Inspired by “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall (which we refer to as “the Book”) and continuing with Slow Boy’s epic birthday traditions, he, TC, and I raced a 50k this past Saturday. Here’s a very long TR (trip report). Hey, if this feels long, then you’ll have a good idea of how long it felt on the trail!

How it started

50k out and back on the Grey Rock Trail

Slow Boy and TC decided last week — it was more like a “I’ll go if you go” sort of dare. I waffled all week (asking for no pressure and there was none, thanks!), worrying about getting injured without training and the course itself. It boasts being the hardest 50k in the northwest, with 6000 ft. of climbing and technical terrain. Ugh.

But as usual, I talked myself into it. Mainly because lately I’ve been uninspired about running; I do it for many reasons, currently none of which include accomplishment. Now that it’s summer, I want to play tennis, bike to work, enjoy the park. I thought why not run myself into the ground, and if I get injured, I’ll go do something else. And typical me, the tipping point was when they were figuring out what to eat. I love planning food! So I was in, an hour before the deadline, two days before the race, with only an 18 miler from a month ago under my belt.

Logistics were actually the most insane part (to me). The race was 4 hrs. away, in the middle of nowhere Washington, and started at 7am on Saturday. We didn’t want to camp and also had a party for Slow Boy the night before, so that meant for a very early departure and no sleep before the race. Fortunately, Couch Potato, the reliable sister and friend that she is, jumped at the opportunity to drive us up in the middle of the night (thanks CP!). We hung out with friends, slept for two hours, and drove out to the race at 1:45am. I admit I was skeptical and every so-slightly regretting my decision, especially when I never managed to fall back asleep in the car.

Pre-Race

Before the race. I think we were too tired and dumb to take one after.

We got there an hour in advance.  Still, getting ready for a race always takes longer than you think. There’s breakfast which is hard for me to eat at 6am. The body glide to prevent blisters, the sunscreen, and in this case, DEET for the vicious mosquitoes. The gear, though here we went simple — one hand-held water bottle and two goo packets — since we were relying on the aid stations (a soon-to-be error on our part). And finally, the debate on what to wear. It’s almost worse than going to a wedding! It was 48 degrees when we arrived but temperatures were rising fast to 85. Do I wear a hat? T-shirt or just sports bra? I debated on my gaiters (they go over your ankle to prevent rocks and dust coming into your shoe), decided no, and changed my mind at the last minute because I saw other women wearing theirs (and they looked cute). And of course the last-minute bathroom trip, for which there is always a line.

The course was out and back, and actually held a 50k, 25k, and 12k, so it was a larger and more varied crowd than expected. You could identify the participants by their bib number (900’s were 50k-ers) but you didn’t need to: somehow ultrarunners stand out. They’re lean but not too lean (you need some body fat to last that long); they carry a lot of water; their gear looks trail-ish; they’re older. The age range for these events always amazes me – I hope my knees last that long!

The race begins

And we're off!

The race started abruptly. After going over safety, the announcer walked us to the trail head, lifted his arm, and said “Ok runners, here’s your trail. Now go.” We awkwardly funneled into the trail (barely wide enough for two to run abreast), in no particular order. For the 50k-ers, who have all the time in the world, this doesn’t really matter; I felt bad for the 12k-ers who were caught up in the slower traffic.

It went uphill from the start. I noticed the woman who won last year (the announcer had made her an example of how much water to carry: 64 oz.!) started walking right off the bat. In the Book, they say to the way to do ultra runs (with elevation and distance) is to walk up the hills, run the flats, and hammer downhill. By walking, you save muscles for running down, and running up this sort of steepness isn’t much faster than hiking fast and uses more energy. After 10 min., those of us already breathing hard into the start of a very, very long run changed to a fast hike. Sure enough, shortly after, that woman passed us.

Slow Boy went out with the front runners, TC moved ahead through the pack, and I stayed back. I was determined to be conservative and not burn out. My strategy was to follow whatever the people in front were doing. If they started to walk, so did I. If, when I started to run, I’d catch up with them, I’d pass them and follow the next person. This actually proved to work really well for me. I did have a mental note of how many women were in front me — can’t help it.

Uphill start

After climbing for almost an hour, the downhill started and people took off! I couldn’t keep up. At some point I was alone, with no one in sight, and after a few turns, I started to wonder if I was on the right trail. The 12k-ers turned around (which meant we had only gone 6k — really, it took that long to run 3-4 miles?). The downhill became even steeper; I could feel it in my quads and toes, and I could not imagine going back up this thing again. When we started seeing the 25k-ers who turned back at the first aid station, I was happy to know it was near. Running this kind of terrain makes your pace very slow and without mile markers, you really have a bad sense of how far you’ve gone. I made sure to drink every 20-30 minutes, since the 85 degree high had me worried. I also drank in gulps: the Book says it’s better for your stomach muscles to gulp than sip.

At the 12k marker

The first aid station was disappointing. For long runs, you want salt and fat, but all they offered were bananas, and the Powerade was watered down. I chugged two cups of Powerade, filled my bottle, and took off. I was convinced that since the next aid station was only for the 50k-ers, there would be better food. At this point there were five women in front of me.

Next was the second long climb up, something like another 1900 ft, to the 24k aid station. I followed my same strategy, except people were more spread out. Actually, it was good to for me to decide the walking verses running, because I tend to run uphill more than others. I caught up with the next two women ahead of me and passed a few more men.

At two hours, I took my first goo, apple-cinnamon flavor. It’s gagging but it does the trick. Behind me two men were coming up strong. I was feeling good and they motivated me to run uphill more than I would have. Then all of a sudden, this gigantic cow came running down across the trail about 50 yards front of us. It was HUGE (later, I compared it to the size of a fancy Ford pick-up. When the house didn’t believe it, one of the men backed me up). Three more cattle came down; it was like a stampede! We came to a halt to make sure one wasn’t about to take us out. They were making very loud cattle cries, which sounded like pain to me but what do I know. Just that it was crazy!

The two men passed me. The terrain had become very rocky. I already had one blister and my toes were ultra sensitive to each rock. I started to wonder if my feet would make it through the whole race, back down the hills. I hadn’t seen anyone turn around yet so I knew I wasn’t close. I wondered how Slow Boy was doing. Is he drinking enough? Is TC leading the women?

Finally, as I reached the top of the climb and went down around the hill, the the front runner came through. He was going fast and strong! I looked at my watch, 2h34, to see how far behind Slow Boy would be. The next two men came past and then there was Slow Boy! They were all spread out by five min. so he was 15 min. behind the leader. He looked great and happy — as a birthday boy should! He assured me that the aid station was only 100 yards away, but… there was an out and back down a steep hill for the final 2k.

At the 24 k marker

Tara, 1st female and broke the course record by 50 min.

I stopped briefly at the aid station since I knew I’d stop again after the last out and back. Then I saw TC! She was only 10-15 minutes behind Slow Boy, with one more guy ahead of her. She is so fast! I tried to high-five her, which she didn’t quite get, and ended up slapping her. She estimated only 8 min. down to the turn around. The next two women came up, but TC was clearly ahead by 15 min and I was probably in 4th by 10 min.

It was yet another steep downhill so after the turn around, I had to walk back up. I powered up though, motivated by seeing TC and Slow Boy and knowing that I was in 4th. Unfortunately, this aid station was also disappointing. Sure, there were oranges and watermelon, but that’s not enough calories nor was there salt. I really, really was craving some salt. I stuffed myself with oranges and bananas and started the return trip. It had been 3h03.

There was a fire blazing in the forest nearby with helicopters above. That’s when I caught up with the 4th place woman. She was really nice so I ran and chatted with her for awhile. She was 23 and training for an Iron Man, had some funny stories about wanting to beat skinny little runners like me, and kept me distracted from my aching toes down the rocky hill. She kept a good pace but started to walk every now and then, and after about a half hour, I decided to pass her and book it down. My toes were killing me and I needed to get the downhill over with.

At the 38k marker

It was starting to get really hot. By the time I arrived at the final aid station, I felt overheated and had finished almost all of my Powerade. Remembering a hot run in Portland where I ran through water fountains, I soaked my tank top and hat in water. When the wind blew, it felt like AC all over my body. I took my last goo and started that dreaded climb.

My legs were really aching all over now. I tried to hike fast up the hill and would quickly get out of breath. I started to time my running and walking intervals, rewarding myself to run in the shady parts or to the next tree. It took a while and killed any hopes I had for finishing under 6 hrs.

With only 2.5 miles to go, I got lost. At a junction two men gave me unclear instructions and the trail was poorly marked. I took a turn and as I climbed over a very large tree, I couldn’t remember if I had done this on the way up. So I hopped back and forth over this log, trying to see if it jogged a memory from 5 hours ago. It started to, but I had just done it 3-4 times, so I wasn’t sure! Finally, I decided to turn back and go down the other way. Fortunately, after a few hundred yards, there was a trail marker.

Frustrated for losing 5 min. and running more than needed, I booked it the last 2.5 miles. Unfortunately, a good portion was climbing up a what felt like a never-ending hill and part way I had to walk. When I finally got to the down hill part, I ran as fast as my legs and toes would take.

Finished the 50k!

Greeted by Oso and family at the finish

The last stretch seemed like forever. It’s almost like my body knew to shut off, almost too early. My left calf started to cramp, and I had to hobble a bit. I kept thinking after every switch back that surely the end was near. Finally, there was the house (plus Oso), waiting for me on the trail. What a great sight to see! Oso was so excited she almost took me out. I ran hard into the finish, ignoring how close my legs were to cramping and stiffening up.

I came in at 6:13, so minus the 5 min. of getting lost, it was 3 min. shy of the course record last year. Of course the other woman broke her record, but then there was TC, who ran it in 5:15! She was only 5 min. after Slow Boy. He had a good race until the end, where we think he was lacking salt (or maybe some training… ).

I am pleased with how I raced. I felt that I had paced myself well because I was only passed by two men; otherwise I slowly and steadily picked off runners ahead of me and was the 3rd female finisher (behind crazy fast TC and the previous winner). I did have to walk a lot more than I like and would prefer a 50k that was more runnable (= less steep). I want to know I can run the whole thing.

Of course the house is even more excited by TC’s performance and how we’d do if we actually trained. I didn’t come out injured, so… I guess I’ll keep running