Mt Si Ultra 50 Mile 2006

I've been thinking about the Mt. Si Ultra for months now. First it seemed really far out of my reach but being who I am, I signed up anyway. Basically Cal talked me into it. I'm not sure he knows that but he told me I should shoot for it so I signed up. I said this about Ironman and I'll repeat it, there should be a waiting period after signing up for something crazy then after 10 days or so they'd charge your card. It is very easy to sign on the dotted line but not so easy to get cross the finish line.


There are a couple people who I really have to thank. Ronan showed up right when I needed him the most and Debbie helped me get through the last painful miles. Duncan was at all the right places with Katy who always had a waggy tail when I came up the trail. Without all of them I would have dropped out, no question.

It was darn chilly when I woke up at 5:00am. Duncan saw that it was 32 in North Bend overnight and I believe it. We left the house at 6:00 to get to Snoqualmie by 6:30 so I could pick up my registration packet. I knew the weather forcast was beautiful so I planned a long sleeve shirt over a sleeveless shirt and my regular running shorts. Turned out I had picked out the perfect clothes, for like the first time ever. I had struggled with what to wear for my hydration and chose my Fuel Belt with some modifications including adding a water bottle and a small pouch for all the magic things one needs when you are suffering for hours on end. This too worked out pretty well although a little heavy.

The start of the race consisted of everyone lining up behind a white chalk line. There were a total of 56 people starting out for the 50 mile. I had plenty of company. Right from the start everyone left me in the dust. I had one woman run beside me for about 45' until I had to take my first bathroom break. After that, it was all me, the last runner. I had my iPod for company and moved along at my expected pace. The plan was 25 minute run followed by a 5 minute walk. I was able to stick to the plan. I was feeling good and my stomach was holding. I moved along on cruise control for the first 20 miles. After that things started getting really rough.

One of my toes on my right foot suddenly hurting really badly. There was no way I was going to be able to run on it. I stopped at a van that was supporting another runner and was helped by a really nice woman who gave me Advil, a bandaid and water. I had worn two layers of socks and that also turned out to be a good idea. My toe had a nasty blister starting on it so I pulled off one layer and let my toes breathe. That left me with room to wiggle and my toe stopped hurting.

When I started up again my mood had really taken a downturn. I was really depressed because not only was my toe hurting my left leg was really tight in a way it had never bothered me before. Was this because I was compensating for the sore toe? It didn't loosen up and I got very worried about how I would get through the upcoming marathon. I started seriously considering dropping and right then, at about mile 23, my knight on a bike showed up, Ronan. I actually said out loud "Thank god you are here." He had told me he was planning on riding out and meeting me around mile 20 and I was counting on his showing up to keep me going. If you ever need a sherpa, I hightly recommend Ronan. He had packed bottled water inside a plasic bag with ice and stuffed it into his knapsack, riding a solid 15 miles, if not more, in the hot weather to bring me cold water. Amazing. He also held my fuel belt to take some weight off of me and stuck with me until mile 35 where I met Debbie. Having him there made all the difference.

At this point there were quite a few runners on the trail. The relay teams where cooking along and I was quite jealous they were headed in the opposite direction because that meant they were headed to the finish.

I arrived at the mile 29.5 aid station and was told I had just beat the cutoff by 4 minutes. I was stunned. How could that happen? I thought I was moving along ok. The good mood I had gotten back was gone. I literally deflated. That meant I had 1:10 to get to mile 35. 5.5 miles. That was within my goal min/mile but it also meant I didn't get my usual walk break, and the entire 5.5 miles was on a 2% grade. That isn't bad on a bike, or for a short run, but at mile 30+ it really sucks the life out of you. I only walked for about 2 minutes when I came to a nice cool spot out of the sun. Ronan rode ahead and let everyone know I was on the way. Duncan was going to be at mile 35 with Debbie. That was strong motivation to keep moving. Ronan said I was keeping a really good pace and I felt it.

When I got to the mile 35 aid station I knew I would finish. Debbie was there, ready to run the last 15 miles with me. Duncan was there and Katy was very happy to see me. The volunteer was super friendly and it was hard to leave. Duncan walked with us down the trail for a couple minutes then he was off to meet me at an aid station around mile 40. I held pretty strongly until I saw him again and then it started to really wear on me. I was getting sore and tired. At around mile 42 I was negotiating for a 15 minute run then a 3 minute walk. That turned into a 10 minute run followed by a 5 minute walk and at mile 47 I stopped running altogether, it just hurt too badly. My legs were screaming. My feet were throbbing and I was emotionally just worn out. I'd had so many conversations during the day to convince me to keep going that I didn't have any left in me.

A nice volunteer came riding up on his mountain bike to check up on us. Turns out we were the second to last people out there. Back at the school they were breaking down the finish line and everyone was going home. There was one last self serve aid station that had animal crackers. I was very excited about animal crackers and I really needed something to cheer me up at that point. I had totally given up on running and was resigned to walking it in.

At around mile 49 Duncan drove up along side us in the car and said there was no one left at the finish and asked if we wanted a ride. I said "no way in hell, I'm finishing this damn thing" and walked the rest of the way with him driving along side and making sure we made all the turns we needed to. About 20 feet from the finish line I just crumpled. My legs gave out and I couldn't go any further. There was a pathetic white line, Duncan, Katy and Debbie, that's it. I managed to stand up again and walked across the line.

Once again, no crowds clapping, no food, no timing clock and no hero's welcome. In fact, I had technically DNFed since I didn't come in by the time they left. If I'd started an hour earlier everyone would have still been there. They had let a group start at 5:00 and there were people still there so I wouldn't have finished in such quiet.

Yesterday I sent email to the race organizer and let him know I finished in 12:06 because I couldn't face having a DNF next to my name. He put down my time on the official results because I finished.

There were 5 drops, all of them men. Wimps.

I'm having a tough time with this one. It is really hard to go through a day like I did and not have the finish line celebration. I can't even image what I would have done without Debbie, Ronan, Duncan and Katy.

Sunday really made me question why I am pushing myself to do this. I'm just not ready. I don't want to be the one dragging myself across the finish line and have whomever is left feel sorry for me. I don't mean I have to win, I just am tired of being embarassed by how long it takes me to do these things. I want to be proud of my finish time because at this point being proud of just finishing is getting old.

I'll come around, I just need a good race result. Hopefully I'll get one or two this season.