Author: Olin Berger

Categories
Race Reports

CCC-UTMB 2019: Melted Blocks of Cheese

The CCC-UTMB experience was awesome and terrible and I highly recommend it. It’s really hard. It’s really beautiful. It makes a small sport feel like a big deal. There was a good three-hour period during this race during which I had embraced the freedom of quitting competitive running forever and doing anything that doesn’t involve brutalizing your body for a period of time longer than most Netflix binges. I ended up dropping around mile 44 probably more beat up than I have ever been in a race. I was ready not to race again for a long time.


A few hours of hanging out in Chamonix post-drop started to change things. The energy in the town is immense. Thousands of runners and running fans (it’s a thing!) from all over the world are really excited to be there and it’s hard not to get some of the #stoke rubbed off on you, even if you’re feeling like a Garbage Patch Kid. It’s gorgeous; one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Stunning views that impress even as you consider taking up a new life as a Swiss cowherd to avoid having to continue a race. It’s huge for a sport that usually considers a big scene being at least 10 people hanging out for a while after a Cougar Race and it’s cool to feel like part of something big even while relishing the sport’s weird niche. It’s immensely motivating to talk to runners from around the world and trade stories and race suggestions. One of the highlights of the local cuisine involves melting and eating a giant block of cheese. What more do you need?

Dropping is always a bummer, but injuries happen. My takeaway from this race is how exciting and beautiful this sport can be, even on a miserable day. It makes the prospect of a good day sound like something really incredible.

Categories
Club Events Race Reports

White River 50 – 2019 Race Report

I signed up for this year’s White River 50 hoping to redeem my previous performance, which had started as a bid for a third win in a row and devolved into equal parts getting passed on climbs and squatting in the woods. Then, a couple months prior to the race, as I was throwing the training plan into high gear, I blew a hamstring and only started training again about a week before the race. Of course, I planned to race anyway for fear of losing the moral high ground needed to tease Joe Creighton about his previous DNF. Fortunately, I pay someone smarter than myself to manage my training plan and he strongly suggested I consider the health benefits of not running 50 miles on a recent injury. I’m somewhat proud of my progression as a runner that I actually took his advice.

I also learned a couple things about a DNF at White River that I hadn’t really known before:

  • The first half can be much more enjoyable knowing you don’t have to run the second half.
  • The disappointment of not completing the race lessens as you look into the hollow-eyed stares of runners contemplating the climb to Suntop as you contemplate which gummy bear flavor pairs best with Rainier.
  • Grinding down your body with physical misery isn’t always as fun as hanging out with your friends talking about those in physical misery.
  • You can still be a winner (First place DNF!)
  • The plot of everyone’s favorite 1988 Tom Cruise vehicle “Cocktail” makes as little sense after 20 miles as it does after 50.

So, redemption is on the table for next year. But, if that doesn’t happen, at least I know there’s nothing to fear in the DNF corral.

Categories
Featured Race Reports

Dehydrating at Canyons 100k

It’s taking a while for me to fully appreciate, but slowly sinking into my brain is the concept that ultra racing is pretty hard. I’ve always felt that one of my great strengths lies in a lack of trepidation about taking on any distance or race, as I don’t hesitate to throw myself in the mix and give it a shot. The downside of this method comes about 60% into a race when things start getting rocky and reality comes flying at me with an elbow from the top rope. But, over the last couple years of racing I’ve been learning how to take the hit.

I came into The Canyons 100k off a great training block and joined a field of many other golden ticket-seeking hopefuls with similar skill levels. It was feeling like it could be anyone’s race without relying on missed turns or allergic reactions to take out a front-runner. After the first 50k, the climbing legs had done their thing and I came through the half right on plan in 6th place around 10-15 minutes off the lead. Here’s where I hoped the leaders would fade a bit and I would surge. Instead the heat surged and a Seattle spring had left me unprepared for the California sun. I made it to the turnaround at Rucky Chucky mainly via sponge baths at every aid station. I was getting caught by a few runners at that point, which provided enough motivation to get my legs back under me and tough it out through the final quarter, during which I managed to get back my 6th place spot. It wasn’t the best race, but it’s always nice to finish on and upswing and running instead of dragging myself in just to avoid a DNF. Chalk this one up as experience earned and a stepping-stone towards something better.

Categories
Featured Race Reports

2019 Chuckanut 50k

Olin Berger at the 2019 Chuckanut 50kI now have three strikes at running a sub-4 at Chuckanut. Fortunately, ultra-running results tell you near to nothing outside of context. Times can’t really be compared across races of the same distance or even between different years of the same race due to changes in course routes and conditions. Not that you would know it by looking at the times of the fast boys in the top two podium spots, but there was a decent amount of snow on the course this year which made a couple miles of Cleator Road and the backside of the course less than optimal.

Near optimal, however, was how I felt I ran this year. I tend to set pretty high goals for myself and far too often let my efforts diminish when I know they become out of reach. This year I opted not to allow this by avoiding looking at my watch after the last aid station. Not allowing myself the chance to slack off by never knowing how close I was to my goal time. I finally had a strong push throughout the last 10k and managed to pick off a few runners in the process. Being ~20 seconds off of 4th and under two minutes off of the podium was tough, but it is much easier to shave off those seconds in a mental re-cap than mid-event. I’m about as happy as I ever expected to be after that race; perhaps most of all because I vanquished the ghost of many races past in which local Masters/Master runner Masazumi Fujioka crushed me in the final miles, painfully instilling lessons of pacing. I’m hoping not to repeat those particular lessons ever again.

I’m feeling confident after this one, heading into next month’s Canyons 100k.

Full Results

Categories
Race Reports

2019 Bandera 100k

A new year; another shot to finally be that person you tell yourself you are if only the small issue of your repeated behaviors wouldn’t get in the way. No better chance to prove that you’re on the next level of that journey than surpassing your previous achievements and executing a great ultra marathon. It all started according to plan, I was 10-ish places back from the lead, allowing the hot heads to burn out early on so I could use them as stepping stones in the second half of the race. Cruising over a not-so-technical course with minimal (in ultra terms) climbing, I was not loving the amount of rocks underfoot, but felt ready to make it my day.

And yet here I am. Coming into the 50k mark and, not exactly dreading the second half, but knowing that it’s not going to be a battle for a podium place or pushing for a solid time, just yet another slog to the end. Finishing as its own reward. Ultra marathons certainly work over the body, but they can brutalize the mind. And at least the race finally ends and you can sit down, the brain keeps taking its beating for long after. So, that was the second half of my race. Five and a half hours of wondering if I’m just fooling myself about any real running ability, if past successes were just flukes or peaks not to be matched again, or if, even better, I actually could do it, but am just a quitter who can’t deal with a little hurt. Not like the champion of a runner (undoubtedly sent by gods delighting in torment) who passed me in the depths of this mood, rolling through the course with a prosthetic leg. So, I got to add “grossly unappreciative” to my list of character traits being dwelt upon.

But it’s a sport about not giving up and you always come away with something. Sometimes it’s as simple as “don’t eat strange pasta salad the night before a big race.” Other times, like this one, the lesson is harder to pin down. Though maybe that’s it. It’s hard. It’s always going to be hard, even on good days, especially so on bad ones. And I’m not sure that helps much at the moment. I don’t have a nice bow to tie on this one. I still think I could’ve done better, wish I had, and haven’t fully absorbed a lesson about appreciating the journey and being proud of the effort, etc. Though I do have a better-defined list of items to work on for 2019. It’s not what I was hoping for, but it’s a place to start.

Categories
Club Events Featured Member Information Misc

Kinetic Mobility Forum & Injury Prevention Seminar

Kinetic Rehab
Run fairly consistently and one of the top questions you’re sure to be asked, along with such interrogative winners as, “without stopping?” and “don’t you get tired?”, is, “What’s the hardest part about running?” Even if you have to play schedule-Tetris to fit in your daily run or you’re tough enough to survive the Barkley Marathon, I’m betting I have a good shot at being correct by guessing the true answer is “stretching” (or really anything related to warming up, cooling down, or doing anything physically beneficial). Run 50 miles? Sure! Spend 15 minutes ensuring you don’t get injured? Well…

Our excuses range from it not being that important (lame) to not really knowing what is best (slightly less lame) to just not wanting to spend the time (truth). The thing is, being able to run without injuries and without injuring yourself is a huge component of being able to run well, and at all. As a running club, SRC has a vested interest in keeping our members active, which is why we’ve teamed with Kinetic Sports Therapy in Fremont to offer free Mobility Forum and Injury Prevention Seminars to all of our members.

Kinetic offers a unique blend of Chiropractic care and Rehab Therapy. The clinic focuses on athletes of all levels, shapes and sizes and does so with cutting-edge soft tissue techniques and functional rehabilitation exercises. These seminars will cover some warm-up/cool-down techniques to ensure that you don’t injure yourself by overuse and that will actually increase your abilities as a runner. Be sure to bring any questions you have about dealing with current injuries. We had a well-attended event with Kinetic in August and hope to spread the word to more of our club members!

Mobility Forum & Injury Prevention Seminar
November 3rd, 2015
6pm
Kinetic Sports Rehab
701 N 36th St. Suite 430