Just Don't Look Up
Yesterday was the last long run before The Buckeye Trail 50k. Our previous training run was 16 miles on the trail and to be honest with you, I'd never felt better than after that so I had high hopes going into this 23 miler. But I gotta tell you, 16 is very different than 23. Very, very different.
The group that amassed was large including all the really fast runners (which I am not). But thankfully I've taken on this challenge of a race with the normal Sunday running group (Kurt, Jim, Red & Debi...Roger too but he couldn't make it to this training run) so I never even have the chance to feel intimidated since I'm always surrounded by my friends. As Red, Debi and I were waiting around for the run to start, a woman came up to us and introduced herself-her name is Sarah and she has just recently become solo in her quest for this 50k. Her running partner decided that this just wasn't the race for her and bailed out leaving poor Sarah all alone in conquering the BT50k. It turns out she likes to run our back of the pack pace as well so we welcomed her with open arms. I wish I could have spent more time talking with her but unfortunately I had a family brunch engagement that I really wanted to go to so I picked up my pace for a good portion of this run. But she was in good hands. Red & Debi could have made a one legged blind person feel at ease on that trail...that's just how nice they are and how instantly at ease you feel when in their company.
Big Jim and I ran together the whole time and I gotta tell you, for a 220 pound, 6 foot somethin' guy, he can really move! In the beginning he and I would pull up in front of the group and I kept asking him "Jim are we being stupid? Shouldn't we be conserving our energy?" so we'd stop and rejoin the group but then inevitably we'd get ahead again...which isn't a bad thing if you're not running 23 miles on some of the hilliest terrain I've ever seen. But still, those first 12 miles felt pretty damn good. We made it to Boston Store (the halfway point) in about three hours. Now this is what I need nonrunners to understand-normally, on routes that don't involve trails I can run 12 miles in about 1 hour and 40 minutes... so that's how much impact trails have on pacing.
Jim and I would have waited and rejoined the group but I really did want to make it to that brunch so thankfully (stupidly?) we really picked up our pace on the way back. We were going along pretty good until about mile 15 or 16 and then things kinda deteriorated; not horribly but enough where we were exchanging more complaints than conversation. Neither of us felt dehydrated or out of breath which is a good thing but our legs were just really starting to hurt. What once were agile quick steps had now turned into more of a shuffle mixed with periodic hops over roots and rocks. It's what I like to call "messy feet". At one point Jim's foot caught a small undetected stump in the middle of the trail and he went down. Really it was more acrobatic than anything. As he fell his water bottles flew in two different directions and he just let out a few choice words before getting up and dusting himself off.
So onward and upward we went. Oh yeah...upwards. At this time in the run whenever we reached the bottom of a hill we'd just mutter a "motherfucker" under our breath and remind each other to just not look up cuz it was too daunting to see what lay ahead. On any other run the call of a horrible uphill is always answered with the relief of a downhill but by then the downhills were just as painful as their counterparts. Going downhill on quads that wanted to burst is not a good feeling. You end up feeling out of control, both on form and pace. Cross your fingers and hope for the best cuz that's all one can muster at that point.
Oh thank the sweet baby jesus, there's a clearing in the woods. We were close to the end but any sense of distance and or time was gone by then. At this stop there's a drinking fountain which currently had two runners that had passed us a while ago. Hhmm..imagine that, for once we weren't the last ones on these trail training runs. The two guys that were there were really nice but their motivation and comfort level pretty much matched ours. Jim and I got water but then realized the grave danger in taking a break with these guys-if we stopped I couldn't even imagine trying to get started again so after exchanging a little bit of small talk we continued on our way but not before hearing the fantastic words of "there's only about 1.75 miles left". I swear, something in me burst like a dam and my willpower and drive went flooding through my spirit. So close, so so close.
I felt bolstered by this news but Jim was still having trouble with pain in his legs so we split for just a few minutes but then I panicked at being alone and trying to navigate my way back to the starting point so I turned around and ran the little way back to Jim so he could officially finish out his job as escort to me. It was probably the last .25 miles that felt the hardest. Where was the goddamn starting spot? Where was it? Oh and what are my quads doing? I internally starting praying to the quad god for pity. Please oh please oh please don't let them cramp. I could feel how close they were to abandoning me... they felt like hands on the verge of balling into fists. Ok again, where the hell is that spot?
Relief and happiness beckoned me from around the last curve. We made it. And not only did we make it back, we made it back in just under 2 .5 hours! Jim and I kicked ass! I was especially proud of him because this was the longest distance he's ever done-having only done half marathons up to this point. I layed down in the grass and felt impressed with our efforts and impressed with how fantastic the grass felt beneath my weary legs. This race is going to be hard but as I get ready for work this morning and feel the slight aching reminder of yesterday's run, I 'm still walking taller and prouder than I was before so just imagine how fantastic we'll all feel once we've conquered the full 50k.
And I made it to the brunch and I ate with reckless abandon.
The group that amassed was large including all the really fast runners (which I am not). But thankfully I've taken on this challenge of a race with the normal Sunday running group (Kurt, Jim, Red & Debi...Roger too but he couldn't make it to this training run) so I never even have the chance to feel intimidated since I'm always surrounded by my friends. As Red, Debi and I were waiting around for the run to start, a woman came up to us and introduced herself-her name is Sarah and she has just recently become solo in her quest for this 50k. Her running partner decided that this just wasn't the race for her and bailed out leaving poor Sarah all alone in conquering the BT50k. It turns out she likes to run our back of the pack pace as well so we welcomed her with open arms. I wish I could have spent more time talking with her but unfortunately I had a family brunch engagement that I really wanted to go to so I picked up my pace for a good portion of this run. But she was in good hands. Red & Debi could have made a one legged blind person feel at ease on that trail...that's just how nice they are and how instantly at ease you feel when in their company.
Big Jim and I ran together the whole time and I gotta tell you, for a 220 pound, 6 foot somethin' guy, he can really move! In the beginning he and I would pull up in front of the group and I kept asking him "Jim are we being stupid? Shouldn't we be conserving our energy?" so we'd stop and rejoin the group but then inevitably we'd get ahead again...which isn't a bad thing if you're not running 23 miles on some of the hilliest terrain I've ever seen. But still, those first 12 miles felt pretty damn good. We made it to Boston Store (the halfway point) in about three hours. Now this is what I need nonrunners to understand-normally, on routes that don't involve trails I can run 12 miles in about 1 hour and 40 minutes... so that's how much impact trails have on pacing.
Jim and I would have waited and rejoined the group but I really did want to make it to that brunch so thankfully (stupidly?) we really picked up our pace on the way back. We were going along pretty good until about mile 15 or 16 and then things kinda deteriorated; not horribly but enough where we were exchanging more complaints than conversation. Neither of us felt dehydrated or out of breath which is a good thing but our legs were just really starting to hurt. What once were agile quick steps had now turned into more of a shuffle mixed with periodic hops over roots and rocks. It's what I like to call "messy feet". At one point Jim's foot caught a small undetected stump in the middle of the trail and he went down. Really it was more acrobatic than anything. As he fell his water bottles flew in two different directions and he just let out a few choice words before getting up and dusting himself off.
So onward and upward we went. Oh yeah...upwards. At this time in the run whenever we reached the bottom of a hill we'd just mutter a "motherfucker" under our breath and remind each other to just not look up cuz it was too daunting to see what lay ahead. On any other run the call of a horrible uphill is always answered with the relief of a downhill but by then the downhills were just as painful as their counterparts. Going downhill on quads that wanted to burst is not a good feeling. You end up feeling out of control, both on form and pace. Cross your fingers and hope for the best cuz that's all one can muster at that point.
Oh thank the sweet baby jesus, there's a clearing in the woods. We were close to the end but any sense of distance and or time was gone by then. At this stop there's a drinking fountain which currently had two runners that had passed us a while ago. Hhmm..imagine that, for once we weren't the last ones on these trail training runs. The two guys that were there were really nice but their motivation and comfort level pretty much matched ours. Jim and I got water but then realized the grave danger in taking a break with these guys-if we stopped I couldn't even imagine trying to get started again so after exchanging a little bit of small talk we continued on our way but not before hearing the fantastic words of "there's only about 1.75 miles left". I swear, something in me burst like a dam and my willpower and drive went flooding through my spirit. So close, so so close.
I felt bolstered by this news but Jim was still having trouble with pain in his legs so we split for just a few minutes but then I panicked at being alone and trying to navigate my way back to the starting point so I turned around and ran the little way back to Jim so he could officially finish out his job as escort to me. It was probably the last .25 miles that felt the hardest. Where was the goddamn starting spot? Where was it? Oh and what are my quads doing? I internally starting praying to the quad god for pity. Please oh please oh please don't let them cramp. I could feel how close they were to abandoning me... they felt like hands on the verge of balling into fists. Ok again, where the hell is that spot?
Relief and happiness beckoned me from around the last curve. We made it. And not only did we make it back, we made it back in just under 2 .5 hours! Jim and I kicked ass! I was especially proud of him because this was the longest distance he's ever done-having only done half marathons up to this point. I layed down in the grass and felt impressed with our efforts and impressed with how fantastic the grass felt beneath my weary legs. This race is going to be hard but as I get ready for work this morning and feel the slight aching reminder of yesterday's run, I 'm still walking taller and prouder than I was before so just imagine how fantastic we'll all feel once we've conquered the full 50k.
And I made it to the brunch and I ate with reckless abandon.
8 comments:
wow! You guys were hauling on the way back! Glad the quads held up!
Nice "greeting" you on the trails yesterday.
I may have some ideas on your quads cramping, and keeping them from cramping on race day. Email me if you want to chat about it....
wohoo! awesome job, you are going to do great come race day.
That was a great run Maria. You're going to do just amazing on this race. Jim too. Hope your legs are feeling good today!
Hey E-I read your blog all the time but didn't even realize that was you out there on the trail! Red clued me in that it was you ☺ With the speed you go we'll probably always just see each other in passing LOL!
Thanks Mike-my poor little quads can use all the tricks you got.
Thanks Josh-I'm glad I finally get to meet you-you're like a seasoned pro at this though...you'll be done and drinking a beer by the time I cross the finish line.
Red I don't think I want to go that pace for the race...my legs are not feeling the best today. Oh well, see what I'll go through just to get somewhere in time for some good food?!
Good job!! BT is NOT an easy run, you are doing great!!!!
Great job. I'm glad you liked that reminder of 1.75 left at the water fountain. You could easily pace with us on the trails. I bet you would kick my butt on the pavement to. It's really rough to run that in 2.5 hours so now I know why you guys were feeling so tired at the end.
Good run and you weren't the only ones to pass us on that day. We took a page out of the slow and easy book as I didn't want to kill my confidence going into the full 50k.
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