Flagline 50K - Pre-Birthday Surprise - I finished!!!

I recently finished the drive back to Albany from Mt. Bachelor after running the Flagline 50K put on by Superfit Productions.  I haven't seen the results yet, but I heard Max King was 1st for the men.  He crossed the line about 4 hours before me.  Ehhh, I'll get him next year (: )

Link: http://www.superfitproductions.com/?page_id=70

Results: http://time2race.com/Results/Flagline%2050K%202011.htm

Now for the real blogification:

I am glad I signed up for this 50K trail run.  Well, I can say that now that I'm done and can make a few reasons up.  Although on the drive back I was scratching my head as to why I signed up for this race with no training at this elevation.  I could have just as easily run another half marathon at sea level and called it good.

The only thing I can come up with is it was an early birthday present.  Back in the day, when I was still 50, I decided I needed to do a 50 something before I turned 51.  It probably could have been a 50 yard dash, a 50K, or a 50M.  I ended up signing up for the Forest Park 50K, something in the middle distances between some really short and really long.  In previous blogs, you'd see Gimpy finished after the 9 hour cutoff.  So, I think this year with a bit more training, I decided another 50K would still work for a birthday pick me up.  So a Sept. 24th run was on order, freeing up the 25th for the celebrations.

I'd have to say the prep for this run was not optimal as I'd violated a bunch of Gimpy rules.

1) Get the training miles in on similar trails, I didn't!

2) Know the course, I didn't!

3) Don't overthink it, I did!

So maybe this is a new Gimpy rule, if the urge hits you, just sign up anyway and see what happens.  They'll be the material of future running tales and blogs perhaps.

With respect to item #1, I'd definitely deviated some from the training plan I'd discussed with the "Coach" and had done a couple of half marathons instead of running some longer miles.  These were the long training runs we had discussed, before I did Autumn Leaves 50M at the end of October to attempt a sub-11 hour time.  So, I thinks after the fact, what the hay, maybe a good 50K would offset those shorter runs, before the big taper.

#2, I had studied the maps of the Flagline course, but with Forest Park, the first time I ran it, I got lost.  I was seriously worried about this, as last year the lead runners at Flagline had got off on the wrong trail as well.  In their case, I believe they got inadvertently mis-directed.  Gimpy doesn't need mis-direction he gets lost all by his self.  Fortunately, this wasn't an issue as the course was very well marked.

As to overthinking, I always do this. Sorry Eric, I'm working on it.

So when I finally got to Bend, of course I drove up to Mt Bachelor just to get a sense of how the elevation might affect me.  Of course, standing next to my car gave me all kinds of confidence.  Back in Bend I found a place to spend the night, had some pizza, and then tried to sleep.  I think I woke up every hour, once from leg cramps, the rest from general nervousness and anticipation.



Mt Bachelor before the race start

I managed to take care of the checkout and get up to Mt Bachelor without incident.  I finally decided to drop my Nathan running vest fully stocked on the tarp for Broken top (mile 17.5) and use two hand bottles for the first part of the run.  I also decided to wear the Brooks Cascadia's, instead of New Balance MT101's and took the shuttle over to the start about 20 minutes ahead of time.

In the van, I didn't know anyone, but I was starting to feed off the other runners excitement and regretted not having someone else I knew running the race.  I decided to park myself near the back, which was a smart move in hindsight.  This was a USATF National 50K event, so some big names were in it, like Max King.  I didn't want to get in their way so I only contemplated the early start for about 10 seconds.  Thankfully, I didn't need the extra time



I managed to snag a few pictures and then about a minute before the start, I suddenly had to pee.  I managed to get a few feet into the bushes as the RD counted down and proceeded to pee on my leg.

...and I was off to a great start.

 

Heading up to the Start line



Me looking nervous running above 6K feet



The RD wished everyone a good run and got everyone started. There was a 10 second delay while the faster runners took off and then the back of the packers like me got going.  Within a hundred yards I was not feeling very good.  No stomach issues, just didn't feel like I had any energy.  There was a slight down section and the first little hill up and I wanted to quit.  I checked my heart rate and it was already over 160.  What the heck!!!



I decided I better get it down around 145 or I was going to be in trouble much sooner than later.  While I tweeked my pace, I finally found a couple of ladies decked out in yellow I could keep tabs on as they went by me and one said: "I see you adopted my running philosophy, start out slow and then go slower".  She had no idea how much, I just said it seems to work.

I managed to keep them both in sight through the mile 8 aid station and they chatted most of the way.  While I was thinking of all the good reasons I could tell Mike and Eric about why I'd dropped.

The trail was mostly down and I averaged around 10'-11'/mile pace on these sections.  That would be the fastest pace of the day.  I knew mile 8-13 were going to be tough uphill section for me, so I ran what was runnable and used a 145, 150 heart rate check for the rest of the hill.  (If my heart rate was above 150 I walked, when it dropped to 145, I ran).  This approach seemed to get me up the hill as good as any technique I've used before.  Although I was seriously considering dropping at the next aid station, if I didn't start feeling better.



Unknown Stream where I rinsed off

When I got into the second aid station something clicked in my brain about being almost half way done and mentally felt better, but was still thinking if my pace and mental state didn't start to improve by mile 17, I'd pull myself and just jog back to the start and call it a 22 mile training run.

Even though my brain was starting to get into the groove of finishing, I felt really bad for the volunteers as their table collapsed while I was standing next to it.  I don't think I was the reason it fell down, I hope not.  I just remember looking down and seeing my toe about an inch from the table leg.


Fortunately, by mile 17 my mental commitment to finish was increasing and I was feeling upbeat enough to keep going.  I ditched my long sleeve shirt and swapped my water bottle for the running vest and kept one bottle with Heed.  I'm not sure why, but just putting on the vest seemed to boost my confidence.  Of course, it helped the next section was a three (3) mile downhill.



My quads had been feeling hammered since mile 8 and this would be my pace limiter as I rarely had my heart rate above 130 after mile 8 even though I was huffing and puffing like a horse when I was "speed" walking the uphill sections.  I was also a bit surprised and thankful the elevation didn't give me headaches or make me sick.

I rinsed off at one of the stream crossings around mile 21 and felt a ton better.  I'd taken a minor tumble at mile 5 and had dirt/mud all over my hands and bottles.  I think all future summer runs should have a pre-requisite stream crossing.  Having clean hands, face, and wet cap definitely made the hike back up to the aid station more bearable.

The views and scenery were great around Broken Top whenever I got to sections I could take my eyes off the trail in front of me.  I think I was being extra cautious after tumbling twice at the Mt Hood PCT 50.  Some sections were more technical than others and I didn't want to land on any rocks, if I could avoid them.

By mile 24 I wasn't moving fast, but I knew I only had 7 miles to go.  It felt like this wasn't going to be a great time, but I was hoping to get under 7 hours and 30 minutes anyway.  At the beginning of the race especially after that first hill, I would have been happy to get under 8 hours or just finish.



I managed to jog most of the down hills and power hike the ups with my 7 hours and 30 minute target in mind.  However, the Garmin showed I still had a little over a mile to go and my pace times weren't adding up, so it didn't look like it was going to happen.  The last 2 miles seemed like they went on forever, but when I finally saw the finish line I felt good I'd run the last mile without stopping.  I didn't see what the finish clock said for time, but the Garmin says I was under 7hr 30min.

By the time I finished, most everyone except the race volunteers and few stragglers had left, but I got a nice finishers glass and a chicken burrito, that turned out to be just what I needed about two hours later, delicious.  In addition, I received a really nice Soloman running belt for sticking it out to the finish.

After I'd hobbled over to my car, I noticed the guy in the truck next to me, he'd finished 5 minutes before me.  I also spoke briefly to one of the ladies dressed in yellow I'd tried to stay with.  She'd won her division and finished about 20 minutes ahead of me.  Those medals looked really shiny, maybe next year when I beat Max King.

Here's what I was thinking regarding the elevation:

Coach Mike tells me this run will be a good predictor for next years McDonald Forest 50K.  Let's hope I train up for more hills and get my time below 7 hours and 30 minutes.

Until then, rest up on your Birthday Mr Gimpy! Then let's go Gimpy, it'll be time to run!