WS100 Training Weekend - Bonus Day 4 (Tuesday)

According to Tim (Twietmeyer), we covered a total of 77 miles over all three days - this includes the "off-course" runs to and from buses and aid-stations not a part of the regular course. I woke-up Tuesday feeling great and figured it would be fun to do a few more!

The only part of the course we didn't cover is the first 30 miles - from Squaw Valley to Robinson Flat. As it was yet another beautiful sunny day in California, I decided to drive out to Squaw and do the first climb from the Squaw Valley floor (elevation 6,200 feet) to Emigrant Pass (elevation 8,750 feet), a climb of 2,550 vertical feet in the first 4.5 miles of the race. I need the hill training - particularly running downhills.

I covered the 9 miles - 4.5 up and 4.5 down - with plenty of lollygagging on the way up but a hard, non-stop run down. By the time I got to the bottom, I was ready for dinner at a little outdoor restaurant at the ski resort!

This brought my 4 day total to 86 miles covering all the major climbs and descents of the race. As I sit in San Francisco writing this on Wednesday afternoon, I feel surprisingly good!

Visually, the climb is daunting. You're literally running up a ski slope!

Aside from the occasional thigh-deep snow over the last mile or so, it was a beautiful and peaceful climb to the top. Somehow I missed the Emigrant Pass monument, but I did find a nice little FAA VHF retransmission station at a peak my GPS said was 8,881' so I figured I'd completed the spirit of the climb! :-) The geeky pilot in me later confirmed that I had indeed found the FAA's Squaw Valley RCAG (Remote Communications Air-to-Ground).

Rapidly melting snow provided several dramatic waterfalls along the way:

Looking down onto Lake Tahoe to the East (I had no idea that thing is 1,500' deep in the middle!):



The view to the West... The trail continues somewhere over there!



And finally the larger, snow-covered mountains to the South:

WS100 Training Weekend - Day 3 (Monday)

For Monday, we ran the final 21 miles of the race from the river crossing to the finish in Auburn. This is a very nice, relatively flat, and runnable section of the course. This was also my second time running this portion - useful as this is the part I'll be running at night. Yet another beautiful sunny day with a starting temperature of about 75, warming-up nicely to around 90 by the time we reached the (American River) Confluence area. After I worked out some initial stiffness and soreness over the first few miles, I felt surprisingly good and ran the section in just under 5 hours - a 23 hour pace for the full 100.

The North fork of the American River flows under the Foresthill Bridge just prior to the confluence with the Middle Fork about 3 miles from Auburn. The Foresthill Bridge is the tallest bridge in California and is often used in films, commercials, and (legal and illegal) bungee and base jumping.



Also in the Confluence area is the famous No Hands Bridge. The name "No Hands" stems from the fact that the bridge was originally a railroad crossing and as such did not have handrails. When it was converted to a pedestrian/equestrian bridge, handrails were eventually added - probably after someone fell off and sued. The bridge, at mile 96.8 of the 100 mile race, is certainly a welcome sight for weary runners! This pic shows runners on the No Hands bridge; the Foresthill bridge is visible in the upper left.



A rare picture of me! After crossing No Hands and already logging 74 miles in 3 days, I'm ready for the final 3 mile climb into Auburn!

WS100 Training Weekend - Day 2 (Sunday)

Woke-up this am feeling great - quads only a tad sore from all the hills yesterday. On the agenda today is 20 miles from Foresthill to the river (Rucky Chucky) and painful 3 mile a climb out to White Oak Flat. According to Tim Twietmeyer the first 8 miles out of Foresthill are the fastest in the entire race - very runnable downhill - and should be used to make-up time. I wanted to run this section hard so when I get here in June I'll know I can do it - I did the section in just under an hour (7 minute miles). With lollygagging and a 30 minute detour/party in the river (who knew 60 degree water would feel soooo good!), did the day in just over 4 hours.

Yup, we're in the right spot!

An hour later we were swimming in this river!

WS100 Training Weekend - Day 1 (Saturday)

What a great day! On Saturday's agenda was a 32 mile run from Robinson Flat back to the campsite at Foresthill. This is the most difficult section of the course as it traverses 3 canyons (steep downhill in, then a steep uphill out) including the two most difficult climbs of the entire race: Devil's Thumb and Michigan Bluff.

The first 13 miles are generally downhill, but after that it gets interesting! Elevation Profiles for the next 20 miles (through the canyons) are below (note that the mileage on the horizontal axis are short for some reason):






It was tough, but certainly doable. Even lollygagging about taking pictures and jumping into all three rivers at the bottom of the canyons (very cool and refreshing!) I completed the section in just over 7 hours, which is faster than a 24 hour finish for all 100 miles. Felt great! I even ran about 6 miles with ultra legend Tim Twietmeyer - until he lost me on the climb up Devil's Thumb! He gave me a ton of useful advice for June.

We arrived at Robinson courtesy of yellow school buses:




There was snow at the top! Wish we could have taken some with us - would have come in handy down in the 90+ degree canyons!






Fires went through this area several years back; as such, this area of the trail was exposed to the direct sun:

This is the actual "Devil's Thumb" rock formation - several of us hiked a bonus 1/2 mile to get this picture!

I'll be sleeping well tonight under the stars and looking forward to the next 20 mile section of the course tomorrow!

Western States Memorial Day Weekend Training

I'll be running the last 70 miles of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run over Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. This will be my first time on some of the eastern parts of the trail - I am very excited!

The actual race is June 23-24 and runs 100 miles along the famous Western States Trail (an old prospector trail) from the Squaw Valley Ski Area (Lake Tahoe) Westward to Auburn, California. www.ws100.com

My home for the weekend; elevation of my front door: 3,111'.

The Wild Wild West 50k

In beautiful Inyo County, California at the base of Mt. Whitney this weekend for the Wild Wild West 50K!

Since I spend so much time in hotels, I thought it would be a welcome change of pace to camp. My friend and fellow ultra-runner John Radich was also camping - so I'd have company.

However, the weather provided an unexpected twist: while heat is usually the issue (90+ degree temps), this year it was cold and 30+ MPH wind gusts!

Fortunately, my tent held-up nicely; in fact the rustle of wind overnight was quite peaceful!

My view the other way:

The wind was incredible driving-up from LA Friday evening. Saw two 18-wheelers on their sides, and I don't think my poor little rental car made it out of 3rd gear the whole way! Drove through a dust storm:

While the course is incredibly beautiful, the wind and cold didn't let-up. Equipment-wise, I was woefully unprepared for the cold/wind; fortunately, I had a sweatshirt with me and John had extra gloves - both proved to be lifesavers.

The race is billed as: "one tough trail race that goes through the great Alabama Hills and the foothills of Mt. Whitney." The unique and breathtaking scenery is the backdrop of many western movies from Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy to Gladiator and Star Trek. I learned that just about every stereotypical truck commercial (you know the ones - rugged vehicles navigating forbidding rocky terrain with ease) is filmed here!

I'm very happy with my performance: 5:50 which placed me somewhere in the top 15 overall. Next up: 70 miles on the Western States Trail over Memorial Day Weekend!

UPDATE:

(Badwater) Ben Jones' excellent photo album is here. Thanks for the great photos, Ben!

At mile 7, just about done with the first big, long climb: John, Me.

At mile 22, Ben waiting at the top of yet another climb: John, Me.