Teanaway Country 100
I signed up for the Teanaway Country 100 late this spring. A lot has changed in my life since the last time I ran a 100 miler. I married the love of my life Liza Dean. I've helped my Dad live though the experience of having an inoperable brain tumor. Liza and I relocated from Sausalito California to small town Vaughn Washington during the pandemic. I now live in a house and not a boat. Through it all I've tried to remind myself that I am still someone who would like to maintain a healthy body for an active lifestyle.
I heard about the race though some of the online channels of ultra running. It seemed fun and challenging, with beautiful scenery. The race director was able to achieve a full race completion only once for the inaugural event in 2018. The next year was cancelled mid run because of dangerous lightening. 2020 was cancelled for COVID. I had some doubts 2021 would ever happen. Wildfire smoke or an actual fire in the vicinity of the course was a high probability. I thought about it a lot throughout my training. There was a very real possibility I could be putting a large effort towards an event that may never happen.
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Early summer smoke 2021
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I live a little over an hour from the Lake Cushman area of the south eastern Olympic Mountains. 2-3 times a week during my training block I woke up around 4 in the morning and drove to the mountains. I knew if I was to prepare myself I would need to pack in a lot of vertical gain while power hiking.
There is a popular mountain in the Olympic range people love to hike in the summer- Mt Elinor. Three trailheads give access for long, medium and short route to the top. The bottom one starts at Big Creek Camp and leads to the top of Elinor in about 6.2 miles. I would always park there and use my van as an aid station. One trip up and down the mountain gives 5000' and over 12 miles. I like incorporating repetition in my workouts. The repeat is a building block and can be added as able. It's an easy way to stack up an effort without being overly committed. If an overuse injury is encountered, It can be walked back without fear of making a minor flared tendon or muscle strain into a major one.
The route to the top of Mt Elinor is one of my favorites. Most of the vert in the beginning is runnable and gradually steepens. Towards the top the trail gets technical. There is a boulder field, lots of steps built into the mountainside, and a scree field. It seemed adequate, and was enjoyable to climb in the early morning before the south facing mountain heats up under direct sun. I haven't counted how many times I ascended Mt Elinor this summer. Mt. Rose is also just down the road- shorter than Elinor but packs in 3500' in 3 miles of ascent. Mt. Washington was in the rotation as well. On all of them I did repeats. My goal was to accumulate the same amount of elevation and mileage of the race-100 miles, 31,000'. I never quite achieved my lofty goal. I ran a 100 mile week but not with 30k elevation. The most elevation I achieved in a week was 27,000' during 86 miles.
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| Mt. WA |
I ran plenty of hill repeats. From the front door of our house and up the county road I have a one mile lap. About 6 miles of repeats would give me 1000' vertical gain. My neighbors think I'm a little different than the next. Ultra running has hit the mainstream but I'm still that guy out here. Always on the hill. Run Forest run...
My total vertical gain and mileage accumulated during training added up to around 200k. Its hard to find out what metric means something, and to what extent. Quality over quantity is almost always a good adage. To be honest, my training had me feeling "yoked." I had some peroneal tendon issues earlier on, but they mostly vanished somewhere back on the route. The symptoms pointed towards too much time on a crowned county road / / slanting to one side. I worked through it, and used resistance band PT to help stabilize and strengthen problem areas.
My last long run was a 26 mile total out and back on the beginning of J section on the PCT, starting from I-90 at Snoqualmie pass. The trail is technical and I hoped would emulate some aspects of the Teanaway course. I felt great during the out and back and finished in about 6 hours. There are factors that effect time accumulation in mountain running- elevation, trail surface technicality, weather....how hard you try is always big factor. In a race, how much time spent at aid stations adds up a lot. I thought about those factors in depth on my last training run, and tried to focus in on possible expectations.
I tapered for two weeks leading up to the race, in an unmethodical way. I probably did too little activity during taper. Truthfully I was rundown and needed all of two weeks to recoup some of the pep in my step. I incorporated stand up paddle boarding and cycling as cross training for the low impact of both sports. I see a connection between paddling in a standing position and trekking pole mechanics. Core strength is central to SUP workouts. I went for a few rides on my ten speed, one of which was over 25 miles on local roads with my community cycling group. I tried not to overdo both of my recreational activities, and used them as a ways to stay in motion.
Liza and I were married on August 21. I took some time to forget about running and enjoy the gathering of our friends and family. Our wedding was wonderful. I feel like this year has been so full of every emotion, every aspect of life. Full life!!!!
We rented a nice airbnb in Rosyln. It was located about a 4 minute walk from race bib pickup and 20 minutes from the start at Salmon La Sac sno-park. I felt setup for success. Liza could use the wifi and continue work on Friday before the race, and I was able to scope out the first miles of the course in the van. I quit drinking beer about a week before the start. I hoped to give my body a fighting chance to handle some of the inflammation it would encounter during the race.
Bib pickup was low key and held outdoors in Rosyln Yard next to Basecamp Outfitters books and cafe. It rained slightly on Friday, but only on the western part of the course. The rest remained dry and dusty. Start time was 5 am Saturday. I have never started that early before. The obvious reason is because cutoff times can be longer to give people time to finish within the weekend. It's a difficult race and people need time!! 9pm on Sunday is cutoff at the finish line for a total of 40 hrs. Leading up to the final cutoff a group of sweepers get to work and move through the course finding wayward stragglers. They have a deadline at each aid station. If they catch you its over.
Salmon La Sac sno-park is a big, flat dirt parking lot about the size of a football field. When I checked out the location I noticed there was a radio truck setting up an antenna in the corner. I found this to be a cool aspect of the race. Each aid station had an SSB radio and operator keeping track of runners on the course. No obligatory satellite tracking needed. The operators kept a running note on who arrived and left aid stations and when a runner dropped from the race. The information circled around the net for each operator to record.
I tried to get a good sleep Thursday night. I heard somewhere that two nights before can be crucial for resting up for a race. Friday night I slept well but had to wake at 2:00 to get ready. We had a lot of planning in place, and all of the aid station stuff was worked out. Sara and Alejandro went out Friday night and set up a campsite off the main access road to the crewed aid stations. They swung by the house in the evening before to pick up a crew bag. The plan was they would meet me at mile 45 and 58 at the Miller peak aid station. I had to go though there twice and planned on having both visits to the aid station completed by the end of daytime. Sara could pass off my larger headlamp I would carry through the night. Liza was holding down mile 25 and 75, at Iron Peak aid station. I had a lot of comfort in knowing I could to see her at mile 75. She knows how to calm me down and mile 25 would need that sort of attention.
When I awoke in the early morning I felt decently rested. I had a banana, two nut butter Cliff bars, two small cups of coffee, and a Kodiak Cakes muffin cup. probably about 700 calories. We loaded the rest of what was needed for the day quietly into the van, and headed to Salmon La Sac.
We arrived and the lot was full around the perimeter with cars, vans , campers.. Cozy diesel heaters running in a low murmur. People weren't awake yet in our corner of the lot and Picard our dog woofed at them. The race had set up some lighting strings on the ground running from the start/finish arch and opening up from the start like a funnel. It was the main source of light in the area and was simple and elegant enough. Brian Morrison the RD gave his briefing from the back of his box truck with a cute little megaphone. It was a big day - the 20 year anniversary of 9/11, and a big day for Brian, who had worked hard to get his dream off the ground in times that have adversely effected the sport.
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| Picard - golden boy |
When a race is about to start in 15 minutes and the RD is addressing the crowd- and you know the details- go hit the porta potty! There is usually not enough available, and when everyone breaks from the meeting there's no chance of getting in there!! I made a successful mission to the head and lined up at the start. Liza reiterated to me what was said in the speech. A video shows me messing with my shoe laces right before the start. Brian handed his daughter the little megaphone and she called out 3 - 2 - 1--- GO!!
There were 22 women and 50 men who decided they would go out and get what they payed for. A fair amount of people were DNS entrants- probably around 20.
We shuffled out of the parking lot and up to the forest service road. I stayed in the front just behind Kirsten Casey for the first climb on forest service road #4315 for 8 miles and 2800'. I loved the long gradual climb in the beginning. It gave me time to warm up my legs, and most of my splits going up were in the 10-12 minute per mile range. I knew I wasn't "taking it out too hard" not really, and I was constantly trying to remind myself NOT to do that. I mentioned it to Kirsten and she had a good reply, "well its a great time to get some miles in, " and it was. Developing some distance between yourself and those who are going to be gunning hard for your spot at 20, 25, 50 miles isn't all bad. Moving along with fresh legs is easy going in the beginning.
The course after FS-4315 moves through a less travelled area. When you take a detailed look at a trail on a navigation app or map, it's easy to take for granted the trail may actually exist. This portion of the course has trails that are returning to nature. Overall there is a scarcity of groomed trails on the Teanaway Country course. Most are tough and rugged unimproved mountain tracks. User beware! The rest resemble heavily beat down and rutted motocross trails, or f- up crazy 4x4 roads fit only for lifted vehicles. What they all have in common are rocks. They range in all sizes and are usually loose. Descending is kind of like skiing or glissading over the loose rock with trekking poles hammering away on what you can jab them at. The beginning section of the course after the first climb gets pretty steep. There are two ridges that rise about 1500' where the trail wastes no time in ascending or descending.
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| Teanaway Country 100 mile course |
John Maxwell caught up with me somewhere around mile 20. I know we ran together through one aid station and I think I lost him before van epps aid when he moved out quickly. I was hoping I would see him down the trail in the open area or ridge above Lake Ann so I could get a gauge at the gap he was forming. He was able to get up and over the ridge before I could spot him. While running together we most were mostly on 4x4 roads. John is a really nice guy, and I enjoyed the miles running with him. I always like meeting other runners out on the course. There are times when you don't need to be trying to leave someone behind or pass someone in front. Your pace is lining up and you can help each other push onward. Moment like these don't last for ever.
When on the ridge above Lake Ann, the trail leads down to Esmiralda basin, and eventually to Teanaway North Fork road. There is a long descent on rocky single track switchbacks, giving way to some softer forest basin trail. 3/4 mile of smooth beautiful dirt road take you to Iron peak trailhead and aid station at mile 26!!
I ran my fastest mile of the race on the end of the Esmiralda Basin trail and North fork road at 7:15 min pace on the way to the aid station. I wanted to see if I could catch John down there. However he was gone 6 minutes before I arrived, moving swiftly. Around this time it seems like there are lot of big pushes happening. People are running fast, and blowing through aid stations. Racing!
As I ran into Iron Peak aid station there were a lot of cars and people lining the road and they were all cheering. Normally there are little to no spectators during a 100 mile race, and it feels amazing to feed off the positive energy of a cheering crowd! Liza couldn't get the back door of the van open to get a chair, because a car parked too close to open it. Instead she brought a foam sleeping pad and laid it into the hillside for me to sit on. I changed out my socks because they didn't come over the inside bone of my ankle. Both were getting bruised and bloody. The edge of my shoes kept clipping them as my feet flailed around on the uneven trail. From here I wore the same shoes and socks for the remainder of the race. The shoes were Hoka One One - Evo Mofate 2's, and Balega socks.
I was feeling emotional and Liza said she was too! It was all the cheering that made me feel good, and seeing her always makes me feel better. I tried to get up and running as quick as possible, as two runners came in for aid just before I left.
Iron Peak trail takes you up to a ridge between Teanaway peak and Iron Peak, named El Dorado Pass. The trail takes a drop into a large bowl and to a valley where Beverly creek flows towards the aid station at mile 35. I got caught by another runner just after El dorado pass who I believe is Will Olsen. I was now in 3rd, and kind of cared about it. He didn't wait around, and was descending rapidly. We only had time to exchange a quick conversation about the beautiful clean air we were breathing. "Good for him," I thought. "I'm going to save my knees, so I can finish this thing."
There is a short out and back to the aid station that combines the trailheads to the Beverly Turnpike trail and Bean Creek trail. A decorated bridge with speakers blasting Guns and Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" crossed Beverly creek, the aid station tent was just a few feet further. The time was about 12:45 is when I arrived. It was the warmest part of the day and I picked out what I needed and took a little time to let my legs catch up. One runner came in without a pack or poles, just water bottles and a waist belt. He stopped for liquids only, and sped off. I walked out and decided to take it easy on the next climb 2500' up to Standup creek and a pass south of Earl Peak. I was in fourth, and fine with it. The guys who passed me so far looked like they were on the hunt for the leader or each other. I was feeling like it would be great if they tried hard for their goal. I passed a couple of runners coming in the other way on the out and back to the aid station. They looked like they were hungry too! Presently it was the most important time for me to RYOR- run your (my) own race. I paced myself on the climb and enjoyed a long rolling descent along Stafford creek. Later I met up with forest road # 9703 and took a left on the dusty gentle grade. The dust was kicked up pretty badly as I was passed by a few cars speeding to the aid station unaware of the cloud of particulates behind them. Great for the lungs! Another runner, Keith Laverty, was coming up from behind along the road. Vehicles were parallel parked along 9703, starting about a quarter mile from aid. People had moved from Iron Peak while I was in the mountains and were waiting for runners to arrive. Everyone was cheering again! I felt great to be getting into Miller Peak aid at mile 45. It must have around 4 pm. My whole crew was there and it was nice to see everybody.
Keith was being paced by his wife Elisa for the 13 mile Bear creek / miller Peak loop, and I caught up to them at the Teanaway ridge trail interesection. They were steadily moving and didn't seem to mind If I followed along. This part or the course has an incredible view of Mt Rainier, and the light was starting to change to golden in the evening. County Line trail leads you to Miller Creek trail for the a long descent after shouldering Miller Peak. The descent it steep for the beginning and features a lot of banked switchbacks formed with cinderblocks held in place with pounded in rebar. Loose rock glissading is prevalent on the downhill here until the trail levels out and rolls for a mile before ending the loop at Miller aid. I passed Keith and Elisa before the downhill started. I felt pretty good and was able to still have some speed going downwards. I had knee pain creeping in, located in two places on my right knee. One was associated with IT band tightness and friction on the outside of the knee, the other was more of a bursitis related pain on the inside. Basically one pain for the uphill, one for the downhill. If I gave myself time to let my knees adjust at the top of each pass, the pain would be diminished some. I got into the aid station about 10 minutes before Keith and Elisa. I took time to have a cup o noodle, mostly for the broth, but ended up eating a couple of bites of noodle. I Picked up my headlamp from Sara and Alejandro, and put a hooded base layer on for the approaching night. My core temperature was dropping immediately while stopped, and I needed a little extra warmth. I thanked Keith and Elisa for letting me tag along with them up to Miller Peak, and started out on the next section. I was more than half way done !
I had a pair of ultralight carbon fiber trekking poles made by Black Diamond. I bought them right before the race to replace a set of heavier aluminum z- poles that fold up. I used the aluminum set for years, and many miles. I finally broke the old set on my last long run on the PCT when I climbed over a slippery log and ended up bending one to a breaking point. The second set were basically carbon fiber lightweight tubes. They had a lot of strength in column, but had nothing as far as sheer strength. It was pretty easy to break one while running the Teanaway course. All it took was to shove it in a hole between two rocks while moving forward. One snapped in two pieces about 10 inches up from the tip. I was a bit worried because they were really helping me stay in an upright posture and take some of the load off my knees. They kept me from tripping and falling on the rough trail, as well as prevented a couple ankle rolls.
Around this time I had a low blood sugar attack of some kind. I started to develop a numbness that began in my stomach and torso. It would migrate to my arms and hands, and to the head. I know it was associated with low sugar because taking in a gel would help slow it down or reverse it. It was beginning to become a problem as it would sneak up on me. I was moving along nicely on most of the climbs from each aid station. The small amount of rest and food had a noticeable effect on my energy. Near the top of the climbs all the calories, sugars, and electrolytes I had tried to replenish were gone. My fuzzy torso and arm feeling would creep in slowly. Before descending to Beverly I had the worst one and was freaking out. I thought I might pass out on the trail, and it was already dark with the temperature dropping. My hands were stiffening up and straight and I couldn't grip my trekking poles, or use my fingers very well to get a gel opened. It took a moment but I was able to tear off the tab of the gel and swallow it. It almost made me vomit. Slowly after about 10 minutes I felt better and resumed my forward progress. I was a little scared about having it happen again with the same intensity. At Beverly I took extra time while sitting next to the propane fire ring. I drank a couple of cups of broth, a whole ginger ale, and ate a pancake. It all stayed down and provided some highly needed nourishment.
Two runners showed up while I was taking my time at Beverly. One was named Walter and I think the other was Will Jones. Walter looked like he needed some time to rest, and remained seated while he drank some broth. The other runner took advantage of our aid station rest, filled up his bottles and ran away. He was trying to move up and he successfully wrestled 4th place from me. Passed at the aid station....
I headed out before Walter. A nice volunteer had taped my broken pole with a similar diameter wood twig as a splint. It worked and could take some weight!
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| My taped trekking pole |
The long climb back to El Dorado pass provides more cumulated elevation. The course marking reflectors lead up an exposed section of mountain closer to the top. A flash upwards with my headlamp illuminated them as tiny dots trailing off into the night. There was more hill to do. A large cloud was sitting over most of the course, and the moon had set earlier in a crescent shape under thin layers of cloud. Afterwards it was a dark night. In early June we had camped in the area, and I ran the Iron Peak trail from Teanaway North Fork road a couple of times up to the pass. I only explored the west facing side because of remaining snowpack on the east. It felt familiar and was a decent trail seemingly used mostly for foot traffic or equestrian use. There were some loose rocky areas, and a mild amount of roots in a forested section in the middle. Overall I would rate it as one of the smoother trails on the course. At the end the trail lets out next to a creek, and the North Fork road.
Mile 75 - Iron Peak aid! Liza was there!! Picard was sitting in the van right at the trailhead! Everything was going as planned. It was great to see the familiar sight of my dog. He was looking at me funny, wondering why he was sitting around in the middle of the night waiting for me to pop out of the woods. RU! RU!
I talked Walter's pacer Nate. He was trying to figure out when his runner was getting in and was itching to go run 25 miles in the mountains during the middle of the night! Walter showed up around 10 minutes later with his other pacer and took some time in a chair. I was taking a lot of time sitting down next to the propane heater. It was so good to see Liza. She helped me change into a new long sleeve hoodie and gave me a fresh battery for the Petzl Nao headlamp I was wearing. I intended to keep my battery fresh as a reassurance I could bright it whenever I felt. Walter's wife Lauren noticed my broken pole and offered me their extra set. They were heavy duty Alpine Z-poles without straps. I joked I was probably not the best guy to loan poles to because I had already broken one. Walter assured me they were pretty indestructible, and to not worry. We all left the aid station together. Its almost a mile to the Esmeralda trailhead up North Fork, and I started to pull ahead from Walter from the beginning. I ran/ shuffle walked up the road and did the same after reaching the trail. Climbing up to the ridge above Lake Ann is gradual in the beginning and steepens at the end. An elevation profile shows a sharp tippy top. It wasn't a true struggle to get up, but the trail gets really bouldery and splits onto another one that finishes the ridge portion. Up there the trail resembles something close to a drainage ditch. The wind was gusty, but less so after descending.
After the ridge there is a sharp drop down to Lake Ann. The route flattens a little thereafter and joins with a 4x4 road leading towards Van Epps aid station at mile 83. I rolled in before my fellow runners by a couple minutes, and stopped for some broth and ginger ale. I remember it being almost 4 am. The crew at Van Epps were all awake and ready for us. The ham radio was buzzing with info. 30 people had dropped so far, and one was currently dropping because of a turned/sprained ankle. Walter and Nate didn't wait too long and moved out before me. The next aid was only 5 miles ahead at Gallager Head Lake and would be our last. I felt I would be running with them again soon. I didn't seem like I was really racing anyone at this point. The company was nice, and Nate was pacing so he was fresh and alert. I didn't get the feeling they were trying to leave me in the dust.
I never lined up a pacer for the event. I am not connected in the ultra running community and often run solo for all of my training and long runs. I would probably have accepted a pacer if someone had offered. The effort to find someone was something I didn't stress about before the race. Truthfully I was ok with running alone, and was welcoming the night when I could settle down and be with myself in the quiet darkness. I hoped the night would be still and quiet, and conditions ended mostly matching these hopes. At aid stations I was asked what is was like out there alone in the night, and I replied that it was kind of like being in a bubble. My headlamp is powerful and can help to see further off in the distance, but mostly I was using it to view two or three steps in front of my feet. I also mentioned I was basically out there inspecting rocks with my headlamp, trying to find where to put my feet.
I caught back up with the guys on another 4x4 road. The 5 mile section to Gallager is mostly 4x4 tracks, and the route trends upwards steeply in places. This is where I ran some miles the other way with John Maxwell who was by now the 1st place finisher. I was retracing steps that had been taken when my legs were fresh. Now on the same road there were beginning to be lot of moments feeling like everything was increasingly more difficult. The uphill terrain and fatigue were hard at work on my body. The road undulates upward in loose sections with flat areas where wide deep puddles of water sat. I found a flat rock to sit on and let my companions pass me. Nate reminded me, "the aid station is just around the next corner." It kind of was. Nate's encouragement helped, and they stayed within earshot the rest of the way to the lake.
There were a bunch of dogs at Gallager aid and they announced our arrival! More broth, and more sodas all around! It was our last aid station. The crew was talking about how nice of a night it had been in comparison to the previous one. It was a notoriously windy in the area, and it was a challenge to keep the tent from blowing away. This may be one of the most remote aid stations on the course, only accessible by lifted and capable 4x4's. The three of us left together and headed down the road for a mile or two before we turned off on single track. Boulder-De Roux #1392 trailhead begins along Boulder creek. Twilight was just beginning. Walter and Nate were off in the distance but within eyesight. Suddenly Nate started yelling "F- U COUGER!!!!!, F- U - F - U - F - U !!!!" I stopped, listened and looked. He calmed down a bit, and said, "ITS GONE, COME ON, CASEY LET'S GO!! We bunched up together and hammered out some distance between us where he saw the cougar. Nate said he shined his headlanp right on it. It was sitting about 10 feet from him just off the trail. The behavior was aggressive as it splayed out its front paws low and straight in a prone to attack posture. Nate did what every trailhead sign instructs humans to do with a potentially aggressive cougar- be loud and be big! To add to a deterrent, it was also outnumbered with the three of us moving down the trail. Phew!! It didn't follow us and didn't jump on my back.
The next two climbs were not easy, but we full of adrenaline after meeting the cougar. Walter kept hammering away and must have been feeling the encounter for some time. Between the two ridges are several areas of meadow where the path is harder to distinguish. I had been building up my anxiety about traveling through this area. Wildlife encounters were in the back of my mind, as was being lost in the mountains in a physically depleted state. There are plenty of water sources around this area, nice open meadows good for hunting prey, and not too many humans travel through there in a year. I lost those guys somewhere up the trail. I could hear Nate for a while as he was announcing his presence to the animals. I was doing the same and could hear my own voice reverberating around the hills.
My watched died at 91 miles and I finished the rest without knowing how far I was. At the top of one ridge there is only a few feet of a flat ground. The trail drops off steeply in dusty rocky splendor. My knees were barely taking the sudden change in up to down. A couple moments were brutally painful subsiding slowly to dull discomfort the when the terrain would even out.
I reached the turnoff for the last descent. It was another heavily used motocross trail named Jolly Mountain. There was about 6 miles left in the course. I could see down to the basin where Cle Elum Lake begins. The end was insight! I was in 6th place, heading towards the finish line. Most of the downhill I was focusing on pain management. It's really difficult in the last 10 miles of a 100. Thoughts of finishing are there, and everything is almost in the bag. Overall fatigue has set in and brings you to a breaking point. Around this time I was starting to feel the fear of someone coming from behind to catch me. I had led the race in the beginning and let five runners by me. In the last ten miles it would suck to be passed again. I put most of my effort toward ignoring the pounding. The trail leveled out and led though the forest for about a half mile. I spotted the forest service road we had started on, and ran down it to the sno-park. I really wanted to muster up a decent stride to the finish. I felt like I was sprinting! Brian the RD was waiting to fist bump me with congratulations for my finish!
My time across the line was 27:54.
I was happy to keep it under the next approaching hour. Its the little things that count in the end!
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| All smiles at the finish. |
I had my legs photographed by the Race photographer. He was doing a photo essay on the legs of the finishers. The setup was a white backdrop and I stood on a box about 6 inches off the ground. Liza helped me get up there. I was starting to get stiff already. She pointed me toward where Walter and his family were sitting in the parking lot. I returned his poles and congratulated his finish! I would have loved to hang out and chat with everyone, but I was exhausted. Liza got a chair out and I sat down and put my feet up on the inside of the van's sliding door. She untied my shoes and pulled off my socks for a big reveal! Things weren't that bad under there. I didn't have any blistered toe nails, and only one blister on the bottom of my left fore-foot which was not causing me any pain. Most consequential was a large amount of bruising on the tops of my feet from sliding forward in my shoes on steep downhills. The right amount of lockdown on my shoelaces was a hard one to pin down. The heel cups of the Evo Mofate 2 are not as secure as their predecessor, and my heels were bruised from movement in the shoe. Overall they had done a decent job.
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| the shoes |
My right knee was in some pain but just from over use. For compensating the right knee pain my left calf was ultra tight from landing to hard. That how it the cookie crumbles sometimes, one issue causes another.
Liza convinced me to leave. I needed to get somewhere comfortable asap. The stiffness and pain was setting in quickly. Almost 28 hours of being on the move and my body was receiving info it was time to rest. I pulled myself into the passenger side and dropped the seat flat. Ouch... She started up our trusty little diesel engine and rolled slowly though the lot. She waived goodby to some of the people we met. Liza was feeling really tired as well. She only slept intermittently thought the night, and worried while I was out in the mountains alone. We arrived to our place and I could barely get out of the van. I slid out and hobbled to the back door of the rental.
Liza went down to the store and bought a few beers to enjoy, as I showered and got all the caked dirt off my body.
While the journey to 100 miles was still in progress I remember thinking about how this too will pass. My mom says that often. This too shall pass. I said those words to myself while out on the course and felt kind of sad. There were a few times when I wanted to quit and end my race. Now I can honestly say I am sorry its over and I'm ready do the race again to improve my time. Once I am recovered I will resume my running.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day..
Casey
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