Train, Race, Repeat

Yankee Springs 50k Race Report

My vision was starting to get a little bit blurry.  My legs feel real slow.  "Rocks in a blender" I believe is the scientific term.  Hmmm I think I might be bonking...  Mile 28 of Yankee Springs 50k.  

Then, I thought, recruit your hip flexors, and psoas muscles, engage your glutes, access those generally poorly-used muscles.  My cadence came back, and I went from a slow jog to a slow run.  Finally I was moving at a decent clip again. 

Bloomington
Flash Back to 10 days prior, when I was running in 12-15 inches of snow in and around Brown County and Bloomington with Scott Breeden.  5 hours a day. 4 days in a row, in fresh, deep, snow.  Oh crap my hip flexors, psaos muscles and glutes aren't used to this kind of running.  Holy crap my feet are cold.  This is awful and great at the same time.  Scott and I both approached the week with super positive attitudes, and this helped us have fun (although occasionally I found myself in the pain cave).  We averaged 4 miles per hour, day in and day out.  That's saying something if you know Scott Breeden.  

Fun

European shoes were the theme of the week

It was a tough training weekend.  Bloomington had been hit with a megastorm and we were too stubborn to change our plans.  But, this was what I call "character building".  Will Snyder met us and shot some film, making us look way cooler than we are.  Tim joined us for a run and we skied/ran part of the tecumseh trail system.  But the theme of the week; run until your legs are paralyzed from lactic acid, never changed.  I honestly have no idea what aerobic system or particular type of training we were doing.  It was partly awesome, because with all the fresh powder there was no pounding on your joints, but it was terrible because working at max capacity I might have been hitting 12 minute miles.  And then, sometimes I felt like I was skiing downhill, with varying levels of control.  Anyways, I came back stronger from this trip than I was before making the drive.  So when I started bonking at mile 28 of Yankee Springs, I told myself, yeah this sucks, but I know what to do. 

SB and JC near BC

Making tracks

Yankee Springs 50k
After a great night of sleep, aided by a nice warm cabin and a few Lagunitas brews, I found a spot up near the front of the pack for the start of the 50k, motioned Ryan Case to get up near me, and then the gun went off and it was on.

Luxury epitomized

After nearly missing the first turn, Ryan and I found ourselves in the lead, scurrying down a semi-slick snow covered dirt road .  After surveying the trails that crisscrossed the road for flags, we finally saw some marking and jumped onto the single track.  I was a step or two ahead of Ryan, and was like oh crap I'm in the lead, what the heck do I do now?  Well logically, go really hard, like blow up pace, and then try to hang on. 

Then as if wearing jet-packs, a runner came up behind me and stayed there.  We chatted for a while about races we had done and were thinking about doing, he seemed like a nice guy, albeit, seriously fast.  We ran past Ben Vanhoose who shouted out some encouragement and took a photo or two and gave me a hard time about my pre race statement of "taking it easy at this race" which had totally gone out the window when I found myself in the lead.  I let Jordan know that if he wanted to pass me, just say the word and I'd let him by.  We ran together for a few more miles then Jordan smoked on by and I didn't see him again until the end of the race.

Me with Jordan right behind (photo Ben Vanhoose)

Deciding I would defend second and try to save face by running under the course record (3:50), I pushed the pace as hard as I dared.  I was totally overdressed and sweating a lot by the time I got through 10 miles.  Fumbling around with my had and extra coat, I eventually shoved everything into the back of my tights.  So if my butt looks big in some pictures, I have a legit excuse, OK?

I finished the first 15.5 mile loop in 1:51, which was pretty quick for icy trails I thought, but made no progress on reining in Jordan.  I quickly threw my extra layers by the drop bags (which I had not even bothered packing i.e. stupid move), desperately wishing I had a fresh bottle and a couple extra gels to grab.

Pain cave (Photo Mark Robillard)

The second loop was flying by, until I came to the hillier back half.  It seemed like someone made the hills a little taller on the second loop...  hmm strange.  And the trail was starting to get chewed up as 200+ people had now run through.  And the gatoraide I got at the aid station was too sweet.  And I had to pee.  And I only had one gel left.  And my toe had a blister.  See lots of excuses!

I slowed down quite a bit. 

At mile 28 I thought I was bonking, so I took my last gel and stopped for a quick pee.  I heard cheers not far behind me and knew someone was closing in.  I started running again. 

My vision was starting to get a little bit blurry.  My legs feel real slow.  "Rocks in a blender" I believe is the scientific term.  Hmmm I think I might be bonking...  Mile 28 of Yankee Springs 50k.  

Then, I thought, recruit your hip flexors, and psoas muscles, engage your glutes, access those generally poorly-used muscles.  My cadence came back, and I went from a slow jog to a slow run.  Finally I was moving at a decent clip again. 

I focused on accessing and recruiting these muscles for the last three miles and thought about how much easier this was than running in a foot of snow.  I crossed the line happy to have recovered and feeling good, thinking I was in 2nd, but at least under the old course record.  Then I found out I was 1st.  Apparently Jordan had taken a wrong turn (bummer) on the first loop and never caught back up.  So now,  I win, I guess, I still feel like I didn't totally deserve it.  And then Ryan Case came flying across the finish line only 50 second behind me, taking 2nd!  

Glad to be done

Ryan's wife Alaina came in soon after that, earning second female.  So they were 2nd male and 2nd female, too cute guys.  I know you planned it that way.  Our other cabin-mate Tim came running in soon too, and then we celebrated another Ultra well-run with a nice bonfire, some adult beverages and refueled with whatever was close-by.  The next morning we went for a nice shakeout run, staying in tight formation, herded along by Ryan and Alaina's sheep dog.

Get herded by Cody

Take home message
Train hard, recruit unused muscles, remember to use them when you race.  Never give up, you never know what might happen.   Running in snow is fun.  Always have fun.