Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: an international group of runners, united by a love for trails and beer, meet at a cabin in the woods and have a blast getting muddy, sweaty, and generally exhausted.
Since it’s been far too long since the Alaskan Run Camp has seen each other, Linda, Meredith, Corey, Samir, Brian, and I decided to reunite to run the Chuckanut 50K in Washington, directed by camp coach (and all around amazing athlete) Krissy Moehl. Andrea was nice enough to come along and make sure we all didn't die. Thank you!
Pictures here that I didn't take are courtesy of Corey and Glenn T.
Pictures here that I didn't take are courtesy of Corey and Glenn T.
And remember, it's on Strava, or it didn't happen.
The course is a technical 30K scramble up a mountain, sandwiched by two relatively flat 10Ks. My plan was to not go out too hard on the first 10K, survive the climbs, and then hopefully push the last flat portion back. Oh, and to run hard, have fun, and NOT injure myself for the Lake Sonoma 50 coming up in April. Mission accomplished!
My main concern coming into this race was weather and terrain. The forecast called for a windy high 40’s/low 50’s with showers. Since I’ve basically forgot what rain is over the past few months, I definitely got nervous and packed both a base layer and light rain jacket. I was worried that I’d be soaked in a cold cold wind. Thankfully, it was relatively warm and only a bit wet, so I lucked out. Unfortunately, all that moisture made the trails into one long mud bath. Much, much more on that later.
...that we fully stocked with the finest California, Wisconsin, and Washington craft beers!
Race morning was routine. Pack, eat, drink, etc. I was pretty happy to win the “last man in the port a potty award.” I emerged from the penalty box to find that everyone….EVERYONE...was already at the start line. Perfect timing! I set out after Samir on a bike path through some neighborhoods and tried not to blow my legs out.
Excited to start the race!
Excited about trail butter!
...REALLY excited about trail butter. Ahem.
Samir contemplating the mass start. This is last time I'll see a bunch of these runners all day.
When we hit the first climb up to Fragrance Lake, I was ready to go! I was excited to start the “real” race and pushed pretty hard up the first protracted climb. The rollers felt great, and I let it rip towards aid station #2 at the front(!) of my own personal train while watching for the odd slippery root. The scenery had switched from vaguely suburban to “lush Pacific northwest forest.” It was gorgeous, from the glimpses I snatched between planning foot landings. It was quite reminiscent of the run out to Herbert Glacier in Juneau, with the same feeling of rain dripping through the leaves. Fantastic. I came into the aid station hot, grabbed a handful of calories, and kept moving. No time to lollygag in a 50K!
Soggy, blurry, and a little out of focus. Kind of like my frame of mind.
Unfortunately, the potato I had chosen was horrifically underdone. It got spat out in little chunks on the side of the fire road. Sorry, park services. On the bright side, I found that the fire road had great footing, so I tried to run more than walk up that grade. I quickly found that while I didn’t have the descending skills of many of my fellow runners on the technical downhills, my ridiculous Hoka clown shoes, road running background, and Four Peaks repeats were chewing up that sustained uphill grade. I was feeling good. No, I was feeling great! I even started doing the math in my head of whether I could negative split that second half now that the majority of climbing was done and perhaps maybe-kinda-sorta-start-possibly-thinking about a sub-5….
And then we hit the mud.
CAUTION: BLAIR WITCHY VIDEO AHEAD
It started innocuously enough. When we crested the ridge, we entered a fun section of scrambling up and over wet rocks interspersed with muddy trenches.
Gradually the rocks phased out and we were left with just slippery sloppy mud. No shoe sucking puddles here, just random pools with enough depth to make your feet slide in a very discomforting way. I had to slow waaaaaaay down, casting envious glances at the brave souls flying by armed with grippy shoes and a shocking lack of concern for personal safety. But I struggled gamely on! It had to come to an and end soon, right?
Not as soon as I’d hoped. We had transitioned into a wider trail (hooray!) but still, the ENTIRE width was now mud. With every foot plant I had to check myself before I wrecked myself. It got to the point where running on the moss and ground cover at the shoulder was MORE steady than running on the trail itself. Two steps forward, one step back. It was a huge mental and physical toll, and this section was by far my low point in the race. There was a sign at one point "Caution:mud ahead." Could it possibly get worse? Yes, actually. It could.
Note the lack of media in the section due to me trying not to get a face full of mud.
Note the lack of media in the section due to me trying not to get a face full of mud.
Several eternities later, we hit the last last climb of the day: Chinscraper. Apparently it was supposed to be a huge deal, but I actually didn’t think it was too bad. Steep, but decent footing and not too long.
Professional shots at the top of chinscraper!
And then I was free! The final sections were mostly downhill, not too steep, and not too muddy. My legs were only moderately shot, so I slogged through the best I could until about 5 miles out. At that point, my brain had had it, so I plugged in my headphones and played tag with a tall lady in green who seemed hellbent on passing everyone in her path. She shouted something encouraging at me about a mile out. The words came down far enough into the pain cave to make a difference and I kicked in the last mile. I came in at 5:22:256, which is about a 30 second PR on by far the most difficult 50K course I’ve done. Spiffy.
Blah blah blah, staggering around, warm clothes, ultragen, leg swings, the usual.
I told you that leg torture pays off!
Brian ninja'ed in at the finish line, so here's a shot of his favorite place in Bellingham.
Samir had to flee back across the border (for a birthday celebration), but he had a great time with his neighbors from the south!
Linda looking absolutely fantastic after her first 50K!
Corey rocking it after swapping Midwest ice and snow for a healthy serving of mud.
Who wants curieux? Trick question: everyone does!
A biker/furry gang, or an awesome Hotline:Miami 2 tie in?
Man, my dog is so dirty, but I really want a sandwich right now.
What a great weekend. Miss you guys already!!!
What I learned:
- Obsessing over gear has diminishing returns
My gear this time, while not perfect for these conditions, was good enough. I was carrying my Omega pack with hydration bladder. While it took slightly longer to fill than a handheld, the capacity allowed me to blow through about 3 aid stations in comfort. Then again, carrying that amount of fluid perhaps incurred a hit in efficiency. Likewise, my choice to wear Hokas meant that I could hammer the non technical downhills and the flats, but was passed repeatedly by mountain goats in the Mountain Masochists. If I was hugely invested in this race, I might have tried to tweak a few things, but I am quite satisfied with my kit.
- Hill repeats and strength training are hugely important
I’m super pleased that my legs weren’t completely shredded by the 5000 feet of elevation change in only 30 odd miles. Regular strength training and hill repeats have made a noticeable difference in my results. I definitely could work on my technical descending skills, but my training this cycle has given me a much needed bump in leg strength.
- Getting out of a bad mental space is a key skill and takes practice
The sea of mud really took it out of me. I remember going from “fired up” to “bleary eyed” over a few short miles, then trying to talk myself out of it. Food, hydration, mental pep talks...it took me a while to shake it off and get my head back in the game. Geoff told me once that the key to doing well in ultras is to manage yourself during the bad times and to push during the good.
