Well, I finally have time to post a little race report about this year's Wasatch 100. In a word, hot, very warm. I heard that the daytime high at one aid station was 98. Not sure if that's true, but it was a warm day.
I had big plans to run a sub 30 hour race, but that was not to happen today. things were going well until about mile 26 when my left knee started acting up. Sharp pain on the inside next to the knee cap. I alternated ibuprofen with Tylenol and that would stave off the pain for about 2 1/2 hours at a time, but in between I was reduced to almost a limp. For awhile I wondered if my knee would force me to drop. After much convoluted analysis by my addled little brain, I concluded that the only way I would drop would be if my knee prevented me from any sort of forward motion or if I was going so slow that I timed out.
I did manage to hit every aid station thru 35 miles either just behind last year's pace or at last year's pace in spite of the pain, but after that, things went downhill. I was reduced to hoping to come close to my splits for 2006, substantially slower.
I got to Lamb's Canyon (53 miles) at the same time as I did in 2006 and gave my pacer a call to let her know where I was. She was to meet me at Upper Big Water (61.7 miles), but decided to meet me at Lamb's instead. How wonderful was that. So, 20 minutes after I came into Lamb's Canyon, we left. She also brought some Aleve and that did the trick as far as knee pain. Completely went away or was background noise at worst for the rest of the race. I was able to powerwalk up Lamb's canyon and actually pass a bunch of people on the way up to Bear Bottom Pass, but the run down into Millcreek Canyon was kind of slow due to a developing blister on my heel.
I love the section between Upper Big Water and Brighton whether I'm running it during the day in training or at night during the race. During the day, the scenery is gorgeous, stunning. During race night, with no moon out and clear skies, my pacer and I just turned off our headlamps once in awhile, and stopped to enjoy the stars. Once again, stunning. Why run city marathons when you can experience things like this.
Made it into Brighton at 5am, same time as 2006, and ate a bunch of scrambled eggs with large amounts of salt, pepper, and ketchup. Yummy stuff and hit the spot. We left Brighton and headed up to the high point on the course, Point Supreme. I always dread this climb because of the altitude. Something happens to my lungs and I end up getting asthma, and even a little pulmonary edema. These things never happen in training but do on race day. This year was a little different. I was able to make the climb in good time without stopping once to catch my breath. I was thrilled. We also saw a couple of moose bedded down in a meadow just off the trail, very cool. The drop into Ant Knolls was a killer, as it usually is. Very steep, rocky, slippery, dusty, and tough.
Got into Ant Knolls (80 miles), ate some food and noticed a tiny pain in the back of my throat. Damn, I was coming down with my wife's cold, fantaastic. Thankfully it held off until Saturday night after I got home, but the rest of the race I had a minor sore throat.
So far I was still on my 2006 pace, but hoping to at least better that time (34:23). As we went towards Pole Line Pass (84 miles), the sun was coming up and hitting Mineral Basin as well as the mountains surrounding. This is also a very scenic part of the course. the course as it goes from Pole Line Pass to Rock Springs gives a full stunning view of Mt. Timp in all its glory. I wish I'd had a camera to capture it.
No came the hard part of the course, going down the Dive and the Plunge, then thru Irv's torture chamber. The Dive and the Plunge are a couple of very steep switchbacks that drop about 700' each. The dirt and rocks have been churned up by countless motorcycles and the footing is extrememly treacherous. Both my pace and I went down a few times whiel negotiating this section. Irv's torture chamber is a series of seven ups and downs that are a royal pain to go thru. But, I knew the race finish was in the bag by this point so I jsut went along with the flow.
Pot Bottom (93 miles) is the last aid station. Once you're here, it's a short 700' climb up a dirt road, then about 5 miles of downhill to the finish. Looking at my watch I noticed that I had a chance to at least break 34 hours, so we picked up the pace a little bit. Once we hit the water tank and the last section of trail we broke into a full on run rather than just a little trot. One mile of downhill easy trail, hit the road, and 3/4 mile to the finish.
33:57:07 was my time, good enough for 115th place ( out of 244 starters and 156 finishers). Not my best time, but not my worst either. But it was a good time.
Analysis - What could I have done differently? I'm not sure. You really can't plan for an injury during a race. The knee started acting up for no reason. I didn't fall or twist it, simply an overuse injury. I had a goal of staying well hydrated and fueled. I met that goal and the heat never really bothered me. Most of my fuel between aid stations was EFS by First Endurance. I love this stuff. Far better than other gels and comes in bulk so you don't have to open countless little gel packs then wonder what to do with them. I took a hit about every 20-30 minutes for most of the race. My pacer and training partner, Meghan Zarnetske, was wonderful. Especially since she was sick with a cold all week as well. She kept me on task, got me in and out of aid stations without letting me linger, and provided hours of interesting conversation. I don't know of anyone else who had a single pacer for 47 miles. Most runners will use two or three for that many miles. I managed to cut down my aid station time substantially. My time sitting in aid stations last year is what prevented me from going sub 30 hour then. All in all, I had a great time and for the most part felt pretty good. I never really had a down time. Having a sore knee just kind of pissed me off more than anything because I knew that I wouldn't meet my time goal. Will I run it again next year? I don't know. I'm thinking about it, but I've told both my wife and pacer that if I make noises about entering, just slap me. I still think I'm capable of going under 30 hours (I know, it's a pipe dream). | 