Cacapon 12 Hour Challenge : Prepared to Succeed

Race morning I woke up and packed up my tent and headed to Cacapon State Park. I'd been there the evening before to check in and was glad that I'd explored the directions before race morning. I got myself set up next to someone who looked well prepared, but also well practiced. He didn’t have nearly as much crap as I did. He had many more shoes than me. We chatted briefly as got myself ready, applying my body glide, organizing my food, gallon of Spring Electroride, gallon of water and getting my nice dry socks and shoes on. Finally, it was time to start.

The course: Each loop was 5 miles. You begin the loop running up and out of the AS and climb to your first right where the course plateaus briefly before you drop to a stream crossing with a sharp 5 step climb on the other side. Then you continue on mostly flat with mild grade that takes you to some gentle rollers and then you begin to ascend, easy climbing until a sharp left, leading to your next right where you hit a climb of rock steps taking you to the top, 1 mile in, then you plummet down, across a stream and then up again, another good climb which flattens out to a long runnable downhill section with massive mudpits, a stream crossing that resembles a small waterfall, very pretty, and another smaller climb somewhere in there but in no time you come out to the gravel road out and back to the 2.5 mi AS.

From here, you turn back onto the trail and enter the most technical section, gently climbing for half a mile, then very technical progressively steep downhill, mud, water crossing and then more climbing followed by a short disappointing downhill leaving you wanting more before you hit unrunnable thick greasy mud, another water crossing and another good climb (the last before you hit the home stretch). Once this one flattens out you just roll with it, splash through more mud and 2 more water crossings before connecting to the incoming loop and running downhill back to the AS.

Lap 1- I quickly made it to the front, mostly running with Joe, who was shooting for 50 miles for his 50th Birthday. He’s run the race every year! He was running very strong for what seemed like a low ball goal for the pace he was holding. I felt great, no issues, it was nice and cool out. I was thoroughly impressed by the terrain and climbing, it was in fact challenging. I didn't feel like I was pushing myself at all, just treating it like an easy long run.

Lap 2- I was alone already. I tried to just keep moving steady while it was still nice and cool outside. I made sure to eat take in my Fuel 100 bites and start to drink my Spring Electroride religiously.

At the end of this loop I stopped for just a minute, chugged from my gallon bottle of premixed Electroride. Then, I took a Spring long haul gel and grabbed a couple bites of bread to go and took off quick.

Lap 3- I was already feeling the climbs, I was still running to the same points in the climbs as my first loop before hiking and I felt fine, but I knew it'd only get harder.

The mud in the deepest water managed to shove a large dose of sand into my sock, so after this lap, I took the socks off and rinsed and dried my feet, applied powder and made the crazy decision to go sockless in my soaked shoes, since without stopping at my car I probably didn't bring enough socks, but my feet have always been okay and I run a lot of sockless miles. I didn’t retie the laces though, which left them rather loose, (something I wish I'd done but ended up having no real effect) because I saw Joe take off and I wanted the company since we were clearly running the same avg pace. I ate a half of an avocado as I jogged into lap 4.

Lap 4- Pretty soon, Joe let me pass again, and I was on my own again. Still just moving well, I was now starting my hiking further down the climbs and I knew I was losing time, but it was too early I wanted to be able to run, not solely hike, throughout the day. I grabbed sticks when I could to help me climb.

After that lap, I cleaned my feet again and put on dry socks- so nice!! Ate some Lara Bar bites and chugged some more Electroride and I was off again, determined not to waste more time than I needed at “home base”. This time I remembered to grab my “already soaked in ice water” Frogs Togs Cooling hat that I'd forgotten trying to catch Joe last time. I placed that on my head to keep me cool, long before I felt too hot.

Lap 5- I felt like I was really slowing up already, I guess my first low, which seemed too early to me and that ate at my confidence. I decided 50 miles sounded like a pretty good goal, 62 seemed reachable, but I didn't need to run 62 to make my overall goals. I wanted the Female CR, but more than anything I wanted to be able to run well, recovery fast and be prepared for my 100 miler in September. I had to remind myself of the long term goal. Needless to say, the mental weakness and over analysis allowed me to slow down and let go of trying to make this anything amazing. If there were any regrets in my race, it'd be right there.

Lap 6- Refilled quick, took in some Spring Hill Aid for energy and little boost of caffeine.

Headed for 30, it was getting warm, I was feeling the same as Lap 5, like 60 miles seemed a long way off, I wasn’t even half way and although not way low, I was definitely not out of it yet. Reminding myself the low wound pass and soon enough Tyler would be out to pace me as practice for GJ 100 and because who doesn’t want a friend to run with after running the same challenging loop 5,6,7 times. I pushed myself to stay strong, I wanted to finish my 7th lap before he arrived, but I was already well behind my original goals (which were created by my dreamt up idea of the course- as there isn’t much info on it available, so my goals were just off anyways).

Lap 7- I knew I wanted to move well and get back, Tyler would be there after this loop, and I just had to keep on moving strong. The first big climb pushed me down, questioning myself, then the next climb, definitely hiking now.  By the half way AS on this loop I was still feeling mentally weak, but I'd been talking my confidence up, reminding myself of my ability to just enjoy the run and I found a pretty happy place there while I dug my way into the pain cave.

Lap 8- Tyler came!! I was so psyched, it was just great to have company, we talked for most of that first lap together, it felt easy, my time was terrible, I ignored it and my goals, I just needed to keep moving and I would do fine. In hindsight, the time lost chatting was noteable, tacking on 4-6 min per 5 miles. Something to work on for my 100 miler.

Lap 9- new socks/ new shoes again!

There was no question I’d finish 50 miles now, but would I do more? I wasn’t sure, I was tired now and the idea of throwing in the towel early and getting home to my family was sounding pretty awesome.  I didn’t come out to run a 50 mile race though I came out to practice moving for 12 hrs, and I needed to remember why I was there, it wasn't about distance so much as time. I wanted to be motivated and Tyler helped with that a lot.

Lap 10- I tore into my other half of an avocado since the first half felt so good.

I was mentally done, I told myself that this was it, the last full loop I had to do. I could still get the female CR even if I walked just one more mile after that, so I should have been motivated to push hard, but for some reason it wasn’t coming. I dragged on, Tyler trying to convince me to move, but I just didn’t want to. There was still the motivated self in me though, I knew that despite really not wanting to do more, the only thing I wanted was to do more. I kept fighting away the weakness. It's the hardest part of timed loop race… Keeping moving, because there is no finish line… No assigned distance… It's whatever you want it to be. You can come run 5 mi or 50 mi, it makes no difference to anyone out there. You are all on your own separate journey through suffering towards success.

Well, after this one, I asked the RD what he thought. He told me he was pretty sure the second lady was only 20 min out and would totally go for one more loop.

That was all I needed, we stopped quick at home base and I took a pre made bag of sunchips to go.

Lap 11- I hiked as I ate my Sunchips, Tyler reminded that I was just letting the second lady gain on me. Part of me wanted to brush that off but then the thought of all the work I'd done all day coming down to an actual race, well something clicked, I focused on my feet like I was really running a race and maneuvered through the climbs and rocks with ease. The rain started but the trees kept most of it off of us. It made me walk down the rocky descent since it was went now. I was able to mentally stay in the game straight through to mile 55.

I still had 45 min, I wanted to do just a little more, but I knew I didn't want to convince myself to do the climb to the 1 mile out marker, so 0.6 out and back.

Last 1.2 miles- I pushed it on the way out not remembering how much mud was in the first half mile at all, but there was tons. I was tired of fighting for footing and this weighed on my pace. Once we turned around I new I was done after this, so I just took it easy.

After I finished I asked about the second lady and came to find out she stopped at 50 after all. She made my race end well, even having already packed up and headed home. I was grateful.

Regrets: Why didn't I go for another mile or two??? I had 30 min!!!
 

That's all. :)

Anyway, now its time for 2 weeks of down time. My body needs to seriously recoup and then its back to the grind as I prep to crush the new Georgia Jewel 100 course. Haha... well that's how I hope it goes down.... I always say, 

"You never know whats going to happen in a 100 mile race, all you can do is prepare to handle what ever does".

The STUFF

Spring Sports Nutrition:

Electroride is an easy to drink run version of lemonade to me, its refreshing, but not too strong, too sweet or too anything. I didn't get sick of the flavor at  all during my11.5 hrs. At 60kcal per serving it cannot be a lone source a fuel but its a great addition to their gels. 

My favorite: Long Hual- its like a really smooth peanut butter with banana, but lighter in flavor, easy to take, easy to swallow and easy to digest.

Hill Aid-  with a slightly more bitter flavor, but with a boost of caffeine and somewhat of a fruit pouch consistency as opposed to a gel, its yummy and also easy to take. I don't have any issues with the texture thing, but I've heard other runners who aren't a huge fan, to me real food doesn't really turn into a gel- so I'll take my real food please. 

Power Rush- I didn't utilize this one during my run, it's not a go to flavor for me, probably the beet juice, but I probably should have. I've used it on a couple training runs and it really helps to give you a little boost. I'll have to keep working with it though

Recovery: Can't say enough, I'm not usually a chocolate fan, but you can taste the cherry in there and a little nutty flavor and just wow, so yummy- hard to eat this one for fun sometimes

MUIR Energy:

Still loving the Blackberry Thyme Gel, Cashew Lemon Mate; For this race I had one of these babies on the way to the race and ended up having one on the care ride home. These gels are also totally real and they are gels,  gooey and thick, rich in flavor due to the molasses and essential oils. 

They sit in my stomach well and let me have a little more variety to my flavor pallet while I'm out there. 

Nathan VaporHowe 4L vest: Still great, maybe not the most resilient pack, both bottles (not made by Nathan- but still a financial hit for me) broke at the last race and one of the two straps broke as well, I had safety pinned together for this race and held up pretty well. I still absolutely love the texture, weight and fit of this vest.

Topo Athletic: Cannot say enough about these great shoes. They were made for my wide toed runner feet and I love the support they give the back of my foot. The MT2s really dried out fast throughout this run and I was a little nervous when I switched to my Terradventures that they'd hold too much water in, but they also stayed light and comfy, through and through. 

OOFOS: I decided to finally give them a go, I had to get the clogs because I wanted something I could wear to work for 12 hr shifts... I don't feel stylish in clogs, but my feet and more specifically for me, my ankles have had way less pain since I quit walking around in cruddy flip flops and flat unsupportive shoes. Impressive.

Milestone Pod: Hands down the best data collection device available to anyone on the market. I've had some issue with mine, which can happen with anything this fancy, but their team has devoted almost too much time and energy getting my pods back up and running. Best service I've ever experienced with a company. This little foot pod helps you get to know yourself, your running, your shoes, your stride, your recovery, better and now it feeds live data too! It's just such a great tool, I cannot say enough about it!

Not the prettiest data but for a course like this one, it is what it is: 

*note I only was able to get data off my MT2s