 |
| Unmarked Course = Pocket Sized Maps |
Back from Montana, I have had a couple of days to re-evaluate my late season attitude towards racing. In short, I returned home on Saturday exhausted with a longing to remain in the mountains. This wasn't a new feeling and is typically the short lull that follows any great adventure involving backpacking, fly fishing, and weeks spent living in a tent. What was missing however, was my long to return running. In short, I was and in some ways, still am completely sick of running. Bridger Ridge Run set me back in more ways than one both physically and mentally, marking my second lackluster performance of the season. After a week of post race blues, I have come to realize that it is time to move on and get healthy again! In hindsight, it is funny to even look at the race negatively. I knew my chances of actually "racing" were limited given I completed an all out 50-mile effort two weeks prior, had never run on such exposed and technical terrain, and was coming from sea-level a day prior to run a course that was mostly at 9k feet of elevation or beyond, cresting 4 major peaks in the Bridgers. Ok...being competitive sometimes sets you up for unrealistic expectations. With one look at the majority of the top 30 competitors in the medical tent post-race, I actually came out pretty unscathed minus a couple flesh wounds.
Upon reaching Montana last Friday, my brother and I had the pleasure of fly fishing for most of the day with my uncle who lives in Missoula. He drove up to meet us for the first half of the week, catching up over camp fires, fishing, and microbrews. In the later half of the day, I went to a required pre-race meeting in hopes to ease my nervous energy and look at aerial photos of the course. Unfortunately, learning the course was mostly unmarked and being surrounded by only local mountain runners, didn't quite do the trick. I felt like a fish out of water as everyone knew each other by name and there was only about 6 people that had not previewed the course. I left a bit antsy but some canyon fishing and camping calmed my jitters.
 |
| Hand after one week |
Race morning as usual blew by. I woke up at 5 am to eat and break down camp with Josh, catching a glimpse of the sun rise prior to start. Wave 1 participants looked intense and I put myself near the back knowing that I wanted to start out easy, evaluating my climbing legs and unprimed lungs during the first of 4 summits. In hindsight, this was pretty dumb, because I had to waste a lot of energy getting around people within the first half mile. Upon stumbling to the top of Sacajewea at a little under 10k of vertical, I felt ok as I went into the first of many hairy descents. I realized quickly that this wasn't built for the clumsy as a path didn't exist and I was left to pick a route through the 50% slope and sharp shale. I would mark myself as "good" at descending, but this left me to re-evaluate. As I aggressively descended, pushing to maintain a position within the top 15 runners, I fell on a steeper pitch, ripping open my leg, both hands, and hip. This woke me up and instantly made me question what the hell I was doing prior to a week long backpacking trip! With blood running off both hands and down my race number, I decided to tame the pace and just survive the rest of the race only 5 miles into the game. After a little cost vs. benefits mental analysis, I was fine with the decision that a) today was going to be brutal and b) I am not wrecking an entire week in the wilderness for a better performance! Although I look at the choice as smart, the results weren't any easier to claim! Not to mention, I still couldn't enjoy most of the views, because the course was too technical to look up from.
 |
| Cresting Bridger |
Up until mile 7, the course was mostly winding switch backs and steep descents as the trail headed towards Ross Peak. At Ross, AS2 finally arrived where someone hesitantly handed me water and Gatorade despite my bloodied appearance. After a quick wash of the hands, I hit the "wall" of a climb up Ross. The wall was like nothing I have ever endured. It consisted of less than a half mile and more than 1,000ft of climbing. It was a hike, a suffer fest, and an all out scramble that included grabbing trees to keep the momentum moving forward. After cresting the summit, I figured from the map that most of the climbing was complete. That couldn't have been further from reality. Bridger Bowl (AS3) was the highlight of the entire day as my brother, Josh, scrambled to the summit to watch, cheer and take photographs. Bridger was an entire village of people wildly cheering and standing on surrounding peaks as the 300+ runners passed. After, one peak remained and I hit the only stretch of what I would view as runnable terrain. Once through AS5, the route turned quickly to 40%-50+% descents that sent me wildly through loose scree and rocky outcroppings. Beyond through with the day, I was just looking forward to the finish and praying that I would stay upright as just about everything was throbbing. The last couple of miles were hot as it was close to noon. I was trying to capture a couple of positive reflections and gladly let two last minute heroes pass on the descent. I somewhat looked in spite and pure amazement as these two older guys were willing to risk any resemblance of health and safety to bomb the last descent. I found it funny and proceeded to grab the loose brush surrounding the trail as I skied into the finish.
 |
| Butterfly me ASAP! |
Josh and plenty of others were there to congratulate me and fellow finishers. People were crossing the line in punctuated bursts as time carried on. The first two ladies were actually only a few minutes behind. I quickly made my way to the medical tent to get both hands and legs washed and dressed. My finger was still bleeding quite profusely. The list of injuries was the most impressive (and horrific) I have ever seen within the top finishers. The fellow next to me ripped his entire heel off, a couple others clearly didn't pace appropriately and were en-route to proper medical care, and there was plenty of skin that was lost. After some scrubbing and bandages, I exited feeling lucky and smart. Josh later told me that someone within the top 5 completely broke a hand in multiple places and that there were plenty of medical encounters along the entire course!
In short, my attitude is coming around. Currently, this type of running just isn't for me. Minnesota has absolutely nothing that could replicate a course like this and I was frustrated by the lack of fast running that I could do. I love flying through descents and running single track, but this was frankly above my skill-level and ability at the moment. With that being said, I have also realized how far I have come in the past year. This year is only my second season on trails and really, only my first (Last year I did one 50k and one 50 miler). I am by no means an expert and I didn't grow up running. In reality, I have only been at this endurance game for 6 years post-college.
Right now, I am dealing with a couple of injuries that may determine the rest of my season. I have fairly bad tendonitis in my knee from Bridger and a left foot that has been slow to heal since Voyageur 50. With a lot of racing in a short stretch, I want to find my training rhythm and regain some health before tackling anything else. With Superior 100 in 3 weeks, I would say it is highly unlikely that I will give that distance a try this year. My competitive spirit won't allow me to participate unless I am healthy, in peak shape, and near the top come finish line. Stranger things have happened, but I will likely wait until late fall to run either Twin Cities Marathon or a last minute 50 miler to close out what has been a "learning" year of racing. Although it is easy to lose perspective, I couldn't be happier with how far I have come or the adventures that I have completed thanks to the blessings of good health, a supportive wife, and hard work. It has paid off and I look forward to pursuing this journey further.
 |
| Post race backpacking |
 |
| The Arctic Grayling...Very Rare and Somewhat Ugly |
 |
The Vast Terrain - I am in there...
|
