Race Report: 2015 Chimera 100 - True Grit

Disclaimer: This one will be longer (as if they already aren't long enough).

I often get asked the giant and ambiguous question "What is it like to run 100 miles?"
This is an impossible question to answer. There are just too many ways and variations to answer that question. The best I can come up with is this : Running an ultra is very similar to preparing for a fight. Now a fight with whom or what is dependent on each person. It could be a fight to win against the competition, a fight with oneself, or a fight with the figurative course itself. You prepare months in advance and the outcomes are very decisive just like fighting...you either win or you lose....no gray area.
Just a little prelude to my introduction to "the beast". This was the end of a pretty exhausting season. This would be my 3rd 100 for the year. The most mileage I got in a week was about 90 miles...less than ideal in my mind. I then proceeded to catch a nasty stomach/intestinal flu along with a cold the week before the race. I think I ran 9 miles that entire week. I looked at the positive side and said that all my nagging injuries would heal up and I would do a little reverse taper. Easy peezy! That being said, these mountains were my backyard...what harm could they do?
The course is aptly named "Chimera" for a few reasons. According to Greek mythos the Chimera is a three headed creature composed of a lion, goat, and snake.  Each creature is chronologically oriented on the animal itself ie: The lion's head is first, the goat's second, and the snake's is third. The course itself is composed of three loops through the Saddleback Mountains in Southern California that circle back to Camp Bluejay. The course boasts about 23k of vertical gain and is surprisingly pretty technical.
Lets get started shall we?

San Juan Trail Mile 11ish  Photo: Ulysses Chan

Once again my lovely girlfriend Andrea Quant took the time out of her busy schedule to crew me. I knew a lot of people that I have raced and run with that were doing this race. So we chatted a little bit in the morning and then Steve Harvey (the RD) sent us off!
The strategy for this race was to go out relatively reserved, but since I knew the course really well (or so I thought so). I bombed down San Juan trail for 12 miles easily, just letting gravity do the work. I ran this section with my friend and 3rd place finisher Jerry and eventual winner Mark. Jerry and I chatted and caught up on the happenings of the local running scene in SoCal, whereas Mark just silently ran with us.

Jerry,Mark, and I starting the notorious San Juan switchbacks Photo: Ulysses Chan

For this race I decided to switch it up with my vest and nutrition selection. I used a Salomon vest with Carbopro Hydra C5. Well I can honestly say that was a terrible decision on the nutrition side. When we arrived at the first aid station the Carbopro powder literally causes the mix to be about 60% foam. I had experimented with this in training, but I had no idea it would get this bad. So at the first aid station I realized I had a BIG problem right at the beginning. I resigned to just gels and water until later in the race where they had Tailwind Nutrition (which I never should have strayed from!). Well after going down San Juan trail in the beautiful morning on fast semi-technical single-track, we had to climb up. The climb was not bad at all and I mixed up some power hiking with some jogging while making my way back to Bluejay round 1. When I made it there I was surprised to see my Dad, Stepmom, and Andrea already there.

Not a better way to start the morning then bombing down San Juan trail! Photo: Ulysses Chan

I will make a little detour for a second...let me ask you (the reader something)...who is a bigger hero: Alfred or Batman? Now I know I'm just finding an excuse to compare myself to my favorite hero, but I really feel Alfred is responsible for almost all the success Batman experiences in crimefighting. He stitches him up, nurses him to health, provides valuable advice, and covers for him. Without Alfred Batman probably would die. I felt like Andrea and I were a well oiled machine just like Alfred and Batman. She knows how I am feeling and what I need to do without me saying a word. I took some pictures with everyone and Andrea sent me back out into the wilderness.

 Chiquita loop (Candystore) Photo: Ulysses Chan

Now that I had conquered the first loop (the lion), it was now time for the goat! This part caught me off guard. Basically it was a loop down to the Los Pinos' Candystore and back to Bluejay. I had ran this numerous times before and felt it wouldn't be that bad. At this point we were about at 28ish miles. It started getting pretty hot and it was super dry. I started guzzling down a lot of water. I also started getting a headache at this point. I started getting worried about hyponatremia, as I had no salt pills. The trail was in worse condition than I had remembered. It was a straight up punishing mixture made up of rockgardens and slippery sandstone with a nice little valley section underneath the canopy of oaks. All this did not really bother me as much as the dryness. Once I got to the aid station I got passed and I was now in 4th. I ate some oranges, drank some Coke, and took some salt pills. I proceeded going back up to Bluejay knowing this climb would be rough. Sure enough it was. My good friend and amazing runner Matt Kafka, who was running the race, said hi to me and we both lamented that we wanted nightfall to come as quickly as possible.
I managed to crawl back up to Bluejay while getting passed again. Now I was in 5th place...no worries...we still had about 60+ miles to go.

Feelin' it coming out of the Candystore loop Photo: Ulysses Chan

I came into Bluejay part 2 (mile 46) feeling worse for wear. I knew I looked depleted. I felt depleted, probably accelerated by the flu that ravaged me the week before. I felt thinner and weaker. Luckily at this point the weather started getting colder. Andrea and my parents were there again. I could tell I looked and felt a little crappy and I think they picked up on it. Andrea still brought my spirits up with her energy. Honestly the aid stations were such a blur. I didn't feel like typical self...I felt weird. Kinda like this mentality " I know I'm not gonna quit....but this is gonna hurt like shit when all is said and done!"

Changing layers with the crew, getting ready for the night!

Next up was the dreaded Trabuco climb. A little blip on the elevation profile, but I knew full well that Trabuco is steep and very annoying. I proceeded to just power hike up it, knowing a long  nice technical downhill awaited me. I got to the Trabuco aid station where there was lovely bunch of warmhearted volunteers there. They were awesome! They said " we'll see you at mile 98!" That made me feel pretty good. I proceeded to just hammer down Trabuco trail. I love going down this trail (except at night...Matt). The trail is fast, technical, scenic, cold, and uncontrollable. You just gotta go for it.
Now this is where the race started to derail for me. I came in to the Holy Jim parking lot and saw no person or arrow pointing to the aid station. I did see an arrow pointing to go up to Holy Jim so I thought they might have hiked an aid station up near the trailhead. Well I ran about 2 miles before seeing no aid station. So I doubled  back (you gotta check in) to the parking lot where I saw a volunteer pointing to the aid station down the road. I saw that the arrow pointing to the aid station was wiped away by all the offroad traffic going through there as well. Just a bad circumstance. When I came to the aid station the legendary Nikki Kimball was leaving. Not gonna lie...I was pissed, not at Nikki...just at the circumstance. We both got to know each other while we climbed up Holy Jim. Holy Jim is a massive climb, but not tiring. Nikki told me not to let the whole aid station get to me. After a while I let it go. I got passed at Bear Springs by a Portlander named Travis. We proceeded to climb as a group up to the Bear Springs Aid station. At this point I started feeling it a little bit.
I fell back a little bit to keep my sanity as Nikki and Travis were putting in some good work. At the top of Santiago peak this is what probably cost me a sub 24 finish. There were no directions...no signs...nothing.
I knew the elevation profile by heart which I remember seeing that we had to go to Maple Springs...but there was some weird out and back with Modjeska peak. Now with 65 ish miles on your legs while not feeling good....in the wind...on top of a mountain....with no one around. It got extremely confusing. I looked around for a little and proceeded down Maple Springs but I heard voices on top of Santiago as well as lights and horns going off. On top of this I didn't see Travis or Nikki's headlamps. So I got about a half mile down Maple Springs and decided to turn back. To go back up Santiago peak. I get there and see a truck and ask them where the other runners went and why they were flashing lights and horns at me. Turns out they were immature teenagers being teenagers smoking pot up there. Well....shit....I'm lost. I started panicking because it was getting damned cold and no one was coming. I also didn't see any signs and was getting really pissed. Luckily after about an HOUR! Two runners Joel and Shannon made it up. I asked them for help,but guess what...they had no idea either. We went around the peak looking for anything and we make a group decision to just say fuck it....we're going down Maple Springs. Eventually we saw 2nd place and he said we were going the right way.
We got to the Modjeska aid station and did two brutal out and backs then went back up Maple Springs back down to Bear Springs. I saw Jerry heading out and he mentioned he got lost too! Joel and Shannon were great uphill climbers, but downhill was my bread and butter. I knew I had to bomb down Indian Truck Trail (ITT) as fast as possible to gain as much ground as possible as I knew they would climb it better than I. Going down and up ITT you can see who is where in the race. The people ahead of me were gone. There was just no way I was gonna catch them.
Around this time I started getting hallucinations and by the time I turned around at the ITT aid station (which I thought was a boat) and started climbing the massive ITT they would happen until the end of the race. Climbing ITT was something I dreaded, but it went by faster than going down it. I planned on getting passed going up, but I held out longer than expected. Shannon and Joel caught me near the top and they looked like they weren't slowing down. I was content to stay in 9th given the circumstances. My achilles hurt like hell, my ankle was on fire, I was seeing snakes....giant construction cranes...and people pointing real estate looking signs...suffice to say I was definitely feeling it. At this point I consoled myself in the fact that I was not going to make sub 24 hours.
After getting back to the ITT aid station we were off onto Horsethief trail. Horsethief trail was more technical and steep than advertised and it up and down...up and down....ad infitum. I started seeing a light behind me and started getting worried...once again last chance heroics. As mentioned in previous blogs I hate racing the last 5 miles.
The sun started coming up at this point and I turned my headlamp off. The weird thing about this was that I still saw a halo from the light. I figured out later that this is just a temporary retinal issue from running so long in the dark with a bright light on. I had never experienced this, but whatever...we're running 100 miles....shit goes wrong..it's expected.
I got to mile 98 at the Trabuco aid station and didn't even recognize the volunteers from earlier. I was so surprised and happy. I thanked them for all their work and took off down Trabuco and back to Bluejay for the last time. While hammrering the downhill my emotions got a hold of me. I started tearing up uncontrollably...I didn't know if it was the pain, the cold, relief,endocrine system out of whack, seeing loved ones...I don't know.  I got back to the finish line seeing my Mom and Andrea, thankful that the grueling race was over. I had finished for 9th place, 1st in my age group, official time 24:47.
While it did not go according to my plan, I was extremely satisfied with my performance. It was true grit and perseverance that got me through. I contemplated with quitting at mile 24...I just didn't feel it. I wanted to go home and have a nice dinner with Andrea. I knew I wouldn't do it, but it was very tempting. To Andrea's credit, she basically told me "Hey you and I both know you won't quit, so just quit bitching and get it done!".

El Finito!!!!!

Earlier I mentioned that these ultramarathons remind me of fights. Similar to a fight, anyone can win on any given day. Now, the definition of winning changes from person to person. While my result I am certainly happy with, I straight up lost to the "beast" or Chimera if you may. I don't think you can "tame the beast", everybody that finished this race felt like they just got torn apart. I learned a lot in this race. Looking back I am surprised I did as well as I did given the flu, the carbopro fizzing, the dryness, etc... I do think I really underestimated the course due to my familiarity of it, it just goes to show that on any given day anything can happen. Like Tyson said "Everyone has got a game plan until they get punched." . I learned that motto firsthand in this race at mile 12!
Special thanks to Steve Harvey, Annie, and family for putting on a stellar race. Extra thanks to the  fantastic aid station volunteers and drivers. You guys were utterly amazing. Thanks to Ulysses Chan for the great photos.Thanks to the OC Trailies and their support (in particular Joe Ochaba for his advice on this race). Thanks to Jenn for your extra gels ( You'll get the beast next year!). Thanks to my Mom, Stepmom, and Dad. You guys helped so much with helping out with the nutrition and rides all over the place. Thanks to Barbara for driving Andrea and I to the start of the race.
Lastly thanks to my beloved girlfriend Andrea Quant. I couldn't imagine doing these races without you. Your love and advice proved invaluable and the thought of you kept me going during the darkest moments of that race.
Well that's the end of a busy season....a nice half a year off is welcomed! See y'all next year! If you have any questions about racing let me know. I would be more than happy to answer them!

One busy year! 

Gear
Shoes: Altra LP 2.5
Socks: Smartwool Phd
Vest: Salomon S-Lab Ultra Sense 5 w/ UD bottles
Headband : Buff Darth Vader
Nutrition: Carbopro (ugh) , various gels, Tailwind
Shorts: Brooks
Jacket: Salomon Bonnetti
Shirts: Salomon and Smartwool longsleeve for night.
Headlamps: Petzl Tikka and Tikka+
Watch: Suunto Ambit 2S

Race Schedule for 2016
June : Western States 100 (Lottery dependent)
July: Hardrock 100 (Lottery dependent)
August: Angeles Crest 100
September: Tahoe 200