trailhonky

Tahoe Rim Trail chewed me up

Posted on 21. Jul, 2008 by Brad in Race reports

I was supposed to have completed the 50-miler this past Saturday at Tahoe. Going into the race, I knew it would be tough to make the cutoffs up to the half-way point at Mt. Rose, which would require roughly 18.5 minutes per mile. While that sounds more than generous, I didn’t have any altitude training or acclimatization and I haven’t done much hill training. I had my work cut out for me.

Before the race, I got dropped off at the satellite parking lot and rode in a mini-van to the start line along with 7 or so other runners (complete strangers). I picked up my bib (got the packet the day before but they hand bibs out on race morning–annoying way to know who is out on the course) and looked around but didn’t see any of the Austin or Dallas contingent. Shortly though, I spotted Robert and Diana from HCTR found Deborah and Linda from NTTR. We chatted and tried to stay warm in the chilly high 40-degree morning temperature.

By 6am, the sun was up enough to eliminate the need for a headlamp. We listened to a short race briefing and we were off on the trail and up the mountain.

The first leg of the course would take us 6 miles up from Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake and the Hobart aid station. I settled in to a comfortable pace behind a few runners I didn’t know. Deborah was close behind but did stop early on and I lost her. I was trying to keep a strong steady walking pace up the switchbacks, quickly jog any downhills, and generally not waste any time. My breathing was ok and I wasn’t really hurting until I got just before the Hobart aid station on the dirt road. The steepness of the climb was getting to my legs and I knew I’d be in for a long day.

Marlette Lake, on the way to Hobart aid station

In front of Marlette Lake, after a good downhill section

Marlette Lake

I rolled in to the Hobart aid station and was quickly greeted by a volunteer who took both my bottles and filled them with water. Service at the aid stations was fantastic throughout the day and volunteers were super attentive–I’d help ensure that later on (just keep reading) :-). I snarfed down tortilla chips, took 2 endurolytes, and started loading up on cantaloupe. I’d eaten a banana for breakfast (usually I skip eating entirely), but I wanted to try and fuel up on calories as much as I could in preparation for a long day on the trail. I was drinking a good amount of water to stay hydrated and things were going well–except for my pace. I waited about 5 minutes for Deborah to come into the aid station and she let me know we were already behind cutoffs. Bad news. We knew we’d have to push harder, so we quickly got on our way up to Marlette Peak.

Going up Marlette Peak, Marlette Lake in foreground, Lake Tahoe barely visible in the background

Trail going up Marlette Peak, helps put the average 9% grade on the course into perspective!

Deborah going up Marlette Peak

My first really good view of Lake Tahoe from up high on Marlette Peak

The climbing here started getting more intense as we rounded the mountain on decomposed granite single track which was mostly completely exposed. Since it was still early in the morning (about 8am), the sun wasn’t beating down too hard but it was beginning to get warm. I pushed ahead and played leap frog with a few people until I got up and over the peak. Then I found some much needed flat and downhill sections where I put in some good running. I wound may way down the switchbacks and could hear music coming from the distance. I knew the Tunnel Creek aid station wouldn’t be too far now and I was looking forward to it. A toe on my right foot started to have a hot spot and I wanted to tape it up.

I rolled into Tunnel Creek and again had my bottles promptly taken away and refilled. I sat in a chair to take my sock off and examine my toe. I’d chosen to not wear my gaiters (bad decision) and I had quite a bit of dirt and debris in my shoe but none of it was causing an issue. My toe really wasn’t blistering either, just felt strange. To be safe, I taped it up good anyway and then pushed on out of the aid station.

Sitting at Tunnel Creek aid station

Here I started to see some 50 milers well in front of me along with the 100 milers that had started an hour earlier. As I jogged under the power lines I started mentally preparing myself for total misery. It turns out I should have prepared for a bit more misery as this Red House Loop was a complete booger. Going down the hill I spotted Catra and then Bill from NTTR. I said hi to Bill but I’m not sure he knew who was calling his name. Further down the crazy steep dirt road I said hi to Letha who asked where Deborah was at and I knew she was just a little ways back. I felt I needed to keep pushing as much as I could particularly since this section would be ridiculously slow coming back up.

Finally at the bottom of the loop, I found myself with a runner from Auburn who was really familiar with the course. He gave me some coaching on what to expect and let me know that after the Red House, I’d find a gentle uphill path that I really needed to run. I let him know I was worried about the Mt. Rose cutoff but he said I was probably still ok. He too was in the 50 miler. Leading into Red House, there are some serious uphill climbs on the dirt road and one of them got my left hip flexor screaming and I started cramping. Not good. I changed my stride to take smaller steps and this helped considerably. I made it into the aid station, had a volunteer snap a few pictures, and headed back out. A runner from Florida who was doing her first trail race and ultra invited me to walk along with her but I needed to go a bit slower to keep the food and soda I just stuffed down from coming back up.

In front of the Red House at the aid station

This is the point where my race started to go sour. I couldn’t really keep the jog the guy had recommended I do on the uphill and I was mentally having trouble staying in the race. It was heating up, but I wasn’t overheating, and I was staying hydrated. I’d also been good about taking my endurolytes every hour and felt my nutrition was pretty good. Overall things were going to plan, I was just not getting it done fast enough.

As I finished up the part of the loop to tack back onto the road part of the course, I came upon a volunteer who had walked down the big hill to bring a care package to a runner (someone had let him know up at Tunnel Creek that someone needed a little help–man, what service!!–and to sacrifice yourself by going down Red House Loop and back up it!?). Then I started the death march. I would take about 50 steps (yes, I counted) and then stop to rest. My heart rate was getting too high and nausea was beginning to creep up. I just kept at it slow and steady until I got to the really steep part. I found a few of the runners I’d been with most of the day coming upon me and going around. Taking 50 steps turned into 40, then 30 and soon I was down to about 20 and giving it all I could. I stopped to sit on a bench and rest and saw Carol go by with her trekking poles. She wished me a good race and said she’d see me at the finish but I was worried I wouldn’t make it there by running.

Sitting on a big log, trying to convince myself it’s really not that big of a hill :-)

A little further up, I found a big rock under a shade tree and decided it would be a good spot to rest. Murali came up on me and had a seat as well. A very kind runner I’d met and chatted with earlier on the trail before Hobart stopped for a bit and offered me some Mike & Ike’s and some Sport Beans. Such a kind gesture and this really pepped me up. I started back up the hill and really tried to give it all I could without totally emptying my tank. Before long, I noticed the power lines and couldn’t remember how much further. I was just behind Murali when I topped the hill and saw the aid station tents and I couldn’t believe that Red House Loop was over. The climb back up seemed shorter than going down and it was every bit as tough as it was made out to be. I jogged on into the aid station and to the timing table where I reported my number. The Tunnel Creek aid station captain herself came out to refill my bottles and I started to assess my situation. I had only 2.5 hours to make it up to Mt. Rose to the 8 hour and 9 minute cutoff at 26.3 miles. At my current pace, covering 9 miles in this time frame didn’t seem that possible. I knew the 50 mile was out of the question and wasn’t sure about my game plan to get back to Spooner Lake.

I made my way over to the chair where I’d sat and fixed my toes earlier and waited for Deborah to roll in. She was in great spirits as usual and knew we couldn’t make it to Mt. Rose but was adamant about getting in some good miles and taking the 50K course back to the finish. I wasn’t so sure about this because it would be after 5pm before I was done and I’d be wiped out. Having not been to Tahoe before, I wanted to enjoy some more of the scenery so I decided to stay at Tunnel Creek and wait for a ride down.

While I Tunnel Creek I chatted with lots of the volunteers and started helping out in various ways. I helped move a tent over the table so the water and HEED wouldn’t be in direct sun, went over to the timing/bib number table to help for a while. I met a friendly cyclist who looked really familiar but didn’t know, met a guy named George from some country ending in -stan (he never told us which one), and spent a lot of time with Kathy Welch over at the incoming timing/big number tent. I’d never met her before but soon came to know that she’s done a ton of ultras and almost all of them in the area.

Before I knew it, almost 3 hours had gone by, but I was having a really good time with all the super friendly people here. The aid station captain came over to let me know that Ned would soon be making a trip back to Spooner Lake and I decided to haul it in and call it a day.

Tahoe turned out to be a great trip even if my race didn’t turn out quite as expected. I don’t think there was any way I could have made it through all the cutoffs of the day so I probably made a good decision at Tunnel Creek. A better decision would have been to finish up the 50K route with Deborah and get the miles in to train for Lean Horse, but oh well :-) Maybe another year!

Tags: featured, tahoe rim trail, trail running