Grasslands Trail Marathon 2019/3/16—plantar fasciitis

_short version
Plantar fascia acted up.  Jacket too thin for outdoor BBQ lunch.  Everything else felt pretty perfect.

Race postponed 30 minutes so racers had sunlight.
Made 2 wrong turns but recovered quickly.  Socks were wet by mile 13; no blister.
Kicked a rock: lost very little toe nail.
Weather was gorgeous.

_TLDR version
[photos by Catherine Chen]

I signed up for marathon despite of my drop foot.  This wasn’t a technical trail course.  I could ask a volunteer to save me.

It was weird coming to this event without Raluca.  Enabling her to participate was something she appreciated.

_logistics
7am start time meant 4:15am wake time before 80 minute drive.  I was afraid to oversleep at 3:30a.  I needed to learn to relax.

Event was chip-timed.  I debated whether to start 20 min after the gun to avoid darkness.  The decision was made for me.  The organizer postponed start 30 minutes.

_goal
I had no time or placement goal.  5-hour felt doable.  4.5-hr was possible.  It all depended on surface condition and how much I got off course.

_loop 1: white trail: slow start
I started mid-pack, not wanting to impede anyone.  The race quickly came to standing still to queue up for 2 flooded sections.  A real trail runner would’ve just skip over the water.

_negative progress
I was directionally challenged and decided to follow others.  Confusion developed the first couple miles.  Runners U-turned.  Twice.  It was funny watching how people reacted differently.  I followed a well-equipped guy—in worst case, his GPS will find the parking lot.

[end of loop 1]

Air temperature went from 37 to 50 the first 2 hours.  I left T-shirt, arm warmers, and gloves at the tree by the start.  The sunshine was gorgeous.


_loop 2: blue trail
The blue trail marks were very visible under 9 o’clock sun.  I came to a water crossing.  My brain couldn’t decide what to do; legs just stepped into the muddy water.  Both socks got wet.  That was my only dipping and permit me to step into mud.

Left heel hurt.  I sensed the limp and chose to ignore it.  There were limited numbers of these events left in this body; I hoped the knee damage I incurred wouldn’t be permanent.

I thought about Kelly Catlin’s suicide.  I remember my setbacks when I was a 23-year-old California grad student.  That was 2 lifetimes ago.

I stopped following others and went at my own pace.  I caught the first half marathoners.  Everyone seemed happy.

A girl caught me from behind with a lot of liquid in her Camelbak.  I kept up for a few minutes then decided I didn’t need to increase foot pain to hasten returning to the world of New Zealand mosque shooting and other disappointments.

[heel strike to set up air]

_#’s
Garmin 630:
Distance = 24.7 mi
Time = 4:34:31
Pace = 11:07 min/mile

7 water breaks: 3 input + 2 output +2 in queue to cross
2 wardrobe changes

Chip time: 4:38:00
Distance = 26.2 mi
Place: 15th/73 finishers

John wasn’t happy with his performance.  Even more disappointed was Valerie; she quietly ate BBQ next to me.  I didn’t know she DNF’ed and wish I inquired about it.  I wished I wore the thick jacket.  I wished I had larger comfort zone.

Javier finished 2nd in 50-mile under 8 hours.

Casey achieved his 10-hour goal.  Made me want to try the yellow loop.  He was an accomplish trail runner now.  Casey mentioned Salton Sea 2020.  I want to be on his team.

Trinity River Levee Half 2019/03/02—acceptance.

2014 I biked to this event to breakfast with Casey and Voon where we committed to enter Montreal 24-hour relay.  We played murderball.  It was a beautiful sunny day.

[event website featured Casey and me playing obscure sport]

2016 I skated with Mackowski then paced Raluca for 5k.  She just adopted Aiki.  Aiki is 3 now.

[the 2.17-month-old]

_unsure of state of the legs
Legs were unrecovered from 50k 6 days ago.  Hamstring aching.  I decided to start at 8:00 pace—felt like a good starting point.  I changed my mind at the start—I followed the 1:40 pacers.

[7:30 felt easy the first mile] (photo added to Facebook by Mark Olateju)

Side stitch started soon. 

[By mile 5, 7:30 pace was unrealistic.] (photo added to Facebook by Mark Olateju)

Middle half of the half involved dirt road.  I lost footing couple times—good practice for Grasslands in 2 weeks.  I let others go on short and steep climbs.  8:00 pace felt difficult by mile 9.  I felt lucky that ankle and hamstring were holding up.

[cadence changed when pavement ended at mile 6]

Inspirational Rob caught up to me.  He started late to maximize passing.  He eventually caught 1:40 pacer.

I didn’t struggle; I let legs do their thing.

Mile 12 intersection was a zoo.  I went the wrong way.  Served me right for not studying the course.  A very attractive Paige ran with me on the pedestrian bridge.  The forecasted rain never came, all body parts working.

[On Margret Hunt Hill Bridge.  I was in no rush.]  (photo added to Facebook by Mark Olateju)
I did not think about canines and humans entered and left my life.  I thought about Nataly Kogan’s book.  I let the moment last as long as it needed to.

_#’s
GPS: Garmin Forerunner 630
Distance: 13.18 mi
Time: 1:42:48
Avg pace: 7:48

[double 42; universe hints]

Official chip time: 1:42:42
Avg Pace:7:50/M

Ranking at splits:
5K: 49
10M: 47
13.1M: 47

Time takes to reach splits:
5K:23:24
10M:1:17:30
13.1M:1:42:48

Pace at splits:
5K:7:31/M
10M:7:45/M
13.1M:7:50/M

Cowtown 50k 2019/02/29; Fort Worth, Texas—rebuilding.

I skipped 2018 Cowtown because of family trip for Chinese New Year.

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.

[Voon back from from Malaysia]

_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.

[final  corner]

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

A2A 87-mile 2018/10/14

Kent and Sonic finished under 5 hours.

My lack of fitness reflected training volume and spine health.  Less fun this way.  I didn't enjoy some red-light decisions during race.

Eric Edwards crashed and broke facial skin.
Michael Garcia had an intersection accident and broke an ankle.
Made me think about risks.

87 mi@15.2mph

time: 5:43:30

place: 16th of 40 finishers

[always great to see Herb]

Northshore Inline Marathon 2018/9/15--muscle spasm

My lower back acted up 2 days prior to the NSIM.

I promised everyone tailwind <=

1. Duane weren't there
2. I couldn't straighten my back

at 3am the storm was so bad, I thought the race would be canceled.  The race condition turn out the 2nd best in 2 decades.

I set PR but missed out on a chance to go under 70 minutes.

The new sub-57 "event record" doesn't count <= course was shortened by 0.2 miles <= construction at finish line.  Chad's course record survives for the 20th year.

distance: 26 mi
time 1:19:44.08

Hotter n Hell 100-mile bike ride 2018/08/25--unfit

I found ways not to stop for the 100-mile ride in previous couple years.  This time I stopped multiple times--fitting for my unfit year:

Couple riders went down in front of me.  I ended up squeezing the brakes and barely touched the fallen rider.  The rider next to me didn't react in time and ran over the crashed.  I very briefly thought about jumping over--watched too many Sagan videos 😊

I failed to beat the train at the track and waited for the entire train before 100M/100k split.  Half the guys but no girl took leaks.

Some volunteers came to the road to refill bottles.  I stopped for water for the first time in years.

_slow finish

South wind was brutal starting mile 77.

My legs were more fatigued than I felt at mile 91.  I stopped to resupply because the pack chose to.  I cramped after pickle juice.  Last 10 miles took almost an hour.

It was good to see Ann and her puppy.  I wandered how many more times I'd do this.

_#'s

Garmin GPS xt310

distance: 100.82 mi

moving time: 5:19:32

speed: 18.9 mph

average power: 126 w

official chip time
time:05:26:53.1
speed: 18.5 mph
placement: 341/3100

I used 6.5 bottles + 7 gels.  Could've used more electrolytes.

Waxahachi 50k 2018/05/05--late and unfit

After Irving Marathon, I stopped running.  Legs reacted to 4-mile training run badly after weeks of inactivity.  I took time off to massage and chiro the week of the race, accepting DNF as a possibility.

_confusion at the start
Raluca changed distance to marathon.  I was wondering why no other 50k'er were at registration tent.  "The ultra started an hour ago."
"Huh?"
The email said
"7:00 a.m.  50k and Full Marathon begin."

I asked about leaders' positions.  I didn't have 2017 fitness, but podium was always a possibility for small races.  The timer had no info to offer; volunteers grew increasingly apologetic until I started 60.5 minutes after my competition.

_racing
I enjoyed the beautiful weather despite of heavy legs.  I saw the 50k leader for the final time on the 3-lap out-and-back.  He had 7 miles to go, I had 13.5.  Arithmetic without paper was hard. I concluded 10:00 pace could be sufficient.  Sun got hot; I took off the shirt.  I was determined to fight as I started final lap.  "It'll be the duel of topless Asians," I visualize the headline on Facebook and laughed.

_tripping
A runner tripped over the gate anchor in the middle of the trail.  The impact seemed soft from distance.  I didn't think much of it 'til I saw blood on concrete.  The water stop volunteer got to him quickly.  I moved on, thinking that could be me.

I took aggressive tangent and kicked a root.  The tree didn't move.  Foot numbed with pain traveling up bones.  Hamstring cramped.  Assuming broken toe, I limped toward medical tent, wondering how I'd let Raluca know which ER to find me.  Body recovered enough by the time I reached the tents.  I stayed on course and keep running.  Determined to hold Oprah pace.

_humbler pie
Toe regained feelings but quads and calves refused to fire--my fitness reflected my preparation.  I was lucky to complete.  GPS said 32-minute-mile.  Garmin 630 lost signal late morning for the 2nd year.  A 50-miler and I shared a laugh.  His Garmin worked fine.

I came to the water station next to bloody pavement.  I asked for water.  "We're out of cups.  We're getting more.  My thirst accepted the 20-minute delay.  Sure enough, a boy scout brought the paper cups toward the water station.  He balanced all the cups as a single stack doubling his height.  He focused on balancing and ignored my thanks.  The race started 4 hours ago.  He was probably bored out of his mind.

Wind came from the direction of sewage treatment plant.  I saw the boy lost control over his stack in slow motion, amused and horrified.  I accepted my next hydration will include road dust, hoping what I smelled wasn't poo.  It would be funny if I wasn't thirty.

I pass the water station for the final time.  "Sorry, we're out of cups."

2017 winner Shaheen didn't race.  2018 women winning time was 50 minute slower.

I shuffled to the final water station where Shaheen volunteered.  I was embarrassed I ran 30 minutes behind 2017 result.  She remembered my name and  thought I was 90 minutes behind.  She said nice things to lift my spirit.  I committed myself to be gracious to struggling racers when I chance came up.

I felt knees and ankles out of alignment for final 10k.  The finish line couldn't have come fast enough.

[just fast enough for hardware; 6th male]

GPS time: 5:16:06
Official time: 5:16:32
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2676007432

2017 GPS data
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1718179189

_post-race
My attempt to accompany Raluca for her final mile was delayed.  People wanted to talk to me, mostly to apologize about the start confusion.  One racer came to admire how fast I ran--mistakenly thought I won--we shirtless Asians indeed all looked alike.

Raluca willed herself into running during the final mile for her first official marathon finish.  I was proud of her.

I went back to email:

6:00 a.m.  50K Ultra begins

7:00 a.m.  50k and Full Marathon begin

Serves me right for my "control-F" based reading.