Welcome 2018, Flu vs. Toenails, Across the Years 24 Hour Run

How quickly we forget.

That is why so many older people do ultras, our memories are poor so we soon forget any suffering we might have endured, and we go back for more.

As I threatened, I went to Across the Years to run the 24 hour race with my Colorado buddies Sasquatch and Anne and Matt Watts.

Dale (Sasquatch, aka Richard Cranium) is coming off treatment as well as a stem cell transplant for cancer, and he's been training almost the whole time. We've run infrequently together this year but enough times that I've seen him over pretty much the whole treatment ordeal. We ran for about 5 hours together one day a month ago and he was doing extremely well.

We all signed up for the 24 hour race on the 30th, instead of the New Years Eve day. It would be less crowded on the track and more laid back. Matt had about 80 miles to go before he got his 1000 mile jacket at Across the Years, so his goal was clear. Anne was out to get 50K or so and that's all she wanted. Her ulterior motive, so I found out, was to get away from Matt, who had apparently picked up a case of rabies and was compulsively howling at the moon and foaming at the mouth.

I flew down ahead of time and stayed with my family in Scottsdale, and rented a car to haul my crap across town for race day. I met Dale at the track at 7 am on race morning, and we rented a table and set up our stuff. Dale's friend Tom Hamilton, who was in the six-day race, generously offered his tent in case we needed to crash or change clothes or store our stuff.

                                                                                We got our packets and goodie bags, and our ankle transponders. We proceeded to the timing tent to harass our Floridian friend Mike Melton, who was doing the timing and complain about his GPS accuracy. We saw our friends Nattu and Karen, Karen was in the 72 hour race, and Nattu was kicking back, prepping for his upcoming race at HURT and crewing for Karen. I don't think I've seen them since 2011 when I did the Badwater double. They both look the same, fit and happy and it was great to see them!



Finally, it was time for the pre-race briefing before our 9 am start. Mike did a demo of how to make the turn every four hours, since a runner's IQ is proven to decline by 5 points per hour of running. Something like that. They only allow geniuses into the 6 Day race, for that reason.

Soon it was time to start, and we were off. Around the course, which has a variety of surfaces- packed dirt, asphalt, slightly looser softer dirt on the narrow section, and then this hellacious 150 or 200 meter stretch of loose, deep pea gravel, that is new since the last time I ran there in 2011-2012. It certainly added a challenge, both mentally and to the feet, adding a degree of shear that provided excellent conditions for blistering.

The weather forecast was for warm and sunny conditions, high of 76 and low of 45. It looks nice on paper, but it was pretty warm that day. I started with the crowd, running slowly for a lap or so, until I thought, I really don't feel like running now. Maybe later. With 21 minutes of running on my watch, I started to walk, and it felt comfortable and enjoyable and so I stuck with it for the duration.

I spent more time socializing and in the food tent than I ever normally would. The food offerings were perfect, they had my PBJ standby, grilled cheese, quesadillas, and plenty of other good stuff. The best thing was the fresh vegetarian sushi they made in the aid station. Wow.

I saw an old running acquaintance who used to live in Fort Collins but has since moved to Arizona, Rick. He was volunteering at the aid station so we got a chance to chat for a while. And Steve Finkelstein, who in past years would be found in the timing tent, was there to visit. I saw so many runners I've known for years, it was so much fun to catch up and be there.

Every four hours at the turnaround Mike and his helpers would be leading some kind of dance at the turnaround point, depending on the time of day, it looked like a bunch of staggering uncoordinated lunatics, making sure everyone went in the right directions round the orange cones.

At 12 hours I had just hit about 40 miles. I had roughly estimated I might get 70 or 80 miles at best, so it seemed reasonable. I rewarded myself by using the real bathroom, with flush toilets. It was warm in there. It didn't really get cold until about 11 pm and I grabbed some extra clothes off the table and took them with me into the real bathroom on the next lap. There were few people in the bathroom and I used one of the stalls to get changed. I was trying to pull my compression shorts up over my shoes and up my legs without cramping or falling over. I was having to contort myself in this little stall. Why I chose to go in there to change is beyond me, but like I said, the IQ does diminish.

In the middle of my contortion act, I suddenly thought of my friend Stephanie Willingham. This was a classic moment that we would have shared, if she were crewing me, she'd be helping me, and we'd be giggling. And so I started giggling, hysterically, so hard that I started to get side stitches and worse cramps. To the point that I was almost howling, I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard and my sides hurt so bad. The other people in the bathroom could hear this, and one person asked me if I was all right. One of those, you had to be there moments. I finally freed my foot from the bottom of the shorts and pulled things up, and was able to catch my breath and return to the race.

Throughout the night, Matt Watts had been lapping me constantly, and every time he came up behind me, he launched into a barkfest, startling all of the people nearby at the moment, and a few times, me. I think he was concerned that I missed Gypsy and Velcro and wanted me to feel at home. Most of the time I was checking over my shoulder, but a few times he got me good! I promised there would be paybacks.

I had taped my feet before the start because I knew I had not spent enough time on them to prepare for 24 hours on these varied surfaces. Anticipating my usual problem spot, under the ball of my left foot. My feet actually felt good until at least midnight, so I didn't mess with them. Dale was being meticulous about his feet, changing his socks and shoes every few hours. But I prefer to leave my feet alone unless I feel there is something going on. My hands weren't swollen much, I had been peeing plenty, and I was taking in fluids and S caps. I think what happened was when the temperatures dropped at night, that's when everything got thrown off. Around 2:30 am I noticed my right heel was bothering me, and it was affecting my gait. I had about 56 miles, I think. My right calf hurt from raising my heel, avoiding putting my full weight on that side. Time to look at the feet.

I stopped in the medical tent to ask if they minded if I work on my own feet in there, and they were fine with that. It would be warmer in there, and if I had a cramp they could help me. I went to my table and grabbed my foot supplies and a fresh pair of socks. My left foot felt fine, so I didn't want to touch it.

Once I got my shoe and sock off the right foot, I discovered that I had a huge blister on my right heel, which I had to cut with scissors because I couldn't lance it with a pin. A huge amount of fluid poured out onto the floor of the tent. The top of my right foot had also blistered, and popped on its own. That was bloody, so I cleaned it best I could, and covered it with antibiotic ointment, telfa, and a tegaderm.

Getting my freshly socked right foot back into my shoe was one of the most painful experiences I've had in some time. I managed to get the shoe on, but then I couldn't walk- couldn't put weight on my heel. I taped it so it would continue to drain with the direction of force as I walked, but it wasn't ready for body weight. I thought I was done. I decided to go into the warming tent and sit for a while, have some hot cocoa and figure out a plan.

When I entered the tent, I saw Sasquatch, doubled over in a chair, dozing. I pulled up a chair close by and he stirred. He told me he experienced a wave of nausea and was in there taking a break to see if he recovered. I think I dozed, hunched over in the chair, from about 5 am to 6:15 am, when I opened my eyes and looked at my watch. Sasquatch was still dozing. Finally at about 6:45 am I got out and started moving slowly. Sasquatch got out soon after me.

Tom Hamilton saw me at the timing tent, as I asked for assistance with figuring out which direction I should be going in. He got me off my butt to do a few more laps. Somehow I got about 6 more miles in before the finish and finished with 61.9 miles. Just short of 100 K. Sasquatch ended up with 55 plus miles.













It was easy to pack up given the race setup and rented tables. I dragged my stuff back to the car and took off for my dad's house. It's only 35 minutes in early morning weekend traffic. I got home and spent the next 24 hours sleeping, eating, and recovering.

On the afternoon of the 1st, I started to feel a little sniffly, but I wondered if it was just the bad air quality in Phoenix. By the time I woke up on the second, it was clearly some kind of a cold, as it had moved into my throat. I tried to keep from passing it to my dad and stepmom, and did a few things but took it pretty easy. I was supposed to see my friend Heidi, who recently moved to Scottsdale from Flagstaff, and I warned her about the cold. We ended up meeting in south Scottsdale and went for a walk.

My legs felt fine, but my left big toenail was turning purple and felt really weird. I wore sandals all day because any pressure on that toe hurt. Plus my other foot was completely bandaged up from the open blister.

Wednesday I had to fly back to Colorado and I kept a scarf over my face, took some cough medicine and cough drops to keep from sharing the love...I had some masks too but they were so hot on my face and itched my nose it drove me crazy. The flight was quick and easy, and everything went smoothly. By the time I got home I felt like death warmed over.

What is more annoying- having the flu or having a sore toenail? While I have the flu I can forget about my toenails except when the sheets brush over them...what a creepy feeling. Anyway, I took my temperature which was 99.8, so something was going on. Not sure if it was the flu, but I stayed home all week and slept a lot. Managed to get a little work done despite everything, even though the first two days I was home, my head felt like it weighed 50 pounds and it hurt.

I'm feeling a little better today, slept without taking anything last night and no coughing fits.

Here's I want to say, now that I've told my race story.

1. I ran this event with an eye on the conditions, as I have been on the fence about two things, one is a return to doing more ultras- yes, my competitive nature will surely come out in full swing if I do. And the other thing is doing a six day race and where I want to do that. This course showed me that I'll either have to have feet that are tough as nails, or find a different venue for that length of a race.

2. Don't put things off. I learned this with my Badwater Double. If you are thinking about doing something, don't wait. Do it now. You might not have a chance later, or it might not be as easy to get to. Look at Dale, he is back at ultras even with a big question mark hanging over his head with regards to his cancer, but he made the most of it this year and did what he wanted to do. You never know what can happen. Don't take your health for granted.

3. I forgot briefly, in my absence, that ultras in general, and Across the Years specifically, have been a powerful motivator for me as I've gotten older. I've always watched the people in their 60s, 70s and 80s at this event with admiration: Karsten Solheim, Don Winkley, Jeff Hagen, Jeannie McDaniel, are just a few examples of people who continue to inspire me, showing me that there is no limit to human endurance with aging. Sure you might not get as many miles in, or as fast, but their spirit is what counts. And their performances are phenomenal. Jack Denness, Bob Becker, Art Webb at Badwater are some other examples.

I feel so privileged to know these people and have shared miles with them on the same course. And as the years go on, my friends and I are moving into their shadows, following their footsteps, and we'll soon be the old-timers at the events.

4. I have about 180 miles left to get my 1000 mile jacket. I think I can reasonably accomplish that in two years, if I sign up for the 48 hour at least once in those two years. I am going to plan on doing the 48 hour next year and then whatever's left over, I will sign up accordingly the following year. If all goes well. You never know.

5. This blog officially is having it's tenth anniversary. YAY! And now I might even blog more frequently, now that the book is done and I can focus on other pursuits. The book, by the way, will be out in two weeks. You can check out the info here and I'll post on this blog when it's officially available on Amazon.

Happy New Year!

Feet Gone Bad: My Feet Are Delaminating!

I'm off to a good start for next year. I have now blistered under all my calluses and they will all peel off soon, and then I can start giving myself pedicures and smoothing the calluses as they build again. It's like starting over with delaminated feet! I haven't had so many problems with blisters since Badwater in 2011!

I can look at the Boulder adventure in several different ways. As a race, it was a disaster, but then, it wasn't really a race race. All my foot issues came home to roost. And choosing to run a 24 hour race on dirt and trails when I haven't run 74 miles on dirt in probably the past year, was not the brightest of ideas.

I got plenty of sleep and everything was easy going into the run, when I woke up Saturday morning and got ready to leave the house, the girls sat in the living room and just howled. I texted my neighbor later in the morning before the start to ask her to check on them, hoping they wouldn't go out in the yard and do that. Dennis was on his way back from Gunnison and planned to stop off at the reservoir to see me run for a while on his way home.

Eddie and I met at the reservoir and set up our stuff. He had a canopy from a local running store and I just had my table.

Having the canopy from the running store was probably good for Eddie because he could tell his friends where to find him. I had my table set up in front on the edge of the road.

I found the canopy to be a bit of an issue because all afternoon every time I'd stop at my table to grab my stuff for the next loop, I needed to get what I needed and get going. And every time, some Boulderite dweeb would invariably stop by and start talking to me, asking me stupid questions about the running store or people who worked there. None of them were looking for Eddie. All of Eddie's friends knew he was there and didn't need to ask.

These other people were just being dweebs. And I wasn't even under the canopy, I was just another Joe Blow runner. I needed to pay attention to what I was doing since each loop was 7 miles long and if I forgot something I'd be screwed. Annoying. So I was relieved when it got dark, it was like dweeb repellent. Boulder...

The course has nice variation, a few rolling hills, some flats, some pavement, and some singletrack trail. The trail section is known as the "Certain Death" trail.

It was a nice afternoon, it did get warm for a couple of hours but the entire day was pleasant. At one point, Eddie came across a big snake stretched across one of the trail sections. Certain Death.

At one point, the wind got strong and blew my hat off and down the embankment, there was no way I was going down there to look for it.

I felt really good and I stayed at an even pace and according to a plan that would yield 107 miles, and if all went well I might even have time to squeeze in an extra loop. I hit 50 miles in about 10 1/2 hours and felt extremely fresh, except I could feel a few hot spots on my feet. I stopped once and pulled off my socks, and lubed the spots. I didn't see a need for tape anywhere else, and I had already taped over the ball of my left foot where I got the blister in Cleveland.

Shortly after dark Dennis showed up and I sat down in my chair to check my feet again and change my socks as he held the headlamp. I had the beginning of a blister on my left big toe, but the hot spots everywhere else were still just hot spots. I lubed them again and took off.

Another two loops later, I had at least five painful hot spots, the inside of both big toes, my right heel, under my toes above the Cleveland blister, and lower down on the instep of my left foot. Dennis had already gone home and I sat there in the chair with my headlamp, eating soup and yogurt and trying to patch my feet. I popped three blisters and taped over everything, plus it looked like most of my toenails were separating from the nailbeds. What the hell was happening? Then I saw in the light of the headlamp that my hands were swollen.

Too much salt, is probably what I did. I had been peeing and felt well hydrated all day, and my hands were not swollen, but then when it got dark and cooled off, I think I continued to take in too much salt. I didn't make the adjustment for cooler weather, as I haven't been running in cooler weather yet this year.

As I finished patching everything and put on clean socks, Eddie stirred in his tent under the canopy behind me. He had been napping. He got out and said he would do a lap with me to keep going. I wanted to get out there and see if my foot surgery made a difference. We took off and after a little over a mile, I knew I didn't want to hobble the whole 7 miles. It hurt too much, even after a mile of trying to get the foot pain to go away and distract myself. So I told Eddie I was done and I turned around and headed back to the table, told the race people I was done, then packed up my table and supplies and drove home to Fort Collins. I got home at 4 am, took a shower and crawled into bed with Dennis and the girls.

I did have a blast, it was fun, I enjoyed my time out there with the other runners and it was a beautiful day and evening. It was fun running with Eddie as he was doing his first 24 hour run and he got 85 miles and was 2nd in HIS age group, and he put in a great effort out there.

For me, I got 17 hours of running listening to music and enjoying the scenery and the night sky. So I can't complain. The sunset behind the Flatirons was spectacular.

I got 10 full loops in at 7.14 miles each plus and extra 2 and a half or so after my second foot surgery, so I ran about 74 miles. And Eddie tells me I won my age group. Grrrr. I hate winning my age group when it's a pathetic performance. But that's just me being silly. This is the longest low mileage winning streak ever.

Is this what happens when you get old? A few weeks ago my eyes suddenly took a dive and after going for years without needing reading glasses, suddenly one day I couldn't even read my running watch, and my arms aren't long enough. Crap.

The other thing is that I know I have mega endurance because if every few weeks I can go and hammer out a 70 or 80 mile long run with little impact on my body other than feet gone bad with blisters, I'm okay. It's just a matter of finding the right race next year and I'll get there. Next year I will benefit from this great base.

I am taking it easy the rest of the month and not going to do anything even resembling running training until Thanksgiving. I will start getting in the pool and on the bike sometime next week.

This morning I convinced Dennis to go out and bring Starbucks home. He did, and he also brought home pup cups for the girls. A family of princesses, that's what he has to deal with.

Healing

Last night I had some body work done by a friend who is a retired medical massage therapist. She has a different approach to massage than I've experienced before. She was amazing.

Before she started working on me I showed her my foot where it blistered during North coast and I haven't looked at it in a few days. By last night I almost couldn't tell a difference between the area of callus that had peeled off and the original skin around it. I need to make an effort to keep it that way and prevent the callus from building up again.

This morning I woke up acutely aware of the exact points of attachment of my IT band top and bottom. But it was a good feeling. I definitely had some tightness in there that I wasn't aware of. My shins were sore too, when she got in and started digging. But in general, the old body is doing pretty well. My worst areas are always my shoulders and neck because of the amount of time I spend at the computer.

When I left her house it was a gorgeous sunset over south Fort Collins.

I just want to have fun at Boulder and I hope there's good scenery and nice weather. I can give my friend Eddie a hard time in his first 24 hour race. I recently started doing some mentoring for new runners through the Fort Collins Running Club and that's something I enjoy more than anything, imparting my love of running to other people. It gives me something else to look forward to over the long winter.

The trees are changing colors, but I'm still in denial. I think it will take an actual snowstorm to get me out of summer mode. And in Colorado, that could happen at any moment. Hopefully not until after this weekend.

No Small Feat

In the weeks since I've been back from Badwater I've heard from so many people congratulating me on my finish. I appreciate all the kind words, support and enthusiasm coming from people in the community, the PVH system, and the runners and ultrarunners both locally and out of town.

I've decided to extend my fundraising for the Cancer Care Fund to my future races, like Across the Years and other ultras I'll be doing in the future. The people at the Foundation have been so fantastic to work with. My support for this program doesn't end with Badwater. I hope everyone reading this will consider donating to the PVHS Foundation Cancer Care Fund, the information is on the main blog page to the right. Even a small amount makes a difference for someone in need.

I've been asked to speak to two different groups about my Badwater experience. Each talk is focused on different aspects of the event but have in common self-discipline, teamwork, goal setting, staying focused on the end result, and how it applies to the business world or the world outside of running. I never thought I'd be doing motivational speaking but I think it's easy to talk about something you have so much passion for.

I went back to work this week. It wasn't bad being on my feet the first two days but my feet ached on my last day of work.

I'm back to walking the Buffaloes every day, we're up to 2 miles. Went out for my first run yesterday, five minutes. My feet are still peeling, along with the skin around my ankles from the asphalt burns. My feet are delaminating! Here's a progression of how they look, from last week to this week:







The generous people of Drymax sent me an assortment of socks this week and I'm going to wear them and give them feedback. Here are just a few.

I already wore the sport socks riding my bike, and the running crew socks on my walks and short runs. I have been riding 20 to 35 miles a day this week and those sport socks did keep my feet dry inside my cleats. It's been hot in Fort Collins this week, temperatures around 100 degrees. Everyone is complaining, but I'm more comfortable outside than in the house.

I discovered the bike path in Loveland the other day, which added another 10 miles to my ride. After two hours on the bike my feet were screaming in my cleats. I had to stop and loosen my laces and let my feet out of the box for a while to stretch my toes before I could ride all the way home. My left foot is wider than my right one and always gives me more problems.

As I increase my mileage over the next few weeks, I'll be trying the Drymax trail running, hot weather running, and at least a half dozen other varieties of socks. I plan to wear them at work too, since I'm on my feet running around for twelve plus hours.

I sent my entry into Across the Years for the 48 hour run. If I get a spot in the race, that will be my next big race. They select runners in a lottery since there's so much demand for running the race. It's on a 500 meter track at a small private facility so they can't have open entry.

I can't wait to get back to trail running. I'm thinking about signing up for something around 100 miles this fall. Probably 24 Hours of Boulder. Heartland 100 is already closed, and the other ultras are getting too late in the season, I want some good training time before Across the Years at the end of December.

Hopefully this year the weather will be better at 24 Hours of Boulder. Last year was nasty, running by the light of my headlamp in a garbage bag at 2 in the morning in driving sleet with the wind whipping my face coming off the reservoir, not my idea of a good time. Personally I'd prefer 130 degrees with blazing sunshine anyday.

It's only been two weeks since I finished Badwater but I still have my Death Valley National Park permit on my windshield. I can't let go of it yet. I come home on my days off and sit downstairs where it's quiet and cool, and close my eyes and go back to the race. I have a feeling it's going to be hard to NOT do it next year.

I feel so slow and sluggish on my feet. I have to learn how to run again. This year I trained to finish Badwater, and nothing else. I spent so much time moving slowly that I have to retrain myself to move at a decent pace. By New Years I should be able to work some real running into my schedule!

Between getting back into training, wrapping up some work-related goals this year, public speaking, and sock-testing, it's no small feat!

The lessons will be repeated until they are learned...

One of the reasons we train is to make all our stupid mistakes during the training runs so that we have all the kinks worked out before race day.

This weekend I did my first long back-to-back training runs of the year. I was fortunate to have Doug along the whole way on Friday and part of the day Saturday.

Friday we did 7 Rock Repeats. That was 35 miles and 7000 feet of vertical each way. We kept a consistent pace and averaged less than an hour for each out & back. I could feel my quads on the last two descents but the only thing that was bothering me were two blisters on my heels.

I started a new pair of shoes Thursday and didn't think about it- I wear the same type of shoes all the time and usually breaking them in on most running surfaces is not an issue. Except I didn't think about that fact that I'd be running something steep for 35 miles with them before they were broken in. The blisters weren't too bad and I could only feel them going uphill. I took it easy the whole way and never pushed the pace with Saturday's run in mind.

Saturday I started out early on the bike path, met Doug when I was at 6 miles, and we continued for a full loop around the city. He stopped after the first loop. I continued on to do another out and back on the bike path. We made good time for a walking pace, and I was running mostly every other quarter-mile section of the bike path. After the first loop I could feel those blisters and my feet were hurting.

I was using my house as an aid station and when I got home at 37 miles, I decided I should change my shoes and socks. What I didn't anticipate was excruciating pain just to slip my shoes off over my heels. When I peeled my socks off, both of my heels were completely covered with huge blisters. The left one was bloody and the right one was clear, but they were both HUGE.

I popped them and changed my socks and shoes, and after a grilled cheese sandwich and some soup I headed back out the door, limping for the first few minutes until I got used to the feeling of the shoes rubbing against my heels. My orthotic edges were also causing some pain like I had at Across the Years. I need to cover those with foam tape or moleskin. It was getting dark and I changed to my neighborhood loop. Dennis came out for a while and walked 3 miles with me.

I was moving at a good pace but every step was painful. By the time I hit 43 miles I had already passed the minimum mileage I wanted to do for the weekend. I realized I wasn't accomplishing much fitness-wise by continuing to walk on my painful feet and altering my stride might cause me to injure something else. I tried some running and it was okay but every step was so painful it didn't matter.

I told myself I had to do at least 50. Once I passed 50 miles I decided to stay out until I'd been going for 12 hours. At 51 miles it was 11 hours and 55 minutes of running time since I started, and I decided that was good. I managed 86 miles for the two days, I got 100 miles for the week, and I was done before 10 pm.

This morning it's snowing. I took my bike off the trainer and put it in the garage yesterday. I couldn't have planned it better.

Not a good day for snakes.