Cougar Mountain Trail Series, Run # 2 (7.5 miles) Cougar Mountain is not far from where I live, an eight minute drive maybe? But all uphill. When we first moved to Washington state, we lived nearly on the border of this park. So I have in the past walked many of its trails, but never run them. The Seattle Running Company puts on a 4 run series up here during the summer. Each race is $25 or $80 for all 4. Thinking I was being smart by saving money, I signed up for all 4. The first run in this series was 5 miles. I started way back of the pack, and pretty much ended up there too, with an overall pace of 11:27. Since the single track trail was extremely crowded, and I was stuck behind a lot of camel-back-wearing slower runners (only 5 miles guy! - he tripped by the way) , I decided to take it easy. The run felt like a GA effort, not even tempo really. Today’s run I planned on starting a little further up in the pack. At the race start, there seemed to be fewer runners than at the last race. I figure this trend will continue with the next 10 mile and 13 mile runs (I’ve contemplated dropping out of the series myself!). Unlike road 5K, 10K and even half-marathons, almost ALL the runners milling about at the start look pretty hard-core. This 7.5 mile run was essentially identical to the last 5 mile race, with an additional 2.5 mile loop inserted around mile 4. I had printed out the route, which overlaid a topographical map of Cougar Mountain. Holy carp! Look at all those contour lines! It was obvious there was going to be a huge gully to descend and climb out of during this extra loop. I could see about 6 contour lines going down into the ravine (on just one part of the loop). Easy math! 50 feet per line, 300 feet down, and what goes down…. So maybe that doesn’t sound too bad to you. Well that descent couldn’t have been more than 0.2 miles long….anyway this loop involved more hiking than running as it was just too technical to run it either up or down. The race start was 9:00 am, and it was typical PNW weather of cloud covered, calm, cool and clammy (the four C’s), 8.5C (47F) at the start and about 11C (52F) at the end. Ideal running weather, no doubt about it, but I was still sweating like a murder suspect by 3 miles (humidity). I wore one of my favourite race shirts, from the Whidbey Island Half two years ago, kind of a smoky blue short sleeve T. I was going to wear my skirt goddess black skirt with blue accents, but felt self-conscious for some reason and left it at home. So, the usual black spandex shorts, sigh! Blue Vasque Blur trail shoes, thick Thorlo socks, my Garmin to take splits at the trail junctions and my hand-held bottle, filled with 0.5 strength Gatorade. I was glad I took the bottle. My primary goal for this race was not to trip. On that I was successful, yeah! The other goal was to get some good leg fatigue going up the hills (like hill repeats), in preparation for my hometown Seafair Half in two weeks. I sort of did that, but I also just baulked and walked a lot of the steep sections. Here is a summary of the sections of trail, and how my pace fluctuated on them: Trail miles (pace) Clay Pit Road .43 (9:57) went out too fast, but why not? Klondike Swamp .79 (10:27) chain gang running Lost Beagle .65 (14:21) nasty, all uphill, let about 5 people pass me Anti-Aircraft Ridge .67 (11:49) downhill, but technical and slow Cougar Pass & Tibbets Marsh .43 (13:30) starting to feel trashed, and can’t believe I still have so far to go Mine Shaft .29 (13:08) don’t fall in! East Fork Trail .68 (10:11) my favourite section, a gentle downhill Fred’s RR .24 (10:00) wide, flat and slightly downhill Deceiver 2.2 (15:45) nice day for a hike eh? Fred’s RR .57 (10:40) wide and relatively flat again Bypass .18 (10:52) wide and rolly Cave Hole & Old Mans to finish .29 (9:25) wide and rolly, you rock girl! From about mile 1 to mile 4, I played leap frog with a Clydesdale. I finally pulled over to let him pass, as I could tell he was using me as a pacer and I started to feel like I was doing all the work, not to mention feeling like someone is literally breathing down your back! When I pulled off to the side, he said “you didn’t have to pull over, you were setting a really nice pace!” Just as I thought! I had BIG plans to use him as a pacer and out kick him in the final stretch, but unfortunately I soon found myself stuck behind a sturdy Asian woman during the deep gully deceiver loop (love that name!), and she was running all the uphill sections using incredibly short choppy steps while I was right behind her, walking with big strides the entire time. I felt much more efficient, yet I was very impressed with her determination to run the whole thing. At the bottom of deceiver was a nice, slippery, fat log-crossing over a stream. Quite idyllic, but watch your step! So I could have gone a bit faster on deceiver, but as I said to a fellow that had pulled off to the side “nice day for a hike!” He said he was trying hard to stay ahead of the “chatty” women behind us, who you could hear throughout the ravine, but I don’t think he was successful. After deceiver, I finally got onto relatively flat trail again and could pick up the pace. Right around the final 0.2 mile mark a heavy breathing, spitting, grunting, flubbering guy (he was making equestrian-like exhalation noises, so hilarious! – what do you call that noise anyway?) was right on my tail and I was determined to keep him there even though those grunts and flubbers were getting louder and closer. But he never did pass me, small victory! I outran a guy who thinks he’s a horse! I wonder, is that something I can brag about? Final distance, 7.5 miles Time 1:35:14 Avg. Pace 12:41, ouch! Placement, don’t know, don’t care! These trail runs feel like much much more. This almost felt like a half marathon to me! And I’ve been completely wiped out all day, even though my legs feel fine.

Enke, That sounds like a lot of work. Forget the time. You kept at it, stayed in good humor and stayed in front of of the flubbering guy and chatty woman. Next time definitely wear the skirt.

Enke, Great race and your right trail runs are hard, due to the climbs, obstacles and uneven footing. With the adjustment to pace it's hard to get in a groove and breathing goes out of whack....so it takes a lot of practice. You did fantastic and it was a great read. Tall

That sounds like a nice challenge and every race is a learning experience. There are certain races that go on trails that are IMPOSSIBLE to make a decent time on. This is usually the case when you have a variety of runners who are not experienced. Thanks for sharing the sights and sounds of the day. Your report was most certainly entertaining. Joey

Nice race and report, Enke!! This sounds like a really fun trail race. Congrats on not tripping during the entire race. Way to out-kick the horse guy at the end! I hope you decide to do races #3 and #4 in the series and to post your RR's for them. John

I love your descriptions of the other runners - hilarious! I've never done a trail race, and this one sounds tough. Great job! Next time, wear the skirt...