2009 doesn't seem that long ago, yet in terms of running it proved to be an adequate amount of time to cover plenty of miles. Along the way I managed to learn a load of information regarding ultra running. For Way Too Cool 50K 2009 I managed a time of 6 hours 22 minutes and some odd seconds. I struggled for that time. I walked, I puked, I had no friken' idea what I was doing. I was new to this and it showed. This time I hoped it would be different.
On Friday I packed up the kids and headed north. Dropped them off at my parents house in Saratoga and continued on my way up to Auburn. I checked in, picked up my packet then headed off to the race course. Julie Fingar and her friends were putting the finishing touches on the set up to host the 675 expected runners plus their family and friends. I stopped in to say hello, we chatted for a minute or two and then I left for the hotel.
4:30am is early when the people upstairs from you at the hotel let their child run around at will and wake up to go to the bathroom at 12am and 2:30am. Doesn't matter at this point so I got up and ate, drank coffee pretty much just did the usual routine for long runs at home. I got to Cool early, I wasn't the first, but I was early...almost too early, so early I parked in the second row of cars. Now what? I stood, walked around, drank more coffee, chilled out in the back of the van, read, made small talk and mostly I was thankful it wasn't freezin' ass. I carried on for about 90 minutes. I wanted a good parking spot what can I say?
At 7:15 first call was made for us to get to the start line. At 7:45am most of the runners were there and ready to go. Julie and company made some announcements gave out some cool award and got everyone in place so this shin dig can get started on time. I walked up to the front and took some photos. I saw Caitlin Smith so I took a picture. I am intrigued. She's a great runner, yoga instructor and a doula. Anybody who loves life that much to help with child birth, teaches feel good exercise and runs is OK in my book. I remember seeing her on the bus to Skyline to the Sea two years ago and then at the start line, then she smoked the course like she was on skates. OK enough with that.
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| Caitlin Smith, ran 4:03 good enough for 2nd female 19th o/a |
I got a picture at the start and then we were off. I started at the 10 minute pace because that's what I wanted to run. Heading down the road all I could think was man these people are going out waaay too fast and so I slowed down. I hit mile one in just over 8 minutes and then we got on dirt. Right before the path narrowed a gorrila jumped out to greet us! Awesome, hope to see him down the road. Once on dirt people slowed down. Good...First creek crossing, what a mess. Some people were just mashing through it others keeping their feet dry, this would set the tone for the day.
All I kept thinking was every extra ounce your feet weigh your body must use more energy and oxygen to keep going. Really?!?!?! I got over that quick, all I know is I would prefer dry feet. We moved from single track to dirt road and back for the next seven miles. At around 80 minutes (1:18) I hit the 8 mile mark and the Fire Station aid station. I grabbed a couple gu's and continued on my way. I remembered from the course profile the next section is a downhill 5K. So I picked up the pace a little and headed down hill. I got in behind a couple people and decided to just latch on.
We cruised down and crossed Highway 49 then 'tada' Lower Quarry Aid station. 11.1 miles in 1:43...so far so good. I had to fill my pack (I will be going off on Nathan race bladders a little later...lets just say I will be looking to modify or get a new bladder before my next race). I grabbed a couple more gu's and got word the next aid was 5.6 miles away.
This leg followed some of the Western States Trail as it ran parallel to the American River and then headed up and away from it. Time and this section rolled and went by pretty quick. I don't remember too much of it. I was pretty distracted by my watch for a little while. It had somehow got onto Lap mode and the running time stopped. Whatever, at two hours I reset it. We climbed up past an old mine...I thought this was pretty cool I just didn't take the time to take my camera out. It was a huge hole in the side of the mountain. Steel bars standing at least thirty feet high and spanned the same width protected it. I am certain gold was found in there. it would be fun to go in and check it out. I'll bet it goes in so far. Everything about California's gold discovery history fascinates me. Coloma, the discovery site, is not far from Cool. Someday the family will visit. I digress. The 5.6 went by quick and soon we arrived at the Main Bar aid station. I remember one of the super nice volunteers told me, "we are early and the next one is late" later this would come clear to me as the aid station wasn't really five plus miles but it was shorter than five. In the grand scheme of things this really meant ZERO! I felt my pack and figured it was good enough for 6. Off we went. I didn't look at my watch.
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| Looking up |
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| Looking Down |
We stayed on the Western States Trail (maybe someday I'll earn a chance to run it too) for a while, going backwards. I remembered seeing the numbers shrinking on the trail signs. One said 14.5 miles and this was at the 2h 45m or 3h 45m mark. The next one was 11 I just don't remember where. As we made our way up one last little hill we could hear some people cheering. She said she could hear someone say something about a beer. This would explain the volume. They were awesome and at the time it seemed like they were out tin the middle of no where. Canye hear da banjos? Anyway we finished the climb then headed down a couple little switchbacks and there was the Auburn Lake Trails Aid.
We came into the next aid station at about three and a half hours. The section between Fire Station Aid and ALT took 2:13. ALT aid station was a little crowded. They had soup!! Right on, mowed a couple cups and grabbed a couple more gu packs. I tried to get the bladder out...struggle, tried to get the cap off the nuun bottle...struggle. Finally filled my bladder except couldn't get the clip to slide back on...spill!!! F&!*ME!! I watched as the people I was running with continued their journey while I struggled with water...back to filling the bladder and dropping nuun in. All I know is we came into the aid together and she left three minutes before I did. Bye! Didn't get her name...I never even really got a good look at her face. She did have cool socks though! Nathan has to do something about this system. They improved it from the screw off top to an open top with a slide, problem is the pack is narrow and the plastic slide doesn't fit well in the top. So it makes stuffing a full bladder back into the pack a little more time consuming than I would like...maybe they already fixed it. I would carry two bottles only I don't even like carrying one, so I carry a 50oz bladder with pockets. Keeps my hands free and this is good!
Finally filled and capped my bladder then left. Yay! finally moving...only my legs finally started feeling a little fatigue. I have been waiting for this. Along the way I contemplated my training. Several long runs of 17 to 19 miles starting with a good one at Montana de Oro in mid February. To say my base running was exemplery would be a gross overstatement. I am playing catching up and now I know why my legs are getting heavy. The good thing is forward motion was still at a reasonable run pace. I didn't feel bad I just didn't feel great.
The five mile journey to Goat Hill Aid proved to be just as beautiful as the rest of the course. Rolling single track, sweeping views and weather taylor made for the day could have encouraged any runner to get going with a smile on their face. Just beautiful!!! Even if I felt like I was slowing down I could tell my running was either smart or steady or both. Mostly because I wasn't getting passed and I was picking off an occasional person here and there. Now that I was mostly by myself I kind of turned things off. In other words I really can't remember much of the trail until it got steep and then I recall I was supposed to say Happy Birthday to some Old Goat. Climbing up the final 100 meters or so of Goat Hill (totally appropriate name) felt oddly ok and I can remember not feeling wasted at the top. The gentleman toward the top told me I was looking strong and I believed him. At the top I guess really didn't feel toooooo bad. Once again not great just not bad. Goat Hill Aid was quick and the people there were great. My pack was filled quick, gu grabbed and best of all there was a bucket filled with water and sponges. I could feel the sweat running in my eyes and a little bath was in order. Done! Goat Hill was five times faster than ALT. Just sayin.'
We, the guy I came in with, left about the same time. 26 point something something miles into this journey. Four hours and about thirty minutes. I knew my ultimate, scream like an idiot type goal of five hours was no longer attainable. Not a bad trail marathon time though. At this point one of the aid guys told us we had three down two up to finish. Made sense. And this was a great way to look at it. We were still running, just slower. We did get some down hill and the two of us caught up with some others and soon there was five. We coasted along the trail at a comfortable pace. I can finish running at this pace. Time went by really fast on this one. I kept behind this bigger guy. He rolled and rolled. We crossed a creek and then started up the quarry trail. I stayed with these two guys in front making sure I didn't let my heart rate get up too high. Comfortable climbing pace. Right before the road crossing Julie had put up the be first of several inspirational signs. The first...Winston Churchill, "The most important thing is to never, never, never give up," and then Prefontaine's awesome quote, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift." Good timing Julie! We crossed Highway 49. The last aid station and what a beautiful thing it was. I threw water in my face, sucked down some gu water and then left....running. I had 1.6 miles to go and I was at 5 hours 6 minutes. I needed to get that hour off my time from 2009. To my surprise I felt really good. Maybe because after 29 miles another 1.6 didn't seem that bad. I had this last part wrapped in my head. Leaving the aid station, we had to climb a drainage type trail. Some of it runnable, some of it not. Trying to make it all runnable, the people who I was with were now behind me. Along the way, that last little stretch I caught another half dozen or so people. No big deal, I just think my time with SLO Trail Runners, although brief, is paying off. That and multiple hours of cross training in the pool and working out with my wife at the ass crack of dawn. The last little bit of trail went fast and I just kept picken up the pace finishing wiith everything (almost) I had. I made the last mile in around nine minutes. To me that was pretty good. All I know is when I saw the time clock around the last little corner I knew I just cut an hour off of my time. And I walked away from the finish line feeling good!! 10 times better than in 2009. Hell, I wanted a beer.
After thoughts about this event:
This race is exceptionally well organized. The new course lay out is fast and as I just found out, mostly runnable. Start to finish the trail was fun and really not too too muddy. Despite all the rain this area has received the trail didn't really resemble a mud fest. A lot of the muddy sections were avoidable while some of the drainages weren't and your feet got wet. The people on the course I ran into were great, most of them even smiled and greeted you. The Aid station people must be from a different planet. How can you be so happy being so helpful out in the middle of nowhere to complete strangers. OK I get it and someday I am going to be on the other side of the table. Needless to say they were great, they tried to get you what you needed before you even made it to the table. They weren't pushy and did what you asked, so I observed. Everything was set up and organized and getting in and out was very easy! Overall, they, collectively, get a 10/10. Aid stations can make or break your run and these guys made it.
Take home...I need to look into and experiment with some electrolyte replacements. Even though nuun is golden for me, I could feel my calves cramping up again before mile 20. Not bad...but before I take on Miwok I need to have my nutrition solid. My training thus far has been as good as it can be. I need to get back on track with my diet and get some good miles in this week. So far so good.
A big thanks to all who helpe make Way Too Cool 50K happen. Julie Fingar hosts a great race and I look forward to running one of her other races soon. Julie is a great person, friend and is also a great coach....I can't wait to get under her tutilage again. Until then i'll just keep with the relentless forward progress.
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