Today was day 11 of the Running
Ragged 20in20 Series. We were back at
Quarry Park & Nature Preserve, where we’ll be racing for four consecutive
days. Our route through the park today
was different than either of the courses we ran here last week.
Like the others, this course was
an out-and-back that we needed to run 12 times.
The whole course was on wide gravel trails. There weren’t any roots, and there wasn’t any
uneven footing.
I’m now in the second half of
this series, but I’m still feeling about the same every morning. I’ve yet to have a day where my muscles were
complaining or I woke up without any energy.
I have one knee and one Achilles tendon that I worry about, but neither
seems to be getting worse. One thing is
actually improving. A week ago, I had a
painful big toe. Now I hardly notice that
toe.
I’m not sure how many people
set out to run marathons all 20 days, but through the first 10 days, there were
11 people who finished the marathon every day.
There are a few more who have started every day but at one time or
another had a bad day and dropped down to the half marathon.
Today was another warm
day. It was 57 degrees at the start, but
it warmed up to 80 by the time I finished.
When the race doesn’t start until 9:00, and you’re on the course until
2:00, it can warm up quite a bit.
My primary goal was to finish
in less than five hours. My secondary
goal was to win the race. By now, I have
a pretty good idea how fast each of the “regulars” run. The only question was whether we would have
any new arrivals. Before the race, I
noticed a runner named Rob, who I hadn’t seen before. He was stretching and doing warm-ups. I got the impression he was going to run
fast.
As we started running, Rob went
out way faster than anyone else. I didn’t
make any effort to keep up with him.
I used my first lap to survey
the course and take pictures. We were going
through an area of the park I had never seen before, so I got to see some new
scenery. Early in our lap, we went by
this meadow.
As we got closer to the
turnaround, we ran near a few quarries that have been turned into swimming
holes.
There was another swimming hole
right at the turnaround point. This is
one where people sometimes do cliff diving.
I was still a third of a mile
from completing my first lap when I saw Rob on his second lap.
Knowing that I wouldn’t be
competing for the win, my only goal was to break five hours. I needed to average 25 minutes per lap. On my first lap, I stopped several times to
take pictures. A few times, I left the
trail to get closer views of the swimming holes. When I got back to the aid station, I took the
time to put my camera back in my drop bag.
In spite of all those delays, my first lap took less than 24
minutes. That’s when I knew I would have
an easy time breaking five hours.
On my first lap, I noticed that
our route started out flat, but had a long downhill section as we got closer to
the turnaround. Coming back, we had a long
uphill section early, and then it flattened out. With that in mind, I decided the best place
to take a walking break was in the middle of the uphill section.
On my second lap, I only took
one walking break. I felt like my running
pace was really easy, but I still ran that lap in 22 minutes. That seemed too fast, even though it felt
easy. After that, I started taking two
walking breaks. I picked two sections
where the uphill slope seemed most noticeable.
In the first half of the race,
I felt more relaxed than I’ve been in this series. In most of the other races, I was competing
with other runners or trying to beat my time from the day before. In some, I was working hard to pick my feet
up, so I wouldn’t trip on roots. In
others, I was putting a lot of effort into race-walking. Today, I didn’t have any of that. I was just running at a pace that felt casual.
Fairly early in my 4th lap, I
saw Rob nearing the end of his 4th lap. I
assumed he would lap me before the end of my 4th lap. After the turnaround, I started looking for
him. I didn’t see him at first. When I saw him coming around a corner, he
didn’t seem any closer than when I saw him near the beginning of the lap. I took my walking breaks as usual, and
expected him to pass me before the end of the lap. He didn’t.
It was during that lap that I
noticed how hot it was getting. Most of
the course was shady, but alongside the meadow we were in the sun. Fortunately, the breeze was picking up, and we
ran near several of the swimming holes.
There, the air got cold as the wind blew across the cold water. There were a few different spots on each lap
where I felt a cold draft. That really
helped.
Early in my 5th lap, I again
saw Rob. It didn’t seem like he was any
closer to lapping me. After the turnaround,
I once again didn’t see him right away.
Because I was taking walking breaks, I expected him to pass me at any time. Finally, as I finished that lap, I turned my
head and saw him approaching the aid station.
As I started my 6th lap, I
walked until Rob caught up to me. Then I
matched his pace, so I could talk to him.
I learned that Rob is from Tennessee and he’s working on running
marathons in all 50 states. He was doing
one day of this series, so he could get his Minnesota marathon. I asked him what pace he was running. He said he started out doing 8-minute miles,
but had slowed down since then. He was
curious about how I was managing to run marathons on so many consecutive days.
I ran with Rob all the way to
the turnaround, and continued to run with him until we reached the point where
I normally take my first walking break.
Then I started walking. I was
with Rob for about a mile and a half.
Instead of taking two walking breaks, I decided to also walk a short
flat section between them, resulting in one long walking break. Then I went back to running at a more casual
pace. Near the end of that lap, I felt
my left Achilles tendon tightening up. I
probably ran at Rob’s pace longer than I should have.
I found a post to push against
and tried to stretch my Achilles tendon.
I’ve never had much success stretching it with shoes on, and I couldn’t
get any traction standing on a gravel surface.
I had to wait until after the race and stretch it after getting back to
the hotel.
Because of COVID-19, the aid
stations have different protocols than previous years. Volunteers wear gloves while handling
food. If the food isn’t already pre-packaged
in individual servings, they put a small serving into a zip-lock bag. Runners can then grab a bag as they go by the
aid station and know that nobody else has touched their food.
For the first half of the race,
I was drinking Coke. I was ready to
start eating some solid food, but I didn’t want anything sugary. As I left the aid station to begin my 7th lap,
I grabbed a baggy with some Fritos.
At this point, I was on pace to
finish the race in 4:34. That would’ve
been my second fastest race of the series.
Because of my tight Achilles tendon, I decided to go easier in the
second half. Also, I no longer felt as
relaxed after running with Rob for so long.
I started my 7th lap with a
walking break, so I could eat the Fritos.
I ate about half, and then sealed the bag and put it in my fanny pack
for later. I made the mistake of starting
to run before I was done chewing the Fritos.
I immediately inhaled some into my windpipe. I had a coughing fit that forced me to come
to a complete stop. I couldn’t resume
running until I got all the Frito crumbs out of my lungs.
Later in that lap, when I was
on my walking break, I ate the rest of the Fritos. This time, I made sure I was done swallowing
all the crumbs before I started to run.
As luck would have it, I started my walking break just as I was catching
up to another runner who was walking.
That happened several times in the second half of the race. I often chat with other runners who are near
the front of the pack, but today, I got to chat with several of the people who
were walking most of the race.
For the next few laps, I ran at
a pace that was slower than my pace in the first half, but it didn’t feel as
easy. It wasn’t just the fast lap I ran
with Rob. Heat was also a factor.
In my 11th lap, I saw Stacey
taking a picture of something in the woods.
I paused to see what it was. About
15 feet away, there was a deer in the woods.
I regretted not having my camera with me.
For most of the race, I thought
the trail was fairly flat when we ran by the meadow. It wasn’t until my last lap, that I noticed
it was actually slightly uphill on the way out.
This was also where I noticed the sun the most. If I wasn’t in my last lap, I would’ve taken
a walking break. Instead, I pressed on.
Later in that lap, I took an
unscheduled walking break, so I could talk to Clyde. I can’t remember when I’ve talked with so many
runners during a race. Because I walked
with Clyde for a few minutes, I decided to slip my usual walking break. By then, I had less than a mile to go.
I finished in 4:38:50. I slowed down in the second half, but it was
still my third fastest race of the series.
After I finished, I asked what Rob’s time was. That’s when I learned that Rob wasn’t the only
runner who beat me today. Chad did too.
Like Rob, Chad was only here
for one day, so he also had the advantage of fresh legs. I didn’t notice him at the beginning of the
race, because he arrived late. He
started several minutes after everyone else.
There’s a half marathon that
starts an hour later than the marathon.
At some point during the race, Chad passed me, but I assumed he was
doing the half marathon, so I didn’t pay any attention to him. Chad finished four minutes ahead of me. It would’ve been annoying if he was the only
runner to finish ahead of me, and I didn’t even try to compete with him. Since Rob was way ahead of both of us, it
didn’t really matter.
I was originally planning to go
to one of the swimming holes to wade in the cold water. I even brought a pair of flip-flops. Because of my tight Achilles tendon, I
decided to go right back to the hotel instead.
I wanted to ice and stretch it as soon as I could.
There was a point in today’s race
where I was talking to another runner and we were saying after today we would
only have nine to go. Who says “only nine
marathons to go?”
Race Statistics
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 4:38:50
Average Pace: 10:38
Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:
416
Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:
69
Series Statistics
Races Completed: 11
Under Five Hours: 11
Average Time: 4:43:37
Wins: 7
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