2011 Georgia Marathon

Over the weekend I ran finished the Georgia Marathon in Atlanta. The morning started off with a big swig of sour Heed. I hadn't checked my gear too thoroughly the night before due to a number of circumstances, and I had just figured it was water in my hydration pouch. Didn't really dawn on me that I had been out of town for as long as I had been and that there was still Heed in there from the Mt Cheaha 50K. Nasty. So, I ended up without my hydration pouch for the race because I didn't have anywhere to clean it out or the time really. Luckily, hydration didn't turn out to be a problem for me since there were 19 stations on the course.

Anyway, in my head I had set a goal of 4:30, and actually caught up to and passed the pace group for it within the first mile and a half. Unfortunately, the rest of the day went downhill from there. I wasn't able to clear my insides out before the race, and right around the first aid station my body started telling me it was about time, but the lines at the portalets at the first water station were incredibly backed up, as is to be expected. I decided I could make it to the next water station, but a mere two blocks later I knew otherwise, so let's just say I had to get creative. After I had tended to that business, the 4:30 and 5:00 pace groups were nowhere to be seen. This had a big hit on my morale. I kept plugging along but got into a really bad mental space and was already hitting a wall by mile 9. It took me until mile 16 to overcome my mental issues, but by that point I had developed a twinge in the back side of my knee that seemed to be more than typical running pain. Found out today I just pulled the muscles a little bit and it really wasn't all that big of deal, but it was enough to keep me from running the last seven or eight miles. Looking at my watch I realized I still had a chance to break 6 hours. It wasn't much of a goal for me considering what my goal was at the start of the day, and how much time had passed since a PR went out the window), but it lifted my spirits a little bit and I started trying to force at least some semblance of a shuffle or even a moderate jog, but all I could do was maybe 10 or 20 feet before the pain would become too much and I'd have to drop back down to a walk, which also hurt, but not nearly as much. I was only a few blocks away from the finish as I watched six hours tick past on my watch, which was a miserable feeling, but also motivated me to push through the pain and shuffle into the finish.

I want to say I'm done with long races, but I think I might just try to stick to trails for anything over a half from now on. I'm still trying to decide if I want to do Black Hills and subsequently Pine to Palm. I might at least give the 50 miler a shot, but I don't know if I'll have the time available to take off from work for it now, with what I had to take off over the past few weeks and the wedding coming up. We'll see. I might just stick to shorter, faster runs for a while. My next few events are all in the 5K range, so we'll see how long the distance bug takes to bite me this time. I had given up on distance running after Cheaha and signed up for the Georgia Marathon only a week later, so I'll let you know.

2011 Mt Cheaha 50K

This weekend I ran my first ultra-marathon. And it was a doozy. For reasons unknown, I decided my first ultra, and first significant trail run for that matter, should be the Mt Cheaha 50K. On top of it all, my training for this race was less than spectacular, as I didn't run more than 7 miles during any given run. In any case, I was more prepared than I had been for my two previous street marathons, for whatever that was worth.

Anyway, one of my fellow Screeching Seagulls and I left town at about 9:30PM eastern time Friday night and pulled into Cheaha State Park after 12:00AM central time. We managed about four hours of sleep in the car and then hit the prison bus for the 50 minute ride to the race start.


"Sweet Home Alabama" kicked off the race as we all squeezed onto the single track. It was stop and go for a few miles as everyone was fighting for position and spreading out. The trail was nice early on, but about mid-race we started to hit a lot of rock gardens and it became a lot slower going, not that I was cruising in the first place, but it didn't help. The volunteers manning the aid stations were fantastic. Big props to aid station #5 for giving me what I needed not to drop out! The five to six mile segment between aid station #5 and #6 probably saw close to my best pace aside from very early on in the race. We pulled into the last aid station about 25 minutes ahead of the cut-off time and didn't linger long before attacking the blue hell.

The blue hell was perhaps the most aptly named segment of trail I've ever run. The trail brought memories of my three attempts at climbing Gannett Peak from the west: nearly vertical boulder hopping. It was truly brutal, but I powered through it and didn't let my legs cramp up until I had cleared it. Once at the top, both of my calves seized up hard. My buddy was about 100 yards behind me and said he could see the muscles contorting and quivering in a very unnatural way. It took me a couple of minutes, but I worked it out and trudged on. Alabama's state high point was not far in front of me and it was nice to finally hit it. Just past the high point, I could hear music being played at the finish line not too far away. I powered through and finished with about 35 minutes or so to spare. It was a great race: great course, well-organized, all in all a good time, no matter how tore up my legs were at the end.