First off I wanted to thank everyone involved in making this race happen. It was awesome! When deciding what race to do as my first ultramarathon everything pointed towards this race. From all the race recaps I read from prior years this race lived up to all the hype about it being well organized with outstanding aid stations(mini 7-Elevens). As I try to convince others to take that ultramarathon leap I'll be sure to mention this race.
The Race
The first climb was tough and I was surprised to see what seemed like everyone but me cruise up the climb. I had done the first climb with my girlfriend before so it was nice to be somewhat familiar with the course but it still hurt. I remember looking down at my Garmin and seeing 170 which is typical when I race criteriums but never when I trained for this race. I began to wonder what kind of damage the anaerobic effort would do say 10 hours later into my race. I was shocked and a bit nervous to say the least. Once I reached the top I quickly topped off my bottles and kept moving. At this point I was with 4-5 people and holding a good pace until the next climb. I realized on the second climb that I wasn't able to hang on and with 40 miles to go that I should probably pace myself a little better. Now for those of you that don't know...I'm not a runner and my longest run was 18.5 miles back in April. I wasn't fully prepared for this with the exception of being ready to suffer. So the pain came quick and I soon realized I needed back off the pace if I wanted to finish.
The temperature was perfect throughout the day and definitely not too hot. I made it a point to consume one water bottle and one Skratch Labs powder mix in my other bottle between every aid station. It worked out perfect with no cramps or GI issues. I consumed one salt pill per aid station along with a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and half a banana. I was sweating the entire time and had to pee 4-5x so I knew my hydration was spot on.
Back to the race. I cruised through Buffalo Creek and made my way to Meadows for the first time in what I thought was a pretty fast time. I arrived 45 minutes faster than what I calculated in my head prior to the race. I had drop bags at Buffalo Creek and Meadows but didn't grab anything besides my Skratch Labs powder mixes. I tend to overpack anywhere I go so if you looked at my drop bags you might of thought I was spending the night out there. My longest training run was this section around the Meadows aid station so I was glad to be in familiar territory for the next 18 miles. My legs felt heavy but I was mentally ready to push through these sections. I must say the out and back to the Rollings aid station made me nervous because I suffered during my training run....and I suffered even more during the race. It didn't help that there was lightning left and right and I'm a wuss when it comes to lightning. At this point I ran the flat sections, the downhill sections and any small little climb but everything else I power hiked. I was officially in unchartered territory having never done the mileage I had done so I had no clue if I would pop a mile later, 5 miles later or actually finish. I got to Meadows aid station for the final time and well before the 3:45pm cutoff time which I was nervous about leading up to the race and during the early parts of the race. It was a good feeling to come in quicker but reality set in quick realizing I still had 18 miles left! I didn't stay long at this aid station or any aid station for that matter. I always tried to keep it to a couple minutes at most. I was suppose to meet my family and girlfriend here but they got lost and also didn't plan for me to arrive as quick as I did so I left Meadows with little motivation. Bottles filled, still wet from the storm and jogging slowly out of this aid station was a rough lonely moment.
I cruised up to the Shingle aid station passing others along the way. I ran what I could and settled into a power hike during the longer and steeper climbing sections. At this point I was motivated by the fact that I just wanted to finish sooner and not suffer as long so I kept hammering away. I never thought music would get old but after 6-7 hours I was done listening to music. I was perfectly fine listening to me breathe and the distant thunder. Surprisingly my family arrived at the Shingle aid station just as I was about to leave. Luckily I heard them and convinced my sister to accompany me for the last 12 miles. I made it very clear that I'd be doing more hiking than running. We were off on the 5 mile descent to Buffalo Creek aid station one last time. My legs were pretty shot at this point and I couldn't get my heart rate up. I ran the downhill sections that weren't too steep and hiked pretty much everything else. I settled into the "just finish" mode with my sister. She encouraged me to run probably more than I would of but not much. I was simply too tired. I had done most of the second half of the race solo so it was great to have my sister to chat with as I suffered along. I think the lowest of lows was between 44-46 miles for me. I was waiting to feel completely awful around the marathon mark but never got that feeling. I was also expecting something around 35 miles from all the race recaps and articles I read but nothing? The last 5 miles were downhill and I made it my goal to run as much of it as I could no matter how bad it hurt and it f-ing hurt. I knew all along the pain I was going to feel and it was worse. I was able to dig deep and chug along to the base of the first climb I had done 12 hours ago! It was an incredible feeling to know I was minutes away from finishing my first ultramarathon and to see my mom waiting for me half a mile away with cow bells ringing so loud everyone around the lake took notice. She ran with me up to the finish where I was surprised to see friends and more of my family cheering me on to the finish line. Although I was happy to finish I felt like I could of kept going. It was a weird feeling like I just got my second wind and had someone told me at the finish line I had 20 more miles I would of kept going. This goes down as one of the hardest physical efforts I've done and I look forward to improving on this distance but also building up to a 100 mile race. Looking back on all 12 hours (official time 11 hours 57 minutes) I think I got pretty luck with no hydration or food issues, no blisters and no falls. Now it's time to recover and get back to some bike racing before I build on a 100 miler.
Gear List
Brook Cascadia 7 trail shoes, Injinji socks, Recofit compression sleeves, Columbia Omni-zero compression 9" tights, Patagonia trail shorts, The North Face tech shirt, Columbia Omni zero arm sleeves SPF 50, Ulitmate Direction Race Vest, Oakley Radar sunglasses, Columbia Omni zero hat, Columbia Omni zero neck gator SPF 50, Garmin Fenix GPS watch and heart rate monitor, Apple iPod, Yurbud headphones, Skratch Labs hydration powder mix, Nutella.
