Saturday, June 18, 2016
Bryce Canyon, Utah
9200 ft. of vertical gain
written by Angela Greynolds
This was my first 50 miler, and I didn’t go into it as prepared as I had hoped. I wasn’t able to get in as many miles as planned because of ongoing injuries, but I did do a lot more climbing than ever before thanks to a TTR group run on Mt. Lemmon followed up by similar routes with Stephen. Luckily the taper cleared up my nagging calf pains, and I felt rested and healthy going into the race.
We drove to Bryce the day before the race. It took about eight hours, and after we arrived, I realized there had been a time change, so it was actually an hour later than we had expected to arrive. We went to sleep with the sun still up because we had to catch the shuttle at 4:30 am which was going to feel like 3:30 am.
In the morning, we scrambled along with everyone else to get into one of the dozens of vans for the almost hour long ride to the start of the race. The vans dropped us off and left, and it was cold, so everyone stood around shivering for almost thirty minutes until the race started. Right before it started, the race director arrived looking stressed out. Turns out the vans had dropped us off a half mile too far. Our race had just gotten a half mile shorter, but we were also about to go straight onto single track instead of spreading out over the course of a half mile dirt road as planned.
Start to Pink Cliffs Aid (mile 5)
Given that we started out on single track almost immediately, the first few miles were pretty slow going and at times stop and go. It sure was beautiful though! It was a relief to hit the dirt road and be able to go your own pace, but the dirt road also marked the beginning of the first climb. Stephen and I power hiked the majority of the climb until we finally reached the first aid station.
Pink Cliffs to Straight Canyon Aid (mile 10.5)
Ultra Adventures races have composting toilets at their aid stations. I used one at the first aid station. It’s like a squatty potty meets a litter box…and it was an experience. Happy to move on after grabbing a couple chips to eat, we started back down the other side of the hill, beginning with a treacherous and once again crowded single track section and then cruising down a dirt road for miles. We passed a lot of people on that dirt road. I felt great! It was still shady and cool at this time, and things were going well. After we got back onto single track, we found ourselves finally spread out from other people. This area was under the trees right next to a grassy field and very pretty. During this section though, my left heel started to twinge when I would place it down at a particular angle. I tried to avoid that angle, but it was a bit worrisome, especially that early in the race.
Straight Canyon to Kanab Creek Aid (mile 15.5)
I didn’t spend much time in this aid station, but Stephen stayed behind to mix some gatorade and eat some food, so I left early, knowing he would catch me pretty quickly. I left the aid station on another dirt road with a bit of an incline, and I took my time here, waiting for Stephen, mixing running and walking. After he caught up, it got steeper, and we power hiked our way to the next aid station.
Kanab Creek to Blubber Creek Aid (mile 23.5)
This was the first aid station where we had a drop bag, so I dropped my long sleeve shirt and gloves at this point. We also reapplied sunscreen, and I filled up on shot blocs. I had been very good about eating 200+ calories every hour up to this point. We left the aid station pretty quickly and then started onto single track along the edge of the rim. Still under trees most of the time, it remained pretty cool, and this was one of the most runnable sections of the course, rolling but never steep, so I was grateful for that too. We took more pictures and videos here than anywhere else. Some of the views were amazing!
Blubber Creek to Proctor Aid (mile 32.5)
We filled up on water at this aid station, and I poured ice water on my hat because it was starting to get warm. The next section was single track, downhill, descending from the rim, and I loved it. I passed a ton of people as I flew downhill for these few miles, still feeling great. It was also very shady being deep in the ravine. This was probably my favorite part of the race. Who doesn’t love passing people?
Once we bottomed out, it started to climb again, and we power hiked the single track. This is where I started to feel tired, and I didn’t do a great job of eating, which certainly didn’t help. We passed a few people during this steep extended climb, most not looking too good. In fact there was a woman talking to a man sitting down that looked like he wasn’t going anywhere soon. Within a half mile, we passed a volunteer or staff member coming the other direction to help him. I think that signified the beginning of trouble, not just for us, but for most everyone. The next few miles seemed to go on forever and were much more exposed and hot. The aid station was further away than advertised, and people were beginning to run out of water, including us. It was a slog but a relief to finally see the next aid station up ahead.
I should note that this was the same weekend that Tucson saw three hikers die from heat exposure, and the entire West was suffering from a severe heat wave. Bryce Canyon was no exception, and the next few hours were unusually hot for the time of year.
Proctor to Thunder Mountain Aid (mile 41)
This aid station was pretty packed because it was also on the 50k route, and there was crew access. All of the seats in the tents were taken, and people looked beat. I sat down for a bit to get into the shade and drink some Coke, but we tried to get out quickly. It may have been too quickly though because as soon as we started to climb out of the aid station, I felt terrible. The next few miles were pretty awful. It was warm, exposed, and the steepest uphill of the race, and I had not been eating enough. There was a moment where I even stopped and hugged a pathetic little tree while I whimpered a little bit, equally pathetic. I questioned why I had ever signed up. How quickly things change! I had just had my fasted 50k and now felt horrible.
Anytime we were going downhill, I tried to run, but I kept getting horrible side cramps. I remembered a ziplock baggie of salt tabs that I had found during a TTR run that no one had claimed at the end. It was still buried in a pouch in my hydration pack, and I figured it was worth a shot. I pulled the baggie out, took a little bite off of one white tab, just to check, and ended up tossing it aside after discovering it was actually a Mento. Not cool. “It’s a f$%&in Mento!!” I cried.
I also ended up with a sudden cramp in the sole of my foot a few miles from the next aid station, and this hampered me from running and even walking normally. I stopped, took my shoe off, rubbed my foot for a while, and took some Ibuprofen that we had been carrying. After some more walking, this luckily ended up doing the job, because I thought it was game over once that pain hit. I also had a moment of weary confusion about a mile later when I suddenly panicked thinking I had left my sunglasses at the last aid station. I quickly checked my hat brim for them, but Stephen pointed out that I was wearing them on my face. It was just really bright.
A couple of miles from the next aid station, we encountered a wonderful surprise. Up ahead I could see people milling around, and when we reached them, we realized they were cooling off in a shallow stream of fresh, cold water. I immediately took my pack off, had the sense to also take my phone out of my skirt pocket, and got in the water. After reluctantly leaving the stream, we ran the last half mile into the aid station, but the vast majority of this section was definitely walked.
Thunder Mountain Aid to Finish
The last aid station was not in good shape. All of the food was inside the tent, but it was hotter in the tent than outside, which is saying a lot. They were pretty low on supplies too. There was a girl inside the tent that felt sick with a fever, so we got out of there as quickly as possible and ended up talking with another couple from Tucson outside for a while. We hung around here long enough to feel mentally prepared to move on and ended up leaving with a different couple, the four of us walking up the dirt road beginning the last eight miles of the race.
I tried to run as much of this flatter section as possible, trying to go an entire mile without stopping if possible. It helped having other people there for motivation to keep going. We reached a fork in the road eventually and stopped to take a little break before starting up the steep hoodoo section ahead. Stephen and I left before the other couple, and we never saw them again. The man said he wasn’t feeling well at all so we wonder if they went back to the aid station because we couldn’t find them on the results list the next day.
The final section was a beast, a very beautiful beast. There were quite a few mountain bikers at this point. I could see the appeal when going downhill on a bike. Unfortunately we were going the opposite direction on foot. We weaved our way along the ridges, up, and up, and up until we finally topped out after taking multiple breaks. I tried to eat an energy bar, but I spent at least a minute trying to chew and swallow it because it was so dry. And gross. I did not want any food at this point.
I counted down every half mile for the last four miles, giving a range out loud of possible remaining distances since we had cut the half mile off of the beginning of the race, and all of the aid stations had been not super accurately spaced. Suddenly each half mile felt like an eternity. We did what felt like an endless dance of running downhill on one side of a small canyon and then walking uphill on the other side before rounding the corner and finding yet another almost identical small canyon on the other side. I kept saying, “This must be the last one,” but another one kept appearing.
Eventually we heard some cheers and a cowbell up ahead and hoped that that was the finish line, but instead we found a woman who seemed eager to share the “great” news that we only had a mile and a half left. She might as well had said ten miles to go. We started down the wide dirt road towards the finish line, at least away from the canyons, and run/walked it for a while, along with everyone else. When we got to the last half mile, we ran it all the way in and finished together.
Recovery
I felt pretty good immediately after the race surprisingly. It took twelve and a half hours to complete, so after waiting a good while for the shuttle to take us back, it was already time to go to sleep. I didn’t sleep well that night though. I was very dehydrated, and my body would start to hurt if I stayed in the same position for too long. The next day I craved a cheeseburger from McDonalds, so that’s what I ate for lunch, even though I’ve been a vegetarian for a couple years now. Oh well, I earned it! Stephen and I drove to Las Vegas in the morning, and I didn’t leave the hotel until the second day there. I slept on and off, not very well, and craved fatty foods. Muscle soreness wasn’t really an issue, but my sleep cycle and metabolism were all messed up. In fact, it took a couple weeks before I felt completely recovered. Once that happened…I started looking for my next race 🙂
