A couple of months ago my friend Rick and I signed up to do a two man relay at an event called "Eight hours of Payne." This event was an eight hour endurance run where a runner would run either a 10k course or a 5k course for eight hours. Each runner can pick and choose which distance they wanted to run each lap with the idea of running 8 total hours. The event was to be held at the Paynetown state recreational area. I guess I say "was" because the event had to be cancelled due to the government shutdown. The state park is obviously run by the state of Indiana, but the trails we were to run on are in the Hoosier National Forest. The powers that be decided to revoke the land use permit that the race needed to be an event.
The silver lining in the whole thing was the fact that one section of the course was on state property. So the race coordinator decided to go ahead and be there with the intention of just kind of hanging out. Salomon shoes had a tent there and had a wide assortment of shoes for people to try on. There was a small group of people there to just support Bill (the race coordinator) and Ben (his son).
I didn't really have any expectations going into the event. When I signed up with Rick it was with the understanding that I my legs wouldn't be fresh because the same week I would be hiking in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park with my wife, Erin. (A vacation that also was compromised by the government shutdown. Originally, I wanted to do this event as a solo runner but my wife talked me out of it. Then Rick approached me to do a 2fer.) He reassured me that he wasn't in it to win it and just wanted to be a part of the event. This took the pressure off to hold back during my vacation for the event.
So anyway, back to the event. I guess my game plan was to run four laps. Twenty four miles was about what I would have run partnering with Rick in the two man relay. So that was my primary goal. The idea of doing a distance personal record was there, but only if I was feeling good about it. I had already run about 20 miles and hiked about 30 already in the week, so a PR distance goal was a long shot.
Erin talked me into trying a pair of the Salomon lab shoes. A pretty minimalist shoe that had a pretty good tread on them. I always wear Altras and love them. Altras have a very roomy toe box that these Salomons didn't have. I figured I would wear them for a lap (10k or six miles in american) and put on my beloved Altra Lone Peak 1.5's.
We started running at 9am and everything was good. The running groups thinned out while people rushed ahead of me and others stayed behind. I quickly found myself in a familiar situation: by myself. It was kind of strange. I expected to run with people but I seemed to be in a pace limbo between packs. Oh, well.
I've run this trail dozens of times so I knew what to expect. It's constant uphills and downhills with no real flats anywhere. The first six miles just kind of cruised by and I kept a lookout for a part of the course that was a junction in the trail that I was unfamiliar with. For some reason, I was real worried about missing that turn. I eventually came upon it and went up and followed the flour trail markings down and then a turn and then another. Then I lost the markings and had to make a 50/50 decision. Turns out I made the wrong choice and ran downhill about a quarter mile til I came to the lake. "Well, shit, this can't be right," I muttered to myself and headed back up the hill.
I saw two guys at the same junction trying to decide which way to go. "Not this way," I called out to them. I caught up to them and we went down the other way. It was only a couple of hundred yards to the parking lot and the completion of the first lap. I was at an extra half mile or so after the first lap and the second "event" in a row that I had gotten lost. I got skills.
I came to the parking lot and gave Ben a low five. The salomon rep asked how I liked the shoes and I had positive things to say about them. The traction was great and I hadn't really had any problems. The lace system is cool. They are similar to the Nathan "never tie" laces that I use on my Altras. You don't tie them as much as you pull them up and they "lock in" which are great because then you don't have to worry about your laces becoming untied. I decided to keep the shoes on for another lap.
The second lap was pretty uneventful. The coolest thing to happen was that all of a sudden several miles into the lap the forest's bird population suddenly came alive. All kinds of birds were waking up and calling out in various chirps and songs. The birds were silent and seemingly non-existant during the first lap. It was pretty awesome.
So anyway....the second lap: Up,down,up,down. I had read the book Chi-Running on vacation and had been trying to apply some of the principles from the book. I was basically going to concentrate on form. Keep my posture erect without slouching and keep a steady cadence. Some of the things in the book were useful and some weren't. (It's a quick read but the author tries to oversell the "Chi-running" as a brand which comes off as gimmicky.) So far in the day, experimenting with with different stride lengths, the different angles I can lean, and keeping my cadence constant were keeping the run interesting.
My pinkie toe was starting to rub in the shoe a little. This was no
surprise. (My left pinky toe kind of sticks out a little ever since I
broke it running a trail in vibram five fingers last year.) I came to the parking lot and when the Salomon rep asked me how things were going I told him about the toe issue but didn't really make a bid deal of it. I don't remember much of this pit stop. Two laps down and onto the next one.
About a mile and a half into the next lap I caught a glimpse of two runners coming up from the back fast. I kind of skittled over so they could pass and saw that one of the runners was Ben. I kept pace with the two for a little while and Ben asked about the trip my wife and I took. This exchange didn't last very long though. I couldn't keep their pace so I slowed down so I could conserve energy . I was only about half way through the day's goal and trying to keep up with these two would have thrown that plan in jeopardy. (Not that I could sustain their pace anyway)
Things were going smoothly and then at about the 14 mile mark or so the salomon shoes started constricting on me. Every downhill I went down my toenails just started to grind into the shoe. And by grind I mean it felt like the shoes were peeling my toenails up and back. It fucking hurt !!! The miles started to slowly tick by with the pain happening on the downhills and then spreading to the uphills too. Good lord this sucked so much balls !!! At about mile 16, I started to check out the trail debris situation to see if taking the shoes off and just running in socks was an option. Small twigs and some acorns littered a good portion of the trail. "I'm fucked for the next two miles," I thought to myself. Then I remembered that I ran an extra half mile and that it would be two and a half miles until I could get the shoes off. "Man, I'm fucked for the next two and a half miles !!!" Ugh.....I can only guess that my feet swelled just enough that the shoe became too tight. I reached down and loosened the laces. It helped some but not much.
I finally reached the turn from the main trail that lead to the parking lot. I couldn't wait to get out of these shoes !!! I caught up to an older runner and he asked how I was doing. I told him the tale about the sudden constricting shoe phenomenon and he laughed. He had been running with a thirty pound weight vest on. He told me why but I don't remember the reason anymore. At any rate, we came upon the clearing and I hoped the salomon rep wasn't around to ask me what I thought of the shoes.
I saw my Altras under the salomon table and ripped off the shoes to put on my trusty pair. Immediate satisfaction !!!! Oh lord Jeebus !!! It was like I put on shoes made from the hair of angelic cloud kittens !!! Erin was at the aid station and asked what I needed. At this point I needed to fill up the bladder of my camelbak so we skittered to my car, thus avoiding the shoe rep. She asked how I was doing and I mostly complained about the shoes. We filled the bladder and I ate a larabar or two or something. The rep found me and asked me about the shoes. I told them that they just squeezed up on me. He made mention of the Altras bigger toe box, but that was about all I can remember. (Boy, I was more civilized than I thought I would have been.) Then I was off for lap number 4.
Lord, I felt so much better now !!! My pace and my spirits picked up and I was back in business. I could only guess that me and those salomon shoes were only good for 12 miles. At any rate, this was a happy accident to make the fourth lap all rainbows and unicorns. My first goal was going to be accomplished. I had about five miles left to do it, but I felt great at this point. My quads were getting a little fatigued but I was trying to run downhill loosely to help alleviate their workload.
I was about three miles in and coming right towards me was Ben. He had run the course backwards to run with me. How cool was that !?!?! After running solo all day it was great to have him there. I must admit I wasn't much of a conversationalist at this point. I can't remember two words I said to him. At one point we came upon our friend Christy and we high fived each other. She was looking good and strong.
"This hill is where Paynetown PR's go to die," Ben said as I shifted from running to an aggressive hike to get up the last hill til the turnoff. It was at about this time that I knew a fifth loop was in the cards and I wanted to conserve my legs. We ran all the way to the parking lot making this the best lap of the day so far.
Another uneventful parking lot pit stop and I was off for lap five. Everything was going smoothly after changing shoes and I was looking forward to this lap. I got up the whitetail trail hill and coasted down to the switchbacks and then up the long incline to the 10k/5k split off. I was doing a decent effort and then somewhere around mile 27 my tendons started to ache. My hamstrings and calves just got a little too tight and were starting to effect my tendons. My pace was starting to suffer and I stopped to stretch here and there.
Coming down one of the switchbacks, I saw an amazing bright green snake. It was about a foot and a half long and I stopped to check it out. Of all the times to not have my camera on me !!! I nudged at its tail to get it off the trail but it wasn't moving. Aw, well. I continued down the switchback and back up the other one on the other side.
I finished the lap and my pace dropped considerably. I told Erin I wanted to do a distance PR and that I was going to do a 5k lap. Starting the trail again I passed the 50k point and knew I could stop there and be done. My tendons were aching but my ego started to take over. "It's only a 5k, you can do that," my ego told me. My ego can be a bad influence and an asshole, I decided. So I kept at it. When I came to the split I remembered that the 5k trail is mostly uphill. I got halfway up the first part of the hill to a small flat section that only led to more uphill. Shit. It might have been easier to run the 10k trail again. My tendons ached and I cursed myself for letting my ego make this decision. Ugh, what a fool.
I pushed through those last three miles and didn't feel very strong about it. I came to the parking lot and, for the first time all day, it was empty. I reset my Garmin so I wouldn't be tempted to go out again. 33.44 miles and over 6,100 ft of elevation gain for the day. I had been at it for about six hours and forty five minutes and knew I had more time to get another lap in. Physically, it would have been the dumbest decision ever. Luckily the tendon pain I was experiencing was loud enough to drown out my ego's other bad idea of going out for another lap. I walked down the parking lot hoping that my legs would loosen up and ease the tension in my tendons. Erin grabbed me a coconut water and I chugged half of it down. Bill came up and called me an "animal".
"I'm a moron," I said, correcting him. He disagreed. Bill's a good guy.
I stretched and walked. Endorphins and other things were starting to kick in. Oddly it felt like I was going to cry for a second. I walked to my car and leaned back on the hood and started seeing a dozen tiny little pinwheels twisting at the scene before me. "Fuck....I'm having an acid flashback?" I thought to myself. Oh, boy. This is getting weird. Then it stopped after about 20 seconds or so.
I went back to the tent area and people were back from wherever they disappeared to. I sat down and just kind of zoned out. I guess endorphins were kicking in but I felt an amazing calm overcome me. I don't know if I was smiling on the outside but I definitely was on the inside. It was a great feeling. My friend Heather sat down on the ground next to me and we chatted a little. I was just enjoying the moment and the accomplishment. My legs loosened up and the tendon pain subsided. Some group pictures were taken and I felt well enough to drive home.
Looking back, I didn't finish as strong as I would have liked. Things started to fall apart at about the 27 mile mark. I have no idea why. It's possible that the week's hiking and running had a hand in it. At about that point I would have been at about the 77 mile mark for the week. I would have like to finished my PR distance run a lot stronger than I did. But I think the most valuable lesson I learned this day was that I need to ignore my ego a lot better in the future. Risking my physical well being for a small amount of glory was a pretty foolish thing to do. Luckily I managed to get through the day without any major injuries. My recovery was fast and had no real case of delayed onset muscle soreness either. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I can't wait to do it all again next year !!!
Cool post! thanks for mentioning me :-)
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