Race Report: Autumn Leaves 50/50

Pre-Race

Getting up at 4am never gets easy. The world snoozes on as I scramble to find something to eat. I ate my usual bowl of cereal and stashed away a Nutella-sandwich—the meal of champions—to eat on the drive up. Usually I eat pancakes in the morning, but I felt short on time and wasn’t entirely motivated to make them. Unfortunately, sitting on my mind was my recently sprained ankle that was being unusually tame. 

At 5:45, I was at Ally’s house and we had loaded up a tent, chairs, and all the necessities for my one-woman crew to keep herself comfortable on my 50 mile journey. 

During the drive to Champoeg park, we discussed the plan: Run a single 6.2 mile lap and make the evaluation based on how my left ankle felt. We would simply have to take this race a lap at a time. Nothing more. 

You can see our tent to the left! This is what the start,
turn-around looks like.

We arrived to the race approximately 20 minutes prior to the start, and walked to get my bib and race shirt. Fun fact: Ally and I compete to see who can have the lowest bib number and the highest. I had the lowest bib number with a value in the 20’s, and she had bested me by 1 for the highest value when we ran a color run together. The color run bib number was approximately 50,000! I knew I wasn’t going to get a value to beat that, but at Autumn Leaves I got the new lowest number at 11, which Ally teased me wouldn’t count unless I finished the race. 

With the help of some nice runners, Ally and I pitched the canopy-like-tent so she could have shelter from the forecasted rain, and I put on my headlamp, laid out my meal of energy gels, and stripped out of my sweats to the sound of race instructions being relayed to runners jumping to the start line. Before the countdown began, the early-start 50 milers came in to finish their first lap, and it was very cool to cheer them on as they stopped at the aid station to gear up. 

LAP 1

Bringing in lap 1 with some smiles

With a quick countdown I soon found myself running for the first time in nearly a week. As we headed down into the parking lot, I saw that earlier arrivals were able to park along the course and I was directed to park in overflow parking. The parking lot soon lead to a walking-biking path, and I found myself running ambitiously in the lead with the male 50K leader running approximately 7:00 min/mile pace and the female 50K leader running approximately 8:00 min/mile with me. We quickly got to know each other and I soon found out that Pam was an avid ultramarathon runner and returned to Champoeg yearly for the running of Autumn Leaves-- She would go on to win the 50K for this year. We ran together through the first aid station and followed through to the one-lane-bridge and through the rolling inclines to the 5K turn-around. We discussed races, tactics, and all things running for 4 miles until she picked up the pace. I declined any aid from the aid station as I ate my first Gu energy gel 5 miles in at 40 minutes. Ginger Ale was a sure-fire way to wake up! I hit the trail and my fears were confirmed here. The ankle-stability that trail running requires was burdensome on my ankle, and I was fighting each step to avoid planting my foot wrong. Luckily, this trail portion was 1.2 miles, and the rest is entirely paved road. The pain radiated along the front of my shin, and dorsiflexing my foot helped with the pain but encouraged cramping of the toes. I mitigated this with slower miles as I reached the first lap.

LAP 2

1.2 miles of trail for all to enjoy, unless you sprained your ankle

Ally told me she was going to go to sleep in the car, but she was wide awake and ready to assist me on my first lap. Pleasantly surprised, I grabbed a mint chocolate Gu, had a sip of ice cold water, and headed out on my way, eager to keep a lead on the field.  I was feeling extremely comfortable and my effort wasn’t high. As the sun rose, I was able to ditch my head lamp and focus on the scenery that was shrouded in darkness during lap 1. I took the lap slowly and enjoyed the green and red painting that unfolded before me. 

LAP 3+4+5

Starting to board the pain train

It seems this way in all races: up to the halfway point everything feels good. Well, with sub optimal training this was still the case. Around the marathon mark, I started to feel general fatigue in my right quadriceps, and the cramping sensation was stronger in the left foot. I grabbed my Nathan running backpack, hydration pack, and a water bottle filled with Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition. During these laps, I listened to Sawbones Medical Podcast and munched on bananas each time I passed the aid station. I would eventually be passed, but I was content with this. My goal was not a trophy or a record, but to finish and complete 50 miles for the first time. 

LAP 6 + 7

My pacer arrived during my fifth lap, and he looked too eager to run! Will, my younger brother at Oregon State, decided to get his long run in with me during my 6^thand 7^thlap. We walked more than he wanted to, I’m sure, but it was good to have company as the race thinned out and I would be stuck by myself for a long time. For his efforts, I snagged a small snickers treat from my aid station and he munched on this as he finished his 2^ndand my 7^thlap. 

Lap 8

Starting lap 8 was something else. Up to this point, I was able to keep my competitive nature at bay. But when I started my last lap, I noted I had just over an hour to complete my 6.2 miles. On any given day, I would scoff at the notion of 6.2 miles taking me an hour, and blitz through the run in 35 minutes. Today was no normal day. 43.8 miles in, my legs had never gone this far in one day. I continued to shuffle forward hoping to hold off the impending wave of “over 8 hours” that I could feel chasing me down. Saying “good-bye” to every fern, tree, and bridge was a fun way to keep myself moving forward. I refused to become negative during my run, and I refused to let a “bad” 8^thlap define my run. Thus, my mantra became the following: “If I do all my goals today, what will be left for tomorrow?” I don’t define this as settling, but I had to be proud of the goals I had accomplished thus far today. 

With 1.2 miles to go, and rain pouring down as it does in Oregon, I gushed my grateful sentiments to the volunteers before pushing towards the finish with 15 minutes left. As I rounded the corner and “sprinted” (8:00 min/mile felt like a sprint really) up the final incline fighting cramps, I crossed the line. And as always, I checked the watch: 7:56:04. Under. Eight. Hours. 

Post-run

I collected my long-sought-after silver belt buckle and heard a phrase I won’t soon forget: “It was a pleasure watching you race”. I don’t know what would have happened if the race was 51 miles, or even 50.1, because I soon collapsed in a chair, with assistance from other runners and supporters. I couldn’t even sit-down without assistance, but the roaring fire that Ally had going pierced my soaked singlet and warmed the soul. In my books, this was a win. I have a year to decide if I will be coming back to Champoeg. 

Things I improved on: Being positive! (Huge win for me, mentally); pacing myself (improved, but not perfect); eating more, drinking more, and being consistent. 

Places to improve: Eat and drink earlier and more often; do more long-runs in training; focus on recovery more; don’t step on walnuts and sprain any ankles!

All credit for photography goes to ORRC!
My formal race report with Bibrave! 

The views to the finish 

Run Gum + World Indoors!

The Falls during Winter time

Look at those hills

I know I know, it's been a while! But since the New Year started, I think 2016 is finally going to be my year of running! I just recently registered for the Buckmountain Mudslinger which is a brutal 6.5 mile run through Silverfalls Oregon (picture is pretty relevant). I'm hoping to keep a constant pace of 6'45" through the hills. When I'm up at the falls, I tend to have trouble finding any GPS signal so I might just set splits to hit at miles four and 1.3 so I can just have a stop watch keeping track of my progress.

Look at this sick badge. So official. 

Back in Fall, I applied to a few Running Ambassador Positions, namely BibRave and RunGum. BibRave is a website where you can review your races and help others find out more before they themselves register. I find it fun to just talk about what you did and what kind of great experience you had. It's a growing community and they also have fun chats on Twitter with some great give-aways. I didn't get selected as a BibRave ambassador, but I got some exciting news on the tail-end of December notifying me that I got selected as a RunGum ambassador! I'm now part of the #RunSquad which is a really tight community of runners who share their running experiences and help each other find opportunities, races, or training tips.

I recently connected with an opportunity that was posted on the page. You might remember that I volunteered with Ally at TrackTownUSA up in Portland talking about the World Indoor Championships. I recently found out they had started to recruit volunteers to help with the setting-up and hosting of the event. I forced Ally to sign-up with me but we secured two volunteering shifts at the athlete warm-up section! This is super exciting because we also are volunteering on the last couple days! (Hopefully during the Finals???) All the athletes we will see will be top-tier in the world and faster and stronger than I could ever imagine being.

Speaking of Ochem....

School (the boring stuff)
Right now, I'm working on finishing up Winter term of my Sophomore year before I can get to Worlds though! I'm studying Anatomy, Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Physical Activity, Human Nutrition, Organic Chemistry, and Introduction to Writing Centers. I have a lot on my plate, but I'm also continuing my work with Housing as a Resident Assistant (RA) as well as seeking out volunteer opportunities at the Corvallis Boys and Girls Club (I will be working as a tutor with middle school youth and maybe as a track coach during the Spring). Finally, I am looking to begin research with an assistant professor on campus (More details to come unless it's top secret)!


Check back around early March for my race review, and I'll cross-post it with Bibrave!

Hood to Coast 2015: Youthful Wisdom

This summer in the final days of August, a group of groggy-yet-excited 18-20 year olds piled into a van even before the sun had risen, all of them shivering from the excitement and the cold.

Hood to Coast is a 198 mile relay race starting from Mt. Hood at nearly 6,000 feet where it drops the runners into Portland. Straying from the highway it leads through the forests around Mist and ends in Seaside, Oregon. This was my 5th year running the relay (4 years in high school for Portland to Coast) but it was my first year running the full Hood to Coast (HTC). This year, Dick's Sporting Goods was looking to film a story about a team to put on their blog, and the Ridlings were selected to be filmed.

The links to the two videos can be found right below!

Video 1: http://blog.dickssportinggoods.com/2015/11/hood-to-coast-how-this-relay-brought-one-family-together-to-run-for-a-cause/
Video 2: http://blog.dickssportinggoods.com/2015/11/hood-to-coast-see-if-team-youthful-wisdom-can-finish-strong/


6:00 pm the Night Before
We had an early start time for HTC this year (10:15AM) and being far away we had to leave at 7:00 AM to beat the traffic. So to do so the team spent the night at Ally's house. The filming crew from New York arrived early to film some interviews and watch as we decorated the van. Slowly all the runners from the Youth van showed up, and we ate some good spaghetti and passed out in the living room with sleeping bags littering the floor.

The Morning of
The following morning we all woke up early, some waking up easier than others (looking at you Irvin). We ate a quick and light breakfast before throwing all the bags into the van. Sharon, a family friend of Ally's, was our driver and with a mug of coffee in hand we took off to Mt. Hood. Our van had six runners (in running order) Spencer, Austin, Grant, Irvin,  Jonathan, Ally; our driver and co-pilot Sharon and Savannah, and then the cameraman Johnny. On the way down to Mt. Hood, it was quiet. The excitement had died down as sleep began to take over, and the minutes to the long drive seemed to tick away oh so slowly.

Legs 1-6
When we got to Mt. Hood, we took some time to take pictures and look at the booths of free stuff since we got their early. We hadn't entirely anticipated how cold the elevation and the early morning would be, so we were surprised when we had to bundle up. To beat the traffic, we left Spencer on the top of the hill and he took off precisely at 10:15AM and made his way down the huge hill. At the bottom, we waited for Spencer to hand-off to Austin. Spencer ran faster than we had anticipated which put us ahead of time. Following Spencer's lead, Austin, Grant and Irvin also ran faster than we had predicted, and we could see that we were going to hit Portland earlier than we expected. Once Ally and I had also finished our first legs, we met up with Van 2 to make the official exchange. Ally made the exchange with Karla with a huge hug, and Van 2 was off on their run to Portland.

Legs 7-12
While Van 2 was running, we drove into Portland and parked near the Hawthrone Bridge to await the exchange. Since we had some time before our next leg, we all went to Subway to get some food. I was feeling extremely dehydrated since the weather was so nice in the 80's and 90's. After getting something for our stomachs, we all slept on the grass and waited until we anticipated Phil coming in for leg 12. After a solid hour of relaxing in the grass, we packed up the van and moved it closer to the major exchange. We had Spencer get ready, and we prepared for Phil to come in. It was getting later in the evening, and you could tell the sun was beginning to set. The air was becoming the nice cool night air, but Portland was still as active as ever.  The hum of the generators at the major exchange greeted Phil when he handed off to Spencer, and we scrambled back to our van for our second run.

Legs 13-18
Spencer ran through Portland, running along the Waterfront and meeting us far out by a train yard where Austin ran over a small bridge and began the long highway miles. Spencer seemed to be dealing with blisters and sore feet, so we had him rest in the back of the van since we had several hours before his next run. Grant received the exchange from Austin who was definitely feeling his last run, and took off on a long highway night run. By Grants leg the sun had set and runners could be spotted along the highway with flashlights in hand and blinkers on the back of their reflective vest. Both Grant and Irvin ran extremely fast for their legs, and I was having trouble staying in control of my stomach. Food was hard to eat and Gatorade sounded gross. Backing off on the beginning of my leg, I took the second leg at a much more considerate pace. Our van was having a competition to see who could get the most roadkills (1 roadkill = 1 person passed) and I was trailing after my first leg wasn't a bountiful harvest. Grant was leading the van with roadkills, so with that in mind during my long leg, I picked off other runners as I clipped away six minute miles. In previous years, I ran this leg and finished much faster than I anticipated leaving my next runner unprepared for my arrival. This year was a little different since I was handing off to Ally who knew that I would run faster than I predicted. I handed off to Ally and felt wonderful after my run. Finding Ally's exchange zone was difficult, but we were able to make our way there and made it in time to see her hand off again to Karla.

Legs 19-24
While Van 2 ran their second leg, the Youth van drove ahead pushing through the dark until we hit Mist. Here, we camped outside the van, bundling up in sleeping bags and ignoring the pitter patter of the rain on our face as we struggled to recuperate. In Mist, we had no cellular connection to the other team, so based off of estimates that we made on the speed of the other van, we had to wake up earlier and be ready at the exchange. As the time drew closer, Spencer and Ally braved the cold and the rain to meet Phil out at the exchange when he came in. Once Spencer took off, it was time for our final legs.

Legs 25-30 
Spencer and Austin both pushed through their legs and managed to hold their pace, which was impressive due to the speed of their previous runs. Irvin and Grant both coasted through their legs with ease, Irvin even giving off some extra effort in the home stretch. My leg was a major hill that required me to focus entirely on reaching the summit. I was feeling nauseous before the run, but once I had the baton I was able to ignore any nausea I had. Reaching the summit was one of the most exhilarating things I've experienced; runners had toilet paper acting like a finish line for reaching the top. I decided to surge and utilize the downhill which lead to me catching many other runners. Exhaustion made the flats and even the small uphills a challenge, but I just ticked off the minutes and focused on finishing. I handed off to Ally who had to battle huge gusts of wind on her leg. As soon as I stopped, the nausea took over again, but I forced water and chocolate milk down and it was the most delicious bottle of Muscle Milk I'd ever consumed.

Legs 31-36 + Afterparty
Once we snagged Ally from the finish of her leg, we sped towards Seaside all hyped for the After Party. However, when we reached the finish, the entire finishing zone had been blown down by the strong gusts of wind. The Finish line had been altered to finish on a street rather than the beach. This was a little disappointing for us returners, but we decided to make the most of it anyways. While we waited for the Wisdom van, we sent them pictures of a hotel hot-tub we relaxed in, pictures of us freshly showered in comfy clothes, and the amount of food from the all-you-can-eat morning breakfast we went to. When Wisdom finally arrived, we met up with them and ran with Phil as he finished, and crossed as a team.

"I just did something absolutely insane, but I did it. I conquered it" 

Hood to Coast 2016, we're coming for you! 

State Recap

Two weeks ago, hundreds of high school students all over the state of Oregon travelled to Lane Community College to run their hearts out in pursuit of the state title. Back-to-back for two years, Silverton high school (my hometown high school) was able to qualify and make the exciting trip down. Traveling down was one girl (individual qualifier) and the boys varsity team (2nd at districts).

Oregon decided to give no mercy to the state runners and didn't provide them with the unusual sunny weather that had been seen through the fall season, but instead gave them the famous Oregon rain. The course is generally accepted as a slow course; the start is the length of a football field, and quickly funnels into a hill, which crests over "the bowl" and leads to the back forest which marks mile one. The runners are then guided alongside the highway along a trail where they pass by the start and loop around "the marsh", exiting at the same point of the entrance to complete mile two. The second mile is met by the same hill from the start, and then a drop into the bowl instead of running along the crest. Then climbing out of the bowl, the runners cut the course short (instead of going back to the forest) and make their way to the marsh where they run towards the track and sprint the final 300 meter on the blue Lane community college track.

The Girls 5A race was quite fast with the leader putting on a sizable lead and finishing in 17:46 (37 seconds ahead of 2nd), with the Silverton runner earning her berth to BorderClash in 5th place.

Boys team With an 8th place finish!

Beautiful running weather 

The Boys team had no individual runner place 30, with the first Silvertonian crossing in 39th place at 17:12. However, the boys were able to secure 8th place in state, giving good hope for returning next year.

Also at the State race was Ella Donaghu of Grant high school who broke a 22-year old State course record in 17:26. Just last year, the boys state record (previously held by Olympic Silver Medalist Galan Rupp) was broken uncontested by Matthew Maton in a blistering 14:45.

Maddie in the far orange on the podium!

As aforementioned, BorderClash is an elite race that takes the top 12 runners from 5A (top 40 from Oregon) and pits them against the top 40 runners from Washington. They compete as a state team in hopes of seeing which team is better. It turns out that Washington having the larger pool of people to select from usually handily crushes Oregon on the team score.

Photos courtesy of Amber Stutzman and Silverton CrossCountry

Congratulations everyone! Now on to track! 

Districts, and on to State!

Silverton cross country showed up to the District meet on Wednesday ready to roll.

Girl's Varsity Race
Maddie Fuhrman from Silverton ran a dominant race, extending her lead from the first mile and just adding to the gap with ever mile that ticked by. Maddie ended up running an 18:38 (compared to her 18:05 PR at Sandelie) and was able to secure the new school record from Morgan Anderson that was clocked at 18:54 on the State course back in 2011. Corvallis was able to win overall for Girl's and was followed up by Lebanon and Crescent Valley (56, 66, and 67 respectively). Central high school missed the berth to state by a mere four points.

Boy's Varsity Race
On the Boy's side, the race was very fast paced. The first mile was clocked around a controlled 5:00 for the leaders and was led by Marcus Corbett and Gustavo Lopez. Trailing behind were Sam Roth and Gavin Bomber, two who would eventually end up battling in the last 400 where Gavin would secure the district title. Corvallis managed to secure another district title, with Silverton and Crescent Valley taking second and third respectively.

Since William (my Sophomore brother) was running in the Varsity race, it was exciting to see how it played out. Unfortunately, Silverton was ranked 1st but wasn't able to compete with Corvallis in scoring as low as they did. However, the Mid-Willamette Conference (being one of the bigger conferences) allows the top 7 individuals to qualify for State and the next three teams. This allowed the boys team to qualify for State two years in a row, a feat that hasn't been matched for over two decades.

This Saturday at Lane Community College, Silverton will try to push out Corvallis on the State course. Sure, Silverton has a very consistent team, but Districts showed us that Silverton doesn't have the experience it needs to compete at a larger level. State will be interesting to see; Corvallis has been here pretty much every year for as long as I can remember. Silverton can make the podium if they run smart and pick people off, and it's up to these boys to decide their fate.

Boys posing in front of the Foxes Flag.

Back?

So I'm back at OSU (yay) and totally just tonight remembered that there was something called "Minute Rice Runs at OSU" that I was writing about. I guess my Engineering curriculum last year really had my hands-tied for free time like this.

So to the few (loyal) people who read this, thanks for reading! I'll try to be more consistent and maybe more running-oriented.

With the mushy part out of the way, I want to share the following picture with you:
This is my studly brother running a 5K (at the Sandelie Golf Course I believe) out in the Portland Area.

Back to learning how to tie shoes

Somehow he managed to lose his shoe in the course of the race yet picked it up and continued on to get a PR. Now I'm super proud of this kid because he's moving on to Varsity Districts this week and there will be some photos up because it's going to be close by in Corvallis (I'll probably end up running there).

After districts, if his team places top 3, they move onto State, and the odds seem to be in  their favor because they are currently ranked 1st in the district according to Athletic.net.

So yeah! Super cool, super exciting, and a big congratulations to see his hard work pay off. 

In other news, I dragged my wonderful girlfriend Allyson into volunteering at the Portland Marathon Expo a couple weeks back, and it looks like we are invited back to volunteer for TrackTownUSA at the Portland Indoor World Championships! So in March, keep an eye out for some amazing photos, autographs (maaaaaybe) and other cool running related things. For now, peace out Oregon. It's time for me to go review some anatomy vocabulary. Like bones. And cool stuff like MITOSIS and CELLS. YEAH. 

(Disclaimer: I know this post isn't my usual 'quality' but it's going to help me get back into the groove. So stay tuned).

How you feel when you miss an assignment

Everyone knows that feeling. The gut-wrenching, heart-jerking, stomach-dropping feeling of a missed assignment. The moment prior to realization, when you are blissfully unaware of the emotional havoc you will wreck on yourself; it's nothing short of a naive bliss. And then you open your planner, you look down at the one un-checked box and you realize that nothing will save you from the missed chemistry lab report. There is no God who can extend a hand to fudge the time stamp when you submit it late to the devil known as Blackboard, or it's counterpart Canvas. The following seconds are filled with frantic thoughts on how to save your ass from the 0/10 that will wreak havoc on your grade. The following minutes will have created several lies that you will tell to your lab TA or group members to persuade them that indeed, Blackboard was down and you were hospitalized that evening. The following hours may or may not result in a time of solace, where you come to accept the grade you will receive, and decide against immoral methods. The key phrase here would be "may or may not". No matter, it will be the first thing on your list when you rush out of class. No matter how sunny, the weather will be gloomy. No matter how cheerful your friends are, they are filthy plebes. No matter the greetings, the texts, the e-mails you receive during the rush back to your computer, there is only one thing on your mind: "God damn it, I done fucked up".
Throwing your backpack aside, you'll clear a spot where your computer will hit the desk. You'll frantically type your credentials to log-in, just to find that the wireless internet isn't connecting to your computer. After a few minutes of obscenities and desperate reconnection attempts, you'll finally log-in to Canvas to submit the late assignment. And as you log-in, and attempt to upload the assignment, of course the upload icon would be gone. Why wouldn't it? Canvas is practically the new-age spawn of Satan right? 

And that's when you'll notice. Your lab group did it for you. They fucking did it. 

Tears of joy and cuss-words will slur together, but nonetheless, chemistry lab has been defeated once again.

Sorry for the profanity. But it only better explains how emotionally distressed I was. 

Also, I did not proof-read. I never proof-read. You should know that.