| | Kyle and I decided to make a weekend out of the race, so we headed up
to Concrete, WA early Friday afternoon. Word got around to the
principal that Ky was running a 50k, so he got a half day!! The drive
was fine - uneventful... Made it to our hotel, had dinner, then to bed
early.
Saturday morning: It was still dark when we left the hotel. Had some
coffee and a bagel en route. Picked up our race packets - nice
technical t shirt with a picture of the lake, Mt. Baker and a bear!
They had already done the raffle: Kyle won a Nathan Hydration pack, and
I won a Montrail hat! It was kinda chilly on this clear fall day. I
went back and forth between a short and long-sleeved technical shirt,
and pants or shorts. Finally decided to just stick with a short sleeve,
light Brooks jacket, shorts, and gloves. This was my first race with my
new Nathan backpack - I love it!! It holds 2 liters of water and has a
couple small pockets for snacks, gels... Very comfortable; no strap on
the stomach to cause issues like I had in Elkhorn.
The first .5 mile was on pavement and went over the Baker Lake dam.
Nice view of the canyon, but I'm never too impressed with huge man-made
structures... The next mile or so was on dirt/gravel forest road - this
was fine on the way up, but not so much on the way down. We climbed a
bit here, but most of the runners took the start relatively slow. Kyle
and I settled in near the back of the middle pack.We finally hit the
trail, and it was off into classic Pacific NW forest!! The trail was
nice, though it was actually a bit rockier than I expected! One guy was
doing the race without shoes!! I'm not sure how he fared - never saw
him finish... I was just thinking that those rocks would be a killer on
barefeet! And not to mention the chance of rolling an ankle!
The trail section was about 14 miles long along Baker Lake. We went to
the end of the lake, crossed a suspension bridge, hit the only aid
station on the course, and turned around to run the same course back.
The course itself was never flat - it was constantly rolling up and
down. This meant you were using a variety of muscles, which was nice,
but it did wear on my knees. We were keeping a good pace until about
mile 13, at which point Kyle started to bonk. He hadn't been training
for this as much as I had. So, I knew the A/S was coming up, and I
pushed him to keep going - I was feeling great and didn't want to slow!
The frontrunners had already been through the A/S and were headed back.
This was interesting, as the trail is very narrow, windy singletrack -
sometimes with a steep drop to one side! For the most part, we gave the
frontrunners the right of way and we veered off the trail. This didn't
help us to keep a good pace at all, but if we hadn't moved, I think we
would have been plowed over!! We finally made it to the A/S. I changed
socks, since I was starting to get a couple hot spots. Had some salty
snacks, and Ensure, refilled the water... Kyle started back a couple
minutes before me with the intention of walking until I caught up. I'm
always so slow at the A/S! I need to work on this... And Kyle wasn't
doing too well at this point - his legs were already done. I convinced
him to just keep going, walk if needed, but to just keep moving
forward. At one point, I stopped to hug a tree and Kyle went on without
me. Took me awhile to catch up! I ended up having to stop again to
empty my shoes. I had on my hot pink Dirty Girls (gaiters), so trail
junk wasn't the problem - I'd put on too much foot powder! So, finally
caught up to Kyle. He was still walking at this point, but had started
to throw in some skipping!! Who knew you could skip even when your legs
didn't want to run!?! I was still feeling good, so I ended up
pulling ahead. I was alone for much of the race after this. I was sad
to leave Kyle, but it's also kinda nice to just get into the run and
space out. Every now and then Mt. Baker, one of the Cascade volcanoes,
would come into view. I tried to take a peek now and then, but found
myself tripping over lots of rocks and roots!! So, finally I just
stopped and stared in awe. The mountain looked so big, and was covered
in snow and glaciers. It was gorgeous! And the fact that it wasn't
covered in fog was amazing!!
I had to keep moving. I played leap-frog with a couple other runners. I
ended up running with a guy from Fox Island - why is that familiar?? We
chatted a bit, whined about our knees... Finally I decided to pull
ahead, and as I left he mentioned his name was Kent. Kent! I ran with
you at the Spokane River Run!! So, again, Kent had kept me company
through some of the loneliest section of trail!! I love meeting people
at these races, and then running into them (no pun intended) again
later. What a small world!!
At some point I was passed by a lady - she cruised right on by. I don't
know where she came from! She was flying! She was out of my sight a
couple minutes when I heard her yell - she had taken a nasty fall and
hit her head. I helped her up and made sure she was okay. She was fine
- glad she hadn't poked out an eye! She shook it off, and we were on
our way again. She soon passed me, but not at the speed she had before.
About this point, we made it back to the road. They had set up a little
A/S there, which was a pleasant surprise! At first, I thought I
wouldn't stop, but the RD offered some Coke, which sounded perfect
right then. I had some coke, grabbed a gel, and was back on my way. By
this point, the pounding on my knees had caught up, and I was whincing
with every step. The road went downhill, so it was really pounding my
legs. I ended up walking, but that didn't help much, so I shuffled
along in the grass when possible. A few more people passed me through
here, but I didn't care. I knew I was almost done, but it was killing
my knees! When I hit the dam, I made myself pick it up a bit to the
finish - 6:52!! Not too bad!! I was quite happy with my time, given the
hills on the course. And really, I had a great race! No stomach
problems, hydration was fine (I peed 4 or 5 times on the trail!!), and
I still had energy at the end! If my knees weren't so unhappy, I'd have
called it a perfect race. But what fun would it be if all races were
perfect?? There'd be no challenge.
I grabbed some water at the end, walked a bit to cool down, then went
back to the car to get on some warm clothes, thinking that Kyle would
still be awhile. I just happened to look up and see him coming in
already, and he was cruising!! I whistled to him as he finished, and I
think I got everyone's attention but his! He made it in about 7:02 -
just 10 minutes after me! I asked him about it, and he said he actually
had to walk/skip most of the way back, but then got a second wind about
5 miles out and was able to pick it up. He did the last 1.5 on the road
in less than 10 minutes!! I was glad to see him finish that soon, and
still able to run!! He did awesome!
When we got back to the hotel, we had pizza and watched TV - we
deserved a night off! The next day drove the long way home, through the
North Cascades. It was gorgeous! I'd never been before, and wish I had
more time to go and hike! We stopped at a few pullouts for pictures and
a couple short walks.
I was really only sore for a couple days after the race, and I ran
again maybe 3 days after it. But my knee (my right knee, which actually
swelled up near the end of the race) is still sensitive And I don't
have all my energy back. I think I need to take it easy this fall (is
that possible !?!) and let my body recover a bit - I've done a lot of
long runs/hikes lately! It's just so fun!! Anyway, hope the knee is
okay...
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| | Posted 10/20/2006 8:08 AM - 4 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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