I just spent the last month working a clinical rotation in Las Vegas, based in a few hospitals. Great time to run less mileage and recover from Western States, but it was very difficult to be away from my family. So happy to be home now. I am not a big Vegas kind of guy, but the few half days I could get out to run I had a few good jaunts up the local Frenchman peak near where I lived in Northeast Vegas. The biggest running highlight was a loop over Mt Charleston (basically "little Switzerland"), and a couple short sessions in Red Rocks.
Since it was Vegas, there were many medical cases directly related to the way people "experiment" out there.. we will leave it at that..
Not too much new info on Vitargo usage, but what I did learn at Western States is that I could stay hydrated with 5 scoops per bottle. Hope you enjoy the toy selection as a backdrop...
Monday, July 2, 2012
2012 Western States 100.. one for the ages
The dirt road along the American River.. just before Rucky Chucky Crossing. (Galen Burrell footage)
What an awesome race last weekend. I'd told myself going into it that my primary goal was to make the 100 mile running experience as fun as possible. Given the unseasonably cool weather, my expectations were met by simply having a blast out there, except for maybe 10 miles of grinding around mile 30 and 90. I wish I had time for a race report, but Galen Burrell and Rickey Gates, my stellar pacers, took some fine footage.
Rucky Chucky Crossing, mile 78..feeling good
The best single track section of Cal Street, if not the whole race.. mile 74 or so..
The Bondi B in action (Tim Olsen, new WS 100 record holder, wrote: "Next thing we knew, Mackey makes a Killian move up on the bank and goes
screaming down the trail, as someone muttered, “Time to Fly,” which
cracked us all up as Mackey’s Hokas went bombing down the hill.")
As far as fueling, I found my magic Vitargo formulation to be 5 scoops of Vitargo per water bottle (4 plain unflavored with 1 flavored (ie Grape or Tropical punch). Thus made it very easy to mix the morning of the race, without having to use a blender.
1) Fill bottle half with water, pour in one scoop. Shake vigorously . Add another scoop. Shake
2) Add a couple more ounces of water and a scoop. Shake. Add one more scoop.. shake.
3) This is 4 scoops now and you are getting close to a gel.. Add a bit more water and the last scoop gradually. With the right vigorous shaking the gel/drink like mix will form. Just be sure to shake immediately when adding scoops. 5 scoops= 700 calories.
I carried 2 bottles most of the first half of the race, with a few short sections of one bottle. I also ate some real food (ie PBJ and bananas), but ate no commercial gels at all. 80% of my calories were from Vitargo, about 10% from PBJ, and 10% from bananas and a couple handfuls of chips.
Rickey Gates photos below. Rickey won the Montrail 6K Uphill the day before the WS 100, followed in 2nd place by my other pacer, Galen Burrell. I felt obligated to be the first to the top of Squaw in my165K race, felt fine with the altitude and weather, so I didnt disappoint. Sorry I couldnt win my race though, guys. I really tried.
Galen kept me in smiles on Cal Street
Tom Lyons: the best crew guy in the world has crewed me 4 times at WS 100 now.
Thank you Tom, Rickey, Galen, Mark Richtman, and Jed Tukman, Russell and the Injinji crew for housing me and good bonding (and Tom had a couple other folks helped him crew here and there that I didn't even see). Thanks Vitargo for the endless energy, Injinji for keeping me comfy underfoot, Hoka for generalized elevation in all my running, and Udos for quicker recovery. Congratulations to Tim and Ellie Greenwood on their records, and to all who tried this massive accomplishment.
