I’m not big on writing a turn-by-turn recap of my races; honestly, I don’t see how people remember all those details! However, I will try to summarize my 2010 Western States.
For the past few years, I have been snake bit during 100 milers with stomach issues. I’ve run over 100 ultras and 20 plus 100 milers and recently, for some unknown reason, I can’t seem to avoid horrible stomach issues in 100’s after about 40 miles. I trained hard this year in preparation for WS, and I worked with a dietician (who is also an ultra runner) to try and avoid any major stomach issues. All the training runs and preparation races went well. With Western States approaching, I developed a plan that broke the race into thirds, adjusting my hydration/nutrition plan as the mileage increased.
The race started well. With all the snow in the high country, I decided to go out at a conservative pace and I took it very easy to Robinson Flats (located at mile 30). My plans called for:
an average of about 300 calories per hour (60/70grams of Carbs)
between 300-700mg of sodium per hour
20 to 50oz of fluids per hour depending on the heat
an average of about 300 calories per hour (60/70grams of Carbs)
between 300-700mg of sodium per hour
20 to 50oz of fluids per hour depending on the heat
Just outside of Millers Defeat, I started having issues with my stomach. This continued to worsen through the canyons; I really couldn’t push the pace along this section and lost time especially on the climbs to Devil’s Thumb and Michigan Bluff. My crew did a great job trying to help me turn things around, and Francesca was even texting with our dietician looking for advice. Once I arrived at Foresthill, everything I ate or drank immediately made me nauseous. I spent extra time at Foresthill with my crew before heading down California Street, but nothing seemed to improve the situation. I had picked up my pacer, Alyssa Godesky at Foresthill. She did everything she could think of to help me as we proceeded down to the Rucky Chucky, but things only got worse. By now, everything that went in, came back out! By the time I arrived at Green Gate (mile 80), I hadn’t had any real sustenance for over 25 miles and had to call it a day.
So what happened? Because my stomach issues have been associated with dehydration in the past, I was topping off my bottles in between aid stations from the creeks along the course. This is a common practice at WS and since I’ve run the race twice before, I knew where all the good water sports were located. In hindsight, I think I was over drinking early in the race. Also, I had planned to get most of my sodium from my electrolyte drinks and avoid taking sodium capsules, because they seem to be too strong. I changed this strategy early (in the first 10 miles) by taking 1 to 2 S-caps per hour, because I was getting stitches along my sides in the high country. Mistakenly, I continued to drink the electrolyte drink and probably put too much sodium into my stomach.
So, what did I learn? As my running coach Scott Jurek pointed how, TRUST YOUR TRAINING and avoid making any major changes on race day. Well, onward to Leadville in August. This will be my 4th time running this terrific event and I’m really looking forward to the high mountains and the cool temperatures. Oh yes, and not seeing the contents of my stomach along the way!
