The FUN of the FIDDY

PC: Bernson Photography

"Because in the end.you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing you lawn.
Climb that goddamn mountain." -Jack Kerouac

Thanks to a little Mozart in the Jungle here comes a rather late tale of a first time fifty mile finish inspired to become a repeat offender. First, let's take a flashback to where this whole journey began...the yoga mat.  I laid there in savasana parting the sea of ideas, thoughts seeking to distract peace.  Faces, sounds, passion, and then clarity.  Change is the reward.  Adventure is the path.  Passion is the music that plays cresting the summit.  All this carried me to the finish line on Boylston St. and into a deeper meditation on life and running. Most of this race reflection is going to be on the movement that led to the event and I'll highlight a few of the cornerstone moments that really brought the experience together.


While volunteering at Bull Run Aid Station for the Quicksilver 100k with the Stevens Creek Striders I was asked your typical question: "What's next for you?"  A few moments late the universe spoke to me.  I ask Peggy if I should do the 50 Miler. She replied: "Go ahead and Do It! You want to.  I see it in your eyes."

"Never limit where running can take you." Is the inscription that Bart Yasso signed my copy of his book and a mantra I hold dear.  The whole build up to December 5th was filled with love and signs affirming the decision. All truth be told my entire community was behind me including the my running store, A Runner's Mind, whom allowed me to tweak my schedule so I can spend 4, 5, or even 6 hours training in the Headlands and geek out on the course like Karl Hoagland advised me during a few miles we shared at Overlook 50k.

PC: Lady Cyclist; Carnales en Training

I debated whether or not to have a pacer.  My approach to this event was an experiment. I've never ran that far before in one bout.  My goal was to be in and around 10 hours. Outside of working Get Out the Vote efforts when I was in politics. I've never had to put in that amount of time to complete a race.  Low and behold here comes the universe again.  One of our new hires at a Runner's Mind in July was an ultrarunner and a speedy one (confirmed via ultrasignup.com) at that.  Her name is Megan. She asked me if I needed a pacer.  She gave me the weekend to think about it.  I replied and she responded: "you're in luck the 50k sold out.  So I'll pace you at North Face!" Megan's husband David would join us and serve as my crew. Thank you David for crewing for me on your BIRTHDAY! I'll elaborate on pacing in a few.

Bare with me if you're not into astrology but I am and I am proud to be a July 30th Leo. Megan as it turns out also happens to be a Leo; August 18th to be exact.  I had to take a step back because August 18th is the birth date of my late grandmother Elena Lopez (hint: this is another sign).  My grandmother was taken from us by breast cancer.  In reflecting back upon her history, Grandma was a fighter.  She spear headed my families move to the United States around the time of revolution. A revolution that split families and pinned kin against each other on the battle field.

Megan and I coordinated training around our work schedules and we had some good outings with delicious meals afterwards.  These runs helped shape how I would approach the last 23 miles of the race.  After our first run I knew that a) Megan has positive energy, b) she races to win, and c) she can crush the downhills. During our meals she peppered me with questions like:

"Do you want to run along side, in front, or behind you?

"How do you like to be motivated?"

"What do you go for at aid stations?"

Well those are the ones I remember.  Most of my responses were unclear except for the motivation one which was simple tell it like it is.  The most important part of these runs is that she got to experience me having a good day, low mental moments, a fatigued day, and a day we had to improvise our way back to the cars.  This was crucial on race day when you must be ready to face the good, the bad, or the ugly.

The night before the race I prepped Megan and David with the plan, anticipated time frames per aid station, what I had in my drop bags, and gave them the Oh Shit bag.  In the Oh Shit bag I prepped for two scenarios. Scenario #1: Oh Shit we have to problem solve included change of shoes, first aid kit, back up power charger, rain poncho, and additional hydration and nutritional items.  Scenario #2: Oh Shit we are having a good day had a flip belt with a Chocolate Seasalt GU in my flipbelt and a Simple Hydration bottle with electrolytes.

PC: Michele Sun. Prepping the dropbags.

From the get go I planned to start the day conservatively which was really easy to do because of all the friends I had running in the race, working the aid stations, and lining the course to cheer.  Early
on I knew my friend Sablle was also doing North Face as her first 50 miler.  We hit the trails together on a few training runs and planned to run to Stinson Beach together.  We kept each other in check with hydration, power hiking, and geeked out on the gear we observed in the mid and back of the pack.

Arriving at Stinson Beach felt awesome. I picked up Megan, shared some plesantries, planned for not seeing David til Tennessee Valley and we were on our way.  The first half of the race my aid stations stops ate up a bit of time as I had to use the portos hydration was on point but in hindsight I was running deficient in electrolytes but I remedied that later on...

Reaching Cardiac AS for part deux was another swift AS visit. There I dropped my UD AK vest, downed the rest of my bottle, refilled it, thanked the volunteers, said "Hi!" to Pen, Paulette, and Marcia.  The section that followed worried me a little because the downhill has some technical aspects and lots of places where gravity could inflict carnage on the quads.  However, I felt great so Megan headed down ahead of me clearing the path and dashed down behind her.  I definitely used up more calories than expected so I dipped into my stash of Justin's Almond butter and later on my wheat bread with almond butter.  Megan made sure to note that since we started running at Stinson that no runners had passed me and I was passing hella people.  While I did not keep a tally at the end of the day only two runners passed me in the last twenty three miles.

Highs and Lows go hand in hand in running especially ultras.  One great high was seeing my friend Emily Gordon and her boyfriend Ryan at Old Inn AS.  Totally unexpected and exceptionally awesome!  Thanks for coming out Emily! The aforementioned low happened climbing out of Muir Woods.  This climb sucked!  It was also the only part of the course I did not train on.  After getting through that is when my hip flexor started to flare up especially on the descents.  It was suck it up butter cup time.

In my mind I kept counting down the miles to 40.  Once I got to 40 it was on regardless of my condition. Why? I had spent so much time running those last 10 miles and visualizing them every moment possible.  Rolling into Muir Beach was spectacular that stretch leading into the aid station allowed my stride to open up and get into a nice rhythm and the hip flexor issue went away for the time being.  The gremlin in the hip flexor resurfaced on the descents heading towards Tennessee Valley (Mile 44ish).

PC: Chad Su; Entering Tennessee Valley AS

The fresh scent of the eucalyptus is what I looked forward towards.  I grew up drinking eucalyptus tea that my grandma would make. It always takes me back to those beautiful early years of childhood and today it would sound the horn of a triumphant finish. First, I dumped my flipbelt, simple hydration bottle, and grab my Nathan handheld while downing coke with  3 salt tabs, eating two chips, some water, and thanking the volunteers.  Robert & Shannon, so great to see you both. Dan thanks for coming out and volunteering! And just like that we were off.

Oh to spend more time on these heavenly trails. To feel the rhythm of the leaves rustling in the wind. To become one with each subtle bend. To know the way each pebble sways when bustled by its maker.  Exquisite it is.

Exquisite is how I'd describe the last 10km of The North Face Challenge.  How could it not be!  The best hill of the course awaited us the magnificent Marincello where I shift into 2nd gear and grind. How did 50 miles go by so quickly? My mind began to drift and the eyes would swell with emotion. Thankfully, a new crazy venture is already planned.

This crazy idea was in the final chapter I had to take in some deep breaths and turn sightly away from Megan.  I mean I couldn't let her see passion in liquid form there was work to be done.  We approached the last aid station.  Megan asked me several questions. Each one was answered with No. Then she asked: "Ya wanna just run right through it?" Ohh ho ho....Did I ever say YES to that one!!!
We applauded and thanked the volunteers to which they responded with cheering and clapping. The Energy was so great that my hip flexor ceased to hurt.

Being a nerd when it comes to running has its advantages.  Seeing friends exit the event area and recognizing ultra luminaries with festive smiles.  Then choir of boisterous men were going nuts for the runner behind me that about to pass me up in the last 200m.  Soon as he passed I turned to Megan and like a pacer gave me her last instructions. "Go get him!!!" I caught up to him. Stared in his eyes and dropped the hammer. 10 hours. 28 minutes. 33 seconds. FIDDY's are FUN.

PC: Lucien; Coastal 50k Training Partners

"We lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies." - Jack Kerouac

Black Canyons 100k anyone? See you in AZ!