Catoctin 50k

Catoctin 50k Trail Run 2011, July 30, 2011

It is Friday afternoon, and Nathan and I are driving to Frederick, Maryland for the Catoctin 50k tomorrow.  Actually, Nathan is driving, and I am reading a magazine and resting my eyes a little.  Nathan will be my crew tomorrow.  While Nathan has been part of my crew before, this will be his first solo crew effort.  The drive up is uneventful.  As it is already almost 6pm when we get to Frederick, we decide to go straight to Carrabba’s for dinner before checking into our hotel.  Dinner is excellent.  Our hotel room is adequate with no complaints, and we turn the lights off around 10pm.

For breakfast, we enjoy the continental at the Comfort Inn.  It includes a nice waffle maker.  I have a full waffle and a pastry along with some juice.  It is going to be warm today, but I plan to run it smooth so that I don’t hurt myself three weeks before the Leadville 100 miler.

The temperature at the start is a nice (and relatively cool) 75 degrees.  It feels almost nice after the 100 degrees we have seen several times the past week.  Today is supposed to be cooler—only getting to the mid to high 90s.  Kevin Sayers is his usual snarky self at the pre-race briefing.  At 7:55am, five minutes before the start, we are treated to a fly-over by a friend of Kevin’s.  I think it is a Bonanza, and he couldn’t have been more than 200 feet above the trees.  It was awesome!

Mile 6.0      1:22:42 (13:47 avg./mile) Hamburg Road

I start this first section as planned—nice and easy.  Kerry Browne and another lady are just ahead of me for most of the way.  Quatro Hubbard is around me as well.  At the aid station, Nathan is waiting for me, having negotiated the roads to this first stop.  I drink almost a pint of chocolate milk and pass on a bagel.

Mile 9.0      39:30 (13:10 avg./mile) Delauter Road

Quatro and I run this section together most of the way.  We catch up on the latest races each of us has run.  He says he is going to run Masochist this fall for the first time in a number of years, and I tell him about my adventure to run Leadville.  Crews are not allowed to be at this aid station, and Nathan accomplishes this crew assignment by not going to this aid station.  I refill my Camelbak at this aid station for the first time today.

Mile 15.6    1:27:39 (13:17 avg./mile) Manor Parking Area – TURN AROUND

There are three road crossings on this section, and some crews are at two of these.  One lady asks me how I am doing, and I say it is too early to tell.  I am running well, and I push it a little on the downhill sections.  I am still feeling good, and I don’t think it is too hot yet.  At the turn around, Nathan has found his way there and is waiting for me.  I drink some more chocolate milk, and then take a good pull on the bottle of Conquest.  I also take a bagel with me for the return trip.  Finally, I get a full Camelbak from Nathan.

Mile 22.2    1:46:22 (16:07 avg./mile) Delauter Road

On my way up the hill, I see the same lady that was there on my way down.  Now I am in a much better mood, and she notices the change.  I now have the majority of the course behind me, including the tough climb back up from the turn around.  I am still running somewhat reserved, but am pushing it just slightly more than I did on the first half.  At this aid station, I refill my Camelbak and also get an ice towel to cool me off.  All of the early somewhat cool air from this morning is now long gone.  It is hot out here, and the cold towel feels great.  I refill my Camelbak and then head up the trail.

Mile 25.2    52:50 (17:37 avg./mile) Hamburg Road

The key to these three miles is to save something for the last section.  My pace has slowed, but that is all due to the climbing temperatures.  I get into this aid station, and Nathan is again here waiting for me.  I take a little time and sit down in a chair while I drink some chocolate milk and Conquest.  I also eat two grilled cheese sandwich quarters that the aid station workers have prepared.  They are excellent, and with a full Camelbak from Nathan, I am ready to get this race done.

Mile 31.2    1:34:10 (15:42 avg./mile) High Knob – FINISH

There are a couple of nice downhill sections on this part, and I run them well.  I pass a lady, who has been in front of me a couple of times today.  However, she is not the downhill runner that I am.  After the first downhill, she catches me on the next uphill, but as it is just before the crest, I quickly leave her again on the other side.  I end up passing eight runners on this last section.  The last person I pass is a lady on the last uphill.  As I go by her, she congratulates me on a nice uphill climb.  However, as I near the hairpin turn that will take us around the hill, she has started running up the hill trying to catch me.  There are people there cheering her on saying that she can catch me.  After the hairpin turn, I pick the legs up and easily stay in front of her to the finish, although she did put a little scare into me.  At the line I am spent, but it is all because of the final push, and I am fine.

Official Finishing Time          7:43:13

46^th out of about 121 finishers

Kevin congratulates me at the finish line, and I find a chair to sit on.  Nathan has a Coke for me, and it tastes great.  The “official” thermometer says only 89 degrees, but the registered high today in Frederick is 99 degrees.  It was definitely hot, but I ran it well and feel okay. 

Now, I drained my Camelbak five times, which is almost 15 pints of water.  I drank four pints of chocolate milk and two pints of Conquest.  I also drank more water at aid stations.  So, my total fluid consumption was over 22 pints, or almost three gallons.  Interestingly, a recent Runners World article said that a person cannot absorb more than 24-28 ounces of fluid in an hour.  However, I averaged about three pints or 48 ounces each hour.  This fluid wasn’t jostling in my stomach, and it didn’t come back up, so I have to assume it got absorbed into my system.

Although Kevin had advertised that there would be bratwurst, there are none, and I settle for a cheeseburger.  The ride home is again uneventful, and Nathan and I eat again when we get there.  It was a fun weekend, and Nathan did a wonderful job as my crew.

Now, I have three weeks to recover, fine tune, and taper for the Leadville 100 miler.  I will fly my own plane to Colorado Springs on August 11.  There is a Cirrus Owners convention there.  Then on August 15, I will fly up to Leadville and spend the week doing my final altitude acclimation for the race.  Leadville is at 10,000 feet and on two different occasions the course climbs to 12,600 feet.  It will be my first time at Leadville, and I hope to have fun.

Never stop running,

Darin