Never ever give up...

I couldn’t wait to get to Wyoming this past weekend. I was looking forward to running, seeing old friends, and enjoying the mountains. I arrived late Thursday night at the Jackson Hole airport, where Olga was kind enough to pick me up after driving for two days from Oregon. The air was cool as we walked to the car and I could smell the forest in the air, although it is several miles away. When I lived in the mountains I, eventually, became accustomed to the smell of the forest and took it for granted. It was a simple moment like walking through an airport parking lot that I was reminded to never take it for granted. I looked up as we were walking to the car and my jaw dropped. So many stars and it was the best glimpse I have ever seen of the Milky Way. You could see every little detail and the stars went all the way to the horizon in every direction. Wow! Lori B. was gracious enough to let us stay at her home in Jackson that night.

The next morning, Olga, Stephen, Mike and I took our time leaving and made it out the door before lunch time and headed towards Grand Targhee Resort. It was nice being a passenger so I could look around and take in the views. In the past, I’ve always been the one driving when I visited the area and couldn’t really soak in the awesome scenery the way I wanted. After a short stop in Driggs, Idaho for some groceries and lunch, we made our final drive to the resort. We all took a relaxing dip in the pool and hot tub. Bob and Tony, who were running the 100, showed up and I got to meet them for the first time. I could go on and on about the weekend, but I think I’ll try to provide a race report, instead.

Saturday morning came really early for me at 5am. I laid in bed until 5:30am and, finally, got up and took a shower and put on the clothes I would run in for the race. I wanted to make it to the start line before 6am so I could tell those I knew, who were running the 100 miler, to have a great race. I made it just as everyone was making their way to the start line. It was still dark and after a few minutes they were all off on their 100 mile journeys. I made my way to race check-in and, then, back to my room to make final preparations. Afterwards, I walked back to the start/finish area and had a seat in one of the wooden Adirondack chairs on the outdoor patio. I felt very relaxed, almost too relaxed. I checked my heart rate and it was in the upper 60’s. Not bad considering it was 15 minutes before the race and I was at 8,000 feet. Eventually, we all made our way up to the start line and I wondered around wishing those I knew a good race. I really didn’t know where to position myself before the start. Do I start near the front or do I stay in the middle to back of the group? Right after Jay said we were getting ready to start, I wondered up near the front. I really wasn’t sure what my strategy was going to be regarding Fred’s Mountain. Do I run any of it or do I power walk it all? We all started and began running. I didn’t know how long I would keep up the running considering the elevation, but my heart rate seemed to be doing ok so I kept with it. I was concerned about overdoing it early in the race, but I told myself for the weeks leading up to the race I would give a full effort for the entire race and not be conservative, except on the downhills. I ran when the terrain didn’t seem too steep and power walked when it seemed pointless to run. I repeated this all the way to the top of the 1,840 foot, 2.8 mile climb. I nailed my time and began the descent. I reminded myself to remain conservative on the extended descent to prevent blowing out my quads early in the race. I nailed my time, again, when I reached the bottom of Fred’s. After a quick stop, I continued on to Ski Hill Road. I really enjoyed this section of the course since it was, mostly, downhill running for almost 6 miles. I reached the aid station at the exact time that was listed on my pace chart. I was beginning to feel good about my time predictions, considering I have never come close to predicting them in mountain races. The next section was a 3.3 mile uphill section on the road. I ran about half of this section and power walked the rest. It was nice and shady during the early morning, but I knew from driving in the day before that it would be exposed to the full sun on my second loop. I reached Cold Springs Turnoff 8 seconds under my pace chart. I was really pumped. So far, so good! The one thing I tried to focus on during this race was getting through the aid stations as fast as possible. At this aid station I caught up to Ed Mafoud from Brooklyn, who was running his first 100 miler. He sure didn’t pick an easy one. I asked him how things were going and told him to stay focused on hydration and nutrition. Us big guys really have to be cognizant of that stuff or we dig a hole quickly. He finished first 100 miler the next afternoon!!! The section from Cold Springs to the Cat Ski Platform was where I greatly underestimated the difficulty. It slowly began a descent that I knew would have to be made up before reaching the next aid station. In a way, it was emotionally draining for me to know I was descending when I expected to only climb. It was in the area where I saw Meredith and Hans. There were some short, steep climbs. Eventually, I made it to some more runnable sections. I was pushing as much as possible because I had a feeling I was getting behind on pace. Before reaching the gravel road, I caught a glimpse of someone behind me. I looked behind me for the first time in the race and realized it was Michelle Jensen running up the trail. I knew she would eventually pass me if she was going to run up the hills while I power walked, but I gave it my best effort for as long as possible. That is when I ran into a familiar face who passed me at about the mid point of both Zane Grey and Jemez. I said, “you’re the girl who kicks my ass at every mountain 50 miler I run!”. I asked her name and she told me it was “Leah”. She was running the 100 miler and I wished her all the best and kept trudging up the climb towards Lightning Ridge, where I would, eventually, see Bob and Tony making the final assault on the climb. When I had reached the Cat Ski Platform aid station, I realized I was behind on my pace for the first time. It was demoralizing. I had lost 5 minutes on that section. It doesn’t sound like much as I write this, but, at the time, it seemed huge. I thought, maybe the wheels were beginning to come off. During the next section, which would end at the start/finish, I lost another 2 minutes. Along the way, my right upper calf twitched a few times. It scared the hell out of me. I immediately took salt. All I could think is there is no way I can run 30 more miles on this terrain with calf cramps. Worried was an understatement. Michelle Jensen passed me on the dirt road into the start finish and I latched onto her heels to finish up 20 miles.

Olga immediately recognized the concern on my face. I told her I was getting some calf cramps and she gave me 2 salt capsules. I made my way quickly to Rick’s Basin where I would see my friend, Joe, from Austin, who was running the 100 mile. We briefly exchanged words and I continued running all the flats and downhills and power walking all the climbs. This section was a little difficult for me, because I was tired. I really needed something to get me out of the funk I was experiencing. On my way back into the start/finish, I crossed paths with Gaurav, who was running the 50 miler and looking great and smiling every time I saw him. I didn't get to see many of the runners from Austin finish that day, but I did see him cross the finish line, sit in a chair for a well deserved rest and eat some pizza. I ran this section 5 minutes over pace. Again, not that big of a deal now, but at the time, huge. I ended up running the 25 miles 10 minutes over pace. It’s amazing, at the time, how deflated I was over 10 minutes for 25 miles in the mountains. Ridiculous is a word that comes to mind. Olga, being the incredible crew person she is to so many at any race, got me back out on the course in a short amount of time. She walked with me for a few hundred feet while I tried to drink a recovery drink to get some calories in me. I swear that they cranked the incline up that second trip up the mountain. All the sections I ran at the beginning of the race seemed impossible to run this time around. I would power walk as best I could and go from shady spot to shady spot all the way up the mountain. There were times when I would stop and put my hands on my knees and lean over. I was tired. I was out of gas. I……wasn’t eating!!! Immediately, I stopped and took a gel. And, another 20 minutes later. People were gaining on me coming up the mountain but, at the time, I had no energy to prevent their passing. I slowly go my energy back the higher up the mountain I got. I reached the top where Auggie was a ball of energy, along with Lori B., who were running the aid station. Auggie offered me a few pieces of beef jerky, which I have never eaten during a race, but I needed calories and nothing else seemed palatable. I lost 21 minutes off my pace during the ascent. I began my descent and saw many 50 milers getting close to the summit. I focused on getting down the mountain as fast as possible, but there was one problem. My psoas began cramping badly and forced my to walk a few steep downhill sections. I do not like walking down hills. I began getting passed by a few runners. I stopped next to a Grand Targhee truck parked on the side of the road and spent a few minutes trying to stretch out my psoas. It worked! I continued down the mountain and caught the to the two runners who passed me earlier as we made it to the start/finish area.

I loaded up my remaining gels and powders to get me through the remaining 20 miles so I could save time at each remaining aid station. At this point in the race, I was 31 minutes over pace. Olga walked with me out of the aid station and I told her 11 hours seemed possible. She told me to take it easy and not to push it. Those words stayed with me for the remainder of the race. I thought that it was possibly a way to get me to relax and and get my mind off a finish time goal. But it had a different affect. It made me want to push every ounce of energy out of my body and do what I had promised myself before the race—to leave it all out on the course. As I was power walking up the road, Becky was coming down behind Sister Mary-Beth. Becky turned around and walked with me for awhile and check on how I was doing. It was nice to see a familiar face while I was out on the course. I pushed as hard as possible all the way to the Ski Hill Road aid station and made up a total of 3 minutes based on my pace chart. I was pleased. Ever since I had been on Fred’s, I was focusing on taking a gel every 30 minutes, drinking my bottles dry between aid stations, and taking sodium every hour. It got up to 88 degrees during the day and I was trying to prevent the cramping in my calves from coming back, again. So far, so good. I power walked the 3.3 mile road section and kept a close eye on one of the runners that I had caught up to at mile 30. She ran the entire road section while I power walked. I would check her splits against mine by using landmarks along the road and kept her within eyesight the entire time. Any time she would get over a minute in front of me, I would begin running. As I closed in on her, I would immediately transition back into a power walk. I would repeat this until Cold Springs. It was a way to keep me engaged in the race and keep me moving. I nailed my split 17 seconds under my pace chart. I was very happy. I was no longer losing time on my pace. However, I knew the next section would be longer than projected, since it was much tougher than I had anticipated the first time. Regardless, I kept pushing and eventually figured out that I should easily be able to break 11 hours, but I didn't realize by how much. I didn't see anyone in this section until I was close to the Cat Ski Platform aid station. Leigh was coming down the trail and asked me to relay a message to her running partner George. A few minutes later, I saw George and relayed the message. He told me I was doing very well considering the course and conditions. I was thankful for his words and continued pushing up the climb. I lost 8 minutes in this section, but wasn't surprised. And, it didn't affect my mood. I kept taking gels every 30 minutes and taking salt along the way. I was emptying both bottles before each aid station, too. I felt really good and made the final climb before beginning the long descent into the start/finish area. Before getting to the aid station, I was wondering if I could, possibly, finish in 10:30. Olga was waiting for me when I ran in right behind Ronda. I dropped one of my bottles and Olga filled the other with water and ice. I immediately left for Rick's Basin and the final 5 miles. The clock read 9:33.

I pushed as much as possible. Although I didn't know if it was possible to meet the newly invented time goal, I was going to give it every shot. I, actually, didn't think it was possible and was only concerned about running as strong as possible. I power walked all the uphills and ran everything else. I stopped at the aid station less than 2 miles from the finish and topped off my bottle. I kept pushing and knew I was almost to the top of the last little climb. Once I reached the top, I looked at my watch and, for the first time, thought I just might be able to make it to the finish close to my new goal. I ran as best I could. It was during this time when my calf cramps cam back with a vengeance, but I did my best to block it out of my mind. When I would reach a small hill and wanted to walk, I told myself to keep running. It was during this time that I became a little emotional. Although I hadn't finished the race, I felt victorious because I had overcome many things during the day and dug deep to not let up on the effort. It would have been easy to do when I realized I wasn't going to run the race within my time goal. The final half mile, I ran strong and pushed the discomfort out of my mind. I realized I was going to be extremely close to the new goal and when I passed under the finish banner, my time was 10:30.15. I was happy, but exhausted. Lisa put a finishers medal around my neck and gave me a hug, then, I got a really good hug from Olga--something I had been thinking about all day.

I went back to the room and took a shower and immediately came back out to the race. I sat down in a chair and Olga came over to me and to checked on me. I had a thousand mile stare on my face. She suggested I go back to the room and take a nap. I tried to sleep, but it was impossible. I could not get comfortable because my legs and hip flexors were so sore and achy. After an hour, or so, I got up and went back to the start/finish area to watch other runners come in. My feet were pretty messed up from the thick layer of dirt covering the trails during the race. I had a few blisters in places I never get blisters. My feet were also very sore, most likely from wearing a pair of Brooks ST-3 racers. But, otherwise, the shoes worked great.

The next morning, Olga and I ran the Ski Hill Road aid station for the marathon and the 100 milers who were still on the course. I love volunteering at races and it was a lot of fun getting to do it after my race. Overall, I had a great time this past weekend. I saw lots of friends, made a few new ones, and learned a lot regarding what I am capable of during a mountain race. And, a lot of it is really mental when it comes to what we're capable of when running long distances. I always knew that, but it never meant much until this past weekend. I am very grateful to be associated with such a great sport, especially all the people, because that is what makes it so very special.