Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Process is as Important as the Result

It is the day after the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run and I am at at a crossroads. I only got to mile 26 before I got timed out. The thing is, I knew that this was going to happen and despite knowing this I trained harder than I have ever trained in my life.

The reason I expected failure was write in the race handbook. The race had a 33 hour time limit (20 minutes /mile average) but the early cutoffs were at a much faster pace (around 18:44  pace). This left me with an almost impossible task. Instead of going out at a conservative pace, I was going to have to go out hard and run a lot more than I wanted too or that I am capable of.
  • My AC 100 Live Stats HERE.
  • My Garmin Stats HERE.
Here is the run down of the major climbs in the first 26 miles:
  • Out of Wrightwood, we climbed to the PCT: 2150 feet in 3.51 miles (2150 / 18585 = 11.6% Climb).
  • Then at mile 14, we climbed from Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden - Powell: 2500 feet in 3.77 miles (2500 /19906 = 12.6% Climb).
Here are the cutoff times:
  • Inspiration Point; 9.3 miles / 8:15 am (20:58 pace)
  • Vincent Gap: 13.9 miles / 9:20 am (20:09 pace overall).
  • Islip Saddle: 25.9 miles / 1:05 pm (18:44 pace)
I got to IP at 8:01 and left at 8:02 (cut off was 8:15) so my pace was 19:28 so far. But now I was in trouble. Instead of taking it easy to VG so I could climb Baden - Powell, I had to pick up the pace a lot. I ended up running the 4.6 miles at 14:53 pace and got to VG at 9:09 and left at 9:10. My overall pace was 17:59.

The cutoff time at VG was 9:20 so I could not spend any time at the aid station before the climb. Plus the next aid was 12 miles away and it was hot. I filled my bottles but did not refill my Nathan and I knew that was going to be an issue.

I was in dead last and had been since the start. Running the first 14 miles solo was hard and if I had been with people, I would have run the first 9 miles quicker like I did in the training run. On that day, I stayed with some runners to the top and was able to follow them down to IP. On that day, I got to VG in 4:20 so I was 10 minutes faster on race day but I had 85 miles to go instead of 12.

.So I headed back on the trail to try and make the IP cutoff of 1:05 pm. I had 3:55 to get there (Needed to do 19:35 pace.). On the training run, I caught 5 or 6 people but today no one was in sight. Plus there were no hikers for the most part so I was heading up on my own. This was my third ascent of Baden-Powell and in the past, I have hiked all the way to the top strongly and did not stop at all.

But in the race, I felt weak and even stopped a couple times to catch my breathe. Things were not looking good and I felt my dream slipping away. But I kept plugging away and when I was near the top, I finally caught a fellow competitor. I was almost 18 miles into the race and this was the first time I had someone to run with.

With 8 miles to go, we mainly had downhills and eventually I could not keep up with him and realized my race was done. My bad left knee would not allow me to run them and with 2 miles to go to the mile 26 checkpoint, I only had 24 minutes to get there. So I just cruised into Islip Saddle and accepted my fate: DNF.

My official time into the station was 1:24 pm (cutoff was 1:05). If I had tried to run in, I would have maybe gone 5 minutes faster but it was pointless. The runner I caught got there with a minute to spare and then timed out at mile 30 along with a couple other my training partners. A few others made it to Cloudburst (37.5 miles) and there day was done.

In the end, the stats for the race were:
  • 75 Finishers
  • 41 Did Not Start
  • 50 Did Not Finish
So 75 out of 166 finished the race, which means 45% of the entrants finished. Of those who started (125), 60% finished.

Now most 100s that I have looked into do not start time cutoffs so soon and if you made the mile 26 cutoff  26 x 20 minute miles, that would have given us 35 more minutes. Instead of the cutoff being 1:05 pm it would be 1:40 pm. with this extra time myself and my friends could have taken it a little easier on the big climbs and spent a little more time in the aid stations as well. I spent one minute in each because of time constraints.

The Vincent Gap AS (mile 14) was a critical one because it was 12 miles to the next one and you had to climb to 9300 feet and stay there for awhile. I ran out of with a couple miles to go and I heard others did as well. so even if we had survived the cutoffs, we were digging ourselves a huge hole early into the race.

 Now I am not asking for changes in the race and even if I and others did, I doubt they would happen. I think of the Angeles Crest 100 like the Masters in golf and the world needs unique events. As far as me returning, I doubt I will until I can run sub eleven for a trail 50 miler. At my current speed, I think it is impossible for me to finish this with the cutoffs they have.

What I plan to do in 2013, is run the training runs so that if I do return someday, I will know the course.

 too be continued ...


I basically flunked the medical.
3am race morning.
Vincent Gap

Vincent Gap
At Chilao waiting for the leader to run by.


New Rules Impact on the Summer Series




Last year under the 20% Sandbag Rule, only 4 were penalized at the Summer Series. This year under the 5 minute rule, 13 were penalized.

2011 Race 4:

1) Runner exceeded their 20% improvement limit by 1:29.
(2) Runner exceeded their 20% improvement limit by 5:47.
(3) Runner exceeded their 20% improvement limit by 3:08.
(4) Runner exceeded their 20% improvement limit by 2:27.
Subsequent improvement will result in further penalty.


2012 Race 4:

Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 10:51. (9) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 1:57.
(2) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 3:46. (10) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 1:33.
(3) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 12:58. (11) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 2:18.
(4) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 0:24. (12) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 7:16.
(5) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 1:47. (13) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 1:10.
(6) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 0:49. (14) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 0:44.
(7) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 4:13. (13) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 0:35.
(8) Runner exceeded their 5:00 min. improvement limit from first race by 1:29. Subsequent improvement will result in further penalty.

Badwater Ultramarathon Profile

 What is it?
A 135-mile road race through Death Valley, starting at Badwater at 282 feet below sea level through to Mt Whitney. The original concept was to run from the lowest point in the US to the top of the highest mountain in the 48 contiguous states, but it now ends at Whitney Portal at 8,360 feet. The race describes itself as “the world’s toughest footrace” and it’s certainly not to be taken lightly. It’s also not flat, as some think, but does involve many seemingly endless roads that go to the heat-blurred horizon. It does have many flat sections and three major climbs as can be seen in the profile below.

Badwater Ultramarathon Profile