Hells Hills 50 mile

🎶  I’m only happy when it rains  🎶

Before long races, Julie and I scroll through the Sirius channels to make sure the last song we hear before getting out of the car isn’t a crappy one, because you risk getting it stuck in your head for the next several hours.  Sometimes you can replace it in your head, sometimes not.  For the 3-loop Hells Hills 50 miler, I had a nice R.E.M. song for loop 1, but it was replaced by a song from Garbage - Only Happy when it Rains - in loop 2.

Loop 1 started in the 5am darkness, in some nasty, humid, stale air (dew point was about 70 - yuck).  Steve Moore, Matt Smith, and I took off together, with me in front as the singletrack started.  As one might expect, it was a slow start, but after a few miles their headlamps started drifting back.  By the time I hit the first aid station after mile 6, I couldn’t even see them.  I usually run better races going my own pace versus pack-pace anyway, especially in ultras, since everyone (including me) has personal peaks and valleys (feel great, feel bad, feel great, feel bad) that seem to make it inefficient when I run with others in a race.  The downside was that it made the last 44 miles a lonely solo effort.

Loop 2 was the only loop I felt good the whole time.  It was light outside, which makes a twisty-turny course in the forest much easier.  And it rained!  The cooling rain almost instantaneously gave my legs some power back, and it had not (yet) turned the course into a sloppy mess.  Loop 1 took 2:32, while loop 2 was only 2:27.

Smiling in Loop 2

Photo Credit to JoAnna Hestilow Brand (thanks!)

I felt ok when I saw Julie at the end of loop 2 (she was volunteering at the start/finish aid station), but was starting to get initial signals of a calorie deficit - for me, early indicators are my stomach feeling empty and my legs starting to feel noodle-like.  So I pounded 2 gels at the aid station, got my Gatorade refill from Julie, and took off.  It only took about 5 minutes into loop 3 for the bonk to hit me fairly hard.  The fast onset somewhat assured me it was calorie-related, but it felt awful.  Light-headed, useless legs, no strength whatsoever.  I had a few 11-minute miles as I pounded Gatorade and waited for the gels to kick in.  I’ll never be one of those fat-adapted, keto runners - I need glycogen and constant sugary carbs, or I fall apart. 

Gradually, my power started coming back, and the last 10-12 miles of the race were fun again, or as fun as it could be given the fairly brutal post-rain sauna effect.  The course had gotten a lot muddier (I almost started sliding in reverse up one of hell’s hills), and was all chewed up with foot traffic, but it was nice to be in good enough shape to where I felt like I was doing real running in miles 40-50.  Finished 1st overall in 7:35.

With RD Chris McWaters and my new pig trophy helmet

PC: JoAnna Hestilow Brand

All in all, the build-up seems to be on track.  With the race complete I’ve already hit 1,000+ miles for 2019, earlier than any prior year.  My 52-week average is still only around 40 miles/week though, which is going to limit me in the longer stuff, but I have 4 months to drive that base up before Fat Dog 120.  My 26-week average is around 50, and 13-week is over 70 now, so the cardio is definitely returning, I can feel it; I just need more time for the endurance/strength to return.

In related news, I’m kind of at a loss on shoes.  My road shoes typically last around 1,000 miles before I have to throw them away, but I never get more than 200-350-ish miles out of any trail shoes - especially Hokas (these are now in the trash).

Love running in Hokas, but dang.. they all fall apart so fast

I’m not sure whether I just need to accept that running on hill country trails is just going to tear up any shoes I buy, or if I should keep looking.  I think I’m going to buy the one above again for races only (love the light weight and the grippy lugs), but open to suggestions on a lightweight durable option for training!