Reflections

The last year has provided much to contemplate.
 The joys and the opposing sorrow.

The pleasure of re-introducing my son to the joys of backpacking. Several days in Yosemite were a wonderful flashback to the last time we journeyed the single track together and hiked the Whitney trail .

 It was rewarding to see that spark again.

 Excitement over fields of flowers and less visited lakes.

Last year also gave me the opportunity to introduce backpacking to a first-timer. A short but adventurous trip to small lakes nearby. The spark of “I can do this” on her face, precious.

Then there was the Teton Crest Trail with a special friend whom I met on the JMT years ago, truly an adventure of a lifetime. One can never get over the biodiversity, each day new. I long to run its entirety. Perhaps another time.

Finally, after three unsuccessful years of trying, a lucky lottery draw for the Canyon de Chelly Ultra Run changed my back country focus entirely. Training became more focused. Many a backcountry journey solo. Fastpacking a weekly occurrence. Mileage became obsessive. A total pack weight for three days only 10 pounds made moving fast, running, not hard. The difference between what is necessary to take and that which is merely nice to have obvious.

The race itself an amazing experience in the heart of Navajo country. Cliff dwellings and wild horses existing among the monolithic stone walls, reminders of another time. I had much to contemplate during this 55k. All the adventures that lead to the fulfillment of this opportunity. How far I had come from a narrow escape of a lifetime in a wheelchair and discovering for myself that running can heal in many different ways. The race director words, “running is healing” still in my brain.

http://www.canyondechellyultra.com/

Canyon walls still call out to me. One of my favorite moments was finding myself alone among them. The quiet. Looking up and seeing the spectacular colors, a lone eagle. 

Shaun’s words, ‘running is healing” reverberated, and I cried. 

I am ever so grateful to Shaun Martin and the Navajo Nation for allowing me the opportunity to have this be my last memory of my mother who passed suddenly shortly after this event. Grateful my parents were witness to my finish in this magical place.

Tomorrow, and every day, I will go out and run for “running is healing.

Some Thoughts About Ragnar Trail Los Coyotes

photo by Juddson Taube

After months of putting an Ultra team together and planning, preparing and purchasing for the Ragnar Trail Los Coyotes event, it has come and gone.  I will attempt to assess this event in a balanced method so as to assist anyone may or may not have run a Ragnar Trail event before, or for someone  considering this particular venue for next year.

First a few caveats, I am not a Ragnarian. This was my first such event. I have run many trail races by different groups and enjoy the 50k distance the most and have never had a DNF (did not finish). This was my first such event.  I formed an Ultra team and we did not complete the 120 miles, I have no issues with that. Yes, its disappointing after all the months of planning however this is not Ragnar’s problem, and we are ok with the DNF.  I merely want to outline some observations which could help someone determine if this is the trail race for them and perhaps assist Ragnar address some issues.

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The organization for this particular venue was a little lacking, perhaps because they had never held the event at this location before.  I will give them that.  The pre-race video indicated that “gate” would open at 4 pm. That if you arrived early you could wait in line and enter at 4 pm.  We had no problem with waiting, wanting to be able to pick a campsite while there was still an hour or so of daylight and do so carefully once the “gate” did open.  We drove almost 8 hours to be at this location and were the first to arrive only to find there was no “gate”.  

We stopped at the stop sign and upon talking with tribal police, were told to turn around and drive back down the 2 lane mountain road to a golf course and stay there because the road couldn’t be blocked.  When we mentioned the info on the video, the officer was totally unaware of those instructions.  A representative from Ragnar at the gate would probably have helped. We elected to park on a small cut out about a ¼ mile from the entry.  There was just enough room for three cars if parked carefully.

Cars slowly started arriving all in the hopes of also being in line early, only to be turned around.  Only some were not turned around and they were not staff, we talked to them as they passed by our parked vehicle.   We were the first to arrive at the “gate” and ended up pushed back to about 120^th due to this mismanagement.  This two lane road is not highly used and a simple solution for this situation would have been to have controlled traffic using the law enforcement that exists on the property and their radios.  I live on a very busy two lane mountain road that has a ½ marathon run on it. They have successfully managed to stop and control a thousand or more cars for their event and still allow traffic to get to their destinations without difficulty. 

The camping area for the event was very large and nicely shaded and easily could accommodate the number of vehicles and persons staying for the event.  My only suggestion is that for this venue Ragnar designate a late arrival camping area for persons arriving the subsequent day.  This venue has plenty of room and campers don’t need to be literally on top of each other. Those persons could be directed to put their camps in that area and not on top of existing campsites, eliminating the safe walkways with their tents, decorations, chairs, and tables.  Those walkways were created by campers arriving early. There was significant safety hazards and several persons were observed to have fallen over these same objects in the middle of the night.   Those of us who arrived early did so for a reason.

Check in at headquarters was smooth and the campfire and social area was one of the highlights of the event. The iron cross competition provided a necessary comic relief as one our team mates won a new pair of Salomon shoes. They had a great location for the bonfire and hammocks close to the transition area,  making  for a comfortable wait for your runner to come in an pass the race bib.  They also had three electronic boards that were connected to timing pads about ¼ mile from the transition areas so that you could know when your runner was approaching.  This was a little like watching the stock market change second by second and added to the excitement for the subsequent team mate.  Fantastic idea! This also made the transition area less chaotic and I have to say that it ran far smoother than I ever thought possible. 

Trails were very well marked. If a person got lost or off loop on this event it would have to be the result of their own inattention.  I have done many trail races where there may be no markers for miles and one is left wondering if they took a wrong turn. Not so for Ragnar.  Runners were well informed of the direction and hazards along the way. 

One of the biggest problem we saw were that the port-a-potties were often totally out of TP and full, needing to be serviced more than they were..

 Bring all the water your group needs for drinking/cleaning etc. We thankfully brought five water cooler size bottles with us from home along with several one gallon bottles and had more than enough.  I don’t know what others did. A large water truck centrally located would have been nice for those persons who were unaware of what the water situation really was.  I saw many persons walking around with one and two gallon containers trying to find a source. I don’t know if they ever did..

 

For those who have never been to a Ragnar event I will issue this warning.  This is a party with running sprinkled in.  There were a lot of highly intoxicated persons roaming about then taking off on trails.  This is not what I would consider a real competitive event.  It has its place, but know what you’re getting into.  One of my team mates likened it to a cult event.  The description fits.  Its fine for those who want to party, socialize and experience something like this together.  There were many people there who were good natured and supportive and having fun but there was also a large contingent party animals also. Part of me felt like the land cherished by the Native Americans who live there was raided and tainted.  I may have this all wrong but I have lingering feelings of sadness.

The trails were incredibly hard.  Beware, if you have never run a trail race before this may not be the first one you want to do.  There are long stretches uphill in sun exposure which most persons except for elites could only walk. The downhills had their own challenges.  It is here where we lost one of our team mates to injury very early on. Another team mate who was well trained and used to distance running had health issues on the Red Loop.  The heat coupled with long hike uphill and her only having one kidney made her seriously ill.  I couldn’t envision her doing it again later on.  That left two of us, one with a heart of gold who probably would have run the whole 120 miles himself if so directed and myself still recovering from a recently healed broken foot.  We elected to scratch our race. We had no idea there were other options available. In fact the trail guide and the webinar both state that teams have to stick with the pattern they started with.

It is here that I have a couple of suggestions for Ragnar Trail and for anyone who does this event.  It would be really nice for us newbies if somewhere in your trail guide you list the following information and reiterate it also one your webinar. We only found out about it far too late to make changes.

1.  If team mate drops out, the others can still run their distances and medal.

2. You can create your own pattern of loops, give several examples.  We would have loved to have known that each of our four man team could have done the red loop first, then each of us do the green loop followed by the yellow loop. We assumed, erroneously that the descriptions given in the guide and the webinar were the only options.   

According to staff with whom we spoke far too late, there was some flexibility we were unaware of. You may say, “you could have asked about this during the Q&A of the webinar” however this was also too late in our planning for the event.  A couple of our runners had already been training the pattern we thought we were locked into. 

So, it is with this I close, would I do it again? No, It’s not for me.  I do see its place and respect that.  Perhaps some persons will fall in love with trail running from the experience. Just know what you’re getting into and what others don’t say about events like this.  It will help your overall experience.  For me, I will return to running lone.

Further Thoughts Regarding Asics Trail Shoes

Very quick thoughts on the two Asics trail shoes I own.

As preparations for an ultra-Ragnar race are underway (https://www.runragnar.com/event-detail/trail/los_coyotes_) with three friends for this holiday weekend, I am reminded again of the need to compare trail running shoes. 

Since my last post on the two different models of Asics trail shoes, I have had the pleasure of wearing each for over 300 miles and under different conditions.

ASICS Gel Venture Five

The Gel Venture 5 is likely to come out my favorite. These shoes shed mud almost immediately, are superbly comfortable and have decent grip in rocky terrain.

Asics Fuji Trabuco 4

My only gripe about the Fuji Trabuco 4 was that mud balled up on the heal much like when snow sticks to the bottom of telemark skis when they haven’t been properly waxed and spring conditions prevail, but I digress.  I’m sure there will be plenty to say about ski gear and conditions this winter. Perhaps as a result of their tread pattern.

Fuji Trabuco 4on the left and Gel Venture Five on the right

This weekend is 120 miles of shared “fun” commiseration and endurance at Los Coyotes Native American Reservation. Four of us will divide the task and spend 24 hours with probably no more than 3 hours sleep. We will run varied terrain and my intention is to wear both these shoes at least once. Yes, I plan on taking my mainstays also, Salomon Sense Pro and Salomon Speed Cross 3.  Yes, a gal can’t take enough shoes. What can I say?  At least I didn’t pack all of them (see post dated 8/9/16 ASICS Trail Shoe Review.

Can’t wait for the event and the chance to review a race at a new venue. 

ASICS Trail Shoe Review

As promised a trail running shoe review on to pair of two ASICS trail models. First this must be prefaced by explaining a few things. I’m in no way sponsored by any brand and run between 50 and 75 miles a week. About 70% of that is on trails.  Prior to my recent injury, would race about every 6-8 weeks in varied terrains and everything from 5-50k and working towards a 50 miler when sidelined.

I am the proud owner of probably 30 pair of trail running shoes.  Don’t tell my husband. I’ve been purchasing them in two or three different colors so he can’t tell the how many there actually are. Although, last week he was seen staring at the shoe rack.  He could be on to me. Hey, they each do something different.

There are some for moderate distance road, long distance road, road racing and speed work. Then there are the trail shoes. There are some for short, moderate and long distance and there are some for short non-technical, moderate non-technical, long non-technical and then we come to the technical models, you get the idea here. It can be compared to the 100 fishing rods and 15 pairs of skis my husband has.  I run in Hoka, Altra, and Salomon primarily, however, have run in New Balance, Saucony and ASICS in the past.

I have been in search of a light terrain trail shoe for everyday use  on the 4 mile mountain trail behind my house that has no technical qualities about it at all. The purchase of a pair of ASICS Fuji Trabuco 4 neutral shoe was a whim. Due to many years of figure skating, rock climbing, and trail running, there is severe arthritis in both my first metatarsophalangeal joints.  Often times, shoes are difficult to fit because the overlays and eyelets on most models usually land right on that joint, causing pain when the foot flexes as it moves forward. I have been in search of an everyday shoe whose design alleviates the pressure to the big toe area. 

ASICS Fuji Trabuco 4

The Fuji Trabuco 4 comes very close.  This particular model is lightweight, has gel cushioning and the lacing does not seem to bother my toes nearly as much as some shoes.The toe box is wider and it breathes very well and has a reasonable grip for moderate technical terrain. This particular shoe I have trained in and run a race of moderate technicality. The grip was good for rocks, branches and uneven loose terrain. I purchased a half size larger than my regular shoe and the fit is perfect.The stack height is 28 inches and for approximately $90, it is a good all around every day shoe. This particular model has a garage for laces. Now i just need a garage for all my shoes.

ASICS Gel Venture Five

The next shoe purchased was just a few weeks after the previous model, it is the ASICS Gel Venture Five.  The purchase was only because due to needing something with more stability side to side, having just come out of my walking cast from breaking my fifth metatarsal.  The podiatrist advised to wear stable athletic shoes and avoid shoes that could potentially cause my ankle to roll and I found an excuse for another purchase.

The Gel Venture runs for approximately $60 and are quite different than the Fuji Trabuco 4 in that they have considerably more side to side stability.  As you can see by the photo, there is additional overlay striping. The overlays are less flexible than the Fuji Trabuco 4 and add to the support. Additionally, they are a little bit narrower in the toe box, providing for more more stability.

Having been prevented from running for the last few weeks, I do not know what the quality of traction actually is.  The out sole feels as though it has very good grip for moderate technical trails. They are very comfortable and have a less flexible mid and out sole than the other model, making them ideal for a person recovering from an injury, such as mine or someone desiring a more stable ride. Currently I have been wearing these shoes seven hours every day around the house, yard, and running errands. They cause no pain to the first metatarsophalangeal joints and the foot feels feel well protected. Once they have been tested an, update will be posted.

There is a new pair of Altra Lonepeak 2.5 In a box that haven’t been able to be unboxed yet. 

Looking towards the day I can run again.

In The Beginning

To understand my motivation for starting this blog you one would have to understand what it’s like to be sidelined with an injury.  My running 50-75 miles a week cut short to riding a stationary bike.  Approximately 50 races on my bucket list completed and a Ragnar Tahoe Ultra Race postponed and transferred to another venue.  I am now motivated to write as I spend a great deal of my time now sitting, healing.

How did this come to be?  A race.  But first a bit of history, I am not as young as I used to be none of us are) and took up ultra-running 5 years ago.  I had never run before, hated running with a passion in school and was known for commenting on how crazy anyone was for wanting to do anything more than a 5k.  I would never be one of those persons.  Not me.  

Then came “the bucket list”.

I have always been a backpacker, having explored Colorado, Arizona and California since I was nine years old thanks to my parents.  The John Muir Trail became a dream when I was faced with a very sudden undiagnosed neurological problem and the great possibility of being in a wheelchair in the near future.  Anyway, in an effort to stabilize my walking from a weeble to a wobble to someone who was able to handle paths with cliffs on one edge, I took up running. 

I went from my first race, walking a half marathon (more on that later) to running a 50k in just over one year. I just completed that same 50k, in June, placing 2^nd in my age group, the weekend before and for fun only, ran the Walt Stack Double Dipsea.  It was here that I met my fate.

Stinson Beach and Muir Woods were a wonderful backdrop for a race.  The trail incredibly beautiful and challenging. The Race was put on by outstanding people, couldn’t ask for more.  I felt great.  Just over a half marathon, this was no biggy.  It was on the way back from Mill Valley that I met with disaster. Mile 8.5.  The trail is one where you have to work your brain, concentrate on the obstacles and know where to land.  I did so all throughout without problem. Until it got easy.  It was when the trail smoothed out and had no obstacles, no stairs that I became complacent and dropped my focus.  I twisted my foot and immediately felt a pop.  The pain came as I passed an aide station and made the decision to power walk the pain away.  Unfortunately, it didn’t leave me.

The swelling was almost immediately after I passed my DNF option.  I have never had a non-finish and wasn’t about to experience that on this run. Getting into this was another bucket list item. So I pressed on and slowly began running again.  The pain increased and I was faced with my brain wanting to focus on it which was making things worse.  That went on for about a mile.

I knew something was not good with my foot, I thought it was possibly a bad ankle sprain. It felt like it was my ankle, the same one I broke in three places the first day of ski season several years ago while getting equipment down from our attic.  I kept focusing on the pain and the obvious swelling that was occurring in my Salomon shoes.

As I pressed on, I came upon a couple of runners ahead of me and came to the realization that if I focused on them, if I could pass them, I would have something else to focus on. I could leave the pain behind me on the trail.  So, I did.  I did this with each runner I subsequently came upon. It became a game of sorts.  “I can beat this one”.  I studied their gate, their body position and their overall running attitude and picked them off one by one. 

I made it out the last 5 miles plus this way and completed the Race feeling little pain.

I placed third in my age group and went home with a broken fifth metatarsal. 

And here I sit. 

What I learned from this was; 1) get yourself out by yourself when possible, 2) you can set the pain aside by focusing outside yourself and 3) the race will go down as my favorite because of what I learned.

I love running.