TRT 50-mile Race Report

By Bri Jaskot

I’m someone who likes to go somewhere new to race. My logic – if I’m going to be putting my body through some pain & suffering, I may as well see some new and beautiful things along the way. 

Having quit my job last October, I decided to keep some of my running efforts more local this year to be more economical and have an excuse to really get to know some new to me local trails. Especially the ones on the Carson side since we moved down from Reno in April of 2022 and I still had yet to run any of the Ash/Kings Canyon trails that everyone raves about. So the Tahoe Rim Trail 50* miler was my local race of choice.

9 weeks out, I started to get specific and decided it was time to start driving my butt 20 minutes across town to begin training on the Carson trails that the race follows. Being a data nerd and someone who’s a little obsessed with everything training, I figured out the average gain/loss per mile on the course (350 ft) and then broke that up into what that would mean for runs anywhere from 5-23 miles. For example: A 6 miler with TRT specificity would have around 1,000 feet of climbing and descending. Simply running the course makes things real easy. 

Having some specific numbers to work with – my goal now was to run 4-5 runs per week, especially my long runs, with around the same amount of climbing per mile that the race would have. Then keep the other day or two per week flat. My plan kind of went accordingly. 

There have been two themes to my running this year: 

1. Feet issues 
2. Placing second 

I have been running for 21 years now to varying degrees and I have NEVER had feet issues. The occasional blister, sure. But no foot pain. Well, at the start of the year my feet issues kick-started with pain on the top of my left foot. I attributed it to tying my shoes too tight but later realized it was from running in my super shoes (and honestly probably tying my shoes too tight). Luckily I have a husband who works in Orthopedics and he was able to poke and prod my foot and determine that I was fine and I had simply irritated the top of my foot. That issue lingered for a little over a month and then just as it went, plantar fasciitis popped up in BOTH of my feet starting at the beginning of April. After a month and a half of doing all the exercises, icing & stretching, my pain was still a 3/4 out of 10 and not going away. I decided to put my mileage into 5 days instead of 6 to 7 and give myself two full days of rest or cross training. Typical runner logic – cut back a little, but don’t stop running all together. I also decided to incorporate biking into my training, to add in aerobic volume, since I’d be limited to a degree with 5 days of running. 

With that weekly training structure I was able to get in 60-65 miles per week with one week at 68 miles. Plus 3-4 hours of Zwift cycling. I noticed a difference in my uphill running from biking more! I’ve read this is because uphill running is a concentric muscle contraction and biking is all concentric. I was also able to get on the Ash climb once a week for 6 weeks leading up to the race. I wanted the 9 mile, 4,500ft hike up Ash Canyon to feel like no big thing, since following that little jaunt up to Snow Valley is 47 more miles of running. 

My plan for the race was to run the first two-ish miles to the gate at the base of the Ash Canyon climb and then hike every step to the gate at the top. And that’s what I did. As soon as I started hiking, a few runners ran past and I realized it was some fast people in the 55k. Peter Fain included. A handful of them had made a wrong left turn and took the descent trail (Ash Creek) vs staying on Ash Canyon road. That little detour makes Jade Belzberg’s 62.75k overall win and time even more impressive. 

My legs felt solid climbing up Ash Canyon and I just kept a steady, controlled effort up the basically two hour climb to Snow Valley Peak. At the time there were a few other women around me but I couldn’t tell who was doing the 55k or the 56 miler and it was honestly way too early in the day to even care.

I instead used this time to stick with my fueling plan which was aiming for around 90g/hour early on while it was still cool. I’ve been using the Precision nutrition gels (90g & the 30g) and love them. I did a hyper-sodium load prior to the start with a Skratch hyper-hydration which has 1720 mg of sodium(!) So I was getting extra thirsty drinking the Precision 30g drink I started out with and quickly switched to my other flask of water. 

My race was honestly uneventful during the first few hours. I stuck with my fueling and hydration plan and just ran nice and steady. I do want to give a shout out to the Silver State Striders and their incredible aid station at Tunnel Creek. As soon as I came in two people were by me and ready to help grab whatever I needed. I found my drop bag, swapped my trash, restocked my gels, all while they filled my flasks and my ice bandana. I was out of there in less than 2 minutes having done a full swap of everything because they were so on top of it. Despite the quick turnaround at this aid station, this is also where the gal who won the 56 miler made her move and gapped me. We had been running together and I’m guessing she just did a quick water bottle fill and was on her way. I wouldn’t see her again after this aid station. 

Between Tunnel Creek and Bull Wheel I started to get a little nauseous. I anticipated this could happen since it was going to be a record heat kind of day and had packed Pepto chews. I popped a couple and they helped! I didn’t fall off my nutrition plan at all. 

Contrary to what everyone thought the course would be like snow wise- there was actually hardly any snow and the snow that was on course was nicely staired-out by the rescue bikers (not sure of their actual name) out on course. They were everywhere! It was an added safety feature on such a relentlessly hot day because they were stocked with emergency supplies and a way to call for help if needed. 

After the Bull Wheel aid station I caught a young guy and instead of just letting me pass he clung to me (LOL). We ran over an hour together down to Diamond Peak without saying a word to one another. We were both just silently feeling the heat I guess. We passed a group of Safety bikers and they informed us that I was the second female and that he was the 7th male. We made our way down Tyrolean as the mountain bikers made their way up hiking their bikes. The Tyrolean Downhill was every bit as awful as I remembered it to be. Running on trails that are designed with mountain bikers in mind, just kind of sucks. 

As soon as I hit the pavement heading towards the Diamond Peak Aid Station, Aaron Klein was there and informed me that the girl ahead of me left the aid station maybe a minute ago. I heard my mom yelling “GO BRI!” from across the parking lot. My husband, mom and my pacer Rebekah Winter had a little pit stop set up for me. Michael put a dish rag that he had soaked in water/ice on my back and told me to wipe my face. I was feeling a tad nauseous again coming into the aid station and was going to tell them that I needed a reset. I ended up not saying anything and got one anyways because my mom mixed up my bottles a couple times. She was so eager to help! But her eagerness combined with my lack of coherence made for a bad communication combo. After emptying and refilling my bottles, with a popsicle in hand and a couple more Pepto chews popped, we were ready to start trekking up Diamond Peak. 

Rebekah led the way at a brisk hike and I just tried to hold on. Having only done this climb one other time when we first moved to the area a few years back, I didn’t remember quite how steep and arduous this climb was. When we rounded the corner and I saw two runners up ahead on what looked like a vertical stretch of fireroad, I asked Rebekah with a hint of disdain- “is that what we have to climb up?” She confirmed. It was so steep I resorted to duck walking. I was bent over, hands on knees with my feet totally turned out for better grip. It actually works quite well on steep hikes. I somehow managed to take in over 350 calories on the climb. 

By the time we left Bullwheel we had passed two 56 miler guys. One being my buddy from earlier and then a different guy and his pacer. Just before Tunnel Creek we passed one more 56 miler guy, but then got passed before Hobart by a guy and his pacer moving very well. They blew past like it wasn’t even a thing. Rebekah told me “it’s fine, keep moving”. With this race being record hot, I threw time out the window and was instead staying motivated by how well I could place in the field on the day. (Guys included if I’m being honest.)

Prior to the race Rebekah and I had laid some ground rules: 

1. No talking about the heat. 
2. If I had any pains, especially in my feet, I wasn’t going to voice it out loud. 
3. Silence = suffering. 

As soon as we got onto the new “Cap 2 Tahoe trail”, Rebekah started stopping on the side of the trail looking like she was going to throw up. I asked her if she was okay, she responded with “yea, I’m fine” very nonchalantly and then less than a minute later she started yakking. The heat had gotten to her. This went on for about 5 miles until the creek crossing above the waterfall aid station. At the creek I stopped to fill my bottle and wet my face. Rebekah told me that she needed to chill for a sec and get back to good, but that I should keep going. So we parted ways. 

I immediately started questioning if I should have left her. What if she didn’t stop throwing up and got super dehydrated? What if she was showing signs of heat stroke and I had just left her. I also didn’t have my phone on me to check in with her. At the Waterfall Aid Station, I refilled my ice, chugged half a liter of water, filled two more flasks and started my trek down to the college in 100+ degree heat. All the while thinking about Rebekah and if she was okay.

Aside from Ash Canyon, this is the section of the course that I was very familiar with. I knew every turn and distinguishing feature of the trail, from training there the last 9 weeks. At least I thought I did – but trails run different when you have basically 50 miles on your legs. The entire descent I was thinking – “where did all these rocks come from?!” I’d never once thought of this trail as “technical” until that moment. Coming off the Ash Creek trail and onto the Bobby trail, you can see the college and exactly how far left you have to run. It’s just over a mile and it’s all downhill, but in that heat and after that long of a day, the stadium seemed miles away. As I neared the baseball field I could hear my mom yelling “GO BRI” again, which made me smile.

I was greeted at the finish by my mom, husband, and my friends Jess, EJ and John. It had all the feels of a home turf event. 12 hours, 21 minutes & 56 miles later, I was back on the baseball field in Carson CIty laying flat out of the warm turf. I kept true to my running themes of 2023 & finished 2nd Female (8th OA) & with some very painful feet. I had felt my plantars ping with every step for 10 hours. It took one hour for all the Pepto chews to wear off and I yakked for the first time despite being mildly nauseous for most of the day. 

Rebekah also ended up arriving at the baseball field 5 minutes after I got there! Thankfully not with full blown heat exhaustion. 

Now, I’m excited to take however much time my feet need to get back to good because having pain with every step is not fun.