Notes
The Chuckanut 50k is a popular local ultramarathon, attracting some of the best trail runners in the PNW, and allows 325 people in making it the largest ultra I've ever been in or heard of. It is so big and organized that they employ chip timing! Your name gets announced at the finish line! 5 aid stations full of uber fans and great supplies! Great course markings. The course is really interesting -- very diverse, with many never ending desert slogs, but also many intricate trails and muddy spots. We had perfect warm dry weather and got to see the spectacular views from the ridge. There is a lot of flat interurban trail, so less elevation gain than I've done before -- something like 4000-5000 feet rather than 6000-8000, it makes a difference!
I had a rough day that started with ummm...stomach issues- . Sorry for the TMI, but I really believe it is the main reason for the struggles I faced. I just didn't feel right, probably was dehydrated. In the end I was very happy with my time, but my legs never felt good like they have on my training runs.
I wrote a status update for facebook that got too long and morphed into a third person 'note' about the race. Here it is:
Many elements seemed to conspire against her on her 50k race day, spitting in the face of her more than adequate training. Her legs felt trashed from the very beginning, screaming and croaking and cramping the whole way; her dehydration level was an uncontrollable beast. She didn’t even get to test out her improved cardiovascular system, the muscle pain just wouldn’t hush up enough no matter what she tried. Her body simply betrayed her.
Where was the light deer-like prancing of a few weeks prior? Where had her strong wild inner animal gone to hide? What was it so afraid of? And why did those legs resist forward momentum so much? And the pain, why was there so much pain so early at such slow speeds? And why didn’t it ever fade away and let her run? So many questions.
She couldn’t keep up with people she believed she was capable of matching, people she thought she should have never seen roared by in a cloud of dust. Every time a woman passed, Rhea just accepted her stats would drop, she lost all confidence to challenge, to protect her den. She let anyone kick her out of her home, to make her redefine an acceptable pace and place in line. Did she just have a bloated ego that got deflated by the reality that she’s not that good of a runner? She thought the Boston marathon already taught her that. Or did she let herself get too psyched up for this race, so much so that she somehow sabotaged herself?
Or was it simply not her day?
But it was! Despite things not going exactly how she imagined, the moments of pure happiness …. these are real phenomena that keep ultrarunners coming back for more. The aid station jubilant cheers and cowbells, the friendly banter among happy endorphin-high exhausted runners, when uphill slogs end and downhill playtime begins, the spectacular views of Washington’s topography from a narrow ridge with thrillingly steep drop-offs on either side, sunshine induced natural lipstick seen post-race, the dramatic finish, the sharing of war stories, the list goes on and on. Embedded in the pain and disappointment in self were some truly wonderful moments, moments that made the whole ordeal worthwhile.
Two camps of ultrarunners exist—those that run them to race, to PR, to win their age group, to find out how they measure up, and those that do them to enjoy the views/trails/camaraderie without a care for time or place. These aren’t completely separate of course and neither should be judged. But for Rhea, perhaps if she let go of the former camp just a bit and embraced the latter a little more her joyful moments wouldn’t happen in a background of such darkness. Perhaps they would be less distinguishable without the contrast, but no less happy. But no matter what she does, she can guarantee her memories of the Chuckanut 50k will spotlight on the great aspects with time, the details of the harder parts will fade and she might find herself back at Chuckanut again!
Despite her struggles both physically and mentally with this race and her approach to such races, she is very happy with her final time, a definite improvement on past 50k’s –she held on and finished strong! No bonking! And because her legs didn’t let her run very fast, she should recover easily and be back on the trails soon! Yay running!