Capitol Peak ended up being a bit brutal this year with more mud than I have encountered on the course before. Due to heavy snow the course was changed to a figure 8 with the first 8 mile loop climbing 500 feet and the second 9 mile loop with 1200 feet of climbing.The morning started with the gang meeting at the YMCA to carpool to the run. Rob, Jenny, Michelle, Cat, Steve, and me all piled our gear into Cat's Expedition. The Expedition is named Sulley from the TV show Dr. Quinn. At 6:00 AM the adventure began. Abi & Jane rode separately. This was Abi and Cat's first experience with ultra running.
We had the opportunity to meet Meghan and Trevor who were in Portland to visit Trevor's Parents and drove up for the run. Trevor's parents also ran the 17 mile course. Meghan works for the Parks Service in Yellowstone and lives in Wyoming. She is training for her first 100 miler the first weekend in February, Rocky Raccoon in TX. They both ran three loops for 25 miles.
Long story short, Rob, Steve, and I went out fairly fast on the first 17 miles and slowed significantly on the second. The third loop was probably the toughest due the mud. I think over 100 people ran the 17 mile option and they really ground up the trail on the first loop. We were ahead of the masses on the first loop and the trail was in fairly decent shape. I struggled during the third loop and wondered if I could even finish the fourth. My lower back was hurting and slopping through the mud was really wearing on my legs. Steve got the award for falling down in the mud. I got a couple of pictures of the aftermath. He said "At least it was a soft landing".
The fourth loop went much better for me. The trail was much better than the third loop and I fueled better with a sandwich, soup, and gu's. I ended up finishing in 7:49:05. I had stayed with Rob and Steve up to mile 29 but as we headed down I found my legs and was able to keep a steady pace to the end. After finishing I grabbed a got cup of tea, dumped my pack and water bottles and headed back out to meet Steve and Rob. I got about 3/4 of a mile out and met them and ran to the finish with them.
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Weird injury: My calves both feel like they have a bad sunburn. I ran with shorts on and the mud caked my legs and formed little dingle-berries on the hairs. I don't know if I was getting pinched by the cracks in the mud layer on my legs or if the hair getting pulled is the cause of the pain but I have a bunch of little micro cuts all over the backs of my calves. Ouch!
It was good to see a bunch of my ultra running buddies at the run!
Thanks for reading!
15 comments:
Another brutal day out on the trails. I think it was a smart move for you to keep moving on the last loop. Thanks for coming back out for the last little bit even though I wouldn't have blamed you if you were sitting by the fire when we finished. It's all good training for something.
It was an awesome day! Thanks for all your encouragement last year - getting me over my fear and out on the trail was your doing, and now I love it!
And, yes, your injury is strange.
Wow... loved the report and the pictures. that was a muddy run. Bet it was a blast and more of an adventure race than anything.
the SMILEBOX rocks!
Yah - I gave up at 8 miles after rolling my ankle (and feeling the ripping of tendons). I met Jenny (who was just ahead at the time) after apologizing for all the profanity. :) That was not a course for tired ankles! Congrats to all you studs and studettes who toughed it out!
I can't even imagine running trails out in your neck of the woods this time of year. Totally awesome :-)
That's sort of appropriate that Trailscat got dingleberries.
Nice slideshow - I have never seen a happier bunch of runners. I like Steve's yellow coat smeared in mud.
You don't know how many times I thought it was Steve and you guys coming up behind me and so I'd pick up the pace just a bit, but then it would turn out to be some other person wearing yellow.
Hope you enjoyed your beer afterwards.
It was a fun day! I'm glad you got some shots that show a bit of the mud!
Jenny
Try waxing next time ;o) It'll save your legs from the mud cuts ;o) ...LOL!!!
I get that rash every time I run C.P. I don't know if it's the mud sucking every ounce of moisture out of my skin or if there's something like Poison Ivy or that I’m allergic to that gets mixed in with mud.
Looks cold! Sounds like a solid run despite the conditions. Congrats! I hope your boo-boos are better today. That's odd. I wonder if there's something in that mud. : )
Yep, another big adventure for the three amigos. Please send me the pics I would like to save a copy. Funny it douesn't look as cold or wet as it felt.
nice job on the trails, my friend!
I can't believe how many races you guys run over there! And you do awesome on all of them! Thanks for the comment...I'm glad I had a good race too...I was also worried about myself! Keep it up!
OOOH that dingleberry thing sounds painful!!
Well done Eric!
Heh, you said dingleberry.
Lovely to meet you and your wife this weekend! The two of you were grinning ear-to-ear each time I saw you.
You can keep all of that mud stuff and I'll keep all of my predator stuff. Deal?
Hope your dingleberry injury is healing. Heh.
Meghan
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