The Barefoot Running Book - Jason Robillard [62]
I re-lubed, grabbed some pancakes, and hit the trail. After about 100 yards, I tried eating one but as soon as I put it in my mouth, I gagged. Damn! Just like the ice cream shakes, the pancakes caused me to gag. I knew this was a serious problem because the only other food items I brought were hotdogs, and I didn’t have enough to sustain me for the entire race. I don’t remember a lot from this leg because I pretty much spent the entire three or four miles choking down quarter-sized pancake pieces.
Just before I got to the next aid station, I remembered I had packed some chia seeds in my gear—almost as an afterthought. I had experimented with them in training, but never thought of them as a primary fuel source. But, if it works for the Taramuhara, maybe it could work for me.
As soon as I got to the second aid station of the second loop, I asked Shelly to get the chia. I lubed up, replaced my packet of electrolytes, and checked my pace. Michael was doing an awesome job of recording my times. I was still on about a 22 hour pace. Perfect.
Shelly brought me the canister of chia seeds. I didn’t think about the best method to eat them, so I just took a scoop and dumped it in my mouth. It felt a little like eating fine kitty litter. Almost immediately I gagged, then choked on the tiny seeds as they instantly absorbed the saliva from my mouth. I instinctively tried to swallow which only caused me to cough and seeds sprayed everywhere. I’m pretty sure my crew, the aid station volunteers, and the other runners were laughing at that point. I then grabbed a cup of water, dumped another scoop of seeds in the cup, and pounded the seedy water mixture. It went down easily. Success!
At that point, one of the aid station volunteers started asking questions about the Vibrams. Though I tried to avoid being rude, I had to cut him off because I had spent WAY too much time at that aid station. I told my crew to have some chia ready at the next aid station and hit the trail, not knowing if I could keep eating the chia for the whole race, but it was worth a shot.
The next short leg was uneventful. My crew met me on the path just before the third aid station. There I went through my usual routine. I was handed a bottle of chia and water, but it looked like it had been mixed for thirty minutes or so. Since chia absorbs water, it had turned into a thick gel that was Jello-like. I turned the bottle upside down and the chia just stuck to the bottom of the bottle. Frantically I started dumping any liquid I could find into the bottle and shaking it up in an attempt to get the chia out. It worked, but was pretty disgusting and had little taste. The texture reminded me of frog eggs scooped from the mud of a pond.
I left this stop quickly since the actual aid station was only about a quarter mile down the trail. Since I was already supplied, I just grabbed a Gu, gave them my number, and took off. For a fleeting moment I felt like an elite runner.
The next section was fun. I met up with Brian Thomas whose lupusrunner.org blog I had read a few weeks earlier. He had recently finished Burning River (the race I did not finish the previous year). His 100-mile advice was deceptively simple: “Keep moving!” which actually served me well later in the race. We swapped positions throughout the day. I believe he later experienced ankle pain and wisely DNFed after the fourth lap.
I also met up with Dusty, a friend from the Kickrunners running forum. She had given me a lot of tips for running that particular trail as she trains there often. It was cool to finally meet her in person.
The lap was turning into a major social event. A few minutes after separating from Dusty, I met Scotchkee, another friend from the Kickrunners forum. He