One of the most important constellation of stars to align must be on the physical side. If you can't run or walk, it's a moot point to aim at finishing... There was quite a few years during which I felt invincible and didn't have to think too much of getting in shape. I was even joking that extreme and tough racing were mere training opportunities for the next races. I averaged 62 miles a week for 8 consecutive years, until I fissured a hamstring tendon while over extending my stride during a fast 10K, sliding on a wet pedestrian crossing stripe, at the end of 2018. Then this cut of one of my left meniscus last year. Since then, there is not a single run during which I'm not thinking that it could be the last one. I was taking running for granted, I'm now overthinking it on the other edge. One year after resuming training after a 7-month hiatus, I feel better and more confident, so much that I resumed track workouts with Bob, as you might have read in two recent posts. So, yes, I felt good physically upon getting into this race,
The second set of stars contains a bunch of more elusive and less tangible aspects, around mental readiness. Not my forte. We had dinner with friends this weekend and I mentioned that, if I was given the chance to rewind and start my running career over, I would pay way more attention to mental preparedness and sport psychology. For several decades, I had such an intense work and passion for my job, I felt good about balancing with intensity in ultra running. Sadly, the job which is paying the bills isn't as good as it used to be... With that, while believing again in my physical ability to compete in ultras is a boost, the mental tank was rather low otherwise upon getting into Tunnel Hill. Did you say tunnel, with some light at the end of it? If you know you know...
In the third category, I'll include the pre-race logistics. Especially for out of state races, this can represent quite an endeavor, even after racing more than 200 ultras. Again, there was a time when work and running were intersecting, when I was traveling a lot for work and able to combine with a race, from time to time. Not anymore these days, both due to the pandemic and how it changed the workplace, but also different job roles. Flight booking, hotel reservations, car rental, and packing luggages, with the typical carry-on TSA constraints in terms of liquids and gels in particular. Then the meals while being away (hint: I do travel with my pre-race dinner). The race instructions. The ability to pickup bib on race day or not. Now, to illustrate that a star can get quickly off course: while driving from St Louis airport to Canondale on the highway, at dusk, I had the reflex to avoid a huge traffic drum which was rolling across my lane... Could have costed me my whole weekend, would have I hit it at 60 mph... (just took that picture on Sunday, to illustrate the size.)
Last but not least, we can mention the race-day logistics and whatever happens during the race, from the weather (temperature, wind, rain or sun), the aid station (location, frequency, who mans, what they offer), the course conditions. Parking. Porta-potties availability. Being crewed or screwed. The hydration, fueling. Not tripping/falling. The management of layers. The choice of shoes. Chaffing. Blisters. And the pacing discipline!
After setting up this general framework, let's dive into the race of last weekend (November 8). It was held in Vienna, in the very South of Illinois, so much South that I was told the name wasn't pronounced like the Austrian capital (ˌvēˈenə) but the Vi as in vial (ˈvī(ə)l). Surprisingly, there is a small airport nearby to which United is flying but of course not direct from the Bay Area. Looking at the map the closest larger airports were either St Louis, MO to the North West, or Nashville, TN, to the South East. I picked St Louis, direct from SFO, landed around 4:30, rented a car and got to my hotel in Carbondale by 7 pm. That was leaving another 40 minutes to get to the start in the morning. I got to bed around 8:30 and woke up around 3:10 am after an okay night (on top of the pre-race excitement, it's really hard getting a perfect night of sleep right before a race, especially when traveling across time zones).
I got to the start at 5:05 and I believe I was the first car parked in the morning. Great spot close to the start and the line of porta-potties. A few volunteers were setting up the bib pickup but our USATF Official, Lin, only showed up at 5:30. That gave me time to explore the start/finish area and seeing how the trail was crossing through, with two out and backs extending to the South and North ends.
I was so early I was able to take a 20-minute nap while a solid bathroom line was forming. The sky cleared as soon as the sun rose, it was going to be a perfect sunny day for a Californian! As usual when I travel East, I was surprised to see a few singlets while I felt a bit chilly at the start. I decided to wear my usual Brooks arm sleeves but not my beanie, just my UltimateDirection cap. Still, I opted for a pair of gloves, which I'm glad I had for the first 10 miles.
Being too late and far away, I had missed the pre-race dinner on Friday evening, including the presentation from ultra endurance star, Harvey Lewis. And I got to the start line just in time for the national anthem so I also missed his words of encouragement before the start.
Let's talk about my main goals for that race. First, win my age group which meant, short of any other competitors in my age group again, "just" finish. Second, but kind of my A goal given the lack of interest of the first one, improve our M60-64 American Age Group Record which was set by Rick Lee in 2021 at 6:27:30 , a 7:45 min/mile average. Compared to the 5:51 I've seen Rich Hana run in his 55-59s, then 5:48 by Billy Mertens last year, both at Jed Smith in Sacramento, I felt there was quite some margin and the goal should be more aggressive than improving our age group mark by a few seconds or even minutes. I had worked hard these past weeks at logging dozens of 7 min miles, I felt that I could aim at something around 7:20-7:30 min/mile. Knowing that I still feel like rebuilding and several percentage points of my pre-injury fitness level. So... all stars will have to align in a perfect straight line.
Given the few young stars lining up on the Championship but also other distances (there were a marathon, 50K, non-championship 50-mile, 100K, 100-mile), I didn't try to get too close to the front. I must say that I liked all distances started at the same time and there seemed to be some alignment between bib series and the various distances. That helped figuring out who was running what, in addition to the back bibs we had to wear for the championship, with our age group.
I got in a group of half a dozen runners which clocked 7:25 for the first mile. I felt it was a bit too slow already so I pushed the pace a little so much that I clocked 7:05 on the second mile, oops! I told you, I worked a lot around the 7 min/mile threshold, it felt good but I knew that wasn't going to be sustainable for 50 miles so I eased up a bit, letting a group of 3 runners ahead for a bigger gap. 7:15, 7:13, 7:16, 7:17, I was a bit "struggling" to tune to the 7:20 mark but getting closer, just a few seconds off of it. With my gloves, I lost a few seconds grabbing a gel so mile 7 ended up being 7:26, then 7:15, 7:21, 7:18, 7:15 and finally 7:20 for mile 12. While I had a great start, I was still wearing my pain mask early on, respectively on Belknap Bridge then at Heron Pond (photo credit: Colson Photography).
By mile 11 already, I had started crossing the front runners who were already 4 miles ahead, wow! I had studied the course but missed that the out and back were asymmetrical: the first out and back was exactly a marathon (26.2 miles), while the second was under 24 miles. That made the first turnaround slightly farther than I had expected, at 13.1.
On our way back to the start, it was exciting to cross the rest of the pack and I'm grateful for all the encouragements they provided. Then there were none for the last 6 miles of our first marathon. Around mile 23, I started to slow down a bit, and letting the average pace slide just above 7:20 at last. I crossed the marathon mark in a time of 3:13:53, which would still be a great Boston Qualifying time, well above my age group standard of 3:50! That corresponded to a pace of 7:24 and I also lost a few seconds getting to the stuff I had left near the start in the morning: I removed my arm sleeves, took a pouch of Vespa Power, 3 extra gels in my belt and went back on the course. (Photo credit: Colson Photography.)
As I was started running again, I got passed by a female runner in black. She was running at about 7:25-7:30 min/mile and that's what seemed reasonable for me to do at that point. Except that we were only at mile 26 and the effort didn't feel easy anymore. I stayed behind her for about a mile, then led for maybe another mile but she was leading when we got to the Shelby aid station, where I could see the efficiency of her dropping and picking up what her crew guy gave her on the fly: Formula 1 style, super impressive! I had asked her which distance she was on and I thought I had heard 100K. And asked her if she was on record pace, she replied it was a bit too early to say for sure. Well, that was Catriona Jennings, from Ireland, and she would end up setting a new World (!) record for the 100-mile distance, in 12:37:04, an average pace of 7:34!! We got to Shelby with an average of 7:26, and she almost maintained that for 70 more miles! Much respect... Courtesy of Colson Photography, here she is, cruising through 50-miles, all smile:
Not having enough energy to just stay with her was my first mental blow. I was still able to clock 7:32 for both miles 29 and 30 but 31 fell to 7:47, 32 to 7:49 then 33 just above 8 minutes, dang! Then... on my 34th mile, I saw the lead runner coming back, and that killed me, again, mentally. I had started thinking about issues at work, and lost a huge part of the remaining low stamina, to the point that I even started walking. While my average pace was still good for a record, at 7:30, I knew I was cooked and couldn't handle the pace pressure anymore. 9:16, 10:08, 11:14 (including a stop at the Tunnel Hill aid station to get some Coke and a piece of banana), at that point the record was off and I was almost relieved when I saw my average pace get to 7:45. As disappointing as that was, that freed up one huge weight from my head and I started focusing on just finishing.
Here is me pretending I was still running well, after crossing the famous tunnel for the first time (Photo credit: Colson Photography, Phil Weinzapfel.)
In some sense, it also helped seeing that I wasn't alone to struggle. After running a few 2:3x marathons these past weeks --at 50!-- Mike Wardian had a huge goal of breaking the 55-year old M50 record set by the legendary Ted Corbitt at 5:37, in 1970! But Mike faltered in the second half too and struggled getting back to the finish.
After a few terrible miles between 34 and 36, now with the only remaining goal of finishing, I was able to walk less and clock a series of 4 9-minute miles. With less pressure, I spent a few minutes at Tunnel Hill, this time taking the time to thank the volunteers, despite my cranky mood.
Finding a second wind, now running toward the finish as opposed to away from it (a huge difference mentally), my next 8 miles were all under 9 minutes and I even clocked 7:49 for the last one! Special thanks to Karen Dunn who passed me on mile 44 while I was walking and taking a GU Energy gel and reignited the remaining little fire in me to pick up the pace. (Photo credit: Colson Photography.)
I crossed the finish line in 6:44:33, 17 minutes off that M60 record, quite a disappointment and embarrassment for me, but good enough for my 24th patch, or National title. And with the limited field of 53 registered, even good enough for 16th overall, 11th men (2 minutes behind 10th), 5th Masters. But again, such a small field. Also, I finished 1 hour and 42 minutes behind Brogan Austin from Colorado, who won the championships in 5:02:54 (ending up in a 74.87% UltraSignup score for me, yikes...)! Note that it's on that course that Charlie Lawrence set the Men World Record for 50 miles at a blazing 4:48:21 2 years ago!
Speaking of records, the women were on fire: Ann Flower won the Nationals and set a World record too in 5:18:57. And I already mentioned Catriona World 100-mile record, above. On the 100K Courtney Olsen, set a new American mark at 6:59:55, breaking Ann Trason's 7:00:48 at the IAU World of 1995! Less than a minute, 30 years later... much respect to both! (Courtney owned the 50-mile world record which Ann broke by more than 12 minutes that time.) Age group wise, on the Men side, new records for M45 and M90!
By the way, about Courtney: she also scored in the 50-mile championships, 2 minutes off her previous World Record, then continued on toward this new American Record on 100K. Before the race, albeit not thinking of that speed at all, I had a secret goal of finishing the 50-mile well enough to also go on for the 100K, given the unique opportunity to get sanctioned and certified timing. Well, only in my wildest dreams...
Nice chat with Mike (Wardian) who still had a busy night ahead, crewing for his sister on the 100-mile (Mike also has a brother who is also an ultra runner).
On the California and Pacific Association side: Wally Hesseltine, 82, won his age group. Brooke Bray of the Impala passed me just before the 2nd turnaround, about mile 40, but then dropped at her second passage through the Tunnel Hill aid station.
And so... to those who told me not to worry about missing our record, that I will have other opportunities: maybe, but such a huge miss given so many stars being aligned this time. Just taking the weather for instance, it was PERFECT for me on that day and look at the temperature 2 days later in Vienna. (Hint, this is 2 degrees Celsius, not Farenheit fortunately!)
RD, Steve Durbin, told me to come back, but can he guaranteed such perfect weather conditions again next year, in the middle of November...? It's quite a risky proposition when flying so far away for just a race... Posing between Steve and Lin:
Speaking of Steve: it was my first time at Tunnel Hill and the experience definitely confirmed the top notch quality and professionalism of this event. Definitely worth and well-deserved the IAU Gold Label. To illustrate the level of professionalism, look at the race headquarter vans:
Great goodies too: first, an impressive belt for a 50-mile, quite unusual for a below-100-mile distance. And two super original and useful shoe and waterproof bags from sponsor SILO.
Shoe wise, some people might think that I finally fell for the carbon plates. But, nope, simple road racing shoes from Brooks, the Hyperion 2. And, yes, never mind the lack of fashion style, I could feel some pebbles jumping on my calves from time to time so I'm glad I followed the RD advice to wear gaiters.
Now, while I much regret starting too fast like a youthful newbie, it was still a very positive experience and I'm proud of having tried and even aimed a breaking a record again. What an improvement from last year when I didn't think I would be able to still run! Also grateful to this opportunity to participate in such a notable event which set new world marks again: Tunnel Hill lives up to its reputation! Overall, yes, if it's not too cold, I'll try to come back next year.
Statistics wise, that was ultra race #206, 189th ultra finish, 40th 50-mile race. One step at a time, still learning...
On Sunday, I was able to ride the internal tram of the Gateway Arch in St Louis, before my flight. This monument is celebrating 60 years and I was lucky that a few private donors had arranged for the National Park to remain open to visitors during the shutdown. Quite impressive to go to the top, see the views from up there, and also feel the whole arch oscillate by a few inches when it's windy, like it was last Sunday.
