50K plus 50K <> 100 miles

Did I say 100 miles ... I meant 100K.

Chuckanut 50K:
Well, things mostly went as planned for this run. My plan was to start and hard to see how much I recovered, or didn't recover, from last weeks 12 summits run.

I pushed it as I would if I were racing, and it were dry out. My legs immediately reminded me that they were tired. I talked with Mike Burke, Tim Stroh, and some others early on and then had to come to a complete stop in order to slow down ... a hill provided an excuse to walk and let others go.

The first aid station is also my usual potty stop on this course. I stopped and took my time. Someone hollered at me as I came out saying, "Tony, you don't get that 3 minutes you spent in there taken off your time." Not sure who that was as my glasses had long fogged up and were rendered useless to me.

The next section starts the first big climb and I followed some and let others pass. This section should have been easy as I was holding back but my legs were asking why I was running 12 summits AGAIN! I walked a bit slower than normal and finally climbed out the top. The trails were soaked, as was I, and the going was slow. This allowed my legs to recover as I wanted them to, for the next climb up the road. Eric Barnes and Steve Stoyles caught me in this section and we passed each other back and forth until we got to the bottom chin scraper, probably about 12 miles or so later.

When we got to aid station 2, I filled my water bottle and started walking the road in earnest. I walked-jogged on up, yo-yoing back and forth with several runners. We finally got to a point where I knew I could run to the end fairly easily without stopping. I continued on, barely stoppig at the aid station. I had to get through the technical section as quickly as possible. It was really slow through this section but I stayed ahead of most for about half the distance - then the throng came through. I moved aside and let them by. Got to the end FINALLY and headed down to the slop of mud that awaited us all.

This section was not pleasant at all. The mud made it difficlut to go slow (too much slopping around) and took a lot of energy to go faster - using a lot of stabalizing muscles. As I felt my energy starting to drain, I was reminded of the tough climb ahead. I took out 2 GUs, which is unusual for me. I took the first and held the other in my hand so that I wouldn't forget to eat it before climbing chin scraper. There was a brief downhill before the climb and even more passed by me. I moved steadily toward the monster and took a deep breath. I shot up the first incline with an umph! I moved well and started picking up momentum and speed. I saw others running the short flats and slight downs at the beginning of chin scraper and I held back, continuing to walk. If I were in racing form, I would have run that whole section; but I knew that the running would just make me tired and I wanted to get through the climb quickly and without expending a lot of energy. I did and passed several people on the climb, cresting at the top a lot sooner than I thought I would have.

I went through the aid station quickly again. I felt good and let it rip on the downhill that was before me. I held back just a bit so that I wouldn't be completely thrashed. To the bottom and into the last aid station in no time. I topped off my water once again and ate some fruit as the runners I had just passed, left me behind. There were 7 or 8 runners just right ahead of me and I would stay behind them to hold me back. The running seemed easy and soon I found myself wanting to get ahead to those I could see. I took the one hill opportunity to gain some ground as the others walked it and I slogged up it. I passed them one by one, never looking back, and eventually started to see others off into the distance. I continued on strongly and passed more. Passed Manic Steve Yee in the little single track trail section just before the road crossing (about 29.5 miles into the race). Continued on and could see a few tiny specs - other runners, on ahead. As I drew nearer and nearer, I could see the next guy looking back. I knew he was too far out for me to pursue but he kept looking. I was running at my own pace now - strong and just looking to finish. To the last turn and he looked again. Down the home stretch and the guy looked for the last time. I had no intention of trying to sprint at this point. What for?

My clothes were sopping wet so I changed really quickly and went in to get some food. Just as I was getting up to get some more, Arthur and Shawn came into the room. I was really surprised to see them. They must have smoked the course. As I found out, Shawn had run a 15 minute PR and King Arthur cut nearly an hour off is previous best. Wow! And we weren't finished for the day.

We finally got fed, changed, packed up and headed south.


PacRim 50K:
Well, as you can see from this sections title, I only got through 50K of PacRim. I was just not having fun and didn't see the point of continuing on. My legs feel better today (Monday) than they did after the 12 summits run last week ... that tells me I didn't push the running too hard yet I have enough leg to do the distance. Both good things with the WSU 100K looming out there in 2 weeks.

My plan was to try and get to Longview by 7:00 pm and see if I could get in 69 miles to give me 100 miles for the day. The last time I attempted this double, I got started at 8:30 pm and was able to get in 60 miles.

We had a terrible commute but a great commute! The weather sucked and traffic was bad, but Shawn and Arthur made the time fly as we ragged on one another and discussed the race we had just run. We ended up leaving Bellingham before 3:00 pm but got to Longview at 7:20 and started at about 7:30. By then, I was hoping 50 miles was doable without too much struggle.

I started out smooth, feeling fresh with the 6 hour rest between races. I figured I'd get the kinks and extra energy out in the first 5 miles but felt good through 15 miles, so I just kept going. Slow but steady I spun the loops. At 15, I decided I would find someone to talk to in order to give me a reason to slow down a bit. It was fun catching up with Eb Englemann. He kept me entertained for almost 3 loops when I decided I was getting too cold to continue with him. There had been a light drizzle for about 10 of my first miles but now it was just cool. I changed my shirt to a dry version (still not cold enough to wear a jacket or gloves, which was nice). I grabbed a mocha frappachino and drank it down. I had to sit for a minute as it didn't go down too well. Started up again and let the gases flow. I had success with this method of caffeine to stay awake in 100 milers but would find out this was not going to work running at the "speed" I could go on the flats. I kept on hoping that the feeling would eventually go away and finally determined to get to an ultra (27 miles) then walk again. I got to 25 ok but on my 26th lap, I was spewing bile and frappachino as I ran. I didn't want to stop, so I kept going but my body made me stop as more started to come up, this time with a furry. Ha, for those who think peeing on the run is a talent, try puking on the run! I got it all out and finished my 26th lap. I pretty much had to walk jog my 27, rinsed my mouth out, then started walking again with Shawn and Arthur. Shawn had revised her goal to 44 miles (75 miles for the day) which sounded good to me - not necessarily doable even though I had 8 1/2 hours left to get in another 17 miles. I walked the one lap and decided I would run to my 50K and afterwards, go lay down in my car. I laid down and fell promptly to sleep. Arthur, who was 3 miles behind and was not really considering more than a 50K anyway, came into the car what seemed like a minute later. I said, "That was pretty quick," to which he responded, "not really. it was 45 minutes - we were walking the whole time." Shawn was still 2 miles behind at that point. I fell back to sleep for another minute when Shawn came into the car. "30 minutes and I'm back out," says she. She had completed her 50k and was going to take a nap. All of the sudden I could hear Shawn whispering, "Arthur, Arthur ... you're snoring." "No I'm not," says he. Dudes, he was sawing some serious logs. The only reason I didn't say anything is because I figured I was doing the same. Anyway, Shawn took some more time to nap and it eventually started raining hard outside. We couldn't go out now! In fact, I was afraid I'd get too cold going out at all ... I wanted my supplies to magically jump into the car so I wouldn't have to go out. I asked Shawn if she was going to go out again and she said, "Maybe for a mile so I can get one more than you." She didn't go and we decided to pack up and GET OUT OF DODGE! Who's idea was it to go down there anyway ;-)

So we were off. Shawn and I went to pick up our prize - Fred makes us complete at least a 50K before we can pick up our shirts. We waited a while Fred woke up long enough to find our "prizes." By the time we had come back to our gear, it had magically climbed into the car. I guess Arthur was ready to leave. I was extremely grateful for that ... ready to drive home. As I walked to Fred's motor home and back, I noted that I still felt sick and wouldn't really be able to walk much anyway.

I am still struggling a bit with the fact that I didn't make it to at least 50 miles at PacRim ... but I'll get over it.

On to home:

Shawn made bagels and cremed cheese for the ride home. I was uncertain still of what I could eat and had plain, plain bagels. The drive home was uneventful. I drove while the others slept. We were back to Shawn's truck by 7. I got home by 7:30, showered and was in bed by 8:00 am. My wife was ready for me to get up by 10:00 as she needed to get her words in. She talked and applied make-up while I slowly let the grog get out of my head. By 11:00, I was dressed and off to go grocery shopping with the wife.

I was queezy for most of the day. I ate breakfast just before going shopping; lunch at about 3:00 pm - still feeling sick; then finally felt good after eating dinner.

I guess I got enough sleep. Now for a bit of rest, some good mileage for a week or so, and off to the next race.