Marin Ultra Challenge Race Report - 4 oz of Mountain Dew Once Every 15 Years Shouldn't Kill Me

In spring of 2013 I ran Way Too Cool, a 50k with under 5,000 ft in elevation gain in 6:39:34. In spring of 2014 I ran it in 6:39:28...six seconds faster. How dumb is that. What had I actually been doing with my life to make zero progress in the time span of a year. 

This past December of 2014 I ran The North Face Endurance Challenge, a more challenging 50k course in the Marin Headlands with about 7,000 ft in elevation gain with a goal time of 7 hours. I finished feeling good in 7:00:40. 

I have one goal for 2015. I want to train smarter and run faster.

Rather than do the Way Too Cool 50k/American River 50m NorCal spring combo this year, I got into the Lake Sonoma 50 miler, and the Marin Ultra Challenge fell during the right weekend in my training plan. 

I was shooting for six and a half hours. It would be a 50k PR, and 30 minutes faster than I had run three months previously out on these trails. I wanted out of whatever rut my running had been stuck in for a year. 

Seems like a totally reasonable course to PR on

The 6am start time of the race meant the first hour or so would be in the dark. It also meant, it was just me cruising west on 580 at 4am. Arriving at Fort Baker, the early wake up call was worth it when I looked out and saw the lights of San Francisco across the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge practically on top of us...

Standing around waiting to get called over to stand somewhere else and face in the same direction until someone says ok, go. 

The first couple of miles took us out of Fort Baker directly under the Golden Gate Bridge and up the Coastal Trail on a nice 800ft climb above Highway 101. The next stretch was a speedy downhill into Rodeo Valley and with it came the sunrise and the first aid station. I grabbed a banana and kept moving. It was still early, but I felt like I had a job to do.

The next climb out of Rodeo Beach took us up and over Hill 88 to one of my favorite stretches of trail, Old Springs. It's a speedy winding downhill that drops you into the middle of a horse stable at the hub of the Headlands. All roads lead back to Tennessee Valley.

I was in and out of the Tennessee Valley aid station after a refill of Tailwind (Uh, Tailwind at aid stations...YAY) and taking in some calories...a banana and my first salt cap of the day. The next stretch was going to be one of the most beautiful, running the Coastal Trail to Muir Beach. I leapfrogged with a couple of women practically the whole way there and flew down the steep descent to the aid station.

Mile 14ish and I was feeling really good. I had a couple delicious orange slices, grabbed a banana for the road, and glanced at the paper on the table that told me how long the next loop would be before we returned to Muir Beach. It said 7.4 miles. Nah, I thought, that's not right, probably more like 4 miles. I should only fill my bottle half way because why carry a full bottle if I'll be back here in no time! I trotted out of there pretty pleased with myself while chomping on my banana. The brain fog induced euphoria lasted until I ran out of liquid a few miles later...

The combination of never having run that loop before, being very thirsty, and constantly having the feeling that the path back to the aid station should be just around the next corner made it an extremely long climb up to Dias Ridge. Somewhere around mile 17 I hit a low, so I turned on some music and pushed through until i found a new gear. That's all you can do. Make your way through the lows and keep moving forward until it gets better again.

BECAUSE IT WILL GET BETTER AGAIN. REALLY BETTER. 

I ran my ass off back to Muir Beach feeling like a champ. Whatever energy reserve I tapped into carried me those last few miles with the promise of eating and drinking when I got there. And that's what I did. Finally glancing at my watch, with 21 miles behind me, it hit me that I was on track for an amazing race...if I could just hang on for the last ten miles. Gut it out for ten more miles.

Out of Muir, up Middle Green Gulch, was a nice 2 mile long 900ft climb where I started feeling familiar twinges in my calf muscles. I backed off a little and popped a salt tab and luckily never experienced any full on cramping. At the top we caught Miwok cutoff over to Miwok which would drop us back down to Tennessee Valley, the last aid station in the race.

It was getting hot. I was losing steam. A volunteer grabbed my bottle from me to fill while I grabbed some blocks and a banana and...a cup of Mountain Dew? The best tasting Mountain Dew I'd ever tasted since the last time I drank Mountain Dew which was probably sometime during the Clinton Administration. Whatever, the heart wants what it wants. The lovely volunteer woman handed my bottle back to me and said, "I hope you don't mind, I put some ice in your water." Uh, NO I DO NOT MIND YOU PERFECT PERSON. I'm easy to please after 26 miles.

Off to climb Marincello for the next couple of miles. This is a hill I'm very familiar with, and I know it well enough to know how much time it can tack onto the end of your race if you let it slow you down. I wasn't going to let it. Five miles to go to the finish.

Finally cruising on SCA, the top of the bridge was peeking out from behind the hills. That's home. That's the finish.

Back down the switchbacks we climbed hours earlier in the dark above the freeway. Back under the bridge. Back down the paved road to Fort Baker.

That's a PR, finally.
Progress.