San Diego 50 Mile Trail Run

The San Diego 50 Mile Trail Run was my first "official" 50 miler and I specify that because I have covered the distance in one other race that was not a 50 miler (my first 100 mile DNF at 52.4) and also in 2013 when I first got into ultra running and was obsessed with just Forest Gumping it and seeing how far I could just "up and go" for no particular reason. So I knew I could cover the distance but I had never signed up for an official 50 mile race and trained for it. I spent about 3 solid months training for this 50 miler with weekly mileage between 70-100. I actually tapered for this race (something I rarely do) so you know it was serious. My goal was ambitious -- sub-8 hours -- but I always find I do best when my ambitions are high. Time-centered goals are not nearly as important to me in ultra running as distance is but having a time goal gives me something to aim for in my training. That's not to say I didn't take my time goal seriously, I did. I covered the entire course in different chunks during my 3 months training, and in the months prior as well. I did a 25 mile 'out' course preview run on December 6, self-supported with drop bags and gallons at miles 10 and 20 in a time of 3:45, which I felt put me in pretty good shape to hit my sub-8 goal. So given this context, and the fact that I decided to go on a last minute 'race-weight' cut resulting in a 10 lb race day drop, I felt like I could even try to aim for a goal of 7:30 EFT or faster (that's a 9:00min/mile pace) on race day.

So on race day, we arrived at the starting line at around 5:50am. Race starts at 6:30am so time to try and lighten the load and get in the bathroom line. Last thing I'd want is to have to go on these highly populated trails in the middle of a well-attended race on a busy MLK Day weekend, where hikers and mountain bikers appear en masse. So we get everything ready, then we smudged ourselves with sage and got ready to head towards the starting line (Whitney was also doing this race which she did her first 50 on last year). I left the sage on top of my car and apparently according to Gretchen, our crew captain, someone stole it. Wth seriously? Anyways, trying to focus our thoughts on good thoughts and safety for the day, we headed towards the starting line as I got rid of my long sleeve 2nd layer in the warm 46 degree weather. I decided to get up towards the front in an attempt to avoid the bottle neck effect of the first 0.25 miles of the trails that slows you to a walk, you know what I'm talking about -- when they yell "GO!" as you all proceed to walk slowly in a single file line down the single-track trail, very anti-climactic. I actually got a chance to meet Eric Clifton which was pretty cool, one of the benefits of trying to start in front. He surprisingly knew my last name so I thought that was cool. Really cool seeming guy, very non-assuming for all his accomplishments (Badwater winner back in the 90's and set the course record for that time). I feel like the modern generation of hoka-wearing ultra runners might not recognize him or the name so the fact that I came up to him like a fanboy asking "Are you Eric Clifton?" might have been a surprise to him from someone so young. Well, we would see each other twice later on in the race but now it was time to focus. "3, 2, 1 GO!". I took off at 7:00 pace, again, just to get ahead of everyone and slow down at the wider straight-away area 0.25 miles down the way. I'm not trying to be THAT GUY who starts off all fast just to burn out quick. I was trying to be strategic about this. So when I got to the straight-away I let about 10-12 people pass me as I slowed down to an 8:35 pace. I decided that I would try to keep 8:30 as my pace for as long as I could.

Miles 0-10: Everything was going well as I was trying to keep a headcount of the people who passed me by. The guy who went off ahead of me first had long hair and a beard like me and he was moving at that 7:00 pace I dropped not too long ago. I had no idea who he was but thought he would likely burn out at that pace. Well, he turned out to be the eventual winner and broke the course record in probably a low 6-hour time (results haven't been posted yet). Eric Clifton followed a little behind him, as he passed I offered a "good job" as I always do to people who pass me and he returned it with a "stay strong". Important words to remember towards the latter miles of the race. There was a girl or two that were part of the top 10 and they seemed to be moving pretty fast as well. As I was moving along at my 8:30ish pace I ran behind the female winner from last year Neela (knew her name from the results but didn't realize it was her until mile 21 when I ended up catching up to her). The terrain is really comfortable for most of this course, I was actually going to wear my Altra Superior's simply because this is a very non-technical non-rocky course and it had rained recently which made some areas a little softer. I decided to go with my Altra Lone Peak 2.5's (which I'm positive was the shoe of the day because everyone and their trail-running mom was wearing them out there). They did well and my feet were the last thing hurting me after 50. It's all smooth sailing, green dewy grass, beautiful trails, until mile 4ish where the less steep side of Raptor Ridge begins its ascent. Ran up in a low 9:00 pace which I was shocked at but it's not too crazy of a climb, not as bad as the other side anyhow. My descent was quick. I'd say too quick, as that seemed to be my one downfall of the day. I was taking the descents way too quickly. Might've been a sub-7 pace down the windy ridge because with a stop to refill my handheld (my only source of hydration for the day, forgoing the hydration pack for less weight to haul) I still pulled a 7:30 mile for mile 6. Anyways, back to trying to average 8:30ish. smooth, slightly cold sailing until mile 10 which I arrived at in 1:25. Wizzed on through the aid station only stopping to get CarboPro refill and a gel then taking off.

Miles 10-15: Smooth sailing, a camera man who was trying to use a flashing device as well as the beginning of what would be a large amount of early-starters (started at 5:30am so they could make the cutoff) are really the only things I encountered here. Some rocky slightly technical bits around mile 7.5 but nothing too bad. Some gullies that you have to watch out for if you aren't comfortable with sudden and steep descents and ascents of about 10 feet or so. I arrived at mile 15 feeling freaking AMAZING like "when is this race going to start?". Refilled and again didn't stay for long, biting my banana with peel before moving on.

Miles 15-20: Again, I got too caught up in the downhill portion around mile 18. It's just so enticing to bomb down the hill so I was pulling a low-7:00 pace, which I would later regret. I saw Eric Clifton around this time and exchanged a "good job, Eric" again. Ran pretty strong up the slight hill after the bridge pulling into the 20 mile aid station feeling like a million bucks. 2:50 race time. At this point I told Gretchen to have my hydration pack handy in case I decided I needed it for the next 10 miles, but I decided at that point that my handheld was doing a good enough job. Again, refill and gels and takeoff.

Miles 20-30: The next 5 miles felt really comfortable, even with those annoying switchbacks at mile 22. The descent down to Lusardi Creek, again, I might have taken a little too hard. 8:00 pace, which doesn't seem fast but at this point it's pretty ballsy and stupid. The creek crossing: I knew, having trained on this course before and having tackled this creek a couple of times, that my technique was just going to be to charge through it. My feet would enjoy the cold refreshing water and my LP's would hopefully drain pretty well. Well, the former held true and the LP's dried out eventually, but not as quick as I thought they would. Oh well, up the final little climbs before the 24.25 mile aid station and then the turnaround. Right before the creek crossing though, as soon as I entered the creek trail loop off of Artesian Rd, I saw the frontrunner looking how I looked like at mile 10. He just smiled and waved looking really unfazed for covering 27 miles in 3:20. Wow, I thought. He's no joke gonna win this by a long shot.

At the turnaround point for me however, is when I started to "feel it", whatever "it" was. I got there around 3:34 race time which was on track to be EFT (estimated finish time) of, like, fast, 7:15, and I thought "damn, that's fast, but it's okay you feel alright...". I stopped by the 24.25 AS to refill and get another gel or 2 and went back down to cross the creek again, same "THIS IS SPARTA" style as before. I could have a little more tact on my creek crossings but who cares? Neela caught back up to me and the Artesian Rd descent at mile 27 brought to my attention the fact that I was starting to cramp a little and pace was starting to slow a bit. No worries. She asked how I felt and I said "starting to feel it" which was responded to with an "uh oh" as she pulled off ahead where she would beat me to mile 30. I think I was 6th or 7th at this point, I can't remember. Anyways, tried to catch her down those annoying switchbacks but mountain bikers insisted on plaguing the trails today, including these narrow winding switchbacks. Really? You can't walk your bike up these things? Mile 29 is when my hammy started to twinge and I didn't have any salt pills. Damnit! Make it to 30 and down about 5 or 6 of those babies. My pace was down to high-9:00 on flats at this point. Got to mile 30 AS, and as I predicted I ran into Whitney who was at her mile 20. A couple of weeks before the race I told her, "I'm probably going to run into you at my mile 30 and your mile 20. I was impressed with my guesstimating abilities being so spot on. I made a break for the salt pills without the same pep as I had entered mile 20 with and instead, with more GTFO MY WAY face. I shunted my hand in the salt pills Styrofoam container at which point Gretchen crew captain and Whitney both knew that "uh oh" this wasn't a good sign. "Yeah, I'm feeling it". I stayed at mile 30 a little longer than what I wanted to maybe 3 minutes this time. I downed the majority of a Monster Energy Drink (which I never usually drink) and ate half a banana pb sandwich in hopes that the gradual climb for the next 5 miles wouldn't kill my dreams of achieving my goal. I knew that whatever happened, it was going to be rough.

Miles 30-35: I was right. It was rough. I was starting to feel the effects of my quads being shot and so couldn't really bomb any downhills and uphills became a 12:00 minute pace. Shit. There goes my sub-7:30 time. Oh well, focus, sub-8:00 was your original goal, just get that and it'll be good. Well, lucky for me, time goals for ultra running never really played a large role in why I love the sport. But it's still disappointing to see your goal slipping away as you dredge yourself up this 3% grade. At mile 35 I pulled in over an hour since the last aid station. Yikes. Lydia was there though! That cheered me up, and though I was struggling and coming to terms with the fact that I was not going to meet my goal, it was nice having Crew Captain Gretchen and Lydia there to offer me support and updates on how the 1st place guy came here about an hour ago. "Well, I'm still going to finish, but it's not going to be pretty, but hopefully still a respectable time". Off I went after 5 minutes of hanging out and recuperating.

Miles 35-40: Ugh, what a drag! 13 minute miles?? You gotta be kidding me. Oh well, this is what I knew ultra running to be! None of this fast stuff! I know 13 minute miles! I know 15, and 20 minute miles! These are what ultras are made of! But jeebus, this is where I started run/walking. Mile 40 came up before I even knew it, thanks to my familiarity with the course and my acceptance of my fate.

Miles 40-50: In my original plan, I was supposed to get to mile 40 around 6 hours, maybe sooner. I'm pretty sure I got there in 6:30. Ugh. I stayed for a while at this one, biding my energy for the final 10 and Raptor Ridge. My quads were officially shot at this point. To give you an idea, it's like the day after leg day, if you did a leg day the day after leg day. It hurt more to walk than run but I couldn't run for too long before getting too fatigued and having to resort to the more painful "brisk" walking. Before I left mile 40 though, I saw Eric Clifton pull up to the AS. He had his signature colorful tights on, from decades prior, with some interesting non-trail looking shoes that looked like they could've been from the 80's themselves. It was as if he was trying to make a statement like "Fuck Altra, fuck Hoka, I'm wearing this shit, y'ain't need all that gimmicky crap". He stopped only briefly, getting a drink and telling me "C'mon Phillip let's go". How cool it would've been to run in the last 10 miles with this guy? If only I had the energy. Well, he motivated me to quit wallowing and procrastinating and so I took off. If that's what you wanna call it anyhow. I "shuffled" off.

This is where my pace started to drop to 14 minutes, then 15 minutes. Ay vey (I'm not Jewish, that just seemed like an apt expression). More shuffling as I couldn't lift my leg past a 150 degree angle. The shorter your stride is the less eccentric contraction I think, and so that's how my body adjusted, which is why 15 minute paces happen. A lot of people have been passing me at this point so when someone came along it was always like, internally: "oh, hey der" and externally: "good job, you're moving great keep it up". One guy actually started walk-running with me saying "I might as well suffer with you" to which I responded "Oh no, don't let me slow you down". At first, he took a more modest approach insisting that this was the pace he was doing anyway. Then after awhile, and I don't blame him for this, he just continued running. Good job, man, hope you finished strong.

Made it to the final aid station at mile 44.3. It was awesome to see Gloria King at an aid station, a local SD ultra runner who I met at a training 50k race in Santa Monica in December. She seemed super concerned about my condition, and in such a motherly way too, trying to feed me a banana or an orange. I just took some Gatorade, topped off my handheld with some, grabbed some gels and made my way up Raptor to crawl a 23 minute mile up and partway over. It was bad, and I mean BAD. Getting up was bad enough, but I was trying to avoiding thinking about how bad going DOWN was going to be. Well, I got to the top so it was time to find out. AHHHH AH AH Oo AH. OW, OH SHIT MY QUAD IS CRAMPING I NEED TO GET ON FLAT GROUND BECAUSE MY MUSCLES ARE IN CONSTANT ACTIVATION FIGHTING GRAVITY KEEPING ME UPRIGHT. SHIT THERE IS NO FLAT GROUND. DO I FALL? THE REST OF MY BODY WILL CRAMP AND SEIZE UP FOR SURE IF I DO. Okay Phillip, calm down and just see I you can stand. Okay, okay, breathe. Oh my GOD this is killing me! I won't be able to get down this damn hill! Okay, try walking backwards? SHIT! NO OW OWW! Okay, just take it slow as hell. I barely made it down. But I made it and the hard part was over. Now to just keep shuffling.

And that I did, pretty much all the way to the 50 mile point. I was back to averaging 15 minutes per mile, so I'd be done in an hour, awesome! Pulling up to the finish line, I made some last minute friends, and someone last minute passed me. You go, Glen Coco. You go. But the coolest thing is I saw my little niece lilly and my sister and Lydia at the finish. How cool! "STRILLIS!" I called and she looked at me like "hey, I know who that is!". I was so happy to be done even though I was nowhere near my goal time. My actual finish time was 9:17 I believe, which is pretty damn good for messing up pretty damn bad. Crew Captain Gretchen was supposed to throw me a Rubik's Cube before I crossed the finish line so I could solve it in 15 seconds in what I hope to be my signature move at races from now on, but she had to attend to Whitney at mile 40 so the message got lost in translation to other crew members. It's all good though. What a great day, and we got to crew Whitney afterwards too as she came in under 13 hours after almost dropping out at mile 40, then deciding that if she could walk the rest, she could finish, who cares about "running" anyhow?

Ya know, when you hit those lows during a race, and it happens especially during long races, I often find myself asking "Why the fuck do I do this again?". There's never really a good answer, but looking back at how awesome the days usually are, especially if I don't fall, I think the answer is in the stories. Eyaay ehan race director(s) and volunteers for making this awesome day possible.