Mt Si Ultra - 50M Fast Training Run

Fast training run accomplished. I got in a pretty good / fast 40 miler and then the wheels fell off. That's ok and was somewhat expected. My plan was to run on tired legs (check), and see how fast I could run. My training wasn't what I had planned for last week as I had to go out of town for a few days and couldn't get in the miles I wanted - so I was a bit more rested by Sunday. I started out slow at first then gradually picked it up. After making my first of two pit stops, I had some time to make up to catch the group which seemed to be running sub-7 hours. I figured that pace was as good as any knowing I could run a 3:30 marathon and fade badly with the best of them.

I used to really hate the beginning of this course as it seemed to go on forever. Now I miss it as the "good" trail was shortened a few years ago and the climb now has increased by over 5 miles. Don't get me wrong, I love the climb, but the down hill after the climb is now about 10 miles - not pleasant on the joints - or quads if you're weak in that area.

By the 10 mile turn around, I finally caught the group of about 5 runners (Charles Crompton, Alex Swenson, Sam Thompson, Brock Gaverly, and ?). As we rounded the turn, which also was a water station, I passed them all and kept going. After some taunting form Charles I moved on. I started to notice that I was really moving too fast ... probably from trying to catch them for so long, so I slowed a bit and hoped they would bring their group up to me. Eventually, I started getting stomach pangs again and picked it up a bit to get to the 18+ miles porta potty. I was in and out and saw Charles up ahead (back of the pack now) as I walked back to the road. Now I would try and "slowly" catch those in front of me. I caught Charles within a couple of miles and just as we were merging with the back of the 50k pack. I was trying to pay attention to those in the 50k while focusing on Brock and Sam ahead of me. So sorry if I missed some of you as I went by.

This section up to mile 24+ is flat-flat and I was moving very fast. It was tough trying to hold myself back as I could seen Brock and Sam the whole time. I caught them right as we started the climb. I was content to run with the two of them but Brock decided to push the pace. I picked it up some but as I saw Brock just pull away like I was standing still, I got "somewhat" smart about my pace. Sam dropped back at that point. At what used to be the top, Rattlesnake, I wasn't feeling all that good (tired, not nausea). I took the opportunity at the 29 mile aid station to put it in a lower gear for the next 5.5 mile climb.

I walked a bit around the turns to where we got onto a different trail and started out slowly. I was tired but promised myself that I would walk "after" Kirby went by. It took what seemed like forever for him to come by on his return trip, which was an indication of how fast I was going. I knew he was running at a low 6 hour pace as he had Bruce Hoff on his butt early on and he would be pushing it. Jim came by along with Mark Hartinger who was crewing him and I thought just for a second about walking. I didn' t need to so I continued on. A few more 50 mile runners came by and I finally walked a short bit (about 20 yards). That was enough to give my legs a rest so that I could continue on at a better pace. I continued on and saw the lead 50K runners, then more 50 miler runners (Alex was looking strong on his way down), then some more 50K runners including Tim and Kendall. I asked Kendall how far, to see if I should walk, and he told me about a half mile so I didn't need to walk - LIAR! ;-) OK, it probably was half a mile but seemed further. I saw Brock, who had just passed Larry Abrahm (a super fast 57 year old - Eric take notes: you're young). Larry was a bit miffed that we had this unplanned steep downhill, which of course we had to climb back up. He said something about "someone's sick joke up a head." I ran down the hill, which really hurt - and told myself "there's no way I'm running the climb as tempting as it was."

I used the opportunity to stretch the legs with some good power walking and readied myself for the downhill. This was good and bad. The good was that I flew down the first long section. The bad was that my hips hurt too much to do more than a walk-jog on the next 5 mile downhill section. Anyway, I saw Van who I think was the next one after Sam behind me. She had just passed Charles (who, by the way is 59 - Eric take notes).

As I said, I flew down this section and felt like I had new life in my legs. I could tell that I would be paying for this later and even could hear Glenn (obviously sitting on my shoulder talking into my ear), telling me to slow down. It was fun seeing everyone again - a lot of the 50k runners and all of the 50 mile runners who were behind me. I gave out high fives and really enjoyed encouraging others. Just before I got to the bottom of this section, I could already tell that my hips weren't going to be able to do that for another 5 miles.

"Look, fresh legs!"

~ Photo by Eric Barnes

As I passed the relay exchange point at Rattlesnake, I saw the Maple Valley team (who I run with when I have a chance to) and the MM team. The first thing they said was, "Where's Van?" Hey, Van doesn't always beat me ;-) I told them she was doing fine and was about 15 minutes behind me - although in retrospect, I think it was 25 - 30 minutes at that time and closed the gap from then on.

Into the next aid, which was just around the corner, I saw Marty and Chris Fagen who were there to see Van - "Hey, where's Van? Did we miss her already?" No really, Van doesn't ALWAYS beat me. I told them she would be along soon enough. Marty filled my water bottle and I told him to take longer so I could put off starting again.

40 miles complete: This was the "end" of my race as it were. I walked out of the aid station, gritted my teeth, and started jogging the next downhill section. Nothing much to say here but that I hurt all the way down this section. I took 3 or 4 walk breaks which were the "light post to light post" variety as far as length. I also lost a couple of minutes talking with Junghi (sp?) from the MM team who was confused on where she was supposed to be running. That actually made my legs feel really good when I restarted but I don't like to just stand still - need that "relentless forward progress" or the time really adds up.

To the bottom and less than 6 miles to go. The self serve water station was out of water and I felt bad for those behind me who are less a camel than I. I crossed the street and worked on getting to the barn.

The next section for me was an attempt for me to keep jogging and keeping the walking to a minimum. I told myself to jog to the first street crossing before walking. The crossing came early so I kept running to the next one. Just as I crossed, Sam came crusing by. No chance to stay with him and he ended up putting 8 or 9 minutes on me. Walking didn't feel that great so it was minimal and I told myself I could walk again at what used to be the last aid station - now a self serve water station. I went through a crowd of relay teams who gave encouragement. I didn't stop at the aid nor walk but continued on at my sluggish pace. I finally stopped and walked the last time just before the bridge. From there, I picked up the pace a bit to the finish.

I was somewhat surprised to be under 7:30, my "no slower than" goal. I had hopes of running under 7:20 before race day and wasn't too far off with a 7:24. My last 10 miles were 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a miles slower than the fist 40 miles I estimate. Had I maintained my 40 mile avereage, I would have finished 15-20 minutes sooner. All good information to see where my training is and to know how tired my legs were pre-race.

The 12 summits run from last week didn't seem to have an adverse affect on me as my quads were fine the whole way. Everything else from my back, hips, and on down hurt though. I got hot spots on my feet again but after inspection, no blisters. This is the first time I wore road shoes for this race and probably the last time as well. I don't usally get hot spots or blisters in trail shoes.

Well, short recover for the next couple of days then back to it in earnest. *tc