Thanks all, it was a hell of a day. As you all know, my race reports are a little verbose.....
Got up to Auburn on Friday afternoon for runner check in, and the running store that it was being held was packed and buzzing with energy. Being the town that Western States ends in it's always fun to be up there, and the Who's Who of trail running are usually around - as we walked out the RD of Western States was standing on the sidewalk chatting it up. I started feeling an excess of nervous energy, so I generously offered to buy my girlfriend (and I) a drink across the street at a local bar. Two vodka sodas later, I was feeling calmer so we drove out to the starting line in Cool, CA, to make sure we had knew exactly how long it would take to get there. Back to the hotel for dinner and an early night, was in bed and asleep by 9:30 with the alarm set for 5:15 AM.
Of course at 1:15 AM I was awake, and there was no hope of going back to sleep. Watched a few videos on the iPad, got back in bed with ESPN radio on in an earphone, and I think I finally drifted off to sleep at about 4:45, with the alarm going off thirty minutes later. One of these days I hope to get a good night's sleep before a race, but not sure that will ever happen! I threw down my smoothie of coconut milk, chia seeds, and a banana, a couple of cups of coffee, and then it was off to Cool.
We arrived and got parked, which turned out to be 3/4 of a mile down the road that the race would start on - cars jammed in on both sides on a small park road. My girlfriend had planned to watch the start, hang around for the end of the initial 8 mile loop that would bring us back through the start and then go back to the hotel for awhile, but with the parking the way it was she realized she was in for the long haul - what a trooper.
The elites bounded off at 8:00 in an early wave start, and elites they were. Gru, you and I have something in common in that we've both had our butts kicked by Max King - he ended up destroying the course record in 3:08:50 - yes, just over a 6:00 pace for 31.2 trail miles. The rest of the
runners kicked off at 8:10, and I started in the back by design and headed off down the road for a bit before hitting the trail.
We hit single track pretty quickly and I was already regretting my decision to start at the back - while I had passed a few folks on the road, the trail began a
long conga line of runners with no way to move up. At the 2.4 mile mark we all just stopped - we hit a creek crossing and
runners were tiptoing one-at-a-time across some rocks. I thought about doing what a few runners were doing and going around the line and plowing through the creek, but decided soaking wet feet at mile 2.4 of my 2nd ever ultra might not be the best idea. A few minutes later I was finally across the river and back onto single track, more of the same with a line of 30-40 runners chugging along. It was single track for the rest of the initial 8 miles, and I came back into that first aid station at the start to see my girlfriend again, a few minutes ahead of my 13:00 goal pace despite leaving 5-6 minutes on that section of the course due to the crowding. For this stretch my mile splits ranged between 10:31-12:55, with the exception of the 13:52 mile due to the line at the creek.
I had decided my hydration and nutrition strategy would be liquid calories in the form of GU Brew with some real food (potatoes dipped in salt) and Coke mixed in at the aid stations. Of course I forgot to mix the GU into my water bottle at the start, but was lucky I threw 2 gels in my pocket so I relied on them for that initial stretch. The rest of the way this strategy worked pretty well, although my decision to just carry one bottle probably cost me a bit as twice I was out before I got to an aid station. I ended up drinking about 176 oz of fluid during the race without peeing once (in fact it was a good 90 minutes after before I finally did), and got a little low on energy at about the 5:00 mark (go figure), but it worked pretty well. I will try on the 50M to eat and drink a little more, especially early.
At about mile 9 we hit a three mile stretch of downhill, dropping 1000' down into the canyon to the American River. It was still crowded in that stretch but we ran along on a
rolling fire road for the next six miles or so, it was nice to get off the single track for a bit and have some room to run. I chatted up a 66 year old guy from Sacramento also rocking the Hokas, turned out this was his first ever ultra and we talked about our plans to run the same 50M next month. For this nine mile stretch my splits were 10:52-12:26, staying ahead of my 13:00 goal pace pretty easily.
Remember before the race when I said this wasn't a terribly hilly trail race? I'm never saying that again before a race, ever. Mile 17 began the climb back out of the canyon, which started pretty well as I consistently out-hiked people up the trail. It was hard work, but I was moving along ok - 12:26/11:50/15:44/16:53 - uh oh, tired legs those last two miles, hammies and calves burning. Luckily that got us to the top to find some more rolling hills, an aid station to fill my empty bottle, and then off for a few more miles of
rolling single track with a familiar name through mile 25 - I averaged about a 12:35 pace through here, so considering I was pushing through the 20 mile barrier and this wasn't exactly flat, I was pretty stoked to still be moving ahead of my 13:00 pace.
And then I hit Goat Hill. Looking at my Garmin data, this .7 mile hill climbs about 450', and registered a 24% grade at one point. This was part of a 20:18 mile as I barely was able to keep my legs moving. It turns out this was the same hill that almost ended my buddy
Jim's Western States attempt. The hill that when he got to the next aid station, he sat down and said he was done, only to have Volunteer Mike tell him to get up and get moving. Well who should be working the aid station at the top of Goat Hill yesterday but Mike himself! I told him how much he meant to Jim's finish that day last June, we spent a minute chatting, and then I was off again with a little renewed mental energy and inspiration.
I was now past the marathon distance for only the 2nd time ever, and feeling it. My hips, quads, and calves were all sore, but I was able to keep chugging along. It was single track again, and I fell in behind a guy going the same pace I was - running slowly on the flats/downs, and hiking anything that even slightly resembled an incline. But that climb, and the cumulative distance, had taken it's toll and I averaged a 14:22 through that 4 mile stretch. We hit the last aid station at mile 29.8 with
inspiration signs and cheers of "it's not a matter of if anymore, just when!" and of course hit one last climb, another 440' over a mile and half. I managed to pass a few people through here, including the CEO/Founder of Moeben (arm sleeves and gear), who is running Badwater again this year. Of course she is like 60 years old, but still. Finally it was
across the finish line in 6:24:13, and a near collapse into the arms of my (still waiting) girlfriend.
With a goal time of 6:45 and a hope for 6:20, I'm obviously pretty happy with how things went. My quads and hips are super sore right now, but I experienced the same thing in October after my trail marathon and know they'll be better later this week. I'll go see my PT this week to get things worked out (btw she PR'd in 4:52!) to make sure my body is set for the stretch run of my 50M training.
Tell me he cut the course.....
> 6,000' is no friggin' joke!
24%.................I've been running some 10%'ers and I can barely run up them. Did this require climbing gear?!
#4 - You'll leave too much time on the table if you go out "comfortable" for the first mile. Pull up your big boy britches and race this thing! Don't be that dork ripping by everyone at 3.0 because you held back too much at the start......
Thanks Ned! Appreciate the course input!!!
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:finger: jux
