So, it's pretty much a trail race. They have 3 races the same day which of course is great for the shorter distance races since they now have a very generous time limit. They have a 25K, 50K and 50M. Basically either a 1 loop (15.5 Mile), 2 loops or 3 loops with a little extra to do.
It will be fun as Ultras and Trails races and of course the combination always are. I know I will enjoy it. My only concern is the time limit. Initially I thought it was 12 hours but later realized it's 12:30. Cool, right? Easy, no? Not so much... When I did the Tesla 100 miler, I did the 50 Mile in 12 hours. Granted, my mind set then was the 100 and therefore I wasn't concentrating on that but in truth I don't know that I would have been any faster. So, I have a hard deadline to do this - no pressure right?
To add to the pressure (since I don't have enough), couple of things happened. The first happened after last weekend. It was a Monday morning and I woke up 15 minutes early to go swim. Woke up and snuck downstairs trying not to wake up the whole house. No real issue until I OOPSIED... and fell down the stairs. Landed hard on my butt and started sliding. Tried to catch myself, so I twisted to the right so I can grab the banister. Managed to grab it with my left hand. What did that do? Nothing really except wrench my left shoulder before I let go to continue down the stairs. Someone later asked me if I missed a step. Nope...I definitly went through each and every step! I thought I was quiet about it too. I didn't scream or utter anything or curse out but before I knew it I heard a voice "are you ok?" to which I responded "Yes - go back to sleep". This repeated 2 more times as I woke up the whole house. Kids went back to sleep. Lee slept the next 10 minutes or pet the dog. She thought the dog fell down the stairs. So, as I said I really thought I was quiet. Turns out it was a very heavy sound as my entire body first fell and landed on the steps and then of course the whole down thing.
Conclusion: A wrenched left shoulder/arm and a huge rug burn on my left buttock/hip. I would like to say I took something from the experience and learned something from it. That I somehow grew as a person as we always grow from our experiences but I didn't unless you want to say that I learned that it's no fun falling down the stairs.
I still went to swim after that and that evening and I really was lucky as I was able to run and I didn't hurt anything badly. I also went to work and as I was sitting there at work, I realized that my jeans were wet and a very quick examination (put my hands down my pants...) told me that the rug burn/chafe was oozing. Nice. Just what I needed.
This weekend was the next thing that I could have avoided. Jessie got sick. She had a fever and felt like garbage but was fever free for 24 hours so we sent her to school on Monday. Had no choice...She's got 3 days of state tests. Didn't feel great myself. Elizabeth said I looked horrible too. Monday, I swam but didn't sleep well at all. Tuesday morning I decided that I gotta go to the Doctor. My throat was hurting real bad. Jessie also felt worse so she was going to stay home. My plan was originally to go to work but to leave early and take the train to the doctors office and somehow get home. With Jessie staying home, had to rethink things. I spoke to Abbas, my neighbor who drives a taxi, and he took us to my doctor. My doctor is part of a group and they start at 9am but will take emergency/no appointments as early as 8 am. Got there at 7:35 and grabbed a seat. By 8:15 they took me in. Checked my weight and blood pressure. Blood pressure was ok but heart rate seemed high to me at 66 but it made sense. Hardly slept and the stress of it all...
Doctor saw me and pronounced Bad sinus infection. I asked him to also do a strep test as my throat was hurting bad. He said it wasn't neccessary as he is gonna treat me anyway with anti-biotics but I wanted it for self-validation. He said that Strep was very probable too. From there, what to do...Take Jessie to the doctor too...Yeah, why not. Called her doctor and managed to snag an appointment with the office nurse at 9:30. It was 8:30 and it didn't make sense to take a taxi home and then another to the MDs so asked the cabbie to take us directly there. We got there super early and they let us inside to wait. By 9 am, the nurse took pity on us as we both looked bad (I think I looked worse at this point) and took us in. Nice!
My doctor didn't have the rapid strep test so it will take 2 days but at her doctors they did and don't you know it: Strep. Yay...
So another cab, this time straight to CVS next to home. Handed in my script and found out that Jessie's script was transmitted successfully by computer but they wrote liquid instead of pills even tho the nurse asked us. Someone in the office was trying to help us...So, CVS had to contact them. Meanwhile I bought allergy meds and in front of the cashier we cracked it open and took a pill.
At this point, it was 9:30ish and I was crashing. Sick, hardly slept, the whole stupid morning and I still didn't eat yet. Normally I eat my breakfast at work but I didn't get a chance to eat at home when the plan was re-arranged. I sat down and told Jessie to listen for our names while I close my eyes and as soon as I did that, the pharmacist called us. Cool. I asked if before they start checking us out, if we can just take a pill and they aggreed. I swallowed my 2 Z-pak (initial dosage) right in front of the cashier without water while Jessie took her pill with water to the amazement of the staff. One of the things I taught my kids at an early age is to swallow pills. Jeremy hated gels and Jessie dislikes them and taking pills is so much more preferrable. Tons of Jessie's friends still don't know how to swallow pills. Sheesh. I never realized it was such a big deal but whatever.
From there, walked home and ate breakfast while Jessie ate some more food because meds require food in belly.
LC was very happy to see us and I gave him some carrots as a treat but I could not walk him. I was staying in my allergy fortress (home) and I was exhausted anyway. Laid down on the floor in the living room with my head a little in his bed and took a nap for an hour and 15 minutes as Jessie watched a movie. Woke up and ordered Chinese food. When it came, I took some of the white rice and made her vegetable free fried rice so she had something too. After that, straight back to the floor and crashed again for over 2 hour nap. Yes - I was that exhausted. Jeremy and Elizabeth came home and I apologized to Lee and told her that I'm not taking the dog out at all today and it's on her. Sucks.
I told Jessie that we are going to bed early, so I drank a hot tea which I knew would help me sleep and we were both in bed before 9pm. I don't know when Lee came to bed but I woke up at 5am (alarm clock) feeling so much better. I told Lee that I am awake but I could easily stay in bed for more. I was just that damn gone.
So, in my life I have worked out with a fever. I have run with a fever and I have swammed with a fever but that Tuesday night, nothing. The next day, Wednesday, even tho I felt so much better, I didn't swim. With this race coming up, I opted to rebuild reserves. Rest, rest and more rest. Nothing I could do to work out will help me at this point. It could only hurt so rest is key.
On a positive note, I checked my weight this morning (it's now Thursday) and I am good. I have lost weight and am down to 155 but during this sick period, I didn't lose more which means I made sure (successfully) to eat normally. A drastic weight loss would actually be detrimental. Losing weight normally is good but not like this.
Not related to all this, I finally ordered a vest to wear. It's really for the 100 miler to help me be self sufficient but I was hoping to have it for this race. Stupid to try new things, right? Andre said I could potentially get chafed badly by it. Hell, I was only going to carry anti-chafing spray. No matter...Fedex finally emailed me that I would have it by Monday or in English "a day late". Oh well.
In good news, Hammad is going with. I think I am having a very bad influence on him. He did the Long Island Marathon, then the next week did a 25K trail (Greenbelt) and is now coming for the 50K. That's 3 weekends in a row. Still, he did walk a lot at the 25K and he will walk here too. Trails are cool like that. The trails are usually more friendly in terms of your knees/legs/recovery and it will be a party atmosphere anyway.
Decided not to do the crazy drive day off. It it was a Marathon then yeah but it's gonna be a late night so staying over there. Nice.
Still not feeling 100 percent but feeling better every day. Also, found out that Ken Kirsch from the 2 Rivers Marathon will be there so at least one friendly face besides Hammad.
Saturday is our usual hectic day and this Saturday was perhaps a little more than usual. Pediatric Dentist at 9am and since BJ's is right there, we had to do that too. From there, drop off kids at YMCA for Swim while we unloaded and organized and then back there to pickup Jeremy and make sure Jessie is ok for Gymnastics. Ate lunch with Lee and Jeremy and then back to the YMCA to watch a little gymnastics and eventually bring Jessie back home. My mom eventually came to and we had dinner together. Hammad was going to pick me up at 7pm and I had a list prepared of what I was going to take with me but I still did not pack.
She left and I started packing and also went with Elizabeth to walk the dog. I was sure I got everything and so I was relaxed. Hammad came and I loaded his car. I mentioned that I didn't check the weather and he urged me to take a long sleeve shirt for the morning. OK - good call. Should have taken light gloves too but didn't.
Got there without a hitch. In bed by 10:30 with a 3am wake up set up. Wake up call never came. Luckily, I set up my iPhone as a backup so I woke up on time. Ate and did my thing and eventually, Hammad and I left toward race site at 6:05. They asked that you get there an hour before your race start and since I was going at 7:30 that made sense.
Got there and saw a line of port-a-potties, a truly beautiful sight. Unfortunatly, they were all locked except for one which was 25 yards away. Went to check in first and decided to worry later. With all the trees around, there was no need to stress.
As we got to the check-in area, I see a guy in an orange hoodie. Couldn't see his face that well but I could tell he was shaved so wasn't Ken. Ken had a pointy beard going. Still, his legs caught my eyes. He had tattoos and being the NYer that I am, I said "Ken?". It was him. He shaved because he just interviewed and got a job at FedEx. He said he didn't recognize my face but did recognize my voice. Makes sense as we were running side by side at 2 Rivers. Still kinda funny.
Awesome to make the connection. Of course, seeing him and what he had, I realized that I forgot my brand new hand-held bottle at home. I never use these things but decided I would need it at TGNY so wanted to "practice" with it today. Bummer but guess what? Ken lent me his bottle. How awesome is that?
Check-in started so we went to line up and he and I were both in the G-L line. Nice that they broke it up but it became very clear that those bibs weren't alphabetized. Epic fail. Still, we got there that early and there weren't that many silly people doing the 50M and found mine quick. Next issue is that they thought I wanted a Small shirt. Line next to me a skinny tiny girl was told she ordered a XL while her boyfriend (bigger than her) ordered a small. Hm...Let's hope that these are the only 2 issues we encounter. Spolier: No other issues at all!!!
My hands were freezing. Not unexpected I guess. When I was at the doctor for strep, I mentioned to him that a portion of the left side of my right middle finger was numb. He looked at it and I told him that even tho it's numb, at times I feel very sharp pains there. He diagnosed me as having Reynauld's Phenomena. Your body uses your arteries to heat up your body and especially your extremities. This completly tracks with me being a "wuus" when I run. All my buds don't need gloves or at least not heavy gloves. I'm using heavy ski gloves with hand warmers in them. Came home once with a bit of frostbite too. I need to see a Neurologist but gonna wait with it as we might be changing health insurance. There are 2 kinds of this: Primary and Secondary. Primary is the one you want as it means it's a stand-alone thing. The secondary means that it's secondary to a different issue like Lupus or other things. I have always suffered from this so I think I'm ok but still will have to get it checked out.
Here's a little educational factoid about me being a wuus with my hands. A picture is worth a 1,000 words but the text underneath is worth adding as well.
An image taken by a thermographic camera. The top hand belongs to a person who suffers from Reynaud's, the bottom hand does not. Red indicates a heat signature whilst green indicates little/no heat.
So my hands were freezing and Hammad was kind enough to give me his gloves. I'm wearing my MM singlet and gloves. Let me be clear: I NEVER CARE HOW STUPID I LOOK!!! And I am sure I did look stupid. But my hands were good.
The port-a-potties were open and all is good. The day before was my last day of Anti-biotics and with my weak stomach, I am always fearful. This morning I executed a pre-emptive strike and took an Immodium. I'm sure my honey won't be happy about it but her gut is so much stronger than mine.
Overall, I feel well. I've been (unfortunatly) on a rest thing getting 8-9 hours of sleep per night which is just crazy for me. My stomach so far is ok. My shoulder seems much better even tho the whole slide down the stairs thing. I now have gloves and a hand-held. What could go wrong?
Hammad gave Ken his chair so that Ken could chill out after the race. People brought tents and stuff.
Ken and I said good luck to Hammad and lined up. Ken had attempted I think 5 50 Milers but only finished 2 or 3 so he was hoping all would go well. He had just PRed at the NJ Marathon (day after my RunAPalooza) with finally a sub 4 so he was happy but due to work hadn't really run distance in a while.
We started mid/end-pack and it was all good. Almost immediatly in a single track area behind people. That's all right. We weren't in a rush. Just wanted to finish. Slowly we passed people here and there as things widened up. Some parts of the trail were wet and/or muddy. I opted to try to keep my feet dry as the day was still young. There was an area where people went through a great big puddle while I went and balanced on a ledge (without falling down the decline) all while saying "Don't fall". Did it all 3 times without mishap.
Spoke to a woman from Brooklyn before leaving her. Before long, we had a friend join us. A maniac who wasn't wearing her MM shirt. She was awesome. Her name is Rebecca and actually she's the RD for the Rocky 50K, a true Fat-Ass race in Philly doing Rocky's course. Funny that she never watched a Rocky movie but whatever. This race would be free, no shirt and no medal. Nothing. She already has 150 people I think. She interviewed the RD and you can read her article here or if it doesn't work you can use this local copy. Awesome, right?
She was funny and when I said something funny, she had a habit of yelling "HA!" and I loved it. I think we really pushed each other to entertain each other and I loved every minute of it. She actually made a comment like "Usually I talk so much that no ones gets to talk and people make comments about that and here I'm actually not talking". I know I flubbed it a little but I LOVED IT!
By the way, she really is awesome. She did TGNY it's first year! She, like me, never ran a 50 Miler but has done a 100 or perhaps a few of them.
Anyway, she was going to wear a costume but last minute didn't apparently usually during Marathons she wears costumes but not for Ultras but it's a common thing for people here to dress up so she almost did. One year, she and a friend wore 2 different football (I think) team Jersey and got a lot of attention. She also wore a Waldo costume and when she got to an aid station manned by elementary kids, one yelled "I found him". Get it? She has dressed up as a pirate with a parrot on her shoulder and once even a runner "complained" to the pace group leader that he can't concentrate on running since he is only seeing stars. Why? She was dressed as Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman never wore pants...In fact her stars were on her... LOVE IT!
At this point, we got back to the start/finish and we crossed it at 2:55. Got some quick food and we started again. Rebecca stopped to fix her shoe while Ken and I continueed slowly. I had just commented that I not only forgot his bottle at the chair but that I could have just grabbed it and didn't because I'm a putz. That's when I noticed how burned he is on his shoulders. He opted to go back to get sunspray and got the bottle for me. Cool.
I don't remember when exactly this happened but I realized I got chafed. Lower back above the butt. It hurt bad and I knew that it had to be dealt with. While stopping at an aid station to stock up, I asked if they had vaseline. They did. Actually, let me just mention that EVERY aid station had water, gatorade, coke, pretzels, coke, peanut butter and jelly sandwichs, orange slices, M&M's and other goodies.
Since they had Vaseline, I asked if we can get to know each other better. The woman looked at me with a blank stare as I turned around, lifted my shirt down a little and lowered my pants a little. Later I told my crew how the conversation is gonna play out with my wife: "Honey, I got felt up by a strange woman who lubed me up on my butt and she not only didn't get paid for it, she also did it with a smile over and over.". Yes - I am a Pain in the Butt. Yes - my incrediblely patient wife deals with it (and me).
We ran into and passed another maniac who I'll talk about later but for now we will call her Incongnito MM # 2.
Before both of them got back, this runner went past me and I yelled out "NO RUNNING!". Just as a joke because I'm a wiseguy but don't you know it, the guy did a double take and started walking. Oi...People listen to every command you give them. I told them I was just joking. Anyway, Rebecca and Ken joined me and I sprayed him and we continuued while Ken smelt so good. Like being at the beach.
By the way, we did see a skull and part of a vertebrae of something that could have been a dog or a deer or something else. Kept saying we will take a picture later but no one did.
Lot of horse poop on the trail and everytime I saw some I yelled out "HORSE SH!T" which was wonderful. We even saw 2 women on horses and of course I yelle it out again and the women loved it. I also commented on how beautiful her horse was. It had a knit hat on with ear covers too. Cool. The other horse wore something akin to a bee keepers mask. I guess it was all about the bugs.
Somewhere at this point we made new friends. Ethan joined us and 2 others. They didn't want to leave us because it was cool. We were just out for a stroll, enjoying the day and joking around. Ken was doing the 50K and unfortunatly we knew we would seperate when we had to do the extra 1.7ish section. I joked that he could wait for us and he remarked yeah, I guess I could just go to the bathroom while you guys go. That wasn't the exact language he used but it was funny and we liked it.
Things went really well up until mile 27. Basically, it was Ken and me taking turns pulling and we all had fun. At 27 tho, I started having sharp pains in my left knee and I started slowing down. Ken felt good and he continuued on. Ethan stayed with Rebecca who also dropped a little from Ken and I tried to hang on but it was no use. The downhills were killing my knees. Flats weren't great either. We got to the single track where it seemed like you go around the same tree 20 times and even tho I had them in my sight, I couldn't keep up. Eventually throught the split tree but I lost them. It's ok. I knew it was coming. Lap 2 was finished at 6:20ish and it made sense.
I forgot we did see Hammad and his new friend when we were going back on Loop 2 and he was still starting it. I got them all to high five him and yell his name. We also did that everytime we saw Audrey, Rebecca's mom at one of the aidstations. It really was a party atmosphere.
As I got to the finish line for lap 2, people were cheering me on and yelling just a little more to which unfortunatly, I raised 1 finger and yelled 1 more. The cheering actually got louder at that and that felt good.
So, remember that this was my first ever 50 Miler? Well, I made a boo-boo which I now paid for. Yes my knee was on/off ok but that wasn't it. I never eat during a marathon or 50K. I usually don't drink too much either. Here, I drank a lot of coke (YAY!) and ate cookies and stuff but ultimatly, I treated it as a 50K or a 26.2 and it was NOT! This was 50 Miles. When I did the 100 miler, I made sure to eat substantial food. Treating the 50 Miler as a 50K was wrong and I did not eat enough. The 3rd loop which was by myself, with knee pain, was getting longer and longer as I was on fumes. It was unfortunate but between the no fuel and my knee, I knew it was going to be ugly. I kept looking back, hopefully to make new friends, but ultimatly I realized anyone who will catch up to me will also pass me. I did make some new friends who stayed a little and we worked together but ultimatly I was dropped and I was ok with it.
I'm ok with the idea of being dead last. Someone has to be it. I had a feeling it was going to be me even though I truly didn't want to happen. I was constantly assured by aid station people that I wasn't last but it's ok. I thought about cheating for a second skipping the extra section or even going through a straight line during the single track "S" section but immediatly refused it. That's just not me even tho I was desperate. But really why do that? Who would I cheat except myself?
I continuued on. Incognite MM # 2 passed me and I wished her luck. Later 2 girls passed me and she was with them. Guess she got lost. A father and son passed me as well and later re-passed me. They too got lost. The course really was well marked and no one should have gotten lost. Pink ribbons everywhere and in some areas both chalk areas on the ground as well as arrows taped to trees.
This was mostly trails but there were some blacktop areas too and at one point I saw a little kid reaching up and ripping off the pink ribbon. His father took it from him and re-tied it and asked me what it was all about. I told him there was a race going on and I thanked him for putting it back. He wished me luck.
I also saw a Moslem family walking and the mom gave her little kid something to throw away in the garbage. The kid did but last minute missed. He looked at it on the floor and shrugged and walked away. She did not let him get away with it and made him go back and throw it away. I thanked her as well.
First time in my life I saw a beaver in real life. Awesome. I love that stuff. He saw me and quickly ran into his home.
So far 2 or 3 women got the "privilege" of getting mooned by me and lubing me up. I then got to an aid station and there 2 guys there. I was in no place to be picky and I did my thing and the guy was shocked. He said "this is gonna hurt" and I told him "that it's ok and I know". He got on my left side, held me with his left hand across my chest and told me to say "SH*T" really loud. Guess he wanted me to yell it out. I told him I wasn't going to do that or curse and he should just do it without mercy. He did. He just grabbed a huge amount of vaseline and rubbed from my right (side away from him) to my left (his closest side). Yes it hurt. It all hurt but I had no choice. This was the lesser of 2 evils. It would have gotten even worse and perhaps the vaseline would promote the healing process at the same time as protecting me.
I talked to a runner from Van Cortlandt Park who knows some of the same people. Nice guy who wanted a 10 hour finish. Nice. Got it in my head to want that too but it wasn't gonna happen.
Eventually, I heard the polka music which was a false flag. You think that's it but in truth it signalled another mile to go. I saw the house with the chain fence which also meant I was close and eventually the street we were parked on but further up. Close. Hold it together. Finally broke through the trees and onto the path to the cones cutting the grass. I saw Hammad but he didn't see me. I whistled and he turned around cheering me on and then everyone who was still there saw me and cheered me on. Nice.
Since this was my first at the distance, I had an automatic PR of 10:37:40. Am I ecstatic? No...I could have had around 9ish finish like Ken who PR'ed but I am happy. I finished. I survived. No "real" injuries. The best part was the fact that my 50 Mile split at the 100 was 12 hours and here with a knee issue and a fuel issue, I was far away from that. All good.
At the finish, I knew there was no medal which really SUCKS but they gave me a pint glass (cool even tho I don't drink) with a towel in it. I thanked them but they then said, you can't leave yet. How do you carry this glass? You need a bag and they gave me a huge bookbag. Everything had the logo "Dirty German" and it was pretty cool. I will include a picture of it. Cool. Thought it was only for the 50M but all races got it. Awesome!
I don't eat Brat or drink Beer which both were plentiful but I did take fresh grilled cheese sandwiches (well 2 actually) and made my way with Hammad to medical. When I got to the Ambulance, I said to the tech that he seems bored so I figured I'll give him something to do. He looked at me top-to-bottom and clearly he did't see anything. I was lucid and coherent so puzzled he asked me what's up. I thanked him first for being here and apologized in advance for the next thing and proceeded to also (half) moon him. Yes - my butt gets around. He was impressed and apologized that he really has nothing for me. I asked him if he could wrap it up so hopefully the shower wouldn't hurt that bad. He told me it would hurt no matter what but we agreed on gauze. It was either that or have Lee go in the shower with me and try to divert the water around.
I got Pre and Post pictures and sent them on to family and friends. I then put calf sleeves on and changed shoes and socks to fresh socks and crocs.
By the way, since TMI is completly out of control here anyway, I just wanna say that I was happy with myself in terms of hydration. I'm sure I was dehydrated but I did pee on the course and after finishing. Peeing twice in over 10 hours is NOT great and I normally pee a lot more but during races, that's huge for me.
Drank a Nesquick and started heading home when we saw a Wendy's. Stopped to eat my immediate post-race food: Spicy chicken sandwich, spicy chicken nuggets and fries. I am not a chicken lover but that's just good stuff.
Got stuck in traffic in NJ. They only had the local part of the Turnpike open. Oi! I apologized to Hammad and told him I need to close my eyes for 10 minutes. It went by quick and he was pulling in to an aid station. He needed a restroom. He ate so much, he was bloated. I got a hot tea as it got colder and I was freezing. Traffic on the turnpike opened up a little so we were able to get stuck on the Goethells Bridge and Verazanno but eventually got home a little after 10pm. Took a hot shower and was in bed by 10:30.
Unfortunatly, I wore socks to bed which I never do but wanted to protect my footsies and so I was hot and I didn't sleep well. Also, every time I closed my eyes, I was running in the trails. This happened to me once after being at the beach the whole day in Israel when I was young. Everytime I closed my eyes, I felt myself floating up and down. Here, I was in the trails.
I didn't sleep well but woke up on time to get the day going. Checked my weight and with all the stuff I ate, I was still a pound less than normal. Interesting. Took my guys to school and went to Alley Pond. My daughter had their Lag Ba'Omer picnic at Alley Pond and how could I not go? It was early and I didn't want to confuse the dog so I went there and watched Game of Thrones on the laptop and took a nap. Had a good time seeing my daughter have fun and then went home to get a massage. Had pizza for dinner. Great end for this adventure.