North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile December 6, 2014North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile December 6, 2014TNFEC was Kristin and my second 50 mile race. I was incredibly nervous going into this race because Overlook was so incredibly difficult. I expected something to go wrong, but it wouldn't be heat. In my mind it was either going to be: my bruised foot, the mud, or something else I couldn't predict. Kristin was incredibly prepared with the drop bags and she coordinated her Dad, Don, to crew for us at three points along the course. I wasn't in planning mode, but she did a great job.
The week before the race was rain almost every day, so I was expecting mud. I had done a few runs in the rain, but none of them were on trail, so I was skeptical about the trails. I didn't have time to test out any new shoes or anything, so I'd just give it a go. There were a few course changes the day before the race which eliminated the Muir Woods section that the Mt. Tam 50k had given us a chance to practice. It was replaced with an extra loop in Rodeo Valley at the start. However, we knew all the other sections which was a bonus.
We got up at 2:15am on the morning of the race to catch the 3:30am shuttle from the Marina Middle School to Rodeo Valley for a 5am start. I ate an English muff with peanut butter at home and then continued to eat a banana on the bus. I was full, but I wanted as many calories as I could. I had prepared 2L of Tailwind (4 scoops) in my pack and had a similar amount with our crew for aid stations. Between these times, I would just fill the pack with water if needed.
Immediately after leaving the bus, we ran into our friend Justin whom we met at the San Lorenzo River 50k earlier in the spring and had done some training runs with leading up to the race. I also met up with fellow SF Marathon Ambassador Charles Lim right before the start. I have been interacting with all these folks for months prior to the race so it was awesome to see them when it was about to start.
The first 15 miles of the race was uneventful. After a half mile, Justin took off while Kristin and I were being steady but going easy to pace ourselves. After 16-17 miles, Pirate's Cove wasn't as bad as I expected, but was quite muddy. The small slippery areas were foreshadowing of what was to come, however. Everything went as predicted until we hit Heather Cutoff and Coastal Trail which were all mud. I love my Altra Olympus shoes, but they were not ideal for the mud. I am ordering a pair of Altra Loan Peak for the next muddy day. I was cautious about the mud on the way to Cardiac, but I had packed a change of socks and shoes (another pair of Olympus) so I could run the next 15+ miles to McKennan Gulch and Stinson Beach mud-free. This worked out perfectly!
On the way out to McKennan Gulch we got to see the return runners. I saw Jesse Edelsberg, Jacob Massler, and Justin who was about 5 miles ahead of us! We were hoping he could hold on to that pace. We ran back and down to Stinson Beach where we met up with Don for a second time (mile 30-something). I drank nearly a whole Mexican Coke and a PBJ. The hike up to Cardiac was reminiscient of the Tamalpa 50k that we had done back in the early fall so we just powered the two mile climb. After reaching Cardiac, I changed my socks again as shown in the picture.
The race itself went as well as I could expect. We kept the mantra "just keep moving" and we did that. We ran the downhills and flats and power-hiked the uphills. I made sure to supplement with lots of potatoes and PBJ at the start and this gave way to Coke and Gu after mile 25. At Muir Beach, mile 40, potatoes actually sounded good again so I had more. My fueling was working extremely well. We also took a salt pill every aid station (~1-2 hours).
The entire day we were at least 1-2 hours ahead of the cut-offs. We would lose some time on the muddy, slippery parts but then gain a bit back on the runnable parts. Kristin made a nice sheet with the distances and cut-off times that we carried with us. This was really convenient so we didn't have to figure out details late in the race. I do wish that I would remember how far off my GPS watch was at each aid station, so I'll think about something to do next time.
We made the final Muir Beach aid station (mile 40) with over 3.5 hours of time left. From there, I calculated that we could make the finish line cutoff (14 hours) even if we walked the last 10 miles. However, we were both feeling good and I started to think about what our finish time could be. It seemed feasible to break 13 hours if we could keep the walking to a minimum. We climbed the last big hill out of Muir Beach and were doing pretty well. This climb up to Coyote Ridge has so many false summits that it gets a bit depressing. This was where I had a horrible bonk a few months earlier on a 20 mile training run with Justin and Kristin. However, this time, I was 40 miles into a race and felt fantastic. As we hit the top of Coyote Ridge, we were able to run again down to the final Tennesse Valley stop at mile 44. Kristin's knee hurt a little bit along the way, so we stopped once or twice to let her stretch.
From Tennessee Valley, I could sense the finish line. It was less than 6 miles to go. We hiked up the Marincello climb for ~3 miles to the top. It got dark just as we hit the top so we pulled out our headlamps and were ready to run it in from there. I had purposely stopped looking at my watch at this point as I wanted our final finish to be a surprise. The final quarter mile up the road and to the finish line seemed like the longest run ever, but I felt great. I was super excited to be done and still be able to run. I felt like I could keep going, but I wanted a beer!
Crossing the finish, my GPS watch read 51.8 miles. Some of this was due to GPS error and some due to course changes. Our friends, Justin and Leah, were at the finish along with Don. Justin finished in an amazing 10 hrs 30 min while Kristin and I ended up finishing in 12 hrs 45 min! Compared to our 14+ hour adventure at Overlook 50 in September, I am incredibly happy with this. More than that, I still felt awesome. At no point during the race did I even hit a low place. I'm thinking sub-11 hours for American River in the spring!
Post-analyzing the results, we had about an hour total at aid stations. Some of this was due to the weather conditions and changing shoes/socks. I believe we can be more efficient about this and gain another half hour.
What I learned: