I’ve done a few races since I wrote up my experience at Hellgate in December. I managed 3:50 at the Black Mountain Marathon (good for 5thOA), 6:12 at Belmonte 50K (5thOA), and 5:52 at Promised Land 50K+ (15thOA). Each of these races was unique and amazing in their own right, but work and life got in the way of writing any kind of report afterwards. Suffice to say that I am pretty psyched to have laid down some solid efforts to start off 2019. I had some time this morning and the post Dam Yeti 50K stoke is still pretty high, so I figured I’d get some thoughts down because as John Andersen recently reminded me in his post-Massanutten write up (link here), I might want to look back on things in the future. So here goes:
Since I pulled the plug on doing Hellbender 100 back January because I just wasn’t feeling recovered from Hellgate enough to really dive into a 100 mile training block, I started actually feeling recovered (both mentally and physically) to run as much as time would allow. That translated into some really solid running over the last few months, and I feel like my results thus far were rewarding me for letting go of one big goal for the year in the service of enjoying all the others. The result is that I showed up for Dam Yeti feel psyched and ready to roll. Admittedly, I hadn’t really done the kind of speedwork you would expect from someone with sub 4-hour goals for a 50K. But, I had logged over 1,000 miles and 110,000 feet of vert (is it real?) since January.
After a hectic day (long story of a lost and since found wallet) of getting ready to head down to Damascus, Chris Larson and I met up in Abingdon to hit packet pick-up and scarf some pizza before bed. All the normal race preliminaries went well (solid sleep, pop-tart breakfast), and Chris and I lined up for Jason Green’s perfect pre-race speech, which was basically: This ain’t no road race. Go have fun and do your thing- whatever that is. Note here: If you haven’t done a Yeti Trail Runners race yet, get on it. The vibe is off the charts good. Jason Green says that his success is defined by the runners’ success, and he lives that statement out.
Now for the actual racing:
Chris Larson and I lined up in the front row ready to roll. As usual I was the only guy with a 30- inch inseam in the front row, and maybe there was one other guy (looking at you Alex) who looked like he might have darkened the door of a weight room at some point in his life. When Jason said GO!, we went. Reasonably hard.
The guy on the far left above (photo credit: Jesse Kokotek), put in a little dig. Chris and I just let him sit about 25 yards off the front and settled into a comfortable pace clocking low 7s and touching high 6s for the long, gradual downhill from Whitetop Station. We cruised along in normal Chris and Trevor fashion- talking a little but mostly just clicking off miles together. Before long 2 super fast doods (Alex: yellow shirt and sweet beard above, and Nick) rolled up to join us. They were both shooting for 6 hours in the 50 mile race that started with us. We formed a nice little chase group of four guys who like to talk smack and joke around, instead of being all business. Like Jason said: This ain’t no road race.
The miles clicked off and Chris and I were stoked to be comfortably running a solid sub-4 hour pace. Alex kept us laughing and also helped us keep cool heads when the leader put in another dig and widened the gap. If you happen to read this, Alex: Thanks for the entertainment and the tactical advice. It all paid off.
Our 4-man chase stayed together until mile 18ish where Alex and Nick pulled off the trail to get aid. Chris and I pushed on pretty sure that Alex and Nick would chase us down before too long. A few miles later, Alex returned. He continued to reassure us that we’d catch the leader if we kept cool heads. After a mile or so, he took off to chase his time goal. Chris and I continued to feel strong even as the sun came out and our pace slowed a bit. Things stayed basically uninteresting until we hit the turnaround at Alvarado.
As we pulled into the Alvarado AS, the leader took off towards the finish. We also got caught by Matthew Johnson (guy on the far right with legs that come up to my chest in the start photo). Chris said he didn’t need any more water and he was just going to roll. I was out of fluids and wanted a fresh bottle of water and a bottle of ginger ale. I was in-and-out in less than 30 seconds, but Chris used that time to put a solid gap on me. Then, a mile from Alvarado, Matthew pulled up next to me to chat for a minute. He asked our pace, and I managed to say: No clue. But sub-4 looks good. He promptly loped away from me like a gazelle.
Now, I found myself off the podium 4thplace and in no-man’s-land chasing the leaders. I chugged some ginger ale, ate a gel, told myself to be cool, and started pulling the string slowly to shut down the gap.
I was SURE I could at least pull Chris back and we could duke it out for 3rd. I was SURE we would go sub 4. I didn’t feel great, but I wasn’t blowing up. So, I kept pushing.
The thing about running on the VA Creeper trail is that you can see FOREVER. It isn’t like a normal trail race where your sight lines are limited. I was able to see the 3 guys I was chasing. The gap was easy to see. The size of the gap is harder to judge. But, I just tried to keep a cool head.
Eventually, I was able to see Matthew pass Chris and then the guy who’d been leading the race all day. Slowly, as Chris moved into second, I tucked in behind 3rd, gathered myself for a push, and passed him with some authority (it’s not a road race, but it’s a race). Now, it was time to chase Chris.
Out of the shadows popped Jordan Chang with words of encouragement and splits to Chris. It’s like Jordy knew the perfect time to show up and make me hold myself accountable to racing all the way to the finish. There was no way I could slow down now. Jordy would have probably punched me if I tried. So, I chased. I had the sensation of someone trying to hold on to the tail of a dragon. I was hurting. It was hot. My legs felt like rubber. The ground felt like glue. So, I ate a gel and pushed. The gap to Chris got small with 3 miles to go, and I passed him soon after. We mumbled things to each other. I kept going.
Jordy showed up again. Told me to keep going. I did. I knew that reality was catching up to me, and there was no way I was gonna catch Matt. But, never one to let facts get in the way of a good race, I chased anyway. The last two miles felt like an eternity. I pushed myself to run harder, but the pace kept slowing. I came back into Damascus a with a few ticks before 4 hours left. I looked at my watch, and couldn’t believe it. WHERE HAD MY CUSHION GONE? HOW WAS I GOING TO MISS 4 HOURS?
I still have no idea where I lost that time, but I rolled up to the finish area at 4:01. My disappointment quickly dissipated when I saw Ginger holding PT on the side of the trail. Second place solidly in hand, I stopped to give them both a kiss.
Then I jogged over to get a hug from Jason Green under the finish banner.
4:02:19. Not my fastest 50K (4:00:47). Not sub 4 hours. But, maybe one of my most satisfying races in quite some time (Promised Land this year will be tough to top). I had fun with Chris and Alex. I got to see my family at the finish. I got to put 4 months of running whatever I felt like running to good use. Yes, I ended up smashing the whole carton of eggs. It was messy. But the omelet was tasty. A podium finish doesn’t happen often for a guy who probably eats too much pizza and ice cream and spent the 90’s lifting weights with my fellow jarheads, so I savored the hell out of it. And I will for a while.
Oh yeah, the rainbows:
The Yeti scene is half trail run, half party. This crew is all about giant Yeti statues, unicorns, and rainbows. I like these people. They know how to have fun on the trail and keep it all in perspective. Nothing is too serious. If you start taking it too seriously at one of these races, you are quickly reminded by unicorn costumes and rainbows that adorn most everyone’s race day attire that one shouldn’t take anything in life too seriously. I think I like it because racing, for me, is usually about chasing mythical stuff: Goals that I’ve set that really don’t mean much in the grand scheme of life. The rainbows that are ubiquitous in Yeti culture are a nice reminder that it’s the pursuit of a goal that holds the beauty. You may or may not ever find that pot of gold. But, if you’re looking for them, you can see the occasional rainbow and enjoy your chase. So, I’ll keep looking for rainbows to admire and pots of gold to search for along the way.
As always big thanks to Ginger for the support. Having your family at the finish line of a race is really the most amazing pot of gold at the end of any rainbow. And it’s one you can always be sure you’ll find if keep things in perspective and make sure family comes first. I’ll take hugs from Ginger and PT over a podium finish every time. If I can get both once in a while, that’s cool too.
Thanks to Chris Larson for another exquisite day of shared struggle. Clicking off miles with you is the stuff, brother.
Thanks to Alex for the tactical advice and entertainment. Great job out there.
Thanks to Jordy for keeping me honest, believing in me, and the photos.
Thanks to Jason Green and the Yeti Army (Cult?) for an incredible race experience. Believe this: I’m PUMPED for Yeti 100 in September.
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