Woodside 50K
Briefly, an entry on the Woodside 50K, my last race of 2009.
You'd never mistake me for a speedster, but four weeks after the MMTR 50, I put together a very even 30 mile run, admittedly under perfect conditions, to post my first sub-5-hour 50K finish. Alas, I can't let it count, because the course was about 0.7 miles short!
I'm not sure how much this had to do with my performance, but I drank a Vespa before the race. In my constant experimentation with equipment and nutrition, I came across this supplement that both Scott Dunlap and others use and recommend. Only after I had purchased it ($6!!!) did I find the website linking the ingredients to the Asian Mandarin Wasp. Great, now it sounded like complete bullshit. But I put it down anyway.
Getting ready for the start, I tied a spare water bottle to my running vest in anticipation of the Orange Loop, a longish 9 miles without aid. As I was doing this, Mark Tanaka rushed over, flustered and late as usual (although his blog post reveals why), trying to change and get ready as Wendell was calling us out to the start. We all got there in time, and at 8:30, got going on the trails.
First thing I found, tying a water bottle to your running vest doesn't work. The thing was bouncing around like crazy, and after a couple of minutes, the knot came undone (my bowline was fine, but the rope I used too slick). Oh well - I transferred the spare to my left hand.
I tried to take it easy on the outbound section, given my proximity to a 50-miler and light running schedule since then. I had forgotten that the run opens with a protracted climb through the forest, but being early in the race, I managed to keep up a running motion the whole way (well, almost) without feeling I was pushing too hard. Soon, King Mountain aid station came into view. I refueled and started in on my favorite part of the course.
The section along Skyline Boulevard is beautiful. Running on soft ground through the lush forest, with very little elevation change, felt wonderfully peaceful. Still conserving energy, I got passed by two women in this section, something which would normally piss me off, but I was just too content to really care. Following one of those women, we came to a big tree that had fallen right across the path. She turned around and gave me a priceless look, a combination of "WTF?" and "are we still on course", before she tried to pick her way through the brush. I climbed up the hill to circumvent the tree, and we emerged on the other side roughly at the same time.
On reaching Bear Gulch aid station, I filled both bottles and watched in surprise as another woman blew through the station and onto the longish 9-mile loop. "She'll run dry and be hurting later," I thought. I buckled up and followed her.
Emerging onto one of the few unshaded spots of the course, I relished the feeble winter sun and took advantage of some bushes on an uphill to water the plants. Soon the trails began to descend, and as I followed them, the race leaders started to show up, already on their way back. The first guy passed me, and just as I started to think, "I'm feeling a little fatigued," I promptly rolled my weak right ankle. I hesitated a minute, but then I thought, I'm deep in the woods and nobody can hear me.
"FUCK!" "FUCK!" "FUCK!" I yelled, and it made me feel much better.
The pain in my ankle subsided, and I continued on. It would stay upright the rest of the day. By the time I started the loop that would turn me around back to where I'd come from, I had counted four runners already on the return section. Many more would be on the loop - looks like I wasn't having a good day, race-position wise.
Running along the Redwood trail, I came across the strange Salamander Pond in Wunderlich Park. Around that time, my Garmin announced I had run 15.5 miles, half-way through the race. My time was 2:24:57 - I was exactly on pace for a five-hour finish.
Unfortunately, the return to Bear Gulch aid station involved climbing the trails I had descended down earlier. I felt a little tired, but kept up what I considered a good "ascent" speed, but I was falling way off the pace for that five-hour finish. As I approached the aid station, I caught up to the woman who had run through without picking up water. "Gone dry?" I asked her? No, she hadn't. We paced each other up the last hill and back to the aid station.
As I stopped, she again blew right through without stopping! Muttering to myself, a friendly 35K runner put my spare water bottle in the back of my running vest, and I set out in pursuit. Within five minutes, I caught up and settled in behind her, feeling quite relaxed.
Then it struck me - there was no need to conserve my energy anymore. Now I don't know how much I can attribute to the Vespa drink, and how much to the easy course and conditions, but I felt remarkably focused and in control for so late in a race. This wasn't like spinach is to Popeye - my legs weren't turning over very fast, and I was feeling fatigued - but I was mentally sharp and my physical deterioration was very even, no sudden drops or surges.
I dropped Miss No-Aid-For-Me-Thank-You, worked hard along Skyline Boulevard and caught first one, then another runner. I tagged along behind the second runner, and we raced each other all the way to King's Mountain. But once we arrived, he doubled over, huffing and puffing like he was going to have a heart attack. I still felt really good, refueled and ran along towards the finish.
I caught one more guy, and spent some time chasing another I would not be able to overtake, but mostly I kept checking my time and doing the math. It did not look like I would be able to get under five hours, unless I hammered some 6-minute miles on that last descent. As I reached the dirt-covered asphalt road, I conservatively started to increase my speed, when the finish line ambushed me - the course was short. So officially, I ran a 4:58.
In the end, I got chicked three times, only finished 25th out of about 100 runners, but I had a great race. The Vespa I'm still on the fence about - did it help me, or was the course just easy? Pondering this question, I warmed myself up with some nice hot soup before driving back home, my last ultra of the year complete.
