The Tahoe Rim Trail 50K was meant to celebrate Val's 40th birthday. Our philosophy was to finish our first 50K, take lots of pictures and have a good time. I think Jerry, Val & I did a pretty good job of it.

To prepare for the race, I built up my endurance through IMCDA training, and I did a dozen trail runs on Walnut Creek or with the Rogue trail group. My longest trail run was the Maze 30K race back in May. Good news is that the trail wasn't too technical: just lots of hills (really mountains) and sand.

My friend Jeff did the race last year, and he described it as very long inclines, some runnable sections and then more inclines. I was busy thinking about CDA, so I didn't worry too much about the course profile. I finally got around to looking at the profile online. Somehow, I forgot that we were running in the mountains of Tahoe until then. I also forgot about the altitude until Val changed her plans around to arrive early. I talked to a couple of folks and learned that you need to arrive way in advance or the day before. Since I'm saving my vacation days for a scuba diving trip later this year, I flew in the Friday before the race.

The Race Itself

Start to Hobalt's
The start was at Spooner Lake. After a runable, yet dusty, quarter mile, we started walking up to Marlette Lake. Strategy was to walk the inclines -- on such a long race where you're not out to win, it doens't make sense to run up the hills. Burns up your legs, and you always pay for it later. I quickly discovered that I walk pretty slow up hills compared to Jerry and Val. I had to take two steps for their every one (crazy tall people). That or the altitude was taking its toll early on. After the ascent, there was a fun descent to Marlette Lake. We stopped several times to take pictures - the lake was amazingly still and reflected the trees, mountains and clouds above it perfectly. I also found that I''m a pretty fast descender when it's not too technical. I like to open up my legs and let gravity work for me. It burns up my quads less, and it's a whole lotta fun. (Imagine an ear-to-ear grin on my face as I'm dropping down the switchbacks.)

Pretty soon, we arrived at the Hobart Aid Station. Trail runners are a different breed than road runners, and the theme of this aid station was an Irish Pub. It had some Jameson as well as a keg of Guinness. Since it was around 8 AM, not too many people had the beer yet. I also picked up on a new favorite for food: boiled potatoes with tons of salt. I always heard about it as good endurance nutrition, but had always been to lazy to buy/boil some of my own.

Hobart's to Tunnel Creek
After Hobart's, we went up some switchbacks and were rewarded with an amazing view of Marlette Lake with Lake Tahoe and other mountains in the background.

Ran along the rim for a bit and then did a fun descent with lots of switchbacks to the Tunnel Creek Aid Station. Tunnel Creek's theme was a Mexican cantina. Ate a bit, picked up the second part of my liquid nutrion and went down the Red House Loop.

Red House Loop
The loop had a wicked descent - it drops 1,000 ft in 2 miles, and Jeff had warned me to take this descent easy. Since it was an out and back for a bit, we got to see the miserable faces of those making the return trip up. The trail was thick sand, and I managed to roll my ankle walking down the steeper sections. At some point, the trail went up, and val had the great idea of using fallen limbs as walking sticks. They totally saved my back on the steeper ascents and gave us something to focus on as we made our way up the hills. After the gorgeous vistas on the way out, I found this loop to be quite miserable.

When we reached the Tunnel Creek stop, I put some bandaids on my miserably blistered feet and hoped it would ease some of the damage.

Tunnel Creek to Hobart
We had to retrace our steps back to Hobart, and the incredibly fun descent took soo much longer to get back up. I never noticed the number of switchbacks on the way down, but you tend to notice things in agonizing detail on the way up. We took time to take a couple of more pictures, and I'm sure we annoyed the heck out of the other runners by passing them and then stopping to take pictures. (I was kinda shocked that in a race known for beautiful scenery not many others brought their cameras.)

At Hobart, Val had some Guinness, and I had a fruit smoothie. (They had blenders, dart boards and a bar!) I noticed I was low on fuel and stuffed myself a bit more than usual.

Hobart to Snow Peak Valley
I'd been worried about the ascent to Snow Peak Valley all day. The climb ended up smooth due to all the switchbacks, but the altitude really took a toll on me. My body just didn't respond when I tried to run, and it was just difficult to keep going. Good news is that there were plenty of points to take pictures and catch our breaths. (Even walking up a hill is pretty difficult at 8500-9200 feet.) Even better views of Marlette Lake Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background.

The local boy scouts staffed the aid station at Snow Peak valley, and it was just awesome to hear them say, "Good job, Jane." Kinda took me by surprise since my name wasn't on my bib. I found out later they even said "Happy Birthday," to Val. Little things make a huge difference on a long day.

Snow Peak Valley to Spooner Lake to Finish
The most technical part of the run came at the top of Snow Peak Valley. Lots of jutting rock on the sloping ledge and a long way down. It was a gorgeous view, but I made myself stop before looking away from the trail. I have no idea how the 100-milers do this at night. Since it was pretty high up, I had to take the uphills and some of the flat easy. I took this picture of Val as she was doing sun salutations atop a hill.

From Snow Peak Valley, we basically had 6 miles of descents and flats. We made a lot of ground during the time, and I spent a lot of it bombing down the descents trying to catch up with Val and Jerry. As we got closer and closer to the finish, I was able to breathe easier and keep running. My left knee was bothering me, so switchbacks going in one direction were painful. (I tend to put a bit more pressure on the uphill leg.)

There was a aid station between Spooner Lake and the finish where Jerry and Val were waiting for me. We refilled our camelbaks, took in some food and headed out. They had the Philippine mangoes which reminded me of Pete. I took a couple slices, and they gave me the immediate sugar boost I needed.

The trail to the finish ran alongside Spooner Lake. In some ways, this was good yet cruel. I could see the finishing tents and I could hear them in the distance. since the trail wound up and down, I never knew how close I was to the tents. Finishing was the biggest relief ever - even more so than finishing IMAZ last year. I wish I could have had that beer at the finish line.

Thoughts after the race
For future reference: I let my blood sugar get low. I got pretty irritable: I knew that my liquid nutrition plan (PowerBar Endurance Formula) wasn't enough for the altitude and the length of time. The aid stations were about 2 hours apart, and there was a fine line between eating too little (irritability/tiredness) and too much (almost puked after stuffing myself the second time through Hobart's and picking up the pace).

Depending on the aid stations that are more than an hour apart doesn't work since I need to keep my tank topped off. I'm considering using Infinit for the long runs coming up. I'd like a touch of protein in my mix.

Now that I'm done, I think I'll do another one. (I can barely walk at the moment, but the memories of the race make them worthwhile.)