2021 Spring SOMO Timed Trail 6-Hour

Prep Race For 3 Days at the Fair 12-Hour

This comes four weeks before 3 Days at the Fair 12-Hour. I feel rusty as far as racing, since it's been six months since my last one, and felt the need to run at least one race prior to what I hope to be a strong effort over 12-hours at 3 Days at the Fair. Overall I feel my training has been going well and this should be a good test of my fitness and an opportunity to test my race plan and pacing for 3DATF. In this regard it will be a supported training run and I have no intentions of pushing hard for any age group bests, rather I hope to preview what I want the first 6 hours of 3DATF to be like and still be running strong at the finish.

The day before the race is travel day, but travail day may be a more appropriate description. Driving up was going fine until I was almost to the South Mountain Reservation where the race would be held. I glanced at my wrist to check the time and discovered I had left my watch at home plugged into the USB port to charge. With my race plan, having a watch to check time and pace was critical. Much as I hated having to spend the money, I needed to find a running store to buy an inexpensive watch so I could monitor my splits and pace. Finally arriving at the race site, I couldn't orient myself to where the race was supposed to start so I was unable to go over the course as planned. So much for that phase of race preparation.

Onward to my hotel. At least I had no problems finding it. I asked the desk clerk about any nearby running stores to purchase a watch and was directed to what sounded more like a local version of a Woolworth's. Google maps to the rescue. The closest running store was back at the south end of SOMO in Milburn. After finding that and purchasing a not so cheap Garmin F45S, I got turned around and thoroughly lost for the next half hour after missing the first turn on the way back to the hotel. Familiarizing myself with the watch, I couldn't find any way to set an alert by time, so I would need to constantly monitor the time to follow my intended run-walk ration. Next I realized I needed a USB port to fully charge it. My only thought was that I would have to try the next morning using the USB port in my car. It wasn't until morning that I realized there might be one in the hotel room. It's surprising that I even thought of that considering how fitful I slept waking up every hour or so.

Now that the basics are taken care of, I'm ready for breakfast. Fortunately I had some Clif Bars I could eat, because the hotel was not serving breakfast, not even coffee, due to the pandemic. Just one more item not going as planned. At least I didn't get lost on my way to the race, and once I got there I saw the beginning of the course marked, I realized my mistake yesterday and why I couldn't orient myself. In addition, once I finished the first lap, I'm not sure I would have been able to follow the course without the chalk arrows. After getting my chip and t-shirt I chatted with a few of the other runners. There were only 11 of us in the 6-hour starting at 8:00 AM. The rest of the runners in the 3-hour, 1-hour, two laps, and one lap races would start at staggered times. That worked well for me in that as the race progressed I saw more runners and new faces, rather than spending most of the six hours with no one else in sight except when I came through the aid station at the end of each lap.

As the race begins I quickly fall to the back. It isn't until results are posted Sunday night that I realize I didn't finish last, though I do remember passing him while he was walking, but I thought he was several laps ahead of me then. After the long drive on Saturday (including all that time getting lost), and not being able to get in a short run to loosed up, it took me a while to work out the kinks and get into a normal running rhythm. Just about when I did the course turned off the well traveled and groomed trail into puddles, mud, and rocks, with the trail sometimes so faint I had to check for the red blazes on trees to know which way to go. While more experienced trail runners might have been able to run that .4 mile section, I probably did more walking than running, which through off my run-walk plans. I ran when I could and walked where I had to do, as much as possible trying to avoid or skirt ankle deep mud and water. This must have really thrown off GPS readings because my mile splits throughout the race fluctuated wildly from 13:23 to 16:14 while my lap splits told me I was averaging 13:45 for the first 8 laps. Meanwhile I was barely getting the better of the trail as I fell only twice after the six times I tripped. So far, except for a slightly fast first lap, I was right on my planned pace of approximately 26:00 per lap and still maintaining my planned run-walk ratio except for that technical section of the trail. My race began to fall apart after that. I had my usual short pause after finishing the lap to drink and grab something to eat before beginning the next lap. This time I never got back up to speed and my lap times slowed by about two minutes. Despite that I continued to keep my run-walk ratio and the last four laps were moderately consistent, just slower than my target. Of more concern was my more frequent tripping and barely catching myself before falling. Finishing my twelfth lap I decided I had enough feedback to satisfy my purpose in running this race, so another lap and risking a potential bad fall on rocks wasn't worth it. My final total was 22.56 miles in 5:21:10 for a 14:14 average pace.

With the added stress of the events on Saturday and the trail course factor adding to the complexity, my conclusions aren't as solid as I would prefer. At least I established that I can maintain my run-walk ratio even when tired. There's still some uncertainty about a reasonable goal pace for 3 Days at the Fair. At this point I'm leaning toward a more conservative goal and a solid race even if I leave something on the course.