These Are the Years We’ve Spent: Way Too Cool 50K 3/3/2018

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.

 

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.

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!

 

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).

 

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).

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.

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.

 

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!).

And done! (Facchino Photography)

            Done and then it starts to snow again! Magic. Just magic.

Veronica finishes!

31.1 miles in 5:42:16 (11:01 pace)

10^th F 40-49/88; 37^th F/223; 178^th 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: 1^st 1/4 1:15:31, 2^nd ¼ 1:19:17, 3^rd ¼ 1:31:43, 4^th ¼ 1:35:45.

I don't like mud..

But I embraced it!

Add caption

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!

One does this race for the frog cupcakes!