Go slow to go fast.

I finally did my first official marathon...in a somewhat 'unofficial' race.  Unofficial in the sense that there was no entry fee, no timing chips, and only 4 entrants.  Only 2 of which started at the same time!  But it was indeed a race, and it was my first official Marathon race and it was a blast.  I now have a marathon PR of 5:45!! (shouldn't be too hard to get that down I suppose, that is a TOUGH marathon course)

Jun organized this race, and initially more people were going to come, but it only ended up being 4 of us in the end.  The rules of the race were this:  Start your clocks at the trailhead fence at Henry's fork, tag Kings Peak, and stop your watch at the fence when you get back.  Fastest time back to the fence gets to keep the Cowbell.

It just so happens that from the fence, to the peak and back is exactly 26.2 miles.  But it also just so happens, that it is only 26.2 miles exactly if you take a specific route through the gunsight pass cutoff.  Craig and I took this route, but on the way back we cut off about .8 miles by going straight down off gunsight pass and avoiding a big long switch back...so my actual mileage to the peak and back was 25.4.

Here were my race goals in order of priority:

1. Appropriately pace myself to enjoy the entire day.
2. Properly fuel myself to finish feeling strong like I did at Leadville last week
3. Win the race
4. Finish the course between 5:00-5:15

Pre-race

the night before, Craig and I did a super easy 5.5 mile run up to a lake, which was fun.  We hung out after, had a nice big dinner of pasta and cheese bread, and chatted around the fire on a gorgeous, clear mountain evening.  We were going to start at 6:00 am, but we didn't get to bed until midnight because of waiting for Craig's parents who got lost, so we opted to sleep in until 6:30.  Scott, who had arrived at 2 am apparently, gave us a nice wakeup call at 5:40 since he of course had no way of getting the 'sleep in' memo.   We still went back to sleep til 6:30, then had some oatmeal in our tent and got up to get going.

Scott left just before 7 am to get a bit of a head start, and Craig and I took off at about 7:20.

The night before, Craig and I organized our packs and fueling, and I packed approximately 2300 calories total between 3 EFS liquid shots (1200 calories), 3-4 servings of 1st endurance optygen and ultragen, and 1 clif shot.  I ended up using between 1800-1900 calories total throughout the race, which was between 300-350 per hour average.  I took them in really consistently throughout and it worked perfectly for me.

Start to Elkhorn Crossing - 5.45 miles - 58:19 - 1000 Feet net ascent

The first 5 miles are pretty mellow and steady.  But there is almost no part of the trail that isn't rocky or root covered.  I was feeling fresh, and the pace was easy.  My heart rate was quickly at about 149-150, and I just kept it there.  I was content to keep a very relaxed, conversational pace.   Oddly though, the conversation part wasn't much there.  It was like Craig and I used up all our conversation the night before on our run and around the fire, and now there was just nothing left to say.  But really I think Craig was just kind of solemn and quiet because almost from the first step he just wasn't feeling it for some reason.  He mentioned a side ache within the first mile.  I asked if he thought our pace was too fast, and he thought it was fine.  But I let him take the lead for the next couple miles because I hoped he could get into a rhythm.

We had made a plan the night before, that we would try to stick together and push each other up to the peak, and even possibly back down to gunsight, and then open it up and see where the last 10 miles took us.  I was really hoping he didn't fall off pace before gunsight, because I had no clue about the course, and I knew there were going to be some navigational issues at the top section when there was no trail.

Fortunately, craig held the steady pace, and we motored on.

Elkhorn to Gunsight supposed water stop - 4.3 Miles - 56:50 - 1250 Feet net ascent

During this section we caught Scott who had started 30 minutes before us.  He was looking strong, and held with us for a while.  But toward the end, Craig seemed to be fading just a bit as it got steeper.  I just focused on keeping my heart rate between 148-150 - and I was able to easily run almost all the inclines while keeping it there, so I did.  But toward gunsight it was opening up a gap on Craig.  I really didn't want to be opening a gap at that point, but I also wanted to keep my steady pace, and I really wasn't pushing my heart rate at all.  In fact, I have raced all day at LOTOJA with my HR in the 160's, so 150 is a conservative all day pace for me.  But I was content with it.

I stopped at the bottom of the final push up gunsight because Craig yelled from behind that there should be water there.  He caught up and we searched a couple minutes for water, to no avail.  The flow wasn't good enough.  So we kept going.

Gunsight to the final ascent - 2.5 miles - 55:12 - 1100+ feet net ascent

Just over gunsight pass there was a snow field where we wasted a couple more minutes searching for water.  I packed snow in my hand held bottle because I was unsure if there was going to be another location to get water.  This was pretty concerning to me, so I felt that having snow was safer than nothing.  The night before, Craig was totally confident there would be flowing water at Gunsight (don't worry craig, I forgive you;), so I had decided to only fill my hydration pack with 40 oz. instead of 70 oz.  Mistake!  I should have kept the 70 oz. and I could have avoided multiple stops.  But I thought it would be nice to have a little less weight.  In an unsupported mountain run of 5+ hours, it's definitely a good idea to go over-prepared rather than under.

Anyway, we got snow in our bottles, but a few minutes were lost, and we were on our way again.

It was clear at this point that Craig was really not feeling it, because at my comfortable pace I kept creeping ahead of him.  He told me the way to go around gunsight, but I still made a mistake and went too high.  The problem was there was a MASSIVELY HUGE cairn marking the way to go, and it was way above me.  Craig warned me to stay low, and I thought I was, but it was a huge marker.  Anyway, I came around a ridge and looked around to see multiple peaks, a huge rock talus field, and I had ZERO clue which way to go.

I looked back to find Craig, and he was nowhere in sight.  I kept moving forward, not even knowing which peak I should be aiming for.  moments later, I looked down and Craig was hundreds of yards below me moving through the valley.  I yelled for him, which I realize now was pointless.  Obviously he knew where he was going, and I just needed to get back to him.  He saw me and waved the direction.  I cut down the hill toward him and within a few minutes was back up to him with not too much effort.

I'm glad I was back with him, because he could show me the way to go.  If he wouldn't have been up there with me I'm certain I would have spent a bunch of time lost on the wrong route in a super slow talus field.

The next bit of fortune was we hit a small river crossing!  Nice...fresh water.  We both found a clear hole and filled up our water bottles.  That was a very welcome water source, and gave me confidence that I would have plenty of water for the round trip now.  If that water would not have been there, I would have gone through some serious dehydration that day for sure.

Final climb to the peak - 3/4 mile - 24:20 - 775 feet net ascent (included 2 minute stop talking to faceless ghost)

As we left the saddle before the ridge to the peak, we saw Eric (facelessghost) picking his way down the boulders toward us.  That was a huge surprise!  What the heck was he doing up here??  Oh yeah, there was a race going on.  He just didn't bother to tell anyone he was going to participate!   OK, turns out he did email Craig at the last minute, but we didn't get the message.  And somehow, he managed to get onto the trailhead in the morning at 6:30 WITHOUT seeing us, even though our campsite was within 100 yards of the trail head and RIGHT on the road.  Weird.  Kind of a bummer too, because it would have been cool to know that he was in the race, and have another person to be pushed by.  Although, he is out of Craig and My league I think.

We talked for a couple minutes and we parted ways.  Apparently he had spent some time lost trying to find his way too, and still hit the summit in under 3 hours.  Craig and I knew we were both out of the running to win now, since we weren't even on pace to hit the summit in 3 hours, and we're not as fast as him to begin with.  Oh well, it was cool to meet you briefly Eric, look forward to hearing how the day went for you.

Summit back to above Gunsight pass = 2.5 miles - 54:32

I made it to the summit in a still conservative pace, keeping my HR at or below 150 the whole time.  And I put a gap of 5 minutes on Craig.  At the top I took some video, and then fumbled in the wind for a couple minutes trying to untangle my headphones.  I realized I had them, after all, thinking I hadn't brought them, and I decided it would be nice to have some tunes on the way down if I was going to be alone for a while anyway.

Passed Craig a few minutes later, and then saw Scott coming up shortly thereafter.  I was surprised to see Scott so close, and really happy for him.  Nice job Scott!   You pushed a great pace up to that summit!

Craig caught me half way down the descent, and I was glad to see him in better spirits.  We pushed together back to the water hole on Anderson pass.  I filled up a bit faster this time and kept going, opening up a small gap.  It was really tough running down this section.  It's a tundra field and there are TONS of rocks.  And they are all super sharp.  It's just not fast going down at all and it beats up your feet pretty good.

But we were moving steady enough, and around through the cutoff back to gunsight I ran past 2 runners coming up.  I recognized Andy Dorais, who Nan and I knew from her days at BYU, and so I stopped to chat with him.  He was running with Kyle Perry, a pro runner for New balance who won the NCAA steeplchase in 2009.  It was cool to catch up with Andy.  And during my stop, Craig caught back up and we all chatted a bit.  As you can see, we were really intensely focused on our time in this race...er...something.

It was funny because Kyle commented that was the farthest he had ever run.  It was about 11 miles in.  And I thought...wow...he's got a tough day ahead of him.  We bid farewell and were off again.

Gunsight to Elkhorn crossing down - 4.43 miles - 42:32 - 9:36/mile

At this point, Craig needed to search for some more water, but I had plenty in my hydration pack so I pressed on.  I just kept my pace locked in at about 150 HR and pushed down the mountain.  It was pretty steady running, but still not super fast.  I really thought I could crank out a bunch of 7:30 miles down this part, but it was just too rocky and hard on the feet.  There were sections where my pace got into the 6's, but then others where it was back up to 10 and 11 min. per mile just because of the terrain.

Elkhorn crossing to Finish - 5.46 miles - 53:50 - 9:52/mile

And the same thing again on this section.  I felt fine.  My legs and most especially my feet were getting tired at this point.  The feet had taken a beating on all the rocks.  But I still thought I could go faster down this section.  But it wasn't the case.  Mentally I was totally content keeping my pace at 150 HR.  And the trail is just too darn rocky to really get a smooth rhythm going.

But nevertheless, I still did this section 5 minutes faster down than up.  I'm pretty sure that every other person in the race and otherwise did this section slower coming down than up.  It's just a long haul through a rocky trail.  And it is also really rolly.  It's not just down hill here, it actually has a bunch of short uphill sections.

But overall I still had plenty of energy and was still well fueled.  And my legs still felt totally fine.  The only thing hurting were my feet, and my left hip a little bit.  So it was not a problem running all the uphills, and I ran every step of the last 10 miles.  In fact, I still felt just as powerful on the uphills as I did in the morning, didn't mind them at all.

Finish Totals: 5:45:42 - 25.41 Miles - Avg HR: 143 - 4637 Feet Ascent - 4637 Feet Descent

So I finished, and felt great.  I didn't feel like I was pushing a very hard effort the last 10 miles, and kept half expecting Craig to catch up to me.  I wouldn't have minded if he did, because I would have enjoyed the company and would have loved it if I had somebody to push me harder through that last section.  As it was I was content at my 150 heart rate and just enjoying the cruise down to the finish.

Not at any point during that race did I not enjoy myself.  Although my feet were pretty tired toward the end, I still found myself really enjoying being out there, and cruising through the mountains.  We had phenomenal sunny weather, and it was just gorgeous out there.y sa

Craig came in 12 minutes later, and I was glad to see him pretty close behind, I figured he wouldn't be far.

We enjoyed relaxing in the river after, and drinking lots of cold fluid.  We packed up our camp and hung out.

I spoke to two other runners who I passed on the trail coming down.  They said they had seen Eric running down earlier, and he looked hashed.  That surprised Craig and I, and made us wonder if he had beaten us after all.  The other two runners said I looked totally fresh compared to Eric.  And I did feel really fresh...I ran past them almost like they were standing still at that point.

So with the unknown of Eric's time, Craig had to keep the cowbell until further review of who the actual winner was.

Later that night I got a text from Craig saying that Eric finished in 6:01.  WHAT?!?  Total surprise to me...with how fast he was at the peak, we were sure he would have slaughtered us.  He really must have blown up or something though, because he was slower going down than he was going up.  But it turns out he did add 2 miles going down because he went around the valley below gunsight instead of taking the cutoff.

I made it to the peak in 3:14, and my descent time was 2:31.  I think Eric said he was at the peak in like 2:55, which puts his descent at 3:06.   Even with the 2 extra miles, its clear that he must have hit a wall or something.

SWEET!!  A WIN FOR ME!  Oh, and you better believe I feel totally accomplished since I beat 3 OTHER PEOPLE!!  No but seriously though, beating Craig is definitely an accomplishment, because he is a very solid mountain runner, with a bunch of solid races this year.  And, beating the faceless ghost is totally awesome!!  I am 100% certain that I could not beat him if something drastic hadn't happened to him at the end, because his pace in his previous races blow mine away.  He beat Craig in the sapper joe 50K by almost an hour, and it wasn't like craig was sitting around, he took 4th that day.  So I will just have to bask in the momentary glory of having beaten him on the 'Quest for Kings' while I can!  Thanks for letting me win Eric!  And so apparently I get the cowbell for the year.  Can't wait for the rematch already!

Goal Review

So how did I do on my goals in this race??  Let's see...

1. Appropriately pace myself to enjoy the entire day. - NAILED IT!!  Don't think I could have possibly paced myself any more even than I did.  And I thoroughly enjoyed the entire race because of it.
2. Properly fuel myself to finish feeling strong like I did at Leadville last week - PERFECT! Thanks again to 1st Endurance and Vespa, I felt energized the entire race.
3. Win the race - HECK YEAH!! Can't believe I actually beat faceless ghost, but 'thems the breaks' I guess.  Too bad he ran 2 extra miles!
4. Finish the course between 5:00-5:15 - Didn't pull that one off - don't really care that much though, as that was my lowest priority goal.  And I'm certain even with the same pace I ran and just not wasting time on the course I could have done it in 5:30.  Next year I can probably go sub 5 if I keep improving my fitness.  That's a TOUGH course though, not to be underestimated at all, even though the ascent vs. mileage numbers don't appear very daunting compared to other courses like north fork.

Conclusion

MOUNTAIN RUNNING IS FUN!!!

(most pictures courtesy of craig)