Poles, Pedals, Paddles and now Pigtails

I'm right in the middle of two non-racing (for me!) weekends.  Last weekend the family headed out to central Oregon so Marc could compete in the Pole, Pedal, Paddle relay.  

Getting ready - It was a beautiful day!

We spent both Friday and Saturday night in Bend so it was a fun getaway weekend.  Two years ago we were on a team together, where Marc did the nordic ski and sprint legs and I did the 5 mile (mostly) trail run.  Last year, Marc and one of his buddies competed as a team with Marc doing the cycling, running and sprinting legs.  This year Marc decided to try his hand at the whole shebang and entered as a solo competitor.  

Practicing for next year?

The full relay consists of an uphill dash in ski boots, an alpine run at Mt Bachelor, an 8k nordic ski, 22 mile cycle down to Bend, the 5 mile run, a 1-1/2 mile kayak on the Deschutes river and a half mile sprint to the finish.  The little guy and I crewed and we all had a lot of fun.  Marc finished 5th out of 14 in his age group, with a time only about 12 minutes slower than his pairs time last year.  He was only 22 seconds out of getting an award (3rd place) and 8 seconds away from 4th.  

results

He could definitely have made that up in the transitions, as well as by actually training for the alpine and kayak legs.  Marc is talking about teaming up again with his buddy next year.  But I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to go back and best his solo time/placement.

On the drive down to Bend, while Marc was cycling, the boy told me he was going to do this relay solo one day.  And soon, like when he's 16.  Sometimes I wonder if he's getting a warped childhood being dragged to all these events.  But I think he kind of likes it.  And maybe this not-so-normal lifestyle is rubbing off on him in a good way.  Crewing was fun!  The most exciting part was being in the transition chute waiting for the alpine skiers to come in and switch to nordic gear.  Some of those skiers came in fast!

Post race refreshments - root beer for the boy!

Tomorrow, I'm heading up to Washington to pace my friend Susan who is racing the Pigtails 150 Mile.  It's 16 laps around Lake Youngs.  The 150 started this morning so she's already been running, at a pretty good clip, I might add.  According to her pace chart I'll be there in time to run (and walk!) the last 3 or 4 laps with her so I'll get about 30-40 miles in.  There's also a 200 mile race that started yesterday and a 100 mile race that starts tomorrow.  Between the runners and the volunteers it's a who's who of Washington ultra runners.  And the weather looks good, not too hot, not too cold and minimal rain (fingers crossed!).  I can't wait!

Edit:  Unfortunately, my runner got sick and dropped before I made the trip up north.  So no pacing for me...I"m off to Wildwood and the Gorge this weekend instead!

Mac Forest Pictures

I'm not one of those types who can cross the finish line without a hair out of place. I sweat a lot, my nose runs and I look like a hot mess within a few miles of a race. Below are all the photos I could find of me...the good, bad and the ugly! 

Near the start - I was still wearing my cap

Still only a few miles in

Coming down Dan's Trail from Dimple Hill - about mile 18

I  look like I'm in pain!  I wasn't at all.  I think it was  just the sun and sweat in my eyes.

Just before the loop to Chip Ross Park - about  mile  20

Finishing the loop from Chip Ross Park - about mile 22

Coming in to the finish after a mile and a half of downhill

Finishing backwards in memory of Scott McQueeney

All the race pics are here.

McDonald Forest 50k 2012

Let the summer training season begin!  It's the Monday after the 2012 version of the McDonald Forest 50k and I feel tired, like I ran a good race this weekend, but not beat up.   I last ran this race with Sharon in 2007.  We had trained on Wildwood all winter and ran Hagg 50k that February.  I was really interested to see five years later how my fitness stacked up and how I would compare to that first Mac 50k race.  Two weeks ago I ran the 55k at Capitol Peak.  I enjoyed the race, but it wasn't a really great one for me performance wise.  My calves were very tight for days and then after last weekend's Gorge hike, my glutes were super sore.  Despite not putting in many miles since Cap Peak, I was still a little tired last week and took Thursday and Friday off from training.

I decided to take the early start so Saturday was up at 3:30am in time to pick up my friend Desiree, who was volunteering, at 4:30am.  We arrived with plenty of time at 6am, which was great since I like to be early, plus we got an awesome parking spot.  This weekend was predicted to be our first heat wave of the year.  Fortunately, Saturday was the first day of it and wouldn't be quite as hot.  The high was supposed to be 80 and it was about 50 at the start, already too warm for sleeves.  Aid stations were fairly close together so I decided on one handheld and my Nathan vest to carry power gels & stinger waffles.  They had plenty of hammer gels at the aid stations, but they aren't my favorites so I wanted to have my own stuff.  I wore a white cap and had my buff around my neck.  I try never to race without my buff...it comes in handy in so many different situations/conditions.

It felt warm and humid within the first mile so the hat came off right away and spent the rest of the race in my back vest pocket.  I soon pushed my buff up as a headband where it did it's job well to keep the sweat out of my eyes.  Later in the race I put ice in the back above my neck and that felt awesome.  Within a few miles I settled in with Melissa Berman and David Elsbernd.  I first met Dave at my first Across the Years, and now see him at races here and there.  I've seen Melissa around but we had never officially met.  The three of us spent the first half of the race together.  Dave is training for Western States and was trying to run at 100 mile pace.  His slow pace is my easy but trying to keep moving pace so it worked out well.  I had a lot of fun chatting with those two and the time certainly passed quickly.

Just as we left the maze Melissa held back to take care of business and then somewhere on the road up to Dimple Hill I pulled ahead of Dave.  I think he realized at that point he was moving too quickly for his goal pace.  Up until that point I had been hiking most of the climbs and running the downhills and flats.  I really hadn't tried to run any of the uphills when we were on single track.  But on the gravel road I tried to run some of the uphills too.  That held for the rest of the race.  I hiked all the trails, but was still able to run some on the steady climb up the road after the last aid station.  I was able to catch a few people on this stretch, although some might have been regular starters who had already passed me.  Having run this race once before it was great knowing what to expect. And I was really looking forward to the last 1-1/2 mile downhill.  I was able to bomb down, and passed some more people who must have had dead quads.

It certainly got warm near the end of the race, but fortunately a lot of the race is in the trees so I never felt overly hot. The ice in my buff helped and I was sure to drink most, if not all, of my bottle of nuun between each aid.    At the stations I filled up on an extra cup of Heed or Coke and ate potatoes and fruit. I love when there's watermelon on a hot day.  I ate 5 gels and 2 waffles between aid.  I took an S-cap about every 45 minutes, plus a few extra near the end.  I think I hit my nutrition/hydration just right and never felt nauseous or felt like I was going to bonk.

Remarkable my gps watch was hitting the distances nearly perfectly.  It ended up being only .04 off the official course mileage of 31.1.  With a couple of miles to go I could see I wasn't going to meet or beat my previous time of 7:13:57.  But with the fast finish there was a good chance I'd come under 7:30 and maybe 7:20.  The closer we got the more I wanted that sub 7:20 finish.  As we were climbing on the last road with less than 5 miles to go I kept my sight on a guy who was walking at a really good pace. He had a wrap on his knee so I supposed that he was injured and just trying to walk it in.  But he was moving really well. My goal, with my run/walk, was to catch him but I wasn't able to do it until the road leveled out.  When I did, I complimented him on his good hiking pace.  He said thanks, motioned to some women up ahead and said "Go reel em in!".  That got me fired up and I did catch and pass those women (I think one was regular and one was early start) plus the others on the downhill.  I managed to finish in 7:19:26.

So I was able to finish about 5 minutes off my time from five years ago.  A couple of things make me happy about that time -- 1) It was hotter this year and 2) I didn't run trails all winter like I did in 2006/2007.  However, I really think I should be able to finish this race under 7 hours.  Maybe next year I'll train specifically to do that.

But all in all I'm very happy with my race.  It was my best one so far this year.  I felt my glutes cramp up a few times, but I didn't have any abnormal aches and pains like I've had for every other race this year.   Yesterday, I wasn't sore at all like I have been the past few weeks.  I just had some tightness in my right foot.  It was hot so I waited until the evening to go out and was able to do a moderate 7 mile recovery run.  Today I have some lingering tiredness, but my foot feels good.  It's a rest day today but tomorrow I plan to carry on like normal.

So I have a lot of reasons to feel good about this race and I'm trying to suppress the reasons I don't.  Or at least use them to fuel my desire to get better.  One thing for sure, this is an outstanding race and I had moments of pure joy and happiness being out on the trails.  And that's what it's really all about, right?

There were a ton of official looking photographers out on the course but I haven't seen any pics posted yet.  I'll add some if and when I find any!

I created a new post for the pictures here.

 

Nick Eaton Ridge Hike

I'm taking it easy this weekend between my two 50k's, so the boys and I headed out to the Gorge for a hike. I picked a route starting at the Herman Creek trail head, up the steep Nick Eaton trail and back on the Groton Creek trail. The weather was mixed - no rain but a little chilly when the clouds hid the sun. We mostly hiked the 8ish mile route, but did about a mile or two of running downhill, which is always fun! Afterward we recovered with some pizza and beer (for the adults) in Cascade Locks. A great way to spend some family time on a recovery weekend. But so much for recovery....my glutes are on fire today. So good training too! 

The LG looks almost as tall as Marc in this photo!

2+ steep miles up, up, up

Enjoying a sun break while we can!

Fresh snow on the higher peaks

Can you find the teen?

Time to run!

Capitol Peak 55k 2012

On Saturday I ran the Capitol Peak 55k for the first time. I've known about this race about as long as I've known about ultras but for some reason this is the first time I've considered running it.  I signed up just a few weeks ago after a vague realization that I needed some more solid trail miles before McDonald Forest 50k in two weeks.  Then I really looked back on my schedule and discovered that my last trail race was the Mt Hood 50 mile way back last July!  Aside from my 30 mile length of Wildwood run back in February, my trail runs lately have not been that great. Come to think of it, that run was a major exception since I felt amazing the whole time and it actually felt, dare I say, easy.  But other than that, I've felt like I've lost my trail mojo.  That's okay, because my focus the rest of the year is on trails.  I'm working myself back to were I feel like I should be and hopefully, beyond.

Finishing up the GRUNT! --- almost to the top of Capitol Peak
photo by Glenn Tachiyama

Since in my mind this was a training run, I decided to take the early 5:30am start which would give me plenty of time with no pressure.  I drove up Friday evening after work with plans to sleep in my van at the start, where they offered free camping.  I drove into the campsite and the first person I saw was an old friend Eric Barnes.  He was doing the same thing, sleeping in his car, and I ended up parking near him.   I was in bed by 9pm when it was mostly dark and slept pretty well until the alarm went off at 4am.  7 hours of sleep - not bad for the night before an ultra!  I was up in plenty of time to eat and get dressed before check-in at 5am.  After some contemplation I decided to wear my heart rate monitor strap, but unfortunately, when I turned on my Garmin just before the pre-start meeting I got the wacky screen.  My attempts to reset were unsuccessful and I just had time to dump my Garmin back in the van, but not take off the strap.  Fortunately, I had lubed well and didn't have any chafing.  But there would be no data for this run.

The weather was misty but pretty warm.  Still, I wore a very light shell just in case.  I had decided to carry a handheld but wear my hydration pack without a reservoir to hold my extra gels and gear.  We would need a headlamp and I didn't want to have to leave it in a drop bag.  This system worked really well and I might use it again in the future.  The pack didn't feel heavy and I had room to stash my jacket and gloves.

photo by Glenn Tachiyama

I saw a lot of familiar faces at the early start.  My plan was to take it easy and not push too hard, and have fun too.  I settled in with old friend Monte P. and we ended up spending most of the race together.   I loved the course.....a lot of single track trail and just a few miles of gravel fire road.  I didn't mind the clear cut either.  It gave us a little view, although it was too overcast to get a really great view of the Cascades.

The course is essentially an out and back with a 5 mile loop added on up to Capitol Peak. (The 50 milers also do a separate 16 mile loop.)  At the 2nd aid station, 9 miles in, I noticed there was a tequila bar. Too early in the race to consider but I kept it in mind for the way back. I had gels and stinger waffles with me, plus an emergency lara bar and planned to eat real food at the aid stations. I literally stuffed my face with potatoes and pbj sandwiches at each aid station. I've realized in the past some of my stomach issues have been due to not eating enough, early enough. Once my stomach feels empty I start to feel sick. Gels are good energy but they don't take up any room in the stomach so I'm practicing ingesting a steady amount of solid food. Hammer was the sponsor but Hammer gels and Heed are not my favorite so I stuck to nuun tablets in my bottle and carried my own powergels. Plus I took an S-cap at each aid station.  

At the 3/4 aid station, Monte zipped through but I was still grazing and taking care of business (getting rid of trash, filling my bottle, etc.) so I told him to go on. I caught him on the gravel road and was a little faster so eventually pulled ahead. But then it was up the steep grunt hill and Monte ended up beating me by a good 50 feet. I caught him again on the downhill road. After we hit the aid station again we had a lot of downhill ahead of us. Monte and I were still mostly together, but separated a few times when one or the other need to water a tree. Back at the final full aid station, I took a greater interest in the tequila bar. They had quite a few different kinds but when I found out there was no Patron I decided to pass. Over by the food I had one of the best pancakes I've ever eaten, at a race or otherwise. While chatting with volunteer Matt Hagen, we discovered we only had 7 miles to go instead of 9, due to a cutoff trail we'd take to the finish. With that news I reconsidered the tequila and took a nice shot of Cazadores, which I was assured was similar to Patron. My motto at races is, when offered a drink (booze), always take it within reason. I knew at that point I was home free and really, one shot isn't that much. Now we just needed to climb the last big hill and then it would be mostly downhill or rollers for the last 4-5 miles. 

On the hill, I lost Monte for the last time and ended up finishing before him by about 15 minutes. After the shot wore off I started to feel a little low so took my one caffeinated gel. The energy kicked in and once I had crested the hill, I pretty much ran the rest of the way. After feeling a little pokey the whole race it felt great to push the pace. I'd say I ran straight for 4 miles and only walked a few short, steep hills. Back at the finish, I enjoyed two bowls of yummy creamy corn chowder with bread. Monte came in and feigned anger at me for leaving him behind. I meekly apologized. Thanks for sharing most of the course with me Monte! I had a lot of fun hanging around talking with other finishers. One 55k finisher was out from Georgia, visiting a friend who was running the 50 miler. Interesting to find out about the different races in the southeast and how they differ from ours here in the west. I finally decided to find out my time. I had a vague idea but really didn't know for sure. Going into the race I thought I'd probably finish around 8 hours, but it felt slower than that. Official time was 8:15:17. It's my only 55k so you can say that's a personal worst and a personal best all wrapped into one. The pace was slower than my pace at the Mt Hood 50m last summer. Oops. Well, it was supposed to be a training run. I'd like to come back when I'm more in racing mode. 

 I finally decided it was time to clean up and get out of there. I wanted to drive into Olympia to see Sharon and her NEW BABY BOY!! I caught her and her family just in time before they went out and got to hold little Levi, just under 1 month old. What a cutie. The race was fun, but that was the highlight of my weekend!

Sunday I was tired but after sleeping in went on an easy  4 mile recovery run.  Later my calves were screaming at me and today (Tuesday) they are still a little tight and sore, along with my quads (just a little).  My hamstrings and glutes feel fine, which is odd to me considering that my right glute was tight and painful the last half of the race.  I've never experienced such tight calves after a race and I'm wondering if it's due to the hills.  Experienced trail and ultra runners feel free to chime in!  I skipped this morning's run in exchange for more sleep, but hope to feel more back to normal tomorrow.  I definitely don't feel like I'm recovering like I used to.  I'm hoping it's not just age, but also part of the training process.

The McDonald Forest 50k is in less than two weeks and my focus now is on recovery and being ready for that race.  I'm really glad I got my trail race feet wet at Capitol Peak and hope some of that training and experience will carry over to the Mac!