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CLR - Leg 32 "Time Trial Climb" - my last leg!

August 1, 2015 (Night)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: at least mid-80s, sunny and blazing hot

Comments:
At this point, we got into a series of legs the race calls either "Hard" or "Very Hard". On top of that, we were now absorbing Megan's legs.

26 - Phillip took his penultimate leg, 7.4x miles onto CLH. A fair amount of ups and downs. He was getting gassed so I think he was nearly 9 pace at this point.

27 - Danette was back up - both she and Phillip had to "bump up one" earlier. Phil had the same distance, but Danette had to run an extra 2ish miles on progressive climbing. That, and it was starting to get hot. Ice bandanas were out again! Around this time, I was trying to eat and drink once more, but...we didn't have much! I think I had some half-and-half, and some chocolate hazelnut butter.

28 - Jason was up for his second to last. He'd been a little resistant to using the ice bandana...either because he's a stubborn doctor or a badass, but either way, he passed it up again. A mistake, in retrospect. We drove up near Elk Lake (getting close to South Sister) and got Callie Alice ready, and - for the first time all relay - he came in slow: about 8-9 pace on an admittedly grinder uphill (+400, -138) 6-miler. CA had her bandana and I kept dousing her 'til he showed up.

29 & 30 - CA had the first of a couple double-legs. For some reason, they had two, 2.x-mile legs in this region - maybe because the surrounding legs were really tough. But because of Megan's injury, CA had to do this "easy 2", then a "Hard" 4.2 that included 601' of climbing (-59 of junk down)! Around this point, we started driving halfway to give a second bottle and to douse! We had extra water and some half-frozen bottles, so what the hell? CA struggled a little on the tough ups and building altitude, but she smartly saved for her last leg.

I started to get ready, and to get a little excited for my final leg(s). Again, I had to do a double: a 2.59 "easy" near the base of South Sister, then the burtal "Time Trial" climb to Mt Bachelor ski area. I got a few more calories down, including a good amount of "Mug Rootbeer" I bought the night before, then got as cold and wet as possible at Devil's Lake TH amongst a big crowd, waiting for CA.

She came in, looking hot and pale...and oddly a little negative! As she handed off, she said, "Have FUN. It's really hot out!"

I WAS going to have fun! :-)

Leg 31:

I took off on a moderate downhill to the inflection point of the highway - where it turns back east toward Bend - the homestretch! The down was a nice way to get the legs going without a ton of heat. I'd tried to wet myself, but it was so damn dry I was parched by the time I got to the South Sister TH...but there was Devil's Lake!

The lake is fed by a mountain snowmelt stream and, despite the drought, it was rushing hard right next to the road, so...I ran down the embankment and jumped in! It was less deep than I thought, but I laid there, face-first in the rushing water for a few seconds and got soaked, then kept going!

This section was "easy", but rolling. Major form focus: forward, flick&pull, trunk alignment. Killed a few folks shuffling along and had my eye on this elite master's women's (12-person) team that kept leap-frogging us. They were out front again and I wanted to take' 'em down. But I kept the effort mellow, knowing what was ahead.

I rounded past Devil's to a big clearing, with the expansive Sparks Lake drainage and (in the distance) Mt Bachelor to the right, and South Sister and Broken Top to my left! This ROCKS!

Kept 'er smooth and steady as I ran past the group, who had parked a half-mile in front of the exchange. I'd asked for a bottle exchange and a freezing water douse. I actually grabbed the jug and ran with it myself (as to avoid the "Jim Howard Air-ball douse" from DD'83) for full dousing, then handed it back. I got both a douse and bottle - without breaking stride!

Around the corner was the exchange and timing pad for the Time Trial...

32 - I split my watch and, just like that, the road began to climb. This section was, except for GPS junk, relentless climbing: 919' over 4.02 miles (with -23 sprinkled in there).

I didn't want to blow it out, in fear of either cramping, or having to walk. So it was all about keeping the feet moving. It felt like a major shuffle at times, but I did my best to have quick feet and arms and to "open the pelvis" on the up-grade. Felt pretty good! Got a lot of good support from the fellow runners - most of whom were flat-out walking or walk-jogging - and their vans stopped along the way. They had their wimpy garden sprayers, but I appreciated the little mist.

Climb-climb-climb, grind-grind-grind. I stayed away from my watch, once again, to avoid the crushing disappointment from "not there yet", so I just kept moving, keeping an eye out for the Rolf Prima van, which was supposed to meet me midway.

Around a few bends, there they were! This exchange was fucking amazing: grab jug, douse, toss back to someone (who caught it!), grab bottle, keep going! And just like that, I was soaking wet and ready to roll! So fun!

Soon, the climb began to taper and allow for more normal running. Did my best to open up the hips and lift the knees. I felt good, but definitely super-threshold. Got a few more kills, including the Master's Women, who had left Devil's Lake several minutes in front. And then...the MILE TO GO sign!

The Ski Area driveway was a kilo ahead. I saw people to the right...then farther up to the left...then wayyy farther up to the right, at the true road summit. I wasn't too sure how far I had to go, so I didn't get my hopes up.

But I was just about done. WOW, what a COOL experience! I crushed this final climb, and felt great doing so. There's something special about pushing oneself - every so often - and doing so amongst a group of people in a real team environment. It was awesome. I even cried a tiny bit over that final mile, then pulled it together as I crossed the road to the (middle left) exchange point, rolling under a tent, over a timing mat, and handing off the band to Phillip admidst a cheering crowd of teammates.

And that was it! Fucking awesome! I ran seriously strong as fuck with an awesome stride...the whole damn way, all "6" (really, 7) legs, totalling 42.88 miles.

The stats for the final leg(s)

Leg 31 - 2.59 miles (+73, -109), 18:04 (including diving into Devil's Lake = 6:58 pace)
Leg 32 - 4.04 miles (+919, -23), 33:43 (8:21 pace)

As it turns out, I was 14th overall in the fastest Leg 32, among nearly 200 teams. And BY FAR the best Ultra Team (in fact, I'm not sure any other ultra team was in the Top 50 for this TT). Not fucking bad for having nearly 40 miles, previous, and a hot 2.6 mile warm-up!

Leg 33 - Phillip logged his last-gasp leg. 5.5 miles mostly downhill, with a gut-punch of an uphill. He struggled, running about 9 pace, but damn it, he was tough. Neither super fit or fast, or young, but he did it.

Leg 34 - He handed off to CA, who had 6.04 miles of completely downhill running. ALL PAVEMENT. I was really worried about her, since she's sensitive to donwhills and this one had nearly double the downhill of any other leg - 1300'! But she did awesome, running under 8 pace, for sure.

Leg 35 - Danette rolled her last leg really strong, keeping cool with one final ice bandana, this time more mellow downhill, to the outskirts of Bend. By then we were all starting to relax and unwind at a park-golf course.

Leg 36 - Jason would take us in, 6.x miles, with half of it on the dusty Deschutes River Trail. No midway stop for this one: we drove into town and waited at the finish.

FINISH: Jason came in a bit slow, but we finished in just under 29 hours...AND WON the Ultra division! We met him 50m out and jogged under the arch together.

What a cool event, and wow, was our team tough! I never would have imagined. They were tougher than most ultrarunners I know, which says a lot!

Post-race: it was SO f-ing hot! We struggled to get some food and beers from the finish line carts and eat it in the sparse umbrella and tent shade. CA and I jumped into a crowded Deschutes River...and were 99% dry by the time we walked back to our clothes!

And just like that...we were done! We drove the van back down near Crater Lake to get CA's truck, then we parted ways.

AWESOME EXPERIENCE. I'd talked shit about relays for a long time, but...wow, to do it as an ultra team? There's some major application to long ultras: the same duration, overnight and fatigue of 100 but with less pure pain and stress. AND the physical and mental experience of recovering (glycogen restoration, and mental fortitude). That, and you get the experience of running AND crewing in the same event! Good stuff.

...but damn, the exit wound from this could be bad!