some variables to try and account for included the temperature (low 40s), the weather (mist/rain) the trail conditions (rumored to be wet/muddy/horseshitty), and the fact that the run was at late afternoon into night and it was going to get dark fast. I packed practically as much gear for this one run as i did for my entire week in Berlin. 3 changes of running clothes (T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, socks, shoes), 2 jackets, 1 towel, GPS watch, Ipod, gloves, hat, headlamp, flashlight, buff, dinner/snacks, water, etc.
it was actually a smaller event that i anticipated. looking at the registered bib numbers, there were 97 solo 50k runners, 6 pair relays, and 7 team relays. Jess brought a lawn chair, we set up our gear in a corner of the gear tent. it worked well. Jess took the first lap. it was pretty crowded (the 5 and 10 mile runners doing 1 or 2 loops were pretty thick). i took the second lap, when things really started to open up. it was mostly light for my lap, and i was able to get the feel of the trail. it was not very technical (mostly horse trails through the woods) but was fairly muddy. after Jess took lap 3, my next lap was fully dark. it was a little slower because i hit every bit of mud (no getting around it in the dark at speed). it got pretty lonesome fast as we got down to only the 50k'ers out there. i really felt alone for most of my run. maybe passed 3-5 runners each lap, but never saw anybody in between. for my final lap i chugged a noxplode and tried to open it up. not a lot of gas in the tank, but my 3rd lap was only a minute or so slower than my first lap (when i was fresh and it was light out).
after every lap i ran, i was able to change into dry shirts, eat some food, drink some water, sit in the chair or stand next to the propane heater, and just generally recover. I ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup or so of trail mix, and a Gu Roctane after each lap. i wore one pair of shoes/socks for the first 2 laps, then switched out to the clean and dry pair for the final lap. my new headlamp was just fine, i didn't bother to bring the flashlight.
No, we did not win. For dual teams, we came in 3rd. The winning team was Uli Steidl and his wife Trish. Uli has won the Seattle marathon something like 10 times. The Steidls set the Bridle Trails 50k relay Course Record 10 years ago, and came back to set a new one on Saturday night. They spanked us royally. But the 2nd place team was only 14 minutes ahead of us (only about 30 seconds per mile faster). The next team after us was about an hour longer than us. So I think we held our own. More importantly, though, we both had a blast.
so in retrospect I think the plan worked out as expected. having some recovery time let me run each lap almost fresh. i didn't see any real loss in performance from the 1st lap to the 3rd. but it was difficult. getting cold and stiff after each lap was cumulative. my lower back was really aching by my final lap. i got really stiff and sore, and i really felt it the next morning when i went out for my recovery run. stiff/sore hips/hamstrings/lower back. but in all this was a really fun run, and i had a great time. i think i picked up some valuable experience that will help me pack my gear bags for the gear drop areas of the gorge waterfall 50k in march.
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