(No no, that just sounds insane. Start again)
So I was running this great 12 hour training run on Saturday…
(Abort! Abort!)
I just took third male at the Brazen Dirty Dozen 12 hour race on Saturday with 61.22 miles! I set my PRs for 50K, 50 mile, and my distance PR for the race AND for a training week!
(OK, but you’re going to go with accomplishments, accomplishments, accomplishments? Lame.)
I got to hang out with my awesome friend Meredith for twelve hours straight on Saturday! And, oh, by the way, we were running.
Some races are epic for different reasons. Based in Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, The Brazen Dirty Dozen isn’t the most scenic, nor does it have ridiculous elevation gains, nor is the trail super technical. But it’s a blast to run (even more with a friend!) and I have fond memories of it last year as my gateway ultra when I first made it to 50 miles. This year, I loved it even more as an indicator of my progress: a gut check, a skills check, and a gear check.
Yeah, you know how I go on and on about “don’t try anything new on race day”? I basically threw that out the window and somehow still had a great race. More on that later.
Logistically, the race is around a mild 3 mile trail loop for the first 11 hours, then around a 0.65 mile loop for the last hour. Runners try to max out on the distance travelled. There’s an aid station at the start/finish and one roughly halfway around the big loop. One of the aspects I really, really appreciated while racing the 12 hour is that it lets you focus on the details. Pack isn’t working out? Swap it out at your ridiculously oversized bag of gear. Stomach upset from drinking wasp juice? There’s a restroom coming right up! In many ways, this was the ideal way to compare gear and nutrition lap to lap and tweak the details in a safe, easy environment. Like I said, a good training 12 hour, and three miles is just long enough not to go completely bonkers crazypants.
And at the end of the day, yes, you are running laps for 12 hours. But it’s really not as bad as it sounds. (It builds character, right?) Your world contracts to a series of questions. Should I walk up the next hill? Am I getting enough calories? What do I need to get at the next aid station? This is great practice for a non-loop race, as you can dedicate your brain cells normally used in navigation to more important matters like remembering the words to the Journey song blasting out of your pack.
That being said, I know I couldn’t have pushed myself this hard or even hard nearly as much fun without Meredith. We were both fresh off of our amazing #alaskanadventure and eager to try out our new bag of tricks. I am so proud to say that we raced smart. Our pace drifted from 10 mins/mile to 12, but there weren’t any laps that were obviously too fast or slow. We kept each other in check when necessary, bargained with each other about where to walk, and rehearsed aid stations before we hit them. Communication was key, and thankfully we were on the same page. Chatting transitioned into listening to podcasts then to singing along to music. This gradually faded to terse descriptions of landmarks to literally just pointing and grunting. And then just pointing. But it was companionable pointing. Go team!
Oh, you wanted an actual report of the race?
Through the start chute, around the corner to the coast, past the outhouse, up the little hill with the bad footing, around to the walking hill, then up those 2 inclines to the quick downhill, around the corner to the disgusting outhouse, up the road to the AID STATION, then past the walking cones up the small hill to the first straight section (boo) to the LONGER straight section (BOO!) to the walking log through to the running log, then a quick downhill to the exposed uphill along the ridge to the road and BACK to the start chute. Again. And again. AND AGAIN. It builds character. Really.
Meta report:
Miles 1-26: It was cool and we were still chatty. The miles passed pretty quickly thanks to James and Robin for 6 of them.
Miles 26-33: I’m dreaming about the Hell or High Watermelon I’ve stashed in my drop bag
Mile 33: BEER
Miles 33-36: POST BEER. (Pat carries us through the post beer lull)
Miles 37-40: No man’s land. We’ve got almost 6 hours still to run and it’s getting hot. Music time.
Miles 40-57: Grind it out. Get loopy. It’s ok, there’s nobody on the trail anymore. Howland picks us up for a lap.
Miles 57-61: We made it past our previous distance PR! Everything is gravy! Why are we pushing ourselves even harder now on the small loop?? Howland joins in for a final small lap.
Ahd that was that! We didn’t get any severe GI issues, nor did we overheat, nor did we pull or strain anything, and our splits were fading, but consistent. Well done, team. And a huge, huge thank you to our pacers (Robin and James X2!!!, Patrick, and Howland)
My favorite moment (ok, series of moments) came from my attempts to inject some surrealism into the race via the ole’ horsehead mask. From the finish line announcer on an early lap “I ah don’t know how to say this, but there’s a horse coming across the finish line”
What’s most heartening is that we put the pieces together. One year ago I came into this race completely intimidated, and only jumped up from the 6 to the 12 hour at the very last moment. Now, this is “just” a training race. I’ve earned some hard won experience: when and how to push, how to pick myself up out of the bad spots, and how to pace. What scares (and excites!) me is that I’m finally seeing how much I still have to learn. It’s all too easy to distill an entire day into a single number especially once the soreness fades. But somehow all of those tedious moments spiked with a few exciting ones add up to greatness. Like any race, there were good times and bad, and I’m proud to say that during those bad times I just put my head down and kept going.
And for the gear nerds...
Hoka One One Stinson ATR: My magic shoes, my 7 league boots, my +Dex footgear...gave me 2 massive blisters. But it was totally worth it! Even at lap 16 I was pounding the (ok not so impressive) downhill on the course, but I attribute my relatively non-beat-upedness of my muscles to the Hokas. Love, love, love them.
Pearl Izumi sun sleeves: These are white sleeves with UV protection and great heat transfer. I wore them for all 12 hours! When the day heated up, I doused them with water and they were a great cooling device. Also, Howland flips out when I call them “arm coolers” so, you know, bonus.
Ultraspire Omega pack: I can fit a horsehead mask and a bluetooth speaker in this and still have plenty room for layers, nutrition, and hydration with NO chafing. WIN.
Ultimate Direction body bottles: These were actually the dark horse (heh) winners in the gear arena. I used them instead of my hydration bladder for the first lap and thought I would swap them out ASAP. Instead, I ended up loving them! I could stuff them in my pack and they were super easy to handle and drink out of. I also want to cover them in this and call them my “one direction” bottles.
Vespa “Wasp Juice” supplement: Oh, wasp juice. Supposedly, this supplement lets you metabolize your fat stores more effectively AND helps with hangovers (THE ONE WEIRD TRICK ULTRARUNNERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT) I’m on the fence about this one. I felt great today, but I was nailing my nutrition regardless (chicken broth + pirate’s booty = chicken booty) It’s expensive and tastes...well...it tastes like how I imagine licking a wasp would taste like. But on the bright side at no point did I bonk or feel super hungry on Saturday, so success, perhaps? I also was eating small amounts of real food every 20-25 minutes, so it was hard to tell. I’m going to try again at Encounters Overlook.
Ultragen recovery drink: Supposedly a witches’ brew of proteins, simple carbs, and amino acids. Chugged a hit of this after the race. I attribute my non-soreness to a combination of this and my hokas.
Braven 600: My sole nonstandard piece of race gear. It’s a bluetooth speaker that I slipped into my front pack pocket. The Braven has enough oomph to provide podcasts and music for two. Great morale booster.
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