Vincent and I were out at the
Houston Running Festival on Saturday. This event has a half-marathon, marathon, 50K, 50M, 100K, 100M, 12HR, or 24HR categories. I was signed up for the 100K and Vincent the 50K. The course is a 2 mile loop in
Bear Creek Park on the westside of Houston.
My goal last year in 2013 was to run this 100K in 10hrs30min so that I could qualify for
Spartathlon. However I ended up getting the flu on Christmas day and was unable to make it. No so this year. I've been training very consistently since August of 2013. I have been averaging about 136 heart rate at a 8:49 pace so I thought if all went well, my chances for a qualifying time were pretty good. Based on the new qualifying standards, I just barely qualified. I may have to wait through a lottery process. Which is fine for me. No worries.
This course is a two mile looped course. Logistics are easy if you can get over the fact that you are spending nine to ten hours running around in circles and with very tight margins of time. There would be little to no walking for me. I put about two and a half scoops of a mixture of tailwind/carbopro/skratch in my hand held bottles. I had eight, sixteen ounce Ultimate direction bottles all lined up for nutrition, and also about 4 gels at the ready. My plan was one bottle per hour.
Nothing ever goes according to plan. The day started overcast at 70 degress with 100% humidity. What a bunch of bullshit. That went on for 4 hours. My water usage rate went up quite a bit, but was still manageable. After four hours the cold front blew in and cooled things off but, it rained quite a bit as well. So it got pretty dammed cold. My 50K split was about 4:30, which I figured for me to make a nine hour 100K would be almost impossible.
At mile 38 my Garmin died and you can see from my
results, my pace immediately started slowing down and from mile 48/50 on I was averaging about 10 minute miles. Oh well. Isn't that how it goes some times? I ended up running a
9:45:58 according to these
results. I was first in the 100K which was nice, but I do not think the other competitors were there to tear up the course. This event was really low key.
Why a revolution? This is huge advancement for me in terms of total running, blocking out boredom, the elements, and managing my race nutrition. I've never actually run that many miles in a race, ever. All total I ran at least 61 miles of the 62. My energy levels felt great most of the race. I didn't let the weather get to me, and generally ran my ass off. What a huge confidence booster for me. I really hit a tough spot between miles 40 to 50, but was able to push through that mental barrier. The last 12 miles were basically run at a 10min pace. I'll take that.
I have some pain on the inside of my left knee and my right achilles is a bit tight. I've been icing the knee and did some foam rolling last night and this morning. I should be good to go by Friday. I even have very little muscle soreness, as compared to previous events. I really do feel like I hit this one out of the park, even though I was 46 minutes over the time I was trying to run.
If you are reading this, thanks for indulging me and allowing me to gloat. Let's go for a run!!!
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