How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather – 35 degrees, cloudy, windy.

Driving to the race this morning I was in a good state of mind, just wanted to run my heart out and forget about time and place.

When I was warming up I felt a bit cold, but I knew once the race started I would feel better. Having no time goals, I felt relaxed and easy, and did not bother doing any kind of fast sprinting during my warm up. Just some easy jogging at 8:30-9:30 pace, followed by some walking, push-ups, crunches, and stretching.

10 minutes to race start I stripped to my racing gear – shorts and 4 shirts, head warmer, and gloves.

The race started at 11:00am, and the air was feeling warmer as we lined up. I placed myself in the back, knowing I was going to be moving pretty slow. The RD talked about a runner named Scott Hathaway who collapsed and died after running 2 miles at the Howl at the Moon 8 hour race this past year, which is held at Lake Mingo. On my warm up I was jogging down a lonely dirt road and came across a plaque which memorializes Scott  - “This path dedicated to Scott Hathaway – Ultra Runner”, or something along those lines.

The race director sent us on our way and I was running easy for the first 400m, then I started to go a little faster and started passing groups of people. I saw Don F., a local ultra running legend, who has a similar pace to me when I am running well. I decided I would tuck in behind him and see how long I could last at his pace, which I was assuming would be a mile or two. Don was bravely wearing only a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts, with a S.L.U.G. logo printed on the back of his shirt (St. Louis Ultra Group).

After 2 miles I discovered that Don run’s a race like I do – start moderately, then start picking up the pace and picking people off. We passed quite a few runners through 3 miles, and were passed only once.

After passing a group of 3 or 4 runners I accidentally pulled the ear bud cord out of my ipod. I like to listen to music when I train, so I usually bring my ipod along with me when I race. This was the first time this has happened to me, and I was disgusted that I had to break my nice rhythm. I stepped off the course and spent 20-30 seconds readjusting my ipod, 4 or 5 runners passed me, and when I started up, I saw that Don was about 100-125m ahead of me.

I got into line behind the runners I had recently passed, but I felt a wave of adrenaline and decided I did not want to lose Don, as I was still feeling strong. I shifted into an anaerobic gear and quickly re-passed the runners, and did not slow down until I was a few steps behind Don. It felt good to resume a normal pace, and I thought of Frank Shorter writing about how he liked to run anaerobic at strategic places in a race, and challenge his competition to do the same. Not being Frank Shorter, I was hoping I could recover from the 60-90 second bout of high intensity running.

After 800m I had recovered my normal breathing pattern, and my legs still felt strong and fresh, so I knew that I had gotten lucky and did not blow the race.

Soon after I noticed Don was slowing the pace, and I was still feeling good, so I took a chance and passed Don and started out on my own. I was surprised I had lasted this long, and knew I was running a much faster pace than I have attempted in over 3 months. But I was holding on nicely, and was feeling happy about this.

The final 3 miles I picked off numerous runners, and at mile 6 I realized I was going to make the entire distance without having to slow down. I knew my legs were saving me, as they felt unstressed by the pace, as if they were expecting to go another 10 miles. Even though I still have bouts of asthma during the colder months, I was able to remain relaxed and never felt threatened by lung constriction.

My favorite part of the race was the final 800m. There was a string of 4 runners weaving through the woods and I passed them all quickly. One guy said something to me but I could not hear him, he seemed pissed that I did not respond, and I pointed to my ear buds, but he kept on talking. I felt bad about seeming to be rude, but I was feeling the urge to make my move, so I hit the final uphill as hard as I could, and found myself alone with 400m to go. I felt the agony of what front runners must feel, knowing a pack of hungry wolves are right behind and closing quick. I got re-passed by one runner with 200m left, I would have challenged him, but he was going twice as fast as me, so I did not even bother speeding up. I turned my head to see if anyone else was coming on, but all I saw was an empty field, so I cruised into the finish chute in 54:40, for a 7:41 pace. I was 49^th overall, so I was able to  sneak in to win a top-50 t-shirt – nice!

I am feeling really good about this race. My last short race was in September, a 7.5 mile trail run, in which I suffered a melt down at mile 3. I have not run hard since then, my mind seemingly fearful of experiencing something similar again. 

All of my recent training runs have been at 8:30-10:00 pace, so to just wake up one morning and run 7 miles at 7:40 pace seems kind of odd, but I won’t complain about it. Running long distance must not diminish the ability to run at a hard intensity, but combining it with speed and hill work  is probably the smart way to achieve the best results.

The course was in good condition, as the ground was too cold to be muddy, so there was firm footing throughout. The wind was not bad in the woods. The most difficult part was the numerous uphills and downhills. I have done no recent hill training, so I was surprised the hills did not knock me out.

A fun time, and the effort and result gives me confidence for 2009.

#414

Top 50 t-shirt :