Western States 2010: H - 12 news

This has been an interesting couple of days up here in Squaw Valley and Tahoe City: overcast, chilly temperatures, and even rain, quite an unusual setting at least for me for the end of June in Northern California. With that, who is still going to believe in global warming and that we have to act so urgently to protect our Blue Planet...

Just a short post to give you some news before tomorrow's race. Actually, I need to get prepared so I mostly invite you to look at my Picasa photo album which covers a few pre-race events:

1. The Flag Raising
2. The runner check-in on Friday morning
3. The race briefing (pre-run meeting) of Friday afternoon

Flag Raising

Not quite at Emigrant Pass because of the snow up there. Yes, there is quite some snow and the organizers have declared the run as a Snow Year, although it's nothing compared to 1995 or 1998 from what a few veterans were saying. For instance, in 1998, the top of the Watson Monument was 6 feet under snow while there is barely 2 feet at the bottom of the monument this year. But enough snow for us to switch to the snow year route, going down to French Meadows before Lyon Ridge. I don't know the route but it is said as being much faster and, with the amazingly competitive field toeing up the start line this year, it's likely that Scott Jurek's course record will fall, and maybe the 15-hour mark too.

Anyway, it was great to get back in the Western States Endurance Run mood, spirit and history with this official ceremony whose main goal is to pay tribute to the ones close to the race who left us during the year. Starfire, a horse who spent his 25-year life on the trail and has been the first non-human to get the Friend of the Trail award for all his work carrying equipment for trail maintenance. Among others we also remembered Dan Moores, the founder of the Auburn Running Company, who died the day before the run last year. In my 2009 race report, I told you how much Dan helped me digging deeper and it is certain that he will be with all of us again this year, on a trail he loved so much.

I'd like to take the opportunity to dedicate my race again to Tom Kaisersatt who is battling cancer with the same energy he put into running marathons and ultras for many years and inspiring hundreds of runners in the Bay Area to run a marathon or more. Tom will be at Last Chance again this year, preparing grilled cheese sandwiches! I can't wait to get through Last Chance, the station managed by my fellow Striders, and get the thrill which has allowed me to make it through Devil Thumb twice already.

Runner Check-in

I was the first in line around 7:45 this morning after driving up from Tahoe City. It is so great to see so many known faces both on the volunteers and runners side. Around 8:30, I saw Killian Jornet coming back from a run on the course and I asked Simon, his Salomon teammate, to introduce me.

While we were chatting and I was letting Kilian I put my bets on him, the check-in opened and Simon and I caught-up with the line which was actually not too bad and going through really smoothly though the various steps (waiver, picking great goodies, leaving emergency contacts and finishing up with the medical check.

Pre-run Meeting

With the meeting of the canceled 2008 run, that was my 4th meeting and I must say the most unusual setting. The past three years, everybody was competing for the shade but, today, the whole Olympic Plaza was filled. It seemed like we were three times as many as usual!

The protocol of the meeting was not changed and a nice way to pay tribute to our spouses, our crew members, the more than 1,500 volunteers, all the ones who gave hundreds of hours to maintain the trail. At the head of this huge human adventure, on behalf of the Board of Trustees led by Tim Twietmeyer, Greg Soderlund has been directing the race for the past 10 years, after taking over Norm Klein. To commemorate this occasion, Tim gave Greg his first silver 1,000-mile Race Director belt buckle!

The meeting ended up with the presentation by (Tropical) John Medinger of the amazing top runners who cam this year. Overall we, the lucky ones making it to the start line tomorrow, come from 20 foreign countries and 40 US States (plus Texas! ;-).

Tomorrow should be an amazing race to watch online in case you were not able to join the Big Dance live, this weekend. It is really hard to make a prognosis. I really believe Killian can hammer this course if only he stay with some experience runners up front. My second favorite is Tony Krupicka. But, overall, there are more than 10 runners who can go for a win this year. Many stars who have never lost, who have set numerous course records. In particular, it should be amazing to see the elite runners arrive at Rucky Chucky to jump on the boat since we are taking the boat to cross the river this year. You can follow the race on the Western States Endurance Run webcast. After wearing the bib 99 in 2007, 44 and 45 in 2008 and 2009, I will be #46 this year.

With that, again, see my Picasa photo album to get more of the pre-race ambiance! And, to all, happy dreams before our early start tomorrow.

Western States training: alea jacta est!

The die has been cast, training is over for the Big Dance of next week! So long for the heat training, barely sweat this year despite a few runs with three black layers of long sleeves on, more than what I use for my winter runs... And no training at all in the snow, which we should have several miles of in the first 20 miles according to the latest news posted on the Western States website in the June 11 update:

Lots of talk about the snow:

Over the last month we've been asked numerous times about the possibility of course changes due to the late snow melt in the Sierras. We have a plan "B" if snow conditions dictate a route change. This decision will be made on Sunday, Jun 20th, after a report from the aid station captains whose aid stations are most impeded by snow drifts. If the Lyon Ridge and Red Star aid stations are accessible, we'll use the standard course published in the WS program and Participant Guide.
If either of these aid station locations is inaccessible, the course will be changed as follows:

After exiting Granite Chief Wilderness Area, the normal route descends a gravel road and T's into Road 96 at approximately mile nine. Rather than turning right and following Road 96 to Lyon Ridge for 1.5 miles, the snow course will turn LEFT onto Road 96 and descend on this road to French Meadows. This is a dirt and gravel road that descends gradually for ten miles before becoming pavement when reaching the French Meadows camp area.
On reaching the camp area, the snow route will turn off the pavement and join the Poppy Trail, following the north shore of French Meadows, and then climbing northwest behind the dam tender's house and rejoining the standard course at the Duncan Canyon aid station.
The mileage is identical on both courses. Rather than having aid stations at Lyon Ridge (mile 10.5) and Red Star Ridge (mile 16), there will be aid stations at Talbot Creek (~ mile 13) and French Meadows (~mile 19).
There will be no other changes to the course and no changes to crew access. Duncan Canyon will remain the only crew accessible aid station before Robinson Flat.

A course decision will be posted on the WS website on Sunday evening, June 20th. The plan "B" course map can be found here.

Oh well, I feel already so lucky to have the opportunity to toe the start line for the 3rd time, I will be happy with any conditions we get. I usually do better in the heat, so I'm mentally prepared. If it's cool, then it will be easier for everybody and that's great too. As far as the snow, this will provide a good excuse for starting slower, although I've heard that it is really taxing and tiring to run in the snow, if not dangerous for the ankles. But better having a snow year than wildfires as in 2008!

After my 57-mile day "to" the beach two weeks ago, I ran 97 miles the following week for some decent mileage. Then, last weekend, I did a 3-peat tour of Rancho, starting twice with the hilly PG&E and once via Rogue (the Rancho San Antonio insiders will understand). At last the thermometer reached 88F and my two layers made up for a few more degrees to make me feel like in some familiar canyons. I covered the 28 miles and 5,000 feet of vertical in 4 hours and 55 minutes, some good time on my feet. The day before, I had done a reasonable fast round trip to the top of Black Mountain from my house in 3:09 (23 miles and 3,300 vertical feet).

I did my last run with two colleagues from IBM at Rancho this past Friday.

Completely missing the heat training again with temperatures in the low 70s, but it was an opportunity to get Max back on the trail for the 9.3-mile loop before he paces me from Foresthill down to the river next Saturday.

Alea jacta est for the training, I now need to work on the drop bags and the luggage for our trip to Tahoe. It's actually not completely over. I'm doing a carbless diet for a few days to renew the carbs in my blood/muscles (the Nordic or dissociated diet) and still some core and strength training. And Pierre-Yves and I should join other Striders on Tuesday night for a short run to test our lights and pacing strategy.

With this year's training, I'm ready to say "Veni, Vedi" as we prepare to get up to Squaw Valley in the middle of the week, but not "Veci" yet. No pressure, let's wait for next Sunday and see...