Sunday April 22, 2018 Skyline 25K
You know something crazy is going on when I consciously make the decision to get up at 4:45 in the morning on a Sunday. It’s my first race of the year and I’m a bit nervous. The Yakima Skyline Rim 25K was my dream race last year but I had to drop out due to a calf injury that continued to nag me for the better part of 2017. Today I’m feeling healthy and super excited to get out there and finally run this thing. There’s no exaggeration when I say that this race looks gorgeous! I have a bunch of time to kill so I get dressed and head over to the Starbucks before the family wakes up.
We arrived in Ellensburg yesterday and had dinner with our niece Christy who attends college here. I was trying my best to stick to my normal diet and the best thing I could find on the menu was a brat and some Cheddar Beer soup. Sticking to my low carb diet was important because I didn't want to throw any of my routines off. During dinner, I stepped away for a few minutes to have a phone chat with my coach. I am kind of new to running, so being able to go over a game plan with a coach is invaluable. I’ve only been with him for a month but I already feel like I know so much more than last year. He reminded me to be consistent with my pacing and use this race as a way to learn for my next several races. After dinner, we drove out to the race site to make sure we knew where we were going. The last thing I needed in the morning was to get lost and be late to the race. We were only a few hours outside of Seattle but the short drive out to the race site was like being in a different state. We saw giant rolling hills, rocky cliffs, a beautiful winding river and almost zero trees. It’s a complete 180 from forests of the side of the mountain we are from. This place looks like it’s right out of an old western movie. I could imagine herds of Buffalo or wild horses running through here at one time. It’s really beautiful.
The sun is coming up and it's time to get ready for the day. Starbucks was great but I’m going to hit up the Red Lion’s breakfast buffet and have few eggs and bacon before leaving for the race. Bib pickup is 7:30-8:50 so I have some time. I check back in with the family after breakfast and they're ready to go. We leave the hotel a little later than I wanted and arrive at the race location around 8:15. I have my 32oz of required water and my photo ID ready to go so that I can pick up my bib. I look at my watch and see that I only have around 20 minutes until the pre-race briefing at 8:50. I hurry back to the car to pack my vest and get dressed. I'm feeling a bit rushed now but I make it to the briefing with a few minutes to spare. James gives us the lowdown of the race with an unsettling warning about rattlesnakes. What?!?! There were snake sightings on Friday but they were gone by the Saturday Race. He let us know that if we do get bit, it is important to not to get your heart rate up. Knowing what I know now about the terrain, there is no way that would have been possible. This is one of the most remote locations I have ever been. If you got bit and were somehow able to get cell service, they would have to airlift you out.
There are close to 200 runners in the small starting area and James starts us off at 9 am on the dot. We run through the parking lot and circle around to the suspension bridge that goes over the river. We cross over in a single file line to keep it from bouncing and swinging, but it doesn't help. The river below was moving pretty fast and it would suck to fall in I thought. I start moving through the winding single track trail trying to avoid rolling an ankle on the rocks. I'm going a bit slower than I had planned but I remind myself not to go out too strong. I want to conserve a much energy as possible. At about a mile in I start to regret wearing a jacket and gloves. So much for overpreparation. Careful not to stop and hold up the group, I take off my extra layers while continuing to climb. I shove them in my pack and keep moving. The trail finally opened up to the several miles of uphill climbing that lay ahead. It looked very difficult and from where I was standing I couldn't even see the worst part.
I keep a pretty steady/slow pace for the first mile. But the course was so open that I could see all the runners a mile ahead of me and it made me want to move faster. I increased my speed a little bit and passed a few people. None of us were going very fast up this thing but It gave me the opportunity to test the calf muscle. It had been giving me problems leading up to the race and this seemed like as good a time as any to test it out. It felt great! I passed when I could and kept moving. As I reached the top of this massive climb I could finally see flat trails.
The next few miles were spent on an old rocky dirt road that ran along the top of the hills. It gave us a 360-degree view of the beautiful landscape and a view of Mt Rainier that most people will never see. It was amazing. I had my iPhone out snapping photos for pretty much this entire section. We moved through a couple of small uphill and downhill sections but nothing major. I was starting to get my legs back after the after the long uphill and started to pick up the pace bit. Careful to not roll an ankle on a giant lava rock I pushed on. As I arrived at Doug McKeever's middle of nowhere aid station, I was feeling good. So far I had only gone through half a vile of olive oil and half a bottle of water. I said hi to Doug, used the restroom(the front of his truck) and refilled my water bottle. As I started down the trail Doug said that we were 1.8 steep miles from the full aid station/turnaround. He wasn’t joking! From where I was standing I could see where the aid station would be and had no idea how I was going to make it back up. At this point, all the elite runners were heading back up the single track trail. It became a game of chicken with the other runners coming up the hill. One of the other runners coming up the hill looked like he had fallen and cut his face and neck up on something. I was going to do my best to not have that happen to me.
It was getting a little warmer out now and my body was starting to fatigue. I hadn’t run more than 8 miles in a training run this year and I was just now reaching that point. I was chitchatting with another runner who had run this race before which helped the time pass and take my mind off the pain. He seemed to know every runner that was coming up the hill towards us which was pretty awesome. We were coming to the last downhill before the turnaround and it looked treacherous. I’m guessing it was close to a 65-70% grade. If I were the only runner out here it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But with the people coming up the hill and the people behind me going down the hill at crazy speed, it was a bit scary. Pretty much everyone slowed down to a walking pace or used their hands to make it down this thing safely.
I arrived at the Rosa Creek aid station a few minutes later proud of the fact that I didn’t roll down that last hill. I hung out there for a few minutes admiring how awesome the volunteers were. Their excitement somehow got me pumped up to get back out on the course and take on that uphill climb. I grabbed a pickle, refilled my water bottles and headed back to kick the hill’s butt. After my first step, the aid station excitement was gone and I was moving at like zero miles an hour. Lol! I tried my best to not look up at what was ahead of me. Every person I talked to kept saying one foot in front of the other and keep moving. So that’s what I did. My legs were exhausted but felt strong. The calf pain I was having leading up to the race hadn’t been a problem all day long so I decided to push a little harder. I increased my pace a bit and moved past a few people. I saw Glen again and tried to put on a good face for my photo. I’m pretty sure I looked like death though. I figured I only had another mile until Doug’s aid station but it felt like it might as well have been 20 miles. Why does this 25K feel harder than the 50K I did last year? Just as my mind started to go to dark places I could finally see the aid station. Sure, it was up a hill but at least I could see it. I eventually reached the aid station and refilled my water. I brought my own food so I was quickly on my way. I downed a few pieces of salami and a handful of macadamia nuts as I headed up the next climb. The salami had become a bit to warm so I decided to stick to the nuts and olive oil until the end of the race. I only had around 5 miles to go until I'd be on the line for pizza anyway.
Everyone was pretty spread out now and not as chatty. I ran with a woman for a while but we didn’t say a word to each other. I'm not sure where she found the energy, but at one point she decided to take off and leave me in her dust. I was by myself again. Now would have been a good time for some upbeat music or a good podcast. But because of the Rattlesnake threat, I left my AirPods in the car. I could hardly move at this point. I was happy they weren’t cramping like they did in my last race, but my quads were finished. With no music and quads that were already done with the race and ready for a pizza break, I was ready to sit down and take a break. Then I saw them. Spectators! These people hiked all the way up that hill to cheer us on and it was exactly what I needed. The motivation of shame:) If I sat down in front of spectators I would look like a weirdo. So I kept moving and finished the last few feet of the climb. I was at the final section of the race now. I looked down and saw the almost 2-2.5mile downhill to the finish that lay ahead of me and it looked difficult! I wondered if my legs could even handle it. I stopped, regained my thoughts, snapped a picture and started down the hill.
I’ve never felt the fear of losing a toenail until this downhill. My toes were being pushed so far into the front of my shoe that I thought the front of my shoes were going to explode open. I tried running down the hill with my feet landing sideways on the trail but it didn't help. It just made my quads hurt more. At one point I lost my concentration and started moving a bit too fast and almost lost my balance. At the last second, I caught myself before tumbling down and rolling over a bunch of hikers. At this point, I decided it would be safer to walk the rest of the steep section and shoot for running the last mile and a half. If nothing else, I wanted to walk away injury free from this thing. With about a mile left in the course, I was back in the canyon running the narrow and rocky trails. I could feel hotspots forming on the arches of my feet and every step I took felt more painful than the last. I could hear another running coming up behind me so I pulled off to the side and let him pass. It gave me chance to take a breather and adjust my shoes. I was also happy to have another runner to pace myself off of. As we got to the bottom of the canyon we met up with two other runners that were in front of us. We all went under the overpass together and then crossed the suspension bridge. The bridge was even more difficult to cross without all the other runners on it. Maybe it was just my tired legs. It felt like trying to walk across a bouncy castle with a bunch of kids jumping on it after I had just finished doing 200 squats. After crossing over we were back in the parking lot with what was probably less than a half mile to go.
I had almost nothing in my tank. I could smell the pizza but it might as well have been 5 miles away. I looked at my watch and it said 3:41 pm. I figured a finish time of 3:45 sounded like a good number to shoot for. So with what little energy I had left, I started to run. I passed the guy who a few minutes earlier ran by me in the canyon and then moved by other two guys that were ahead of us. I didn’t care what place I ended up in, I was just using these runners as a friendly competition to stay upright and keep moving. I wanted to see my daughter. I wanted to see my wife. I wanted pizza in my mouth! I could see the finish line just up and over a small hill ahead of me. I managed to stay upright, cross the finish line and shake the Race Director’s hand. I did it! It wasn’t the perfect performance but I did what I needed to do. I found my family and gave them some love before getting in line for some pizza.
The Yakima Skyline Rim 25K was a very difficult race but I am so happy I was able to run it this year. It was beautiful and challenging. It's basically everything you want in a trail race. The people that operate Rainshadow Running are very cool and put on amazing events. If you ever decide to run a trail race or have already run a bunch of them, check out Rainshadow. You’ll be happy you did.
Not sure what’s up next. Either the Red Devil 50K in June or The Volcanic 50K in August.
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