DNDNF

This past weekend I ran my third ultra marathon, a 100k race on the Island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. For more info on our adventures before and after the race checkout Tarah’s post.

I definitely had my apprehensions concerning the race right until the launching of the bottle rocket to start the race. My training had been almost nonexistent since the Panama City International Marathon in December, I had been battling injury/pain in both of my knees and the back of my right leg, and the week before the race I could hardly walk. In hindsight, I should have changed to the 50k distance as soon as we got to the island, but I didn’t, and at 4:00am on Saturday I was toeing the line of my biggest running challenge yet.

gearing up

waiting for the gun

My plan was to go out super conservatively and listen to my body. The sun didn’t rise until about 6:00 so we had almost two hours of running by headlamp. The first section wasn’t very technical, but since it was difficult to see, I managed to twist my ankle before we got to the first aid station. At the aid station (9.1k), I checked in (there were only a couple of runners behind me) and got my first of nine bracelets for the day. We had short sections of pavement before and after the aid station so I was able to run a little more smoothly in those sections. Shortly after leaving San José del Sur, the community where the aid station was located, the course moved back to trail and eventually beach and banana fields. Through this section, I chatted with some other back of the packers and found out that a bunch of runners had missed a turn and lost a fair amount of time, so for a bit we were actually towards the front of the pack. Pat, the runner that would eventually take second, caught back up to us just as we were entering the banana fields. There was a small wall and some large roots obstructing the trail, but Pat charged past us and by the time we (the back of the packers) managed to navigate the obstacles, Pat was out of sight.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS RACE REPORT

Guest Post by Martin Schneekloth, FYA 2012 100k Finisher – FYA 2012 100k Race Report

Un-Focused Fotografia

As I continued to wade through the mud, the roots became thicker and thicker and the term “walking” no longer described what I was doing. I was now in full on scramble mode. I was scrambling and climbing through the roots, sucking in my gut to squeeze through roots, using both hands and feet to make it another foot ahead. This was cool. I continued to slowly make my way along the ridge. I remember looking down at one point while climbing on some massive roots only to see no ground below me, nothing, nada, other than some tree roots that were stretching across this massive gap in the ridge. At this point you just stop thinking “what if” and you keep going. This was no longer an ultra marathon, this was an all out adventure. It wasn’t a race, I just wasn’t moving fast enough to call it a race at this point, it was a good old adventure. Once I completed this section, it was time to make my way down the volcano.

I slowly started heading down the volcano. It was as steep down as it was up and I had not figured out yet how to get down. I literally had to head down almost as slowly as I climbed up. There were sections so steep, I wasn’t sure how to get down. My legs, although not short by any means, seemed too short to reach down and there was nothing to hold on to. This happened multiple times. Other times, I just tried to literally swing from tree to tree. I would dive for the next tree downhill and grab it with one hand, using my forward momentum to swing me down towards the next tree, and so on. It was crazy. Apparently, Christian was doing slightly better than me as he caught me about half way down the mountain.
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…Excerpt, read the whole thing here

Why Run an Ultramarathon – Guest Post by 2012 100km Finisher Joseph Ryan

When people learn that you run ultra marathons, they want to know what that means. When they learn that it refers to a race more than the 26.2 miles known as a traditional marathon, that they can go well past 100 miles, and folks like me prefer them to trace the spines of mountains, they want to know the why of ultra running. This is an explanation of that. But, like the object of description, this will go on for a while, maybe longer than you thought necessary to answer a seemingly simple question. In this essay I will elaborate on a two part answer to that question, the tangible, science based part, and the other part that is less quantifiable, but every bit as attractive to those who run.

It’s hot. My blue shirt feels like too much in the sun as I put on my pack and walk out of the airport, nodding hello to aggressive cab drivers offering to give me a ride, asking in broken English where I want to go, to my broken Spanish responses. I learn that the meeting place for the ride to the ferry is across the street, easy enough. No gracias. No cab. It’s Managua, the bustling sun drenched capital of Nicaragua, location where the Sandinistas reigned and fought and earned the cover pages of newspapers and television screens when I was first learning to run as a child of the eighties, my back yard a microcosm of the courses I now crave. Today Managua is a relatively safe Central American hub of activity. The roads around the airport buzz with cars, and motorcycles, and people crossing the streets as horns blare. Traffic laws seem like suggestions, not edicts here. Cab drivers laugh and dart around the massive busses with windshields covered in stickers, and seats filled with a mix of tourists and locals.
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Thanks to Ultrarunner and Race Director Brad Quinn for this wonderful testimonial on Fuego y Agua!

Back in the spring of 2008 I contacted Josue Stephens about his Fuego y Agua 100km event, which I had heard about on a local trail running website. I had not met Josue yet, but knew of his outstanding win at Bandera 100km. Josue was living in Austin, TX at the time and my family and I were in the Texas Hill Country….Horseshoe Bay, which is approx 50 miles NW of Austin. We exchanged emails, arranged a time to met and quickly became fast friends. We shared the same passions of trail running, travel, family, race directing and philanthropic work. I was excited about the possibility of racing in Nicaragua and assisting Josue with race preparation. more »

See TJ’s Photos from 2008

For those who just want to look at the pictures, they are here. :)

Recently I ran the inaugural Fuego y Agua 100K ultramarathon on la Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua. It was a very challenging race mentally and physically. I limped into the race under-trained, as I have not been able to train on hills the way I wanted to due to my Achilles problems that have been nagging me since July when I ran TRT100. This race consists of two primary climbs up the Maderas and Concepcion volcanoes, 1500 and 1000 meters, respectively. It’s safe to say I was ready for the distance, but not those hills.
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traducido del Inglés con Google Translate

Fecha: sábado 13 diciembre, 2008

Ubicación: La isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua
Distancia: 100 KB
Tiempo Final: 14:48
El encuentro con el cambio puede ser muy difícil. De repente te colocan fuera de su zona de confort sin saber realmente qué esperar, frente a lo desconocido. A veces el cambio trae experiencias increíbles y se convierte en un trampolín para cosas buenas a seguir. Se me dio la oportunidad de abrazar y sumergirme en otra cultura por un tiempo muy breve, pero yo planeaba sacar el máximo partido de ella.
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The Sunday Adventure Club: Fuego y Agua 100k – Race Report. Richie Cunningham | 2008 100km Winner