Today was day two of the Jackal Marathons. Today’s race was the Backass Jackal Trail Marathon. We ran the same trail loop as yesterday, but today we ran it in the opposite direction.
When I got up, my left
Achilles tendon was so tight that I could only take small steps. By the time I left the hotel, I was walking
better, but I still had a slight limp as I was carrying things to the car. I remember feeling the same way each morning
at Across the Years, and I always managed to loosen up by the time I started
running.
Those races all had a
nice smooth surface. If I was running on
roads today, I knew I would manage OK.
On trails, I’m constantly turning my ankles in unusual ways, so this was
a big concern.
I wore a different pair
of shoes today. My plan is to alternate
between two pairs of shoes, so they have enough time to dry out before I wear
them again.
There was a thunderstorm
last night, and when I arrived at the race, the trails had some muddy
spots. If it didn’t rain again, it wouldn’t
be too bad. Spoiler alert: It did.
The temperature was a
little warmer at the start. It was 76
degrees, with the usual high humidity.
According to the forecast, it was going to warm up about 10 degrees by
mid-afternoon. I don’t think it actually
got that hot.
The big wildcard was the possibility
of a passing thunderstorm. About 15
minutes before the race, I checked my weather app and saw that a thunderstorm
was moving in. We had a dry start, but I
was expecting a period of heavy rain in the next hour. I made a quick trip to my car to put my phone
in the glove compartment. I didn’t want
to have it on me if we were going to have heavy rain.
Running in this
direction, we started with a slightly downhill section that’s fairy runnable. I did my best to run most of it, but it was
obvious that my running pace was slower than yesterday. Running at any pace was tiring. I didn’t have sore or stiff muscles. I just felt fatigued.
When I ran this race last
year, I felt like I was relearning the course as I ran the first lap. Everything looks different when you’re
approaching it from the opposite direction.
This year, I had the benefit of having run it in this direction a year
ago. It was different from yesterday,
but it still seemed familiar.
The trail has two
distinct sections. After running one
section, you come out into a clearing and run across the grass, just across the
street from where we all parked. Then
you re-enter the wood to run the second section. It was in the second section that I saw
something new. A tree had fallen across
the trail during last night’s storm.
I stepped over the trunk,
but my left foot got tangled in some smaller branches. I pulled it free, but that didn’t make my
ankle feel any better.
I was almost done with my
first lap when I heard the rain. Because
of the dense tree cover, I heard it before I could feel it. Within a few minutes, the rain made its way
down to ground level.
My time for the first lap
was about 56 minutes. That’s slower than
I started yesterday, but it was acceptable.
Early in each lap, there
was a section of trail with several small hills that we had to go up and
over. They’re small, but steep. Now that it was raining, these hills were
slick with mud going up and down. To get
up the hill without sliding backward, I had to find a tree I could grab
onto. Going down one of these hills, you
would slide down with no control over your momentum. Going down the steepest hill, I slid into a
tree. By grabbing the tree, I managed to
stay upright. The runner behind me wasn’t
as lucky. He slid sideways before
reaching the tree and ended up on the ground.
During my second lap, the
rain was coming down hard, and it didn’t take long before there was standing
water on the trail. Many parts of the
trail were cow paths worn into the ground by repeated running. The trail was lower than the surrounding
grass, so that’s where the water settled.
To keep from splashing through the water, I had to try to run on the edge
of the trail. That slowed me down.
Halfway through that lap,
I entertained thoughts of quitting. I
talked myself into continuing as long as I was on pace to beat the seven and a
half hour time limit.
By the end of that lap,
the rain had stopped, but the damage to the trails was done. I still had five laps to go.
Because of the mud and
standing water, my second lap was slower than my first lap. It took an hour and three minutes. That’s slower than any of my laps yesterday,
but at that pace I would still beat the time limit.
As I started by third
lap, the trails were in worse condition then they had been during the previous
lap. Standing water was at its deepest. I expected the trails to gradually dry out
now that the rain had stopped. That
thought kept my spirits from sinking too much.
The section with muddy
hills was more difficult now. To get up
one hill, I had to pull myself up by grabbing roots. Coming down another hill, I slipped in the
mud and fell on my butt.
Later in that lap, one of
the faster runners passed me. He said, “I
didn’t crap my pants. I swear.” I didn’t notice, but I assume he also fell
and got his shorts all muddy.
Near the end of that lap,
there was a deep puddle. I saw the
runner ahead of me going through it, so I saw how deep it was. There was a hollowed-out tree trunk going right
through the middle. The water in the
tree trunk wasn’t as deep. I tried to walk
through the tree trunk, but it wasn’t wide enough. I couldn’t avoid putting one foot into the
puddle. The water came up to my knee.
My time for that lap was
an hour and five minutes. If I ran the
whole race at that pace, I would take longer than the time limit. I was still on pace, but only because my
first two laps were faster.
In my fourth lap, it became
obvious that trail conditions were not getting better. There was less standing water, but the mud
was getting worse. As more runners ran
through the muddy patches, they got wider and deeper. I wish I could show you pictures of what the
trails looked like, but my phone was in the car.
Halfway through that lap,
I caught up to another runner. I assumed
we were both on the same lap. Then I found
out she was still on her third lap. She
had already decided she was going to drop out when she got back to the
start/finish area. Other than her, I
knew of only one other runner who was behind me.
My time for lap four was
the same as lap three. As I started my
fifth lap, I worked hard to keep up my pace.
The section of muddy hills
kept getting worse. I wiped out three
times in one lap. It was discouraging to
know I would still need to run through this section two more times. Going up these hills seemed almost
impossible, and the downhill sides were downright scary.
Later in that lap, I was
frustrated with how much more mud there was.
Sections that should have been runnable were too muddy for me to get any
traction. I had to walk when I should’ve
been able to run.
When I finished that lap,
my time was the same as the previous two laps.
I was expecting to be slower.
That helped lift my spirits going into my sixth lap.
I continued to be
frustrated with the amount of mud. I did
my best to run where I could, but it seemed like less and less of the trail was
runnable.
I was near the end of
that lap, when I saw something new.
Another small tree was down across the course. That wasn’t there on my previous five
laps. It didn’t fall during the storm,
so it must have uprooted later because the ground was so soft.
I was almost done with
that lap when I started to catch up to another runner. He was walking the last part of the
loop. I assumed he was on his last lap
and no longer felt the need to hurry.
When I got to the start/finish area, I found out we each had one more
lap.
Lap six took one minute
long than the previous few laps. That
was OK. If I could run the last lap in
1:09, I would beat the time limit. So,
far, my slowest lap was 1:06.
It’s worth noting that
the time limit wasn’t really a hard limit.
It was more of a guideline. The
RD wanted everyone to have a chance to finish.
He wouldn’t disqualify you for being a few minutes too late. He just didn’t want to wait for someone who
was going to be out on the trails all day.
As I started my last lap,
there were two runners behind me. That
made me feel less urgency. Even if I was
over the time limit, I wouldn’t be the last person to finish. Still, I felt it was an important goal.
For most of the day, it
was cloudy, but now the sun was out. In
places, it was shining through the trees.
For the first time in the race, I was conscious of how hot it was. That made the last lap more tiring, but I was
motivated to keep up a fast enough pace.
I worked harder and
harder to find places with good footing.
I ran on the edges of the trail or through the grass, to avoid the
mud. On the hills, I worked to find
approaches that were less muddy, even if they were steeper or had other
obstacles. I went out of my way to find
trees I could grab onto.
When I got to the last
part of the loop, I was frustrated with how many previously runnable sections
were now too muddy. Anything even
slightly downhill was now treacherous.
At any time, my feet could come out from under me.
Ironically, today was the
first time I got through a race on these trails without tripping on a root and
falling. I lost count of how many times
I fell after slipping on mud.
I finished the race in
7:27:19. It’s one of my slowest finishes
ever, but conditions were more difficult than I could’ve imagined.
I got through the first
two Jackal marathons on trails. The next
two are on pavement. I’m looking forward
to easier conditions the next two days.
After a race, I usually
take a bath to loosen up my muscles so I can stretch. Today, I had to take a shower first to rinse
off all the mud. Rinse isn’t a strong
enough word. I needed to do some
scrubbing. My lower legs were caked with
mud.
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