On June 24, I ran the Dragonfly Jackal Marathon. This was the fourth race of The Jackal Marathons. Like yesterday’s race, we were running on a paved loop through Pinson Mounds State Park. I assume the name of the race was inspired by the abundance of dragonflies in the park.
The first two races of
this series were in the woods, so I didn’t need to apply sunblock. Yesterday’s race had a lot of sun exposure,
so I should’ve used sunblock, but I forgot.
I realized it later in the day when I noticed how deep a tan I have on
my arms and legs. Today, I remembered
the sunblock.
Running marathons every
day can gradually wear you down. Running
them in extreme heat really takes a toll on you. This was my fourth straight day running in
extreme heat and humidity, and it was catching up to me.
I didn’t sleep well. I woke up during the night feeling borderline
sick. I don’t think I was replacing
enough of my electrolytes. I got up
before my alarm went off, so I could go down to the lobby and see what salty
snack foods they had. I didn’t have
anything salty in my room.
I bought some BBQ flavor
potato chips. It’s not the healthiest
choice, but it’s hard to find anything with more salt than that. That seemed to settle my stomach. I also ate my usual pre-race breakfast of tea
and a cinnamon roll.
After applying sunblock,
I also applied a layer of bug spray.
When I was done getting ready to leave, I went back down to the lobby
and bought another bag of BBQ chips.
When I went out to my
car, I immediately noticed two things.
First, there was dew all over the car.
There wasn’t going to be any relief from the high humidity. The other thing I noticed it that there
wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sun was
going to be brutal again.
Today’s race scared
me. I didn’t know what I could do to
handle the heat better. When you’re out
in the sun, on the hot pavement, it feels like you’re getting baked. Going at a slower pace doesn’t help. It just means you’re feeling that heat for a
longer time.
About the only thing I
could do was try to lighten my load a little.
Instead of keeping my phone in my fanny pack, I left it in the car. Instead of carrying a 22-oz. bottle, I switched
to a 16-oz bottle. They had a
self-service aid station about two third of the way through the loop. If I needed more water or Gatorade, I could
refill there.
I was worried about getting
enough electrolytes. Rob, who does this
series regularly, gave me two packets of powder for an electrolyte drink. Early in the race, I alternated between the
electrolyte drink and water. Later in
the race, I alternated between Gatorade and water.
Yesterday, I ran most of
the race with Tim. Today, Tim ran faster,
and I ran slower. The aid station was
set up in a parking lot near the picnic pavilion. To get up to the trail loop, we needed to go
up a small hill. The first time I went
up this hill, it felt unusually tiring.
I was so slow that I quickly fell behind Tim and most of the other
runners. I ran my own pace, and I was on
my own for most of the race. There were
a few runners behind me, but not many.
The first mile of the
loop was mostly shaded, and parts of it were downhill. This was the easiest mile of the loop, so I
usually forced myself to run the whole thing.
Later in the loop, there
were long stretches that were in the sun.
I learned yesterday that walking these sections isn’t a good
strategy. You don’t want to be in the
sun any longer than you have to. Having
run this loop nine times yesterday, I already knew where it was sunny and where
it was shady. I timed my walking breaks so
I was always walking in the shade.
I spaced my walking
breaks in a way that let me take a drink during each walking break. I usually drank three to four ounces at a
time.
There was a building with
bathrooms with just under a mile left in the loop. Outside of this building, there were large
containers of water and Gatorade. In the
early laps, I was usually past this building before I emptied my bottle, so I
didn’t feel the need to stop and refill.
For the first lap, I
noticed that my average pace was about a minute per mile slower than yesterday. That trend continued through the whole race.
Starting with lap two, I
always put ice in my hat before starting the next lap. The first time I did that, I put so much ice
in my hat that it wouldn’t fit on my head.
The hat was sitting loosely on too of a layer of ice. It felt awkward, but I quickly accepted
that. It wasn’t a problem as long as the
ice and the hat both stayed in place.
There wasn’t any wind, so I didn’t have to worry about my hat blowing off.
I usually took my first
walking break as I was going up the hill leading out of the parking lot. That’s also where I took my first drink. One advantage of drinking right at the start
of the lap was not having as much weight in my bottle for the rest of the lap.
Yesterday, I didn’t start
to notice the horseflies until the fourth lap.
This time, I got my first bite in the first lap. After that, I had one or two bites in each
lap. It didn’t seem like my bug spray
did anything to deter them.
The ice in my hat didn’t
melt until halfway through the loop.
With that in mind, I put just as much ice in my hat on every lap.
In the previous three races, I sore a bandana that was soaked in ice water. During my third lap, I realized I had forgotten to wear it today. It was in the insulated bag with my ice, so I put it on before starting y fourth lap. It felt really good when I put it on, but it only felt cold for one lap.
The temperature climbed a
degree or two with each lap. The big
change, however, came when the pavement started to heat up. I was in the second half of my fourth lap
when I first started to feel the heat rising from the pavement. After that, it got more intense with each
additional lap.
I was extremely
disciplined about not walking during the long sunny stretches. It got increasingly difficult, but I always
forced myself to keep running into I reached a shady spot. Then I could take a walking break.
With the sun shining from
above and the heat rising from that pavement below, it feels like you’re in an
oven. Walking doesn’t help. You keep getting hotter as long as you’re in
the “oven.” The last thing you want to
do when you’re in an over is spend more time in it, so I moved at the best pace
I could manage until I reached the shade.
At times, I felt like Alec Guinness in “The Bridge on the River Kwai.”
During my fifth lap, I
needed to make a bathroom stop. The
bathroom was air conditioned, but I wasn’t in there long enough to cool down
significantly. I stayed in there only as
long as I needed.
By now, I was finishing
my water or Gatorade before I reached this building. I never stopped to refill there, because I
had less than a mile to go. It was easy
to do the remaining section without another drink, because I knew I would take
a drink break at the start of the next lap.
Yesterday, Hannah led the
race from wire to wire. It looked like
she would do that again today. Early in
the race, she had a big lead, but Lindsay was starting to cut into it. After my sixth lap, I paused in the
start/finish area long enough to fill my bottle and put ice in my hat. While I was still there, I saw Hannah
finishing her eighth lap. As I was
heading out on my seventh lap, I saw Lindsay nearing the end of her eighth
lap. She was only a few minutes behind
Hannah.
Before long, Hannah and
Lindsay both passed me. They were each
on their last lap, and Lindsay was close enough to Hannah to see her. I wondered who would win. I wouldn’t find out until I finished that
lap.
Lap seven was the first
one where I had to start taking additional walking breaks. I didn’t just walk when I was ready to
drink. I still only took walking breaks
in shady spots. I was just taking more
of them.
I had to make another
bathroom stop during that lap. I wasn’t
drinking as much as yesterday, but having to make two bathroom stops gave me
confidence that I couldn’t be dehydrating too badly.
When I finished that lap,
I saw Hannah and Lindsay in the parking lot.
I asked them who won. Lindsay
did. I wish I could’ve seen that race
unfold.
In lap eight, I did even
more walking. At times, I was able to
talk to other runners who were still on the course. Some were also on their eighth lap. A couple were a lap or two behind me.
Before starting my final
lap, I got my phone from my car. We were
running on a nature path, and this was the last time I would run this
loop. I wanted to take a few
pictures. Besides dragonflies, I was seeing lots of butterflies. It took several tries to get a somewhat
decent picture.
I also took a few
pictures of the flowers.
Every lap, I saw a few
signs like this one. There were always
trees in the way, so I couldn’t see very far in the direction they were
pointing.
I didn’t know what the
Eastern Citadel was, but I wondered if it was this structure, which I saw near
the end of each lap.
Besides stopping to take
pictures, I also did a lot more walking that lap. I was basically walking every shady section
and only running where it was sunny.
When I was close enough to the finish to see it, it was still a struggle
to keep running.
I finished in
5:50:29. I was quite a bit slower than
yesterday, but I got it done. When I was
feeling sick during the night, I had my doubts.
After finishing, I needed
to sit down. I saw a few other runners
sitting under the pavilion, so I joined them.
When I felt somewhat recovered, I filled my bottle with ice and ginger
ale. I hadn’t had anything to drink in
the last mile of the race. I needed
something to drink before starting the 30-minute drive back to the hotel.
Yesterday, I brought a
dry pair of shoes and socks. Today, I
forgot to do that. I had to drive back
to the hotel in soaking wet shoes and socks.
When I got back to the
hotel, I stopped in the lobby to buy another bag of those BBQ potato
chips. It was the last bag they
had. I had food in my room for post-race
refueling, but they were all sweet foods.
I didn’t have anything salty.
Twelve years ago, I set a
long-term goal of running a quadzilla (four marathons in four days) in as many
states as I could. For purposes of this
goal, all four races have to be in the same state. This was my fourth day, making Tennessee the
ninth state where I’ve run a quadzilla.
That was my primary motivation to run these races. Had it not been for this goal, I might have
seriously considered skipping this race.
This is a five-day
series. There’s one more race
tomorrow. I don’t need this one for my
goal, but I figured as long as I was already in Tennessee, I might as well do
the fifth race as well.
At this moment, I’m about
90 percent sure I’ll do tomorrow’s race.
I may regret that decision tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s race is considered by most runners to be the most difficult
of the five. It’s called the Native
Jackal Trail Marathon. It has sections
of trail (with roots) and sections of road (exposed to the sun). It’s also the hilliest by far.
At the moment, I can’t
actually imagine myself finishing tomorrow’s race, but I’ve already registered
for it, and I’m already committed to paying for another hotel night and another
day of car rental.
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