Last Saturday / Sunday morning I ran the nighttime OSS CIA
50 for the second time. Last year Connor
was only four months old, so this was a perfect way to get in a tough race without
taking away from much family time. The
race was harder than I expected with some serious heat and the overnight
running. I got beat up by the course but
was happy to hang on for 10:33 and 3rd place.
I really like the race and how it was run, and I was excited
to come back this year. My taper was
pretty minimal with the focus on UTMB. 2
weeks out I ran 90 miles with 16K climbing, and the week before was 50
miles. So I didn’t have many
expectations going in and mostly just wanted to finish feeling strong (probably
a good mentality for all ultras!). I
figured breaking my time from last year would be excellent, and sub 10 would be
ideal.
This year was hot but not as bad as last year. It was about 85 at the start with lows in the
low 70s, though it stayed fairly humid overnight. It was good catching up with folks at the
start, including the race director, who I had the pleasure of running with in
the Shenandoahs a few weeks before.
After putzing around for a bit, we were off into woods at 7pm!
When we hit the South Valley Trail 2 miles in, I found
myself in second despite Jen’s sage advice to not be an idiot and go out too
fast. I was running way faster than last
year but felt comfortable on the somewhat technical trail that meanders along
the creek. I again really enjoyed this
section with the water running nearby and the fading sunlight. I could tell my climbing legs weren’t 100%,
probably due to the big vertical weeks and short taper, but I wasn’t too
worried. I then started fading and
feeling a bit weak and realized I was sweating a lot and that it was still
quite hot out. I caught my mistake way
earlier than last year and started to really up the hydration and get in some
calories.
I was already feeling better when I hit Mawavi Road and got
there WAY faster than last year in low 9s.
I cruised along the next section towards Oak Ridge feeling pretty good
and trying to up the hydration. I felt
like the pace might be a bit hot, but I still felt in control and figured it
wasn’t the worst to get in the miles during daylight (famous last words?). I resolved to focus on cooling off in the Oak
Ridge aid station and then taking it slow in the Farm to Forest loop too keep
things in check.
Last year I had to turn on the headlamp 1-2 miles before Oak
Ridge, but I made it well into the loop until turning it on this year. I had resolved to go slower here but was
feeling pretty great after some ice water over my head at the aid station and
some food, so I cranked along through this section.
Before I realized it I was back at Oak Ridge
and repeated the cooling down and calorie intake. I again resolved to slow down and keep things
in check, but I just felt really good and kept rolling along. I was still under 9:45 pace and have a blast
running through the night.
As I approached the Burma Road turnaround, I was really
curious how far ahead first would be. But
with all of the early starters on the course, I couldn’t actually tell where he
was. I did know that 3rd
place was right behind me with 4th not far back, so I was trying to
make good time while not getting caught up early in the race. Nick, a super nice guy who ran the race last
year, set up an aid station at the turnaround that hadn’t been there in prior
years, which was awesome. I refilled my
bottles and stuffed ice in my hat.
After a bit on the road, I was on the North Valley single
track trail. The full moon was out at
this point, and it was a beautiful night in the woods. I was still really pleased with the time I
was making and was having a great time.
I focused on the hydration and calories and before long was making the
climb back up to the end of loop 1.
I was pumped to get there in 4:15 (9:45 pace), which I think
was about 45 minutes faster than last year.
I felt awesome at this point and was able to quickly get in and out
thanks to the fantastic aid station volunteers.
Someone hooked me up with a grilled cheese, and Q filled up my bottles
with Coke. After having 3rd
place on my tail for a marathon, I tried to move through quickly to get some
solo time out on the trail and put some distance between us.
I felt like I’d been running really well for a while and was
curious how far ahead 1st place was.
After running loop 1 so fast, I also started doing some mental math and
realized I might have an outside shot at at breaking 9 hours if the stars
aligned. I tried to stay smooth and in
control though, as there was still plenty that could go way wrong.
After a few miles on the South Valley trail, I decided it
was time to pop in some Hamilton for some mental distraction. Nothing like some hip hop and American Revolution
while running in the middle of the night through the woods on the OSS CIA
training grounds! After the long
stretch of single track, I made it to Mawavi road at mile 34 and for the first
time in the race decided to ask about the gap to first. They gave me that “maybe you’ve been running
too long in the middle of the night, son” look and told me that I was in fact
in the lead. Apparently the guy in front
had an ankle problem and had to drop, which is a bummer as he was a really nice
guy and a strong runner. Heal up Justin
and hope to see you back on the trails soon!
Now I was running out in front, presumably with 2nd and 3rd
close on my heels.
I hit Oak Ridge and felt like a machine at this point. I was nailing the fueling and hydration. My
pace was staying solid, and I felt VERY good for being 37 miles deep. My average pace was just a bit over 10 minute
miles now, and by my calculation I’d need to average somewhere around 10:20 to
break 9 hours. I could easily still have
a big slowdown over the next 15 miles, so there was lots of work to do.
I cranked through Farms to Forest and knew I had about 6
miles of easier trail and fire road before the last big push. I tried to just maintain pace here and save
energy for a last big push. I got to the
Burma Road turnaround and knew this would be the moment of truth. You have about a mile before the turnoff onto
North Valley, so you can easily tell who is close to you at this point. I’d put up a big gap as no one came through,
meaning I had at least a 2 mile lead with 7 miles left.
I kept expecting to slow down significantly, but I just felt
so good and so strong. As I hit the
climb up Pyrite Mine Road, I knew that sub 9 was in the bag. I hauled ass down North Orenda Road and then
had just the 2 miles or so uphill to the finish from the creek.
I felt like money and cranked into the finish in 8:52. The poor RD Alex had just gotten a chance to
catch a quick nap, hoping the finisher would come in around 4:30. My 3:52 arrival woke him up from his
slumber. Sorry Alex! I was blown away by finishing an hour and
forty minutes faster than last year.
Last year was hotter, but that improvement was beyond my wildest dreams. I felt just so good all throughout. I need to maintain a healthy sense of fear,
but I do feel like I’m on a good track for UTMB and the hard work is paying off. Each race this year has been better than the
last. I do still have 2.5 months, so I
need to make sure I don’t peak too early or overtrain.
Recovery has been really good so far, and I plan to hop back
into training soon. I really like this
race, and Alex and the volunteers do an incredible job. I’m not so sure about returning to a race
that went so well where I feel like I can only go downhill. But I truly hope I can return next year to
either run (slower) or volunteer.
Finally, congrats to Sheila who finished 3rd
overall and smashed the women’s record by 41 minutes. Crazy impressive!
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