Race 100 Miles as a LCer? YES!!!!!!
 

Hello Fellow LCer's,
As I posted last week in my journal I prepared for and completed a double Lost Boys 50 Mile Race. I ran the first 50 miles as a race participant, then turned around and ran/hiked/shuffled back the final 50 for a total of 100 miles. It took me 33.5 hours total. This includes crew stops to eat and fill up my camelbacks, change clothes, get ice, etc.
The race starts in the Barrego desert, runs up a wash, over a mountain, thru a valley, then up to an upper mountain meadow, then up into the mountains, finally ending at a school camp in the Cuyamaca Mtns.
The first 50 miles were tough for me. I didn't have the leg strength that I had last year but I did have the core body strength (that you Nat!) from lifting weights (upper body) and doing sit ups. I felt pretty good except for two sections were I felt lousy. I had doubts about finishing the first 50 at that time but the feelings passed and I got back on track.
I finished the first 50 in 14 hours and a few minutes. Last year I finished in 12:45. We were in no hurry as we needed to conserve for the second 50. Anyway, I got the finish, drank my dream shake (heavy cream, soy drink, strawberries, flax seed oil, flax seeds) changed my clothes, fillied up the camelback and headed back out with my buddies. We decided to stick together through the mountain section and we all ran/hiked in tandem. We covered those 18 tough miles and arrived back on the highway where we met our crews. At this point I knew that I would make it, as the hardest part was over. We ate some soup, filled up our fluids and headed back out. We went through the upper meadow section and met our crews again. More soup, then we began the decent to the desert. We arrived at the next highway crossing shortly after dawn. More soup and off through the sandy wash to the next point.
This was a tough section. It's really hard to run in soft sand, it made my calves tighten up and my feet were really sore at this point. I just ignored the pain (sometimes denial is a good thing) and trudged on. We arrived at the bottom of the mountain road for our final mountain ascent before the final drop down into the desert. This was the road that kept on giving! We kept going and going, surely the summit was just around the bend? NOT! It had a false summit, oh well, we kept going and finally reached the top where we filled up on ice and water.
We finally began the descent towards the wash. We walked/shuffled along a jeep road then finally climbed down into the wash. At this point we commented on how cruel it was for us to have to climb down boulders after covering 90 plus miles. We got through that section, cruised through another wash then arrived at the Boulders, the last climb before we hit the dirt road to the finish.
Our friend met us at the dirt road with cold drinks, I gave him my camelback and made an attempt to run the last 4.4 miles to the finish. I managed to shuffle along and actually sprint for a while to catch my friend who had gotten ahead of me. I mean we are talking a ten minute mile pace here! I finally caught my friend and we walked across the finish line together. Two eight year old boys (sons of our crew) constructed a "FINISH" line. They tied palm branches together for an archway and wrote the word "Finish" with little rocks, it was so sweet!
We were glad to be finished, the first thing I did was take off my shoes, put on my Tevas (sandals) and get into the cooler for my goodies, a cucumber, mango, apple and nuts, although the nuts were kinda soggy.
Three of us finished the 100. One friend in 31.5 hours, he's 60 years old. My friend, age 59 and myself age 43 in 33.5. We had no deadline and we were pleased with the result. This was my friend's first 100. I've run one other trail 100 although I unofficailly finished (after the cutoff) and I've run 100 miles on a track on three different occasions.
This is a first as a lowcarber. I did not carboloab before the race but I did increase my carbs a little bit. I am following Schwarzbein and consume an average of 70-90 carbs a day. During the race I used performance products such as GU and Zone bars for a hourly caloric intake of appx 200 calories. I drank three shakes when I could and ate chicken noodle soup. I was hungry for FAT! Lesson learned, I will include something with a little more fat in it for the next race.
On a humerous note, one thing that kept running through my mind was "Starchile's road to fabulous" (journal title). I don't know why it just did.
I thought about the annoucement I made in my journal and about all of the support that I've received from this forum. I must say that that kept me going when the going got tough.
I look forward to continued success and hope to train hard this summer, get stronger and get to my ideal weight. Thanks to all of you who have supported mt efforts.
Take care,
Maureen

Once again, Maureen .... YOU ROCK!!
 

Thanks for a detailed account of the race!

Again, congratulations! You are indeed an inspiration!!

My best, Janice

You are absolutely incredible!! What an achievement!! :thup:

I am in awe!! If you can go 100 miles you can do anything!

Keep up the great work!!

KC :wave:

Well done, Maureen!

I'm moving this to our Success Stories. :thup:

Wa'il

Wow! I'm honored and grateful to you and this forum for allowing people like me to succeed with a smile on my face! Thx, Maureen

No, you allowed yourself to succede. This forum is here for poeple to share and show-off the results of following this healthy lifestyle :)

Wa'il

Wow - yours is the most amazing story I've heard in a while.

Congratulations on meeting such an enormous challenge. To say you are an inspiration, is an understatement. :thup:

I'm inspired! It sounds a brilliant event and well done!

If you can do that race on low carb then maybe I will be able to do my mountaineering on low carb eventually too. I'll stick with it - thanks for posting, it gives me hope.
Jay

Hi JayKay,
Just to confirm. I eat lots of carbs while I'm running/hiking, about 200 calories an hour's worth. The good news is that I don't have to gorge on them before and after! Life is good!
Take care,
Maureen

hi, sorry to keep going on about this, but you seem to have got it sorted and I definitely haven't yet. Do you stick to low glycaemic carbs or is anything OK? Doesn't it mess up your insulin repsponse - I'm worried that I've finally stop wacking out far too much insulin and if I start with carbs again, i'll start with that again too. But like you, I'm finding I can't be hugely active on strict LC. Going to try to get the Schwarzbein book and have a read. Would be grateful for any advice. Thanks, Jay :)

Hi JayKay,
I don't mind sharing at all! I had trouble on Atkins as I couldn't really run at all (nothing longer that an hour or two) without feeling really weak. I read the outline of Schwarzbein and I liked her program that allows for an adjustment of carb intake based on your activity level. I hope you get a chance to read her book and maybe her program will work for you.
I eat about 70-90 grams each day on a regular day. On my long run days I eat the same although I use performance food while I'm out on the trail. These a high glycemic index foods such a Power Gel and GU. THese a packaged in a 1 oz foil container, have the consistancy of yogurt, and you eat it, then drink about a cup of water to help it digest. I take one to two packets each hour which equates to 200 calories an hour. If I eat something else than I adjust the gel intake. I also eat Zone bars, similar to a Power Bar except it has more fat! I found that I need the fat. I have learned (the hard way) that eating only carbs during a long event leads to stomach upset.
I also eat regular food like chicken noodle (hold the noodles) soup and I make a killer shake, I think the recipe is in the story. I guess the bottom line is the harder the exercise/effort the easier digestable food is necessay. The slower the pace the more regular type food can be eaten.
Upon completion of a long training run or race I immediately revert back to my Schwarzbein eating program! I think that is important. I don't want to go back to the days of the celebratory Mexican food feast! That just packs back on the pounds. I ran a 48 hour track run in Dec 2001 and through the rest/recovery process I gained 3 pounds!
JayKay, I don't know what type of mountaineering you do (climbing or hiking) but it is definitely a sport that requires the proper fuel. I do want to say that I have read posts that suggest that you can train your body to run on fat but I haven't been able to, nor do I want to try. I had a brief experiment (6 hour run wothout carbs, I bombed, ate some gels and made it back in!). I think I get into a combo where fat and fuel are burning. I have seen and talked to hikers (up in the Sierras) that eat very little for the effort they are putting out. I don't know how they do it! I also talked to guy last week who is fastpacking the John Muir Trail and he wants to do so on 1000 calories a day! I don't see how that is possible.
Again, I suggest that you read all of the info on this site and make your own decision for your own body and how it reacts. I have no trouble switching back from high carbs to low and I've never felt better. Good luck to you and feel free to pick my brain! I have a few cells left!
Maureen

Thanks Maureen, what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I will try to read Schwarzbein's book and experiment with carbs for exercise. I climb and hike, couldn't possibly do 6 hour runs, but do need to be able to keep going up for a few hours at a time. Like you, i'd read that you could make your body use fat, but mine never has, as there's always been plenty for it to use, and it bombs out without carbs. I really appreciate the time and advice from someone who is obviously making it work.
Back to the hills! Take care and thanks, Jay :)

Great job Maureen! You truly are an inspiration! I'm training for my own endurance event (half Ironman triathlon in September). I've found if I plan out my higher carb meals and use the energy gels at the right time during training, I can still maintain a low carb lifestyle. It's a challenge, but well worth it.

Mark

WTG Maureen!

I couldn't imagine doing 100 miles. Wow what a race that must have been. Congrats on finishing it and doing so well :)

Hi Mark,
Congrats on reaching your goal. I like your sign-on name, I take it that MountainBikeMark. Yes, I agree the low carb way of life does work, I just bump up the intake as needed. I can't believe how many carbs I ate each day prior to low carbing. A good estimate would be about 250 a day.
Good luck on your training for the Ironman! I bet you're a sprinter! I know how you mountain bikers are! Crazier than us ultra-runners. Take Care, Maureen

P.S. I'm outta here for the weekend, a nice slow 50K south of Yosemite. Life is good!