Cle Elum 50k

Courtesy of Glenn T.

I  ran my second 50k about two weeks ago and couldnt have been any happier with the result. The week prior to the race I was suffering from some sort of big toe injury that was having me contemplate where I would end up racing. I didnt want to drive all the way to cle elum and then drop out at mile 4. I had my dad come to crew for me, well really, he volunteered in order to waive my race fee, which I had already paid for and would need to be reimbursed either way. He also wanted to see what it was like at one of these events considering he didnt get to see me run my first one (Spokane River Run 50k).

I stayed off my feet for a couple of days but wasnt seeing any improvement with my toe. I ended up stretching my feet and lower legs with the Stick (massage roller) and it really loosened things up. The next day I felt great and was able to go for a short 3 mile jaunt down fire road 1 and a short out and back on the wildwood with no pain whatsoever. This gave me enough confidence to at least get in the car and head for cle elum, wa Friday after work.. Maybe I would just do the 25k. After I semi sleepless night in the Timber Lodge in Cle Elum, I ended up getting enough confidence to start the 50k.  I knew I wanted to get out in front quick as the 1st 50k that I did I got stuck in the middle and could never catch up to the front guys. Not that I would have because the first place finisher beat me by over an hour and I got "chicked"! So with this in mind I settled in climbing up south cle elum ridge (I think) in around 12th place. I felt really good throughout the first half of the race. Unlike the previous 50k I did, I did not run with a hydration pack and instead ran with a ultimate direction hand held water bottle with nuun in it. I figured that I would stop at the aid stations this time around because at during my last 50k I did not stop at the aids because I hand enough water and gels with me in my pack. But during this cle elum race, I wore my MHW refueler advance shorts in which I fit 6 gels in three pocks. I also ran with a SPI belt around my waist that carried a half tube of nuun and tylenol should the aids not have it.

My one big mistake this time around was bring a lightweight rain shell. The trails had been pounded by rain the prior days and rain was definitely a high possibility, although the temperature on race day hovered around the low 60s. I ended up having to take off my jacket with in 2 miles and carried it in my hand for the rest of the run! I thought that I would be able to use the SPI belt to strap it to my waist but it was too bouncy for my liking. The rain held off for the whole day so there wasnt even a need for the jacket. Also, I didnt know what the trails were going to be like. I knew from the website that the trails were going to be pretty rugged, and the recent rain could only have made the trails worse. I purchased a pair of Montrail Mountain Masochists GTX (aka waterproof uppper) and hoped to have them broken in for the race. That didnt happen though so I could to run in my Montrail Rockridges with the MHW Seta trail running gaitors. I felt that with would be a good combination should the trail get pretty muddy. Thankfully, while there were only a few puddles, I was able to jump over most of them. In the end, I probably did not need gaitors but they didnt hinder me either.

Okay, back to the actual race. The race boasts 7000ft of elevation gain with the starting elevation at 2800ft with a max elevation of 5800ft. So considering that I sleep at around 100ft living in Portland and that my routine training elevation was around 800-1000ft on the wildwood trail, I was a little nervous about how I would perform at altitude. Never the less, I pushed through the climbing, walking where need be, crawling where mandatory. I crested Windy Pass (the beginning of the downhill) feeling really good. I was ready to bomb down the trail, leaving all the old men with shaky knees in my dust. And bomb down the hill I did. I felt great from mile 16-24, flying through all the creek crossing. At this time, due to false information, I thought that I was in the top 3. But as soon as I began to approach aid C at around mile 24 (which i thought was mile 26) my legs began to stage a revolt. So here I was 6 miles from the finish with legs that were pretty much pumped to the max. My bomb down the mountain strategy was backfiring. I continued past aid C where I learned that I was in 6th place with a #5 just in front of me. That gave me quite a boost and I tool off for the finish. I wanted a top 5 place. I soon passed number #5 in the bushes answering natures call (awkward). However, the problem that I was facing was that both the 25k and 50k racers finished on the same trails and I couldnt tell who was in the 50k and who wasnt. I began passing more people. Some I could tell were 25k racers and other I couldnt. So once again I had no idea what place i was in so i just pushed hard to the finish. At this point, my legs were shot. My left knee was having IT band problems and every down hill felt like someone was hitting my quads with a hammer. With two miles to go, I noticed a runner coming up on me fast but I had nothing left to hold him off. There goes 1 place! Then with 1 mile to go, another guy passed me. That really got me going but there was no way that I could catch either of them. I ended up crossing the finish line in 6th place with a time of 5 hours and 9 minutes! Pretty damn good but I was so close to 4th place which sounds so much better! Camera died before the end of the race so no photos from the end unfortunately.

Once my dad came back from volunteering, I soaked in the tanecum creek then jumped in the car to visit my gf in Seattle. Over all, my second ultra went really well. Here are some comparisons between this race and my last one.

Cle Elum/Spokane River Run

1. Montrail Rockridges/La Sportiva Lynx
2. 5 hours 9 minutes/5  hours 1 minute
3. 6th place / 13th place
4. Not chicked/chicked
5. Rainy and coldish/hot and dry
6. UD handheld/hydration pack
7. nuun/nuun
8. run&walked/ran the whole thing
9. No Nike+/Nike+, (told me I ran 37 miles)

Thats all for now,

UNT

Bryan