I just finished the North Face Endurance challenge (#TNFECS) for 50K distance. This was my first ultra in the hills. This is significant for me for 2 reasons. For one, I turned 500 months on earth this November 2016 (I feel like a fossil when I say that), second, I always wanted to do an ultra in the hills (desired this for a very long time). I want to give a quirky account of what truly transpired during the last leg of training and during the race. This race made me realize that endurance strength comes from an ongoing dialog and negotiation between 3 faculties; The Mind, The Heart and The Gut…

Citation: #TNFECS is one of the best organized races I have ever participated so far. Organizers were efficient and volunteers were the most awesome bunch of people I have come by: >> https://www.thenorthface.com/get-outdoors/endurance-challenge/california.html

No, I shall not compare this as an analogy for running a startup or some bizarre wisdom on how to lead life. This is just about the race.

But, first bear with me on a bit of a preamble before I give you true account of the race.

If you hate preambles, then jump to the section titled “The Race”

The 50 mile plan

I actually wanted to do a 50 miler..

I started training for the race 8months back. I have been ‘kinda’ runner all my life but preparing for TNFEC is a different game all together. I knew from the beginning that what goes into training is what comes out in the race, there was no two things about this.. I knew I needed strength training apart from the run, so signed up for a personal trainer at my gym (I workout at Equinox on Market St, San Francisco). Nikki Beckman is my personal trainer and she “Kicks Ass”.

Going into training, I apprised Nikki that I have a long time lower back injury which troubles me on and off (Have a major muscle tear from my parkour days 12 years back, which aggravates often. I have also made it worse on further accidents during ski and deadlifts). I also had a recent ankle injury from tripping on the tread mill (What are the odds of that !!)

Given my age (41) and my fragile state, Nikki charted a game plan for the next 8 months which included a rather painful strength training regime and a run schedule for 50 miler.

The disaster

My training was not all spit and shine. While I mostly stuck to the strength regime (1 day a week, sometimes 2), I have had my rough weeks where I have been off charts on the run training (4 days a week).

My training log from May 2016 on Strava is here: https://www.strava.com/athletes/7035606/training/log

If you notice the log, on week of Oct 10th and week of Oct 24th, I slacked majorly (Don’t ask. Personal shit). Who slacks so close to a race? That’s right, me.

That apart, on Nov 6th, just 3 weeks from the race day, I had a fairly bad right knee sprain and minor tear which also affected the already fragile lower back. Here is an account of what happened:

And then I was off from any form of running or strength training for next 2 whole weeks. I in fact, checked in with a chiro, and she pretty much advised that I get off the schedule for minimum of 3 months.

3 months? My race is in three weeks ! So as usual, I ignored the expert advise from the doc, waited for 2 weeks to ‘feel’ better and attempted a slow 4 miler! Voila, I was able to do a painful 4miler ! Rested it for 5 more days and attempted a 6 miler. Holy cow, I could do an even more painful 5.7 miler !

Given that I could run in pain. I downgraded the 50mile to 50K and showed up on race day.

The race

The format of the race is such that; there are 7 aid stations. There is a hard cut-off time of 18mins 51secs per mile (or 10hours overall).

Here is a course guide

You might be thinking that this must be lame. 18mins? Why is this called a race? Well, if you have EVER tried to hike or run in Marin Headlands you shall know why this is hard. The 50K has a total elevation gain of 7000ft. Most steep ascent takes anywhere between 25mins to 40mins per mile if you try to hike them. Some of the steep descents take equal amount of time if you try to hike down. So, you kinda have to run them to be below 18mins and run the flats to bring down the overall averages.

The dialog

Let me tell you that I have 3 strong internal faculties (My Mind, Heart and the Gut) that becomes active and heightened during crisis (Why do I say crisis? My 3 week old injuries had not healed at all..). Each of the faculties have a strong persona. I am fairly certain this is true for all.

The Mind is a calculated risk taker. The mind tries to keep things in check and brings sanity to day-to-day conversations.

Heart is bohemian. Quite passionate, empathetic and endearing

The Gut. Well the gut is quite reckless, aggressive and pushy.

Going into the race, the dialog begins:

At mile zero:

Mind: Do you really what to do this?

Heart: Such a glorious day. You always desired this and here you are. Go for it.

Gut: Hell Ya, Let’s ride these hills like a bronco baby…

At mile 1.5:

Mind: Okey, there is a 1000ft ascent for the next 1.5 miles, its prudent to slow down.

Heart: I hear you, Let’s go slow.

Gut: Slow down? What are you talking about. Push, Push…

Mind: Ahem, no. We have 30 miles ahead. We can push later.

Heart: I agree, our goal is to finish the race.

Gut: Okey buttercups. You ladies can do what you want !

At mile 3

Mind: Descent ahead folks, quite rough on the knees, let’s go slow and see how we fair.

Heart: Great idea, I am so happy we are doing this. Oh, look at the lovely scenery. Yipee..

Gut: You want to go slow on descents? What the f**k is wrong with you? Do you remember that we are the descent masters?

Mind: Yo! That’s how we messed the knee and back. Chill

At mile 4

Gut: Dudes, the knee is holding up. Why are we pacing at 9:30? This is Marincello Trail Segment folks, we need to speed up.

Heart: Woah, look at that color in the skies ! Ahh the birds and the bees ! I love you all..

Mind: Hmm, all systems check. I am not sure though.

Gut: Not sure of what pussy cat? We are holding up. Push it lady.

Mind. Hmmm. Seems like we are holding ok. Let’s crank the pace to 8min.

Between mile 4 and 5

Mind: Yo! I said 8min miles NOT 7:45 !! Take it easy. Also we are approaching the first aid station. Slow down.

Gut: You are such a pussy.

Heart: I agree with Mind, the knee is hurting now. We need to pull back.

Mind: We loaded the knee early in the race. Careful now.

Gut: Tch.. Tch..

Mile 6

Mind: We are heading out of Tennessee Valley and we have a 1.5mile climb on North Face Endurance Hill 2. This is grade 18% and even during training we slow down. Back and knees are loaded and the pain is increasing. I suggest we scale this slow.

Heart: Let’s stick to training pace on this? We have to keep the rhythm and I am pumping strong.

Gut: Training Pace? This is RACE pussy cats, a f***ing RACE !!

Mind: Nope. We are conserving the back and quads. It’s grade 18%, and its 1.5mile for a 850 ft ascent.

Mile 7.6

Mind: How about we maintain a 11min mile on this descent? Too steep, loose gravel and bad terrain. Also we messed up on the previous descent pushing at 7:45.

Gut: How about you shut up for a while?

Heart: I guess we should do a 11min here folks. We need to finish the race. That’s the goal.

Muir Beach Aid Station, Mile 9.2

Mind: We skipped the first aid station. Let’s load up on Potatoes and Salt here.

Heart: I love potatoes. brings back lovely memories. Oh, the people at the aid station are so kind. Wowie, look at the girl in the butterfly costumes. She is cheering for us. The world is such a lovely place.

Gut: Eat fast. We have to go.. faster, faster…

Heather Cut off: Mile 10.9

Mind: This segment all the way to cardiac hill has a 1300ft elevation. Needs careful attention to the back. 3.8 miles folks, neither of us have ever liked this segment ! Back is already inflaming and we do not want it worse.

Heart: God made Heather-cut off for a reason. Maybe it’s there to humble us down. I love God. God is glorious. Let’s all sing now…

Gut: Hell No. No singing. If you want to slow down, that’s fine. But, NO SINGING. I shall throw myself down the hill if you start to sing. I promise.

Cardiac Hill Aid Station: Mile 14.2

Mind: Holy shucks. We are out of energy. Lower-back is moving towards bad pain now. Knee is buckling, we did a 29min mile for last 2.5 miles ! Not looking good at all folks. At this rate I doubt if we finish the race. Even if we do, it will take 12–13hours which is way beyond cut-off.

Heart: Don’t you worry sir. I am still doing strong. Remember how much we need to finish this race? Remember this shall be a beautiful memory once we finish?

Gut: Hell Ya. Listen to the Heart you moron! We did not come this far to contemplate.

Mind: All I am saying is that we are out of energy. Let’s load up on potatoes and refill the electrolytes please. Also I advise we stretch a little as we are hitting pain thresholds.

Heart: Yikes, there is no potatoes! there is no tatoes… What do we do, what do we do!!!???

Gut: What the f**k.. Stop freaking out. We did not come this far in the race to eat potatoes. Don’t get your knickers in a bunch now!

Mind: Take it easy boys. We have gels.

Gut: Let’s hog on those skittles.

Mind: Nope. Does not sit well with you. Remember you get GI distressed on training?

Gut: I need skittles. If you don’t get me potatoes, then I am going for skittles.

Mind: Don’t do it.

Gut: Mnom, Mnom, Monm… yummm, did it already…

Mind: *facepalm*

Ben Johnson Descent: Mile 14.3

Gut: I am not feeling good !

Mind: Really now? How so junior? Told you not to hog on the skittles didn’t I?

Gut: I am going to fall sick !! Groan…

Heart: Oh you poor boy. Why don’t you throw up?

Gut: Throwing up is for the pussies.

Heart: Not really little boy, there is no shame in throwing up. Go on, we shall help you.

Gut: F**k no ! Back off sister !!

Mind: Ok listen now idiot, I am slowing the pace down in this descent to 29min miles. It’s a descent and we are SLOWING down for you !! Thanks for not listening.

(This was the slowest descent of my life)

Lost trail climb: Mile 17

Heart: I am not doing good boys. Also look at that elevation. It’s quite disheartening ! We have also breached the pain threshold on all fronts. While we desire to finish this, let’s live for another day.

Gut: I am still not doing good. It hurts. F**k skittles.

Mind: Wow for once, we all agree. Should we call it a day boys?

(This was the moment when all my faculties had given up. I was lost. Maybe that’s why they call it the lost trail?)

Suddenly I hear a voice from the back.

Old Man: Son are you doing OK?

Me: I guess not.

Old Man: You seem to be in pain. Did you get hurt??

Me: Kinda, trying to run on injuries. Not a bright cookie you know *smiling sheepishly*

Old Man: Life is a bit like that. You have found yourself hurting in the valley. What you have ahead of you is a 900ft climb. What you have behind you is a 1200ft climb. There is no one around here. Even if you wait for someone to help, I don’t think they shall be able to carry you. Can you walk?

(At this moment, it was surreal. It almost felt like an outside intervention when all my internal faculties had given up)

Heart: Holy f**k, he is GOD. I tell you, he is surely GOD, he is giving you a message ! GOD is intervening. Hallelujah… Jai Hanuman, Jai Ganesha !!

Gut: Ahem, he is not God. Calm down. He looks like a volunteer who is around here in the woods to direct the runners in the “lost trail”. This trail needs direction.

Mind: The old man makes sense. We have to climb no matter which direction we go. Also I don’t think anyone shall be able to help us here ! Let’s push a little boys.

Gut: Wow, well said Mind. OORAHH, Let’s freakin do this girlies !

(This was a turning point in the race. It’s almost as if I found a hidden reserve of adrenaline! I also realized we are heading back home as we are already 17miles in)

The dialog goes on back and forth until I hit Muir Beach again.

Climb out of Muir Beach: Mile 23.5

Heart: It hurts people. I can’t pump anymore. The back is dead, the knees are on fire and beyond pain threshold. I feel for you all, let’s pull out. There is no shame. We have done 23.5 miles on injuries. It’s already commendable.

Mind: I hear you Heart, but I did the math. We are doing a overall average pace of 16ish minutes per mile. We still have 2.5 hours to go and have to only cover about 8miles.

Gut: Hell Ya! Just 8miles. Stop crying sister, we can do it.

Heart: I don’t think so folks. While I desire the most to finish this, I would rather live.

Gut: What the hell? Look at the old-lady climbing the hill there. I bet she is 127 years old and she has a bigger heart than you !!

Mind: Easy boys. As I said, let’s drop the pace and see what happens.

Heart: Fine, let’s go for it.

Marincello Climb: Mile 26.6

Gut: We need to STOP the f**k now. Else we shall be crippled for life !

Mind: Wow, that’s a role reversal Gut! But you are right this time. All systems are code-red and we may lose the mobility in right leg.

Heart: Listen boys. I did some soul searching on the 23rd mile climb and realized that we are all stronger than we think we are. Btw, I found this extra reserve of energy lying around and I can pump hard for this climb. It’s 1.5miles and another 2.8 miles climb post a small descent. I guess we can hold.

Gut: Nope. Let’s stop here. I don’t want to look weak and pathetic if we can’t do it.

Mind: I sense a probable opportunity, let’s go for 0.5miles. If we can’t ascend, then we can descend back to Tennessee Valley which is easier and call it a day. What say boys?

(All systems go at this point)

Last leg

It was a complete haze and a blank-out post Tennessee Valley. I had no clue how time flew or what actually happened for the next 6miles. It’s almost as if I woke up and everyone was cheering at the finish ! Someone just came by and handed a medal and said “Well Done”.

The pain vanished. The struggle erased from memory. And the sweet sound of the finish line shall be with me to savor for the rest of my life I guess.

My first ultra in the hill. It had to be The North Face Endurance Challenge.

Indeed Glorious.