Quicksilver 50K 2018

Quicksilver has been on my race radar for a few years now. Back in 2015, I knew my Spring 2016 race was going to come down to either Quicksilver or Miwok, and I told myself if I didn’t get into Miwok through its lottery, I’d hop on over to my second choice, Quicksilver. Of course, Miwok won out and I set Quicksilver aside until the time was right. This year, the time was right.

On race morning I was excited, yet nervous; typical race feelings. Thoughts of how last month’s Leona Divide went for me, flashed in my head. I didn’t want a replay of it. Every race is a learning opportunity, and I received a hard lesson with Leona. I knew I’d have to do something differently this time around.

The weather was going to be sunny and warm, and from what I’ve heard, the trails were going to be exposed. However, it was a little chilly just before the 7 AM start which led me to believe that maybe, just maybe, it’d be cooler than expected. Wishful thinking.

I constructed a game plan:

• Don’t get injured.
• Don’t step on a snake.
• Enjoy whatever the day brings.
• Smile the whole time.

These goals sounded simple enough to me and I’ll revisit these in a bit.

After taking off from the parking lot at the Hacienda entrance, it was all climbing. There were a few downhill spots but mostly we were hoofing it up. I smiled.

Smiling led to a wondrous phenomenon: People smiled back! It also invited people to talk to you. Soon after starting, I spoke to a woman (I never got her name), and then to this man named Clem.

I was immediately struck by how beautiful the course was and I was only a mile in.

When I reached the first aid station, I refilled my water.

“You’re looking very strong,” the gentleman said to me right after he topped off my bottle.

“Thanks! I feel pretty good. But we’ll see how I feel at miles 18, 19, and 20.”

I ate some potatoes and headed back out thinking, “I’m only 6 miles in, I should feel fairly strong this early in the game, right?”

I was also thinking, “I sure hope those potatoes don’t come back to haunt me.”

Solid food never really jived well during long races, but considering how previous races have been going for me with only consuming liquids and gels, I decided to resort back to solid food. I still had some CarboPro and Huma gels with me, but I decided to come into this race, I was going to eat something a little more substantial and see what happens.

Up ahead of me was a man whom I slowly caught up to.

“It would’ve been nice if they cleared out all these rocks for us,” I said jokingly to him as we hit our first lengthy rocky stretch.

“Especially the people in front,” he replied.

Yomi and I would chat a bit, and I’d say we would stay within eyesight of each other for about the next 7 or 8 miles.

After we got out of the first technical downhill that was laden with rocks and roots, we hit the Hacienda aid station.

I grabbed more potatoes, refilled my water, and went back up the trail we started on, except this time we kept climbing on a different trail, a much steeper trail. This might’ve been where I saw the 18% grade because it was apparent.

I can’t even begin to describe how steep it was. Parts of it rose and looked like it could fold over and slap you in the face. The steepness going down on the other side was just as prevalent. I tried hard not to slip and slide down. If it was slick mud and raining on this day, no doubt, that would’ve happened.

“Just go slow,” Yomi turned back to tell me.

By this time, my legs were already getting tired – just what everybody wanted 12 miles into a 31-mile race. Don’t think about it. Just keep moving. And just keep smiling.

I rolled into the Mockingbird aid station, also known as a finish line teaser, where I refilled my water and CarboPro. It was here I saw Clem again and a few others I noticed earlier in the race. Before leaving, I got doused with cold refreshing water because it was warming up quickly, and again I was told I was looking strong. Don’t mention my legs feeling tired. “Thank you. See you soon!” I told the kind gentleman.

If I thought I had technical stretches before, they were nothing compared to what I was coming up with. Big rocks and roots were the gist of it. There was no point in me trying to get a rhythm here so hiking up it was.

“Good thing we don’t have to come down this thing,” said the woman just behind me.

I was thankful.

Maybe a quarter mile, or could’ve been half a mile, after leaving Mockingbird, I took a swig of my water. I immediately had a direct flashback to Javelina Jundred and the funky-tasting water I received at the start of loop 2 that pretty much derailed my race. Okay, I don’t necessarily want to say it was the chief culprit, but having bad-tasting water that I couldn’t drink for 5 hot miserable miles certainly didn’t help the situation because well, dehydration.

Not again! I’m not going out like this! 

I forced myself to drink it. Maybe I just have a very refined palate for drinking water. I don’t know, but it doesn’t taste right. Did I not learn anything from Javelina?

I resorted to drinking most of my CarboPro while taking sips of the water. Since I only had 4 miles to go and it wasn’t blazing hot, I was pretty sure I’d survive this. As I got closer to the aid station I started to drain the water out of my pack so it’d be empty.

When I got out of the canyon, as beautiful as this was, my legs started to feel it. Ignore it. Don’t pay any attention to it.

When I got to the next aid station (Bull Run), the man with the lovely British accent gave me the layout of the next several miles. A lot of downhill (I didn’t notice this much) and a lot of uphill (this was quite obvious). He didn’t tell me it was going to be a single track. I knew there was some. I just didn’t know exactly where.

Before leaving the aid station I refilled with water (it tasted better) and devoured a couple of pieces of peanut butter and jelly. I also grabbed some ice-cold ginger ale. My stomach felt fine, but I was craving some.

Recent experience tells me the nausea hits me around 18 and 19 miles, and all I wanted to do here, was hold this off for as long as possible.

As I made my way down the trail, a man with a clipboard sitting in a chair directed me to make a right for a quick short loop around. It was such an odd little detour, but I loved it.

I came back around and saw him again.

“I feel like I just saw you!” I said to him.

“Yeah it was me,” he replied.

“I thought you looked familiar.”

Here was when I saw many of the 50Kers making their way back as I made it onto my single-track trek. All single track.

20 miles in and my legs were gassed. I never really expected my legs to feel fresh as daisies in any ultra but they were toast, and it was so warm up there I literally could’ve made toast out of them.

At this point, I was so thankful I dropped down to the 50K. I knew I wasn’t yet ready for the 100K, and maybe that was just fear and I simply played it safe here, but regardless, I was thankful.

I didn’t want to think about the next 10-11 miles. All I focused on was reaching the next aid station at McAbee. When I arrived, I refilled with water and nabbed some more ginger ale and a peanut butter sandwich.

Just before I left, the awesome volunteer said to me, “OK this next part is very steep, very tough. It’s a hard climb, but then you’ll be at the next aid station.”

He wasn’t kidding. 5 miles of climbing, and hiking.

About 10 minutes into this climb I came upon a man out hiking with his young daughter. I smiled at them, and then he said something to me that hit me hard.

“You’re doing great. It takes strength, courage, and endurance to do what you’re doing.”

I said thank you and as I continued, my tears started to come down.

I don’t do these races to prove anything to anybody, or to fish for compliments or praises, but when someone acknowledges something about you, that in that moment you aren’t realizing or thinking about, it means so much.

The heat dried my tears after a couple of minutes, and it was in these last 9 –-ish miles, the heat hit me. It hit all of us. While it was still hot, the 100K course and runners had the brunt of the exposure and heat.

All I needed to focus on was getting to the final aid station at Bull Run again. Some of the 100K runners were coming upon me in both directions. 99% of the time I would say “good job” or “nice work” to other runners and 96% of the time, I’d get some of those nice words of support in return.

A male and female hiked up alongside me and I looked over to them and said “Good job,” to which both of them said it back to me. That’s another reason why I love trail running and races slightly more than road running. The community and support are like no other. It isn’t. Not that I’m knocking road running, but it’s just different energy.

As they marched up ahead, I noticed she looked familiar. Is that Cat Bradley? Turns out it was. And she won the 100K! Side note: Rob Krar won the 50K.

At this point, all I wanted to see was the guy in the chair again who directed me to that short fun loop. Because once I saw him, I knew the aid station was near. And then I saw him!

It wasn’t the same guy, but he was just as awesome.

“I’m so happy to see you!” High-fives all around! No really, he gave me a high-five. Thanks!

The Bull Run aid station was an oasis. We had 3 miles until the finish line mostly downhill.

I grabbed more ginger ale and potato chips and sat down for a few minutes.

Before leaving, I decided to indulge with a popsicle. The packaging covered them so nobody could see what flavor you got. It was a surprise! The Universe had some fun and gave me the same flavor as the color of my sunglasses!

By this time my stomach was a little off, but no intense nausea like I had at SOB or Leona. I must’ve done something slightly better this time around. My guess is it was the increase in nutrition.

So how did my game plan go?

I smiled more throughout this race than ever before! I realize I may have looked like a crazy person in some instances, but people generally responded well and hopefully, it helped them in some aspects.

There were times when I didn’t smile. That hard climbing stretch between McAbee and back up to Bull Run was certainly a big challenge. But I’d say I mostly smiled.

And I honestly enjoyed whatever the day brought me. As tough as this race was for me, I honestly enjoyed it!

Because of the heat, I found myself a little more cognizant of the possibility of snakes. This was more prevalent during the single-track section because nothing worse than having a snake blocking your only way through. Plus you don’t want any surprises.

But throughout this entire race, I couldn’t tell you how many times I said to myself, “This would be a good place for a snake,” meaning that particular area would be prime real estate for a snake to lay out and bask in the glorious sunshine with a good book and a tall glass of lemonade.

It wasn’t until the last 2 miles that I saw one slowly making its way back onto the cooler grass. I would hear later that not many snakes were out because it was too hot for them! I can’t attest to those runners on the 100K course, but I only encountered one, and I wasn’t even close to stepping on it so YAY!

Probably the most important goal in my game plan was a major success: I didn’t get injured. Considering how many loose rocks I had, especially earlier in the race, I’m seriously grateful my body stayed intact.

I tried running as much as I could the final 3 miles.

When I came upon a male runner, slowly walking down the trail, I could tell he was having a rough go of it. Maybe this wasn’t the best time to flash him a big ‘ol smile.

“This is by far the hardest 50K I’ve done,” he says to me.

“Me too!”

“I cried. I cried in this race.”

“Me too!”

He joined me for a few minutes as I shuffled along, until he told me, “I can’t keep up with you” and went back to walking.

I was almost floored. Wait, me? You’ve done Ironman’s! But that goes to show how drained this guy was. Never underestimate a course because it can eat you alive…even the fittest of the fit. I’m surely on the other end of that spectrum, and this course was gnawing on every morsel of my body, but I rolled back into the Mockingbird aid station and across the finish line feeling satisfied and grateful! And tired.

I can honestly say Quicksilver was my toughest 50K, and the wait was worth it.

Thank you to the race directors, Stuart and Gary, and all the fantastic volunteers and aid stations. Every single person I interacted with was so wonderfully helpful and extremely supportive and encouraging. I’ve done quite a few races with great volunteers, but I gotta hand it to these fine folks. I felt like I was in the first place and treated like a rockstar the whole time. They surely made this day!

And thank you to the woman who I talked to early in the race and who I would see periodically throughout the day. She gave me a wonderful compliment as I waited for my veggie burger.

“You’re really good on those climbs.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you’re a strong climber.”

She capped off this wonderful day on these trails.

Thank you for reading!