I haven't updated my blog in quite a while, but this is mostly because I
haven't done anything of serious note since last summer. Now as we begin to
emerge from the depths of winter I have established some consistent training
and a race result of note. This past weekend I traveled to Rockburn Branch Park
in Howard County to take part in the second annual Mid-Maryland 50K trail race.
I didn't have any specific goals going into the race other than use it as a
"mandatory long run" in the sense that I knew I would be out there
for 31 miles so I might as well get as much out of it as I could. Fortunately
with such low expectations they were easy to exceed. I didn't sleep much the
night before the race. A cold front was moving through the area (and dumping
snow all over New England) so there were howling wind gusts all night long. The
morning started off with the usual pre-race routine: drink 1 liter of water 2
hours before race start, and eat two packs of Nature Valley honey oat bars. I
drove into Frederick and picked up Vincent Kerbarh who was visiting from
France.
Arriving at the start/finish area we were welcomed to the arctic cold
weather by having to stand in line to pick up our numbers for half an hour in
20 degree weather with high winds. Thoroughly frozen, Vincent and I quickly
hurried back to my car to warm up for 5 minutes before we had to head to the
race start.
The course is a convenient 5 loop course, with each loop being 10K.
Logistically this made things easy as I could keep a bag at the start/finish of
each loop and stash anything I needed to drop, or pick up an extra layer if I
got too cold. In the 5 minutes before the race I must have went back and forth
at least a dozen times as to whether or not to strip off the tights and go with
the short shorts and in the end (30 seconds before the race start) I decided to
go sans-tights. This proved to be a wise decision. I was pretty cold for the
first lap but once the sun came up and the wind died down I can't imagine how
miserable I would have been running in tights.
Vincent (right) and myself (137) coming off the start line.
Vincent and I settled into a nice pace pretty early on. I was towards the
back of the pavilion as we started so I had to do some weaving to get to the
runners making what felt like a relatively comfortable pace. I realized after I
started that I left my watch buried somewhere in my bag in the pavilion, so I
would be flying blind as to my pace. The majority of the first loop was spent
getting settled into a nice pace. I can tell I've become more geared towards
the long distance events these days as it usually takes me 5-6 miles to feel
warmed up. Vincent and I ran with two other guys who seemed to be pretty good
friends as they chatted for most of the first loop. They were discussing their
plans for the local RRCA 10 Mile Club Challenge race, and they seemed to have
plans in the sub-60-62 minute range so I knew I was moving pretty well. Vincent
and I would drop them around mile 5 as I started to feel good and I never saw
them again all day long.
As I finished up my first loop I perused the aid stations goodies. They had
HEED sports drink, the most foulest-tasting sports drink on the planet, but I
topped off with it anyway since I didn't have much of a choice. I grabbed a few
pretzel sticks seeing nothing else particularly appealing and headed out for
the second loop. I made it my mission to spend as little time in the aid
stations as possible and that was something I managed all day long. In my quick
transition I dropped Vincent and I would not see him until the finish. In a
rare occasion I noticed my split as I started the second loop (49:10).
During the second loop I settled into my groove. The 50K event occurred
simultaneously with a 50K relay event, so I enjoyed having people to chase down
and/or pace with during this time. It was hard to tell who might have been a
50K runner or a relay runner but overall placing was not on my mind at this
point, I was just out there to have fun and get in a long run. After an
uneventful second loop I cruised into the Pavilion. I ditched my hat at my bad
and topped off my water bottle with HEED again. I went to grab some more
pretzels and noticed a new treat I hadn't seen before: Gummy Bears! They looked
too delicious to resist so I grabbed a handful of them to go with the pretzels
and set out on loop three. Forgetting to look at the clock, I had no idea where
I was pace-wise.
At this point in the race I had gotten a fairly good idea of who was running
the 50K and who was on a relay team based on seeing unfamiliar or familiar
runners ahead of me, so the third loop consisted of hunting down the lone 50K
runner I recognized ahead of me. He seemed like he was hurting and I caught him
around mile 16 or so. The third loop was the first loop I started to notice how
muddy the trail was getting. The melting ice and combined footsteps of a few
hundred people multiplied over each loop was taking its toll. This was going to
be a fun race course come 12PM. Somewhere in the middle of the third loop I
entered the best part of the race for me.
Without a watch to indicate how fast I was running I went purely by feel,
putting in a comfortable effort that seemed sustainable over the 50K distance.
As I entered the Pavilion for the third time I again grabbed gummy bears and
pretzels, topped off on HEED, and set out on lap number four. Once again I
failed to look at the clock. Feeling good and cruising at a relatively
effortless pace ~18.6 miles into the race I was excited. Looking ahead I
thought I recognized someone only a minute or so ahead of me: Serge Arbona.
Serge is well known in the ultra-running circles for being a fantastic runner
(former treadmill 24 hour world record holder) so for the first time all day
when I saw him it struck me I must have been moving pretty well.
I closed the gap on Serge in a relatively quick fashion. I passed him on a
downhill with a speedy up-tempo effort and did my best not to look back. I
couldn't help feeling as if passing a great runner like Serge would come back
to haunt me but fortunately I would not see him until the finish. The remainder
of the fourth lap I felt like I was flying through the trails on a cloud,
smooth, controlled, and effortless. After passing Serge I knew I had to be in a
pretty strong place overall so I started looking for someone to catch. I would
never find the next runner but the thought of keeping anyone from catching
me
would be motivation enough to keep the furnace stoked.
Entering the pavilion at the end of loop 4 I quickly drained what was left
in my water bottle and stashed it with my bag, sensing I was hydrated enough
and moving well enough to not need it for the last lap. I grabbed a huge
handful of gummy bears and headed out. For the first time since the end of the
first loop I looked at the clock and it read 3:16:06. This was a shocking time.
I quickly did the mental math of what that meant as I headed out with a
mouthful of gummy bears. "What is the absolute slowest I could
theoretically run? No slower than 64 minutes, right?" "What is the
absolute fastest I could run? Maybe 50 minutes? That would be 4:06! Holy
cow!"
With these thoughts running through my head I started to feel discomfort for
the first time during the race. I imagine it hit somewhere around mile 25-26. I
am fortunate that my training to this point has strengthened my mental resolve
and I was able to stay focused. My pace slipped on the last lap to a 9:00min/mi
pace, but I remained mentally focused the entire time. This contrasts from my
previous 50K's where at one point or another during the race I have a mental
breakdown and I ended up wallowing in my misery until I pulled things together
again. There was no doubt I was going to finish the race with a great time and
I knew the only thing that could stop me lied between my own two ears. Sucking
it up and running hard I made it to the finish still feeling relatively good,
although no longer in "comfortable cruising mode". My final time was
4:11:30 and I ended up in 4th place. I think they said third place finished in
4:06, so it was no wonder I never saw him.
Reflections of this race need to go first and foremost to my effective
pacing. Looking at the results sheet, I paced very well minus a slight slip up
on the last lap:
Lap 1 (10K): 0:49:10
Lap 2 (20K): 1:37:30
Lap 3 (30K): 2:26:10
Lap 4 (40K): 3:16:06
Lap 5 (50K): 4:11:30
Post-race mud stucco. It required scraping off with a plastic spoon.
Interestingly enough, I also set a new marathon PB. I ran 3:35 in Virginia
Beach back in 2011, and I must have split somewhere around 3:25 for 26.2 during
this race. In the end, this gives me confidence moving forward that despite not
getting in as much training as I might have liked during the winter months, I
enter spring and summer with a good base, and most importantly a strengthened
mental constitution in the area of ultras. Lastly, I never hit a wall of any
kind. This has been a consistent pattern for all of the 50K’s I have done this
far: the only thing that could hold me back was my legs. My energy levels were
high the entire time, so hopefully I have dialed into a relatively effective
glucose-management strategy of some sort.
Looking forward to the future, I "won" the lottery today for the
Bull Run 50 miler in mid-April. I will have to travel out west (Denver, Salt
Lake City, and Denver airports) on three consecutive weekends starting next
weekend to visit graduate schools, which will reduce my running time but after
that I will have to focus and get ready for the BRR50. If I can finish that
race the large goal at the end of the tunnel is the Old Dominion 100 in early
June.
