying “welcome to all participant!” (sic) The police were out today as well, helping to point us in the right direction. It really feels like everyone came out today to push us along… and that helped.

I felt weak today from the lack of calories, but my head was in the right place. Today I had FUN, and that was my goal. Sam is super strong and so far the only one in the top three females that hasn’t been caught by the dreaded bug. Poor Katrina was vomiting through the night and has had a very, very tough day tonight. If Sam can avoid the bug, she’ll win this race hands down. As for me, I’ll be ecstatic if I can keep my head up to enjoy the view and keep my legs moving. Placing at this point isn’t a priority, and that feels good. I am worried about my friends, who are still sick (Mark has been throwing up for 2.5 days now), but hopefully we’ll all help each other through.

 

Tomorrow is another 10 km uphill, followed by a huge downhill – 3000 or 3500 steps?  The muscles are getting sorer and sorer, but I am thankfully still blister-free, despite having accidentally only brought 3 socks instead of a full two pairs (oops).  I’m going to try to face a full dinner tonight, which should give me some more energy for tomorrow.

Thanks to all for messages… and yes, I will HTFU as I’m being told!!! :) Ha, good for the reminder. I’ve got a little tiger in me left. Thanks as well to Salvador, Carlos, Denvy, Gab, Lucy and the other RTP runners that have sent messages of support, along with my friends in NYC and London. The male members of my family could use a little prodding (Mom, get dad and ben on the computer!!) :)

Love to all. Keep me in your thoughts tomorrow as you will be in mine!

x

 

CONQUERED THE STEPS!
23-Nov-2011 09:09:02 AM [(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time(US & Canada)]

Today, I felt like ME again. It was brilliant. With a full dinner and breakfast in my belly, I felt like I had a brand new pair of legs. I had so much fun today, it wouldn’t have mattered what place I came in… but as it turns out, my place wasn’t too shabby!

The day started with 10 km straight uphill – mostly stairs. It sounded worse than it was though, truly. I guess it is all relative out here. These past three days of running with the bug or lack of calories, I really forgot what ‘normal’ was. Today I was BACK. I finally felt like I was in a race I had actually trained for, rather than parachuted into a race I didn’t know what happening until the last minute. I took the stairs steadily, and when I passed the checkpoint at the top I took the brakes off and flew downhill. It was just the best feeling… Flying downhill I barely felt the pack on my back or the pain in my legs. YES! I finally realized I was running in Nepal. How lucky am I.

Another runner from the Australia race, Richard Sell, and I ran pretty much the whole stage together. We kept each other at a pretty good pace downhill (for a whole 18 km of steps!!!), and it was great to have the company. He twisted his ankle at one point and I had a pretty bad fall (giant purple bruise on my quad/IT band), so I think we both appreciated having company just to make sure all was alright. The course wasn’t marked very well on this stage simply because it was a popular trekking route, but it was hard to go off course. It was just mentally challenging because if you haven’t seen one of those little pink flags in about 1000 steps, your brain starts to play tricks on you and you think, well, maybe I did miss a turn?

Everything seemed to go well though – minus the fall, eep – and I felt like I flew into camp with a giant smile on my face. What makes things even better is that we are all staying in teahouses tonight! Some are more, er, luxurious than others… Tent 7 has been placed in one of the more modest teahouses I would say, but it is a bed and it will be brilliant. We were even treated to a meal. It was a tough decision whether to partake or not, given the bout of sickness, but safety in numbers? (That theory didn’t work the first time when we all sat down to a pre-race buffet, but oh well).  I just chowed down about 15000 calories of dalbhat and french fries, with a side of coca cola. It was amazing.

 

My spirits are high and I’m really looking forward to the run tomorrow. I gained a bit of time on Sam today, but I’m not really thinking about competing tomorrow. It is much more fun to think about running. And hopefully, if all has gone according to plan, my ipods will have a full battery and I’ll have some tunes to run to for the first time! IT’ll be nice to tune out the sound of my breathing!  Sam will do really well and I hope to come in some point behind… I hope not to disappoint anyone.

And mom, I hope you are feeling better from your surgery. I was thinking about you all day and I love you very much. I’ll keep you in my heart tomorrow.

 

Love to all xxx

 

I DID IT!!!!
25-Nov-2011 10:28:36 AM [(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time(US & Canada)]

Yesterday was my day. I loved every minute of it. Okay, maybe not EVERY minute, but man, was that ever a great stage!! I knew when I woke up yesterday that it was going to be a good day. My belly was full of calories, I had gotten a great night’s sleep, and my spirits were soaring somewhere above the Annapurna circuit.  Really, we were spoiled with relative luxury being able to stay in teahouses, so it wasn’t the prep to the long day that I’m normally used to. I was so excited to be feeling healthy and really looking forward to the views, the challenge, even the pain.

These races are all about the long day. It takes a certain kind of dedication and strength to make it through marathon-distance or so runs day after day… But there is something special about the ultra distance I think. I don’t know what it is, but the longer, the better works best for me. I can keep up sometimes on the shorter stages, but it is on the long day that I really feel like I come into my own. I have one speed, whether it be over a 10k, a half marathon, a marathon, or an ultra. So I knew the 72 km would feel good under my legs.

We started off with a pretty good climb uphill – more steps – and right from the beginning I broke off with the front pack of guys. I don’t have poles like some of the others, but none of the front guys had poles either so it was down to the quads. One after the other, weaving up the hill back and forth like a reverse skiing exercise, we climbed the zig-zagging stairs. I was drenched in sweat in about 10 minutes and I had to keep reminding myself to take sips of water in between gasps of breath. The other days I had been able to squeak by without being too strict about my water, food, and electrolytes, but on the long day you simply can’t afford to start off dehydrated or hungry. It’ll catch up to you for sure, so I always make sure to load up as much as possible — at least at the beginning.

The views were absolutely stunning. Everything you imagine Nepal might be. Snow-capped mountains, pink blossoms on trees, stone villages, multi-coloured prayer flags… I was having so much fun I barely remembered I was competing.

To be honest, the first couple of checkpoints flew by. I remember seeing Mary at CP1 and flying straight to CP2. There was a long downhill and a second steep uphill, but the order in between CPs is fuzzy. I managed to stick with Ryan Bennett and Michael (number 2 and 3) for a while, but they would lose me on the downhills. I motored up the hill towards CP5 and caught back up. Any uphill that wasn’t too steep I just went for it. Hey, there’s no reason to hold back on the long day, so just give ‘er, right??? I felt that tingle again. That urge to compete. That urge to push myself. That urge to keep going even when my body is screaming at me to stop.

The boys and I ran together for a bit, and we contemplated how far behind ‘the Horse’ was (Stefano… he has the most incredible legs anyone has ever seen – they aren’t quads, they are fives – and so he has picked up various nicknames, including the horse). The Horse and Michael were only 2 minutes apart, so the race was on. We had put some distance between us on the uphill and we thought Michael was safe… until at some point after the next downhill, I started to hear the trotting manimal behind me. My stomach twisted when he easily ran past because I knew what was in store for the two of them. As soon as the Horse caught up to Michael, the two of them shot ahead and I knew they would be battling it out for the next 30 km (which they did – and finished 20 seconds apart…incredible).

I kept plodding along and started to slow on the flats, but I knew if I just kept pushing and never stopped to walk then it would be fine. Keep eating. Keep drinking. Keep moving. The kids weren’t quite sure what to do with me. Apparently they harassed a lot of the other runners, but maybe they weren’t quite sure what to make of a female. I cheerily sang out namastes to the groups that I passed and absolutely marveled at my surroundings. I hope this doesn’t sound obnoxious (although I realize it might), but 72 km is the shortest by about 30 km of any of the long days in all of the roving races, so it felt quite short. My legs were ready for more. My brain was ready for more.

I could barely believe it when I realized I would be finishing before dark. Before dark!!!! I flew into camp at 5:15 after 10 hours of running with a giant smile on my face. WHAT A DAY!!!!!!

I got a bit of sleep through the night after some food, but I was up for large parts as each of the members of my tent came in. Poor Jenna had to drop out after CP3 due to a really painful knee, but her spirits were high and she even got a phone number written on her hand by a Nepalese boy (don’t worry Mark ;) ). Mark finished strong, as did Phil, and Belinda came in cheerful as ever at 4am. Rob had a painful journey – and it is his birthday today!! – but on the positive side he did see a leopard around dusk!

 

Hanging out in the tent (spacious, eh?)

Today I will try to eat, nap, and just enjoy chatting with people. I feel incredibly lucky to have come in 5th place – and 1st female – and I’m so thankful for all of the support I’ve been getting at camp and through the laptop from all of you! Sam had a great run as well and came in about an hour after me last night. She is a strong girl and has been formidable competition.

Just a 13km dash to the finish tomorrow, but I don’t imagine I’ll be competing whatsoever. I believe the day starts off with a boat ride across the lake, which should be great, and a finish back in Pokhara. Looking forward to that shower!!

Thanks to all for the messages and esp to B for being such a faithful writer :)

xx

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Taking a bite out of Nepal (or rather my backside)

Posted on November 19, 2011 by ultrarunnergirl

The race hasn’t yet started, but as usual, I’ve already had my first adventure.

Yesterday, like many of the other runners, I was meant to catch a local flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Due to fog and rain, the Pokhara airport closed for the second day in a row and alas, a bunch of us were forced to go by car.

Luck was on my side though – at least at the start. When the car came by my hotel to pick me up, I hopped inside to find myself sitting next to two Nepalese doctors who will be joining the international medical team for the race. Score!! Prajwa and Prashant.  Making friends with the doctors ahead of time is ALWAYS a good idea.  I learned a bit of Nepalese (chi-to means faster! whereas ti-to means sour… they sound exactly the same to me…). Things weren’t looking too bad.

After about 5 hours of driving, nightfall had come and we were weaving chaotically through mountainside traffic, clinging on to the handles on the side of the car for dear life. Actually, this is what Dan and I were doing, the two Westerners, whereas the Nepalese doctors were cooly napping beside me. Anyway, at some point, I asked if we could pull over so I could take a bathroom break.  I ran about 30 metres from the car, squatted out of view of passing cars, and finished up in under 10 seconds. Great. Good practice for the race too. I’ve always said face pees are the key to fast racing!!

When I got back to car, however, I started to feel a bit uncomfortable. It felt like I had sat in poison ivy and my bottom started to burn.  It wasn’t getting worse though, so I stopped worrying about it and decided to deal with it when I got to the hotel.

About an hour and a half or two hours later, we arrived at the hotel and I met up with Matt Nelson, and old friend from RacingThePlanet Namibia and Australia. We were chatting away as he helped me with my bags to my room and all seemed to be going according to plan.  Until I went into the bathroom.

[Kim, stop reading here!]

When I pulled down my pants to check out my potential rash, there was a THREE INCH LEECH stuck to my bottom. Yes, I had been sitting on a leech for 2 hours while it was gorging away on my bum. I yanked it off immediately, threw it at the wall, and ran out of the bathroom laughing and screaming (with my pants pulled up).  After about 5 minutes of pseudo-hyperventilation, Matt and I forged back into the room and videotaped the critter for posterity. My god, the thing was huge. He flushed it for me down the toilet (definition of a good friend) and went down to the restaurant to share my ordeal with a few dozen runners.

Yes, I now have a giant gaping hole in my backside before the race has started.

On the plus side, the medical and equipment check is done and I’m just waiting to hop on a bus to head to the first campsite. Someone remind me not to squat down next time I pee!

Filed under: "Life" (aka misc.) | 2 Comments »

Gearing up for Nepal (pun intended)

Posted on November 16, 2011 by ultrarunnergirl

It’s 1am and I’m sitting in my hotel room in Geneva, currently en route to Nepal, staring – okay, admiring – the bags of food I have carefully prepared for the week-long race next week in the Himalayas. In fact, I’m admiring them so much that I’ve cracked into my ‘extra’ bag of goodies already. Sigh, it happens every year. Once I see those little ziploc bags of crushed up potato chips (with added salt), saran-wrapped balls of peanut butter, and chocolate bars broken down into perfect little 100 calorie morsels, the temptation becomes too much and I dive in, eating my snacks days before I’m meant to. It isn’t until I am licking my fingers with crumbs of junk food creeping up both sides of my cheeks that I start to panic whether I will be able to find the right kind of food to replace what I’ve eaten at airport shops and convenience stores along my travels.

But let me backtrack a bit. This is my fourth RacingThePlanet event (250 km self-supported footraces), and while it is easier in some sense to prepare for these races as a ‘vet’, you never really shake that feeling that you aren’t as prepared as you should be, no matter how many times you do these things. In fact, I think I was the most prepared for my first race in Vietnam back in 2008. I can remember lying awake at night running through a million questions in my head: will my quads give out? My knees? What happens if I pass out on the course? What if I eat all my food on the first day? Will my backpack hold up? My sanity? How much salty versus sweet food should a bring? Will I be too cold or too hot? Will I be able to sleep at night? Compression socks or toe socks? The never-ending questions provided just enough of a sense of panic that I made sure well-ahead of time that I had everything I needed to give me the best chance possible of finishing the race.

Well, now that I’ve been around the Vietnam/Namibia/Australia blocks a few times, I seem to have lost the kind of panic that would spur me into action. Instead, I have coasted along for the past few weeks convincing myself that I would pull everything together when I needed to, and hey, I’d done this before so it should be easy, right? There was so much going on in my fast-paced New York life that there was always something more important to do than worry about whether I had a lightweight pocket knife or a red flashing light to put on my backpack.

This was all fine until the horrible troll that is otherwise known as the reality-check fairy paid me a visit last weekend. I’m sure you are all acquainted with her. As you know, she usually likes to visit very late in the evenings when your thinking is clearest and you can easily gain perspective on things (note the sarcasm). I had just left work after a very long day and was walking home towards the East Village, when she came up right behind me and started whispering things into my ear:

Steph, weren’t the new running shoes you ordered over a week ago supposed to have arrived already? How are you going to break them in in time now?

And Steph, I thought you needed a warm but lightweight jacket? You don’t have one in New York. You had better hope you left your patagonia top with your friends in London, or you’ll be freezing in Nepal. No time left now to test out new gear.

What about those raidlight bottles you ordered from France? The new nozzles are horrible and spill water all over you as you run. How on earth are you going to stay hydrated if you don’t find a way to get the old model?

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to quiet the horrid reality-check fairy and the worries started to mount. Unfortunately for one of my close compatriots in New York who has not yet witnessed this pre-race process (read: chaos), when I vented some of my concerns he made the very innocent mistake of simply asking me why I had not started preparing earlier. Oh dear.

The past week has been a mad flurry of buying, ordering, and coordinating gear from New York to London and now Geneva in order to make sure I have every item on the mandatory equipment list covered….

FOOD: This is probably the most important thing to prepare ahead of time. Runners are required to carry 14000 calories for the week (a minimum of 2000 calories per day), but exactly how you divide up your rations is up to you. I like to separate the food out into separate bags, one for each day, so that all of the decisions about what to eat are made ahead of time. When you are tired and hungry mid-way through the race, this is not the best time to be given the choice of how much of your week’s rations you should eat. I look at how much altitude and distance is covered each day, and then I ration out the relative amounts of calories accordingly. I generally load up on calories for the beginning few days as this lightens the pack, and of course save a large amount for the long day (75 km as opposed to 40 km), which is on day 5. The sixth day is usually the ‘rest’ day, assuming you finish the long day in one shot, and as a result I usually portion out much less than the 2000 calories for that day. The final day is only 15 km and for this I save just a couple hundred calories. I know at the end there will be pizza and beer waiting (a RacingThePlanet tradition that they have kept going at all ends of the earth), so I can afford to be a bit hungry. Then there is the decision about how many calories to get through solid food vs liquid, salt versus sweet, electrolytes… Needless to say, there are endless choices to make. I would tell you the rest but they hey, a girl’s gotta have her secrets.

CLOTHES: I’m still working out what I should take with me to wear. I am bringing a range of options with me to Nepal and will make my final choice based on what the climate feels like to me when I get there… and what I see other people doing. I try not to follow others too much and just go with what I think might be best, but it always helps to check out the scene. The temperatures will be ranging from 75 and 80 during the day (23-25 celcius for my canadian readers) but down to freezing or worse at night. This makes it particularly hard to pack for.

TOILET PAPER: Yes, for the first time, RacingThePlanet is placing toilet paper on the mandatory equipment list. This is something I do not have experience estimating. In fact, if anyone does have experience estimating how much tp they use in a week, I might worry. But this is clearly a critical decision that, if done poorly, would have disastrous consequences. I may attempt to do some market research over the next couple of days. Anonymous quotes welcome.

Other odds and ends I have picked up in airports include sunglasses, gloves, lip sunscreen, alcohol gel… These things may not seem important, but if you don’t have an item that is ‘mandatory’ on the equipment list, you are out of the game! I made a error in assuming I could get safety pins from airports (apparently razors are okay to sell, but not tiny pins?), but luckily some London-based friends who will be competing in Nepal are coming to the rescue.

Well, before I get tempted to eat more of my race food, I had better get to bed. 2:15 am and a day full of meetings tomorrow before heading back to London and then out to Kathmandu via Delhi. So much for following coach’s advice to eat well, sleep lots, and do some odd runs. OOPS!

More later. Happy to have you following along! Please see links below for how to follow me on my journey… and I would love to hear from you during the race!

Stephanie aka ultrarunnergirl.com

To follow my blog during the race: http://www.4deserts.com/blogs/np_comptetior_blog.php?pid=MTQzMA==&blog=116 (I will not have access to ultrarunnergirl until afterwards)

To send me a message!: http://www.4deserts.com/beyond/nepal/email

To receive breaking news: http://www.4deserts.com/beyond/nepal/breaking_news

“Amid the mighty competition, all eyes will be on top contender Ryan Sandes (29). The South African made history in 2010 when he was the first person to win all 4 Deserts races. Ryan recently won the Leadville 100 in the United States. Other strong contenders include Sean W. Abbott (29) and Ryan Bennett (28) of the United States. Legendary Marshall Ulrich (60) who was hailed as the “Endurance King” by Outside Magazine, also competes in one of six teams. Marshall will speak at the Royal Geographical Society in Hong Kong following the conclusion of RacingThePlanet: Nepal.

The women’s field is also compelling with several past champions competing including: Sissel Smaller (51) of Norway, winner of the female division of the Atacama Crossing 2006, who counts summiting Mount Everest amid her list of accomplishments; Mirjana Pellizzer (48) of Croatia, who earned the title of 4 Deserts Female Champion in 2010; and Canada’s Stephanie Case (29) who won the women’s division of RacingThePlanet: Vietnam in 2008.” – RacingThePlanet

Filed under: Nutrition, Race Reports | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

Running 1500 Miles for Parkinson’s… With Parkinson’s

Posted on July 10, 2011 by ultrarunnergirl

Hello hello!!! Remember me? Ultra Runner Girl? I must apologize to my adoring fans (aka Mom and my sister) for my extended blogcation. Much has happened the past couple of months, but mostly in the non-running-related category. I finished up my exams for my LLM (masters of law) in the UK in May, took off to Croatia for a little vacation and then immediately moved to NYC upon my return! Taking that mini vacation without my trusty rusty laptop induced a short bout of separation anxiety (I have been known to spoon my macbook at night), but once I got the taste of freedom, it was hard to force myself to sit in front of the computer during my free time. Hence, the blogcation.

Anyhow, I’m in New York now for at least the next few months, working (albeit unpaid…sob!) for an organization that provides diplomatic and legal advice to small/struggling governments. I feel like my life is moving a million miles a minute, but that’s NYC for ya! More on NYC and my current running training (back to being coached by the incredible Ray Zahab!) in a subsequent post.

More important than my trivial accounts of my running adventures is the story of a friend of mine: Alex Flynn. I’d like to be able to tell you about how incredible he is without having mention Parkinson’s – because he is obviously so much more than his disease – but in order to help get his message across, I have to talk about it. Parkinson’s isn’t Alex’s whole story, but it is a part of it, and it has become a part of what drives him forward.

Alex is a kick-ass-don’t-mess-me-with lawyer in the UK. He’s married with two beautiful kids (er, let me know if I accidentally left one out of the tally Alex!). He has a gorgeous wife. He’s a crazy ultrarunner (yes!!!). Alex is also 39 and has Parkinsons Disease.

Alex is racing 10 million metres in some of the toughest races on the planet to raise £1million to fund research into Parkinson’s disease. Seriously eh? Ultrarunning is hard enough as it is, but this guy does it with PD. It isn’t often I feel like a wimp, but next to Alex, I realize there is a lot more I could be doing.

Rather than me tell you about Alex, I’d rather he did it in his own words. I did the following interview with Alex about a month ago, right before he was embarking on his next big adventure: running from London  to Rome. Yes. All on foot. Today, Alex announced he completed his journey, all 1455 miles of it. KICK ASS. Read on to find out more about this incredible guy (and please consider making a donation in support of his fundraising efforts!).

Ultra Runner Girl: So Alex, can you tell us about when and how you first found out you had Parkinson’s?

Alex Flynn: It was January 2008. It was like any other day. I’d got to work, prepared my breakfast of porridge and coffee, and had only just sat down to the pile of work on my desk when I reached for the cup of coffee. I picked up the cup and my hand shook. Now everybody gets shaky hands now and again, for one reason or another and, judging by my lifestyle of hectic work and intense training, the odd muscle spasm would not seem out of place. However, the shake of my hand was not of my doing and was completely outside my control. I thought that this wasn’t me and it was a bit strange but my hand soon stopped shaking. Then a little while later, it did it again. Obviously, this continued and eventually I went through a process of elimination; taking out the alcohol, caffeine, etc. Nothing changed it and my shaking in my right hand would come and go of its own accord.

In the end, and actually quite sensibly, I managed to put pride aside and go and see my doctor. After being passed from neurologist to neurologist I was eventually told I had idiopathic Parkinson’s disease and because of my age this was young onset Parkinson’s.
Ultra Runner Girl: I can’t imagine… How did you react to the news??

Alex Flynn: I went numb. To be told you have a chronic neurologically degenerative disease which currently has no cure doesn’t leave you with a lot to say. In fact, I think my wife took the news the hardest. My mind was blank except for the word “Parkinson’s”. In honesty, I don’t remember driving home. The anger came later, along with denial and good dose of black mood.

At the time I had entered the Marathon Des Sables for 2009 and this gave me something to focus on; a distraction to take my energies and give me something to  channel them towards. I didn’t take on the 10MillionMetre challenge there and then. This came after I was taken out of the Marathon Des Sables due to viral pericarditis. I returned home after raising some money for a Parkinson’s charity; but I thought to myself that I could do much better. I was determined to push further and harder and raise more money to help find a cure. So, during a conversation with a good friend I said that I was aiming to raise £1 million for Parkinson’s research. My friend asked what I was going to do to raise that money. I replied that I was going to run 1 million metres and hopefully get a donation of a pound per metre to raise the money. On reflection though, that’s really not that far if you run a bit. So I suggested 10 Million Metres and decided that a number of the races in that 10 Million Metres would be some of the toughest in the world. That decision was made with the understanding that only the distance in races counts towards the 10 Million Metres. The rest seems to be history.

I am really positive now compared to how I was after my diagnosis. The 10 Million Metres challenge has changed my world, my life, and my outlook. So far it has taken me on many amazing adventures, pushed me beyond what I thought possible, and (I hope) will drive me further beyond that too in the future!

Ultra Runner Girl: Can you describe your training for us? Are some activities easier than others? (i.e. biking vs running etc.)

Alex Flynn: My training is mixed. I’ve never subscribed to a training schedule but have more or less taken an approach to incorporating cross training with running. My main reason for this is to avoid injury. Until recently I also have not used any monitoring system but have merely gone on the way that I feel; which is usually going until complete failure; to the point where I know that I have had a decent workout. Biking is definitely easier than running for me now. However swimming has recently been my nemesis. The reason for this was that I almost drowned when I was five years old, and that fear had been holding me back until recently. I decided that I needed to take control of my fear. So to that end I have undertaken some hypnotherapy and it has worked wonders. I’m really looking forward to my triathlons now!

Ultra Runner Girl: In your experience, has Parkinson’s been more physically or mentally challenging?

Alex Flynn: It’s both. But I think my stage of Parkinson’s is not yet as advanced as some other sufferers, so for me the challenges are there but with perseverance and a bit of sweat I can still overcome. The mental aspect is harder. I am an exceptionally positive person but it is a hard sentence to be told you have currently incurable chronic neurologically degenerative disease. I think that the hardest part of living with PD is experiencing the social embarrassment of trembling or not being able to do something; those things most other people take for granted. For example, using a mouse on a computer, raising a glass to your lips without the glass shaking, or doing up buttons. I hate doing up buttons!

Ultra Runner Girl: Do you have to take any extra precautions? What changes have you had to make?

Alex Flynn: Three days prior to my Europe 135 race I accidentally took the wrong amount of medication. I took my daily dose in one go, which was not good. Now I take my meds in smaller doses spread out over the day.

I always take somebody with me. Not just because I have PD, but because it’s more fun running with someone else. You get to run, have a laugh and share the experience with a good friend. I was certainly glad the assistance of Dave Clamp by my side when crossing the Bavarian Alps.

I also take my medication with me just in case. I think most people would agree that (irrespective of Parkinson’s) any athlete attempting an ultra or challenging course should come prepared with the right kit and nutrition for the race. Speaking of nutrition, for me it’s incredibly important to keep my energy levels up as I am constantly on the move; even when I am sitting still. In that sense I am always burning energy and need to refuel. I take gels on shorter runs, but on longer runs, I eat anything and everything I can get my hands on. On long runs I am just ravenous. However I don’t like bananas so I always take some apricots with me. I love apricots!!!

Ultra Runner Girl: What role has sport had for you? Were you always a crazy adventure-junkie?

Alex Flynn: I have always been compulsive in respect of things that I do. I don’t mean drugs, or other things like that. That’s never really interested me. What has always interested me was sport; particularly running. I used to love cross country at school. I got a kick out of just running and running and running and not stopping. It was just fantastic. I also like challenging my fears. For example, I have a fear of heights so I abseil when I can. I recently abseiled down the Deloittes building in London and it was a real buzz!

I look at sport as my way of being able to cope with the disease that may stop me moving. I’m determined to move as much as I can before anything like that happens. You see, I’m extremely competitive and want to do the best I can. Although I know that I won’t come first, the emphasis from me it’s challenging myself to go further, harder, and push myself beyond my limits. If I succeed then I really feel a sense of achievement and happiness, irrespective of the place I finish!

Ultra Runner Girl: I’ve often discussed the fine line that exists between stubbornness and persistence, and how they can be both an asset and a hindrance. Maybe I’m presuming here, but I have to imagine that you have got a bit of both in you to take this on! Am I right?

Alex Flynn: I think you’re right. Running to the extent that I do is incredibly difficult. Some would say, selfish. I am a stubborn individual and I think that, at stubbornness has allowed me to push through pain, fatigue, and my body wanting to give up, to achieve. However stubbornness and persistence are intertwined and the benefits are that I have completed and competed in some amazing adventures. The downside is twofold. The first is that the impact on my family has been quite marked. A runner into ultramarathons spends a lot of time training which takes you away from your family. This is true of my situation. However I have a very understanding family who are aware of my persistence to raise £1 million and find a cure for Parkinson’s. Secondly, the other downside is the cost of races and travel. My sponsors, however, have been a lifesaver in respect of my 10MillionMetres challenge and to whom I’m indebted with gratitude for the belief in my campaign.

Ultra Runner Girl: Would you  say that this has been a process of accepting your limitations, defying them, or both?

Alex Flynn: I always push against my limitations no matter how hard my disease pushes back. I know my enemy. In fact, I’m reading a book at the moment called “Running on Empty” and in it there is a quote from a guy called Chris Douglass (who sadly died in a car crash), but whom I wish I had had the pleasure of meeting. Marshall Ulrich, the author of the book, uses this quote and I think it’s quite apt.

“The best I can figure is that we’ve been told to many times that adventure just isn’t in the cards for everyday folk like you and me. It’s reserved for the people we read about in books and magazines, not mere mortals like us. While I’m not buying it!”

Outside of Parkinson’s, I think that sums up the essence.

Ultra Runner Girl: Tell us about your favourite moment in training or racing so far.

Alex Flynn: Going back and finishing the Marathon des Sables in 2010. It was amazing, hot (incredibly hot), super tough and everything you wanted it to be and more! Passing the finishing line and feeling the medal round my neck was worth it in every way and more. However, I believe that my 1800+ mile run to Rome in two weeks’ time will set a new pinnacle for me in favourite moments.

Ultra Runner Girl:  You’ve said the 1 million pounds fundraising goal isn’t really about the money – it is about the statement. What statement do you want to make?

Alex Flynn: I don’t think that it’s a statement that I make. I think I use the word to mean that society, everyone who donates to the 10 Million Metres cause, will hopefully recognise the impact of this disease across the world. That collective recognition turning into a physical act by the donation of funds to a worthwhile charity and raise money for the vital research into a cure for this incredibly debilitating disease that affects 6 million people around the world (and may well affect millions more who have yet to be diagnosed). I look upon the £1 Million as a beacon, a shining light that states that we, as a society, want to make change happen, to find a cure, to alleviate the burden on society that Parkinson’s will cost, to help millions of people around the world reclaim their lives and make change happen now.

Ultra Runner Girl: Any last words of advice?

Alex Flynn: Make change happen. Keep moving!

To donate to Alex’s cause, visit:

http://www.justgiving.com/alex-flynn

You can also check out his personal website and links to learn more about parkinsons. Don’t forget to find him on facebook! (10 million meters!)

http://www.alexflynn.co.uk

http://www.cureparkinsons.org.uk

Filed under: "Life" (aka misc.), Interviews, Training | 3 Comments »

Coastal Trail Series, Exmoor Ultra: Race Report

Posted on April 23, 2011 by ultrarunnergirl

Race: Coastal Trail Series, Exmoor Ultra (34 miles)

Conditions: Slightly overcast/then sunny, 13 degrees

Terrain: Coastal path, some technical trails, mostly grassy…but who had time to notice with all those HILLS??!?!? (“extreme” rating)

As any ultrarunner will tell you, there is no such thing as perfect race prep.

The last few days before a race, you are supposed to be feeling your best. In an ideal world, when you show up on the start line, you should be locked, (carbo) loaded, and ready to go. In reality, this rarely happens. This holds true across the spectrum of runners, from the novice to the elite. Ray Zahab, my fabulous coach and world record holder, once told me that he has never actually started a race or one of his epic global challenges feeling 100%. Sometimes far from it!

Leading up to the Exmoor Ultra last weekend, I was feeling a little like a creaky old 80 year old woman. Stiff joints, a bad hip, and a hairy chin. Okay scrap the last one – I had yet to start growing fuzzy facial hair, but yeah, the body felt a bit old. I went into see a chiropractor in South London, Dr Craig McLean at Putney Chiropractic Centre, for a much-needed crack of my geriatric back. He did a very thorough assessment as I nattered away about my “robust” injury history. After seeing the state of my right hip, he asked “So Stephanie, how are you going to run this race on one leg?” After replying that I hoped it would be a loop course, he went about his business, adjusting me from the neck down to the foot (for which I am very grateful!!).

The adjustments definitely helped, but there is only so much one doctor can do. My days and weeks have recently consisted of either running full steam ahead out in the English countryside, or sitting at my computer for hours on end typing out 18000 words of human rights law exams (ugh). Not ideal for the back. So there I was on the morning of the race, winging about the pain in my back and the stiffness in my right hip. I should have walked down to the race start with a blue rinse in my hair and peppermints in my purse with the way I was carrying on.

Luckily, my friend Alex Howarth, who would also be running the race, was not to be outdone by my pre-race complaining. He came up with a few good stories about BMF-related muscle tightness and his overall lack of running-specific training in the weeks prior. We both knew that we were just trying to come up with excuses ahead of time for why we might completely bonk on this course… Anything to keep our egos intact. And as we gingerly walked down the hill – the VERY steep hill – to the start, the excuses got louder and more elaborate. By the time we got to the registration table, Alex was questioning whether he was suffering from potential kidney failure and I was wondering if maybe I had early-onset osteoporosis. Or maybe carpal tunnel?

The Exmoor races, organized by Endurance Life, included a 10k, 21k, 42k, and, new this year, an ultra course. Alex, another friend Phil and I were really excited about doing the ultra, until we saw that just 34 people had signed up. And only 6 women. Clearly we were the nutters of the bunch!

We set off at 8:15 in the morning and within about 30 seconds of leaving the start line we were headed straight uphill. It would be the first one of many. Of course, we all tried to show a good effort at the beginning, charging ahead with vim and vigour. No mountain could get in our way! Well, our “vim and vigour” quickly retreated as we resigned ourselves to a slow climb upwards. It was going to be a long day…

Although the field was small, right away it was obvious that it was competitive – but in the “wow, I’m at the back of the pack” kind of way, not the “I’m worried this person is going to push me off the side of the cliff” kind of way. I really enjoyed conversing with the other runners during that first hour i.e. the only part of the race when I had enough breath to speak semi-intelligently. There was one guy who was not only running the Exmoor ultra, but also was going to attempt a DOUBLE London marathon the very next day. Rock on dude. Of course about 60 seconds after talking with this legend, I, a mere mortal, fell HARD on my geriatric rear end, instantly feeling the pain shoot all the way up to my neck. Rock on me :)

When I regained movement back in my neck (ha), I couldn’t believe the scenery in front of me. The course ran along the coastal path in North Devon, over the hills and countryside, across wooded paths and streams, through the “Valley of the Rocks”… It was like running an ultra through a slightly more refined Lord of the Rings movie set (this is England after all). Every once in a while we passed through a little village, including Lynton and Lynmouth, or the “little Switzerland” of the UK. As I was bounding down the boardwalk of these towns, staring up at the quaint little B&Bs and shops, I vowed to come back sometime when I could sit on bench, eat an ice cream, and simply enjoy the view. With peppermints in my purse, of course.

Coastal Path in North Devon

Quite a few of us were taking photos or videos during the race – it would have been a shame not to. These 55 km were some of the most beautiful I’d seen in all of the UK and I wanted to be able to remember it when the oxygen returned to my brain! I kept sending the images from my phone mid-race to those who I knew couldn’t be there that weekend, but that stopped as soon as I received a reply reminding me to stop acting like a tourist and start running like I meant it!  Neither snapping photos nor snapping my fingers would get me to the finish. Right. Keep calm and carry on!

I am happy to say, I didn’t have any major issues during the race (unlike the last one!). I made sure to keep eating, drinking, and I ran when I could and walked when I had to. I did start to have some cramping over the last 10 km, but by taking some electrolytes (Hammer Endurolytes) and eating some crisps for some extra salt, I was able to keep going without too much hassle.

The last 5 km were probably my best. I was definitely feeling it in my quads and calves, but relative to the few other runners around me, I seemed to be faring slightly better. I could smell the finish line (or was it that fishy coastal air?) and I was ready to be done!!!

I wound up in 11th place, which I was pretty happy about… Until I found out that this put me in the bottom half of the women’s field! Actually, I was just really impressed. There were three freakishly fast women at the front of the pack and I was slightly in awe. Not that I met them. Oh no, by the time I crossed the finish, they were long gone! Showered, fed, probably had time for a nap too… (just kidding).

Then came a little dose of post-race reality. I don’t know how I do it, but sometimes I really don’t feel pain when I’m running. This is a huge asset in a lot of ways, but sometimes it can lead to, er, nasty results. I had forgotten to bring my body glide or vaseline with me for the weekend, which I usually put on my back and hips to prevent chafing from my backpack. Sometimes I even pre-tape if I’m particularly worried about it. I’m extremely prone to chafing for some reason, regardless of the backpack, so you’d think I’d have learned by now… Anyway, I decided it wasn’t that big of a deal and I would just suck it up and deal with the consequences later.

As soon as I took off my pack, I realized it would be bad. And it was. OOOOOH the pain!!!! I had open wounds all across the bottom of my back, around my hips, and across my stomach. Even the inside of my belly button looked savage. UGH!!! Trying to shower after the race was completely out of the question. The salt that had built up on my skin from sweating during the race made the water feel like vinegar and even a drop made me scream out in agony. Yikes. Thanks to Alex and a some self-mummification techniques, we managed to bandage me up so that I could hobble over to the pub for post-race celebrations. I’m pretty sure he went above and beyond the call of duty on that one, so thanks Alex :) I’ve got your back (chafe) anytime!

All a part of the fun

All in all, a great race and a great weekend. Looking forward to the next one in just two weeks! Keswick 2 Barrow 40 miler….

Happy trails!

-Ultrarunnergirl

Filed under: Race Reports | Tagged: , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Coastal Trail Series, Sussex Marathon: Race Report

Posted on March 27, 2011 by ultrarunnergirl

Race: Coastal Trail Series, Sussex marathon (27 miles)

Date: March 26, 2011

Conditions: Misty/sunny, 10-13 degrees

Terrain: Very hilly (“strenuous”)

Where do I even begin about this past weekend??

Let’s start with Saturday morning. I hadn’t slept much the night before, and despite setting my alarm for 6:30, I was wide awake before 5:00 am.  Pre-race jitters? Not entirely.

Quite a few of you reached out after my “runner’s low” post (thank you!!), so let me offer this quick explanation. Speedy broke things off with us about a month ago, shortly after our Moonlight Challenge race together. The sense of loss was palpable.  He was my running partner, my life partner, my partner-in-crime… I thought we were going to conquer the world together hand in hand, taking a few wrong turns along the way, but ultimately moving forward as an unbreakable pair.  Coming to the realization that that vision was one-sided was… well, for all those who have been through something like that, I probably don’t need to say much more!

The running ground to a halt. The one thing I loved to do, the one thing that always got me out of any situation, just slipped away. Every time I tried to get out there, I would make it to about 30 or 40 minutes before I simply couldn’t breathe anymore and my legs stopped moving. I wasn’t just heart-broken – I was lung-broken, leg-broken, and, with the complete loss of appetite, stomach-broken.

As with any other sort of “injury”, with time, things got better.  I started to breathe easier, run lighter, and go further.  Friends and family, like any good support crew, got me through the right ‘checkpoints’ and pulled me right through the black fog of my ‘runner’s low’.  I even made it up to a two hour run about a week ago, thinking that perhaps that would be just enough training to get me through this race.

By the time race day hit, I was in a completely different place than a month prior. I was really looking forward to the run. Not because I thought it would be a good race or I’d finish well (ha, certainly not!!)… but because it would be the final hurdle.  Speedy was going to be there on the start line and if I could still get through running 27 strenuous miles after seeing him, I’d know that I’d be just fine. Sink or swim…

Well, I swam. It was more of a doggie paddle than a front crawl, but I swam. I gotta say, it wasn’t the easiest race in my life… In fact, I can say without a doubt that it was infinitely harder than my 100 miler. But the point is that I did it!!!

Pre-race photo with a fellow RacingThePlanet competitor... They're everywhere!

We started off from Birling Gap out towards the water and ran along the cliff tops, passing through Seven Sisters, and Beachy Head. It was a perfect morning.  The mist coming off the ocean was glowing in the sunlight, which gave the race start a rather majestic quality (or “mist-ical”? Ha, sorry, I couldn’t resist). Runners were stretched out in a line in front (er, with hopefully a few behind!), snaking up and down the hills for miles.

Of course, just to take the pressure off, I pulled a classic ultrarunnergirl move and let my clumsiness rear its ugly head early on in the race. Just as I was starting to work out the kinks in my legs, I came up to a cow gate on the course. I had thought that the person in front of me had left the latch open, so I ran into it full speed… Ha! I may have actually ricocheted off the gate from the sheer force of the impact, but not wanting to look like a wimp to the runners behind me, I smiled and pretended it was toooootally planned. The bruising and bleeding on my thigh and knee would have to wait until later!! Keep calm and carry on!

I was really caught by surprise by the hills. I knew part of the course was on the South Downs Way, which I have run over before, so I arrogantly dismissed the “strenuous” rating by Endurance Life as being blown out of proportion. Hmph, how hard can a few rolling hills be?

Very hard.  Lesson to be learned: never underestimate Endurance Life!! I kept up with some of the faster women for the first 15 km or so – maybe even up to 20 km – but after that it was downhill (or, er, uphill). The difficulty of the course meant that I was spending a lot more time on my legs than I had trained for and I was already hitting 2.5 hours at the halfway mark (13 miles).  The molasses effect slowly but surely crept into my legs….

I chatted with a few other runners along the way, which helped, but by the time I got to 15 or 16 miles I was really struggling. I wasn’t drinking a lot of water and I couldn’t seem to get any food in me. Truth be told, I had thrown up my breakfast that morning before the race and I knew I really needed the calories or I would shut down! Even running through the desert in Namibia or the outback in Australia, I never lost my appetite. It was a strange thing to experience. Back to basics. Rule of the game is no matter what happens, keep moving forward. Sometimes, it is all you can do.

At this point, the 10km racers overlapped our course and this was probably the most demoralizing section of the race. I thought I was doing pretty well under the circumstances until all of a sudden these fresh, bouncy, FAST runners just blew by me with ease!  It was like I was chugging along in the slow lane on the highway, running out of gas, being passed by formula one machines at break-neck speed. Oh dear.

Luckily, and this really was a saving grace, one of the other marathon runners trudged his way to my side and said that he recognized me from the Moonlight Challenge Race. He (Paul…right?? Did I get that right??) was having a tough race as well so the two of us forged our way together for quite some time.  Every time I went downhill, I would get a massive, sharp stitch in my side that just wouldn’t release.  This made me almost crave the uphills. Then the calf muscles started to go. It felt like there were animals jumping and crawling their way up to my hamstrings. It was the weirdest feeling – I’ve never had things shut down like that before. Paul must have noticed my random spaz outs because he mentioned that his quads and hamstrings were severely cramping as well… What a pair!

We made it to the 19 mile checkpoint and, thinking I had a full pack of water, I drank just two glasses and carried on. Five minutes later I felt the water supply in my camelbak tube run out and realized I had made a huge rookie mistake. With the amount of cramping going on, it would be touch and go as to whether I would be able to make it to the next checkpoint.

Silly me.  But I thought there would be a way out. We weren’t in the desert after all. It was England! All I needed to do was find a stream and I could fill up…  When I finally came across a greenish-brown, murky pond at the bottom of a cow-dung-infested field a few miles later, I was so desperate that I turned around to Paul with an inquisitive look on my face that said, “Do you think….?”  Being the smarter one of the two, Paul firmly said “NO” and gave me a few sips of his water.  He most likely saved me from dysentery with that move, and I will always be grateful!!!  He ran out of water himself a few minutes later, so this was definitely a generous sacrifice. Paul (if I didn’t get your name wrong!), please keep in touch. I’ve got your back in the next race!

By this point, we just needed to finish. There were rumours of another checkpoint at mile 23 or 24, but Paul’s GPS already said 25 and nothing was in sight. The next little bit was a blur, but I remember BARELY moving…  I was determined to keep trying to run. I saw some elderly couples strolling along the path and immediately scanned to see if they were holding water. I’m not sure what I would have done if they were. There was one person holding a can of coke… I had delusions of tackling the caffeinated-goodness out of this person’s hand, but realized I was in no shape to run away quickly enough, so that went out the window, along with my sense of morals. Paul and I ran past a farm and scoured for outside taps. No luck. Then we came across a pig’s trough in the middle of a field and actually contemplated, for a brief moment, filling up. Desperate times call for desperate measures? A little while later, some girls gave me some sips of their water and passed me a gel, but I was in a bad state. I finally made it to that last elusive checkpoint, and couldn’t have been happier to see my friend Rob!!! Rob had come down to do the race with me and despite being a 2:30-2:50 marathoner, he was obviously struggling to be as far back as I was in the race!

There weren’t a lot of words said at this point, but we made it to the finish line side-by-side. It was just 2 or 3 more miles from that last checkpoint, but it couldn’t have felt longer. If Rob hadn’t have been there, I would hate to think how long it would have taken me to reach the end.  The animals in my legs were jumping well past the knee and my head was spinning. We made it in just over 5 hours (ack!!!), although the timing chip didn’t record my finish so it came up as a DNF (which I’m trying to get the race organizers to fix! Definitely didn’t go through all that to get a DNF!).

Far from a DNF, that race was a grand finish. I knew it would be incredibly tough – for many reasons – but I needed to just do it and show myself I could get through it.  There is something truly exquisite in putting yourself up to a challenge, even an enormously painful one, and succeeding. It may not have been a ‘win’ for me in the strictest sense, and, in fact, is probably my worse race placing so far… but it is a race I am very proud of.

As I was awkwardly rolling around on the ground after the finish, trying to stop the cramping in my calves and sorting out my deformed, claw-like feet (so funny), I heard the announcer mention the next race in the series over the loudspeaker. “For those of you signed up for the Exmoor challenge on April 16th, you can expect a much tougher course than this one!”

Am I signed up? You betcha. For the ultra. Can’t wait. Ultrarunnergirl may be running solo now, but with the cheering squad I’ve got in my corner (you know who you are!), I’m ready to take on the next challenge – race or otherwise.  Not only can I stand on my own two feet, I can run on my own two feet again.

Until next time :)

Ultrarunnergirl aka Stephanie Case

Filed under: "Life" (aka misc.), Race Reports | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

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