An Ultra-Long race report.
The Pacific Crest Trail 50 mile endurance run was re-routed to be the Cuyamaca 50mile run after a military helicopter crashed near the original course last Wednesday. Two Marine pilots were killed in the crash and our prayers are with those families in their time of grief.
Race Director John Martinez and his band of capable and miracle working helpers scrambled to make this race happened. Their coordinated efforts along with the countless volunteers made for a safe and epic day for many runners.
This was a goal race for Mike. Our training and planning for this began last Fall. We signed up with SDRI's trail running group, ultimately named, Dirt Devils. Dr. Victor Runco was our fearless leader and over the course of the next several months, he organized Saturday and Tuesday runs on various trails here in San Diego. I was able to run with the group several times but stopped training with them in early March to avoid any possible pre-Boston trail injuries. On the other hand, Mike was diligently training during the week and meeting up with the group on the weekends. Having never even run a marathon, he was making sure he put in the time and miles to make his first Ultra Marathon a good experience.
Knowing this was a goal race for Mike, I understood when he decided to book a room at a nice little hotel in Alpine. The thought of driving or even riding in a car after the 50 mile race did not appeal to him at all and though I am cheap, I didn't put up much of a fight,hahaha. Friday afternoon we met up with a RW friend, Ryan, at Pat and Oscars for a pre-race carb loading dinner. We had a fun and relaxing dinner then dropped Ryan off at his hotel and headed to Alpine.
The hotel did it's best to give that rustic lodge feel...we were met with this monstrosity as we walked up to the front desk.
We got to bed early and the 4am wake up call came toooooo early for me! I stayed in bed while Mike did his warm up stretching and exercising. I was still full from the night before so I just had a red bull and stuck the second red bull in my hydration pack. We headed to Camp Cuyamaca at 5:15am and arrived just in time to get in one potty stop.
So the question of the week became the question of the morning...who are you running with? are you running with Mike? will you hang with us for a bit? and on and on. That morning it was too much for me. I was suddenly stressed about keeping up with anyone, slowing someone down, or hanging back if I really wanted to take off. I just decided to stand at the start and run. 50 miles was going to be hard enough, I was going to be selfish and just worry about how I was going to get through the day.
We were all lined up at the start, waited for last minute details and then John yelled, "alright, GO!" and I laughed, hit start on my garmin and off we went.
The first mile or so was a fire road and by the end of the day I would regard fire roads with much disdain. Not quite a pretty trail and not quite an easy road. I settled in to running but I was irritated. I have no idea why. I can't recall ever being this irritated on a run. It was a beautiful day, the sky was clear, the flowers were in bloom...it was breathtaking! No reason to hate, right?
Most of the pictures I snapped were taken while I was running so I didn't really look to see what I was focusing on. Here you can see the promise of the yellow and purple flowers that lined miles of the course that day...
This was about 5miles out, just before the first aid station, looking back over a valley. If I knew where the heck I was, I not only would saved myself much frustration later down the trail, but I could probably tell you the name of that valley. Pretty though, eh?
Right around this time, I finally heard Sam, Ryan, and Lori come up from behind and pass Mike and I. All of them are super fast runners and Lori is a seasoned and gifted ultra runner so I wasn't surprised to see them come and go. I hit the first aid station, drank a cup of cola & a cup of water, grabbed a handful of pretzels and kept walking. I was alone. It was nice for a bit. The crowds and the chatter stopped and I finally felt like I could relax without worrying about anyone in front or behind me.
I ran along starting to really enjoy the run. It was early on but I felt like I was keeping a comfortable easy pace. We were at the top of one of several climbs and the views were incredible. I wish you could see how vividly blue, green, yellow and purple this looked in real life. You can click on the pictures to see a larger version.
Here's another section where everyone was catching up with me again...You can see Mike waving and Ryan, Sam, and Lori in the distance.
They would soon pass by Mike and I and we all ran into the mile 13 aid station together. I fully expected the threesome to already be well ahead of me and in the back of my mind, I was thinking if I'm this close to them, maybe I'll blow up? GAH! I drank a cup of water, a cup of coke, grabbed a quarter of a sandwich and kept walking through the aid station. So far I was sticking with my plan to run my own pace (not try to kill myself keeping up with anyone) and spend less than 30 seconds in an aid station.
This is where it started to warm up. The temps would hit the mid 80's before we would finish the day and I started keeping better track of my salt tablets...one an hour, or one every half hour I was in direct sun light. I was wearing a white longsleeve shirt so I felt pretty shaded. I remember Mike running with me saying he was going to fall back and slow up a bit. So as we got to the mile 19 aid station, I grabbed some stuff and kept walking. We headed onto a nice horse trail along the main road, then crossed over to the other side where the 30 mile route started. Unbeknownst to me, this was where Mike took a wrong turn and ended up running 2 miles off course, discovering his mistake at the mile 42 aid station he turned around and made his way back, a total of 4 miles off course at this point, and I had no idea. I was still on course at this point. Lori and the guys met up with me again. This part was a steady climb on the shady side of the mountain with lots of thick covering. Somewhere along here Lori fell back behind me to wait for Sam and I went ahead.
Thinking they were *right* behind me I kept on for a while and fell in step with a guy who complimented me on my socks. hahaha. We talked for a bit and then found ourselves lost. We came out at the 38 mile point and wondered where we had made the wrong turn. I was SURE we should just follow the pink tape and he INSISTED that would lead us further off course. I felt too weak to argue and followed this complete stranger down a trail, off the course, headed back to Paso Picacho where the next aid station should be. The trail said .6 miles or did it? a while later it said .8 miles...or did it? I was furious. I totally doubted this guy. I was thinking after ALL of this...the months of prep, telling friends, 25 miles of trails, blisters I could already feel...after all that, I was going to DNF? oh heck NO. When we hit the main road, I was still not talking to John. He kept telling me to hitch a ride back with someone. I wasn't talking to him. I was furious. If I had been properly hydrated, I'd have been crying.
Finally I saw some runners across the road on a trail and they said the aid station was just up the road. WHEW!! I ran the rest of the way there, jumped the fence and frantically asked what mile it was. Mile 25! My Garmin read 27.22 so I wasn't too far off. I was seeing people who I knew I was ahead of at the last aid station so I asked where Mike was and he hadn't checked into that aid station. I began to worry about him. This is also where I ran into Rachel, who was white as a sheet, thought she'd broken her finger and was asking what she should do. I was already in a state and all I could muster was, "drop, just drop if it's broken". I also saw Stephen and Tom from our Dirt Devils running group. I think I saw more people but again, I was still trying to mentally recover from the last 35 minutes of being lost and thinking I was going to DNF.
I grabbed what I needed and took off. Somewhere in this next section, I found myself running with Tom. I know this because as I was following John again (from a distance) I had inadvertently made ANOTHER wrong turn and Tom yelled, "JEN! WRONG WAY!" and waved me back on track. Thank God. Seriously. Thank God. I was ready to cry again.
We crossed the main road again and were at the mile 32 aid station. I finally had my hydration pack refilled and loaded with ice. Grabbed 3 sandwich quarters, pretzels, gulped water and coke and took off. That was my longest aid station visit yet. This next section was pure hell. It had to have been like 2 miles up on this winding dirt fire road. Later I heard that Doc had named it Mt. A$$hole. Appropriately so. It just.would.not.end. This is where I seriously began to see flaws in my training plan. The part of the plan where I never run hills. It did have breathtaking views at the top...blue sky, green growths, red dirt all stood in stark contrast to the dead trees that remained after the last wildfires.
On the other side of this mountain, I made my way down to the mile 36 aid station. Still looking for Mike, #63 still hadn't checked in. I could not fathom how I could go 2 miles off course and still be ahead of him...I was really worried. I had all kinds of guilt for not staying with him and wondering if he was as miserable as I was. At this point I could feel the blisters on both feet and the toenail that was being destroyed by every downhill stretch of trail. I had my hydration pack filled again. Felt like I was staying on top of my water and salt tablets but the thought of food was making me ill and I was starting to go longer and longer between gulps of water because I was feeling sick. I grabbed a cup of coke, a few pretzels and left the aid station.
This is where things started going fuzzy. I kept trying to do mile/time math but my brain wouldn't work. When I passed mile 38, the place where John and I had found ourselves lost earlier in the day, I was finally able to appreciate how he managed to talk me out of going further off course. I was so thankful he was there and got us back on course! I hit mile 40 majorly disheartened because I knew I was really at mile 38. ugh. see? It's like I was 2 miles behind but was really 2 miles ahead and I was so confused. I don't remember much of that until we came back out near the road and headed under the bridge to the last aid station. This would be the last picture I took because between here and the finish, I lost my camera.
I vaguely remember that last aid station. I remember trying to stop and swaying. I have this problem with never stopping gracefully once I'm spent and this was the first time of the day that I felt that feeling wash over me. Doc's wife Krista was there again, she'd been at most of the aid stations all day helping. What an angel! I don't know what I was babbling to her but she thought it was pretty funny. I think there was a lot of cussing going on. Shocking really.
Somehow. someway. By the Grace of God Almighty. I made it through that last 8 miles. It was another fire road situated perfectly in the blazing sun which for the first time of the day, started bothering me. Then narrow, narrow, trails that were freaking me out! I was sure a snake was going to bite me. Every time I found a creek to cross, I stopped and plunged my swollen hot hands into it for a minute or 2 and there were 2 more spots along this section where I was able to take a moment for this trail luxury.
I heard and saw where people were finishing a good 10 minutes before I wound my way around the trail to get there. I came upon a lady about .2 miles from the finish and she said, "it's right around the corner" and I sorta pathetically whined, "really?" knowing full well this was a regular spectator offense where they like to mislead runners with "you're almost there" screams when we really have another mile to go. Sure enough, I rounded that corner and there it was. Sweet Jesus! I just kept saying, "Thank you God" over and over again.
Everyone was at the finish. Sam, Lori, and Ryan had finished 20 minutes ahead of me and were still there hanging out. Rachel had DNF'd but was there with her boyfriend too. Krista and Tom's wife were there waiting for them. Lisa from church had been at a few of the aid stations and was there at the finish too.
Without skipping a beat, I of course go straight into pathetic mode. I was completely spent. Done. I just wanted to get my legs up...my feet and legs were throbbing so bad. I had a coke and some pizza and eventually made my way to a sitting position. But someone was kind enough to capture my feet up moments of misery...
From left to right: Lori, Rachel, Sam, Ryan, and then there's me laying down.Stephen and Tom arrived about an hour after me, Mike was soon after that, followed by Doc and Whitney. Then Erin, a girl who had was with our group but I hadn't met yet. Notice how everyone is smiling? I'm trying to keep my eyes open but I had major broken blood vessels in both eyes and could hardly see. Nice.
From Left to right: Mike, Whitney, Me, Doc, Tom, Tom's wife, Krista (Doc's wife)
Front row: Stephen and ErinI was inadequately trained for this in as much as I did not run enough hills. However, in 19 days I ran 3 marathons and one 50 mile ultra marathon so maybe my legs were a little fatigued? I did manage to escape the last 3 weeks with no injuries (blisters and lost toenails don't count) and I have a new found confidence that I am ready to up my training to incorporate hills, more trails, and speed work.
There were 111 starters and 89 finishers. The highest number of DNF's (did not finish) in years. Official results have me in 11hours and 5 minutes...I did not make my sub 10 hr goal, nor did I place where I wanted but oh well. I swore, literally swore, that I'd never do that again. Now that my toenail has come off and quit oozing, and John Martinez found and returned my camera to me today, I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back and kick this course's butt next year.
