_getting to race
Took up Raluca’s hotel offer to stay Courtyard downtown Fort Worth Saturday night. The staff was pleasant, toilets powerful, valet parking awful.
Vivo 53 pizza dinner was tasty. Met Gina Hendrickson and husband from Edmond, OK. She aimed for 4-hour 50k. Her husband helped making my expectation realistic.
Jetlag woke me up at 4 am. I retrieved the hybrid SUV to park in front of Courtyard entrance before going back to bed.
My iPod Touch was still in Taipei time zone; alarm failed to go off. Fortunately traffic and parking were easy.
_goal
Undertrained and unrecovered from previous 50k, for once I was unconcerned about the extra 3 lb body weight.
It was warm and humid. I decided to start with 9:30 pace for first 9 miles, walk the bridge, and then go by HR or feel. With luck, I would finish around 5 hours.
_deficit
Couple miles into the race, the blue runners passed me. The 2 girls wore identical outfit and beautiful triceps definition. Side by side, their synchronized steps were hypnotic. I followed them and went sub 9:00. My HR went up 15 beats. “What the heck, this is a fun run.” The speed increase sealed the positive split.
_nutrition experiment
I tested magnesium lotion and extra Endurolyte. I also took MAP (Master Amino Pattern) before mile 3. Stomach inform me of its unhappiness with the supplements. It settled after a few cups of waters. It’s easy to recover at this pace.
By Stockyard, I sweated excessively. The body seemed to be retaining water. It’s hard to isolate all the causes. “Just focus on finishing.”
I felt great and could go faster. I also knew the strength was illusory and would be gone before mile 23.
[climbing out of Stockyard]
_out of juice
Legs quit around mile 20 after averaging 100 second/mile slower than my Boston qualifying pace. Being unfit was unsurprising yet depressing. I swallowed pride as 5-hour pacer passed me.
I started to high-five little kids. I drank extra beers. The sun came out. It was a beautiful day. Runners passed me left and right, which didn’t bother me this time. I thought of the Chinese New year trip. I focused on celebrating the moment in front of me.
_extra 8k
I didn’t reach the out-and-back loop in time to see Gina and Tiffany. My toenail started to hurt. “Should’ve wore bigger shoes.” I left the larger Altra in Taiwan.
Saw Casey on the other side of the road. Ben paced him.
Heel striking started before 26.2 line, 6 years after I changed my running form. Time flew.
I was mentally done by ultra U-turn party station. For the first time I was compelled to stop for burger and beer. Remembering my car pool obligation, I signed the giant guest book in Chinese and moved on.
My pace felt similar to walking though GPS said sub 12:00. Tired and slow runners pass me every few minutes. Plenty runners were behind me, struggling and smiling. Suffering never gets old. I accepted what my body had to offer. I ignored the toe pain. I relaxed and appreciate the weather.
[finishing photo by John L]
_#
GPS Garmin Forerunner 910
Distance: 31.15 mi
Time: 5:20:12
Pace: 10:17
Chip
Distance: 50k
Time: 5:20:25
Pace: 10:18
Place: 116/383
Winner Bryan Morseman finished in 3:01:44
Josh Cox’s US record is 2:43:45
_post race
Kimbell Museum. Hot tub. Osaka Sushi. Great day.
IRC runners.
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