Deadmans Peak Ultramarathon
It just dawned on me that you're the best recruiter ever. It also dawned on me that you may be asking me to talk to a new grad PT about the clinic in yuma. At any rate, you're the first I've actually written stuff down to about my 53 miler. I'm actually trying to get to sleep so I hope writing this helps as I've had wicked insomnia lately. Watching the walking dead doesn't help. Knowing I'm going to see Pearl Jam and my best friend in the whole wide world in 8 days doesn't help either. Not being able to run (you will understand why just keep reading) doesn't help either.
At any rate...So The ultramarathon was called the Deadmans peak trail run. The pictures on the website do not give it justice. I was thinking this was just another trail run and the trails in Silver City were just non essential to prepare for it. I thought it was like the ft bayard trail run I ran in June, which was somewhat challenging but not difficult and I PR'd the race, it was just up and down.
As race day approached I became increasingly nervous because this was 53 miles. The training schedule said to never run over 30, and when I did that I chafed so bad I couldn't walk for 2 days. It was insane when I did that 31 miles. I also got injured within the training process and really had to scale back my training, so that didn't help, but it ensured that I made it to the race. 3 weeks before the race I was supposed to be running back to back marathons (Saturday and sunday) and all I could do was 13.1 back to backs. During training I also recorded my first personal record for a half marathon, finishing with a time of 1:43. I haven't run that fast since high school. When I first did the 13.1 in vegas 2 years ago my finishing time was 3:30 minutes. That was in vegas, with a hangover, and with no training, but it was very very challenging anyway.
For deadman peaks I actually followed a training schedule. I woke up at 3 am to run in tucson on the weekends. I did 26 miles regularly, followed by a 10-15 mile on Sunday. How did this prepare me for deadmans? And how did I fare? Here's the scoop on what happened at deadmans:
Mile 1-9
It was so cold my camelback bladder froze. I could not get water until the sun came up. The start time was at 6am, and I left my hotel in Albuquerque at 3:45. I got there early. It was 19 degrees at the starting line. I remember sitting in the car, listening to xm radio. Metallica was playing, but I too busy cueing up my starting music to pay attention. I threw up in the eco bathroom just 3 minutes after arrival. Pre race jitters...As 6 am approached, my dad asked me what I was listening to. I told him it was TuPac and he stared blankly at me "he's dead isn't he?"..."yes I said....Actually I think Mike shot him"....(mike is my brother) I said sarcastically.Dad walked me to the starting line. I was so full of adrenaline at this point, it was pitch black, there was a full moon, and I was amped and ready to go. I had eaten a PBJ, taken a gu, eaten a banana. I had been up since 2:45 preparing and horsing around with the kids, who arrived at 2am in Albuquerque with my wife. So I had had about 4 cups of Peet's coffee. I actually thought this was the coffee that Dean Karnaczes drinks prior to races, but I'm still unsure of that trivia fact. The race was in Cuba, NM, which is about 6500'. in elevation. Headlamp was full of good batteries and provided the light needed to get through the first 2 hours.
I took off at the gun and just ran at a nice pace that kept me warm. The course was releatively flat and I was confident I'd finish in 10 hours. Then the sun came up and I saw what I was going up against. This was not just any ordinary course. The first downhill required me to slow to a very, very slow walk. the terrain was steep and as I decended, I could feel adrenaline coursing through me, I kept thinking, if I fall, I'm going to break a limb or crack my head open. This was the feeling I got when I used to drop in on sketchy ramps and ditches when I was heavy into skateboarding, and it just excited the hell out of me.
It took me 15 minutes to decend this hill, but once I did it was flat and the aid station was there with my first drop bag. They gave me some info on the next 10 miles and said I'd just made it through the easiest part of the course. They were right.
Mile 9-17
Lava rock, sand, wind, fatigue, and more hills. OMG it was pure hell. The coffee made me want to pee repeatedly, plus I was consuming H20 like an alcoholic on a binge. So that slowed me. I slipped a lot, had to empty my shoes a lot, my socks were uncomfortable as hell, privates were starting to chafe, and the gel was really bothering my stomach. Halfway through this stretch I ran out of water. Surprisingly this was my best stretch regarding time. The aid station at mile 17 sucked. I was out of everything and they didn't have much to offer. Electrolyte pills I was unfamiliar with, sports drinks without the sugar, and just nothing I really wanted. So I limited my time at this station, and took off for the turnaround
Mile 17-23.5
My stomach at this point was ready to explode. The Roctane gu I consumed was too sugary. There were also some extreme hills that took me to 8000 feet and once above the treeline, it was ALL flat. And it was magical. I eased through this section of course like I was running at 2000 feet. I enjoyed every moment of this. It was like I had died and gone to heaven. There was no pain, just complete elation and beauty everywhere.
Mile 23.5 to 26.5
the volunteers were annoying the crap out of me. What can I get for you, what do you want. By this point I had exerted everything I had mentally on those flats, so I had no idea what the hell I wanted. I was like, goldfish, I want goldfish...I crammed endless amounts of golfish in my mouth. Then they fed me salted baked potatoes which, I'm not sure what the purpose was, but they were awesome. But the entire time the volunteers were just like, you need to tell us what you want, and I finally said, with a mouthfull of goldfish crackers and baked salted potato "Thanks guys" and took off towards the turnaround
That was the easiest part of the run, all road, one really really really steep decending point, and one really really really ascending part. Most of it was jeep trail. The issue....I got to the turnaround point and the lady said "you have 4 minutes to get what you need and go"....I was like....um....ok. So I got my energy drink, my PB and J, and they gave me some kick ass pumpkin bread in a baggie. I was starting to get a little confused at this point at fatigue was killing me and it was like 2pm, I'd been up for 14 hours and running. My water bottle also ran out of water between mile 9 and 17, so I was behind the 8 ball hydration wise.
I do remember one thing about this 4 minute aid station....I sat down to change socks, and a volunteer helped me untie my left shoe. It was the most awesome thing ever. I will never forget that act of kindness. They gave me two electrolyte pills (which made me queasy on the way back) and sent me on my way, I went barreling off in a straight direction and everyone was yelling, NO FOLLOW THE FLAGS!!!!....I immediately changed my course of direction and was ok from there
26.5 to 33 miles. uphill, and by up hill I mean scaling rocks and excruciating pain in the right knee with down hill. My run was slowed to a walk for most of it, mainly because this stretch was all downhill getting to the turn around then up hill getting to 33. I couldn't take another gu, because I'd already gone #2 once because of the gu. So i had absolutely depleted any energy sources. It was like running with dead legs and arms up hill. I was like, holy shit, I'm not going to make it. I pressed on until aid #33,
I wanted nothing to do with this aid station. I took one electrolyte pill and was like, what mile am I at? They asked my number and I said "53" and they were like, "are you sure?" and I was like "I have no clue man, my number is pinned to my pants" so I looked at it and it was "35"....so I was like, yeah, after 35 miles I become dyslexic, but who doesn't. The volunteer was like, would you like me to pack you a baggie of soemthing and I was like "yeah, that stuff" and pointed at the chex mix"....She was like "stuff huh?" and I was like "yeah I cant think of the name of it....chex mix"...In the meantime I had some extremely hot mountain dew and a handful of chex mix. The electrolyte pills just made me sicker than a dog. But the chex mix was like a miracle. As I ate it slowly I felt my entire body come to life for the next 5 miles. Then I hit another wall. by this point it was approaching 6 and once again, I was out of water.
Then two race officials appeared from out of nowhere. "How are you?" they asked"..."Fine" I replied "look, theres a cutoff at mile 43, you have 25 minutes to make it and if you don't you can't advance"....So I started hauling ass. As I was hauling ass I ran out of water. I ignored every ounce of pain in my knee and my shins. It was crazy. I put on Nirvana's nevermind album and was just hauling ass when my dad popped out from around the corner. He told me I was kicking ass but they were putting the water away and I had done good. I thought, that was bullshit, but the guys behind my had said that I had 25 minutes. I told him I was out of water, and he encouraged me to walk, but then he saw how upset I was that I wouldn't finish the full 53, he told me to continue, and kick ass on the rest of the run. He even ran with me. i became worried about him being alone in that elevation running because of his heart conditions so I staopped. He told me to not worry about him, he had a light, he loved the outdoors, run he said. so I did. At one point I became worride and watited for him, and he just just said going
At mile 43 i made it in time, Kinsey and amy came running up and given me the biggest hug ever, I thought I had not made it, and the volunteer station said "so can you make it to the end?" I was so upset because I hadn't made it that i'd already accepted defeat, and when she said this in front of my wife and little girl, I just said...."oh yeah, I feel great"...so the voluteenteers gave me 4 minutes and some chicken broth to finish. The sweepers behind me had given the go ahead that I could continue the last 10 miles. Which made me elated. I was so out of it I didn't pick up much in terms of water or nutrition. It's hard enough to do something at 43 miles, then you have people telling you that you have one minute more to spend.
Needless to say I left my power aide, the one bite of peanut butter jelly sandwhich, I'd taken, and my breakfast cookie (300 calories) at the 43 mile mark because I was in such a hurry. By this point I had gone through one IPOD full of music, and an Iphone full of music. My wife handed me hers and I took off running, my gait was outstanding, I didn't wakl, I had a headlamp on, I had forgotten one thing....I had to go up that incline I'd decended earlier. To make it worse, my headlamp was low, and I changed batteries after getting ff course and falling into a crevice. Once I changed headlamp batteries, it was incredible. I ascended slowly, as the incline was steep and it was dark, but I could actually see the flags. The moon was coming up and it was a full moon, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
By this point my knee was just pounding, with pain, the hill that the aid station lady warned me off was a nasty incline, and I crawled up most of it. Something happened when I finished that 2 mile ascencion. a switch turned on. I was completely psyched because the rest of the course was flat, I could see the end 8 miiles away, but was in so much pain it wasn't funny. I had packed advil and stuff in a pack, but left it at the drop station. So now I was counting on endorphines. Things seemed to unravel, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do at this point was finish. There was so much sand in my shoe and my socks were so shitty that I put my foot down and my knee just buckled. I put on megadeth, and found my best pair of socks. From there on it was nothing but go Johnny. I had reached the point that if I evven stopped and tryied to stop excruciating pain made my knee buckle. Once I switched socks, I was able to start running. I still had pain in my knee, which was excruciating, but the course, for the most part was flat. There were washes and areas where sand just got into my shoe and that pressure really made me want to fall, but I stayed up. ,I emptied them at mile 50, and charged on to mile 53, at this point is was just me, the full moon and a dirt road. My headlamp started to give out. There was one guy 2 minutes ahead of me. I passed him once when i got a 2nd wind, and then he passed me when my knee was just too painful to run anymore.
As I neared the finish line. I took my head phones out. Someone was flashing a flashlight repeatedly, There were cowbells ringing. I could hear my mom,dad and Amy cheering me on. I could hear kinsey screaming at the top of her lungs. "Go Daddy, Run Daddy" I could hear Travis screeching as well. The sounds just continued to get louder, the cheers, the encouragement, the ringing of cowbells. As I crossed the finish line, I felt like I was on top of the world. Some race volunteer held out his hand for a high five,and I just gave him the biggest high five I had. I was grinning ear to ear. All of my pain had gone away for that moment. Travis was in his grandpa's arms and I got a huge high five , kiss and hug from him. My wife and daughter wouldn't stop hugging me.
People were flashing pictures left and right, and my smile was just....ear to ear. They presented me with a bunch of swag, but the race director said "you have earned the most coveted award, it's the deadmans peak dead last award." It was an awesome skull, 3 dimensional, with the date and "dead last" priinted on it. I could not stop smiling. My daughter gave me endless hugs,and was so excited to see me in one piece. I think my entire family was. Total time was 16 hours. 6 hours more than I had finished on planning, but like I said, the race started out with 40 people, 26 finished, and I was number 26. I didn't care. I crossed the finish line and endured the most difficult run I've ever had.
53 miles on:
I fell asleep immediately in the hotel room. I slept close to 10 hours. My dad knocked on my hotel room door and said they had to leave and congratulated me once again. I was so sore i could not walk without a limp. The next day (monday) I went to work and a patient asked me if I needed therapy. My joints were so swollen you could not see my ankle bones. 3 days later, Im still extremely sore. but that soreness is wearing off.
The entire time I thought about how a year ago I had started running trails and distances to help make life away from the family not so miserable. I remembered running in Yuma in the heat just sicker than a dog from lack of dehydrattion, asking friends if they would meet me at the 10 mile mark to offer me poweraide. I remember nobody doing that for me.
I remembered sighing up for this ultramarathon and it taking 3 days to get the courage up to even click send so I could register. I remembered the horrid tucson marathons and getting up at 3:45 in order to be with my family. The sacrfices I made, the sacrifices my family made are worth more than any award or medal or skul is. In the end all that mattered was that I finished. I was extremely psyched and happy. Today I sit,I have not run in 3 days. My knee still hurts and I am still sore,but I wear my pain as a badge. I earned it. This was by far my biggest accomplishment in my entire 38 years of living. I couldn't think of what was next a day ago....but jnow Im overwhelmed with a need to start training for whatever is next.
Whether it's 13.1, 26.2, 53, or 100 miles, it doesn't matter, I know I can do whatever I set my mind too, and I know I know it's only going to get better. But first, the knee pain and swelling need to go away. I'll cherish the pain from this run for as long as I can, as it will be gone and the next tme it appears it will not be as intense. You can do whatever you set your mind to.
