Payette Lake 30K

One rarely needs to make an excuse to visit the lovely central/west Idaho town of McCall. Sidled up to the south side of Payette Lake, McCall is one of those towns that provides outdoor recreation all year round. From skiing at Brundage in the winter to hiking and mountain biking in the summer, it's no wonder everyone in Boise seems to have a second home in the area.

Labor Day weekend afforded me the opportunity to get away for a couple of days with Kristen to do some of the aforementioned hiking and biking. But it also enabled me to participate in the circumnavigation of Payette Lake in the aptly named Payette Lake 30K. The 30K is one of those distances you just don't see all that often (they also offer an 8.6 miler and, for those who enjoy the shorter distances, a 5K). At a shade over 18.5 miles, it's no walk in the park, but it is a great training run for those looking at a marathon this fall.

My goal for this race was to run well within myself and put forth a good effort without killing my legs. Having run the course before, I knew what to expect: relatively flat for the first half, rolling and mostly unpaved for the second half. It's a lovely course with lots of trees and mountains in the distance and an occasional lake view.

Sunday morning dawned cloudy and rather chilly, upper 40s or so with a stiff breeze, far different from the upper 70s of the previous day. I warmed up with a mile or so from the hotel to the race start where I encountered Tony, a running acquaintance from Boise. We took another warm up mile, catching up on running exploits of the past few months. Tony is off to Boston next year as a result of his fine performance at RnR San Diego back in June, well done!

I had a few minutes to relax before the laid back start, when 100 or so souls set off to run the Payette Lake circuit. I started off running with Tony, the first mile passing in about 6:42, feeling a little sluggish, knowing my legs would kick in with a couple more miles. Six folks took off in the distance, receding further as the race wore on. I realized about mile three or so that the established distance markers were less than accurate, overall pretty close, but running 5:30 then 7:30 with little variation in my personal tempo made me suspicious. I knew Tony and I were right around 6:40-6:45 pace for the first 6 or 7 miles, right into a fairly stiff headwind, a good comfortable start for me.

I pass mile 9 in just under 1:01, where the road turned to dirt along the north side of the lake. Here is where the hills start, a couple of them quite nasty but very runnable. Tony starts to fall back, but I see 5th place ahead of me and decide to pick up the effort. The views of the lake here are just phenomenal, especially as we climb just a little. I pass 5th place through an aid station on the "nasty hill, who I learn later is Brian Baker, a very strong masters Boise runner.

I also start to catch the 8.6 mile race participants, as they started an hour later at our 10 mile mark. This serves as great motivation for this challenging section of the race. I'm still feeling pretty good at this point, maintaining pace on the hills.

We get back to honest to goodness pavement about mile 15, coming around the south side of the lake. I pick up the pace a little, into the 6:30s for a final finish along the southeast corner of Payette Lake. Here is where the course turns a bit more "urban" with many lakefront and near lakefront homes, not to mention the nearby Ponderosa State Park. A couple quick turns, and the finish is in view, 2:03:32 after I start.

I finished 4th overall, passing 4th at some point during the second half but not knowing it. While it wasn't as fast as I could have gone on this particular day, I feel good with the effort. It builds confidence for my 3:10 pacing gig in Detroit come the middle of October.