30.2 Mi Solo Run in Bainbridge

It was a gorgeous weather with clear sky and cool temperature in Bainbridge Island.

I planned to run only 15.1 miles routine weekend long run on Sunday. However, the weather was too good to stop after one lap. I gathered some stuffs to bite, made some sport drink, and headed out for one more lap. It happened to be 30.2 miles unofficial solo ultra run eventually.

One very encouraging matter is that I felt pretty strong after competing 30.2 miles. I kept very consistent pace of 10:00~10:30/mi almost through out the second lap. Probably that's what I should do for my first 50 miler in coming April.

Fishline 50K

Fishline 50K, one of the Roots Rock trail run series, was held in Poulsbo that was 20 minutes driving distance from my place. The course was very similar to Roots Rock 50K that I ran last fall, but this time the start/finish line was off Stottlemeyer Rd in Poulsbo, instead of Port Gamble side. It included 2 laps of 25 Km forest trail loop mostly in single track.

I knew it was not an easy trail, so I started off in moderate pace around 9~10 min/mile. The rain held off for the race, but the trail condition was not really good. There were a lot of muddy single tracks with many chances of running through unavoidable puddles. Running over many hills and slippery trail in the first lap was not so difficult though. I was supposed to go back to the start/finish line after 25 Km if I followed the white flour marks and orange tapes correctly along the course, but I was still on the trail over Mile 16. Assuming that I made a wrong turn, I ran back 0.5~1 mile, but I could not find any clue. So, I decided to keep running, because the course seemed familiar, I had enough Heed/Gatorade in my hydration pack with something to bite, and I felt very good.

The trail looked more and more familiar enough to make me feel confident that I was right on the course in the second lap. However, from around Mile 18, I suffered from a blister issue on my right foot from a series of hills with lots of muds, and the pace became much slower. I heard foot steps behind me and knew someone was going to pass me soon. It was Van Phan who I paced with about 2~3 miles in the first lap. I knew she was an elite trail runner and Marathon Maniac Hall of Famer with lots of running experience including 100 milers and 150 milers. So, I wanted to pace with her as long as I could. I led in some of the single tracks and she led in some of the hill sections. It wasn't easy to keep the pace with her with ailing right foot, but I was able to manage it. As I felt more pain on the foot for the last 3 miles, I just tried to follow her foot steps and finished together in 5 hours 37 minutes and 4 seconds.

West Seattle Fat Ass 50K

It was supposed to be a nice day with very slight chance of shower on Super Bowl Sunday in West Seattle, but the rain was still lingering by the time I put on my running gears before the start. However, fortunately, the rain held off leaving just a few puddles and muddy spots during the race.

The 50K course was a double out-and-back along the flat paved sidewalks and streets of West Seattle. A shelter in Lincoln Park was the start/half/finish line with some basic ultra foods & drinks. The turnaround point was just before the West Seattle Bridge stretching ~7.8 miles from the start line.

There was a small group of runners (~20) near the shelter in the morning. Most of them were the usual suspects that I already knew. With a brief instruction by the race director, Nic Plemel, we started off for a long run at 8am.

The beginning section for the first 2~3 miles had a slight ups and downs running along the streets of southern part of West Seattle. I ran mostly in the narrow sidewalks but sometimes had to run on the street to go around the blocked cars, pedestrians, or dogs. Then, the sidewalks became very wide along the Alkai Beach to the turnaround point.

On the returning route of the first lap, I had to take a bathroom break. I shouldn’t have taken beer option last night at Joe’s house. I felt much better afterward. Anyway, I was able to make the first lap (25K) inside 2 hours and 20 minutes. After refilling water bottles and grabbing a piece of PB&J, I took off for the 2nd lap.

About 2 miles after the start of the 2nd lap, my left leg was cramping up. I had to take a break for some stretches. After some more steps, I got a HUGE calf cramp. It was so painful that I held the railings along the sidewalk and stretched the calf area as violently as possible. I had a temptation to walk back to the shelter and to declare a “drop-out”, but decided to continue after taking some more time still hanging on the railings. As the pain was lessened, I started a very slow run to make sure not to cramp up my leg again. When I reached Alkai Beach section, I stopped at a bench and took another break for a leg stretch. I also replenished with some snacks and Gatorade there. The following section to the turnaround point was much easier since I got a second wind. I refilled the water bottles at the turnaround and immediately ran back to finish the long run.

The question was by the way how long I could continue to benefit the second wind. As a matter of fact, I could feel I was getting slower and slower noticeably until a major BONK at around Mile 25. I took several walk-breaks for the next 5 miles, and then decided to run last 1 mile in a civilized manner with a smile ;-). The finish time: 5 hours 4 minutes and 39 seconds.

Running was not going smoothly unlike my anticipation, but I had a wonderful time thanks to the RD Nic Plemel and many volunteers to put it together for a fat ass style run on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Solo Run in Bainbridge Island

I had a great solo run today. It was self-supported unofficial solo marathon in Bainbridge Island. The weather was cloudy and temperature was around 46 deg F.



The route started from my house, around north side of the island, down along Sunrise, around Manitou Beach, down to Wing Point, passing downtown Winslow, all the way through New Brooklyn, back on High School Rd, coming back to Winslow, back to Ferncliff, climbing up Madison NE, running down on Valley Rd, rolling along Sunrise, climbing up Winther, back to Madison, going out to Day Rd, back to Sunrise, around Torvanger, back to Madison, around the frog rock, back to Phelps, passing Fire Station, turning around at the stop sign, and then back home.

It was 26.64 miles route and I loved it for 4 hours 36 minutes 43 seconds consuming 2L Heed mix, 1 extra water bottle, 3 energy gels, and 1 PB&J. No pressure for PR, no worry about DFL, not going toward my marathon tally. Totally satisfied.

Pigtails 50K at Lake Youngs

The first race of the year 2010 was Pigtails 50K at Lake Youngs Trail in Renton, WA. The weather forecast had been favorable for the race day, but it turned out to be rainy all day and the temperature stayed at 44 deg F.

The 50K course had 3 laps of 9.6-mile loop and a 2.2-mile out-and-back section. First lap was supposed to be run in counter clock-wise and then next two laps were left for our choice either clock-wise or counter clock-wise. After 3 laps, we went out 1.1 miles in counter clock-wise and came back to complete 50 Km distance.

There were a little more than 160 runners at the start line including 1-loopers, 2-loopers, and 50 Km runners. We all started at the same time at 7:30 am running down very steep hill section. There were more up & down hills than I anticipated, but they were mostly short hills so that I could manage them. The trail condition was getting worse as the rain added more muddy puddles. When I finished the first lap, I felt pretty good considering those somewhat challenging hills and the first lap time of 1 hr 26 min which was 4 min faster than my target lap time. I refilled only one of the two empty flasks that I consumed during the first lap, because I still had two untouched ones on my belt and thought three would be enough for the next lap. I grabbed a small piece of PB&J and a cookie, and then headed out for more running.

During the second lap, my shoes got soaked and I felt uncomfortable especially on my right foot as swollen skins were wearing out, but it didn't bother me too much not to keep my pace. I could see many people began to run in opposite direction (clock-wise) and said hello to them. When I entered western section of the loop, I noticed the narrow trail was too muddy or watery to run through there. I stepped out of the trail and ran along the shoulder of the paved road. Fortunately, there was no traffic while passing that section for the entire time of the race. As I approached toward the aid station, I noticed I drank all the liquid that I had. All 3 flasks. I had to run faster to get some water for the next 1.5 miles. The official clock showed 2 hr 53 min. It meant I ran the second lap for 1 hr 27 min. I was satisfied with the consistency of the laps 1:26-1:27 that were almost same. I drank some Gatorade, ate some snacks, and refilled all 4 bottles to reload on my belt.

Start of the third lap was again with the very steep downhill. I would like the gradual down hills but this one was really painful for my legs and feet especially at Mile 20. More pains from oncoming runners were noticeable from their faces during the 3rd lap. I am sure it was not exception for me. I was okay for some hills in the northern section but I had to take a short walk break on one of the hills in the western section. My right foot was starting to scream for some obvious blisters from Mile 23. I had to take another walk break there. As my pace was becoming slow, I was passed by a woman with her dog at Mile 25 and another woman passed me at Mile 26. When I thought I was passed by yet another woman at Mile 27, I decided to pace with her. I actually ran with Beverly for the rest of the third lap and was told that first woman who passed me at Mile 25 was Mary and the 2nd one at mile 26 was Ginger who was Beverly’s neighbor and eventually became the 1st place woman in the race. The officially clock was 4 hr 30 min after three laps. There were a few other runners who looked like they just arrived from the 3rd lap and they all headed out for the final 2.2 miles to finish. I knew I was almost done but I could not immediately follow them to run just 2.2 more miles. I was very tired and needed some more rest and food. Yes, I was very hungry too. I grabbed a cookie and thought ‘hey what am I doing? I just need to finish now!’ Two of myselves were fighting and I was just watching it for a while. Finally I decided to go out and finish the race.

The steep downhill looked like a cliff for the start of 1.1 mile out section. I literally walked down slowly just not to fall down. Then slow paced run carried me to the turn-around line. Returning run was a little bit easier since I knew how long I could run until the steep uphill appeared in front of me. I crawled up the Peak K2 with the last energy left and finished the first race of the year 2010 with 50K PR time of 4:57:44.