well it's a week late, but here's last weeks adventure...
My family took our spring break down at Sunriver the week before Peterson Ridge 60K. It was alot of fun, spring skiing and biking each day. My muscles were sore from the skiing, but I was having too much fun. Tried to run the Dechutes river trail, only made it about 2 miles in, too much snow and I couldn't always spot the trail. Saturday nite, Alexa, Dave, and Kris showed up at our rental house to crash for the night. Dave showed his prowness with ping pong before we hit the hay for an early wake up for the drive to Sisters. The temp was cold, but with the forcast for 70 degree weather, I started with short sleeves, skull cap, and gloves. I started the race running with Eric Barnes and we clipped along at a good pace on the flat first section, but after reaching the first aid station a few minutes earlier than I have in the past, I slowed down. But after another mile, there was Eric, taking pictures of runners. I guess he wanted to slow down also, since he ran a marathon the weekend before. He dropped in behind me and managed to take a header at a road crossing. I started to feel heavy legs and by the time we got to the grunt climb, Eric was way ahead of me. After the grunt is a long gentile downhill where you can really cook. I could barely make 9 min miles! The trail was also part of an out and back so there was alot of traffic going both ways from both the long course and short course runners. Every one on the downhill was passing me, how depressing. I felt terrible but managed a smile when I spotted Alexa charging up the hill past me. Then Dave came cruising by and when I said hi, he stopped and ran(shuffled) with me. He got his fast workout in and wanted to run in with someone. When we got to the next aid station, I thought I would have a seat and wait for Kris to show up. Didn't have to wait long, but Kris was cruising and there was no way I was going to keep up with her. So Dave hung with me almost to the turn for the second loop. I really wanted to just finish with him, I was going soo slow, but it was a nice day and I figured I need to practice running in pain for a few hours, so when Maureen showed up, she and Dave continued to the finish while I made the turn for another 3 hours of fun. On the second loop, I tried every combination of fluids, gels, and electrolytes with limited success. At the top of the hill at the 25 mile aid station, I had a nice chat with Kurt, RD for Waldo, then actually ran part of the downhill at a pretty good clip. But by the time I reached the last aid station, I was back to shuffling. I finally finished about an hour later than I expected. It was great coming in late, more people to cheer! I didn't feel that bad, and the shower in the gym was invigorating. But my legs were sore for a couple of days. I'm glad I stuck it out, good mental training, however, I know I need to take it easier before a race, not start out too fast, and wear a hat!