(First) Western States 100 DNF

I GAVE IT ALL, but fell short.

Mentally, I knew if I get past Robinson Flat (Mile 30.3), I can finish. Right after Duncan Aid Station (Mile 24.4), my right knee locked up. Wouldn't bend... i tried walking and running.. tried squatting to loosen the quad, but wont budge...

I knew that even if I made it past Robinson, I was going to be in excruciating pain in the Canyons going down to Swinging Bridge, and then going down El Dorado Canyon.

Re-wind back to April, at Lake Sonoma 50miler, I tweaked my IT band slipping and sliding in the mudfest that started it all. Coming up to States, the pain kind-of went from IT band to knee... but over the weeks of training (in the Canyons), it went away. I thought it would just not come back. I guess, I was wrong.

I do feel the underlying issue is - This year I trained for a 29 hour finish, with the hope that everything will fall in place. That includes my lack of dietary discipline, recovery exercises (yoga, roller, stretching), and maybe even work discipline to make time for all of the above.

In the past years I have always trained for a 24-26 hour finish, and when things did go wrong, like they do over a course of 100 miles, I had enough buffer to still finish.

I don't really believe in 'things', but as I was making my final climb to Robinson, and I was going through the emotional roller coaster of dropping the one race no one wants to drop - I was thinking of what's the silver lining from today, and after a few minutes this song came on in my earphones: The Greatest - Kenny Rogers

Brought a smile to my face, but I am still trying to use the song's metaphor for what went down today - if 'running' was the same as the 'batter', what would be similar to 'pitcher' in the song?

Thank you to Ruchi and Kids... I know Ruchi (and the kids) have endured a lot while I train for 100-mile runs.

Thank you to my awesome Crew.. Ruchi, Karen, Nattu, Roxie. I wish it was a fun Western States experience for you all, but what can I say, I am great at letting people down... 😁😁

Last but not the least, thank you John for giving me the opportunity. 

"Sometimes Lucy just yanks away that football." 

Canyons 100K 2023 – DNF

Well, the good news is, I am not a 40-year-old virgin anymore. I finally popped my cherry. Got my first DNF. Ever. Since I started running in 2009. I always have been of the attitude that I will never drop, unless the race officials pull me, or the medics call it. This time, I called it. A lot of factors contributed to the decision. Few thoughts:

- Went into the race with a back spasm the day before. Back was tight all the time. I saw a good sign at mile 18 – my old Chiro, and good friend, Don Freeman was at Browns Bar aid station. He worked on my back at mile 30 (second time at the same aid station). 

- As a result of lower back being locked all day long, I overcompensated on the upper back, which then started locking up. So much so that when I wanted to breath deep and fill up my lungs, it hurt, so I ended up with short quick breaths.

- Heat. Even though I have run in worse heat (at Western States), this one hit different. No prior heat training, as it has been a cold spring. First time ever I was running out of water even when aid stations were only 4 or 6 miles apart. It was low 90s, with no wind – felt like 100. Specially from mile 36-40, when it was all on road – the pavement was reflecting the sun. sun on the back, the reflection on the face. Brutal.

- Heat also meant a lot of water on the body, which means lots of chaffing and blisters. My body is susceptible to chaffing and blisters, so nothing new - but another thing that slows me down.

- What would become the real reason that I made the call not to keep going, at mile 41 (Mammoth Bar), I sat down at the aid station and passed out. Not sure if was because I was tired or other reasons. Woke up to realized that I fell asleep. I continued, the climb from Mammoth to Drivers (mile 49) is relentless, with exposed trails. I sat down on the side of the trail, as my eyes were closing while walking. Again, passed out – woken up by a fellow runner.

- Doing mental math in my head I realized the course will eventually be 66 miles. (100K is 62 miles) – I will not be able to meet my goal (Western States Qualifier) of getting under 18 hours. The race cut off is 19 hours. To make it under 19 hours, I will have to do a 16 min pace, which didn’t seem worthwhile, especially when I did not know why I was so tired that the eyes were shutting down.

- So at Mile 50 (Driver Flat, supposed to be mile 48.4), after 14:15 hours, I called it. I still had 4:45 hours to finish. I thought long and hard – I could technically finish, but I was not sure why I was so tired and passing out. But since I was not going to get a Qualifier, I didn’t want to do any further damage to the body.

It was heartwarming to see familiar faces, dedicated volunteers providing support unselfishly, and strong runners from around the world.  

I knew this day would come. Didn’t know that I will DNF by my own decision. I have no regrets. Until next time!

AR 50 for Shavi - Folsom - Apr 7, 2018 - 11:22 hours

Just like couple of years ago, I ran the last 9 miles of AR50 with Shavi. He said he was not really going to race this year. It would be a slow run for him which means a perfect run for me..haha. I joined him at Rattlesnake bar where A & C dropped me while W and R slept in the car. They dropped me around 3pm where I waited for Shavi to appear. We were not sure couple of hours before if I was going to run with him or not. So had told him not to wait for me. He did greet me with a smile after running those hard 41 miles. lol.

It was getting pretty warm at that time. Running in hot is beyond me! The beautiful mountains and the sound of water all throughout the course was so melodious. The last three miles were mostly uphill and someone who has already run 47 miles, that uphill can be hard! Shavi would have run it, I am sure, if I wasnt with him, huffing and puffing. lol. I love crossing the finish line with him. W and everyone was waiting at the finish too and he was excited to cross the finish line with daddy and mommy.

Earlier during the day, W and I had met daddy at Big Lots, around mile 14. This is close to our home and easy to get to. The only problem here is that poor W has to get up early on a Saturday but he loves to go cheer the runners and see daddy. So, it works great! Then we quickly went home, had breakfast and drove to Beals Point (mile 26). This is almost the place where road running ends and trail running starts. W was excited to see daddy and cheered the runners. Then he played with rocks and water around the river access and loved it there. It was a cloudy day so far and that is when I decided that I may actually run with Shavi (pace him, in other words). Then we went to A & C's home directly and W played there and they dropped me to Rattlesnake bar.

Canyons 100 K for Shavi - Foresthill - Apr 28, 2018 - 17:13 hours

Canyons 100K was a slower race for Shavi this year. He just wanted to complete it in under 18 hours to qualify for Western States 100 lottery which he did. Plus with no sleep last 2-3 days due to chores and my surgery the day before, he hardly got rest. Waking up at 3am for this race is no joke. The race starts in Foresthill at 5:30am and packet pick up is at the start. Organizers of the race did a great job, just like all past years. This is a hard course and it has to be since it is a WS100 qualifier. It seems like they would be starting a lottery next year to get into this qualifying race. Until this year, it has been on first come first serve which of course fills up in few hours of opening for registration. This race has over 15000 feet of climbing. This race has 25K distance as well.

Shavi thinks that the first part of the course is harder than the second part. Foresthill is where the race starts and it is the mid-point of the race as well. Foresthill - swinging bridge - Foresthill - Rucky Chucky - Foresthill. The race doesn't allow pacers if you are running it as a qualifier for WS100.

He got home pretty late, after midnight and got me a finisher's pendant with a necklace instead of getting a belt for himself! A great ending to this year's long distance running unless he finds another one;-) Now it will be all about CIM (26.2 miles) in December.

KnickerBocker Canyon Trail Run 35K for Shavi - Auburn - Mar 24, 2018 - 4:47 hours

KnickerBocker Canyons - An easy run for Shavi - got it done nice and easy. It was again a muddy and wet trail. All races this year until now have been a mud fest. Glad he escaped all safe.

Ruck-a-Chuck 50K for Shavi - Foresthill - March 17, 2018 - 7:28 hours

An hour slower this year for Shavi because he was not motivated for speed this year. Only 100 mile races motivate him ;-) The course was very muddy and wet yet again because of lot of rains in the region. It was a mud fest. He had to wear his rain jacket most of the course which makes it harder to run fast.

Way Too Cool 50K for Shavi - Cool - Mar 3, 2018 - 6:43 hours

Way Too Cool is one of the races where you have to sign up by December and you are entered into lottery. An expensive race than the others but quite common with runners. It was a muddy mess this year with lot of rain the day before and all week before. He got it done in that mess somehow! A great course for new ultra runners - perfect way to get into ultra running after doing the most famous road race in this region in December - CIM.