Once again it has been a while since a blog update. Hopefully we will have a couple upcoming since we just closed on our new house last week. However, the topic of this post is a race report. That’s right; I do still race from time to time. This race was also a bit of a milestone for me; being my longest trail race…taking me ever closer to the abyss that is ultra-running.
Throughout all of 2014 I have been inching up my average running volume. Partially this is because running is the easiest of the triathlon activities to knock out in limited time and mostly because running is where I started with endurance sports and seems to be where I always circle back…it’s where my sporting heart lies.
Philosophical musings aside; I have gotten to a point where 40-50 mile weeks are the norm and I’m edging up to 60-70 mile weeks when in a build for a particular race. I’m not sure there’s a point to highlighting my training volume other than to say I came into my goal race this past weekend with a strong endurance base.
A little about the race itself: The Topo Trail Marathon was held the first Sunday in December at East Fork State Park, about 45 minutes east of Cincinnati. It is run by the Topo Adventure Sports team, who host numerous regional trail and adventure racing events. I have had prior experience running their “no frills” winter trail running series races, so had an idea of what to expect from a race hosting standpoint. They do a great job of course planning (and in some cases replanning) and tend to know what dedicated trail runners are looking for, which usually isn’t much other than trails. The inaugural trail marathon was a larger undertaking and included “upgrades” from the normal offerings including medals, tech shirts and chip timing. As with any first year event there were some hiccups, but overall from a runner’s perspective it seemed an efficient operation. The course was a ~6.5 mile loop (a little short per my GPS, but accurate trail measurements are hard to take), so they also had shorter race options of a 1 loop and 2 loop (half marathon).
The week leading up to the race was unseasonably wet, with steady rain falling from Thursday through Saturday morning (less than 24 hours before start) and low to mild temperatures. For this reason, the organizers had to change the course to less fragile trails to limit the amount of erosion we would cause (and also make the course more runnable I assume). The new course included a mile on roads at the start of each loop and a section ~1 mile long on a mostly paved park access road in the middle of the loop. The rest of the course was dirt (mud) single-track trails.
The impending muddiness had me less enthusiastic going into the event than I normally would be. I wasn’t worried about getting muddy…that’s just par for the course when trail running. My main concern was the course would be so “squishy” it would be nearly impossible to run and the day would end up an excruciatingly long hike. However, when the sun was shining on race morning and the director indicated the new course was pretty firm (including showing us the lack of mud on his shoes), my spirits rose and I was ready to go.
Since the first mile was on roads, I decided to take it out faster than goal pace so I could get ahead of as many people as possible before entering the trail to take advantage of one lap of only minimally trampled mud. I knew with the shorter events starting at the same time we got to lap 2 the previously semi-firm trail would be worked up and more sticky. I entered the woods with about 20 or so runners ahead of me…mission accomplished.
Once on the trail I started evaluating the footing which was initially pretty firm. I was able to still hold a pretty good pace for the next mile, but started consciously backing myself off since there was a lot of running yet to be done. I let a few groups pass who looked to be more aggressive and eased into my comfort zone. The first 3 miles of the loop were pretty fast, being more downhill than up and including both paved sections. The mile around mile 4 was the most difficult and slowest. The remainder of the loop was a mixed bag, with some stretches that rolled but allowed for good speed, a couple steep climbs and slippery descents, and a few tricky bridge crossings (no rails!). Most of the first lap I spent mentally mapping the course so I’d be able to talk myself through the laps ahead.
I came through lap 1 at just about 50 minutes…almost 10 minutes ahead of my expected pace. I waved to my parents who came out to the start with me, showed off a less than graceful slip in the mud right in front of them, and headed out for lap 2 with a small group. For the next 3 miles our group ran as a pack. I gathered that the most vocal of the group was an experienced ultra-runner so I thought he’d be a good guide for the middle portion of the race. Unfortunately, he took a tumble early in mile 3 and slowed his pace quite a bit afterward and the group started to break apart. I went ahead with another runner, but was soon on my own again.
With about 1.5 miles left in lap two, my body was letting me know it was time for a bathroom break. We had got to the course only 20 minutes before the race and there was a line at the time so I passed on a pre-race trip. Luckily I was close enough to the end of the lap that I was able to take a pit stop just before heading out for lap 3. The port-a-john was ever so slightly angled backward relative to the ground, so I had a difficult time standing up to leave (and of course had the fear of it tipping always in the back of my mind). Business done, I left for lap 3 still feeling strong.
On the first mile of this lap I met up with the ultra-runner again, but his pace had slowed some so I exchanged some well-wishes in passing this time. Thinking back on lap 3, I don’t remember much worthy of highlighting. The course was getting increasingly sloppy in the wet-spots due to the traffic churn and the rising temperatures so footing was increasingly a challenge. I took a couple tumbles in laps 3 and 4, but all were of the trip and roll variety and left me mostly clean and uninjured.
My main focus for lap 3 was to fight the urge to speed up and to keep up a steady nutrition and hydration regimen. I had a hand-held water bottle that I refilled each lap at the 1 mile aid station. I also grabbed gels with caffeine at this station (2 each for laps 2 and 3, 1 for lap 4). The five gels and my Indian from the previous night’s dinner were my calorie fuel sources.
Near the end of lap 3, I started passing other full distance runners that were slowing in the later laps. As I came through the lap 3 banner I knew I was in line for a strong finish. My legs were starting to stiffen a bit, but my energy was still good and I knew I could hold up. I passed a woman just as we entered lap 4 (who turned out to be the overall female winner) and as we headed out she joked about catching me on the hills later in the lap. Subconsciously, I think that caused me to speed up for the paved first mile and give myself a nice buffer. I never saw her again and finished about 5 minutes ahead so it must have worked.
As I hit the 2nd paved section (just after mile 2), my legs really started aching with the pounding. My feet were already wet and were starting to get tenderer. I was worried that I was starting to fall apart, but as soon as I hit the trails again everything felt much better. Over the last 3.5 miles I used the mental maps I created to divide the remaining course into segments (i.e. the “tough 10 minutes” surrounding the mile 4 marker). I also took a few more risks with pacing in tricky spots. In the last 2 miles I steadily passed a few other runners (I think I was lapping them) who provided great motivation to keep up the pace. With about .25 miles to go I took my last fall for good measure and then jogged into the finish, where Susan and Lily had arrived to see me in…a nice bonus.
Post-race, the effort hit me and I was stiff, tired, and hungry. However, the pain was eased a bit by learning that I finished 6th overall. Also, I knew if I needed to I could have knocked out another lap (at a slower pace with more nutrition). All told, the race went far better than I had anticipated and provided a nice cap to the 2014 running season.
