My run training diminished by 2018 summer. I resumed running before Thanksgiving--3 months prior to Cowtown 2019. I was unable to hold Oprah pace during weekly long runs—very humbling. Plantar fasciitis came to left foot. I learned to live with discomfort.
_Cowtown goal (as of Xmas)
10:00 pace. Even split. Couple pee stops. Couple beer shot pauses. 5:15:00 finish. 5:25 if I stopped for mile-27 burger. 5 additional minutes if I drink entire can of beer with the burger.
_form
Fitness is a funny thing. By mid January, my weekend long runs were slower than Thanksgiving. Legs felt sluggish. Plantar issue persisted. I steadily ramping up mileage. I barely biked and skated.
I approached fitness like 401k: it ain’t about faith in the method—I just lacked better alternative.
_3-week taper
2 weeks before Cowtown, legs show progress. I became cautious optimistic. I marveled at how my happiness was tied to fitness.
By race weekend, I decided to start with 5-hr pacer ‘til mile-9 climb. I hung out with Casey and Voon the day before the race—vegan lunch and ice cream. Casey was shooting for 4.5-hr finish the year after he finished Leadville 100. It felt like full circle.
_race start
I had difficulty finding comfortable pace. 5-hr pacer Chelsea felt erratic; her partner Amy wasn’t within shouting distance. My left hamstring hurt at mile 8; this was new to me. I ran by feel. Chelsea overtook me at every climb—at least one of us wasn’t running at smooth effort.
I passed Chelsea for the final time after the big bridge climb. I stayed with 4:05 marathon pacer. Met pacer Rick, who promised I could stay at his place if I run Oslo Marathon in next 2 years.
Mile 15. I let legs move by their natural rhythm. Hamstring and plantar both happy. This was too good to be true.
_heavy legs
The wall didn’t come at mile 20; a short fence did. I lost focus when marathoners around me slowed. My splits consisted of more high-9’s than low-9’s. I ran with 2 fading marathoner at mile 23. We encouraged each other to keep up the speed.
I pass a dozen runners during the ultra-only 8k. I saw Casey 10 minutes later than anticipated. He hit the wall near mile 25 and missed his goal. Maybe 10th time would be a charm.
_mile 25
5-hour finish was in the bag
I stopped fighting the urge to slow. My feet were hurting slapping against concrete: could've used more shoe cushion. I focused on enjoying the beautiful weather and energy. I was grateful to regain running fitness.
Last mile took exactly 8 minutes.
Late lunch: Korean tofu bowl tasted really good.
_#’s
GPS: Garmin Forerunner 630
Distance: 30.95 mi
Time: 4:48:03
Avg pace: 9:18
Official chip time: 4:48:14 (11 seconds longer)
Avg Pace:9:16/M
Ranking at splits:
5K:75
10K:72
15K:77 (5 runner passed me on Main Street bridge)
13.1M:74
30K:61
23M:59
26.2M:51
50K:41
Time to reach:
5K:29:03.0
10K:57:44.0
15K:1:26:33.0
13.1M:2:01:29.0
30K:2:52:22.0
23M:3:33:22.0
26.2M:4:03:47.0
50K:4:48:14.0
Pace at splits:
5K:9:18/M
10K:9:15/M
15K:9:15/M
13.1M:9:14/M
30K:9:14/M
23M:9:15/M
26.2M:9:17/M
50K:9:16/M
Irving Running Club Javier Vilchis finished 2nd in 50k averaging 7:02 pace
Over all winner averaged 6:00 pace
