PCT50

Olga found a mid-May race near San Diego called PCT50, which was an open weekend for us both and the stage was set.  I'd never heard of the race, but, since it would be ran entirely on the Pacific Crest Trail, that seemed like a big plus.  I'm not a fan of multi-loop courses and prefer, instead, to participate in point-to-point events, or an out-and-back, as was the case with this race.  Nothing against loops, but just a personal preference.

In normal fashion with Olga making fun of me the entire time, I would find out whatever I could about the course, namely the elevation changes so I would know what to expect on race day.  Nevertheless, a profile can never substitute for getting on the trail and experiencing it firsthand and, until I could physically see the terrain before the race, nothing would be certain in my mind regarding what to expect.

Olga and I would spend a lazy Friday afternoon hiking on the first two miles of the course.  It felt warm and it was exposed to the sun--something that concerned me.  It did provide a little perspective on what to expect the next day. The climbs seemed fairly low grade, which would turn out to be an accurate assessment as I would find out during the race.

Race morning was cold relatively speaking for someone who had just come from Texas and we stayed in the car until just a few minutes before the race began.  My goal for the race was to finish, firstly, and go out conservatively to gain an understanding of the course.  If all went well, I planned on making any moves in the second half when we would be retracing our steps to the start/finish line on this pure 25 mile out-and-back course.

The course was amazingly beautiful, superbly marked, and far exceeded my expectations. We were definitely in the mountains and that kept my spirits elevated. At one point early in the race, we were running on a ledge with the clouds below us in a solid layer. Once in awhile, the clouds would caress the slopes just below us on the trail.  It was surreal.  The main quandary going into this race was how to run the course.  From our experience hiking the day before the race, the inclines seemed gentle enough to easily run.  But, I have never ran extended uphills for long periods in a race.  And, I didn’t know even if I did run the climbs, if I would have any legs left for the second half of the race.  The course description touted 7,500 feet of climb, so it wasn’t a flat course, per se.

So, I ended up tucking in behind two guys and running uphill with them for about the first 11 miles.  When the trail would flatten out or go downhill, they would slowly pull away, but as soon as the climb continued I would make up the lost ground quickly.  At this point in the race, I didn’t feel confident in my ability to pass them and stay ahead of them.  I had zero experience on a course like this and knew no one or their abilities during the race.  But, eventually, I realized I wasn’t running my natural pace during the long uphills and this had a slight draining effect on me physically.  I needed to run a slightly faster pace and finally made my way around them.  I kept telling myself that I needed to run my own race regardless of what was going on around me.

I was dialed in on nutrition and hydration (or so I thought).  The only low spot on the course was during the 2.3 mile section out to a little box where I could deposit my playing card that was given to me at Penny Pines (22.7 miles) aid station.  This is the section where I would begin to see the lead runners on their way back to Penny Pines.  I thought the 25 mile mark, literally a white line across the trail, would never come, but it did in 4h25m elapsed.  And, I was glad to be heading back towards “home”.  I was beginning to feel kind of warm during this completely exposed section.  I would see Olga, as well, while she was making her way out to the 25 mile point. I was glad to see her and she was in incredibly high spirits, but she had coincidentally seen me at my lowest during the race.

Back at Penny Pines (27.3 miles), I grabbed my remaining gels and S-caps.  The next section would be exposed, as well, with a longish climb. I began listening to some native American Indian meditation music on the i-Pod.  Songs that would put Olga to sleep, but keeps me relaxed.  There was a gentleman that I tucked in behind who offered to let me pass but I told him that I didn’t want to do something stupid at this point in the race and overheat.  The thin, dry mountain air felt much warmer than how I saw volunteers dressed at the aid stations.  I ended up taking a few short walk breaks while psyching myself up for the next climb.  I alternated a few minutes of running uphill with a short walk break.  This continued for the next 4 miles into Todd’s Cabin (32.5 miles).

The best thing about this aid station was the bucket of ice and big sponges.  I couldn’t believe how refreshing it was to soak my head and face.  It was the first time I’ve ever done it but worth it!  I left the aid station refreshed and had my best running over the next several miles.  The one surprising thing was that my legs weren’t sore and they wouldn’t be for the remainder of the run.  But, I did OD on sodium and had to lay off liquid nutrition for a bit while I tried to settle my stomach with lots of water.

With my stomach out of whack, the last 15 miles went slower than I had hoped.  I had my legs, but my gut would only let me jog the downhill sections, which is what those last miles are all about—the downhills. During the final 6 miles, I would find myself doubled over in lower gut cramps every 5 to 10 minutes. Then, I’d begin running again only to repeat the whole process until the finish line. My mood was good during the final miles, even though I was dealing with the cramping.  The effort was somehow good enough for ninth overall, but still left me wondering what I could have been, even with just a 15 minute split for the second half. 

Two days later and I’m still thirsty as hell and that makes me realize I wasn’t drinking enough on the course, although I thought I was at the time.  Those mountains border a desert and the extremely low humidities took a silent toll on me in the later parts of the race.  But, that is a part of learning, even after twelve 50 milers. It could have been much worse if I didn’t have the knowledge that comes from running these distances and, obviously, having a spouse (coach, too!) who has loads of experience and puts up with a lot of my stupid questions.

Stuff Used during race (If I don't believe in the product I won't use it!):
- Patagonia Long Haulers shorts
- Patagonia shirt (circa 2006)
- Drymax Trail Running "Lite"
- La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0
- First Endurance EFS "Tart Lemon-Lime" & "Wild Grape"
- GU Gels & GU Roctane Gels
- Succeed S! Caps