Race Report: Dances with Dirt Devil's Lake 50M

"Is he a closer?" "Um... well... not really."

This describes the day pretty well. This race was, by far, my best performance in an ultra on a tough course. Kind of. The day started at 4am with Jesse and I leaving Madison to head up to Devil's Head for the 50M start at 5:30am. Checked in, dropped off drop bag, found Keith (who would be my crew for the day), did a stretch (I think I put my arm straight up and reached reaaallll high and called it quits because stretching is challenging and stupid), lined up with other 50k and 50M runners and then... go time.

I tried to prepare very well for this race. My training the past 6 weeks has been at a level I have never previously achieved and it showed. This 50 miler boasts seven big climbs, where I define "big" to mean more than 10 minutes of steady elevation gain. The only other race I have ever run with big climbs was HURL Elkhorn 50k out in Helena MT. This course has smaller climbs, but more of them, with a total elevation gain of about 7500 ft. The ultra courses begin with about 900 ft of climbing up some ski hills near the start/finish area including some off-trail bushwhacking just to make things interesting and, I imagine, to ensure everyone runs the next 45 miles on a pair of legs that raced up these big hills on the early race fast-paced high that we all fall prey to. I was no exception in this regard: first 4.5 miles on a big climb in 38 minutes - about an 8:30 pace. This is quicker than I had any business running, even with a goal time of 7:10. Oh yeah, I wanted to run somewhere around 7:10-7:20. Ambitious considering my PR at 50M is 7:47 on a much flatter course... but what's the point of doing this stuff if not to have fun setting big goals and training/racing as hard as I can to meet them?

Anyway, off to a fast start, running around 4th. The climb out of Parfrey's Glen into Devil's Lake State Park took me 19.5 minutes from the trailhead to the mileage sign near Slocum Lane so still cruising. And this continues through mile 25. I continue to hold 4th place throughout the first half of the race and run a 3:35 25 mile split. So far I am feeling good, strong, and able to run every step of the race including each and every climb, big or small. Shaping up to be a banner day! I hit a marathon split somewhere around 3:45 (the winning marathon time in that race was 4:09... and there were three guys in front of me as well so that gives you an idea of how solid the 50M field was this year!) and a 50k split of something like 4:30ish. So far a very similar pace to KM 100km race six weeks ago but, on much more challenging terrain with big climbs so I was having a good day. I was starting to lose the pace a bit at this point with climbing splits (the only ones I paid a lot of attention to) about 20 seconds per mile slower than the first loop on this part of the course. This was expected and within the race plan I made. However, coming down off the bluffs into the "Bug Pit" aid station, I SMASHED my left foot. I had already banged it up three times earlier in the race and dealt with the all-to-familiar toe pain that goes with it but this one was bad: had to walk for about a minute or so. This did not bode super awesomely as it was indicative of the fatigue I was starting to feel from pounding up and down all the hills.

Anyway, at this point in the race I started to slow down noticeably. After the second trip through Bug Pit (where Keith was a champ for me all morning!!), the eventual winner passed me. The dude (Garrett Peltonen) was cruising. He ended up passing me and three other guys to finish first. I gotta learn to race like him. So now running 5th. Was still able to run back up the bluff though this time dropped a full minute compared to the earlier loop. But still moving well through mile 40 and back down towards Parfrey's Glen. This is where I bonked. I think at this point I was running around 10 minute miles, still moving, but it was a monumental effort to put one foot in front of the other. From the mileage sign in the woods to Parfrey's Glen trailhead, all downhill, took me about 21 minutes. Compared to 19.5 minutes running up the hill earlier in the morning. Oof. But the real crisis was still ahead.

The race directors always have the 50 milers do one more trip up the ski hills at the end of the race, just to make sure no one complains that the course doesn't climb quite enough. And before you head up the ski hills, you run right past the finish line. This, for me, created an immediate motivational crisis. Knowing how hard the climb is from having done it just 7 hours earlier and knowing how physically close I am to the finish line... these are two simultaneous feelings I don't love a ton. However, years of hard training and racing have armed me with the never failing strategy of ultrarunning: when you are at the end of your rope, all the energy is gone, the fun has been replaced by suffering, and that last section of course looms like a demon... put one foot in front of the other and don't stop. I was dizzy from the heat that had decided to make an appearance after a cool, fast morning and I wanted desperately to close my eyes and rest but I told myself, "that's sh*t for the finish line and you aren't there yet so keep it movin'." I had to walk more than a few times and found myself leaning on a tree at one point. I think I almost ran into a tree too. Those miles were hazy, slow, and a challenge (48 min. split for the section versus 38 min. earlier in the morning). But I envisioned the finish line, how amazing it would feel to be done, to be able to rest and know my work for the day was done, and I was able to keep moving.

I had a number of goals today. The 7:10 goal was an ambitious reach. A more realistic goal was 7:30 and one I thought I could nail. The last goal was sub-7:44. 7:44 was the course record previous to this year. As I came down the ski hills, running as hard as my thrashed legs would go, I despaired about this last goal that was still just within my reach. But still I ran hard. If only to get to the finish and be done with the thing. But I emerged from the woods with the finish in sight and the watch read 7:42:30. I ran the last few hundred meters as hard as I could and crossed in 7:43:28, less than a minute under this last goal. I crossed the line, spiked my water bottle in what is becoming a bizarre tradition fueled by intense relief and exuberance, and abandoned myself to my good friends and crew.

When all was said and done, I hit one key goal I have every race: I left everything on the course. I ran every hill as hard as I could, every flat section as consistently as I could, every downhill as aggressively as I could. I just couldn't finish the effort. This is where I need to focus training the rest of the summer: finishing the race, being able to to put out the last 10 miles at the same level as the first 40. This is where the winner, Garrett, kicked everyone's ass. While the rest of the field faded, he powered on. He did not necessarily run much faster at the end of the race (though I think he did negative split by a couple minutes; a really amazing race)... he just never ever slowed down, never let up. This is what I need to learn.

The race in brief: 50 miles in 7:43:28 (PR); 4th overall (one guy bonked even harder than I did so I moved from 5th to 4th about 7 miles from finish; interestingly I ran the 4th fastest time in race history and finished 4th this year... good field!); 2nd in age group; 3:45 marathon split, 4:30 50k split.

Nutrition: Water and gatorade on the course. Only food was seven gels throughout the run. Gotta work on that... gels always repulse me by the end of a long day and getting them into me is something of a challenge.

I should note that Jesse ran his first marathon here too! 4:12 was good for third place! Incredible job that guy did preparing super quickly and absolutely killing it on the curse! Hanna ran the half marathon and, despite falling twice and getting lost once, smoked the women's field and took 1st. And Keith, like I mentioned, was an awesome crew on the course. A great day for team us!