My Crested Butte Ultra 55k race report continued from Part 1…

Aid Station #3

I caught up to Rudy at the 3rd aid station and we left there together. (I peeled off one layer and my HR strap that wasn’t connecting to my watch, refilled my soft bottles and made sure I had a few gels ready to go. From here there was about 9 miles left to the finish. We crossed the creek one more time, and made our way down. Rudy still had a little more power on the uphill sections, and I wanted to be careful on the downhills. (I’ve had ITB issues before and would rather be a little slower than deal with a long rehab.) So off he went and I just finished my race, treading lightly on the non-technical downhills (in contrast to my Barr Trail Mountain Race decent)!

Aid Station #4

With 6 miles to go, I went through the final aid station (same as #1), got a few more pretzels for some salt and headed on my way. Once I got down this section and went back over the stile, the course was graded and paved roads, which allows for smoother running. That helped, but I was still a bit guarded. My fueling and hydration plan had worked (yay!) so my energy levels were good. This was the farthest I have ever run, and my body was most definitely feeling it. With about 3 miles to go I caught up to our friend Danny, who said Rudy passed him around mile 27 (we were around 29). I walked with him for a minute or so and then continued to shuffle on. 

The Finish

With about 1.5 miles to go, the school where the finish line was became visible, so now I had a physical target. My legs were letting me know they were just about done, so I shifted to a run-walk as my knee and hamstring were both giving me signals. I alternated power-walking for 30s and running for 30-45s or so. But there were also a few people I could see ahead of me, so I worked to pass them and had a couple victories! I saw the runner that had passed me on the big switchback descent around mile 22, but fell a few seconds short of reeling her in. 

Rudy was there at the finish line capturing the moment! I finished in 8:07:58. Based on previous years results, it was looking like a 9-hour finish would be reasonable. I am always happy to finish earlier than expected! (Rudy finished in 8:02:27!)

Major Takeaways…

Pacing

Not sure I would have paced it differently, other than had I not had any IT band discomfort I probably would have been able to finish at a slightly faster pace, probably more in line with Rudy’s finish. Perhaps I could have been slightly more conservative with my pacing to start, around a 12:00 pace.

Being that this was my first ultra, my goal was to just finish and enjoy the race. For this, I was pretty cautious on the descents throughout the course trying not to thrash my quads before the half-way point. There were some people who bounded past me on some of the early descents, but I caught them as they stopped at the bottom to stretch, and I think I finished the whole race before them. 

Fueling & Hydration

A mix of solid food and gels worked well for me. Skratch was my hydration along with Endurolytes for more electrolytes. The PB & honey sandwich was great, although next time I will use slightly softer bread (old sourdough was just a bit dry). I had a mixed supply of gels and used a Hammer Raspberry and then stuck with Maurten gels, which don’t have much flavor, which was actually perfect.

At the 3rd aid station where we could access our drop bags, I replaced a bottle of regular Skratch with the Skratch Superfuel. I liked the transition to easier access fuels (less chewing!) at the end, but made sure I got in enough solids (Clif bars & sandwiches) through the fist two-thirds to keep my stomach happy. I was aiming for about 200 calories an hour and a few extra at aid stations. Granted, with the cool temperatures stomach issues were less of a concern. 

For anything longer than this, having crew support would be amazingly helpful. I probably lost 10 total minutes on the course just trying to refill bottles and hydration bladder on my own, and get my clothing changes situated. An extra pair of hands to help would have been nice. 

The course

The course was stunning. It was a nice mix of runnable and challenging terrain. The fall foliage in early October was absolutely stunning, and the area has amazing views. The race was fairly small, but I was never out of sight of people for very long. The course was well-marked, apart from aid station 2/3 where we needed directions on where to go heading out the second time through, and were told the wrong way by someone. Fortunately some other people jumped in and corrected it right away.

Celebrations!

Always have some kind of celebration after a big event. We had a nice home cooked meal (thanks, Janelle!) of chicken and noodles, crusty bread, and cold beer. We were all in bed before 8pm!

The drive home was also scenic:

Next up: the Fall Series! (I missed the first race, as it was the day after this one, but I’ll be there for the rest!) That’s motivation to rest and recover, but not get too lazy!