Mohican Forget the PR 50K Race Report

Well, I did it! I ran my first race of the year yesterday, and it was a great experience. Rob put together a great race and I’m sure that everybody that ran the race would agree 100%. The aid stations were well stocked and extremely friendly. The party crowd was definitely at the Covered Bridge. It was always fun crossing through there with the radio blasting and seeing everybody in their Hawaiian clothing. :) The course was very well marked, very technical and all of the volunteers were amazing; all in all this was simply a great experience! Rob, I look forward to next years’ event, assuming we don’t reschedule our trip to Disney World for that week. :)

For those that don’t know how much 50k is, let me spare you the effort: it’s about 31.1 miles. :) I went into the race with two simple goals: have fun & cross the finish line. It proved to be a great goal, and it’s exactly what I did. The total time on my Garmin was ~ 8 hours and 15 minutes, and I had a blast!

I realized I have a lot of training to do before my 50 miler in 2 months. This race was only 30 miles :), and I couldn’t have imagined having to run another 20 when I crossed the finish line of this race. Training for the Mohican 50 Miler officially begins next week! I have the same goals for that race (have fun & finish). However, I want to still feel very strong after 30 miles. The only way I know to do that is to train hard.

If you’re interested in my full race report, keep reading. If not, no hard feelings and c-ya! :) However, you may check back because I’ll post an overhead map of my run once I sync my Garmin (later tonight or tomorrow).

Start

I showed up at Mohican around 7:15 am and got my goody bag. Wow, lots of cool stuff! This could very well classify as one of the best goody bags I’d ever gotten; lots of camping stuff, ultra running stuff, and a very “trail” oriented mix of shwag. I was able to talk to some of my friends by the check in booth and everybody was real excited to get moving.

Before we got started, Rob had a few things to say about the race and why he put it on. He explained how the flags worked and pretty much told everybody that there was ‘no stopping’! He said “If you feel like you need drop out of the race, go ahead and have a seat at the next aid station and I’ll have someone pick you up in about 3 hours.” He then follows it by, “Seriously, you might as well just keep walking”. Perfect!! He then let Regis Jr. say a few words about the park and how it meant so much to him and his dad (Regis Shivers Sr.). Regis Sr. was the first generation of Mo Trail runners and just recently passed away. He left a hell of a legacy though. I wish I had a chance to meet him. Anyway, Jr.’s message was well received and you could feel that vibe that Regis Sr. was in this race too. :)

Miles 1 – 5

The first 5 miles were very uneventful. I literally let all the fast runners fly through the starting line and I stayed at the back of the pack and slugged along from the very first few steps. This was a single trail course the whole way, so it made sense to stay out of everybody’s way now, rather than dealing with them in the forest in a few miles. It turned out to be awesome, because I just chugged along through the woods like I would on any training run. Nobody was around me really to keep conversation, so I just did what I like to best: think. I did a lot of thinking on this run due to my “slow paced isolation” plan. :)

Miles 6 – 10

I got to the first aid station a lot quicker than I had imagined. I had no problems whatsoever, and moved right on through. I picked up a few pretzels, chugged a nice cold cup of water, and laughed with some of the voluneers on my way through. The remaining 4 miles (after the aid station) were just nice and relaxing. The weather was turning out to be nice and crisp with a slight breeze on the face. I still felt very strong; I could have picked up the pace through here, but I played it smart and just kept a slow pace with the runners in front of me.

Miles 11 – 15

As I was coming down the hill from the Orange loop, I heard a block party being held at the Covered Bridge. It was awesome coming up to these guys. As soon as they saw me, they made me feel like I was winning the race. :) I thanked them big time and pounded a few PBJ sandwich blocks. They all sent me on my way up to the next aid station with a smile.

The run from Aid station 2 to Aid station 3 was beautiful! I kind of pal’d up with Cheryl (she frequents a lot of the Mo training runs) and her friend Lucy. We slowly climbed through the Little Lyon falls and did some “root climbing”. Once we got to the top of Lyon Falls, they moved ahead of me and I was back to myself again. The bugs were kind of bothering me through here, because there was a bit of road and the bugs were just dying to get into my ears and eyes. Gross!

Rob put in a nice little muddy trail for this race. When I say mud, I mean M.U.D. The course goes through a bridle trail and the mud was very thick and very deep. With every step, I either slid a bit or my shoe tried to stay in the mud. It was fun though, to me this is what “trail running” is all about. :)

Miles 16 – 20

Aid Station 3 was great! These guys were very friendly and encouraging. One of the fellows (Michael) met me about 100 yards from the table and stole my bottles so that he could fill them for me. I ate a few more PBJ sandwiches, pounded a warm cup of Coke, a cookie, and some pretzels, and thanked the guys. I was on my way again and still feeling great.

The second time through the mud, I gave up trying to avoid it. I just gave into the idea of being muddy and by the end of this section, I had mud further up my leg than I’d like to admit. :S

As I was coming up to Big Lyon Falls, I was starting to feel some soreness in my legs, but it was to be expected. My training before this race wasn’t “all that” and I knew I was going to be working my legs today. As I tried to scale down Big Lyon falls, I felt the quads pretty good. :) However, this was a beautiful section and it reminded me a lot of my vacation with the girls a few weeks ago. After my descent down Big Lyon falls, I made it back to the party zone and refueled a bit more. This time I had a watermelon slice and a Chocolate Chip cookie.

Miles 21 – 25

From the Covered Bridge, I trekked up the Green section of the course and this was really hard for me. I’ve only ran this section once, when I paced Kim last year at the 100 miler. However, at that time it was very dark and it was going the other way (ie. down hill). Rob turned it around on us and made us go “up” it for this race. The entire 2 mile section up to the Fire Tower was on a slight incline. It felt more than “slight” at times, and this was probably the longest 2 mile stretch of the entire race for me. I was pretty much spent by this point and walking is all I could think about. Even as I jogged, I had to keep fighting myself from walking.

When I got to the Fire Tower, Kim was there as the aid station captain. She talked me into some potato soup, that her mom made. And I took a minute to empty all the sticks and rocks out of my shoes. I’d been collecting sharp things in my shoes the entire race, and each step was becoming more and more uncomfortable. I figured it was best to take the time to get them out now, rather than waiting another 4+ miles.

The Red section was awesome! On my way out of the aid station, Kim yelled “4 more miles til the next Aid Station Luc. It’s all downhill!”. Mmm hmm… It was mostly downhill, but keep in mind that this means very little at Mohican. “Downhill” basically means that the next check point is lower in elevation than where I’m currently at. It does not mean that I will be doing all downhill running though. :) It’s taken me a while to understand this actually. Rob and Kim are always telling me that certain sections of Mohican are “mostly flat” or “downhill”. I now have a new under-standing what “flat” and “downhill” actually mean when talking about trail running.

I ran past 2 runners through this section. The one guy was in really bad shape. I asked him if there was anything I could do, but he just wanted to get to the finish. The longest run he’d ever done before this race was only 10 miles. Wow, that’s a hell of a big jump to 30+ miles! He had really nasty blisters on his ankles from his shoes and he said that his knee caps hurt really bad. I gave him some words of encouragement and wish him luck as I picked my pace back up. The other runner had a locked up ITB and it looked like every single step hurt. I talked with him for a while as well, and he assured me he was going to try and at least finish. I threw encouraging words at him and went on my way again.

Miles 26 – 30

I got back to the Covered Bridge for the final time and they were very encouraging yet again. The music had stopped, but the enthusiasm was all still there. :) I drank some heed (it’s a drink) and grabbed a few Salt ‘n’ Vinegar chips and on my way. By this time I was kind of starting to feel nauseous. I didn’t want to drink anymore fluid, I didn’t want to think about putting anything in my mouth and I just wanted to sit down and chill for a minute.

Instead, I focused on a walk / jog routine. I would jog until I felt like puking, then I would walk to let my stomach settle down. Then I would jog again, and repeat. This section of the course had some very technical areas in it, so I did more walking than jogging through most of it. There were some killer hills towards the 30 mile marker and I might as well have crawled up them, because I was moving at a snails-pace by this point.

Finish!

There was one last killer hill before the finish line. By this time, I had been moving so slow for so long that a few runners that were far behind me at one point, were now passing me. We congratulated each other on our accomplishments and on they went. I let them get pretty far ahead of me as I slowly stomped down the North Rim trail hill. As I got back to Campground A, I heard the cheers for those runners and I knew that I had made it.

About this time, I heard a crazy guy honking his car like a mad man. I looked over and it was ma dude, NICK!! He had already finished and was pulling out of the parking lot as I was coming up to the finish line. My entire run had been so quiet and peaceful, then HOOOOONK HOOOOONK HOOOOOONK HONK HONK HONK HOOOOONK!! Thanks for the encouragement on my finish, Nick! I got a great laugh out of it! :D

As I came up to the finish line, Rob welcomed me with a high five and my first ultra belt buckle! :) He asked me what I thought of his course and I said that I really liked it, and that it definitely worked me. I stuck around for a few minutes and sat on a bench for a while. It’s always fun to stick around after these long distance races and watch other runners limping from place to place. :) Everybody’s legs are shot after these races, and it always makes me feel “normal-ish”. :) I spoke with Kim and Regis for a few minutes, then headed to my car for the long ride home.

Columbus Marathon 2008

4:27:31

I did it! What a great experience it was too. Similar to my last marathon, I thought about downgrading my goal to simply "beat my last time", because 4:30 seamed like a far stretch. This was more than a half hour faster than my last marathon. This was 2 1/2 hours faster than my first marathon! Regardless, I stuck to my word and aimed for the 4:30 goal anyway. The end result was me running the best race of my life (so far). I walked away from this marathon (actually I hobbled, but...) I left nothing on the course and have a stellar PR to show for it!

I ran the whole race... meaning, I didn't walk a single step or stop for anything the entire 4 1/2 hours. I didn't realize that fact until after I crossed the finish line. Once I realized it, it really hit me that I'm getting stronger with every race. I can't believe how far I've come since I set out to be a runner last year. It feels very good.

Pre Race Training
My training had gone great up to the race. I was slipping up on my schedule of runs, but I was getting my miles in. My weekly routing was shot because I've been so crazy busy with everything new (new job, new projects, new schedule, etc...). I was able to fit in my 21 mile training run 2 weeks before the race. Then the week before the race I ran my World Wide Festival of Races 1/2 Marathon with a very nice time. The day after that race, I finally finished my 100 pushup test. Basically everything had fallen into place and I was in top-top shape (for me anyway) going into the marathon.

The day before the marathon, my dad and I cut down a huge tree in my side yard, so I had an intense full body workout and I was feeling it. After climbing trees with a chainsaw, cutting firewood, and then hauling wood and brush all day, I was sore. By the time I got to bed and fell asleep, it was almost 1am. I only had about 5 hours before I needed to head to the starting line for my 26.2 mile run.

Starting Line
I called Nick and Rob to try and meet up with them, but never got too. The starting line was absolutely packed. There was no way I was going to find anybody in that crowd. I literally found a parking space, pounded a gel pack and a gatorade and made it to the starting line right before the gun went off.

Miles 1-5
This was easy running! I was doing 9 minute miles with no problem. I actually felt like I was holding back at times. I knew better than to take off like a banchee and burn myself out too quick. The first few miles were very crowded. I was weaving in and out of people and moving aside for those that wanted to pass me. I literally forced myself to find my own pace and just relax. I hit every water station and took a gel pack at mile 4 so that I could begin my feul and hydration plan.

Miles 6-10
Again, these were easy miles. I was sill keeping my quick-but-relaxed pace of 9;15 miles consecutively. I was starting to work up a sweat so rather than holding my handkercheif in my hand, I decided to put it on my head so that I could just do some "hands free running". I must say it was pretty nice. :) I always run with a water bottle... always. Anyway, these miles were very uneventful and I was just enjoying the race atmosphere. Lots of spectators and lots of entertainers along the way.

Miles 11-15
By this time, the sun was out and it was turning out to be a beautiful day! When the 1/2 marathoners separated from us, the crowd thinned out a lot and I was running on an open road by myself for a few miles. I had runners about 30 yards ahead of me and 30 yards behind me. I was still keeping my pace pretty quick. I had let my miles get down to about 9:45 - 10 minute miles by this point, but I still felt strong and was very confident about finishing in under 4 hours and 30 minutes.


Miles 16-20
Here, I was starting to feel the regular marathon "pains". It wasn't necessarily pain, but rather I was feeling the things that runners feel when they run long distances. My hips were hurting, my shin muscles felt like they were separating from the shin bone, and my lower back was acting up from time to time. My abdominal muscles were pretty sore, but I'm not sure why. I've ran these distances before and never had abdominal muscle problems. The only thing I could think is that it was probably from the tree climbing the day before.

I called Jennifer around mile 19 to see where she was at. She told me that she was still at home! She hadn't left yet and I only had 7 more miles to go. To both of our surprise, I was kicking ass and was going to be done by noon at this rate. I couldn't wait to see my family at the finish line. The girls were going to make signs for me and just the thought of seeing them cheering me on at the finish line perked me up a bit. After I talked to Jennifer I put a little skip in my step for about a mile.

Miles 21-25
Ouch, I was really feeling the pavement here. I'm used to running on trails mostly and really don't run for such long distances on 100% roads. I'm not sure if it's the way I run or if it's just "running on roads" in general, but there is a big difference. I was really starting to slow my pace down through here. Putting in the faster miles at the beginning was proving to pay off. I did a few 11 minute miles and maybe a 12 minute mile. I was still on pace to beat my goal though, so I didn't let it get me down. I'm really kicking butt at this point. I saw everybody around me dropping off like flies. People were walking, some people were stopped along side the road stretching or sitting even. It felt good to jog by them knowing that my race plan was working.

Mile 26.2
I rounded the corner and headed down the hill to the finish line. I was looking for my girls with every step. There were probably 2,000 people lining the streets though and I couldn't find them anywhere. :'( I did hear my name on the loud speaker and was hoping that they heard it too so that they could find me running. I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 27 minutes 31 seconds!

My Reward
After I crossed the finish line, I hobbled around looking for my girls. I called Jennifer and she said that they were looking for me, but couldn't find me. I totally understood because there were just way too many people at the finish line. We eventually met up and all decided to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. Here is a picture of me with my trophy girls at the finish line:


Time Off
This will be my last marathon of 2008. I'm going to take the rest of the year off and do some chill running with no set training plan for a while. I'll be preparing and planning my 2009 race schedule in the mean time and really hope to do more ultra's next year (no roads, just trail runs). This is my first year of being an official distance runner; I've ran 3 marathons and 1 ultra marathon. Not bad for a rookie!?

Mission "Distance Runner" accomplished!

New Personal Goals

It feels awesome to set a goal and achieve it... really! I have totally changed the way I think about setting short term goals since finishing my marathon in under 5 hours. Before my last race, I was convinced that there was no way I could improve my marathon time by almost 2 hours. It just seemed like too big of a goal at times and I almost considered settling for "anytime under my last marathon time" as the goal instead. However, I figured that if I didn't try to do it, I'd never know. Therefore, I tried and (to my surprise) I succeeded. At this point, anything seems possible.

Since my race, I've been thinking about my new goals and what I want (really want) to achieve next. My "big picture" goal is to be happy; isn't that everybody's goal? I know that in order to be happy, I need to focus on the things that make me happy. Things that make me happy are (in order) my family, running, coding, drumming, and everything outdoors. Some of the happiest memories I have from my early years with Jennifer were when we had no money, no TV, no internet, a $100 thrown together beaten down drum set, a roof over our heads, and each other. I want to teach my girls that happiness is not a material thing, and I plan to do that by being my own student. This new hobby of mine (ie. running) has taught me that the word comfortable is not analogous to happy. By this I mean that sweating, cramping, cringing in pain, and sore muscles wind up giving me long-term happiness in the end. Watching TV, eating crap food, and lounging around in the air conditioning (ie. being comfortable) does not give me long term happiness; rather it's a quick fix to immediate satisfaction and ends up making me feel like crap at the end of the day. I know this because it's more or less how I've lived my life the last few years.

My new plan is to focus on eliminating all the things that make me unhappy. For example, one thing that makes me unhappy is that I'm no longer able to perform basic physical tasks that my body was intended to perform. Right now, I can run for 5 hours strait with proper fuel and hydration. However, I can only do about 3 (good-form) chin-ups, 1 (good-form) shoulder width pull-up, 20 (good-form) push-ups, and 100 (good-form) sit-ups before needing a break. When I was 19, I could do all of these things until the cows came home, but I've since lost this ability. I have decided that I'm going to fix this problem. :)

My new short term goals are as follows:

• Do the 100 push ups challenge: http://hundredpushups.com
• Do at least 1 wide angle (> shoulder width apart) pull up by next month
• Run Hocking Hills Indian Run 60k trail race in September and simply finish
• I've already signed up for it
  
• Run Columbus Marathon in October and finish in 4.5 hours or less
  
• I've already signed up for this too

Something I'd like to start looking into next spring is rock climbing. However, the fact that I struggle to pull my 200 lbs body up with my arms leads me to believe that I have a little bit of work to do before looking into that. :) I've accepted the fact that my weight is here to stay, so I'm going to offset this with physical strength.

So these are my goals. I've posted them for all to see in hopes that it helps me commit to these goals (like my 5 hour marathon goal post). When you see me, ask me how I'm doing on them, as I may need kicked from time to time. :)