Mt Si 50 Mile: Good Intentions

This was supposed to be my last training run before Miwok 100k. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

All I really wanted was a nice long run somewhere in the 10-11 hour range to properly prepare my body for all the stresses and discomforts of a 100k event. I figured since I was still in recovery mode from Diez Vista 50k last Saturday and that I had ran 16 miles of road the day after, my legs would be really dead.

Combine these factors with the 4 hour (two hours at the border) drive down to Snoqualamie from Vancouver and the fact that I had gone out for a 3 mile run on Saturday with the Seattle Hash House Harriers and the carbohydrate replenishment/prehydration (beer) but not before dining at an Indian all you can eat buffet, and a complete lack of a raceplan,  there was no conceivable way I was going to get a PR. Sigh.

Although my alarm was set for 4am, I woke before that mostly due to the cold damp feeling on my pillowcases as apparently all the beer I drank had metabolized with all the curry I ate which resulted in my night sweats. I had managed to secure a night's rest with a Redmond Hasher who had a spare bed (Poca, just send me the drycleaning bill). He was entered in the Relay portion of Mt Si, the difference being that the Relay had 57 miles whereas the Ultra only had 50 miles (there was a 50k course as well). He also told me to be on the lookout for two ultrahashers: F'in Crazy and Magot as one was early start (5am) and the other was regular start (6am).  

I got to the Snoqualamie Elementary School just after 5am and shortly thereafter the early starters were off. I put my drop bags in the prearranged locations and rested in my car. I tried to use the portajohn, but to no avail. On the way out I saw Gilles and Lucy huddled in their car. I hydrated with a litre of Nuun - Tri Berry this time and tried to stay loose. 10 minutes from the Start and I was talking with Gilles who wanted to stash Karl's bag in my trunk and I couldn't help but notice that he was wearing road shoes. I was wearing my Streaks and Gilles confirmed that this was a non-technical (fire road) course. I immediately changed into my Asics and with only two minutes to go, made my way to the Start.

The RD handed off to the nine-time winner of this race who counted down and sent us on our way. The weather was cool and I felt just fine with my standard KK shirt, shorts and gloves. By some twist or design I was running in a foursome with Gilles, Karl (who was initially wearing his CFA shirt backwards) and a guy from Issaquah who they met at Cascade and Bighorn. It turned out that this was Magot although I didn't know this until the first aid station.

I stopped off to water a tree within the first 2 miles (damn Nuun) and I was pretty much back of the pack, maybe two other runners behind me. I decided to go a little faster but I didn't know how fast cause for the second time in a row, I left my watch in the car. I know I'm not going to PR so why put the pressure on? Soon we come to the first big hill and I've caught Karl, Gilles and Magot as they're walking up. A work crew was cheering us on and jokingly offered us donut holes. Never one to turn down free food Karl and Gilles both grabbed one and continued upwards. As soon as we hit the crest Gilles and Magot were off, Karl went offroad for a pit stop and I continued on the road. Crossed to the right side, descended some stairs and turned left into this huge tunnel. From here the terrain turned into fire road which was somewhat of a relief after the asphalt.

Ran down for a while and then I felt it.  Oooh, it was Revenge of the Chicken Vindaloo and naturally I forgot to bring TP in a baggie. I looked in vain for some big wide leaves but there were only pine needles, not the best source to wipe one's Fat ass with. For the next mile or two before I hit the first Aid Station was literally a race with the Devil. It's really difficult to maintain an efficient running stride with your cheeks clenched together, thank goodness I did all the core strengthening.

Pulled into the 1st aid station (5.7 miles) and while my drop bag was there, I was more focused on the fresh roll of toilet paper wedged into the fence. I barely had time to say hi to the Seattle Hash Men's team as I made my way up a small trail.

TCB, refueled, reloaded and was off again, considerably lighter!

I wasn't really in a panic mode, the trail was really easy to run on and I slowly started to make up ground and began passing runners here and there. I came up behind this one woman who was in a camouflauge top and cap and had duct tape on her back which listed PVC Barton. As I passed her, she seemed really familiar, so I asked her was she at Chuckanut? Yes, she was. Was I Thomas? No. Her name was Linda Barton (the name on the Duct tape was her brother who had graduated today) We were leapfrogging each other for most of Chuckanut, until I picked it up in the last 10k. Well, I continued onwards to the first turnaround with self serve water (10 mi) and started running stronger. I caught the 2nd hasher, F'ing Crazy who looked really slow, barely faster than a walk. He said he needed the ES cause it would be night time before he finished.

It seemed like I was going faster, but the pace seemed easy to me so I just went with it. Arrived at AS2 (14 mi), finally accessed my drop bag, drained 1 can of coconut juice and emptied the 2nd one into a handheld. Grabbed a PB sandwich and was out of there. Walked initially so I could eat half the PB and let the coco juice take effect. All of a sudden the sugar and protein kicked in and I was running again. Back to the tunnel, up the stairs and this time down the road. It was here that I saw the relay runners going up as I was headed down. Words of encouragement were passed on both sides. Came down the hill, again refused some donut holes and was back on the road. Y'know this is way more running in a 50 miler than I'm used to.

Where was the technical singletrack? Where was the kamikaze descents? And dammit, where's the hill so I can start walking backwards?!?

Crossed the road, and saw a bridge over some river, as I climbed the steps (yay, no running) I soon hit the AS3 (20 mi). I refilled my handheld with plain water and walked across the bridge before starting running on the fireroad/bike path. This was getting to be quite boring, I needed something new to break up the monotony of this race. Be careful what you wish for because you may just get it. The clouds cleared up and it was sunny, then it was warm, then it got hot. Uh-oh. I'm on a gravel road with no clouds in the sky, there's no tree cover and I'm starting to overheat. Rolled down the armwarmers, slapped the shades on and was thankful that I brought my white cap. I'm still passing runners who may have gone out even faster than me, but eventually I see one woman who runs through a couple (one who I recognize as Lorie Alexander). Lorie's initial reaction was to raise her arms and go "WTF?" She starts to walk afterwards. I pass her and start to chase down this woman in white. On closer examination I realize she's not carrying a hydration pack. All she has are a few gels and her mp3.

All of a sudden she flags down her husband and yelled, "I need the ibuprofen!" What a good idea.

I take two, and feel some relief. By this point I've passed most of the early starters, the last one tells me that we have 5 miles to go before the next aid station. I refill my handheld at 24 mi and start off again. I may have ran this next section a little too fast as this was essentially a 5 mile hill but the climbing was so gradual that it didn't really feel like one.

I caught a few more runners, before the woman in white caught me and was heading up with a purpose. We chatted briefly, she mentioned that this was her first 50 mile and she was hoping to run it in 8 hours. 8 hours? Well, how fast am I going then?
She had a Garmin GPS on and she figured that we were at 4:15 at the 27 mile mark. WHAT? I've been essentially running faster than marathon race pace and I still have 23 miles to go! Long, slow, run my ass!

Decide to conserve energy and alternate powerwalking and slow jogging to AS4 (29 mi). Keep my fuel belt of GU's, but drop two empties and strap on my hydration pack as I'm gonna need a lot more water for this next section.  I opt not to wear my CFA longsleeve as I noticed it's getting warmer. It takes a little while before I can settle into a comfortable fit, but I manage. Say thanks to the marshals and begin heading up the next hill. BTW the course is marked with little signs that are not consistently spaced out. There is no flagging on this course, this led to more than one occasion where I wasn't really sure I was headed the right way. But we were going uphill and ultras were coming down (I know they were ultras based on the bib color). Continued powerwalking up, saw Gilles and Karl coming back from the turnaround on the crest of the hill.

Descended a steep gravel section and found a black CFA shirt - Rhonda Schuller was doing the 50k, said Hi and made my way to the AS5 (34 mi). I bypassed the AS and went back up the hill. I've only being eating what was in my pockets and nothing from the aid stations. It was a race strategy I used at DV and I was gambling it would work again here. Of course, the one HUGE difference was the fact that it was 30k longer between races, I could have used some food and was probably the reason I had my first bonk at 36 miles.

Consumed half my Chocolate GU flask and had a probar and tried to run down the hill, but settled for a fast walk, which led to a slow shuffle, then a jog and finally running, then my quads started tightening and I went back to the fast walk again.

This cycle continued for another five miles, but I maintained RFM all the way back to AS6 (40 mi). They were starting to put the drop bags away but I was able to access my bag with a can of much needed young coconut juice. I retrieved a flask of defizzed Pepsi and continued on my way. I ran hard or at least tried to down the gradual descent. I was passed twice on this section by ultras and then by those who were doing the relay. I was grateful for the cool temps but the more downhill I was running the warmer it got. Yuck. I glance at my left shoulder and I can see the salt. Not a good sign. I think there's a self serve water station but I realize it has since been moved. Fortunately, there's still enough in my pack to sustain me. I am however running out of food and realize my strategy for not taking food at the aid stations will not work in a longer race.

Finally I pop out of the trail and cross the road, back on the Snoqualamie Valley Trail. As I cross, the marshall said 5.4 miles to the finish. I catch a 50k runner who looks in rough shape, I can sympathize. I just focus on the next person ahead of me who, like me, runs for a while, slows and has to walk. Everytime I think she's going to pull away, she starts to walk.

I recognize her shirt as the one from Chuckanut and we strike up a conversation. Anything to get our minds off the fact that we're on this runnable trail and we've got to keep going. The last water stop is at 47 miles so we still have another 2 miles to go. We play leapfrog for a while and we finally hit the aid station. Around this time I realize where we are going, back to the bridge, unfortunately we are now running uphill into a headwind. Well, okay, running is a strong word. Zombie shuffle sounds more appropriate. The person with the Chuckanut Tee puts her head down and starts to run. I maintain my powerwalk and watch her become little more than a speck. Soon I run past a golf course and then a baseball diamond, when another runner, Don has caught me. He pulls alongside and walks with me. Don asks how I was doing and I relate my troubles but I'm still

determined to finish and hope I can run a sub 10 hour run. Don looks at me with a arched eyebrow and looks at his watch. He told me that not only would I finish sub 10, I had a shot at sub 9 hours!

Huh? According to his watch, we're at 8:17 and roughly 2 miles to the finish line.  With that, he starts jogging and I stop dead in my tracks. Oh, man! Even if I walk it in I would still hit a sub 9 and I was prepared to do just that when I had a competitive surge. I didn't know if it was the dehydration talking, but something told me to Suck it Up, Princess and finish hard. Somehow I found the desire to run again...for 42 seconds, but it was enough to get me across the bridge and down the steps to the asphalt. Yay! Time for some road running! I catch up to Don and the woman in the Chuckanut tee as they were going up the bridge and making their way back into town. Don turns the corner and picks up another gear, I try to match but there's not much left. I'm nearing the school and can see the finish line, I see the ambulance a second later and try to put that thought out of mind as I finally cross and I can hear the announcer say, "Now finishing, Baldwin (Yes!) Lee from Burnaby!"  After getting my finisher's medal, I hear my name as Lucy takes my finish line picture and I check back with the timekeeper as there was no big digital finishing time.

8:39:57! That's over a 90 minute PR from my best 50 miler at Elk Beaver which was 10:12 in 2007!

Shuffled over back to the car and had a somewhat painful time as both quads seized up while I was trying to change.

Fortunately somebody gave me some Vitamin I and the quads slowly relaxed. Ate some bagels at the finish line and booked a 20 minute massage which did result in a calf cramp but overall felt really good. Soon more ultras mixed in with relay runners trickled in. The skies started to darken and I took that as a sign it was time to head home.

So despite my best efforts, I'll still ended up with a PR for a 50 mile race. What this means for Miwok 100k, I don't know.

My goal was to run it in sub 14 hours to qualify for Western States, now, do I adjust my time goals or do I put this race in the proper context. Miwok is more technical (for California) than Mt Si and more elevation: 10,000 feet. It will be warmer somewhat and I will need to eat more at the aid stations if I'm going to avoid bonking in the later stages of the run.

I only know one thing for sure: I won't be wearing a watch!