Austin Marathon: 2009

Sunday, February 15, 2009
7:00 AM, Austin, Texas
http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=50501213&rsID=75103&pubID=3

My Goal:

• Wanted: <>
• Did: 3:51:23
  

My Rankings:

• Overall: 1076 / 4053
  
• Gender: 791 / 2459
  
• Division: 107 / 334
  

Ever have one of those days where you wake up and feel as if you could conquer the world? You feel as if you could parachute out of a jet, land on a surfboard surrounded by great whites while holding a bucket of chum and ride the fiercest wave back to shore! This race morning was definitely not one of those days. Wednesday I ran 12 miles and the knee pain, I suffered through, at Bandera had begun to return around mile 11. With two weeks off due to injury and still lacking a long run since Bandera, I realistically didn't have much hope of finishing this marathon. Despite believing my chances were slim, I still wanted to run part of it... too at least cross the starting line amidst the electrifying energy of thousands of anxious runners. I decided that my timing chip was to remain at home because I would rather have a DNS (did not start) than a DNF (did not finish) on my record.

But then I saw something that changed my mind... a video of David Goggins talking about his first 100 mile ultra-marathon. David ran his 100 miler on a 1 mile track and by mile 70 he had broken, most of, the bones in his feet. To make matters worse, he even had to take a shit on himself because he couldn't make it to the bathroom! With broken feet and crap crusted shorts he then ran the remaining 30 miles to the finish! Talk about determination. I may never reach that level of determination but I want to come closer too it, not only for the sake of my running but for my life in general. Running this marathon without my timing chip will only make it easier for me to quit when that little voice inside my head is yelling at me to do so. If a person can run 30 miles on cracked feet, surely I can run 26 miles with sore knees. I'm no David Goggins but... baby steps. With that I decided I would wear my timing chip and complete the race.

My brother and Matt were also running the race so they stayed over, at my place, the night before. We woke up early, stretched and ate a breakfast which consisted of oatmeal, cliff bars and bananas. We made it to the race early, with enough time for two restroom breaks. It was fairly cold that morning so it was a relief to take one of our breaks in the nearby warm hotel. So many runners were packed into the toasty lobby, of this hotel, passing the time that I'm surprised they didn't start kicking people out. The second restroom stop was at a porta-potty and I remembered to bring a roll of toilet paper but ended up not having to use it. Supplies were already running low though, in the stall, so I kindly left my roll for the winding line of people.

We positioned ourselves close to the 3:30 pacers and waited for the race start. If I remember correctly, the race started 10-15 minutes late but it didn't bother me a bit. The upcoming hours promised pain and for now it was nice to relax, talk and bask in the sunrise amongst the thousands of other racers. Last year I remembered an ebullient fireworks display at the onset of the race. Fireworks normally crown the end to a celebratory event and yet here they seemed to be highlighting the start. In a way, it was a celebration of all the training, resolve and courage it took to even be standing here. Months of preparation and sacrifice had led up to this day and now all I had to do was simply run it. For whatever reason I didn't see the fireworks today but I imagined them and felt my legs get a little lighter...

The miles went by quickly; me, Ty and Matt stayed together and were running about a 7:20 to 8:20 minute mile. Occasionally I would do a knee check to see if the pain had returned but nope... no pain, not even in the slightest. Around mile 15, Ty and I stopped for a restroom break while Matt kept running. We thought we could catch back up to Matt but it turned out that that was the last time we would see him during the race. I brought two gu packs along with me and ate one of them at mile 17. I should have brought more to eat because my stomach was roaring by mile 23. Luckily, Ty had brought a pack of shot bloks, which he shared with me, and I stole some oranges from the nice people on the side of the road. Love those oranges on a run, wish I could find a good way to pack some along so I could eat 'em when I need 'em!

Ty had been having some quad pain which started around mile 16 and by mile 23 it was really bothering him so we stopped and walked at a couple of the aid stations. Walking during a race is very uncharacteristic of Ty so I knew the pain had to be pretty substantial. Though I could have forged on, I also stopped and walked the aid stations with him. On one hand I stopped and walked for support and on the other I'm still a pansy that can't pass up a good excuse at a chance to walk after already running 23 miles. With a few more bouts of running / walking the finish line was in sight and we bolted for it, crossing in a sub six minute pace.

Ty and I finished in 3:51 which was roughly three minutes faster than my previous marathon. Matt finished with an outstanding time of 3:39. For my next marathon, I'm going to try my hardest to ensure that I'm committed to doing as well as I can in it. These past two marathons were essentially "on the side" races that I did just to get some marathon experience under my belt. My first marathon was hindered by an injury I received from running a half-ironman the weekend before and this one was hindered by an injury I received at my first ultra-marathon. I considered both the half-ironman and the ultra-marathon more important than the marathons and it shows in my results. Given my current fitness level I believe I can achieve a marathon time of less than 3:30 and possible less than 3:15 if I really push it. Next marathon season, I hope to put this theory to the test but for now, I have some triathlons to train for!

Bandera 50K Ultramarathon

Saturday, January 10, 2009
7:30 AM, Bandera, Texas
results
photos

My Goal:

• Wanted: <>
• Did: 6:32:19
  

My Rankings:

• Overall: 48 / 125
  
• Division: 6 / 19

Finished my first ultra-marathon and it wore me out so much that I'm just now finding the energy to write up this report. Har! I have been uncharacteristically lazy since the race though. Running for six and a half hours in the gorgeous Bandera hill country was such an exciting adventure that it makes normal, everyday, life feel... well, a bit normal and routine. Towards the end of the race I was cursing every rock and praying to whatever god would listen that the next step I took would be across the finish line. For 2-3 days after the race it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my knees and I could barely walk, I was so stiff and sore. It's funny how despite all the pain and cursing all I really remember, when I look back on that day, are the high points and I wish I were out there racing again.

Since I've procrastinated so long in writing this race report, it's going to be a short one. Events from the race have begun to congeal together and what took me six and a half hours to accomplish now, upon remembering, only seems like about two hours. As I mentioned above, I'm left with only the good feelings of that day sprinkled with a dash of the negative thoughts that dominated my mind when I was out on the trail. I'll do my best to recap and share my thoughts from the race.

I slept great the night before the race despite some heartburn from the ginormous sour cream & cheese potato I ate (supposedly there were > 2300 calories in this bastard). On race morning it was cold enough to freeze a hairless caribou and windy enough to fly a one ton kite. Woke up around 5:30 ate a bit, froze, drank some water, froze, stretched, thawed out (just kidding, I froze) and ate some more. Still dressed in my "goddamn it's cold" clothing, I got in line at the toilet a little after 7:00 thinking I would have enough time to make it back to camp before the race started at 7:30. The line was long and people were moving slow and by the time I finished, I had barely walked out the door when the 50k race started. Being a little over half a mile away from the start line I sprinted back to camp, took off my winter clothes strapped on my garmin and dashed towards the starting line.

I was the last one in the pack at this point and by the time I caught up to the other runners, the trail had narrowed down to the point were everyone had to run in single-file. My brother, Ty, and friend, Matt, had made it through the potty lines earlier and had started at the front of the race. I was trying to catch up to them while dodging sotol, ankle twisting rocks and maneuvering around other runners on the narrow trail. In all, I think my late start extended my finishing time by about 10-15 minutes. The extra push I was taking to catch up to Matt and Ty surely didn't help the knee problems I would develop later in the race either.

Bandera is an incredibly rocky and harsh trail with very few flat sections and it is steep enough in many places to force anyone to walk or power hike. In fact all the real steep climbs are given names which include, Cairn's Climb, Boyle's Bump, Sky Island, Ice Cream Hill, Three Sisters and Lucky Peak. This way when the race is over you can curse these names and other runners will know full well what you're talking about. I don't remember the race well enough anymore to recall how I felt going up and down each of these hills so the safe bet is to just assume I was in pain!

By mile 10 my knees were already starting to hurt since I had not given them enough time to recover from my training runs and plus, I was taking the downhills too hard. At this point I slowed the pace down some and even began to walk the occasional steep downhill. Around mile 15 I came to the first aid station (Chappa's) and saw Matt! We talked for a moment but he was on his way out just as I was on my way in. I found my drop bag ate a cliff bar, downed some perpetuum and was on my way again. The next 5-6 miles went by really fast, my knees hurt but they weren't too bad and before I knew it, I was at the second aid station (X-Roads). Matt and I entered this aid station at about the same time and talked for a bit while we ate and drank something. He left the aid station before me and I headed out about three minutes later.

The next 5-6 miles didn't go by so fast. After about two miles on this section of trail, my knees began to hurt a lot more and the pain was all I could think about. Remembering some quote I read that went: "it's not the destination but the journey", I tried to simply enjoy being out on the trail and focus on the gorgeous scenery and great weather to distract myself. Almost as soon as I shifted my focus, I tripped on a root! A root! There were plenty of rocks to trip over but I tripped on, probably, the only exposed root in all 50 kilometers of trail! There was no one around to witness my fumble but I kind of wish there would have been. I fell so expertly that I missed all the rocks and rolled back up onto my feet! All those years of being a klutz finally paid off! Despite my skills at fall recovery I figured knee pain was better than the risk of a broken ankle so I decided to stay focused on my footing and push through the pain. Somewhere around mile 25 I came to the X-Roads aid station again and briefly talked to Matt as he was leaving. He was in much better shape than I was!

The last 6-7 miles seemed to drag on for eternity. I ran the first 2-3 miles but then my knee pain became so bad that I had no choice but to walk the rest of the way. The uphill climbs weren't so bad but on the downhills I could feel my knee bones grinding against other knee bones! Finally, after what seemed like forever, I knew I was getting close with probably about a half mile to go. I pooled together my last drops of determination and jogged the rest of the way to the finish line! After crossing the finish line, the magnitude of what I had accomplished that day didn't hit me right away, all I could think about was finding some place to sit down! Both Matt and Ty finished ahead of me. Matt finished 16 minutes ahead and Ty finished a whole hour and 18 minutes faster!

Here are the conclusions I've made after running my first ultra:

1. Ultra-marathons and trail running is just plain fun! I'm definitely going to do some more, maybe even work my way up to a 100 miler! o_O
   
2. I went way overboard in packing my drop bags. A bottle of perpetuum, one gu pack, socks and a blister kit is probably all I need in the bags, anything else I could find at the aid stations.
3. Ultra-marathoners are probably the happiest people you will ever meet! Which is weird because most of the time, there is very little to be happy for when running 31+ miles. Your legs hurt, bones ache and you're mentally fatigued. Yet despite this, people keep going and if you talk to people on the trail, no one sounds bitter or angry, everyone is very upbeat and positive. I was almost tempted to search through their drop bags to find the pain killers and whiskey I was sure would be there.
4. I'm not that happy of a person yet. When my knees really began to hurt, towards the end, I got fire breathing mad! People's upbeat comments, as they passed me on the trail, that were meant to cheer me up just annoyed and pissed me off even more. My anger, determination and pride are what got me to the finish line. Thinking and focusing more on the positive is something I really need to work on.

Preparing for Bandera 50k

Trail running is fun, it's everything you love about running but with rocks... lots of rocks! Trail running forces your mind to stay active which can be invaluable when running long distances. When running long distances on a road, one of the things I've come to dread is not so-much the physical fatigue but the mental fatigue. Rarely, besides car-swallowing potholes or kamikaze squirrels, is there anything that requires your full attention to navigate. When trail running, there are ankle-breaking rocks nearly every step of the way and it's similar to driving a car during heavy traffic. When driving, if you take your eyes off the road for too long, you're going to crash! On the trail, if you zone out or think about something else for too long, you're going to headbutt a rock. Traversing the rocks is fun, it gives my mind something to do and with the proper shoes you will barely feel the rocks. On top of this, trail running may even boost your immune system, as discussed here:

You may finally have a legitimate reason to hug a tree. A hike in the woods can boost your immunity, say Japanese researchers. They found that men who walked through a forest for a total of 6 hours over 2 days eperienced a 46% spoke in their blood levels of natural killer cells, which are part of your body's SWAT team against invading viruses. Apparently, all trees release airborne chemicals called phytoncides that not only protect their foliage from microbes, but also help to stimulate our own immunity systems.

In six days I'm running the Bandera 50k (~31.1 miles) ultra-marathon in the Hill Country State Park. This run will all be done on trails with steep elevation changes and enough rocks to fill the Grand Canyon. The furthest I've run so far is the marathon distance but that was on relatively flat ground and my legs still don't feel conditioned for the pounding they're going to be taking over the 31 mile course. I ran 28 miles two weeks ago but I had some knee pains at mile 26, so I decided to walk the remainder so that I would not exacerbate the pain and turn it into something that would take weeks to heal. Not making it through the entire 28 miles worries me and I'm also worried that the knee pain will return on race day.

We (me, my brother and a friend) drove out to Bandera this weekend and ran 14 miles of the course. The first six miles of the course are the hardest and the trail is incredibly steep in some parts to say the least! We, maybe, could have ran up the inclines but knowing that we still had a long journey, we walked them and that is what I plan to do during the race. We were all super-tired by the time we finished but I believe that had to do with the, "it's winter, why is it so freaking hot!?", heat and being slightly dehydrated. I ran out of water at mile 9.5 (they ran out 2-3 miles later) so we walked most of the way back to play it safe. After this test, I feel that, as far as cardiovascular-fitness goes, I'm ready for the race but I'm not sure if my legs can take the beating for 50 kilometers. I'll be happy with a finishing time under seven hours; best case scenario is probably five hours.

It's going to be a fun, painful, weekend and I can't wait. We're going down on Friday and will be camping in tents all through Sunday! We'll probably sit by the campfire listening to all the vets tell horror stories about how they've broken bones and crawled like a slug, covered in salt, to the finish line. Then the following morning I'll start off on the hardest race I've done to date! Hopefully I'll come back with some horror stories of my own! ;)