2006 Escarpment trail run
A vivid and challenging experience!
To sum it up,
Last year I came in 71st place in 4:24:34;
This year I came in 50th place in 4:10:55,
despite cooler temps and drier conditions last year.
All in all I was pleased with my effort and training, though I could have lost more weight - I was 3 pounds heavier this year than last year. I doubted I was ready to break 4 hours at this weight and with warmer temps than last year, but I wanted to go hard. I went out a little too hard, despite wise council to go out conservatively, but I wanted to see what I could do and sometimes you just feel like going for it. In the end I slowed a little, but I held on pretty well.
On the way to the race early this morning I took the scenic steep route into the mountains, going up the platte clove, which ascends about 1300' in 2 miles. With the main road into the mountains washed out, this is the only entry directly into that part of the mountains. The platte clove road is a killer bike ride, and used to be a featured climb in the tour dupont bike race back in the '80s. The scenery of the deep clove with the mountains rising high above on either side of you as you ascend whets the appetite for mountain racing.
Once on the bus to the start I was again very relaxed and feeling a bit more rested than last year despite not sleeping well due to having company a few nights late in the week. My training was better and my taper was good this year, though not yet perfect. I positioned myself a little front of mid-pack, realizing it meant a commitment to do the first climb fairly hard, but I didn't want to have to pass as many people I had to last year.
I felt strong running up the first climb, walking just the steepest parts, and just holding back a little, but I ran it hard, perhaps a bit too hard, though it felt good. At first I was passed by several people, but later I passed some toward the top as those who had winded themselves early slowed. Just like a month ago when I trained on this hill, it was wet, overgrown, and somewhat humid; and I was soon drenched in sweat. After about 15 mins I began to sip from my liter bottle filled with accelerade. I was very aware to drink, take salts and eat as much as possible during the whole race.
Topping the first climb in 49 minutes was slightly fast, but I felt good, and I was then 5 minutes faster than last year. I drank a cup of Gatorade and then began the first short descent, soon taking a salt tablet. Immediately I passed a couple of people, but soon found a couple of others who were my speed on the rolling terrain that followed for the next 3 miles. I tried to relax and keep a good pace without overdoing it too much, drinking frequently. At the 2nd water stop I got plain water and began to sip accel gel from the gel flask. (the GU style flask will hold 5 normal gels, or 4 accel gels, but I put 3 in each of 2 flasks with a bit of water to make it come out better).
I was happy with the way I was feeling as I approached the dreaded blackhead climb, and had a satisfied feeling pulling into the water stop just before it starts. Again taking plain water, I also took some fig newtons to munch on the way up. The two others who I had been leading for a few miles soon passed me, one of them saying "I love this climb!" I knew from experience to start slow, as it only gets harder and steeper the higher you go. Half way up, more people were catching up behind me, and a couple passed me, though I had passed one of the guys who started too fast. I was just doing my best, and it was here where the excess weight (and perhaps going up the first climb a bit too hard) showed. Still, I was faster than last year up it. Topping out, there was a party going on at the summit aid station, and I would love to have stayed a while, but I was just glad to get more water and go.
The descent is steep at first, then it rolls for more than a mile at about 3200', then descends steeply again into dutcher notch. In this section I wanted to run slowly at first, then build to a smooth pace, saving my legs for the next climb. It went well, and I passed several people on the technical parts, still eating and drinking regularly. Just at the beginning of the descent I had a slight cramp in my right inner thigh, so I immediately took 2 salt tabs (I was going to take one anyway), and after about 5-10 mins it wasn't a problem. I noticed it was getting hotter, though it had been humid the whole way, and I was losing a lot of water to sweat. At some point early in the descent, I caught up to a guy who could barely walk down he was cramping so bad. I gave him 2 salt tabs and checked that he had water to get them down.
Pulling into dutcher notch, I took more water, grabbed a small piece of PB&J sandwich, and started the long climb to stoppel Point. Last year I had real trouble getting my legs going up this climb, so this year I started cautiously to give them a few minutes to adjust from steady down to steep up. The legs actually felt ok, and I was soon running the less steep up stuff. In this section I was running with another guy, and we caught and passed 2 people on the climb. He kept asking me about the famed downed plane near the top of stoppel, until finally we came to it and soon after to the water stop. I got water, and soon after took more accel gel, and another salt tab (I took 7 total during the race).
The guy who I'd been with on the climb soon dropped back as he couldn't go as fast on the flats or downs due to some cramping. I don't think I saw anyone in this next section, which rolls for about a mile and a half to North Point. In here I tried to relax and keep a smooth pace, but my legs were feeling the day, and I saved a little for the final 2 mile section that has a fair amount of technical stuff.
Hitting the final water stop, taking some to mostly douse myself with, I began the decent down the ledged sections, soon passing a guy who was stumbling through the harder parts. I was tired, but I had enough left to navigate the hard stuff without slowing down too much. As I came through the final mile, I passed another guy who asked me how old I was, which was funny because in this race there are no age group awards. He let me go; I don't think he had much of a choice. I was still smooth but getting heavy legs as I neared the end. When I neared the finish, I got close to another guy, but couldn't reel him in as the finish came too quickly. I was able to do a bit of a sprint only for the last 30 meters or so, where "uncle" Doug called out my name and "10:55", which meant 4:10:55 was my time. Perhaps the sprint got me in under 11.
While I had slowed my initial pace some after blackhead, as the early pace somewhat caught up to me, and as the slightly hotter temps got to me, I still had a good productive run where I never hit the wall, and I was very happy with my run all things considered.
I thought immediately of the lake, so I left the finish area, got to my car to get my replacement drink, then went directly to the lake for a swim. As a few others said, the water wasn't cold enough, but it was still refreshing and cool enough to ease the stress on the legs. I was spent, and my legs were all used up, and my left hamstring was hurting a little. I was lucky I didn't fall the entire day because the rocks were quite slippery in many places, but I did stumble 3 times (trip partially) and that can be just as hard on tired muscles as falling.
After hanging out at the finish for a little while, I started the drive back to try to beat the traffic (didn't work I got caught in a bad traffic jam and had to take extreme measures). Not a mile after leaving the finish area, a large Black Bear crossed the road in front of my car. It's always great to see wildlife, and better there than out on the course!
My splits, compared to last year
2005 2006 Comp HR Leg / Description
53:58 49:06 9.0% 88% 167 Windham (long climb)
35:35 30:56 13.1% 89% 169 Water stop (down then rolling)
31:45 30:29 4.0% 88% 168 start of climb (rolling hills)
24:51 23:42 4.6% 91% 173 Blackhead (steep climb)
32:17 31:55 1.1% 86% 164 dutcher notch (down then rolling then down)
36:55 36:57 -0.1% 88% 167 stoppel (medium climb)
21:29 19:16 10.3% 85% 161 north point(rolling)
27:50 28:30 -2.4% 86% 164 Finish (down then rolling)
Overall
4:24:38 4:10:55 5.2% 88% 168
These splits reveal my quick start and slowing somewhat. I was very surprised that I wasn't faster up to stoppel this year, because last year I felt so much worse in that section, but the stopwatch reveals I was just a few seconds faster. Also, I was faster in the final section last year, I think because I had gone conservatively had energy to burn at the end, but I was also faster in the previous section than last year. It could be I pushed the stopwatch late last year or something.
Lessons to be learned will come. I was talking with some other runners who were also cooling off in the lake, and they said their course PRs had come during years when they had done a significant amount of biking in addition to running. Interesting, because last year I did more biking but a lot less running, and while I was in better shape this year, it wasn't a dramatic difference since I ran last year conservatively. I will savor this experience and ponder how to train better for next year.
