Half Baked

This was my third year and final leg of the Baker Trail Ultrachallenge. In 2011 I ran the North section and in 2012 I completed the Central section. This year I would face the toughest section, the South. The challenges of the southern end of the Baker Trail are not single track trail, rocks, roots, or bush whacking but pounding pavement and country roads for 30+ miles while baking in the sun on relentless climbs.

Elevation Profile

 

This section also features some tough obstacles right in the first 10 miles to help wear you out long before you ever touch the long stretches of pavement. At mile 4.1 there is a rope climb up a 40 foot sheer cliff face covered in loose shale. And at 7.4 miles there is a steep descent and ascent out of a hollow. This was a slide down on your backside and crawl out on your hands and knees type of valley!

The rope climb

 

I knew I probably shouldn't even line up for a 50 mile race just four weeks after my first 100 miler but I really wanted the final piece of my medal. I have reserved every August for the last three years to complete a leg of the Baker so I was really looking forward to finishing it for good.

 

Shane was running the last leg of the relay so he didn't need to arrive until Saturday afternoon. The 50 miler began at 6:30am and buses to the start left at 5:15am so I drove up alone the night before. I checked in and ate and hung out at the farm house just like last year. And I once again slept in my Jeep. All in all it wasn't a bad way to spend an evening.

A blurry pic of me with my friends, Tom and Jeff

 

After a restless night I awoke before my 4:30am alarm and began to dress. I had chosen my INKnBURN cherry blossom camisole and denim shorts along with my Altra Torins. Other than that I carried only a 20 ounce Ultimate Direction handheld. I wandered into the farm house for some coffee and socializing until it was time to load the buses.

 

Kim and I in the farm house

 

The bus ride was about an hour since the Baker is point to point. I chatted a bit and dozed a bit but really I just wanted to get started and get done. I wasn't nervous and I wasn't really excited either. It just felt like something I had to complete. I arrived at the starting line and found my friends, Allison and Patrick, who had paced me at Burning River 100. I knew Patrick would take off quickly but Allison and I decided to stick together with our friend, Brian, for the first several miles.

 

The gun went off about 15 minutes late and we all headed up a country road. Before long we were traversing single track trail and Jeep roads. Then we reached the line for the rope climb. As I was climbing I heard branches cracking and a curse from Brian. I yelled up to ask if he was okay and it turned out that he had surprised a deer at the top which almost ran him over in its rush to get away. Thankfully no animals or runners were harmed and we all continued on, laughing about the different scenarios that could arise from a runner on deer collision.

 

Somewhere on the way through the steep valleys and peaks of the hollows we all got separated. My legs were not responding well on the climbs and I felt like I couldn't really pound the descents like I usually do. I knew I was going slow but I promised myself I wouldn't stop unless I got pulled for missing a cutoff. I had been hoping for 11 hours but it was obvious early on that I wouldn't make it so I tried to keep pace with my previous year's splits.

 

Coming into an aid station

 

Somewhere around mile 10 a huge group of us followed some blazes down a path and then they suddenly stopped. We finally found our way back to where we had gone astray and it turned out someone had purposely blacked out the real blazes and laid a false trail. That was a new experience for me and added a lot of time and about a mile to my day.

 

I hit 21 miles in 5:23 and looked forward to the beginning of the road section that would take me to the finish line. Around this point I was at an aid station stuffing my face when Allison and Brian popped up behind me. They had gotten lost as well and added about two miles which put them just behind me. Brian had also twisted his ankle and was having trouble keeping up with Allison. After a few miles of running together Brian and I let Allison go and continued on together. For her first 50 miler on a tough course, Alli was really killing it!

Bridge on the course

 

Brian and I ran together, running and walking, chatting away. We slowly began to overtake people who had gone out too fast or who were having issues with the heat. As we reached the exposed road that we would follow for the next 20 miles to the finish it was easy to see that many runners were not acclimated to the conditions. Thankfully Brian and I both love to run in the heat and sun!

Take me home country road

 

We enjoyed wonderful views such as some goats taking a dump, an old folks home painted pink like Barbie's Malibu mansion, and a wiener dog that chased us down the road a ways. There were also lots of Amish horses and buggies, lifted trucks, and very large dogs chained outside of very small trailers. It was very obvious that we were in the deep countryside.

 

Allison at Barbie's Dream House

 

 

 

 

If memory serves me I reached the marathon point in roughly 7 hours. I was feeling fairly certain that I would be racing cutoffs for the 14 hour finish. But as Brian and I counted down the miles we began to pick up the pace. A couple runners joined us on the push to the finish. I had met Dave the night before and Murray recognized me from this blog! It was really neat to run with two new friends for awhile! Brian's friend, Tom, joined us as a pacer for the last 10 or so miles and we really began to push. A mile from the finish I saw Shane waiting at the top of a hill. We took off together with Brian and Tom at our heels. And, just like last year, runners were directed up and over a furrowed hill to a tractor lane rather than running down the driveway to the farm.

 

 

As I ran down the tractor lane I pushed as hard as I could. My Garmin was long dead by this point so I have no idea what my pace was but I'm pretty sure I would be proud. I crossed the line in 12:44:52 and was awarded my medal and my rolling pin. This was also the first time I negative split an ultra. First half in roughly 7 hours, second half in approximately 5:44!

 

After that it was time to eat before Shane and I headed to the airport for my girls' trip to Disney. No rest for the wicked in this house!

 

Crossing the finish line

Swag

 

I had to wait four entire days to get home and see my medal and rolling pin again. But now I have finally assembled the final product of three years of toil in the hot August sun!

All three years' medals prior to disassembly

Now all three medal pieces rest together on a marble rolling pin seated atop a wooden base. In about six weeks an inscribed plaque with all three years and my finish times will arrive to be affixed to the base. I have to say it feels really good to have this one checked off the bucket list!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kicking off the New Year

I spent my first day of 2013 on the trails, in the snow. It was cold and it was slow going but it was awesome nonetheless! The crunch of fresh powder under my Altras and my warmest jacket over my new INKnBURN gear were just what I needed to feel like I was starting out on the right foot (pun intended).

I think I've made my goals for 2013 pretty obvious but for the sake of having them listed and quantifiable I want to put them here:

1. PR at every distance from 5k - 50 miles
2. This is a sub-part of #1: PR at the Shamrock Marathon
3. Run 80+ miles at the North Coast 24 Hour
4. Finish Burning River 100 Mile
5. Run my third leg of the Baker 50 Mile and complete my medal
6. Return to Oil Creek for a distance I haven't done there (either 50k or 100M)
7. Run at least 2013 kilometers in 2013 (1,250 miles)

These are my 'bare minimum' goals. These are things that I believe I can accomplish with my current training and history. I will refine these goals throughout the year and for most races I will have 'A', 'B', and 'C' goals. For example: Just finish, finish in X:XX time (time I will be happy with), and finish in Y:YY time (time I will be over the moon about). I try to make all of my goals attainable and reasonable but there's always outside forces. It may be snow or extreme heat or an injury, whatever.... It's important that I remember that just putting in the training and getting to the starting line is an accomplishment in itself. The rest is the icing on the proverbial cake.

So there's my 2013 goals in writing for all the world to see. So what's your goals? Have you made them quantifiable and attainable? Let's see them!

Sorry If I Chicked You (Not!)

This was my second year doing the Baker Trail Ultrachallenge 50 miler. The Baker is a different race from most ultras in that you have to do the race three times in order to get the whole medal. The Baker Trail is almost 150 miles long so each year the race is held on a different 50 mile section. Last year I ran the North section and got my first piece of the medal. This year I got to experience the Central section.

The Baker medal once completed.

 

The week before the race I only ran two miles. I really wanted to run more but I couldn't seem to do anything but work. I ended up putting in 49 hours in the 4 days leading up to the race. Friday I ditched work and got a haircut instead and then came home to pack and head up to the packet pick up. This year the packets were being picked up at a private farm in Smicksburg, PA and was also where runners would finish the race. I decided to sleep in my Jeep at the farm to make race day morning easier.

 

 

New haircut to give me a mental boost for race day!

 

When I arrived at packet pick up I found that the family who owns the farm had made spaghetti and salad for everyone. To top it off they also had a refrigerator full of beer! I got my bib, chip, and shirt and took them to my Jeep. Once there I organized everything for race day and then headed back inside the farm house to eat and socialize. I sat on the deck with a cold brew and a full plate and talked to quite a few runners, both new and old friends. Soon enough it was getting dark and time to get some shut eye. I laid down the back seat of my Jeep and crammed a bag in the gap between the seat and the rear floor before rolling out my sleeping bag. I wasn't able to stretch out completely but I wasn't too uncomfortable either. I slept rather well for the conditions.

 

Representing Team Aquaphor!

 

In the morning my alarm went off at 4:30am. I quickly changed into my running gear and filled my handheld. I wore a camisole, shorts, gaiters and a pair of well worn road shoes. I carried nothing but water in a small handheld. I hoped travelling light would work in my favor on a hot day. I knew that this section is mostly rolling and winding country roads (gravel, dirt, and broken asphalt), as well as farm fields, Jeep roads, and about 8-10 miles of actual singletrack, technical trail. It would be relentless sun for the most part with no shade and hot asphalt under foot. A total 7, 318 feet of ascent and 7,056 feet of descent would add to the fun.

 

Elevation profile for the Cental section

 

 

A bus arrived at 6:00am to take us to the starting line. I hit the port-o-potty and then climbed aboard. The ride took twice as long as it was supposed to and I dozed on and off while the bus navigated the dusty country roads. By the time we reached the starting line it was almost 7am (start time was supposed to be 6:30am) and runners were nervously speculating about the toll the late start would take later as temperatures rose. I was just happy I wouldn't need a headlamp since I hadn't packed one.

 

The race director reminded us about following the yellow blazes and being safe on the roads. Then we were off! I purposely went out at the back of the pack. I wanted to go slowly enough to feel good and finish strong but still PR. I set a goal of running 13-14 minute mile average pace for the first half. A group of four runners, including me, settled in for the slow pace. The rest of the runners (roughly 100 this year - results aren't up yet) took off like it was a marathon or sprint instead of an ultra. I predicted that we'd see a high drop rate this year with the high number of new runners plus the heat. I learned that I was running with Steve, Michael, and Mad Dog. We continued as a group through the first three aid stations (mile 15) and added three more runners along the way.

 

After aid station 3 I took off a little and left the group. I knew I was almost 1/3 done and I thought it was time to start picking off more runners. Over the next few sections I picked off probably 5-10 runners, usually in groups of 2 or 3. I told myself I could start listening to music at the halfway point (mile 25.1) to motivate myself to get there. As I headed up the last large hill to the mid-way aid station I caught sight of a butterfly. I took my eyes off the trail just long enough to catch my toe on a rock and land hard on my left side. I looked down to find my knee bleeding profusely. I almost panicked but then I thought of all the stories I've heard of runners finishing despite much worse. I took a deep breath and pulled my eyes away from the gore. Then I got to my feet, dusted off and set off for the aid station.

 

 

My knee, looking better after being cleaned up.

 

At the halfway aid station the volunteers offered to let me use the sponge to clean up my knee. Knowing that there were people behind me who might want to use that sponge, I declined. I found a paper towel and wet it and used it to wipe away the worst of the blood and dirt. After that I went through the routine I used at every aid station in this race. I filled my water bottle, drank one cup of Gatorade or soda, and then ate a quarter PB&J or handful of trail mix. I never took a single GU or S!cap or anything except 'real' food. I also made sure to thank every volunteer at every single aid station. I checked my Garmin and saw that I was at exactly 6 hours. I made up my mind right then to aim for a negative split and a sub-12 finish.

 

After I left that aid station I pulled out my headphones and started rolling along to the music. It carried me pretty well and I started passing more runners. At one point I passed 7 or 8 within a mile or so. I was still feeling strong and happy and the miles were ticking off easily. I was having a blast moo-ing back at the cows along the way, waving to the Amish folks and just enjoying the sun and the breeze. Around mile 35 or so I caught a man named James who recognized me from this blog! (Hi James!) We leap frogged for awhile until I was finally able to pass for good. I think my awful singing probably kept him from catching me again!

 

By mile 40 I was starting to feel a little bit worn. A rock had made its way into my shoe and was digging into the side of my big toe. I kept wiggling my toe in hopes it would move somewhere less annoying but it never did. I was afraid I would lose too much time if I stopped to remove it plus I wasn't sure my shoe would go back on my swollen foot. I chose to ignore the pain and run with the sole purpose of getting sub-12 hours. I continued to play my game of choosing a 'victim' and passing them and then putting a large gap between that runner and myself before slowing again. It helped keep me going and kept me mentally strong. I never passed a runner that I didn't keep behind me for the rest of the way!

 

Miles 40-45 or so I ran with a friend of mine named Mick. He kept me in good spirits and kept pushing me. He took off after a bit and ran ahead. I tried to hold on to him but I know he's a stronger runner than I am still so I let him go when I got to the last aid station, approximately 4 miles from the finish. I went through my routine of refilling my water bottle, drinking some Gatorade and then eating a handful of chips. I took off down the road in the hopes of still finishing in 11 hours and 50-some minutes.

 

It didn't take long for me to realize there was very little chance of that happening. The last section is rolling ups and downs along gravel roads and some country highway. I was shuffle-jogging up the hills and then running full tilt on the downs but the runnable sections were getting fewer and farther between. The downs didn't seem to match the ups and the pace on the ups kept getting slower and slower. I pushed and pushed but when I realized I would need to do better than 10 minutes per mile for the last 2 miles I knew it was over. I had a vague hope that maybe the time on my Garmin was off from the timing clock and I would still barely make it but I knew in my heart it was futile. I set a new goal of finishing in 12:0x. I figured it would still be a huge PR and something to be very proud of.

 

The last mile is a long stretch of rolling highway and it seemed like it would never end. Runners who had finished long before me were driving out and waving and cheering which helped but I wanted to be done more than anything at that point. I finally saw the farm as I crested a hill. All I had to do was turn down the driveway and sprint it in! Right?! To my intense dismay I saw yellow arrows pointing not to the driveway but up a steep hill of furrowed farmland. I wasn't sure my ankles and knees would take a trip over a gopher hole so it was slow going. I finally crested the hill and saw I had to run down to a tractor lane, make a sharp left and then follow it to the finish. I picked my way through the old furrows and down to the tractor lane. I hit the tractor lane at 12:04 by my Garmin. I set out at the fastest run I could manage and crossed the line!

 

The race director told me my official time was 12:05:59! I made my B goal! Sub-12 will have to wait for next year I guess but it's still a huge improvement over Umstead in March and an even bigger PR over my time on the North section last year. I collected my medal, got a high five from one of the little boys running around the farm, and then headed for the food. As I enjoyed my pulled pork sandwich, cheeseburger and potato salad I relished knowing that I have trained really hard the last 6 months and it shows. I talked with a lot of runners who finished much faster than me but instead of feeling discouraged, I felt like I could get there someday! After I ate one of the volunteers patched up my knee (they had no peroxide so we used hand sanitizer - OUCH!) and I headed home. Now I just wait for official results so I can see how many runners I actually passed and where I placed. :)

 

 

 

I can't wait to see what next year holds!

Switching Teams

No this post isn't about anything to do with my personal life!

Now that I've got that out of the way I can get on with my report of the Run for Hunger 4 Mile Trail Race. My Team reGen teammate, Tom, is the director for this race and he sure knows how to put on a great event. My husband decided to participate in his first trail race which made the day even better.

We barely made it to the start on time (2PM). My husband underestimated the drive time but thankfully I'm a lead-foot. We pulled into Birdsfoot Golf Club and parked on a steep hillside (thank you Jeep!). Shane ran over to the tent to register while I gathered our gear and donations. I made it to the table to sign my waiver right as Tom was leading the group of runners to the starting line. We did a quick introduction and left it at that for now.

At the starting line I missed the instructions in my rush to use the Port-o-john. Shane filled me in right as Tom blew the airhorn and we were off! We started up a golf cart road that was curving and first up then down. About a quarter mile in the grade increased sharply and I decided to slow down a bit. A young girl and a woman passed me so I was now third overall woman and it didn't seem like there was anyone close behind as we made a turn into the woods. The trail was very technical single track and I was concentrating hard on not twisting my ankle when I heard heavy breathing behind me. I looked back and it was a woman who appeared to be in her 30's. I almost let her pass because she wasn't in my age group but since I was in third place overall I decided to try to outpace her. Less than a mile into a race that probably wasn't the best idea.


At the 1 mile mark we came into a field and at this point the woman overtook me. We made a left turn back into the woods and I tried to stick to her but the voices in my head were telling me I was asking for an injury that would prevent me from running the Baker 50 mile next weekend. I started to let her pull away and hoped she would slow more than I would in the next 3 miles.



The trail met an access road and the race course turned to follow it. The access road then met a dirt road and we turned onto that. This was the one and only water stop and I was glad that I had chosen to carry a handheld on such a hot day. I thanked the volunteers and then turned left to follow the blazes into the woods again. The trail became even more technical and we were travelling uphill once again. It was at this point that I lost the woman who had passed me, just before the two mile mark. I was by myself now and was cautiously trying to follow the switchbacks up the hill without slowing too much.



At the top of the ridgeline we made a turn down the other side. Instead of switchbacks the downhill was a straight-on attack and it was covered with loose rocks and larger, immobile rocks and roots. I started to really worry about getting hurt here but I pushed on. I could hear people on the switchbacks behind me and it wasn't long before two men and a woman overtook me.

There were 4 stream crossings at the bottom of the hill. We criss-crossed Buffalo Creek and at first I tried to stay dry. While I was tiptoeing through the first crossing another woman caught me. I realized I would have to throw caution to the wind if I was going to maintain my position. I splashed through the next 3 crossings and kept a slight lead on the other woman. Somewhere in this patch my Garmin beeped out the 3 mile mark.



After the water crossings we started up the biggest climb of the race. I walked most of it and started chatting up the woman behind me, partially to entertain us both and partially to keep her from passing me. I learned it was her first trail race and she was wearing Vibram Fivefingers. Can you say ouch?! I could feel the rocks and roots through the rock plate in my trail shoes! Thankfully it leveled out at the top and I got back up to a jog and kept my lead. There were many, many downed trees and logs in this area and they slowed me down quite a bit. I scraped my thigh up quite a bit trying to cross over one of the ones that didn't have the bark removed. It slowed me enough that I heard footsteps again and I looked back to see two women moving swiftly up. I tried to stay ahead of them but I knew it was futile. Just as my watch beeped 4 miles I heard, "excuse me" from behind and stepped aside. I couldn't believe how well they were moving and it wasn't until after I finished that I realized they were half marathoners from the 1PM start and this was their finishing push. Then I didn't feel so bad about them passing me anymore.



I started to wonder if I had missed a turn as my Garmin read 4.1 then 4.2 and then 4.3. Finally I came out of the woods at the top of the golf cart road. I was about to run down it when I realized there were more pink flags leading runners back into the woods. I sighed deeply and then pushed on. Another quarter mile of switchbacks brought us back out of the woods and onto the golf course. I gave it all I had down the hill and then it began to rise again. I could see the finish line at the top and the clock read 59:50. I didn't think I could make it in under an hour but I gave my all and managed to get an official time of 59:57 and a Garmin distance of 4.8 miles.

I located my husband and enjoyed just sitting in the perfectly manicured grass for awhile. We chatted with some others and cheered in the next few runners. Tom came over and asked what we thought of his race and we agreed that it was much more technical than we had expected but enjoyable nonetheless. He told us food, a raffle, and awards would be happening in half an hour back at the tent so we headed down to get some fluids while we waited.

The event was catered by Fivestar Catering and the spaghetti and salad were excellent! Each runner was given 5 tickets to put in the bags for the chinese auction which included CEP arm coolers, technical socks, gift certificates to the local running store, handheld water bottles, a Brooks hat, and vegetable baskets from a local farm. Shane and I didn't win anything but it was still fun to hope!

When the results print out went up I couldn't find my name and I started to worry that I'd gotten missed. However, it turned out I was looking too far down! I'm used to being in the bottom 50% and this time I was 18th overall! I was beyond thrilled when I realized I'd taken 1st place in my age group. I was 6th woman overall. My husband finished in 52:28, 7th overall, and 2nd in his age group. It was a very good day for Team Brunazzi!





After all was said and done we thanked Tom for his hospitality and I slipped into my reGen shirt to snap some pics with him. (This is where the switching teams comes into play!) His daughter ran the 4 mile race as well and got 3rd in the 1-14 age group. She's going to give my daughter some stiff competition when we finally get them into a race together! We promised to catch eachother at another race soon and then my husband and I headed home.



Overall, I am very pleased with this race, our performances, and meeting a fellow teammate. I hope that next year we'll be able to do it again and hopefully place even better!