30+ Miles!

What a day I had yesterday. Let me start with the stats, then I'll tell the story.

Where: Crescent Meadow through Bearpaw Meadow to Hamilton Lake and back
Miles covered: Between 30.5 and 32. Reports on mileage from different websites vary. I've logged it at 30.5 just to be fair.
Avg Pace: 19:30/mile
Starting Elevation: Around 6700 feet
Ending Elevation: Around 8300 feet
Total Ascent/Descent: 19,268 feet (no joke!)

The back story here is that four years ago, while coming home from a hike to Bearpaw high sierra camp, our party was lapped by a man running the trail. He stopped briefly to talk to us. Doing the math, we figured out he was traveling 30+ miles that day. I remember saying (either out loud or to myself--I cannot remember), I could never do that! At that point, I wasn't a runner at all. Well, a person must be careful which words they throw out into the universe. Words matter, and some must simply be proven wrong. I came home and started running, a few yards at a time, and the rest is history.

I arrived at Crescent Meadow feeling good. I loaded up my supplies and hit the trail. I had hoped to see plenty of wildlife, but mostly I was just scaring the birds. The scrub jays seemed the most angry at my intrusion. They squawked loudly as they were flying away. I could tell I was the first person on the trail because the spiderwebs were still intact from one side of the trail to the other.

The first 11 miles to Bearpaw camp were good. The trail became difficult to run in some sections, due to rolling granite rocks underfoot. I ran into camp a bit behind schedule. I was so sorry to miss my friend Carolyn. She had gone even further into the backcountry to meet friends. There was a chance to see her on the trail at Hamilton, so I had a glass of lemonade and kept going.

Here is a picture of my first water stop. It is at about mile 14: I filtered water into my water pack, and kept going. This is also where I realized a big mistake I had made. The day was taking longer than I expected, and I had brought no solid food. I was getting very hungry, and all I had were shot bloks. These did not have enough calories. I decided to trudge on, and stopped only briefly at Hamilton lake to snap a picture and head back down.

Hamilton Lake (approximately mile 15-16):

By mile 17, I was getting a bit weak from hunger. I planned on getting some more lemonade at Bearpaw. Also, by this time my right foot was in a fair amount of pain from my PF. The trail was difficult to run due to the granite rocks moving underfoot. There were many steps on the sharp rocks that made me gasp in pain a little bit when my right foot came in contact.

Bearpaw camp was mile 19-20. Bad news: They were low on water, and couldn't sell lemonade. I had to mentally pull myself together when I realized that I would not have food until I was done. I hit the trail again, and stopped at Buck Creek to filter more water. I assessed my shot blok situation, and figured out how to ration them for the rest of the trip in order to keep calories going in.

The last 11 miles were quite horrible I must admit. I felt I was barely moving. I felt pretty weak and my right foot hurt so much I was beginning to wonder if I had a stress fracture. By mile 28-29ish, I'm embarrassed to admit that I was crying because it hurt so much. Nothing about this trip had been what I hoped or expected. My mind and body were toast. Not only did I not want to be on the trail anymore, I thought I might never want to run again--ever.

I finally arrived back at Crescent Meadow thankful to be done. I quickly downed a protein shake and some recovery drink. I had an hour's drive ahead of me. I had liquid meals and fluids all the way home. I was still in a lot of pain, and my foot was throbbing and sending waves of pain up my right leg when I pushed on the gas pedal. I was so tired when I got home. I was also sad. I felt like I had totally bombed this run. I was afraid I'd wrecked my body for...nothing really. It's not like I'd had the time of my life.

I made the decision to take a leftover pain pill from my surgery, and to assess the damage in the morning.

Well, it's the day after. I woke up this morning with not so much as a twinge of pain. Good news! I actually feel great. I see what I did yesterday, and it was pretty darn great even if it did hurt like heck. I can mark this off my life list because I'm pretty sure I will never do it again. Maybe a few more days will bring even more fresh perspective.

After a big event I like to make a short list of things that went well and lessons learned. Based on how I feel today, I can tell that I managed my fluids, electrolytes, and salt intake very well. I stuck religiously to my intake schedule yesterday, and it paid off. I have no muscle soreness today, and I did not experience dead legs yesterday. I learned two lessons. The first is that I need more real and substantial calories for that distance. The time on my feet simply required it. Also, this trail was too difficult for me to be my first ultra marathon. The high elevation combined with the technicality of the trail in sections made it unsuitable. Still, it has some of the best scenery around. The hikers are friendly, and I did it. I really did it.