Race Week - Started the week with a two day juice fast which felt great. Also went without coffee for the week which didn't feel so great at the start but after a day or two was a non issue. I tried to eat a lot of veggies during the week and rest as much as I could. I went for two hikes with the dogs but didn't do any other running. I felt a bit off in the days leading up to the race but chalked it up to nerves and thought I was just being a bit of a hypochondriac.
Race Weekend - We loaded up in the Suby and headed down to LAX to pick up my Sister who was coming into town for the weekend from Pittsburgh. She arrived but her luggage did not..and would not end up getting to her until Saturday night at Midnight! Bummer. From the Airport to Malibu was your typical So Cal Friday rush hour traffic nightmare. We stayed at the host hotel which was pretty cool. Lots of activity going on there.
Race Day - It was cold at the start but being pretty used to much colder in Big Bear I was fairly comfortable in shorts and a tank top. Lots of others looked freezing! Sarah dropped me off and I ran into my friend Balmore at the start line. We chatted for a few minutes and then it was go time.
The lead group went out pretty easy and I tailed onto the back end of it until we crossed the creek. I immediately felt stiff but figured I would work it out on the first climb. That first climb was big, but not as steep as I would have imagined and it was mostly fire road and not single track like I had thought it would be. At the top of the climb I was probably in 20th. I ran hard but on the conservative side up the hill and onto the ridge and then just started ticking off miles. From Mile 5 to 22 I followed the game plan and took it pretty easy. This stretch involved some great single track and some mind blowing views plus great support on the course at each of the aid stations and a lot of motivation from Guillame who somehow was at every aid station and yelling like crazy!
At the turn around at mile 22 I was in and out and heading up the big climbs of the day. At this point I was probably in 25th place or so. During the next 8 miles I fell apart. The 4 mile downhill into mile 22 had wore out my legs and my climbing was reduced to a hike. A steep downhill at mile 27 was the second hardest part of the day for me. My legs felt stiff and each step hurt just a bit more. At the top of the next climb I was probably in 35th place or so, being passed by most of the people on the downhill sections.
Once back on the run I was reduced to survival mode for the second half of the race. I made sure to eat and drink lots at each aid station and tried to keep moving. The downhills kinda hurt and I was just tired going uphill, on the rolling single track I was able to move at a decent pace but it was a tough 20+ miles. I traded postitions with a few people and ran with a couple of guys for a while. It was a beautiful day so despite having a rough go I remained in pretty good spirits all day. I felt bad for Rachael and my Sister who were probably hoping to see me around 8hrs but other than that I had no worries. The last downhill did not feel good on the legs at all but I was excited to be finishing my first 50 miler.
I crossed the line in 35th place at 9hr 6min, not a bad day by any means but well off my goals.
Post Race -Looking back on the race I think it makes sense. Most of my training runs came in below the 20 mile mark and even though I ran a lot in the last year I haven't been above the 33 miles I ran at Holcomb Valley last June. This was too tough of a course for me to really go hard on so I think my expectations were a bit off. On top of that I don't think I tapered correctly for this type of run. I actually think I did too little in the weeks leading up to race day and came in stiff. The downhills hurt and not because I was going to hard, I think I was putting on the brakes too much and ended up hurting all the joints instead of the quads.
In the end I had a great day in the mountains which was the most important thing. The event was well run and the volunteers and aid stations were outstanding. The course was tough, and extremely beautiful, but had a lot of fire road vs single track which took away a bit from the appeal. I managed my nutrition well and was able to hold on for quite a long way even after hitting the wall so that was good to know. It was a great race and one I am already considering for next year!
