Today was the 13th day of the
Running Ragged 20in20 Series. Up until
today, we’ve had dry weather. This
morning, I woke up to a loud crash of thunder.
I looked at the clock. It was 5:30,
which is about the time I usually get up.
After dragging myself out of
bed and making a cup of tea, I turned on my phone to check the weather
forecast. It was going to rain for at
least another hour, but it looked like the rain would stop around 7:00. The race didn’t start until 9:00.
We were in Quarry Park for the
third straight day, but today we had a new course. Not having seen it yet, I didn’t know how
much it would be affected by wet conditions.
The gravel trails we were running on yesterday probably don’t get muddy. Some of the other trails do.
The weather wasn’t my biggest
concern. For the third time in four
days, I woke up with a stiff neck. The abrasions
on two of my toes were rubbing against the bed, making it difficult to sleep
comfortably. Every time I tried to move
into a position that was more comfortable for my feet, it turned out to be less
comfortable for my neck.
I also noticed a sore spot on
the back of my left heel, right where the Achilles tendon inserts. That tendon has been tight lately, and earlier
in the year, I had Achilles tendonitis at the insertion point. My first impression this morning was that this
series was going to be more difficult the rest of the way.
The temperature at the start of
the race was similar to yesterday, but it didn’t warm up as much. Instead of getting up to 80, it only got up
to about 70.
Yesterday, I was feeling good,
and I ran faster than I probably should have.
Today, I was planning to go a little easier. My primary goal, as usual, was to break five
hours. Whether that would also be fast
enough to win depended on whether anyone showed up with fresh legs.
I used my first lap to survey
the course, looking for trip hazards or muddy patches. I also decided where I would take my walking
breaks. I waited until my second lap to
take pictures of the course.
As we started running, a runner
I didn’t recognize took the lead. I ran
just fast enough so I wouldn’t fall too far behind him. Jesse always leads everyone through the first
lap, at least as far as the turnaround cone.
After I made the turn, I mentioned to Jesse that I didn’t recognize the
runner who was out in front. Jesse told
me he was a local runner. His name was
Timm, and he was running the half marathon.
Most runners doing the half marathon start at 10:00, but they have the
option of starting at 9:00 with the marathoners.
The leaves were still wet
enough that a gust of wind could blow water out of the trees. When that happened, it briefly felt like it
was raining. I only noticed that for the
first lap.
Once I knew I didn’t have to
compete with Timm, I ran a slightly more relaxed pace for the second half of the
lap. I finished that lap in about 17:30. Then I took a walking break to start my next
lap.
The trails we were running on
were gravel. The morning rain caused
some of the leaves to fall.
The only part of the route that
wasn’t gravel was a short boardwalk over a marsh.
From the boardwalk, we had some
nice views.
There were puddles in a few
places, but they didn’t cover the whole trail, so they were easy to avoid. If anything, the wet conditions made it
easier to run. The gravel was firmly
packed, instead of being loose.
Fairly early in our lap, we ran
between the same two swimming holes that were next to the turnaround point of
yesterday’s course.
After that, the course
overlapped yesterday’s course for about a quarter mile. Where that course made a right turn and
started up a long hill, this one went straight and stayed fairly flat. There was only about 50 feet of elevation
change per lap. The biggest “hill” was a
10-foot rise near the end of the lap. Today’s
out-and-back route was shorter than yesterday’s, so we had to run it 14 times
to complete a marathon.
The section that overlapped
yesterday’s course was the same section where the air felt cold yesterday. Today it didn’t. The wind must not have been right for us to
get cold drafts near the swimming holes.
After completing my second lap,
I put my camera in my drop bag, and I made a bathroom stop. That still left me time for a walking break
of about a minute and a half.
Since there weren’t any
significant hills, there weren’t any places along the route where I needed to
take a walking break because it was tiring.
Instead, I always did my walking at the beginning of a lap.
By now, I had decided to set a
target pace of 20 minutes per lap. At
that pace, I would finish the marathon in less than 4:40. I could’ve set a target pace of 21 minutes
per lap, and it would still have been fast enough to break five hours. I went with 20 minutes because it divides
evenly into one hour. Running three laps
per hours not only made it easy for me to remember my target lap times, but it
also made it easy to remember how many laps I had completed. As usual, I varied the length of my walking
breaks to keep from getting too far ahead of my target pace.
For the time being, 20-minute
laps felt easy. It the pace ever started
to feel tiring, I could always switch to 21.
After my third lap, I was consistently having walking breaks of at least
three minutes. That was long enough to
give me a good rest before I started running again. On some laps, I got halfway across the boardwalk
before I started running.
I realized after a few laps
that I had been overly pessimistic before the race. I did enough stretching of the muscles around
me neck that the stiff neck I had in the morning was never an issue during the
race. My left Achilles tendon also wasn’t
an issue. Once I started running, it turned
into a worry-free day.
By the time I finished my sixth
lap, Timm was already done with the half marathon. He finished in less than two hours. It’s a good thing he wasn’t doing the
marathon, because I could not have run at that pace. After he finished, I was the fastest runner still on the course. I ran by myself for the
whole race.
In the second half of the race,
I noticed it was getting warmer. It wasn’t
as hot as yesterday, but it turned into a sunny day. When you were in the sun, you could feel
it. Fortunately, this course has a lot
of shade. Other than the start/finish
area, the most sun-exposed part of the course was the boardwalk.
By the time I got to my last
five laps, the pace didn’t feel quite as easy.
I didn’t try to force it. I kept
running with the same effort, and I allowed my pace to slow down. As I did, my walking breaks got shorter. For the last few laps, they were shorter than
three minutes. That’s OK. It was still a long enough break that I felt
well-rested by the time I started running again. That was the important thing. I was always fresh when I started running,
and I never ran long enough to start feeling weary. That was always my goal in 24-hour
races. My pacing today was similar.
Just before my last lap, I made
a bathroom stop. That cut into my last
walking break. It didn’t matter. I must have subconsciously sped up on that
lap, because I finished almost four minutes ahead of my target time of 4:40.
My time was 4:36:15. That was only about two minutes slower than
yesterday, but it felt much easier.
Tomorrow, we’ll be on the same
course. If I’m feeling good enough, I’ll
shoot for 20-minute laps again. If not,
21-minute laps would still be fast enough to break five hours.
When I finished the 6th race of
this series, it was already the most consecutive days I had ever run marathons,
but I still had two weeks to go. Now, I’ve
completed 13, and I only have one week to go.
That sounds manageable.
Race Statistics
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 4:36:15
Average Pace: 10:32
Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:
418
Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:
71
Series Statistics
Races Completed: 13
Under Five Hours: 13
Average Time: 4:42:20
Wins: 9
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