Dick Collins 50M

Wow! It's been a long time since I have done a race recap.

In 2013, Dick Collins was my first 50 mile trail race. I had no idea how to pace myself. I just said that I was going to "walk every hill". I finished just under 10 hours and I was very proud of that time. Last year, I was in pretty good shape and I ran it again, knocking about a half an hour off my time, and finishing in 9:29. This year, I was not in pretty good shape. I had been running about 15 - 30 miles a week and doing 1 or 2 days of HIIT training. I was not watching what I ate and I had been spending long hours at work and getting not enough sleep every day.

My expectations of myself were pretty low. I just wanted to get under 11 hours, which would mean basically I could run a minute and a half per mile slower (or walk more) than last year and I would still be okay. There was a friend of mine who ran last year and we ended up finishing together (hand in hand across the finish line!) and he was also running this year and I thought my A goal would be to just keep up with him.

The race starts off in the dark, along a paved path that goes partially around Lake Chabot. I ran along and talked to some friends, but soon I felt that need to pass people (I always get antsy at the start) and so I said goodbye to them and took off. Luckily this part of the race was on a fire trail so it was no pressure to pass or be passed, like it would on a single track. I ended up running with a lady who was running her first 50 mile race and she was doing a great job. We ran together for several miles before she peeled off to visit the bushes and I pressed on.

Luckily, the weather was cooperating. It was about 50 degrees and it was a bit foggy, which was perfect running weather. Like all trail races, this one has a lot of ups and downs (almost 9,000 ft total), but there is also a lot of trail that is runnable. For about 10 miles it was a slight downhill or a flattish area and I was running under a 10 minute pace. Around mile 15, I hit the Skyline Gate, which is where I often end up when I run from my house. In my mind for a second I thought how easy it would be to just run down the hill to my house from here. But no, I grabbed some watermelon, used the facilities and pressed on. From here on out, there is a lot of single trail. As I started out, there were two people just keeping pace with me. One was a girl, who when I came up behind her, happily pulled over to let me pass. In my mind, even though I did not think this was going to be a great race for me, I still wanted to pass that girl.

As the race went on, the girl and I were neck and neck. We would swap places on the ups or the downs (she was faster on the ups; I was faster on the downs) and we would sometimes both roll into an aid station around the same time and one of us would get through faster, but we were right next to each other most of the time. But we did not speak; we just kept leap frogging. Then came the long downhill to the turnaround. Since I had been faster at the downs, I got a bit of a lead on her at this point. I came into the 25 mile turnaround, grabbed a grilled cheese (still my favorite ultra food) and headed back out without slowing. She came in about 45 seconds behind me.

The next 4 miles was a steady uphill climb. I was about halfway through the climb when the girl caught up to me and I jokingly said, "darn it!" to her. We continued on together after that, talking and enjoying the company, and griping over our aches and pains for the day. I was feeling better than expected, but my back was hurting me and my knee was giving me a twinge now and then. After the long climb up, there was a pretty steep road down to the aid station and then a pretty steep downhill single trail, where my knee really started acting up. I actually had to walk down the hills in some places.

Soon we were back to Skyline gate, which meant we had about 15 miles left. The girl and I ran together for some parts and did our own thing for others. However, we were pretty much within sight of each other the entire time. Then we came to the last 5 miles. She pulled ahead of me, but I could still see her there, my carrot on a stick. The final 2 miles are paved and I could still see her, and I gave it my all, ramping up to under a 9 minute pace. My feet were hurting; my quads were burning; my back and knee were telling me to hurry up and get to the finish so we can rest!

I made it to the finish just behind the girl. I went up to her and thanked her for being my carrot and she told me that I had been her carrot in the beginning and she would not have run as fast if I had not been there. She ended up getting first in our age group and I ended up with 2nd, which I was happy with because I ended up being much faster than I had anticipated!

Final time: 9:31
Age: 2nd
Gender: 8 / 60 finishers (+22 DNFs)
Overall: 36 / 185 finishers (+69 DNFs)

Overall, I would say that I was very happy with my results. In fact, I may try to change up my training plan going forward so that it is more strength and cross training (cycling mostly) and less miles, since it surprisingly seemed to work.

Have you ever done better than expected at something even though you did not prepare as well as you would have liked? What is your "carrot" when you are going for a particular goal? 

Firetrails 50

It was a dark and stormy night. Just kidding; it was a cool and foggy morning.  I arrived at the start early, and was chatting with some fellow runners when I saw...my Dad and Grandma! They had come to cheer me on! I gave them some good luck hugs, lubed up, went the the restroom, ate an apple (in that order, actually) and hit the road. Literally.

Raring to go!

The first couple of miles were on pavement. I was trying not to go out to fast, as I know that is one of my weaknesses. In fact, speaking of weaknesses, after the race, a friend asked me what my challenges were for this race, and it got me thinking... instead of doing a mile by mile breakdown, as there are a lot of them, I am going to highlight some of the challenges, as they are really what defined this race for me.

This race was pretty much an out and back, with the only difference being that we went around the northeast side of the lake heading out and came back along the southwest side. This meant we went through most aid stations twice. I am going to recap this race mostly from aid station to aid station.

Start to Bort Meadow / mile 7.9: After the paved section, it started uphill on a dirt fire trail. I caught up with Kent, a guy that I have seen around at a bunch of races, and we actually stuck together for this entire section. He kept telling me that I was pacing at a faster pace than he normally starts out, and I was trying to slow down because I knew that starting out fast would come back to get me in the end. He also said that I would have to have salt, which I have never really trained with. Average pace = 9:00 / mile.

Bort Meadow to Big Bear / mile 10.5: After Bort Meadow, a high five from grandma, and some potatoes with salt, the majority of this section was downhill. Kent took off flying down the hill and I was back on my own again. Even though downhill is not my forte, I did pass a few people in this section.

Big Bear to Skyline / mile 15: When I ran the Skyline 50k, Skyline was the halfway/turnaround point and boy was I glad to see it. This time, I tried to get that thought out of my head, because it was only about a quarter of the way this time! This section was pretty unremarkable. I ran, sometimes near others, sometimes chatting with them, sometimes running silent. I kept slowly passing people, but was still trying not to go too fast. Average pace = 10:30/mile.

Skyline to Sibley to Steam Trains / 21.7 miles: I was still feeling great, which was strange because when I run 50k races, mile 19 - 25 tend to be my weak point. However, somewhere in the middle of this section, my sock started tightening up. I couldn't figure out how to fix it; I took my shoe off and adjusted it, hoping it would help, but I kept feeling it squeezing my toes inside my shoe. Another issue was that I was wearing fairly new shoes and I was kind of hating them. Instead of laces they have that zip tie thingy and it kept loosening up, which was probably why my sock was acting funny. In spite of that, I had a good time, as this was the point when I started to see the front of the pack heading back toward me.

Steam Trains to Lone Oak / 26 miles: This was a good section, with plenty of people to look at, due to the out and back. I saw my friend Kent, as well as many others who were in front of me. I counted the girls, as I always do in this situation, and knew I was not going to get any prizes for this race! However, the best part about this section was the Lone Oak aid station, which was not only the turn around point, but was also the giver of grilled cheese sandwiches! Never before has a white bread and American cheese sandwich tasted SO good! Average pace = 11:25/mile

Lone Oak to Steam Train / 30.3 miles: The worst part about this section was that it was mostly uphill, so it was pretty slow going. Also, it was devoid of trees, so it was a bit warm. However, I buddied up with a really nice Russian guy who was trying to qualify for the Western States (11 hours or less) and we hiked up the hill together and had a nice chat along the way. Also, I got to see who was behind me, as we were again on the out and back section.

Steam Trail to Sibley to Skyline / 37 miles: To be honest, at this point I started to just put one foot in front of the other. My left sock kept giving me trouble and I had to stop a few times to try to adjust my sock/shoe. I could feel a hot spot, which I had a feeling was going to end up as a blister. I remember a couple of rocky, root filled downhills and the fear that my feet were not going to hold up as long as I would like. They were not screaming, not even close, but the left one had the hot spot and I was favoring it a bit and was worried it would affect the right. The last two miles of this section, I was really, REALLY wanting to get to the aid station. I had to pee and I kind of just wanted to stop just for a minute. I kept thinking that I just have to get to 40 miles and then it would all be easy from there.

Skyline to Big Bear to Bort Meadows / 44.1 miles: After fueling up at the aid station and stopping for a potty break, I headed back down the Stream trail. Most of this section was run with a guy I had been talking with before, Matt, and his pacer. I didn't really talk to them much; at this point I was not very social, but it was kind of nice to just run behind them, or in front of them (we kept switching) and to listen to them chatting. I cannot tell you what they were talking about, but just having them "keeping me company" was nice. For this section, I walked the uphills, even if they were little or not steep. I just really wanted to save a bit of energy for the last few miles. After Big Bear, we headed up the big hill toward Bort. These miles up the hill were 16 minute and 18 minute miles. This hill made my legs pretty tired, but on the other hand, I was glad to not have to run.

Bort Meadows to Clyde Wood to Finish / 50 miles: I ate a potato, which I was not hungry for in the least, but I knew I was running out of energy. I also had some Gu Brew, which tasted like medicine. It was gross. Dad caught up with me and together we headed out for the final section. I told him he needed to just talk so I wouldn't have to and he did a good job of keeping me entertained. I was feeling a little gross at this point. The Gu Brew was threatening to come back up and my legs were pretty tired. I think Dad was surprised when I walked the little hills. I did get a burst (if you can call it that) of energy around mile 47 or 48 (my Garmin had died by then) and I even started participating in the conversation a little. However, I felt like a drunk person, where you can't control what does or doesn't come out of your mouth. My brain was like a marshmallow. The last section was on pavement again, and there were regular people hanging out and walking and they all looked so fresh and so happy! I rounded the corner next to the finish and the clock read 9:54:xx. I sprinted (term used loosely) to the finish and crossed it in just under 9:55!

Afterward I felt pretty good. My legs were a bit tired and my feet were pretty excited to get out of those shoes, but otherwise, it was not too bad. I scarfed down a hamburger and some ice cream and put on my new fleece (bonus) because believe it or not, I was kind of chilly!

My loyal fans!

Just for reference, here are a few of the stats: #1 guy came in at 6:27. #1 girl was 7:43. She is 50 years old. The Russian from the Steam Trail section came in at 10:17, which means he qualified for Western States (nice job buddy!). I came in 103/287 overall and 19/94 females. I think there were actually about 380 registered runners in the beginning. Another pretty cool thing that I didn't learn until I saw a camera on the side of the trail is that it was all being broadcast live! My Mom went online to watch me finish but her bandwidth ran out right before I came in (bummer). I wish I would have known in advance. Next time, I guess. They did put the start online HERE.

So, the big question is: Would I do it again? Yes. Am I ready for a 100 miler? Not quite.

But maybe 100k.

Do you talk to other runners when you are racing? Have you ever been so tired you feel like you are drunk? Who is YOUR most loyal fan?

The Rest of the Year

I haven't really talked about this because I have been slacking, but one of my goals this year was to sign up for a 50 mile race. So I did. I signed up for the Dick Collins Firetrails 50. So I already accomplished my goal, right? Just kidding; the goal is actually to RUN a 50 mile race.

I would like to say that I found an easy training plan, printed it out and have been sticking to it ever since, but I would be lying. I did find a training plan. It ranges from 20 - 60 miles a week and includes 5 days of running a week. But following it? Not so much. It's like everything caught up to me all at once and I am having trouble keeping up. It's totally my fault and it's fun things, not hard ones. For instance, I joined a softball team. One night a week until October, we play, and there are possible once a week practices as well. I have also been going hiking with a friend once a week. Then there are weekend trips and all of a sudden, 5 days of running gets harder and harder.

Last week I was supposed to run 48 miles. I barely ran 30. Actually I ran 31.5. And yes, I am totally counting the point five. In two weeks, I will have to run that many miles in one go. Am I ready? I don't know. I have a race in two weeks and a few other races on the schedule which hopefully I will be ready for, as I did do a lot of training over the last few months. However, lately I don't feel like it is enough. Why is it that we as runners always doubt our training when it comes down to race time?

Here is what is coming up over the next several months.

1. Squamish 50k: I am really excited about this because I will be meeting up with Amber on her home turf. It will be good to finally meet her and I am also really proud of her because this is her first 50k! She is going to do awesome and I am really looking forward to joining her and running in a really beautiful area!

2. Headlands 50k: This race is very close to me and is on another of my favorite local running trails in the Marin Headlands. Even though it's in August, the weather here is usually (knock on wood) not too hot, since there is the marine layer and the fog and all. This will be a great training run for the 50 mile!

3. Firetrails 50 Mile: This is literally in my backyard! Okay, it's a few miles away, but it really is on the trails I always run on and I can run to them right from my house! I am excited to run on familiar trails, as sometimes when you don't know the area, the course can seem longer than you would like.

4. Marine Corps Marathon: It seems like so long ago that I signed up for this! I am running it with a couple of guys who I ran The Relay with; one is from Texas and the other is from Philly and we are going to meet up and make a weekend of it. It should be a lot of fun, as I haven't seen them since the race and they were really fun to hang out with then so I am sure it will be a repeat of that (minus the stinky van and the baby wipes).

So I am trying not to slack, but it's been hard, and it's also been difficult figuring out a schedule with long runs and taper and races all together. I know I can do it but sometimes I just get nervous about things.

Do you write to do lists or make schedules? If so, do you always follow them to a T? What's your strategy for fitting it all in?