Hachie 50-mile 2022/04/23; Waxahachie, Texas—first 50-mile since 2008

_goal 

8 hours 6 minutes.

Alex’s 2021 9:40 pace seemed within reach.  Alex wouldn’t be back to defend his podium due to conflict with Boston Marathon.

Reference paces and finish times

   9:15 pace => 7:42

   9:30 pace => 7:55

   9:43 pace => 8:06 (Alex Barrientos 2021-05-01)

   9:54: pace => 8:15 (Tuan Nguyen 2021-05-01)

   Amy Clark   7:14:38 (2017-05-06) women course record

in 2008 I changed my distance from 50k to 50-mile 14 hours before race because they were the same price but different finishing jacket.  The impulse decision led to DNF and shin split.  I never raced 50-mile since.

_conflicting advice

Javier Vilchis (reigning Cowtown 50k champion): go by feel.  Take your time sit down and eat between laps.

Amy Clark (female course record holder): Start at 9:30 pace.  “Definitely a negative-split course.”

Logan Sherman (2015 Dallas Marathon winner): Start at 9:00 pace then see what happens.  [Logan tended to forget not everyone could run 2.5-hour marathons]

Shaheen Satter (8th place at Western State): Go by feel.  Just do it.

Alex Barrientos (4th place 2021): even split at 2 minute/mile slower than marathon PR pace => 9:40/mile pace for me.

Paul Box (race director and 7:05:38 finisher 2016): “hold the ‘forever speed’ for as long as you can….  Going slower would use different muscles.”

Me: “how long could u hold that pace?”

Paul: “about 35 miles” [shrug]

_lowlights

Furniture accident 1 week prior.  Left knee and a stool collided in the dark.  I was at fault.

Feet felt banged up after pacing a half marathon at the uncomfortable 9:55 pace in Irving.

Giving up final week diet due to family dinners.

Tight left glute Monday.  Released after massage Wednesday.

_gear

Nike Alphafly to start.  Hoka Clifton 5 as backup.

Singlet first lap.  Shirtless 4 laps.

Oakley Flak Beta.  It somehow bothered me during lap 2 & 3 under cloudy sky.

Garmin 630 right wrist: average pace, electronic pacer at 9:45 pace.

Garmin 245 left wrist: Stryd power, lap pace, total time, total distance. 

_nutrition

Perfect Amino + Endurolyte + Red Bull () before lap 4, 5

8.4 fl oz Red Bull was difficult to consume without stopping.  I was unable to follow Javier’s advice to take my time.

2~3 Hammer gels/hour from water stops.

[each 50-miler gets his own spot for his gear along the course]

_racers

Erika Silva and I chatted for our opening miles at 9:45 pace.  She projected finish time of 11~12 hours and stressed the importance of patience.  

“Then why are you running this fast?”  

“….”  She let me run ahead.

[easy early laps]

Before marathon started, Javier looked most relaxed and fastest, jogging at sub-8 pace.  He encouraged me every time we crossed path; I felt starstruck.  He led 50k race start to finish.

Jung also raced 50k and encouraged me each time.  Her posture & pace dropped during 2nd half but held together for 2nd female.

Meghan showed her usual determination soloing 50k.  I admire her.

Harsha was a burst of energy.

Voon was the last IRC runner I saw on the course.  I tried but failed to catch her—I was unable to average sub-10 during final lap.

_decline

Legs stiffed expectedly by mile 27.  

“Keep up.  It’s only 23 miles to go—not even a marathon.”

I was able to convince them to hold 9:45 pace through lap 4.

Mile-32 cooler stop, I again forgot to drop sunglasses off.  My focus shifted to the sugary drink the moment I saw the cooler.  I was happy to see Timo getting ready at relay zone; I handed Oakleys to him, holding Red Bull in the other hand.

Before his relay start, Timo ran a bit with me starting lap 4.  

I learned Red Bull can’s tiny hole made it difficult to consume while in motion.  I almost ran into a light tole.  I reeled Maria in shortly after Red Bull.  Lap 4 took effort to hold steady power.  I became afraid of running the final 10 miles.  Carl Jung warned me not to go down that rabbit hole.

[dehydrated]

_final lap

I had difficulty controlling the fancy tall Nikes at mile 42; too late to change to backup shoes.  I lost 50 seconds/mile but was happy just to stay upright.  

24-year-old shirtless leader way ahead but ran like someone just handed him a piano—I knew how that felt.  Maria dropped to another zip code behind me.  I tried to hold Alex’s 9:40 pace but was mentally exhausted.  

“Just don’t walk.  Don’t stop.  Don’t trip yourself.”

Timo welcome me for the final stretch.  I was happy and sad to find I had plenty fuel in the tank.  I crossed the line at su- 8 pace.

[Cloudy humid morning favored skinny topless Asian]

[I was happy my splits were less positive than my competition]

_#

Garmin 245

Distance: 49.97 miles (from Stryd)

Time: 8:11:22

Pace: 9:50 min/mile

Stryd foot pod

Moving time: 8:10:18

Elevation gain: 4135 feet

Pace: 9:49 min/mile

Cadence: 178 spm

Power: 181w (Stryd)

Official

Distance: 50.00 miles

Time: 8:11:21.6

Pace:  9:50 min/mile

Place: 2th overall

24-year-old Tyler Thorne beat me by 40 minutes 16.6 seconds (9:01 pace).  I wished I was twice his age.

_races other side of the world

ChihYang ran half at KinMen Marathon wearing a continuous glucose monitor.

[mom made ChihYang go to the barber before the race]

On the same day at Centurion Running Track in Bedford, United Kingdom, Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin set a new 100K World Record in 6:05:41! (Pace: 5:53/mile / 3:39/km). 

_after

I felt special hanging out w/ IRC after the race.  COVID took much of socialization away since 2020.

[Jung is my knee body]

[Stefanie ran the last leg of the 5-lady relay]

I recovered unexpectedly well.  I raced Plano Pacer 3k a week later at my 5k PB pace.  

[photo by Steve P]

Irving Marathon Half 2022/04/02—Oprah pace. 3 weeks before Hachie 50

Meghan invited IRC’ers to pace.  I signed up.  

I wanted 1:50 or 2:00 but accepted the remaining 2:10 slot.  13-mile is a little short for 3-week-out long run.  

[I ran extra after celebratory breakfast buffet in VIP lounge]

_unexpected

Fenix 5+ on left wrist showed very different distance fist 9 miles.  I accidentally paused FR 245 on right wrist.  Fortunately, I also had mile split band.

 

_#’s

Official: 2:09:17.9

Distance: 13.109 miles

Split	Time	Pace	Place
4M	40:12	10:03	423
8.3	1:23:06.9	10:01	394
11.3	1:54:22.9	10:07	317
13.1	2:09:17.9	9:52	326

 

Fenix 5+: 2:09:19

Distance: 13.43 miles

[Javier won half master]

[IRC won most participation]

Grasslands Trail Marathon 2022/3/19—long run before Hachie 50

_short version

This marathon was my final long run to prepare for Hachie 50-mile in 5 weeks.

Mark Seeley and his friend Mike Czarnik joined.  We ran with Shaheen for open miles.

Shaheen hit the wall; Mark passed her and finished in 4:00:08.  I came in 23 min later.

Left foot plantar fascia lingered after 3 years.  

_TLDR version

It’s the long run 5 weeks before “B” race Hachie 50-mile.  Gorgeous cool sunny day.

A dozen guys took off at seemingly unnecessarily hard pace.  I led the chase pack, amused at how quickly they disappeared.  I offered to step aside; Shaheen said she was happy behind me.  Mike was talkative.

I dropping a gel pack.  The new race belt’s center loop appeared defective.  Shaheen took over before expectedly leaving us.  Mark dictated the pace hovering 200w.  I wondered how reliable Stryd was on such surface.  My 2 Garmins showed wildly different paces.

Mark took a potty break 200 meters before 8-mile aid station Windmill 2.  Jung came out of the tent to hug—I felt like a rock star.  Mark blew by us without washing hands.  I chose not to chase.  We had different missions.

I took my time after white loop (mile 12.8): took off T-shirt and arm sleeves; refilled bottle; ate a packaged chocolate.  I was in no rush on this beautiful day.  Mike chose to skip the stop.

Amy Clark caught me at Outback Gate aid station (mile 16.9).  Her greeting was efficient when I walked a tiny climb:

“Are u OK?” 

“Yeah” 

then she left me, clearly having no memory of my visiting ice cream shop on the photo day.

My power steadily dropped as miles added up.  I wasn’t concerned—just letting legs do their thing.  

_#’s

Official

Distance: 26.3 miles

Chip time: 4:23:32

Garmin Fenix 5+

Distance: 25.49 miles

4:23:27

Stryd: 175 watts

Garmin forerunner 630

25.42 miles

4:20:13 (with auto pause)

[shoe-less 31yo Chris Bonner ran half in 2:04:03]

_after

Amy was Hachie 50-mile’s record holder.  She gave me practical advice:

1. Start slow: "like 9:30 or slower pace"

2. Stay slow first half

3. Shoot for 9:15 pace

4. Negative split

5. Eat water melon

Shaheen advised me to ignore my age, pointing to her husband.

"He won the half, and he's 59."

Mike had man-crush on Shaheen’s husband Steve Henderson, who graciously posed with Mike for the fan photo.

Houston Marathon 2022/01/16 detail—qualified for Taipei and Boston

_motivation

I was never tempted to run Houston pre-pandemic.  Dallas Marathon checks 80% of boxes with 20% of overhead.  

Pandemic hit.  I became race deprived.  I wanted to pace for ChihYang for his next Taipei Marathon.  Of the 4 qualifying marathons in the US, Houston was the most practical.

[Taipei-bound]

_goal

A+: 3:23:48. PB from 2013.  

A: 3:25.  BQ 2023

B: 3:35.  BQ 2024 (it pays to be old)

C: 3:40.  Qualify for Taipei Marathon 2022, 2023

_Preparation

I used Stryd’s high-volume marathon program—it worked for me for Hachie 50k 7 months ago.

I resisted replacing easy runs with races for this cycle.

I put more effort into recover.  I bought massage after hard efforts.

Highlights:

I came to Houston less fatigue than at Haichie 7 months ago.  

The final tempo was the half at Dallas Marathon.  It went well.

I hit weight goal of 137.0 lb on the nose.

I qualified for corral A using the result from pacing Irving Marathon.

Lowlights:

I crashed on skates 3 weeks before race. 

[left knee]

I rolled left ankle 4 days before race and damaged race shoes.  My backups were half size bigger.

_drive to Houston

I left house 10 minutes late unable to get either radar detector to turn on.  Bad omen on electronics.  Wireless charging mount also acted up while Waze and Audible apps interfered with each other.  I missed the simpler days listening to audiobooks on cassettes.

I listened to the Nike Oregon Project book "Win at All Costs" by Matt Hart.  It reminded me Tyler Hamilton’s “The Secrete Race” before 2012 Dallas Marathon.  It’s human nature to punish the ones who play by the rule—and for the fans to feel innocent despite creating the demand.  I was no longer surprised how Micky Mouse the doping practices were.

_Omicron

I promised mom social distancing.  This become the only race I actively avoided friends.  The only one I talked to was Kisha at half-full split.  I shouted encouraging words; she didn’t hear me.

[roomy packet pickup]

Instead of pizza dinner, I had instant noodle and fruits w/ Netflix.  I missed events as group activities.  I missed Texas Flyers.

_old man fashion

I finished last pair of jeans prior to the race.  

Anticipating zero social interaction, I decided on sweatpants to postpone jean shopping.  Soon I’ll pull pants to armpits and tell kids to get off my lawn.

_pacing

I planned on setting Forerunner to 7:50 pace; Fenix to monitor Stryd power at 219w.  I’d end up between 3:25~3:30 finish time.

11 hours before the gun, I chose to skip Forerunner.  I recalled mistakes at Dallas Marathon with multiple Garmins that led to losing the foot pod’s data.

[snap this shot waiting for GPS’s to learn satellite signals;

I would stand between 7:30 and 8:00 signs race morning]

_location, location, location

I lost minimal time standing in cold.  National anthem, speeches, gun happened like clockwork.  Houston Marathon was a well-oiled machine.

[Magnolia hotel front door was 24 seconds to corral A entrance]

_unfamiliar ground

Stryd’s 219w kept me at an uncomfortable but manageable pace.  I stayed with 3:20 pacers.  Too fast.  I felt strong and hung on.  I didn’t have enough experience in AlphaFlys to know how legs were supposed to feel; I felt the carbon plate bouncing.  

“Heck, maybe I’m fitter than I thought.” 

Stryd’s projected finish time was closer to 3.5 hrs.  I wished I had the extra Garmin to confirm pace, but the outdated FR630 might be insufficient to overcome downtown buildings.  

I let 3:20 pacers go after turning into headwind at mile 9.  I felt more fatigue than expected.  Wished I was more familiar with these shoes.

The buildings slowed the cold wind.  I tailgated taller runners when practical—easy to do on this flat course.  We ended up with net tailwind.

_trouble

For past successful marathons, I felt strong first 18 miles. This time legs started to fade climbing to the highest point at mile 12.  I had difficulty reconciling the wattage, pace, and perceived fatigue level.

“But my training went so well….”

Confidence and fatigue were irrelevant halfway into the race.  I focused on staying below threshold.  I was still ahead of Taipei qualifying pace.  Stryd showed pace in the low 8’s.  I didn’t dwell on where things went wrong.

_cloth

I dressed correctly for this race.  In order of coming off:

> disposable leather jacket

> disposable polo shirt

> disposable mask

> arm warmers

> gloves

> Oakley Flak Beta

> AlphaFlys

> tri shirt w/ back pockets for gels & arm warmers & gloves

> compression socks

> running shorts

Because of mask & arm warmers, I could be spotted on TV coverage

_chasing clock

Wall came early but was manageable at mile 14, climbing out of an underpass.  Garmin told me I never went sub-8 again.  Very discouraging.  I thought I was too self-absorbed to notice 3:25 pacers passing me.  I anticipate a 2nd and taller wall that never came.

I was passed by 3-hour pacers before mile 16.  Corral B started 15 minutes later.  Yet 3:25 group started in corral A.  Corral assignment was the only negative aspect of the race organization I perceived.

Final 8 miles were mostly tail wind and downhill.  Fenix showed me disappointing but not disastrous numbers.  Official clocks conflicted w/ my Stryd pace.  I focused on Taipei qualifying time.  I couldn’t believe how beautiful the weather and how dead my legs were.  I was in awe and in pain.

What prevented me from slowing was the thought of telling ChihYang my failure.

Houston did a great job separating half and full runners during the final section to avoid zigzagging among walkers.  I flirted with cramping last 5k.  No longer able to bounce off the fancy shoes, I focused on cracks, manholes, and rails.  Mile 26 clock said 3:23:xx.  I was confused.  Maybe my poor sight misread 3:28, which reminded me to ride Ninja 1 last time to pick up the prescription glasses before selling the organ donation machine.

I sprinted.  I wished I was lighter.

#’s

official:

   chip time: 3:23:24 (24 faster than 2013 PB at Irving Marathon) (palindrome if 1 second faster)

   pace: 7:46 min/mile = 4:49 min/km 

   distance: 26.22 miles

   racer count: 11237 half, 6250 full

[faster than 8:00 pace at each official chip sensor]

Stryd/Fenix 5+:

   Time: 3:23:26

   pace: 7:59 min/mile

   distance: 25.49 miles

   event average power: 220w

   critical power: 251w (4.01 w/kg) @ 138lb

US women half and marathon records were broken:

Sarah Hall (38 yo): 1:07:15—exactly 15 years after husband set Man’s record 59:43 also at Houston.

Keira D’Amato (37): 2:19:12

_aftermath

I had difficulty with street curbs walking back to hotel—reminded me why I was more afraid of marathon than longer events.  I asked the same dead legs to hold race pace for the final 10k.

_power meter

https://support.stryd.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044274654-Attach-the-Stryd-pod-to-the-Nike-Next-?source=search

Stryd support informed me I “likely” didn’t mount their pod properly: sending me to a website with inexact procedure for a different model of Nike.  I would not renew my monthly subscription.

[requiring a zip tie wasn't mentioned in Stryd marketing ad]

_carbon plated shoes

Without a control group, I couldn’t quantify the difference.  At race speed, the shoes shift failure points to different body parts.  Alphafly shortened my recovery cycle and seem to improve my half and full time by minutes.  

I invested a lot in my running form since _Born to Run_.  Able to utilize the skill was gratifying.

[Nike owns the marathoners with 6:15 pace marathoners; photo from Jennifer's FB page]

Dallas Half Marathon 2021/12/12--dress rehearsal

This was a dress rehearsal for Houston Marathon 2022/01/16.

Goal: hold sub 8 pace in Nike AlphaFly.  Negative split.  Acquire power data to estimate wattage for Houston.

2 Garmins: Fenix left for Stryd wattage; FR630 right for electronic pacer.

Logistics:

Saturday

3pm: check into official hotel Aloft

4pm: packet pick up

7:30pm: Systemware Xmas party at Ritz

8:30pm: dinner starts: ate fancy foods not good for a race; no alcohol

11:20pm: bed time

Sunday

5:15am: breakfast

8am: gun time

Everything went great except my shaking hands accidentally deleted Stryd data.

#’s

Chip time: 1:37:03

10k pace: 7:38 mile/min

21k pace: 7:25

Cowtown 50k 2022/02/27--PB

_goal

A: 4:29:20 Oprah Winfrey marathon time (1994)

B: 4:34:40 PB Hachie 50 (2022)

C: 5:00:00 this would be a long training run for Hachie 50M

_highlights

Legs somewhat rested.  

Only 2 lb heavier than ideal weight.

_lowlights

Limited training after Houston Marathon 6 weeks ago.

I rolled an ankle a week before race.  Adizero Pro 2 is less stable than perceived.

Arrived start line 10 minutes later than planned.

Failed to utilize pacers against head wind.

Garmin GPS fail.

_pacers

I was stoked to learn Rob would pace 3:50 marathon group near 8:45 pace.  Almost perfect for my A goal.  

_plan

Start 3 minutes behind Rob.

Keep Rob in sight by mile-9 bridge. 

Tuck behind him by mile-21 headwind.  

Hold 8:37 pace through mile-27 U-turn.

Dig deeper for 4 miles.

8:37 pace would give me 4:32:53 finish.  The 3-minute-late start puts me at Oprah Line.

No after party.  I minimized social due to COVID, which was killing a big part of these events I loved.

_later than late start

Parking changed this year.  This led to significant delay.  Then I was misdirected 3 times to the bag check-in.  I wasted more time waiting for the checked bag for the forgotten sunglasses.  

By the time I got to the start, Rob’s pacing group was long gone.  

“No problem, I’ll just reel him in by mile 21.”

_pacing

GPS told me I was going slower than I felt.  It reported each mile longer than the mile marker.  The trend reversed at mile 5, I was losing ¼ mile at each mile mark.  Yeah, I lost satellite signal and had to pace by feel.  4.5-hour finish was unlikely without precise pacing—glad it wasn’t an “A” race.  

I caught Kan Meng’s 3:55 group at mile 9 climb.  To bridge Rob by mile 21, I’d need to go faster than 8:30.  It was difficult to crunch numbers without electronic devices.  I accepted having to be my own windshield.  

"A” goal wasn’t completely out of question at this point.  I just needed to

1. Reach Rob around mile 25

2. Maintain sub-9 pace for the final 5 miles.

As much as I desired negative split, I did have my historical data.  

“Just fxcking enjoy this beautiful present, you dumb ass!”

_Pacer Rob

Rob burst out of a porta potty within spitting distance; I accelerated to match but gave up after 5 seconds; he was too fast.  I desperately wanted to be behind him before the turn.

I could see Rob holding the pacing sign entering the river trail, 60 seconds ahead.  I was closing < 15 seconds / mile.  There’d be no wind blocker for this run.  So close yet so far.

_losing time

I looked for but failed to spot the sign for full-ultra marathon split.  I shouted the question to the sole volunteer; she ignored me.  I yelled louder and closer.  She finally took her eyes off her phone and point at the fork I missed.  20 seconds lost.  I was bitter.

Gradually muscles refused to work together.  Alphaflies made it clear my timing was off but compensated for my poor form.  

“Thank you, expensive Nike.”

I was very aware of the $1/mile shoe cost.

North wind was getting old at this point.  But air was dry, sun beautiful, course familiar.  I soaked up the discomfort and reminded myself, “you asked to do this.”

Cramping started.  I reminded myself how blessed I was to have this struggle.  I urged the legs to do what they could.  Things got easier after I reached the north tip of the river trail.

I had learned to project finish time without GPS by now.  I would beat Oprah’s time by holding Oprah pace for the final 5k.  I encouraged every ultra runner entering the out-n-back extension. 

Life was good.

#’s

official:

   chip time: 4:27:03

   pace: 8:37 min/mile = 5:20 min/km

   distance: 31.069 mi = 50k

splits

   10K 8:16/M

   15K 8:19/M

   13.1M 8:22/M

   18M 8:28/M

   22M 8:31/M

   26.2M 8:32/M

   50K 8:37/M

racer count:

half: 4,924

full:  939

ultra: 174

[Garmin Forerunner 630 said I climbed 2000 ft at mile 9.  Haha.]

[Javier finally won this event; photos from FB]

[Madie Stier was only seconds behind Javier]

Houston Marathon 2022/01/16 summary

Pacing mistake due to electronic--Stryd's power reading was low on AlphaFly.

Good weather and easy final miles made up for pacing mistake.

PB by 24 seconds.

_goal

A+: 3:23:48. PB 2013.  

A: 3:25.  BQ 2023

B: 3:35.  BQ 2024 (it pays to be old)

C: 3:40.  Qualify for Taipei Marathon 2022, 2023

_highlights

I came to Houston less fatigue than at Haichie 7 months ago.  

The final tempo was the half at Dallas Marathon.  It went well.

I hit weight goal of 137 lb on the nose.

I was able to get a corral A spot after negotiation.

_lowlights

I crashed on skates 3 weeks before race. 

I rolled an ankle 4 days before race and damage race shoes.  My backups were half size bigger.

#’s

official:

   chip time: 3:23:24 (24 faster than 2014 PB at Irving Marathon)

   pace: 7:46 min/mile = 4:49 min/km 

   distance: 26.22 miles

   racer count: 11237 half, 6250 full

Stryd/Fenix 5+:

   Time: 3:23:26

   pace: 7:59 min/mile

   distance: 25.49 miles

   event average power: 220w

   critical power: 251w (4.01 w/kg) @ 138lb

US women half and marathon records were broken:

Sarah Hall (38 yo): 1:07:15—15 years after husband set men’s record 59:43 also at Houston.

Keira D’Amato (37): 2:19:12

[Nike owns the marathoners at 6:15 pace with Jennifer Pope; photos from FB]