With lawns going to seed, children neglected, and pets striking lonesome poses, it must mean one thing: training for early-summer ultras is reaching fever pitch. So, with time quite precious, here's my 60-second race report from the Pocatello 50 Mile Trail Run. Overall summary
Time: 10:34. Place: 7th. Fabulous experience. Really happy with my time and effort. Nutrition went much better than I expected. A really lonesome trail at times. A great, great race.
Leg 1 (17 miles) Mink Creek to City Creek
Highlight
Brutal bushwhacking climb (watch the cacti!) up to boulder-strewn ridge
Nadir
Missed turn to second aid station, lost about 10 minutes or so
Other thoughts
Beautiful morning. Warmed up fast. Really great singletrack first 8 miles. Stomach just not right from step one. Perennial wonder: am I starting too fast or too slow?
Leg 2 (15 miles) City Creek to Mink Creek (different route)
Highlight
Tough climb up off-trail muddy, snowy, slippery draw with running water.
Nadir
Same
Other thoughts
Nice temperature on the peak, pretty warm in the valley heading to mile 31 aid. Legs felt pretty tired but just kept turning them over. Stomach felt much better after mile 25. Fell around mile 29 (soft landing). Kept running out of water.
Leg 3 (20 miles) Mink Creek to Scout Peak to Finish
Highlight
Great singletrack descent from mile 44 to the aid station at mile 47.
Nadir
Thinking I missed a turn on mile 40 when I hadn't spotted a flag for a long time. Back-tracked and lost some more time.
Other thoughts
Shared a few minute's conversation with one of the Bend guys. Much of the climb to the top of Scout Peak pretty tough because of soft snow and mud. Passed by two relayers. Passed one back on the descent. Final "small" climb at mile 48 was in fact the final climb, but it was not in fact small. Finished up feeling strong, happy with my time, and queasy from my final gel.
(photos courtesy of gnorrander)
6 comments:
You put some great run on! Redeemed the Teton:) Nice to see you again!
Way to go Hank! You did the same thing I did around mile 40 when I didn't see a flag for awhile. Ended up taking Olga and 3 others on a flag hunting adventure back towards the aid station...
Nice work - can't wait for the in depth report - a good track topic....
Thanks, Olga. Nice to see you as well. I've been working hard to get past that Teton 50 DNF, at mile 45!, which AJW so loves to remind me of.
Hank,
Great run dude! Congrats. Must have been nice to get past that 45 mile mark and keep going:) The Bear should be a walk in the park for you!
AJW
Impressive! - Nice work. And what a view! Almost makes me want to run 50 miles..... NOT!!!
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