I think we were still on vacation in Colorado when Melissa read about an upcoming race she thought might interest me, the Corps of Discovery Trail Run, a half marathon on the Lewis and Clark trails–my favorite STL area trails.

Oh hell yes.

Four weeks after Howl at the Moon I was no longer sore and fatigued, but I wasn’t particularly well-trained either. This race wouldn’t be 8 hours of 9 minute pace running, it would be less than 2 hours as fast as the trail would allow. I’m kind of glad last week’s trail race kicked my ass so badly. If nothing else it better prepared me for running uncomfortably fast.

My fictional road half marathon seed time (I haven’t run a road half marathon in 10 years) placed me in the first wave of 10 starters. Each wave began 2 minutes apart because there was no real room to separate before hitting the trail. At the starting line I immediately noticed a local runner who has destroyed me every time I’ve raced against him. And then there was another guy who just looked really fast. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to win the race… but it wasn’t going to be for lack of trying. Who knows, maybe I would have some kind of home trail advantage.

Photos courtesy of Saint Louis Track Club

Moments before the race began the rain started to fall. I love racing in the rain, but this may have been too little too late. 10 meters through the parking lot, two tight turns, then we were on the trail. I stayed on the shoulder of the fast guy, with the other fast guy on my shoulder. I wasn’t going to set the pace (we may have walked up the hills if I had), but I intended to hang on as long as I could.

The first (and thankfully fastest) mile was 6:33. Then came a long fast downhill. On one switchback I looked back and no longer saw the guy I expected to win the race. I don’t know what happened to him, but he didn’t finish. But I didn’t know that yet. I continued to follow the pace of the other fast guy. Then we hit the first big uphill stretch and he floated away from me like I was standing still. I struggled to reach the top and picked up my pace a bit. I started to reel him back on the flat, then I caught back up on the next long downhill. Even with the big hill we still ran the second mile in 6:51. To put that into perspective, on my long easy training runs on this trail I usually run that mile in about 10:30-11:00.

Things weren’t looking good at this point. A bit after 3 miles in we hit the next big uphill and once again he was gone. This time for good. I never saw him again the rest of the race, and in the last 10 miles he put 6 minutes into me.

I struggled the rest of the race to find a good pace. There was nobody within sight, either in front of me or behind me. If I lost focus, even briefly, I would suddenly notice I was running easy, and then I would have to pick the pace back up. As far as I knew the other fast guy was still chasing me down. I did well on the flats and on the downhills, but my uphills were just awful. This is such a weakness for me but despite attempts to address it I just haven’t progressed.

With about 3 miles to go I reached a poorly designed wooden staircase (the only stairs on the trail). The individual steps actually slope downward. And they were wet. And I had to go down them. I held the railing and walked slowly only to fall on my ass anyway and slide the rest of the way down. My butt was scraped, my back was bruised, my fingers were splintered, it knocked the wind out of me, and it made me nauseous. I walked away, my pride hurting as much as my ass, for what felt like an eternity before I could work back up to a jog. The last 3 miles were not pretty.

I hung on to finish second place, well behind the leader. In fairness, if I had had a spectacular day I still don’t think I could have beaten him. By most measures I had a successful race, but it sure didn’t feel like it at the time. The combination of the fall, my poor uphill performance, and getting beaten by such a big margin on my home trail left me feeling disappointed. But I’ll get over it.

Running

Good month.

Cycling

Recovery.

Walking and Hiking

Recovery.

Swimming

I knew there was something I forgot to do last month.

I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting 166 people to show up to a trail race on a Thursday night in 95˚F heat and high humidity. But hey, it’s only 3.9 miles, how hard could it be?

Well, amongst those 166 people were some serious competitors. This was the 4th race in the Off Road Racing League’s August trail running series. I missed the first 3 due to Howl, vacation, and recovery. I’m not sure I’m completely recovered from Howl yet. I don’t having any lingering pains, I just don’t have a lot of zip in my step, if you know what I mean. It probably wasn’t the best time for a super fast trail race, but it should be fun.

I went out with the leaders, letting them set the pace while I evaluated how I felt. I came to a stop when the leader took a wrong turn, unsure of myself even though I had studied the map before the race. Then I came to a stop again after the leader took another wrong turn. The second time really wasn’t his fault (the turn was poorly marked), and I didn’t want to take advantage of the situation, so I waited for him to get back on the right trail before proceeding to set the pace myself. The leader was a bit impatient with my slightly more conservative pace and he soon passed me. I stuck with him, perhaps foolishly, allowing only enough room between us to see the trail.

Our first 2½ miles were around 5:45 pace, which was quite uncomfortable for me after a summer of long distance training. Then we hit the stairs–200 ft (~20 flights) almost straight up. He ran up, single-stepping. I briskly walked, double-stepping. As we slowed on the steps I heard a chase group behind start to catch up.

Photo courtesy of Alpine Shop

Photo courtesy of Alpine Shop

The leader pulled away from me as the stairs leveled off and we began to run again. Then we hit a short steep uphill and I was cooked. Two runners passed me and I dropped to fourth. I figured I would make up time on the long technical downhill section, but it wasn’t to be. I fell even further behind the leading trio. By the stream crossing at the bottom I was in full damage control mode. Just before the final 200m section through a wide open field I caught a glimpse of two more runners catching up to me fast, which unfortunately meant I’d have to work pretty hard for those 200m.

I hung on to 4th overall, 3rd male, 2nd age group. I received a $10 gift card to the Alpine Shop, which, along with the free Mountain Hardwear hat I received for registering, more than made up for the $16 entry fee.

Oh, and the “3.9” mile course was actually somewhere between 4.5 and 4.7 miles. I was so exhausted after the race I literally had difficulty lifting a slice of watermelon up to my mouth. But after a while I recovered, then I went back out for another 3 miles (in addition to the 3 miles I ran before the race). Next weekend I’m running a half marathon on my favorite STL area trail. If I was going to struggle in my first post-Howl race, I’m glad it was here rather than there.

My second attempt at the Howl at the Moon 8 Hour Run came last week. Last year this race was my first attempt at running ~50 miles (or anything farther than 50K). This time around I’ve already completed two 50+ mile races. I trained and raced well all summer. The weather was not supposed to be too hot. In short, things were looking good. I didn’t have a specific distance goal in mind, I just really wanted to run farther than last year.

Ready to race

With more confidence and better fitness I started the race a little bit faster this time. My first marathon of the day was 3h33m (compared to 3h45m last year). I knew I would slow down in a few more miles, so I tried to do it gradually, rather than have my pace fall off a cliff like last year.

In both of my previous 50+ mile races I went through a real rough patch from miles 35-45. This race would be no different. My quads were shot. They ached with every step I took. The fatigue was unmistakable. While this was uncharted territory for me a year ago, I was expecting it this time. And I was looking forward to it.

Instead of slowing to a crawl and wallowing in my misery I kept putting one foot in front of the other. Sure, I slowed, but not nearly as much as last year. Given the bad patch hit me at the exact same place as my two previous 50+ mile races, I had reason to believe I would also snap out of it in the same place as I did in my two previous 50+ mile races. During that whole spell I kept thinking to myself:

I just have to deal with this for a mere 10 miles. I can deal with anything for 10 miles.

I got this.

It wasn’t pretty, but I did what had to be done. The beast you know is far easier to tame than the beast you don’t know. The race wasn’t any easier for me physically this year, but it was way, way easier mentally. It’s pretty amazing to me how much of a difference that can make.

I had gone fast enough early on that I was over a full lap ahead of a very experienced acquaintance, TC, with whom I tied for 9th place last year with 50.35 miles. Around mile 45 TC caught back up to me (so I was exactly one lap ahead). He congratulated me on a great race (which was classy) then pushed past me. As he was pulling away I was snapping out of my funk. After a while he stopped gaining on me. Then I started to come back to him. By the time I reached him we were both energized and ready to finish strong. We ran the last two laps together, and I finished my 16th lap with 10 minutes left on the clock. Melissa finished her 13th and final lap at the same time. TC and I went out for another mile on the out-and-back section that opens late in the race.

I finished with 53.64 miles, bettering last year’s mark by one full 3.29 mile loop. Melissa ran 42.77 miles, bettering last year’s mark of 40.48 miles. I was 3rd place overall and 1st in the Open Male (under 40 years) division. Melissa tied for 22nd overall, 11th female, and 3rd Open Female (under 40 years). There were 333 people in the race, so she uncorked a big one. TC again finished with 50.35 miles (with 0 seconds left on the clock).

TC gets 4th place award

Melissa recovers in the shade

There were a few other notable tidbits from this race. My first marathon of the day was 3h33m (my 5th fastest marathon ever). My second marathon of the day was 4h12m (still faster than the first marathon I ever ran). My 50 mile split was 7h24m (much faster than the 7h50m it took me to reach 50 miles last year at Howl, and faster than the 8h45m it took me to reach 50 miles at Berryman in May, though that was a much harder course).

It was great to run Howl again this year. It’s so fun and well organized. It was great to see so many of our friends from our former home of Champaign-Urbana. This race has turned into something of a homecoming for us these past two years, and I’m quite pleased that both of us were able to put in really fine performances.

One month ago, July 4th 2013, was the 20th anniversary of the beginning of my running career. What started out as a fun run with a friend turned into high school cross country and track, college cross country and track, marathons, triathlons, bike racing, ultramarathons, and obstacle course racing.

A few months ago when my grandpa moved out of his house and into an apartment he handed me a manila folder stuffed to the gills with decades-old newspaper clippings that mentioned my name, mostly from high school, and mostly involving athletics. I recently took the time to look at them all and scan them into my computer. Here are a few interesting clippings:

Struggling? Settled? This seems a bit like a backhanded complement, like telling a girl she’s too pretty to kiss.

In the words of Jonathan Coulton, I crush everything.

I really wish I still had those socks.

Variety is the spice of life. I enjoy doing races I’ve never done before and traveling to places I’ve never been. At the same time, there’s just some races you enjoy so much you want to do them every year. I’ve done the Forest Park XC Festival open 4K all three years we’ve lived in Saint Louis, as well as the Macklind Mile. Last Saturday I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to run the Gravois Kiwanis XC 5K for the third year in a row. It’s fairly small and very low-key. The course is all grass on rolling hills.

As was the case last year, the race fell two weeks before my much more important objective–the Howl at the Moon 8 Hour race. So this wasn’t going to be a quick-run-and-then-head-home kind of day. I planned to be at Jefferson Barracks park for several hours. I ran the full 5K course as a warmup, finishing just before the race start.

With a very slow warmup and no strides I was ill prepared for the extremely fast race start, but I settled into it after a quarter mile or so. By that time I had passed nearly all the quick starters, save one. He was really moving. I was going to have my work cut out for me. I gained significant ground on the downhill in the second quarter mile, but we turned a corner, went back uphill, and I lost him for good.

I continued to run hard and steady the rest of the race, despite losing ground to the leader, and despite knowing full well I would be running a few more hours after the race. I crossed the finish line in 18:19, 39 seconds faster than last year (when I finished 3rd), and 1:17 faster than two years ago (when I finished 1st). So this year’s 2nd place finish rounds out the podium for me.

I spent about 10 minutes recovering before heading back out, very slowly, for another loop. After that came the awards, then about two more hours of running. I finished the day with 21 miles, which was actually not very difficult given the cooler weather we had. The race was quite enjoyable again this year.

After first racing the New Town Triathlon last year, I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while.

I still liked the staggered swim start instead of the more common wave/mass start because it was far less congested in the early meters. One change they made this year was rather than starting in the order you registered (which put me at the very end last year) they started all members of the same age group in a row. Which is nice.

Photo courtesy of Big Shark

I was quite happy with my 1000m swim. Sure, I was minutes slower than the leaders (I’m not the strongest swimmer), but I was a full minute faster than last year. I’ve been working a lot on my swimming and I’ve been focusing on this distance.

Photo courtesy of New Town Triathlon

The one thing about this race that didn’t go perfectly was completely out of my control. Most races assign ranges of numbers to specific bike racks in the transition area and the first people to arrive take the locations nearest to the entrance/exit. This time they assigned specific locations to each individual number… and my space was at the very end of the rack as far away entrance/exit as possible. So my transition times were both several seconds slower than they could have been.

Photo courtesy of New Town Triathlon

Photo courtesy of Big Shark

I was a bit scared of the bike leg to be honest. I simply haven’t put in enough work on the bike this season to race at a very high level. I’ve been relying on my running fitness to carry me through the few bike races I’ve done. But this was a 20 mile time trial with nowhere to hide. Fortunately, I felt really good and I was able to do the best ride I could. In the end I finished the bike leg 11 seconds faster than last year. I did have a bit of an off day during the bike leg of this race last summer. It was a good sign that, despite being the last person from my bike rack in the transition area to start the race, I was the first person to return from the bike.

Photo courtesy of Big Shark

I was really looking forward to the run. I did well last year, but it was super hot. I’ve been running much faster this year and the temperature was much more bearable. I eased into the first mile (which is always difficult after transitioning from a fast bike leg) before letting it rip for the last three miles. I ran 40 seconds faster than last year, averaging 5:54/mile for the four mile course.

Photo courtesy of New Town Triathlon

Last year I finished in 1:35:39 for 14th place overall (not including elite racers) and 3rd place in the 30-34 age group. This year I finished in 1:34:16 for 8th place overall and 2nd place in the 35-39 age group. It’s rare to have a race (particularly a triathlon) where everything goes as well as possible. I’m quite pleased about that.

Photo courtesy of Big Shark

After the race I caught my breath, then went running for another hour. Howl at the Moon isn’t going to train for itself.

Well, that didn’t take long. I did another obstacle race: MuckFest MS. Compared to the last one this was longer and hotter, had a greater quantity and variety of obstacles, and had more participants. I didn’t prepare at all (in fact I did a three hour run just two days prior), this was really just for fun.

The competitive wave was the last to start (I would have thought it should be the first?), so the course was quite sloppy by 1:30 PM. It was brutally hot at 90˚F. You would think the copious quantities of mud on the course would help to cool you down, but you’d be wrong because the mud was hot too.

I started in the front row but quickly got swarmed before the first obstacle just 30 meters into the race.

Photo by Melissa

Photo by Melissa

There were longer runs between the next few obstacles, so I was able to catch up to and pass the leaders. Then I was knocked into a deep pool of mud by large swinging orange balls. I got mud in my eyes and couldn’t see… but I couldn’t wipe the mud out because my hands and clothes were covered in mud as well. Fun times.

Photo by MuckFest MS

Most of the obstacles were straightforward. A few were new to me and non-obvious. The volunteers were generally helpful in explaining things, though not always in the timeframe I would have hoped for. I only had a few delays though. I cruised through many of the early obstacles just as fast as anyone else, but I was running faster. So I built up a sizable lead in the first half. In the second half, while baking in the sun, I eased up.

Then I reached The Spinner. It looks simple enough, but it was the hardest thing on the course for me. You have to hang onto a rope, suspended over water/mud for half a revolution (about 20-ish seconds?). All the ropes had knots tied at the bottom (so you could stand or sit on them)… except the one I grabbed onto. With no place to stand or sit I had to hang on tightly using my nonexistent upper body strength for what seemed an eternity when I was hypoxic. It completely took the impetus out of my effort.

I continued to run well the last mile, but I slowed significantly on the obstacles, making many silly mistakes. What I didn’t know was the guy in second place was finishing strong. 100 meters and three obstacles from the end I was rather surprised to see him starting the obstacle just as I was finishing.

Photo by Melissa

I managed to keep it together for a few more seconds to finish in first place by just 13 seconds. I completed the “5” mile course (it was closer to 4) in 32m33s. I wasn’t proud of my collapse at the end, but it was a really fun event. The obstacles were just right in the spectrum of easy to challenging-but-not-impossible.

Photo by Melissa

Judging from the number of people lighting up cigarettes as soon as they crossed the finish line, most of the 1600+ participants weren’t too interested in the competition. They were interested in running, jumping, climbing, crawling, sliding, swimming, and playing in the mud like children.

Just like I was.