Running, Trail run

Rattlesnake Ridge Run 50k Race Report

I ran my first 50k in 2010, and second in 2011. I had injury and illness issues the next two years. The Rattlesnake Ridge Run 50k was my third in as many months, bringing me up to five. They’ve been increasingly difficult races as I prepare for potentially running my first 50 miler at the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run.

I woke up at 4:50 am, not much later than I had been getting to sleep. It wasn’t too bad after taking a few days getting up earlier and a little melatonin. I prepared everything the night before, as I am not much of a morning person.

I had my usual 1 quart glass of water with some rosehip powder. I blended up a small smoothie of two frozen bananas, one beet, some spinach and water to take with me. I loaded up all my stuff, got the dogs in the car and headed out by 5:30.

My yard isn’t fenced, and I didn’t want to leave my dogs locked up in the house for potentially up to 10 hours. A friend from my old neighborhood just down the road from the race location dog sat for me. He owns my pups’ mom and some other dogs so they got to play for the day. I arrived there to drop the dogs at 6:45.

I reached Rattlesnake Lake and parked just before 7:00, checked in, put my drop bags in the proper spots and got ready. The drop bag going to aid station two at the turnaround on the other side of the mountain had two bananas, a bottle of homemade dateorade, some salt caps, sunglasses, and a hat. The drop bag staying at the start/finish line, also aid station four, had two bananas and a bottle of dateorade.

It was a little chilly when I got there, but was supposed to be in the mid to upper 70s later in the day. I decided to wear thin gloves to start the race. My hand sometimes get cold and stiff even when the rest of me warms up from running. I had two 20 ounce handheld water bottles, one water, one dateorade. The handheld straps have pockets. In one were five pitted dates in a sandwich bag. In the other were salt caps in a sandwich bag and my car keys. I also wore my Ultimate Direction Scott Jurek Essential belt. I don’t use both large pockets because it always sits off-centered, throwing off weight distribution, which caused some calf problems earlier in the year. But it’s great for carrying my phone in the water resistant pocket and ID in the small pocket. Then it rides with my phone centered in the back and the small pocket centered up front.

The race got started a few minutes late. I think there were 47 or so runners starting. The course began with a short out and back on the gravel railroad grade Snoqualmie Valley trail before going around Rattlesnake Lake to start the first climb.

I tried to take it easy early, but found myself passing people anyway. I think I was just a tad overconfident about the climbing and maybe a little caught up in the competition. I probably should have hiked more earlier in the race. That first climb is fairly steep at about 1100 ft over 1.5 miles. Then it lets up a little bit, but continues rolling generally upwards until topping out at a bit over 3500 ft elevation. For a few miles, I and several other guys ran within sight distance for the most part.

A little less than 6 miles in was the first aid station. I was there with two other guys. I had just about finished both bottles, and refilled both with straight water, drank water from one of the paper cups they had on the table, took a salt cap, grabbed two dates to chew on and headed out. Just as I was leaving, another guy with a hydration vest came through the aid station without stopping. I could hear him close behind me. The trail soon started descending, and I let gravity take over.

I started flying downhill, and I soon lost contact. There was another climb before the big descent down toward the turnaround at the second aid station. By this time I had gotten into a run/hike rhythm for the steep sections that I should have started from the beginning.

At 9:30, the half marathon was scheduled to start from Snoqualmie Point Park, where the 50k turnaround point was. In order to try to minimize traffic jams, the 50k turned onto a gravel road for the last part of the descent. It came out just downhill on to the road into the park. The short hill on the road up to the park was tougher than it should have been. As I turned onto the road, I caught a glimpse of the guy with the hydration vest gaining on me. I gained a little ground on that small hill, but he blew through the aid station again.

I finished both bottles again. I refilled one with water. I got into my drop bag, swapped the dateorade bottle, ate a banana, and grabbed my sunglasses. I started back out walking to finish my banana and took two salt caps.

The trail immediately started heading back up. At this point, I realized I went out too hard up that first climb. A few minutes in, I started passing half marathoners. I started hiking more of the steeper sections. I was able to hike pretty efficiently and looking at my GPS data afterwards, I didn’t lose much time over those sections compared to running them.

Somewhere before hitting that first aid station again, my mental state started going pretty low. I hadn’t felt that great the whole race, even though I hit the turnaround well before I expected. I entertained thoughts of quitting a number of times, but I wasn’t hurt or really suffering that much physically. At one point, I even questioned if I ever wanted to do another long race, and possibly even quit running completely. Unfortunately, I was in and out of that mental space for a lot of the last half of the race.

When I hit the first/third aid station, I refilled both bottles with water again, ate two dates, took two salt caps and continued on.

I can’t remember exactly where, but one of the guys who was at aid station one at the same time I was caught up to me somewhere in this section. We ran together and chatted for a little while. It was a nice pick-me-up. I doubt he’ll read this, but thanks Jeff. Soon, I could tell that I wasn’t going to hang with him and still have enough left in me to finish well. So I bid him good luck and resumed my own run/hike strategy.

The next couple miles are a bit of a blur. I know I passed a few more half marathoners. I alternated hiking and running on some of the steeper sections. Then finally I hit the descent of the initial climb.

By this time, hikers had just about taken over the trail. The vast majority were very courteous, allowing runners to pass. Unfortunately, they often stepped aside on the smooth, level part of the trail, leaving the rocky and/or rooted portion for passing. A combination of tired legs and trying to pay attention to what or who was ahead on the trail lead to me tripping four times on the descent while passing people. Fortunately, I was able to keep on my feet the first three times. I fell the last time, though. Thankfully, I didn’t fall hard and landed on my backside in the bushes on the uphill side of the trail. The soft landing wasn’t bad at all, but my left calf immediately cramped up. The young woman who I landed next to asked if I was alright. I think I said I was fine, but I don’t know how coherent I was as I tried to get my calf to unseize. I got back up, it relaxed, and I went on my way much more attentive to the trail.

There were a couple occasions that I had to stop and wait for hikers. The first was only a few seconds as one small group coming up passed another going down. The next time, though, it was a very large group of probably about 30+ hikers coming up past a group of about 6 in a narrow section of trail. It seemed like it took about a minute for the stream of people to finish. Meanwhile, the half marathoner that I had passed a while back caught up with me. After that delay, I started calling out “runner” much earlier and more loudly than I had been previously only calling out “on your left.” There were a couple small children that I had to dodge after that, but no more delays.

Once at the bottom, I had to use the restroom and decided to use one on the trail side of the lake, in case there were lines at the start/finish/aid station four.

At the fourth aid station, I refilled my water bottle. I replaced my dateorade bottle and grabbed a banana from my drop bag. I took two salt caps. I also left my shirt there, as it had warmed up a bit. The other guy came through who had also been at the first aid station at the same time as me. I left just before him.

The last approximately 9 miles were on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. It was about 400ft descent out to the turnaround and final aid station, then ascent on the return. Within the first mile of that, the guy from the aid station slowly passed me. I thought about trying to keep up, but I was feeling pretty low again and just wanted to keep the pace I had going. I was running around 9-9:20/mi pace on the way out.

After another mile or so, I started seeing the 50k leaders returning. First was a guy that had been in the group that was loosely together going up the first ascent. Then a few more. Then Jeff. Shortly after that, I saw a guy who was obviously having a rough time. He was alternating walking and running, but when he was walking, he’d reach down and massage his calves. As I passed, I asked if he was cramping and wished him good luck.

I finally made it to the turnaround, which happened to be where the trail intersects with a road in the neighborhood in which I grew up. I dumped the small amount of water left in my water only bottle over my head just before the aid station. Again, I refilled both bottles with water, drank another small paper cup of water, ate my last date, and took two salt caps. The guy who had passed me was there when I arrived and another guy got there shortly after I did. The guy who passed me left, with me following shortly after.

I really wanted to give chase, but I just didn’t have it in me. I started slowing down to around 10-10:30/mi pace. A mile or two later, I glanced back and saw the other guy from the last aid station only about 200 yards behind me. Only a few minutes prior, I couldn’t see him when I looked back. So, I forced myself to run faster, when I really wanted to walk instead. I got back down to around 9:30/mi pace. I was still feeling pretty low, but I was in a race. It gave me something else to concentrate on for a while, which helped a little.

I know that section of trail quite well from back in the day, but I remembered it being much flatter than it seemed on the final leg of the race. I was going to do what I could to not get passed again. This was not like some of my long runs where 3-5 hours seems like no time has passed and I couldn’t recall any specific thoughts. There was no losing myself in the moment on those last 3-4 miles.

It turned out to be fast enough to keep my spot. I finished 10th overall in 5:31:15. It was a few minutes faster than my first 50k, which was on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail with only 1000 ft gain. The Rattlesnake Ridge 50k had 6500 ft gain. I went in with a goal of finishing under 6 hours. I’m incredibly pleased with how well I ran, especially given how awful I felt at times. But I guess that’s what happens when you push your limits.

After the race, I met and spoke with some other runners. Several talked about running White River and asked if I planned to. I’m pretty sure I’ll give it a shot. I hope to see them there and maybe run with them.

Now, several days removed, all the discomfort and negative thoughts have been dulled by time. Remaining is the joy of running in the woods, running up and down mountains, the competition, and the sense of accomplishment. Northwest Trail Runs put on a great race. The course was well marked. The aid station volunteers were helpful, and the aid stations looked well stocked. The volunteers at the road crossings did a great job too. And at the finish line, they had quite a spread of food, with a volunteer manning a grill. I stuck to water and watermelon myself.

I think I’ll go back for more next year.

What I Used
*Altra Lone Peak 1.5 shoes – I was very happy with the shoes.
*Garmin Forerunner 305 – GPS turned itself off and missed a little over a mile and a little gain.
*Discontinued Ironman handheld bottle carry straps
*20 ounce Water bottles made by Trek for Road Runner Sports
*Dateorade – 13 ounce baking dates, 1 yellow beet, 2 bananas, small handful spinach, water. Blended in my Vitamix. Evenly poured into 3 water bottles, topped off with water.
*Saltstick Caps
*5 medjool dates
*2.5 bananas
*180 ounces water – This may seem like a lot, but I normally drink a lot of water. I only peed once during the race and once shortly after the race. I drank another 40 ounces or so after the race, which resulted in stopping twice for a restroom on the drive home.

Running

June 16-22, 2014 Practice Running

As long as I remember to do so, I plan to write a weekly post summarizing my running for the previous week.

Monday, June 16, 2014, 6:06pm
7 mi, 1017 ft gain, 1:12:21. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs.

I bought new shoes the day before. Took 3 stores to find them, but I got some Altra Lone Peak 1.5s. I was kind of antsy to get in some vert, even though I was tapering for a 50k on June 22. I tested the shoes out in the tree farm that I run at a lot. Turned around short of Wallace Lake by a mile or so. I tested the shoes on a few things, including climbing and descending a couple 30ft high rock piles in a rock pit that the logging company uses for putting in roads. The first pile was fist sized rock. The second pile was half inch or smaller gravel. The shoes were great. They have a little more cushion than I’m used to, coming from the New Balance MT1010v2. I think they’ll be good for long runs.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014, 7:12pm
5.9 mi, 265 ft gain, 58:23. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2. With dogs.

Wore the Lone Peaks again. I ordered a pair of Altra Superior 1.5s, but they hadn’t arrived yet. I went up one small hill, then out to the bridge over Olney Creek and let the dogs splash around for a few minutes. Then back up the small hill again and returned to the car. Shoes were good.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014, 7:15pm
6.4 mi, 336 ft gain, 1:09:24. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2. With dogs.

Went up the small hill, then through the trail connecting to the road from gate #3 and out a little ways. Then out to Olney Creek for the dogs to play a little bit. Then continued out to the end of the road at the wetland. Then back to the car. First run in the Superior 1.5s. I liked them a lot. A little lighter than the Lone Peaks. Seem to have a little better grip on flat rocks, probably due to more surface area in contact. I haven’t worn either in mud yet.

Friday, June 19, 2014, 6:41pm
5.4 mi 682 ft gain, 1:08:15. Kellogg lake Tree Farm Gate #2. With dogs.

This was the day that sparked the post about people shooting in the woods. I ran out to Olney Creek and played a little fetch with the dogs. Then rather than going up the small hill toward the gunfire, I headed the other direction up the bigger hill. The road continues over this hill to connect to the road from gate #1. I turned around just after starting down the other side. Wore the Superior 1.5s. I intentionally stepped on rocks periodically to see how it felt without the rockplate. No complaints. I still need to figure out the best lacing method.

Sunday, June 22, 2014, 7:30am
Rattlesnake Ridge Run 50k

Race report to follow in separate post.

Weekly totals
55.6 mi, 8753 ft gain, 8h 56m

I ran my highest weekly mileage total ever. My previous high was 48 mi the week of my 50k last month. I felt like I held back considerably during the week being the week of a 50k. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at how well I’m adapting to and recovering from increasing mileage.

Running, Safety

That’s No Starter Pistol

I live in a pretty great place for trail running. I’m in a small town in the Skykomish River valley, on the western edge of the Cascades. I have an awesome state park with trail head 3 miles from my door. National Forest is just up the highway 15 minutes or so. And there are all kinds of logging and Forest Service roads on some of the hills and mountains around town too.

I love to hit the trails. The popular trails are nice for encouragement from hikers, restroom facilities, and the trails usually get regular maintenance. I love the more secluded trails too. I like the solitude of no one else being around. I don’t, however, like taking my dogs on runs with me on popular trails because of the crowds. And I don’t really like taking them on other official trails because, while they are pretty good at staying out of the way on leash, the terrain and trails don’t always accommodate running with two leashed dogs. They tend to start thinking they own the place when they haven’t seen anyone for a while, and tend to run up barking at people when off leash. A couple barks and they’re done, but those other people don’t know that when two dogs are running up to them. They also have very strong prey instincts and will chase after just about any wildlife.

So, I run a lot on old logging and Forest Service roads. I have a couple gates that I usually park at, and from there I have many options for just about any length of run I want. I prefer to run starting at a gate with no other parked cars. There are quite a few in the area, so I can move on to the next if need be. I like to let the dogs run off leash when possible, and these roads don’t see a lot of other use. If there are other people, the width of the roads and more regular surface makes it easier to run with them on leash, and to pass other people, sometimes also with dogs.

So few people using the logging roads, which makes it great for running with my dogs off leash, also makes the area popular with people to go shooting. Even though there are signs posted at all the gates and places that have been popular for shooting, people still go out there.

There are a couple spots that I avoid, because so many people shoot out there. But I’ve still had a couple close calls.

People try to be safe, but they often just don’t know the area well enough to know that beyond the trees, or stump, up the hill, or over the gravel pile that they’re shooting at is another road or trail.

Last year, I had a friend come out from Seattle to go running with me. I left the dogs home, but we went to one of the couple logging gates that I frequent the most. There was no one else there when we started. We ran out to a fork in the road, then up a small hill to the end of the road and continued on a trail that connected to another road. After running out that way for a while, we turned back.

We could hear shooting for a while, but weren’t quite sure where it was coming from. It sounded like generally the direction we had started from. I didn’t think too much of it, because the people I’d seen shooting in that area had all been shooting in the opposite direction. Then we entered the connecting trail and the shot sounded too close for that. I yelled, not sure if they heard me, and we proceeded slowly. We made sure to try to be as visible as possible when we came out of the trees. We didn’t hear anymore shots. Once down the hill we saw a guy come walking out of the couple year old regrowth. He was all apologetic. He was about to keep shooting but saw us come out from the trail, which he didn’t know about.

About a month ago, I took the dogs to go running on some logging roads just outside the National Forest boundaries. It was sort of raining off and on, and I didn’t think too many people would be out. I was wrong. There were people shooting at 3 or 4 of the regular spots on the way out to where I wanted to go. They were far enough away from my destination that I wasn’t worried. We ran from a couple closed gates that I wanted to check out, and headed for another gate that we had run from several times.

We got going, and less than a mile from the car it had cooled down a bit and the sky opened up. It was pouring down, and I was only ready for lighter rain. We turned back.

About a minute later, I started hearing shots much closer than the normal spots, well into the posted “no target shooting” area.

SSWWWWWZZZZZZZZZZ. A bullet flew by about 10-15ft directly overhead. The shots came from nearby, 200-300 yards or so. The road coming in was just on the other side of a small creek valley from the one we were running. I gave out a loud “HEY.”

I ran quite a bit faster after that, getting back to the car pretty quickly. I was tapering, so cutting the run short wasn’t that big of a deal. I loaded up the dogs and headed home. Whoever was doing the shooting had already taken off in the less than 10 minutes from the shot until I passed the area they had been shooting. I guess they didn’t want to stick around to apologize like the other guy.

Those aren’t the only times I’ve been uncomfortable, to say the least, running in the woods with people shooting. There’s one other hair-raising shots-overhead incident and several times I’ve run across people shooting from the logging road. This all came to mind today, because I heard some loud shots on my run. At first, I thought they were closer than they were. I had intended to take the fork towards the shooting, but I changed my route to run in the opposite direction to try to avoid possible strays.

I’m not against guns. I was in the Army, I enjoy shooting, and I own firearms. One of those strange liberals with guns. I know that most people are careful and safety conscious, or at least think they are acting in such manner. But I also know the danger, and it only takes a little bit of unawareness. So, there are places that I used to run but don’t anymore. There are other places that I won’t run on weekends. I don’t really trust the safety consciousness and situational awareness of other people. No one is more responsible for my own safety than I am myself.

Exercise

Am I Just A Runner?

I didn’t like running when I was in the Army. When I got out, I tried running once in the next year. It sucked so much. I was so out of breathe, my lungs were on fire. I was sure my heart was going to crack a rib or three.

I didn’t run again for over a year. One day I was walking up some stairs, and I was breathing heavily after just a flight or two. I thought I should get back into shape, but it didn’t go beyond that. Then a while later, I was looking in the mirror after a shower. I’ve always been a skinny guy, but I was starting to get the skinny guy gut. That tipped the scales on my motivation to start running again.

In the 7 years since then, I’ve dabbled with other exercises a couple times. They never stuck. I’ve never enjoyed lifting weights or other strength training. I’ve sort of considered myself just a runner and didn’t need anything else. I’m starting to reconsider a little.

As I’m increasing my mileage with three 50k races scheduled this year so far — two down, one in a few days — and looking to run a 50 mi race after that, I’m noticing a few little things here and there. When I go over 15 miles or so or do some significant uphill, I have some tightness in my hips, some minor muscle imbalances and some breakdown in form when tired. I’ve had some lower back pain a couple times so far this year, and I’m not sure the culprit. And I’ve also had muscle spasms in my trapezius muscles since 2004 in the Army. They’re not constant, but certainly get pretty intense on some long runs.

I think I can suffer my way through a 50 mi race with my current plan involving just running. I’d like to do more in the future and potentially a 100 mi race as well. In order to minimize my suffering, I should probably introduce exercises for my core, hips and back. I’ve recently started stretching some, but could use more. I’ve done minimal stretching since I started running. Never before a run, and rarely after.

On that note, the one exercise other than running that I enjoyed when I tried it was yoga. I took a class at Shoreline Community College in 2008. I’m considering giving yoga a shot again. I’m not sure whether I want to attend classes or try practicing on my own. Even having taken a class, I’m definitely still a beginner, so I would probably get more out of and keep up with it more regularly taking a class.

I kind of live in the boonies, so finding a class within a reasonable drive is a little tough. There is a gym in the closest “city” about 15 mi or a little over 20 min drive that has classes, but I’d have to join the gym. The next closest classes I’ve found are almost twice as far away. It would probably be beneficial to do some strength training once or twice a week as well, so I’m considering the gym. If the time it took for me to start running after “considering it” is any indication, it might be a while, though.

Part of why I started writing this blog is to keep myself accountable and motivated, so maybe this will tip the scales to action. I think I’ll check their class schedule for something after my 50k race this weekend.

Health, Hydration

I Love Water

Other than smoothies, I drink almost exclusively water. On rare occasions I’ll have some organic juice or use my home juicer.

Most people don’t drink enough water. I think water in place of other beverages, and more water in general would probably benefit the health of many people. Hydration is important. Water helps expel toxins and waste from the body more quickly. Water helps with blood flow. Water is amazing.

I started drinking more water after coming to the conclusion that dehydration was one trigger for my liver condition, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), flared up, causing me abdominal pain and general malaise for a day up to a week. It make sense. If the body is dehydrated, fluids in the body will tend to become thicker. In a condition that can lead to bile turning sort of sludge-like potentially blocking the bile ducts, anything that thickens the bile isn’t good. Dehydration isn’t the only thing I have to worry about. Eating a lot of fat promotes bile production and flow, which exacerbates any thickening and blockages.

When I first figured the link out, I tried to just drink more water throughout the day. Without anything specific to remind me, I’d occasionally get wrapped up in something and forget. A couple minor PSC flares later and I made a more specific hydration plan.

I start every day with a 1 quart glass of water shortly after waking. I’ll usually mix something in it. I’ve done 1 tsp raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar. I currently add 1 tsp rosehip powder, which is an excellent vitamin C source. It doesn’t dissolve, so requires mixing and swirling to keep in suspension. I’ve also previously added bee pollen, which is one of the most nutrient rich foods on the planet.

Almost immediately after drinking my big glass of water I can feel it start to wash over my system. I don’t always feel so great when I wake up, but I always feel better after drinking my water.

After my morning quart of water, I usually have another quart of plain water over the rest of the day. I also have several cups of water in a smoothie during the day, and a lot of high water content fruit.

On days that I run, my water intake can reach 1-2 gal total per day, depending on distance, elevation gain and temperature.

One quart of water may seem like a lot, but it’s really not. You’ve just been sleeping, hopefully around 8 hours or more, without taking in any liquids. You still sweat in your sleep. If you got up to pee in the night or went first thing after waking, that’s more liquid lost from your system. You need to replenish the liquids your body goes through.

If you’re not used to drinking that much water at one time, you may need to work up to it. Try using a 1 quart glass, jar or other container, so you can get used to the amount. If you have trouble drinking the whole thing, just have as much as you can comfortably drink in a short period of time. If that’s only 8 of 32 ounces, that’s fine. Try to drink the rest over the next hour if possible.

You will probably have to pee afterwards, likely within an hour. So, if you won’t have access to a restroom when needed, such as during a commute, try just 8 oz right after waking and then the rest once you have better access to facilities.

Pee is great for checking your hydration too. Urine color can tell you whether you’re drinking enough water. Light yellow to nearly clear is well hydrated, dark orange is very dehydrated. There can be other things that change urine color, so it’s not a perfect test. Things like medications, certain medical conditions and some foods might affect urine color.

I pee fairly often since I’ve increased my water intake. It was kind of annoying at first, but I’m OK with it now. In general, I feel better when I stay hydrated, so it’s an easy trade off to make.

You can drink too much water, though. A condition called hyponatremia is caused by an electrolyte imbalance, low sodium levels, often from drinking too much water. In serious cases, it can be fatal. Over-hydration cause hyponatremia is more common in endurance sports. To avoid it during a marathon, ultra or Ironman, stay on top of electrolyte replacement. As for day to day, hyponatremia is probably not something to worry too much about.

Drink more water!

A Wandering & Wondering Life