Western States Endurance Run 2019

After 6 years and the accumulation of 32 tickets in the lottery, I finally got in to Western States - which I relate to non-ultra runners as the Boston Marathon of 100-miles. As usual, I did not train like I wanted do - opting to work a lot in the spring so I could take a big chunk of summer off for this epic journey. A good number of miles were covered, but only a few good hill sessions (better than nothing!) and no tune up races. WSER actually hosts a training weekend where the final 70 miles of course are covered over Memorial Day Weekend and I made it to that - super glad I did!  So, my June trip west was pretty great - not a fantastic run, but overall good and I completed a fifth 100-mile run and scratched this one off the bucket list!

Before the Race

On June 11, I started the road trip west with my dad. We got in some good hiking, with stops in the Black Hills, Big Horns, and Boise, but failed on the heat training! Seemed that most of the country was cold for most of June.

We picked up Rudy in Portland June 20 and headed south through Oregon and Northern California, meeting up and biking with friends.

A few days before the race we met my college buddy Erik in Truckee, then finally Squaw Valley on Thursday for all the pre-race talks and registration, but mostly chilling out at the suite in the village.

Rudy's photo of me getting the official pre-race photo

Basic pasta for an early dinner on Friday, followed by not much sleeping, and feeling anxious and sluggish, as to be expected! Awake and nervous with my first alarm. I had some oatmeal, though I was not remotely hungry, and buried my phone in my pack so I wouldn’t be debating if I should take a picture – all the race photos are by Facchino Photography.

Climb to Emigrant Pass

I started out well in the back of the pack for the first climb up to Emigrant Pass. Happened to meet Greg from Minnesota and chat out some of the jitters with him for about a mile. Kept it nice and steady – not in a hurry, there was long day ahead. Still, made good progress with ~70 minutes for the 3.5 mile, 2,000 foot elevation gain to the escarpment.

I got a hug from Karen (who was part of the Trail Sisters panel discussion Thursday!) at the top. Lots of spectators and commotion helped fuel the sense of accomplishment and eagerness for the trail ahead.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Nice little descent through wild flowers before getting into the trees and existing snow base. Theme for the next couple hours: Preservation – I didn’t know Minnesota winter running was training me for this! The snow was fairly firm but slippery with steep ups, downs, and side banks – witnessed a lot of intentional and accidental falls and butt sliding, though I managed to stay upright and not work myself too hard to keep moving. This stretch would have been pretty discouraging if we didn’t know most of it would be behind us by the first aid station.

As we came down in elevation, stretches of trail became streams of chilly snow melt – didn’t worry about keeping feet dry since a water crossing was promised in Duncan Canyon – so this was ‘refreshing' to run through!

Lyon Ridge to Red Star Ridge

3 hours for the first 10 miles – snow sections were even slower going than the climb!

Patience was top of mind through the finally runnable course! Big expansive views from the wide open ridges, and feeling the sunshine were easy distractions from trying to make up time.

I did manage to hit a rock at the base of my big toe, and while not immediately debilitating, the soreness seemed to persist enough to get me worried it may become an issue later…

Duncan Canyon

The first big down, then up, getting warmer, and start taking on ice!

Happily I did not fall on the foot tingling Duncan Creek crossing that I took gingerly just before the next big climb to Robinson Flat.

Couldn’t decide if arm sleeves were actually better for keeping sun off or keeping arms warm. After the ice I stuffed in them quickly melted, they were removed.

Robinson Flat

Caught a glimpse of Maria and crew of another Minnesotan – Troy – apparently we were pretty close for the entire race, but never actually saw each other!

Here I filled my water and after some debate, made my first race shoe change ever! Swapped the newer Altra Timps for my old pair, which carried me to the end. Forgot about the rock impact, could see a little bruise but not acting up, so that was a relief!

In general, feeling fine – taking in gels, fruit, potatoes so far – Pay Days and Oreo the closest thing to real food

The Canyons!

Pushed up hills, careful down hills, lots of back and forth allowed a little getting to know people – quiet Japanes dude, Will from Basalt, Colorado, Brandon who was constantly messing around with his gear, Italian guy wearing shorts past their respectful life.

Devils Thumb Popsicle and the crew accessible aid stations of Michigan Bluff and Foresthill served for motivation on the bigger climbs. And it was warm – much cooler than average for a typical Western States – I think we hit some low 80s – I would have suffered much more if it was normal weather!

Forest Hill

I inexplicably started losing time through the canyons, so not much dallying in the mayhem of Forest Hill, I did seek out some real food though – a custom made for me bacon avocado wrap hit the spot!

Headlamp and pacer time –Erik joined me trotting down the ½ mile of paved road as I slowly downed my snack.

California Street

Lots of descending – more technical sections than I remember – had to push to go even a moderate pace, even downhill – Erik was patient and encouraging. We kept it moving but I kept slowing – I think we didn’t spend any time at Cal-1, but the remaining aid stations seemed to suck up more and more time as I was increasingly hungry, thirsty, and sleepy. My pathetic pace was highlighted by another Minnesota friend – Steve – repeatedly passing me, then throwing up and even sleeping at a few aid stations just to recuperate and run by me again! I did not envy his sour stomach though…

River Crossing

Quick and quite the production, but surprisingly a nice opportunity to take some calming breaths and soak in the experience.

Erik tried to convince the rower going downstream sounded funner

Just a little teetering getting in and out of the raft!

Next a big climb to Green Gate followed by more steepish/loosish downs that I was babying my unsteady legs on.

Runnable Trails?

Not as smooth and cruisy as I remembered – At the Memorial Weekend training camp I was strongly running the Auburn Lake Trails! So many stops to pee - I’m sure it was at least once an hour. Also kept pulling over to let others run by. The wee hours of the morning were certainly my low point, beings so frustrated that I would never make it to the finish, especially since it seemed I was constantly stopping for one reason or another.

Legs were pretty sore and blisters were threatening to develop on my inner heels, but my right outer knee getting very tender was my greatest excuse for continuing to slow down, stiffen up, and slow even more. In hindsight, I think a few minutes of stretching the IT band may have improve that situation! To Erik’s credit, he asked if I needed a stretch more than once, but I didn’t want any more stop time – I was blindly plugging along to the finish, no matter how slow.

Getting sleepy, didn’t dawdle at aid stations, but got some Coke or coffee at most, and some calories at each – managed some grilled cheese or quesadillas – even a couple tater tots!! But mostly the sugary stuff and my teeth were hurting by the time dawn arrived, which came on quickly in the sparse woods.

Finishing up

Erik traded off with Rudy for the final 6 miles. We just kept moving forward. I was glad to know about the final climbing! I had long ago convinced myself I couldn’t go any faster – I didn’t think of it as pain at the time, but must be the pain I failed to push through to run like everyone else going by me – how were they all making it look so easy?

I wanted to walk backwards on the paved downhill, but managed to ‘jog’ after Erik joined us at Robie point for the final mile to the high school. I even picked it up a tiny amount on the track into the finish line, mostly to hold off the guy behind me – despite my recent slowdown, there is still a flicker of competition in me – which stains my sense of accomplishment with disappointment that I should have been able to push harder.

Hugs, tears, disappointment, relief

Post-Race

First priority was rinsing off arms and legs. It wasn’t a perfect job since poison oak reaction started showing up a few days later – but I’m pretty sure it improved the severity! I had it a bit worse after the training weekend.

My stomach was fine so I actually enjoyed the hash browns, scrambled eggs, and pancakes served – sadly no bacon when I went through the line.

A couple hours spent lounging around the track infield, then barely kept eyes open through the awards ceremony. Gathered a buckle and skedaddled to the hotel to get feet up and have a real shower followed by a 3 hour nap.

Recovery

Nothing special Sunday evening – feet up, a few modest meals, walking around always started terrible but tended to loosen up after a couple minutes. Monday morning was similar. Paid farewell to Erik, sent Dad home from the Sacramento airport, Rudy got in another ride around Truckee, then we headed home in a not entirely direct route to visit friends in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

I managed to complete a pair of socks on the way home

The legs came around quickly, lending more regret at not pushing hard enough!

Home a week later to settle back in to a routine, already motivated to better myself for the next one!

While my Western States run wasn’t perfect – the experience was worthy of the trip and I am thankful to have had so much support and excitement from friends and family – and to have no disasters!