One x 50k
My ultra sabbatical of seven months was called off this morning with the start of a beautiful day at Monte Sano State Park. Temps were in the high thirties/low forties and for 0730 weather, this was pretty darn comfortable. It was entirely fulfilling to be part of this group of distance people again. It'd been too long since the last time I enjoyed this atmosphere.
The sun stretched its rays over us, the firing pin struck the blank round in the 12 gauge chamber, and my fourth consecutive Mountain Mist race began. I was very interested in how my body was going to respond to ultra distance again. I hadn't run on trails since early last December and who knows how long it's been since I've run more than 12 miles in one sitting. Hopefully my long, long hours of recent bike riding might at least be of some advantage.
Initially I stuck with the lead pack, knocking out the first 10k in about 47 minutes. When I hit the open power line section I was getting passed quite a bit. The guys behind me obviously had different pacing plans than I had today. I was just trying to run how I felt, pushing it just a little, just for fun to see what would happen. Despite getting passed a bunch, I held my pace and didn't let it bother me. After all, this race is essentially supposed to be the apex of my base building.
I ran alone for a while, only seeing one other guy through Stone Cuts before I got to the 3rd aid station at Bankhead two hours and 18 minutes after the gun sounded. Rollin down into the Land Trust trails, I really had to slow up. Sharp loose rocks were the name of the game here and since my New Balance Minimus had no rock plate to speak of my souls were takin the brunt of the damage. In previous years I'd used much more substantial foot ware but lately I've been training exclusively in minimal stuff, so no need to deviate, I reckon. Between the rocks, creeks and insufferable mud, my feet got taken down a dark alley, beaten and left for dead before they day was over. They'll live.
The clouds kindly dumped off multiple showers of rain over the last few days, fortunately sparing us on this lovely day, that left many sections of trail all sorts of slippery. Deep, muddy pits immediately in our path lay in wait to spring their ambush on our tired ankles. Many footfalls felt like I was painting with my feet, vibram tread the brush, mud the medium, trails the canvas, making toe-offs especially taxing.
It was something like mile 20, where, in past races I've felt especially drained. I downed some m&m's at the next aid station, ate a chocolate mint balance bar I brought with me in my fuel belt, tossed back some water and continued on, hoping not to bonk too bad in the next few miles.
It was about this time that I needed to relieve myself for the only time today (during the race, that is). My pee was a very unnatural color. I imagine set designers in Hollywood would use a substance similar in color and viscosity for yellow cave-dwelling space worm blood in a sci-fi flick. Realizing I had taken my multivitamin this morning, I laughed quietly to myself and turned my attention back to navigation.
Close to a half hour passed, (I guess. I never really bother with time in these things, as you, reader, may already know) and I ran through several groups of hikers enjoying the agreeable January air. This morning, I realized I had left behind the Nike Pro shirt I've worn for the last three races, but I keep a stash of tech shirts in Huntsville. I settled on my UnderArmor one with the Auburn logo across the front, the same shirt I wore during my first marathon way back when. A large group of girls (girlscouts?) that wouldn't look out of place taking history instruction in my mom's 5th grade class cheered and War Eagle'd as I sailed through.
After many, many more cautious steps over the dynamic, sharp trail surface I reach the bottom of the Waterline climb. I had decided earlier that now would be the time to take my day's caffeine instead of before the race, hoping this would help me finish stronger. I had a 6oz bottle with me filled with a concoction I stirred up this morning. It came from one of those over-priced pre-workout powders that you can get at GNC. The claim is that the "proprietary blend of amino-acids" and other exotic words will produce better workouts, and other such rhetoric. Basically, it's got a buttload of anhydrous caffeine. I figured either my heart would explode, or I might just get a second, albeit synthesized, wind. Sure enough, after climbing my way over the famous waterfall, I was feeling pretty good about life.
Several of my friends appeared at the next aid station at a road crossing. Emily Ansik from Auburn, Eric Charrete and others were happy to see me. Approaching the table laden with goodies, fresh PB&J quarters lay in front of me. I grabbed one in each hand and quite literally smashed them into my face, much to the delight of the invaluable aid station volunteers. The sandwiches were gone faster than a mouse in the sight of a coiled cobra.
Like a two year old after a classic American lunch, I headed down the trail with sandwich bits smeared across my sweaty face. Save some for later.
The final 10k was uneventful. A first. Every other year, I dread this section, feeling weak, drained from a day of trying to set another course PR. Today, I was just tryin to enjoy a day in the woods. I felt pretty nice and was gaining on people.
My buddy from Atlanta, Sean Blanton, caught up to me on the decent after Natural Well, and we chatted and ran together for the first time in too long. After another flat-ish mile of muddyness, we climbed the final hill and took off along the plateau to the finish.
Not feeling completely obliterated after an ultra was a first. Maybe I'll actually get some half decent training in next week if my blood blister will heal up soon.
With my best Mist performance ever, I wave goodbye to the ultra scene for who knows how long. As much as I feel part of this group, this is the time in my life where I need to take advantage of my age and train to actually run fast, not just far. I think that's why my 2 mile and 5k pr's have been so poor. All I've done is go far. Maybe too far...nah, that's not right. I just need to shift my focus on Tri for the moment.
And that's life as I want it.
That evening, I met several other local runners at the Mellow Mushroom for a well earned pizza pie and beer. Almost everyone at the table was at one point or another an NCAA athlete, most cross country, one of them having gone to the Olympic trials for swimming, and one goofball there had even run a 100 miler. It was one of the most enjoyable social evenings in recent memory.
The sun stretched its rays over us, the firing pin struck the blank round in the 12 gauge chamber, and my fourth consecutive Mountain Mist race began. I was very interested in how my body was going to respond to ultra distance again. I hadn't run on trails since early last December and who knows how long it's been since I've run more than 12 miles in one sitting. Hopefully my long, long hours of recent bike riding might at least be of some advantage.
Initially I stuck with the lead pack, knocking out the first 10k in about 47 minutes. When I hit the open power line section I was getting passed quite a bit. The guys behind me obviously had different pacing plans than I had today. I was just trying to run how I felt, pushing it just a little, just for fun to see what would happen. Despite getting passed a bunch, I held my pace and didn't let it bother me. After all, this race is essentially supposed to be the apex of my base building.
I ran alone for a while, only seeing one other guy through Stone Cuts before I got to the 3rd aid station at Bankhead two hours and 18 minutes after the gun sounded. Rollin down into the Land Trust trails, I really had to slow up. Sharp loose rocks were the name of the game here and since my New Balance Minimus had no rock plate to speak of my souls were takin the brunt of the damage. In previous years I'd used much more substantial foot ware but lately I've been training exclusively in minimal stuff, so no need to deviate, I reckon. Between the rocks, creeks and insufferable mud, my feet got taken down a dark alley, beaten and left for dead before they day was over. They'll live.
The clouds kindly dumped off multiple showers of rain over the last few days, fortunately sparing us on this lovely day, that left many sections of trail all sorts of slippery. Deep, muddy pits immediately in our path lay in wait to spring their ambush on our tired ankles. Many footfalls felt like I was painting with my feet, vibram tread the brush, mud the medium, trails the canvas, making toe-offs especially taxing.
It was something like mile 20, where, in past races I've felt especially drained. I downed some m&m's at the next aid station, ate a chocolate mint balance bar I brought with me in my fuel belt, tossed back some water and continued on, hoping not to bonk too bad in the next few miles.
It was about this time that I needed to relieve myself for the only time today (during the race, that is). My pee was a very unnatural color. I imagine set designers in Hollywood would use a substance similar in color and viscosity for yellow cave-dwelling space worm blood in a sci-fi flick. Realizing I had taken my multivitamin this morning, I laughed quietly to myself and turned my attention back to navigation.
Close to a half hour passed, (I guess. I never really bother with time in these things, as you, reader, may already know) and I ran through several groups of hikers enjoying the agreeable January air. This morning, I realized I had left behind the Nike Pro shirt I've worn for the last three races, but I keep a stash of tech shirts in Huntsville. I settled on my UnderArmor one with the Auburn logo across the front, the same shirt I wore during my first marathon way back when. A large group of girls (girlscouts?) that wouldn't look out of place taking history instruction in my mom's 5th grade class cheered and War Eagle'd as I sailed through.
After many, many more cautious steps over the dynamic, sharp trail surface I reach the bottom of the Waterline climb. I had decided earlier that now would be the time to take my day's caffeine instead of before the race, hoping this would help me finish stronger. I had a 6oz bottle with me filled with a concoction I stirred up this morning. It came from one of those over-priced pre-workout powders that you can get at GNC. The claim is that the "proprietary blend of amino-acids" and other exotic words will produce better workouts, and other such rhetoric. Basically, it's got a buttload of anhydrous caffeine. I figured either my heart would explode, or I might just get a second, albeit synthesized, wind. Sure enough, after climbing my way over the famous waterfall, I was feeling pretty good about life.
Several of my friends appeared at the next aid station at a road crossing. Emily Ansik from Auburn, Eric Charrete and others were happy to see me. Approaching the table laden with goodies, fresh PB&J quarters lay in front of me. I grabbed one in each hand and quite literally smashed them into my face, much to the delight of the invaluable aid station volunteers. The sandwiches were gone faster than a mouse in the sight of a coiled cobra.
 |
| Peanut butter still on face at the finish |
Like a two year old after a classic American lunch, I headed down the trail with sandwich bits smeared across my sweaty face. Save some for later.
The final 10k was uneventful. A first. Every other year, I dread this section, feeling weak, drained from a day of trying to set another course PR. Today, I was just tryin to enjoy a day in the woods. I felt pretty nice and was gaining on people.
My buddy from Atlanta, Sean Blanton, caught up to me on the decent after Natural Well, and we chatted and ran together for the first time in too long. After another flat-ish mile of muddyness, we climbed the final hill and took off along the plateau to the finish.
Not feeling completely obliterated after an ultra was a first. Maybe I'll actually get some half decent training in next week if my blood blister will heal up soon.
With my best Mist performance ever, I wave goodbye to the ultra scene for who knows how long. As much as I feel part of this group, this is the time in my life where I need to take advantage of my age and train to actually run fast, not just far. I think that's why my 2 mile and 5k pr's have been so poor. All I've done is go far. Maybe too far...nah, that's not right. I just need to shift my focus on Tri for the moment.
And that's life as I want it.
That evening, I met several other local runners at the Mellow Mushroom for a well earned pizza pie and beer. Almost everyone at the table was at one point or another an NCAA athlete, most cross country, one of them having gone to the Olympic trials for swimming, and one goofball there had even run a 100 miler. It was one of the most enjoyable social evenings in recent memory.
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