Huntsville, AL
The context of this race is my second 50K trail run. Somehow I managed to win my first foray into ultramarathon, last October's Stumpjump. My training partner and coach Jamie Dial had killed ourselves to get ready for this race. Often we would would finish a 15, 20, even 30 mile run racing each other at top speeds. Despite his pre-race sandbagging trash talk ("I haven't really been training...I just got back into running,") we were both pumped.
If you have never toed the starting line of a race with the idea of trying to win it, imagine the adrenaline that is flowing! You've spent every weekend running in mud, wind, rain, and sunlight in order to temper your body into something hard and fast. Right next to you is any number of competitors who want to do the same, and they want to beat you at your own game. You really have to go inside of yourself and resist the urge to freak out, take off too fast, or walk off to the side and quit before you start. I thought I was prepared.
The race started in a unfurling stampede of running shoes. The start of a 31 mile race involves opening up your legs just enough to get them rolling, but exercising enough restraint so as not to foolishly expend your reserves. It is a competition to see who can whisper the loudest. I searched for my rhythm that was effortless but fast. My sights quickly set on the number of runners ahead of me...let's see...okay, there's 8. And Jamie is right behind me. The first few miles before any real effort begins you are unrolling yourself like a big spool of yarn across the floor. The momentum of the body carries you through each step without really pushing. We floated along, and I found myself in 6th place in the early stages of the race.
The most exciting part of trail running, in my opinion, is the agility required to go fast. The myriad of rocks, roots, rollers, twists, and trees require an athleticism different from road running. Your attention must focus on every step to cover ground efficiently. To run strategically this means that you must "float" over these trail hazards while at the same time never quite putting yourself "out there" with too much effort.
Another interesting strategy of trail running is walking the hills. WALK THE HILLS. Somewhere in about the third or fourth mile of the race--still very early--I walked 50 feet up a little rise. Now mind you I could have jogged up the hill, or even ran briskly up it. But ultra racing is all about conservation of energy. So here I smoothly transitioned to power walk for several paces, then rolled back into a gliding run. Such tactics early on were invaluable later when it came time for the Fourth Quarter Smackdown.
As the first 10 miles rolled by, then 15 miles, I had to carefully protect my state of mind. I was using all of my energy conservation strategies of walking hills and floating over terrain, but mile after mile I was still sitting in 6th place. The 5th place runner just seemed to hang out up there about 30 or 45 seconds ahead of me, and nothing I tried seemed to bring him any closer. Who knows how fast the other runners ahead were going.
Through these middle miles, I began to give myself a little speech. "It's time for your reality check. You are running well, but you are in the presence of better runners today. Time for a reality check. You are about to be put in your place."
Presently I Iooked at my watch and realized two and a half hours had passed already, and it felt like the race was still just getting started. I still did not have the really "fired up" feeling that I was hoping for. I had been constantly drinking Hammer Perpetuem drink throughout the race so far, but I needed something more. I remembered I had an energy gel containing 50mg of caffeine, and I decided it was time. I slurped the gel and washed it down with more Perpetuem. I was approaching one of the rockiest, most contorted sections of the course.
The trail really started to get nasty here. Imagine running on rocks ranging from marble to tennis ball size. Sharp rocks. What looked like a nice wide open trail took even more concentration on footing than before. The feet were getting bruised. I even fell and whacked my kneecap on a rock. Pain shot though my body as my knee suddenly stiffened. I fought back the pain and tears as I tried to it walk off. Reality check: "Eat more of that gel. Get the caffeine in you. Be careful man, you could really hurt yourself here and loose even your 6th place."
Blessing of blessing....I could still run and I got my legs turning over again. I got my momentum back a little bit and all of the sudden I could see 5th place ahead of me. He didn't even know that I had fallen and he appeared to be suffering on the sharp rocks even worse than I was. I rolled right up and ran behind him--both of us in silence--until I passed him with a few words of collegial encouragement.
It was almost time for the Fourth Quarter Smackdown. I put the afterburners on in an attempt to put some space on the guy I had just passed. I was in the groove now, flying through the rocky stuff to the start of the Waterline Trail. The Waterline is a mile of perfectly straight trail that starts almost flat. It gradually gets steeper and steeper until it launches almost vertically, where you actually climb up the side of a waterfall, cross the waterfall itself, then climb hand over foot, grasping at trees and solid rock to claw yourself up the side of the bluff.
Jamie's words: "This is where all hell will break loose." In ultra racing, "all hell breaks loose" differently than in the ordinary sense. Mile 23 of a 31 mile race is where most people are going to pay the price for their earlier pacing indiscretions. One such runner suddenly came into my view.
It was time to make my move. Begin smackdown.
This runner was struggling to run, no, jog up this hill. I would run a few steps but each time my heart rate started to climb I would shift back to my power walk. Fast steps. Breathe. Keep your head up. He was getting closer. We transitioned onto the section which is basically rock climbing, and I just kept reeling him in even though I was walking. My bloodstream was coursing with lactic acid, caffeine, adrenaline as I passed him.
In the space of a few seconds, I tightened the screws on my competition. It took every bit of strength I had to keep putting one leg in front of the other but now I had to take it one step further. Before I got to the top of this crazy steep climb, I kicked in 10 or 20 steps of running. I had just dropped 4th place like he was standing still. This was my plan, and the execution was suddenly unfolding exactly like I had hoped!
Topping out the climb brought little relief because I had to keep the pressure on. Better yet, just 75 yards ahead of me through the clearing was the 3rd place runner, last year's winner. Awesome! I focused on keeping my momentum with a high cadence. I rounded a corner and suddenly saw him lying on the ground, clutching his hamstring and crying out in pain. I wished him a quick recovery as I freaking FLEW past him.
In the course of 10 minutes, my entire fortune had changed. Rather than languishing in 6th place, I had suddenly busted out the crux move of the entire 31 mile race, presently feeling stronger than ever and in 3rd place. Moments later I passed my support crew Kathy and MJ and said to them, "how about them apples!" They handed me a bottle of HEED and confirmed that I was 10 minutes behind the top two runners. Third place was mine to keep or loose now, and I held it.
Really, that was the race right there. With 6 miles remaining, I flew down a long, steep, twisty, rocky mile-long descent...feeling awesome. The final mile- long climb was challenging, but the patience early in the race allowed me to keep my momentum up it, then finish the final 1.8 mile flat section in a sprint. To get third place behind two of the top trail runners in the nation felt awesome, and my time of 4:05 would have won many years of the race. The previous course record of 4:02 was smashed by winner Dave Mackey's time of 3:46. Whew!
I was across the line, but how were my friends doing? My race wasn't just about my race, it was about the training and fun and all the smackdowns and coaching Jamie had inflicted on me. I had hardly put my warm clothes on when I saw Jamie bust across the line in 6th place. Awesome! Still breathing hard, he said to me with more than a little Tennessee drawl, "now do you see the benefit of the Fourth Quarter Smackdowns?"
Big Kudos to my other friends who also finished with special congratulations to my dear partner Rachel who finished her first 50K in true rock star fashion (you'll have to ask her what I mean.) Wendi Parker-Dial got 2nd place and Kris Whorton won the women's side (both beat the previous course record). Mark Harris, Chad Wamack, Nick Nicholson, Chris Lewis, and Kieth Woodall are my training buddies and friends...great job guys! Huge thanks to Kathy Mead and MJ who provided expert support crew help during the race, and Mary Ann McCain and Rusty, for cheering extraordinare. Thanks to all my clients, friends, and readers of my newsletters who root me on and send me the positive mojo vibes.
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