Pine to Palm 100 – Kaytlyn’s first hundred!

Posted by Kaytlyn on Sep 13, 2016 in Blog, Race Reports, Racing, Running, Trailrunning, Uncategorized

Long report for a long race.

Earlier this year, our friend Colton tried real hard to convince Ely and I to do our first 100 miler. “No way, I don’t have time to train for that this year. Maybe after I graduate.” So we signed up for Squamish 50/50 instead (50 miles on Saturday, 50k on Sunday, 20,000 ft gain total on gnarly Squamish mountain bike trails). Not sure that was any easier, but in my head it was a more manageable goal.

Jump to 2 months ago: I’m lying next to Ely in our tent, glamped out with double-layered z-lite sleeping pads and a torn up memory foam topper from Fred Meyer. Ely’s snoozing, but I’m wide awake. I let a crazy idea creep into my head, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.

I wanted to run a hundred.

Earlier that day, we had knocked off a 45 mile loop in the North Cascades (Devils Dome/Jackita Ridge). I was tired, but didn’t feel wrecked. Our plan was to wake up the next day for a “casual” 20 mile out and back to Snowy Lakes on the PCT. Perfect training for Squamish 50/50, right? But that’s when I realized — if I woke up the next morning feeling okay to run 20 miles, then I could run a hundred.

Those 20 miles felt way too good, and as soon as we got back into cell service we confirmed that Pine to Palm 100 still had space, and was 3 weeks after Squamish. Almost too perfect. And so it was…a few weeks later we signed up for our first 100 miler, about a month before race day!

 

Following Squamish, I took recovery very seriously – running only 3 times in the 3 weeks between, foam rolling almost every night, and doing easy walks/bike rides to get the blood flow back to my legs. I think for the most part this worked, but I don’t think I’ll try to pull off two events like this so close together again. My mind and legs felt recovered, but I think my joints could have used some extra R&R. Ely sadly had to pull out of Pine to Palm, suffering from a tight IT band. He enthusiastically volunteered himself as crew chief/chef. I was bummed to not do our first 100 together, but also relieved to know I’d see him throughout race day.

Thursday before the race, Ely and I met our friend Jen after work and started the long drive down to Ashland. We crashed for the night just south of Portland, then picked up Chris and Raider from the back of a Safeway in Roseland. After a stop for some thai food and a Dollar Tree spree we finally made it to Pacifica Gardens near Williams, Oregon around 4pm. I checked in, got some swag and a medical bracelet, and then we pitched our tents outside before making our way back to the pre-race meeting. I also got a chance to feel cool talking to the big guys Hal Koerner (RD), Ryan Ghelfi and David Laney (who were both good friends with my pacer Chris). There was even a Timothy Olson sighting! (his wife was running). This race suddenly felt like the real deal, and I got excited and nervous. We found 7Hills Phil and Ian, chatted a bit, then went off for a final crew meeting and sleep!

 

 

 

Race morning, I woke up feeling excited and trying not to think about the distance I was about to run. It’s just a long day out in the mountains. Ely, Jen, and Chris cheered me on as we took off in the dark, following a forest road for about a 2 mile climb before cutting off onto singletrack. This first climb was 5000’ over ~10 miles. I took it easy by switching between powerhiking and an easy jog, leading a group of guys up holding a pretty consistent pace. I had no perspective about where I was in the pack. I wanted to keep it that way – my main goals for the day were to a) not get lost, and b) run my own race. But about halfway up, someone in the group of guys I was running with said “you must be the first female, huh?” When I said I didn’t know and didn’t want to know, he said we were probably in the top 15 or 20 of the race overall, and that I was probably first. I tried not to think about it, and just listen to my body. My legs felt fine, but my throat was already starting to burn from the wildfire smoke that was seeping through the trees.

 

After topping out on the climb, we were greeted with an awesome smoke inversion and views of the Siskiyous. Then, a ~20 mile descent. Yep. That’s a long descent. The first part was on fun trails, but after a water-only aid station at mile 15 it was another 13ish miles of slightly downhill gravel road. I struggled here. “I’m really about to run a half marathon on roads in the first third of a hundred miler?” I wasn’t mentally prepared for all the gravel/forest road running (there was SO MUCH MORE coming), and it hit me here that I was going to have a tough day.

 

I met my crew for the first time at Seattle Bar at mile 28 (5:11 elapsed, 15^th overall), and was excited to see them, swap out some wrappers for food, and get my ice bandana. It was already starting to heat up, and the 95+ degree temps were one of my main concerns of the day. A steep climb up to Stein Butte was next, which Hal called the crux of the course. I was actually happy to finally have some trail and a steep climb, so I cruised up and felt pretty good. Until… I heard a rattlesnake!! Just off the side of the trail, the rattle made me jump a bit but I just kept moving. I knew there were rattlesnakes out on the course, but I wasn’t expecting to hear something so early. Other than that, this section went pretty smoothly, and there were amazing views, but the heat was starting to get to me. I was drinking a lot, taking S-caps, and was getting in almost 300 calories/hour. Phil told me that hundreds are more like eating contests, so I did what I could to keep eating!

I rolled into Squaw Lakes to meet my crew again (8:02 elapsed, 12^th overall), dropped my pack and took a handheld for a 2.5 mile loop around the lake. I shared a minute of the trail with a man out for a casual jog, which was a nice break from the solo running I’d been doing since that gravel downhill before Seattle Bar. After a quick check-in with my crew, off I went, unclear if I was actually going the right way. The markings were sparse and there were a lot of little turn-offs. I remember this section being very, very dusty. Cars rolled past and spewed up clouds of dust, so that mixed with the smoke was a lot for my dry throat to handle. It made eating solid food really hard, so I stuck to mostly gels (VFuel and Gu). My plan all along was to use gels but supplement with Honey Stinger waffles and other bars as I could, but at this point I couldn’t get myself to swallow solid food. I think this came back to bite me later on.

When I got to Hanely Gap at mile 52 (10:20 elapsed, 12^th overall), I looked around for my crew but they were nowhere to be seen. I was worried for a second that I had planned poorly and that crew wasn’t actually allowed here, but the aid station team told me otherwise. “Well, guess I beat my crew.” I filled my bandana with ice and refilled my water, and started making my way up the mile-long, exposed climb up Squaw Peak. Just as I was leaving, I saw Jen running frantically towards me. I asked if they had my poles, which they didn’t, so I told them I’d see them after the out and back. A few minutes later, I heard some shouting and turned around to see Ely, bum knee and all, sprinting towards me with my poles. What a guy. As I cruised up the climb I got to see a few of the guys I had been running with on the first big climb. I think they were surprised to see me, but we all cheered for each other and it was great to see some familiar faces. When I got back down to the aid station, Ely starting to sing to me “Woooahhhhh…” and I finished with “you’re halfway theeeere!!” but then it hit me – holy crap I still have 50 miles to go. Womp womp. I sat down for the first time all day, chatted with my crew and ate as much watermelon as I could handle (it’s my secret weapon). After a few minutes, I headed out, feeling strong. As I was leaving, I saw 2^nd place woman Elle Spacek sprint into the aid station, calling out her number and looking full of energy. I reminded myself that there was still a lot of race left, and if she caught me there was a decent chance I could catch her once the sun went down. So off I went.

The section between Hanely Gap (mile 52) and Dutchman Peak (mile 66) was probably the longest, toughest 14 miles I’ve ever covered on foot. A long, slow climb of ~3500’ over 14 miles, totally runnable but never-ending and exposed. It was still hot, and I was starting to feel beat up. My legs felt okay, but my head started getting really woozy. I pushed through for a bit until it got bad enough where I stopped on the trail. Troubleshooting time. What was going on? Last time I had this happen (mile 20ish of Squamish 50k – day 2 of the 50/50) I took another gel and an S-cap, and felt better. So that’s what I did. It worked for about 10 minutes, then the woozy feeling came back. I stopped to pee, and realized that I had been making a lot more pit stops than normal. Was I overhydrated? I did some math, thinking about how much I drank early on because of the smoke, and how much I was still drinking with the heat and dust, and realized that my salt intake was way too low. Shoot, this could be serious. I took in some more salt, and made an effort to only drink when I needed water, not when my throat was dry (which was constantly). I hiked 95% of this section, which lead to slow progress. I was certain Elle would catch me. I wondered how long it would take to fix my electrolyte mistake. And I wondered when the heat would finally let off. It was a long and lonely 14 miles.

 

As I got closer to Dutchman Peak, I was starting to feel better. The sun was setting (gorgeous!), and surprisingly no one had passed me. I made it to the top of Dutchman Peak at mile 66 (14:02 elapsed, 12^th overall), did a little shimmy to the blaring music, and ran up to Chris with a huge smile. I was so glad to be done with that section!! Chris jogged the last mile back to Jackson Gap with me, where Ely and Jen were waiting at the cars with Ian. After a 9-minute Nascar-style crew stop (including a new shirt, new shorts, more glide, new hat, headlamp, layers in pack, food swap, water fill, and eating a grilled cheese) Jen and I headed off to run a 13 mile section of new course, which included a huge chunk of PCT. We cruised on this section, feeling great, chatting and laughing, and passing 2 people. Finally, I was back in my groove!

 

We made it to Grouse Gap at mile 80 (17:30 elapsed, 10^th overall), I forced down some real food, and then Chris and I set off to tackle the final 20 miles. I was fully prepared to do some damage on this section, and was excited to cruise the massive downhill to the finish. Ha! If only that’s the way things went. We kept a consistent but slow pace, and I was surprised about the short and steep downhills. These started killing my knees and left quad. We made the climb up to Wagner Butte feeling strong, and were surprised to see a few guys not too far ahead of me. Chris was ready to push me on the descent and see if we could pass them, but my head wasn’t going to let that happen. I felt like I was battling the dizzy spells again, which were manageable if I went slow but came back when I was pushing my pace. So we took it pretty easy. The descent from the Wagner out and back down to Weasel Creek was steep and grueling, and I regretted leaving my poles behind.

When we got to Weasel Creek at mile 90 (20:21 elapsed, 9^th overall), I sat down and ate the most delicious hashbrown I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Chris motivated me to get moving, so we didn’t stay long and I grimaced and grunted as I forced my legs to start running again. The final 10 miles seemed to last forever, and were all downhill on mostly forest roads. With just a few miles to go, we popped out onto some trails and the lights from Ashland were getting brighter.

A few miles later, as I rounded the corner to the finish line, Ely, Jen, and Raider were waiting to run me into the finish. It was a special moment.

 

I finished in 22:18, 8^th overall and 1^st female. For my first hundred miler, and a remote/challenging course with 20,000’ of gain in heat and smoke, I’m absolutely stoked. Only 13 people finished sub-24 – one of them Phil Kochik, owner of Seven Hills Running Shop! Brian Rakestraw, also of Seattle (and men’s Yakima 50k winner), finished just before me in his first 100. Van Phan finished the next day completing her “trifecta” of Bigfoot 200, Cascade Crest, and Pine to Palm. I’d say Seattle had a pretty good showing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Hal Koerner for putting on an awesome point to point race, to my “rockstar rookie crew” for their help all day (Ely, Jen, and Chris), to Seven Hills Running Shop for their stoke and support before, during, and after the race (shoutout to Ian for cheering me on all day!), and to all of the incredible volunteers who made this race run so smoothly. Lastly – thank you to all of my friends and family who followed along and supported me from afar – it was overwhelming to come back to cell service and see everyone’s encouragement. I’m lucky to have all of you guys 🙂

 

Feel like reading more? Check out this article about the race, my first post-race interview!