I have an amazing husband who agreed to wake up early on a Saturday morning to drive way up into the mountains to meet me at the 12.5 mile mark with food and water. He was to meet me again at mile 18 to top off my water and then again at 22 to drive my butt back to my car which was at the starting line several miles away. I don't know very many husbands who would give up their sleeping in Saturdays for this. The non-running spouse of a runner has the patience of a saint! And I appreciate my hubby more than words can say!
The first 22 miles of this course are critical because this distance has a 2pm cut-off time. The race starts at 6am. That gives you 8 hours to get 22 mountain miles under your feet. On a road marathon, this is nothing. But single track mountain trails with rocks, sand, and some serious climbs make this a bit of a challenge, especially for the newbie trail runner.
I just started trail running in November and I had to take several months off to train for my cycling adventure and then had the concussion. So I do consider myself very much a newbie. Actually, until I really started training for this race, I had only been on some of these trails just once and I had no real clue where I was (I was running with a friend who knew her way around). I started my serious training for this race in May. I learned to read the trail maps. I learned to plan out my own routes. I printed out the race course directions and planned training runs for each part of the course. I run with friends, but most of the time, I am out on the trails alone. Today was no different.
All through my training for this race, I have had a plan to keep my minute/mile pace at 20 minutes (or under). I know that seems like a slow mile, and for some of the more experienced trail runners that is VERY slow, but for this newbie, that is the pace I need/plan to keep.
I needed to make sure I could get the 22 miles in within the 8 hours. I woke up at 4am and was on the trail by 5am. The moon was a sliver of a crescent. The stars were all out. It was DARK. My head lamp did very little in the way of lighting my way. The start of the race, takes place in a parking lot and takes a paved road to the actual trail head. Once I reached the trail head, I heard a rather large animal moving around in the bushes. (Now just a week or so ago, they had to capture a bear in this area and relocate him.) This area also has coyotes and mountain lions (Of which I have only seen a coyote a couple of times...was even stalked by one last winter.) I looked in the brush but I didn't see anything, but I was spooked none the less. I was alone. It was dark. And ya..... I thought about turning on my music on my iPhone, but then I wouldn't be able to hear if someone (or something) was lurking in the bushes. I just prayed for daylight to arrive. Usually during the week, I see a couple of people out this early, but not today. They must have all been camping or sleeping in. I was all alone in the dark mountains!
I realized that I really can't see in the dark. The paths that I know so well are completely different in the pitch blackness. My head lamp was not doing much of anything. So I stuck to my plan. Power hike and keep my time to 20 minute miles or faster. While I was walking in the dark, I was thinking about how long I will be in the dark come race day. Last night, we checked the sunrise time for race day. If I take the unofficial early start of 5am, I will be in the dark for 2 hours. 2 hours will get me up through the hardest climbs of the early part of the race. I will reach the first aid station right about the time day light hits. Which means I will be able to run on my favorite part of the course! This made me very happy!
The thing about trail running is that no matter how slow you have to walk or power hike up a steep climb, you can usually make up the time on the down hills when you can let your legs fly. That is what I did once I got to the Watchman trail.
I LOVE that trail. It's long, easy and pretty much down hill (in the direction we are going). And it leads directly to the hardest climb of this course. It took me just about 3 hours to reach the Watchman and 5 Mile Gulch trail head intersection. 5 Mile Gulch is the toughest climb of this race. I started out at elevation gain of 4341 at 2:57:07 and by the time I reached the top of the trail head at ridge road where the 2nd aid station will be I was at an elevation gain of 5896 at 4:01:54. It took me a little over an hour to go from mile 9.48 to 11.5 with an 1, 555 elevation gain. OUCH! This sucked up my time! And just when you think the climbing is over, there is 1 more mile up Ridge Road to a turn around point that has even more climbing. I just wanted to cry. Once I finally got to that 12.5 mile turn around point, my hubby was there with fresh water and food! Yay!!!
He is so supportive. He kept telling me how great I was looking and was cheering me on. But at this point I was seriously cranky! *laugh* Thankfully, he picked up on that and shut up until I could get some food in my belly then I could be a nice person :).
Then it was back on the run going down Ridge Road to Rocky Canyon Road. This had some climbs but mostly it was down hill, and I was booking it. My speed ranged from 17 minute miles to 10 minute miles.
We totally miscalculated how fast I would make it to the next aid station stop so I beat Tracy down and had to wait for him to meet me there so I could fill up my water at mile 18. I probably had enough water, but with 4 miles to go, the sun was beating down and there was very little shade and 2 of those miles was up hill again. I didn't want to risk it. I had stopped sweating which is never a good sign. While I waited for Tracy, I ate a Payday bar hoping the salt would help with the lack of sweating. At this point, I was just over 6 hours in. That gave me a little under 2 hours to finish the next 4 miles. I was feeling great about that timing! Once Tracy made it and I was able to refill my water, I was back on the trails.
Up hill again. It wasn't a steep up hill, but it was relentless. I found myself getting very cranky, but at least I was sweating again. When was all of this uphill going to end? Where was the trail head to turn from Orachard Gulch to 5 Mile Gulch to head down hill. I just wanted to head down hill. I was tired of all the climbing. I kept looking ahead, willing it to hurry up. Then I realized that was making me even more cranky. Just like in life, I need to pay attention to this present moment, where I am right now and focus! I will eventually get to where I need to be, but there is no point in worrying about it and willing it to get here faster. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. And thank God I decided to pay attention, cause there was a freakin' snake on the trail hiding in the shadow of tree branches. YIPES! (I sure hope all the snakes will be asleep in October!)
Finally, I made it to the trail head interchange! Time to run down hill! Yay!!!!
It's a very steep down hill because 5 Mile Gulch is a steep climb up! *laugh* So I ran slow. My ankle was feeling it by this point in time. I need to take care of this thing. By this time, I knew my time was going to be well under 8 hours. I didn't want to push my legs hard. This is a training run, and I need to keep in mind that on race day, I need to leave gas in my tank for 9 more miles of climbing and running. Keeping my legs in check, I kept going.
When I reached the Watchman and 5 Mile Gulch trail intersection, I knew I was on the home stretch! I was almost there! I swear this was the longest part of the trail, or at least it seemed like it. But the funny thing is, once I came to the end of the trail, I was surprised to see the end!
In the end, I finished 22 miles in 7 hours and 12 minutes! YES!!!!!! At the finish, I felt like I still had gas in the tank ready to take on the last 9 miles....that is until I sat down in the truck to drive to my car at the starting line. Oy! I feel like I felt the very first time I did a marathon. After a shower, 20 minutes on a hydro massage table, a yummy burger at Fudruckers and a 4 hour nap with ice on my ankle wrapped up in a pretty rainbow scarf to keep it in place, my legs are feeling much better. I will recover. This next week will be an easy week with a couple of 6 mile runs with maybe a 14 miler thrown in.
I really do love trail running! And I find it very entertaining that while I did road marathons, I HAD to have music playing at all times, and today for 7 hours and 12 minutes it was just me and my own thoughts! How often do YOU spend that much time with just you and your thoughts...AND do it while battling some crazy physical challenges? Try it sometime. You will learn alot about yourself!
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