Flagline 50K

So Saturday, September 25th was the inaugural Flagline 50K near Bend, OR. It was the USA Track and Field 50K Trail Championship, which meant that some really good runners were going to show up. So how did I end up at this race? Right after SOB, I was all pumped up to do another 50K and Flagline seemed to fit into my schedule nicely and it was also close. I think my wife thought I was silly for signing up so quickly for another ultra, and I think she was also a little bit worried that I was becoming addicted to them. I actually think I may be addicted to them and I have had thoughts of 50 and 100 milers swirling around my head but let's not mention that to her!

The course started at Mt. Bachelor and headed out across the Cascade Lakes Highway where it circled around Tumalo Mountain and then did a figure 8 maneuver in the shadow of Broken Top. Shahid Ali drove Aaron Brian and I up to the race. He took some great pictures to document the run. It was a chilly morning but the sky was clear and the views of the mountains were amazing. We knew it would warm up quickly and it was going to be a great day out on the course.




















I started out a little faster then I did in the SOB 50K but part of that was the fast field and there was a lot of downhill running. A couple of times I had to slow myself down because I am still a newbie when it comes to going above and beyond the marathon distance. In the first couple miles of the race, I already found myself running alone. It was bound to happen with only 70 people participating. It was great to finally hit the first aid station and see Shahid and Carly. It was time to ditch the sleeves and gloves as the day began to grow warm.




















I headed out of the first aid station and knew the climbing up to Tumalo saddle would start soon. I felt pretty good on the first climb and the race was pretty uneventful until I saw Aaron Brian running back down the hill in the opposite direction. I was very confused and found out he had made a wrong turn and ended up on a short cut trail. He was trying to get back to the place where he made the wrong turn. He assured me that I was going the right way and we went our separate directions.

As I headed into the figure 8 section of the race, I felt my first real signs of fatigue. It was around the 17 mile mark but I kept on pushing forward. I finally came across some other runners and that made me feel relieved that I was on the right trail and going the right direction. The views of Broken Top and South Sister were awesome in this area. I was trying to look at them without tripping over too many rocks. I soon arrived at the cowgirl aid station and I was happy to get my bottle refilled and some s-caps.

I left the cowgirl station and headed down a fire road. This was the first place I started to pass a significant number of people. I just relaxed and used gravity to pull me down the hill. However, the thought did enter my mind that all this downhill would mean some significant uphill to loop back to the aid station. Around mile 22 we started climbing and I was really starting to feel fatigued. I had to do some power walking mixed in with my running. I had latched on with a group of other runners on the way up and once we made it to the top, I decided to start pushing again and left them behind. Just up ahead was my return to the cowgirl station. This time I decided to dig into my drop bag and gather what I needed for the final push to the finish line.

I left the cowgirl aid station for the second time in the opposite direction and I found myself engulfed in a pack of runners. We were back on the road with a lot of downhill sections and I decided to pick up the pace once again to clear myself of the pack and also try to get under the 5 hour mark. I had done some quick math with an hour to go and I knew I had to really run hard if I was going to have any chance of making it under 5. I passed a lot of runners on my way down to the Halloween aid station, which was the final one.

I took some final s-caps and got some ice water and headed out for the last section of trail. I kept my eyes off the watch for a while. I knew I was going as hard as I could and that's all I could do. I finally took a peek at my watch with about 2 miles to go and realized I wasn't going to be able to go under 5. I was still motivated though to beat my SOB time so I kept moving. I finally hit the road and knew there was about a mile left to the finish. It felt like a really long mile and I was tired. Finally, I rounded a corner and the finish was in sight, I crossed it with a time of 5:06:36 and I was 27th out of 70.

Hal, Erik and the whole Ashland group were sitting down and relaxing. They filled me in on what had happened up front with the leaders. How some of them were misdirected and it sounded like a bit of a mess but apparently they had all worked it out. Since I was farther behind, I didn't know anything about the mishap and I didn't have any course problems. I definitely liked the trails we were on and I felt like the aid stations were very professional. Hopefully, next year they won't have any misinformed volunteers and I would definitely run it again if it works into my schedule.

Umpqua Ultimate

So Labor Day Weekend, I decided to race in the Umpqua Ultimate Sprint Triathlon. There are a lot of races out there to choose from on that holiday weekend. I always have a hard time deciding what to participate in. Last year, I raced in the Sunrise to Summit Duathlon in Bend. Ouch, talk about a painful race, but that is old news and I won't go into those details. This year I decided on the Umpqua race because I needed to go back and redeem myself. Two years prior, It was going to be my first triathlon. I ended up not racing. It was the only time in my life I have gone to a race that I was signed up for and didn't participate. It was a combination of poor race preparation, unusually cold weather and extreme fear about the lake swim. I had to go back and prove to myself how far I have come since then. Especially with swimming in open water. So I definitely floated (it was a deep water start) at the start line with something to prove. It ended up being one of my best triathlon races I have had to this date. The swim was by far my best in any of the races I have done. I found a good rhythm and just kept moving. I was 7th out of the water and felt good getting on the bike. On the bike, I had one strategy, to go as hard as I possibly could for the entire ride. However, to take a my mind off the pain a little bit, I thought about how fun it was going to be to head to the Duck's football game after the race. I jumped off the bike with the 3rd best split and hit the run hard. I felt like I was up near the front, but it was hard to say because we had the Olympic Triathletes and Duathletes out on the course. I was about 2 miles into the 5K run when I passed two guys who appeared to be in my race. One of them told me that he heard there were only two or three ahead of us. That's all I needed to hear, I went full throttle from there to try and catch these mysterious leaders. I figured if I made a move then, I might make it into the top three and get a plaque. Little did I know, I had just accelerated away from the true leaders of the race. I pushed hard to the finish line and had the 2nd best run split. A couple of people at the finish told me they thought I was first in the Sprint but I didn't really believe them. I figured the mythical front runners had already finished and I was somewhere in the top 5. I was shocked when I saw the results were posted and I was at the top of the list. In fact, my wife looked first and didn't see my name because she didn't look at the top. She figured I would be lower down where I usually am. It felt really good to come back to this race that two years earlier, I didn't have the guts to start. This time I started it, finished it and in an unexpected outcome, I won it!

Welcome to my Blog!

I figured this would be a good place to share my race experiences and all my thoughts that relate to my competitive side of life. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mike and I am from Ashland, OR. I love to run and recently I have started participating in Triathlons. I've also started to give ultras a try. Some would say I was good and others would probably say not so good. I think I am somewhere in the middle as far as talent. I have been seriously training and competing for a little over 3 years now and average anywhere from 30 to 50 miles a week running. That doesn't include my cycling or attempts at swimming. So I keep quite busy with my training. My family probably doesn't appreciate my training much but we do go on some nice racecations as my wife would call them. Feel free to read and hopefully there will be some things you find interesting or humorous. Thanks for stopping by!