Cinco De Tiger

In preparation for an attempt at the 12 Summits run, I have been exploring South Tiger Mt as it’s new grounds for me and the run takes you from the West summits down to East/Middle/South summits (and back). After a mistake-prone exploration trip last week, I tied up my shoes hoping to go much further today. These are mainly notes to help me avoid miscues in the future.

The start is now reasonably easy as I’ve found the South Tiger trailhead :-). I headed north and made it up to the South Tiger Traverse trail and took a right. I’m still not sure this is the correct way up. It immediately begins a short but steep climb up past the powerlines and onto the Tiger logger road for 1/4 to 1/2 mile to a junction. I took a right thinking this would scoot around South summit but instead it dead-ends, so I returned and followed the logging road to the left for another 1/2 mile where it stops at a T, just like on the map, with the Traverse trail continuing straight on and West Side road intersecting. I was also using my Gaia app on my phone and making corrections as I went. I believe for the official run we will need to take the left turn and go around the road but to head up I continued on the Traverse trail which joins into Middle Tiger Trail. This is about a 1.5 to 2.0 mile trek mostly up and around logs on really tight trails. Not fast going and the climb goes on for quite awhile. Eventually you reach a 5 way intersection where it crosses the Tiger Mountain Trail. This was an easy right turn with good signage up to Middle Tiger Summit which is only 1/4 mile or so up.

The “summit” on Middle Tiger is technically a non-event as it’s about 20 yards long and canopied by trees. You quickly are spurted out and go down a thin wet section for about 200 yards where you reach another logging road. This section is only 0.6 miles long and is a “U’ – down and then up. I was working in some 1 min walks but mostly shuffling along. The logging road empties into the main road to East Tiger and after a half mile or so there are signs to confirm you are headed in the right direction. I took a left at the bottom of the main East Tiger Summit road and began the 1.2 miles up. I veered off to the hiking and biking trail for the last 0.4 miles and then was at the top of East Tiger on a chilly but pretty day, with Rainier in full view. There are two picnic tables here so I stopped and grabbed some munchies. It was about 9.4 miles out (including about 0.5 bonus miles) and took me 2:30 hours.

 

Heading down I stayed on the road which was a nice reprieve and allowed me to stretch out some and make up some time. I finally ran into other people – 3 mountain bikers heading up. I kept running back towards Middle Tiger and walked up that 200 yard stretch to the “summit”. All was going very well. I got back to the 5 way intersection and continued down on Middle Tiger towards West Side road. It was a mile of tricky downhill with wet leaves ready to slip slide from under me. Not fun. I was relieve to get back to the road, even though it began heading steep upwards.

It went up for nearly 1.5 miles until I got back to the “T” and took the right turn. I had seen a South Tiger Traverse sign on my way out which was different than the logging road I was on, so veered off on that shortly after the T. Within 50 yards I was presented with another fork and (mistakingly) took the left turn which eventually leads you back to the logging road which I had taken on the way out. There was a nasty tree to climb over, through and under to get to the road.

I then stayed on the road and went past the correct turn, adding another 3/4 mile or so (out and back). The good news is that I am now paying close attention and know when I am not 100% certain to be on the correct road. The key here was that the road I was on dead-ended 🙂 but I was about to turn around regardless. I got back to the intersection and made the correct choice this time. I encountered a couple with some dogs and then as I meandered around another 1/2 mile or so to the top of powerlines, another couple with dogs. From here it was a straight shot back down to the starting point, 19.4 miles total in 4:48 hours. Lots learned and a nice day to run what I have coined the Cinco De Tiger (5 Summits) run – South to Middle to East to Middle to South.

 

December Run Redux

(December 16, 2018)

This entry is mostly for my own note taking as there is not much drama with my December races, all repeats of races run in the past. Two were reasonably flat, so speed was in order while the trail run was more about catching the views. The remarkable backdrop is that despite many inclement days here in the Puget Sound area over the past few weeks – it’s dreary and has been raining all day today – all of the races were held in ideal conditions of 45-50 degrees on dry days. The running gods have been nice.

Ghost of Birch Bay

This year I decided to bring Lynne along and stay at Semiahmoo which is adjacent to the course. It was a late 9:00 start but the race director made it clear early 8:00 starts were fine. There were no prizes to shoot for and given I woke at 6am-ish, I decided to drive over to Birch Bay State Park and begin in the chilly cold. There were a dozen or so warriors out early and a few others had started even earlier. Without any fanfare, we took off and I immediately sprinted away. I was hoping to nail sub8s at least until the first climb. And so I did, flashing by the aid station at mile 2.4 and beginning the first of two counter clockwise loops – the first would be about 11.1 and include an out and back on the hill down (and back up) to the resort.

I was making decent time and flew down the hill, motoring back up with reasonable energy. I knew the next section would be out along Semiahmoo Drive which is a bit windy but mostly downhill. I was looking about at the nice houses, some gated, and large lots which accompanied them. There were two hard right turns where you could cross over to cut the tangent but had to watch for traffic. It was still pretty early, so I was alone and putting some good splits down, hovering around 8:00 min pace. I reached the stretch back into the bay and began my 2nd loop. I was occasionally passing a stray runner but this really was more of a training run on a pretty, cloudy gray morning with view of Birch Bay on one side and the harbor looking out to Canada on the other.

I stopped briefly to grab some fruit at the aid station and got back into my groove quickly. The second time on the major hill was a bit slower but I pushed pretty hard and then kept going, omitting the out and back on the 2nd loop. My legs were feeling fine and I had some good tunes keeping me going. I made the turn to go back to the park, knowing that I would be the first person in on my heat. I was passing a few half marathoners (actually 15.5 miles here), who had started at 9:00. I worked my way along the bends and then saw the pavilion where we started. It seemed to get further away the faster I moved, but with a strong burst at the end I crossed the line at 3:37:59, about 3 1/2 minutes faster than last year.

Deception Pass 50k

I returned to the Deception Pass area to run. Last year I did not make the lottery but wisely volunteered which was easy, fun and allowed me to run part of the course on my own. But that also guaranteed me a slot in this year’s race. After a week of intermittent rain, it was pleasant and dry on Saturday morning. The lot was full as I drove up at around 7:15am. I grabbed my bib (the ominous #1 due to my last name) and prepared my pack, avoiding the need for a drop bag. We set out and began on the road leading up and out of the park, turning back with a hairpin to return to West Beach. This separates the pack somewhat, although there are still people around you for the first 3-4 miles out to the iconic Deception Pass bridge. We run on the sidewalk between the rail and ropes. Fortunately no major wind gusts this year.

After leaving the road we descend down into the trail system and do 3+ lollipops, sometimes needing to divide the small single track trail with runners coming at you. I kept a decent pace here – mostly middle of the pack. It’s a familiar course (this was my 6th running) and as we headed down to the beach again towards Bowman Bay I enjoyed the sheer beauty of the location. It was chilly and overcast as we ventured out into these isolated coves. After a brief pitstop I joined the crowd and headed over to the Pass Lake loop. It’s overgrown in some sections – a fire road that now would be unpassable by most cars. After the brief climb to the top I remembered that it was a nice barrel down back to the road. I stopped to let a few energetic souls fly by and took it easy on the short 1/2 mile back to the bridge.

The next section takes you down and down more to the base of another inlet where we took a right turn and headed up Goose Rock. Somehow no one passed me on the stretch down and I decided to push hard the 3/4 mile climb up, running a minute and then walking. I passed a few folks and was leap frogging a couple others as we careened down again. We spit out onto the road and headed over to Cornet Bay – there were a few folks within sight and I kept a nice 9-10 min pace here making my way over to the aid station. I saw Ras and Kathy Vaughan, amazing pioneering ultra-pedestrians and congratulated them on their summer adventures looping around Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. There was fruit and some extra gels for the taking as I ventured over to the Hysop Forest for the first of two 6 mile loops.

After the 1/2 mile flat to enter the forest there is a slight climb up and I kept going the entire way knowing that it would calm down relatively soon. As the trail widened a bit and moved up and down we were passed by the lead runner and a few minutes later another couple of faster souls. We entered into Ferngully so called due to the proliferation of ferns on both sides. Avoiding the one treacherous muddy section, we took a left and needed to side step a tree that had fallen. I walked this section knowing we had a reasonably short but steep climb ahead of us a hundred yards ahead. Fortunately this year I was able to get traction and plow ahead with no difficulties. The reward was being thrown onto a fire road which meandered down 1/2 mile more leading to the final section of the loop, also a slight downhill.

I was making good time as I checked back in, grabbed more chips and fruit and made another round in the forest. This time there was hardly any traffic as the faster runners were now headed home and the slower runners behind me. It was lighter in the forest than most days and actually not too cold on this day. My legs actually felt better the 2nd loop and I ran almost the entire way, sometimes with a purpose. I got back to the Cornet Bay aid station at around 5:25 and calculated that a sub 6 hour time was a possibility. Downing my banana and oranges I began heading up the road which was a long steady climb. There was a pair of women that I joined just as we head off the road back down into the park for the last 2 miles. I told them we needed to average around 12-13 minutes per mile which seemed to inspire us all. It’s a somewhat treacherous route back once you leave the wide paths. Lots of roots, rocks, and twists as you go up and down but I worked my way through it all. This is one where knowing the course let me keep going stronger vs. walking it in with frustration (which I had done before here). I sneaked it at 5:57, an admirable time, having dropped my PR by 18 minutes and enjoying this course more than ever before.

Cedar River (Pigtails)

While most years this race is run in shivering cold and sometimes icy conditions, this year it was a good 10-20 degrees warmer the 3rd weekend of December, which made for another nice day for running. There were about 40-50 of us at the start and a few more already out on the course. Some would be doing 50k but I always like to blast through this course quickly as a way to end the year. I went out fast enough as we made the quick turn on the side trail before heading onto Cedar River just after the first mile marker. There were 3-4 runners ahead of me, but I was happy with my 7:30 pace. 

I needed a brief pit stop at mile 6 or so but otherwise was really making good time going out. I could see the 1% down grade and knew it would be working against us coming back. We eventually caught up with the early starters and began moving past them 1-2-3 at a time with a hearty morning cheer. There were also a few locals walking their dogs or just out for a stroll. I saw Sean Celli, the normal winner of the marathon race coming back at me just before mile 13 and the turnaround was actually at mile 13.6 or so given our mile loop at the beginning. I knew that I wouldn’t catch Sean but at the moment I was in 2nd place, hitting the halfway mark just over 1:41. Scorching. 

I made the turnaround and there were a couple of guys right behind me, maybe a minute or so back. The first 2 miles or so I was able to keep at around 8 min pace but then the grade began to hit into my stride a bit and slow me down. There was some slight wind at times, especially in the farthest section out which is exposed. Still, I felt strong and was already in the countdown to the last 9-10 miles. I was passed by the same gent who slid by me in the last few miles last year. “Deja vu!”, I remarked. He was wearing a Captain America outfit and hadn’t raced since June. Plus he was 10+ years younger, so I was fine knowing I was simply racing for a decent time. I had hoped to beat 1:50 on the way back but around miles 22-23 somehow slowed even more. The end took a bit longer with more turns than I remembered but I still raced through pretty strongly. I knew I was past 3:30, closer to 3:32. When I finally looked at my watch in the final stretch it looked like I would finally post a 3:33 finish which I had always wanted to do. I crossed the line, giving my congratulations to Shawn and Jeff, the 2nd place finisher. I sat down on the bench to rest and looked at my watch. It showed 3:33:33!! And a 3rd place finish!. A very decent time – 3-4 minutes faster than last year when I ran well and a solid way to end the year of races.