2016 Kat'cina Mosa 100k Adventure Mountain Run Race Review Report - Springville, Utah

The 2016 Kat’cina Mosa 100k - Race Review

It’s done. 5th place overall with about 70 people registered, and about 55 or so finished. I have no idea how many of those were DNS or DNF. So bottom line, getting in the top 5 is certainly evidence of a good performance and I’m proud of it. Read on for the details.

I woke up about 1:30am after about 3 hours sleep and got as ready as I could and showed up at the start about 30 mins early. I did all my normal pre-race stuff. I ate a banana, a PB&J and some potato chips and gummy bears. Drank some water and called it good. My brain wanted me to have a bathroom stop before the race but that didn’t happen. Oh well, I’d probably be stopping somewhere mid-race for a visit to the bushes. The start was about as expected and at 3am we were off.

I had a really cheap headlamp with me that I used and was certainly not the dumbest decision I made during the race, but it’s certainly not the smartest either. The headlamp was barely sufficient to light my way along the Squaw Peak road. I had never used this headlamp for anything and I wasn’t even certain the batteries were fresh. With everyone else and their stellar headlamps around me for the first few miles it wasn’t so bad. I was living off the other headlamps as much as I was my own. Eventually though my excitement and determination to finish this race in good time was enough to get me out a head by myself with a few other runners so far ahead of me that they were nowhere to be seen.

Of course one of the things about being out in the front of the pack is the marking of the course. I was fairly certain I was where I needed to be but boy were the markings for this course sparse. Throughout the race I went uncomfortably long distances without seeing markers and at least 2 times I was very near turning around.

The dark lasted quite a while and my pace was well above my goal pace and I knew that this wasn’t too bad because the climbing was certainly going to slow my pace a bit. The first 3 aid stations were over and done in the dark and I was feeling good and knew I was very close to the front. The 2nd big climb to Lightning Ridge came up and I was now passing some of the early starters. I asked one of them and they said I was the third runner. I was pretty excited by this and thought that if I could maintain that position I would be in good shape.

I consider my pace climbing up to this ridge to be a good performance on my part. I was able to keep a good pace all the way up and was feel pretty good. Eventually after the ridge there was some downhill that was a little bit more than I was expecting but not overly difficult. The trail did relent every now and then and I was able to pick up the pace some more and that was going good.

I got to the next aid station at Big Springs and was in and out in what was probably too fast of a time. I don’t even know what I ate or drank looking back at it. I was too excited to keep going.

As I was leaving I heard someone say about it being a really big hard climb coming up and I almost didn’t believe them. I thought that it probably wouldn’t be that bad. But well, it turned out it was. The sun was now up and making the exposed portions of the course rather hot and there were some tricky rocky portions of the trail that wasn’t exactly easy to cross. Again, I kept up my pace as best as I could and passed a few more of the early starters and some other hikers that weren’t participants in the event.

Windy pass seemed like it was forever away from the last aid station. I kept thinking that I could see it but I really didn’t have any clue where it was. Eventually I saw some people on the skyline that was pretty far off and I felt pretty sure that’s where I was headed. I did the best I could muster and eventually made it to Windy Pass. The aid station wasn’t much and I didn’t take much from them. I distinctly remember having some chips with me outside the aid station and throwing them down because my body didn’t want to eat it. I think this might have been an indication that something wasn’t quite right.

I was told that from windy pass it was downhill to the next aid station. Yes. I wanted that more than anything. Well, there was still some climbing then it did go down. But about 5k after windy pass the course was not downhill. It was more of a roller coaster than anything and again, it felt like forever to get to the next aid station. I kept up my pace as best as I could but I was in fact walking more than I would have like to.

The trail started to go down about a mile from the next aid station and I ran as much as I could. I was low on water and energy and it was more difficult to run than it really should have been at this point.

I got to the next aid station and knew that I had to make it quick or I was going to lose my 3rd place position. I changed my shoes and socks and wiped off my feet with wet wipes - they were very dirty. At this aid station there is an out-and-back portion that must be completed. I went up and back and was in pretty poor shape by the time I got back to the aid station. I stopped and knew that I was in bad shape but didn’t know what to do about it. I was a little nauseous and low on energy and didn't have any appetite. So the only thing that I could think of doing was moving forward. I could still do that and that’s what I came here to do.

I didn’t really know what the course looked like from here. I was about mile 40 and knew that it was more or less downhill from mile 52. So I had about 12 miles that I was hoping was going to be some flat, fast road but soon after the aid station was just up and nothing but up.

I was very low on energy and wasn’t eating like I should. I thought at the time that I had been getting enough liquids but looking back I’m not sure.

I walked a lot of this part of the course and kept expecting for another runner (or fifty) to just pass me like this race was a 10k. But surprisingly, no one did catch up to me.

I didn’t know where exactly the next aid station was but it finally appeared. I sat down and asked for a Red Bull. They gave me one and I drank all of it. I took some food but don’t think I ate much of it. Putting food in my mouth was something my body didn’t want. Chewing was hard and swallowing was almost impossible. I thought I was just going to immediately throw it up. I never did yak but I was not feeling well.

The course out of this aid station kept climbing, I sort of knew it would but had hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. Well, it was still tough. The good news is at this point was that I did feel okay and was able to get up the climb with surprising speed. I wasn’t doing 9 min miles but I was able to maintain a good balance of walking and running. That red bull did something. I’m not sure what, but something. I guess.

But after the climbing up my energy began to wane again. The trail leveled out and the sun was beating down pretty hot and I hit a rough patch again. I counted steps and tried to make sure that I was walking at least as many steps as I was running and kept moving forward.

I thought to myself how hard this race was. I really was, at this point, completely hammered. I was toast. I was fried. I was whooped. I was exhausted. I was out of it. I was zapped. I knew that someone was going to pass me before the finish. I was just trying to not make it too bad.

Eventually, out of the blue, someone did pass me. He was doing a much faster pace than I was. I said good job and he and his pacer were out of sight. 4th place, well, that’s still not bad.

The next aid station finally after what felt like an eternity finally came to view. I didn’t know what to do. Drink? Eat? I could drink but didn’t really feel like I needed a lot of water. I was still disgusted by eating. Didn’t think there was any point or benefit to taking the time to force myself to eat some chips or pretzels. I sat down and the nice people at the aid station helped as much as they could. But I was done. Totally done. But totally NOT done at the same time.

So I drank some red bull and some water and just left. I was hoping that since the rest of the course was downhill I would be able to just put my head down and go but it was not to be. I ended up just walking and running. Walking a few steps and running a few steps. When the course went up I walked and when it went down I did my best to run it. But I was still just a zombie moving at a meager pace.

After what felt like another eternity I came to the next aid station. I tried to get some water and food in but didn’t do so well. Had some red bull and got some cold water. With something like 6 miles left on pavement I was thinking 4th would be good if I could just get down the canyon in a decent fashion.

Well, as I sat at the aid station another person who looked like they were on mile 2 of a 10k race flew in and out of the aid station. Good for them, honestly. Now I was in 5th place. I guess this isn’t the finish so I guess I’ll keep going. And 5th isn’t that bad, right?

My brother came up to this point on his bike and rode with me for a while. But this was no fun for him. I wasn’t able to mentally engage in anything else and I could barely run anything at this point.

Before the race started I was looking forward to some fast miles in this part of the race. I had hoped that the canyon would be downhill and shady and since it was a road be a nice way to wrap up the race. Well, for me it was about 4pm and the sun was at a perfect angle to not provide any real shade from the trees. The road was surprisingly flat from my point of view. There was nothing good about this part of the race. I even had to dodge the traffic and that was no fun either.

Well, again, I tried as best I could to run as much as possible but I really couldn’t go for more than about a quarter mile before I had to walk a little. When the road straightened I tried looking back fully expecting a group of runners to just run past me. But no one did. I couldn’t believe it.

Finally after 13 hours and 49 minutes of the worst bashing of my life I crossed the finish line. In 5th place overall!

I think I underestimated this race but then when I say that it’s sounds weird in the context of 5th place overall in a 100 kilometer race. I know I did well in that sense, but I don’t think I did well in the overall execution of it. I don’t know if I should have held back earlier in the race or did something drastically different with my nutrition. But the nausea and the heat were mighty foes.I would like to have been able to run a little bit more consistently in the last 10 miles of the race.

But this is a good effort and a good learning experience for me. Even before I did this race I knew I was going to go at it with much more of a “race” mentality than I did earlier this year at the Zion 100k (where finishing was paramount to pace or place). I wanted to take more risks with this race even if it did mean crashing and burning. I don’t see this as being my last 100k and since I think I could do better, there’s a non-zero chance I'll come back in the future.

Next Up?

Well, I'm going back to Speedgoat in July. The race this year is a few weeks earlier than last year. I haven't read why but I don't think there's going to be a problem. I guess there might be some more snow than usual but who knows if that will affect the course at all.

Last year's Speedgoat 50k beat me up pretty good. It was the first race where right in the middle I was thinking "what would happen if I just stopped right now and called it quits?" Well, I didn't call it quits and I did pretty good overall for myself. I do remember getting to the highest point in the race and not even thinking about pace anymore. In fact, I was quite tired, upset and just wanted to be done. I had some guy take a picture of me at the top and I don't know if it was him or someone else who was sort of prodding me to not stop or slow down (even for the picture) and keep going and in my head I was just thinking "shut up." Here's a picture of that point. Not a lot of joy on my face.

Here's a video that was on the way up to Mt Baldy(?) at 11,000+ feet.

But of course I have no intent of letting the race get the best of me and I felt like I have had a score to settle with the race if only to improve on my time a little.

So that's coming up soon and then I don't have another race until the St George Marathon on 1 October.

I've been looking for another race and don't know what I want to do. Part of me wants to get a half marathon in to try and beat my PR of 1:25 and part of me just wants to get in a few full marathons in just to get in the mindset and really get ready for STG. Then another part of me just wants to get out on a trail race because I love the mountains and the trees and the dirt.

So will it be the Huntsville Marathon? Right now it's 2 weeks before SGT and I think its a decent price and a good choice. Other than that there's a few other races that are really tempting. Kat'cina Mosa 100k? Or the Morgan Valley Marathon?

Going to admit that no one is really reading this but on the off chance someone out there actually has an opinion on what race I should or should not run, let me know! 

29 November 2014

This week, I passed my goal for 2000 miles in 2014. I haven't been plagued with any serious injuries this year and haven't been sick enough times to make an impact in reaching my goal.

Coming up next weekend I'm doing a 10k race. I'm running it with my spouse which should be better than trying to run it really fast. I hope the weather holds up. Snow wouldn't be bad, but windy and rainy would make it not so fun pretty quick.

I also signed up for the Red Hot 55k race. Waiting until April for my next race was just too long. And this race should prove to be a good intermediary and help me prep for my first 50 mile race. The Red Hot 55k is ran just north and west of Moab Utah. The course should be unique to me. I have walked and hiked over lots of sandstone, I haven't run a race on sandstone.

This past Friday I took  a run on Antelope Island State Park. It truly is a fun place to run and this time was no exception. I got out there quick and ran a fairly standard loop. I saw both antelope and buffalo while I was out there. And and saw few people which is another reason I like running around the island.

Trail Running Antelope Island November 2014

Keep running!

Goal Achievement, Energy Gels and Racing

So this week of running wasn't very eventful. The only thing I did that was more fun than usual was a run on the bonneville shoreline trail. The trailhead parking lot is quite a bit lower than the actually shoreline trail so the run up to it is steep and it's hard to get up it very quick. I managed to get up there but it was something in the range of 25 minutes before I finished my 2nd mile. That's some of the slowest running I've done in a while. But I managed to make up some time on the shoreline trail. While the trail isn't flat the ups and downs equal out more or less so there's equal parts climbing and descending. On the parts of the trail that are on the north slope of the mountain there is ice and snow that hasn't melted. I had to be careful on these parts because slipping isn't fun.

I've now done the math and the best data that I have available shows that I've ran 1989 miles in 2014. So far. My goal is 2000 miles. I should hit that next Tuesday. So, unless there's some horrible accident or unforeseen event (keeping my fingers crosses the apocalypse is here by then), I'll make my goal before Thanksgiving. And it's not impossible I'll get close to 2200 miles by year's end.

Two more things on my mind:

My wife tried a gel for the fist time this morning and she couldn't have been more repulsed by the taste of it. I thought that was pretty funny seeing as how I haven't really  thought about the taste of energy gels at all. I just chug them and keep going. She might like a flavor other than the Gu Roctane cherry lime flavor that she tried this morning. I've heard of people's stomachs not being able to handle energy gels and people don't like them based on that fact. But I've never known anyone to straight up dislike a flavor so much that they couldn't even eat it.

The other thing on my mind is the fact that I don't have a race scheduled until next April and it's driving me nuts. I want a race sooner. It has to be at least a half. But I'd rather have it be a full or longer. There's a race in Moab on Valentine's day and I'm very tempted to give that one a shot. It's a popular race with good support and a good trail. The weather might be pretty cold, but I don't think it's anything that I cant handle. The 55k distance seems like a great opportunity to add to my training for my first 50 mile race in April. The fact that I have family that lives there just helps me with more reasons go to down.

Winter Running

It was cold this week. Much colder than I thought it would be at this time of year. There are pros and cons to running outside in the cold. My main complaint about running in the cold is all the stuff I have to wear to stay warm. Putting on tights and jackets takes extra time before I can get out the door.

I used to be hesitant to run outside in the cold. In fact, my first winter back in Utah I pretty much didn't run outside. I commuted to a gym and ran on a treadmill for most of the miles put in. The next winter I decided that I was going to confront my fear and actually run outside. I got some tights and put on a fleece pullover and before I knew it I was able to run outside in 20 degree weather without any problems. However, this first winter outside I limited myself to just running on a main road with plenty of lights. I didn't deviate much from the same path to get in the miles. 

The next winter I overcame even more of my fears and ran on the backcountry roads that are very dark. It turns out I love it. I liked running where it's incredibly quite and the only thing out there is me leaving tracks on a half inch of freshly fallen snow. 

I think that running has been a constant cycle of getting out of my comfort zone and adapting. People assume that I have always been fast but rarely do they know the time and effort I have put in to getting where I am and that there was a clear point in time where I couldn't run a mile without a near death experience to go along with it. I hope that I won't or don't assume others to be good because of some easier path they took to get there. 

Ascis GT-1000 2 Shoe Review

My history with running shoes is rather boring. I found a pair of shoes I liked and now I don't buy any other shoe to run in. Okay, that's not entirely true, because they stopped making that line of shoes I constantly bought over and over. So I had to do some research to find out what was the next closest thing. It's also not true because this year I have finally really began trail running (with some regrets I haven't done more trail races before this point). And have one pair of trail running shoes which do, in fact, make a big difference running trails.

I found these shoes for an incredible deal on amazon that I couldn't pass up. And on top of the great deal I was surprised with an extra 5 bucks off when I checked out that I wasn't expecting so it was a mega deal for me. I don't know, but I don't think that this deal is available anymore. Part of the deal might have been connected to the color because this color sucks.

I ended up getting 3 pairs of these shoes and use them for road running which constitutes most my miles.

I have read before, but question whether or not a person needs to switch shoes daily to allow for the other pair(s) to recover from the run the previous day(s). I've read in one or more places that the gel or the stuff in the soles takes time to get back to where it was and that time is greater than 24 hours (I guess). At any rate, if you run with 1 pair or 2 pairs, or 3 pairs of shoes you'll probably still average the same number of miles per shoe before replacing.

These shoes are appropriate for me who runs with a neutral stride. They are very comfortable for roads and occasional gravel surfaces and have served me well from 18 degrees fahrenheit to 80 degrees fahrenheit. I have ran in last years version in over 100 degrees and I expect this model to do just as well.

Runners are spoiled for choice when it comes to running shoes. For years I have successfully avoided other shoes because this line of shoes has been so faithful. I feel that I'm a fast runner and haven't suffered from any injuries as a result of my shoes which is why I haven't felt the need to change to a different brand or model.

Hot Wash

Wrapped up this week with 46 miles. To some this might seem like a lot. To others, this is not much. For me, it's about average right now. I only have one race coming up and, again, to some it would be considered a race, to others, it's not much. To me a a 10k isn't much. 10k is more often than not a shorter distance than I run on a daily basis and since I'm running the race with a slower partner I don't expect, and shouldn't, to break any personal records.

So unless I find a race that is before next April, it looks like I'm in for a long winter of cold early morning runs in the dark. I'm not really complaining. If I had a race planned I'd probably be complaining about the price and the bib pick up expos (both of which I do not like). But I do plan on getting out and running more trails this winter in preparation for a 50 mile race in April. There are plenty of places to get a good hill climb in as long as I'm willing to drive the necessary distance.

So this is my wrap up for where I am and where I'm going. It's not much. But it's something.