Ryan and Amber

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." —T.S. Elliot

The Tahoe Rim Trail has been my favorite trail for the 12 years I've been running. When I was living in Reno I would often drive up to Mt Rose Meadows to get my long run done as an out an back heading south from Mt. Rose. The views along this section are stunning. In places one can see both Tahoe and Washoe Valley. About 3 years ago I first thought of doing the whole trail, but originally my plan was to do it as a fast pack over 4 days. After moving to South Lake Tahoe a year and a half ago I first thought about doing the trail in one shot.

With the low snow year the backcountry opened up early and I made a go at the trail in the end of June. I started in Tahoe City and went clockwise. My goal was to get Desolation done in the daylight. It is a brutal section around 35 miles with no easy access should things go sideways. I made it nearly 80 miles (Freel Pass) before Ryan pulled the plug for me. It was the right decision. I hadn't consumed enough calories and was having trouble taking in fluids. I had audible wheezes and was having difficulty breathing. After a brutal 6 mile hike out I was back at the car. I was bummed, but I looked at the experience from a learning standpoint.

We learned a lot about how to plan for this in the future. Doing something like this is a bit of a logistical nightmare. Planning included food, fluids, crew, maps for crew, lights, clothing for day and night running, pacers, and what to bring on each section. For each section I carried my own water, food, and lightweight windbreaker. The pacer carried the water purifier and puffy jacket, gloves, extra lights, and space blanket. The pacer was also my extra set of eyes to make sure I didn't miss a turn and in case things went sideways they were my safety.

I wanted to try the TRT again this summer but between other planned trips and work my summer was completely full. August included a 3 week racecation in Colorado for the Trans Rockies Run. I'll try and get a post about this up soon. The Trans Rockies Run was 120 miles in 6 days with Ryan as my teammate. We had a great time during the run and the next week we slowly meandered our way back to Tahoe through Southwest Colorado. We did a couple mountain bike rides in Crested Butte and Durango, but the highlight of the trip for me was 2 runs we did on the Hardrock 100 course. One was up Bear Creek Trail and the other was up to Island Lake. On the long drive home I started thinking about TRT. We had plans to run the Wonderland Trail the first weekend in September with friends, but the crew fell through. A couple text messages to friends later and TRT attempt 2 was in the works.

FKT Tahoe Rim Trail

One of the hardest things about this run is all the planning. We had a little bit of a skeleton crew on this attempt with 2 main pacers running 7 of the 8 segments, one additional pacer, and family coming along the way to help at some of the major crossings. The day before we sat down and went over the plan. Ryan and Keeven were planning on running about every other segment up until Brockway to Mt Rose. After pacing they would them jump in the van and get to the next trailhead where they would organize and hopefully get some sleep.

Section 1: Kingsbury to Big Meadow- 27 miles

We started at Kingsbury at 6am. I actually turned the delorme (tracker) on at the car and then walked to the trail. Because of the road construction we started on the trail that connects into Buchanan Road. The first 15 minutes were dark, but then we had our first sunrise.

The view over Garnerville

Me cruising past Star Lake. We filtered water here and refilled. With the low water year I wasn't sure if the streams would still have water and I didn't want to chance it.

Climbing up Freel

On top of Freel Pass. One mountain down

Section 2: Big Meadow to Echo Lake - 17 miles

After a quick refill of my pack and restock of food I was on my way. Keevin paced me on this section. He was one of my friends I had initially planned on running Wonderland with, and we were super excited to have him along on this adventure. This section is one of my favorites when I run it in the opposite direction. Clockwise there is a ton of climbing, but the scenery is stunning. Earlier in the year running here there were waist high flowers overflowing onto the trail.

Still smiling at Round Lake

Meiss Meadows

The view of Tahoe on the descent to Echo Pass

The descent here is steep and a little technical. I was really glad to have it done on somewhat fresh legs.

Section 3: Echo Lake to Barker Pass - 34 miles

Echo Lake was a welcome site and I ate and relaxed for about 10 minutes. It was also my first shoe and sock change. I ran in Hokas for most of the run, but for this section I put on a lower profile shoe. I was headed into nighttime and this section is a super technical rocky section. Ryan was with me again on this section. This is my favorite section of the trail, but it's not an easy one. It was the longest time we would be without crew support.

Ultraman sighting!! Jen (super crew) from Hawaii was here crewing an athlete for the Tahoe 200 and popped over to say hi. It was really good to see a familiar face.

There was a beautiful glow as we got to Aloha Lake. The lake had been drained since last time I was here.

Heather Lake

Full moon over Heather Lake

Our plan was to a partial water refill at Susie Lake and then fill up at Fontanillis Lake. At Susie we stopped and Ryan discovered he forgot the bag part of our water filter. Crap!! I didn't freak out too much. I was ready to just fill up from the lake and worry about Giardia later when Ryan saw a couple backpackers. Turns out they had the same water filtration system and we borrowed their bag. 15 minutes later with full packs we were on our way hoping the water would last until Barker. This was about sunset and we were into our first night!

Top of Dicks Pass

The rest of the section went smoothly and the water lasted the remainder of the segment. At about 10 pm we came across a guy standing alongside the trail just past middle Velma Lake. He asked, "Are you guys lost too?" I replied no and asked what he needed. Turns out they had passed Velma Lake where they had wanted to camp. I left Ryan behind to help him with directions.

Section 4: Barker Pass to Tahoe City -17 miles

At Barker Pass I got in a sleeping bag and tried to sleep for about 30 minutes. My legs were too achy to sleep, but I do think stopping and letting my heart rate drop helped. Keevin ran this leg with me and I was bummed for him because it was still dark. It's a stunning section in the light. A couple miles from Tahoe City I got to see sunrise number 2 of this adventure.

Section 5: Tahoe City to Brockway - 20 miles

I took 10-15 minutes and ate in Tahoe City and changed my shoes and socks again. Thankfully my sister and brother in law Sami and Dan were there to help the boys out and keep me moving. It was such a mental boost to see them. Ryan was supposed to run this section with me, but he looked cooked. I told him to sit this one out. I wanted him on the night section from Mt. Rose to Spooner more than this leg in the daytime. The nice thing about this section is that they could drive in and were planning on meeting me at Watson Lake. It was a good thing they did because about a mile out from Watson I ran out of water. It was getting hot out, and I ended up sitting in a mud hole for a minute to cool off. After a quick fill at Watson I asked Keevin if he wouldn't mind riding his bike with me for the last 6 miles of this section. I usually like running solo, but this was getting long and I was enjoying seeing people.

Trailhead in Tahoe City

Using the stick on my ouchy legs

My brother in law Dan and Keevin getting me ready to head out

Somewhere past Watson Lake

Section 6: Brockway to Mt Rose Meadows - 21 miles

It was getting hot out and I wasn't looking forward to this next section. It is basically one reaaaally long climb with a short descent. There are no water sources to filter at so the crew was going to drive in a couple miles to top us off. Sienna an ICU RN was my pacer on this section. I was moving slow here and she was power hiking faster than my shuffle. I was having solid type 2 fun with dashes of type 3 fun. Food was not easy to force down, but I kept on moving. The last section of the climb up to Relay Peak seemed to drag on forever. Once on top it was just a little descent to the next trailhead right? nope! We passed a sign that had 2.5 miles to the the trailhead posted, but since that sign went up they extended the single track and keep us off the fire road. Amazing new single track, but I wasn't so jazzed about the added miles at the time.

Cooling off at Brockway

Quick top off

Pringles were my go to salty snack

Relay Peak

Eating soup before my "nap"

attempting nap #2, eyes closed but no sleeping

Section 7: Mt Rose Meadows to Spooner -23 miles

After a 40 minute rest and attempted nap at Mt Rose I headed out with Ryan. I was excited about seeing some of the Tahoe 200 runner that would be coming from the opposite direction. This section was pure mental as everything hurt and I started wheezing. Shortly after the sun went down I started hallucinating a little. Unless there really are human sized lizard sitting along the trail. It was a little chilly going over Snow Valley Peak and I put on a puffy and gloves. We saw a couple runners coming the other way and cheered them on as we moved along. Just before getting to Spooner I saw a guy curled up in the fetal position on the side of the trail. Unsure if he was real I asked if he was okay. He replied, "Yes, I started hallucinating so I'm taking a little nap". He didn't want anything so I carried on and was soon at Spooner.

Somewhere on the spine above Washoe Valleys and Tahoe

Section 8: Spooner to Kingsbury - 15 miles

Keevin and I were quickly off for our last segment. I had a handheld (usually bar mounted) bike light because my headlamp had called it quits. I was in solid type 3 fun by this point and having a hard time breathing. I think breathing the fine dust for over 2 days was the problem. My breathing was limiting my pace at this point. It was a little nerve wracking not being able to get a good breath.

We started to see more and more of the Tahoe 200 runners that kept telling us we were going the wrong way. It was a big boost to see other people out there from the middle of the night to the early morning. About a half mile from the finish Ryan was waiting. Right before crossing Kingsbury Sienna and here fiance Scott were waiting. We all jogged in to the finish together where family and friends were waiting.

Final finish time was 49hrs and 17 minutes. This stands as the current women's FKT. I have no doubt that one day this time will fall. That's what records are there for. I enjoyed the challenge of pushing myself further than I thought possible and look forward to new challenges.

Ryan and Keevin herding me in to the finish

And done!!

My pacers Sienna, Keevin, and Ryan

So glad there is a bed in the van

Thanks so much to my amazing crew and family for coming out and supporting me on this crazy adventure. I am so lucky to have you all in my life!

Sometimes races don't end up the way we expect. In April when I signed up I wasn't even sure if I would make it to the start line, and as the year went on I fought hard to turn my fitness around. Things sometimes don't go the way we want, but this year turned out even better. I came to the start line knowing that I didn't have the fitness to compete with Hillary. My race was with myself and to make it to the start line.

Through last winter and spring I fought my body and depression when I started working night shift. When I was finally diagnosed with hypothyroid and started on medication I thought things would get better quickly, but the turnaround to my normal self hasn't been as quick as I had planned or hoped. A large part of that is I'm still working night shift and every day is a struggle. I used to be a 9 hour night sleep person and now I'm having a good day if I manage to sleep at least 4 hours. It's not for lack of trying, and I think I've tried every herb and now sleep med on the market. The best way I can describe how I feel is to say imagine flying from Hawaii to Europe and doing a 12 hour time zone change, work all day and then fly home. Every 3-5 days I do a 12 hour time zone change and then 3-4 days later I switch back. Some people seem to manage...... I'm just not one of those people. Looks like I have another year of night shift before a day position is open. I can't wait to get back to my normal.

As the thyroid meds started working I started feeling better and I had a choice to make whether I wanted to race Ultraman again this year. I knew going in that I wasn't going to meet some peoples expectations. I knew my training wasn't there, but I wanted to go for the experience and to hang out with my husband and friends. This wasn't my year to compete, but it was amazing to experience the race in a different way. I appreciated the opportunity to get travel around this amazing island. It was a celebration for me that I was able to make it as 8-9 months earlier I had a hard time finishing a 6 mile run.

Day 1: For me the swim is tough. Luckily I really enjoy swimming this course but every year that last 2 miles really kicks my butt. This year was no different and just as I started getting tired a current seemed to kick up and I swallowed some water. I had my amazing kayak support again this year with locals Karen and Don. As I got out of the water I saw 3:08 on the clock and I asked where everyone was. This course can vary so much with currents it's hard to judge how fast or slow I had been. I felt beat up and tired, but heard that the course was slow for everyone. Whew, it wasn't just me.

The bike is usually my favorite and strongest part, but I just didn't feel right. Please come back legs I miss you. I felt slightly sick to my stomach on the first climb, but tried to force down some nutrition. It forced it's way right back up. It was going to be a reaaaallly long day. One of the things I've found this year is that about 50% of the time I feel good and the other 50% I feel like gravity is 10x stronger. Today was a 10x gravity day. I kept plugging along and tried to enjoy the day, but it was a battle. The highlight was my amazing crew for being there and always trying to put a smile on my face. Starting in Ocean View the winds kicked up and rain came down in sheets. I slowed down and took it easier as falling on the slick roads would make for a really long day 2 and 3. I like keeping all my skin intact. Finally about 80 miles into the day my stomach stopped revolting and I was able to take in some food and fluids. The last 10 miles were finally fun.

Ryan in one of his many costumes

My dad :-)

Angie just before the South Point turn

How can I not laugh? I nearly fell off my bike the first time I saw him.

Day 2 we were treated to perfect weather. No rain on the descent from Volcano and a tail wind up the Hamakua coast. We're allowed to ride as a group on the descent down from Volcano until the first right turn so I sat in the group and enjoyed the free ride. At the corner some of us split up and it's supposed to be non drafting at this point. I was disappointed to see some racers still drafting after the turn. Come on people there are only 35 athletes. It's really not that hard to ride your own race in a field this small and kind of irritated me to see this happening at Ultraman. I expect it at Ironman and don't care anymore, but Ultraman is special to me. I was bummed. As soon as I got to red road I smiled. I wasn't feeling great but I was feeling good and the views were stunning! Coming into Hilo I hit the first red light, then the second red light, and got my first flat. I looked around and didn't see my crew anywhere. Bummed I pulled over and waited and waited. I took a couple deep breaths and tried to relax. I know I wasn't competing, but it still sucked to be sitting on the side of the road. I had my rear wheel pulled off and Ryan quickly changed over my race wheel for a training wheel. Off I went. I made it almost all the way through Hilo and was getting close to the singing bridge when pop.... another flat. It was my front tire this time and I pulled the wheel off and started walking. The crew cars get separated from the athletes for a small section in Hilo and I wasn't sure if they had made the right turn to get back on the same road as me so I figured I should walk across the bridge to make sure we'd be on the same road. Steve Brown (race director from Canada) stopped and called my crew for me. Thanks!! Turns out my crew was stuck behind a stopped tour bus on a single lane road. They finally got around, but I spent about 15 minutes on the side of the road. Front wheel switch, and off I went again. The Hamakua Coast was amazing! The nice little tailwind was fun and the views on this section are stunning. I slowed down and reminded myself to enjoy the experience... and a spam musubi. Just as we started the climb to Waimea I heard another pop. Really!!! 3rd flat tire. Luckily my crew was right behind me and my wheel was switched out in about a minute. I couldn't stop smiling on the climb up the Kohalas. It is my favorite section of the course. I took in the views and soaked it all in.

The Kohalas!! My favorite part.

One amazing husband

Day 3 I woke up feeling tired. I guess that's to be expected, but in prior years I usually feel fairly good. I guess this lack of training/sleeping/thyroid function stuff really does add up. I took off really easy from the start. My goal for the day was to enjoy it as much as possible and not go backward through the field. Mission accomplished! The only bummer was that the shaved ice place in Kawaihae wasn't open when we ran by. The popsicle I got was great, but I had been dreaming of shaved ice. It was a different experience to chat with other runners and look around and really take in the views. Prior years there was such a race focus I just missed everything else. The last 10 mile hurt and the finish line was a very welcome sight! Sitting at the finish until the final runners came through was a treat and an inspiration.

I think I ran with Peter Muller for about 30 miles

Ryan, Peter, and myself somewhere on the Queen K

Day after race breakfast at Lava Java

We had a flight home Wednesday to be back to work on Thursday. I wanted to see something new so we headed to Pololu Valley. It was a treat for the eyes but not the legs. The AED at the trailhead should have been an indication for what was in store. Steep but short trail to the first beach followed by a climb to a stunning lookout. I recommend this hike if you've already done Waipio and are looking for something new. After the initial beach we hiked up to the next lookout and came across no other hikers. It was a treat to have the trail to ourselves.

It was kind of bittersweet heading home. Each year at Ultraman is a unique combination of people. For a couple of us it was our last race and it was sad to say goodbye. This race has such a special place in my heart, and I hope I'm able to come back someday (probably as crew/maybe as athlete). For now it is time to move onto other life goals, but I will always look back on these years and smile. I'm going to miss coming here every year, but it's time to let my body rest and experience new challenges.