Ouachita Trail 50 Mile - Epic Failure!

Well, this weekend I raced in the Ouachita Trail 50 mile race in Arkansas. I tried my best, but it wasn't my day. First of all, no one told me that we had to climb a small mountain - literally. We ran about 2.5 miles on the road, then got on some nice trail. After about another mile, we came to Pinnacle Mountain. We had to go over Pinnacle Mountain (about 1,000 feet - certainly no Everest) by climbing the rocks straight up. I had to use my hands and feet to scale these huge boulders (several times I put my water bottle in my mouth so I could use both hands). There was a photographer at the top documenting our ascent. Then we had to pick our way down the other side. You can see the course profile from my Garmin (although it is incomplete because it lost signal many times during the race, sometimes for about a 1/4 mile or so):



After that it was lots of rugged trail and mud - tons of mud puddles. I must have run through at least 50 mud puddles. And there were unavoidable water crossings, too - two of them were up to my knees and I had to use a chain strung across the creek to cross.

I made it to the first race cutoff at 9:45 - about 45 minutes ahead of the cutoff.

There was one stretch of the race that had no aid for eight miles except some water dropped about 3 miles in. I had two water bottles with me - I drained one but made the mistake of not refilling at the water drop. I got more and more thirsty but didn't want to drink the sports drink that I had in my second bottle. I thought I was almost to the next aid station so I never drank from that second bottle - stupid decision. By the time I got to that aid station (mile 24) I was so thirsty and dehydrated that nothing sounded good to eat. I refilled both of my bottles with ice and water in one, ice and sports drink in the other. But the sports drink didn't sound good - I was on the edge of nausea. I headed out of the aid station quickly because the second race cutoff was at the next aid station. I made it there (mile 26.2) by 12:24 and the cutoff was 12:50, so I was doing OK on time but not great. However, I was having trouble moving fast and knew I would have a hard time finishing by the race cutoff, 13 hours. I ate a little bit here but still didn't feel great and also had trouble eating because I wasn't producing enough saliva to eat with - I had to spit out some food I couldn't swallow (TMI).

I kept going and had to refill one or both bottles at every aid station (the weather was about 48 at the start and got up to the low-80s). But I still couldn't eat. And that's what killed me. I kept getting slower and slower. I passed the final cutoff at about 3:18; the cutoff was 3:30, so I had lost a lot of time. I had to stop three times to get dirt and mud out of my shoes and socks - it was stuck to the bottom of my foot and felt like I was walking with a large rock in my shoe. I also missed a turn and lost about 10 minutes finding my way back to the trail.

Sometime during the next leg a guy passed me. He looked like he was in his 50s and looked very fit. He was running pretty well. By this time I was doing 20 - 25 minute miles according to Garmin and I couldn't muster any energy to run or even walk fast. I was even having trouble walking the uphills at that slow pace. I finally decided I had to drop. If I couldn't eat then I couldn't pick up the pace, and I would be way past the final cutoff. I kept trudging along because I had to make it about 3.5 more miles before I could drop. A little bit later I crested a hill and found the guy that had passed me sitting beside the trail with his head in his hands. He ran past me because of a brief burst of energy he got after eating some boiled potatoes and drinking some Mountain Dew. But it hadn't lasted and he had crashed hard. He got up and we walked into the aid station together and announced we were dropping. There was one more guy behind us and he came in a few minutes later and dropped, too. My unofficial time was 11:23 (a 16:15 pace, very slow!).

We were at mile 42.1 and had an hour and 37 minutes to go 7.9 miles before the race cutoff. Under normal circumstances that should have been no problem. But these weren't normal circumstances.

This race had a unique option - at mile 15 you could decide to switch from the 50 mile to the 50k race. The two friends I went with both switched to the 50k and finished. I could have done that, but in the end I'm glad I opted for the 50 miler. That's what I had set out to do and that's what I intended to attempt. Every time I race (and screw up) I learn something new that I can incorporate into my training and racing. My big problem is my stomach - I never get sick or throw up, but I have trouble eating and I get dehydrated (I've DNF'd twice in 50 milers, both times due to dehydration that led to a calorie deficit).

Anyway, that's my story. On the way home my friends bought me a pedicure (my first one) and it felt great! Miraculously, even though my feet were wet for about 10 hours, I didn't get any blisters at all.

If you made it all the way to here, thanks for reading.

Texas Independence Relay

Last weekend I ran the Texas Independence Relay with a group of coworkers and friends. The relay was 203.67 miles from Gonzales (the site of the first battle with Santa Ana in the war for Texas Independence) to San Jacinto (where Santa Ana was finally defeated). Altogether there were 12 runners on our team; we completed the race is 31 hours and 59 minutes. The pictures from the event tell the best story.

We actually won the Corporate Mixed division (of course, there were only two teams in that division!).

The race was a blast, even more fun than I expected. I hope to do more relays in the future (there is a relay in October from San Antonio to Austin that looks like fun). But it's only two weeks after the Heartland 100 so I don't know if I'll be recovered by then. Have to think about it.

I'm an Ultrarunner

Well, I haven't posted in a while so there probably aren't any readers left. But I thought I would go ahead and post that I ran the Cowtown 50k on Saturday. So I'm officially an ultrarunner (as opposed to an ultrawalker).

Cowtown is the big annual road marathon in Ft. Worth, Texas. This year was the 30th anniversary so they added an ultramarathon option. You ran the same course as the marathoners until right before mile 24; then you did a long out and back, then rejoined the marathoners for the last two miles. It's not a bad course; it's kind of hilly (as far as road races go) and well supported. The weather started in the 30s and finished in the 60s so that was a challenge for me.

I was hoping to finish somewhere around a 10:00 pace but expected to slow down. I held the 10:00 pace really easily until somewhere around mile 22-23, then I started to tire and drag and had to walk more than I preferred. I walked and ran the rest of the way and ended up finishing in about 5:34, a 10:47 pace. I'm not too upset about the time since my ultimate goal was just to finish. I enjoyed the race and the day, saw a number of new and old friends at the race, and generally felt good about being outdoors, alive and running.

I do think I need to stop treating road races like road races and start treating them like ultras (although I hope to not have to do too many road races in the future). What I mean is that I need to eat more, drink more and consider stopping at the aid stations instead of running through and grabbing a cup with about 4 oz. of weak gatorade.

During this weekend's race, and during the White Rock marathon in December, I didn't have any problems with blisters, or major aches and pains, or cramping, or anything like that. I just ran out of steam. I was thinking yesterday that at an ultramarathon I start eating substantial food (PB&J sandwiches, potato chips, cookies) and drinking sports drinks or sodas at the very first aid station, which is usually 4-5 miles. I continue eating and drinking at every aid station.

I think that the next time I do a long road race I will carry some real food (PB&J would be good) and I will drain my bottle more frequently and stop at the aid stations to refill. I know I can do better at these distances (to be honest my training runs have been better than my races) and I think eating and drinking is the key.

My next race is the Texas Independence Relay where I'll be running about 31 miles of a 204 mile relay race with 11 friends and colleagues. Then my next ultra is the Ouachita Trail 50 miler in mid-April. I've got some good training planned before Ouachita so hopefully it will be a good race for me.

Thanks for reading!

20k Walking PR (and negative split)

Today was the Tour des Fleurs out at White Rock Lake. This was planned as a test/practice race for our Team in Training group so I wanted to walk the race to show the team that walkers can race and compete just like runners.

I haven't done any racewalking since May so I really didn't know what to expect. I wanted to maintain around an 11:00 pace for the first half to 2/3 (there are some hills between the halfway point and 2/3 point) and then see how fast I could finish.

The result: My 10k split was 1:08:16, exactly 11:00 per mile. The second 10k split was 1:05:28, 10:33 per mile. Final time was 2:13:45. I felt good at the end and my final mile was around 9:11. I've never had a very good 20k race so this was a PR for me even though it was far from my best walking performance (that would be my 2:13:55 half marathon in 2005). But still I was happy with the results given my lack of recent racewalking training and my lack of focus on racewalking speedwork.

Everyone on the team seemed to finish well; there were some tired people but no injuries or DNFs that I'm aware of. After I finished I walked back on the course and cheered on some of the last finishers, and then I walked in with the last two. It was great to see so many people of all abilities and speeds pushing themselves toward an accomplishment. It reminded why I enjoy racing so much.

Tomorrow I'm planning to run 15 miles on the trails at Arbor Hills. I'll probably be slow and tired, but what better way to train for ultras?

But before that, tonight is the Deerhoof concert at the House of Blues. They are weird, really weird, and that's why I love them. Unfortunately my family just loathes them so I'll be attending the concert alone. I hope it's as good as I think it will be. For a little taste of Deerhoof, see below.

Good Day/Bad Day

Good Day:
I had a great day of workouts. I did my own personal training this morning at the local high school track. Here is my current training schedule:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Speedwork (alternate intervals one week, tempo the next)
Wednesday - easy 5 miles
Thursday - easy 6 miles
Friday - Rest
Saturday - tempo/pace run (4 miles); walking miles with team in training (from 0 to 20)
Sunday - long (longest has been 12 miles on the trails at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve)

Today was intervals. I did ten 400 meter intervals at 5k pace with 200 meter recoveries. I chose my goal pace of 7:25 which equates to a 1:51 400. I accidentally deleted my splits instead of saving them so I don't have them all, but I'm happy to say I only had one split over 1:51 (a 1:52 toward the middle of the intervals). Most were between 1:45 and 1:48, and I did the last 400 in 1:31 (a 6:07 per mile pace). Everything felt good.

Tonight was our usual Tuesday night training with Team in Training. Tonight we did a cool track workout that the other coach made up. He calls it 800 meter relays. Here's how it works:

1. Identify three runners of approximately equal speed, A, B, and C.
2. A starts and runs 400 meters alone.
3. After the first lap, B joins A and they run 400 meters.
4. After the second lap A takes a one lap break and C joins B for 400 meters.
5. After the third lap B takes a break and A joins C for 400 meters.
6. Repeat five times (each runner does five 800 meter repeats).

It's a hard workout because you don't get a lengthy recovery. You only rest for 400 meters and the other runners are running hard so the rest time is brief. I walked a few steps on my fourth repeat and was tired on my last one, but I got a nice kick at the end and finished strong. Our fastest 800 was 3:15 (6:15 per mile) and our slowest was 3:49 (7:41 per mile). Considering I did track work this morning I felt like this was a pretty good workout.

Bad Day
My car is dead. Actually, it runs, but not well, and it's not worth fixing (the repairs would be more than the value of the car). So it looks like I'll be buying a car this weekend. I'm thinking of this.

Have a great evening.

Where I am

Hi, faithful readers (Ha!). I haven't posted in a while. I'm still running, still coaching for TNT, and things have been going well. A while back I posted my intention to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but I realize now that what really interests me is getting back into ultras. So I'll be doing a road 20k with TNT next weekend, then a half marathon with family in late October, a half marathon with my TNT crew in early November, then it's back to trail races and ultras. My plan is to do my first ultra in January 2008 (probably Bandera 50k, although I know that is a tough race so I may change my plans). My tentative plan is a couple of 50ks, a couple of 50 milers, then Laurel Highlands 70 mile in June, then the Heartland 100 next October. I've trained for Heartland several times but never actually started the 100 (the 50 miler was my first ultra back in 2005). Of course any of these plans could change, but this is my current plan.

So I'll post more in the future about my training. My longest run to date has been 12 miles so I have a way to go, but I've been feeling good and feel like I can steadily improve if I continue consistent training.

If you're still out there, thanks for reading!

Disappointment at Blazing Saddles 5k

Today was my first 5k as a runner. The race was the Blazing Saddles 5k at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX. It's a duathlon (run/bike/run) and a 5k, so the 5k field was pretty small (the field was also small because there was a BIG 5k/15k the day before).

My goal was to break 24:00, which meant a 7:44 pace. I felt confident about hitting that considering some recent training (I did two miles tempo this week at 7:35 and 7:40).

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and I'm not sure why. My first mile was too fast. I did it in 7:40, but that doesn't reflect that at one point I was on track for 7:18 (according to Garmin) and had to slow it down. So that is probably my problem, going out way too fast.

My next mile was 8:04, so I knew I was in trouble as far as my goal was concerned. The third mile was a very disappointing 9:20; I actually had to take some short walk breaks. I just didn't feel like I was getting enough oxygen.

I had enough gas left at the end to sprint for about .2 miles; my final .11 miles was in 0:42, a 6:22 pace. Final official time was 25:49. Because the 5k was so small, I actually came in 5th in my age group and got a medal; if I had met my goal I would have come in 2nd. Oh well.

This was a test race; I just completed week 4 of the 8 week Hal Higdon Advanced 5k program. So I've got four weeks to continue working on my speed and my base before my goal race. Why, you might ask, did I choose the Advanced 5k program? Good question. Since I had a lot of experience racewalking long distances, I couldn't see dropping back to short easy runs. I felt like the speedwork would give me the challenge I needed. Maybe this wasn't the best decision, but I'm halfway through now and don't want to switch. I'll just keep up the training and see what happens in four weeks at my goal race.

On a positive note, I got out this afternoon and did a few miles on the trails. I was fast in the beginning, slow in the middle and fast at the end. This was my first run on trails and really my first time on the trails in a long time due to all of the rain we've had. It was over 90 and sunny when I started, but the trails offered enough shade to keep the temperature bearable.