Training Log Archive: verticalwanderer

So the race was supposed to start at 0700 and I got there with my mom at about 0630 and the rain was absolutely dumping in the parking lot and the wind was blowing hard. At about 0650, I got all my stuff and started to head up to the start and somebody coming down said that the start was delayed an hour, so I happily jumped back in the warm, dry car.....as we waited, the rain started to ease up a bit, but it was still raining. At 0750, we headed up to the start again and were informed that because there was over a foot of snow up at the top of the course, they had to change the route at the last minute so it would not be quite 50k. I was a bit bummed and was (and still kinda am) worried about whether or not I will get the UTMB points still, but nothing I could do about it then.

So we took off in a light rain and within about 10 minutes it was dumping in sheets again with heavy wind. I had a light rain jacket, a heavy-ish sweatshirt (Patagonia R1) a long sleeve and short sleeve shirt and I was about right, little on the cool side even under heavy exertion on the way up the climbs. Also wore shorts and my legs were fine. I got a chuckle when I thought about how miserable Maria would be in those conditions, but they were really not too bad for me.

So the new route they came up with was 2 loops and stayed down a little lower on the mountain. They said it would be marathon length, but my GPS recorded 28.4 miles. Started right off the bat with a climb of about 1200', then a short downhill, another climb of about 700' up to our max elevation which was around 8.5k', (lots of snow up here and actively snowing on the first lap), then a 1200' decent, followed by a pair of 450' climbs, then all the way back down to the start to do it all again. Total elevation gain for the entire course was 4.6k'.

There were 4 aid stations along the loop (too many, so I skipped some). I only had to refill my bladder once at the midpoint stop where my mom was taking her crew duties very seriously and was a huge help. At this stop I also changed all my clothes except for my shorts including shoes and sox. I did not really get any food from the aid stations except for hot broth which was delicious. Most of my calories came from the Perpetuem (5 flasks, 2 scoops each). I had also made up my food bags with eggs and bacon and sweet potatoes, and I ate some of these, but not as much as I thought I would (about 2 bags). I also had 1 gel very late in the race. All in all, my energy level felt pretty good and even throughout.

In summary, I felt like despite the last minute changes and the weather issues, it was a great race. I felt very strong throughout and felt like I hit the pace almost perfectly for such a steep course wth so much climbing and at altitude. I was very pleased with it all and am happy to report that other than a little minor soreness, I feel great.

Splits: (interesting to look at the splits and compare second lap splits to first lap.....overall my second lap was about 20 min slower, but a big chunk of that was my long aid station stop to change clothes and refill and all that.....some of my later splits were faster for the second lap than they were the first. Also, there were about 3 minutes at the beginning and 4-5 at the end that this was running and I wasn't....

1.0 mi 14:27 min/mi 00:14:26
2.0 mi 13:44 min/mi 00:13:43
3.0 mi 13:37 min/mi 00:13:36
4.0 mi 14:03 min/mi 00:14:03
5.0 mi 13:22 min/mi 00:13:22
6.0 mi 15:55 min/mi 00:15:53
7.0 mi 13:49 min/mi 00:13:48
8.0 mi 11:02 min/mi 00:11:00
9.0 mi 09:49 min/mi 00:09:47
10.0 mi 13:06 min/mi 00:13:06
11.0 mi 12:13 min/mi 00:12:11
12.0 mi 14:12 min/mi 00:14:11
13.0 mi 10:08 min/mi 00:10:08
14.0 mi 09:15 min/mi 00:09:15
15.0 mi 20:14 min/mi 00:20:11 (much of this was changing clothes)
16.0 mi 15:30 min/mi 00:15:29
17.0 mi 16:23 min/mi 00:16:23
18.0 mi 16:12 min/mi 00:16:10
19.0 mi 14:37 min/mi 00:14:36
20.0 mi 15:23 min/mi 00:15:22
21.0 mi 15:04 min/mi 00:14:52
22.0 mi 15:46 min/mi 00:15:38
23.0 mi 09:23 min/mi 00:09:23
24.0 mi 13:03 min/mi 00:13:02
25.0 mi 12:48 min/mi 00:12:47
26.0 mi 15:36 min/mi 00:15:35
27.0 mi 10:04 min/mi 00:10:03
28.0 mi 10:28 min/mi 00:10:27
28.4 mi 15:43 min/mi 00:06:53

Run 3: After getting to Utah, do an easy run of 15:00 - 20:00 with a few strides at the end. If you can do it on the course that would be great. I always tried to do this for out-of-town, unfamiliar races if I could manage.

Just did it in the neighborhood around my Dad's house.

Run 2: Earlier in week - 45:00 marathon effort rolling trail run, with 10:00 easy flat warmup and 5:00 cool-down.

Nice run.....hot and humid!!