Capitol Peak 50 Mile

What is a blog if not a device to toot your own horn?  So toot I will, I completed my first 50 mile Ultra Saturday and I am insanely proud of myself!  Now that we have that out of the way...

Saturday was the Capitol Peak 55k/50 mile, a race that takes place in Capitol Forest, my home trail turf.  I signed-up a few months backing thinking it would make a great first 50 miler since it is close to home and I am familiar with the trail system.

I spent the three weeks between Yakima and Capitol Peak not doing much running due to sore knees.  Leading up to it I was feeling okay about attempting it but Matt was somewhat skeptical, he wasn't sure my lack of running was going to lead to a good end.  None the less, he was supportive of my choice to go ahead and give it a try.  I figured what was the worse that would happen, I would have to drop?

Saturday morning I woke-up at 4:30 to get there in time for the 6am start.  At the start I met up with Julie and Wayne and prepared for a long day of perpetual motion.   I had no idea what to expect, all I knew is I had a long day ahead of me full of a lot of unknowns: a) how would I handle the distance, b) how should I handle nutrition, and c) would I finish before the cut-off, just to name a few of the thoughts running through my head.

Myself, Wayne and Julie at the start.
photo credit: Julie

I didn't have too long to contemplate these things, John (RD) gave a quick rundown on what to expect and then we were off.  I can honestly say that my body seemed blissfully unaware of what I was doing for the first 10 miles.  Usually these are the hardest miles for me, but not Saturday, honestly none of the miles felt that hard.  I am amazed by how well I felt though the entire run.  I finished in 11:18 and save for some stomach issues that lasted about 4 miles (mile 40-44ish) I felt pretty good.

The course was fantastic, mostly single-track though Capitol Forest.  However, I have to say the best part was the aid stations and not for the food.  I finally crawled out of my shell and have started meeting people in Olympia, specifically the running community and they are a great group of people.  Many of these people were manning the various aid stations and it was really nice to have someone cheer for me as I came though.  Talk about a great pick-me-up!  

If finishing my first 50 miler wasn't good enough, a great day was topped off by winning new pair of shoes!

My new kicks