Monday, July 14, 2008

Corral Pass Training Run

This weekend I ran 12 miles on Saturday. The first 4.5 miles were some early miles with Steve and then at 7:30 I ran with a group of runners from our Y-Run Club into the Puyallup Valley and back up a couple of monster hills. Mile 11 was run at a 7:05 pace as I tried to keep up with one of our speedsters Jamal.

On Sunday I picked up Rob and Lesa and we headed up to Buck Creek in the Crystal Mt. Area to run the Corral Pass section of the White River 50-mile course. This was Lesa’s first time on the course and a week after rolling her ankle on the Sun Top section last week. She purchased an ankle brace from a local medical supply store that gave her great support and it was never a problem. Rob had decided to join us on Saturday. Being off from teaching and being able to run and do a lot more other physical activities is starting to show in his running. He had his pack loaded with about 20lbs of water and other gear.

Wildlife Report: In the first couple of miles I flushed a little vole out of the bushes along the trail and herded it around so Rob and Lesa could see it. It was only about 1 inch long and didn’t require any bear spray to control.
We got an early 8:00AM start to the training run that was scheduled for 9:00AM. With Lesa’s ankle being a concern we wanted to start early and go slow. It was a beautiful day with about 58-degree weather at the start and around 80-85 at the finish. The clear blue sky yielded incredible views of Mt. Rainier as we climbed the Palisades Trail and came out to the overlooks along the ridge.

When we made it to the Ranger Creek Shelter Uli S. and Brian M. caught up to us. They were marking the trail and flying up the course. We were taking the time to eat some solid food and head up to Corral Pass. A couple of other runners passed us before we headed up. As it turns out the snow patches that I encountered last weekend were not that difficult to get over. While quite of bit of the snow had melted I think I could have easily made it up to the Pass had I pressed on. It appears that I’m a snow wimp.

The climb up to Corral Pass went well for Rob and I but Lesa was having problems with an upset stomach. This continued to plague her for the rest of the run. Scott M. attributed it to too many electrolytes and eating solid food before a climb when your heartrate is elevated. Scott gave her some electrolytes that are in-between the strength of E-Caps and S-Caps. They must be L-Caps!

When we reached Corral Pass Seattle Running Company had water, NUUN, watermelon, and PB&J set up at an attended water station. As we ate and filled our water bottles several runners came in. Scott told me that they had over 35 runners on the course. I ran down to Ranger Creek at my own pace. I spent some time chatting with Heidi who is a reporter for the local Business Journal. It made the time go quickly and we were soon at the Shelter. I had another sandwich and chatted with three Mt. Bikers who had climbed up to the shelter. I helped direct a few runners to the proper trail and then Rob came in. Rob was looking good despite his heavy pack and two hand-helds. We talked for a few minutes and Arthur came in. Arthur, tc, and Shawn had all run the entire 50 mile course on Saturday. I think tc and Shawn skipped the Corral Pass climb but judging from the look in Arthur’s eyes they made the proper choice. Rob said he would wait for Lesa to make it in to the Shelter so I headed down the 5-mile decline to Buck Creek. This section is shaded soft single track with long switchbacks and traverses.

I made it into Buck Creek in 6:43. It was a nice "time on my feet" run and I felt strong the entire way. Rob finished strong and Lesa felt like crap but was glad to have seen the course.
I soaked in the river twice for 10 minutes each time. My legs feel awesome today. We stopped at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater on our way home for a burger and fries. They were incredibly busy and it took quite a while for the food to be served. It was good though and nothing tastes better than a cold Black Butte Porter after a 25 mile run.

Run like hell!

19 comments:

Thomas said...

That picture looks just amazing. I know that I live in a very beautiful spot myself, but I would soooooo love to run in a place like this, with those gorgeous trails.

I hope you realise how lucky you are!

Journey to a Centum said...

Thomas - There's a reason we put up with all the rain we get! Of course you folks get your fair share of rain as well.

I'll admit that while this is a picture from up at Corral Pass my camera was sitting on my desk at home. I'm really bummed because I could have taken more scenery shots that would have really made you envious.

Thanks for your comment

Laura H said...

I really wish I could have been there with you all! I really enjoyed being out on the Skookum Flats trail part last week. Looks like I'll be volunteering instead - I find out Friday why my groin won't let me run. :-(

Unknown said...

It was a great run and my legs feel great today. I toyed with heading up to Mt. Peak today, but I decided to take it easy for at least one day. Thanks for driving and leading the way.

Journey to a Centum said...

Laura - Hope things come around for you with your injury. Had fun with your running buddies from Seattle.

Rob - Mt. Peak may have been a push today... no wait, if Arthur can run 50 miles on Saturday and 25 the next day on the toughest section of the course you could have done Mt. Peak. You too can have those glazed over eyes! Arthur - you're a freak and so are your freak friends tc and Shawn! Nice work out there!

Joe said...

Great run Eric...what a beautiful route!!!

wendy said...

what a bummer for lesa, but I'm sure she still had a good time with good company.

I can't believe CDR is only a few weeks away! You seem more than ready!

Sarah said...

Sounds like quite a run! Summer in the PNW is the best! I'm sure you're ready for your death march..err...race now. : )

P.S. Marc decided to drop out of CC100. He wants to put all his energy into the Crater Lake/Haulin' Aspen double.

Matt Hart said...

last year i spent 4 days running the white river course. 25 miles each day. i love it out there. thanks for the post.

Anonymous said...

You guys do some serious training runs. How nice to be a decent distance from trails and a beautiful area to run in!

Sarah Elaine said...

Yes, but is it enough training to race up North?? :-) See you in a couple of weeks. Can't wait to meet you both!

Journey to a Centum said...

Joe - It's certainly worth the effort to make the climb!

Wendy - How could Lesa avoid having a good time when she was with the first two members of the Dumb Ass Hall of Fame?

Sarah (from Oregon) - I'm ready for both! Death March and Death Race! In fact that's my strategy to use both!

hart - You are a running machine. Those must have been some great training runs!

Annette - Yeah - you need a break, you should come up and run with us and get away from that bootcamp!

Sarah Elaine - Is that smack talk from a Canuk? Sheesh - I eat 17,000 foot climbs for breakfast! Ready?... I was born ready!

Adelyn said...

What a training run :) It sounds (and looks) like it was spectacular!

Thomas said...

Eric, it was neither a cheesecake nor a berry pie, it was a poppy-seed cake with a yoghurt/cream topping, and raspberries on top for garnish.

It didn't last long.

Gotta Run..... said...

That is it... I am taking an ICE bath tonight!! That will wake my legs up after my awesome/heavy run last night.

Come on and make another guess at the tattoo contest. I have a for real prize!!!

Olga said...

Are you ready for it yet??? I am eager to hear, c'mon already!

Gotta Run..... said...

Your guess is closest... so far. I have posted what the prize will be. Hope you win :)

Did you see the info blooged on David's attempt to run CDT? He has a rough go at it!!!

http://www.eco-xsports.blogspot.com/

Meghan said...

Death Race! Death Race! Death Race!

It's so close now, Eric! You must be about in full taper mode after this weekend, perhaps?

I can't wait for you to go to this race!

Oh, nice training run last weekend.

Wait, one more thing. Since when did you have music and nature sounds on your blog? I guess I have only visited with the sounds off before. Hmmmn.

Meghan

Scott McMurtrey said...

catching up on your blog...looks like you've been doing a bit of running. i passed out for a second while watching that video of you hanging the camera over the cliff. i'm not good with heights.

i really hope you'll be able to do the laugavegur ultra sometime. it was a great course to run. the rocky sections of the course were not bad at all. a lot of it was crushed so much that it was actually soft.

hope to see you out on the wr50 course!