Notes
Chuckanut 50k race: http://web.me.com/krissymoehl/Chuckanut_50k/Welcome.html
The plan was to do this race with my Sis (Jamie), and some of her friends were running it too. She had to drop, so I started the race with her friends, Tanis, Angie, and Jenny. Another friiend's (Hannah) husband, Armando, also did the race, and started with us.
This was the 20th anniversary of Chuckanut, the turnout was huge, >700 runners, so they started us in three waves.
With work, selling and buying a house, and international travel the week before the race, my training was sparse at best. Set a realistic goal of just enjoying the race and, having studied the race map and last years pictures, trying to keep under 6 hours. Due to starting in the back of wave 2, minimal training preparation, and the course condition (made so much more difficult with all the runners), I'd need to work to meet that otherwise conservative goal.
Due to bathroom we, we started at the far back of our wave (2); made it into the paddock just as the race started. Even though I had reset my goal for this race, to not bonk, and hopefully finish under 6 hours, it's still difficult to start slow. The first 3 miles were unbearably slow due to the size of the wave, and I was quickly wishing I'd started at the front. I turned on the tunes and settled into an easy pace run for a while.
The snow line was at about 7.75 miles if I recall, and it started snowing about mile 8. We were also treated to moments of light hail, and a bit of rain.
With the amount of runners on the trail, the very technical single track was very challenging, covered in inches of dense mud and snow.
The pace was increasingly too comfortable, so I started picking up with faster runners. I think it was about mile 18, on a steep decent of a rock slab, I tried to avoid sliding into a runner letting me pass, and fell right on my butt- sliding down the slab and picking up (what felt like) about 5 pounds of mud in my shorts. I looked back to tell the guy sorry for almost taking him out, and turned back around just in time to take the end of a ~6" diameter tree branch right in my left shoulder; knocking me back on butt for another slide down the trail.
Chinscraper lived up to it's reputation. My quads were already burned, from a combination of limited hill training and the workout from running in the snow/mud. There's a root that sticks out, right in the middle of the trail, just before the top of Chinscraper. I momentarily lost my balance and grabbed that root just before taking a tumble backwards.
The summit was a welcome site, but at the same time I was kinda bummed the singletrack was nearly over.
It felt good to stretch the legs on the logging road down to the bottom, but I had a feeling my quads were about done and I wouldn't be turning out the brisk 10k I'd saved energy for. Stumbling, on NOTHING, at mile 23 pretty much did in any hope of a fast 10k. I wrestled with a good amount of pain in my right ankle, and pesky left hamstring that kept knotting up, from mile 25 to the end.
One of the highlights of this event, was coming down the final descent and seeing Jamie waiting for me, then running the final 10k with me. That was awesome. On top of just being awesome to run with Jamie, she kept my spirits up when I was grumbling about the ankle, singing and being goofy.
The race finish was nice, the RD, crew, and volunteers really made this a fun event. They had lentil soup, fruit, bread, recovery drinks, oh, and coupons for beer at the Boundary Bay Brewery.
Almost forgot to mention the trail signs. All throughout the mountain section, and into the end of the race, the crew had placed funny and motivating signs. A very cool idea, got a good laugh out of them.
After watching Jamie's friends finish (except for Jenny, who had some trouble and ended up finishing much later), we packed up and headed for the Brewery.
A few pints of Irish Red ale, some sheppardess (vegetarian) pie with Jamie and her brother-in-law Jason who dropped in, we loaded up and headed for the long drive to Jamie's house.
This was a very, very fun day!
Today, the day after the race, we just finished a bike ride and hike. I'm happy to note that my ankle is not damaged, and barely sore. The sorest bit on my body is a nice runners toe in the making on my left foot. My legs are tight and a little stiff, but not overly sore; most tired muscles feel like my hips.
The Hoka Stinson EVOs come with quick laces, and a pair of standard laces. The quick laces do not stay tight however; I had to stop several times to retighten them. When I get home the quick laces are outta there, replaced by my Yankz.
I wore my Nike compression shirt, and a mesh racing shirt over that. Due to the potential for snow and rain, and with the temp being 35* at the start, I started with my North Face Flight Series shell. I pulled it off by mile 4, and never put it back on again. I also wore some short racing shorts which gave for some nice thigh chaffing,