Training in Montana

Bighorn 50K Trail Run

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Location:

Billings,MT,

Member Since:

Jan 10, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

~~Longest Ultra: Bighorn Trail Run: 12:19:00, 52 miles, Bighorn Mountains, WY, June 20, 2015

50K: Bighorn Trail Run: 5:52:13, 32 miles, Bighorn Mountains, WY, June 15, 2013

Marathon: 3:25:01, Deseret News Marathon, SLC, UT, July 24, 2013

Half-Marathon: 1:37:00 (downhill), Deseret News Marathon Split, SLC, UT, July 24, 2013

10K: 44:07, Big Sky State Games, Billings, MT, July 2012

5K: 20:25, Big Sky State Games, Billings, MT, July 2013

Short-Term Running Goals:

Get back into running shape.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Not get super fat, and qualify for Boston before I'm 50 (April 2023).

Personal:

Started running seriously in March 2010. Married 22 years to a hot momma and we have 3 boys, 1 sweet girl, 2 dogs, 3 2 0 1 cat, and 6     4 5 6 3 5 3 1 2 0 chickens (until Spring 2019 when we'll start over). As of September 2018 I'm looking for work... yay. I'm on the local School Board.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Adrenaline 18 Lifetime Miles: 424.24
Cascadia 12 Lifetime Miles: 396.50
Adrenaline 18 #2 Lifetime Miles: 64.00
Altra Lifetime Miles: 50.50
Brooks 20 Lifetime Miles: 50.00
Cascadia Green/orange Lifetime Miles: 223.00
Total Distance
37.00
New Red Brooks Adr GT 11 Miles: 23.00Brooks ASR 8 Miles: 14.00
Weight: 0.00
Total Distance
3.00

I kept my streak of no Monday runs going - didn't realize it's been 3 or more weeks in a row of taking Sunday & Monday off. I guess my body has needed it because it's felt great. Did a short run today, barely broke a sweat. Weird to only run this short of a distance. I'm getting excited about my race. Printed off the race packet, have the clothes washed, hopefully have everything else in order. Should be a long fun hard race.

New Red Brooks Adr GT 11 Miles: 3.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Total Distance
2.00

2 measly miles, but the last ones I'll run before Saturday. Getting packed, think I have everything ready. It's a bit nerve wracking never having done a trail race but from everything I've read this is an A+ race and with there being a 100 miler in the mix the aid stations should be fabulous.

My oldest son came down with the stomach flu today, coming out both ends (nasty) so hopefully I'll avoid it. He hasn't been sick like this in years, so wouldn't it just be my luck.... Here's to hoping. 

New Red Brooks Adr GT 11 Miles: 2.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Race: Bighorn 50K Trail Run (32 Miles) 06:19:34, Place overall: 40, Place in age division: 11
Total Distance
32.00

Driving the two hours to Sheridan, WY to register I saw the Bighorn mountains looming and thought I was in big trouble. They are massive mountains and I've done zero of my training in the mountains. I live at 3600 feet and this run would get up to 8500 feet. I also hadn't done near enough hill training and although I live on a hill and run hills every time I run, I hadn't focused on hauling down hill, which I knew would happen. After registering, my wife & kids & I went to eat at a local restaurant and it was fun to see all the other runners. They all look the same. I thought I don't fit the bill, but after seeing pictures of me before the race I'm surprised to see that I look like them. Weird. Our hotel was near the start of the race, a 60 minute drive from Sheridan, so we headed into the mountains and it is gorgeous. A steep rise, but beautiful. Saw a nice herd of elk near the hotel and I stopped to dream for a while. Ahh...love that view. My friends were up for the race (she talked me into it) and they were going to pick me up at 7:00 am, so I got to bed about 10:30. It was a rough night. I normally wake up only once or twice at night, and the first time I woke up it was 12:30 am. Crap. Our 11 yr old was sick with allergies and he was coughing and moaning most of the night. Great. At 3:30 he woke up and puked. Sweet. I was just counting my blessings that it wouldn't hit me as we knew our house was infected a few days earlier. I slept decently from 5-6:15 and was happy for the late start...for now anyhow. Driving to the start we saw 3 moose and that was cool. Parked the car at the parking spot then walked down with 2 other runners and 2 of their family members, good friends of ours. It wasn't cold but a little breeze. I wore my arm warmers and brought thin gloves in case as I've read about being on top of mountain passes and being frozen out.

The 50K course starts at the 30K start, but goes the wrong direction for a 14 mile starting loop. After a brief wait we were off, straight up a hill. I quickly learned the nice part of ultra running: walking. A few people ran the hill and the other 200+ walked, and we walked a long way. I passed a few people in a few spots but quickly realized that was stupid. I then walked quickly and felt a spot in my left calf, a spot I've never felt before. That told me to back off a bit, and I did over the next few miles. About a mile & a half into it I came up on an older guy wearing an older Big Horn Trail Run shirt and I quipped that this probably wasn't his first, and it was actually his 18th. Turns out that it was a 60 year old named Rick Spady and back in the 80s he was quite the man in ultra running - set course records at a bunch of 100 mile races (Leadville, Wasatch?) and he sounds pretty amazing. Ran a 2:36 marathon in his younger years. We ran together the next 8 miles and I enjoyed it. I lost him about mile 12 and turns out I only beat him by 8 minutes. After that I didn't run with anyone else. Back to the run. We started at 7500 feet and in 2.5 miles had climbed 1000 in a beautiful forest setting with frequent meadows to see the valleys around us. Amazing. At about 5 miles we dropped down into a valley that I knew we would have to climb out of to get back to the starting point. Running downhill we were on chunky grass for a bunch and that was the toughest surface of all. My ankles were none too happy. We got to the bottom of the valley and we were now on the 50 and 100 miler route the rest of the way. The first aid station was cooking bacon and made wraps out of it. I bet it tasted great to those 100 milers who had been running since 11 am the previous day. The next 6 miles would bring us back to the start, and there were quite a few spots of walking but I felt pretty good and from this point on I don't think I got passed by a 50K male until the very end. Most of the time when others walked so did I, but a few times I would keep going. A lady ahead of me in a neon green sports bra ran when most people walked and that kept me going. I shadowed her for quite a few miles. Turns out I should've continued to follow her as she finished 10 minutes before me. That last bit was tough, but I'll get to that (if anyone is still reading). At the starting aid station I got my 1 drop bag and changed shoes, socks, and shirt. It felt great to have clean socks and shoes on as mine were pretty dusty and dirty from some muddy creeks we went through. A worker made me a PB&J, I filled my water bottle with Heed, and was off. I forgot to dump the arm warmers & gloves from my pockets so I carried them the entire way. From this point we went to a gravel road for the first time and followed that for a bit, then back to single track. Another climb was one of the last of the day. For a while I ran in a non contact group. A girl in orange at the front, a guy & girl together behind her, then me behind them. At this point I was keenly aware that I was half way done, and I was feeling tired and was more than 3 1/2 hours into it. I remembered that I hadn't taken my electrolyte capsules every hour like I had trained a few times with. It just isn't part of my standard regimen. I try and take gu every 45 minutes but forgot about the electrolytes. After popping a few I started feeling better in 20-30 minutes and I knew I'd be able to finish decently. At this point it was a gentle downhill single track through sagebrush, moving around the sides of a valley. After a good stretch we hit an uphill part where again I didn't have any guilt at walking. At the top of this the girl in orange had been passed by the guy & girl behind her, and she stopped to take a picture. I asked if she wanted to be in it and she did and we ran near each other for a bit but didn't talk too much. We hit an aid station then a nice run into another valley, then a killer, killer uphill. There was no running for anyone up this stretch, which was just a way to get us out of our valley to move into the final valley. I was feeling it at this point. We then moved fairly gently downhill with a few steep downhill stretches, but again hit some single track which really was just cow tracks along a fence. After this it was nasty downhill for a couple miles. I mean, can't-stop-even-if-you-want-to downhill in parts. It was fun though and I just ran it as fast as I could. My paces probably were slow but I was cruising. I felt something funny on my feet, especially my right foot, on the inside of the foot just above the heel. I thought it was my sock so after a bit I stopped to check it out. No, it was a big blister forming from the downhill running. The last aid station had a sign that said next aid station in 2.83 miles but that had to be a misnomer. Maybe it meant at 23.8 miles? I don't know but I thought I would never see it. After lots more downhill all out running I finally got there and put some duck tape around my right foot and it helped a lot. From there it was only 4 miles out of the canyon then 5 miles on a dirt road to the finish. It was getting closer! Between this & the next aid station I was passed by the 3 top males in the 50 miler. They flew down the canyon! The 2nd place guy ends up being from Park City. It was starting to get hot and I took my shirt off before the next aid station, then got someone to spray sunscreen on my back. The shirt off helped, but it was hot. I switched to water only in my water bottle so I could spray water on my head, plus the Heed was making me a little queasy. From here to the finish sucked. The downhill running was over, it was hot and sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. Ugh. After hitting the road I walked a lot. I had been told it was 5 miles from the last aid station but I really didn't know. I kept trying different things to get me to run. "Run the next 1/2 mile, then walk." That worked pretty well. Some angel of a man had his rock music blaring and had his hose out ready to spray us down (with 3 signs telling us what was coming). It was awesome. I had him spray my head really good then turned around and he soaked my back. It helped so so so much. I then was able to run for quite a ways although I'm sure it wasn't as much as I thought. After another mile or so was our final aid station and again they had the hose out so I had them soak me again. Pure bliss. We were told it was only 1.75 miles more and I thought that was easy, I could run that. I was able to run a lot of it but I don't know for how long (garmin data looks like 1/2 mile). It felt so hot. I was cursing our late start at this point. One 50K man passed me early on the road, and he was looking solid. It was clear to me that he lived in the heat and sure enough, lives in California. Anyhow, with a little more than 1/2 mile to go we hit pavement and I knew I could run the rest of the way. Ran up onto a bridge, the crossing guards let us go through, and after rounding a couple more corners I was at the park. Maybe 1/4 mile later I was through the finish then saw my family there and was so happy to be done. They do great finisher gifts here and this year it's an Asics long sleeve shirt with an embroidered "Bighorn Mountain 50KM Trail Run Finisher" in the top right. Sweet shirt, wearing it now.

Immediate thoughts were that I'll never do this again, that I'll stick with road races. A day later I think I'm still in the same frame of mind. I'm 99.99% certain I've removed any desire to do a 50 or 100 miler. That just seems totally nuts after this experience. I love the mountains and I love hiking and backpacking, and I guess I'll stick to those activities except for the training trail runs. It was a good experience but very tough. I'm happy with where I placed and quite amazed by it, really. I think over 200 were registered for the 50K and 165 finished. I finished 40th overall, so top 25%. I'm very happy with that. My quads are ultra sore today and will likely be even worse tomorrow. I definitely need to work on my downhill running before my next downhill race. I'm looking forward to a short break then all out training for the Montana Marathon September 16th. My wife wants me to qualify for Boston. I'm hoping for 2014 to get to that point.

Sorry for the marathon post. Actually, more like a 50K post... 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/190110574 

New Red Brooks Adr GT 11 Miles: 18.00Brooks ASR 8 Miles: 14.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(13)
Total Distance
37.00
New Red Brooks Adr GT 11 Miles: 23.00Brooks ASR 8 Miles: 14.00
Weight: 0.00
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