FUN AT FATDOG 50 MILE

 3 weeks post race, I still look back at FATDOG  with fondness and joy in my heart. I love to record my memories before they're forgotten... and as the races get longer ( and I get older) , it gets harder to remember!

THE GOAL
My husband wanted to  FINISH a 50 mile run the year he turned 50 and we accomplished this goal together spending a day in paradise! With over 10,000 feet elevation gain (climbing 7000 ft in the final 20 miles), Jim picked a tough one.

LEARNING from our DNF 
Looking back to our Bryce 50 mile attempt (and my first dnf) , I now realize one of the  MOST important things we got out of that DNF was that we TRAINED HARDER  for  fatdog- we had a new respect for the distance-and an increased focus on high mileage weeks and  powehiking hills.

START
We start at  Cayuse.  I insist on setting the pace for my husband the first 2-3  hours, pulling him back  as he often succumbs to his starting adrenaline rush. I know it killed him to start so slow, watching others pass.    There was a pretty undulating  dewdney trail above the highway. We already ran into some 120 milers and were already in awe of them!

TO CASCADES 8km 

We get to  Cascades aid station where they handed us some safety vests for a short road section.
 But first, an out n' back, where we had to tear a page from the RD's "juicy novel"  (to prove we did the full distance). I actually read the page- it was juicy!  Then finally onto the road . It was actually kinda neat to see all the hubcaps and old wrecks  off  the treacherous corners of the highway.


This is Jim doing his "FORREST GUMP" impersonation. ------>>>>>>



TO SUMALLO 16 km  and SHAWATUM 33 km

Into sumallo grove we went,. Jim downed some pizza, and headed over the bridge onto beautiful skagit trail running along the river.   We found our happy pace and were essentially running ALONE already! 

 This beautiful trail took us to centennial trail. A long flat trail that seemed to go on forever. Several runners were questioning if we passed the next aid or not , even smelled the food! Mmmm. Grilled cheese, must be there soon! Well, it turned out to be a waft of food that worked its way 30 min down the trail. Such a tease!  Finally, we hit Shawatum aid station  and I ordered up one of those cheese tortillas ! After the out 'n back from that aid station, we hit the trail again.

TO SKYLINE 48 km

 The heat was bearing down and Jim's big engine was overheating, so he slowed to a powerhike- which was the right thing to do except the mosquitos were relentless at this point . Seemed like I got bit every 5 seconds!  (and thats with bug spray!) Next time I will wear a bugnet cuz they really wore me down. I was
 F-bombing so much , my husband started to question who I was! We  hit skyline aid station seemingly quickly.
.....and an ANGEL  arrived before us;
"Anyone want a fruit smoothie?"  - hell yeah!
We spent some time here, changed our socks and stuffed our vests with food in  preparation for  what would be a grueling long  uphill powerhike with NO  more major aid stations for the next 6-7 hours.

TO CAMP MOWICH 60 km

Like a tank, Jim pulled me up the skyline switchbacks. This was definately his strong section.

The views were starting to arise and we were really getting into the beauty of it all !

Just my luck, I get a hole in my favorite pair of socks at the heel. obviously, since they were my favs, I wore them too much. I stopped at camp mowitch  to apply some moleskin. Jim wanted to enjoy the peacefullness on the mountaintop so he asked if we could let a couple of girls pass us so he diddnt have to listen to their chit chat (as us girls do) or their bear calls. I gladly conceded and the rest of the run was almost romantic!

Leaving camp Mowich- cool 'basin'  ------------------>>>



TO SKY JUNCTION 42 mi


Off to my favorite section- Skyline II & I  . Epic 360 degree views!

 Roller coaster up n' downs , we just kept powerhiking the hills as they popped up before us. We watched  the sun slowly set on the mountains as we ran.

As darkness fell on skyline I , we could see the sun still setting mountain ranges away! .

 I asked Jim to KISS me, but we forgot we had headlamps on and temporarily blinded each other. Once the spots were gone from our eyes, we continued on until the descent down skyline. (K, this is a photo of someone else, but it was exactly like this! )

FINISH ! 80 km 
Bombing down skyline in the dark was fun. Thank god for Jims  superpowered headlamp ! after a few hours in the dark, we were shot out into glowstick heaven. Looked like a carnival! . A little run around the lake and over the finish line in 13:20.

WE DID IT !!! 

THINGS I LEARNED : 

1. Changing socks is wonderful ! 

2. Your 'good old socks' are just that- OLD- get a new pair of your fav's before a race. 

3. Listen to the Race Director. If she says 'put more bug spray on at the aid station' -do it ! If she says " carry an extra handheld" do it ! I was happy I did ! 

4. Training and racing together is challenging for a relationship, but it builds stronger bonds in the end. 

5. Beer tastes really good after 50 miles. 

GOOD THINGS ABOUT DNF'ing !

I had my FIRST DNF last weekend  at Bryce 50 mile and am rather STOKED about it !
Now,
I am not encouraging people to DNF- a  point of ultrarunning is certainly  to push yourself to your limits.
BUT,
I am encouraging those who DNF to EMBRACE  it for what it is ! Do NOT HATE yourself (as I saw so many runners do) - such a waste, when you pay for the race/travel etc !

Here's the story; 
28 miles in, my husband got ill at the high altitude and could not eat/drink without throwing up. He spent 2 hours trying to regroup, but just could not. The hardware in my old tibia fracture was giving me greif, and I thought it wise to pull out with him too. That aid station was more like a MASH unit with many people sick/bleeding noses/ etc at the altitude.  So anyways, we ended up spending time with others  at the remote aid station, waiting for a ride.... and this is when it occurred to me.... there are actually some....

  GOOD THINGS ABOUT DNF'ing !!!!

1. You get to hang out at the aid station and graze,  get into the vibe and people in the same situation.

2. You get to reminisce on the beautiful parts of the run. 

2. You get to STOP and take in the views at that aid station (views at 27 mile- Nice! ). Too bad Jim diddn't see this, as he was busy being nauseated.

3. You get to be a SPECTATOR and watch others come in, cheer them on- or help them if they fall over!
     ... It was great to cheer people on! but I held back trying not to be too 'perky' for those who were ill.

4. You get to MEET people who are also DNF ing and hear their stories ! It felt like a 'support group' .
     ... one guy, who reported to have done several 100 km/100 milers made us feel better by saying ;
          "pfft, I DNF all the time ! " I guess he just picks and choses to finish when he feels good- nothing wrong with that !

5. You get a COOL 4X4 backroad  ride home from your remote aid station, with some crazy driver.
     .... Seriously,  the next day my NECK was more sore from hitting the roof of the car than my legs were!

6. You  have ENERGY  the next day to GIVE BACK to the race !  We went to the finish line and drove 100 milers back to their hotels. They GREATLY appreciated it, and it made us feel much better!  I frown on people who DNF and just go home to pout- what a selfish  waste !

and my FAVORITE !!! .... 

7. You get to RECOVER  faster, meaning you might even be able to hit a cool run/hike in the area, over the  next couple of days! an And we CERTAINLY did ! Bryce canyon ROCKED ! ... literally.










So Don't hate yourself, LEARN from the experience, make the MOST of it... besides,  there is always ANOTHER RACE ! 

HV

WHISTLER 50 MILE

If this run was a hotel, I would call it a" 5 star". It was very luxurious running. Great information,  organization, trail markings, aid stations, volunteers, and even port a potty heaven- you name it, you were well cared for. Being a newbie to the 50 mile distance, I highly recommend this run.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

I have trained for two 50 milers this summer- both cancelled due to funerals etc. By Sept I was frustrated with 'wasting my time' doing all those long runs and decided to put together a team for the Whistler 50 relay (formerly H2H). I shortened my runs, trying to pick up speed... but kept  up with mini doubles 2 hr/3 hr sat/sun runs with my husband. Well, the team fell apart.

Instead of being frustrated again, I decided to be positive and ACT on what I wanted to do.... I signed up for the Whistler 50 mile run anyways, but as a SOLO.  Two birds with one stone !  Run in whistler AND do my first 50 mile . Attending to unfinished business.

HAY IN THE BARN

Being raiseed on a farm, thats what I hope I had. My last 4 hour run was 8 weeks prior to the race...maybe it wasn't a 'waste of time' ? . I was inspired by a friend of mine who just pulled off a 30 km with little training- if she could do that, could I pull off an 80 k ? right?? 

My big concern was that this was generally a flat course and I haven't ran more than 8-10 flat miles in the last 2 years!

THE WHISTLER  50 MILE RUN:

 Expecting my first 50 miler to be a grueling, complicated experience, it turned out to be a pleasantly simple experience that I would summarize into positive and negatives for each 21 km lap.

Lap 1:  17 km

+ ve :  6 am start, beautiful, peaceful run thru the trails. Great trai l markings, lots of runners... no worries. Enjoyed pulling back from the pack to run alone in the dark. Pristine !  

-ve : Left tibial plate and screws from an old fracture immediately started to ache. grrrr- it eventually settled and went away. This was my stumbling block that I felt would limit my distance past 50 km.

Lap 2: 21 km

+ve :The sun rises, I  get to see the beautiful full course. Paved trails thru golf courses, homes,lake, and Whistler village. Running with a guy who did leadville 3X, a woman who did death race, and another woman who did transrockies...meanwhile " hi , I'm Heather, of this is my first 50 miler"... feeling out of my league ! Big Time !

- ve: The metatarsal pain starts. 2nd toes, both feet burning from the pavement pounding. I'm thinking 'lovely, I got another 8 hrs of this' But that too passed....

LAP 3 : 21 km

+ve: I now know the course, and am feeling  like the the aid station attendants are old friends. I most looked forward to seeing Gottfried Grossier (organizer of several great local runs -including my FIRST 50 kilometer 'Frosty 50 k" http://www.trailwhisperer.ca/    I was ahead of schedule.  I guessed 10 + hr finish time. I was a bit confused when I  checked the time to see I was only 6 hrs in ... was I only on lap 2 ? no, I was on lap 3 as I had 3 elastics on my wrist to mark each lap when I picked up my goodies from my drop bag from each lap. Being a nerd paid off.

Only 21 Km to go- would I finish in 8 1/2 hours? really? am I hallucinating?

- ve: Now its time for the ITB to kick in. All my other aches and pains are gone, now I get to enjoy  the results of having  my womanly hips. Lovely.  The commings and goings of aches and pains are actually becomming amusing.

Lap 4 : 21km  ( The final 60- 80 km )

+ ve:  I finally get to feel the push PAST  a 50 km !!! Woot woot !!!  

 Felt suprisingly fine until about the last hour where I think I did a great impression of what MR BEAN would look like if he started running- Tee hee ! 

My nutrition etc. was dialed in, I  thought I was lucid ... except for the part where I called my husband:

" I've got 4 kms to go to the finish ... it should take me 45-50 mins (thinking in miles)" Meanwhile my husband has visions of me crawling to the finish.

-ve:  Yup, a new entertaining pain. My ARMS ! wtf ! both biceps aching, I can't hold my arms up any longer- had to rest my thumbs in my waistband and literally run like a cowboy !                                                                                                                         


DONE !  8:04 ! 8th woman, 4th age group.
A couple of women sprinted past me on a downhill in the last 10 km, but I diddn't care. I wasn't  racing, I was just finishing, just enjoying my first 50 mile run .  And dammmit, it was actually enjoyable.
It was great to meet my husband and 14 yr old daughter at the finish line. Best hug ever !

And lets not forget the recovery drinks:

Heather V

HERE IS A GREAT VIDEO  THAT CAPTURES THE RACE EXPERIENCE; Thanks to Rory Bass

Getting Excited for Next Year!

Three sucessful 50 km 's this year.  Husband almost dies (but lived). Oldest daughter in university, youngest in middle school and competing in figure skating. Its been a busy year.

I took 3 easy weeks hiking/easy runs with my husband.  I enjoyed eating and drinking whatever I want and 'relaxing'.  Not suprisingly so, this has gotten boring quite quickly.

So now what?
Thankfully, I have a great running group. As my husband is out of the loop (for now), I thought I would just do the same old local races . But my friends have better plans! yaay! I am so there!
1. I LOVE the team/ friend/social aspect of runs- so much more fun than running a race alone.
2. I need a new challenge to keep me 'honest' with myself. 

"My Best friend is the one who brings out the best in me" - Henry Ford

So my plans for next year are :  tentatively....

March 19- Chuckanut  50 K
Apr 30- Capitopl peaks 50 mile - my first run exceeding 50Km and a gague for the death race.
May 15 - Tenderfoot Boogie possibly.. 50 mile or 50  km . May be too close to 50 mile above though.
July 31 ish - Canadian Death race- 125 km, ...17000 ft elevation gain . I'm so scaaaared!!!/Excited!!
Sept- Frosty mountain 50 Km. I have a bone to pick with this race. Haven't  ran the whole thing.

Its starting to look like an addiction.  Like, 50 km isn't enough? I'm looking for more to satisfy my running 'fix' !
Heather