Powerline Pass Trail Run

Saturday July 26 – Powerline Pass Trail Run
I was pretty beat up after Crow Pass, more than I expected to be. Sure, I knew it would be a very hard three to four hour run, but I figured that after a few easy days I would be back on the trails. I had run the last half of Crow Pass with a slight cramp in my right calf. At least I thought it was a cramp. When it hurt enough that I still couldn’t run on Wednesday of this week, I finally figured out it was a muscle strain. I gave it a couple more easy days, hoping I would be well enough to race the Powerline Pass Race.

Powerline Pass is a new race that starts at sea-level, climbs steeply up to 3500 foot Powerline Pass in five miles, then descends for about 1000 before leveling out for the last half of the 11 mile race. It was similar to many of the other great Alaskan trail running races that I was starting to become familiar with. I really wanted to do this one, because it was the first year of the race, and I thought it had potential to become one of the most popular races. Since there are races I can’t get into because I am new to the area (Mount Marathon) it would be nice to get in on one from the beginning. Kind of like seeing a band in a club before they get big.

On Friday my calf was still hurting but I really wanted to race. I decided I would jog over to race registration (about three miles from my house). If I could make it there, I would sign up. The run over was fairly painless, except for the one uphill, which really hurt. Hmm, not a good sign for a race that climbs 3500 feet. But, refusing to accept not even trying I signed up,a nd figured I would make a final decision during my pre-race warm-up.

Also affecting my race decision was the fact that my girlfriend (okay, actually she’s my fiancee but I dislike that word – seems kind of snooty) was signed up and ready for her biggest running event ever. I was extremely excited that, after watching Crow Pass last weekend, she immediately decided she wanted to give Powerline Pass a try.

Linda is in good shape and is a willing partner in most outdoor adventures, but she would never consider herself a runner. Runners are those people who wear the short shorts and singlets. Anyway, as much as I wanted to race, I thought maybe the pain in my leg was trying to tell me that this was Linda’s day. I should just be her support team, as she has done many, many times for me.

I drove her to the start this morning, thinking I would be fine with sitting this one out. Of course, I was dressed to run, with my number on just in case. Linda and I went for a short warm-up run. My leg felt better than yesterday, but was still tight. As the start neared, my competitive juices started flowing and I knew that despite my best intentions, my competitive instincts were going to get the best of me. I was going to race. I rationalized it by saying that if it hurt, I would back off and run with Linda.

From the start I felt a bit tired, but the leg was fine. Amazing, the pain and tightness was gone for the whole race. I was a little frustrated that there seemed to be a lot of people ahead of me, twenty or so, but without having any expectations I was able to enjoy a nice, hard run through the mountains. When I finished, a few people commented to me that I was crazy for running both Crow Pass and then this. And these were people who had run Crow Pass, then sat this one out. It never occurred to me that I would need more than a week to recover from Crow Pass. After all, in the winter, we frequently race 50K marathons only a week apart. I had forgotten that marathon runners rarely run more than one a month. Hmm, maybe that was why I felt tired today. I was pleased to see that even though I was not near the top of the results, only one person ahead of me had run Crow Pass as well. In fact one guy who beat me at Crow Pass came in well after me this weekend.

I basked in this accomplishment for about thirty seconds, they realized I now had to fulfill my support duties. I ran put on a dry shirt, grabbed some water and headed back out on the course to jog in with Linda. She came along much sooner than I expected and was moving quickly enough that I really struggled to keep up with her to the finish. I was very excited about her accomplishment. I may make her into a slightly insane endurance athlete yet. She may not be a runner, but she sure beat a few out there.