Aftermath of the Chuckanut 50km

I made it! Here it is Sunday, the day after the race and I am winding down from a busy day, feeling great. My legs are understandibly tired, back a wee bit tweaked, my feet sore and an overall feeling of exhaustion, nothing out of the ordinary nor nothing to be expected. I actually feel quite good, all things considered.

Friday night I ventured over to Brandon's and tried to absorb some of his entusiasm and energy. We chowed down on roasted yams and sweet potatoes, pesto pasta, chicken and bread. He has been stoked on this product by Hammer products. He went on and on how I need to include a protien in my fuel. I usually (always) have water in my pack and suck on a GU about every hour. So I went home, felt uneasy about the whole idea but decided to add some "product" to my trusty hydration pack. MMMmmmmm.... don't ever....ever try anything new on race day...

Saturday, Brandon came and picked me up at 7AM, just as Dan (who finished in 4:40!!) the neighbor with incredibly long legs, knocked on the door to offer me a ride. Oh the buzz was about town! I was incredibly calm the day of the race, I had nothing riding on the race. I made up my mind that finishing was going to be a feat and focus on completing the course. It was just a long run in the woods, and what more do I love than that? I sat in the pavilion, killing the last 40 minutes before the race. People were stashing GUs in every crevasse that they could, lubing up, and even more talking it up. Spraying about all the races that they had completed this year. It was pretty comical actually. The next thing I know, all 350 of us were standing at the start line and off we went. The first 6.5 miles are flat and fast. This provided a great warm up and at aid station 1 I was right on time coming in just under an hour. We then climbed up to Fragrance Lake which ended up being a long hike trying to keep my heart in my chest.... Left around the lake and then down the old Two Dollar trail. This section of trail is usually the first of the mud fest. I thought this year that the mud would be overwhelming but the entire race was nice and tacky. This is when I first noticed my sideache. Odd, I never get side aches, this developed into a somache ache, a royal knot in the belly. Uh oh... When we hit the bottom of $2, we climb up Cleator, the entire road! This is the part of the race that is a total mind!@#$. This part of the race makes me question why I signed up to climb Cleator, why it is that I like my legs to feel like death... at the top of Cleator lies the reason why I signed up: the Ridge Trail, one of my favorites of all time. This was the only section of trail that I can actually pass people. I love the ridge! From the entire ridge, we venture back, deeper into the Chuckanuts and head toward Lost Lake, This is a grind, steadily uphill, muddy as all hell and 8.5 miles between aid stations. In this back section, I would take a swig of the milky water elixir in my pack and moments later, my stomach would be in knots, I would bend over to relieve the cramps. WHAT! Who ever tries new things on race day anyway... crazy fools! Once cresting "too many pigs" trail we fly down an old service road and to aid station 4 and the base of the CHINSCRAPER. The icing on the Chuckanut's cake. this section of trail is probably on three miles long but there are sections of it that are no give away, all fours type of affair. Once to the top it is a breeze down the Fragrance Lake service road, past the last aid station ( where I happily had a Dixie cup of water and so desperately wanted to drop my pack with someone so I wouldn't even tempt myself with the fluid that was contained in it) and back up the Interurban. This was the hardest part of the race for me. I felt every step. All I wanted to do was walk, walk, walk! "The faster you run the sooner you are done..." was on repeat in my head. I didn't want to walk because that means that it would be drawn out longer than I wanted to be doing it. I was alone, passing just a couple of people struggling, I had to just tip my hand and pass, I couldn't bear to look at them because I felt the same way. The last six miles are unreal, I know what it feels like to run six miles, it is casual, I fire off 8 before work. But the last six miles is insane. Then the last two miles are even more grueling. They just on and one, then before I knew it I made the last left hand turn into Fairhaven park, I can hear the PA system, then I hear them announce #238: Michelle Stiles. WOW I made it yet again! I see the crowd and get a 2Nd wind (I am actually probably on my 17Th wind by now) and cruise on into the finish line. John was the first person in the crowd I saw clapping, then noticed that he was surrounded by our friends: Andy, Az, Joe.... Ah how sweet. The finish light was the sweetest feeling of the day!

Ahhh... another year under my belt, another race chalked up and I am stronger because of it!

Thanks every one for the encouragement and support!

Butterflies in the tummy

This is what I read this morning about the race:

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Posted 3/17

We are getting close! I am looking forward to seeing all of you this weekend. We have an amazing list of Volunteers thanks to Cheryl Batty who has coordinated each and everyone. This race (any race) is not possible without the help of volunteers. Please be sure to thank them throughout the day!


WEATHER: The forecast is for rather wet and cold weather, quite normal for this race, but with no drop bags this year, please consider that showers are possible and it could be very cold up on the ridge. There very likely will still be snow for several miles on the course, maybe considerable new wet snow, and slushy icewater unavoidably right in the middle of the trail. With no drop bags, runners will need to take enough clothes to be OK for the duration.


With that in mind, we do not recommend that a runner bring expensive or favorite jackets or other clothing unless you plan on wearing/carrying it the whole time. Although race management tries their best to get everything back to the start, we stress that there is NO guarantee that runner's personal gear will be returned in a timely manner or at all, and therefore runners should be careful what they wear if they plan on leaving anything along the way. You leave it at your own risk. Thanks for understanding this point. There are 350 runners and a very small group of volunteers coordinating this event, please be responsible for your items.

***
I will live, I know. How many times have I been out running in the snow this winter. Every weekend in fact, probably almost every long run and even bike ride has been endured in the snow/rain chit. So I have it on all those people who trained solely on treadmills, I can handle the gunky trails.
To get me even more stoked, an old running buddy invited me to run on the peninsula this May with her.
Here is the plan:

"I also wanted to see if you would like to run out on the peninsula from
Whiskey Bend to the North Quinalt maybe in late May. I did it two summers
ago and it was fun and fast! Rolling hills with one climb over Whatcom Pass.
Its 42 miles and it took 9 hours last time. I'm running a bit slower these
days, so you might have to be patient with me. There are a few river
crossings toward the end. But by that time, you don't really care about wet
feet anymore. The first 26 miles is a gradual incline and the last 16 a fast
down down down plummet!

Let me know if your interested! I need some kind of long run to look forward
too. We could even do the Hannagen Pass to Diablo Damn. Its longer, a lot
harder, but there is still quiet a bit of snow up there till Aug.
Let me know if your somewhat interested!"

Okay, so maybe I could get excited to start running again, especially with that to look forward to!

Recharging of the soul

Yesterday was my spontainious long run day in prep for the Chuckanut. I resisted the urge to go for a pedal with John, Andy, and Bryan who also went into the Chuckanuts. I am just too slow for those guys anyway. After I had talked to someone else who is doing the race this year and he was telling me he was planning on making his long run the course of the race without the 12 mile of the Interurban trail I felt like that would be worthy of my time. So I decided to do it yesterday.
Yesterday I bundled up, stowed 4 granola bars in my pack, water, andmy trusty Ipod. **note this is the first time that I left Natasha at home. She is just not game anymore** Off I went, up to Fragrance lake, down Two Dollar, up Cleator, down the full Ridge, out to Lost Lake, up Too Many Pigs, down the service road to Chinscrapper **uhg!** which popped out at the top of Cleator again, down the road to Frangrance Lake, down the service road to the trusty van! Up, down,
20 miles later, over 5 hours of trail under my belt, a day on the trails recharged my soul, I built confidence as I ran more and more of the hills, yes I can do anything!
I crashed last night. I came home and showered and couldn't seem to muster the energy to do anything but curl up in bed. I just cannot recover like I did in the past years. I think as my body gets back in the grove, I will recover faster. The day after hurts bad... in a good way. I think that I have close to 1,000 calories... and it isn't ever 8:30 am!!!

Sunday adventures

In prep for an afternoon of football watching, pizza eating, chip munching and some good heckling, John and I went for a grand tour of the Chuckanuts this morning. Whooped that is what I am. I have grown accustomed to Galbi, know the trails well, cruise control. The Chuckanuts are an entire different ball of wax.
We parked in Arroyo Park, pedaled out the Interurban Trail, a lovely grind to the TOP of Cleator Road. From the top, we had a good view even on a cloudy day, and I must not forget the two inches of snow that remained frozen on the ground. We then ducked into the woods, giggling all the way down Double Black Diamond. At the bottom my eyes filled with tears, my hands were so cold, I was pretty sure that I wanted to call it then but we charged back up the hill which got the blood moving again and we were ready to continue on. We pedaled back up the Fragrance Lake connector, zipped down Cleator, rode the lower ridge, and finished it up with the new Hush Hush trail off of the Sala trail. I drug my ass to the car, tired, John was so stoked he was all smiles.
The whole point of this long description was the fact that the ride was perfect. It was a bit too cold for me, yes it was snowing for like the 5Th weekend ride in a row, but the trails.... the trails were perfect! We got back to the car without a drop of mud. For the Chuckanuts in February..... incredible. The trails were dry. Perfect conditions. Dry trail conditions make riding the ridge a lot more fun.
So we went home, I ate about a thousand calories, tried to comfort my tired body and mind, opting out of football for some peace and quiet, yoga and of course The Wire.