I wasn’t quite sure how this would turn out. I decided not to taper back at all and ramped up the mileage instead. Finishing the double would put me at 106 miles for the week. And as of Thursday before the race, I was still limping around with bad knee pain from taking 3 nasty falls attempting a Grey Rock Quad run the week before (I still finished 4 loops minus one mile leg to the summit for 28 miles). This might actually have helped in the long run since I started out the race at an extremely conservative pace. My knee ached …actually everything pretty much ached from the start. But I kept popping ibruprofen and kept chugging along.

The course was an out and back. 13.1 miles each way – twice for the double marathon. I had thought this would be a really nice run since the start is at the Happy Jack recreation area and the turn around is in Vedawoo. It’s a really beautiful area with lots of great trails. Unfortunately this route didn’t go through any of those areas. We followed a dirt road on the outskirts of Happy Jack and then onto the frontage road of I-80 and then back onto a stretch of dirt road on the edge of Vedawoo. The frontage road was miserable – 3 miles of pavement, crosswinds, and semi’s screaming by. Uuuugh! And the crosswinds changed direction frequently. So just as you got a decent pace going shoulder into the wind, it would turn and hit you from the other side to send you stumbling.

Aside from the wind, freezing cold 6am start, and nasty pavement, the course wasn’t difficult. The hills were very gradual and the entire course was runnable. Much different from the mountain trail running that I’m used to that forces you to take hiking breaks on steep technical climbs. I did the first half marathon out in 1:59:45 and the return half in 2:19:40. I was in and out of the halfway point in only 1:45 and made the second half out in 2:11:10. On the way back I managed to keep up a steady pace the entire way and finished the last leg in 2:16:30 – 3:10 faster than the first time! In the last 13.1 miles, I passed 3 other runners. With only about 3 miles to go, I inched my way past Eric and finished in third place. I was second Male but really didn’t mind getting “chicked” by Jamie Donaldson. ….if I’m ever accused of running like a girl, I might just say thank you:-)

After the race, I got extremely sick about 15 minutes after finishing and ended up spending about an hour at the nearby truck stop bathroom. I think it was a combination of dehydration, ibruprofen and pain, and the fact that this was the first time I’d really pushed myself that hard at a steady pace for that long. In hindsight I should have carried 2 water bottles. I had planned on using just one bottle and since I had to carry my own mix, I doubled up on mix and diluted it along the way. This made it hard to keep track of how much I was really drinking and with the elevation and high winds, I was a lot more dehydrated than I realized. I checked my weight when I got home and had lost 9 pounds since that morning. I’ll need to do a lot better than that to clear the weight checks at the Vermont 100.

Overall this was a good learning experience and a solid training run. Although I probably won’t do this one again. The other runners and volunteers were great but this wasn’t much of an event and the course wasn’t anything special. For a training run, it would be just as easy to drive up with a few friends, set up car drop aid stations of our own, and enjoy some of the other backroads in the area.

Wyoming Double Marathon 5/25/2008

Wyoming Double Marathon start. Wyoming Double Marathon start.	Wyoming Double Marathon area info Wyoming Double Marathon area info
Eric finishing the first marathon lap. Eric finishing the first marathon lap.	Eric finishing the first marathon lap. Eric finishing the first marathon lap.
Eric finishing the first marathon lap. Eric finishing the first marathon lap.	Eric refueled and heading out for the second marathon. Eric refueled and heading out for the second marathon.
Eric refueled and heading out for the second marathon. Eric refueled and heading out for the second marathon.	Eric heading out for the second marathon. Eric heading out for the second marathon.
Finishing the first marathon. Finishing the first marathon.	Racing 2 half marathon walkers up the hill. Racing 2 half marathon walkers up the hill.
Finishing the first marathon. …yes, I beat the walkers up the hill. Finishing the first marathon. …yes, I beat the walkers up the hill.	Eric coming into aid station #2 to meet Peter Sanders on the 2nd lap. Eric coming into aid station #2 to meet Peter Sanders on the 2nd lap.
Eric leaving aid station #2 on the second lap. Eric leaving aid station #2 on the second lap.	Coming into aid station #2 on the second lap. Coming into aid station #2 on the second lap.
Coming into aid station #2 on the second lap. Coming into aid station #2 on the second lap.	Quick refill at aid station #2 on the second lap. Quick refill at aid station #2 on the second lap.
Coming back into to aid station #2 Coming back into to aid station #2	Coming back into to aid station #2 Coming back into to aid station #2
Coming back into to aid station #2 Coming back into to aid station #2	Quick refill – last stop at aid station #2. Quick refill – last stop at aid station #2.
Leaving aid station #2 for the final leg to the finish. Leaving aid station #2 for the final leg to the finish.	52.4 Miles done! ….this photo pretty much captures the moment. Not sure if I should puke or collapse. 52.4 Miles done! ….this photo pretty much captures the moment. Not sure if I should puke or collapse.
Chris tried to shake my hand. I grabbed his beer instead. Chris tried to shake my hand. I grabbed his beer instead.	Eric coming in for a strong finish. Eric coming in for a strong finish.
Eric coming in for a strong finish. Eric coming in for a strong finish.	Done! Done!