Black Canyon 2016 was blazing hot and my first 100k, 2017
brought terrible mud and hail, so 2020 was to be my year. I set a completely arbitrary goal of a 3-hour
PR, the "A" goal was to finish under 12:52.
Training
A lot went right. I
focused on run quality over quantity, did strength training twice a week, and dropped 15 pounds in
January. I was strong, fast and light. My run volume averaged
80km per week with a peak of 97k including multiple weekly quality runs
such as speed work and tempo runs.
Race Preparation
I’ve spent too long at aid stations in the past. The food is great, drinks are warm,
volunteers are friendly, and the seats are so comfortable. At Black Canyon the plan was 60 seconds at
minor aid stations to refill bottles and 5 minutes max at major ones to load up
on nutrition and deal with any issues, get out fast and don’t waste time.
My gear plan was simple, one pair of shoes, one pair of
socks and no shirt changes. With 4 knee
deep river crossings this was risky, but I wanted to keep it simple stupid and
free my mind to focus on running.
The nutrition plan was also simple, just gels and
tailwind. I like solid food during a race
but knew I wouldn’t be able to digest a grilled cheese while
running fast.
0-30k
It was nice and cold for the 7am start and I averaged 5:40
min/k pace over the first 6k. Even at
the time I knew this was too fast but I felt good and decided to push. When we hit the first hill everyone ran the
climb including me. For the second hill
I walked but was the only person that didn't run. Then it occurred to me that I was running near the front with people that don’t hike the climbs. This was scary, these are not my people and
was the first sign that I may be in over my head.
I arrived at the first aid station at 12.5k, filled water
bottles and was out in under a minute.
Same thing for the second aid station at 21k. I got to 30k in just over 3 hours and was
feeling great. My plan was to bank time
early then dial back the effort later and cruise to a strong finish.
30-60k
Things got harder but I was still running well and feeling
pretty good. After hitting 50k in 6
hours I was encouraged with my progress. I ate and drank regularly, and the intense
midday heat wasn’t a bother. However,
when I came into the second major aid station at 60k I was in rough shape. My head and stomach were okay but my legs
were shot. I ate and drank everything in
sight to recover. Had I been running the
60k race that would have been an amazing finish and a perfect day. Unfortunately I still had another 40k ahead
of me.
60-101k
Black Canyon is a deceptive race. With only 1,600m of elevation gain it looks
like an easy course. But the constant
ankle-twisting rocks take a significant toll.
The climbs aren’t steep but they’re miles long. I prefer short steep climbs, but these ones
go on forever and suck the life out of your legs and mind. And the second half of the
course is harder than the first with very technical rocky terrain. I power hiked the climbs which spiked my heart rate and could barely run the descents due to the million rocks.
After multiple unsuccessful physical and mental attempts to
rally and get back on track I admitted that my sub 13-hour finish was out of
reach. I had pushed myself too hard,
blew up spectacularly and the race was now about finishing under 17 hours to
get my Western States lottery ticket. I
took my time at aid stations, ate the good food (quesadillas not gels) and
finished in 15:23 for 330th place out of 721 runners.
Summary
I don’t regret going out so fast as it was an amazing
experience. I do wonder if I could have
held on if I moderated my effort better in the first half. When a runner passed me at 95k I figured they
ran a smart race and saved energy for the end.
Maybe I could have trained better, probably with more long quality runs
of 30-50k at a solid pace. Since I don’t
have a coach this is just one big experiment.
This is just a hobby and I thoroughly enjoy the process. I do this for fun, and somehow really enjoy
suffering in a desert canyon for 15 hours.
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