Poor planning on my part had me heading to the little town of Snoqualmie for a 50k trail race early Sunday morning. Poor planning because I thought an ultra would be the perfect way to cap off my 100 day challenge and I had 2 to choose from for the weekend: the Lumberjack in Port Gamble on Saturday, or Mt. Si on Sunday. I
miscounted my days and picked Mt. Si thinking it would fall on my 100th day. As the conclusion to the 100 day challenge neared, I realized my mistake but decided to stick with the Mt Si Ultra anyway. It ended up being an excellent mistake.
Saturday was cold and windy. I wasn’t feeling good and ended up taking lots of naps in my car in between Ric’s softball games. I tried my best to eat well in preparation for Sunday’s run, but everything I ate left my stomach in knots. I finally gave up and had a light dinner of toast and cereal, then crawled into bed… half expecting to be even sicker in the morning. Surprising I woke full of energy before the alarm sounded. I quickly grabbed some coffee, my pack and a cookie then jumped in my car for the 90 minute drive to Mt Si. I arrived to a chilly but sunny start line. When I checked in I was handed a beautiful fleece vest as my “race shirt” and invited to hang out in the school hallway where it was warm. I made myself comfortable then started to watch runners as they arrived. Mt Si offers an ultra but is best known as a trail relay race. The people milling around were young, gazelle-like creatures, not the usual gnarly ultra runners I’ve come to love. They were in matching shorts and singlets, with bright and shiny racing shoes. Even their sunglasses were extra sleek. None of them had hydration packs or fuel belts or even hand held water bottles. I was feeling slightly intimidated and out of place, but soon enough we were called to the start line and I noticed the relay runners had gone elsewhere.
For every race I have a plan. Sometimes the plan is to go all out and see where I stand with speed, sometimes it’s to be social and visit as many of my friends as possible, but usually I pick an element of distance running that I want to work on. Last race I concentrated on fueling, foot care and steady pacing. This race I planned on continuing with the steady pacing and further refine my walk/run transitions. Sometimes I get so wrapped on one particular element that I forget some other important detail. For this race, the devil was in that neglected detail: the course map. I knew the footing was small, round gravel most of the way….some forest dirt and some larger chunks of rock. No roots, no mud. I’d also been warned of a substantial hill with loose footing at mile 16 that almost everyone walked. Because of the trail conditions, I elected to wear road shoes and gaiters. I planned on carrying a running backpack with extra clothes and food, and carry water in my hand-held (easier to fill than a hydration pack). For my main focus, the walk/run transition, I planned on implementing a ¼ mile walk followed by a ¾ mile run for the entire distance and see if I could hold a steady sub 11 minute per mile pace.
The race started well and I ran the opening mile before settling into my plan. Within the first mile we hit a very steep steel staircase that lead up to a bridge across the river. The entire pack came to a standstill as we negotiated the steps, one by one. After that it was smooth running and I felt a bit silly as I started to lag behind because of my walk break plan. People started to steadily pass me as I dug deep to stick with my plan. 5 miles into the race my pace was starting to slip by a few seconds. I was getting winded and broke a sweat even in the cool morning temps. 10 miles into the race we hit a hill. It was steep enough to require switchbacks but not all that bad. I walked it anyway thinking “that wasn’t too steep, those silly relay runners must be the ones who have been spreading the “hill” rumor.” I gave myself a pat on the back for conquering the monster hill on the course but was also noticeably fatigued once I picked up the run again. My pace had slipped to 11:30 minute miles. I started to wonder if I was still sick from yesterday or not recovered enough from my Pac Rim run. I continued to stick to my plan and tried my best to bring back that 11:00 minute per mile pace. Then mile 15.5 hit with a screaming steep descent through rolling rocks the size of softballs. I picked my way through at a walk so I wouldn’t turn an ankle or twist a knee and wound up at an aid station at the bottom. I’d only had one gel at that point, so I grabbed a boiled potato, dipped it in salt then turned around to go back up the way we came. O.K. THIS WAS THE HILL and it was a bugger. I started passing a few people on the way up, crested the hill then picked up my run again. My legs were light, my lungs strong.
I was zipping along…. Cruising at a sub 9 pace at mile 16. I started picking off everyone who had passed me earlier. A man in front of me caught his toe on a rock and went tumbling. I helped him up, made sure he was uninjured (just a few scrapes) then continued on. It became apparent that we were now cruising down a nice steady grade, and since this was the “back” on an “out and back” course, that meant that the whole first half that I had struggled through was uphill. I hadn’t even noticed…. I just thought I was fatigued. The devil in the details that I missed by not studying the course map. My confidence was renewed, my pacing was back to below my plan, and I was reaping the benefits of my painfully slow first half. I decided I had earned the right to skip a walk break or two, so I modified my plan to 2 miles of running, ¼ mile walking. Even with the modification it was hard for me to slow down. Eventually the trail leveled out at mile 27. The sun was out full force and the trail was exposed. I started to feel dizzy and realized I had only eaten 3 gels, 2 cookies and a small boiled potato all day. I tried to eat another cookie, but it was too late, my stomach was churning. I downed a salt tablet, and that helped immensely.
With 5 miles left the relay runners started passing us in both directions. I have never seen such respect as that paid to the ultra runners by the sleek gazelles as they passed us during the run. The respect turned into awe as we neared the finish. The young and flashy had gathered at the finish, cheering each and every ultra runner across the line. It was amazing. I know longer felt intimated by them, but instead I felt like a hero. I crossed the line and was handed a beautiful glass metal and treated to a buffet of fruit, bagels and chocolate milk. It was a beautiful end to my 101 days of running.
