Shoe Review - Hoka Huaka

Hoka always has funny names for their shoe models.  This new one is no exception.  It is not pronounced "Who-A-Ka", but rather "Waaka".  So lets just get this out of the way right now:

Photo Credit - Muppet.Wikia.com

Waaka Waaka Waaka!!!  There.  You were all thinking it, now I've just said it.  So now, can we get onto the shoe review?

At the risk of repeating myself from previous posts, there is a certain type of shoe that I gravitate towards.  A flexible, light weight, low drop and well cushioned shoe is what I love to run in.  The Hoka Huaka fits that bill to a T. (Note: these shoes were provided as a media sample to me at no charge by Hoka One One).

Two or three years ago, this was exactly what I was looking for but nobody had put the two types (minimal and well cushioned) together.  For this review, lets just start at the front of the shoe and go backwards from there.

The green toe cap reduces volume a bit, but not in a bad way.  Feels performance oriented.

The toe box is wider than most Hokas, certainly wider than the Rapa Nui or the Stinson, but not quite as roomy as the Bondi.  One thing worth noting is that the height of the toebox is more performance oriented and is fairly snug in that regard.  The shape feels more rounded than the other Hokas as well.  The shoe fits true to size. I have never had any pinky toe irritation like I have experienced with some other more severely tapered Hoka models.

Speed laces which I proceeded to remove shortly after getting them.

The shoe comes with Hoka's speed laces as well as a pair of traditional laces.  I have found in the past that I can't get as good of a fit with the speed laces so I cut them out after I took these pictures and replaced them.  I can get a fairly snug fit but I would consider the upper to have a medium amount of room.  The construction is very simple, with an airy mesh that has glued on welded overlays for support. 

The nice thing about the upper is that it is pretty flexible (really flexible for a Hoka). 

Heel cup inside...

and outside.

The heel cup doesn't have a stiff counter and flexes nicely with your foot.  The inside of the heel cup is well padded and very comfortable.  I think that the fit is very similar to the Pearl Izumi EM N1, but a tad bit looser overall.

Very thin tongue.

The tongue is a very thin piece of  Leather and mesh that is what I would call "semi-lasted".  It is attached at the front of the shoe to the first three lace holes.  It has never has moved on me or let in a disproportionate amount of dirt and grit.

The all new RMAT sole is a thing of beauty.  Rather than the traditional squish of the Hokas built with EVA, the RMAT has a nice impact deadening feel with a great bounce.  This provides the best of both worlds.  It is much more performance oriented but it doesn't beat the hell out of your feet.  And it's lighter too!  Thats a win, win, and win. 

Hoka has this shoe listed on their website under both Trail and Road shoes.  I feel that is accurate as it is a true hybrid.  The traction is not stellar off road, but works fine for most circumstances.    There are three small areas that have little chevrons for grip, but they really don't do much in poor traction situations.  Running on the roads finds them to be smooth and grippy.   I have 62 miles on them at the time of this review and here is a picture of the wear so far.

Wear after 62 miles.

As you can see, the heel and toe chevrons are showing wear already, but nothing that I consider to be disappointing.  I expect a shoe like this to wear quickly if I run on the roads with them.  I would say that about 40% of my runs have been on trails, the rest on roads.  Much to my surprise, the three holes in the sole have never trapped any rocks.

To sum it up, my size 10.5 Huaka's are 9.7oz light...

Flexible...

Try THIS with any other Hoka.

Cushioned...

and extremely comfortable.  Although I have a ton of shoe reviews to do, I'm having a hard time not putting them on my feet before every run.  I have been waiting for this shoe for a long time.  Well done Hoka.

Here are the specs as listed on Hokas website.

Catagory: Neutral light cushion
Geometry: 2mm Heel offset - (Heel 27mm, Forefoot 25mm)
Weight: 8.9 oz (actual for my 10.5 was 9.7oz)
Construction: Ultra lightweight no sew speedframe with racelaces, full length RMAT midsole, early stage meta rocker geometry with 2mm offset and stregic hi abrasion rubber zones.
Price: $150

Hoka Rapa Nui 2 (Trail and Tarmac) Shoe Review

I don't know if I've ever anticipated getting a shoe longer than the Hoka Rapa Nui.  I first saw them on Karl Meltzers feet, then saw a post about them on Ian Corless' blog in August of 2012.  I was extremely intrigued.   I have had every single model that Hoka makes, eventually deciding that my favorite was the Bondi Speed.  I have run thousands of miles in Hokas, even naming the Bondi Speed my top trail shoe of 2012.  It was like a late Christmas present when I finally received a pair three weeks ago.  (Note: these shoes were provided at no charge by Hoka as a media sample).

Obviously the brand has grown huge amounts in the last 3 years.  Once an oddity, it seems that now they are the dominate player in the (super) long distance shoe market.  In reality, they created an entire new market and the response from runners falling in love with the pillowy soft cushioning has spured the industry to create a new segment.  It seems that the biggest trend for 2014 is the "Maximal" Cushioned shoe.

While all that was/is going on, Hoka has actually produced a shoe with LESS cushioning!  The Rapa Nui was designed as a faster, more minimal shoe for the racier crowd.  "Relevant" is the word that comes to mind, as the words "minimal" and "Hoka" really don't belong anywhere near each other.  Only in Hoka land can a 11.7oz (my actual weight of a size 10.5) shoe with 21/25mm of cushioning be considered minimal.  But, in relevance to their other offerings it is.

The Rapa Nui addresses my biggest concern with the other Hoka models, which is to much "squish". While the others feel awesome at first, I actually find that they cause a certain type of fatigue that no other shoe does.  Specifically, my hamstrings and periformus seem to get overwhelmed after very long runs in those shoes.   Unfortunately, this problem has led to several DNF's in races where I have worn Hokas from the start.  I have actually had races where I changed out of Hokas after 60-70 miles into a more traditional shoe and felt way better.  Knowing this, I changed my shoe strategy for 100 milers this year.  At the VT100, where I got 9th place with a PR of 18:53, I wore traditional shoes until mile 81.  Then I switched to my beloved Bondi Speeds and felt invigorated enough to run the fastest last 19 mile split in the 4 times I've run that race.  

So when I heard that the Rapa Nui had 1.5x the level of cushioning of a normal shoe rather than the usual 2.2x I was excited.  Could this be the shoe that strikes the perfect balance of maximal cushioning without being overkill?

I have read other reports that this shoe is more flexible than other Hokas.  Well, yes and no.  It is way more flexible than their thickest offerings, the Stinson Evo and Mafate.  Both of those rely on a rockered sole for a smooth ride.  The sole on both of those are quite stiff.  The flex on the Rapa Nui is similar to the Bondi.  Still very stiff in the traditional world.

The EVA foam sole feels more like the Stinson Evo, but because of the lower volume it flexes more.  It also has a much less pronounced rocker effect.  Frankly I don't feel the rocker effect at all on this shoe.

One thing that really worried me before I received them was that the toe box looks extremely narrow in pictures.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that they don't feel narrow.  They actually have more room than my Stinson Evos.  It's not only the internal width, but the height of the toe box as well.  This combined with a nice snug fitting mid foot creates a very comfortable shoe.  They fit true to size with a fair amount of room in front of your toes.

So, was the wait worth it?  Yes, it was.  I absolutely love these shoes.  They have a feel that seems to provide a nearly perfect level of cushioning, without feeling like they are robbing energy.  The climb better than my other Hokas, they have the best level of traction due to the chevron shaped lugs, and they have the best fit of any Hokas I've used.

I find myself running longer than I planed to when I wear them.  I just want to keep running because my feet are so happy!  I do need to report that the longest I have worn them for at this point is only 15 miles, so I still haven't tested them on any really long runs.  But based on how they have performed so far I doubt that I will have any trouble wearing them longer.

Road Version, the Rapa Nui 2 Tarmac

The only difference is the tread pattern.

After 80 or so miles, with about 1/2 of that being on pavement, the rear most lugs are starting to wear.  I don't by any means consider it excessive, but since I want these to last as long as possible I purchased a pair of the Rapa Nui 2 Tarmacs (previously called the Kailua) from Boulder running company.  I have been using them for the treadmill and road runs.  Except for the tread, they feel and fit exactly the same as the off road versions. Hence, there is no need for a separate review.  For my first run in them I had planned on running 4-6 miles.  I was having so much fun that I went 13.  And that sums up how I feel about them.

2013 Vermont 100 Race Report

It's 3:55am and I'm standing at the starting line for the Vermont 100.  It's a familiar place to me.  In 2008 I was lined up at the same place, incredibly full of anticipation for the unknown experience of attempting to cover 100 mile by foot for my first time.  Except for 2010, I have been at every start since.  Until last year, I had finished every race.  My quickest time being 20:29.

Last year was a rough one for me, as far as finishing races go.  I ended up DNFing Vt at mile 70.   It just seemed like I lacked the desire to get to the finish line.  Sure, I had problems (wrecked quads and blisters) but that's par for the course when doing one of these things.

Unfortunately the string of DNF's (Did not Finish) continued for me earlier this year at the Massanutten 100.  I got sick on Monday before the race and the cold turned into walking pneumonia by race day.  I started, but only got to mile 20 before massive fatigue, coughing fits and a tough time breathing got the best of me.  It was particularly disappointing because I  trained harder than ever and felt very ready to go.

And now again I find myself full of nervous anticipation.  I want to break 20 hours.  Badly.  But I don't know if my head is strong enough.  Will I fail once again?  I tell myself to relax and trust my training.  I know that if things go terribly wrong my real goal is to just finish.  If things go right hopefully I can get that sub 20 hour finish that has eluded me at this race.

I know that in order to get my goal I have to be quicker through the aid stations.  In the years past I have wasted a lot of time there managing blisters, sitting down too long and just being unfocused.  This year I have my favorite crew, my wife Amy and my brother Barry.  And as an added bonus, my best friend Jeremy is along for the ride.  I have given the exact instructions on what I need at each stop.  The goal is for me to spend 2 minutes max at each stop.

I have a strategy for everything.  But as anybody who has ever done a 100 mile race knows, the best strategy is to be mentally prepared for surprises.  You just can't anticipate what you are going to have to deal with for this big of an undertaking.  And I have painfully learned that even my experience doing these races doesn't guarantee a finish.

Amy and I at the start.  The calm before the storm.

The race stared promptly at 4am after a nice surprise fireworks show on a nearby hill. (Yes, I know I just changed from present tense to past tense....) It was a cool way to start the race and I felt great as I ran down the first hill and into the woods for the first time.  We had been warned that the trails were much wetter than years past due to the extraordinary amount of rain that Vermont has received this year.  Keeping that in mind, I started the race in my Brooks PureGrit II shoes.  I had planned on wearing my Altra Torins, but the Brooks offer better traction and drainage.  My plan was to see just how wet it was and then change into the Altras if possible.

Although the trails were somewhat wet, they really weren't that bad.  I was enjoying the early easy pace, but my stomach felt like it had a big bubble of gas in it for a bunch of miles.  I took a couple minute bio break in the woods off the road and felt much better afterwards.  As I was running down the hill into Woodstock I saw my old buddy, Sherpa John up ahead.  I caught up with him and chatted a bit.  He was running great and it was nice to see him.  He was wearing a GPS watch and informed me that we were running at a 7:45 pace.  I was surprised as I felt so comfortable.  I reminded myself to make sure I didn't hammer too early.

Changing into the awesome Altra Torin shoes

I reached the first Handler station, Pretty House (mile 22.5) at 7:34am.   I spent less than two minutes changing shoes and socks into the Altras, grabbing two new bottles, and an extra gel and 3 Perpetuem solids that I ate as I took off.  I also drank a Vespa CV-25.  My crew was absolutely fantastic and had everything ready to go.  About a half a mile after leaving I realized that I still had my headlight on my head.  For about 10 seconds I started to get upset, but then decided that it really was no big deal even though I would have to have it there for another 8 miles.  Just as I stopped worrying about it coach Jack came driving by and I yelled at him to stop.  He took the light from me and later gave it back to my crew.

Amy helping me make another super quick aid station stop

Stage road was the next Handler station, at mile 31.4.  I arrived at 9:09am and was out in one minute.  In that time I got two new bottles, drank a Vespa, ate 3 Perpetuem Solids and restocked on my gels.  I was in great spirits and ready for the 17 mile stretch until I saw my crew again.  My shoes were working very well, my feet were great and my fueling strategy was working excellent.  The day was not nearly as warm as I had expected and there was a nice cloud cover keeping the sun from being to hot.  As far as I was concerned, the conditions were perfect.

Somewhere in the next few miles I caught up with Amy Rusiecki who was going through a rough patch already.  I usually keep to myself and don't do much talking to anybody else during a long race, but Amy said that her hamstring was hurting and she was upset that she already felt bad so early in the day.  We had a nice chat and I reminded her that last year she wanted to drop, but stuck it out and got second place.  During our talk she seemed to pick up the pace and started to feel better.  It's amazing how much our brain is in control of our bodies, regardless of how hard we train or how fit we are.  I was able to physically see a change in her demeanor, running and attitude just by having something to take her mind off of her current pain.  It was cool.  And she went on to finish 3rd woman with a time of 19:53!

Weighing in at the medical check

As the miles clicked away I was happy that I never really slipped into any type of low patch.  I was starting to chafe a bit, but it was nothing serious (yet....) and I just kept plugging away.  It just a hair under 3 hours until I arrived at Camp 10 Bear at mile 47.6.  It was 12:10 and I had covered almost half the course in 8 hours and 10 minutes.  I was over one hour ahead of my planned time and I felt great.  I got checked in by the medical staff, where I weighed 2lbs less than my starting weight.  That was a good sign that I was staying properly hydrated.  With the usual drill of two new bottles, a Vespa and some new gels I was on my way out for more.

I don't remember much about the next 11.5 miles except that somewhere along the way I got hit with a huge wave of nausea.  I thought for sure this would finally be the first time I've thrown up in a race, but nope, it didn't happen.  After a few dry heaves I felt better.  It was strange and I was grateful to not have to deal with being sick.  As I arrived at the Seven Seas station, mile 59.1 I decided that I needed some real food.  I ate some brown rice with tofu and avocado and felt much better.  My crew got me out in 2 minutes and then made the mad dash to the next handler station, the famous Margaritaville.  It was only 3.4 miles away for me to run but it was 17 miles of driving for the crew to get there.  When I got into the station they were just pulling in.

Wet macerated feet

Here is where I made the decision to take a bit longer than normal and fix some issues.  Since my feet had been wet from the trails for hours and hours, they were starting to get macerated.  The military calls this condition "swamp foot" and if not addressed it can be extremely painful as the waterlogged creases on the bottom of your feet start to blister.   I took my shoes off then rinsed, washed and dried them.  I changed the insoles for dry ones and powdered the hell out of my feet to absorb any moisture.  I put on a dry pair of Wright Socks and was ready to go.  Since the chafe was starting to get pretty bad too (you really don't want more details on where I was chaffing...), I decided to change my shorts as well.   After everything was done I had spent 8 minutes, my longest stop of the race.

Feeling much better after dry socks and new shorts

I'm convinced that it was one of the smartest moves I made all day.  Although I was starting to get pretty tired I felt like a new man with clean dry shorts and shoes.  The new shorts didn't eliminate the chaffing, but it did improve it.  Sometimes the little things make a huge difference when you are so raw.

The next 8 miles felt great.  Mentally I was super excited.  Last year this stretch is where everything fell apart for me.  This year I was cranking.  There are some long downhill stretches and I felt like I was flying.  I was trying to preserve my quads, but I also knew that if I wanted to break 20 hours I needed to take advantage of these quicker parts because the last 30 have lots of hills and are slow.

I pulled in to Camp 10 Bear, mile 70.5 in high spirits at 4:41pm and was super psyched to be there so early in the afternoon.  I lubed the chaffe, ate some more rice and tofu, drank a Vespa, and got new bottles and gels.  I was out in 2 minutes accompanied by Matt Wilson, my pacer for the last 30 miles.

Matt at Western States this year (Photo Luis Escobar)

I actually have not used a pacer in over 2 years.  And I had no plans on doing so here.  In the few days leading up to the race Jack emailed me explaining that Matt was coming up all the way from PA to pace me and that he was a great guy was had just run Western States in a little over 20 hours.  Jack said that he would kick my ass to the finish line and get me home in under 20 hours.  Frankly I was a little bit reluctant and told Jack, thanks, but no thanks.  But it seemed that he wouldn't take no for an answer.  It sounded like a recipe for disaster to me.   At the same time, I am learning that the Universe answers all requests and provides us with all the resources we need to achieve our wants and needs.  It's up to us to choose to recognize those gifts or ignore them.  I decided that this must be one of those occasions and gave in to the fact that Matt was going to pace me.  As I'll explain, I'm glad I did.

As Matt and I got to know each other a bit better I found him to be very easy to talk to.  I was actually a bit intimidated by him because he is such a strong runner.  I wanted to be strong and run well even though I was getting tired.  I tried my best not to whine too much, but I have to admit I did so a bit.  Matt was super good about watching our average pace and keeping me moving in the areas that were flat or downhill.   The nice part was that he wasn't sharing with me the actual math, he was just telling me if we were on pace or not.  When I did have to hike up the steep hills he was very reassuring by telling me that we were still moving well and on track.

Tired and confused at mile 77

We next saw the crew at the Spirit of 76 aid station (mile 77.4) and we actually ran the steep hill that comes into the station.  It was still light out and it was only 6:09pm.  One of my stretch goals was to make it to Bills Barn, mile 89 in the light, which I've never done before.  Now I had about 2 1/2 hours to try to accomplish that, but I was starting to get pretty tired.  We were at the station for less than 2 minutes, did the usual bottles, Vespa, etc and headed out.

70% hardpacked VT roads = sore feet

My Altra Torin shoes were working great, but the pounding of the hard packed roads was starting to get to me.  Matt was wearing Hokas and we talked a bit about shoes. I decided that I would change into my Hokas at Bills for the final stretch once we got there.  This thought kept me going as we continued to pound out the miles.

This stretch has lots of very steep hills that are not runnable for me when I'm this tired.  I concentrated on power walking at a brisk pace and found that I was starting to catch people.  About a mile before Bills, while going up a miserably steep road I passed Bob Ayers from Vt.  Bob is a super nice guy and incredibly strong runner.  He was gracious and told me that I was doing great and I needed to enjoy the good ones when they happened.  Seeing him picked up my spirits a bit.  I've never been even close to him at any race.  It was a good sign for me that I was moving well.

Shortly after I passed the early woman's leader (who was now in second place ), Traci Falbo.  She was struggling a bit.  As I went by I said "Welcome to VT, these hills are brutal aren't they?"  She was in no mood to talk and gave me a look like she wanted to kill me.  I later apologized explaining that I was just trying to keep things light, but she was in no mood to engage with me.   I didn't take it personally.  When you are doing one of these races and in a bad spot you are incredibly raw.

Shortly after the top of the hill, with Bills in sight, I saw my friend Adam Wilcox for the first time.  I didn't realize it was him as the sun was just starting to go down.  He was facing a tree with both hands resting on it and had one foot lifted up behind him.  His pacer, my other friend Ryan Welts, was removing his sock and shoe to remove what Adam thought was a pebble in his sock.  It turns out there was nothing there, but the blisters felt like a pebble and they were trying to fix it.   Adam seemed a little surprised to see me and not really that happy about his situation.  I could tell he was hurting, but he wouldn't admit it to me.  I wished him luck and kept going.

Bills Barn, mile 89

I was elated to get into Bills while it was still light out!!  It was 8:28pm and I had now run 89 miles in 16 hours 28 minutes.  Matt went ahead to tell the crew that I needed my Hokas.  As I was approaching the station I saw our car and stopped to see if my Hokas were there.  That way they didn't have to run back to the car to get them.  I looked in my shoe bag and they weren't there so I assumed they had them with them and headed in.

Jeremy, keeping everybody entertained.

When I arrived I weighed in at one pound over starting weight and medical cleared me to keep on.  I went over to the crew to discover that they did not have my Hokas.  As I took off my socks and washed and prepped my feet Jeremy went on a mad sprinting dash to get the shoes.  I lost zero time as he had them back before I had my new socks on.  He was breathing hard and said, how the hell do you do that for 100 miles??  I only wish that I could run that fast for 100 miles!!! 

On top of the shoe change, I got my usual bottles, Vespa etc. I also did my best to try to fix the chaffing which now was starting to get pretty bad. Amy keeps notes from each station and for here they say "Surprise!, flying!, ready to kick ass".  Matt and I headed out excited that only 11 miles stood before me and the finish line. 

Heading out of Bills, with Hokas on feet.

The next 6 miles to the last handler station, Polly's (mile 95.9) were tough.  I was struggling to run even when it was flat and I was walking more than I wanted to.  My chaffing was killing me, so much so that I took off my shirt and stuffed it down my shorts to create a barrier between my thighs and my ....never mind....  My makeshift repair did make it a bit better and I was just trying to stay focused and get through the pain.  The entire time Matt kept being extremely supportive letting me know that we were way ahead of the 20 hour goal and prodded me to get into a running shuffle as much as possible.

Trying to eat quickly and get the hell out of the aid station

I got to Pollys at 10:05pm, 18 hours and 5 minutes into the race.  Now I only had 4.1 miles to finish.  I remembered this section as pretty slow and tough, but it actually had more flat and downhill than I remembered.  For the next two miles I was doing the math and realizing that I had a real possibility to break my all time PR for a 100 mile race of 19:19.   When Matt and I came upon the 2 miles to go sign I looked at my watch.  It was 10:35pm.  If I could do the last two miles in under 25 minutes I could break 19 hours!!

Matt and I had actually run these miles on Friday before weigh in and I knew what they were like in the day.  They were hilly, but certainly runable.  I looked at Matt and said, "Lets go get a PR!"  Matt said "Hell yes, let's do this!" and I took off like a bat out of hell.  As I went flying down the trail, through the muddiest part of the course I started passing people.  We went by at least 3 runners with their pacers, two of which we actually startled because we were running so fast!

As I went by Adam and Ryan, whom had passed me a bit earlier, they were supportive and gave me words of encouragement.  But I know Adam's fierce sense of competitiveness and was running scared, positive that he would come flying back by me.  But nobody did.  I ran the last two miles in 18 minutes and crossed the finish line in 18 hours and 53 minutes.  I was floored when I learned that I had also finished in 9th place.  9th place!!! I never dreamed that I could do that at such a competitive event.

Crossing the line

Matt and I at the fnish

It's official - 18:53:56 and 9th place (2nd in age group)

Now the pain begins...

As I sat down in a chair the intense pain in my legs took over and an incredible wave of nausea overtook me as well.  I was sure I was going to throw up and even told Amy to move her feet as I was going to lose it.  After moaning and groaning a bit, the crew decided that I should go to the medical tent to lay in a cot for a bit.  I was shivering uncontrollably.  The extent of the chaffing became evident as the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in.  But I don't think any amount of pain could overshadow the feeling of accomplishment.

Special "Top Ten" Buckle

Standing with the fast crowd!

The next day at the awards ceremony I got to stand with the top ten.  I was pretty honored to be up there with such runners as Ian Sharman, Brian Rusiecki, Nick Clark, Jason Lantz and of course my good friend Adam Wilcox, whom I knew would be top 10.

It was an incredible day.  And I would not have been able to do it without Amy, Barry, Jeremy, Matt and Coach Jack.  A million thank you's go out to them and everybody else who has been so supportive of this endeavor.  Success is that much sweeter after failure, and I learned that the saying "Never give up" really holds pays off in the end.



Stats for the day:
Shoes - Brooks Pure Grit II - first 22 miles, Altra Torin - 66 miles, Hoka Bondi Speed - last 11 miles.
Socks - Write Sock cool mesh - 2 pairs
Gold Bond Powder - in socks and on feet after cleaning them
Shorts - Brooks
Shirt - Columbia Omni Freeze cooling shirt

Food: Vespa CV-25 - 8 Pouches, Vfuel gels - about 10, Hammer Sustained Energy - 9 bottles (3 scoops per bottle), 9 Perpetuem solids and about a cup of brown rice with avacado and tofu. 

Running High Mileage with Plantar Fasciitis

It makes me so sad.  When I first started running I jumped up in the mileage pretty quickly.  What resulted, other than stronger legs, was a case of Plantar Fasciitis.  I struggled with it for months before going to a foot doctor.  He diagnosed me with PF and sent me to Granite State Physical Therapy.  This is when I met Brian Verville, the owner, for the first time.

Over the course of several weeks (maybe 6?) Brian got me back up and running using the techniques that I will describe in this post.  During this same time I also realized that my shoe choice might be another factor and began experimenting with more minimal, less cushioned and more flexible shoes.

The net result is that it went away.  I wasn't sure how much was due to the PT and how much the shoe change, but all that mattered was that it was gone.

Wrestling a Bear

This is what I had been focused on since the first time I looked into the Bear 100 in Logan UT.

Course profile for The Bear 100

Of all the 100 mile races I've done, I've never tackled an elevation profile like this one.  I was terrified that I wouldn't be in good enough shape to handle it.  Since this was the last race in my "Potentially Painful Summer" I really wanted to do well.  My A Goal was to break 24 hours, a task that I knew would not be easy.

I felt very rested from Leadville, which was five weeks ago.  I had many very good runs, and felt like I had lots of "pep in my step" on my trail runs.  I was refreshed because the bugs were finally gone from the woods and almost every run had been on trails.  It is amazing how much less the trails beat you up than the roads.  My last long run was at Pats Peak where I did a bunch of loops and felt awesome.  I left Wednesday afternoon full of confidence.

I wouldn't have Amy and Barry, my supercrew, for this race and that worried me a bunch.  They know almost by telepathy what I need at these races and take awesome care of me.  My original plan was to just make drop bags and do my best with no crew or pacer.  But thanks to Facebook an old friend of mine, Scott Johnson, whom I hadn't seen since grade school reached out to me and offered to help. 

I warned him multiple times how much being a crew member sucked, but he insisted that he was into it.  His boss does triathalons and he helps there.  He figured it would be kind of the same thing, just for WAY longer.

Scott, whom I hadn't seen for almost 30 years!!

I flew into Salt Lake City UT on Wednesday and stayed overnight in a hotel near the airport.  In the morning I saw Scott for the first time in 29 years.  After grabbing breakfast we headed to the local running store where I picked up a new pair of Hoka's just in case my foot got worse.  Oh yeah, I forgot to put in that little tidbit.  In the week before the race I noticed that my left foot felt like it was bruised under the forefoot.  I figured that I must have stepped on a rock and bruised it, but it wasn't getting any better.  On one of my visits to my PT, Brett Copeland, I casually mentioned it to him.  After he examined my foot he got a very worried look on his face and immediately sent me to get x-rays.  He suspected that I had either a stress reaction or a stress fracture and wanted to see if he could see anything.

He looked at the x-rays and couldn't see anything but told me that it didn't mean I didn't have a stress fracture.  He told me to be carefull and mindfull of the pain and asked me to keep him posted.  This sat fairly heavily on my mind because the next day I ran 4 miles and it started hurting only 2 miles into the run.

I tried not to worry about it. Sometimes our minds have a way of making a big deal out of nothing and I didn't want to focus more energy on it.  I got the Hokas because of the awesome cushioning and hoped that if I had a problem they would help me get through the race.

After that we drove two hours to Logan where we found our hotel.  After prepping my drop bags we headed over to the RD's house which was actually a fish hatchery.  We dropped off our bags and then attended the pre-race meeting.  The only person I knew at this race was Steve Pero, a long time Ultra runner whom I hadn't seen in a couple of years.

The meeting was so cool.  Totally old school.  No weigh in.  No media. No hype.  To get your race number you found the bag on the grass that had your number on it.  I loved it.  Scott and I grabbed dinner afterwards and I headed to an early sleep.  Scott and I were getting along great.  It was like we never lost touch.  Say what you want about Facebook, but the fact that I could reconnect with an old friend whom I might never had seen again is a result of the incredible global community that they have created.

The morning of the race was beautiful.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was comfortably cool.  The race starts out by heading up a paved road for about a mile then hits the trail and goes up from there.  Look at the race profile.  As we headed up the trail in the dark I started to realize that it was not as steep as I expected.   It was kind of cool.  Everybody was marching up the moutain and almost nothing was being said.  All you could hear was breathing.  I'm not that social at these events, I tend to just focus on what I'm trying to do.  It was nice and peaceful and I found that my spirits were extremely high.  When the sun finally started to rise I could see that we were climbing up a beautiful singletrack surrounded by fall foliage.  Now this is what I came for.  My legs felt strong, my mind felt calm.  Perfect.

On all my previous 100's I carried my voice recorder.  Today I decided that I would film videos with my camera so everybody could see what I was going through rather than just hear it.  At 2 hours and 36 minutes, right after my first stop at mile 10 or so, I recorded that my foot felt good and it was warming up.  During the stop I quickly grabbed an extra gel, at a handfull of nuts, refilled my handheld bottle and was off.  I spent less than 2 minutes there. "So far so good" I said as I continued on my trek. 

The views were incredible.

At 10:15, after 4 hours and 15 minutes,  I pulled into the Leathan Hollow aid station, 19.66 miles into the race.  This was the first crewed aid station and the first time that I saw Scott.  For his first time ever witnessing an event like this, let along crewing, Scott did great at the first stop. He changed the bladder in my pack and replaced all my needed food with incredible efficiency. I drank a Boost, ate some food at the aid station table while tended to my pack.  It was an awesome stop. Total time in the aid station was 2 minutes.  Not bad for a rookie!

I headed out down a dirt road that was fairly level and shortly was at the next aid station at mile 22.5.  I really don't understand why this station was here.  Perhaps because the next one was so far away.  Right out of the aid station I started to climb and climb.  The sun was now out in full force and I quickly went from doing great to feeling like something was very wrong.  At 5 hours and 42 minutes into the race I recorded that it was hot and I was completely exhausted.  I was in a bad place and it was way to early to feel this way.  I couldn't seem to find the motivation and it felt like there was no meaning to being out here starting to suffer already.

The next time I took out my camera things were not any better.  It was less than 30 miles into the race and I said that I felt like I did at mile 70 of Leadville.  I wasn't able to run and I didn't know what was the matter.  I didn't know if it was my head or my body.  I said that "I sure as hell hope it's my body.  I'd hate to think it is just my head".  I was trying to get my head back to just enjoying the day and the scenery, but the idea of possibly walking for 70 miles was incredibly unappealing.   I was already starting to think about dropping and I was fighting to keep the thought out of my head.  I was really worried at how I was going to tell everybody who has been so supportive of me that I just didn't "Man up" and finish.  The thought of a sub 24 hour buckle to add to my collection was long gone.  It was early in the say and I was trying not to admit that I was already in survival mode.

At 6 hours and 56 minutes into the race I had just left the 30 mile aid station.  Lo and behold, I was starting to come around.  Scott got me quickly in and out again and I changed into my Hokas.  The terrain had been much rockier than I had expected and my feet were starting to get sore in the NB MT110's that I was wearing.  I really didn't want to change out of those shoes, I love how they feel and I didn't even have the beginning of any blisters.  I had been though several small streams and they drained the water really well.  I knew that it was a risk putting on my new Hoka Bondi B's, but they offered so much protection I figured why not?

The pattern at the Bear is that you climb forever, reach a peak then descend forever.  I had been feeling destroyed on the climbs and then slowly coming back to life on the downhills.  One thing that was new for me was the descents went on for miles.  It was hard on the quads, but I wasn't having trouble with them.  I was however having trouble with the heat.  I've been to some hot races and the heat has never bothered me before.  For some reason, it was today.

At 8 hours 45 minutes into the race I had just left the mile 36.6 aid station.  Once again, I wasn't doing that well.  I was having a hard time eating.  Everything just was too sweet and combined with the heat I was having a hard time choking down anything.  I was tired, not feeling good and once again my thoughts returned to asking why?  Why was I out here?  I didn't have anything left to prove to anybody, including myself.  I just didn't have any motivation and was tired.  I was hoping that I would just wake up and things would get better, but it just wasn't happening.

To try to change my mood I started taking pictures of myself.  I was hoping that if I found my sense of humor I might pull out of my funk.

Sad Nate

Grumpy Nate

Alas, it was not to be.  At the 9 1/2 hour mark I sat down in the brushes beside the trail and recorded this.

This was my moment of truth.  At this very moment I decided that I was done. I figure that I was somewhere around 41 miles into the race.  I still had to go 5.5 miles to get to the next aid station.  I was traveling somewhere around 2-3 miles and hour and this is the view as far as the eye could see.

Although beautiful, it was totally overwhelming.  There was nobody around me, no end to the trail in sight and almost no shade to be found.  As I continued to walk for another hour I started to realize that I hadn't been eating anything.  Everything I had with me was sweet.  I couldn't tolerate them.  The sports drink in my bottle was hot and disgusting so the only thing I could do was sip the Gatorade in my hydration pack as it was still somewhat less than boiling in temperature.

At some point I realized that I had an EFS flask in the back of my pack.  I have never used it but had read that a lot of people used it.  I bought some to keep with me just in case.  Well, this was that just in case moment.  As I took the first swig of it I couldn't believe how bad the stuff was.  It tasted like Vicks cough syrup.  The bottle is 4 or 5 oz.  I managed to get most of it down.  In a few moments the trail dumped out to a dirt road that was gradual downhill.  I started to run again which felt great.  Perhaps I could actually pull out of this tailspin I was in.  At the bottom of the hill, right as a trail started, I was overwhelmed with nausea.

I actually started to chuckle.  Perfect, just perfect.  I took out my camera and began to film.  Luckily I didn't actually throw up, but there was a few minutes that I was sure I was going to.

Eventually, after 11 hours and 15 minutes I made it to the aid station 46.6 miles in where Scott was waiting for me.  I told him that I was done.  He asked if I was sure, which I was.  I went to the scoring desk and said "522, dropping".  Without so much as a "are you sure?" they said ok.  And with that I had now officially quit my first 100 mile race.

I learned more from this race than all the other successful ones this year.  I realized that you can't get anything in this world unless you really want it.  If you lose your desire for something it just won't happen.  My body certainly could have finished this race.  My head didn't.  At that time I just could not find the reason to keep pushing on.

I've read from many other Ultrarunners that you better have your head ready before you tackle one of these things.  Now I finally know what they are talking about. They are never easy and when you have to dig deep you need to have that driving reason front and center in your mind.  I will use this lesson in so many aspects of my life before I start something now.  When a person is focused and motivated they can do anything.  When the focus isn't there it becomes almost impossible.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself gazing at the mountains as I drove from Logan to Salt Lake City the next day.  After struggling so much in the race, all I wanted to do was pull over and go for a run on those mountain trails.  At that moment I realized that I had forgotten how much I love to run.  Perhaps if I had just remembered that during the race things would have turned out differently.