Chuckanut 50k - March 17, 2012

So I've debated with myself whether or not I should include a race as a "Peak a Week" post.  I've decided that, if anything, it would be good for me to do so.  Mainly because I plan on running the Chuckanut 50k again next year and it will be nice to look back at my own race report in order to hopefully learn something that can help me run faster next year.

My first 50k was an amazing experience and I recommend it to any runner who enjoys trails and challenging oneself.  While going to school and later working in Bellingham, I always envisioned myself doing the Chuckanut 50k before I'd ever do a marathon.  Although this didn't happen (I ran the Portland Marathon last October), I was thrilled at the opportunity to finally do this event after years of dreaming about it.  I spent hundreds of miles on Chuckanut's beautiful trails throughout my running career at WWU and there couldn't have been a better place for me to do my first 50k.

Thanks to our months of peakin', I felt well prepared for the challenge and was ready to go.  On my two training runs on the mountain ("Middle 19" on Feb. 19 and March 1) I'd felt pretty good and was confident that I knew the course well.  The week before the race, I'd taken it easy, only running 19 miles and tapering well.  I was peaking (no pun intended) for this race and was ready to go.  At least I thought I was.  Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly as planned.

The morning of, it was cold (high 30's) and raining; I knew there would be snow at the top.  I hadn't slept great and I wasn't very hungry.  I still managed to eat a banana and a few pieces of toast with honey.  On the way to the race I got a message from Mikey that he'd overslept and wasn't going to be able to make it.  Man...what a bummer!  After all of our preparation and anticipation for this big event I felt so bad for him missing it.  I got to the race only 30 minutes before the start (I'm usually a one hour ahead of time warm-uper, but figuring it was such a long race, cold and rainy, I didn't want to arrive that early) and checked in.  I found Peter shortly thereafter and we warmed up together for a few minutes before heading to the warm and dry train station a few hundred yards from the start.  After going to the bathroom and rolling my legs a little, I realized I only had 5 minutes to the start and hadn't even put on my Brooks ID jersey nor my race shoes and dry socks.  I quickly and stressfully threw on my stuff and sprinted across the muddy parking lot to the starting line and a 30 second countdown to the start of the race. 

As soon as we started the pace felt fast (low 6's) and my stomach felt queasy.  I wasn't sure how to start a 50k and figured I was going too fast so I slowed down a bit until Peter Ellis and Dusty Caseria came up from behind me.  Since they'd both beaten me at my first trail race (Fragrance Lake 20k) and Peter routinely kicks my butt on Peak a Week runs, I filed in behind them until we got to Arroyo Park on the Interurban.  Only 5k into 50k and I was already feeling tired so I let them go and ended up running the remainder of the 'urb with a super friendly runner from Idaho named Luke Nelson. 

Me grabbing some water at mile 4...27 to go!

I was in about 30th place at this point and progressively feeling a little better.  I took the first climb up to Fragrance Lake pretty easy, enjoying the increasingly snowy scenery and taking in the magnificent beauty of the snowy lake when we got to the top of this climb.  Here, Jodee Adams-Moore got right behind me so my competitive juices started firing and we quickly caught up to a couple of runners and passed them.  Coming down Two Dollar Bill I realized it was foolish to start racing already so I let her and another dude get away and relaxed as I came into aid-station #2 on Cleator Road. 

Here I had my awesome support team of Kate, my dad, Felicia and Greg waiting for me with a water-bottle and some Cliff Blocks.  After some confusion and a few people passing me up, I got what I needed and headed up the longest climb on the course, a little under 3 miles.  At first I was upset that my transition getting fuel had taken too long but after a few minutes this regret making me feel terrible physically, I decided to let it go and just relax and enjoy the difficult climb the best I could.  It's amazing how much your mental state can affect the way you feel physically when you are running or doing any sport for that matter. 

Aid-Station #2...it was St. Patrick's Day!

Once I relaxed and got moving I passed several runners going up Cleater, including both women who were in front of me as well as a few dudes that had started out too fast. (I have to admit, one of my original goals was to NOT be beat by any girls.  But after getting my butt whooped by the great Ellie Greenwood I have no shame...it was actually an honor to run with her for a bit during the race.)  Once I got to aid station #3 and Chuckanut Ridge, I dropped my little hand-held bottle and managed to down a Gu.  I was feeling much better at this point and was now in 23rd place.  Through this most technical part of the race I tried to focus as much as I could so as not to slip on the snowy and slick trail that offered plenty of opportunities to do so.  Here, Adams-Moore and I helped push each other (she'd gain on me on the down hills, I'd pull away a bit on the ups) for about 30 minutes until we finally descended to Lost Lake Trail and the mud that awaited us. 

On top of the Ridge.  Photo by M. Lebowitz.

Near the end of the Ridge Trail I caught and ended up running next to another very friendly runner for the next 40 minutes or so.  His name was Jacob Puzey (little did I know, Jake had written the main race preview through Flotrail that I'd read earlier in the week.) and I really enjoyed talking with him and pushing one another through the muddy section of the course.  Once we hit the top of Chinscrapper (yes, I did crawl on all fours up that sucker!) I had to let him go and basically go it alone from the top of Cleator Road/aid-station #4, down Fragrance Lake Rd, through aid-station #5, and all the way to the finish at Fairhaven Park in Bellingham. 

Peter rockin' chinscraper.  Photo by Glenn Tachiyama

Long story short:  I started getting real tired at about 35k (yes, basically the farthest I ran in preparation) while coming down hill.  The down hill KILLED my legs and a bunch of people passed me...ok, only 4 but it felt like a lot.  Once I got to the flat of the interurban I felt like I was dying running 7:40/mile pace (felt like I was running 10's).  My hamstrings seized up and I was soooooo thirsty and I just concentrated on one step at a time and getting to the finish.  Somehow, I made it without stopping and finished in 28th place in 4:15:41 (8:18/m pace).  Right when I finished I puked a little and it was very difficult to eat for a while but all in all I felt much better than I did right after the Portland marathon last October.  Team Newhouse came through and they brought me lots of recovery food (pizza never tasted so good) and even payed for me to get a post race message. 

Kate and I after the race.  She's a pretty good crew member...I think I'll keep her.

The race was by far the most challenging and difficult race I'd ever done and it greatly humbled me.  I honestly thought I'd be more competitive, finishing in the top 20 and beating 4:10 pretty easily.  In the end, I was pretty happy that I was only 5 minutes or so from my goal time despite the weather and how terrible I felt for a large portion of the race.  Right away I was already looking forward to running it again next year and knowing that I'd have to train much harder with many more long (over 4 hour) runs to properly prepare myself and truly reach my race goals. 

Another one of my goals for next year is to get as many 'peak a weekers' to join me for this fantastic and epic race.  Who's down!?  (by the way, Peter killed it and finished in 6th place in 3:54:05.  Way to represent Petey!)

Run Stats:  Total Distance: 31.5 miles   Time: 4:15:41    Elevation Gain: ~ 4,500 ft.    Pace: 8:18