The Mac 2012

Happy cruise down Dan's Trail

The Macdonald Forest 50km will always be one of my favorite races.  Sure, the course is pretty tough and definitely does not play to my strengths (well, to be honest, I'm not really sure exactly what my strengths as an ultra-marathoner are, but I'm pretty sure I haven't found them on this course with 6800 ft of elevation gain in 50km), but ...it's the Mac.  These are the trails that I train on, I'm surrounded by friends on race day, and you can't beat the attitude, organization, and general atmosphere on race day.  The Mac is fun.

Once again, Clem rung the bell, and I found myself leaving the Forestry Club Cabin for a few hours in the woods.  As the hoard started moving forward, I realized that I was much further back in the pack than I usually start, and I kept getting stuck behind groups of slower runners.  So, for the first 1+ miles on the gravel road, I found myself weaving and surging, trying to get closer to the middle of the pack.  Maybe it was the awkward start, but my legs already felt a bit heavy and tired, my chronic pain in my right hip and hamstring was aching more than usual, and my shins were hurting like I was getting shin splints.  Less than two miles in and I already felt bad!

Coming into the finish

We turned onto Callaway Creek Trail and I found myself fretting about how bad my legs felt, then crash!  my foot caught a root and I was on the ground.  I managed to get up pretty quickly; my knees were bleeding a bit, but they didn't feel too bad, so I figured I didn't do too much damage - and, on the plus side, all of my other aches and pains were suddenly gone!

The rest of the race - well, now, a week later is a bit of a blur.  The hike up Horse Trail was definitely hard and I was a lot slower here than in the past.  In contrast, I was able to run (jog) most of the climb up Road 500 (miles 26.7-29.5), which I've really struggled with in the past; and heading down Section 36 Trail, I was able to pick up quite a bit of speed - where in the past I've been pretty slow due to quad and knee pain.  My finishing time was 6:25:32.

Mountain Rescue scrubbing gravel out of my knee

So.... in hindsight, I probably could have pushed a little harder and had a better clock time. ....but, I personally had a great time.  I really enjoyed the race and I learned a bit more about managing my salt, liquid, and nutrition. I made sure to eat more food before the Mac than before Peterson - a homebaked cookie offered up by Caballo before the race helped top off my tank. I took Hammer Gel every 1/2 hour and tried to get about 100 calories of food plus 1 or 2 cups of coke at each aid station.  Besides Peterson, it was the hottest day I'd run in all year and I didn't drink enough the first half of the race, but really made an effort to drink from my pack the second half and think that really helped in the last 6 miles.

A big thanks to everyone who helped out this year, RDs Ken and Dennis, everyone who volunteered (I feel very lame for not helping out this year), Sander and Clem for all the trail work (and the mountain bikers for making the new connector between Ridge Trail and Alpha after the landslide), all the volunteers at the aid stations (including Jan who, at the last aid station remarked that I was looking a lot better than at her aid station during Peterson), Scott for the beer...

...and heck yeah I'm running the Mac again next year.  It'll be my 5th year and I'll finally get one of the beautiful pieces of pottery made for the Mac (a mug for 5 finishes!).  And maybe next year I'll beat 6 hours  =)