Well, this was originally going to be the weekend that I ran the Illinois Marathon, but that trip got canceled. So I found a local event to do instead - the Jordan Lake 12-hour Challenge. The idea here is you run lots of laps on a relatively short loop (1.35 miles) and whoever does the most laps in 12 hours wins.
Doing the math, I thought this might be an opportunity to do my first 50-mile run. As a stretch goal, I thought it would be cool if I could pull off a double marathon (52.4 miles).
Once my Illinois trip got canceled, I switched back to trail running for my training. (I had been doing my last few long runs on the road.) My last 20-mile long trail run was pretty miserable. But I wasn't well rested that day, so I didn't get too discouraged.
On race day, I stopped at McDonalds on the way and got my usual order of 2 sausage egg and cheese McMuffins. The night before, I had half of a large Mellow Mushroom Mighty Meaty pizza. Needless to say, I had plenty of calories on board. I also loaded up on caffeine with a Diet Mt Dew that I drank on the way, as well as a 5-hour Energy shot before the start.
Side note: I downloaded all the male racers' split times from the live tracking site that the race used. I plotted the data in Excel to reconstruct how my position was changing during the race, and when. Otherwise, I would not have remembered the exact lap numbers when I moved up/down a spot. If you're interested, you can see the charts here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3HzHd5-7-xzaFJLRWxmUnpaU1k
Anyway, I arrived about 30 minutes before the start - plenty of time to pick up my bib, fill my water bottle, and line up. The race director went over the instructions for the race, and then we were off!
The first lap was all about getting familiar with the course. It was fairly well-marked. They also had volunteers out on the course directing people on the first lap, to make sure everyone knew where they were going.
In addition to the 12-hour solo race, there was a 12-hour relay race. The relay racers were easy to spot because they had to carry a baton. There was also a 6-hour solo and 6-hour relay race. It wasn't possible (as far as I could tell) to determine who was in the 6-hour event versus the 12-hour event. Except, that the really fast solo people were probably in the 6-hour event - although you never know...
So, not knowing who was who, I went out at a somewhat reasonable speed (probably a little too fast). The course was pretty flat by "trail race" standards, and not technical at all. In other words, it was a fast course. I did about a 9 min/mile pace on the first lap (12:08 lap time) and when I crossed the timing strip, saw I was in first place. Now I definitely knew I was going too fast!
It was still pretty comfortable temperature-wise. I had on a short-sleeve cycling/skating jersey and a headband. I settled into a moderate pace on lap 2 (12:39 lap time) and when I crossed the timing strip, saw I had dropped to 4th place. There was a big tv near the timing strip that showed your name, # of laps, current placement, and time behind the leader. So, that was really the only information I had during the race to know where I was relative to everyone else. I suspect the people that had friends/crew there were getting more detailed updates since the data was posted live during the race. But I never knew how close behind the next person was, for example - or how close I was to the person in front of me. I only knew how far behind 1st place I was.
So lap 3 was 13:05 - getting a little more reasonable/sustainable on the pace now. But I dropped again to 5th place. Lap 4 I regained 4th place. At this point, we're just over an hour into the race. I held onto 4th place until lap 10, where I dropped back into 5th place again. My lap times have settled into about 14 minutes per lap, or just over 10:00 min/mile.
Another side note: I had run into a minor problem before I left the house in the morning. When I grabbed my GPS watch, the battery was dead! (It was fully charged the night before.) I'm not sure what happened, but I grabbed the charging cable and charged it in the truck on the way to the event. It got up to 91% before I had to unplug it. Fast forward 4 or 5, and I notice it has already dropped below 70% - it's never going to make it. By lap 8, it was below 65% - so I ended up turning off GPS for the remainder of the race. I wanted to make sure I had heart rate data, which was more important than GPS data since I was just running a loop.
As it turns out, disabling GPS was even less of a problem, since the watch reverted to "treadmill mode" and estimated my speed/distance according to my cadence. It wasn't exact, but I could periodically compare it against the official distance on the timing screen and know approximately how much it was off. By the halfway mark, it was off by about 1 mile. At the end of the event, it was overestimating by 2 miles.
On lap 13, I took a quick pit stop to grab some more gels, and apply some lube to my underarms that felt like they might start to get chafed. I also ditched my jersey and went shirtless for the remainder of the race. The sun was starting to get pretty intense.
Yet another side note: I put some 2Toms Sport Shield on my toes before the race, and it worked great! I highly recommend it... This was the first time I tried it, which could have been a disaster. But it all worked out... I used Gold Bond Friction Defense in the chafing-prone areas (that I was aware of) and that worked pretty well too.
On lap 18, I retook 4th place. My lap times are slowing a little more - probably 14:30 - 15:00 per lap. At this point I'm thinking 4th place would be a pretty legit finish! So I kept chugging along. We're about 4 hours in at this point. I haven't had a pee break yet, although I've had the urge for a while. My strategy going in was to minimize my stops, even if I had to walk. Just keep moving forward. I figured people might linger at the aid station, and that's where I could gain some distance on them.
On lap 22, I finally took a quick pee break. It's around noon now, and the temperature is quite warm. The porta-john was like a sauna (worst sauna ever) but fortunately I wasn't in there very long. The quick stop didn't cost me in terms of my placement - I was still in 4th place when I crossed the mat.
The first place guy had steadily been increasing his lead this whole time. In fact, he was about 35 minutes ahead of me and had lapped me twice. I had no idea where #2 and #3 were. Looking back at the data now, though, I can see we were all pretty close to each other - within a couple minutes.
Toward the end of lap 24, I started to feel kinda crampy in my stomach/abdomen. Felt like it was more than just gas, or an upset stomach. I soon realized "uh oh - I have to poop". No way I was going to suffer in the porta john. Fortunately, there was an actual bathroom for the park maybe 100-150 feet off the course, just after the start/finish line. So I finished my lap, refilled my bottle, and bolted for the bathroom. That added a solid 6 minutes or so to my time for lap 25. But, when I made my way around again, I saw I was still in 4th place, and considerably lighter. :-)
Now we're about 6 hours in, which was nice because all the 6-hour event people are off the course and I know if I pass someone (or get passed) they're in the 12-hour event. I'm also starting to wish I had signed up for the 6-hour event! My legs were already pretty tired. I also couldn't stand to drink any more gatorade, or eat anything sweet (including gels). I did drink a can of Mt Dew, which was tough getting down - but I thought (incorrectly) the carbonation might help. Up to this point, I was alternating between the Vanilla Gu gels I brought with me, and PB&J sandwiches and bananas that the race had. (They had lots of other stuff too, but I figured those were safe.) Of course I never train with that type of food, so that could have contributed to the GI distress. I've also been running longer than I ever had previously - so I was in uncharted territory with respect to everything.
It's getting *really* hot out too, as if it wasn't difficult enough already. But I kept moving. Lap times are averaging about 17-18 minutes now. I'm walking the hills - which I probably should have started doing earlier. I'm still running the flats and downhills though.
On lap 31, I moved into 3rd place and suddenly was much closer to 1st place! I was no longer down 2 laps - I was only 3:30 behind! What I didn't know at the time was the guy that led pretty much the whole race had dropped. So now 1st-3rd place were all pretty close to each other. We're now 8 hours into the race - 2/3 done!
On lap 32, I moved into 2nd place! This is nuts! My GI distress had settled down somewhat, so I was able to eat again. I was still just drinking water though. I figure my heart rate was low enough (on average) that I was probably able to tap into some fat reserves, instead of relying solely on carbs for energy.
About this time, we finally got a break from the heat! The sky darkened, the temperature fell, and we got about 5-10 minutes of rain. After the rain stopped, it probably stayed cool for another 15-20 minutes. Then, the sky cleared and it became miserably hot again. From that point on, I started filling my water bottle with ice, and topping it off with water. The water was pretty cold on its own, but this kept it cold. I think it made a difference. There was one lap where I could feel myself getting a little lightheaded. I may have been starting to overheat. After drinking some of the ice cold water, my head cleared a bit.
In the meantime, I slowly fell further behind 1st place. At lap 38, I was almost 10 minutes behind. But I still held onto 2nd place. That definitely kept me motivated. Although I really would have liked to know how far back 3rd place was. For all I knew, he was only a minute behind. (As it turned out, he was about 5 minutes behind at that point.)
Lap 39 came, and I hit my double-marathon stretch goal! 10:15:09. So now I had 1:45 left to see how much I could add to it.
Unfortunately, this is about the time that my calf muscles decided they wanted to start cramping up. Fortunately, it was usually if I tried running a little of the uphills, so that just forced me to keep walking the uphills. My pace slowed a little bit, but I was still doing about 17:30-18:00 per lap. At this point, I was thinking in terms of how many laps I could complete before time ran out - since "4 laps to go" actually sounds pretty reasonable.
Everything hurt. My quads, as expected. My hips were really bad. Knees, shins. I had taken a couple doses of ibuprofen throughout the day, but it was hard to tell if it had made a difference. At best, it took the edge off a little bit.
I fell further behind 1st place. At lap 42, I was about 15 minutes behind. But I also noticed on the timing screen that 3rd place was doing sub-15:00 laps now. Depending on how far back he was, he might catch me! (Fortunately, he was 16 minutes behind - almost a whole lap - but I didn't know that at the time.)
I cranked out another lap, and the leader passed me (lapped me). Up until that point, I thought there might be a chance I could still do the same number of laps as him, since partial laps don't count. At the rate he was going, I knew he could fit in two more laps. I *might* be able to fit in two more laps, but that would still leave me a lap behind. At the end of lap 43, there was just under 34 minutes left. It would be close. I tried to pick up the pace, but I was close to cramping the whole time. I managed to complete lap 44 in 17:22. The clock said there was 16:00 remaining, and I knew there was no way I could finish another lap before time expired. So it was a relief that I didn't have to run anymore, but now I needed to worry about whether the 3rd place guy would cruise through and still have enough time to hammer out another lap.
He didn't. He completed lap 44 with about 4 minutes to spare. So we tied on distance, but I completed the laps quicker, so I got 2nd place.
The winner ended up doing 46 laps, so he definitively beat everyone!
Race results: http://my.raceresult.com/71326/results
Race results (ultrasignup): http://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=42694#id1171850
Photos of me: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10212274491519605.1073741846.1297879624&type=1&l=0929a13d54
All event photos: https://www.facebook.com/pg/chathamcountypartnershipforchildren/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10154726048881225
So now I guess the next step is to try a 100k event - probably one that's hillier than this. In the meantime, I need to figure out a nutrition strategy that'll work. The key I think will be to find something I can tolerate eating that isn't sweet - since I'll be getting more than enough 'sweet' from whatever sport drink I'm drinking. Potato chips seemed to work okay this time - but they'd be difficult to carry without turning into crumbs. (Maybe that's not a bad thing anyway.)
I didn't notice it during the race, but I had some pretty bad chafing when I finished. I was walking around like a cowboy that just finished a two week cattle drive. So perhaps more lube in the trouble spots will be in order. It hasn't been a problem in the past, but this was more than double the duration of my previous longest run. And it's not like you can go out and run 12 hours to find this stuff out ahead of time - you just have to be prepared to deal with things as they come up. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
I expected to be more sore the day after. I certainly am sore, but it's manageable. The chafing is healing quickly. Depending on the weather, I may go for a short run Monday or Tuesday. (Although the current forecast calls for rain, which I'm not thrilled about running in right now.)
My next event is Grayson Highlands 50k in two weeks. We'll see if I have enough time to recover. If not, I may be stopping a lot to take pictures during that one. :-) No more ultras on the schedule after that - just a couple Tough Mudders. I'll probably try to incorporate more skating to get ready for my fall inline races.
(Also known as - how not to run a 50k!)
It's been a busy week for sure, but that's given me more time to contemplate everything that happened last weekend. This was my first 50k event, so I guess I'm officially an "ultra runner" now. I felt pretty prepared going into it - I've been running all my long runs on the Mountains-to-See Trail, which is moderately hilly and technical. My longest trail run up to that point was 22 miles, and I felt pretty good after that. Still, I know from other experiences (A2A 2002), that being prepared isn't everything. You have to have a plan for race day. And a plan b. And a plan c. There was a great quote in one of the late 90's A2A videos. I'm not sure who said it, but she said "you have to respect the distance". So true...
Wicked Root is held in George Poston Park in Gastonia, NC. (Near Charlotte.) Jaime and I drove down the night before and stayed in a hotel 10 minutes from the park. I got my usual "A2A" breakfast of double chocolate muffins and Gatorade. Before the race started, I also ate a Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie, and a Vanilla Gu. I figure I had about 1000 calories before the start.
This is a small race - registration was limited to 50 people for the 50k, and 30 people for the 10-mile option. So it's pretty relaxed and casual at runner check-in. The race started at 8am for the 10-mile, and 8:15 for the 50k. I arrived around 7:15, since we had to check-in by 7:30. At 7:45, the race director went through the race information (how the course is marked, what's at the aid stations, etc). After that, we waited around for a few more minutes to get started.
It had rained overnight, but was barely sprinkling while we were waiting. And I think the rain stopped altogether by the time we started. Temperature was cool - I think mid-40s. I wore shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, and a long-sleeved jersey. I lined up near the front of the pack, and suddenly the race director just looked at us and said "go" (or something to that effect). And we were off. No countdown, no buildup - just a casual "get the hell out of here", basically. :-)
The 10-mile and the 50k courses are identical. The 50k is just 3 laps of the 10-mile course. We started out with a loop around the parking lot, which was useful for spreading people out before we hit the single track trail. I was running close to 3 other guys - I wouldn't call us a "pack", but we were within 50 feet of each other. I figure I was somewhere around 6-7th place. We're crushing the uphills and downhills, and having a pretty good time. Some of the downhills were pretty tricky because of the rain, and parts of the trail were a bit muddy - that's something I had not really trained for, so I was very mindful of my footing.
About 2 miles in, we came across a runner laying down on the trail. This was about halfway down a semi-tricky descent. We stopped to see if he was okay, and he wasn't. Bad enough that he didn't even want us to help move him off the trail. There wasn't much we could do except keep running to the first aid station, where we could send back help. Later, we found out he had dislocated his hip... :-(
The first few miles were pretty good. I knew from looking at the route ahead of time, that miles 3, 4, and 5 were the toughest in terms of climbing. That definitely turned out to be true. They were also the most technical parts of the trail, I think. Very rocky in parts of it. At this point, I'm still with a couple other guys, so feeling good and not paying too close attention to pace, etc. My watch doesn't pick up a good signal when trail running, so it's hard to know exactly how far you've gone, or how fast. I'm bombing down the descents with much gusto, and running up the hills. We get through the technical part to the "soccer field loop" - and that was really nice. Lots of cushy pine needles, much flatter than the previous few miles... It was my favorite part of the course. There was one part (perhaps just before the soccer field loop) that I nearly made a wrong turn, but the guy right behind me yelled and got me on the right path. I was following another guy - so we made sure he turned around as well.
The three of us made our way through the last few miles of loop one. We were joined by a fourth guy a couple miles before the end of the loop. At one point, we came out onto a gravel road for maybe 200 yards. With more room to spread out, they all ended up passing me and put a significant gap on me before we got back on the last section of single track that led to the start/finish line.
I came out of the woods to the aid station at the start/finish line, called out my number, and refilled my water bottle. The race director said something to me about my time, and I commented that I was pretty sure I shot my wad on lap 1. I looked at my watch and saw it was about an hour and a half, which is pretty fast (for me) for 10 miles on single track. But I didn't feel too bad - yet.
I started lap 2 with another tour of the parking lot. I ran past my beautiful wife who came out to support me. Just before the turn onto the trail, I remembered that I had intended to ditch my long sleeved shirt. So I quickly took it off (with the help of a volunteer) and left it there near the start line.
A couple miles into lap 2, I knew I was in trouble. Sure enough, fatigue was starting to set in with a vengeance. I had definitely gone too fast on lap 1. Soon, I was walking up every hill - even hills that should be runnable. I was by myself pretty much all of lap 2. But due to the nature of the course, I would see people running the other way on the switchbacks. Some were ahead of me, some behind me.
About halfway through lap 2, I had my first fall - another sign I was fatigued. BUT - I had the presence of mind to "tuck and roll" and came out unscathed. That's the only time I've run so far that I've been able to do that. Honestly, though, I think I was just too tired to try to "save" the fall. But I was very proud of myself nonetheless! And it definitely didn't take as much energy, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to do that more in the future. A couple miles after that, I fell again, but was going so slow I basically just dropped to a knee and caught myself with my hands. The fall was caused by me kicking something with my right toe - hard... My right calf also started spasming after that, and gave me trouble the rest of the race. (Similar to what my left calf did at the end of the Umstead Marathon.)
I continued my slow pace through lap 2, and eventually made it back to the start. Lap 2 time was about 1:51. Another refill, and a quick bathroom break, and I was off again for lap 3. It was certainly tempting, though, to just say "screw it" and call it a day. I literally had to run right past my truck (and loving wife). But mama didn't raise no quitters - so I kept going.
I slowed down even more on lap 3. I was (again) walking every uphill. I was very conservative on every downhill. I didn't trust my legs anymore, and didn't want to risk an injury on a descent. I did manage to pass a couple people that were suffering more than me. I also lapped several people. One person told me I was in 6th place, which I didn't believe - but it still motivated me to keep going.
During the "soccer field loop", I became aware of a woman that was gaining on me. I didn't have the legs to outrun her, so she eventually passed me. I think that was the only person to pass me on laps 2 or 3. I completed lap 3 without any falls or injuries - just over five and a half hours.
Later I learned that I finished 9th out of 37 people. There were perhaps 8-10 people that DNF'd. My finish time was officially 5:33:15 - a few seconds faster than what I recorded on my watch.
Official results:
https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=41030
Splits from GPS:
Lap 1: ~ 1:34:40
Lap 2: ~ 3:26:02 (1:51:22)
Lap 3: ~ 5:33:21 (2:07:19) - includes (short) bathroom break
There wasn't much happening at the finish line, so I didn't stick around too long. After I stretched out, I thanked the organizer, packed up my stuff, and took off. Post-race meal was a bacon double cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake at Cook Out.
Other fun facts - I figure I ate around 6100 calories that day. Garmin says I burned about 3750 calories during the 50k, which I think may be a little low. (I would have guessed around 4500.)
It took a while, but my calf eventually recovered - probably a week later. Rumor is that there will be a 100k option next year. That'll be tempting if I do that event again. Although I'd rather do a course that wasn't repeating the same lap again and again. We'll see what else is on the calendar that time next year.
This was a really low-key race, and a great first 50k. The organizer did a great job, as did all of the volunteers. Definitely recommended!
What's next? Well, the Illinois Marathon is in a week and a half - which may be my last road marathon that I do. (Trail running is definitely more my thing now.) After that, Grayson Highlands 50k - which will have TWICE the ascent that Wicked Root had. So pacing on that one will be critical. I've been training on asphalt the last few weeks getting ready for my road marathon - after that it'll be back to the trails to prepare for Grayson Highlands.
So I think my major takeaway from Wicked Root is to not get caught up in the excitement at the start, and to be more conservative in my pacing. Looking at the finishing times, I think I could have placed as high as 6th. Still, 9th place is nothing to complain about! I think I managed my eating/drinking well - though I should train more with gatorade leading up to Grayson Highlands.
Finally, there's only 361 days until Georgia Death Race 2018 - which I'll definitely be running. Assuming I finish Grayson Highlands, that'll qualify me to participate. And, since I volunteered at GDR 2017 this past weekend, I should have a spot for 2018. I'll be better able to gauge potential finishing times after Grayson Highlands - but I'm guessing GDR will be a 19-20 hour effort. So I have a year to get stronger and faster, and maybe bring that time down a little bit.
Anyway, I arrived about 30 minutes before the start - plenty of time to pick up my bib, fill my water bottle, and line up. The race director went over the instructions for the race, and then we were off!
