Chimera 100 Race Report 2015- "Tackling The Beast”

Blue Jay (Start) to Hot Springs- there and back (mi 1-24)

   
     At around 6:07 am I found myself running past all the other racers, but in the opposite direction! The race director was making some last minute announcements and estimated the race would start in 15 mins. It occurred to me that I may not have included my gloves in my night drop bag, so I returned quickly to my car, which was just a few hundred yards from the start to look for them. I was rummaging around my duffles when I heard RD Steve Harvey’s voice over the microphone, “3,2,1…”. Shoot! I thought to myself while slamming down the rear door to my van. I began sprinting back to the start, so I could loop around it and actually start the race. Coach Bob had told me to only allow myself 3 mistakes during the race. I was able to chalk up #1 before the race had even started, dohh! I would later discover that my gloves were indeed in my drop bag, which was a good thing because it would actually get cold enough to wear them.  I eventually made my way up toward the front where I settled into a comfortable pace and kept an eye on my heart rate, making sure to keep it around 140 bpm. My objective for the first half of the race would be to keep this avg. heart rate, which would hopefully leave me with enough stamina to minimize slowing in the last 50 miles and finish strong over the last 25.

     Heading down to Hot Springs is mainly single track, a good portion of which had been carved out so the trail resembled a small canyon. At times this terrain was a bit tricky to navigate, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 100 mile trail race. Making our way down to cocktail springs aid station, I found myself running behind legendary ultrarunner Nikki Kimball. I wouldn’t learn her name or who she was though until we started the climb out of Hot Springs aid. Things were relatively slow going for the first 6 miles and then things picked for the next 6 miles as we descended down to Hot Springs. During the descent, I started realizing how much work it was going to take to get back up the mountain, and noticed that the temps were relatively warm already. I had only carried a single 20 oz Amphipod bottle with me on this leg of the race and was beginning to think I should have brought two. Once at Hot Springs I made sure to guzzle down plenty of water, eat some orange slices, and fill my bottle before turning around to start the 12 mi journey back to Blue Jay. Coach Bob had instructed me to make a handy note card with the distance to each aid station, so I could break the race down into more ‘palatable chunks’ as he likes to say. I did this, and decided to add some additional info just for kicks, gain per section and estimated pace. I had estimated an 8 min/mi for the first 12 miles, and using my Strava data, I calculated my actual avg. to be an 8:40 min/mi for those miles. I ran miles 7-12 at about 8 min/mi as predicted, however, miles 1-6 are a bit deceptive with gradual ups and downs, making it harder to run a quicker, steadier pace. Add to this the ‘canyon like’ single track, and I just couldn’t move as fast as anticipated. In my initial race planning, I went through each section, and estimated a pace based off the elevation gain alone (note: the elevation gain #’s in this chart total 28,000 ft of gain. The race has 22,000 as reported on the official website, but some of the Strava data I have seen from past racers shows about 18,000 total gain. I like to call it an even 20,000, but who knows what the true # is?!). After I made my segment pace estimates, I added then up to get an estimated total race time and estimated avg. pace for the whole race. This number came out to 19.95 hours, or 11:58 min/mi pace. Whether I would actually be able to maintain this pace was yet to be determined.

     Although it was only around 8 am, it got pretty warm climbing out of Hot Springs AS back to Cocktail Rock. The climb didn’t seem as bad as I had anticipated though. I was able to keep a good pace, running most of the time, and keeping my HR around 146 bpm going uphill. After a few miles of climbing, I caught up with Nikki Kimball and we spent some time chatting over the next couple of miles before reaching Cocktail Rock. It was a real pleasure getting to share the trail with a true legend, even if I didn’t even know it until halfway into our conversation (I claimed ignorance and being relatively new to the sport). Eventually, we both arrived at Cocktail Rock aid where we stopped for some water before continuing on.^nd place after I had noticed them running together climbing out of Hot Springs. At this point he was about 2 mi ahead of me. I didn’t think about this too much, but made a mental note. I was still focused on running my race as I had planned. About a mile from Blue Jay I crossed paths with the leader, Mark Hammond, a little less than a mile from the aid station. He was already started on the second leg of the race, Candy Store Loop. He had broken away from 2

Blue Jay- Candy Store Loop- Blue Jay (mi 24-46)

     When I arrived at Blue Jay, mile 24, I took in some calories and questioned the race volunteers regarding the location of the turn off to Candy Store. I was a bit worried because I did not see any markings when I passed the area where it should have been coming back into Blue Jay. I wasn’t able to get a clear answer, but rather than wait around for one, I decided to get back on trail. I had a general idea of where, to go and that would have to do for now. I stopped briefly at my car, threw on a tank top, grabbed my hat and sunglasses, and drank some mango smoothie before continuing on. As I made my way down the trail toward Candy store, I questioned runners along the way regarding the turn off, and fortunately I was getting positive feedback. The closer I got, the better responses I was getting and people were assuring me that it was ‘not too far’. Eventually I found RD Steve Harvery on the trail, doing some chalk marking, and he assured me the turn off was 1.5 miles ahead. Fortunately for me, the turn off was clearly marked when I arrived. It turns out that the turn off had only recently been marked. In hindsight, I realize that this was done, most likely, to avoid potential vandalism, as this has been a real problem on this course in the past, as stated by the RD himself at the pr-race talk. Shortly after the turn off, I came to the Chiquito Falls aid where I grabbed some pretzels and water before continuing on. 

     The descent to Candy Store is another place where I had estimated I could move faster than I was actually able to. This was do to the steepness and technical nature of the trail, with lots of rocks and boulders. Again, this is where course knowledge and prior experience would have been invaluable. After a rather slow descent and even having to scramble down a few boulders, I arrived at a fork with no marking of whether to go right or left. Luckily, I had printed out the turn by turn directions and kept it in a plastic baggie in one of the side pockets of my REI Fleet running shorts. It took a minute or two, but I was able to determine that I was at the San Juan Loop intersection, great! Now, right or left? Neither, according to the turn by turn, go STRAIGHT?! Oh well, I started running left, and luckily saw a photographer just up the trail, who assured me by his presence and response that I was indeed headed the right direction. After a mile or so, I spotted another runner not too far ahead, which gave me some encouragement. Within a mile of Candy Store Aid, I came to another fork with no clear marking of which way to go. Luckily, San Diego 100 RD and Candy Store AS captain Scottie Mills was on the trail to help point me in the right direction. He sympathized with me in regarding the markings and assured me the aid station was less than a mile away.
     Upon arrival at Candy Store, mi 35.5, I had caught up to then 3^rd place runner Brandon Bolweg. I made sure to get in and out rather quickly after filling my bottles, icing down my quads, and downing some orange slices to take the #3 spot. Heading back up to Chiquito Falls was all the same trail, just going up this time. At this point temps had peaked out for the day, probably around 80 degrees or so. The climb back up wasn’t too bad, but I could sense myself slowing a bit, and wasn’t getting in as many calories as I should have. I am still not 100% certain what caused all of this, but in hindsight and some post-race de-briefing discussions with coach Bob, I suspect the heat had something to do with it. This, and it seems that miles 30-40 of each hundred mile race I have done present a challenge. Perhaps this is some kind of transition zone where my body is realizing this is not going to be just a 30 mile training run, but much longer, so it is trying to adapt itself, or set itself up for the long haul ahead, who knows. I will be sure to pay more attention to this in training and preparing for future races.

     After another quick stop at Chiquito Falls, I continued on back to Blue Jay, where again, I was feeling a bit sluggish, so I did my best to just muscle through this section. By the time I reached Blue Jay, my moral had dipped quite a bit, and I will admit for a second I thought of throwing in the towel. I was feeling discouraged that at mile 46 I was already feeling like I was declining. At this point, I realized my nutrition strategy of honey and apple juice wasn’t working out as well as I had hoped. I’m not sure why, but I picked up a cup of dark fluid off the aid station table and drank it, not really even thinking about it. I guess I was just desperate, trying to get some calories. I soon realized what I had drank was Coca-Cola. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. After a few minutes at the aid, I noticed 4^th, 5^th and 6^th place starting to roll in and figured I’d better be on my way. But first, I made sure to stop by my van to throw on a long sleeve shirt, beanie, and grab my Energizer head lamp. I had a drop bag with night gear at Bear Springs, but I realized it would most likely be dark before I arrived there.

Blue Jay to Indian Truck Trail (46.4- 76.8)

     After a couple of minutes of running, I realized I was feeling a bit better, running up some of the steeper sections as I headed up to Trabuco Aid Station. What was the cause of this renewed energy? Was it the brief period of rest at the aid station? Was it the pink Core drink I had taken back there, the Coke, the fruit? I wasn’t sure, but I was just glad I was feeling a bit better. The climb up to Trabuco is rather steep, about 1,100 ft. in 2.7 mi, according to my Strava data. Once at Trabuco Aid, I reflected back on my renewed energy and its potential source. Almost instinctively, I asked the aid volunteer to fill one of my 20 oz bottles with Coke, the other with water.

     At this point, things were starting to look a lot more positive. I was looking forward to the second half of this race for multiple reasons. First, I had run the Saddleback Mountain Goat Marathon back in September, which covered a lot of the same ground as the second half of this race. Second, the back half takes place on 40 miles of truck trail, a welcomed change from the single track of the first half. The truck trail would prove to be a good a thing in some parts, not so good in others. Leaving Trabuco, I began the 5 mile descent down to Holy Jim aid station. The trail somewhat technical/rocky along this segment, something I learned the hard way back in September. (I was flying down this segment during that race when I tripped on a rock, slamming my shoulder and knee onto the rocky trail. It was the hardest fall I had ever taken in a race, and while running, ever. It shook me up and I didn’t think I would be able to continue that race. Somehow though I was able to get up, realized my legs could still move, and carried on. The wound on my knee still hadn’t healed all the way by this point so I’m glad I didn’t take another spill the second time around). On the descent I met up with one of the volunteers, also named Eric, who was sweeping the course down to Holy Jim AS. We shared some good conversation running down the trail. I mentioned to him that the last several aid stations told me #2 was “just barely ahead” of me. I started to wonder about this because I had yet to catch him and I had been hearing this for a while now. After a relatively quick and smooth 5 miles, I reached Holy Jim AS (mi 55) and #2 runner Jerry Garcia. At first, I wasn’t sure that was him as he now had a shirt on and had picked up a pacer, a different image from back at mile 24 where I last saw him running solo and shirtless. The aid volunteer assured me that was him, which made me feel good. 

     The temps were starting to drop as dusk drew nearer so I took in my first serving of soup at this aid, and filled up my bottle once again with Coke (this stuff was working like a charm!). I left the aid and saw my friend Eric running down trail toward me. He passed by saying, “you caught him!”, referring to the #2 runner. I officially passed Jerry and pacer a minute later and said, “#1 is pretty far up there, huh?”. I gave them some encouraging words, and kept running up the hill while they hiked. I was feeling pretty good, Coke in full force. I had done this climb before and felt optimistic of making some good time and possibly making up some ground on Mark. At this point, I knew he was a good distance ahead of me, but with 45 miles still left in the race, I was well aware anything could happen so I remained optimistic as I moved up Holy Jim. I passed quite a few hikers coming down the mountain, and inquired of each of them if they had ‘seen another runner’. I got varying responses (as expected), some saying he was 2 miles ahead, 45 mins, etc. So, I just kept moving along. As the sun went down, I began to regret not having my Petzl light instead of the $10 Energizer headlamp I was wearing. This light was not very bright. I opted for this light as it was lighter weight, and allowed me to keep my better light at Bears Springs with the rest of my night gear.  Not a critical mistake, but something to think about for my next race.

     Along the climb, I kept hearing what I believed to be critters rustling around in the bushes. This is to be expected, but occasionally the sounds would get a bit louder, which of course makes you automatically think that there is a mountain lion or some other larger animal out there. At one point I shined my light in a bush and sure enough, two beady eyes were staring back at me, reflecting the light. This animal was definitely large enough to be a bobcat, and could have been even larger, I’m not sure. It was hard to tell with the lighting. Regardless, I kept moving. Around this time I also spotted what appeared to be a runner’s headlight traversing the truck trail way up on the mountain. Was that Mark? Probably. When I arrived at the truck trail where Holy Jim trail ends, there were no markings of whether to go right or left. I recollected that during the marathon I had gone right at this junction, so I erroneously assumed I should do the same here. After about 4-5 mins of running, something told me I should make sure I was going the right way, so I once again pulled out my turn by turn directions, which read: ‘Holy Jim Trail- Top, go LEFT.’ Dang it! Time to turn around. I was kicking myself for this simple mistake that would end up adding close to ten minutes to my time, and could have been easily avoided if I had simply pulled out the turn by turn directions 5 minutes ago! Oh well, not much I could do now, at least I knew I was now going the right way. I arrived back at original junction where I had gotten off course, and started the steep climb up to Bear Springs aid and eventually Santiago Peak. 

     Bear Springs aid was a welcomed sight, as it was getting colder and darker. I knew I had some warmer clothes here along with my good headlight, and best of all, hot soup. I spent some time drinking soup and taking in some tasty aid station fare while putting on my favorite long sleeve shirt, a green wool Nike shirt, along with now famous gloves and a running jacket. I thanked the volunteers for the food, help with my gear, and for filling my bottle with Coke. As I was hiking up the hill toward Santiago peak, I spotted a headlamp arriving at Bear Springs. This was #3 Jerry. I immediately thought about that wrong turn a little ways back. I had worked hard to make good time up Holy Jim and gain an even better lead him, but now he was right back on my tail. I was feeling good though and kept moving forward. Some minutes later, I saw a truck coming toward me, which turned out to be the EMS crew. The driver asked me if I needed anything so I asked if they had any soda, since my bottle of Coke was already halfway gone and I had a ways to go before the next aid. They had a Dr. Pepper so I had them top me off (suicide style). He also told me to go right at the top of Santiago peak, and not to go through the gate and up to the actual peak. Good advice. I probably would have spent several minutes there trying to figure out which way to go. I finally reached Santiago peak and saw the gates, so I made sure to go right and continue down the truck trail. This portion of road was rather rocky, making the descent a bit difficult. 

     A couple miles out from Modjeska Peak aid, I crossed paths with Mark. I was a bit surprised to see him, so I asked in passing, “we’re going the right way, right?”. He confirmed and we both kept running as I shouted of some words of encouragement. I was impressed at how well he was moving, uphill, and even more impressed that he was still wearing his same clothes as when he started, a mere tank top and shorts! He had already been to Modjeska, down to Maple Springs, back up to Modjeska aid, up Modjeska Peak, back down, and was on his way back to Bear Springs aid! At this point I started to believe that the only way I would catch him is if he was forced to drop from the race due to hypothermia! But then again, there was still 30+ miles of race left, so I held to the same notion, ‘anything could happen’ and kept moving. I arrived at Modjeska Peak aid within a few miles, refilled my bottles, ate a quick snack, and had them set some miso soup out to cool so it would be ready when I got back. The trip down to Maple Springs Aid and back was a mere 2.2 miles round trip, so when I got down there I just yelled my # then turned around and headed back to Modjeska. I made a quick wardrobe change, removing my long sleeve shirt, and going shirtless under my Nike running jacket. The two layers were making me too hot, but this arrangement with just the jacket ended up being perfect. Just before heading up Modjeska peak, I saw Jerry pulling into the aid station. I made the trip up to Modjeska peak where I spotted the skull, turned around and navigated the steep, rocky downhill back to the aid. Here, I didn’t spend much time, but made sure to top off before heading back toward Bear Springs Aid. While departing, I looked over my shoulder to see if Jerry was returning yet from Maple Springs, and to my delight but somewhat surprise, I didn’t see him. I was a bit surprised, however, to see a runner coming towards me a few minutes later that I had not recognized (which meant he must have gained a lot of ground over the 2^nd half of the race), then 4^th place, so I assume it would have been Christopher Harrington, but I can’t be sure. 

     I crossed paths with a few more runners making my way back to Bear Springs, which turned out to be a somewhat uneventful leg of the race. Upon arriving at Bear Springs, I took in some more warm calories, and made sure to set aside my drop bag for early delivery back to the start (a great feature of this race btw, for those who aren’t able to stick around until later the following day to collect drop bags!). The next leg would be a relatively quick 2 miles to Indian Truck Trail Aid at mile 77. Along the way, I couldn’t help but think about the 7 mi of downhill that lie ahead of me. I was feeling good at this point and anticipated being able to make pretty good time running down the mountain to Corona AS.

Indian Truck Trail to Corona, there and back (76.8- 90.8)

     When I arrived at ITT, I asked one of the volunteers if the dirt road that lie ahead was relatively smooth or more rocky. He confirmed it was mostly smooth, which was good to hear! After refilling with Coke I was on my way. The first ½ mile or so was somewhat flat, but eventually the grade steepened and I found myself keeping a good pace. Shortly after beginning the descent, I saw Mark in the distance running back up the mountain! I realized he had gained even more ground on me and any hopes of catching him were rapidly vanishing. Continuing on down the hill, I found myself feeling strong for being 80 miles into this race, and was ticking off 7 and 8 min miles! I arrived at the bottom and came to an intersection with another dirt road. I stopped as I wasn’t sure if I needed to make a turn. A truck happened to be coming toward me so I flagged it down and asked the driver if he had seen any runners or an aid station. I don’t think he spoke much English as he didn’t seem to understand my questions, so I let them continue on and pulled out my trusty turn by turn directions. In the process I noticed a ‘private property sign’ posted on the crossing dirt road. That, and confirmation from my turn by turn sheet gave me the confidence to continue on straight ahead. Shortly thereafter I was relieved to see the lights of Corona AS in the distance. What I found at the aid was more than relief, as I scarfed down a delicious mini homemade apple pie! There were other homemade treats that tempted me to linger around, but I knew I better get going. As always, the volunteers at this aid were exceptional, which lifted my spirits as I began the long 7 mile uphill journey back to ITT aid. 

     At first, I was feeling good and confident, running uphill for the first mile or so. However, I soon realized I wouldn’t be able to keep that pace for long so I resorted to fast hiking with intermittent spurts of running when things got less steep. It wasn’t long after that my Garmin died, lending me to a lot of guess work on how far I was from each aid from there on out. In that spirit, I was sure to ask each passing runner how far I was from ITT aid. Getting closer, probably more than half way through the climb, I ran into Nikki once again. She asked how I was feeling, to which I replied “just hiking up this hill, its about all I can do at this point”, which was true! I inquired how far to the aid, she said about 3 miles. I was disappointed in this answer, I thought/hoped it was closer. Oh well, what can I do, keep hiking. I continued to pass by runners as they made their way down the hill, asking each one “how far”, each one giving me a better and better answer. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I could see the lights of ITT aid, and upon arrival I exclaimed, “This is the best sight I’ve seen all day”! I decided to have a seat while a volunteer graciously filled my bottle with coke, while another offered me a donut. Seriously, a donut!? I couldn’t pass it up! I ate about half before the runner in me told me I better not sit and eat donuts too long, time to finish this race! I was able to get up from ‘the chair’ and carry on, soldiering uphill, yet again. One thing I failed to fully realize and appreciate in my pre-race planning is that miles 85 (Corona AS) – 97 (Trabuco AS) were mainly all uphill, roughly 13 miles of climbing! Even so, the road to Horse Thief AS was pretty rocky, which didn’t help the situation any, making the climb that much more difficult! 

     Again, no watch data combined with the darkness of night and fatigue I was experiencing, I was constantly guessing how far I was from the next aid. Luckily, I was once again approached by a vehicle driven by some volunteers. I asked for confirmation I was headed the right direction and how far I was from the aid. They confirmed I was indeed still on the right path and about a mile or so from the aid, which is all I needed to hear. Continuing in survival mode, I made it to Horse Thief, quickly refueled, and continued on with the thought of only having ONE MORE AID STATION to go! The journey to Trabuco TH aid wasn’t too bad, no runners on the trail, just me and the dark night. By this point I couldn’t tell if my Petzl head lamp batteries were getting low, or if my eyes were tiring or over correcting for the constant bright beam in front of me, but things seemed to be getting darker. Once at Trabuco aid I topped off one bottle and started on the steep descent toward the finish! This truck trail is somewhat rocky, so that with the darkness, I felt like I was practically tip toeing my way down the road! At least I didn’t have the sharp pains in my quads with each step, which is what I had experienced at this same point of the race during my first 100 miler, Javelina Jundred just one year prior. 

     Finally I reached the pavement, signifying just about a mile to go! I searched for markers or signs or chalk in the road for confirmation. Couldn’t see anything. Fortunately, I recalled the correct route from back in Sept, so I knew my way to the finish line from here. I ran the final mile without much difficulty, still feeling relatively good. Alas, I hit the home stretch, seeing all the cars parked along the side of the road, I was almost there! I arrived at my own van, and stopped to get my phone as I wanted to make a video of myself crossing the finish line. Got my phone, of course, dead battery, ahh! Oh well, just 100 yards left! As I approached the finish line, I saw a woman standing there cheering me on, calling my name. Some of the volunteers had called me by name throughout the race, so I didn’t think much of it. Standing just outside the finish line, I asked, “do you have a phone? Can you video me? I want a video of myself crossing the finish line!”. She says she has a phone, gets it out and snaps a few pics. With that, I crossed the finished line, and the same woman says, “good job Eric, 2^nd place!”. I looked at her and finally recognized her as my sister, Jenny! Ha! I was so fatigued, and delirious from 100 miles that I didn’t even recognize my own sister! She lives in San Clemente, just 30 mins from Blue Jay, so when I was heading down for the race I let her know I would be racing that weekend and invited her to come out to watch. I hadn’t seen her during the day so I figured she wasn’t able to make it. But I was wrong! She and my brother in law Sean, came straight from a work event and stuck it out until 3 a.m. to watch this old man survive a battle with The Beast!

     So there you have it folks, that’s my story. 100 miles through the Saddleback Mountains. I grew up in Escondido (San Diego) and Brea (Orange County). I consider both counties to be my home, so it was very fitting for me to run this race, which takes place right between the two! I felt proud to have represented my home turf well, taking home a 2^nd place finish overall (of course it didn’t hurt that a few of the top seeded runners failed to show, but hey, I’ll still take it!).

     My actual finishing time was just under 21.5 hrs or 12:52 min/mi avg. So, it turns out my estimates were less than 1 min/mi off. I would have liked to have been more accurate, or even better, below my estimates, but still, this equates to about a 7.25% error in my estimated vs. real calculations. Not too bad I figure, considering I had never run this course before.