Friday, May 20, 2011

McDonald Forest 50K - 2011 vs 2010

After running the McDonald Forest 50K 6 days after the Eugene Marathon last year, I figured I could easily run the 50K faster this year...but I didn't...luckily I have the mile splits from both years to see what happened.

Mile 1 - The first mile was quite a bit slower this year...I just felt like I should not be in the lead pack with Max King.
7:21 ----- 6:38

Mile 2 - Very disturbed that I can still even see the lead pack.
7:48 ----- 7:27

Mile 3 - Started to climb...I wore my heartrate monitor this year and noticed it was getting pretty high, so I did some hiking. I can't remember how much of the hill I hiked last year...it seemed like less.
10:18 ----- 9:56

Mile 4 - Topped out on Powderhouse and started coming down...I caught up to Jason Hill who was confused by an arrow pointing back the way we had just come from. I convinced him that I knew where I was going and he followed me.
8:29 ----- 7:11

Mile 5 - Cruised down the gravel road...a little more slowly this year.
7:07 ----- 6:46

Mile 6 - Hit the Old Growth trail and New Growth trail. Jason Hill is pulling away. In my opinion, the New Growth trail, which is a new addition to the 50K course, adds about 45 seconds.
7:32 ----- 6:47

Mile 7 - Nothing but a blur of cowbells and train whistles...hit the aid station and began the climb on the west side of Lewisberg Saddle. I figure I was at least 5 minutes slower to the first aid station this year.
10:15 ----- 8:40

Mile 8 - Headed down Alpha trail.
7:36 ----- 7:26

Mile 9 - And onto the gravel road. Caught back up to Jason Hill, but soon lost him again...for good.
6:52 ----- 6:24

Mile 10 - Began climbing and entered the Maze. I'm thinking..."here's where all the hiking I've been doing pays off." It seemed to make a bigger difference in the second half of the Maze. Also passed April and her wedding party just before entering the Maze.
13:01 ----- 13:19

Mile 11 - Out of the Maze and onto Extendo trail. Last year this is where I caught up to my neighbor Dominic Cusimano who had taken the early start...and this year was no different! That's back-to-back finishes for him at 60 and 61 years old. I can only hope to be running 50Ks into my sixties.
8:56 ----- 8:53



Mile 12 - Continued down Extendo trail to the second aid station. I was trying to push it on the downs this year...this was the first time I could tell based on the splits. Was able to catch Jason Hawthorne here...heck, the guy had just completed an Ironman the weekend before. Surely he would be taking the next weekend off...
7:08 ----- 7:39

Mile 13 - Propelled up Uproute by cowbells and train whistles.
9:15 ----- 8:58



Mile 14 - Topped out on Uproute and back into the Maze.
9:29 ----- 10:19

Mile 15 - Wow, maybe the hiking did pay off.
11:17 ----- 12:55

Mile 16 - That's almost a 3 minute gain in 2 miles. Ended up passing Matthew Carrell and David Larson somewhere in this stretch.
12:00 ----- 13:11

Mile 17 - Out of the Maze and onto the gravel road. This is where Dennis Gamroth is usually stationed with his truck. He told me there was a guy who was hurt and walking not too far ahead. As I started up the hill I began to wonder where the heck is this guy. Either he's walking really fast or I'm running really slow. It turned out to be Chris Rennaker and I didn't catch him for well over a mile.
11:43 ----- 11:22

Mile 18 - Headed up the gravel road to Dimple Hill. This is always a lively aid station. Everyone was in a giving mood.
9:12 ----- 9:02



Mile 19 - Down Dan's Trail...I really wanted to run this section better than in past races.
7:27 ----- 8:16

Mile 20 - Very happy to see a sub-7 minute mile.
6:44 ----- 7:42

Mile 21 - My momentum was still carrying me.
8:36 ----- 9:34

Mile 22 - Maybe I got a little carried away heading to Chip Ross aid station?
8:26 ----- 10:02

Mile 23 - Had a little trouble coming out of the Chip Ross aid station. Tried to take a couple SCaps, but couldn't get them down. My stomach was starting to rebel. Got some motivation from the cowbells and train whistles, but I felt like the wheels were starting to come off. I let the Pain Train know this when I saw him on the out-and-back.
9:44 ----- 8:41



Mile 24 - Hit Lower Horse trail. This is going to be a grind.
10:35 ----- 11:59

Mile 25 - I felt like I walked a lot more of the Horse trails this year, but overall I may have been a little faster than last year.
12:47 ----- 12:37

Mile 26 - Thank God for gravity. Made it back to the Saddle aid station. The cowbells and train whistles were motivating right until they were out of sight. I was out of gas.
7:18 ----- 7:23



Mile 27 - When I hit this mile I made a mental note..."I am so ready to be done."
10:07 ----- 8:47

Mile 28 - I struggled up the gravel road. There was a lady on a bike going back and forth giving me updates. She said no one behind me was even close which actually made me let up a little. One of the next times by, she mentioned someone was walking the downhill up ahead. This motivated me...I figured I could probably catch this person if they were walking the downhill.
11:42 ----- 10:22

Mile 29 - So I ran the downhill pretty well, but it took everything out of me. I did catch the walker...it was Will Kalenius. At the time, I didn't realize he was ahead of me, but after the race I guessed he may have dropped out earlier in the race and just decided to walk back to the finish.
7:20 ----- 7:18

Mile 30 - Really struggling here. This is supposed to be fun, right?
10:51 ----- 9:47

Mile 31 - Todd Janssen comes flying by me with probably about a half mile to go. I thought no one was even close! Great run, Todd. You're running really well!
9:45 ----- 7:42



Finish - So let's see...I lost at least 5 minutes in the first 7 miles and probably more than 5 minutes in the last 4 miles...there's always next year.
4:46:16 ----- 4:42:45



Saturday, May 14, 2011

McDonald Forest 50K

This is about how I felt at the end of the race today.



I'd like to give a superbad shoutout to Eric, Gene, and Roger for coming out to support me. Thanks, guys!