Bishop 50 Miler Race Report
Hi everybody, Well, I have very good news. Last Saturday, I ran the Bishop High Sierra 50 Mile race. It went great! I felt better at that race than I had for a long time, and when I was done, I felt that it was one of my two best 50 milers ever. Check out the photo links to see what the terrain looked like, and especially the aerial photos link on the main page.
Last year, I did two longer races, a 50 mile called the American River 50, and the Kettle Morraine, which was supposed to be 100 miles, but turned into 100k (62 miles). At American River in April '04, I pushed kind of hard up until mile 28, then suffered for it...it got hot, I didn't drink enough, and my nagging foot pain was acting up. I finished in a little over 13 hours, which is very slow for what is a relatively easy course. Then in June '04, I traveled back to Kettle Morraine, which is a 100 mile/100 kilometer race back in Wisconsin. I had intended to do the 100m, but again, I had some foot pain, and stopped at the 100k mark. The way the course is laid out, you do one out and back, then come back through the start/finish at the 100k point. You can stop there or go on out the other side and do another out and back for the 100m. My foot was killin' me, though, and I decided to stop at 100k (as did my friend Steve).
So going into Saturday's race, I hadn't actually had a good ultra performance for more than a year. But this time, I was very smart. Well, I tried to be smart. I went on Tuesday and got a cortisone shot in my foot, which has been great. It lets me really push off on my left foot, which has been nagging me for the past couple years.
You start around 4000' elevation at this race. The first part of the course goes up and up, very gradually, for the first 20 miles, until you're up over 9000'. The changes in scenery are great...you start out in foothills with huge rock formations, running between them and the Sierras, which were still covered in snow. At around mile 14, you start to hit an elevation where you are passing through alpine meadows. We ran through a very cold McGee Creek at about mile 15, which felt great on the feet!
At mile 17, I came into an aid station called Edison Loop where three more friends were working: Steve Matsuda, Diana Rush, and Wendy Young. From there you really go up into the high country and have the steepest climbs and snowpacks (this year). I stopped, refueled and took some oral rehydration salts (kind of a mini-IV without the needle....a salt and glucose mixture. Going out of there, I felt good again! We climbed up through the snow packs, but nothing deep or over 100 yards. The turnaround point at mile 23 was was surrounded by huge peaks on three sides. There, I got my number punched (to verify I didn't cheat!) and then turned for my first downhill. About 3 miles back down, in fact, which I ran like crazy! I really like the downhills with lots of rocks...I feel like I'm operating on all cylinders, picking a path, and feeling like you're just bounding through the terrain. I remember being a little overwhelmed and saying some thanks to God that I was able to out there doing what I love. That's my church.
When I got to the last snowbank on the way down, I stopped and sat down, and rubbed down my legs with snow. That felt GOOD. Sometimes you get a big boost from taking 2 minutes to take care of something.
I took salt every hour when I was out, and used a carbohydrate replacement drink, which also seemed to work. I didn't get much of a sugar bonk, so that's something that I'm going to be avoiding this summer at Badwater.
When I got back the same aid station, my friends were a little surprised to see that I still felt so good. From there I went out again, did another 10 mile out and back. So when I came back to the station for the third time, at about mile 35, they didn't even recognize it was me running down the hill, because I was going faster than I normally do!
Diana and Wendy wanted to run back to the finish, so they went with me. They weren't really pacing, they just wanted to get a run in. In fact, there were some spots where they were working to keep up! The nice thing about this course is that the last 15 miles are basically all downhill. Probably about 4000' of elevation drop. Fortunately I've always had really strong quads, so I love downhill stretches, and except for a little walk break around 43-46, I ran well almost all the way back to the finish, which I made in 12:55:15.
Not super fast, but the course is really tough. The top guys finished in around 8 hours...other courses, the fast guys will finish in under 6, so for me it was definitely a good day. I finished 59th out of 105 starters at that distance.
So this weekend, I'm off to Death Valley on Friday and Saturday for some heat training. Two more long days, hopefully 40ish on Friday and 31 or so on Saturday, then drive back and meet the team for Sunday practice!
I didn't check my weight Monday morning, sorry for the numbers people. But the good numbers this week were 50 and 12:55!
Last year, I did two longer races, a 50 mile called the American River 50, and the Kettle Morraine, which was supposed to be 100 miles, but turned into 100k (62 miles). At American River in April '04, I pushed kind of hard up until mile 28, then suffered for it...it got hot, I didn't drink enough, and my nagging foot pain was acting up. I finished in a little over 13 hours, which is very slow for what is a relatively easy course. Then in June '04, I traveled back to Kettle Morraine, which is a 100 mile/100 kilometer race back in Wisconsin. I had intended to do the 100m, but again, I had some foot pain, and stopped at the 100k mark. The way the course is laid out, you do one out and back, then come back through the start/finish at the 100k point. You can stop there or go on out the other side and do another out and back for the 100m. My foot was killin' me, though, and I decided to stop at 100k (as did my friend Steve).
So going into Saturday's race, I hadn't actually had a good ultra performance for more than a year. But this time, I was very smart. Well, I tried to be smart. I went on Tuesday and got a cortisone shot in my foot, which has been great. It lets me really push off on my left foot, which has been nagging me for the past couple years.
You start around 4000' elevation at this race. The first part of the course goes up and up, very gradually, for the first 20 miles, until you're up over 9000'. The changes in scenery are great...you start out in foothills with huge rock formations, running between them and the Sierras, which were still covered in snow. At around mile 14, you start to hit an elevation where you are passing through alpine meadows. We ran through a very cold McGee Creek at about mile 15, which felt great on the feet!
At mile 17, I came into an aid station called Edison Loop where three more friends were working: Steve Matsuda, Diana Rush, and Wendy Young. From there you really go up into the high country and have the steepest climbs and snowpacks (this year). I stopped, refueled and took some oral rehydration salts (kind of a mini-IV without the needle....a salt and glucose mixture. Going out of there, I felt good again! We climbed up through the snow packs, but nothing deep or over 100 yards. The turnaround point at mile 23 was was surrounded by huge peaks on three sides. There, I got my number punched (to verify I didn't cheat!) and then turned for my first downhill. About 3 miles back down, in fact, which I ran like crazy! I really like the downhills with lots of rocks...I feel like I'm operating on all cylinders, picking a path, and feeling like you're just bounding through the terrain. I remember being a little overwhelmed and saying some thanks to God that I was able to out there doing what I love. That's my church.
When I got to the last snowbank on the way down, I stopped and sat down, and rubbed down my legs with snow. That felt GOOD. Sometimes you get a big boost from taking 2 minutes to take care of something.
I took salt every hour when I was out, and used a carbohydrate replacement drink, which also seemed to work. I didn't get much of a sugar bonk, so that's something that I'm going to be avoiding this summer at Badwater.
When I got back the same aid station, my friends were a little surprised to see that I still felt so good. From there I went out again, did another 10 mile out and back. So when I came back to the station for the third time, at about mile 35, they didn't even recognize it was me running down the hill, because I was going faster than I normally do!
Diana and Wendy wanted to run back to the finish, so they went with me. They weren't really pacing, they just wanted to get a run in. In fact, there were some spots where they were working to keep up! The nice thing about this course is that the last 15 miles are basically all downhill. Probably about 4000' of elevation drop. Fortunately I've always had really strong quads, so I love downhill stretches, and except for a little walk break around 43-46, I ran well almost all the way back to the finish, which I made in 12:55:15.
Not super fast, but the course is really tough. The top guys finished in around 8 hours...other courses, the fast guys will finish in under 6, so for me it was definitely a good day. I finished 59th out of 105 starters at that distance.
So this weekend, I'm off to Death Valley on Friday and Saturday for some heat training. Two more long days, hopefully 40ish on Friday and 31 or so on Saturday, then drive back and meet the team for Sunday practice!
I didn't check my weight Monday morning, sorry for the numbers people. But the good numbers this week were 50 and 12:55!
posted by Greg Minter at 12:44 PM
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