First thing's first: didn't take any pictures and highly regret it.
The heavy half is around 15.5 miles that starts on 6th street in downtown and goes on an out and back course up to Mosquito Pass. It follow along a short section of paved road, followed by a longer dirt mining road and eventually to the trail that leads directly to the pass. The trails are in good shape and get more rugged as you approach the peak, but otherwise they were very manageable - no single track.
I had a great time with this race and learned more from it than any other that I have previously done. Most importantly, it was a great preview of the style of running that I can probably expect from an ultra.
The course can be summed up pretty easily: steep as shit. We started out taking an old mining road out of town, and not 15 minutes in I found myself following those around me and walking. Not used to walking during races, so this was a little bit weird at first, but I would end up doing a lot of walking. Lots and lots of walking. The section to the first aid station was around 3 miles, and I tried to keep to a structure of running for about 5 minutes and then walking for 1 minute. This didn't last long though, and I found it made more sense to just walk the steepest parts and then run the others. It was cool to see that walking was actually more efficient, and you didn't end up losing places by doing it. Hit the first aid station and grabbed some gatorade and water.
I picked up a handheld Nathan's water bottle one day prior to this race. Undoubtedly the best decision I made in prep because it saved me throughout.
From station 1 to 2 was a relieving and gorgeous mild downhill that started the actual trail portion. Felt great, went fast. Had people around me talking about not opening up on this part even though it was tempting, so I followed-ish their advice. Station two was the last one before the top of the pass, so I tried to "stock up" - threw two Gu packets in my pocket, filled my bottle with gatorade and threw down some water. Should have grabbed a lot more.
So here started the climb. It was pretty sweet, everyone had this sort of "so it begins" type of moment (most of the people I ran into were also first timers). We took off up the start of the climb and I immediately put into place my newfound walking/running strategy - walk the steep uphills, jog any time you can. This worked for a while until basically running was no longer an option. I looked up and saw the entire field in front me walking, so I happily followed suit. The views on the way up were awesome. Again, I wish I had taken pictures.
The trail got much more rugged as we climbed, and footing more unstable, but all in all it wasn't too bad. My inov-8 230's held up fine. I also used gaiters for the first time and they worked like a charm...didn't get any debris in my shoes. I talking to several guys I saw wearing the NB mt110's, since I am looking into getting a pair, and they all said the shoe held up great to the terrain.
Somewhere close to the top the cramps set in. Calves first, as usual. I had walked most of the way up, but at this point I literally couldn't speed up to a jog due to cramps. Slammed down the Gu and chugged some gatorade. That bought me about 5 minutes and then they came back. I had put one salt stick tab in my handheld from the start, but intelligently brought no more with me. From then on the race was literally only about how to keep myself from cramping.
At the top of the pass, which was beautiful, the aid station saved my ass. Grabbed a handful of pretzels, more Gu, gatorade, and a banana. Started on the way down and felt pretty good, though the cramps slowly started creeping back in and spread to my adductors and hamstrings. Had a good time on the descent and started running into the full marathoners on their way up. My food/water ran out and, again, I counted the time to the aid station so that I could get some salt in me. By this point I was trying to blow up my quads as much as possible since they were holding up well and everything else seemed not to.
Back to station 4 and I was ready to put in some work. The climb was over, everyone around me was hurting and slowing down, and I honestly felt great. Except for the damn cramps. Didn't do much walking on this segment except when I was forced to, but it was a mild uphill to the last aid station. Same dance - handful of pretzels, gatorade, and some water, with a Gu on hand just in case. I hated that I was having to eat so much crap just to keep the cramps away because it starts to weigh on the stomach after a while. Some of those salt sticks would have been pretty clutch.
The last stretch was the 3 mile down hill back to downtown, which wasn't bad at all. It was a delicate balance...speeding up to the sweet spot to where I could catch some people without my legs locking up. But honestly, it was fun seeing how fast you could affect your body with what you put into it, as well as how you changed your stride.
Caught a few people at the finish and came in feeling pretty strong overall, even if ready to completely lock up.
Finish time of 3:08:33. 17th in my age group out of 43. Definite room for improvement.
Looking back I would have definitely done more hiking in prep for this, since that is where the majority of people passed me on the climb. My lungs were completely fine despite the elevation, and all the joints felt perfect for the duration. Where I need improvement is on climbing (that could always use improvement) and calf strength, although those should improve mutually. My legs are probably the strongest they have been right now and I think they did pretty well.
What really held me back was the electrolyte issue. I have definitely learned my lesson in this area and I will know exactly how to handle it next time. Honestly this was the most fun part for me...trying to find the balance with what you put in your body simply so that it can keep performing. You mess up and crash, then fix it and get yourself 10 more minutes down the road. It's a really cool physicality I haven't experienced in races before that makes things a hell of a lot more interesting. When I finished I just wanted to push it more.
Lessons learned:
- When in doubt, walk!
- Respect the race, respect the trail. Don't underestimate what you need to bring with you, and err on the side of bringing too much with you rather than too little.
- Salt, salt, salt. Saves lives.
- Go out slow.
- Take pictures.
- Spend more time walking uphills during training.
Awesome race and race series. The crew is the shit, and you get two free beers. Now its time for a 50k.
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