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Lake Sonoma 25

April 11, 2015 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: fair

Comments:
Weird day. No nerves, but still in good spirits. Got there a little later that desired, so I wasn't quite ready to go when the starting whistle sounded. Missed the start for the first time ever.

Whether it was pollen, general excitement, or claustrophobia, or poor fitness, the HR was high all day. I was running SLOW on the road, yet the HR was high 150s and into 160s.

Right away the gut was bothering me, so when Callie zoomed past and parked to take pics, I grabbed some In N Out napkins, then peeled off to deuce before we all plunged into the woods.

Kept things real chill once back on the trail, but it was striking how: A.) hard folks ran uphills and B.) ran slow as shit on downs. Gradually - when possible - I picked my way through the field, as I kept the HR at 15x, but that effort didn't give me much.

Major form focus today was something I called "Elite Feet":
- whole foot-medial arch
- foot straight ahead
- push off straight behind
- quick turnover

That seemed to work for a quick, efficient stride.

Wiggled my way through the masses and wound up running with Katie DeSplinter and later James Varner going into Warm Springs. Both nice folks.

My splits were pretty brutal:

- 38:xx opener
- 1:5x:xx to Warm Springs

But I had no idea I'd be SO far back. Turns out I was in like 92nd place! Holy fuck to people go out hard! My God!

Fueling only on bananas and water, I grabbed some of each and kept shuffling. From Warm Springs to Madrone I picked off at least two dozen folks, through gentle shuffling and hiking. This included good 'ol MigZ, who I reeled in before Wulflow. He was running with another guy, so it was less awkward than anticipated. I definitely thought of some rather confrontational, unsavory conversation topics before I caught him, but I kept those to myself and skipped past after a polite and curt hello.

Shuffled along, halfway hoping that my effort would pay off into a reasonable pace. Began doing math and realized that I could conceivably run 8-flat if I could maintain, so that became a focus.

But as I rolled in and out of Madrone, up the big gravel climb, I began to feel the achilles for the first time: really mild and occasional, but it was there. And it persisted: little blips here and there, up and over the climb, then the descent to the lake.

It didn't take me long to realize that going the full 50 - a random 8-hour 50-miler - would not be worth risking an injury setback, so by the time A-VarnZ and the leaders came zooming past week near the bottom of the big-ass climb, I had conceded the DNF.

Around that time I reeled in Luanne Park (x10 WS Buckler and still a top women's runner in her early 50s) and ran with her before I spotted BGD. It threw her off a bit when I 180'd to run with BGD for a while, and it probably cost me 4-5 minutes, but it was good to encourage him.

The climb up was mostly hiking. Damn, that climb sucks! It's the climb...then rolling-as-fuck to the lollipop. As all the top guys rolled through (as well as a shitload of pretenders who'd gone out too hard), the top women started rolling through. Steph Howe looked strong, but her downhill cadence was sluggish ("quick feet"). I was a little worried I'd come up on KacRRR but I didn't. I rolled past a few more folks, caught up to and passed Luanne, then kept going around the 'pop to the Aid. I pushed it a bit over 160 at this point, mostly out of impatience, the knowledge that I'd be done at No Name, and that I wanted to get there by 4hr.

Rolled in at 4:03. Jimmy Dean was there and about to leave, and he implored me to run with him, but I stood around a few seconds, feeling dumb that I was about to drop. I stretched my left calf - didn't feel anything. But when I thought about another 25 of that, I made the call. I conceded to Stan Jensen...then, without delay, went about trying to bum a ride! I asked Kim Gaylord first, but she wasn't headed to the finish, but Katie Freeman was, so me, her and "Bardot" (their 1yr old) rolled to the finish.

The rest of the day: hung out at the finish and chatted with TJ, then "pre-gamed" on Racer 5 with Eric Schranz and some other quitters, including Victor and EEEEEN. I stretched out a fair amount: hips, QWAAADZ, and calves - didn't seem to worse for wear. The left achilles wasn't tight, but I could "feel it".

Callie finally made it back just before 12:30, and she and I hiked backwards on the course to see the finishers. We got a 600m away when Varner came up, then kept hiking 'til GEORGE rolled through before turning back.

After that: more Racer 5, some food, hanging out with the BGD family, and more cheering. We stayed 'til KACR came through. She looked brutal. Like...the arm swing of a stroke victim. Serz. I did not want to talk to her, so we high-tailed it out of there.

The deets on the run: 25+ miles, 155 avg HR, 4:03

Dropping was the absolutely right call. The achilles ached the entire rest of the day, then was about 90% Sunday and Monday (with no running), then fine after. The legs were pretty OK: some good glute soreness, moderate quads, and moderate to low foot and ankle pain!

PM: snack with the BGD family, then Callie and I hooked up with the EUG crew and we all went to Mary Prchal's f-ing mansion-on-the-hill ("above" the Farnsworth's) that night. Tons of great food and chats with Queen, LB, "MLD", and others.

Wore the Mizunos with Superfeet.