Pocatello 50+ (53 Miles) 09:22:38, Place overall: 7
Slow miles
Fast miles
Total Distance
0.00
53.00
53.00
I SURVIVED MY FIRST 50 MILE RACE!!
(barely)
Actually, the race turned out amazing, it was the 2 hours right after I finished that were a bit shaky...literally. I couldn't get my core temp down and was progressively getting more lightheaded and numb in the extremities. I was shaking like I was freezing, but was hot. I knelt over a fire-pit ready to lose my fluids when a guy came over and lost it 2 feet away. It was splashing up into my face. I had to leave the scene quickly. I went over to a hose and sprayed myself down, but apparently the shock of that cold water put me into a worse state. I told Joe to get Luke (Race Director who happens to be a Physican's Assistant) and he immediately took me to the med trailer for an IV and ice packs. Here I was over an hour after I had finished and I was panting like a dog and almost completely numb. Help! At least I was in good company as the guy sitting next to me was none other than Ty Draney winner of the 50K race. At least everyone was suffering together. What about Joe you ask? Didn't he run too, how is he doing? Well, he was doing great by that point as he already did his "recovery" on course. It took him 2 hours to cover the final 5 miles of the course. It sure takes a while to walk to the next tree, puke, walk to the next tree, etc. Yep, everyone suffered out there. Did I mention it was hot?
In-spite of all the suffering, I really can't complain a bit. I ran out of my head. I loved almost every minute of the 9.5 hours I was out there. Sure, it was hot. The mountains were steep etc. That is what a trail race is all about.
I started the race at the end of the Karl Meltzer train. I was quickly being sucked into a fast pace set by the big boys and I decided to back off and run my own pace. I was within a stones throw of Joelle Vaught (P50 course record holder and she just won the Lake Sanoma 50 in April). I noticed I was getting dropped by her on the uphills and I would easily close the gap on the downhills. I decided to chill and hang by her as I knew she would run a steady race. We chatted and passed the time until the big climb at mile 11. My 24 minute split while climbing 1200' was slow enough to get dropped by her and get passed by 2 others. Hmm, maybe I am not so good at climbing. Maybe I was merely conserving energy. After the big hill, I dropped Chris Cawley who had caught up to me as well (I was now in 11th) and cruised the downhill into City Creek Aid. I caught and re-passed all but 1 who passed me on the uphill. I hit city creek aid in 2:40. A whole 20 mins faster than the snow year in 2010 and about 15 mins ahead of my expected pace. Whoops. I felt great and pretty fresh so I didn't worry too much about it. Maybe a little.
The climb out of city creek was a brutal grunt of a climb. The trails gets steeper and steeper until you can barely hike up it. I had another 23 minute split climbing another 1000'. I still wasn't pushing too hard, though I don't think I could have gone much faster anyways. I got dropped again by the usual crowd. At the top, I got my legs back under me and slowly picked it up for the long descent into Mink creek. I had 2 from the lead pack come back to me plus I almost caught Joelle again (based on reports). I was about a mile from the Aid station when I even passed Matt Hart. What? I am cruising. I think I was even in 5th place at that point. Unreal! I hit the aid at mink creek at 5:27. I was still 20 mins ahead of schedule and was now looking at a realistic shot at breaking 10 hours. I didn't really think that was possible and was really shooting for a 10:30 as a realistic 'A' goal.
Now things were heating up. Literally. The nice cloud cover and breeze we had enjoyed was long gone. It was heating up into the mid 80's and no trees or clouds to give shade. No sweat (he he), 4.5 hours to cover 20 miles with only a 3200' climb in the way. It's in the bag. Up the mountain I went. I found myself walking more than usual. I was also wandering off trail to dunk my head in streams and horse troughs. The cool bliss only lasted a few mins as the water would evaporate all too quickly. I was caught and passed by 2 guys again (because it was uphill of course). Matt Hart even caught back up and he RAN every step of that climb (that I could see). Joelle had built her lead to over 10 mins again too. That is ok, because I was on a race with the clock and I was going to kill it!
The top of Scout Mountain (8600') had finally arrived and the views were amazing. Its too bad it was a race and I couldn't relax and enjoy it because we were soon falling off the cliff heading down. My feet were not happy with being bashed into the front of my shoes and they complained with every step (3 blisters and 2 bloody toenails). It finally leveled off that I could at least run normally so I took advantage. I blasted down the hill and was passing 50K and 20 mile runners left and right. I was having a blast. I caught and passed Joelle right before the final aid at mile 47.5. I looked at my watch and almost started jumping up and down. I had an hour to run 5.5 miles to break 9:30! There is only a couple hundred foot climb in the way, no big deal.
It was a big deal as the climb was actually 600'. Never believe aid station propaganda. They lie. First they make you run down an asphalt road that has been baking in the sun then they make you run up a ski run. Cruel. This is the stretch where Joe almost died. I can see why. I watched my Garmin tick over 50 miles and I was still 3 miles from the finish. I knew the race was 53 miles but that still is a punch to the gut. I was just over a mile to the finish and cruising the downhill when I saw a person lying in the shade under a tree. I looked closely at him and recognized the beard (who wears a beard in the summer?). It was joe! He was supposed to be done an hour ago. I yelled at him to get up and walk it in. He did just that, so I left him to the vultures and finished my race. I did feel bad about leaving him but a nice lady from the 20 mile race carried him to the finish (not literally). I was going to beat 9:30 AND Joelle. I was so stoked.
That brings me to the rest of the story with me almost dying and all that drama. Was it worth it? You bet! Would I have changed my race in any way? No. Well, I might have lain down in the creeks for a few more minutes, but that is it.
T- (garmin) - 9:22:40 (10:36) 11,200' vert (sport tracks) ~12,000' reported on website
Very easy miles today on nice trails. Great to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Lots of bikers out there with me this afternoon. Oh, and the water was off. I was counting on it and it was dry. Lame.
I wanted to break my course PR on this hilly loop today so I pushed it hard. Its amazing how hard 6-7 min pace feels after running so many slow miles lately. I beat my previous record by 3 mins. It was set in March of 2010. I think it is still a bit soft.
PM: Jardine Juniper with Joe. Did the upper loop twice to get 11 miles. I did my best to hang with joe on the downhills, but he smoked me over the last 100m.
I have signed up for the Bear 100 and today was day 1 of the course recon. Ok, so I ahve the course memorized already and I have already run the whole course at least 2 times (minus a few tiny sections that I covered today). There is no need to run it anymore, but the trails are great and I can't reason why not. Plus, I was able to show Joe Richards Hollow. I couldn't believe that he had never run it. Its on my list of top 5 best trails in Cache County.
So, today we ran from Right Hand Fork to the Waterfall in Richards Hollow then turned around and ran back. The only problem with the plan was that I wasn't able to leave until 10:30 so we didn't start running until 11. So, needless to say we got in some heat training. I really don't like the heat and 80+ degrees is too hot to run.
Course - Up Ricks Canyon down to Cowley Aid up to the top of Richards and down to the waterfall. Out in 2:00. Back in 1:57
Note: Jon and I did this run in June 2010 and Joe and I ran it faster today, despite the heat.
I am in San Antonio for work this week. My meetings didn't start until 9am so I was able to have plenty of time to go exploring my hotel's neighborhood. I scouted out a nice location (via google earth) that looked fun to explore. It was 4 miles away, but promised dirt trails and some hills. I ran there and discovered it was an Army Base. No trespassing all over. Warnings of unexploded mines and artillery etc. I guess I didn't see the barbed wire on Google Earth. I had to settle for running on the weeds they call grass on the side of the road.
At least I did get to see the Alamo and Eat at The County Line for some serious ribs and sausage, and grits, and chicken, and more ribs. Still burping up the ribs and I ate there LAST NIGHT. Definitely better the first time.
T- 1:43:30 (7:58) 500' vert (75 degrees and 90% humidity) at 6am. Yuck
Jardine Juniper with Drew (yep I actually ran with someone else). First time all year. It was nice to have company as Joe is out of town today. Both Drew and I are running Logan Peak next week so we kept it short and sweet. I was home by 9am! Jardine with 2 extra laps at the top. Drew will be a nice addition to the running crew. He is planning on the Bear next year just like Joe. Going to be a sweet year.
T- 1:51:40 (8:55) 2200' vert
** Crappy week running-wise but its really hard to fit it in when you are busy from 7am to 10pm then have to catch up on emails and work stuff before bed. Long days.
Today was my last chance workout before Logan Peak Race this weekend. I decided to go for a course PR. I went hard from the start and it paid off. 36:30 to the top, 25:18 down.
This year it was the race of champions! We had the winners from the last 4 years all there to determine the champion of champions. Spoiler alert! I didn't win....not a big surprise there. Seth Wold won in a flat 4 hours. Amazing. Only 9-ish mins back from him, Joe (Predog) took second place honors (for the third year in a row). Only a few mins back from him, Mr. I had to bum a plane ticket (to get to the race) off Dale (Dale is AWESOME) Jon Allen. Thanks for nothing Dale, having Jon there pushed me off the podium. Some friend you are! Still, I was happy with my 4th place finish though as I managed to squeak under my course record (it was 4:22:52). That makes 3 4th place finishes and 1 win. Still, PR is a PR! Special congrats to my running buddies as they both did sweet!
Anyway, that is cliff notes version. The blow by blow will take more mental energy than I can give right now....to be continued.
A few boring details... (actually, very boring commentary this time...)
Lets see, Seth, Joe, Jon, Neil, Drew and I were the lead pack. By the time we hit the mouth of Dry Canyon Seth was already off the front. Neil went after him and the rest of us took it easier.
Joe led the chase group up the the canyon at a steady pace. After a couple of miles, I got antsy and took up pacing duties. I was pushing pretty hard. Probably too hard, but it felt good to push it. We dropped Jon in here. Hit the first aid in 57:30. (5 mins under course record pace but 2 mins behind Seth/Neil.
The next 7 miles were rolling but with a net climb of 900'. No sign of Seth/Neil until the aid where we nearly caught Neil. Jon caught up in this section. Joe and Jon pulled away from Drew and I by 100m or so. We were still a tad under course record pace, but we gave back a few mins.
The section from Aid 2 to the peak was a newly cut forest service road. Much smoother and perfectly graded to keep a steady trot up the mountain. This section was much easier this year. Too bad my climbing legs were gone. I was quickly falling back from Jon and Joe, but managed to nearly catch Neil and was able to drop Drew.
Tagged the tower -2:36:45 (ahead of pace still)
It took a few miles to get the legs moving. I was barely managing 7-7:30 pace downhill. Not great. I was able to squeak by Neil as he was struggling. Now I was in 4th, but Jon and Joe were long gone. I was hoping to get things going on North Syncline Trail, but the opposite happened. I continued to slow down. I was losing about a minute per mile to my course record pace. I was all alone and in a bad place mentally. Didn't care anymore. Just keep moving. Didn't care how slow.
A stop at the final aid station helped with the motivation. I downed 2 cups of coke and poured a cup of water on the head. Lets get moving again. Too bad the legs wouldn't cooperate. I really wanted the Hokas for the final stint down Dry Canyon. Oh well, I did the best I could and got 'er done. Considering my training, I am very satisfied with this race. I wish I could have felt better, but I will take it!
Stats for the fellow nerds....
T-4:19:48
7261' vert (advertised), measured at 6500' (SportTracks), 7170' (Garmin Connect)
