Breaking The Seal

Breaking the Seal 

     (An Ultra Running/Drinking Colloquialism My Husband Loves.)

Hi, I'm Becca!!
 This is me re-applying desitin (you know, like for diaper rash) to Brett's feet at the 2016 AC 100.

  Well, many of you are probably wondering what kind of insights an Ultra Wife could possibly have that would be beneficial to you in your Ultra Running life? Well first of all runner let me tell you, it is not your training that will encourage you when you are down, or embrace you at the finish line; it is your crew! Secondly, it is a pain in the ass as a crew "captain" to find anything on how to be a good crew! 

   Yes, I just crewed my 5th Ultra but, I have organized the best mediocre (I know that is ambiguous) and the worst crew experiences (Thank you Uncle Mark! I promise I have gotten better). All it takes is a few moments of epic organization for your runner to accomplish the elusive sub 24 hour finish. Conversely, all it takes is one moment of epic disorganization, and your runner will not talk to you (or other things. Remember I am a wife) for a week; that is just not acceptable! I have only contributed to one Sub 24. This is not because my husband is a sub-par runner...oh no! It is because the weather sucked, his gag reflex was in full force, and the crew did not know where shit was! My bad, sorry honey. 

Brett getting all "organized" before the AC 100. This is why I feel the need to apologize to Uncle Mark! Look at those awesomely stuffed card board boxes. It did not take long before those necessities were all over the trunk of my car.

   So originally, I had planned to start writing this BLOG after my Husband finished the paragon sub 24 for any American ultra runner; the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. Sadly his bowels did not permit this fairy tale ending. I vividly remember him sipping on ginger ale at the Michigan Bluff aid station and shivering out of his Altra Olympus'(You are Welcome Todd for the shameless advertising). 
   Brett was wearing his Mom's shirt because, his was soaked and I had been wearing a tank top (he needed more dry clothing than a tank top). I changed tops with his mom in a port-a-potty. I put on his sweaty shirt. You know the one he had been wearing for the past 55.7 miles? I gave him his mom's nice dry t-shirt. So he was all nice and dry. I do not care who you are that is love right there!! 

   Well after his DNF we needed to figure out where to start. If he decided to quit running you would be reading the confessions of a black widow. Not the narrative of a loving, if sometimes exasperated, wife.  His hyper activity would have driven me nuts! 
   So, he stared with hiring a coach. Chris Vargo. Chris has been an integral tool for Brett in his training. Thank you Chris. I thought we had met briefly at the 2015 Western States 100. But, as Brett informed me, I thought this because your Nike Trail Running team mates had plastered huge cuts outs of your face all over your team's creepy, transient Winnebago. Like some kind of Trail Running rock star. Yeah, that's right, being sponsored is not a sexy as it sounds!!! 

   I'm sure Chris would agree...

   
            Okay so back to the future... you get it?

   Brett ran the Angeles Crest 100 on August 6-7th 2015. He did not finish sub-24, but he did finish!!! I am sorry runner, finishing is all that matters to your crew. I do not care if it takes 32 hours! If you have to stay up 32hrs, I (your crew) have to stay awake too. You probably think we are sleeping in the wee hours of the night. Yes, we may get 45 minutes or so more than you (unless you are my dad and can sleep on a cot in the rain), we do not. I repeat, we do not really sleep while your running. Furthermore, I am the one helping you shower and watching you sleep when your done torturing yourself and have received that damn belt buckle!

I took this probably 3 hours after Brett's first 100. The 2013 San Diego 100. Oh and now is also a great time to tell you dear runner, after you run 100 miles you have no privacy...or shame really. 

   The reason why we do not sleep is this, who knows when you will come into the next aid station?! 4 hours, 7 hours? You could be having a good spilt or your worst! Either way I/We/Your Crew, need to be at that aid station. 
   That means that at the finish line, as your wife, I will hug you and cry for you. Actually, both of us will cry because you finished. Which means now we can both sleep uninterrupted...unless we are talking about your Javelina Jundred finish, which we will not! In another post maybe. 

Brett at the finish of his "redemption run." The 2015 AC 100.  Photo Credit: Andrew Guitarte

   So, on to my reason for writing this post. It is unconscionably difficult to find any good guides or lists for a new crew. I certainly do not have all of the answers but, I have some, and I would like to share them with you and your crew. 

Me and Uncle Mark crewing Brett at the AC 100. Notice the horrible cardboard box organization system. Here's a tip, this does not work well!

   To get to the obvious, you need a plan. You and your runner need to sit down earlier than the night before (over a beer), to plan this "Mr. Frog's Wild Ride." 

     ...Is that still a ride in Fantasyland (Disneyland)? It's been closed the last few times I've been....Please excuse my tangents.

  This plan includes detailed course maps, not elevation charts. Elevation charts do not really matter to the crew. Aside from commiserating with you about your future hardships, it does not effect my packing/planning list...so frankly, I do not need to see it.

The elevation chart/profile for Zion 100.  I particularly love the sections where it looks like you need a parachute or rock climbing gear.

   To many veteran crew members this next bit may seem obvious (well all of it will). Print up or create a chart with the race's aid stations and then your runner's top two paces. By top two I mean a "goal" time, and a "realistic" time. List ALL aid stations. Some races allow you to see live updates of each aid station whether there is crew access or not. Or you could just be a genius like my fellow Ultra Wife and one of my best friends, Desirae Ringled (Her Husband Kenny Ringled came in 5th in the 2015 AC 100), and buy Spot GPS tracker. I got my chart idea from the Javelina folks. I stole it and created my own. I am not ashamed; it was a great idea!
   In my pace guide, as aforementioned, I list every single damn aid station! Then the goal time and realistic time. In addition to the goal and real time, I have two blank columns. One is for the time your runner enters the aid station, and the second is for when they leave. This obsessive time keeping I can sincerely and gratefully, attribute to my Step-Father-in-Law (wow dash over load), Philip. He used to be a big wig Engineer. I am actually not really sure what he did, but he needed to be organized. So he has a fondness for charts, graphs, numbers, and all things the organizationally challenged, like myself, do not think of. He's like my brother (the accountant) in that sense.     

I went a little crazy trying to be organized for Zion. So I color coded when each pacer would start and finish. This chart would have been so much more helpful if only the weather had been more cooperative during the 2016, Zion 100. A.K.A "Muddageddon."

   By far the BEST reason, dear runner, to demand your crew keep one of these charts, is to track the amount of time you spend at each aid station. This was one of the biggest oversights for all of us when Brett first began running 100 milers. In hindsight this is one of those "I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner!" tools.
    Here is a fun math word problem for you. Now, I am talking to the non-numerically challenged. If you hate math, well I hate to admit it, but your teachers were right...you do need it in everyday life. So, If you have 12 aid stations in a 100 mile race and in each aid station your runner spends 7 minutes, versus 5. How much time have you lost over all? 
   Then, on top of that, you need to factor in your runner's fatigue after running well gosh...68 miles. With (umm....::pulls out calculator::...) 32 miles still to go. Your runner will want to stay longer and longer in each aid station. But, If you start giving them a goal time for when they need to be back on the trail...and REALLY push them, you can drastically benefit their race overall. 

Javelina 2014. This is a picture of Brett and his Mom, Kelly. This race can be especially hard to keep times down on aid station stops. This is because the crew stays in the same place that you camp at. This is also the Start/Finish. So when the runner comes in to this stop what do they see? Their nice warm bed. Tempting no?

   There is twofold logic here. One, if your runner is doing fine (perhaps a little fatigued), they will get their butt back on that course with in a reasonable time. Reasonable being 5 minutes to honestly, 30 minutes. If they are suffering and should not continue they will be less receptive to your supportive kick in the ass and you will have a better understanding of your runner's overall well being. 
   Here is where I get (I guess) kind of scientific. For example, I know that between miles 40-70 my husband will likely crash HARD and appear, unable to continue. I also know that if he is really suffering and should NOT continue, this is probably when it will happen. At Western States, AC, Javelina, and San Diego these were his worst miles. Over time I have learned how to recognize what he can and cannot work through. 
   Because, this lecture/Blog is turning long winded (I am a Historian; we do that), I will finish with this. It is imperative as crew/pacer that you closely observe your runner. Track their time and their physical appearance. Their "mood" is not as important, I have found, as closely watching their eyes and complexion. I mean really, how good do you think you would feel while running 100 miles? So, mood? Discount it. Look for glassy eyes and facial pallor. Slurred speech and extreme lethargy.
  I will write again soon with some more anecdotes and suggestions for the well prepared crew. Or at least a crew better prepared than I was when I first started! I hope you enjoyed my first, and extremely flippant, narrative. I hope you find this and future posts full of friendly suggestions fun tales. Oh, and yes, I put a lot of links in this post but some of them are just to make you chuckle.

Aren't we stinking cute! This picture is not from any race, but a trip we took to Slovenia a few years ago...I just love it!