TRR Stage 6: "Concrete Milkshake"

For those not familiar with the term, "Concrete Milkshake", it basically means to Harden The F Up, i.e., there's no room for excuses...just get it done. Unfortunately I didn't really have the chance to order up a concrete milkshake as I knew it. Instead I had a different variety today; instead one where there was to be no moaning, no bit*ching; I just had to except things for what they were.

Mantra de Jour

We were back up at 5:30 this AM. It was noticeably warmer here in Vail then it was in Camp Hale. I slept with only my compression tights on. I did not need the additional t-shirt, hoodie and winter hat. I had a decent nights sleep other then the one bathroom break. The only thing worth noting about having to get up in the middle of the night was that I was able to walk on my busted toe without too much discomfort. Bells at 5:30 for what would be the last day of a routine I was beginning to enjoy. Let's be honest; running longs miles, up steep hills at altitude does require significant effort, but if my everyday only required this task, I could accept it. There are certainly harder, less enjoyable ways of life.

Race clothes.

Warm clothes.

Call.

Top up Gamin juice. (something I have been doing most AMs)

Medic (for supplies only, as the line was a dozen deep).

Breakfast.

Pack.

Finalize race gear.

Mend toe.

ATS - Ass To Start.

My toe/foot was certainly swollen and the bruising was migrating from my big toe to the other toes and beyond. I decided under the advice of KJC via Karina to tape it to the next toe for support. I threw some gauze in there as well. I had also scored some Tylenol from Ben and Rebecca (thank you), plus I was on a steady Difene (diclofenac - anti-inflammatory) diet supplied pre-race by my personal pharmacist. Had I known I would be putting foot to root with great force I would have procured some stronger meds!

TJM Tape Job

As I was taping my foot, one of the camera crew had asked me to say a little something on record about TRR. The footage didn't show up later that night in the daily media presentation, so it must not have been as good as he assured me! Ready to go, I dropped my duffel to the TRR crew for the last time. We had a 5 min walk to the race start which was the same as yesterdays finish. I had my Newtons on which were a tad more loose in the toe box than the Sols so this was helpful for the foot. In addition I put on an ankle sleeve and my Zoot compression socks. At first I was thinking that maybe the combination was too tight, but I said I would go with it. The thought process for the ankle sleeve was to be proactive knowing that with the busted toe I would probably be altering my gait, increasing the possibly of turning my historically weak right ankle more easily. I was looking for all the support I could get. I was also going sans compression shirt with a singlet, a breath right strip and my handie. The last three days I have put my mandatory hat and gloves in the pocket of my jacket and tied the jacket around my waist. I had carried the mandatory safety blanket the first three days and JP has taken it that last three.

3, 2, 1 Bang...and we were off on day 6, the last 23.6 miles to bring the cumulative mileage to just under 120 for the six days. It is pretty hard to believe that my legs feel great considering after 5 days I have run more mileage then any two consecutive weeks leading up to TRR. Aside from the busted toe, everything else is good. It is either a reflection of not running at full steam the first few days due to the cramping or a reflection of running trails instead of road. There is no doubt that I have had sorer legs after a hard 5K road race than I do now. And one would think that despite pace, I should have sore quads from the downhills, but nothing. WOW. I'll take it.

We entered today's stage in 9th. There was 9 1/2 min to 7th and 19 min back to 10th. We would really have to make a dogs dinner out of it is we fell back to 11th since they were 3+hrs back. After Stage 4, I would have said, "just enjoy it", but after stage 5 I was saying, "go get it". This was all provided our minds would be stronger then our injuries today. At this point there are only 21 teams still in it. There were 25 to start plus there were some "teams" remaining who had taken huge time penalties because they had split from their teammates, maybe due to frustration over pace or strategy. The team aspect is no small feat. Pain is just pain and there is often no one person, other then yourself, at fault. When it comes to something like pace or strategy, there can be someone to blame, but if your start thinking blame then it's possibly to late. You have to take the good with the bad and know that at some points the roles have been reversed. I'd say this part is tougher then the physical pain. Thankfully I have JP as a teammate.

There was about 200m up hill on a dirt road from the start before we turned and headed North West towards Lions Head for another 1000m on a rolling dirt road. A little less then 1K from the start we hit the pavement. We snaked through Lions Head and out onto Frontage road heading towards the footbridge over I-70. Before we hit pavement our competition was out of sight. My toe was aching, but it was something that I could probably put up with. Nevertheless we were averaging 8:30s, not exactly leaving it out there, but it was early in the stage. Once we got onto the single track we were able to pass two teams while closing the gap and eventually joining some of the other teams we might normally have been around. We were rolling with the likes of Amy and Sabrina of Team Inov8 and Dave and Morgan (podium 80+mens). This would be good if we could continue to pace with them. Granted our competition was ahead of us, but if we kept it steady then we could hold 9th place. It was probably the chatting with the people around me, but I had managed to put the busted toe out of my mind. A few ticks into this groove,  JP called me back as he was struggling with his blisters. With that the pack moved on and we would not see them the rest of the day.

The terrain was single track all the way to CP1 climbing until mile 6 and then 1 mile down to the CP. We did our best to keep running to the CP. Right before the CP we dumped out into a jeep road. When we got to CP1 we got some band-aids for the blister on JPs heal. It was not pretty. It was right on the money spot where the back of the sneaker rubs against the Achilles. Been there, done that! I have been fortunate these last 5 days; I only had one blister on the top of one toe and this was easily handled by a piece of kinesio tape, never to be felt while running. We reloaded the handies and JP attempted to put the band-aid on, but it did not stay on very well. He would have to gut it out another 7 or so miles to CP2 before he could get some tape.

We were on jeep road now rolling all the way up to CP2. We did a lot of walking during this stretch; accents, descents, flats. Things were not good in Camp John Paul. On Stage 4 when the downhills were tough on his knees,  I started talking about random stuff, as I know with me, conversation can help distract me and pass the time. But today JP was in so much pain that he told me he couldn't talk. This was probably the toughest element of this race (and the toughest part of writing this blog); seeing my teammate in pain and not being able to do anything about it. We weren't even halfway home. It's one thing if you're struggling together, but when your in different camps, it is very frustrating for both. I am sure this is how JP might have felt when my cramps were at their finest.

I think that JP and I know each other pretty well, but I guess the one key area I don't know him is in racing or training. We have never really raced/trained together, thus we have never experienced each other in Camp Shit while competing. So I didn't know how to react when things turned bad.  

• Do I continually ask him what I can do to help? 
• Do I call him out and tell him to take a concrete milk-shake?
• Do I say nothing at all and let him figure his own way out of this place? 

The only thing I did know is that he basically just told me to shut the F up so I stayed away from calling him out for fear of getting an overhand right to the jaw. I just backed off a bit and let him dictate the pace.

Between CP1 and CP2 JP told me his stomach started to go and hinted that some yak-in might be imminent. I do recall in Stage 1 JP telling me when I was in the red, that when he goes, he goes hard. It was all happening as he said. His body seemed to be going downhill faster then Chevy Chase's sled greased up with "non-caloric silicon-based kitchen lubricant". But despite the pain there was no quit in him; he pushed on. When we got to CP2 there was a medic there, so he got his blisters taped and tried to eat some solids. We sluggishly moved on from CP2, onto single track uphill for a another mile or so before the 4 miles downhill to Avon.

Despite the downhill we still were not moving very fast and peeps that we haven't seen on the track all week were passing us. I was feeling it a little on the down hill. If there was any hint of soreness in the my legs, it showed face on downhills. My downhill running had certainly been getting more tentative and slower all week. At CP we filled our handies. JP sat down in one of the chairs and pretended to cheer on the runners, "way to go runners". He was in pain, but his humor made a flash appearance. If it was only for a min it was good to see him joking. We walked out of the CP and walked most of the way from here on out. Avon was truly a concrete jungle. We were on concrete sidewalks for about a mile before snaking quickly through some housing neighborhood and up onto single track.

It was rolling single track for the next few miles before the final climb. We mostly walked, with occasional jogging. At this point I was thinking this was going to be the longest 4-5 miles of the 6 days. I had to keep from looking at my watch; tenths of a mile ticks were hard to come by.  JP was driving and unfairly, as I was getting frustrated, when ever he mentioned words like "hurt" or "pain" I insisted that those words did not exist. I was trying to keep things as positive as possible. I also continues to jog albeit at a very slow pace and sometime in place. I wanted to keep going. I'm not sure if this shuffling of feet behind him was motivating or annoying. I had constant fears that an argument/blow out between us was imminent. These were uncharted waters for me and for JP and I.

(BTB......I had to get out of Denver and back to IRL w/in 24hrs of the finish. There was an epic amount of emotions to digest from the 6 days, especially this day, that JP and I never had a proper breakdown of the whole thing......a lot of this he maybe reading / finding out for the first time and surely I have some of the details/specifics wrong. JP be sure to correct me).

JP's water/Gu-brew was getting low so I emptied my 3rd of a bottle into his bottle as I think he was starting to bonk. He was mentioning being dizzy. It was definitely most important that he stay hydrated.  I also insisted that he eat something. Unfortunately all we had was gels. Despite his insistence that he a gel wouldn't stay down I was even more insistent that he take it. If he threw it up then, we had more gels and he could take another. All the while more and more people were passing us. One thing that was great about ALL the competitors here, which I find is a similar case in triathlon, is that they ALL wanted to help.

At 4HR39 my garmin decided it was game over, battery dead. Battery life is not one of its attributes. We were snaking our way up though wooded single track and it was a pretty dope trail under any other circumstances. Next on the agenda was some forced yakin’. JP got a few good heaves in, but I am not sure that there was any product. Then like guardian angels Rebecca and Ben swooped in. Rebecca had these ginger chews and we were willing to try anything to break the funk. Legend has it, the ginger chews were given to her earlier in the week by the Old Goats (naturally wise in the ways of ultra running) when Ben was sick. They seemed to have an immediate effect if not physically than mentally. JP was back up and there was some life in him. He mentioned that the surroundings looked different despite us having navigated similar terrain for the last few miles. But as quickly as things improved, they quickly returned to pre-ginger-chew status. Eager for some more life I ran ahead to catch Rebecca and get the remaining chews she had.

After a brief stop at a stream to duck JPs head and face in cold water, some pushing on his back up hills, and a short train with the crew of girls from California we summit-ed the last climb and fell out onto catwalk of The Beav; it was about 2 miles home. There were a few first aiders / medics there and they were asking if they could help. JP spotted someone’s Coke and immediately demanded whose Coke that was. True to form as all week, they fired back that it was his, even though it looked as if it was with one of their lunches; just another example of how accommodating the TRR staff have been.

On our way up the last climb I was adamant to JP that we were going to run/jog the last two miles down to the finish. Bad News: we started to run, but it didn’t last long and only came in brief 100m spurts. Good News: while 5+ hrs of pain had beaten JP down physically and mentally, his sense of humor endured. Shortly after dropping into the catwalk, some pleasant couple scurried by and gave us words of encouragement to which JP replied something to the affect of, “I’m gonna throw rocks at you in a min”. I’m not sure they heard or comprehended what he said or maybe they did and the lack of response was shock. It made me laugh anyway. We drudged our way down and as terrain leveled off just before the final 100m decent we progressed to a jog to bring it home and crossed the finish line in 5hr40+. The permanent smiled Cynthia from GORE greeted us and I only wish that I shared her enthusiasm.

Admittedly I was not really stoked when I came across the line. I actually felt that I didn’t deserve the hard-wear and finishers t-shirt. It was very tough to go out on a day like this. This was my longest day racing period and it felt several times longer then my previous longest (a mid-distance tri) and probably longer then this post feels! But now looking back, we finished the 6 days. It is the most mileage I have ever done in a week and the most gain fo sho. I think that goes for John Paul as well. Considering the minimum training we did, not training together and the altitude, I guess we did pretty well to finish. Aptly I just finished reading an interview with Jessica Ennis (British hept-athlete and current World and European Champion) and she mentioned that she thinks heptathlon is different then other sports in that if you finish, even if you don’t win, you are still “chuffed”. I think the same can be said for ultra running. Being my first ultra event, I was not of this mind-set as I crossed the finish line, but now I can look back and be proud of E.L.F.S.  

Hard-wear, Soft-wear & Very Small Cowboys

Not long after the finish, JP got obtuse, i.e., back flat legs elevated, while I wandered around aimlessly eventually making it into the river close to the finish. I’m sure the high-class clientele in the surrounding condos/hotels were shocked to witness a bunch of beaten looking peeps stripped down and soaking in the cold waters of what they probably though was a water feature rather then a mountain river. But we didn’t care.

The banquet dinner was only a few hours later right there in the Beav. Dana was coming from Boulder to go to the dinner with us and then we were headed back to their place so naturally we did not get a hotel. As a result we had no place the clean up. Our regular mobile shower truck was gone; we where on our own. We were under the assumed impression that there would be our regular showering facilities, so that is something to consider for next time. We managed several offers, but finally took up Charlie and Eric, The Memphis boys whom finished 8th overall, on their offer. Thanks fellahs and well done racing.

The food and presentation were fantastic per typical TRR standard. RedFer,, GREAT people and our nightly ticket to podium glory, finished 2nd in GC beating several other sponsored teams. We were thrilled!! Well I guess they were kinda sponsored, by some awful (colorful) shirt company! A lot of folks were heading to Stage 7 - Hyatt Banquet room to the Dusty Boot bar - immediately after awards, but were quietly exited with out wounds and modest sense of accomplishment. There is no doubt the daily camaraderie, challenge and chow will be missed. I was getting use to this life.

Sincerely,

Humbled, TJM

The Short

Finish: 5:41:37
Place:  16th

GC: 10th of 21 (7:16:32)

Garmin: Go Get It (missing 2.4 miles)

Distance: 23.4 miles

Gain: 5,100 ft

Max Elevation: 9,529 ft

Terrain: 2+ miles road, 5 miles single track, 7 miles jeep road, 2 miles single track, 2 miles road, 3 miles single track, 2 miles catwalk.

Weather:

Sneakers: Newton Ms

Gear: Singlet (no compression), handie, visor, mandatory kit, zoot compression socks, right ankle sleeve

Food: 3 gels, Salt tabs, chips, peanut butter and jelly

Fluids: Gatorade, Gu brew, Water