On March 27, I ran the sixth race of the Mainly Marathons Appalachian Series. The Appalachian Series is a seven day series, with marathons in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia.
I’m not doing the entire
series. I’m just doing the last two
races, which are both run on the same course, making it possible for me to stay
in the same hotel for both races. These
two races are held in Bluefield, which straddles the border between Virginia
and West Virginia. The course starts in
West Virginia and finishes in Virginia.
By the rules of the 50
States Marathon Club, when a race starts and finishes in different states, you
can choose which state it counts toward.
I’m counting today’s race as a West Virginia race, because I need one more
West Virginia race to finish my fifth circuit of marathons in every state. Since I’m already here, I’ll stay to run
tomorrow’s race as well.
There aren’t any large airports
close to Bluefield. The closest airport
that I could reach with a direct flight was Charlotte, NC. When I left Minneapolis, it was snowing
heavily. Most airports would have shut
down. Thankfully, the Minneapolis/St.
Paul airport is well-equipped to handle snowstorms. They had to de-ice the plane, but they were
able to keep the runways open, so we left with only a short delay.
From Charlotte, I had to drive
180 miles to get to my hotel in West Virginia.
Rather than staying in Bluefield, I’m staying in Princeton, WV, which has
more lodging options. Princeton is about
15 miles away from the race venue.
After the drive, my legs were
feeling kind of stiff. I did a workout
in the hotel’s fitness room, and then I felt better.
I skipped lunch, so I had an
early dinner. Then I got to bed early,
in anticipation of getting up early on race day.
The race started at 7:30 AM,
but I had to get there early to pick up my race packet. People who were doing the whole series
already had their race bibs, but I had to pick up mine before the race. I also had to allow about 25 minutes for the
drive.
As is often the case with early
races, I left the hotel before they started their breakfast service. I had a cup of tea and some cookies before
leaving the hotel. If necessary, I could
eat more food during the race.
They offered an early start at
6:30 for runners who wanted extra time.
When I arrived in the start area, they were doing pre-race announcements
for the 6:30 group. I was only expecting
to see six to eight runners doing the early start. I was surprised to see dozens of runners
gathered around the starting line. All
the friends I was expecting to see at this race were doing the early
start. That made me wonder if I should
do the early start too.
One of the runners in the early
start was Tim Mahler. Tim is usually one
of the faster runners. Sometimes, he’s
the only runner starting at the same pace that I run. I had been hoping to run a few laps with Tim
at the beginning of the race. To do
that, I would need to do the early start.
I had another reason to
consider starting early. There was a
chance of a passing shower later in the morning. The earlier I started, the more likely it was
that I could finish running before the rain started.
I decided to do the early
start, but I only had about eight minutes to get ready. I had to pick up my race packet, pin my race
bib to my T-shirt, take off my warm-up pants and put them in the car. Fill my bottle with Gatorade, and put it on
one of the tables at the aid station, put my drop bag in the designated spot,
make a bathroom stop, and put my gloves on.
Ideally, I would’ve taken off my jacket, but I didn’t have enough time.
The temperature at the start
was in the mid-40s, but I expected it to warm into the low 50s by the time I
finished. I was comfortable starting the
race with my jacket, but I knew I would need to take it off at some point. I could find time for that later.
The course was 12 laps of an
out-and-back route through Litito City Park.
It’s a hilly route. I’ve run it
before when I was in better shape, and I had to work hard to break four
hours. This year, I decided to run at a
conservative pace, partly because it’s a challenging course, but mostly because
I have to run the same course again tomorrow.
There was one aid station,
which was in the start/finish area. We
would go by it after every lap. In
addition to water and Gatorade, they had a variety of food. It was more like the aid stations in a trail
race than what you typically see at a marathon.
The start/finish area was in a
parking lot next to the park. We started
by running along two sides of the parking lot.
This part of the course was flat.
Next, we entered the park and ran a loop that went almost all the way
around the park. Just before completing
this loop, we had to turn around and go back the way we came. Going around this loop, we went up and down
several small hills. Four of them were
steep enough to be tiring. After turning
around, we had to run the same hills in the opposite direction. Here’s the elevation profile that my watch
measured during the race.
The first lap was different
from the others. Our start/finish area
was in Virginia. Litito City Park is
also in Virginia. In order to start the
race in West Virginia, we had to start behind this row of traffic cones, which
were set up along the state line. Oddly,
the state line cuts right through the parking lot.
That made the first lap longer
than all the others. To compensate for
that, the last lap had a different finish line, making it a little bit shorter.
I started the race with
Tim. We ran the first lap at a relaxed
pace. Our average pace for that lap was
about 10 minutes per mile. On a flat
course, I would find that pace comfortable for the whole race. On this course, I knew it would get tiring.
I was comfortable running with
my jacket on for one lap, but then I had to take it off and tie it around my
waist. Running up and down these hills
was making me too hot.
In our second lap, as we
started up the first hill, I noticed we were slowing down almost to a walking
pace. I suggested to Tim that we might
as well walk up the hill to conserve energy.
Tim was in full agreement. I had
fresh legs today, but Tim is doing the entire series. He also did another series before this one,
so this was his 11th consecutive day running a marathon.
From that point on, we started
walking up all the hills. We ran the
downhills and the flatter sections. Now,
our average pace was much slower.
Normally, I don’t eat any solid
food during a race. I’m usually content
to just drink Gatorade. When I’m racing
on consecutive days, I’m more apt to eat during the race. I want to make sure I’m not going to finish
the race depleted. I’m already thinking
about the next day.
My plan was to eat candy and
other sugary foods in the first half of the race, but switch to sandwiches or
other more substantial food later in the race.
After each of my first six laps, I drank Gatorade, but also ate
something sweet.
After three laps, I noticed we
were just barely on pace to finish the race in five hours. That include one lap that was faster. Now that we were walking all the hills, we
weren’t going to keep up the same average pace.
After two laps of walking the
hills, I wasn’t feeling as warm. My arms
were starting to get cold, so I had to put my jacket on again.
Tim drinks coffee before the
race, and inevitably has to make a few bathroom stops in the early laps. After each of our first three laps, Tim made
a bathroom stop. Each time, I walked
until he caught up to me. That made
these laps a little slower.
By the end of our fifth lap,
the sun was coming out, and it felt much warmer. Now the jacket had to come off again. I also took off my gloves. I was happy to see the sun. The likelihood of rain during the race was
going way down.
By the end of our sixth lap, it
was my turn to take a bathroom stop. I
told Tim to go ahead, and I would eventually catch up to him.
When I finished my sixth lap, I
was half done with the race. I was no
longer on pace to break five hours. I
was on pace for a time closer to 5:07.
Tim finished that lap about a minute ahead of me, but he was also no
longer on pace to break five hours.
To catch up to Tim, I had to
run the hills. I had to work much harder
in that lap. I caught up to him about
halfway through that lap. Now we could
both walk the hills again, but our average pace was faster than before. Tim later commented to me that I was running
faster after catching up to him, and that caused him to run faster too.
I was planning to eat more
substantial food in the second half of the race, but I did the opposite. On most laps, I just drank Gatorade. If I stopped to eat something, I would fall
behind Tim, and I didn’t want to have to work harder to catch up to him again.
With four laps to go, we were
about a minute and a half behind schedule for a five hour finish. Tim had made up a minute over the previous two
laps. I had made up two minutes.
Tim said he was conflicted
about whether to try to break five hours.
It was tempting, but it might be smarter to conserve energy and not
worry about our time. I told him I felt
the same way.
In the last few laps, we didn’t
walk all of the hills. We walked about
half of them. We were more willing to
run the hills that weren’t as steep. Our
average pace improved.
With three laps to go, I
noticed we were continuing to make up time.
As we started our final lap, I saw that we were once again on pace to
break five hours.
By now, we were not only
running more of the hills, but we were running at a faster pace everywhere else
too. I could feel the difference. Earlier, our pace felt relaxed. Now, there was a little bit of urgency in our
pace.
I checked our time at the
halfway point of our last lap. To be on
pace for five hours, we needed to get there by 4:47:30. We got there in less than 4:46. We had 14 minutes to run a distance that I
knew wouldn’t take more than 12:30.
We continued to speed up. Coming back, we walked briefly on a couple of
hills, but ran faster everywhere else.
After running down the last hill, I carried some momentum into the long
flat section that followed. I raced around
the parking lot and finished in 4:55:33.
Tim finished a few minutes behind me.
The medals for a series like
this come in pieces that link together to form a chain. The top and bottom pieces go to anyone who
did at least one race of this series. In
between them is the medal for today’s race, which is in the shape of West
Virginia.
By the time we finished, the
sun was shining bright, and it felt much warmer. I put on my jacket, but I really didn’t need
it. I didn’t bother to put on my gloves. I stayed in the finish area for at least half
an hour, talking to other runners.
I had some food after
finishing, but I still felt hungry when I left.
To make sure I was eating enough to fuel for tomorrow’s race, I stopped
for a fast food lunch on my way back to my hotel.
Hilly races can be hard on your
Achilles tendons. After the race, mine
were feeling a little tight. When I got
back to the hotel, I took a long hot bath and did some stretches. I paid particular attention to stretching my
calves and Achilles tendons.
I’m done with this race, but I
need to prepare for tomorrow, when I’ll be doing the same thing again.
To be continued …
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