Walking up the last big hill

Not sure what possessed me to sign up for this one other than the fact I was about ready to run a half and it seemed like there would be some great views along the shore of Whidbey Island. What I hadn’t considered was the elevation gain. I expected a run from the shore up to the bluff but didn’t realize until days before that the trail had 2600′ of elevation gain and was also as twisty and turny as Dash Point. This made it the hardest half I’ve done elevation wise and very similar in nature to the Deception Pass 25k which had a few hundred more feet for the extra few miles.

That said, it was a perfect day to run with temps in the mid to upper 40s and the wind had died down a lot from yesterday to a cool breeze coming off the water. The trails were a bit wet and muddy in places due to yesterday’s rain so I opted for Inov-8 TrailRoc 245s instead of Luna Sandals for the run and this turned out to be a good choice.

I caught the 8:00 a.m. ferry over to the island and made it to the event just as registration was going so got registered, went back to the car to change and gear up. I stocked my vest with one bottle of Vega Electrolyte, one bottle of water, two Vega Energy Gels, two pinole-chia bars and two Thrive chocolate blueberry energy balls. Going self-supported I didn’t have to stop at any aid stations and could just cruise on through and eat and drink on my own schedule. I also stuffed a rain jacket in the back just in case but didn’t need it. Got back to the start area in time to chat a bit and listen to the pre-race talk then we headed downhill to the start.

The course immediately went up a small hill then ran along the bluff for a bit and then began the first of many big downhills with sharp switchbacks. About three miles in I almost sprained my ankle, it turned but I hoped right out of it with no injury. At the split off point things got very interesting for the half marathon course and you had to pay attention to stay on course. One guy in front of me missed a turn and I called him back on track. Eric said there were 130 trail junctions on the half marathon loop and I thought he was joking but I don’t think he was. For all the intersections it was marked well and if you were alert there was no problem. The course was hardly ever straight and flat, you were either climbing or descending and most of the time turning too, it was sort of like doing a 2 1/2 hour hill repeat. Here is the elevation profile from my watch.

Luckily the course was pretty smooth in most places aside from one steep downhill rock gully and a bunch of roots for the last few miles. At about seven miles in on a fairly easy stretch I tripped on some insignificant rock or root and knew I was going down this time. I flung myself sideways into the salal and let it break my fall. Not even a scratch and I was up and running in no time, way better than a face plant.

At about ten miles in we broke out onto the bluff trail again and there were paragliders flying overhead. It was tough to take in the view because the trail was narrow and it was a steep drop down the left side so I was paying attention to my feet instead of taking in the scenery. We went down from the bluff in view of the start and then had to do a very steep and narrow section back up to the trail, everyone was slowly walking up that one and my legs were about done by the time we got back up to the bluff. Then there was a loop through the campground area which was probably the most technical as far as trippers were concerned, one guy really got his ankle in front of me in this stretch. Crossing the road and going up the last small hill I knew the end was near and picked up speed a bit. I broke out into the open and up the grass to the finish, crossing in 2:24:01. I was pretty pleased with the time considering my Cougar times with 200′ less elevation were 2:34 and 2:41 and even Dash Point with less than half the elevation took 2:25:22 a few years ago.

Next up is the Watershed Half on March 3 which will seem like a walk in the park after this. Then onto more distance with the Rock Creek Ramble in mid-April where I plan to do either 30 or 50k depending on how I feel.