A Girl can Tri: Not Your Average 25K

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.

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 4^th 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.

Coming down Headwaters ridge

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.

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.

A sunny day on Mt. Rainier

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, 29^th Women out of 110 starters and 11^th 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.