North Olympic Discovery Marathon

I barely slept Saturday night. A few things were haunting me: First was a comment several Maniacs made after the Ultra when I said I was going to run the NODM. The gist of the comments was that it was a tough course and would be a challenge following a short but hilly ultra. Yikes. The other thing keeping me awake was the fact I barely ate following Saturday’s run. I have a hard time eating after marathons and even though I made a huge effort, I just couldn’t get much down. A major bonk during the marathon would be disastrous. I ended up rolling out of bed at 5 even though the race started at 9. I tried to eat breakfast and managed a cup of coffee and half a cliff bar. When I looked out the window I saw enormous black clouds billowing up to the west, but stuck to my initial plan of wearing my red Brooks short sleeve tech shirt, black running skirt, black hat, double diamond studs, Brooks Adrenaline 6GTS in copper and my watch. My goal time was 6 hours and I was planning to run my opening miles with 5 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking until the legs warmed up. I was surprised that my legs didn’t feel tight at all as I walked to the start line. In fact, they felt quite good and even had some spring in them. I saw Lydenruner just in time to give him a big hug and wish him well on his BQ quest. Then I caught sight of one of my favorite Maniacs, Little Leslie. The NODM was the last of a 7 marathons in 7 weeks streak for her so we decided to start off together, knowing we would both be slow. As soon as the race started, someone dropped a full bottle of red energy drink and both Leslie and I were drenched from the knees down in sticky liquid. Then some guy in the back started running up my heels and even clipped my Achilles a time or two before he bumped me and passed in a huff. With all the commotion at the start, I forgot to turn on my watch so decided to pretend it was a no-tech run. At mile two I did an all systems check. My legs were fine, heart rate low, energy high. We passed Mr. Dove at mile 8. He wanted to be there in case I decided the marathon was too much, but after seeing the ease in which I was running, he knew I’d make it to the finish. Leslie and I were running well, too well for significant walk breaks and limited them to walking through the aid stations. The half way point came quickly, and with it the rain and head wind. The sticky stuff was washed from our legs and replaced with mud as we splashed along. The course started climbing and descending, with some of the descents so steep and slippery I was afraid of falling. Mile 20 I was still feeling great although the fear of bonking was always on my mind. At mile 23 I decided to speed up and get out of the dang wind/rain combo as fast as I could, but Little Leslie started to drop off the back. Finishing together was more important than finishing a few minutes faster, so I dropped my pace back down and waited for her to catch up. We crossed the line in 4:50:02.

The double weekend ended up being much easier than I thought possible. The soft trails of the ultra left my legs undamaged and the marathon was challenging enough that I didn’t slip into boredom (my nemesis). I can’t wait for my next challenge, I just have to decided what that will be. One thing I do know, this distance stuff suits me.

Lake Youngs Ultra

My last few marathons have left me with plenty of energy left at the end and an urge to go just a little bit farther. Stepping up to ultras seemed like the next logical step and gave me a new goal to focus on. There was a slight problem though: I didn’t have anyone to go on long trail runs with me. I have access to plenty of great trails, but several deaths and disappearances in our local forests in the past year or two was good reason to avoid training solo. What I needed was a fairly easy ultra I could run as an introduction to the sport. I was delighted when a fellow Maniac suggested the Lake Youngs Ultra, just an hour from my house and covering 29 miles in 3 loops. It sounded perfect. I could run 1 lap, 2 laps or if I felt really great, I could run all three. To make things even better, there was only 900 feet of elevation gain. With all that in mind, I sent in my entry.
Several weeks later, some friends started chatting about the North Olympic Discovery Marathon. The word on the street was that the NODM was flat, fast and incredibly scenic, run mostly on bike trails. OK, this one sounded like a must do, so I sent in my entry. This presented a challenge, however, because the NODM was the day following the Lake Youngs Ultra. I decided I was up for the challenge. I would probably run just one loop of Lake Youngs and I’d still get in a June marathon which was my primary focus. As the weeks went by, I started daydreaming about actually completing the full distance of both runs. It would be sweet to “do a double” and earn my 4 star Maniac status. Daydreams soon turned into goals and goals into training plans….

Saturday Morning: Lake Youngs Ultra

I woke at 4 a.m. to the sound of light rainfall. I dressed in a butter yellow coolmax t-shirt, black running skirt, black hat, Brooks Adrenaline 6GTS road shoes and double diamond studs. I decided to go no-tech (no watch or GPS) and run by feel. I arrived at Lake Youngs and immediately noticed a calmer, more laid back crowd than I’ve seen at marathons. 5 minutes before the start people started gathering around a white chalk line in the grass, kind of in a huddle. A few announcements were made and then the race director said “doesn’t anyone want to line up in front? No? Ok, then, I guess you can go now” and off we went, up a slight rise then plunging down a steep gravel hill. I did a little side step to avoid a pile of fur where some poor animal met its demise the night before. I kept my pace slow and my heart rate down as we made our way up and down the undulating course. At that moment I realized there was a 900 foot elevation gain PER LAP, 2,700 feet overall, oh well, I’d manage. The runners started spreading out and soon I was all alone. I lost track of time and distance, but it didn’t matter because I felt like I was ten again, racing through the woods looking at plants and searching for animals. There was a light drizzle, just enough to make everything smell so fresh and alive. Before long I found myself back at the start (now the aid station) and was surprised to see fellow runners milling about, eating cookies and fruit, talking on cell phones, and making clothing changes. Eventually one of these runners would get a determined look on their face and off they would go, down the trail for another lap. I wanted to fit in so I milled about awkwardly. The race director filled my water bottle, I grabbed a few cookies, did my best to don that determined look and shot off down the trail. Lap two was a bit slower as I added more walk breaks in an effort to conserve energy for Sunday. When I hit the aid station the second time around, I was a pro. I milled with the best of them, made a phone call, ordered up my bottle refill, made that determined face, and took off down the trail just in time for a heavy down pour. For a brief minute I thought about turning around, going back to the aid station and grabbing my rain jacket. I’m a true PNWer though, and decided to embrace the rain on my skin, letting it trickle down my back and drip into my eyes. The sound of the rain falling on leaves was like a metronome that set the cadence of my footfalls the last 10 miles. I crossed over the chalk-line in the grass in 5:45. I couldn’t believe I had been out there that long. I changed into dry clothes, gave Barefoot Jon a big hug and headed off for the marathon expo in Port Angeles.

Next: Sunday Morning, North Olympic Discovery Marathon