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| Photo #33: Consuming yet another can of High Protein Vanilla Boost at Cavitt School Aid Station.. I would drink 12 cans throughout the race. I mostly subsisted on Clip2 and Boost during the race... occassionally I had melon , fig newtons, soup and pb&j sandwich bites at the aid stations. I did not have any problems with upset stomach. |
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| Photo # 35: I crossed the finish line at 27:46:25 . Clocktime was 9:46am on Sunday. Norm told me "good job" . Sophie quickly took a photo of Doug and me, and then Sophie and Doug departed to start the long drive back to Los Angeles. (54 runners started and 25 finished. All results: http://www.run100s.com/results/rdl02.txt ) A nurse volunteer named Michelle weighed me, asked me questions about how I was feeling. I sat down for the first time since the race had started... Quickly I became chilled and I was wrapped with a blanket. In the 2 hours between my finish and the start of the Thanksgiving lunch/Awards Ceremony I spent most of the time on a gymnastics mat in the school gym.. Michelle was a wonderful help , especially when it came time to removing the shoes and viewing the damage: 8 blisters on the right foot and 7 on the left. Dr. Bob Lind lanced 4 of the worst blisters and then put a dressing on the foot. Winie brought me water several times . |
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| Hazel Bridge |
| Entering Cavitt School Aid Station was a major milestone for me... Going into the race, my goal was to return to the school at about 67-68 mile mark with (1) my feet in good shape , (2) well-hydrated,. (3) well nurished, and (4) electrolytes in check. I felt that if I could meet those four goals , then I would be able to trudge through the last 32 miles no matter how bad it might get. I returned to Cavitt School in good shape on all 4 counts! I was in third place among the women. I still was feeling pretty good. My longest run going into this race had been Big Horn 52 miler, and I sort of expected the fatigue to start setting in around 60 miles, but it had not yet. I drank two Boost drinks. I was really surprised when a volunteer asked to help me and I look up and realize it's Ann Trason . She was very nice and helpful. She brought me some ramen noodle soup . I picked up a long sleeve coolmax shirt from my dropbad and tied it around my waist for use later on in the night. Then Doug and I left . A few minutes outside of the aidstation Doug asked me if I saw all the people on stretchers with IVs, and I had not seen a single one of them! I casually remarked to Doug that these last 32 miles could take longer to do than Baldy Peaks 50km took me .... little did I realize the truth in that statement! |
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| Photo 34 # : No more photos were taken in the night section or in the early morning before arriving to the finish line. The aerial photo below was taken on my return flight to Houston two days after the race. I've marked in red the section of the race that I did in the night time and early on Sunday morning. The "CS" stands for Cavitt School in Granite Bay. From Cavit School we headed towards Hazel Ave bridge following Lake Natoma, we crossed the river on the bridge and then ran up the other side of Lake Natoma to the turn-around point in Historic Folsom called "Mountain Lion Knoll". Then we retraced our footsteps back to Cavitt School for the finish. The first 68 mile of the course had headed up to Auburn and Cool (as shown in the aerial view). |
| I held up really well until about 75-80 miles. By 1am-2am, the temperature had really cooled off, and I was no longer sweating out the fluid . My weight had stayed steady throughout the race so far , I had been very disciplined about taking Succeed Electrolyte Caps. But when I stopped sweating , I started retaining fluid. This in turn caused my feet to start swelling, and blisters started forming on my feet... I could feel the metamorphisis going on real-time in my shoes. The stretch from the turn-around point (Mtn Lion Knoll) back to Willow Creek is the 84mi -87 mi mark, and this was my slowest section. Between 4am-6am I had major challenge with drowsiness. The Mtn Lion Knoll and Willow Creek aidstations did not have coffee... but I am not sure how much coffee would have helped really. Around 88 miles, another woman passed me and I dropped to 4th. Doug was a great pacer, especially in the last 20 miles. ... making me run from telephone pole to telephone pole , threatening to disqualify me if I did not run exactly to the end of the footbridge or to the next telephone pole. He put up with my babbling during the drowsy spell, and my halucinations of people sitting on fences. He told me stories from his 100-miler races. In return, Doug received a "guided-tour" of the Folsom area. Since I use to live here, I knew the significant landmarks we would pass along the course. The RDL course went right by the leased office complex where I had worked during my first year or so at Intel , my first apartment, Rainbow Bridge, my running trails along the Bluffs, the bottom of the road I used for hill interval work on my bike, Nimbus Dam and the fish hatchery, the Folsom Dam and Prison...... But the highlight of the night section was encountering a real life beaver on a section of the trail that went right up to the edge of the water (under the new Bridge that spans Lake Natoma). Even I did not realize this type of wildlife would be featured on the tour. I noticed something moving in the shadows, and when I shined my flashlight on it we were both surprised! AS we were crossing back over Hazel Bridge the sun started coming up again, and we turned off our flashlights. Coming into Hazel Bluff overlook Aid Station at 90 mile mark , we were entertained by a beautiful view of the sunrise. I wish I had had my camera along to take a photo. It was very cold & breezy on top of the bluff. I stepped on the "walker-assisted" scales at this aidstation to find out my weight had gone up 6 pounds! My feet were in a lot of pain. Leaving this aidstation I told Doug I needed to do some attitude adjustment about my feet. I had one more trick in the back pocket: the filter game. I visualized treating the pain as noise and finding a solution space in which the pain was minimized. It worked... the pain was not gone completely but it was more manageable and I was not complaining about my feet as much. And I was still having fun ..... it was a beautiful morning. So we continued on . With about 5 miles someone was suddenly on my tail . I managed to pick the pace up somewhat. But with three miles to go, the runner was again on my tail. Doug said that he had been being too nice to me, and I needed to work now. We ran the last ~2.5 miles into the finish line at a pretty good clip. It was one big adrenaline rush. Those last few miles went by very quickly. I held onto my place. |
| Photo # 36 : My friend Ron took a photo of me receiving my finisher award and age group award from Norm and Helen Klein. I learned a great deal during this race, and am looking forward to trying another 100miler. Thanks to Norm, Helen and all the volunteers for putting on RDL. Thanks to Doug and Sophie for all of their support during the race. Thanks to Gigi for putting me in contact with Doug. And thanks also to my friend Ron who turned his house into a hospice for me during the 24 hours after the race. |
| Photo # 38 : I received a mantel clock award for being 2nd in my age group. |
| Photo # 37 : The finishers award for RDL -100 is an adorable Bear Sculpture. The adult bear is holding a salmon in its mouth. The Bear is the symbol for RDL. |
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| Photo #39 : At the end of the Awards Ceremony, Ron took a photo of Anthony Burkhart and me. I had met Anthony at American River 50 in April. The day before the race, I stopped by Auburn Dam Overlook to see where the AR50 Finish Line was located and Anthony was also there looking around the Finish line area. Anthony had done RDL in 2001 as his first 100miler, and this year he took almost 4hours off of his 2001 time! He finished 6th overall. During the race I saw Anthony during the night section..., Anthony and his pacer had returned to Hazel Bluff aidstation (90mile mark) just as Doug and I were arriving for first time (our 78 mile mark). |
| Photo #40 &41 : The beautiful artwork on the RDL sweatshirts & RDL Finish Sign by Lucinda Fisher. |
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| THE END (FINALLY !) |
| PAGE 5 OF RDL-100 PHOTOS |
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