Dogging my way through....

I like winging it... A "Type A" personality I am not. I do love to race it up however, and for the last few years I have embraced the lifestyle of an endurance athlete- endless training, lack of a social life, and always, always, always having sore legs...

I dabbled in triathlon back in the day (mid 90's), but it came easy back then, being 16, unbreakable, and a zippy fast xcountry runner. 13 years of smokey bars and rocknroll debauchery had me questioning a return and I am surprised as anyone to find myself in better shape than I ever been, going farther than I ever have, and still being able to sling a guitar and belt out a tune or two...

The musician in me hides when the racing flats come on and the runner in me cringes when I down a shot (or three) of the whiskey... So this will be my attempt to keep a foot in each of the world's that move me to act... writing a song... running 20 miles... there really is no difference. It is what it is!!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A real live actual race report!!

Summer Solstice 6hr Race Report:
So considering this was the second farthest I have ever run, and I had such a great time doing it, I figured it deserved a little write up. So here it is…

I was chauffeured in style out to Abilene by Jacob Evans, my buddy and fellow competitor who pulled me through my first 50 miler (which he also drove to- thanks!) and as we drove, the temperature outside kept climbing. By the time we got to the race site at 8pm it was 107 degrees with a nice blowing wind that felt like a hairdryer set on full blast. Luckily we were racing at 9pm and it cooled off to about 102... Sweet!!

The race course was a mile loop around a little city park with just enough light see a paved path, with a little dirt trail next to it. I made great use of the dirt path throughout, finding relief for my feet and taking those curved tangents nice and tight. An aid station right past the mile marker made it easy to race light and carry very little. We set up our own little aid station with chairs and everything we could possibly need. We stayed right next to the “official” aid station which was probably wise since it forced us to get around the whole mile before taking a break to pick up stuff. I decided to race in my Brooks Green Silence racing flats since they served me quite well in an earlier marathon and my Bicycle Path socks cause they are the best.

At the starting line, Jacob and I were clearly the most restless ones out there. It was noticed by others. Jumpiness at an ultra is almost odd to me but being the newbie I am, I just want to get started running and quit thinking about how long we would actually be running for. A weak horn started the run and we were off. Jacob set the pace and quickly settled into a rhythm. We were both expecting a couple of the 3 hour racers to go out quickly but the heat of the day was making people cautious so we ended up leading it out. That made me a bit nervous… like we didn’t know something everyone else did, but Jacob had raced it the year before so I went with it. We went through mile one at 8:10 which I figured it was a little too quick for me so I backed off a bit. Jacob kept on churning out slightly sub 8min miles, while I stayed in the 8:10- 8:20 min range, depending on the length of my drink breaks.

After three miles (just breaking a sweat) I was running pretty much by myself with one other guy hovering sometimes in front of me (ok) and other times slightly behind me (not ok.... at all...) so, with noone to talk to I plugged in the ipod and let my play list dictate my pacing. Looking back at all of my mile splits, I had a ton of splits within a second of one another, and quite a few that were exactly the same time, so my pacing was spot on. We went around and around clicking off miles and I decided early on, I would forgo walking until I absolutely had to, rather than interspersing random walk breaks to forestall the terrible feeling of fatigue. This was exactly opposite to my plan going in but that’s the fun of these long runs… too much time to change your mind about such things.

I was feeling great in spite of the heat so it seemed the way to go. I carried myself quite well for 18-19 miles and somewhere in there caught up to Jacob who was having some stomach issues. We chatted a bit and then he let me go and after and little more than 2 and half hours, I found myself in the lead for the first time of the day. I was not expected that at all and I enjoyed the feeling for quite awhile. A few miles later, I past him again, putting one mile up on him. I kept moving, getting a bunch of great songs all in a row and then came across Jacob sitting on a bench and breaking the rule of no stopping while feeling good, I pulled over, sat down with him and we started chatting. From a competitive racing standpoint, this was probably the worst thing I could of done for myself, but it was a decision made with no thoughts to victory, something I really like about ultra running. I helped talk him out of his funk and we got up and started going nice and easy. As soon as I stood up I knew I was gonna be in for it since every bit of me protested mightily. Jacob and I clicked off a bunch of miles together, running some, walking some, and on one of those walk breaks, I went for some watermelon. The devil’s watermelon.

 Due to a slower pace, I was consuming way too much beverage and water, and while it comfortable in the run walk mode, it would prove to be fatal for to ever get back on a good pace. I’d gone through the half marathon in 1:47 and the marathon in 3:49 and could see where I was headed. At mile 28, we stopped and check where other competitors were on the course. Jacob had 26 miles, as did another competitor. This became the phantom runner, since we had never seen the guy. I’m not sure I ever did until the awards. As soon as Jacob heard someone was on his heels he clicked back into racer mode and was off. Skipping the aid station, putting his head down he went for it back to his old pace, just a slight bit slower. I followed for about a mile and realized it was a lost cause, I was going to be doing damage control for the rest of the night.

Time: 4 hours 45mins. The next 3 miles were absolutely the worst for me but I kept moving. I quit eating or drinking anything since the stomach was having none of it. I knew I was in for a miserable last hour, and as I came up to the aid station, I saw my girlfriend Jennifer and my pup Kota hanging out. She had driven down from Denton after flying back from China (thank you!!) and as I hadn’t seen her in two weeks, I decided one more mile and I’d be good. Worst mile ever but I finally got rid of that watermelon in epic style. I had a bit of double vision and some serious thundering in my ears- not emanating from the music. I got through that mile and at 5 hours 11 mins I sat down in the most comfy chair ever, took off my shoes and put my feet up.

Sometimes I really think I start a run just so I can stop running, because that is the best feeling ever. I was more than satisfied with my run for the night and I had no problem watching Jacob come around a few more times solidifying his overall victory. About 30 mins to the finish, Jacob came up and took a break, where I decided to test his Redbull theory- slam an ice cold Redbull and just GO!! (not for the faint of heart, or the sensible). I went with him for one more mile. I actually felt pretty good again but coming around the mile clock I decided 33 miles were plenty. I pulled my chip and waited out the last 15mins. My 33 miles ended up being good for third place, Jacob getting 1st, and the phantom runner getting 2nd. They both completed 36 miles. The temp got down to a brisk 92 degrees and it actually felt pretty cool. We all hung out a bit before going home… I slept in the backseat most of the way. Not sure what I’m going to do when I actually have to drive myself to one of these!! Thanks Jacob for running with me, and thanks Jennifer for making it down there. It made stopping that much better!! More running to go. Countdown to my first attempt at 100 miles.

1 comment:

  1. Great report Ben! I'd say we did alright for being so friggin hot. Did you register for Arkansas? It goes up on July 1st!!!!

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