3/23/2013
2013 marks my 3rd consecutive year of running the 50 mile Buffalo Run event on Antelope Island west of Syracuse, UT. Coming into this race I was feeling good and prepared. I had just run Moab 55K four weeks prior and went out of my way to keep my mileage up in preparation for Buffalo Run.
Due to poor trail conditions after Moab, I was forced to get in some along runs along the pathways of Davis County. As miserable as it was at the time, I feel it paid great dividends when it came to race day. My goal was to do back to back weekend long runs until the week before the race.The first 15 miles of this race have 95% of the elevation gain of the entire 50 mile course. This means almost 35 miles of relatively flat (road like) running.
The race started at 6 am and the conditions were windy and very chilly. I started out and remember being cold especially my hands, so cold I could not operate my iPod until mile 3.
- For the record...I would like to offer a special shout out to my iPod. I couldn't have done it without you buddy!
- I tend to not listen to songs. I prefer to listen to albums in there entirety when out on a run. Here's what I listened to (Hey, this is an archive. It might be interesting to look back 10 years from now to see what I was listening to) From mile 3 in this order (Artist/ Album)
- Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
- Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
- Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
- Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
- Spoon - Gimme Fiction
- Spoon - Transference
- Spoon - Kill the Moonlight (again)....hmmmm, why all the Spoon?
- Rush - Hemispheres (the song La Villa Strangiato 3 times)
- Rush - Clockwork Angels
- Foo Fighters - One by One (the song All My Life 5 times in a row)
- Jim James - Regions of Light and Sound of God (parital, finished race)
Looking back now my music list seems a bit strange and eclectic. All right, enough of that and back to the race. My trek to elephant head aid station was uneventful and I ran a steady pace all the way to lone tree. At this point there is a very steep but relatively short road up to elephant head.
I walked most of this section until I reached the top. As I approached elephant head aid station I noticed the volunteers were diverting traffic to the elephant head out and back. I know it is an option to do split rock first and nobody was going that way. I was well stocked on water and chose to blow through this aid station get the split rock out of the way.
While back doing split rock I was pretty much all alone until something went past me moving faster than I can imagine. It was the race leader (at the time) and he was flying down split rock road. This was somewhat deflating when I realized I was about 90 minutes into the race and was already about 5 miles behind the leader.
By the time I hit the switch backs, the eventual race winner Scott Jaime came hustling past me. I gave him room to pass and wondered for a moment if I could hang with him. The answer is a resounding NO. I tried chasing him for about 30 seconds and decided I was WAY out of my league. One thing about very talented runners is they make it look easy. Oh well, back to my own pace and eventual arrival back at elephant head.
The highlight of this aid station was seeing Harrison Fluman passing through and heading toward Whiterock. Congrats to Harry who ended up finishing 5th overall. I still had elephant head to do so I dropped my pack, ate a GU (the only one I ate the entire day, more on that later) and knocked out one of my favorite trails on the island.
Upon arrival back to the aid station I grabbed a bottle of premixed perpetuem dropped my headlamp and headed out. The trip back to Whitereock was fun and I enjoyed seeing the 50K runners coming through. I remember seeing Shawn, Debbie, Jarrod, Corey, Brad, Alicia, Mike and many other familiar faces. I made it back to Whiterock in about 3:15 and remember feeling strong with little or no fatigue.
BJ, who is affectionately known as Squeaver due to his awesome artistic abillity to animate squirrels that look like beavers greeted me at the Whiterock (HUMR) aid station. I told him I was good and decided to just keep moving right on through. I was making my way up the fence line when I was greeted by super stud trail runner Kelly Agnew.
Kelly looked wiped out and slightly incoherent due to the fact that he had recently finished the hundred miler in 10th place with an incredible time of 20:24. We chatted for a few moments and I was off again. I made my way up the road another 1/2 mile or so and saw Aric & Jarod who (off and on) I ran the next 30 miles with.
The weather was still cold and windy but the wind was at our back all the way to the ranch which is just under 12 miles. I ran the entire way to the Frary aid station and was feeling very good. I am convinced that Hammer Nutrition's product called Perpetuem was key to my low levels of fatigue and sustained energy throughout the race. Aside from the one GU I had at elephant head, I used perpetuem pre-mixed in 5 oz flasks (2.5 scoops per bottle which is about 338 calories). I went through 5 of these flasks throughout the day supplemented by water in a handheld and S-Caps.
My goal for the day was to not linger in aid stations which is very easy to do. I spent very little time at Frary aid station as was my plan for all the aid stations I visited throughout the day. About a mile out of Frary I once again crossed paths with the eventual race winner Scott Jaime. I also saw Harry, Ryan and Jon on my way to the ranch.
I made to the ranch just as Aric was coming out. I went in filled my water bottle, grabbed my final two bottles of perpetuem from my drop bag and headed out. The way back to the ranch was cold and we all faced headwinds all the way to the fence line where we headed up toward lakeside trail.
On my way back to Frary I saw many friends and familiar faces. I saw Forrest (who I gave a big bear hug) and shortly thereafter saw first time 50 milers Randy, Matt, Misti & Dan (congratulations!). The prior 2 times I have done this race, the wheels pretty much fell of at about mile 38. This time was different. I was feeling so good I didn't even stop at the Frary aid station. By now I was starting to realize that I was going to beat my PR of 10 hours by a lot.
I'm still trying to explore in my head whether I have become more able to run through fatigue now or if I am experiencing less fatigue due to better hydration, nutrition & training. Perhaps it's a combination of both. Regardless, I started having visions of going sub 9 hours and kept chugging along and not giving into the HUGE temptation to walk.
By the time I made it back to the mountain view aid station, I once again had an Aric sighting. I filled my water bottle ate some salt (ran out of S-Caps) and headed up the big hill and toward Lakeside. Aric and I chatted for a while as we headed toward the bushwhack section and final aid station. Aric stopped at the final aid station near Lakeside and I pressed on.
The end was now near and I was on my favorite trail on the island, Lakeside Trail. I train on this 3 mile stretch regularly and it is very familiar to me. Just as I was coming around the final bend of Lakeside I heard a whistle. I turned around and there was Jared who I hadn't seen since the ranch. Jared Clark is some kind of freak of nature who can go out and run a 50K or in this case 50 mile race with little or no training.
By this time I could see the finish line and it was nice to chat with a friend for that last painful mile or so. We trotted along and ended up crossing the finish line at nearly the same time.
I ended up finishing the race at 9 hours 14 minutes. This is 46 minutes quicker than my time last year and 66 minutes quicker than 2 years ago. Ultimately I am very happy with the result. I came up about 14 minutes short of my goal of 9 hours but am not disappointed. I went out and gave it my all.
I experienced little or no foot fatigue throughout the day and had no blisters at the finish. I wore Altra Lone Peak shoes with Smartwool socks. My feet were feeling so good that I never did swap out my socks or shoes throughout the day. The conditions were cold but bright and Smith Parallel glasses helped protect my eyes. I wore the same Pearl Izumi shorts the entire race. The shorts are made of a lightweight breathable material with built in compression shorts which remained comfortable with zero chafing after 9 plus hours.
The after race festivities involved greeting my family, mingling with some of the best people I have ever met, a few PBR's and some tasty stew. It was truly inspiring to see so many friend take on new challenges (Dan Frey 50 miles, Randy Steinfeldt 50 miles, Matt Weeks 50 miles, Misty Alessandri 50 miles, Corey Vigil 50K, Jarrod Garr 50K) just to name a few. Post race recovery has been fairly uneventful. Aside from the usual quad soreness I'm ready to get back out on the trails. While back doing split rock I was pretty much all alone until something went past me moving faster than I can imagine. It was the race leader (at the time) and he was flying down split rock road. This was somewhat deflating when I realized I was about 90 minutes into the race and was already about 5 miles behind the leader.
By the time I hit the switch backs, the eventual race winner Scott Jaime came hustling past me. I gave him room to pass and wondered for a moment if I could hang with him. The answer is a resounding NO. I tried chasing him for about 30 seconds and decided I was WAY out of my league. One thing about very talented runners is they make it look easy. Oh well, back to my own pace and eventual arrival back at elephant head.
The highlight of this aid station was seeing Harrison Fluman passing through and heading toward Whiterock. Congrats to Harry who ended up finishing 5th overall. I still had elephant head to do so I dropped my pack, ate a GU (the only one I ate the entire day, more on that later) and knocked out one of my favorite trails on the island.
Upon arrival back to the aid station I grabbed a bottle of premixed perpetuem dropped my headlamp and headed out. The trip back to Whitereock was fun and I enjoyed seeing the 50K runners coming through. I remember seeing Shawn, Debbie, Jarrod, Corey, Brad, Alicia, Mike and many other familiar faces. I made it back to Whiterock in about 3:15 and remember feeling strong with little or no fatigue.
BJ, who is affectionately known as Squeaver due to his awesome artistic abillity to animate squirrels that look like beavers greeted me at the Whiterock (HUMR) aid station. I told him I was good and decided to just keep moving right on through. I was making my way up the fence line when I was greeted by super stud trail runner Kelly Agnew.
Kelly looked wiped out and slightly incoherent due to the fact that he had recently finished the hundred miler in 10th place with an incredible time of 20:24. We chatted for a few moments and I was off again. I made my way up the road another 1/2 mile or so and saw Aric & Jarod who (off and on) I ran the next 30 miles with.
The weather was still cold and windy but the wind was at our back all the way to the ranch which is just under 12 miles. I ran the entire way to the Frary aid station and was feeling very good. I am convinced that Hammer Nutrition's product called Perpetuem was key to my low levels of fatigue and sustained energy throughout the race. Aside from the one GU I had at elephant head, I used perpetuem pre-mixed in 5 oz flasks (2.5 scoops per bottle which is about 338 calories). I went through 5 of these flasks throughout the day supplemented by water in a handheld and S-Caps.
My goal for the day was to not linger in aid stations which is very easy to do. I spent very little time at Frary aid station as was my plan for all the aid stations I visited throughout the day. About a mile out of Frary I once again crossed paths with the eventual race winner Scott Jaime. I also saw Harry, Ryan and Jon on my way to the ranch.
I made to the ranch just as Aric was coming out. I went in filled my water bottle, grabbed my final two bottles of perpetuem from my drop bag and headed out. The way back to the ranch was cold and we all faced headwinds all the way to the fence line where we headed up toward lakeside trail.
On my way back to Frary I saw many friends and familiar faces. I saw Forrest (who I gave a big bear hug) and shortly thereafter saw first time 50 milers Randy, Matt, Misti & Dan (congratulations!). The prior 2 times I have done this race, the wheels pretty much fell of at about mile 38. This time was different. I was feeling so good I didn't even stop at the Frary aid station. By now I was starting to realize that I was going to beat my PR of 10 hours by a lot.
I'm still trying to explore in my head whether I have become more able to run through fatigue now or if I am experiencing less fatigue due to better hydration, nutrition & training. Perhaps it's a combination of both. Regardless, I started having visions of going sub 9 hours and kept chugging along and not giving into the HUGE temptation to walk.
By the time I made it back to the mountain view aid station, I once again had an Aric sighting. I filled my water bottle ate some salt (ran out of S-Caps) and headed up the big hill and toward Lakeside. Aric and I chatted for a while as we headed toward the bushwhack section and final aid station. Aric stopped at the final aid station near Lakeside and I pressed on.
The end was now near and I was on my favorite trail on the island, Lakeside Trail. I train on this 3 mile stretch regularly and it is very familiar to me. Just as I was coming around the final bend of Lakeside I heard a whistle. I turned around and there was Jared who I hadn't seen since the ranch. Jared Clark is some kind of freak of nature who can go out and run a 50K or in this case 50 mile race with little or no training.
By this time I could see the finish line and it was nice to chat with a friend for that last painful mile or so. We trotted along and ended up crossing the finish line at nearly the same time.
I ended up finishing the race at 9 hours 14 minutes. This is 46 minutes quicker than my time last year and 66 minutes quicker than 2 years ago. Ultimately I am very happy with the result. I came up about 14 minutes short of my goal of 9 hours but am not disappointed. I went out and gave it my all.
I experienced little or no foot fatigue throughout the day and had no blisters at the finish. I wore Altra Lone Peak shoes with Smartwool socks. My feet were feeling so good that I never did swap out my socks or shoes throughout the day. The conditions were cold but bright and Smith Parallel glasses helped protect my eyes. I wore the same Pearl Izumi shorts the entire race. The shorts are made of a lightweight breathable material with built in compression shorts which remained comfortable with zero chafing after 9 plus hours.
A final shout out to Jim Skaggs the race director and all the wonderful volunteers who are coordinated by the super awesome Britta Trepp. Thanks for making this race such a wonderful experience. I'll be back for more next year. Up next...The Pocatello 50 miler on June 1st.
