That was rough. Detailed report later this week on my blog.
Start fine, ran near Phil Lowry for first 3.6. On Chinscrapper climb, I discovered I lacked strength on the steep climbs. That would be the case for the entire race. However, I could run strong on any mild uphill. Go figure.
Reached top of Chinscraper 12 minutes slower than last year. Got some time back running 7-minute miles down to Francis Peak aid. After Bountiful B, delayed another 10 minutes visiting the bushes. Now, clearly running in mid pack, it was easy to run passed anyone. But it was fun to run with friends I usually don't ever see.
Got to Big Mountain (mile 39.4) nearly an hour slower than last year. Another 10 minutes in the bathroom and 10 minutes to change shoes, etc. Last year I only had a two minutes top.
Wow! Now with Hokas on, I was flabergasted how fast I could run (with the exception of steep uphills). The difference was dramatic. I could really blast down the trail and no longer pick around the rocks. By the time I rached Alexander aid station, I had passed 23 runners (I counted them) I passed several more before Lambs. I was back in the game. Somehow I made it up the next steep climb and then really flew. I ran up the Millcreek road very fast, passing another dozen runners.
But, as usual, after Millcreek, my stomach shut down, and I had to back way off. Why? Hard run up the road? Temperature shift and longish stop at the aid? Altitude? Don't know. Next time I won't even stop there. Near Dog Lake, I finally went on a side trail away from all the runners passing me, so I could rest in peace, laying on the ground. I did this twice more before Desolation Lake. When I came out of the woods after the last cat nap, I discovered that I was now running back with the runners who I had passed eight hours earlier. Pretty depressing.
I had bacon with me, and that helped. At Desolation Lake, the Coke tasted great, a good sign. But as I sat by the fire, my body started to go through recovery, so I jumped up and knew I needed to get going again. On the way up to the ridge, I sat down with another runner, also having stomach problems. I joked with people as they passed, inviting them to join our party by the side of the trail. Just a pitty party of two guys trying not to puke their guts out.
Finally, on top of the ridge, I pulled out of it. I started to run very fast, again passing runners. I looked at my Garmin and my pace at the time was 7:30. I felt great. At Scotts, I only stopped for a couple minutes and saw Paul Grimm there, who I had passed 30 miles earlier. When I left, I told the runners around who were all walking, "It is time to run!" I then sprinted off, feeling much better.
I got into Brighton three hours later than I hoped, and had a long stop, changing some clothes to solve a chafing problem.
The climb up to Point Supreme was bad. I just couldn't handle steep climbs. But once over the top, I lead a group of runners to Ant Knolls. There, I enjoyed pancakes and sausage. The haul climb was pathetic and very hard. But once on top of the ridge after I recovered, I flew again, feeling great, singing and clocking better than 8-minute miles, sprinting into the Pole Line Pass aid station. They invited me to stop and sit, but I refused. I was on a high and wasn't going to lose it.
But all the steep climbs to Rock Springs eventually took the wind out my sails and I knew I could no longer realistically beat 30 hours, so I went into cruise control the rest of the way. The dust in my shoes tore my feet up, but I didn't stop and just grinded it out to the finish with very painful feet.
I had highs, and lows. But it was a finish, and this year is all about 100-mile finishes for me. My lack of strength on steep uphlls is probably due to running 100 miles just 13 days before. So I didn't let it bug me. | 