So I figured I’m wayy
over due for an update to my blog considering I ran two races since my last
entry, didn't start another two and am about to do my second 50 mile race. So
here is a short summery of everything that has happened so far since my first
ultra in December (Warning: this is probably going to be a long post).
Injury
After Table Rock I had a
bad case of IT band tendinitis, I could hardly walk for 3 days after the race.
This continued for my entire winter break back home. This caused me to not
start my second ultra that I signed up for, Bandera 50k. My symptoms lingered
on for about a month and a half, I kept making it worse by trying to run on it
too soon. This basically left me coming back to school with no training. The
first run I did was a run up McAfee's Knob which was an easy 8 mile out and
back. The next weekend I ran the first lap of the VT fatass Ultra in pandapas
which was something like 18 miles. This was all leading up to the Holiday Lake
50k++ that I signed up for over winter break. Not wanting another DNS I was
making sure I wouldn't be injured and that I could just finish.
Holiday Lake 50k++
The race was pretty
uneventful to be honest. It's a fairly tame (by ultra standards) race, 32 miles
and not much gain. My race plan was to set out to run the first lap(16 miles)
in around 2:15 or 8:30 pace and see how I felt after that. Having only 3 weeks
of training before the race had me a little worried but I knew I would finish
at the least. I executed my plan I set out with, I ran the first lap in around
2:16 and left the aid station in 2:17, it was not a little bit later that
things started going downhill. Around mile 20 I was trying to get a gel out of
my handheld and took some extra effort so the guys I was with all passed me as I
stopped to get the gel out. trying to play catch up I soon was feeling pretty
bad. Basically I bonked pretty bad and was running shuffling for a couple miles
while the guys on my team took off. The next aid station I came to had some
chex mix which made me feel great and soon enough I was running back at 8:30
pace and passed Darren and Dmack who seemed to be struggling at the time. With
about 8 or so miles to go I figured I could get in under 5 hours so I began to
push the pace with two other guys who had the same goal as me. I wasn't sure we
would make it under 5 until the last mile at 4:48. One of the guys took off for
the last mile downhill, I let him go considering I was feeling pretty bad and I
only had 3 weeks back from running. but about a quarter mile from the finish I heard
the second guy I was running with come storming down the road, I wasn’t going
to let him beat me, so we sprinted to the finish of a 50k, not my favorite way
to finish but glad I got under 5 hours. My time was 4:55:48 and finished 61st
place. Overall a good effort considering I had only 3 weeks of running prior to
the race.
Terrapin (Injuries
again)
I was planning on
running the Terrapin Mountain 50k and to complete the Lynchburg Ultra Series.
Unfortunately Thursday before the race I developed tendonitis again in the same
place as I did following Table Rock. I was doing a taper run of about 6 miles
and had a mile to go when I started feeling my IT get tight. I thought to
myself "oh no, not this again" So I stretched and stared running and
BAM! MY leg locked up with pain and I fell down. "SHIT!!" I screamed
out loud. “Not this again, not soo close to my race, not another month of
rehabbing my leg.” I sat on the ground for about 20 minutes contemplating what
just happened before I got up again. This was by far the last thing that I wanted
to happen. I painfully walked back a mile to my car. I told my friends that I wasn’t
going out because I don't like to drink the week of my races, but since I wasn't
racing I told them I was down to go out now (I might as well have fun some
way). Well I went out Thursday and Friday and noticed Friday night that I could
walk down stairs again (without hobbling). The next day I tried out my leg with
a little run and sure enough it was fine. I was thinking to myself "this
is awesome I can run again" while also thinking "What the HELL!! I just
got jipped out of a race that I paid money for!" Ultimately I was more
psyched about the first thought than I was angry about the second; I guess
that's the way it goes.
Promise Land 50k
My last race was Promise
Land; this was my favorite course so far. My plan going into this race was to
treat it as a training race for my upcoming 50 mile race in June, so I planned
on taking it pretty easy. Leading up to the race I had just done my largest
volume week yet, 83 miles, about two weeks prior to the race, so I knew I would
be in good shape for the race. Promise Land is a hard course, its 34 miles and
around 7,500 feet of elevation gain; I was going to post this as its own post
but figured I needed to include everything else that has happened up until now
as well so here is my race report.
I woke up about an hour
and a half before the start at 4 o'clock in the morning to get ready to go, had
some coffee and a cliff bar for breakfast. My goals coming into this race were
- Use this as a training run, so take it easy
- DO NOT get caught up in racing anyone
- Steady effort on the uphill’s and hammer the downhill’s
- HAVE FUN!!!
The goals for the race
went exactly as planned (which wasn't too hard to do).
At the start I was with
freshmen Darren and Steve on the first climb, I soon figured they were going
too fast of pace for me to feel comfortable with so I let them go and continued
on my own race (they went on to finish 12th and 15th!!). Right about the top of
the first climb I caught up to Wyatt, who seemed to be struggling a tad bit in
the first part. As soon as I passed him he told me to hammer the downhill,
which I did of course. Hitting a couple of low 6 miles on the grassy road/trail
I passed a lot of people, including AJW. I soon got passed by a couple of the
runners I had passed on the climb going to aid station 2 (which wasn't even
there!). I saw AJW coming up at chatted with him a bit, he complimented me on
my downhill skills (I told him that was my plan to hammer the downhill’s) which
got me pretty psyched, before passing me. Going to aid station 3 I got passed
by a couple more runners on the climb up but soon passed them on the little
downhill into the aid station by hitting another couple of low 6's. I took a
little bit longer at each aid station than most people around me figuring I would
just catch them on the downhills anyways. Leaving the aid station we heading
down to my favorite section of the race called the dark side. It’s a technical
downhill section leading to the lowest point of the course. I soon passed
everyone that left the aid station before me; I love this type of downhill and
thrive on it. Bounding off rocks taking risks jumping over obstacles, basically
a delicate kamikaze down the trail; I look back and see no one at the next aid
station. Taking my sweet time again it was about a minute or two before the
guys I passed come to the aid station which I when I left. The next couple of
miles were the only bad point of my race. My calf was cramping pretty bad and
my pace actually slowed down on the slightly downhill road by about a minute
per mile. I figured I hadn’t been getting enough salt or hydrating enough so I got
some salt and potatoes and the next aid station and drank more, no of this
seemed to work well. As soon as I got to the next section of single track I was
hurting a good bit. A guy that I had passed offered me his salt pills, which I gladly
accepted. About a mile later I was feeling a lot better and my cramp went away.
Throughout this section I was just biding my time, conserving energy for the
climb up apple orchard falls. When I got to the climb I knew it was going to be
tough and steep for a good time. So I just kept a constant effort all the way
and didn't worry about anyone passing me and left the last downhill section of
the race to be the point where I actually race. Getting to the top I was
chatting with a guy who said that I could make it in less than 6 hours if I push
the last section, I had 40 minutes and around 5 miles so about 8 minutes per
mile. Easy I thought, so I took off, but I didn't expect any more uphill
sections, feeling a little discouraged I hiked up these until the last one when
I heard someone call my name. It was Wyatt; he caught up to me with about 4
miles to go, passing a lot of people on apple orchard apparently. This spurred
me on to race the last 4 miles downhill even faster. Soon Wyatt and I were
passing people left and right bombing down the hill. Passing the last aid
station to go with 2.5 miles left Wyatt was right behind me, and then I turned
up the effort. The last section is a long downhill dirt road, determined to
pass as many people as possible I soon jumped my paced to sub 6 minute. The
only person I could not catch was the third place female who also turned up the
pace as soon as I got near her. With about half a mile left I eased up a bit
and ran in easy to a 33rd place with a time of 5:55:20. Solid effort for a
training run, Wyatt soon behind I congratulated everyone that I talked to on my
run at the finish line, especially the guy who gave me his salt pills.
Everything went according to plan on my run and I was pretty happy with
the effort (and the whole team as well!! 5 Hokies in the top 15!!).
Post Promise Land Pre
Pocatello
After Promise Land I rested
a couple of days and resumed training for Pocatello. I was just trying to get a
couple of 60-70 mile weeks in before finals interrupted my training. After
finishing school I went up to Colorado to acclimate at Darren’s house in
Colorado Springs and do some training runs. I ran a couple of 12 milers here
with about 3k feet of gain and did the incline twice before starting my taper.
Now all that’s left is to race. I’m super psyched about racing, I going to race
hard and fast before I go into my off season for a month or two. I feel pretty
prepared, my legs feel good, and I'm definitely acclimated to the elevation by
now so all that’s left is for me to race.
