Here's Some Humble Pie...

“Fourteen miles? Piece of cake.”

I didn’t have any particular goal for the Post Canyon Half Marathon other than to go run on some new trails and enjoy the views. It’s probably a good thing, because as it turns out, I wasn’t very prepared for this race.

Due to a bit of Achilles Tendinitis, I had been laying off the running. I did a short race the week before (less than 10K) but hadn’t run since then. I’ve never had a problem just going out and running a half marathon without much training before. That’s one of the reasons I like the distance. It’s work, but I don’t usually need to train up to it.

The race started at 7 AM, and the start out near Hood River was about 90 minutes from Portland. The skies were pretty overcast when I left Portland, but when I got out around Hood River, it was partly cloudy with some episodes of sunshine. Temperatures were in the 50s. Fantastic weather for running!

I got to the start with my handheld full of Viso. This was the inaugural running of this race, and one of my requests for next time would be that they arrange for more port-a-potties. Two didn’t really cut it.

The race director gave her spiel, emphasized the points of the course where the half marathon and the 50K split, and assured us that the course was well marked. We started promptly at 7 AM.

The first mile or so of the trail was obviously new. The dirt was very loose and I was skidding a bit on it. I hoped the whole course wasn’t going to be like this. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

Soon we got onto the more established trails. These trails were mostly used for moto cross and mountain biking. They were very rutted and rocky with plenty of tree roots to boot. I rolled my ankle three times in the first 5K. Not bad rolls, but still, this didn’t bode well. I’m not a total stranger to running technical trails, but the ruts in these trails from the motor bikes proved challenging. I could feel my ankles twisting every which way!

The trails were almost all up and downhill. Flat sections were rare and brief. I nailed most of the uphills, but the downs were tricky and very technical. I managed a decent pace on them by using small, fast steps, but my quads and adductors were starting to feel the impact from all the downhill and lateral movements.

The course was well marked and easy to follow until mile 7. There was a junction of several trails here and more than one had flags and arrows on it. Several of us milled around here and scratched our heads. This would have been a great place for a volunteer! A couple of us went up to the left and ran for about ¾ of a mile before determining that we weren’t going the right way. We ran back to the junction and took the right instead.

The first aid station was supposed to be at mile 9 but ended up being closer to mile 10. It seemed to take forever to get there – I think the experience of getting lost back at mile 7 made me worry that I still wasn’t going the right way. When I did finally get there, I had already run over 11 miles (including the mileage from the wrong turn). I refilled my water bottle and was on my way.

The next mile was a pretty nasty uphill, but there were fantastic views of the Columbia River Gorge to the left and Mount Hood to the right. I had to break down and walk a couple sections on this one. Coming to the top of the hill, the race photographer was there snapping photos. “Oh no,“ I said, “You’re not going to get a picture of me walking!”

Just after cresting that hill, another runner caught up to me and we started chatting. Unfortunately, we both got so wrapped up in our conversation that we missed a turn off. We ran for a good mile and a half before realizing that the trail we were on wasn’t marked and we could hear no one ahead of or behind us.

We doubled back and found the very clearly marked turn off and both face palmed. After a mile of fairly pleasant single track trail, we came to another aid station. We stopped for a water refill, grabbed a few bites  and were on our way for the last couple of miles to the finish. At this point, it was 10:30. We had been out on the trails for three and a half hours!

My chat buddy and I came to the finish line together. “Oh, look,” someone shouted, “They’re racing!” We weren’t and we didn’t. We crossed the finish at the same time. We grabbed snacks and drinks - we hadn’t planned to be out there that long for a half marathon – and realized we had run almost 18 miles.

This was one of the toughest races I’ve ever done. The hills were steep. The trails were the most technical and difficult I’ve ever run. I ended up running four extra miles. I can run a nice flat road half marathon in about 1:30, but this almost 18 mile trail run took me 3:44.

Still, I couldn't be upset about the extra miles. It was such a perfect morning to be out running and the trails, while difficult, were very picturesque. And, of course, the views of the Gorge and the mountain made up for a lot.

The director and volunteers did a really good job with this race, considering it was the first. There were only a couple of things that I would change – more port-a-potties at the start and someone directing runners at mile 7.

This was a fun race on some difficult but really great trails. It challenged me a lot more than I had expected. It ended up being a nice little adventure, and hey – bonus miles means extra value for your money!

50K Conquered!

“I’m not ready for this.”

That’s what I kept thinking leading up to the Mount Hood 50K. I bailed twenty miles into the Smith Rock 50K a couple months earlier due to calf cramping that kept locking my legs up. I hadn’t done any marathon length runs since then - my longest run was a 20 miler out in the Indian Heaven Wilderness.

Unlike Smith Rock, this race was on terrain I had trained on. I had run part of the route around Timothy Lake during the Timberline Half Marathon. The route was shady and largely on the PCT. While I had never run this particular part of the PCT, I had run other parts of it in the area. That bolstered my confidence a bit.

There were six aid stations and the weather was cool, so I decided to run with just a handheld and ditch my pack, relying on the food (mostly M&Ms, Pringles and Coke) and water at the stations. I don’t really like to run with a pack when I don’t have to. It’s just additional weight, and while chafing hasn’t been an issue with my current pack, the possibility is always there.

The start time was 8 AM, so I woke up at 5, put on my running clothes, my calf sleeves and my shoes, had a light breakfast of Greek yogurt and oatmeal, packed a gym bag with another set of clothes to change into post-race and was on the road by 5:45. The skies were mostly overcast on the way out to Timothy Lake, and the morning temperatures were in the 50s. You couldn’t really ask for better running weather!

Photo by Paul Nelson Photography

I got to the Clackamas Ranger Station around 7:20. I picked up my bib – number 66! - , did a few lunges and hip swings to warm up, hit the port-a-potty and sipped on a Viso sports drink. I felt relaxed, not at all jittery like I usually do before races. I knew I was undertrained for this, so I decided to just enjoy the experience and not worry about my time. I’d be happy with a finish.

We started promptly at 8 AM. We were pretty bunched up on the trail leading down from the ranger station to the lake, and the runners kicked up quite the cloud of trail dust. My energy and spirits felt high. I focused on reining my pace in. I often go out the gate too fast and end up paying for it later in a long race.

We turned north at the lake and hugged its east side for a few miles. I was still relaxed and found a group of guys whose pace I liked, so I hung with them for a while. This was where I had my first fall. I pitched forward, caught myself on my hands and pushed myself back up. The guy behind me commented that I could probably have passed that off as a spontaneous push up.  Everyone was chatty, and we discussed the Smith Rock race. Quite a few had done the 15 miler there, but I was the only one in the group to attempt the 50K. This was the first 50K most of them had attempted.

I pulled ahead of the group as we turned onto the PCT to head north. This section was pretty steadily uphill with only a couple of relatively steep portions. There were plenty of rocks and tree roots to navigate, but I did well on the uphill and flew by a lot of the other runners, many of whom decided to walk the steeper sections. Running hills is a big part of my training and these hills were pretty minor compared to some of the monstrous climbs I had done in the Gorge.

Photo by Paul Nelson Photography

The sun was coming out between the clouds now and we were treated to some amazing views of Mt Hood off to the north as we approached the turnaround point on the PCT. The lead runners began to come down, so I knew the turnaround couldn’t be too far off. I had found another group whose pace I liked, so I followed them up to the aid station at the turnaround. I stopped briefly to grab some food and refill my handheld with water then headed back down the PCT.

The downhill felt good, and I checked my watch to find that I was on pace to finish in less than five hours! This was where I took my second spill while distracted by a particularly gorgeous view of the mountain. There was no damage but a minor scrape to the knee, thankfully.  After a couple miles, though, I felt the familiar twinge in my calves that always precedes the debilitating cramps that I’ve been fighting the past year. Shortly thereafter, the cramping started.

I was determined to not let this stop me again! I slowed down, I walked, but I kept moving. It hurt, and there were a couple times that my legs locked up so badly that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to move them. But I fought, and continued moving, knowing that I couldn’t get my five hour time at this pace. “It doesn’t matter,” I told myself, “Just finish the damned race!”

I found that I could actually run slowly and pain-free through the flat sections, but the down hills triggered the cramps. I ran where I could and walked where I had to. By the time I made my way to the last aid station on the PCT, I knew I looked bedraggled. I got some more food, filled up my water and continued on to the lake.

Photo by Paul Nelson Photography

It was a pretty pleasant section heading south along the west side of the lake with another spectacular view of the mountain. I was able to manage a slow jog pretty consistently. The weather was warming up, but it wasn’t uncomfortable yet. Another runner, whom I’d been far ahead of at the turnaround, caught up to me and noticed I was limping a bit. He asked if I was OK, and we got into a conversation. Turns out he was from my home state of Illinois, so we chatted for a while – distance runners are a chatty bunch! I think it helped me get my mind off my calves so that I was able to run again the last mile or so.

It felt like a long mile. I’d run this before at the Timberline Half Marathon, so I recognized landmarks. When I finally could hear people at the finish, I upped my pace to something a little more respectable for the last ¼ mile or so.

I crossed the finish line, collected my finisher’s beer glass and didn’t even look at the clock. Later I found I had finished in 6:09:51. Not a great time, but considering that I wasn’t very well trained, I was glad to finish without the calf cramps bringing me to a grinding halt like they had at Smith Rock. The time went by amazingly quickly – it certainly helps to run in a beautiful place.

In retrospect, this would have been a better first 50K for me than Smith Rock. The elevation gain was significantly less and the environment – cool, shady with rock and tree-root studded trails – was similar to my training grounds in Portland’s Forest Park and the Columbia River Gorge. I felt very at ease running this route, which I can’t say about the dry, exposed, desert-like environment at Smith Rock.

There are more 50Ks in my future, but I promised myself that I would take the next year off from the long distance races. I’ve done two marathons, a 50K attempt and this 50K in less than a year, and I’m feeling a little burnt out. I’m going to re-focus on running speed at shorter distances, weight training, do some bicycling and take up another sport, maybe rowing or swimming. I have a goal to climb Mount Hood next year as well.

I also need to figure out if there’s some way to fix my calf issues. Water and salt have no effect, and medical research indicates that dehydration and lack of electrolytes don’t cause cramping anyway. I’ve tried stretching, with no real gains. The next thing will be focused strengthening on my calves, especially since I won’t be doing a lot of long runs to stress the muscles even more.

I will still need a bit of a trail running fix, even during this “down time.” I’ll continue doing 20ish mile trail runs about once a month, partially to not totally lose all the endurance I’ve built up, but also because there is definitely something relaxing and magical about running in the wild and beautiful places of the Pacific Northwest.

 

Photo by Paul Nelson Photography