Black Canyon 100K
The build up
Training for this race was something I was looking forward to and was intrigued about, my first winter in Colorado. I started 16 weeks out, a time I would consider optimal for me. I am my own coach and just learning the ins and outs of training for ultras. Most of my information comes from podcasts like singletrack, everyday Ultra, the swap postcast and the book “Essentials of Ultra Running” by Jason Koop. Just as a summary of my training: I hit my biggest mileage of 80 miles consistently and one week of 90 miles with my longest run of 32 miles doing 4 loops at Dowdy Draw.
My girlfriend and I traveled to phoenix on Thursday, 2 days before race day, to stay with her grandparents. Friday afternoon we drove up to packet pickup, got my bib, watched the professional panel and checked out the aid station locations so my girlfriend and I would know more of what to expect. My goal for the race was to run up to my potential pushing my pace but being smart. I thought I had the potential to run a 9 hour to 9 hour 30 minute race if everything went well. Times based on Nick Curry and Chris Harrington. Nutrition strategy of about 100 g of carbs/hour or 400 cals/hr.
Race day
Where do I start, Man what a tough sport this is. On the drive up we found out that the race got postponed 2 hours till 9:00am because of snow and possible bus issues. While lining up for the 9 am start we got told it was going to be another 30 minutes because of late buses. 9:30am rolls around and we line up. I was just taking it all in. ON YOUR MARK GET SET GO! We were off.
The first 8 miles were a mud fest, but came in at the split I wanted to. That might have been a sign from the start. Then it was downhill to bumblebee, where I hit that at the time of 2:27. Not realizing how close to the front of the pack that would put me. This is also the point where nutrition started falling off the track. The first 20 miles went good but by mile 20 my stomach felt like a water pit sloshing around. My guess is too much sodium, causing my body to not excrete the water fast enough. Also had my bottles way to concentrated, should have had one water and one tailwind instead of 2 tailwinds. I also think that the gu gels made it very sugary. This next section was pretty crusey until a couple miles out. Made it to Deep Canyon Ranch, mile 32, at 4:34 only 30 minutes slower than I planned. Really not too bad but this was the worst I felt at any point in the race. I knew my legs(quads) were trashed. I took about 5 minutes at the aid with my crew trying to game plan (survive) the 2nd half. From here on out it was mainly water, Gatorade, a few gels and Mountain Dew to fuel me to the finish, not the original plan. This was by far the worst I have felt and was only half way done.
From about mile 40-51 I found a group of 3 others who basically carried me to Table Mesa. From this point on I was just hanging on the struggle bus only having water, a couple GUs, Gatorade, and some Mountain Dew. Aid feeling a little bit better and thinking I was almost done. I went out fairly good, pushing for 5 miles and then nothing again. Each step hurt. Clicked on the head lamp and made it to the finish in a time of 10:39 74th overall. My original goal was set up for a 9:08 finish. Looking back I should have set it about 9:45 and taken it out slower.
Not what I wanted but man I learned lots, enjoyed it, and will come out stronger. I would also like to thank everyone that made this possible and supported me especially my girlfriend, Christina
I got what I came for, something that would push me mentally and physically, see ya next year!
A few things I realized:
1. I need to figure out nutrition
2. I was a lot closer to the front of the pack then I thought
3 I need to train my quads a lot more
