2 Marathons in 2 weeks: running after a hamstring tendon injury

Finisher medal for the North Shore Marathon 2012

After a lengthy period of "down time" to allow my injury (which I sustained in the first 10 minutes of the Peacock 100K trail race) to somewhat heal, I am pleased to announce that I'm back on track, that is, back on the road and trails. It has been an extremely difficult time for me, firstly sustaining the injury from a fall right at the beginning of an extremely tough trail race which I then limped and dragged myself through and completed, but not within the official cutoff time. Then the difficulty was physically actually not being able to run due to extreme pain for months, but on the bright side I learned and sharpened new skills such as patience and other activities like horse riding. I could also still tango as long as no one led me to doing high boleos or other fancy leg maneurves with my left leg....as they say "if you can walk, you can tango". The injury was damage to my left hamstring tendon at the insertion site to the ischial tuberosity (sitting bone), so aside from not being able to run, I also found it excruciating to sit for prolonged periods of time and driving on my long commute to work was an ordeal. I sought out therapies such as chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and of course conventional medicine but alas there is no magic pill or quick cure for this type of injury, only patience and time and then the body can heal itself. Five months have passed and I have done minimal gentle jogging without much mileage to build myself up again towards my first marathon since the fall, the North Shore Marathon, on my home island of Oahu, Hawaii. This is the second year that this marathon has taken place and it was fantastic to run in a race that was literally in my neck of the woods. The race started at Kaiaka Beach park in Haleiwa at 5 am when things were still nice and dark and cool, after 2 loops around Haleiwa town, we ran through Waialua, the old sugar plantation town and then on towards Mokuleia, past Dillingham airfield and all the light recreational aircraft, with the beautiful Waianae Mountain range on the left and the untamed Pacific Ocean on the right with a turn around at Kaena Point, the most north westerly tip of Oahu and back the way we came, along Farrington Hwy which was now decidedly hot with a fortunate light trade wind. My aim was to test my left leg out and see whether I still had a marathon in it. I was concerned about re-injuring it and most people tried to disuade me from running the marathon for fear that I had not waited long enough for the healing process to take place. I did not push myself at all, I just ran along at a happy pace without a watch, as I did not want to pressure myself by watching the time and finished feeling fine in 4:41. My injured leg was tender but I could tell that it was not re-injured, so now that I know it can withstand a bit of punishment I am hoping to be able to improve on my performnace from here on.

Waianae Mountain range

Looking down at part of the route from the mountain, Dillingham airfield at Mokuleia

The start of the 2012 Big Sur marathon

The second marathon in 2 weeks was the Big Sur marathon in California. This race had to be revisited, as I ran in it last year which then, due to a severe storm the course was an out and back from Monterey to Bixby bridge. Usually this is a point to point marathon, so that was my motivation for doing it again. At 3:30 am on the morning of the race we were bused out to the start line 26.2miles/42 km along HWY1 along the Big Sur coastal road. It's always cold in the early morning in California but on this day the temperatures weren't too bad, I could discard my warm clothes immediately prior to the start which was situated at Pfeiffer State Park in the Redwood forests. I felt really good for the first half of the race and was happy with my pace of around 9min/mile. The second half was a house of pain around my injury site but I jogged along trying to block it out mentally and focus instead on enjoying the scenery, the hills (2359 ft elevation gain and 2692ft descent) granted not much in comparison to other races I have done but still not exactly a flat course, the 40 mile per hour gusts of icy fog laden winds interspersed with sunny stretches, the musicians along the side of the road and the great volunteers along the marathon course.

Little Sur

Bixby Bridge in the Fog

Pretty much sums it up

Hurricane Point, one of the many lovely hills along the course

This was my slowest marathon time ever and my hamstring and it's tendon were in excruciating pain by the finish which at least I managed in the 4:50 range, but still, a bit dissapointing as the first half was going so well and I had run it an hour faster last year. Fortunately I found a bag of ice at the finish and sat on that for 30 minutes in the beer tent after the race. Now I realize that I need further down time as these two marathons aggravated and inflamed the injury.
After the race my friend Sabine and I continued on a fantastic road trip, stopping off at Esalen hotsprings a health retreat, for a lengthy soak in the hot baths situated on the cliff side overlooking the Pacific ocean and a blissful massage to the sound of the ocean. Talk about an endorphin overload! I was stoned immaculate on a natural high at this place that is close to being heaven on earth. On an excellent recommendation we took the road less travelled along the Nacimiento Ferguson road which traversed across the mountains away from the coast offering the most spectacular scenic eye candy.This mountain road took us to the top of the world giving us grande vistas of the coastline and dense forests below and wound back down again through shaded glades and past bubbling creeks, making our word of the day become "wow"! We stumbled upon the San Antonio mission which was a fascinating find, rich in history and an oasis in the middle of the hotter, drier plains surrounded by fields of wild spring flowers.



Olive tree outside the mission buildings was planted in the 1700"s

 Returning to San Francisco I had a fantastic time experiencing many of the things I love, including art, music and dance. I was fortunate enough to go to the cd release milonga of Trio Garufa : Argentino Tango in Berkeley, tango nuevo at Cell Space in the Mission district, street art, exhibitions, a drive out to the quaint seaside village of Bolinas in Marin and an overall fabulous experience.

Finishers medal for the Big Sur Marathon 2012

I am not sure what is going to happen next in terms of the rehabilitation of my injury, so stay tuned for further tales of my running adventures.

If you want to be inspired read "Dare to Run"

Below is a forward that I wrote for my friend and fellow ultrarunner Amit Sheth for his book "Dare to Run" which is a collection of very inspiring stories, thoughts and experiences that Amit has experienced personally on his road to becoming a long distance runner. The concepts in the book are universal and inspiring across the board and motivating to anyone reading them whether they run or not. It imparts the feeling of "YES I CAN" achieve any goal that I feel passionate about and put effort into achieving. I have bought this book as a gift for many of my friends and family and the feedback has been so positive and inspired that I would love to share this book with everyone I know. The book is available for purchase online at amazon.com

My (unedited) forward:
"The first time I ever read a story about running written by Amit was on the Comrades Marathon forum in 2009. I was incredibly motivated and moved by the humorous and passionate way in which he told the story of how he dared to run. Amit has the ability to inspire all runners with his wit and style regardless of their abilities as well as those that dream about perhaps running one day. Whenever I meet an aspiring runner looking for direction or motivation, I give them his stories to read and it has the desired effect without fail, they go out and run and suddenly believe that there is a possibility that they too can achieve what they never thought they could. There have been many books and articles written about elite athletes and their stories, training programs and thoughts on the subject but the truth remains that the majority of marathon runners are recreational athletes who have full time jobs, hectic schedules and little time to train and these stories are a reflection of what many of us have experienced in our battle against our own mortality to go above and beyond our comfort zones.


I have had the privilege of meeting Amit and his delightful family in Durban, South Africa at the 2009 Comrades Marathon race. Leading up to that event he was an extremely motivational cyber training partner and subsequently has shared many of his tales from the road with me and has been a tremendous source of encouragement to me in my quest to achieve my own ultra marathon goals. I hope that the stories in this book will inspire the readers as much as they have inspired me."

The Sheth family in Durban South Africa

Amit and myself in Durban before our 89km race in the Comrades Marathon

In addition to all of that Neepa Sheth was the first woman from India to finish the Comrades Marathon ultra marathon in South Africa. Some of the comments I've had are : "Amit really knows how to inspire on a human level"; "I had to put the book down in a restuarant because I started crying"; "I feel inspired to achieve my goals in life" (this was from a non-runner); "Amit has an awesome gift for writing and really get's into the heart of the reader", "I was laughing one minute, crying the next".

Peacock 100K ~ How I limped through a difficult 100km mountain trail race!

Training at Kealia trail

The morning of Peacock 100K promised to be a spectacular day. I awoke at 0330 to have a relaxed breakfast and drove the 45 minutes to Dillingham airfield located at Mokuleia on the north west corner of Oahu. I felt really good about the very difficult race that I was about to embark on. I had done my training with the guidance of coach Bill Wenner and the many, many hours I had spent up on the Peacock trails mostly by myself to condition myself for this mountain trail race rated "very difficult" over single track rugged trails, dirt jeep tracks and some paved sections. Some of the single track trails had sheer drop offs and the accumulated elevation gain was approximately 19,000ft, as well as 19,000ft of accumulated descent.

Kealia trail

The camaraderie at the start of the race was palpable,Stevo drove there to see me off and meet my awesome pacer Robert, who had agreed to accompany me back up the mountain after loop1. There was an option to quit after loop1 and be recognised as having completed an ultra marathon, but this was not part of my game plan, I had come here to run "Peacock 100km". The weather out at Mokuleia was absolutely perfect, with not a cloud in the sky and because this area is fairly undeveloped with minimal light pollution, the sky was illuminated by a trillion stars. I felt amped and the race started at 0600.

I had joked beforehand about the fact that I needed some serious "Jedi mind tricks" to complete the race and that I hoped that "The Force" was with me....little did I know that this was most definitely going to be the case. Ten minutes into the race whilst clambering up the initial steep and rocky Kealia Trail a runner brushed past me to overtake causing me to sidestep at which point my foot hit a rock and I went flying face first onto the rocks. I broke my fall with my right hand which caused a bloody gash and hit my right shin on the rocks but the worst damage I felt was the searing pain in my left upper hamstring which was excruciating. I shouted out a loud expletive but the other runner was either oblivious or in too much of a hurry to stop, so I got up, dusted myself off, wiped my bloody hand on my running clothes and had to make my first decision of the day as to whether to continue or not. It only took me a couple of seconds, other runners were coming up behind me and someone retrieved my sunglasses which had fallen on the trail. I decided to continue. I had heard before that if you encountered pain on a run for any reason, it was okay to continue as long as the pain did not get worse and I decided to follow this ideology. This had just been the most unfortunate accident but I was going to test the leg out and see if it could hold up.

As I continued I knew that whatever I had thought this race was going to be before the start was going to change. I basically could not run at all initially but kept marching up the next very steep section to the best of my ability. Once I reached the undulating jeep tracks at about 2000ft, I started to try to run and managed to develope a kind of loping limp of a shuffle type run but could not lift up my left foot very high and each time my foot hit a rock it jarred the injury and sent another searing shot of pain through my hamstring. As I went along however the injury itself did not appear to be worsening, I was still able to propel myself in a forward motion, so I made my second decision to keep going. I met some wonderful runners along the way who where fantastic company along the different sections of the trail and all the volunteers at the aide stations were absolutely awesome, without them I certainly could not have finished the race in the same way.

Some of the mind boggling eye candy up on the mountain

I can only imagine what a sight I must have been limping down the steep "Long Road" section covered in dirt and bruises from my fall and obviously not going at my normal pace in my normal stride. Aside from the hamstring, my system felt good and strong and I had been really consistent in my electrolyte replacement/hydration/calorie intake and felt otherwise pretty good. The paved and horribly steep Long road was a test in itself of every ones endurance. It plummeted down from a dizzy height along a hot, black, badly paved road to sea level at which point we had to turn around and go back up it.....at midday...the first time around.....there was to be a second repeat of this on loop 2 which would thankfully be in the dark and cooler.

'Long Road' going down

I completed loop 1 in approximately 9 hours which was fairly good going considering my circumstances and my pacer Robert was waiting to accompany me back up the Kealia switchbacks and onto Are's Loop which was also up, up and more up. Everyone at the base camp was awesome and so supportive. Cheryl gave me a cup of noodle soup which at that moment was the best thing I had ever tasted in my life. I had a moment of feeling overwhelmed as I knew that my decision to continue on to Loop2 would mean that I would have another 10 hours at least in 'the house of pain', but I quickly gathered myself together and embarked on the steep trek back up the mountain. It was awful trying to heave myself up the rocks and could only do it with my right leg. The heaving capabilities of my left leg were gone.

Second time up Kealia trail

I had a mental celebration after getting up Kealia and then Robert and I proceed onto Are's loop (named after a runner who died there after an unfortunate orienteering accident). This trail is also incredibly beautiful with the most awesome scenic vistas of the north shore coastline. It was slow going as the course was steep and I had to do all the work with my right leg again, but once at the top, another mini victory and I could start my limping style run again.Initially Robert was only going to pace me to this point but he volunteered to do the more challenging ridge section with me  which I was very grateful for.I knew how fast I needed to go to make the different landmark milestones in time and could tell that this was taking a lot longer than normal but we kept going. It was great having the company and not being all alone on the trails as dusk broke and darkness began to descend. This is where being in the moment is very helpful, I was in awe of my surroundings and at how fortunate I was to be able to be experiencing this spectacular mountain top in perfect weather at night with a clear sky, again a trillion stars and a very bright new moon which hung over the Pacific Ocean illuminating the inky blackness of the water so far below us. The trail would dip down into the darkened shroud of a lush tropical rain forest and then have us rise above the crest of the hill to be on top of the world, again to descend and be swallowed up by the the trees. I found a peacock feather and stuck it in my braid and the scene of the "ENTS" from "Lord of the Rings" came to mind, as it felt like the trees were alive and watching us. I kept shining my flashlight into the boughs of the trees to see if we were being accompanied my my amakua, the Pueo (Hawaiian Owl).

We made it over the steep and narrow single track Makua valley lookout trail and back onto the jeep tracks where I was to continue by myself. I thanked Robert at the aide station and said goodbye at which point he said that he was going to pace me for the entire 32mile (50+km) loop. He said that he could not abandon me knowing that I was struggling so much and in such discomfort and although he had never  even run a marathon in his life before, he continued on with me. Mahalo nui loa Robert, you have no idea how much I appreciate this.

So far I had made all the aide stations before the cutoffs. There had been some discrepancy about how late the station at the bottom of Long Road would be kept open, the Peacock manual had said 11pm, but earlier on my first loop they had said 1030 pm. Thanks to Rob L ,Cheryl and the volunteers at Long rd,they ensured us that it would remain open until 11pm. We got there at 1040pm and turned around for the march of death back up Long Rd. This took an hour of very precious remaining time after which my injury just screamed "NO" every time I tried to run. I also kept hitting my left foot against rocks embedded in the track which wasn't helpful. I realized going along these last six miles that I probably wasn't going to make the cutoff, but I was so glad that I hadn't been taken off the course and that I would at least be able to complete the 100 kilometres that I had set out to accomplish. As we went through the densely forested trails we saw a pair of Pueos sitting in the bough of a tree, watching us as we traversed along in the pitch dark with our headlamps. I knew that they would be there and felt strangely comforted by this fact.

At the final aide station we knew I wasn't going to make it and Rob L who was one of the race organizers reminded me that a cutoff time is an artificial number that is made up and that I mustn't worry about it because I was going to complete the race in my own time. This definitely made me feel better. We made it to the picnic table at the start of the Kealia trail descent around 2 am which was the official race cutoff and I went back down the rugged and very technical trail at a snails pace to avoid further injury. In addition to this I had developed two huge blisters, one on each of the balls of my feet which hurt like crazy going down the sharp rocks.

We reached the bottom and were welcomed by fellow HURT members and Gordon (race director) gave me a "Peacock 100K" sun visor which was very nice. Benita packed a bag of ice for my hamstring.

I could not have done this as pleasantly as I did without Robert's fantastic pacing and the camaraderie and encouragement I got along the way from fellow runners was very much appreciated and helped to spur me on, as well as a few phone calls I made to Stevo, Bill and Sian who all sent messages out so that my friends and family could see how I was doing. All of you ROCK big time and I am one of the luckiest humans alive to know you all. I. would also like to especially send out a huge thank you to the race organizers and volunteers who did a phenomenal job of hosting a spectacular event, also to my friends that encouraged me and helped me through my training and my family who had me MIA for many hours at a time whilst I was out there training. I have never regarded myself as an athlete but rather as a person who likes to "live deep and suck out the marrow of life" and the reason why I do these races is not to try and place but rather to dig deep,push through my boundaries and discover those parts about the human spirit that are not normally tapped into and find out what's there. I certainly achieved these goals and learned a lot about myself and others. To be honest I did experience a feeling of disappointment at having not made the cutoff but due to the overwhelming show of  support and the awesome messages I received afterwards I can only say that I am grateful and stoked at having completed one the hardest 100k races out there.

My goal was to find my inner Peacock...and I did for sure!

The story has a happy ending, as I was acknowledged as a finisher (unofficial).

I want to go all the way, 'til the wheels fall off and burn'!

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

— T.S. Eliot
Yay! I have a trainer for the first time in my life! Hopefully I can become a stronger and more efficient runner with his guidance. Thanks Bill Wenner!!

My biggest ultra training 'Bonk'

This weekend I experienced my first real ‘bonk’ on a long training run. I set out at 9am in 88 degree F/31C , hot, humid weather up the steep Kealia Trail  switchbacks on the Dillingham airfield side of the Waianae mountain range. My plan was to run ‘Loop 1’ a(30+ mile/50km )of the “Peacock 100km” race course. I was training by myself which I often do and had stashed some water and Coke under some bushes at the bottom of Long Rd which was a turn around point to go back up the mountain.

 I thought  this would be enough to get me through  the last 10mile/16km leg of the route.I had plenty of water, adequate electroltes and glucose in the form of Gu, Gu chomps and Shot Blocks as well as NUUN. Unfortunately I had only packed 1 Lara Bar in my camel back, thinking that this would be enough to sustain me in terms of solid food. I hoped that the run would last no more than 9 hours bearing in mind the heat, steep terrain (at least 9500ft accumulated elevation gain).

 The run started out really well as I managed to make it up the steep switchbacks and “Oh S#*t Hill” without feeling like I was being murdered. I was doing well for the first 22miles and then bonked in the most horrible way after having come down off the mountain on Long Road, replenished my water at the stash and turned to go back up in the searing heat of the only stretch of paved road on the entire course....I ate my snack bar at the turn around and started back up the hellishly steep hill, where ¾ of the way up I actually fainted ~ (my life went into a black tunnel so I lay down on the side of the road, lost consciousness, woke up, had a Shot Block and carried on to finish a very slow 30 miles).

After I had gathered myself together again at the Peacock Flats camp ground at the top of the hill I called my friends to excuse myself for being late to the birthday dinner party they had invited me to that evening. Upon explaining why my run was taking longer than I had anticipated, my friend offered to come and look for me to get me off the mountain or help. I declined the offer as I was sure I could still make it on my own steam. The last 7-8 miles just seemed to go on and on endlessly and I was jogging along at a painfully slow pace. The cell phone reception on the mountain is patchy and  finally Steve managed to get hold of me at one point, it must have been a very low point for me because I bust into tears. He also offered to come and look for me but I declined.

 Eventually after what seemed like an eternityI reached the Kealia switchbacks going down to where my car was parked and Steve called again saying that he was at my car and would come up the mountain to give me some moral support. This was really awesome of him as it was getting dark and he would be late for his gig in Honolulu at this rate.We witnessed a beautiful sunset over the Pacific Ocean as we snaked our way down and stepped off the trail as it was getting dark....what a day!I ended the day with doubts as to whether I will ever be able to train enough to complete Peacock 100k within the 18 hour cutoff time, but I still made it to the dinner party on the beach!
I had made mistakes leading up to this event:

1) I stayed out late the night before at a party.
2)I drank a glass of wine the night before which I don't normally do before a long run
3)I started out late in the morning when it was already hot
4)I didn't pack in enough food. This was the biggest mistake.
The next morning I awoke with the following thoughts:
Peacock" is not like a bird, it's more like a brutal beast with sharp, gnashing teeth and long talons. Going back there now to show the mountain that I'm not scared...but will do a short loop of 14miles/22.5km today as a 'recovery' run.I had a big breakfast and no wine last night...

The second run was successful!I guess I'll keep on truckin'. There is magic up there....

Peacock 100KM : Ok, so I'm going to do this....

View from the trails at Peacock Flats overlooking Makua Valley

Oh my goodness...do I really want to do this? YES, the answer is YES, I want to run an ultramarathon on my home turf and Peacock flats is one of my favourite places to escape to on the north shore of Oahu. In the same breath I will say too, that every time I run the 14mile or 21 mile loop on these mountain trails, it kicks my butt without fail...and now I'm going to repeat that, multiple times to complete this inaugural 100km race. All I have in my favor at this moment in time is my stubborness i.e if I say I'm going to do something, I do it!

Unfortunately the fact that I ran a 250km (staged survival race in the Kalahari Desert) last year does not mean much in terms of my ability to complete this non-stop race within a specific cut off time this year. That was then and this is now. I am undertrained this year and have spent the past few weeks frolicking in Amalfi, Italy, sipping on Limoncello and then recovering from jet lag and once I hit the tarmac on my return to the Hawaiian Islands I have had to work, work, work multiple 12 hour shifts at the hospital...make that...I'm exhausted.

On the up side, I have 14 weeks to train. It will have to be a crash course in building up endurance and stamina and fortuantely I can also train on the actual terrain that the race is to be held on which is brutal by the way, with gnarly steep hills that seem neverending. The other major up-side factor is that I get to spend more time with the fantastic HURT (Hawaiian Ultra Running Team) runners. In fact that almost seals the deal for me.

Get ready, lace up those trail shoes, tie the hair in braids and let's go....another ultra adventure! Yay!!

Sad week in Hawaii over death of a trail runner

http://www.khon2.com/news/local/story/Body-of-missing-trail-runner-found/N7t_XZn3YUWuP5OblfPvCg.cspx

Above is a news report on the recovery of one of the HURT trail runner's body after he had been missing on the mountain trails above Dillingham Airfield on the North Shore of Hawaii. This is an area that I love and frequently run here by myself or with other members of the Hawaiian Ultra Running Team (HURT). Are went missing last saturday after running on the trails with a group of runners and then going on ahead by himself, never arriving back at the car park. We had a memorial gathering for him today at Dillingham Airfield which is the start of the trail up the mountain. It was very moving, Are's parents and sister were there from Norway and member's of HURT, the Hawaiian Mountain and Trail Club, the Hawaiian Mountain Rescue Team , the Honolulu Marathon clinic and University of Hawaii representatives.
It appears that he had taken the wrong trail, got lost and then slipped down a steep cliff. The foliage is very dense at the moment due to high rainfall.
I was very moved by the spirit of aloha which exists in Hawaii and espescially the support shown by members of HURT, who never gave up the search even though the official search had been called off after 3 days.