Mile after Mile- A great new podcast and my Western States story

If you're looking for a great podcast to listen to while you're working out or in the car, you should check out Mile After Mile. The host, Amy Stone, is a triathlete and coach in Miami, Florida who is interested in sharing inspiring stories of endurance athletes. I had the privilege of talking to Amy a couple weeks ago about my experience training for and running the Western States 100. We talked about my entry in to ultra running, the challenges of ultra running and type 1 diabetes and my exciting (even if it was 90 second late) finish at the 2013 Western States 100. Check it out here:

http://www.mileaftermilepodcast.com/?p=69

My Western States Story on Podcast

Mile 0.1 Feeling Good  photo by Brian Stefanović 

A couple days after the race, I got a call from Gary David of Elevation Trail saying he had heard about my after the cut-off finish on the track and wondered if I'd be interested in talking to him about it.  I said "sure" and we had a conversation via Skype a few days later and he posted as an Elevation Trail Podcast.  Here it is:  http://elevationtrail.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/seconds-count-a-finish-or-not/

Into the finish line... Just a tad late

Alex dug deep (and I mean deep) and had an amazing finish  into Auburn with a sprint in from Robie Point that didn't seem possible after 100 miles on his feet, but Cat, who never ceases to amaze me with her tenacity and endless dedication to bringing Alex home, along with a few amazing random volunteers, kept him focused. And we picked up Maddie along the way, so she got to run around the track like she's been wanting to do for the past 4 years when she watched Nick's finish with Alistair. Unfortunately, we were a bit late and even with the enthusiastic cheers of the stadium crowd and a group effort, he crossed the finish line in 30:01:31 (give or take a few seconds) and we couldn't be prouder.

Final stretch...

Alex & Cat made it through the Hwy 49 aid station 2 min before the cutoff of 9:20. Emotional time! We are heading to meet him at the high school/race finish; needs an 11am finish, so here we go!!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and support from afar...

Rucky Chucky river crossing

We met Alex & Cat down at the river crossing at 4:15am and marched up the hill to Green Gate together. Got in right at 30-hour pace time on the clock and sent them off into the final 20 miles with lots of positive vibes. Here's to a strong finish!

Foresthill reunion with crew

After a full day of hanging out at Foresthill (mile 62), Cat, my mom, and I met Alex at the Bath Rd aid station and walked him up a tree-covered hill onto a soft dirt path into the Foresthill aid station - greeted partway by cheerful Maddie and Bill. Made it into the aid station @9pm and after a full pit stop, complete with a magical cooling towel, pineapple juice, clean, dry socks, a full leg massage by Dr Bill (it's always a good idea to travel with 2 veterinarians!), and lots of hugs and well wishes, we sent him off with his faithful friend and supportive (also notoriously tough) pacer Cat into the darkness and down to the Rucky Chucky river crossing. 75 degrees at 9:25pm. Still quite balmy, but a welcome reprieve from the high temp of 102 today. Alex said the bottom of the valley felt like a sauna, so guess we can't complain. My dad and I are off to Green Gate and hoping to walk them up from the river in pre-dawn. Will update again then... Please keep Alex in your thoughts - we are going to get him on that track by the 30-hour cutoff.

Maddie cooling off...

Robinson Flat Aid Station

We met Alex at Robinson Flat aid station at Mile 30 at 11:30am. Right around 24 hour pace and he looked good. He was happy to have a wet towel draped over his neck & head. We are now hanging out at Foresthill where Cat will join as Alex's pacer at Mile 62, seeking shade and reveling in any slight breeze as it's currently 93 degrees. You can always check Alex's status on the course at the Live Webcast on http://www.wser.org/. Runner #274.

Here are a few pics from the past few hours:

WS100 - And he's off!

3am wake-up call. Arrived at Squaw ski area in 50 degree weather - perfect running weather. 3:45am breakfast at Squaw with Cat & Nora and chatted with a guy from PA who is out for his 1st 100 and Cat & Alex dispensed veteran advice. Rest of crew: Joan & Donald from Laguna Beach, CA, Bill & Ann from Anacortes, WA, and Maddie May from Fort Collins, CO (the most seasoned crew member here) joined us for the start. And Alex took off with ~380 fellow runners up the first 3 miles to High Camp and beyond..

Next stop: Robinson Flat @ mile 30. He runs; we drive all the way around for 3 hours. Ah, the life of a crew member. 

Off to California

We're packing up the car and leaving tomorrow morning to drive through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and on to Lake Tahoe, California for the Western States 100 which starts at 5:00 am PDT on Saturday morning.  I may not be quite as well trained as I'd like, but I'm fit, healthy, rested and ready to experience the race I've been dreaming about for over 20 years.  I've got a great crew that includes my wonderful daughter Maddie who has been with me at all three of my previous successful 100s; my dedicated mom, Joan, also an experienced 100 mile crew member and pacer; my adventurous step-dad, Donald, ready for his first 100 mile experience; Bill and Ann Testerman, who just returned from their own ultra adventure walking the entire Camino de Santiago in Spain, are driving down from the San Juan Islands in Washington to support and crew; the Amazing Cat Speights, who less than three weeks ago finished 2nd in the Bryce 100 in Utah will be pacing me from Forest Hill (mile 62) to the finish; and my partner, best-friend and true love, Nora Lee Testerman who I met one year ago at this race starting a new and wonderful chapter in my life.
There is live tracking of the race at http://www.ultralive.net/ws100/webcast.php and I am #274.  My goal is to finish before 5:00 am Sunday for the sub 24 hour silver belt buckle.  Nora will be posting here throughout the race, so you can check back for updates.  Thanks to all of you for the support and encouragement over the past few months.  Here we go.

Western States 100

I first learned about the Western States 100 as a senior in high school when my cross country coach, Earl Towner, was training for it. I knew about Earl's big crazy runs on the trails around Southern California. I knew that he was an ultra runner. The training and events that Earl did intrigued me as a new runner. When Earl talked about Western States, I was quickly pulled in to the draw of the challenge of running 100 miles through the Sierras from Squaw Valley to Auburn. At 17 years old having never run more than 8 miles, I knew that I wanted to run that race.
I continued running after the cross country season that year and ran my first marathon in April in Los Angeles. Earl ran with me and we finished in 3:14.  I went to college in Santa Cruz that fall and I fell even more in love with running trails. I ran a few more marathons and some trail races and spent hundreds of wonderful hours running along the coast and through the redwoods of central California. After college, back in So. Cal. I kept running and got involved with A Snail's Pace Running Club where I learned about higher mileage training and met a few ultra runners. In 2003, I ran my first ultra in Ridgecrest, CA at the High Desert 50K. It was tougher than I had anticipated and I struggled through the final 6 miles, but I loved the whole experience and the culture of ultra running. I was hooked.
In 2006, I moved to Fort Collins, CO and started running with the Fort Collins Trail Runners. With the FCTRs I learned about running mountains and I learned the joy and freedom of spending a whole day out running trails in the Rockies. In 2008 I ran the San Juan Solstice 50, my first mountain ultra, and it was certainly the hardest thing I'd ever done. It took me over 15 hours (well over the WS qualifying time) and it was beautiful and painful and awesome. I went to Steamboat that fall for the Run Rabbit Run 50 and took a couple hours off my time. The following summer I ran the Big Horn 50 in WY in 12:30, once again improving my 50 mile time, but still missing the 11 hour Western States qualifying requirement. In August of 2009 I ran the Lean Horse 100 in South Dakota. I finished (26:43) and this qualified me to put my name in the Western States Lottery for the 2010 race.
I didn't get in, but I watched with excitement as my friends Nick, Pete and Eric trained to run it. I sat at my computer on an off that day in June hitting refresh and watching the race unfold. Maddie and I held our breath as Nick and Killian battled it out for third. Maddie loved seeing Alastair run with his dad across finish on the track in Auburn. I told her she couldrun with me on that track when I go to Western States.
That July, I went to the Grand Mesa 100, but dropped after 60 miles after a frustrating race of getting lost and very tired. My first DNF was painful for lots of reasons, one of them was I was without a qualifier for the 2011 Western States lottery.  I corrected this by going back to South Dakota in August and running 23:16 at Lean Horse. I entered the lottery again (this time with 2 tickets), but again I didn't get in.
In 2011 I ran the Leadville 100, but timed out at Fish Hatchery (mile 76.5). It was another tough DNF, but I still had a WS qualifier from the Big Horn 50 that June. I registered for Leadville again in November (unfinished business) and I put my name in the lottery again for Western States 2012. On the 2nd Saturday in December of 2011, I got back to Nick's house after a tough, snowy 26 miles on the Chubby Cheeks course to find out that I had not been chosen . . . but my good friend Mike had. I immediately asked if be needed a pacer. He did and plans were made to travel to Tahoe in June.
The Western States experience was pretty amazing. From the beauty of the course to the race organization it was great. I ran with Mike from Forest Hill to the finish (40 miles) and loved it all. In addition to having a great time running with Mike and enjoying all of Statesmas (Christmas for ultrarunners), I was very fortunate to share crewing duties with Mike and Jessica's friend Nora. That weekend at Western States was the beginning of what has become a relationship that has exceeded all my dreams of happiness, love and joy.
I went back to Leadville in August and thanks to my amazing crew and pacers, I finished (race report is coming). I have taken a bit of a break from serious running (and blogging) since Leadville, but the WS dream never faded.
A couple weeks ago I put my name in for the lottery again. This time I had 4 tickets giving me a 28% chance to take one of the less than 270 spots open for the 2013 race. Yesterday, after a full morning at the ice rink with Maddie and a very late start at the Chub, just glad to get out for a few miles on the trails, I ran in to Mindy coming up the trail with news of a FB post by the Honey Badger congratulating me on my name being pulled. I decided not to celebrate until I saw the list for myself, but the hope carried me the last couple miles back to Nick's. Eric's smartphone confirmed that I had finally been chosen to run the Western States 100. So I am on my way to the race I've been thinking about for over 20 years. Training starts today. June 29 is just around the corner and I'll be ready.

Chubby '11, WS '12 and beyond

It was a wonderful weekend for running in Fort Collins.  On Saturday, I spent the whole day out on the local trails with 60+ runners from the Front Range and beyond at the 2nd running of the Chubby Cheeks 50K, marathon and 22 miler.  I opted for the marathon route this year due to slow going on snowy and icy trails.  Even though this route was 5 miles shorter than the route I ran last year, it took me 20+ minutes longer so I still feel like I got my money's worth.  I ran most of the way with Celeste and Ziggy and was treated to a full day of singing, taunting and threats of being bowled over.  It was great.  We were joined at mile 15 by Mindy and Lindsay and at mile 24 by Brian and Marie.  We all made it back to Nick's place well over 7 hours after we started and had a great time eating, drinking and hearing everyone's stories of snow and ice and getting lost and being tired and being glad to be part of a great sport and an even better community.

One big climb down, three to go

Ziggy checking out the view from the top of Arthur's Rock

Nick pulled up the results of the Western States lottery and called out the names of Colorado winners.  I was glad to hear Mike got in, but unfortunately my name was not on the list.  Well, maybe next year.  As for this summer, not racing a 100 in June frees me up to do some pacing which will be a lot of fun too.  I will be pacing Kyle in his first 100 at Big Horn on June 15 and maybe I'll make the trip to California the next weekend to do some pacing, crewing, and cheering out there too.

I was pretty sore today from yesterday's fun in the snow.  While Maddie was at ice skating practice this afternoon, Ean and I ran in to Mike at EPIC and we went for a very relaxed 8 miler in the sunshine on the Spring Creek, Poudre and Power Trails.

3rd time's a charm?

I put my name in again.  We'll see what happens on December 10.