2020 Piedmont-8

Back to the Trails For 8 Hours

This comes only three weeks after 3 Days at the Fair 50K, the soonest I've tried to race two ultras hard back to back.  That left me barely enough (hopefully) time to recover, then turn around and immediately taper for the race.  Recovery took longer than I anticipated, and even then I'm not confident I've fully replenished my reserves.  Shorter speed workouts were fine, but even medium length long runs of 7-8 miles left me tired.  Then during taper the week leading up to the race, I wasn't as relaxed and running as easily as normal, even with some complete rest days.

Friday was a travel day, it but turned into a longer, more tedious drive than planned with extremely heavy traffic around D.C.  By the time I got to my hotel it was over an hour later than expected and more tired than I had hoped for.  I didn't even consider an easy shake out jog, just grabbed dinner and tried to relax.  As is often the case sleep was fitful with frequently waking during the night only to see that only an hour or so had passed.  With a hurried breakfast of pastry and coffee, I was not feeling at all ready to run, much less to race on Saturday morning.  At least I didn't get lost on my way to the race like two years ago.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions the race started in waves of twelve runners alphabetically, so I was in the last wave starting at 8:12 AM. Within a half mile I think I was dead last and had already lost sight of the runner in front of me. After the fast start at 3DATF, I tried to slow things down by running 1:00, walking 1:00, instead of running 2:00 like I had three weeks earlier. Checking my Garmin after the first mile, it looked like I was still a little too fast, but when I checked after two miles, the times made no sense at all. I didn't get a good check on my actual pace until I completed my first lap in 34:11, around a 12:54 pace. That was much too fast, yet I felt like I was plodding along. I tried to adjust my effort, but the next two laps were about 13:08 pace, and the fourth lap was still at a 13:22 pace. During the last two laps there was a notable increase in temperature to the point that it was definitely hot and it was only noon. I noticeably slowed on the fifth lap to a 13:45 pace, though I lost a few of those seconds that lap laying on the ground after the first on my two falls in the race. But there was worse to come.

I took extra time after that fifth lap to eat and drink more, so the lap time wasn't really as slow as the time would indicate. I was still maintaining my 1:00 minute alternate running and walking. When I finished that lap I was feeling very overheated. I sat for a few minutes to cool down, that got ice from the aid station. About half went in my water bottle and the other half on my neck and head. I lost track of how much time I lost there, but as I started on the next lap I was walking more, not because my legs were tired (they were, but I could still run), but because I would overheat and start to feel light heated or dizzy. I could run better when the course turned into the woods and I had shade. So with the long break at the start and less running than prior, that lap took me about 54 minutes. The next, and my last, lap was pretty much a repeat: a long break to cool off before starting, slow walking when the course took us along the edge of open meadows, then more running once back in the woods. By the way my second trip and fall was in there somewhere very near where I had tripped and fallen on an earlier lap. This lap took over 56 minutes.

At this point 12 laps, what would be needed to run more than 50K, was out of the question. There was still plenty of time for two more laps to get slightly more than a marathon, but other considerations made that seem unwise at the time. While I was going to get more ice, I almost lost my balance and fell because I was unsteady on my feet. After sitting for a while in the shade and considering my options, I decided it wasn't worth possibly pushing myself to heat exhaustion. My car thermometer indicated the temperature was 85F/29C in bright sunlight. The forecast afternoon rain storm wouldn't arrive in time to cloud over and cool things off for me. I told the RD I was retiring with 21.2 miles. I don't have any official splits yet, but it was 5:30:11 by my watch when I finished that lap.

Coupled with my 3DATF results raises a lot of questions for me in race preparation and execution. That's back to back races with very promising starts, then falling apart at about the same point, though for what appear to be different causes. Time to consult with my coach and see where we need to make changes and what ones we should make. Meanwhile there are no races on my schedule until May, 2021. That may also change but current pandemic conditions are a strong deterrent to travel.