Pocatello 50 miler

Team Billy Goat made a showing at the inaugural running of the Pocatello 50 miler (measured out at 51.8 miles) this past weekend.  The team roster has seen multiple permutations in recent months, and even in the week leading up to the event things weren't quite set in stone.  The final order was as follows:

Dazed from lack of sleep, Dr. Lewis wonders where she is and why it's so damn cold.

First leg (16.9 miles with 4500 ft elevation gain and 5100 foot loss - rated as 'medium' on the race website) was womanned by Bethany Lewis.  Recruited to substitute for her husband in the final weeks before the race, she figured the jaunt wouldn't stray too far from her daily hard core running routine.  In fact she ran her leg and managed to drive back to SLC in time to get a brief nap before returning to her vampire routine on night float at the hospital later that evening!

Hiding all emotion, Vukin appears cool as a cucumber minutes before his leg of the race.

Second leg (15.6 miles 3600 feet elevation gain and 2950 feet loss - rated as 'easiest' on the race website, but toughest by our team manager, LEWIS!) was strongly represented by the villainous Matt Vukin, fresh off his marathon debut at Salt Lake a few weeks earlier.

Third leg (19.3 miles with 5580 feet elevation gain and loss) fell to me.  Initially I had agreed to run the shortest leg if LEWIS! ran the other two, but due to injury and team substitutes, somehow I ended up with this leg of the race.  And I am glad I did.  It was spectacular!

The entire Team Billy Goat about to take care of some bidness.

Rina & I left SLC Friday afternoon with the dogs and met up with Ben, Bethany, & Matt in Pocatello for a pre-race Italian meal.  We made our way to the Mink Creek Group camp site where the race was to start (and finish) early the next morning and staked our claim in a beautiful grassy field.

Mink Creek camp site - base camp for the weekend. Our group of three wee tents sit in the center of the photo.

Race day check in started at 5:15 for a 6AM start, so Bethany dutifully awoke at 4:30-ish to prepare for her leg of the race.  The remainder of us rolled out of bed just in time to see the race start and wish Bethany good luck (when we really should have been reminding her to watch closely for course route markings).  The gun went off right at 6, before the sun showed itself, and the race was under way. 

 Bethany in the yellow shorts on the right of the frame.

Vukin now began his preparations, fueling, getting last minutes pointers, topping off his caffeine tank, & getting all his gear straight (including a new pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters).  Optimistically we all headed to the end of leg 1, where Bethany would pass the proverbial baton to Vukin, about an hour early.  It was a little unnerving to me that we waited so long at that transition, as it really spoke to how tough the entire course was.  Nevertheless, Bethany came screaming into the end of her leg of the race at about 3 hours looking really strong and pleased to be finished.  Turns out she was among a few runners who got lost en route and added an extra mile and a half to her leg of the race!

Bethany gets Team Billy Goat off to a strong start.

The Drs. Lewis celebrate the lack of moose attacks at the end of leg 1.

Rina holds the team together with her much needed support shuttling runners, getting coffee, dog sitting and providing a lot of positive energy.

By this point, Vukin was raring to go.  As Bethany came into the aid station, off he went down the trail into the heat of the day.

Vukin heads into the over the river and through the woods.

At this point, Rina & I headed back to base camp where I started getting prepared for the last leg of the race.  Ben set out on his mountain bike after Vukin to provide him some support, but the course was tough enough and Ben's start delayed enough that he never caught Vukin!  When we all met up at the end, Ben commented a number of times on how tough this leg of the race was. This would be a really tough 50 miler to run solo.

Not-so-villainous lookin' Vukin after his efforts at the Pocatello 50.

Waiting at the second transition area, we were pleasantly surprised to see Vukin come roaring down the trail with a big smile on his face looking fresh as a daisy.  In that split second, I went from spectator/supporter to participant as I headed out on the trail.  

As I began the run, I thought to myself 'What did I get myself into?', 'I hope my patellar tendinitis doesn't hobble me at the top of Scout Mountain', & 'Maybe I should have trained for this'.  Running at an easy pace up an ATV trail, I passed a number of people who were walking and this made me further question myself.  'Maybe I should be walking, too'.  'What's up ahead that I don't know about?'  As the miles clicked away, I realized that these were the solo 50 milers who were doing the smart thing & saving energy and muscles by walking up any incline.  

The trail wound up and around the shoulder of Scout Mountain through singletrack, ATV trail, woods, and some gorgeous high mountain meadows with views to the mountains in the distance.  It wasn't long before I was walking much of this uphill as well.  We'd been warned about the presence of moose and their young on the trail, so I was vigilant about looking for moose signs and continually scanning the woods for these large, territorial animals, calling out around blind corners to alert them.  Luckily no sightings, just tracks and scat.  The trail topped out on Scout Mountain at 8600 feet which provided beautiful views of the surrounding area, including the building thunderheads off to the west!  

I couldn't get off the peak fast enough, and the snow fields on the north east slope allowed runners to glissade down about a thousand feet or so.  As one who loves to ski, I was really looking forward to this part of the race, but surprised at how steep these slopes were and how slick it was, requiring a lot of slipping, wobbling, and near falls.  From here, I was reassured by folks at the aid station that the trail was all downhill, therefore pretty bummed by the steep uphill at about mile 16 through the nordic center.  After topping out on a low ridge in sight of lightning strikes in the distance, it really was all downhill to the finish.  Thinking to myself that overall I felt pretty good after this tough leg of the race, I picked it up and ran through to the end.  Not so sure I would have finished the same way if I'd run the first 32 miles in addition to this last leg.

Team Billy Goat finishes their second ultra!

67% of Team Billy Goat - pretty happy with our efforts. 

This was a race that was very different from any other I have run.  It was really fun to camp at the start/finish with most of the other runners, getting to know and interact with them through the weekend.  The cookout on Saturday night meant that we didn't have to drive in & out of town for food, etc, and was a great end to the event.  After the awards were announced, there was an amazing raffle during with a ton of great prizes donated by companies such as La Sportiva, Black Diamond, Smith, etc.  The race prizes were beautiful block prints of Scout Mountain & custom commemorative plates made by local artists, which really added to the great feel of how this race was put together.  Don't forget the fact that the race directors offset all our carbon pollution by buying credits, making this an environmentally friendly, carbon neutral race!  They did a great job with the whole thing, and we were already musing about next year's plan at the Pocatello 50 on the ride home. 

Rina's first triathlon

Imagine me trying to suggest that Rina train for and run her first triathlon.  She'd feel all kinds of pressure, think it was a subtle way of me telling her she needed to tone up a bit, and basically she'd put up a lot of resistance.  

When her girlfriends all think it's a great idea, she jumps in whole hog!  Starting with swimming lessons, she followed a training schedule, got a wet suit, rented a road bike, and really improved her fitness.  We met up in Las Vegas, stayed at the Lake Las Vegas resort in a really pimped out condo (that you can buy for pennies on the dollar right now) and had a good chance to hang out with some friends.

All of the girls did really well, finishing in the top half of all competitors and with big grins on their faces.  For Rina, the most feared swim leg turned out to be not so bad, and with her new efficient stroke, she was actually able to gain on folks in front of her and was passing people!  The bike leg was a pleasant surprise and Rina claims she can climb steeper hills on a road bike than on a mountain bike!  (I am itching to put this claim to the test.)  The run, which she had focused on the least - thinking it would be the easiest - turned out to be her least favorite leg of the race.  It was the final leg, so the day was starting to really heat up, and the run started out straight uphill.  Not only that, but the course was a dirt road through dirt hills in the dry, dusty desert.  Not very inspiring or interesting.

Stacey & Rina wide awake at 4:30 AM in anticipation of the race.

Rina appears a little disoriented coming out of the lake.  

Rina brings it home, completing her first triathlon.

The girls are all smiles at the end.  

Drake, Pete, & Dina celebrate Dina's first triathlon finish.

Corson boys hit the White Rim Trail.

None of us can remember the last time the three of us spent any quality time together, so we all agreed on a trip to Canyonlands for a few days of camping in the desert. Specifically, Tom & I rode the White Rim Jeep Trail as Duncan drove the support vehicle along the 85 or so miles. For Duncan, it had been about 18 years since he slept on anything but a bed, and he has become accustomed to a certain routine in his home life, so I'm sure it was a shock to his system. He really seemed to do well (with a little guidance) overall.

The advance team (Tom & I) arrived a day early to organize for the trip. Tom & I slept out at the tent in Castle Valley & tested out Duncan's mattress.

Tom & I hiked along the Flat Pass/Steelbender trail and witnessed this bizarre natural phenomenon. One cloud was a vivid rainbow color! Stayed like that for a good 10-15 minutes. I guess that's what its like to use hallucinogens.

The entrance to Canyonlands National Park.

Finally on our bikes after picking up the permit and making some final adjustments. This is the view down to the White Rim trail at the bottom. The road makes a series of switchbacks cut into the face of this cliff all the way to the bottom. It is a good quality road, but unnerving when you look down over the edge.

Duncan maneuvering down the switchbacks in the Jeep. He was white knuckles all the way down, but steadily gained confidence as the miles passed.

Colorado River overlook early on in the ride.

The first day was a short one, so after we set up camp at Airport we drove down Lathrop Canyon to the Colorado River to put the Jeep to the test. It performed well up and down some steep ledges. Duncan was disappointed at how dirty the river was when we arrived, but I jumped in between all the foam floaties for a brief swim.

Luckily from the driver's seat you are unaware that the road is so overhung.

Watch that first step. It's a doozy!

Corson boys on the White Rim.

Duncan chases down Tom on some of the easier sections of the trail.

By the second day, this kind of driving was nothing for the old man.

Lunch at the White Crack campsite. Fantastic overlook to the rivers below, and a lot of scary overhangs. This is where we overheard a guy talking about how scary the Murphy Hogback hill was. He basically endorsed every fear Duncan had, and his anticipation and anxiety built as we approached the Murphy Hogback.

View from the Murphy Hogback hill. Below you can see the rim of white rock that gives the trail its name.

Ooooh, Rob, take my picture in a slot canyon.

Duncan does a Bull in the slot canyon.

Duncan posing.

Potato Bottom campsite. By now, Duncan was able to set up and take down his tent all by himself!

Tom begins the climb out of the White Rim.

California

Last weekend we took a four day trip to northern California to meet up with Sam, Megan, & Eleri at the beach. It was an idyllic, relaxed few days. We stayed in a lovely beach house/cottage combination that was right on the beach and within walking distance of the small town of Stinson Beach and the Mount Tam trail network. It's so easy to see why people live there. If it weren't for the inflated real estate and the San Andreas fault lurking just inder the surface, I might be tempted.

On arrival at Oakland, we picked up the rental car and met up with Sam, Megan, & Eleri. We really wanted to see the new California Academy of Science Museum in Golden Gate Park, so headed that direction only to find a queue of people with the same thought stretching a quarter mile out the front door of this new museum! Instead of waiting in line with a toddler for hours, we ate lunch at the de Young museum and walked around their outdoor scupltures for a bit.

Short-haired Rina in this camera obscura-like interactive space at the de Young. Inside the round room you could sit and take in the space which had a perfectly round opening in the roof that contrasted the blue sky nicely.

Eleri inside the giant safety pin at the de Young.

After a stroll through the botanical garden in Golden Gate Park, we headed north across the Golden Gate Brdge to Stinson Beach to check into our beach house. VRBO.com certainly didn't let us down. This place was perfect!

View of the main house from the beach. That corner window is the eating area/kitchen.

View from the eating area right onto the beach and ocean.

Inside the main house. Lofted bedroom above to the right. Kitchen and eating area in the background. Wood stove/living room in the foreground.

Sunset looking toward Bolinas.

The Edwards' chilling on the deck at sunset.

Sam & I tossing horseshoes on the beach. The loser of each round dropped and gave 10 push-ups.

By coincidence, Jason & Diane were at Point Reyes for the weekend, so we drove the short distance north and met up with them for a little fresh air before a really enjoyable dinner in Olema on Saturday night. So much for their romantic weekend getaway!

Jason, Diane, & Rina on Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. This is a beautifully preserved beach. Not a single house, concession, hotel or any sign of development in sight.

The Edwards on the dunes at Limantour Beach.

From the house in Stinson we could easily walk to the Mount Tam trails including the Dipsea Trail. They are some of my favorite trails for running/hiking on - hands down. Great views of the ocean, mountains, and even to San Francisco. Fantastic smells as you walk though the forest. California poppies and other little wildfowers dot the trail. Lot of ups and downs make for interesting runs. And the network of trails connects a lot of the coastal towns to each other and to the ridge trails. One day we drove to Muir Woods to take in the massive redwoods. Looking at the map of trails we realized we could actually walk back to the house in Stinson Beach via the trail network. So we did!

Megan & Rina walking home from Muir Woods on the Dipsea Trail. Yes, that is the Pacific Ocean in the background.

View of Stinson Beach from the hills above.

A relaxed bunch after 4 days at the beach.

The last day of our stay we finally made it to the new museum in Golden Gate Park in SF. It is well worth a visit. There is a great aquarium, rainforest exhibit, green roof, and cafe worth visiting. We spent a few hours there and didn't have time to see the planetarium. Next time.

You might think this is the set of the Tele-Tubbies. Wrong. This is the living roof of the museum. There is a water collection system, solar panels, automatically vented round windows, and most obviously, native low maintenance plants covering the roof. The two main humps house the planetarium and rain forest exhibits belowbut the overall contour of the roof is meant to emulate the hilly terrain of the city of San Francisco.

Atop the living roof, taking in the perfect California weather.

While in the gift shop getting souveniers, we realized that the time we meant to leave for the airport has passed by 20 minutes! After a rushed drive to the airport, needing to stop and get gas on the way, we dropped off the rental car, caught the next shuttle to the airport, checked in, breezed through security, ran to our gates and walked right onto our respective flights - just in the nick of time. Phew!