The Gumby Chronicles: 2015 WAY TOO COOL 50K WAS……………………...

Was WAY TOO COOL!

PRE-RACE JITTERS

To say I was nervous going into this race would be a gross understatement. I put my name in the lottery on a whim and was shocked when I got in, leaving me 2 months to train. Even then, due to some minor injuries, my mileage totals for leading up to the race peaked at 43 miles with 3 runs of 2 hours or more and none approaching 4 hours. Plus, my right ankle has been sore since the Urbanathon I did in November. The good folks at Kaiser x-rayed it and said everything looked “normal.” So the confidence level approaching the race was pretty low.

This was to be only my second 50K and my only goals were to finish the race and beat my previous time of 7:05 hours at the Pacifica 50K in 2009. What I planned to do was to eat early and often, to take S-tabs and to not go out so fast.

Here is what the starting looked like. I was tempted to ask someone to take my photo, but, managed to restrain myself.

THE RACE

The race starts on pavement going downhill and just like all the road races, there were plenty of people doing 7 minute miles who had no chance of winning. Soon, we hit the trails and started on some nice smooth single track that wound through the foothills. This section lasted 8 miles and included a couple of creek crossings, the second of which I just had to wade through. I resisted the urge to pass people and kept to a steady 9 minute pace and relaxed.

The second stage took us from the Starting area and going north. More smooth single track and some double track and the occasional short section of fire road. By this time, I was chatting with a nice woman in her 30’s, Mia Martinez who was running her first 50K. It was very pleasant to chat away the miles on the middle section that ran along the American River. There were a few short steep sections that we had to walk, but still this section was fairly relaxed. After leaving the 3^rd Aid station, (mile 16.7) we started to climb some hard sections leading to the 4^th Aid station (mile 21) Now I was feeling some pain in the ankle, especially on the downhill sections. It was around this time that Mia dusted me and left me to hobble down the trails.

Strange, but, I was really looking forward to going up Goat Hill so I could have an excuse to walk! So walk I did, slowly, but, steady behind a long line of runners. Just as I got to the top of Goat Hill (mile 26), I felt a bit of a second wind.

FINISHING UP

The good folks at the top of Goat Hill said it was all downhill from there. THEY LIED!! Plenty of hills to go and too many downhills for my gimpy ankle. Some serious pain by this time. Still, my eating, drinking and taking the S-tabs was working great. There was no bonking!! I’ve had worse 30K’s and marathons.

Here’s where this race earns it’s nickname of WAY TOO CRUEL!
Starting 1.4 miles from the finish, we were forced to climb a hellacious steep hill.