Trail Trot Terror

Trail Trot Terror:

My First 50 Miler, The Runner's Trots,
& The Acoustic Properties Of Port-o-lets

by Ras

WARNING: THIS IS AN ANECDOTE ABOUT GASTRO-INTESTINAL DISTRESS AND CONTAINS GRATUITOUS SCATOLOGICAL REFERENCES. IT HAS LITTLE OR NO REDEEMING VALUE AND IS PRESENTED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IF YOU THINK YOU MAY BE OFFENDED BY THE EVENTS DESCRIBED HEREIN, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS ARTICLE. 

     In April of 2011 I ran my first 50 mile race, the Mount Si Relay & Ultra Runs. It was another first for me in that it was also the first, and so far only, time that I have suffered any serious sort of gastro-intestinal distress during a race. Enough so that by the end of my tale you may think that the event being named the Mount Si Relay and "Ultra Runs" is not only apropos (apropoo?), but, perhaps, a bit too on the nose.

     Rest assured: I did not accidentally become the Tim Sylvia of ultrarunning. Nor did I suffer a wardrobe/biological malfunction of such memetic magnitude as is pictured below (fictitiously, thanks to Redditor totalitarian_jesus). But I did suffer a widely shared, if not archetypal, experience among endurance runners, commonly referred to as the "runner's trots." Despite the humorous euphemism, this is a genuine biological phenomenon.

     In addition to being my first 50 mile race, Mount Si was only my third ultramarathon. And at that point in my life, it would be the farthest I had ever traveled by foot in a single push. I was new and still learning. (Now I'm less new and still learning.) I had not yet begun any of the fueling experiments that I now find so fascinating. In fact, I can't recall exactly what I was eating during ultras at the time. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say this was during my bulk refillable gels, Perpetuem, and Vespa phase. But I really didn't know what I was about when it came to fueling.

     On the morning of the race everything seemed fine. I remember seeing a restroom or two along the course early in and thinking that I didn't need to use one, but it was good to know they were there. Then I didn't see any for a while. Then my intestines started rumbling. Then they started feeling loose. Then I started to worry.

     I had to find a restroom or a Sani-can. I had needs that could not be taken care of behind a tree. And much of this course was suburban gravel trail, not at all conducive to well timed moments of privacy. So I found myself running from one aide station to the next hoping against hope that I would happen upon appropriate facilities before things turned ugly. I was essentially performing a continuous kegel exercise the entire time, as I ran on, clinging to the hope that I would happen upon a Port-o-let in time.

     I passed desperate miles wherein I would occasionally have to stop and walk in order to maintain control of the shituation. Finally, a little more than halfway through the race, I sighted an aide station ahead, with a Honey Bucket front and center. I beelined with a puckered behind, making one last desperate push to quickly cover the ground between me and my Sani-can salvation. A few other runners were just heading out of the station as I darted into the porta-potty, assumed the position, and, to use the Pirate vernacular, I let 'er rip. And this is where the shame began.

     The layout of the aide station was such that you first came up to the drop bags, on the left side of the trail, and the Honey Buckets across from them, off to the right side of the trail. The actual 'aide' part of the aide station was another 50 feet further along the trail. Unfortunately, 50 feet was no where near far enough to give me the privacy I needed, much to my chagrin and that of the poor, beleaguered volunteers. 

     
     The initial blast emitted by my biological processes produced as much sound as anything else. Equal parts alpenhorn, tuba, and raspberry, the timbre, pitch, and tonal qualities of the noise I emitted were simultaneously concussive and ululating, albeit in a baritone register. I believe it was the low end properties of my performance that reverberated so resoundingly through the plastic walls of the porta-potty. I essentially turned it into the soundbox of an unholy instrument comprised of the eliminatory end of my digestive tract amplified through a six foot tall molded polyethylene elongated cube.

     Although I was inside this aural camera obscura, as it were, I had immediate input from those outside as to how well the sound had carried and how horribly its import had been conveyed. This information took the form of a distraught cry of, "Oh, God!" from one of the aforementioned volunteers innocently manning the aide station some 50 feet away. There was no question; no ambiguity. They knew that whoever was in the Port-o-let had been either the victim or the perpetrator of something horrifically uncouth.

     After I finished taking care of business I felt great. I had done what needed doing, the storm in my innards had passed, and I was ready to get running again, except for a Damoclean sword of shame poised above my head, suspended by a single frail hair of anonymity. I was trapped in Schrodinger's Cat Box. As soon as I was observed I would die of embarrassment. So I waited.

     Although I doubted I could completely avoid being seen exiting the Sani-can,I had two possible means by which I could potentially, if you'll pardon the contextually unappealing visual, muddy the waters. Plan A was to wait until I heard other runners stopping at their drop bags across from me, dart out amongst them, and feign as though I had been with them all along and had no connection to the unseemly events which had played out so recently in yon porta-potty. Plan B was simply to wait so long before making my egress that the volunteers would presume I was an unconnected third party who had come along to make use of the facilities after the fact, and that they had somehow failed to observe the exit of the perpetrator.

     As it turned out, I soon heard runners stop at the drop bags across from me and I made my move. Quick like a bunny, I burst forth explosively from my confines, and was lost among the other runners at their drop bags before the door could slam shut and the volunteers could look up and single me out. I finished at my drop bag and moved up to the aide table along with my new found peer group. I made a solid effort of conveying the sense that I was a serious runner, newly arrived, simply in need of water and a few calories, and in no way associated with the recent unpleasant goings on 50 feet away.

     From the friendly smiles I received and the manner in which the volunteers were unabashedly able to look me in the eye, I concluded my ruse had been successful. They failed to associate the man before them with the cacophony that had assaulted their senses only a few short minutes ago. I counted myself lucky to have made a clean getaway. And if they were just pretending not to know out of politeness, then that is a kindness for which I will forever be grateful.

     To this day, my face reddens in shame any time I call to mind that horrified cry of, "Oh, God!"

The Unpopular Truth About Alcohol & Recovery

The Unpopular Truth About Alcohol & Recovery

by Ras

     I've been vexed and chagrined by a recent spate of articles in running magazines and on health websites that have addressed the issue of alcohol intake and athletic performance, with an emphasis on recovery. The conclusion put forth by these fluff pieces has unanimously been, "Well, alcohol may not be an ideal post workout beverage, but everyone loves a cold beer, right?!" While pandering to public opinion may assuage readers' gourmand guilt, I feel an obligation to uphold a higher journalistic standard. After all, it's a matter of biochemistry, not opinion.

     Recovery not only prepares you for your next effort, but it is the process wherein you reap the benefits of your most recent workout. The goal of every workout is to strengthen and adapt your body to your sport or activity, and this is accomplished in recovery. During this time, your body needs carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores (1), protein to repair damage to existing tissues and build new tissue (2), and antioxidants to counteract the flood of free radicals (cell damaging unstable molecules) produced by training and exercise (3). The truth is that alcohol counteracts every one of these vital processes.

     According to a publication by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, when your body metabolizes alcohol it has numerous deleterious effects, including, but not limited to:  

• Reducing the amount of antioxidants
• Producing additional free radicals 
• Impeding glycogen assimilation
• Increasing systemic inflamation    
• Damaging cell mitochondria (4)
• Interfering with amino acids that form key proteins, including:

1. those found in the membranes surrounding red blood cells
2. tubulin, which is necessary for protein transport within cells as well as cell division
3. hemoglobin and albumin, two crucial blood proteins
   and
4. collagen, the main structural protein of human connective tissues  

     It doesn't take a biochemist to see that the effects of alcohol consumption exactly countermand the needs of the body during recovery. And these consequences are inescapable. When alcohol enters your system, whether it be beer, wine, or hard liquor, the body treats it as a poison and prioritizes metabolizing the alcohol, halting assimilation of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats (5, 6). 

     I am not emotionally invested in whether or not other athletes have a beer after a race or take a shot at an aide station or guzzle a suitcase of PBR on a wild Friday night. But when respected information sources in the running and health communities fail to make substantive information available to their readers, the iconoclast in me must make himself heard. And for the record, I only have access to the same information sources as anyone with an internet connection. All of the alcohol related information in this article came from the first page of a Google search.

     If you think of your recovery as the Andrea Gail, alcohol is the perfect storm.

(1) "The key to enhancing the replenishment of muscle glycogen is to ingest carbohydrates immediately after your workout. Science shows that this is related to the hormone insulin as well as the enzyme glycogen synthase (discussed above). Insulin stimulates glycogen synthase which then converts more carbohydrate to glycogen. Insulin simultaneously increases the transport of this glycogen from the blood into the muscles. Choreographed perfectly, the hormonal system and associated enzymes work to not only replace the glycogen you lost during exercise but they do it in the most efficient and rapid way.

Once scientists began to focus on insulin's role in glycogen replenishment, another connection was made that impacts the recovery routine. It turns out that ingesting protein along with the carbohydrate increases your insulin response. As a result, up to 30% more glycogen is stored than if you just ingest carbohydrates." – Greg McMillan source

(2) “Protein repairs exercise-induced muscle damage, reduces the response from the stress hormone cortisol and even helps speed glycogen replacement, the goal of taking in carbohydrates, says Jackie Dikos, a registered dietitian and competitive runner who competed in the 2008 U. S. Olympic marathon trials.” – Runner's World source

(3) "Excess free radical formation has been hypothesized to contribute to cancer, atherosclerosis, aging and exercise associated muscle damage. Regular low to moderate physical exercise enhances the antioxidant defense system and protects against exercise induced free radical damage. Heavy exercise increases the level of free radicals. Free radical production or loss of antioxidant protection can adversely affect performance." – Effects of free radicals and antioxidants on exercise performance source

(4) “Mitochondria are responsible for creating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even cell death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person in whom this is happening is severely compromised.” – United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation source

(5) “Alcohol is considered a poison by your body, and all efforts are made to excrete it, including the cessation of maintaining healthy blood glucose levels. Studies have shown that alcohol interferes with all three sources of glucose and the hormones needed to maintain healthy blood glucose levels.” – MedicineNet.com source

(6) “The effects that alcohol has on your health start with how it's metabolized. Once alcohol is in your system, your body makes metabolizing it a priority. That means that it will stop metabolizing anything else in order to first get the alcohol metabolized. The reason for this is because unlike protein, carbohydrates, and fat, there is nowhere for alcohol to be stored in our body so it has be metabolized first.” – Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS source

All Day Ultra Meal Plan

Vegan Recipes for An All Day UltraAdventure

By Kathy Vaughan

     Running a self or unsupported ultramarathon takes a lot of planning in order to complete the distance. Nutrition for the day of the run is key. I spend the day before an adventure run in the kitchen, preparing the food Ras and I will need to get us through from breakfast until our post run meal. I usually want to spend as little time on my feet right after the run as possible, so having the dinner precooked and only needing reheating is the easiest way to ensure healthy food is ready fast. Of course, each of us brings our own food to fuel us through our trail time, in addition to the meals listed here.

     I will share 3 recipes I commonly prepare ahead of time, for an all day trail adventure. I follow a vegan diet, so all of the recipes I share are vegan. All recipes are my original creations. 

#1 Breakfast     Whole Wheat Banana Muffins: Chocolate Chips Optional 

          3 medium sized, ripe bananas, mashed
          1/3 cup soy margarine, or other dairy-free margarine
          2 T soy or almond milk
          2 T ground flax seed mixed with 6 T warm water or 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
          1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
          2/3 cup cane sugar
          2 t baking powder
          1/2 t baking soda
          1 1/2 c dairy free chocolate chips (I use Guittard or Ghiradelli semi-sweet)

     Stir together bananas, margarine, milk and flax seed mixture or applesauce, until well blended. For fruity & moist muffins, use the applesauce. For more texture & the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids, use the ground flax seed.  Add flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda until thoroughly blended into wet mixture. Add chocolate chips or 1/4 cup of chopped nuts of your choice and stir until mixed in thoroughly. Divide the batter up evenly in a 12 muffin tin. I use a stoneware muffin baking dish for consistently even baking. Bake the muffins in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested in the center of a muffin.



#2 Lunch on the trail      Pinto Bean & Rice Burritos

           2 cups dried pinto beans, rinsed & soaked
           1 onion, chopped
           1 green pepper, chopped
           2 T ground cumin
           4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
           2 T ground black pepper
           3 T Bragg Liquid Amino Acids (or add to taste as beans become cooked)
           1 T chili powder
           2 t onion powder
           1 T Italian seasoning blend (or add oregeno & thyme)
           1 T smoked paprika

     Put rinsed and soaked beans into a crock pot and fill pot to the top with cold water.  Add onion and green pepper and cook on high until beans begin to soften. Add the remaining ingredients and allow to simmer on high for several hours. I like to put this recipe into the crock pot to cook while I am on a long run also, and come home to dinner being all ready.  Beans are done when they are tender and the skins begin to peel.

     Meanwhile, cook a pot of your choice of rice. I like to make brown rice or white jasmine rice. 

     The night before the run, or the morning of, I assemble the burritos and put them into ziplock bags to carry with me in my running vest. I use whole wheat tortillas, but other soft tortillas would work as well. I first put a couple of spoonfuls of the cooked beans down the center of the tortilla. Then I add rice and top with either a salsa verde, Srirachi hot sauce or Tapatio. I like to add chopped black olives and diced onion as well, but you could add whatever other ingredients you might like. Ras likes them simple with beans, rice, and hot sauce. Wrap and roll the burrito!


#3 Post Run Dinner         Tofu Scramble

              2 packages of firm tofu, previously frozen, thawed
              1 onion, chopped
              1 green pepper, chopped
              1 red or yellow pepper, chopped or 1/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced
              1 zucchini, diced
              1 can of black olives, diced
              1 cup mushrooms, sliced
              1/4 cup green olives, chopped
              1 medium tomato, diced or 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
              1/2 cup of frozen or canned corn, optional
              1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
              1 cup chopped kale or spinach
              3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
              3 T Bragg Liquid Amino Acids (or add to taste)
              2 t ground black pepper
              1 t onion powder
              2 T smoked paprika
              1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes (or add to taste)
              2 to 3 T soy margarine or other dairy free margarine

     Heat up a large skillet on the stove top and add margarine. When margarine is melted, add garlic, onion and peppers. Saute on medium high heat until softened. On a cutting board, cut up tofu into bite size chunks. Add to the skillet and mix in well. Allow the tofu to absorb these flavors as you add the Braggs. Add all of the rest of the ingredients, except the nutritional yeast. Add water as needed, to give the mixture a liquid in which to simmer. When the veggies and tofu have been simmering for about 10 minutes, add the nutritional yeast and water again as needed to help create a sauce.  Stir well and continue to allow the mixture to simmer, turning the temperature down now. Cook for about 25 minutes, or until tofu is firm and the veggies are soft. Allow to cool and then store in a container to be reheated after your long run the next day. Serve in a bowl; as a wrap; or on a plate with leftover, cooked pinto beans and hot sauce. 

     Many different veggies of your choice can be added to this tofu scramble dish. The ingredients listed above are the ones I often use, although I will also use whatever I have on hand. Adding cumin as a seasoning, gives the dish a different flair and makes it good in breakfast burritos. Experiment and Enjoy!

Coconut Butter: My Secret Weapon For Endurance Fueling & Recovery

Coconut Butter: My Secret Weapon For Endurance Fueling & Recovery

Secret Training Techniques Of UltraPedestrianDo, Part Two

(The Way Of The UltraPedestrian)

by Ras

     You may never have heard of coconut butter before, but it has become widely available in recent years. Coconut butter differs from coconut oil in that it is the whole meat of a ripe coconut finely ground into a paste, similar to peanut butter or almond butter. Coconut butter is in no way related to cocoa butter, which is made from cocoa beans. Coconuts are the fruit of a variety of palm tree, whereas cocoa beans come from the fruit of the cacao tree, a relative of cotton and okra.

     Coconut butter is extremely palatable and flexible as a food (try stirring two tablespoons of coconut butter and two teaspoons of curry paste into simmering veggies and serve over rice). But my interest in it is as a fuel. I have been eating coconut butter for two years now, and it has helped fuel me for my biggest accomplishments, including my Double Wonderland and Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim to Rim to Rim to Rim to Rim adventure runs.

     Medium Chain Triglyceriedes The main benefit of coconut butter as a fuel for endurance athletes is its fats, which are Medium Chain Triglycerides. MCTs are a unique form of dietary fat that impart a wide range of positive health benefits, including helping control appetite, boosting immune function and purifying blood (due to its lauric acid content), stimulating metabolism, promoting calcium absorption, and regulating blood sugar levels. 

     But the most important thing about MCTs for endurance athletes is that they are immediately metabolized and used by the body, not stored as fat, as Long Chain Triglycerides are. According to Ward Dean, MD, and Jim English, "MCTs are an especially beneficial supplement for fueling physical exertion, given their high energy density content, rapid rate of absorption and quick metabolic conversion into cellular energy. Additionally MCTs can be quickly mobilized in the post-exercise recovery phase to rebuild muscles and prevent the breakdown of proteins (catabolism) that can occur when the body is putting a maximum demand on the body’s energy reserves." (From NutritionReview.org)

     Training Your Body For Fat Fueling This makes coconut butter an ideal food for training your body to metabolize fat. I make an effort each morning to make the first thing I eat high in healthful fats in order to switch on my body's fat prioritization. A couple spoonfuls of coconut butter is perfect for this because it is palatable and easy to eat. It can also be spread on toast in place of butter, or stirred into hot cereal or oatmeal, among myriad other uses.

     Low Oxidation Rate Because coconut butter oxidizes slowly it does not go rancid. It can be  stored unrefrigerated for up to two years. Coconut butter lasts and carries well for extended backpacking trips, and will easily survive an extended stay in a drop bag or food cache.

     Very Low Cost Per Calorie Perhaps the best news of all regarding coconut butter is its incredibly low cost per calorie, as little as $8.00 for a jar containing over 2800 calories. Compare that to specially marketed energy gels, where $8.00 will buy you at most 600 calories. For shorter runs I package a 200 calorie serving in small baggies or plastic wrap, twist the top shut and seal it with a small piece of tape. For multiday efforts I melt the coconut butter and pour it into a resealable plastic jar and eat it by the spoonful directly from the container. 

Try Coconut Butter from Amazon.com

     Coconut butter is readily available from any natural foods co-op or health food store, including the big chains. It can also be ordered from natural food retailers on line, or made at home from scratch. Artisana has recently started packaging it in single serving pouches, which are convenient for short trips.

Pigtails Challenge: Nutrition & Fueling Report

by Ras

Pigtails Challenge 200 Mile Endurance Run

Nutrition & Fueling Report

At the end of the Pigtails Challenge 200 I felt amazingly good. I felt as though I could run for ever at that pace, with that fueling and rest regimen; it seemed almost infinitely sustainable. If I had been 200 miles deep into a 300 mile race at that point, I would have had no doubts about my ability to finish the distance. This is an exploration, explanation, and explication of my fueling and nutrition for 200 miles.

Eating avocado and brown rice after lap 5

Theories*

I have a theory about training for 100 mile and longer races. My basic premise is that there is a fitness and endurance base of 50 miles, and beyond that the issues are fueling and mental ability. So if you are fit enough to run 50 miles fairly easily, you should be able to run 100 miles with proper fueling and stubbornness. (Bear in mind, this is towards the goal of simply completing the mileage, ideally in an efficient manner and in good style, although not with any particular emphasis on speed.) But it seemed a logical extension that this would apply to 200 miles, as well.

Leading up to the race friends asked me, "How do you train for a 200 mile race?" To which I replied, "I don't know." For the Pigtails Challenge 200 I suspected that fueling and recovery were going to be the main challenges, so that was what I focused on.

For hydration I drank two 22oz. handbottles of water per lap, plus 1 to 2 12oz nutrition flasks of Hornet Juice and Delta-E.

I decided to conduct a grand experiment and completely change the focus of my fueling, prioritizing fat instead of carbohydrates. I had run some big distances and been fairly happy with my performance fueling mostly with Hammer Perpetuem and Cliff Blocks, but had still experienced some real lows in energy, performance, and motivation. Plus, I never felt satisfied or satiated while on the trail, and often found the constant intake of sweets unpalatable. This led to problems where I simply didn't WANT to eat, and therefore didn't, and suffered as a result. Anyone who saw me limping along clutching my side for the last 8 miles of last year's White River 50 miler witnessed one of these moments.

Fueling*

I don't eat any type of meat or eggs or dairy, very little salt, I avoid processed grains and wheat in general (because of the inflamatory response it provokes in the body), and I don't eat a lot of sweets. I DO eat honey (and other bee products), which is an animal product and not vegan, so the term vegan does not strictly apply to me, but it is a convenient term I use to explain how I eat in a succinct manner. Usually the sweets I eat will be something Kathy bakes (for instance, I ate almost an entire chocolate cake by myself just a couple of days ago, but that was a dietary aberration). We live in the middle of nowhere, so there are no vegan restaurants or specialty bakeries nearby, which is lucky for me. If we lived near a PCC I doubt I could withstand the temptation of all those easily available vegan cakes and hemp ice creams and the like. I would be fat. And I have been fat, so I am not saying this in jest.

But fat is where it's at, and fat is what I wanted to fuel with. My goal was to get the majority of my calories from fat so that my body would be in fat burning mode for the entire event. This should then allow the glycogen stores in my muscles to be constantly replenished and never completely depleted, since my body would be fueling primarily from fat, not glucose. 

Because of the way I eat, I don't rely on the food at aid stations during races. I carry my own fuel, then supplement it with fruit and potatoes from the aid station. Sometimes potato chips are very appealing and they do have a lot of fat, although it is not the best kind. Here is a list of what I ate during the PTC 200:

Coconut Manna, a spread similar to a nut butter, made from ground pure coconut (two tablespoons of this in a baggie is about the size of a gel, but with twice the calories, most of them from fat). I ate a little over one jar total.

Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter (similar to Nutella, but dairy free and with a LOT less sugar) with toasted coconut stirred into it. I ate almost two jars worth, and almost an entire bag of shredded coconut. Delicious.

Raw Almond butter, approximately 3/4 jar.

approximately 7 avocados, some on their own, some stirred into brown rice with Bragg's, some on veggie & soy slice sandwiches Kathy made for me, and some cut up into ginger carrot soup and butternut squash soup.

cubed potatoes form the aid station, which I also added to my soup

wasabi almonds, approximately two handfuls total throughout the race

watermelon from the aid station, for deliciousness and wholistic dehydration-prevention

potato chips, a stack of 8 or 10. I probably had about 6 servings total

FRS energy chews, a source of quercetin, low calorie and the citrus ones taste like Gatorgum, if anyone remembers that. I had quite a few of these, 12 servings or so, usually at the "bench of temptation" where I would allow myself to sit only for as long at it took me to eat my FRS chews. Rumor has it Tim Stroh was seen laying down on this bench at some point during the race

FRS energy drink, also a source of quercetin, I had at least 3 of these over the course of the event, perhaps 4

Green tea, 5 or 6 servings

One Cliff block, which sounded good at the time and tasted good, too

3 or 4 tiny dixie cups of soda pop. This and the Cliff block were a bit of an indulgence, they tasted good and had some psychological benefit as a reward, but I didn't really notice any effect on my running at the time, good or bad

Reed's brand crystallized ginger, soothes the stomach and can help disrupt sleep patterns, which it did well for me at the Badger Mountain 100, but not so well at the PTC200

On the third day Kathy made me two tomato/onion/lettuce/soy-slice/avocado sandwiches on whole wheat bagels, which tasted amazingly good. At this point I was confident of my finish and wasn't overly concerned about the inflamatory response of the body to wheat, so I let my appetite guide me

As you can see, my fuel intake was mostly whole foods, many of the same foods I eat on a daily basis, very high in vegetable-based fats, low in carbohydrates, and low in protein.

Supplements*

Supplements were another key part of my fueling and nutrition. I used S-caps throughout the event along with a potassium supplement for electrolyte maintenance. Knowing that extreme feats of endurance suppress immune function, I regularly drank Delta-E, a vitamin C/B vitamin/trace mineral supplement. I didn't notice any difference between this and Emergen-C, so I will most likely stick with Emergen-C in the future. I also took Enerprime, a green superfood supplement, to supply trace minerals and flavenoids. Unfortunately, these come in a gelatin capsule, so vegetarians have to empty the capsules into a liquid or nut butter. 

Hornet Juice is a metabolic enzyme supplement derived from honey that I have been using for over a year. It helps predispose your body to metabolizing fat, which aids in both fueling and recovery. I added this to my nutrition flask every 1 1/2 or 2 hours.

I reasoned that recovery would also be a key factor at this distance. My body would have to be able to recover throughout the event while it was still working, so I began a regimen of recovery supplements before the race even began Thursday morning. Every six hours I took 8 Recover-Ease capsules, 4 Extreme Endurance tablets, 8 M.A.P. (Master Amino Pattern) amino acids, and 4 IbuActin, a wholistic, herbal anti-inflammatory.

In general, I eat a rather low-protein diet. I don't need to eat protein, because I eat a variety or raw fruits and vegetables, as well as cooked vegetables and whole grains, all of which gives my body the ingredients it needs to build it's own protein. This protein, made BY my body and FOR my body, is of higher quality and is far better assimilated than protein made by another animal's body and for another animal's body. 

High quality protein is necessary for your body to repair itself, as I knew mine would be doing on an ongoing basis, while still performing at a high level of endurance. I used M.A.P. during the race to make sure my body had the building blocks for all the protein it required. From both my performance and recovery I can only deduce that they performed very well.

I use Extreme Endurance as a supplement everyday, and I ramp up the dosage slightly before, during, and after races or other high mileage efforts. It purports to help reduce lactic acid buildup and increase aerobic threshold, both of which aid in not only performance but recovery. The fact is that even at the end of 200 miles I was not suffering lactic acid burn in my muscles. My fueling and easy pace definitely play a major role in this, as well. 

This was my first time using Recover-Ease, but I was impressed. Again, it's hard to isolate the benefits or effects of a single ingredient in my approach, but this was the newest factor with the most potential impact. This is another product that uses the dreaded gelatin capsule, so vegetarians, vegans, Hindus, kosher Jews, and Moslems, amongst others, will have to empty out the capsules into some other food or drink to take them. Gelatin is such absolute filth I have trouble believing that it is considered not only a standard ingredient, but a high quality one. Before I reign in my High Horse, let me just state that I don't consider collagen extracted from the skin, bones, connective tissues, organs, and intestines of cattle, chicken, and pigs to be a food fit for human consumption. But a lot of people do. Here is Wicked Fast's take on the matter. They are the makers of Recover-Ease:

http://wickedfastsportsnutrition.com/blog/post/2012/05/30/Gelatin.aspx

Results

I'm amazed at how well I ran. I really felt great the entire race, and simply didn't bonk or have any low times or "dark places". I was still able to run the flats and downhills throughout the entire 69+ hours, and I could have kept going. And, perhaps most amazing of all to a lot of people, I had FUN. I really had a great time and enjoyed running 200 miles. Mindset is one of the touchstones of measuring the effectiveness of treatments and therapies nowadays. Performance studies used "perceived effort" as a standard. Hospital pain management is now based highly on the patient's perception. "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt, what number would you say you're at right now?" is a common interrogative. 

Based on that same scale of 1 to 10 relating to Pain, Fatigue, and Fun, the PTC 200 scored a 2, 2, and 8, respectively. 

I had very little pain throughout the entire event. The couple of small issues I had (one hot spot, a few twinges, tight IT band) could all be dealt with during the race and with rather minimal effort, and none of them developed into anything that had an impact on my race. Did I hurt a bit? Yeah. That's par for the course. But I didn't suffer. Apparently very little weakness was leaving my body, because I felt very little pain, and I've heard there's a relationship between the two. So I must still be full of wimpiness.

The only form of fatigue or tiredness that affected me was mental. My body felt solid and energetic, consistently so, but at two distinct points my mind became somewhat muddled and dull, and required a couple hours rest. But my legs were never leaden. I never had to push past any "wall" (although I was desperately looking for the end of a particular chain link fence, which I now believe is finite in scope, but infinite in length, reminiscent of a mobius strip). My breathing was strong, my stomach was good, and all of my smile muscles were performing until the very end. And when all was said and done, running 200 miles was much easier than I expected it to be.

The PTC 200/150/100 had the feel of a funky, circumambulating party. Or maybe it's better characterized as a large, albeit passive, slow-moving mosh pit. It wasn't hard to have fun at this race. You got to  see the other runners constantly, due to the reversing loop nature of the course. Lots of friends and familiar ultra faces stopped by, paced runners, and pitched in at the aid stations. Local teenagers shouted inspirational slogans from passing cars ("Smoking them blunts, baby, smoking them blunts!"). And the race course was just fine. I didn't show up expecting 200 miles of downy-soft, pine needle carpeted single track through pristine wilderness (although I would sign up for that, for sure). But the trail was very runable and was in good shape. There were lots of miles off through the trees away from the road, and aid stations every 5 miles are hard to complain about. 

When people ask me why I run crazy distances, or how I can, my answer often seems to leave them a bit befuddled. "It's fun," I say. I do it because I enjoy it. Running is one of my very favorite things to do, and I just plain love running for 6 hours. Twelve hours is even better. Thirty hours of running is amazing and miraculous. And 69 hours and 24 minutes of running is wonderous and dumbfounding. 

It's amazing what we human beings can do. And it was an honor and a blessing to bear witness to so many extraordinary people doing so many mind-blowing things. Yes, human beings CAN run 200 miles. Yes, you might be able to do it (or 100 or 150). Yes, you should consider giving it a try at next year's Pigtails Challenge.

*I expound my ideas, experiences, philosophies and half-assed schemes simply as documentation of the immense blessing that is my life. I am uneducated and underemployed, and in many ways not what is typically considered a productive member of society, and my words should be understood within this context. I mention specific brand names simply for clarity and specificity, not to endorse particular products or companies. Lawyers consider it dangerous for human beings to move self-powered through their own natural habitat, so if you care what lawyers think, that might be meaningful to you.