Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The Trail Marathon 50k (2014)



FOREPLAY (Training, lead-up)

Coldest, snowiest, worst winter ever, in all of human history. Most diabolical conditions imaginable for running and training for a spring marathon. Fortunately I had a secret motivator, "The Winter Running Game", an online run-tracking pseudo contest that my friend and pacer Andy Johnston created. I had to log every minute of mileage, and the worse the weather was, the more points I would get for my runs. There were three groups; I signed up for the most hardcore group and finished in the top 5 in terms of total points. It was the most I'd ever run during a winter since I started running 7 years ago. Motivation comes in many shapes and sizes, apparently.

Once the thaw started I had limited opportunities to get in my long runs. I did a couple of 15's, one 17 and that was about it. Not great training for a 50k, but my last long race was the 100 miler in the fall so how hard could a 50k really be, compared to that? Never thought I'd see the day when I thought of a 50k as a "sprint", but alas, here we are. It makes sense: back when I could only run 2-3 miles at a time, I thought a 10 mile race was impossible. All a matter of degrees. Or perspective. Whatever.

The week leading up to the Sunday race was not an ideal setup; I flew to Vegas on Monday for 3 days of company meetings, flew back and fought back jet lag, then Saturday had to spend 5 hours on my feet for an inventory. Finally got home, had some Arby's and a couple of whiskey & cokes for my carb-loading meal and slept about 5 hours.

THE DEED (a.k.a. The Race)

About mid- to upper-30's at the start. Looking at the radar it showed what I thought was a big rainstorm coming, so I tied my rain jacket to my waist. Never rained a drop. Off we went and I felt great. Ran the uphills, flats and downhills, fairly easily maintaining about a 10:30 pace, which is way too fast for me. Part of the problem was in my ears...I was listening to the first 8 Black Sabbath albums which had recently been re-released as a box set and showed up on my doorstep just a couple weeks prior. I really need to listen to quieter, mellower music when I start a race like this, so that I don't go out too fast. Elliott Smith, not Geezer Butler.

Early on I was having a weird discomfort on the outside of my left foot near the pinky toe. Not the first time I've had this. Almost feels like I need to crack a knuckle in my foot...Which I tried to do a couple of times; got temporary relief, but it persisted. Also was having left Achilles issues. I wasn't crazy about having these problems so early in the race, but with it only being a 50k sprint I felt I could get through it maybe.

Finished the first 13.1 in 2:30, which was plenty fast and put me significantly ahead of my goal (wanted to finish in 7:00). So I made a decision to take the second 13.1 much easier, particularly by walking the uphills. Almost immediately my weird discomfort and Achilles issues went away. I found that second half marathon much, much more enjoyable. Finding your sweetspot pace and maintaining it through a long trail run creates a Zen, a flow that just feels so damn right. Hills don't really matter, flats feel effortless and the runner's high is felt, and appreciated, Fully.

I was drinking plenty, probably not eating enough but I didn't need a ton of food for a race this distance. Volunteers were super nice and supportive (was that one guy at the aid station really in a penis-and-balls costume?). Course was well-marked. I was a little concerned about muddy trails but the whole trail network was in great shape the entire way.

After finishing the marathon in about 5:27 there's a 5 mile loop that starts with a pretty brutal climb...however it didn't seem as awful as I'd remembered when I did this race a couple of years ago. It was still bad, but maybe my blissful, heavy-metal-fueled trail-zen made it more tolerable. Anyway that last loop is the best part of the race for me. Just feels more remote, separate from the rest of the race and the world, a chance to cap off a wonderful morning with just a few more solo trail miles set aside just for me.

PILLOW TALK (a.k.a. Looking Back)

Finished in 6:30. Not a Personal Best or Worst, very respectable for my ability level. (This is where you should think to yourself, "I thought he was calling this a 'sprint'? A 6.5 hour sprint? 12:30 pace?? Whatev." That's what you should be thinking at this point.) Those winter miles definitely helped. There's just no substitute for mileage. I had a salty forehead so I think I went a little heavy on the Endurolytes salt pills. It was in the low 50's when we finished but I was really cold, so I didn't stand around to bask in the glow. Maybe I should have because when I got to my car to sit and rest for a bit my right leg started to cramp up pretty badly.

In the days after my legs were sore but healed pretty quickly. I put the foam roller to my legs that night which, I'm sure, helped, especially with my IT bands.

This race was another great reminder of the importance of running MY pace, all the way through. I think we all have a sweet-spot pace. God I'm almost quoting the movie The Legend of Baggar Vance when he talks about how everyone's got their own golf swing or something like that. Ugh. Maybe I'd better throw in Sabbath Bloody Sabbath or Vol. 4 for one more listen.