My wife was going to run the 50k at this event so she paid for
my entry as an early birthday present. I had spent most of the year
either not running (due to injury) and then heart rate training to get
back into running gradually and, hopefully, safely.
The
night before the race Erin and I went to bed about 10 o'clock with
multiple upstairs and downstairs alarms set to go off at 4 am. At two
am I was woken up by my dog who needed to go outside. I took him
outside and then got back to bed.....and laid awake. And then just laid
there some more. And some more. And then my alarm went off. Shit. I
just got up and jumped in the shower decided that I could sleep in the
car after the 6am 50k start. (The half started at 9am so I could get
two/three hours of sleep in the car.)
Ate breakfast (hard
boiled eggs and avacados) and then we were off. Erin started her race
and I went to the car for some sleep. Or to be kept awake by
trailgating relay teams. Shit. I'll just lay here as still as I can
and conserve energy. Then race time approached and saw some of my BARA
(Bloomington Area Runners Association) friends and just kind of waited
for the race to start.
I started off and my heart rate (HR)
was slowly rising as I ran. This was good because usually it would
spike really high on colder mornings and I would have to walk
instantly. The course took a turn over a metal bridge and then up a
pretty steep hill made up of 3 to 6 inch deep mud. Instantly raising my
HR to over 160 (145 being my max). So I have to slow down to a walk
and then I lost my shoe in the mud. The whole time my watch beeping
every 5 seconds **deedledeedledee**. I grab my shoe out of the mud and
throw it back on my foot and tighten the laces around my ankle.
**deedledeedledee** I take about three steps and lose the other shoe in
the mud. I grab that, throw it on, and tighten that one's lace (I use
nathan never ties so it was a quick fix of just pulling the plastic tab
tighter). The only bright spot of this whole thing was running with
Cheryl Hickock during this. **deedledeedledee**
So I had my
shoes on tightly and proceeded to walk up this mud pile of a hill.
Except my **deedledeedledee** heart rate was not going down. The mud
and the incline was making my body work too hard. So I decide to
aggressively hike the hill and walk at the top to lower my heart rate.
**deedledeedledee**Lots of walking to lower the heart rate. Finally it
goes down and I caught up with Cheryl again. So I ran with her a little
ways and then **deedledeedledee**. I could tell that I was annoying
the other runners around me and I was increasingly getting frustrated
myself. That's when I decided to step off the trail and switch my
Garmin to a simple training program. And that's when the fun began.
I just took off like a dog after being cooped up all day !!! I
couldn't help but smile. This was the first time off HR training since
getting back off running in March. I just zipped along and slogged
through the mud. Hitting hills and dodging giant mud pits and running
through others. We got through the campground and then on trail 9 which
Erin and I had run several weeks before. I had caught up to a small
group of 8 or 9 runners and we cruised along in a single file line for
quite awhile. Then we came upon a pretty good sized hill and the group
slowed down to hike up it. I kind of went to the left and began running
up. The others saw this and stepped off the trail for me and one girl
asked "Are you gonna run it?" I nodded and picked up my pace. Then as I
out front they all started clapping !!! It was the coolest thing !!! I
got up that hill (the first hill I've run since probably October!!!
With HR training you walk up hills to keep your HR down) and could feel
the lactic acid building in my thighs. But it was totally worth it
!!! A few minutes or so later and I was at the top and by myself. I
came around a turn and there was a mom with her sons looking for morel
mushrooms and I jumped over a tree that had fallen on the trail. I got
around another turn and started heading down some switchbacks and
couldn't see anyone ahead of me.
Halfway down the
switchbacks I caught a runner coming fast out of my peripherals. I came
to another turn in the switchbacks and yelled "Ben Bartley !!!" Ben
was running the 50 mile race and he was catching up fast. I got out
of his way and ran behind him and we chatted for a little while. We
came to an incline and were catching up with other runners. He was
politely asking to pass and I followed him through. Then he started
pulling ahead. Then was gone. (Ben would eventually win the 50 mile
race and set a new course record) I came to a fork in the trail and the
half marathon took a right while the 50 miler and 50k route went left
towards hesitation point. (Which I was thankful for, I don't know if my
legs could have handled the other big trail 9 hills....let alone the
incline up to hesitation point). So I continued to go along and noticed
that my HR was hanging around 160 and my pace was about 10 minutes a
mile or so....i was slowing down from the 9 minutes I was doing since
taking myself of HR. (I had no idea what mile i was at because I forgot
to note where I stopped the HR training and switched to a basic
training program.)
This part of the trail headed back to
the campground area and eventually I was running past campers, tents,
and on roads. I passed another aid station but didn't stop since I was
carrying a water bottle. Then the trail turned back into the sloppy
horsetrails again. I was having a blast running through the mud and
navigating to dry spots then stomping in a giant mud puddles. Charging
up hills and passing people, offering and receiving
encouragement....loving it !!!
It was somewhere around
here that the trail took a minor detour for some bushwhacking. For
about fifty feet or so I had to duck and jump over some branches. This
part opened out into another trail and I spotted a self-serve aid
station out of the corner of my eye. Then I caught my toe on something
and started to fall. I lowered my shoulder and rolled with it. I
somersaulted to my feet and kept going. Shortly after that my right
shoulder had a little twinge developing in it. I couldn't tell what was
causing it. Was it the fall, my handheld water bottle, or maybe it
wasn't a good idea to do 110 pull-ups the day before while at work. So
then I started switching my waterbottle from hand to hand. I never
carry my waterbottle in my left hand so this was awkward. If my car key
wasn't in it's pocket, I probably would have just tossed it to the side
of the trail. It was around here that I started feeling nauseous. So I
drank some water hoping that would help but it instantly got worse.
Fuck. I looked at my Garmin and my pace was slowing but my HR was still
hovering around 160. I slowed my pace some more and I started to
stabilize.
The trail came upon a nice looking vista to the
left and I looked out into the distance as I ran. The trail was
gradually inclining and I started to catch a small pack of runners.
Then the trail opened up and i was staring down a super muddy former ski
slope of the closed down ski world. I knew the end was in sight and I
side stepped around some long haired dude who was trying to figure out
how to get down this shit storm. I just threw caution to the wind and
barreled down recklessly. "Go mountain goat !!!" the guy yelled at me
and I started laughing. (Probably sounding a little like a crazy
person) But I was having a blast !!! I knew the end was near. All i
had to do was get down this giant hill without breaking myself and the
rest is cake !!!
The course wound around a creek and up ahead
I saw people standing by the creek. Why the fuck are they standing
there? Oh, because the course goes through the creek. Awesome !!! I
came up to a group of three girls who were hesitant about getting in.
Just as I stepped into some weeds to go around them one of the girls
slipped and awkwardly fell on her leg with it bent behind her on the
bank and her other leg in the water. I asked her if she needed help and
had my arms ready to grab her to hoist her up. She said no and I
jumped in the water before i knew it. I started to run high knees until
it got to about my waist. Finally got through that unexpected fun (now
with all the mud washed off) and got to dry land and saw the property
line where the chute was located. I looked at my Garmin and my pace had
slowed again. Considering the water i wasn't surprised. So then I
booked it toward the chute with all I had left. And it was awesome. I
could hear Bill Bartley yell my name as I entered the chute, my friend
Heather handed me my medal, and came out the other end feeling awesome
and, most importantly, uninjured !!! The past five months of core
workouts and balance workouts my physical therapists had me doing paid
off !!!
Alicia, who had finished a minute or two before me,
looked at me and said something like "You didn't do that heart rate
training" and I said I had to turn it off. I walked off a little and
looked at my Garmin. The data field i was looking at was set to the
time of day and not my pace !!! No wonder I thought I was getting
slower....it was just time going by !!! Classic !!!
By the numbers
Overall I finished at 2:13:41 on a kick ass challenging mud strewn course. My average pace was 10:12 miles.
My
pace while heart rate training the first two miles was 13:43 minute
miles. My pace for the rest of the race after ditching the heart rate
training was 9:24 minute miles. At one point my cadence got up to 200
steps per minute !!! I have never recorded a cadence that fast !!!
