On Saturday April
13, 2013 I ran the Cedro Peak 45K trail ultra marathon. I decided to run this
race since it was close to Albuquerque, relatively inexpensive and fit well
into my schedule. This would be my 6th trail race at what is
the start of my 3rd year running. I have always been pretty active
but only started running regularly 2 years ago after discovering how awesome
the trails were around my new home of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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| Nice looking elevation profile! Not much flat running here... |
This race
would mark the first time I have been able to actually stick to and follow a
training plan leading up to a race. Previous races were run on minimal training
mostly due to a long battle with IT band issues in my knee. I knew my training
was going well, setting personal bests on trails I run regularly in
training and new mileage milestones. My highest mileage week in training was
~60 miles with several weeks over 50 miles. This was a big step up from my
previous normal mileage of 20-30 miles a week and I was feeling great! I was a
bit more limited though in my trail time, since my wife and I had our first
baby in January. I logged a higher percentage of my miles close to home on the
flatter desert trails and pushing my son in his stroller on the paved bike
path.
Leading up
to race day I started to have pretty severe tightness and discomfort in my
right calf. My calves have been tight and sore before, but this was getting to
the point of making me limp while running. I started to get pretty nervous that
my chances of a good performance were slipping away. The last two weeks I was
stretching like crazy, rolling my calf and massaging daily. I was able to
loosen it up, but the pain was still there. My last couple taper runs were
almost painful. As a last ditch effort for anything that might help I ordered a
pair of CEP calf compression sleeves to wear.
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| Ready to go cheer on Dad! The back of his shirt says "Try & keep up!" :) |
Race day
morning was hectic as normal, trying to get out the door bright and early with
our 3 month old son added to the preparation. Arriving at the start area, I decided
the 35 deg weather was warm enough to ditch the long sleeve T-shirt and change
to short sleeve. I had my wife switch my bib over to a different shirt, after
getting our son all bundled up to watch his dad race for the first time. I
headed out for a quick jog around the picnic area to warm up my calf, so I
could stretch it out good before the start. To my surprise my calf was feeling
better than it had all week!
We headed to
the start line minutes before the start. Nobody seemed to want to get right up
to the starting line, so I jumped right up there. At the start I lead the pack
down the chute and onto the trail. I was surprised at how relaxed the pace
seemed to be, with nobody jumping out in front of me. I tried to keep the
effort easy, but glancing at my watch showed we were running a bit faster than
I maybe should have been at the start of a 45k. I decided to roll with it since
I felt great and it seemed like some others behind me were maybe breathing quite a
bit harder than me. There were probably about 4-6 people in the lead pack, but
not really sure since I didn’t take my eyes off the rocky trail long enough the
get a good count. We covered the first 4 miles at around an 8:00 min/mile pace and
I was feeling great!
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| Just after the start, heading for the trails! |
At the first
aid station about 5 miles in, the group behind me stopped while I kept rolling.
Five miles into the race I was running alone in the lead. I had never been in
this position before and wasn’t quite sure how I should handle the situation.
Do I slow up and wait for the pack, keep up my own pace, maybe try to kick it
down and drop them? I really had no idea what to do. I decided that I was
feeling good so I would just continue to run my own pace and see what happens.
I was having a blast tearing up the super rocky descents! In training I
typically take it a bit easier through these sections, so it was awesome to
just let it rip! Flying up and over big rocks, off drop offs and swinging
around tight corners. This is what trail running is all about! If the beer
glass we received as swag that says “I Love Rocks” wasn’t clear enough. By now
it should have been clear, this course is rocky!
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| Just after 1st aid station |
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| Good thing I love rocks! |
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| More loose rock! |
After about
10 miles of mostly downhill running, the course started its climb towards the
second aid station and ultimately the top of Cedro Peak. I was excited to get
to the second aid station since I would get to see my wife and son. I wasn’t
sure how they were doing beings it was a pretty chilly morning and the first
time taking our son out in the cold for an extended period of time.
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| Fun to fly down, slow to crawl up |
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Nice stretch of "trail"
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| Entering the single track to Cedro Peak aid station |
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I ran all
alone until around the 11 mile mark where I started to pass a few of the folks
who were running the 45 mile distance of the race. They started an hour before
the 45k runners, which helped ease congestion on the narrow single track. This
was a mental boost to start seeing and passing some people, and I knew I was
getting close to the second aid station.
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| Coming into the second aid station, mile 12 |
At the aid
station I found my “crew” there waiting and they were doing great! I got my
bottle filled up and headed out. Aid stations are always such an adrenaline
boost. A few hundred yards up the trail I had to back off the effort as I was
starting to hyperventilate. Oops, I guess adrenaline doesn’t give you more
oxygen! The climb up to Cedro peak was a bit draining but was a pretty run able
grade since it was mostly on a dirt service road. I was starting to pass more 45
mile runners now and the encouragement I received was appreciated and gave me
another little boost.
I hit the
descent to the turn around pretty hard, as I was excited to turn around and start
heading back to the finish. My watch was right about 2 hrs when I hit the turn
around. I made mental note because I knew I would soon find out how much of a
lead I had. After only a minute I passed the second place runner, this meant I
only had about a 2 minute lead. And there were 4-5 other runners within about 5
minutes of me at the turn around. This was not as much of a lead as I was
hoping for and was the first of many mental blows I would experience on my
journey to the finish 14 miles away.
The climb
back up the peak went pretty smoothly and the descent back to the aid station
just flew by. I was probably running the downhills much harder than I should have
been, and my legs were starting to feel the beating they were getting. I ran
into the aid station, got my water bottle topped off and diluted my bottle of
EFS liquid shot as it was starting to taste a bit too sweet at this point. The
adrenaline rush of the aid station and seeing my crew once again pushed me to a
pace that induced hyperventilation as I headed down the trail.
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| Leaving Cedro Peak aid station, mile 16 |
Shortly
after leaving the aid station, the number of runners coming the other way was dwindling. The fatigue in my legs and the feeling of running alone was once
again starting to wear on me. I was finding it hard to keep my effort up and
was starting to worry about the other runners that were chasing me not too far
behind. I was starting to realize that running alone in the lead is stressful
with a constant feeling of being hunted down!
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| Start of the toughest climb, nice smooth rock |
A few
miles of downhill after the aid station lead to the start of the last 10 miles
of the race, which were mostly uphill. A steep climb around the 21 mile mark
was followed by a bit more gentle rolling climb to the finish. I figured if I could get
the top of the big climb with nobody catching me, I would have a good chance of
holding on to my lead. I could tell my pace was slowing as I approached the
climb and decided to hike most of the climb, even though I had previously run
most of it in my training runs. Around ¾ of the way up the climb I noticed the
second place runner was only a few switchbacks behind and catching up fast. I
tried to up the effort, but my legs were feeling pretty beat down after
hammering all the downhills. Hitting the top of the climb I was still in the
lead and hoped I could hold it. I knew I would need to stop at the last aid
station for some water and hopefully a glass of coke for a final boost, as I had taken in very few calories since leaving the last aid station due to an uneasy stomach.
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| Trail shot with my running partner(from training run) |
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| Not a welcome site at mile 21(from training run) |
I hadn’t
seen the other runner since the top of the climb, but knew he was now in full
on chase mode after catching me on the climb. I hit the aid station, which took
a bit longer than I hoped. As I was at the aid station the other runner came
flying through at a pretty solid pace. I figured it was a strategic move on his
part to come past at such a strong pace, as it would surely be a big mental blow
to me. I got out of the aid station as quick as I could and for the first time
in the race it was my time to chase down the leader.
With 5 miles
to go I figured I could hang on for the ride. I had him in sight for maybe a
mile before losing him. I was doing some serious negotiations in my head trying
to get my legs to push through the pain and not let him get away. Nothing
seemed to work… “a free pair of shoes for the winner!”, “gotta win this one for
my son!”, “only a 5k left, crank it out!”, “this is what all the training is
for!” and I’m sure many others. Didn’t matter, my legs were toast and had
nothing left to give over the last few miles of climbing. To top it off the
last mile or so of the course was rerouted through some brutal rocky, short steep
pitches. I was beat down and just hoping I wouldn’t get passed again.
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| Coming down the chute to the finish |
I crossed the finish in 4:00:36 after 28 miles
of rough rocky single track with 4100ft of elevation gain and descent. About 3
minutes behind the winner and good enough for second place overall. I’m sure
there are some things I could have done differently, but overall I am happy
with the result and ended up doing better than expected. It was a
great race and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging ultra. Thank
you to the race director and all the volunteers who made this such a great
event. Also, all the other runners were super friendly and the endless
encouragement along the trail is a boost that can not be gotten from energy gels
or sports drinks! Maybe I’ll be back next year to try again…
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| Sweet beer glass, perfect with a Happy Camper IPA for recovery |
