On February 11, 2017, teammates Maria Dalzot and Nikki Vander Wiele raced the Fragrance Lake 1/2 Marathon, which takes on 3,300 ft. in vert. After days of thick snow and slippery slush conditions the week of the race, the weather warmed and wind charged the snow from the course, leaving muck and few felled trees for the racers.
The men’s champion was David Laney of Ashland, OR with a time of 1:44:17 (top performance of all time at the race), followed by 2nd place finisher and WWU alumn, Jeremy Anderson in 1:51:59. For the 3rd year in a row Maria Dalzot was the women’s champion, this year with a time of 1:58:37 (which was within seconds of her 2016 winning time!), and bettering her time from last year, Nikki Vander Wiele took 8th in 2:21:54. Dalzot and Vander Wiele used the half as part of their training towards the Chuckanut 50k to be held on March 18th. Results for the Fragrance Lake 1/2 can be found HERE.
Vander Wiele learned a lesson or two from the Fragrance Lake 1/2. “Some people say that running is 90% mental. I don’t believe that. Running is 90% physical. It depends on my heart pumping, lungs oxygenating, muscles firing, and balance stabilizing. A lot of tiny physiologic responses need to coordinate to propel me forward, hopefully in a coordinated manner, and preferably at a fast pace. When I’m running all this rhythmic reciprocal motion occurs without my conscious thought – that is one of my favorite things about running – being able to escape into a blissful space where time stands still, I can’t be bothered by anyone, and I don’t have to think about anything unless I want to. My subconscious thoughts have freedom to roam wherever they please while my legs continue their journey irregardless of my train of thought. During Saturday’s Fragrance Lake 1/2 marathon, I ran perfectly fine, but I didn’t race.
Perhaps its racing that’s 90% mental. The increase in effort required between just running and truly racing and competing requires a lot more than ideal physiologic functioning. You can be in the best shape of your life, fuel properly, get good sleep, and have training dialed in perfectly, but if your head isn’t in the game, you can’t compete. Pushing your limits, chasing the pain, and maximizing your potential requires confidence. Confidence to overcome self doubts, to adjust when the race isn’t playing out how you hoped, to fight when your competitors make moves. Racing your best requires taking risks, riding the fine line between success and failure and you can’t take risks if you are too afraid to fail. It takes a lot of love and support to not fear failure, to know you will be ok if your risk doesn’t pay off.
I spend so much time preparing physically – I think most of us do – but I spend very little time preparing mentally. And I am way more likely to trust the splits from my last workout than the positive words of affirmation from a friend or coach. I like doing work, I like numbers, I like concrete, tangible evidence. I’m not good at confidence, loving myself, believing the good things other people say. That’s uncomfortable. I’d rather run 20 miles than spend 20 minutes on positive thinking. It’s much easier. Why is that?
After a week of snow, ice and stress, I went into Saturday’s race physically prepared and mentally checked out. I ran fine, I actually beat last year’s time even with worse conditions. But my race plan going in was, “Be brave, choose joy,” and I did neither. When footing and conditions were slick, I slowed down. When competitors passed, I let them go with almost no interest in catching back up or letting them pull me to a better time, and when things got hard, I chose negativity, not joy. So while I am happy with my time and enjoyed a beautiful course and well organized event, I’m not really proud of my effort. I am not usually out there to win races, I’m out there to challenge myself, to grow, to be better. Better as a runner, and better as a person. Positivity is a big part of that. I need to up my mental training.”
Dalzot recaps her race on her blog, which we’ve excerpted here:
Fried Eggs & Fragrance Lake
“I woke up this morning unsure of how my first race of the year would unfold. Of course, I would like to say that my training has gone seamlessly and without setbacks, but that is far from the truth. I am still struggling to get rolling and have consistently good workouts. I am still struggling with inconvenient aches and pains and tightness that interfere with any semblance of speedwork.
Add to that snowpocalypse 2017 and this winter’s training has been nothing to write home about. This week was especially frustrating because the Pacific Northwest got hit with another freak snowstorm. Six inches of snow at sea level made it impossible to run without slipping or pulling an adductor. I tried on Monday and aggravated my hip flexor. Between that pain and the ridiculous amount of snow and slush that accumulated, there seemed no way that I would race this weekend. The last thing I wanted to do was really injure myself and be out of the Chuckanut 50k, my debut at the distance, now only five weeks away.
But on Thursday a weather miracle happened: a warm wind blew in and the temperature rose 20 degrees in a half hour. Then it started raining. The snow was melting at such a fast pace, sidewalks turned into streams and we could finally see the Prius. It looked like racing was going to be a possibility. Tad and I checked out the Fragrance Lake Half Marathon course on Friday for any remaining snow and ice. The trails were – amazingly – all clear. I was almost hoping they would still be covered so I wouldn’t be able to race. Now, I had to make a decision when I wasn’t confident in how I’d be able to perform. I planned to warm up for the race, see how my hip felt and then decide.
Today’s pre-race breakfast was fried eggs and potatoes. There is nothing that makes me giddier than a fried egg cooked just enough to have a beautiful runny yolk. As I cracked my first egg in the pan, I busted the yolk. Damnit! I was careful to not damage the second, but when I went to flip, I saw a steam of bright yellow ooze across the bottom of the pan. Nooo! My plate of eggs ended up being a complete mess. My immediate reaction was to assign a foretelling of the race to my eggs and think “this race isn’t going to go well”. I added salt and pepper and a roasted purple potato. It was delicious. It doesn’t matter that your eggs are not cooked to perfection or Instagram-worthy; they can still taste good. I left the table with this comforting thought and took it with me to the start line.
All systems were go after warming up and feeling oddly good for a change. After some course briefing from race director and 200-mile mastermind Candice Burt of Destination Trails, we were off. David Laney led the way, stringing the pack out quickly before starting the ascent up Chuckanut mountain. I started out per usual and let the crazies go screaming out to try to keep up with David. Once the climb started, I made my way into the men’s chase pack and worked with them up to Fragrance Lake. The recent storm left many trees down across the trail which required a quick decision to go over or under. My short legs struggled to get over the big ones and I had to use my upper body strength to pull myself over. But then there were some where I could stoop low enough to scramble under. Either way, it slowed things down but kept things interesting…”
To hear how it ends, check out Maria’s blog HERE!
*All photographs come from the incredible Tad Davis*
