Monday, August 17, 2009

Where's Waldo 100k






I'm putting some finishing touches on race preparation for Saturday's ultra marathon taking place in Willamette Pass, a stunning part of the Oregon Cascade Mountains, especially at this time of the year. Where's Waldo 100k is serving as the U.S.A. 100k trail championships and offers a pretty tough course over the span of 62.5 miles. I realize it is going to be a long day with some long climbs but I am looking forward to meeting and spending the day with some of the best ultra runners around this area and taking in all the scenery. The weather is looking like it's going to be sunny and hot (around 80 for the high) and I hear the mosquitoes are hungry down there! Oh boy!
We will be climbing and descending three major peaks (as seen above) Mt. Fuji, Maiden Peak, and The Twins before arriving back at the start/finish line. We will start at around 5,000 feet above sea level and reach our highest point at around 8,000. It'll be interesting to see if that plays a role combined with the heat and mountain climbs...I'm sure it will!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting a little nervous about Saturday. Even yesterday when I went to the running store to stock up on supplies my stomach started churning a little bit...but maybe that was because of all the GU's and Clif block shots I bought and the thought of eating all those made me a little queezy! ;0)

I also feel a little tentative about how my leg is going to hold up over this demanding course. I keep telling myself that I am ready but the DNF at mile 40 on the fourth of July keeps taunting me. Since then I have put in some solid miles and have done many strengthening exercises to hopefully elude the same problems. I got in a 7+ hour 40 miler in on my last day in Ithaca...the week before that I got in 35 miles in two days, and when I moved out here I was able to get in 50 miles in two days...feeling really strong....pain free.

I am an adventurer, and a risk taker, so I said the hell with it! Regardless I am going to have an amazing experience as I embark on this scene out here. It is only three hours from home and it'll be cool the be up there with Skaggs, Ballesteros, Olsen, Andrish, Meissner, Morrison, Lantz, Bryant and the like...at least at the start line and hopefully the finish, and maybe in between! ;0)

So send me out some positive vibes on Saturday morning as I will be spending roughly half a day meandering my way through the trails and trials of this coniferous wonderland.


Happy Trails!



9 comments:

Derrick said...

Good luck at Waldo! Sounds like you are healthy and in a good place going into it.

Look forward to hearing how it goes.

Yassine said...

Thanks Derrick! I love the haircut and wish you all the best in your 100-miler!

Sara Montgomery said...

Have a great race!

Portland is a beautiful city (with great trails of course!). Hope you're enjoying it!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the move and good luck at Where's Waldo! I'll be pulling for you and looking for updates on-line.

Ryan in Boston

Yassine said...

Thanks Ryan...Are you doing Green Lakes??? I saw you on the registration a while back...hope you are healthy! Best wishes to you in your first 50k...You're going to tear it up!

Yassine said...

Thanks Sara! We are really enjoying this area... Hope to meet up with you sometime at a race out this way. If you guys ever are out here look us up...we have a place to crash really close to the trails too! Take care :) and run well!

Anonymous said...

I am signed up and feel like I'm in good shape. But I've had a very odd medical problem. At the end of a 4.5 hour run a week and a half ago, a bee flew into my mouth and stung me deep in my throat. I felt ok the first day after but then started having a lot of breathing problems. The doctor ended up finding the stinger lodged in my trachea and had to remove it surgically. That was 6 days ago and I'm still pretty wiped out but I'm hoping to be ready to go by the 30th. My training was going well so if I can get rested up, I think I'll be ok.

Gallow said...

Have a great run Yassine. Enjoy the moment, and the experience.

Ryan said...

Good job at Waldo! I don't know how it unfolded, but 7th place w/ a very deep field of runners seems like quite a West Coast debut to me. I look forward to reading a race report.

Ryan