I’m not
sure what a better title would be… maybe I survived the Rut, or even…don’t
trust that step. Regardless of the title I DID survive the Rut.
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| layering Options - Outdoor Research |
In case you
don’t live and breath trail running, The Rut is a weekend trail running
festival put on by two world-class athletes and race directors Mike Foote and
Mike Wolfe in connection with the best running shop in the West, The Runners
Edge. The race is held on the beautiful
Big Sky Resort property in Big Sky Montana. There are multiple race distances
for any ability. The Vertical Kilometer, the 25K, 50K, 11K and a Runt run for
kids. It was truly a wonderful mountain
community gathering with lots of friends, trails, cool fall weather and of course
beer.
I did the
25K race. It started Saturday morning September 4th at 8:00am. Over the course of the 18mile (a bit longer
then most 25K) we climbed a total of 8,000 feet and two very steep and
technical ridges along the ski area boundaries.
Now when I say steep I am not talking slow running steep,
I’m talking some people were on their hands and knees, crawling up, where the
rocks and dirt slid out from under your feet if you made a wrong step and in
some places the ridge dropped off hundreds of feet to your right or left.
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| Coming down Headwaters ridge |
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| Good Morning Big Sky! |
Not your
average mountain run is an understatement. The first few miles provided a nice
warm up for all us racers, we chatted with each other and had words of
encouragement for some fellow runners who were running their first trail race
ever… (This girl was awesome). Once we started climbing the chatter quickly
turned into heavy breathing and we all realized the real race had begun. We
climbed headwaters ridge, and then descended down 1200 feet, and began the
climb back up to our aide station, then onto the 1.5 mile 2000 foot bone
crusher ridge.
I’m sure at
this point, most people were dreading this climb, but this was the whole reason
I signed up for the race. A long, steep, exposed ridgeline to the summit of
Lone Peak 11,250’ is totally my cup of tea. I have skied off the summit of Lone
Peak but I have never been up on a clear day like we had. I was excited for the
views. Getting to the summit, like any mountain experience, was COLD. I didn’t
hang out long.. Just long enough to through on a jacket (Thanks Outdoor Research-
My Deviator hoody was perfect), Look around for a split second, and start
heading downhill.
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| Wearing my Deviator Hoody coming off the Summit |
As a
mountain guide part time I love climbing steep ridges and well, just climbing
in general. Most of my training for The Rut came from my 3 weeks in Washington
State climbing Mt Rainier 5 times and occasional trail runs on my days off.
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| A sunny day on Mt. Rainier |
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| Race Selfie - |
Since we
had made our two huge climbs already, there was just 6 miles of fun rolling
trails through the lower ski area left. My legs were still feeling pretty good,
but all the downhill running had taken a toll on my IT bands. I slowed
significantly the last few miles and really was able to enjoy the beauty of the
trails and again chat with fellow racers.
I finished
in under 6 hours… 5:43 to be exact, 29th Women out of 110 starters
and 11th in my age group. That counts for top 25% of ladies.. .and
this was one heck of a competitive race! I was super excited. I am not a trail
runner by trade, I didn’t train specifically for this race and so just
finishing was am accomplishment.
I finally
nailed my nutrition in a race, this has been a work in progress, but I have to
Thank Hammer Nutrition for their continued support. I started my day with
coffee and a banana. Then one hour before the race I took 2 Race Caps Supreme
(RCS), 2 anti fatigue (AF) and one scoop of Sustained Energy. During the race I
took one Gel an hour (usually Espresso or Huckleberry). I also Sipped on a
flask containing 3 scoops of Sustained Energy and one gel. Ever hour I also
took 2 RCS, 2 AF and 1 Endurance Amino capsules. I was never hungry, never low
on energy and always felt good on the GI front. After the race I took advantage
of the Massages from Sapphire Physical Therapy, and then drank my
Orange-Vanilla Recoverit. Thanks Hammer… I couldn’t have done it without you!
The weekend
as a whole was amazing. The venue, the weather, the course and of course the
trail running community all combined to make a top notch race and event. I have
to hand it to Mike and Mike for a job well done. If you are a trail runner,
this is not and event to miss… and if you are not, there is always the 11k to
try it out or just come to watch some of the best trail runners in the world
take on the Montana version of trail running.
I’m already
looking forward to next year; maybe I’ll even try the 50K.
Thanks for reading… stay tuned for more adventure in the
mountains. 
