Return to Blogging

After a long hiatus from my overly-amateur blogging, I'm feeling like there is some value in sharing my story, and not just the training and racing, but the little things along the way as well. The success that I've had at this point is almost entirely due to intelligent program design and self-experimentation, and is therefore something I can share. My hope is that anyone looking to get better at endurance events can find some gems here.

This page will also house both the Durango Development Youth Team, and the future Durango MUT Elite Program should it ever gain traction.


Thanks for reading,
G. Anthony Kunkel

Devil Mountain 50 Mile Race Report 2012

... long overdue...
The day before the race Bob met me at Alameda and Union in Lakewood as I finished off some pumpkin curry soup (see recipes page). After filling up and picking up Dan we were on our way south to Pagosa Springs. We got there late, picked up our packets, and hit up a local place for grass-fed bacon cheese burgers, mine without a bun and with veggies instead of fries. We got directions to the race start, found it easily and set up camp for the night (good race already!). I really enjoyed setting up my tent in the moonlight without a light. There's a deep spiritual thing that happens when you allow yourself to adapt to nature instead of separating yourself from it.

The morning was cold and I found myself looking around for a view to inspire me. The plan was, after all, to enjoy a fun day in the mountains and run my first fixed-distance 50 miler. But the sun had another hour and a half before it would come up and there were no mountains in sight. For the first time in my life, I woke up in a beautiful place and didn't instantly feel like running, even my caffeine loaded tea did nothing for me.

breakfast:
-half my usual tea (50mg of caffeine) with a little coconut oil but not enough since it was frozen to the inside of my mason jar
-Almond Butter Perfect Foods Bar

The race started and I went through the first 4'ish miles feeling foggy and mentally sluggish, very unusual for me. Around mile 4, the top of the first climb, there was a "T" in the trail and pink flags (marking the course) went both right and left. A few guys were already stopped, looking both ways and asking if anyone had a map. I certainly didn't, and know myself as the type of person who takes every wrong turn possible during races. But I had seen the guy in front of me go right so I started running and they followed. -As long as the people at my speed are running the same course as me I don't care if we run long or short, although I hoped, if anything, I'd add distance since I'd rather screw myself than cheat.
Once the first downhill came I started feeling ready for the day ahead of me. The trail opened up to a jeep road and the downhill was the perfect grade to blast down at sub-7:00. Thankfully I was able to pass most of the people who had passed me while I'd run the extra mile.


The low point (10.5) was around 6800 feet; the high point (15.4) was around 9800 feet

 The 3000 foot net gain from miles 10 to 15 was rolling despite what the chart looks like. Perfect for me: people where slowly passing me on the ups and I was passing them effortlessly on the brief downs. With no placement lost on the largest climb of the race, I was starting to consider how well I might be able to do here. I knew before the race started that last year's course record was doable. I wasn't wearing a watch but I knew we were going fast enough for a sub-10 (hour) finish.
I had already taken an S!Cap or two and drank about 20oz of water since the start and at the top of the first climb I started taking in some plain Generation UCAN (mixed with about 15oz of water) and took about 10oz in before the 3rd aid station where I topped off my bottle with plain water. I started taking my first gel (a Stinger Ginsting) somewhere around mile 20, taking it in slowly with plenty of time between mouthfuls. -Anything to blunt the insulin response a little.
Before I knew it I was at aid station #4/7 where I knew I had an 8 mile section without aid. I downed a cup of half water/half electrolyte drink as the volunteers filled my bottle, which still had some UCAN left in it. This was my longest aid station stop at less than 30 seconds.
The out was beautiful and sparsely marked which, together, threatened to get me lost. The course for much of it was through open, overgrown fields with a small pink marker every tenth of a mile or so. A few times I completely stopped and looked before proceeding. I was consciously allowing myself to be flooded with appreciation for what I was doing every half hour or so and I feel it really helped my performance. I thought of my family memebers and friends who would never experience what I was doing. They would never know what it feels like to be this free and to truly be a part of the natural world. -As much as any other animal on the planet, fighting for my life. I was as saddend as much as elated by this, wishing I could at least be sharing it with Sabrina or my mother.

At the turn-around you took a page out of a book to prove you were there. Can you tell the RD is a Barkley guy?..I think I'm skinny enough for Badwater...

At the turn-around I noticed I was about 5 minutes behind first place! I'm gona win! But after I turned around I saw the trail of people -experienced people- not far behind me. I had taken the last few miles too easy and it was time to start racing if I wanted a chance of keeping my top-3 placement
In total, I took in one plain UCAN and either three or four gels during the race, one Stinger and two or three strawberry Cliff gels. I also took about 150mg of caffeine total. My energy was PERFECT. After the first 4 miles I felt clear and "in the zone" for the rest of the race. By taking the UCAN in so slowly I feel like I gave my body the slow, stable carbs it needed to burn fat to fuel my steady effort for the duration of the race. And by taking in gels I had some sugar to get up the steep hills and through the overly technical sections. If every race I have from now on is this stable I'll be nationally competitive in the next year! I'll need another few races to know for sure if it's my diet or if I just had a good day, but for now I'm very content with myself.

 

 

 

Bob finish DFL (dead f'ing last) and gave me goosebumps when he crossed the finish line in the pitch about five hours after me. Real ultra running is about starting before the sun comes up knowing you won't finish until after it has set.

 I gained a ton of respect for the sport of ultra running from this race. These people truly are my family and the bonfire and camping after the race was amazing.
Great day. I ended up finishing eight minutes behind the winner, in second place. Had I not run an extra mile I would have undoubtedly won. But this race, and this entire weekend, was about much more than running fast or winning.

Brief Thoughts Going Into The Devil Mountain 50 Miler

I'm not allowing myself to think into this race too much. Beyond the plan to enjoy a good day in the mountains and run below last year's Course Record (9:51:09), and preferably run sub-9 hours, I really don't have much of a plan.
It's gona be my last real race until December, so I want an honest effort out of myself. But my right foot has been bothering me since the American Heroes Run earlier this month, so I don't want to push the injury past the breaking point and lose winter training miles. However, I have been training as usual through the pain, but at this point it's been fairly constant -a stinging feeling from the base of my big toe up my arch.
No matter what happens it's looking like it should be a great day in the mountains.

And I've already had some great miles checking out the aspens this year:

Rob Cobb, thanks for the pic -I lost my camera cable and can't get my own up

The American Heroes Run

The weather report for Saturday, September 9th looked perfect, with a high of 82. I had gone a bit harder than planned two days before the race while ascending Green Mountain in Lakewood due to the classic tapered feeling of pain feeling much better..
On race morning my phone was covered by a pillow and my quiet alarm didn't wake me up (I believe that's the third time that's ever happened to me!). Thankfully my internal clock gave me jolt an hour later. Still, since the idea is to start my races with stable blood sugar and low insulin levels, waking up late means a much smaller breakfast.

Breakfast a little over an hour before the start:
-one spoonful of almond butter
-a few raspberries
-the usual Awake Tea and virgin coconut oil
-Vespa about 10 minutes before start

The American Heroes Run course consists of a 1.05 mile loop around Rogers Grove Park in Longmont, CO. The event was great and there was a distance for anyone, from the 5k up to the Ultra -a fixed-time event where runners compete to cover the 1.05 mile loop as many times as possible in 9 hours and 11 minutes. I signed up for the Ultra, which had a course record of 49.xx miles which I fully intended to break.
Sabrina was also there racing the 9.11 miler, and to crew for me once she finished.  

smiling at the start line, loving the energy of the children at the front

At 8:46, the time the first tower was hit on 9-11, the race started. I came through the first loop in 7:48 which didn't overly concern me since my race plan was to run the entire first 50k at a decent pace then do enough to break the course record before kicking back until time ran out.


one of the early laps

The first 15+ miles where gone before I had time to think. At about the two hour mark I took in my first calories, one pack of plain Generation UCAN, and was really enjoying myself despite the fact that the loop was getting lonely as everyone in the shorter races finished. I continued hydrating with plain water and S!Caps and took a UCAN about every other hour, sometimes mixing a little Hammer mix into it for the protein and electrolytes. By the 4:30:00 mark I was finally starting to feel the miles (which I had heard was a bit under 50k still). Around then I started walking part of the gentle hill by where Sabrina had set up, allowing myself to eat pieces of Stinger waffles with some coconut oil on top. I couldn't figure out why I felt so bad: my energy felt fine, my legs weren't too bad, hydration had been perfect, yet my gut felt off and the heat, which was well above predicted, seemed to effect me more than usual. It wasn't until an hour after the race that I would learn why.



At some point about 6 hours in my lungs started really hurting. I know that I overuse my chest when running, but by the 7:30:00 mark I was forced to breath entirely with my diaphragm. My upper lungs felt like they'd been beaten with a meat tenderizer from the inside out, like they were bruised, and forcing them open made me wince and cough. Even with the pain present I looked at this as a good thing. Running longer is going to require me to fix my breathing and here was my chance.

the start/finish area that I ran past 51 times

Toward the end I was certain I would break the course record by 4-7 miles even if I completely relaxed and I was more than 3 loops ahead of the nearest competitor. So my real race ended around the 8:00:00 mark. And when I ran in what I figured would be my last lap, I saw that I had 20 minutes left -enough time to get two more loops in, but instead I called it a day. 53.55 miles; a new PR for distance covered in a day and a new course record.

In all, I took in more water than ever before, about 300 mg of caffeine, and averaged about 100 calories per hour. My energy was solid throughout and my head was never foggy. The limiting factors were truly my breathing and my desire to race well in the next month. Add that to the post-race realization that I was sick and there was a lot in the way of a perfect race for me.

To summarize the whole experience..
The good: nutrition, hydration, crew (Sabrina), pacing, ...setting a Course Record, winning money for shoes, blister and chaffing prevention/care
The bad: being sick, leaving with 20 minutes left on the clock -pussying out

I should be back next year as a UROC prep race...

I learned a ton and established my ketogenic diet as a solid performance enhancer.
      -thanks David Clark for the pictures

The Ultra Progression/ Thoughts Going Into The American Heroes Run #1

On the Highline Canal back in March, I ran 45 miles over an 8 hour period, but it was hardly a real race...

On September 8th I'll be running for 9 hours and 11 minutes at The American Heroes Run (in Longmont, CO), with the intent of running more than 55 miles and setting a new course record. This will be my first legit race of 50 miles or more and, according to plenty of ultra runners, my first "real ultra." While a 50k is technically an ultra marathon -since it is longer than the 26.2 miles of a standard marathon- it's run essentially like a trail marathon since it's only five miles longer. Running what amounts to over two marathons back to back is certainly a "real" enough.

Over the last year I've finally gotten to the point where my body can handle running hard for 30 miles through streams, hills, and less-than-optimal weather. After the last couple 50ks I've had enough agility left in my legs to look normal walking around in the days following. Presumably that means I need more distance. -If I can walk the next day I obviously didn't go far enough.

My plan is to continue racing at each distance (50k then 50M and 100k, then finally 100M and beyond) until I've almost mastered it, then move up. The idea is to get the speed first and let the endurance come. Over the next year I'd like to do at least three more 50 milers or 100ks, along with shorter races. With the exception of two fixed-time events (Boulder 12-Hour and Across the Years 24-Hour) I won't allow myself to go past 100k.

I don't expect too much competition, but I'm looking to make a statement of sorts on the 8th. I come from a proud military family, and being a complete hippie doesn't stop me from feeling some deep pride for my country. Runners talk about "giving it your all," but for the people on 9-11 and our active duty service members "giving it all" is a very literal thing... With that in mind, I'm going to run as hard as I can.. If I beat all the relay teams I'll be content. If I run 100k I'll be stoked. If I know without a doubt that I had nothing left to give, I'll be truly happy.