Winona Lake Trail Ultra - 50M Race Report

Piecing together the entire 50 miles of running is proving difficult. Here’s what I remember to hang my hat on:

• My crew of Alaina and her Mom were the best! 
• There are only few things I’d rather be doing at any given time than running trails through the woods.
• I met great people and talented runners 
• The pain in my quads and knees started early and kept digging but I kept going. 
• I only chafed in one spot (perhaps the worst possible spot). 
• There were several Ultrarunner and All Songs Considered podcasts that helped me keep it together late in the race. 

Ready to get this started

Did you know that in the mid-’70s, Philip Glass went to a Talking Heads show and convinced the band to attend Einstein on the Beach? And last year, a US ambassador in Iraq dedicated a ‘50s Argentinian tango song called 'El Dia Que Me Quieras' to his wife in the states and it may have been the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard in my life, but I didn’t understand a single word.

Ultrarunner Ray Zahab has run across the farthest length of both the Saraha Desert and Death Valley...for FUN. Max King might be the best runner in the U.S. and almost no one has ever heard of him. These are a few things I learned while running 50 miles. Some might think that running this long would be boring. But as I was 2 miles from the finish line, I had the opposite thought -- why does this have to end so soon?

The trail to Leadville started last November, and Winona 50M is my second milestone on this journey. I’d run one 50k race and 2 self-supported 50k training runs from December - April, so I was feeling comfortable with the 30M distance and ready to add another 20M.

Me, Cody, and Sharon at our mini-aid station

Winona Lake, Indiana is only 3 hours drive from Ann Arbor, so we drove down the morning of the race and set up a little camping table with my tasty goodies right near the start/finish line. Morning of the race, I went around the staging area and caught up with some people I’d met in the last few months on various training adventures in my area.

A month ago, running the Poto trail by myself this Anton Krupicka-looking guy (read: fast) named Jon passed me on a climb, so I tagged along with him and chatted ultras and trails, enjoying the woods together. Race morning, I saw him and his training buddy, Jason, at their car/aid station, so we shared a few laughs about the coming thunderstorms and they shared some pacing advice for a first time 50 mile runner.

Then I met this super nice British guy, Andrew, who’d done Leadville, so we talked strategy for that beast of a race. Turns out, he’s friends this other guy I’d run with on another trail run, Steve, who was also doing this race and had also done Leadville, so he came over and caught up for a bit. Everyone was so chill and friendly and wanting to chat a bit on the morning of a race, which seemed really different than any triathlon I've done.

Showing Jon and Jason my crane technique

Onto the course. It’s a 10 mile loop of mountain biking trails that you do 5 times. My plan was to spend as little time at the start/finsh line between each loop so that I wouldn’t have time to consider stopping. Good plan.

Starting these long events is funny. No one wants to go up front. I seeded myself near Jon since he said he was starting easy. There were a couple guys and a very fast looking woman who were up front and gunning. After them, we had this little group of 8 runners strung along the trail for the first 3 miles, going really easy and talking about who we knew running today, other ultras going on in the area, and the nuances of the trail.

Jon and Jason took off after that and I joined them. The 3 of us talked about tri’s and ultras, them asking me to predict pain level comparisons, which I thought would be somewhere between a HIM and IM. In retrospect, that’s about right.

We're off!  Clock shows we started 20 minutes after the 10 mile runners

Here’s an aid station stop. 

Jon, “hey anyone need anything?” 

Us, “Nope” 

Jon, “Ok, let’s keep going”. 

Then at the next station, Jason says, “I’m gonna get some water” 

Us, “Ok, me too” 

We fill bottles and grab some GU / Heed stuff and all take off together. So here we are on these gorgeous MTB trails in the woods, all doing what we love most, and working as a group despite it being a race, because after all, it’s gonna be a loooooong day, no need to go it alone.

At around mile 8, I was starting to feel like I was pushing too hard, so I switched the Garmin, which I’d hardly looked at, over to current pace and saw 7:30s. Uhhhh, that’s why I’m feeling my legs talking. So I dropped back from them and worked down to an effort I had targeted for this distance, but kept it more consistent, more conservative on the climbs and descents, same effort on the flats.. And although I dropped back from the other guys at first, I also had them within eyeshot, but I could keep my own plan in place. I popped on Ultrarunner Podcast and immersed myself in the woods.

Sigh of relief.  1st lap complete

Lap 1: 1:20:53

Mile 10 is the start/finish, and my crew aka family was ready to change bottles for me, so I grabbed what I needed and kept on going. The RD called my name, distance and place, which felt really cool. I passed Jon and Jason at this point and took off down the trail. It felt good to move up a few places and I kept the steady pace up, but in hindsight, probably a couple minutes too fast.

From a satellite view, the trail looks like a plate of spaghetti. Not only does it torque its way through a relatively small total acreage, but it’s relentlessly up and down, with some rocky, rootsy switchbacks, wooden bike bridges, and a sweet range of prairie and woodsy sections. It’s a sneaky trail that I could tell was going to attack like a tiger hunting in the tall grass as the miles got longer. My IT band and stability muscles were taking the brunt of working back and forth through the serpentine trails, and I quickly realized it was all about minimizing that damage early on.

I kept ahead of J2 this loop and could see that Jon had dropped Jason and was coming for me. Since I watch a lot of cycling, I could see that I split this mini-peloton apart by going out front this lap. The strategy was coming out and I couldn’t help but be intrigued by it all. Such fun and in real life! Toward the end of this lap, I could feel a hot spot developing near the arch of my foot and getting hotter, and I knew that with 30 more miles I needed to take care of it now. So at the start/finish I told Sharon I needed new socks, which she procured in record time. And as I was changing shoes, Jon caught up, went to his car, and it was him and me running together again to start the third lap.

Lap 2: 1:18:59

The other person I noticed on this lap through the start/finish is that 1st place female, Melanie, who I’d passed but with the sock change but had gotten back ahead to start the 3rd lap. So Jon and I decided that we should see if we could slowly reel her in. It took about 2 miles, but we could see her just up ahead. And as we were about to catch her, my shoe came untied and I had to stop briefly. Yet something started to change. My heart and lungs were working too hard for the effort level. And although I quickly caught back up to Melanie and Jon, I was working way too hard for mile 22. Something was clearly up with either nutrition or pacing.

I decided to hang back and pop the headphone back in and enjoy more podcasts, while I could hear them chatting with each other and I knew I should’ve been feeling that good too. But I remembered the Ten Commandments of Endurance that Marshall Ulrich wrote in Running on Empty. He said, “be kind to yourself.” And I took this as my mantra the rest of the way. Whenever I wanted to beat up on myself for not going harder or slowing down, I said those words.

Not moving so well right here

As the miles went by and the pain in my quads started becoming noticeable, I needed that mantra more, and though I tried to take down more fluids and food, my suffering was growing toward mile 28. All I wanted was to get back to fun. So I started thinking about everything that was going right. No shin pain, no soleus pain, no peroneal pain. All the little speedbumps I’ve been dealing with through these 80-90 mile weeks were gone. Just the deep down pain of pushing your body past its breaking points remained. And that was actually remarkable.

At one of the later aid stations, I passed Melanie, who was icing down her quads, and although I kept expecting her to pass me back again, she didn’t. Later I learned that she is a very accomplished marathoner, but at the time I was just knew there was a strong athlete who I was holding off, and that meant I was still doing ok.

Just before the start/finish line I took the headphone out and listened to the birds, the sound of the rain that had finally started with conviction halfway through this loop, and got back into the moment.

Lap 3: 1:22:59

I saw Alaina and her mom at the start/finish and it was a huge wave of relief. They changed out my bottles and Alaina asked if I wanted her to pace me for this lap. This was not even something I’d considered before the race, but I quickly said yes and was glad for the company. But my lungs and heart were still strained. Alaina helped me see that I needed more salt and fluids, looking at how little I’d peed and that it wasn’t my mood plummeting as it does when I haven’t eaten. So at the first aid station I had some salt potatoes and heed and gradually started feeling better.

Alaina told me the story of how she’d going biking on the roads near Winona Lake and all the things she’d seen, and I let her know I could only really listen right now until I got myself feeling better. She was a great boon for me that loop when I was slowing down so much and starting to get down on myself. She knew that this would be the hardest loop as well, breaking past the farthest distance I’d ever run at one time before and heading into unknown territory.

Along the way I’d see Jon coming back on some other point on the course and looking really strong so I’d give him a shout of encouragement and try to give him a little challenge, but I didn’t have much more than I was giving to the course at that moment.

That loop was really hard. Maybe not as hard as starting that 2nd run loop at Ironman Lake Placid, but at times it came close. I power hiked the climbs, feeling my heart want to explode with every extra effort, and then started running right away on the flats with whatever I had. I remembered something else Marshall said in his book, that if you just keep moving forward and don’t stop, you could find yourself in first. Well that wasn’t going to happen, but a good last loop was possible.

That right there is my race face

Lap 4: 1:27:06

At mile 39 Alaina ran ahead to get my bottle and final gels ready, so as I came through the start/finish line for the last time before the finish, I didn’t stop at all, just ran with my empty bottle and didn’t look back. I didn’t want to even consider the possibility of stopping. Alaina caught back up to me and handed off the bottle, gave me a kiss and wished me good luck along the way.

I think the accomplishment of reaching mile 40 was almost as good as the finish. Starting that final loop, when I was back to stable on fluids, good on nutrition, and into the final loop and final 10 miles of the whole race changed everything. It took almost an hour and a half, but I was back to having fun!

I listened to this All Songs Considered episode about the mid-70s NYC music scene and another with Valentine’s Day song dedications. Anyone that knows me knows the deep love I have for music and for people who love music. I could talk and listen to music for days on end, so having these uber-smart music guys talking in my ear and introducing me some new, some favorites was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Every mile became better than the last, with my IT band pain subsiding, replaced by NEW and EXCITING pains that were different than the last 5 hours. Hooray! The rain was hard and the trails muddy and lovely. No one was behind me and the next guy was way too far ahead to catch, so I settled into the experience of finishing my first 50 miler. I took in the smells of a warm wet forest, the sound of rain through the leaves, and bone jarring effect of all these miles on my body. It was fabulous.

The last song I heard from the NPR podcast was Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which brought me straight back to watching Alaina finish the 2010 Kona Ironman and spending our amazing honeymoon in Hawaii. I was there for her then, and she was here for me now, guiding me through the darkest hours and waiting for me at the finish line. I’m sure all the rain brought out my allergies because there were wells of tears in my eyes.

At mile 48 I allowed myself to peek at the overall time, and I realized that I was very close to not only breaking 8 hours, but breaking 7 hours if I really hustled. I started taking the downhills with reckless abandon, sprinting the uphills, and locking my mind into that sheer white light/white heat that Lou Reed epitomized on the Velvet Underground song. The pain all went away as I could hear the music of the finish line and the announcer saying there was a 50 mile runner around the corner. I saw the finish, crossed the line, and let my happiness overwhelm me!

Pure happiness

4th place overall, 1st in my AG, with a total time of 6:54. Way better than I’d hoped for and even more rewarding deep in my chest.

After the finish, I met up with other runners, congratulated Jon on a stellar race, and shared stories from the trail and cheered in Jason and Melanie when they crossed the finish line. What a great day! Can’t wait until the next race!

Showing off my hardware,er finisher's medal

Lilac Memories and Rituals

The Arb lunch run.  It has become a ritual.  Growing up Catholic, rituals are ingrained deep in my psyche.  I cling to them and am repulsed by them.  I love their sense of comfort and try to break them down.  Some of my favorite composers are the minimalists like Philip Glass, who intoxicates you with repetitive melodies and rhythms, so when he breaks the cycle even in the smallest way, it sounds monumental.

My Arb run is 1 mile through UM central campus to the entrance, and then 3 miles of single track trails with tons of steep, 50-100 foot climbs.  And now that everything is blooming, I can go there every single day and experience new smells and sights.  It's practically like running in a new place each time out.  A ritual I can consistently break down.

Today I ran by some lilacs that took me on a trip back to the Lilac Festival in Rochester that I went to frequently while growing up.  The Festival was right at the end of the school year, and my friends in our high school's jazz band would play the festival, so I'd skip my last few classes and go listen to them play.  After a long Rochester winter, the Lilac Fest was the signal that summer was about to begin and school about to end.  After they played, we'd wander through Highland Park in a cloud of lilac scent, wrapped up in the chase for girlfriends and some good laughs.  It's not often I have these memories of high school, but this one came on strong during today's run.

Highland Park lilacs in bloom

In other news, today I received this email from USAT, the governing body of triathlon.  Kinda cool.



"USA Triathlon would like to take a moment to congratulate you for your outstanding performance in 2011. All American status is earned by those who: have an active annual membership; compete in three sanctioned Triathlon events, or two sanctioned Duathlon, Aquathlon, Aquabike, or Off-Road triathlon events between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011; and are within the top 5% of their age group. You have met these high standards skillfully, and have been ranked as an All American."

B2B Long Running

After reading dozens of ultrarunning forums and a couple books about how to train for 50 and/or 100 mile races, most people fall into one of two camps.

Camp A) Lowish mileage during the week and back to back long runs on the weekend.
Camp B) Consistently higher mileage during the week and one very long run on the weekend.

I'm tending right now toward Camp A and the B2B runs with a little more mileage than most people do during the week.  This is not only because I enjoy running long on the trails all weekend, but I'm finding that I can recover pretty well between the two big runs and hopefully avoid injury.  I think the single shot, super long runs take more out of me than I was previously willing to admit and it may have induced the recent peroneal and anterior tibialis ankle injuries.  Well, long running and severe ankle instability.

These last two weekends, I've gotten in some solid B2B runs.  On the first weekend of my first ever B2B weekend, I did 14 miles on Saturday + 22 on Sunday.  The following weekend, I went 19 on Saturday (2 runs that day) + 21 miles of trails on Sunday.  My legs were trashed after this training block, so although I knew I couldn't run an additional 30 miles at the end of Sunday's run (aka finish a 50 miler on that particular day), this kind of training feels like a good compromise between getting the mileage in and respecting that running this far is still very new to my legs.  I need to respect them and where my fitness is really at, rather than where I think it is.

Good Trail Time

These last few weeks I've been able to get back to some great trail running with no pain in the peroneal tendon or in the soleus.  I'm still going in for some PT in a week just to make sure nothing comes back, but so far all signs are positive that I can get back to running the way I want.

So what would be a good week now?  I feel like 80-90 miles over 6 days a week of running, with the majority of these miles on trails would be ideal for where I'm at right now.  Monday a rest day.  I should avoid speedwork for the time being because every time I throw in some tempo or intervals I seem to either irritate or bring up a new little pain somewhere south of the hips.

I did my first back to back (to back) long running block last weekend, with 13 hilly trail miles on Friday, 14.5 on Saturday, and a strong 22 miles on trails at ~8:20/mi on Sunday.  I even did 1:22 of mountain biking before the 22 miler because it was in the 60s and sunny as all get-out.  Legs felt solid afterward without any return pains, so that's a great sign for my first 50 miler at Winona Lake, Indiana in one month.  Took Monday off, which my sticks said was smart.  I liked the long running weekend block, though next time I'll do the longest run Sat and shorter Sun so that I don't invite injury.

Cody at the very hilly Stinchfield Woods

Running with the RUTters

I ran with the RUT group today at Maybury State Park, a new-to-me trail locale just 20 minutes away. RUT is an ultrarunner group based out of Running Fit, a local running store that has been expanding throughout Michigan. I've been following their facebook group for a month or so and decided to meet up. 

Just a dusting of snow, with the sun making an attempt to come out

There were almost a dozen runners when we started, and I ran with 5 super friendly and funny runners on some double track and some single track horse trails and MTB trails. Since I do almost all my running solo, I didn't realize how fun it is to run with other people that love doing what I love, which is running long on trails in the woods. 

I ran with two guys that have finished Leadville and a woman who is running this year. It quickly became apparent that this group is loaded with ultra vets who have done tons of races across the country and seen their share of great races and total crash and burns too. They made me feel welcome right away too, even though they all knew each other and I was obviously the new guy. 

Lots of jokes, making fun of ourselves and each other, telling stories, discussing random things like the difference between a latte and a cappuccino, the possibility of eating one's car with the help of a juicer, and the goofiness of the Hoka One One shoes. 

Great times, looking forward to running with this group again!

February: in like a jerk, out like awesome

T. S. Eliot was wrong.  February is the cruelest month.  The past 4 weeks, I've been battling peroneal tendonitis, an overuse injury to the tendon that goes around the back of the ankle bone and connects to the little toe bone.  In an effort to fix that, I wore some new shoes, the Saucony Kinvaras, which are a less supportive shoe that didn't bother my tendon.  But these shoes put a huge strain on my calves, and I strained/pulled/jacked up my soleus muscle, which is the deep calf muscle near the bone on the backside of the calf, a muscle that's difficult to stretch and massage.



Running is how I escape the blues of going weeks without seeing the sun, and with my respite gone, I returned to the pool and to the bike to maintain aerobic fitness.  Turns out that I've actually really missed biking and swimming!  So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Finally at the end of February my calves and ankles were making real progress, and I was ready to launch my plan of fun.  I'd asked folks on beginnertriathlete, this triathlon website Alaina and I area  part of, where to go within 6 hours driving time from Ann Arbor if we wanted the hilliest running trails and biking roads in the country.  The answer: Red River Gorge in KY.  And so our Eastern Kentucky trip was born.  I had a long weekend already taken off and found a cabin near Red River Gorge picked out, so after Alaina bargained with the owner for a free Friday night, the three of us including Cody were off to tropical Kentucky.

The porch

Arriving Friday night on some DARK and twisty roads, we found other cabin renters drinking beers around a fire and hanging out in their hot tub. Good vibes.  The cabin was even better than we expected, a cozy abode built of natural wood with a fireplace already going when we arrived.  After a nightcap, all three of us were asleep in the king sized bed and ready for adventure the next day.

Playing Hookey

Sometimes having a Friday off is a real treat, even if it does mean I have to work on the weekend.  Everyone else is at work, and you kind of feel like you're playing hookey out on the town.  Or, in my case, since I don't like going into town, it means having the trails all to myself.  

I packed up my awesome hydration pack, the Ultimate Direction Wasp, and headed out toward the Arb with camera in my front pocket and plenty of GU gels to keep me going.  I promised myself that I'd just run to enjoy myself, no specific workout or distance or time required.  I planned on going for anywhere from 10-15 miles, however my legs felt, and snapping some shots of my favorite local trails along the way.  

Started things off in the Arb, where the trails were slick from the snow and rain, but those conditions produced this atmospheric fog that made the place seem alive with magic.

 

                                         

The Arb is chock full of hills, and though they aren't long, after a couple loops your legs begin to feel that incessant pounding of constant ups and downs.  

I finally started listening to the audiobook of Born to Run by McDougall, and though I have some major issues with his writing and a few of his claims in this book, I loved hearing him talk about Ann Trason, the legendary ultrarunner, and her philosophy that distance running is all about getting to know yourself.  That's what this run felt like.

Love that green of the valley floor all year round.

If you click on the Fairy Woods pic, you can see the mini troll and fairy huts that kids have build near the base of these pines.

Eventually I'd run all the best trails at the Arb, so I decided to explore Cedar Bend park, the oldest in Ann Arbor, and I discovered some new trails and some wicked hills.  These trails haven't been maintained much in recent years, so everything feels really raw and old, which it is.  

Not many people want to run or hike on trails along ravines or up washed out trails, so it's also the most empty park I run in.  In essence, it's everything I want in a park: tough, steep trails, near to my house, with no one else out there.

This ravine goes straight down to the Huron River, and in the Winter you get these incredible views of the very bend in the park's name.

Cedar Bend used to have a road through it, but that's been closed for decades, so now it's become a wide loose stone path (not pictured) that meets a dead end road with trails coming off it.  I was up on this road, looking back into history when suddenly I realized I was 10-20 feet from this group of deer.  So, naturally, I took some pictures of them, afterward realizing I'd invaded one deer's privacy as she was relieving herself.  D'oh!

      

It was a great day, topped off by a stop at Leslie Science Center, where I chatted with this Peregrine falcon in one of the outdoor cages.  

Max Joins the Crew

From Thanksgiving to Christmas we had the distinct pleasure of watching our friend's Australian Shepherd, Max, while his owner was hopping though the islands of Indonesia.  She was probably kicking back the equivalent of a Corona while we were freezing our tails off on this run, not that we minded much with these fun pups along for the run.

Stinchfield Woods -- owned by U of M but open to the public -- is where we ran in some of the first snow of the season in early December.  Needless to say, this winter has been weak in terms of snowfall and bone numbing cold, but I'm sure it'll make up for things come February and March.  

Andrea has consulted the local dog whisperer, *ahem* Alaina, many times while raising Max, so he knows the same commands and is as well behaved as our rascal.  Which was awesome because we knew we could have both of them off leash in these deep and rarely used woods.

Stinchfield Woods doesn't allow hunting, which makes it an awesome find for running, but we still put these hi-viz jackets on the dogs so we could see them.  I love Max's playful bounding run, which you can see here with his paw so high off the ground.  He loves life, is far less serious than Cody, and has amazing endurance for a 2 year old.

I always make sure to run through the gravel pit, pictured above, which I think was used for mining at one point in this land's history and now makes for quad crushing hill repeats, as I'm about to test out.

The walls of the gravel pit aren't terrible high, maybe 100 feet at most, but they're steep enough to turn running into hiking toward the top.

This is one of my favorite pictures, with the winter light cascading through the old pines and both dogs tired yet still having the time of their lives.  Oh, and I'm a wee bit happy to be there too.

Those are my trail scouts right there.  Most of Stinchfield looks more like this, with dense woods and trails that are a bit overgrown since the park is both remote and difficult to find parking.  But that leaves it just for those that want to be there the most.  Namely, the Case family.

Why Run 100 Miles?

This morning after my daily run, I was enjoying a cup of yogurt and mentioning to Alaina that the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run was still open for registration.  We tossed around the idea that they were probably just accepting lottery applications.  There's no way you could sign up for this iconic race in the heart of the Colorado Rockies just like that, on a whim.  I'm sure you have to qualify...or something.

Being a curious sort, I filled out the online application, answering medical questions, shoe preference questions and finally credit card information.  And there it was.  The big green* SUBMIT button.  I looked at Alaina and she was smiling like a crazy person.  What was I doing?  

'Wait a second' I said.  'Why am I doing this?'  

"Because you've been thinking about doing a 100 mile race for a while now"

'Right, and this fits everything I want in a race.  Mountains, trails, great time of year.  Will you pace me?  Be in my support crew?"

'Of course!'

                             

And there you have it.  I'm registered for my first 100 mile race.  I feel like a kid on Halloween, all sugared up and spinsy.  The distance scares the crap out of me.  I watch videos on youtube of previous finishers and I get all teared up.  I want to tell everyone I see about this insane adventure, but I'm holding back, not wanting to seem braggy.  At this stage, I have nothing to brag about anyway, aside from being dumb enough to want to run that distance. 

Tomorrow I begin running with new purpose and a big kick in the keister for motivation.  I believe this is the most difficult endurance challenge I've ever taken up, but it's also the most passionate I've ever felt about an event.  It's going to be one helluva great ride.

*may not actually have been green

Mid-land Half Marathon Race Report

The Backstory:

Here’s where I’m at. All I wanna do is run.

I wake up to visions of quiet, dark roads and trails all to myself, watching the sun rise over a frosted ground, and hearing the first birds of the day sing me good morning.

At work I escape the drone life by planning out my next run route and dreaming of being out in the woods again. When I get home I have to resist lacing up my favorite shoes and going out for a second run. Sometimes my will breaks and I’m out in the dark running again.

On a training run, I was listening to Christopher Moore’s book, Lamb, and something stuck with me. Essentially, it’s the idea that you drill something every day over and over, so that the action will become natural, spontaneous, without being diluted by thought. Joshua, aka Jesus in the book, says compassion is this way. He goes on to say love is not something you think about, it’s a state in which you dwell. And running is starting to feel this way too.

But I do need race goals to keep me going. My first ultramarathon, the Huff 50k trail race, is in a month, so I’ve been building my running mileage up to ~70 MPW. And it’s time to litmus test my fitness. Plus, I’m a sucker for a great deal, so when I saw this half-marathon for only $25 bucks, which included pair of gloves, I couldn’t resist.

Event warmup:

The race is in Midland, a little postcard town in the thumb of Michigan. On my way into registration the morning of the race, I chatted with this guy in a Kenya hat for a minute. Nice fella with a beautiful accent who I’d later see passing mile 7 when I was at mile 5, on pace to a 1:08, 1st place finish. Huh? I thought this was a low key race! Amazingly fast. 

   Run

Back at the start, all these rail-thin, track star looking dudes crowded up to the front. My dreams of a high overall place were drifting away like smoke rings from Alice’s caterpillar. I must’ve eaten the wrong side of the ‘shrooms to think I could keep pace with the real runners, even at a race with only ~300 athletes.

Sure enough, a pack of 15 quarter horses burst off the line and never looked back. Knowing I had to run my own race and see what I had left at mile 9, I ran a steady 6:19-6:24/mi for the first 5 miles. This put me precisely into no man’s land. I was way behind the leaders and only able to pass a few early faders who weren’t running consistently enough to draft off. Thankfully, the rail to trail we were on was entirely forest lined, so it shielded from the 10 mph wind.

After the turn around at midpoint, I started feeling really smooth, like my legs were gliding under me without thought. I kicked it up to 6:15/mi and started hearing shouts of encouragement from the runners going the other way. I cheered them back and used the positivity to channel strength in moments of weakness.

The bigger mileage I’ve been investing paid dividends in miles 10-13 as I started reeling in three runners who’d had gaps on me since the start. I was hitting 6:10/mi with a strong effort, but not redlining, and as I saw their outlines grow closer, I knew that I if I could pass them I’d be in the top-10 OA. It was exactly the motivation I needed and felt great to pass them so late in the race.

Quickening my turnover and remembering those early morning sessions at the track gave me enough strength to run hard through to the finish line, which showed an impossible 1:21:31. I had no idea a 3 minute PR time was possible today and couldn’t have been happier. What a great day for a run.

Post race

Warm down:

I congratulated the top finishers, stretched out, grabbed a delicious gyro from a corner pizza shop, and then went for a 20 mile bike ride on the same trail system we ran on, after the last racers had finished. Love this trail system and it was a perfect-o day, so why not?