As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mo Bartley has been helping me with my training and she said one of the most important parts of my training would be getting into the canyons. The canyons are the most difficult part of the Western States course and it would be critical to get familiar with these parts of the course.
The part of the course I had the most about was a hill referred to as "The Devil's Thumb". This is a hill that is less than two miles long and climbs more than 1700 feet. To add to the intensity, for most runners, they reach The Devil's Thumb in the late afternoon when race day temperatures can reach over 100 degrees. There are 32 switchbacks on the hill and it has been known to thoroughly destroy runners.
I hooked up with a great group of other runners at 7AM for a 30 mile run into the canyons. I was a little nervous at the start as I had no idea what to expect. The weather was perfect and the other runners were all fired up for the run. Many of the other runners were also training for WS 100.
Starting in Foresthill, the run went the opposite way of the WS 100 course which took me through Volcano Canyon and into Michigan Bluff. This stretch was not too bad in terms of steepness. The next stretch took me down to El Dorado Creek and once across the creek I climbed up for almost five miles to the top of Devil's Thumb. This would be a good way to see this highly feared stretch going downhill first. Someone quickly pointed out the rock formation named The Devil's Thumb. It was really steep going down but I have always liked the downhill runs so it really did not seem to bad. Once at the bottom the group quickly turned around and headed back up. The return trip of 15 miles would be the same direction I will be heading on race day.
It took about two minutes for me to begin to appreciate the horror stories of this stretch. I was sucking air and guzzling water at a pace which had me worried about not only how long it would take me to get to the top but also how I would be able to make it the next 13 miles back to the car. After nearly an hour, I made it to the top of the less than a mile Devil's Thumb. As I passed the rock formation on the way back I could only think it should be renamed..."The Devil's Middle Finger".
There was a water pump a mile from the top where I took a break and got some friendly harassment on my first experience. Memorable but scary considering it was only 70 degrees.
Slugged out the rest of the run and finished 30 miles in a little more than eight hours. I was really happy with the run and can't help but feel stronger about the upcoming big race!!
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