Carkeek 12 Hour 2009 Race Report

So, I'm coming into what might be my first ultra with a whole 2 marathons under my belt, and what is, in my mind, a completely inadequate training cycle for this next sequence of races (Carkeek, Seattle, and Pigtails Flat Ass).

My longest run since RnR Seattle on 27 June was 17 miles, and that was 8 weeks ago (as part of my highest mileage week since RnR, 43.9).

The last 8 weeks have looked like:
43.9 (14, 17 on Sat, Sun),
14 (abdominal strain),
0 (ab strain recovery),
16.3,
25.6 (incl. 4 laps @ Carkeek),
39.1 (incl. 4 laps @ Carkeek, 14 mile 'long' run),
0 (head space issues + lost a cat. :( ),
and finally, week of the 12 Hour, 18.3 miles.

Needless to say, not exactly feeling prepared.

As the week progressed, I obsessed about the race, alternating between feeling nervous and excited. Preparations posts can be found here: Hydration & Nutrition, Packing.

Finally, after a crazy Friday evening, and a not unexpected night of low quality sleep, the alarm went off at 3:30 on Saturday.

Make a pit stop, weigh in (188.0 pounds)(WAY up from Seattle last year, which was my lowest at 170), take out the dog, eat my now 'traditional' prerace meal of a pair of CLIF nectar bars and 16 oz of water, change into running clothes, cap off the water bottles of nuun that have been sitting all night, load the last bits into the car, one last pitstop and on the road right about on time at 4:40.

30 minutes to Carkeek. Hopefully the gate is open and the good parking is still available. No traffic, no rain, so a nice quick drive down to the park. Gate is open, and I'm one of the first 5 - 10 people, so I get a great spot right on the course and facing the beach.

Sam and Brock are getting set up, fire is getting lit in the fire pit, and people are starting to show up. Tried to help out. Used some of my zip ties to help put up one of the shelters, some of my stakes to hold the aid station shelter down, and set up a table. Then I realized my nervous energy was kicking and that I should just frickin chill out. :) So I got checked in, hung around the fire and waited. Caught up with Nic, Betsy, and Matt and listened to the conversations.

Prerace briefing was short and sweet. Essentially: Course is marked with green chemlites. (Me: Hopefully no one is colorblind. :) Chemlites are on the side of any intersection you want to take. We'll track your laps with candy in your bag. Have fun. :)

Goals for the day:
A: 14 laps (27.02 miles) -- > Marathon
A+: 17 laps (32.81 miles) -- > 50K (31 mi)
A++: 21 laps (40.53 miles) -- > 40 miles

And begin...

To get you oriented, here's a course map:


And a Garmin trace of the course:


Lap 1:
Started with compression shorts, LS shirt, jacket, and headlamp. I was freezing with the wind coming off of the Sound and not moving around while we waited, but that ended fast. Halfway through the lap, my jacket was tied around my waist, and sleeves were pushed all the way up. Too fast. Not really looking at time. Garmin is set to Pace-HR-Distance, so I don't really have any idea how fast the lap was, but it didn't feel like the slow pace I was shooting for.

For whatever reason when he said start it didn't feel like people wanted to get going, so I think I was in the first 10 runners or so for the first few laps. Not sure how that happened. :)

Rapidly discovered that one of my Nathan 22oz bottles leaks from the spout. Had to carry it for a while and play with it till I got it seated enough that it wasn't getting my butt wet. Grumble, grumble. Needless to say that bottle didn't go back into rotation once I finished it.

This race seemed really odd to me in that you never really had a good idea how many people were on the course, or where you stood in relation to people. I had 3 or 4 people who I saw regularly, but other than that it was pretty sparse out there. I'm not sure how people passed me in some cases. I don't remember them doing it. Except for the guy in the witches hat. And the fast woman with the hydration pack. And Linda. And Nic. And Matt. OK, maybe I did see more people than I thought.

But still.... I didn't see Betsy till she stopped, I didn't see Jessica or Rob till their lap 16, my lap 17.

Lap 2:
Started drinking in earnest. Too fast again. Right knee has started to bother me on some of the uphills and upstairs. Nothing serious, but it's there...

Some neat visuals watching people ahead of me illuminated by an arc or a circle of light depending on terrain, and their silhouette.

Lap 3:
Lost my running 'partner', Linda, halfway through lap. Realized I was still moving too fast, slowed down and she lapped me. Having a partner makes a big difference when doing the night laps. That person tucked in 6-10 feet behind you and the extra illumination their headlamp provides makes a big difference.

It was an odd experience to run with someone for over an hour, supporting each other, and only exchange words briefly at the first aid station as we passed through. Hope all you got were DOTS and Skittles!

Linda later commented (like on lap 15) that we were either going to love or hate each other as much time as we spent swapping back and forth on the course. And then I never saw her again. :)

Lap 4:
Sun is starting to come up during this lap. Halfway through you could have probably passed the classic wide thread/dark thread test for dawn. By end of lap it's morning and I don't need the head lamp anymore.

Lap 5:
Started lap with a stop at the car to drop off head lamp and jacket, grab a fresh bottle of nuun and change into a dry short sleeve shirt. Had to find a tree at some point in this loop. A welcome relief, and a chance I wouldn't take later in the day.

Moving too fast on the down hill here. A little hand support to the left abdominal (strained a few weeks ago) makes everything better, but I slow down and the problem goes away. Have to do it a few more times over the day, and always in this stretch of downhill. Time to restart my core workouts.

Lap 6:
Sometime during this lap I realize that the twinges and aches in my right knee are gone. Just disappeared. Yay!

Lap 7:
Cross 3 hours towards the end of this lap. I'm pretty sure that I 'meet' Sara and David? on this lap when I hear Sara mention she is going to take some pics if she grabs her phone. Hope your run went well. Stop and take care of the hot spots on my right foot. No blisters yet, but time for some preventative care. From the two marathons I know I'll blister on this foot at these spots (edge of big toe and edge of ball of foot).

Lap 8:
Forgot camera on this loop. Too busy getting loaded up and dealing with foot issues last time around I suppose.

Lap 9:
Snagged camera and bottle of water, fixed up my left foot (same problems at toe and ball of foot), and thus...finally... course pics. :)

The start/aid station is behind us, and we're headed out:


Hang the right at the information booth and down the stairs:


Follow the easy trail that parallels the train tracks:


And cross the open field. Hopefully the guy feeding the birds won't be there and you won't have to worry about getting attacked. :) Once you cross the field, you're at the base of the Carkeek Crest Hill (aka (to me) as the Hill Of Doom :


At the base of the hill:


Almost to the top:


The post to the left says "Carkeek Crest":


Reminder at the top of the hill:


Hang a left and head down into the woods:


Trail:


An attempt to show how lush the 'valley' was. Photography skills FAIL:


More Trail:


"Optical Illusion Bridge". The first time I saw this bridge I thought the ground literally ended and I'd have to jump down 6 feet. :)


After the sadistic downhill stairs and a set of switchbacks you get a straight downhill to the Hatchery? Water Treatment Plant?


Left at the bottom of the hill, splash through the mud at the base of the hill and onto asphalt and flat for a little bit:


Hang a left at the 'Y', cross the bridge over Piper's Creek and then hang a hard right:


Portasan if you need it, cross the road and you're a bit over halfway done with a loop. Now we get ready to climb again:


Very pretty little stream:


A warning. This little hill always surprises me. It doesn't look steep, but it tears my legs up every time. And that's walking it.


Up the slope:


Hang the left and pass the snag:


Some of the best part of the whole run, leading into a nasty uphill:


The Swingin' tree. Barrel down the trail from the right, grab the tree, swing the 270 degree turn and start walkin':


More uphill:


Trail:


At the top of the last nasty uphill:


You can see the sound just after you turn left at the top of the hill. You parallel a steep cliff, with railroad tracks at the bottom and a view of the sound for a nice part of the last leg.


A view from the lookout on the return leg:


The barely seen runner in the distance is overall winner James Breyfogle. His race report can be found here.


Trail:


Come out from the last downhill and hang a left and you're back at the aid station:


Our esteemed RD: Sam Thompson. And food. Mmmmm. Fooood.


Runners in costumes:








Lap 10:
Some of the course pics above were taken on this lap since I missed them the first time around.

Then I dropped the camera off and asked Sam to take pics of runners if he had the time. Get a puppy fix from a Bernese Mountain Dog, happy, friendly little fella. :) Desmond.

Wish mine (Toby) were cooperative enough to run a few laps here. May have to try it anyway.

Lap 11:
Lap 12:
Apparently I don't remember anything momentous about either one of these laps. :) I remember at some point talking to the runner ahead of me about something and realizing when they didn't respond that they had an iPod on that I hadn't noticed.

I probably started to notice my quads and hip flexors sometime around here. And obviously they got progressively more tired as the next 9-10 laps proceeded.

Discovered that the cheap Beach To Chowder Bottles leak too. Badly. From the neck. Carried the bottle the whole damn loop. Grrr...

Lap 13:
Saw and chatted with Matt Hagen as we climbed the Hill Of Doom.

I realized while talking with Matt that at the whole deal with this race, for me anyway, was Being Present (that ever popular catch phrase). Something I'm not very good at. But the only way to do this race for me was to "Be Present" in on the lap I was in. There were little influences about goals and future laps, but what had already happened didn't matter. I kept track of each lap by telling myself what lap I was on continuously. All that mattered was me and the lap, and how I felt THAT lap. And if it was really bad, me and the six feet of trail in front of me.

Lap 14:
Saw and chatted with Matt Hagen again, going up the Hill Of Doom again. Not sure how we pulled that off.

Crossed the 26.2 mile marker at something like 6:38. Roughly 2:10 slower than my current personal worst. :)

Garmin bitched at me with a low battery warning as I was coming down the hill towards the aid station. Apparently the first battery warning for a 405 is just under 20% battery remaining. When I loaded up after the aid station I grabbed the external battery (Duracell Instant Charger) and Garmin charger cable and started the recharge process.

Lap 15:
I've met my A goal! I'm taking 'lunch'. :)

Got the 'Orange Stuff' (cool Whip/Jello fruit salad) from car and set it out for everyone, and had a nice scoop of it myself. I only brought back a few scoopfuls, and I only had 3 or 4 so at least some other people enjoyed it. :)

Took my second and only other bathroom break for the day - nothing anomalous in urine (Paranoia from reading too many race reports), and despite a lap or two of gas, nothing else to dispose of. Intestinal issues are always a bit of a paranoia thing for me, so...

Finally got back out there after 10-15 minutes, I'd guess. Walked the first third or half of the lap, texted Val and checked in, etc.

Had a friend text me "Your shoelaces are untied" just as I was climbing the Hill Of Doom. Heh. :

Lap 16:
Nic came in from a lap just after I hit the aid station, and after a brief pause we went back out together. Nic was nice enough to stick with me the full run despite my low speed. "Supposedly" he went out too fast for the first 25 miles and was slowing down. I think he was just being nice.

We had an interesting discussion about the fact that endurance athletes have been shown to have higher pain tolerances than the 'normal' people. Which begs the chicken and egg question... did they develop it, or did they have it already and that's what drew them to endurance athletics.

That segued into how mucho fit is physical vs. mental, and my idea that it would be cool to have a 'pain' camera that would show you the pain impulses of someone like Sam or Brock, or you, and be able to compare responses to running and maybe see if it is physical or mental.

Lap 17:
Finally ran into Katie and Rob at aid station (nice costume as bride). Ran the lap with Nic, Katie, and Rob. Katie and Rob had some great race costume/race theme ideas for future races. Go for it guys!

They just about killed me on this lap. All three of them were just so fricking fresh, perky and energetic. I wasn't about to fall off the back so I just tucked in and sucked it up. In retrospect it was probably a good lap to get me back into the swing of things and helped to get me sped back up. Thanks gang!

Felt like I had lost a toenail (first toe on right foot) over this lap. When I stopped at the end of the lap it urns out it was just a blister (probably from the tape on the big toe) rubbing the inside of the toe. Drained it and threw on a bandaid. The little toe on the left foot was bothering me too so I dealt with it as well. Apparently, this almost vestigial toe gets folded under and blisters. Fixed that too.

As an aside, paper athletic tape bleeds adhesive. I had to peeeelllll my socks off the wraps around the balls of my feet because my socks had stuck to them so well. Who knew. :)

Finally Garmin was close enough to charged at 97%. So ~1:30 to recharge 70%. not horrible. Having the cable dangling behind me from the pouch was a bit of a pain, but not unmanageable.

Crossed the 9 hour marker on this lap.

And met my A+ goal of 50K shortly after the start of the lap.

Lap 18:
Dad isn't here yet, went so I went out for my lap. Feet HURT for the first half mile until all the new blister care stuff shook out. OW. Saw a guy with braces on both legs, out with his lady friend doing the hills. Humbling. Made me glad I could run.

Lap 19:
Dad and Karen showed up to say hello on the way to the house. Talked for 5-10 minutes, checked in with Val, and then I went back out, and they headed to the house for Trick or Treating.

Dad got this picture as I was coming in, finishing lap 18. I really need to drop the extra weight and go back to they gym. :( And I look entirely too happy for having just run just under 35 miles. :)



Lap 20:
Noticed a bit of left nipple chafing at some point and realized that the bandaid had come loose. Not sure how long it had been that way, and nothing I could do about it, so I just let it be till I got back to the aid station. Nice ego boost at end of lap when checking in and mentioning that this was my first ultra. People seemed surprised/pleased at my performance. Yay me! :)

Lap 21:
Blue Steel applied to nipple at aid station, and back out for final lap. Might be able to do two with the time remaining , but not sure about pace for the last few laps. Finally decided that since A++ goal is to break 40 miles, regardless of remaining time after this lap, I'm done.

Photo of stairs halfway up Carkeek Crest Hill/Hill Of Doom:


Self Portrait using phone at bottom of said stairs:


Spent most of this lap telling off all of the hard sections of the course as I passed through them. :)

I was in one of those "the only thing that matters is you and the 6 feet of trail in front of you" moments when the Garmin chirped. Looked down to se 40 on the mileage and said out loud: "Holy Sh!t. I just ran 40 miles." And then, because I hadn't realized the endurance runner's emotional sensitivity had kicked in, I spent 30 seconds trying not to sob my eyes out. :)

Texted Val to tell her I was about done, with .5 miles or so to go. Dragged the process out because I saw it was only 11:10 into the race, and I thought I might feel bad about not going for another lap.

Didn't help kill that much time, and once I hit the aid station I was done. Legs were tired, and I wanted to go spend some time with Kaitlyn. And breaking 40 was enough.

Hit aid station for the last time... And... Stop.

11:20:39 - 21 laps - 40.53 miles - 9030 feet of elevation gain.

My first ultra in the books, and I'm still so proud of myself I could just spit.
Slow but stubborn. :)

Sam draped my cool race medal around my neck, hooked me up and took a few pictures for me, I picked up my dishes and the stakes for the shelters and walked to the car.





I think I met more people walking to the car than I had during the race. :)

My Lake Union 10K shirt got me introduced to Laura Houston, who was the bike borne rabbit for the fast runners at LU10K, and teaches Chi Running at 5focus.

I changed into 'real' clothes in the car, and when I finished met Tony C. as he got into vehicle for some stuff. We chatted about the Carkeek's 'hardest 12 hour out there' appellation (that I, with my lack of ultra experience wondered if it was a bit of hyperbole. After some quality time with Google, not any more.) He stated that he's done 72 miles at a track 12 hour... and did ~50 here.

After:
Drove home and went Trick or Treating with Kaitlyn. Probably good to get the kinks worked out from the drive, and it was great to see my family. I probably pushed a little and should have bailed to rest sooner, but Val was there to kick me upstairs for a shower and make me a big plate of spaghetti and most of a small loaf of garlic bread, so it's all good. :) My biggest pains at this point after the race are hip flexors and upper quads. Feet are a bit sore too.

I got one picture of my feet before I pulled all the tape, as I was standing in the kitchen. The color is WAY off, so no one panic. They were normally colored. Just trying to show all the tape. No toenails lost, and except for my toes (especially in my right foot) feeling like they were waking up from being asleep (which went on for a few days) no major problems.


I drank a 22 oz. bottle about every two laps (starting at the second lap), mostly nuun, except for two VERY refreshing bottles of plain water at some point. I did notice, twice I think, that nuun tastes pretty good when you're running. When you're standing around talking/eating... Not so much.

I sucked down one more bottle on the drive home, had a pair of Mounds from Kaitlyn's stash, and made brief pitstop and weighed in at 185.2. Only down 2.8 pounds over 11 hours and 40 miles. I think hydration was reasonably dialed in.

Fueling was pretty much a GU (or equivalent) on most laps at the halfway point (just before or after we crossed the road) and then something at the aid station. The advantage of using your car as your aid station is that you have all your trash. :)

I know for sure that I consumed:
2 flasks of Orange Hammer: 4 servings used, 3 servings used (in 4 total 'doses')
2 Hammer Raspberry's (these were REALLY grainy. Past their expiration date?)
7 GUs (Lemon-Lime, TriBerry)

The additional fueling at the aid station was pretty light in the first 6 hours or so, and got progressively heavier as I got slower. It also seemed to make the most difference as to how I felt energy wise on the next lap. I had some of the best effing PB&Js I've ever eaten, and the 'Orange Stuff' works pretty well as fuel. :) Boiled potatoes and salt were tasty, but seemed to sit pretty heavy. Peanut M&Ms and Candy corn were just tasty. :)

Next Day:
Mostly moving around well on Sunday. Soreness had moved to my lower quads and has stayed there (I was able to pull out a 3.5 mile recovery run on Monday). And my lats, just above my shoulder blades, are sore. Apparently from swinging them arms around. Surprisingly nothing AT ALL from calves and shins.

Thanks to Sam and Brock for a fantastic race. Great to meet and see everyone I met and saw. :)
Only thing I think I'd add/change would be a 'leaderboard' so you could see how other runners are doing.

I'm almost at the point that next year sounds like a good time. :)
Another day or so. :)