31 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
29 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
26 May 2010
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Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
23 May 2010
I drove to Chattanooga the night before the race for the race packet pick-up and to take my better half out for a nice dinner. We had decided tostay in town through Sunday to enjoy a weekend away from home. I immediately located the Rock/Creek store in downtown Chattanooga, where I picked up my race bib and swag (a nice Patagonia short sleeve tech shirt). Afterwards, we drove about 5 minutes to our hotel to check in and to meet my running buddy Richard and his girlfriend. Richard was kind enough to run with me in my preparation for the ultra next month in Germany.
Richard and I went to the race location on top of Raccoon Mountain at 6:30 AM so he could register on site. We arrived there with the early crowd, able to enjoy some organic coffee and muffins (courtesy of Greenlife) that were absolutely fantastic. We put on our bibs, got our calves marked with the black letter "M" to identify us as marathon race runners to other runners. This was done to allow racers to recognize and differentiate the marathon from the half marathon runners during the race. Aparently, the race had doubled in size from the previous year. Since I had done some research online reading other race reports from last year, I knew that the course was 90% single track trail and that runners would get "stuck" behind each other on large stretches of the race. There was an opportunity to minimize that problem by going out hard on the first quarter mile on the road immediately after the start of the race. Now, all I had to do was convince Richard that is was a good idea to start out fast prior to reaching the single track trail...and I did.
We came out fast and settled in what I figured must have been at the front of the mid pack of runners. The field consisted of what must have been over 450 runners in the marathon and half marathon combined. I was settling into a comfortable pace, but Richard felt he was going out too hard too early. He sent me on my way arounf 5 miles into the race. Even though this was a training run, I wanted to try to push for a sub 4 hour finish. The course had been advertised as a fast trail course and I confirmed this tag line with other runners before the race, so I figured that I should give it a shot. I figured it must be rather flat since it was considered a fast course by many. However, there were two problems with my plan. First, the course wasn't flat or fast my any means of my imagination. Second and more importantly, there was a serious discrepancy between the actual distances covered during the race and the distances recorded by my Garmin 310XT (many other runners reported the same problem after the race). As a result, my Gramin kept showing me a pace significantly slower than my actual pace since it used false distance information. I, not aware of this error, continued to try to push harder to maintain a 9 minute pace not realizing that I was already going faster than that. The result of this error cost me dearly. Add the humidity and fairly high temperatures of the day and you get the inevitable crash and burn I experienced even before I reached mile 20. I was actually on track to finish in under 4 hours about 2 hours into the race. Unfortunately, my demise was becoming more and more evident as my balance and ability to lift my feet increasingly declined. I stopped counting my tripsand near face plants after ten. That coupled with my erroneous decision to wear two pairs of socks to prevent blisters and for added padding caused some foot problems late in the race. First, I stubbed my toes too many times to count. In addition, the high humidity caused "swamp" feet early in the race and the extra pair of socks did not seem to prevent blisters as I now have one pretty good one on the outside of my right foot. Next time, I will add hyrdopel to the mix (cover myfeet in it) and see if that helps.
Looking at the splits, I lost a significant amount of time towards the last third of the race. My Garmin recorded almost 4 miles less than the actual race distance. However, this need to stop running the hills late in the race to try to recover and lower my heart rate really allowed me to take in the beauty of this course. There were many places along the course where runners had magnificent views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. I just wished I had brought a camera to capture these images. Instead, I will have to leave you with an image of the price I paid to run this great event (see below).
Posted by Ultra Kraut in 2010 Scenic City Trail Marathon, Endurance Running, Race Reports, Running, Scenic City Trail Marathon, Trail Running, Ultra Running
19 May 2010
Later that day, I chose to add another 6 miles by running the Indian Creek Greenway out & back. It was perfect running weather, a slight overcast with little humidity and temeratures appearing to be in the low 60s. Anyway, that added up to a nice 10 miles for the day. I think I'm gonna rest again tomorrow to help my abdomen and groin recover . I'm still not a hundred percent sure where and how I hurt myself.
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
17 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
16 May 2010
We parked Richard's car at the old Kmart on Madison Boulevard in Madison and took of West towards Decatur. We continued on the old Higway 20 along I565W. Near the Greenbrier exit and after about 6 miles of running, we crossed I565 and continued along the other side of I565 towards Mooresville. However, the night before the run, Richard had wisely stashed some water all along the route and at that intersection which allowed for a quick waterbreak an hour into our run. The humidity was excrutiating this morning, above 90%, so we had to make sure to stay well hydrated. We were both feeling well enough, but the humidy was going to take its toll. We continued on into and through Mooresville until we hit the left turn onto the dirt road leading towards a boat ramp and Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. We would spend the next two hours on trails and dirt roads through Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and along the Tennessee river. We entered the refuge in darkness, but had planned ahead and were wearing our headlamps, lighting the way through the dense forest sections before we approached the river. Once we exited the forest, the sun was slowly rising at the horizon. It was quite a sight. But the wildlife refuge had lots more to offer. We crossed paths with a pair of coyotes, cranes, a rabbit, and a mother oppossum carrying 6 or 7 babies on its back. Aparently, she had decided touse the same trailas us and was not willing to share the road. Instead, it was turning around and posturing towards us, threatening to charge at us in an attempt to protect its babies, I presume. After about 5 minutes, we managedto coax it off the trail to clear the path for us to continue our run. If you are wondering why we didn't just try to pass the little critter, the answer is easy....neither one of us wanted rabies.
After these brief encounters with the local residents, we continued our run underneath the I65 bridge and towards the Highway 31 bridge towards Decatur. We had to make up a few minutes to manage to get to our meeting spot in Decatur for our pick-up. We exited Wheeler Wildlife Refuge and crossed the bridge just after 7 AM, close to our originally expected arrival time. We finished a 21 mile run in about 3 hours and 45 minutes. We plan to do this run again soon.
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
14 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
13 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
10 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
09 May 2010
This was the second annual running of the Music Moves Me 10K and the first time I participated. There were bands and sounds systems blasting music all along the course, which really kept my mind occupied as I was mostly running alone for the early part of the race. During the final 2 mile stretch, I found myself jokeying for position with two other runners. While the top group was way ahead of us, this made for an interesting challenge towards the end. I was following the "leader" of our group until the final mile, were I passed him on a downhill stretch only to have him catch me again with a little less than hapf a mile to go. I obviously did not push hard enough to put plenty of distance between him and I do "discourage" him from trying to catch me again. The demoralizing effect of him passing me allowed the runner right behind me to pass as well. However, I wasn't going dowen that easily. With twohundred yards to go, I kicked it into another gear to sprint past the guy who had pased me just a quarter mile earlier. While I normally would not push past another runner on the final stretch of the race (since I usually do not contend for a top three finish, I find it to be badd running etiquette to pass someone on the last few yards of a race), I did not feel the same in this instance since this particular runner had just passed me himself. I figured this to be the continuation and conclusion of a 2 mile battle for position.
This was the first time I actually went directly head to head with other runners for position (if only for a top ten finish) and it really made it fun. Either way, I congratulated both runners on a great finish and took of for my car.
Posted by Ultra Kraut in 2010 Music Moves Me 10K, Endurance Running, Race Reports, Running, Trail Running, Ultra Running
05 May 2010
UPDATE: I added another four miles this afternoon after work on Indian Creek Greenway. Still feeling pretty good.
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
03 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in Endurance Running, Running, Trail Running, Training Logs, Ultra Running
02 May 2010
Posted by Ultra Kraut in 2010 Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run, Endurance Running, Race Reports, Running, Strolling Jim 40 Mile, Trail Running, Ultra Running