FF Race Reports
North Face 50k Endurance Challenge: December 4th, 2010
| Place | Name | City | Bib# | Time | Chip | Pace | Category | Category Place |
Gender Place |
Split 4.0mi |
Split 25.3mi |
Start Time | ||
| 30 | NEAL POTTS | BELLEVUE | 774 | 05:49:44 | 05:49:31 | 11:13 | Men 40 – 49 | 7/52 | 22/185 | 00:35:51 | 04:49:46 | 7:01:13 | ||
| 43 | DEBBIE POTTS | BELLEVUE | 773 | 06:01:01 | 06:00:48 | 11:35 | Women 30 – 39 | 6/54 | 11/122 | 00:36:01 | 05:01:16 | 7:01:13 | ||
The winning time was 4:48!
50k race report for Joel Glass
Thank you for all of the well wishes and congrats on the 50k. I saw them and appreciate them very much – it’s just tough to respond when you’re on the go and don’t want to spend your time with your face focused on your phone.
I went down with Debbie and Neal. We got in Friday night and caught a shuttle to the race at 5:00 am so we really had no clue what our surroundings looked like until the sun came up just before the start of the race. When the sun did come up we found ourselves in big grassy valley surrounded by old Army barracks and eucalyptus trees. It was definitely cool – low 40’s and there was light rain on and off throughout the day. The first mile or so was on a paved road and then switched to single track and then shortly thereafter we hit the first climb that was on a dirt road. The hill wasn’t too steep, a lot like many of the climbs we have at Cougar Mt. The difference was this climb seemed much longer because as we rose out of the valley we were surrounded by hills covered in low scrub and grasses and you could look a mile or two ahead and see the elite runners separating themselves from the slow running masses. Then it was a short decent back down into a another valley. It looked like we were cutting through a small gentleman’s ranch. I hit the first aid station without pausing as it was only about 3-1/2 miles in and the crowd was still pretty thick and I didn’t want to give up my place. The second climb was short, probably not even a full mile. Shortly after cresting that hill we came around a corner and we could finally get a view of where we were and what the rest of the day might have in store for us. One direction our view was of rocky bluffs that made their way down to the ocean with crashing waves another direction our view was of grassy rolling hills that made their way off into the fog/clouds and beginnings of a forest. The views were such that I wished I had camera but even if I did I doubt the camera could capture it all…really spectacular! The next decent was pretty technical and I felt great- I ended up passing a number of people. It switched back and forth from a steep rocky dirt trail to tall steps made from railroad ties. At times the steps were perfectly spaced such that you could just run down them hitting the edge of each rail road tie. Another short accent as we traversed our way a long a bluff then up on over a hill for a descent down to Muir Beach. The descent was awesome. It was slick mud. The mud we have around here usually has enough gravel or sand in it that you generally have some traction. This mud was clay and it was wet and slimy. I quickly learned you needed to lean forward and just let it fly. There wasn’t any real good footing to be had but as long as your weren’t leaning back it didn’t matter much. Everyone was pretty well covered in mud for the rest of the day. The next ascent was the biggest one of the day and it started shortly after the aid station at Muir Beach. It was about 5 plus miles –and all up. It was never that steep but it was long, really long. If you had the stamina or didn’t care you weren’t yet half way through a long day you could run the whole thing. The climb was a series of switchbacks as we wound our way up and around this hill will false summit after false summit. At times you’d get a glimpse of the trail ahead with the train of people ahead and hope that they were near the summit…because it meant you were getting close. After being disappointed several times I tried to just keep focused on the trail directly in front of me. Finally we arrived at the trees so I knew we must be getting close. It was really an interesting forest, it had a pretty bare forest floor and the trees were eucalyptus, Douglas fir, and redwood trees. Anyway we finally hit a short out and back section just prior to the top and the turnaround point. No sign of Debbie or Neal who left me to my own devices at the start. The next section was through the Muir Woods. This section was by far the most technical. Lots of large exposed roots, jagged rocks, off camber trail sections, along with some more steep sections of tall railroad tie steps. These steps weren’t as neatly spaced like prior ones, plus we had about 16 miles on our legs at the time. So it was slow going despite having gravity on our side. There were a couple of uphill sections that I didn’t register when I was studying the race profile which probably added to what seemed to make this section the longest of the race. I think it took me around hour to go from the 3rd to the 4th aid station and it was supposedly 5 miles. The trail was technical to point where you had little time to look around at your surroundings, kind of shame – the glimpses I got were beautiful…some big Redwood trees, streams and creeks here and there. We crossed a number of little bridges. After gulping down a couple of cups of Mountain Dew and some PBJ sandwich pieces it was off the mud! The next section had a few small hills but was relatively flat and went along side a stream for much of it. You’re view could never be very far in any direction as we were down in a valley of deciduous trees and tall grasses. The trail was mostly very narrow single track and very muddy. Occasionally the trail would widen out enough where you could try to find a different type of mud to run in. The center was generally thick gloppy mud, the sides varied between slick grassy mud and from time to time you could find regular grass to run in. I likened it to running on ice, you had to take very short steps and can never push off very hard. Another element that added to awkwardness of the mud was there was another group that must have started around 9:00 am ,maybe the marathon, and they were coming at us. So as you’re slip sliding your way along a narrow single track you need to turn yourself sideways to get by the oncoming traffic. Back at the Muir Beach aid station we discovered the fun in the mud was really just beginning. The mud hill we got to fly down in the morning was even muddier from the rain that day and the traffic. We all tried the center, then the left side then the right back and forth…you’d see someone in front of you appear not to struggle as much the group would switch to that section of the mud. Each step felt like it produced half the forward motion that it was supposed to. As you got further up the hill the harder it got – the mud was sticking to the bottoms of our shoes so you have the added weight an 1” or more of mud on the bottom of your shoes coupled with your traction now depended on the friction of mud on mud. As we ascended the hill we veered to the left away from the start finish line and further up the hill than the point we started on it in the morning. Needless to say we summated the mud hill! What lied ahead was one last big climb sandwiched between two wickedly steep descents. The trail the rest of the way consisted of essentially fire access roads. The only technical part about the trail was the grade coupled with 23 Mile + weary legs. My quads still remember those descents J. The last aid station was at the top of last hill and reported to be 3.7 miles to the finish and you see the army barracks off in the distance to help serve as a landmark on how far you needed to go. One of the amazing things about this race was seeing some pretty darn fast runners. At the beginning we could see the elite 50k runners for quite a while as they ran up the first hill. Then later on once we passed furthest aid station at Bootjack we saw the 50 mile runners passing us like we were standing still. In reality they were still running the hills that we were hiking and they were flying down the technical descents like they had hand placed each root and rock for their footsteps. The other was the incredible views and scenery. It’s such a departure from what we see day in and day out that it was refreshing but it was spectacular even for the locals. I finished with a time of about 6:40. Debbie and Neal both trail running and 50k newbie’s had impressive times of about 6:00 and 5:50 respectively. The map says 31 miles and over 13,000’ of elevation change- Neal’s Garmin clocked 32 miles and change – who knows…I know it was a pretty long way with lots up and down hills and I was very glad to hit the finish line when I did. My training was plan less and without a heart rate strap. It was fun to go from the grind of training plan and monitoring things like my heart rate. I did manage to get my weekly mileage over 60 miles a couple of weeks which I think helped. If I were going to try and improve on my time I’d probably be more diligent in my training and pay more attention to base training/low heart rate training, adding speed work at XYZ week and taper with this run or that run and maybe a couple more big mile weeks squeezed in there. With that said I don’t regret at all the last couple of months of running without a plan. Part of the allure of the trail running for me is that there isn’t a Boston to qualify for, there isn’t a Kona or a Clearwater etc…it’s just for fun! Now that I’ve got that out of my system I can get my mind back into gear and focus on a training plan Or at least ski season.
Joel
Malibu Marathon November 2010
My mini-race report from our Malibu Marathon on November 14th, 2010.
Neal’s race report is below for more details.
Neal wanted to do a November marathon as NYC wasn’t possible this year (even though we were registered!) since we were in Kona for Ironman Hawaii in October! Malibu was Neal’s “A” race of the season and he has been training for weeks for this race! My next big race is the North Face 50k trail run in San Francisco in December (my birthday wish!). Malibu marathon was my needed long training run for the 50k race so I only did a “3 day taper” plan for the marathon. Malibu marathon was all about Neal and I was just going for support… and for some LA sunshine plus visit my relatives and friends!
The race morning is described by Neal below. I was relaxed and planning on beating my Ironman Hawaii run split of 3:45 while keeping my heart rate aerobic. The race started and my goal was to run at 155 heart rate. To my surprise, my 155 heart rate kept me around 7:22-7:27 pace for the somewhat flat 8 miles (inland fruit farms). The run course only offered water and coconut water so we brought our fuel belt with two bottles on Infinit drink mix which I tried to drink sparingly! Since the marathon was a smaller race, I was not sure which runners would be running my goal time and who to pick to follow . To me, the race had three sections/segments… first part in along the strawberry fields, then towards the half-way point on PCH then the second half of the race with the hills and half marathoners.
For the first 8-10 miles, I had about 4 runners around keeping the same pace until the coast line where the hills and gusts of wind started! Obviously people don’t train on hills as I lost all the runners around me from the first 10 miles of the race! The half marathoners started at 8:30 a.m. at mile 13.1 on our course… I hit half way at 1:38 along PCH and decided I would pick up my pace (and keep 160 hr.) for the second half of the marathon. ALL the walkers were taking over the race lane along the PCH and then the WATER STATIONS!!! I had to run pass all the walkers without running in the moving cars. The water stations were one table with limited volunteers handing out water. From mile 14 to the last water station, I had to literally come to a complete stop, grab the bottle of water and fill up my two fuel belt bottles! The half marathoners took over the water tables and were not worried about their finishing time!
I felt great running and didn’t get as tired as I expected! Ironman training program and my trail running has helped my strength even though my training runs the past two months have been very slow and no speed work! Somehow I managed to hold a strong pace as the miles went by quickly (always a good thing in a marathon!). I realized my time could be under 3:20 at mile 20 if I picked up my pace on the downhill’s as the uphill’s were steep! I past lots of half marathoners which gave me more energy to pick up the pace! I ended up coming in to the finish line at Zuma beach at 3:21 something even with my many full stops at the water stops (very needed as it was around 72’). I felt great and surprised of my finish time… then even more shocked that I placed third overall woman and first in my age group!!
I loved the course and the 3-segments of the race (farm lands, coast and half marathoners) but not the water stations. The race directors were very interested in our feedback and they will make improvements next year (third year of the race). Neal made us wait almost two hours for the awards ceremony for the top three female and male finishers but then ended up having our own “awards ceremony” since they were starting late. We figured this would by my one and only time of placing overall in a marathon!!! Small races have benefits! See my funny “awards ceremony” on my youtube.com channel fitforwardbellevue! They did not have age group awards as Neal placed in his age group as well!
Definitely a beautiful course (half marathon) to add to our race list plus LA Marathon in March!
Read Neal’s race report next… speedy Neal!
Subject: Malibu Marathon Race Report
Last weekend Debbie and I went down to Malibu to visit friends and race the Malibu Marathon. We really wanted to do NYC but it was not in the budget for this year.
The race is a small race and is only in its second year. Here is my race report.
Race morning we took a bus from Zuma Beach 26.2 miles NE to a small rural airport, where we hung out for an hour or so. When they lined us up it looked like a small group of friends headed out for run. There were 450 marathoners in total. They counted down to the start and off we went running thru the many farms in the valley. It was really windy, 15 mph, with gusts to 30 and 65f. We wove around the farms for about 8 miles until we got to the Pacific Coast Highway, PCH. After a porta potty break, I headed out into the head wind along the bluff. Miles 8-12 were very windy and there was no one to tuck behind, but as my friend Tyler pointed out before the race, everyone of the leaders had the same head wind. As many of you know I like to play a counting game when I run. Every time I pass someone it is plus one, every time I get passed it is minus one. I usually start this game around the half-way point. I started the race in 25th and it was a small race so I started counting right away. At mile 8, I was 23. By the time I hit 10, I was 20. Somewhere during mile 11, the person drafting off of me decided I was going too slow and made the pass. Everything is fair in love and war, so I sucked up behind him. I stayed there until we got to 13 miles and ran into all 1500 of the 1/2 marathoners.
What bad planning, they start the half marathoners 90 mins after the full. You would have to be a sub 3:00 hour marathoner to get by them before they start. They took up both south bound lanes and one north bound lanes, forcing me to pass by going out into on coming PCH traffic. With no chance to get over to the water/aid stations. Miles 14 – 18 were the last of the flat ones and I could start to feel the toll the wind took out of me to keep my pace of 7:00 m/m. At mile 18 they routed the 1/2 marathoners into an out and back and I was overjoyed.
The hills from 18-24 were brutal. You could see the top from the bottom two miles away. It was a struggle, but I managed to keep all my miles including my worst, all under 8:00 m/m. The last two miles that were down hill, did not feel like down hill, but I managed my way to the finish and across the line. In the process of getting caught up in the half marathoners, I managed to pass 8 more runners to finish plus 13, in 12th place. No one passed me the entire race. I ran into the guy that drafted me, and then I drafted, and thanked him. He said he was appreciative that he had someone to run with for so long.
It was slower than anticipated and much harder. Debbie wondered why I would pick such a hard marathon to PR. “I don’t know” was my answer.
Even though my time was not what I had wanted, I was happy with how well I had done, based on the conditions. I am not sure I would do the full again w/o some race changes.
No age group awards, just top three per sex. Oh, by the way, Debbie on a solid training run, finished 3rd female. See youtube post. I am proud of her, even though she whinned about finishing, a projected, 30 minutes behind me.
Neal
Neal Potts: Vancouver half marathon 2010
It was not my intention to race Vancouver, with as bad as I felt after my last race. It took some time to deal with the disaster that will be forever know as “Boston 10″. After one week of no running and one week of easy running my intentions were to run the first 6.5 miles with the 1:30 pace bunny and see how I felt for the second half. To let you know I have also made some simple changes in the last two weeks. I am no longer a strick vegetarian, on occasion I have added fish and a little chicken back into my diet. I have also taken a break from my Newtons (shoes). The latter I believe to be hampering my calf issue. It is my own fault for solely running in them and not running in any other shoe. I know am the proud owner of a pair of K-swiss.
The weather was perfect at roughly 50f, and misting at the starting line. After the start I worked my way over to the 1:30 pacer. It was my goal to sit on his backside until mile 6.5. The pace was great and I felt really good, but I would not let myself be falsely wooed into believing that I could run away from him at any time. The 1:30 pace group was about 15 pp at mile 3, and the pacer slowed going into the water stations.
SIDE NOTE: I understand the being “green” thing, but this was rediculous. The water was filtered by Brita, great, but to put water in plastic cups was rediculous. For anyone who has done a road race knows that if you are going to drink on the run, you need to squeeze the cup to drink the water. Platic breaks if you squeeze it. Dumb!
At about Mile 5 the road turns to a path and our group was about 8 pp. I was still feeling great (I wish I felt this good at Boston). We rolled through mile 7, another water station, more plastic cups. As we went through the pacer slowed again and I came out in front. I felt great and decided that I would go for a little push at 6.5 and see how my body reacted. My gap on the group went out to 20 yards. At mile 7 there is the only real hill on the course and it is a good one, about 150 feet over 3/4 mile. Over that next mile to the top of the hill the gap went up to 100 yards. I still felt really good, but backed off the gas a little bit due to worring about not having enough left in the tank.
Debbie and I ran through Stanley Park when we were up there for the Olympics, so I was familiar with the course. By mile 9 we were coming out of the park and I was at full gas, 6:38 mile. I play a game with myself when I run. I pick a point in the race where I think the field should be sorted out, today it was at mile 6.5, where if I pass someone that is +1, and if I get passed that is -1. It entertains me, motivates me and keeps me focused. I was at about +2 or +3 coming out of the park. I felt good through mile 10 & 11, 6:40 & 6:44. Then I could feel Boston in my legs. My next runners to pass were 35-45 yards in front of me, so off I went +6, +7, +8. No one had passed me since about mile 4. I finished strong with a 6:39 mile and a nasty runners cough, but the sting of Boston definately hurt a little less today.
I learned a couple of things today:
A. Stick to your race plan, no matter how good you feel.
B. The best way to forget a bad race, is to race again.
C. I should always race with my fuel belt.
Lastly, in my last race report I mentioned that I wanted to find my “joy” of running. I spent the short recovery runs leading up to Vancouver, looking for it. Well the funny thing is I found it today. My “joy” of running comes from a couple of things: Running fast, I like to pass people and I didn’t get to do that in Boston. I also find “joy” in my game of keeping score and today I finished +7.
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you find your joy of running.
Neal
Neal Potts: Boston 2010
It is one week later and I still struggle to put “my Boston” to words. I still can’t explain what happened last Monday, but it was definately not one of my best running days.
After 20+ weeks of specific training to peak at Boston, much ART masage, Ibuprofen and icing, I arrived at the start line. I had three goals a) sub 3:05 b) sub 3:08 c) sub 3:10. The morning of the race I felt good ready to go. As the gun went off I was excited to see the course again. I re-watched 2009 marathon last week to remember the course. Thru mile 4, I was right on pace, 6:55′s to 7:00′s, even though my calf was giving me the same issues as in the last six weeks of training.
At about mile 6, I had to make an unscheduled bathroom stop. As I got started again I was back on pace, but by mile 8, I hit a rough spot, and things started to spiral out of control. My legs were ”dead”. By mile 10, I was barely running 7:45′s. Although the calf pain had worked itself out. At 12, I saw the girls of Wellsley, they did little to help my struggles. I think they were quieter this year, or the wind was carrying their screams the other way.
By mile 13 I started to worry about Shawna and Debbie passing me. It was kind of funny I told them before the race that if they were to pass me, “don’t talk to me, because I would be having a very bad day”. We all laughed about it then. I didn’t see Shawna go by and when Debbie passed me at 15, I was okay with it. At least one of us was haing a good day. Me, I was looking for my escape hatch.
I have never felt this bad on a run. I had a 21 mile training run, three weeks ago, in which I ran 7:21′s. I am now thinking that maybe my miles and effort were too hard in training. The Newton Hills, miles 16-21, were hard, I didn’t want to look at anyone, so I just looked at the hills. The fans were rabid once over Heartbreak Hill. The BC’ers (Boston College) were very drunk again this year. Somewhere in there I looked at my watch and realized the elites were crossing the line, bummer. So many people passed me on the way to Boylston this year. I had 30 extra minutes to think on this long slow run. I thought of my friends Dave and Mike who were doing their first Boston’s. I am really proud of them. Mike was running on a new hip and Dave was running with the challenges of Parkinsons. I knew no matter how bad my day was, I had no room to complain. They are the last ones to admit it, but both have greater pains when they step out to run.
I saw the finish line and took small consolences in not walking and not quitting. I asked one of the volunteers “how did Ryan do”? I was sure he won. He took 4th, I was dissappointed for him.
I heard a post race interview from Ryan and he was talking about how he ran with “Joy” in his heart. I think that I need to find the joy in running again. The training for Boston was hard, really hard, maybe too hard. I met another runner after the race and we had the same race, same build up. We both raised our miles to over 60 miles per week for the first time. We both lost 10ish lbs over the same training time frame. We both had dead legs on race day. It is an interesting dynamic of the “perfect” taper. This race was not it.
I do however have a lot to take away form my third trip to Boston for the Marathon. Re-living my first time through my friends Mike and Dave. My wife having a great race. The great Italian restuarants in the North End. I got to meet two great professionals, Tim DeBoom and Josh Cox, (who took the time to talk with Debbie and I, and have pictures taken with us). Lasty, but leastly, as our trip was winding down I cruised into Niketown to pick up a Boston shirt and the race winner was in the store, Robert Cheriyot. I cruised up to him and congratulated him and asked if I could have my picture taken with him.
My race memories will be a little different this year. It was not about my race this year, but more about the experience of being in Boston and creating memories. I will bounce back and I will be back to Boston, but next time I hope to run with “Joy”.
Neal
Amy Elwell’s Race Report
Boston 4.19.10
Oh my first Boston…I don’t even know how to put my thoughts on paper. I trained hard, I was excited, I thought I was prepared to tackle the hills and “leave it all out there” after Heartbreak. Didn’t exactly go according to plan. Maybe it was traveling back East, maybe it was having enthusiastic kids underfoot, maybe the overwhelming nature of running in my “1st” Boston, but I didn’t show up at the starting line ready to run…I showed up tired. Not exactly the right attitude before taking off for a tough 26.2. Although my pace was great for the first 4 miles, I started to worry about the rolling downhills, wondering if I could hold the pace, worrying about falling apart before getting to the finish, nothing like creating panic with 21 miles to go. So…I slowed down, I went with a pace I knew I could hold throughout, I lost focus and caught myself zoning out on the crowds. After Heartbreak I picked it up to my original race pace and held it to the finish. That finish line was the happiest moment of my run. Unfortunately it wasn’t because I was rejoicing that I had completed my first Boston, but because I was DONE and I could stop running. I buried my disappointment. I knew on that day, under those circumstances, 3:47 was the best I could do so I celebrated that accomplishment. I had physically prepared myself for that run but couldn’t believe how quickly I allowed my head to doubt my training & doubt my strength.
Eugene 5.2.10
My enthusiasm for running was wavering after Boston. The thought of another race ranked right up there with a root canal. And then I made the decision to run the race with the attitude I should have had at Boston. It was simple, I would run with a purpose but without expectations. I would pick up my pace to the “not-so-comfortable-point” and hold it. I would not lose focus. I would not spend a moment doubting my ability. I would set small milestones – make it to 3…hold it to 5…now 6. I was thrilled when I hit the 12 mile marker and with only a mile to go I dropped my pace by another 15 seconds and finished feeling AMAZING with a PR of 1:44:48! My time had me smiling but also the fact that I did not allow for any self doubt to enter my head made me feel like I had won the whole thing! Yes, I was high 5-ing officials at the end! Yes, I was grinning ear to ear to no one in-particular! It was only a half, and yet I had the feeling of sweet redemption, a comeback of sorts, and will look forward to Boston 2011 with a renewed spirit! Amy Elwell, May 2010
MJ, May 2010
I really enjoyed the Vancouver Marathon. I was anxious about it because it’s the first marathon I’ve run that hasn’t been on familiar territory. All the others have been in places where I could look at a map and orient myself. Not so much Vancouver. There were a lot of loops and doubling back and I was really glad the course was well marked. It looked pretty as well and the terrain was interesting, especially the pieces through downtown and Stanley Park, but I didn’t catch a lot of it because of the rain.
As to how I felt: I ran positive splits—the first half doing about a 9:00 minute mile. And then I started to flag in a way that the supplements I was carrying didn’t help. I ran on jelly beans and XXX vitamin water. Then, around mile 19, when I was pretty light-headed, I took Gatorade from a water station and it picked me up instantly. Something about the salt, maybe? I’d been running on Advil and I know that can have a kind of depleting effect.
My psoas, which had been bothering me in the weeks up to the race, held up fine with kinezio tape—even improved after the first half hour. Apparently I need to work more on stability in my left hip. And even though this kills me, I think I need to run more sprints. My muscles held up fine but my aerobic capacity could stand improving. My time in Vancouver was 4:20. I’ve signed up for the Rock-n-Roll marathon and am hoping to hit that in 4:10. Then maybe qualify for Boston in the Portland Marathon in October? At least my times are going the right way—and one last fun, post-race story: I stayed at the Sutton Place Hotel, with a deal I got through Expedia. When I staggered back after the race, there was a Jazz Brunch going on in their restaurant with trays and trays of bacon and sausages and smoked salmon and eggs benedict and an omelette bar and waffles and pancakes and chocolate mousse. The clientele in the restaurant was all spiffed up: the men were wearing suits and the women were in linen dresses and hats. But the smell! I staggered up to the maitre d’ and said, “Listen, I know I’m skanky, but could you please seat me anyway?” I hadn’t showered and was still in my medal and race number. The maitre d’ took one look at me and said, “Right this way, madam.” I’m TOTALLY staying next year and tipping huge;-)
MJ