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| Yes- let's take this attitude to the race! |
I start out blazing. I am aware in
the first 8-mile loop that I am running fairly aggressively and well ahead of
pace from last year. I grant you I was thoroughly compensating for SOB where I
went out way too conservatively. I need to prove something to myself. I need to
sit in discomfort and enjoy it. I have no interest
in
worrying about cut-offs. And I think I need to know that these legs still work.
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| Why it looks like a beautiful day! (Facchino Photography) |
I am pushing, and it feels really,
really good. The contrast to last
year when my lungs were struggling to warm up and to breathe (due to pneumonia)
was quite palpable to me. I also know this is where I need to make up time on
the course compared with last year, having studied the data pre-race. In 2017,
I ran a strong back three-quarters of Way Too Cool, relatively speaking, once I
felt I could trust the lungs.
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| Just having fun around mile 5! |
I run the first loop with Veronica,
who is running her first ultra. I knew going in to Way Too Cool that I should
never keep up with her as Veronica has way higher leg turnover than I do. So…I ran
just ahead of her... and she kept up with me.
Veronica doubted her pace- I knew better!
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| Veronica catches me running away! |
The back half of the loop is a mess
- super muddy with lots of creek/stream, knee-deep crossings. The
mud wants to suck off my shoes. The creeks send a chill through my body as they
jolt me awake. It is a lot of added effort, but I push my mud phobia aside and
go for it anyway. I am working to channel my inner Max King. It was cold at the
start (mid-upper 30s) but dry and I am overly warm by the end of the loop.
Through the first aid station at 8-ish (7.6 miles on my watch) in 1:20 (my
official mile 8 was closer to 1:22 - vs 1:28 last
year).
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| Why- yes! It is that cold! (Facchino Photography) |
Then leaving Cool, and on to the
descent to Western States trail. I am solo- Veronica
doesn’t stop at the aid station and I let her go. (My total time at aid
stations will be about 7 minutes for the day). It starts to rain and there is a
plethora of mud still on the descent, along with creek crossings. I focus on pulling back the effort to something I can
maintain. After 2 miles, I hit the fireroad at Quarry Trail. I do what I can there,
though it feels slower than last year (not actually the case, but an effect of
the effort from the start).
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| Mile 95 ish of WS100 course! |
Through this stretch last year, I
was solely thinking how f’ing fast this course was as I cursed my pneumonia. It
is a PR worthy course, if only the lungs had cooperated. But today, it's just a
blur of searing lungs and discomfort. I want to slow down. I yearn for the give
provided by a 100K, by a 100 miler. My heart is racing. The lungs though, the
legs, they do not falter. They push on as I overwhelm the regulator telling me
to slow the f down. The course is too fast, I can't justify slowing down. If
it's runnable, I have to run. I read weeks ago an interview with Sarah Lavendar
Smith, noting the distinction between ramps and walls. Basically, the ramp
hills can be run; the wall hills might be walked/power hiked. This course is a
bevy of ramps- I want some walls already! The fact of this being hard is not
enough. There is no reserve I have to keep. It's only 31 miles. Suck it up
princess!
Aid station at 13 (12.5 for me) - I refill
my pack and flask and am out. On and off, it is getting colder with wind and
rain. I run 15.5 miles in 2:45. I estimate 3 hours to finish as the hills are
in the final five miles. I figured a 5:45 overall time was a stretch, but
possible, goal with the conditions. I’m going for my pre-race estimate.
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| Quarry trail. |
I go through the three major creek
crossings at American Canyon Creek and Hoboken. It’s very slippery, I nearly fall a few times,
but stay upright. Then I greet the climb back to the WS trail. That climb is
shorter and even better (i.e. easier) than I recalled. I eat a couple of mini
brownies, but suddenly reach the top, marked by a throng of spectators in the
forest. I am disappointed. I just want
more power hiking time. I want more walls. I have been pushing the running all
the way along. I have to run as it's infinitely and painfully runnable! I push
it to ALT (mile 20.5 on course) and get there in 3:43. A quick refuel of flask
and I'm out. Another cold and freezing creek crossing startles me as I drop
back to singe track.
This next section tends to be the
fastest of the single track (and my favorite of WS trail- aside from Cal St) on
course. It hails at mile 22 for a bit.... it has been raining on and off with
varying intensity. I can only laugh and carry on. A fair number of runners
passed me on the fire road before. Now it is my turn! I turn on the jet fuel
and reel them in! On your left, on your left, on your left! I am flying and
pull another woman behind me. We are a rolling freight train, passing people a
few at a time, side stepping the narrow path. If you want fun in an ultra, let
it loose 24-25 miles in and start your sprinting! Yee haw! (Based on final
stats from mile 8 to the finish, every place I moved up was through here with
rare exception.) I am sailing, and I feel damn fine! If there's a doubt that I
am an endurance runner with a capital E, doubt no more! Let's just say I got my
second wind and the run becomes amazingly fun. Legs and lungs are really,
really strong. Oh, but I really am looking forward to a hill so I can
"rest" some...
I hit the bottom of the tough climb
at the end of this stretch right around mile 26. I luck out, as last year there
was an added smaller climb as a detour for a washed-out fire road - which was a
mess due to mud. But, the "mini-goat" is out and the fireroad is open
- win!! So, I only have Goat Hill (steep, but less than 0.5 miles). I am happy
- and then happier when it starts to snow- just sort of cool! I make it to the
top feeling strong.
Leaving to head out of the aid
station- Veronica is there and I cajole her to join me (she had had a rough
last couple of miles). The descent off Goat Hill is not much of one with some
climbs. It is a soupy mess- basically sections of narrow grooves 1/2-foot-wide
filled with mud and water. I am in a lot of pain, but I do my best to keep
pushing it as there are only a few miles left. I run/ walk as terrain and
mud/streams permit.
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| This photo in no way captures the mud I was running through... |
I pop out at highway 49 (the course
rejoined the Western States trail a bit after Goat Hill) - 1.4 miles to go and 5:26
on the watch. (I think it's closer to 1.2 miles...) I hug Tim and greet
friends at the (no offense) useless aid station. I am ready to get this done! I
run the flats and power hike the final climb. I visualize
doing this 6/24/2018 at mile 93! Up to Cool and that final stretch is another
ridiculous mud-fest. I push and finish in 5:42. I turn around, take out
my phone, and capture Veronica coming in 30 seconds later (I have been yelling back
encouragement for the final 5 miles!).
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| And done! (Facchino Photography) |
Done and then it starts to snow
again! Magic. Just magic.
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| Veronica finishes! |
31.1
miles in 5:42:16 (11:01 pace)
10th
F 40-49/88; 37th F/223; 178th OA/618.
Mile
8 1:20:08 (10:01); mile 8-finish 4:22:08 (11:22).
+3773
ft, -3770 ft.
Approximate
breakdown of the course: 1st 1/4 1:15:31, 2nd ¼ 1:19:17,
3rd ¼ 1:31:43, 4th ¼ 1:35:45.
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| I don't like mud.. |
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| But I embraced it! |
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| Add caption |
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| With Veronica and Rhoben post-race! |
So, that was painful and really
hard, in the most amazing and positive way. I was definitely pushing it
the whole way, such that it felt more like a road marathon in terms of effort.
I haven’t run an ultra that hard in a long, long time. It felt good to be able
to execute it, to run the ultra I secretly knew I was capable of. I've
struggled in recent years to run well on the trails, whether it was a health
issue or the race circumstances of the day. But the 2018 Way Too Cool marks my
2nd fastest trail 50K. My fastest was 5:34 back in 2013, a race run in
completely dry conditions. This race receives a top 3 billing for worst ultra
conditions in terms of the course. I will say the weather wasn't horrible given
what I was anticipating, though the water and mud made up for it! But, whatever
happened out there, I took it in, I rolled with it, I ran and ran and ran on.
All the doubts I've harbored in recent years were pushed aside for those five
hours and 42 minutes. Instead, I ran with my heart and my legs. I ran with joy,
no matter the physical pain. And, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I’m back and
I'm ready for more!
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| One does this race for the frog cupcakes! |
