Today was the fourth and final day of the Texas Quad. This race was called “Charlie’s Snake-Wrangling Marathon.” Before the race, one of the volunteers told us the story behind that name. Charlie was one of the regular volunteers at these races. One day, there was a snake on the course, and Charlie was the one who removed the snake. That was day four of the Texas Quad. Ever since then, this race has been named after Charlie.
Today was the coldest day of
the quad, with temperatures never getting out of the 40s. We were also expecting strong winds. That meant it was time to break out the
cheetah gear.
Usually when I run marathons on
consecutive days, I hold back a little until the last day. I didn’t hold back Thursday, I didn’t hold
back Friday, and I didn’t hold back yesterday.
Experience told me I was pushing my luck, but I had to try to compete today.
Justin won the last two races
by wide margins, but he went home yesterday.
If there weren’t any new arrivals, I might be competing with Renee for
the overall win. Even if there were some
new arrivals, I would still try to place in the top three if I could.
Before the race, Angela asked
me if I was going to win. I assumed she
was referring to today’s race, so I asked her if there were any new
arrivals. Then she said she was referring
to winning the quad. Until this morning,
I didn’t know there were awards for that. For the runners who completed all four
marathons, there were prizes for the man and woman with the lowest combined times. There were similar awards for runners who
completed four half marathons.
Of the men who ran all four marathons,
I had the fastest time each day. Going
into today’s race I had a lead of at least an hour, and maybe an hour and a
half. I didn’t need a good race today to
win that competition. I just needed to
avoid having an awful race. If I ran most
of the way, I would win the quad.
As I started running, I felt
OK. None of my muscles felt unusually
stiff or sore. I was able to quickly
settle into a pace that felt comfortable.
Several other runners went out at a faster pace. I didn’t know how many were doing the
marathon and how many were doing the half marathon. I let them go ahead, and I ran at my own
pace.
The first time I went up a
hill, I felt a sharp pain on the outside of my left knee. This was the same spot where I felt
discomfort for the first lap or two of yesterday’s race, but today it was much
worse. Even after I got back on level
ground, it still hurt. It was almost
enough to make me limp.
Both Greg and Justin made
comments about my form in the early laps of yesterday’s race. Justin said it looked like one of my hips or
knees wasn’t rotating properly.
Yesterday the discomfort went away after I got warmed up. If it didn’t go away today, I might not be
able to run the whole race.
I tried running with an exaggerated
knee lift. That briefly made the pain go
away. When I returned to my normal
stride, the pain came back. I tried the
same this again, with the same result.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep that up.
It was too tiring. I returned to
my natural gait and did my best to fight through the pain.
As I got closer to the
turnaround point, I started to see runners coming back. The first two were doing the half
marathon. Then there were a couple
runners whose race bibs were blocked by their clothing. I couldn’t tell which race they were doing,
but assumed they were probably doing the half marathon. Just before I reached the turn, I saw two
runners who had marathon bibs. They both
had fresh legs, so I immediately decided I wouldn’t try to compete for the win
today. Competing for a top three finish
was still possible.
My time at that first turn was
about the same as yesterday. The next
runner behind me was Renee. She usually
started behind me but caught up to me in the second half. In knew she was motivated to run fast,
because she needed to catch a flight after the race. If I was going to place in the top three, I
would have to stay ahead of her.
In the second half of that lap,
I didn’t notice as much discomfort with my left knee. It seemed to gradually go away as my legs
warmed up.
When I finished my first lap, I
was pleasantly surprised to see that I ran the second half about a minute faster
than the first half.
In the previous three races, I
always stopped at the aid station long enough to drink about six ounces of
Gatorade. That often caused me to fall
behind the runners who were near me. It
seemed like I was going to be in a close race today, so I tried something
different. I picked up one of my bottles
and carried it with me while I drank. After
turning onto the lower trail, I set it on top of the retaining wall. The next time I came around, I picked up the
bottle, drank the rest, and then carried it to a trash can that was just past
the first hill. That saved me several
seconds at the end of every lap.
Before the race, everybody was
talking about how bad the wind was going to be.
In the early laps, it wasn’t that bad.
There was a breeze, but it wasn’t any big deal.
By the second lap, one of the
runners ahead of me was getting so far ahead that I only saw him when he was
coming back after one of the turns. The
other runner ahead of me was still fairly close. He was wearing a red shirt, and I always
looked to see where he was. I tried not
to let him get too far ahead of me.
At the start of each lap, we
ran down a steep hill and made a sharp right turn. As I started my third lap, running down this
hill made my knee hurt. After that, I
slowed almost to a walk going down this hill.
The rest of the time, my knee felt OK.
It seemed like it was only a big problem at the beginning of the race.
By the third lap, I started to
notice the wind was picking up. It wasn’t
tiring yet, but it started to feel cold on my arms.
The turnaround point was always
the best place to look for runners who were ahead of me or behind me. In my third lap, I noticed that Renee was
falling farther behind me. Did she slow
down or did I speed up? I got my answer
when I finished that lap. I sped up.
Even though I was running a
little bit faster today, I didn’t feel like I was pushing the pace the way I
was yesterday. There were runners ahead
of me, and there were runners behind me, but I just ran at my own pace. I felt more relaxed today.
In my fourth lap, I realized I
could no longer see the runner in the red shirt. Did he somehow get so far ahead of me that I lost
sight of him? I looked for him all the
way to the turnaround. After making the
turn, I saw him a short distance behind me.
My best guess is that he made a bathroom stop at the end of the previous
lap, and I passed him at the aid station without realizing it.
Now I appeared to me in second
place, but I didn’t know if I would stay ahead of the guy in the red shirt. After all, I was only ahead of him now
because he made a stop. I also still
wasn’t confident that I would stay ahead of Renee for the while race. In the previous two races, I had to fight
like mad to keep up with her in the last few laps. I didn’t know if I could do that again today. To finish in the top three, I would have to
stay ahead of at least one of them.
There was a woman in a gray top
who was up there with the leaders. I
assumed she was doing the half marathon, but I didn’t know for sure. She was using an over-the-shoulder harness to
hold her water bottles, and it made it hard to see her race bib. As I was nearing the end of my fourth lap, I
saw her starting another lap. She was
now in her fifth lap, so she was definitely running the marathon. That meant I wasn’t in second place. I was actually in third place, with the guy
in the red shirt right behind me.
At the halfway mark, I was five
minutes faster than yesterday. Could I
maintain that pace for the rest of the race?
If I couldn’t, I’d probably drop out of the top three. The good news is that I was now in the second
half of the race. The remaining distance
seemed more manageable.
By now, the wind was not only
cold, but it was getting tiring. On the
way out, we had a headwind the whole way.
When I reached the turnaround, my arms didn’t just feel cold. They were almost numb.
I always made note of how far
back the guy in the red shirt was. When
I turned around, he was crossing the footbridge. That put him somewhere between 50 and 100
yards back. That wasn’t a safe
lead. Renee was getting farther and
farther behind with each lap. At first,
I thought she was having a tough day today.
In fact, she had a solid race, but I was running much faster today.
During that lap, I never saw
the other runner who was ahead of me. I’m
not sure how I missed him. He was wearing
a marathon bib number, but I wondered if he switched to the half marathon and
was already done. If so, that would mean
I was actually in second place. I
crossed my fingers and kept looking for him.
As I neared the end of my fifth lap, I saw him going out on his sixth
lap. For the first time in the race, I
knew exactly where I stood. I was in
third place, with the guy in the red shirt close behind me. It was going to be a nail-biter.
In my sixth lap, I was really
bothered by the headwind in the first half.
As I got close to the turn, I told myself I would only have to run into
this wind two more times. Coming back, I
expected to have a tailwind, but it felt more like a crosswind. I looked at the tall grass between the trail
and the river. The wind was pushing it
toward the river. It was a headwind
going out, but a crosswind coming back.
It was cold in both directions.
As I rounded the corner at the
beginning of my next lap, I looked to my right and saw the guy in the red shirt
going through the start/finish area. He
wasn’t as far behind me. I didn’t know
if I could hold him off for two more laps.
If we only had one lap to go, I would turn myself inside-out to stay
ahead of him. With two laps to go, I
didn’t know if I had that much fight in me.
I picked up my effort a little and hoped it would be enough.
As I reached the part of the
course that’s most exposed to the wind, it was once again a headwind going
out. That didn’t seem fair.
When I reached the turnaround,
I immediately looked for the guy in the red shirt. He was just crossing the bridge. I was back to having the same lead that I had
at this point in the previous lap. That
was somewhat reassuring, but it still wasn’t a safe lead.
Coming back from the turn, I
felt perspiration under my hat. Did I
have a tailwind now? No. This part of the course was briefly sheltered
from the wind by a hillside. As soon as
I got into a more exposed area, I felt the wind. If it was a tailwind, I shouldn’t feel
it. I looked at the grass again. Yup.
It was a crosswind. It really
wasn’t fair how the wind kept shifting.
As I started my last lap, I
still had a lead of 50 to 100 yards.
With one lap to go, I considered pouring it on. I could build more of a lead before the turn,
but I might run out of gas coming back.
The turnaround would be the last place where I could easily see how far
back he was. I decided to wait until the
turnaround before making my move.
Going out, it felt like a
headwind again. I looked at the
grass. It was definitely a
headwind. It wasn’t just tiring. It was also seriously cold. As I got closer to the turn, I sped up to get
it over with. I told myself this was the
last time I would have to run into the wind.
I was wrong.
We ran past a railroad yard, and the wind made a whistling sound as it brew between the train cars. At first, it sounded like unusually loud wind chimes. By the last lap, it was as loud as a siren.
After the turn, I saw that the
guy in the red shirt was still on the other side of the bridge. I added to my lead. I had been telling myself that this was where
I would put the hammer down and sprint to the finish. Now that I was here, I couldn’t do it. The wind was taking too much out of me. I maintained my same effort and hoped that
would be enough.
I briefly felt respite from the
wind while I was sheltered by the hillside.
Then as I got into the open, I could feel the cold wind. Then I felt a gust. It felt like I was running into it. I looked at the grass and confirmed I was
running into a headwind. How could I
have a headwind in both directions? It
was totally not fair!
When I was about halfway back,
I started to accelerate. Now that I
could anticipate finishing, it got easier.
I wanted to look over my shoulder to see how big my lead was. I resisted the temptation. Any good track coach will tell their runners
never to look back. You just run as hard
as you can all the way to the finish.
With about half a mile to go, that’s what I did.
I ran the rest of that lap as
if the guy in the red shirt was breathing down my neck. I crossed the line in 4:08:13. I was thirteen minutes faster than yesterday. I ran negative splits by three minutes. Now I looked back. It was several seconds before I saw him
starting to come up the hill. I got my
third-place finish, extending my streak to 24 races.
I got two medals today. The first one was for finishing today’s race. The second one was for finishing the quad.
I also got this award for 1st place
male in the quad. It’s a medal holder
for the four races of the quad. I think
I won it by about two hours.
Finally, I got a hat and a pullover for
finishing the quad. That’s in addition
to the T-shirt I got at packet pickup.
There was a volunteer who was
dressed as a giraffe. Since I was
dressed as a cheetah, I had to get a picture with her.
Before leaving, I waited long
enough to see Renee finish, knowing she was going to win 1st place female for
the quad. She finished about 10 minutes
behind me, but only because I was faster today.
It was actually her fastest race of the four.
After getting back to the
hotel, I thought about where I was feeling pain in my left knee. It’s about where the iliotibial band connects.
I’ve never had IT band syndrome before,
but that’s most likely what this is. I
think it’s the only common running injury I’ve never had before. Running all-out marathons four days in a row
is pretty hard on the body. I’m really
glad I don’t have another race tomorrow.
Hopefully, this injury is still minor enough that it’ll heal quickly
with rest.
One of my long-term goals is to
run quadzillas in as many states as I can.
One of my goals for 2020 was to run a quadzilla in at least one new
state. I thought it would be Alaska, but
the Alaska Series was cancelled. The
Texas Quad was my backup plan. Now that
I’ve completed the Texas Quad, I’ve done quadzillas in seven states.
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