Golden Gate Dirty Thirty

The race went well. I was a bit surprised how well it went, but then again, I didn't know what to expect.

Adrienne and I got up at 4:30 in the morning, ate a bit and made some coffee. Got our stuff together, loaded up Guinness, and headed out to Golden Gate Canyon State Park. The drive was nice, and we arrived at around 6:00. My race took off at 7 and Adrienne's at 8, so we had some time to get our stuff together, drop off my drop bag, and mill around for a short time. Come race time, I lined up and took off. I wore a Nathan backpack, and it was a good idea. It had all the nutrition I needed for the race packed in it, including, a Cliffbar (I will not bring this again), 12 Gu's, and 2 liters of Gatorade. The race started out and I thought, "What the hell, I'm going for broke." I decided then and there that I would do my best to win the thing, knowing that I would probably have to deal with a good amount of suffering. There were about 4 of us that took off up front, and we started climbing. We crossed this beautiful little creek about 10-11 times and each time was over a little log, or a quasi-bridge made out of fallen trees and branches. It was pretty neat. I was feeling the climbing already! I have noticed that I do not do well racing over 7000' and this race shot up above 8000'-8500' right away. I wore my HR monitor so that I had some accountability, but it didn't really matter. I was at 165 HR the whole first climb and I walked most of it. I let a few people go, and tried to keep the HR below 165. We finally crested the first climb and I took off down the hill. I looked down one time and was going 5:15 pace :) Needless to say, I caught the group quickly and decided to keep up the pace down the hills and pulled a little gap. We hit the next climb (around 2 miles long) and I walked/jogged most of it trying to keep the HR down. Two people caught me at the top of the hill, but then I pulled some distance on the next downhill. This was the strategy that I would keep for the rest of the day. There were many hills that I was walking up with a HR over 170!!!! Geeze! I was good on the nutrition taking a Gu about every 30-40 mins and keeping the hydration going. I was passed going up a hill around mile 8, and just kept true to my new strategy. We hit a very technical trail at about mile 10-12 and I went off trail many times. Interestingly enough, I came out of the trail in the lead. I guess the guy that passed me leading into the trail got lost worse than I did. I came to the drop bag check point (mile 17) in the lead and was feeling pretty good. I did not take anything from my drop back and just kept on going. There was an 1100' climb out of this aid station and I felt this hill. I started cramping a good amount while going up. First my quads, then my calves, and finally my hamstrings. I downed a Gu, and it took care of the cramping. I decided to slow my walking down up the hills and maintain a good pace on the flats and downs. I was passed at the top of the hill after the aid station and wished the guy good luck. He was climbing strong and I did not think that I could keep up for the remaining 10 miles. Surprisingly, around mile 22 I started feeling pretty good again. I was cruising at 7min pace on the flats and downs, running at around 160HR, and just walking the hills. I got to the final aid station somewhere around mile 25 and they said I was a few minutes behind. I thought, what the heck, I will keep the strategy and hit the downhills a little harder. You never know, right!?! I actually climbed the next hill fairly efficiently and started a screaming downhill!!! I was moving well and feeling smooth. Next thing I knew there was the finish line. The only problem, I had only run about 28 miles :( I missed a turnoff at the top of the last hill and missed the final climb. I headed back up the last mile I descended (around 800' gain)! and saw the trail I missed. I was hurting at this point. I decided to call it a day, disappointed, but also very pleased. It was a great learning experience, and a beautiful day. I was told that I was about 1 minute back right around the trail head that I missed. Either way I would have been happy with the finish. This was the first time I have run over 20 miles in as long as I can remember, and it was a pretty comfortable run. I think I will train specifically for the distance for awhile and see what I can do. If my aerobic fitness was a bit better, I think that I could have held a much more efficient pace up the hills. I still got in 30 good miles of running and over 12,000' of climbing with the addition of my detour. I have to look at my watch readout, but I was on pace for around 5:30. That is a long time running, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The hills took up most of that time, and the elevation was another nice challenge. I think I averaged 164HR! That was the biggest surprise of the day. I am on the edge of aerobic at this HR and probably a bit over the line, but it did not seem to have too much of a negative effect. I felt really good from mile 22 on, and with a bit different nutrition, I think I could have minimized or negated the cramping. I think the hills were the biggest culprit of the cramping, but some more electrolytes could have made the difference.

It was a great experience with a bummer of an ending. I was not too disappointed, but it would have been nice to see how the day would have ended had I taken the right path. I think I will have fun training for this distance and I think it is a good fit physiologically.

Adrienne ran a great 12 mile race with 5,000' of climbing! She took it out conservative, and ended up passing a lot of people over the second half of the race. She has only been training for 4-6 week consistently, and has come a long way. I have not seen her result yet, but she had a great time and is really loving the new challenge. She is training for a 50k in December, but we may find one before that. It is great to be able to train and race these races "together". It is fun to be able to relate to the highs and lows together as well. We are enjoying it quite a bit. I think it is great for Adrienne because she was a very competitive sprinter, jumper, and soccer player. It is great for her to have something new to be competitive in, set goals for, and to have fun doing. I am excited to see how far she is going to come and I know she is going to enjoy the journey!

Until next time...

~Finch

50k-12,000' gain, Why Not?

So, I am going to jump in the Golden Gate Dirty Thrity this weekend. It is a 50k race out here in CO that I came across last Thursday. I don't think I have ever run 31 miles before, but I think I can get through it alright. I will take it easy and see what happens. There is 12000' of climbing and 12000' of descending. I am not a big fan of downhills, but I will have to deal in this race. I assume I will just go out with whoever is willing to lead and see how I feel at 20. I know I can run 20 and fell alright, so that should be a good place to take stock. Then we will see what happens. Until then, I will be thinking about the race and figuring out what I am going to eat. I assume I need to eat, and I saw something that said I have to carry 40oz of water. That sounds heavy, but I will make it work. I'm going to have to wear one of those silly belts :( I am sure that thing will be of great importance during the race. I will probably eat gels, Cliff Bars, and gummy worms (if they sound good)! They sound good right now and I assume they will sound good 25 miles into the race :) I love climbing and I love Golden Gate Canyon State Park. It is very pretty!!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Racers or trainers? Hmmmmm...

Finch