 |
| on the way to the race the day before. not expecting this |
Ultra season is on! This past weekend I headed to Sisters, Oregon for the Peterson Ridge Rumble 20 & 40 miler. Of course I signed up for the 40. This would be my second time running this race and although it being 40 miles, it's relatively easy race. Relatively. There's a few portions of either dirt or soft gravel roads that you can take advantage of and either pick up a little speed or just give your mind and eyes a break from scanning rocks and roots that are just waiting to grab a toe. I think I almost ate dirt about a dozen times. actually ate some dirt twice.
This is the beginning of my third season as an ultra-runner, so as it should be, my third different approach to training. This time around, I started my training the first week of November 2014 after a two month hiatus. I've been pretty regimented. Two 5.5 mile runs to and from work four days a week with my long run on the weekend. My long run building from about eight miles to finally managing a 22 miler. I do three weeks of this and take the fourth week off to recover. By the end of that third week I'm getting close to raw nerve. None of this is very dramatic like a lot of my training has been before but it's solid and I'm hoping it's enough to get a good base without burning out before the summer finally gets here.
 |
| about as much "epic" as I can muster |
This weekend didn't really clear it up one way or another wether I'm on to a good training plan or not. For some reason I was feeling just a little bit off. Not bad, just a little confused or distracted. Whatever, figured it would all shake out during the run. As we got started and everyone was starting shake out their spot in the pack for awhile, I never really got in my "zone" but I could feel all the discipline and work making it happen as opposed to those times when it's like magic and it's as if you're floating just above the ground. No, it wasn't like that at all. This was just "one step after the other-just get this done" reality. Not that it was bad. I had a good 20+ miles. At the mile 22 aid station I felt good and my time was looking real good. REAL good. I can't really recall when it happened or what happened but by mile 28 aid station I was a wreck. I had a drop bag there but I didn't really have anything in it but some handheld water bottles (I hadn't been carrying any water) in case I needed them. By this time I did need them but I was already beyond caring and now I didn't even want to carry them. It had warmed up quite a bit from the 28 degree start, now it was in the mid-fiftys. I left my long sleeved shirt and gloves in my bag but I guess the volunteer could see how confused I was trying to change shirts and offered to deal with my drop bag for me. All I had to do was roll it up and it's self-closing but like I said, I was a wreck.
I headed out and it looked like the hallucinations had stopped. I had been seeing waterfalls and rivers in the shadows for some reason. For several miles I ran with two guys. We didn't talk or anything. We were all in survivor mode but there was a solid connection going on as we leapfrogged to the end. Just barely audible encouragements but the aid stations were done and it would only be us three for the next hour plus so it carried a lot. I realized later one of these guys had given me a tattoo a couple years ago and he was doing his first ultra. I remember he was interested in getting into ultras then. Really cool to see that progression happen. A few miles earlier I ran with a concert pianist who would be performing in the White house the following week. Those few miles had some interesting conversation covering all sort of topics.
I eventually come staggering into the finish area to have to run that final lap around the track before crossing the finish. I was a little disappointed but okay with my time. I was looking to hit a PR but I was actually 10 minutes slower than last year. BUT....It could've went either way and I knew this. I knew on a good (no, great) day, I could break the seven hour mark but I know on a bad day it could easily take me over eight hours to finish. So, I'm good. Now I know where my training is at and where it needs to go.
 |
| found this little "ground score" in the desert |
It's been a few days now and it's taken me a bit longer to recover. This one took a lot out of me but in a good way. I feel completely wrecked, broken and inspired to pick it up and get started for the next race in three weeks. That was another one last year where I had a good 22 miles and a heartbreaking 12 more that kept me from a PR.
