View Workout (Joe Uhan)

Return to Log

Squaw to...Robinson solo

October 11, 2014 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: beautiful, but up to 80+

Comments:
Woke up early, feeling good enough. Didn't leave myself enough time, so I was rushing to get out the door. I was about 10min late to Craiggers' and we left at 5:45.

Nice drive up to Squaw, with good chats. LB filled me in on his time at UTMB and what he learned, and we chatted about some other stuff, too. Got to Truckee around 7, where we stopped at StarbZ for a coffee and Saucy-B. He dropped me off at Squaw under sunny and not-too-cold conditions, and I was climbing the hill. I pow-hiked the bulk of it, yet still had a pretty solid split! Forgot the HR, so I had to go by feel.

The Chief felt great: kept things real smooth and relaxed, stopping twice (running watch) to take off the jacket and fill the bottle. Then, just as he said, I saw LB hiking up the double-track just before Lyon. Chatted with him, and he said he'd see me at Rob Flat (where he'd be scouting the trail, post-King Fire).


...It was weird: after seeing LB, and getting on the ridges, my energy and strength slowly declined. I'd felt great in the high country - relaxed and strong - but going along, I just felt TIRED. The route was beautiful, and a big part of the trail was actually brushed (by firefighters, presumably) and somewhat treaded: the second half of Lyon and the first half of Red Star.

Saw no one for quite a while, then two hunters just past Cougar Rock, another one at the "moon rock" 2K out from Red Star, then a group of hunters on the road, right before Red Star. For the latter, I'd crested the road to find a young teenage hunter pointing his rifle (close-to) AT me. Had to yell, "Head's up!" just to get him to drop the muzzle. Glad he didn't shoot, instead!

My splits so far had been OK, but they nose-dived going into Red Star. A race day split is 2:35, so when I got there in 3:06, I wasn't happy. I wasn't going hard, but I wasn't going slow or easy, either.

I was feeling a little low at Red Star, so I had a packet of Justin's and an S!Cap...and the rest of my water. I'd be bone-dry 'til Duncan.

Red Star...was kind of sucky. It got HOT, and it got rocky. Along Lyon I began to get L knee pain, the old-school variety that means it's irritated joint-slash-overload. Damn. Then, as I went along, BOTH ankles were getting stiff and sore. Ugh.

And, being alone, I just wasn't having that much fun. I thought about how Craig was going to be at RF, and figured, "eh, I'll just be done".

I shuffled along a bit, the dehydration affecting even my descending + technical running, causing me to scuff and trip. Was legitimately quite thirsty by the time I got to Duncan, which included bits of walking on douche up-grade before the creek. Got to the creek, finally, and sat on a rock, pounding two full 20-oz bottles, then taking a 3rd along. Walking up the other side, I took my first gel and, over time, gradually felt better.

Made "OK" time up to Rob Flat, but nothing spectacular. I pushed it only slighty, worried that LB might not still be there.

So when I got there...sure enough, he wasn't there! Damn. I walked up to the bathrooms - no green Tacoma, but there were a couple other cars. At that moment, an Xterra pulled up from Mosquito-way and stopped. An older couple got out and I started chatting with them. Turns out they were old Tevis Cup riders and WS volunteers (Dale and Margie Peterson), and after a few minutes, I asked them where they were headed and, when they said, back to Auburn, I asked for a ride! And, in minutes we were on the way downhill.

Good to chat with those folks and hear some "olde tyme" stories. But it just felt good to be done.

Good, solid run, and honestly, at 5:47:xx, my fastest S2RF ever in training. But it certainly wasn't that fun...it's a ROUGH trail and, without water on a hot day, it's flat-out miserable at times.

Splits:

Escarpment AS - 47:36
Lyon Ridge AS - 75:16
Red Star AS - 65:34
Duncan Canyon AS - 79:53
Robinson Flat AS - 80:56

Pretty pedestrian, which just makes you wonder how truly hard we push in those early miles (compared to, say, running Rob Flat to MB "easy" on a training run...that'd probably easily line up with a race day split).

Post-run: the Peterson's dropped me off at a burrito place just off the Divide exit, where Craig was at, then we were back at his house. I drove back to BGD's to nap a bit, then we headed BACK to LB's to hang out.

FUN night, chatting and joking with him, BISP, and later The Princess. Overall a GOOD DAY.

Wore the Trail N2 Oranges.