Fall 2014: That One Time I Got Fast

I hinted at this at the end of my long overdue race report for Ironman Boulder, but my goal for this fall was to do short trail races and do them fast. I wanted to try to win something. Not because I care about winning, but because I was pretty sure the attempt to do so would result in the kind of training I've never really done. Speedwork. Hill repeats. Box jumps. And that kind of training would hopefully make me faster, which I'm pretty sure is a good thing.

After Boulder, I came home and dedicated a few solid weeks to recovery to avoid injury. I also needed to spend a little time away from running to really get excited about it again. Triathlon training kinda wears on your enthusiasm after a while, so I needed a reason to miss hard training if I was going to have a chance to actually get it done.

Plus, it was still August, which we all know is the worst month in the history of ever. Don't even try to argue with me. I'll totally ignore you and go on knowing I'm right as if you hadn't tried to argue at all.

Just don't.

After a few weeks of easy short runs, I started back at it. It was the end of August so everything still sucked and felt awful. Then September happened and almost immediately running became 7000 times more fun. I started pushing the pace on my regular 3.5 mile loop around my neighborhood. I tried to get out to Shawnee Mission Park at least once a week to hammer out hill repeats on the trails. I hemmed and hawed about shelling out money for a plyo box versus putting my nonexistent carpentry skills to work trying to build one, and then realized I could just do "box" jumps on my basement stairs. SOLUTION!

I noticed improvement. And to be honest, after my horrendous ankle and back injury following OT100 last year, I had been unable to do any run training until April or so. But the strange thing is that when I finally started running again this year, I had speed that I hadn't really worked for. I always thought that ultra training was a detriment to speed, but maybe I'm misunderstanding what happens. Maybe I just needed a good recovery. Who knows?

Anyways, the work I was putting in was yielding results. I was getting faster. Struggling to hold sub-9:00 led to struggling to hold sub-8:00, which led to struggling to hold sub-7:00. And all of a sudden, 8:00 min/mile was my "easy" pace. I got back on the calorie counting wagon and quickly did away with the 10 lbs I had put back on since returning from Boulder.

I was firing on all cylinders and I felt good.

My first test of the season was the Clinton Lake North Shore 10K. This would be my first attempt at actually "racing". It was the first time I had paid attention to who the fast people were or what place I was in. There was also a half marathon starting at the same time and luckily the two fast guys I knew about were both in that race. So maybe I had a shot if nobody ridiculous was doing the 10K. As it turns out, somebody ridiculous was doing the 10K. This became immediately apparent to me when the starting gun went off and this dude with a 10K bib on took off and quickly disappeared. As it turns out he was 18 and looked like a track and field dude. You know the type...short shorts with the slit up the side and the running singlet with the logo of a running store. Or a shoe brand. Not sure which.

Anyways, so I would be no better than 2nd place. There were a handful of folks in front of me and I didn't know who was in what race, so I just tried to run fast and hoped for the best. I ended up finishing 3rd, which I'm totally ok with.

3 weeks later was the Fall Fell 7 Miler, which may be one of my favorite races if for no other reason than the awesome water crossing! And the cool pictures we get of us doing the water crossing! It's short enough to kill yourself and go fast, but not so short that you spend more time driving there than you do running. And the trails are fantastic and technical. Fantechstical? Technitastic?

Splish Splash!

At least one insanely fast guy was there so I was once again shooting for top 3. The race started and I went with the lead group, which was weird for me. A small pack of 4 or 5 of us and I WAS IN THE MIX. At least for now. I knew it would break up before too long, but it was still a bit of a thrill to be at least temporarily competing with these guys. I stayed in close contact with 3rd and 4th place for the first few miles, but they slowly pulled away and I was soon by myself. A few people passed me before the first water crossing and I found myself in 6th place but holding strong. In the middle rocky sections I saw that the first place female was nipping at my heels, so I pressed the pace to achieve my new goal of not getting "chicked". It worked and I was able to hold her off. In the final mile, another guy started gaining on me and was closing the gap fast. The final stretch of pavement to the finish line was an all-out sprint and I had just enough of a surge to edge him out and retain 6th place. Such a fun race!!!

The following weekend, I ran the Rock Bridge Revenge 25K, a trail run just outside of Mordor...ahem...I mean Columbia, MO. It was super cold and after seeing off my friends who were doing the 50K, I started warming up and sizing up the competition.

The goal was still to try and win or at least podium. There were some fast looking dudes and dudettes, and since I didn't know anybody, it was a crapshoot judging who was fast just by looking at them. But sometimes you can just tell. Tall and wiry dude with a long flowing locks and a great beard. Yep, he's definitely gonna win. And I wasn't wrong.

The race started on a half mile long out-and-back on pavement to stretch us out before we hit the trails. I once again jetted out with the lead group of 5, which quickly slimmed down to 3....Hair/Beard guy, a guy in an Elite Cycling tri top, and myself. In the first mile of trail, the front two guys quickly gapped me and I soon was by myself. I was holding a great sub-9 pace and feeling strong. Running warmed me up just enough that I wasn't bothered by the cold and actually ended up taking off my gloves and tucking them into my shorts.

At one point, I passed the race director who was out scouting on the course. He informed me that apparently some saboteurs had removed course markings overnight and he was out seeing where the damage was. That was enough to make me paranoid on some of the turns, and on some parts of the course, it was indeed quite a long distance between flags. Nothing to destroy a confident and steady pace like wondering if you're lost and need to turn around. There were definitely a couple turns that were no longer marked and I kinda had to use The Force to lead me in what felt like the right direction.

Rock Bridge Revenge 25K

Every now and then, I'd hit a long enough straightaway or the course would double back and give a good view of the previous sections of trail. I saw not a single soul anywhere near gaining on me. In the parts where I was mostly certain I was on course, I ran fantastically! The only people I saw other than the RD were 50K runners I was passing who were still on their first loop. In the last few miles of my race, I passed Eric and Carol who had driven up from KC for the 50K. I told them to stop pussyfooting, which was a great new word we had started putting into usage the night before.

I finally heard finish line commotion, pressed the gas, and broke into the clearing. I crossed the finish line expecting to be told "3rd place" and then they said "2nd place". So that was interesting. Hair/Beard Guy and Elite Cycling Guy had definitely been way ahead of me, and I never passed anybody. As it turns out, Elite Cycling Guy had missed a turn and finished shortly behind me. Oh well...I guess that's the way it goes sometimes. We all ran the same poorly marked course. I guess my Force was better than his Force. I was thrilled with my consistent pace! The course itself was a fantastic mix of every kind of trail I had ever run. Some rocky technical like Shawnee Mission Park, some sandy smooth and fast like the river trails, some rugged and rough like WyCo bridle trails, and some beautiful ridge traverses along limestone bluffs like Ozark Trail. There were also 7 or 8 really awesome knee to thigh deep water crossings that were delightfully chilly. I would definitely do this race again!

The following week, I began fostering a dog. He has turned my life upside down and added an additional challenge to simple things such as "leaving the house". I have managed to find ways to manage his separation anxiety, but it's still a work in progress. He is also turning into a pretty solid trail runner.

The week after that I had the pleasure of spectating at the KC Marathon which several of my friends were running in. I camped out on one of the big early hills and provided encouragement and high fives. Then once everyone had passed that point, I jetted over to mile 21...a point in the race where many would be hitting their walls, and continued dishing out enthusiasm and high fives. My hand hurt for several days afterwards, but it was such a fulfilling experience. I even saw a runner wearing MU gear *ugh* and I put aside my own *gag* personal school loyalties *barf* and said to him "M-I-Z!", to which he *hrmph* enthusiastically replied "Z-O-U!".

I felt so dirty, yet that day it wasn't about MU or KU. It was about getting that dude to the finish line.

The next morning, I had the pleasure of running the Perry Rocks Half Marathon with my brother and his girlfriend who were in town from San Francisco. My brother was just beginning to ramp up his training for our 50K in December and Megan was two weeks off of her first marathon(a 3:27!) and looking for a fun easy day. I know that both of them in their top form would destroy me, but I was pretty sure I'd have the upper hand today. And once again, I'd be attempting to hit a podium spot. It'd be hard because both Ricky Hacker and Dave Wakefield were racing that day. Not a huge chance I'd be able to hang with them unless I became significantly faster than I was. So...a battle for 3rd perhaps?

Desperately clinging to the heels of a fast guy.

The race started and I hit it hard to enter the trails with the fast guys. Dave was in 1st, Ricky in 2nd, and little old ME in 3rd. I was right on Ricky's heels for about half a mile, reveling in what it must feel like to be that fast, but knowing it would be short lived. He gapped me on the first big hill and I never saw him again.
Another guy who was running with an enormous Great Dane(seen in the above picture) also passed me in the first few miles, and an older gentleman shortly after. Amy Schmitz was again running with her dog Winston and was gaining on me for a period, but I ended up staying in front of her. A couple fast 50K runners passed me around the halfway mark, but other than that I held onto my 5th place ranking. Towards the end, I'm pretty sure I was gaining on the Great Dane guy, but he stayed a minute or two ahead of me. I finished strong up the final hill, made the left turn, and crossed the finish line with a new trail half marathon PR and a course PR by 6 minutes with a time of 1:51. Chris finished with a 1:57 and Megan narrowly missed a podium finish among females with a 2:08, despite rolling her ankle hard early in the race.

Happy Finishers

While in Rolla for our family's early Thanksgiving, I did a small 10K with my bro and his GF and we convinced my mother, father, and nephew to enter the 5K! I was so proud of them all! I would've finished 2nd place except for missing a turn on my 2nd loop of a sparsely marked course, allowing Chris and Megan to finish juuuust ahead of me. The cool thing is that we all received an award of some kind! Chris and I were 2nd and 3rd male in the 10K, Megan was 1st female, and my mother, father and nephew all received age group awards in the 5K! So cool!

The next weekend, I drove down to Podunk, MO to spend the day volunteering at the Ozark Trail 100 which I ran last year. It was really cold, but still so awesome to be in that atmosphere and give back to the trail community in that way. I reveled in peeling off runners' socks with numb fingers and drying and resocking them, much as my crew had done for me the previous year. Being around those people got me really excited about running another 100 miler at some point. For a few weeks, I contemplated trying to squeeze one in sometime in late Spring, but I have mostly decided that it would be a bad idea and I'd need to be well into Ironman training at that point in preparation for Ironman Canada in July. Maybe next Fall?

Farley's trail debut! What a great looking pup!

I took Farley out for his first trail run at the Veteran's Day 4 Miler. I got lots of compliments on how handsome my dog is, but I was curious how he'd do on the trails, especially with all the other runners and dogs milling about. In short, he did fantastically! We averaged 10:00 min/mile and he finished 1st canine! It is worth noting that Amy Schmitz did NOT bring Winston, so that showdown is still pending. 

In the thick of my ultra training, I decided on a whim to sign up for the Pilgrim Pacer Marathon to kickstart my first back-to-back long run weekend with a supported race. I worked packet pickup and helped Ben mark the course to give some more back to the wonderful Trail Nerds. I really had no particular plan for pacing, nor had I done any targeted training for a paved marathon. I really just wanted to wing it and see how badly I could trounce my 5 year old PR from the last time I did a marathon(3:59 from Las Vegas in 2009). 

Actin' the fool before the race

The two loop out-and-back course starts on a long downhill and finishes, obviously, on a long uphill. The race started and I hauled ass out of the gate, blazing down the hill at a 7:00 min/mile pace, knowing full well it was a terrible idea, but also not really giving an entire fuck. I held a sub-8 pace for the entire first loop, and I very nearly PR'd the first half, coming through at 1:41...my 2nd fastest half marathon ever!

Actin' the fool on course

I was in 9th place starting my 2nd loop, but as I expectedly slowed, I began to get passed. I was still having a blast and moving pretty well, pace in the mid-8's. 

Still foolin'

Approaching the final turnaround, I was beginning to feel the fallout of starting out so fast and within a few miles, I was struggling to hold sub-10 pace. One of my throwaway goals for the race was to have every photo of me be in mid-air. I almost accomplished that goal, but apparently around mile 22 or so I was having none of that. 

No foolin'. Also, it was snowing. NBD

Towards the end, I decided that a sub-3:40 finish would be swell. I had to really dig to gut it out up the final hill and I made it with less than 20 seconds to spare. Finish time was 3:39:42, a 20 minute PR, and good enough for 18th place overall out of 116 runners. 

Actin' the fool across the finish line. Didn't quite
nail the cannonball. 

To finish up my long weekend, I did 13.5 miles on the trails the following day and felt pretty solid after getting the cobwebs shaken out in the first few miles. After a rest day, I did another 10 at WyCo. After that, things were starting to feel a bit funky. The ankle I injured at Ozark Trail was starting to feel a bit pissy and sore. I had another back-burner goal of hitting 1000 miles of running again this year, but after getting a massage and having things still feel a bit funky, I decided to close the book on that goal. The 50K in December, the 100K in January, and my overall health are the real priorities. So instead of attempting to average 40 miles a week for the remainder of the year, I am now officially tapering for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K which takes place in San Francisco in 12 days. I'm looking forward to racing my brother again and seeing whose training will result in victory. I have no expectations of a PR, but I'm still hopeful for a sub-6 finish. 

Within a day of officially deciding that I was in taper mode, the aches and pains began. A few nights ago at work, an intense pain in my right lower abdomen had me 100% convinced that I had an inguinal hernia. And a day later it was completely gone. So it goes...

With my reduction in mileage, I've decided to get back into the habit of tracking my calories in and out, just for the next few months to make sure I don't accidentally gain 20 lbs over the holidays and arrive at Bandera a disgusting Beluga whale. This will especially be a challenge while I am in San Francisco, but if I play it straight the rest of the time, I can cheat for that week. I also need to supplement with some hip, glute, and ankle strengthening so that I don't injure myself in the final push into the 100K and to hopefully avoid a mid-race catastrophe like at OT100. 

My goal for Bandera 100K is 13 or 14 hours, though if I finish sub-16, I'll be eligible to enter the Western States 100 lottery for 2016. 

Just throwing that out there.

KTB, friends...