Races

I try to have only one or two long races on the road each year. I avoid doing very many shorter 5K/10K races on the road unless it’s a local event or a run I have fond memories of. I just enjoy running on trails a little better. For me it’s not really about joint pain or anything. I just get bored on road races.

That said, I do have one of the one or two long races coming up in November. Last year I ran in a 24 hour run but pulled out of it after 7 hours. This year I am going to go out there and spend a couple days running and camping with friends. I’ll be doing the 48 hour run and going for something like 120 miles. That’s the initial plan anyhow. Specifics are likely to change.

What sucks is that it’s a 2 mile circuit type course on pavement alongside a lake. The lake is nice the pavement and distance become boring. Thankfully I’ll have a lot of time to take breaks and rest.

The challenge is to run five Texas marathons (or races of a greater distance) between something like November 1 and May 31. I didn’t realize that it could be races of a greater distance until a few days ago. A quick email to the sponsor of the TMC asking to verify that I qualified and I was in. Unbeknownst to me I qualified for the thing just by running my normal schedule. I had to pay a little for the honor but I’ll receive a jacket, singlet, and some sort of a metal or trophy. Cool.

I finished another fun 50K! This time I didn’t train nearly as much and didn’t finish as fast as in the past. That said, I didn’t finish it as slowly as I have in other 50Ks. It was a good day at the race and I’ll have a full update soon.

I’ve been having a difficult time convincing myself of what race I want to sign up for next. I make my race schedule every year but as training, injuries, previous race successes, and life all come into play those things can fluctuate for anyone.

My thoughts are still that I might run the Grasslands 50 mile, but I don’t really want to travel that soon after traveling to Kansas for a wedding. The next good option would be the Hogs Hunt 50k. I guess that’ll probably be what my next race will be unless I get a crazy idea.

Alright, they have released the official results for Rocky Raccoon 2008. As I guessed, I finished in 11:32:10.35. Before the race I was guessing that it’d take me anywhere from 10 to 12 hours, so I’m thrilled! I’m waiting for the splits to come out, so that I can see if my second lap was my worst. The race report is coming soon.

I’ll have a full race report up pretty soon, but I wanted to just say that it wasn’t too bad! My only major problem was that I got nauseas for half of the second loop. I talked to a guy at an aid station and adjusted my hydration/supplements and was fine about 3 or so miles later. I finished in just over 11 and a half hours.

I’m about to go and get my packet for the race. Tonight I’ll be at the trail brief and then enjoy some dinner with running friends at the park. Then I’ll be up a couple hours before the race and ready to run!

When I ran five miles on Saturday it was bright and sunny in Huntsville. The temperature on Saturday got into the 60s and that was supposed to be the same on Sunday.

However, the trails were still very soggy from all the previous days with rain. This means that those of you who hate running on soggy trails might have some issues on Saturday. I think that if it doesn’t rain between now and then, the trails will dry up. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow which will keep the trails wet.

The other news is that it looks like it’s going to be anywhere from 65-70 degrees for a high temperature. That means that this will be a fairly hot 100 miler. Be prepared to carry and have plenty of fluids during the heat of the day. Luckily, the trails are covered almost the entire course.

Here I am finishing the Bandera 50K in all my minuscule glory!

I couldn’t log a time like Anton Krupicka.

“There is a port-a-cactus just up the trail” — Paul Stone

Bandera kicked my butt, no doubt. I’m thinking it’s slightly due to all the fantastic peppermint ice cream I’ve been eating this past month, yet it’s almost all due to the killer hills and rough terrain.

I left my house to pick up Debbie for a night in San Antonio. We ended up in SA, TX at about 8pm, had dinner (Mi Tierra), and went to our hotel to sleep. We got up at 4:30 and and left SA for Bandera about 5am. It was dark outside so I didn’t know what the terrain was around me after we were west of SA. I’m glad I didn’t know.

I picked up my packet, used the restroom, and found my way to where the 50K and 25K were starting. Bandera does a good job of having each of the three races start at different points. the 25K had the joy of starting the race with the Lucky hill and ending it with Lucky. The 50K also started with a killer hill but at least it wasn’t Lucky. Meanwhile, the 100K started a little different direction and joined up with the 50K shortly after the start of the race. The race started promptly at 7:30 with a light fog and the sun rising.

The first section of the 50K was probably the most difficult. The initial hill is something unlike any hill I have had the pleasure of running. I walked most of the uphill and tried to run the downhills. Even that was dangerous as it was steep with lots of big and small loose rocks. Even hiking this would give you a major workout.

I ran for awhile with a guy who told me that he had ran quite a few Bandera races and let me know I was in for a day of fun. About a half mile before Nachos, I saw him again as he was hobbling to the aid station with a broken foot. He didn’t want any assistance from runners though. I also ran with and talked to [--updated with name -- John Sharp] who trained out there. He let me know that once I made it to Nachos, I was in the clear. That was about 10 miles into the run, so I had some good news as I passed over those very difficult sections.

Bandera was very well marked. I had thought about carrying a map because I wasn’t sure how it would be. There was a lot of crossing over different trails and changing up the direction. However, the marking was great. They only marked the intersections instead of the entire trail. I think this worked well as you knew once you were going the right way nothing would change.

After Nachos, I was out there with just a few groups of people for much of the race. I did a lot more walking than normal because I wasn’t properly trained for the race. It didn’t help that it was a little over 70 degrees without any clouds. I didn’t get enough sodium, so I was bloated and dehydrated pretty soon into the race. I wasn’t ever able to shake that.

After the Chupas aid station it was onto an area that was more open pasture. I got some delicious Clif Bloks from a guy named Phillip who was out there for fun and to run with his friend through the Nachos section of the race. I also ran with a couple other people for a little while.

Once I made it to the Crossroads aid station, a guy from the Hill Country Trail Runners let me know that I wasn’t taking enough enduralytes with the current temperature. I was taking one an hour and he said I needed at least two, so I grabbed a couple and took them with a bottle of Heed and headed out. This section that went out around the two sisters and came back in was one of the worst for me. I wanted to be done and I was tired of climbing these hills. My calves were completely thrashed, so I had a difficult time climbing.

Once I made it back to the Crossroads a volunteer who had finished the 25K let me know what I was in for with the Lucky section. He said about 2.2 miles was covered and flat with good trail and then 2 miles of lucky was left where it would be brutal. Taking that advice, I ran the 2.2 miles almost the entire way. Then when I got to lucky, I climbed it as quick as I could and descended it slowly so as to not hurt myself.

Once I made it to the Last Chance aid station, I got some gatorade and water and ran the last .5 mile to finish in about 7 hours and 27 minutes.

All and all, this was the most difficult race I have run. I look forward to running the course again as it was a lot of fun. I loved the nature surrounding me even if the hills were pretty rough. Next year I will come more prepared!

In late 2006, I ran my first race that could be considered an ultra. It was the six hour portion of a twenty-four hour run. It is what whet my desire to run more ultras and to prepare for running some 100s.

Last year, I started with some lofty goals in my race schedule, yet met many, though certainly not all, of those challenges.

In February, I ran my first 50K at the East Texas Ultra Run. I loved the course and there was a great group of runners out there. I learned that I should bring some better camping equipment if it’s going to be below freezing at night.

In March, I ran the 25K Lone Star Trail Run after dropping out of the 50K. I decided with how gnarly the course was, I would stop and allow myself to focus more on the Hog’s Hunt in a couple weeks. Later that month, I DNFed at the Hog’s Hunt 50K due to an injury.

After running various 5Ks, I came back in July to run the inaugural El Scorcho 50K. It was a heck of a lot of fun to run a race through the night in Fort Worth, Texas in the middle of July! I ended up running a pretty fast (for me) race.

In October, I finished the fall Lone Star Trail Run 25K in good time. I was happier with the course this time and, as always, very pleased with the volunteers.

In November, I ran the Rocky Raccoon 50K at Huntsville State Park. It was a great race with nice weather and good volunteers. I then finished my racing season with the Ultracentric 24 Hour Run. I didn’t do so well this year but those races are always a great experience with a bunch of die hard runners who are fantastic to talk to.

Should races and the USATF ban iPods? I don’t have much of a stake in the debate, because I rarely run USA Track & Field (USATF) certified courses, but I don’t think wearing an iPod — or other electronics device — in a race is that big of a deal.

1st the USATF has argued that it’s for safety and insurance reasons. This is a facially bogus claim. Insurance could be handled with a simple assumption of the risk clause or closing the course (like Portland Marathon has done) or both. With assumption of the risk it just has to be made clear that the decision of wearing an iPod lies with the runner and they accept the responsibility of any of the consequences (i.e. harm) that comes from it.

The other part of this that is bogus is that there are other devices that cause just as many safety issues. Perhaps we should ban people from carrying Gu and other energy aids? Many people focus their attention on those when they are simultaneously running and trying to open the gu.  Clearly, on an open course, that is a potentially dangerous thing.

Of course I’m not advocating to ban this. I think it’s up to a runner to decide and to change the safety of the course for themselves.

2nd. It has been argued that iPods give an unnatural advantage. This is also ludicrious. Until the USATF bans energy gels, pace setting watches, GPS watches, pacers, splits, and other devices that might not be available from the race to each racer — it’s just a red herring. Courses want to encourage people to run and will allow certain devices that do assist in getting a better time if you know how to use them.

So do I think iPods should be banned in USATF races? No. I think it’s a stupid decision from the USATF. It’s just one of many that make me not want to run races certified by it.

I was looking at my holiday schedule and the races that are in my area in December, and I think I’ve learned that I can’t run anything. The Ultracentric was my last race of the year! I’m going to sit down in the next day or two and look at what I want to try to run next year.

Currently, I’m thinking that I will not run the El Scorcho 50K in Fort Worth, TX again. I ran it in it’s inaugural year and enjoyed it. There were some problems like not having the shirts that were included in the entrance fee, however, they planned to fix it and everyone putting it together seemed like good guys. But I am not happy that they promised to mail the shirts to everyone who emailed their address and never mailed me mine. I contacted them a couple times and finally gave up. I know other people who got there shirts, so I feel a little left out.

I probably won’t run the Ultracentric again because the asphalt and weather is a mixture I don’t like for that long of a race. The other issue is that it’s really expensive!

I will more than likely run the East Texas Trail Run in Tyler, TX. It’s a great park and the race isn’t too big.

I will also run the Lone Star Trail Runs again. Again, I like the trails.

Well, I ran and finished the Rocky Raccoon 50K in Huntsville, Texas, today. It was a lot of fun and I finished in under 6 hours. I have a new 50K PR of 5:57.26 (unofficial result time). I expect that I’ll put up a full report. For now, if you click that picture you should be able to see some photos from the race.

Tomorrow I’m running in the 50K part of the Rocky Raccoon 50K/25K race. I’m happy because instead of the normal t-shirt, they gave out Brooks technical shirts with the race name and graphic. I love that they spend a couple extra bucks to give us something useful.

This morning I ran the Fall Lone Star Trail Run 25K. I finished third place overall with a decent time of 2:24. I don’t know the exact seconds, so I will wait until the official race results appear.

The weather was perfect, the course was great, and the volunteers did an outstanding job. Expect a full race report soon.

hundreds of people were sent to the hospital, at least one person died, and the marathon was called off. it’s way too hot out there.

This weekend I ran in one of the club 5K races and won. I went out strong with one of the quicker runners in our club. He will typically pull away first or second in his age groups at larger field 5Ks.

At first there were a couple teenagers behind us. However, I don’t think they realized how brutal the hills were going to be on the course. They quickly fell off. However, one of my friends in the run was about 100 yards behind us with only 2 miles left. He had bridged that gap to about 50 meters with only 1 mile remaining.

To help me with my time the guy I was running with was giving me some pretty good tips. He had a GPS watch so he would tell me when my pace was slipping. He also instructed me on the best time to make a break so that I wouldn’t be passed.

I ended up winning the run. Of course, my friend gave me the victory as he typically runs a 5K about 4 minutes quicker. It was fun to get some nice instructions that I can use at a later race. My time for this was 24:37.

This is me crossing the finish line at the El Scorcho 50K in Fort Worth, Texas. As you can see, I don’t look too great after running for 6 hours. That is the excuse I think that I’ll stick with for awhile. A race report is coming soon, I promise.

Here are my El Scorcho 50K results — 6:06.29 (unofficially). That betters my previous PR by almost 30 minutes! There is still plenty of room for improvement but considering that this was a night run and 10 freakin boring laps counts for something.

I fully intent to give a longer race report but I just wanted to post a couple quick impressions. If any of the guys who hosted this race happen upon this post, know that you did a fabulous job! I have no qualms at all about how the race was put on or some of the minor setbacks that I will talk about.

First setback was the lack of any shirts except small and extra small. This isn’t a major problem because they are going to mail everyone their shirts — hopefully at the shirt printers expense for being late. This wasn’t your fault but I wouldn’t use that company again.

Second setback was that the City of Fort Worth did not keep or turn the lights on as instructed. This meant that a little over half the course was dark. I don’t blame the race for this because it wasn’t there fault and they instructed everyone, before the race, to bring a light of some sort. I had my flashlight with me.

The final major setback, in my mind, was that the El Scorcho website claimed the race would be run on a crushed granite trail. I think it was much more like a dirt road for half of it and asphalt/concrete for the other half. It was horrible to run 50K on this hard of a surface, and I would have brought better road running shoes if I had a more accurate description.

Other things that stunk was the lack of any sugary drink (they ran out of defizzed coke very soon in the race), the loop was boring and short which meant a lot of the same boringness for the entire race, and the electrolyte drink, Nuun, was really bad.

Now in my race report I will talk a lot about all the positives and how this actually was a great race despite a few little things which were out of the race director’s control.

The temperature and clear skies look perfect for a nice evening race. The only thing that is going to suck is the super high humidity.

This weekend is the El Scorcho 50K and I feel adequately prepared to run it. I’ve got the distance in my legs to make it 50K without any issues. My only concern is if I have enough training to run a sub-six hour 50K? I think that’s the level I ought to be at in races, but I’m not so certain I’ve prepared and trained enough to accomplish that goal. I guess that we’ll know by Sunday morning.

It’s less than a week from the night I’ll be running a 50K during the night. This run presents two challenges: heat and night running. It’s looking like the temperature will range from the low 90s to the mid 70s.  I’m really excited about the race.

One of the key things to a running event is communication. The race directors have been sending a lot of email updates to keep us informed. I’m very excited!

The 2007 first place male at the Western States 100 is Hal Koerner who led it from the start. The first place female is Nikki Kimball. Joey Anderson, of runjoey, dropped at Devil’s Thumb but still made it nearly 50 miles! The website has more information about all the competitors and links to youtube videos.

Meanwhile the AT&T USA Track and Field Championships were held this weekend in Indiana. Alan Webb pulled out an amazing victory in the mile. Breaux Greer, complete with his faux hawk, threw the javelin 299 some feet for a victory. Nick Symmons was unable to win the 800 but he sure had an impressive second place finish. Angelo Taylor dove across the finish line to win the 400 meter sprint. Finally Terniere Clement won the 1500 meter race for the women.

All of these athletes make it look so effortless.

Currently there has only been one person to make it to Devil’s Thumb and he is Hal Koerner, 31 years old of Ashland, OR. He was running about 11 minutes ahead of  Lon Freeman at the Last Chance checkin point. In first place for females seems to be Nicki Kimball, 36 of Bozeman, MT (a fellow redhead!).

I ran another 5K today but took it really easy. I came in right around 26 minutes which was just a little slower than what I wanted. I was aiming for around a 25 or 25.30.

I’m not much of a short distance runner, but I can usually finish a 5K with 8 minute miles. That didn’t happen at the race today. I think I was closer to 26 minutes than to 24 for my entire time.

What happened to my run? In this race I noticed that my right arm was going numb so I slowed down a bit. That’s probably from a recovering pinched nerve, but I’ll have it looked at if it keep us. The other thing was that I had never run this course and couldn’t find the mile markers to keep my pace. I was a little demoralized by the arm and slowed down way to much.

It’s my fault for having such a bad run. Now I’m going to go out and run another 3 and a half to give me decent mileage for the day.

Aside from being a fun Weezer song about falling for a half Japanese girl who plays cello and hasn’t heard of Green Day — it’s going to be a 50K in Fort Worth, Texas.

I’m excited to have a fun race in my old stomping grounds. I signed up for the run this evening and look forward to it. Even though it’s in the middle of July in one of the hottest cities in the country, it shouldn’t be too horrible because the race begins at midnight on Sunday.  My guess is that it’ll be around 80-85 degrees for most of the race.

In addition to being in the inaugural race, they are giving some nice gifts to participants. Everyone will get the tech shirt, while the finishers of the 25 and 50K will get metals. In addition, the finishers of the 50K will get a commemorative spur. How Fort Worth of them.

I’m excited and hope that more people get signed up. This should be a fun race.

I ran the 50K today but could only finish 25K. It was pouring down rain and there was lightening and thunder when we started. I was running through knee deep puddles. All of this was fine and I was moving along at a decent clip. Then I was roughed up…

There is an outer loop at Huntsville State Park called the Rocky Raccoon trail. People who have run the 100/50 mile race by the same name might remember this part of the race. You leave the second aid station and run along a jeep road. You are forced to turn right as you are at the corner boundary of the park. Then you run downhill and are forced to make another right as you run beside a little stream. Then there is a hard left as you climb up a bridge with rails followed by another bridge. Then you’re on a trail instead of jeep road.

Well, it was at this location by the bridge with rails that I encountered a problem. I was being followed by a young guy (maybe 16 or 17) who was on my heels. I told him to pass me if he needed to before the trail narrowed. He didn’t say anything but continued to draft. As I avoided two large puddles on the left side of the trail, I had to make a sharp turn as I was stepping onto the bridge. The bridge was wet from all the rain, so I slowed down so that I wouldn’t slip. Of course, this guy wasn’t paying attention and collided with me. This twisted me up and knocked me down. Had it not been for the rails, I would have been in the creek basin.

The kid passed me and said sorry. It didn’t seem like he cared too much but I didn’t complain. It felt sort of like I had rolled my ankle, so I tried to shake it off. After a few miles, the pain was getting worse. I looked down and saw my ankle had some major inflammation, so I unlaced my shoes and made them much looser. This helped me to finish the 25K.

When I ran in for the first lap I stopped awhile to think about what to do. My ankle was still buzzing pretty bad and the swelling wasn’t subsiding. I figured that I could finish the race but it might cause some actual damage just from inflaming it more. I also figured that I had a weak ankle so it would make me more prone to injury. However, I didn’t want to DNF. Ultimately, I decided that I’m more interested in future races than running another lap on a damaged ankle.

I’ve said it before — I run because I think it’s fun at the end of the day. If a race or run isn’t fun then I’m not going to do it just to say I persevered. I imagine that a better race report will come soon. This is my first race injury.

I ran the 25K Lone Star Trail Run this morning in the time of 2:40:05 (unofficial). I was supposed to run the 50K but I decided, for a few reasons, that I would not make the second lap. In short, I didn’t want to the that particular trail a second time, the aid station wouldn’t have made it easy, and I want to be fully healed for the 50K in two weeks.

I’ll get into more about the race in a subsequent race report. I just wanted to let you know what happened. I also will post some pictures of injuries, dirty legs, and very dirty shoes!

Alright, so I feel bad that I didn’t go to either the 50 mile run or the Waco 5-0. I felt so bad that I just paid to run in a 50K this weekend — ack! I’ll be at the Lone Star run if anyone else out there is going. It’s in Coldsprings, TX. I’ve heard very little about this run but just wanted something to bury the guilt.

Now I will have this 50K and another 50K at the end of the month. So much fun in so little time. Blah.

This was a pretty nice weekend for my running. I didn’t run at all on Friday, because I wanted some recovery time. But I ran 21 miles on Saturday, a 7 mile trail run today, and finished the day with a 5K club run which I finished in 25 minutes and 23 seconds. All in all, not too bad for a weekend.

I’ve decided that I’m going to bail out of the Crosstimbers 50M this coming weekend. Friday is my birthday and I don’t want to travel during it. I’ll probably go on a long run Saturday to celebrate, but I am going to stay at home. Good luck to everyone running the race!

Alright, I just got back home, so I will have a little race report up soon. However, for anyone interested, I ran the 50K just over my goal of 6 hours. My unofficial time was 6 hours 30 minutes and 21 seconds. Now I’m going to go and run a couple miles to get my muscles working again.

I’m trying to decide whether to run the Cross Timbers 50M or a smaller race called the Doogies Run 50M. They are both here in Texas but the Doogies would be closer to me and probably an easier course. It would also give me an extra week to prepare. The Cross Timbers is a little larger, further away, and a more difficult course. I’m leaning towards the Cross Timbers. Any thoughts?

Good luck to all of you running the Rocky Raccoon tomorrow. I just ran a lap around the course and can tell you that there are quite a few wet spots. In fact, one area was nearly impassable without going through an inch or two of water. However, most of it is good and will be a fast course with great weather.

I will be out there from 6pm until midnight at the volunteer tent near camp site 174. Afterwards, I believe that I’ll be pacing someone on their last 40 miles.

See you on the trails!

This morning I ran a 5K put on by the club that I joined. There was a decent turn out for their size — about six or seven people — so I had fun. The rain was slowly coming down and I was ready to go, so I tried to run it a little above my training pace. However, I took an early lead and didn’t give it up, so I didn’t push myself as hard as I might have otherwise. I came in around 26:45.

I’m not sure if I have mentioned it here, but I am moving this coming weekend for a new job. The area is down towards Houston/Huntsville so I will spend a good amount of time running at the trails in Huntsville State Park. I was happy to see that the Rocky Raccoon, one of the 100 mile ultras, is coming up in a couple weeks at HS Park.

I wouldn’t be ready to run the entire thing by myself, but I think I could pace someone who is looking at a 30 hour pace. It seems like that would be a fun way to run 40 miles before jumping into a race without enough training.

Has anyone been a pacer before for anyone? Would you recommend it?

During my easy five mile run this evening, I started to think about what interests me in ultrarunning. It’s not necessarily the challenge of it all; although, that is part of it, but it’s that they are fun. I like to have fun when I’m running.

Having fun is part of the reason I have no interest in certain endurance races. Namely, I could care less about running the Badwater Marathon or the South Pole Marathon. Those races would certainly present a challenge, but I don’t think they’d be any fun.

What is fun about burning through multiple pairs of running shoes, getting dehydrated because of 120 degree temperatures, having the scorching sun burn your exposed skin, and battling hallucinations for most of a race? I guess that might be fun for Dean Karnazes and Scott Jurek, but I could care less about it. I’d much rather prefer to run with them at the Western States where you have an amazing challenge and some fun.
Also, what is fun about acclimating to freezing temperatures, 12K ft above sea level altitudes, and running with heat packs in your shoes to battle the frostbite? Just as an aside, the website points out one of the perks of the race is having breathtaking views. This is only true until snow blindness kicks in. Enjoy the views when you can’t see or concentrate because you’re thinking about how you’re going to lose the tips of your fingers.
Running should be fun and challenging. The two aren’t mutually exclusive but you can certainly have one without the other. If I am only going to take one, I will take the fun!

The new PR is only because this was my first 15K, so I’ll have to go with 1:40 as my nearly official time. Not at all what I was hoping to be at, so I’m disappointed. Oh well, there is always next time, right?

The run was pretty good. It was overcast and windy at times but the conditions weren’t bad or anything. I enjoyed the run and liked seeing a lot of people out there for the run. I’m also not too sore from it which is nice.
With the end of cross country season, there were a lot of high school kids at the run. They were being pretty annoying before the run began, but I correctly assumed they were going to be splitting off at the 5K/15K course change. Most of the 15K runners were pretty cool and encouraging of everyone around them.

The Jogger Egg Nogger course is a pretty good one. It begins on Mockingbird where it crosses a bridge to the west side of the lake. After a half mile, you are out on the side of the lake running. The 5K group follows the lake for about another mile then turns around and returns. The 15K group continues to follow the lake until, I think, mile 4 or 5 when we turned into the Lakewood residential area. We follow that and cross under Mockingbird, turn to the east, and turn back to go under mockingbird again. It’s a really pretty area with a lot of trees, little traffic, and even some observers cheering us on. At 10K, we were back at the lake heading North to go to the finish line.

The most fun is you get a glass, or many if you want, of egg nog with either whiskey or rum at the end of the race! The community for Thurston racing is really nice and it was a good run.

I went out to mile 16 around 8:15 this morning and was there in plenty of time to find a nice spot to cheer. I ended up helping the Dallas Running Club (formerly the Cross Country Club of Dallas) with a couple things. They told me that the mile 17 group only had a few people helping and would like more volunteers. I went to mile 17 and helped by giving out water to everyone who needed it. If you ran by there, I was the first person and have curly red hair.

Everyone looked pretty great out there and it was a good day for a run. I don’t think the rain began until most people were finished and the temperature was nice. Good job to everyne who ran!

Tomorrow is the big day! There are a lot of people in town to run this race and everything is very exciting. I decided that I would not run the half or full marathon this year, so I will be out cheering people on. You’ll find me somewhere around the 16 to 18 mile area and I’ll be the 20 something redhead. I hope everyone running the White Rock Marathon has a great race!

I said no to the RTR, White Rock Marathon (whatever the sponsor is this year, blah), this year because I haven’t trained enough. I’d be a pathetic walker by the 14th mile and roll in at something like 4.5 hours, so I said no. But then I get tempted because so many other Dallas runners are going to be there and hanging out afterwards. My favorite part of running is the run but a close second is the awesome community. I’m torn about the rock.

Well, I did go on a Sunday run, but I didn’t make it a long run. This means that I didn’t get a long run in this weekend. That’s a little frustrating to me but with some family in town, I guess it’s understandable.

This coming weekend is the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I haven’t decided if I want to run the half or not. I haven’t properly trained, so I don’t think I will run it. On the other hand, it’s a good course and easy to run without too much intense training. I think that right now I could come in around 2 hours for the half.

I think that I’m leaning more towards taking pictures and encouraging the runners as they pass through the lake area. I don’t like to run in races without being ready for them even if my times aren’t stellar.

It was my first ultramarathon and I loved every minute of it! Unfortunately, the week before the race, I hurt my foot when I fell off a bridge while mountain biking. Leading up to the race, I did everything that I could to let my foot heal but it wasn’t enough to not feel the pain.

That said, I wasn’t about to let a silly foot injury stop me from my first ultra. I went to the hotel and signed up for it about the time the 48 hour runners were in their sixth hour. It was only appropriate that I sign up for the six hour run and bow in respect to the people running the 48 and 24 hour runs. I would have gone for the 12 hour but my work schedule conflicted with it on Saturday.

Saturday I went to the race site as soon as I was finished working. As I got out of my truck, I met a runner who was also running in his first ultra. As it turned out, he was able to demolish me pretty easily. I think that there were about 15 people who were running the six hour race and we seemed like a happy group as we gathered around the start.

Once I got into the groove of running it was clear that my foot was going to cause some problems, but I resigned myself to the fact that I’d probably have to walk a considerable amount. While the foot was fresh, I pushed myself for about 9 miles so that I could get some quick mileage. The asphalt was a little rough to run on but Grapevine Lake was a refreshing view so the 2.4 mile circuit didn’t become too boring.

It was probably around mile 10 that I really had to slow down my pace because of foot pain. I walked it a little and then would run another mile or two. The foot was the only problem as nutrition and refreshments were plenty. The race was well stocked with all the food and drinks I needed, so I made sure to keep myself pretty refreshed.

By the 5th hour, I was just enjoying the run and had learned how to handle my foot. I enjoyed running with a lot of people who I had either read about or heard about. My overall distance was only 25 miles but it wasn’t too terrible for a first ultra and not having an entirely healthy body. My goal for the next six hour would be to hit about 34 miles.

I ran in a 10K this morning. It was a great morning for a race here. The weather was around 55 to 60 degrees for the run, the sky was clear, and the humidity wasn’t bad at all. That drew a pretty large group of runners out. This run is a through a particularly hilly area, which is one of the ways I excel when I run. Going up and down hills doesn’t wind me too bad and they keep me from getting bored.

This race had a 25 to 29 age category that I ran in. I started somewhere in the middle of the pack and had to do all the jossling to get around some of the more casual runners. This run lets you have a device that won’t start your individual time until you pass the start line, which is very cool. It was probably 3 or 4 minutes after the gun that I finally made it to the starting line, so it would have adversely affected me otherwise.

All in all, I came in 4th for my age group with a time of 43:39.0 which ends up as a pace of 7:02. The winner in my age group finished with a time of 37:13 and the overall winner had a time of 36:01 (which is less than a six minute mile pace).

What this tells me is that good racing whether has positives and negatives. I got my ass handed to me by a couple of runners.