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Auburn 50k Race Report

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Auburn 50k Race Report Empty Auburn 50k Race Report

Post  Ben Z Mon Jun 03, 2013 7:50 pm

Race: Auburn 50k 2013

Location: Auburn, CA

Date: June 1, 2013

Short Version

I’m not a very good mountain runner yet and I have a lot to learn about pacing myself up and down bigger hills, especially when it’s hot out. However, despite going from 1st place the first couple of miles to 6th place by mile 18 I was able to rally, somewhat, and finish tied for 4th place overall I believe. And when I compare this effort to my most recent 50k in January I definitely am getting better at running on technical trails. That race had a little over 3,000’ of vert with temps in the 40s and I finished in 5:26 I believe. This race had closer to 5,400’ of vert and temps in the 80s to mid 90s.

Results:

Time: 5:31:XX (I think – official results are not posted yet)

Place: Tied for 4th (I think – and it was a very small race)

Long Version

Training Highlights

I didn’t really taper for this race. I backed off a bit the three days leading up to it but each of the previous five weeks consisted of ~75 mi/week I believe. I also ran a 23.5 miler seven days before this race and a tempo run four days before. But that was the plan all along as I wanted to see how hard I could push without backing off much. This race was a stepping stone to get to my first 50 miler at the end of July.

Basically since early February I’ve been trying to log as many miles as I can manage while still doing a decently long run each weekend. I would have to look but I know I’ve done at least a handful of 20+ milers during this span including a few tougher or faster ones. I’ve also tried to find more vertical terrain during this span so I’ve done a number of 10-16 mile runs that included 1,000-2,500’ of vertical.

I haven’t been to the track during this time as the handful of faster workouts I have done have been on uphill road courses or flat road loops.

The Course

The course was lollipop shaped with two loops around the lollipop in the middle. So what we did was:


  • Start in Auburn at the Overlook (staging area for horses) and drop down four miles and ~1,300’ to ‘No Hands’ Bridge. The first aid station was here.
  • Then we climbed up the ‘Training Hill’ (or K2 to the locals) for just over a mile. This included over 1,000’ of vertical in this mile.
  • Then we joined up with the Olmstead Loop. Two miles in to the Olmstead Loop we hit the second aid station. Five miles later we hit the third aid station. Then three miles later it dropped us back down to the No Hands aid station. This ‘loop’ included ~1,000’ of gain and loss.
  • Once we made it back to the No Hands aid station (the fourth aid station at this point) we repeated the climb up K2 and the aid stations/loop around Olmstead.
  • Then for the third time we hit the No Hands aid station before climbing the 1,300’ back out of the canyon to the start at the Auburn Overlook.
  • On my watch the total elevation gain and loss was ~5,400’ each.

The Race

It was a very uneventful start to the race as only a very small field of runners assembled for the 50k start at 7:00am. I believe there was a 25k and 8m race as well that started after the 50kers. So after a few brief instructions from the Race Director and a few groans after she explained we had to climb K2 twice she counted down from five and we were off. I’ll break up the race in to the sections between each aid station:

First 4 Miles to Aid #1

I opted to try this race because I get to run this section of the course a couple of nights every week since I started working in Northern California three months ago. It’s really fun and historic as it’s the tail end of the Western States 100 mile race course. I started out a little faster than I normally run this section of the trail and quickly found myself leading a train of six guys the first couple of miles. Before the race started I told myself “Make the first half feel like a jog.”. Well, I didn’t listen to my own advice for the first four miles and I’m sure I paid the price for it later.

After a couple of miles my buddy Ryan jumped in front of me and started to push the pace. I was content to let him go. Ryan would go on to finish 2nd on the day having bested me by 18 minutes. As a side note he’s supposed to run the 50 miler with me next month as well but said after the race that he is absolutely not doing it anymore. We’ll see about that. Shortly after Ryan passed me another guy came up alongside of me and we started chatting for a few minutes. He had never run these trails either so we talked a little bit about what to expect on K2, etc. I told him how the previous week I had hiked / jogged K2 and it took me over 16 minutes for the mile. That must have been all the motivation he needed because he ended up passing Ryan the second time up K2 and won the race by over 40 minutes when the rest of us crashed and burned. This guy was obviously a much better / smarter trail runner than the rest of us.

I want to say I hit four miles in the 31:00-32:00 range just as I saw the first aid station. This was probably two minutes faster than I should have run this section. I was only carrying one 20oz handheld for hydration so I refilled that as fast as I could with water as both Ryan and the other guy who just passed me were still in sight. At the time I was thinking I didn’t want to lose too much time in each aid station.

In terms of nutrition I only wanted to try gels and electrolyte capsules. So at each aid station I refilled my gel supply as necessary. This strategy worked pretty well as I didn’t have any GI issues, although it seems I could have taken in even more calories as I kept bonking the last five to six miles no matter what I did. All in all this resulted in me taking in 16 gels spaced almost exactly 20 minutes apart. I alternated between Hammer, Cliff Shots and Accel gels. I probably took in eight Hammer gels, four Cliff shots and four Accel gels. I tried to space out the Accel gels so I was only taking one an hour to be able to process the protein effectively. I also probably took in four S-Caps and eight Endurolytes throughout the day. Usually two per hour.

Aid #1-2

I knew what to expect with the first climb up K2. I stuck to my pre-race plan of power hiking the vast majority of it. At an average grade of 20% it just doesn’t make sense to try to run it in my opinion. So I backed off and let Ryan and the other guy out of sight. I’m guessing it took me about 17-18 minutes for this mile. Once we hit the top it was a mostly downhill run to Knickerbocker Creek. Thankfully we didn’t have to get our feet wet as the water level wasn’t high enough and we could tip-toe over a stretch of rocks to cross. Then we had to climb from the creek up to Aid #2. The day was starting to heat up by now and I’m guessing it was in the mid to high 70s by this point. At aid #2 I refilled my water bottle, dropped off my gel packet trash, picked up two new gels, two Endurolytes, a fully body spray of sunblock and some ice in my hat. I was no longer racing through the aid stations. It was more important to focus on getting what I needed at each now.

Aid #2-3

This five mile stretch was pretty uneventful. I couldn’t see Ryan or the other guy ahead at any point so here is where I started to tell myself to slow down. I wasn’t working really hard yet, but with the day heating up and my inability to run well in the heat, I knew I needed to conserve energy here. I just focused on being efficient and keeping an eye on my hydration and nutrition.

At aid #3 I did the usual – dropped off gel packet trash, refilled my water bottle, got ice for under my hat, etc. etc. Unfortunately, a guy passed me while I was in aid #3 as he ran through it. I ended up following behind him by about 2-300m for the next few miles. Never being able to pass him back.

Aid #3-4

This was definitely the most fun stretch of the course. We joined back up with the Western States trail and this section just rolled downhill for the next three miles. We dropped back down at least 500’ during this stretch. My only thought during this section was that I bet if I wasn’t careful on the second pass through here it was going to destroy my quads for the final four mile climb.

Now I was back to the No Hands bridge aid station for the second time. Did the usual aid station exchange but I also tried to stomach a few swigs of Coke. This woke me right up.

Aid #4-5

Back up K2 for the second and final time. About 300m up I caught a couple hiking it and they graciously let me pass. As I passed she said “Why did they have to put this hill here?”. I know, right. A few more hikers passed me on their way down in the opposite direction. I could still see third place up ahead but I could never catch him. As I approached the top I heard a loud grunt behind me. Damn, another guy was gaining on me.

Once I got to the top I started running again as best I could. It took a minute or two for my legs to turnover as the climb took a nice chunk out of me. I was able to hold off the guy behind me for a couple of miles. But then I let him pass on another uphill climb as he seemed to be a better climber than me. Then a few minutes later another guy passed me when I power walked to take a S-cap. Damn, I just lost three spots in the place of six miles!

However, all three of us met again at aid station #5 and now we really took our time here. I probably spent 2-3 minutes doing everything I needed to do. The other guys were doing the same.

Aid #5-6

Now it was just hot – probably 90 in the sun by this point. I opted to really slow it down and conserve here. I wasn’t dead yet but I guessed if I pushed in the heat I might not finish. So I backed off. The two guys from the last aid station passed me again. But they were never able to gap me by more than 200-300m. I kept them as close as I could leading up to aid #6.

About a quarter mile from aid #6 they both started to hike up a hill ahead of me. I opted to run it and passed them back just before the aid. One of the guys latched on to me and we ran it in together. I spent even more time at aid #6 as I knew I needed a new coat of sunblock, more Coke, etc. I must say, the few aid volunteers we had on the day were fantastic. They really kept us going as things started to heat up.

Aid #6-7

The first guy that passed me for fourth place earlier opted to sit down once he got to the aid. I figured his race was done. The other guy jumped out in front coming out of aid #6 and I quickly caught up to him. We started talking about the usual mid-race stuff. “This heat sucks…etc. etc.”. I found out his name was Brian and he was training for CCC (the 100k sister race to the 100 mile UTMB in the Alps) in August. CCC has 18,000’ of gain and an equal amount of loss. Good lord. Brian and I would go on to leap-frog each other until the final half mile of the race.

As we descended down to the final aid station I was proud of myself for being able to ‘run’ this entire section. It helped having Brian push me from behind as my legs were pretty well thrashed by this point. By the time in pulled in to aid station #7 with Brian right behind me I was hurting. I had already run over 5,000’ of descent and my quads were feeling it. Any chance I had of running under five hours was long gone as well. At this final aid station I must have been a little disoriented because I only picked up a handful of watermelon and one gel before venturing back out again.

Aid #7 to the Finish

Absolutely brutal. I’ve run this section without having to hike any of the uphills at least five times before – not today. On a normal training run day I can probably cover this section in 36 minutes, give or take. I bet it took me over 50 today, maybe closer to 60. I could only jog the flats and downhills, and had to hike all the ups. Damnit. Every time I tried to run an uphill I immediately started to bonk. Within two miles I was out of water and carbs. Not good when you have 1,000’ of vert left in 95 degree heat (maybe hotter as it was in the canyon). But thankfully I passed one of the 25k finishers during this stretch and she gave me a packet of chews. That saved my day.

Brian passed me back during the longest uphill stretch but I didn’t let him get too far away. I was able to catch him with half a mile to go. I asked him if he wanted to finish together and he said sure. So we hiked it in together the last half mile. Unfortunately, just as we were getting close to the finish line I felt a tweak in my back. Once I crossed the finish line it seized up and I’ve had back spasms for the past two days now. Argh.

Results

Place: Brian and I tied for fourth place overall I think. I’m pretty sure I was passed five times and then passed two of them back.

Time: 5:31ish. 55 minutes behind first place and 19 minutes behind 2nd and 3rd place. (my buddy Ryan finished in 2nd). Last year the race was won in 5:46 so this year the first six guys all ran faster than that.

Lessons Learned

Considering I didn’t back off training much at all, for me, for this race I held on OK it seemed. And given I am not a very good uphill runner yet, or have the nutrition perfectly dialed in, I held it together pretty well. When it gets tough during White River, and I know it will, I’m confident I can grind it out if needed. Assuming I don’t have any lingering issues with my back of course because that 50 miler has almost 9,000’ of vert I think.

Gear

Just wanted to highlight what I wore / used because everything worked very well. I didn’t have any feet, chafing, etc. issues.


  • Ultraspire Quantum Belt – This little baby is money. Unlike all other race belts it doesn’t bounce due to its lack of a clip. It has some compression built in to the elastic mesh. I can easily and comfortably store up to ten gels, salt capsultes and a few other small items in this belt without noticing it. So glad I wore this as it was my first time using it.
  • Injinji Run 2.0 socks – I won’t be using anything differently going forward. Perfect for my feet. No blisters.
  • Pearl Izumi EM N1 Trail Shoe – It passed the test and will be my go-to shoe for up to 50 miles.
  • North Face Better Than Naked Shorts – Best. Shorts.Period.
  • Amphipod Hydraform 20oz Handheld – My go-to handheld now. The shape really does relax your hands / forearms during a five+ hour effort. In hindsight I should have had one in each hand though. I probably will for White River if I don’t’ use my Ultraspire Surge pack.

Happy running everyone.
Ben Z
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Post  Mark B Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:57 pm

Wow, Ben. That's pretty intense for a training race! Congrats on making the leaderboard and learning some good lessons for next time.

Hope the back settles down soon!
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Post  Ben Z Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:31 am

Thanks Mr. B!

Back is feeling better tonight! Just had to get the blood flowing again.
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Post  RobA Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:04 pm

Great report Ben, I enjoyed every minute of it. A lot of pre race miles and very little taper. A good result you should be proud of. I liked your review of some of the gear you used, good to know. Who knows, one day I may venture beyond the marathon, it awes me to read these long race reports. Keep up the solid work, Rob Auburn 50k Race Report 424776184
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Post  amyjoann Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:15 pm

great run Ben! That heat and elevation could have gotten you at any time but you did great! I think another great race report will be coming soon. I just love trails , I bet your scenery was breath taking any pictures? they are so hard but worth every bit of blood sweat and in my case tears
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Post  mountandog Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:14 am

Good report Ben. I have so much to learn from you guys.
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Post  fostever Mon Jun 10, 2013 8:21 pm

I heard about the heat Cali was getting. That would not have been fun at all. Sounds like you survived fantastically, nice job, Ben!
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Post  Alex Kubacki Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:15 am

Great job. A good way to get your feet wet before taking on the 50M. Congrats.
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Post  Mike MacLellan Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:28 am

Oh, Auburn. Didn't even know there was a race on June 1. Then again, I wasn't here until that evening, so I wouldn't have been able to come check it out anyway.

Winning/losing an ultra, particularly a mountainous one, is determined by how you run downhill. Not uphill. If you can really let loose on the descents - particularly the one coming down from Olmstead to the base of K2 - you'll be in great shape for a win next time.
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Post  Jim Lentz Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:45 am

Great job on the technical 50K!
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Post  Paula Sue Thu Jun 27, 2013 3:44 pm

Ummm, so I understand you love running long distances in hills and heat, Ben Evil or Very Mad  God bless you, man.  I think I'll stick with the flat stuff!  That aside, way to go.  You've turned into quite the animal.  Going to love seeing what comes next from you.
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Post  dot520 Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:36 am

My stomach started to feel queasy thinking about all of those gels, but you nailed it.  Nutrition seems to be one of the more difficult things to get right. You picked a tough day to be out there...great job!
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Post  John Kilpatrick Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:07 pm

Huge congrats Ben - enjoyed reading the report.  I'll have to try one of those someday - you make it sound fun!

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