Actually my true marching orders have been, no injuries and no blisters. Not a week after the Speedgoat, Irene and myself are going to San Francisco for 4 nights of dancing at the Antipanico Tango Fest, that's not enough time to heal the battle wounds, so they shouldn't be any.
The night before the race we danced at Diane Cliff's. Tango and some riesling loading have always been my fav ways to prepare for a long day in the mountains, but some sleep wouldn't hurt too. So I was really glad when we left the milonga just before midnight - that would mean four hours of sleep and a change, not too bad.
I woke up a few minutes before the alarm, filled a thermos with strong hot tea for the road, kissed Irene and drove off. Too short a drive to finish all the tea so I wandered into Creekside terrace still with a steaming mug in hand. A few minutes loitering about the spruces and we were off up Big Emma, then down the gentle zigzags of a singletrack towards the tram base, and up again to the old Peruvian. All in the blissful morning shade.
A few seconds of sunshine near mid-Gad's and back into the morning shadows, hissops, while columbines, ruddy indian paintbrushes. The last downhill in Gad Valley and then it was all up up up to Hidden Peak, even with a short section across a snowfield. Never in a hurry, never hesitant to walk uphill, but I was still surprised to find out that it took me 2:20 to get to the first aid station there. I kind of expected under-two. And 11 hours for the whole course. You see the point already? Slow start grows into a faster finish.
Salt caps, PB&J, little banter, off to Baldy. I packed plenty of Cliff Cubes but I liked the offerings of the aid stations and ended up sharing the magic little cubes with fellow runners, and still keeping some for the tango marathon nights of the Antipanico. My drop bag had Irene's camelback with homebrew ice tea, I was kind of hesitant to use it instead of bottles, but it let me drink a lot especially on the downhills - and it probably scared several aid station volunteers who didn't expect to see the brown tea foam inside :)
Now it was in the Sun, but breezy. Nice views from the ridge in all directions. A quick ascent to Baldy and then a surprisingly steep drop - two fixed ropes and observers there, but the obstacle felt amusing rather than dangerous. I was pleased to note how well my torn-up Montrail Sabinos held on the gravel.
And off to the Larry's Hole at the bottom of Mineral Basin we went, a deeply eroded track amidst the richness of lupins and indian paintbrush. I was keeping the pace deliberately slower, running down the deep ruts felt like a high-risk undertaking for the ankles, and still reached Larry's Hole in a nick of time. But not before stopping at the creek to wash off the salt and the grime. It was getting hot by now.
The station, described as a water-only, had a rich assortment of goodies; these will be supplemented by Cook Spumante and chocolate-covered strawberries by the time we'll be back from the Pacific Mine loop, not too bad, huh? From Phil Lowry's old course maps I kind of expected to continue down the drainage, but no, it was cutting straight up through the evergreens to Sinner's Pass. They warned us at the station that it will be 6 miles and 2,000 ft down till the next water ... I thought it was preposterous but over Sinner's to Mary Ellen ... well at least the elevation drop must be right.
I've been in Upper Mary Ellen Gulch a few times before, a beautiful wide open bowl. Not down the gulch though. It didn't look as appealing with over a mile of
bouldery jeep rut. Once again, no injury was the order of the day, and I slowed down, chatted about things and how our perspectives looked for beating the time cutoff at the Tunnel. It actually didn't look that bad even with the pace being as slow as we went. Just barely 10 am. Of course it's gonna be a serious business regaining the next 5,000 or so ft of vertical.
As the course approached Am Fk, the grade eased and the track softened, it was a pretty nice run despite the now-blazing Sun. Stopped for a moment at a tiny spring to wash off some more salt crust, and reached the Pac Mine aid station 10:40ish. Actually the last few hundred ft to the station have been a drag, the spotter at the intersection told us that it was half-mile away and it may have really been ... maybe 3/4? Big deal you say, but it's all about reality vs. expectation :) I hoped to reach this spot (about mid-course) at 10:30, so far so good.
Pacific Mine was a truly 5-star aid station. Boiled taters with coarse salt and hot chicken soup, who could argue that? I was swallowing saltstick caps by ones
and twos all along the way, but a bit more of tasty electrolytes is even better. Leaving this hospitable little spot, I picked a popsicle and ambled along
the road with it. In the game of race priorities, lickin' a popsicle beats panting and sweating. This was the infamous supposedly-half-mile where the "in" and "out" tracks followed the same jeep road, so we had two way traffic, and quite a few runners wanted to know how far the %$$# station was. I'd just say, "about half a popsicle worth at my pace".
Now the real test of my stamina, the sweaty uphill to Miller Hill. Not too rocky, with plentiful shade, and sometimes gentle enough to make me think about running it, only I usually swept these untimely thoughts away. Kept the strides longer though. The hills behind receded lower and lower, the beautiful meadows opened up, and I
couldn't resist temptation to spend a few minutes by a spring. Another salt crust wash-off, plus some Cliff Cubes to sweeten the life. And here comes the top of the hill and its goat lair, the only place which smelled of real goats on this goat-race. It's been just over an hour after the uphill started, and possibly 2500 ft gained with a lot of sweat but no blood nor pain. For the first time I was starting to feel good about my chances to finish this race. Called Irene & said I may be back 6ish. And started galloping down to Sinner's and Larry's hole a tad more recklessly than I allowed myself so far.
!2:30, back at Larry's. A sip of champagne, I think well deserved. What's better to wash down the chocolate strawberries with, anyway? They say it's 2 miles
to the Tunnel. Probably more like 2.8, on the wide open meadows facing South in full Sun, and 2,000 ft gain, possibly with a change. Feels pretty good actually
given that the cutoff time is 3 pm. I was feeling really energized by my better-than-expected uphill pace on the 2nd climb to Bullion Divide, but of course I knew that there will be at least one more big hill out of Peruvian. Still couldn't resist running a few gentler sections of this picture-perfect singletrack. Another stop at a
burbling creek beneath a snowfield, and on to the Tunnel.
It took less than an hour from Larry's Hole and I was starting to think that I might finish sub-10. Maybe even under 9:30. My two times at MC50 were both over 10, with less altitude to gain and more forgiving temperatures, what gives.
Anyway I started thinking about the result but not obsessively enough not to take another popsicle stroll through the tunnel and down the first couple of switchbacks of Peruvian. A few more switchbacks at a nice pace, trusting the traction, overtaking the few people who got ahead of me during my leisurely popsicle stroll.... OK maybe a few switchbacks too many? I was pretty much sure that we'd take the Ridge Trail and I could see it cutting through the meadow to the limber pines of the ridgeline ... ahead of me ... and to the side ... and now behind ... enough maybe? The course finally turned West just shy of the old Peruvian lifthouse, that's probably not quite another 2,000 to gain but could be close. Oh well. Sub-9:30 finish still, anyone?
The uphill was dragging on slower than before, but not too bad really. The meadow was fairly tale pretty, all delicate wild flax, trembling in the light breeze,
dropping its fleeting celestial blue petals onto the trail. Up on the ridge the breeze picked up, the views of American Fork Twins were spectacular, but I should say that the sight of tiny human ants silhouetted against the sky ahead was a bit intimidating. I couldn't drink from the camelback without loosing breath on this uphill section, and had to stop once for a hydration / Cliff Cube break, the first such forced break between the aid stations. Still the muscles weren't really seizing up yet, and the peak was in sight.
Of course just about then, the course turned away from the peak, and my fellow runners started musing about what kinds of bodily damage then wanted
to inflict on Karl. I remembered some wide loops around the Mineral basin slope I saw on Phil's maps, and cringed, but this course year's had none of
this extreme psychological torture. Cuz not a minute later, the descent was over & we resumed a climb. About quarter to 3 I got to the Hidden Peak aid station for the 2nd time today, and once I realized that the distance from the Tunnel to here must have been over 5 miles, I stopped feeling bad about the pace.
So you mean that's only about 5 miles left to finish, and probably very few uphills? I had just over an hour if I still hoped to finish under 9:30, and it didn't feel
like a stretch. Of course past the Road to Provo the trail went meandering in the boulders with occasional snow and primrose patches, and my pace must have been a joke. Still I overtook a few runners here, and as the track got better, I kept running in a homestretch aura. Maybe a tad too early, maybe I should have conserved a bit of energy here & kept drinking more, because when the finish line was in sight & Karl's usual evil loops around it started, I couldn't keep pace anymore. The uphills, meager as they were, had to be walked. 9:31 then. Still an surprising improvement from my 10:30+ results @ MC50s.
No injuries, no blisters, no falls, no problems walking up the stairs. Or down for that matter. No stomach churning after a slice of pizza and a can of beer (thanks guys). Not after the seconds either. OK I'm starting to see the magic mantra, "Hurry up s-l-o-w-l-y"
And BTW my 104th finish turned out to be a prize winning place too, thanks to Karl's crazy ruffle :) What a day! I still got to run with the dogs later in the evening, but they didn't mind my being really slow on the uphills :)
