"A Glimpse of Heaven, A Taste of Hell": Tahoe Rim Trail 50k race report...

We arrived in Reno on Friday afternoon and made the short drive to Carson City where we immediately went to packet pickup at the Nevada State Capitol Legislative grounds. Packet pickup and the subsequent pasta dinner were nothing special, although it is notable that the dinner was served outside when it was 90-100 degrees. We were not expecting this kind of heat! I started to worry about how warm it would be for the race on Saturday. Since we'd be at a higher elevation, it was slightly cooler - before the race the race director said it would be in the mid 80's. Still not ideal running weather though.

But, I wasn't really expecting "ideal" anything though considering this was a last minute decision for me to run. I had not done any specific training for the race. Heck, the last time I did a trail run was at Jemez in May! I was relying on the strong base that I have built with fall marathon training over the past 2 months to get me through the race. With the elevation profile, I knew I would do my fair share of walking so that would help too. My strategy was to walk the climbs and run the downs and flats. I wasn't out to set any records in terms of time. I just wanted to enjoy the experience and the beautiful scenery.

I definitely ran the kids race here with the 50k distance. There was also a 50-mile and 100-mile run (which was actually the National Championship 100-mile Trail race). As we were milling around the start area before the race on Saturday morning trying to find Stephanie, K said he didn't see her, but he saw plenty of "crazy people." It was definitely quite intimidating to be in that crowd of runners with their Western States, Bighorn, etc. shirts on. I tried to separate myself from them saying I didn't look like them when K made his "crazy" comment, but as I reflected on it more during my first few miles, I conceded that I am indeed part of the crazy.

The race started and finished at Spooner Lake State Park (7000 feet). We found Stephanie shortly before the race was to begin (6am). I was happy to see a friendly face and wish her well.
As the race director was warning us of the expected warm temps and reminding us to stay hydrated, I tried to take a sip of my water, stupidly for the first time just seconds before the race start since replacing the bladder in my hydration pack the night before. Nothing was coming out so I tried to get K to suck strongly on the tube to try to get the fluid moving. Still nothing. By now the race director had started the race and the runners were off. And I was still at the start line. After at least 5 minutes or so, we finally got it working and off I went. Thankfully, I caught up to the back of the pack about a half mile in.

Unfortunately, the course immediately started climbing 1,500 feet within the first 4 miles or so. My calves were not happy about that either and made that known to me. I stopped to stretch a few times, but I was still trying to work my way back into the pack so I didn't want to stop too long. My calves were tight and my feet were numb for about the first hour of the race. Not a good way to get started. But then we hit a nice 1/2 mile downhill section to Marlette Lake (7823 feet) and it felt great to run and stretch my legs out after the climb at this point!
It was short-lived though as we immediately started climbing again on dirt roads to the Hobart Road aid station at 8120 feet. The theme of the aid station was Irish and they were offering Irish Whiskey and beer here along with the regular aid station fare. By this point, I felt more comfortable since I think I have caught up to the back of the mid packers and I stop worrying about running by myself at the end after my delay at the start. This is the first time though that I start to realize that either my Garmin is off or the distance is wrong because my Garmin said this aid station was 7 miles from the start, while it was listed as being 6 miles from the start. It is more typical for my Garmin to underestimate the distance when trail running due to the trees and switchbacks, so I was surprised to see that it was overestimating. I'm not worrying too much about it at this point as I still have a long way to go regardless, but this will become a bigger issue later.

After a short climb out of Hobart aid station, I was greeted with my first real majestic view of Lake Tahoe and the mountains as we climbed past Marlette Peak and Harlan Peak. Wow.
The next section was my favorite section of the course from a running perspective. Sweet, single-track downhill to the aid station at Tunnel Creek Road near the junction of the Tahoe Rim Trail at Twin Lakes. In the back of my mind though was the knowledge that I was going to have to run back UP this section later. I tried to push that awareness to the back of my mind though and just really enjoyed this stretch of trail.

After the Tunnel Creek aid station (7806 feet), we embarked on the infamous Red House Loop of 6.3 miles which took us to the low point of the course with an elevation of 6800 feet. What goes down must come back up though with a difficult climb in sand back up to the Tunnel Creek aid station. Then it was back up to Hobart again. As I was heading back to Hobart, K called to check on my progress since unfortunately there weren't any aid stations accessible on the 50k course for him to meet me. I felt fine, but had the growing realization that this course was going to be longer than the 31 miles that I had signed up for. I let him know that my Garmin was reading close to 21 miles, but I was still a couple of miles out from Hobart and from there it was still another 10 miles back in. I had the pleasure of bursting a man's bubble after Hobart when he was on the phone with someone telling him that he only had about 6 miles or so to go (that was when I knew it wasn't just an inaccurate reading with my Garmin because his was telling him the same thing as mine). No, sorry. It was 10 miles from when we left that aid station.

We then headed up to the high point of the course at Snow Valley Peak (9,214 feet).
There were some beautiful views up here! Here's my attempt at a panoramic shot:
I got through this last climb knowing that it was the last one on the course and it was followed by a downhill into the finish. I had to really watch my footing though in the first mile or so out of the aid station because there were rocks to negotiate so I couldn't really let out my stride. Not that I really made much of a stride to let out at that point.

As I made the descent from Snow Valley, I was bordering on meltdown mode (well, to be honest I was probably IN meltdown mode). I was ready to be done...and would have been soon if the darn race was 31 miles like a true 50k is supposed to be. My legs felt surprisingly good, but I was noticing problems with my right foot when I tried running. I was scared of risking a serious injury, especially considering this was a fun run for me and my goal race is still several months away. I finally hit the final aid station at Spooner Trailhead (7150 feet) and sponged down with water to cool down. I had about a mile and half to go until the finish. And it was such a welcome sight once I got there, especially once I saw K off to the right. Immediately after finishing I was offered a bottle of water and a cold beer. Too bad I don't drink beer. It made a nice souvenir though because the label was custom made for the race. The finisher's shoot might have been the nicest that I have been through because it was covered by a tent with chairs immediately after the finish line. So I plopped myself down while K enjoyed my beer and we cheered in the finishers, including Jane, until I was ready to move again.

After surveying the damage, I am pleasantly surprised with how good I feel post-race. The chafing on my legs and my right foot were what hurt the most during the latter stages of the race and after the race. But, my legs actually feel fine, which is in stark contrast to Jemez when my quads were screaming at me for days afterwards. My right foot is still hurting when I flex it, but it seems to be less than yesterday so I'm not too worried about it. I can bear weight on it, so I don't think it's anything too serious hopefully.

I told myself after the race yesterday that I wasn't going to do another mountain race and I thought I meant it this time, but I'm already backing off of that again and I'll probaby do another one. I don't think this course was as difficult as Jemez, as reflected in my finishing time which was an hour faster on this course. But, it was obviously still a challenge with the altitude and the ascents. And, I'm just as proud of finishing it.