Unfinished business in Spotsylvania, VA. In 2013, I ran a rather weak 32 official miles (34 unofficial, due to a course marker oversight). This time, I was determined to get at least 40 miles in. In training for the Charlottesville Marathon, I figured a long run of 1 ½ times the distance would be a good confidence builder.
Last time I ran, I stuck to the long loops. This time, I thought I’d go with the short loops. Then, I changed the plan to alternate long and short. Then, I went ahead and ran the long loops every time anyway. Such sorry indecision! The long loop is 8 miles; short loop is 4.7 miles. At the prerace briefing, they were talking about a lot of mud to be expected because of warmer temps this year, so I figured the longer loop would get less foot traffic. Turns out, the mud wasn’t bad anyway.
Race started at 7:31 a.m. (according to the official clock), with temps in the freezing range, though expected to rise to mid to upper fifties. I ran in shorts, thin long sleeve, and a light fleece top, with hat and gloves and a handheld water bottle, stuffed with two energy gels.
On the first loop, I followed the leaders out of the gate, falling into around 5th or 6th place (it doesn’t matter that early in an 8 hour race), just running comfortably and trying to pay attention to the course markings so I would not waste any effort going the wrong way later (when there would be fewer people around to follow). The pace was probably a bit quick, as I was just in front of Monsieur Olivier LeBlond (sp?), the flying Frenchman who always wins the event, but he was calmly running along with a guy who looked like an older Anton Krupricka (bearded, long haired mountain runner). I enjoyed eavesdropping on their conversation, even as it deflated my own expectations for the day, hearing them talk about much more intense training and racing schedules, 24 hour runs, etc. They were clearly better at this type of event than me, and passed me just after the four mile mark. I reminded myself that I was running a timed event, not a point to point race, so my challenge was the clock, not anybody else. I tried to use that mantra multiple times throughout the next several hours – Run your own race! The interesting tidbits I picked up about the defending champ were his strategy of running long loops until tired, then switching to the short loops, that he was preparing for some national meet in nine weeks and using this effort as a training run (whereas I was using it as over-distance, this was a mere third of the distance he’d be competing at), and that his marathon PR was only a 2:47 or something. I’ve run faster than that (when I was younger). Maybe there is still hope for me to be good at this sport.
I checked into the start / finish area somewhere around 8:40 (just under nine minute miles), which was probably too fast, but I still felt good so I wasn’t overly concerned. I switched the winter hat for a jogging cap, and hoped I’d be able to similarly drop layers on subsequent loops as the day warmed up. I wasn’t hungry, so I grabbed an apple slice and hit up lap 2.
On lap 2, I saw old Anton in front of me, (Olivier was already blazing), and reminded myself that I was not competing with him. So I chased him for the next few miles before finally passing him. Another runner passed me a short time later, but then I passed him back after that. The lap was overall uneventful, other than the fact that I stopped twice to piss, after having stopped once on the first lap. Apparently my morning orange juice had me over-hydrated, so I started to wonder what the signs of hypernatremia might be. I checked back in somewhere around 9:50, which meant that the second lap was just as fast as the first. So much for settling in. This time I grabbed two apple slices.
Lap 3 repeated the same as laps 1 and 2, at roughly the same pace. I ingested my first gel somewhere midway through, but still felt good and came back around 11:00, for 24 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes. I checked my backpack for more gels / energy bars / waffles to take on the course for lap 4, and realized that I had left my food bag back in the car (maybe an eighth of a mile away, but out of the way, and there was no way I was going to go the extra distance). I chugged a cup of Gatorade, ate half a banana and some gummy bears, and started out again.
I still felt strong through the halfway hill (I was still running the whole way to this point), but really started to feel it a couple miles later. Somewhere between 30 and 31.5 miles, I started to struggle a bit. The legs were hurting (left quad / IT band, tight hamstrings, occasional calf cramps), so I ate my last gel and walked for a few minutes. I was nearing completion of the 4th Lap, which ensured my completion of an ultra-marathon for the day; last time I ran this event, that was enough for me to be satisfied. I could likewise call it a day at the end of the loop and have plenty of time and energy left for the rest of the day…
I checked in at around 12:30, which meant that my walk break led to a much slower overall lap by approximately 20 minutes. Still not a bad effort for 32 miles, and still three hours to accumulate more. I took my time and ate a delicious cup of chicken noodle soup, grabbed two cookies for the road, and headed out for Lap 5. Another long loop would ensure I hit my target of 40 for the day.
The early (and return) part of every lap was the only paved section of the run, other than road crossings, up a half-mile path before entering the woods. Every previous loop, I ran up this path without thinking twice. The fifth trip up, I didn’t even think about running. I walked up the mountain road (really, it was a molehill just an hour earlier), and promised myself that I could walk the whole loop in under three hours to still hit my target. I believe while I was walking up, Monsieur Olivier flew down the other direction, checked in at the start, swallowed some special superfood, and bounded back out to pass me again while I was still walking. I assume he was already switched to the shorter loops, but it was hard to tell if he was feeling tired, because he was still flying. Old Anton passed me heading down, so I knew it was only a matter of time until he passed me back on the trail.
A few minutes into the woods, I heard footsteps, and expected it to be the bearded runner. Instead, it was a beardless beauty, a nubile young runner who is apparently not as young as I thought, and a complete badass! For the next few minutes, she told me about her charity running for wounded warriojrs, wherein she was running 12 endurance events in 12 months, culminating in a multiday Sahara Desert race in a few months (Marathon Des Sables). She was also running this event on some painful tendonitis that had her agonizing over every step, yet continued to loop through short runs for an ultra. I was inspired by her determination, and ran with her until the short and long loops split, at which point I was on my own again, and suddenly without her inspiration, I took another walk break. Old Anton passed me shortly thereafter. Whereas previously I had splashed through the one stream crossing (somewhere around 3.5 miles in), and powered up the halfway hills, on Lap 5 I tight-roped across the stream on the downed narrow trees, and slow-walked down and up (and down and up) the rolling hills that signaled I was halfway through my last loop (36 miles in, 90% down). I slogged for a few minutes, then walked for a few more, just doing my best to keep moving closer to the end. With around two miles to go (95% complete!), I was amidst a walk break when a girl passed me and encouraged me to let the course carry me through on the downhill. I finished my breather and gamely gave chase, catching her back a few minutes later when she was walking an uphill. I offered my own words of encouragement, and went on ahead. I actually felt my second or third second wind in these last two miles, and ran through the final checkpoint. I checked out at around 2:12, meaning the last eight miles had taken over 102 minutes (12:45 per mile). I registered the first 24 miles in 3.5 hours (8:45 / mile), and the last 16 miles in 3.2 hours (12:00 / mile). Yes, indeed, I went out too fast. Still, with an hour and eighteen minutes left on the clock, the finish line officials were incredulous that I was calling it a day. I clearly could have slogged through another 4.7 miles at better than 16:30 / mile, right?
Wrong. 40 miles in the books, and I felt like I had done a good job without seriously hurting myself. Despite several missteps, I never fell; my legs hurt, but not terribly so. By stopping at this time, I felt like I’d be able to function much better the rest of the day (to drive to Charlottesville to watch UVA Mens B-Ball beat Louisville). And I was right. I felt surprisingly not awful that evening. No regrets about the decision to pull the plug short of the eight hour deadline.
Okay, one regret. On Sunday, when I checked the unofficial results, I found that I was somewhere around 16th place overall. Monsieur LeBlond managed 54.1 miles to crush everyone yet again, and another runner just topped 50 miles on the day. Had I walked that extra 4.7 miles, I could have claimed third overall with 44.7 miles! Oh well.
When I went for a run later Sunday evening, my legs thanked me for ending their suffering a little earlier, and I felt relatively good for the day after an ultra. My planned three or four mile jog turned into a solid six mile run. I think I might be in decent shape after all!
Next time (assuming I return), I think I’ll shoot for 45 miles.
A few short notes – 1. I never did warm up enough to take off the jacket or gloves. Even though the temperature reading in my car was 55 degrees when I left, I never felt that warm. 2. The trails were fun to run on. Very runnable, leaf-covered, double track, well-marked. 3. The race director, supporters, aid station attendants, etc. were all very nice people. A very well run event.
Traipse Reports - Trips and Races 