The Coastal Challenge
The two weeks before the TCC, I started questioning my sanity. Due to some family issues, my training went to zero. Coach John Mendez reminded me that taper is still an important part of the training process, and that I would be ready as long as I had the Black Box wine hidden in my gear box.
Regardless, I was about to test my training endurance in a
six day race in
I started training for the Coastal Challenge race in
October, 2007 with three marathons (St. George,
STAGE #1
It was a four hour bus ride from
We got the word that the race would start promptly at
At
I always have butterflies at race start lines even when I
know that I am only running for my own satisfaction. The butterflies in my
stomach in the town of
Finally the race director yelled “GO” and off we went through the town, headed for the extinct volcano “Cerro Chato”. Most of the locals gave us the crazy gringo look and went on about their Sunday morning rituals. The course for Stage #1 was described as a steep climb to “Cerro Chato”, fast downhill to the base of the active volcano, a short run along the lake into Ranch Margot. Kari left me behind before we reached the edge of town. After about a mile, the pavement ended and we headed up to the volcano. The course was supposed to be marked with “orange tape” at critical turns. Apparently, one of the left turns was not deemed critical, so after about a ½ mile run along the mountain road, the group of five that I was running with turned around at the closed fence and we make a break for the left turn that we saw down the mountain. That decision helped the next group of four that was standing at the turn debating which way to go. Unfortunately it did not help the group of four that was in front of us that continued through the fence and ended up back at the start line.
Steep uphill is an understatement. A mountain goat would have some trouble with this trail. The view at the top was worth the effort as we peered into the crater of the volcano now filled with an aqua marine color water. The fast downhill section was dependent on how much courage you had. I made it to PC #2 which was the observatory for the active volcano. At this point, I took a break, had a snack, cleaned my shoes, feet, and legs from the mud encountered along the trail. While resting, I heard rumbling sounds like thunderstorm was close by. It turned out to be the volcano erupting. Unfortunately the top of the volcano was obscured by clouds. At the last PC, there was a sign indicating that Rancho Margot was only 7 kilometers down the road. Race lesson #2 for this race is that distances are dependent on who and how it was measured. That was the longest seven kilometers that I have ever ran. I ended up stopping about a mile from the stage #1 finish line and took a break, eat a snack, and mixed up some Gatorade in my camelbak. I must have worried one of the volunteers at the top of the hill, because he came down to check on me.
I finished my snack, ran down the hill and finished Stage #1, which was listed as 26 kilometers, in 5 hours and 49 minutes. However, my day had not ended with crossing the finish line. I had to drag out my tent out of my gear box, set up the tent, the cots, drag my daughter’s gear box over to the tent, and finally get in line for the single shower. I decided that the river would provide the same results as the single “cold” water shower. Apparently a number of other runners made the same choice as we lounged on smooth river rocks drinking Gatorade.
Rancho Margot was a self sustained – organic ranch. It had a
river flowing through the middle of the facilities, which they built a series
of cascading waterfall/ swimming pools into the river. The meals for the
runners were provided in the package. The menu was typical
During the evening dinner, the race director gave a short
run down for the Stage #2 with some “new” rules. Race lesson #3 is race rules
are subject to change without notice and can even happen during the race while
everyone is running. The new rule was a cut-off time, applied to Stage #2. The
runners would have to get to PC #4 within 7 hours after the start. PC #4 was at
kilometer 47, which in a semi-normal marathon distance race is a really easy
pace to accomplish. This was not your
normal marathon distance. The race would start promptly at
Christie arrived late to camp with stories of her adventure
tour. She hiked to the
La Fortuna waterfall and took a dip in
the river there. She went to some
STAGE #2; Rancho Margot to Tierras
Morenas; 59.4 kilometers
During the evening dinner, Kari asked if we could run
together. I told I would love to have her company and it turned out that we
would run the five remaining stages together. Remember Rule #1 and #3, time is
relative and rule changes. The
I studied my
Kari and came up with a race plan very early which we
followed through out the next five stages. Walk the up-hills, run the
down-hills, run to shade on the flats, and finally walk through the shade on
the flats. Although we made some good time, when we arrived at PC #1, we
realized that we would have to work pretty hard to make the cut-off time at PC
#4. At this moment, we decided that we would enjoy the race for what it
provided. That is an opportunity to see parts of
The climb to going to PC#2 was tough, and then we were on a ranch road with dirt and grass. We were grateful for the softer surface, however I started to cramp-up like I was not drinking enough electrolyte during that section of the route. It turned out that road had “grabbing grass”. The grass would grab my feet and pull just hard enough to make my legs tighten up. The grass grabbed Kari’s legs once long enough for her to fall. At least it was a soft fall. The views along the ranch road were spectacular, I was happy to reach PC #2.
At PC #2, the wind was blowing at least 40 mph. My C.R. map indicated that the altitude was around 3000 feet. Because of the wind and the attitude, the volunteers were bundled up in parkas to stay warm. We took pictures with the volunteers, which seem to make their day. I guess we were the first runners to ask them to be in the photos. The next PC, was located at the windmills, was the cut-off PC and it could be seen from the top of our mountain. We had officially missed the cut-off time while we were taking pictures with the volunteers on top of the mountain.
At the bottom of the mountain, I suggest to Kari that we should try to dip our feet the lake. After spending 5 minutes trying to find a way to the lake from the road, we decided it just wasn’t to be and so we trekked back to the road to find Jane coming around the curve with bloody hands and knees. I carried just about everything except the bathroom sink in my camelback, so we cleaned up Jane’s wounds, bandaged her, and walked a while to make sure she was OK. That short walk struck pay dirt as we rounded the corner and we found a “sloth” hanging in a tree along the road.
Some photos of the sloth, plus a lesson on the eating and “pooping” habits of the sloth, and then we were off to town. In town, we had a coke, ice, bathrooms, and talked to the locals about our race. Jane caught up to us while we were hanging out and so we did all again at another store. Since we knew that we were not going to make the cut-off time, we wanted to get the full experience of the town and the locals. A couple of kilometers out of town and there was a great look-out, where we took some more photos.
PC#3 was about twenty minutes further down the road. As we arrived the bus was taking runners to the camp. They would not wait for us. Two hours later, the bus came back to pick us up and the last of the “back of the pack” runners. Total distance for the day was 43.6 kilometers.
Remember the wind at PC #3?? Our camp for the night was in
the small town of
STAGE
#3; Tierras Morenas to
We got to sleep in, well sort of. The race start was
scheduled for
There were electric generator windmills in this area which are HUGE, ten foot in diameter at the base of the structures. The sound that they make is a low whirling noise.
The road we were running was NOT near as steep as the day #2
and in reality was probably just what we needed to work out the quads and
hamstrings stains from yesterday. The views were spectacular with a rainbow
against the mountain side. We ran with “click-click” from
We had a small section of paved near the end of the route
and ended up in a soceer field in the small town of
The Logistics director calls for the tour to the Rio Celeste waterfalls, so there is no reason to change in to clean clothes, so I bring the clean clothes with me.
The bus ride is described as a twenty minute ride. Time and
distance is relative in
That evening at the meal, we got our first shout-out
messages from home. It was fun to share the messages with each other. Tomorrow
would be a long run day. The race director explained the cut-off times, which
would be two different distances and times. The first cut-off time would be at
STAGE #4;
My alarm on my running watch goes off at
Race start is delayed because there is not enough light to negotiate the fire road this morning. Finally off we go, and 100 feet later and the road turns up hill, which immediately starts a walk break. We don’t call it walking anymore, it is hiking.
The race maps shows a drawing of a runners sweating going up a serious hill. It turns out the first hill was not the only hill for the day. The drawing was a fore shadow of the entire day. The first hill was a warm up of things to come.
There was a lot of low clouds at the start and so we never really saw the top of the first hill until we got there. It seemed forever and it was steep enough that even Stephanie pushed her bike most of the way. At the top of the hill was a spectacular view a valley. The colors show up as desert tones. It turned out that Kari and I are pretty good running downhill, we passed a lot of runners racing down to the valley. Latter, most of the runners we passed would pass us. The first check point was in a little town, and the great part was it was next to small store. A coke,Gatorade, and a bathroom break, and then we were off down the road. Running to the next check point, we were running parallel to the volcanic ridge. At on point we passed a geo-thermal well, which was venting a lot of steam. The smell of rotten eggs was prevalent in the air from the venting steam. Along the road that we ran, there were insulated pipes moved the geo-thermal energy to some power plant that we never saw..
For the most part, we were running on a hard pack gravel /dirt road. The volcanos, mostly in-active, were to our right. We would run for long periods of time without saying a word. Then we would talk endlessly about everything and nothing, but mostly about our children. This was going to be a long hot day, so we looked after each other, making sure that electrolyes and energy gels were taken at regular intervals.
The next check point that we arrived at was the first
cut-off check point. Our time was well within the cut-off time. We were feeling
pretty good and decided that we would continue after eating some fruit.
The next section was hard pack dirt/gravel road with rolling hills and very little shade. The volcanos were still to our right, and day was getting warmer. It was during this section that I finally fell. What a sobering experience. We were running pretty steady, and when it happened, it was quick. Nothing broken, cut, but a little ego bruised. A walk break, and a snack and then a photo next to small stream and we were on the road again. We were coming in the “canyon section” which although there was more shade, there little to not breeze. We had a little group with us during the canyon and at one point a local in a pick-up truck stopped and asked where we headed. I told where and he explained that we were headed the wrong direction, and he would be glad to give us a ride in the back of the pick-up truck. In my best Spanish, I told him thanks, and explained that we were taking the long way. You should have seen the look.
The last check point finally come up on us and although we were happy that we made the cut-off time, I was extremely disappointed that there was no food to eat. The water and the Gatorade drink were warm. I eat some of the watermelon rinds to satisfy the hunger pains. The next section was the best. It started off the road down to a fence line. Following the fence line, we made a steep climb to the top of wooded ridge. At this point, you could hear and feel the coolness of river near-by. Down the ridge and around a large rock mound and we were looking at a pool of water and a couple of volunteers lounging in the river. We took a couple of pictures, wrapped the cameras in Ziploc baggies and went for our first swim. The water was absolutely fantastic.
A little rappling after the swim, and some scrambling over rocks and under trees as we followed the river up stream. At a couple of locations, the volunteers would show up and give us some advise on crossings. At one crossing where you needed to hold on to rope, the swift current kicked Kari feet out from under her, and as it was the case on the second day, it was smart for us to work together as a team, to help each other. The end of the river trek was at a waterfall. Christie and her adventure teammates were there at the waterfall rappling off a 40 foot cliff into the waterfall. She seem really happy. The waterfall was really pleasant, and Gary whom we last saw at the first cut-off check point was very relaxed lounging at the waterfall as well. Unfortunately, we still had 10 kilometers to go and that included the stairs to get out of this river canyon.
Camp this night was at a ranch. The owner of the ranch
happened to be the father of the race logistics director. They had built rock
wall showers and toilet facilities. Lots of trees to stretch
out hammocks. The last box of wine was broke out this night. Although
our little middle of the pack group decided to eat next to the tents, I elected
to sit at the dinning table with my wine. I broke out a “real wine glass” and
sat at the table next to the “Abbs family”.
For Kari and I, it turned out to be an 11 hour day. I went to bed early and slept really good that evening. Christie stay up pretty late with her “tico” friends, finishing off the box of wine and a bottle of wine that she bought during her daily adventure. She seems a bit disappointed that we are not spending much time together, but each of us are doing different activities during the day and timing in the evenings are not the best. She is having fun with the ticos and it will be an experience that she will never forget. I know I will never forget this trip.
Pancakes!! Rice and beans for breakfast for four days in a row was getting a little old. Pancakes for breakfast, could it be we were transported into a different camp overnight?? What an incredible treat. We need it for the day ahead. The buses were at our campsite before the cooks even started the breakfast. Would that mean that we would leave on time, yes if you mean “tico time”.
The bus to the race start brought down out of the volcano
ridge to the flat, hot, sunny
When you have a race plan and it worked for four days, why change it? Usually because you are not thinking. This morning, I thought timed run/walk intervals was the way to run. That did not last very long and all it did was screw up what Kari did for three days. Besides making a poor decision on changing the running plan, I also made a poor decision to wear my street running shoes. The packed dirt road had lots of rocks. Rocks that you felt all the way through the sole of the shoes, many times, lots of times.
The course turned out to be a 10k loop with a 5-8k straight
section and then an 18K loop. I thought I was back in
We came back to town and headed north into more dry landscape. As we started up the steepest hill we encountered, you could feel the ocean breeze. At the top of the hill was a spectacular view of a bay. One of the race volunteers was coming up the road at that moment and took some pictures for us…
At the bottom of the hill was the 15K check point. The word from the volunteer working at the aid station was there was another 18k of the same road, same landscape, same heat, same ROCKS. Or take a 5 minute walk down the side road to our campsite for the night. Hey, we were officially in the Adventure Category because of not making the cut-off on Stage #2, so why not enjoy the beach.
What a great choice. Kari and I were able to pick out a primo campsite, get the tents set up. No wait line for the showers. There was real food and cokes for lunch. I suspect the real food was available everyday, but when you are the middle-back of the pack, you tend to miss most of the post race goodies to the “elite” runners.
Kari and I set up some shade under a tree along the beach, relaxed in the sand, and swam in the ocean. Our choice for relaxing was a great choice for watching the runners come in for the finish line. As each ran by, we yelled and cheer them along.
This was day that I met the “foot doctor”. Kari and I did
not have foot problems as compared to Gary (
A call for donations to purchase beer and more cokes resulted in a great time for the evening meal. Everyone was feeling pretty good this final evening on the trail.
Stage #6
Pancakes again! We must be living right, or they figured we need the carb’s to soak up the beer from the night before.
This was turtle hatching morning. There was a sea turtles hatching ten feet from our campsite. It was amazing to watch them struggle down the beach to the water’s edge. Because of our presence, the turtle survived the beach section because the birds could not get to them with all of us standing around watching and taking pictures. What is amazing is the effort for this creature to dig themselves up out of the sand, crossing the beach and then ten minutes after birth they were swimming in the ocean. I trained for 4 months to run 250 kiometers in the hills, valleys, and coastline of Costa Rico and these baby turtles were doing the equilvant of my race in the first ten minutes of their live.
Due to the course route, the start got pushed back a couple of hours. Which provided for some great photo opportunities. Everyone was in a great mood. The start of the final leg of the race headed down the beach into the rolling hills. At different stages of the race, the volunteers were permitted to join the runners. We ran with a couple of the volunteers this morning. The volunteers were great for this race.