Sunday, March 1, 2020

Cowtown 50k 2020/03/01; Fort Worth, Texas—Coronavirus

2019 was to be my rebuilding year.  2019 Cowtown marked a promising start, then body never recover from accumulative fatigue.  My race performance declined through next 6 weeks.  I took the summer off.  Life continued to happen; worthwhile things decreased  asymptotically.  Coronavirus eroded lives the week of Chinese New Year.  Hotel business was worrying.  Existence fragile.

_Cowtown goal (as of 2019 Xmas)
target A: 4:48; 9:18 pace for course PR.
target B: 5 hr moving time + bathroom & beer shots.  5:10:00 finish.
target C: 5:30: full burger at mile 27.  5 additional minutes for each can of beer.

[discouragingly windy]

_logistics
Pre-race: big lunch pizza was good.  Forced noodle dinner was too much.  I felt bloated after just 1 gel.

Altra Escalante turned out a good decision for 2020.  2019 I wore One v2: too little cushion for my fitness.  It’s hard to accept the plantar fascia was still angry 16 months after the fateful 10k race.

_faster than planned start—never a good sign
I stayed with 3:55 marathon pacer for 7 miles before hiding behind a tall stranger from the wind.  The big dude slowed to 11 min/mile pace for the climb—perfect for me.  I ran by feel.  I was surprised how few people passed me on the hill.

_miscalculation
I reached half marathon line with clock showing 2:02—exact pace I wanted, failing to notice the chip time was 5.5 minutes quicker.  The damage was done by the time I realized my mistake.  I went into denial and grew hopeful I’d hold sub-9 for entire 50k. 

[Irving Running Club]

_outsource pacing to pacers
Cara and Danielle were solid at 8:55 pace.  I turned my brain off and follow them.  I was lucky to have help.  I wished they were larger windshields.

[photo by Tory, 4 seconds behind 3:55 marathon pacer]
The legs wanted to go faster.  The brain knew better.

Weather turned nice.  Beautiful sunshine.  Everyone was encouraging.  I skipped beers and gel; GI didn’t feel great.  I missed 2014 fitness.  I was more hopeful about life in 2014 in general.  I thought about eating the durian with Celine in Montreal.

_weakening
Inevitably, legs didn’t feel great when marathon pacers and I parted ways at mile 25.  Shaheen smiled and waved to me; she’s only 4 miles ahead; this gave me hope.  I hanged on to Oprah pace, reaching 26.2 in 3:55.  Then muscles refused to fire.  They were doing so well just 3 miles ago.

[falling apart after marathon]

_disappointment
A simple decision: "do I fight to hold 11 min/mile, or do I save the legs to shorten recovery."  I wanted to do well at Hachie 50k.  Giving up 5 minutes means little for Cowtown at this point.

This was the right condition to finally stop for burger after years of telling the cook "next year".  I thought of what to say to express my gratitude.  The grill guy ain't there.  花開堪折直須折,莫待無花空折枝.  My heart sank.

I walked the hills.  7 runners passed me before finish line--difficult to swallow.

_#’s
Rank:46th, 3rd in age group
4:52:55
Pace:9:25/M

5K Rank:59
5K:27:37
5K Pace:8:51/M
10K Rank:53
10K:54:59
10K Pace:8:49/M
15K Rank:52
15K:1:22:38
15K Pace:8:50/M
13.1M Rank:50
13.1M:1:56:17
13.1M Pace:8:50/M
30K Rank:45
30K:2:45:56
30K Pace:8:54/M
23M Rank:41
23M:3:25:31
23M Pace:8:55/M
26.2M Rank:39
26.2M:3:54:52
26.2M Pace:8:57/M

Javier and Shaheen each won 3rd overall in gender.

[3D finisher meal, Guinness not included]

_feeling down
I was pleased with finish time but disappointed by the final 5 miles.  I was disappointed Irving friends weren’t running.  I felt helpless against Coronavirus.

A thoughtless act put me in a world of hurt for past 3 weeks.  I was unable to put it out of my mind.  I was angry I let it pollute the morning.  I desperately tried shifting to celebration mode: “Dude, there ain’t that many sub-5-hour 50k left in your legs.  Cheer up!”

_Surprises
After swallowing vegi soup and ice cream, I felt resigned and went through the motion of visiting Kimbell.  An impossibly elegant young girl behind the gift shop counter smiled at me.  I recalled friends who looked that way decades ago.  Humans don’t age gracefully.  “What’s with you geeks' fascination with long straight hair?”  I tried to recall the year I was last asked that question.

A few walls later, I saw the unfamiliar Monet on loan.
[“Water-Lily Pond” Thank you, Sotheby’s]
My mood changed.  I recalled the emotion first time I heard “未來的街頭" in Firebird on Interstate 95.  Things turned out differently than I anticipated 3 decades ago.  “van Gogh Cezanne Picasso” I went to the paintings in the order in the song, thinking of how Monet handled Paris Salon’s rejection.

A day after race, tornado came to Tennessee
[Asphalt Beach Skateshop]