Lost Lake Run (xpost /r/running)

Race information

• What? Lost Lake Run
• When? August 27, 2016
• How far? Listed as 15.75 but closer to 15
• How High: About 2100 feet up and down.
• Website? http://lostlakerun.com/

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	<2:30	Yes
B	<2:35	Yes
C	Don't fall	Yes

Training

This was to be my last big race of the season so my training consisted of maintaining strength and not getting injured. Mostly hill work to keep the quads strong. The race finishes with some rowdy downhill and if your quads can't handle it you're gonna have a bad time.

Race strategy

This race starts in waves based on your expected time but it's also chip timed instead of gun so you're not disadvantaged for seeding yourself appropriately. Last year I seeded myself in the 3-4 hour group and got stuck behind too many people. This year I correctly seeded myself in the 2-3 hour group. My plan was to go hard up the 5 miles of climbing, recover at the top 5 of rolling hills and single aid station then do what I can on the downhill without falling.

I skipped a hydration pack and any food except for 1 gu and I carred a 20oz bottle of vfuel "ginger twist" (it's gross btw) electrolyte drink.

Pre-race

My race start was at 10:00 am but I was there to see off the 8 am walkers so I had time to kill. I walked the first 2 miles while I ate my bagel and discovered the trail to be super muddy this year. Oh boy! My 4 mile round trip hike was basically my warm up because I met some friends before the run and we jibber jabbered the whole time to race start. The governor was there because this is a race for cystic fibrosis and his daughter has it and is also in the race. The governor talked and we started 15 minutes late.

Race

A short half mile road run to the trailhead where we all bottlenecked to a stop funneling into the narrow trail.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/691387480/overview

Miles [1] to [5.5]

This is all climbing. Pretty easy grade but relentless 2100 feet of climbing. I went hard as I knew that opportunities to get around people were not often on this trail. I have a thing I do where I name people based on what they're wearing. I passed big-backpack girl, i-did-that-race-too-shirt guy, sparkly-cape girl etc... I got stuck behind blue-striped-shorts girl for a while but made it to the top in an hour on schedule. Around mile 5 we started running into the 8 am early start group.

Miles [5.5] to [9]

I finally put away and dropped blue-striped-shorts girl and started looking for my next victim just as the trail popped above the tree line and into the rolling alpine. It's so amazing up there. I mean look at this place. There were many people who I was pacing with that would fall behind when we hit the downhill sections. I've become a little stronger and more confidant on my downhill abilities this year. I waved at the boy scout troops who manned the water statio. Got there in 1:23 and on schedule. These guys hike up the night before with all the gear and make water for the runners. After the water station there is one last 200 foot climb out of the lake basin to the beginning of the down hill. I slowed way down to keep my legs fresh for the upcoming descent and was passed by blue-striped-shorts girl! WTF! I quickly put her away on the climb and told myself to stop screwing around.

Miles [9] to [15]

Right at the crest there was an unofficial aid station handing out beer. Yum but no time now. I cut loose on the downhill and 4 of us formed a pack of similar speed and I was 3rd in the pack. The walkers we passed were well off the trail by the time I came through and I didn't have to say anything or do any matrix dodgy stuff to get around. It was nice until blue-striped-shorts girl showed up with a whole new game! She rocketed past me like she was sandbagging the whole way up! So of course I thought "I wonder if I can keep up with that" and pushed up the throttle. I managed to not lose her aggressive pace. Everything was a blur at this point. Survival mode just looking at where the next footfall going to be. Jump over this log, hop from rock to rock, slide on mud, don't trip, dodge that dude and the miles ripped past. At mile 14.5 the trail opens up wide, gets steeper and the rocks firm up a bit and I unleashed the beast, passed my nemesis along with 4 other dudes. Crossed a stream before popping out at the trail head at the other end. There was still another half mile of road running before I got to the finish line. I saw tired people all around me. I saw the elites lounging and cheering for us second wave folks. I saw one guy throw his water bottle in disgust (he looked like he was having some serious cramping issues poor guy). I was still afraid of being caught by blue-striped-shorts asshole so I didn't let up and finished well ahead of my goal time with 2:25:27!

Post-race

After the race blue-striped-shorts came by congratulated me and we said nice things to each other. So she's pretty cool, I guess. She pretty much reeled me in on the last 5 miles. I might not have finished sub 2:30 without blue-striped-shorts. I sat down, watched my friends come in and tried not to throw up for the next 2 hours. I was so nauseated that I had to have my girlfriend drive us home.

I was about to puke, my girlfriend was beat to heck and hobbling, my other friend was in so much pain she cried at the finish but we all said "LET'S DO THIS AGAIN!" Mountain runners are strange.

Lap| Time| Pace| Elevation| ---|---|----|----|---- 1| 6:48| 10:57 /mi|107 ft 2| 6:36| 10:37 /mi|129 ft 3| 7:20| 11:48 /mi|220 ft 4| 6:02| 9:43 /mi |43 ft 5| 6:31| 10:29 /mi|163 ft 6| 7:55| 12:44 /mi|269 ft 7| 8:19| 13:23 /mi|254 ft 8| 9:43| 15:38 /mi|395 ft 9| 6:45| 10:52 /mi|145 ft 10| 5:29| 8:49 /mi |-75 ft 11| 5:23| 8:40 /mi |-132 ft 12| 5:42| 9:10 /mi |-66 ft 13| 6:16| 10:05 /mi|37 ft 14| 6:18| 10:08 /mi|156 ft 15| 5:42| 9:10 /mi| 93 ft 16| 4:35| 7:23 /mi| -281 ft 17| 4:52| 7:50 /mi |-193 ft 18| 5:33| 8:56 /mi| -108 ft 19| 4:51| 7:48 /mi |-177 ft 20| 4:25| 7:06 /mi |-285 ft 21| 4:41| 7:32 /mi |-180 ft 22| 4:44| 7:37 /mi |-175 ft 23| 5:07| 8:14 /mi |-299 ft 24| 4:19| 6:57 /mi| -271 ft 25| 1:22| 6:47 /mi |-78 ft

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