Race Report for Turkey and Taturs 50K
What a beautiful day it was to run on Turkey Mountain. Let me start by saying that if you have never been out there you are really missing out. These are the trails that got me hooked on running about a year and a half ago so it only seemed logical to do what I did yesterday.
About a week before the race I signed up to run the 25k (15.53 miles). I have been wanting to run another 50k for months but since I was/am still trying to nurse my Achilles tendinitis back to health I hadn't been able to put together many long training runs. Over the past month and a half I had run a tough half marathon on Turkey mountain, another tough 25k the following week at Flat Rock, and had 16 mile and 13 mile training runs on the roads. It just didn't seem like the numbers quite added up yet to make the jump to a 31 mile race. I am a numbers guy, and even though I had been wavering back and forth on signing up for the 50k I just settled on the 25k.
Buried not so deep in my subconscious was the knowledge that I was strong enough to run the 50k and with that confidence came, the very conscious notion that I would change my registration on the morning of the race and just run the 50k against the advice of a few people I know. I spent a good part of the day Saturday getting ready. I had all my clothes laid out early. I wrote up a timeline of the race and determined exactly what and when I would eat. I mentally prepared myself and then spent a few hours trying to contain my excitement. I was finally going to tackle another 50k after having to miss so many that I had planned on runnig.
Sunday morning I woke up at 4:45, got ready and headed to the event. It was pretty cold starting out but I knew after running for a few minutes my excitement and elevated heart rate would warm me up. I was right.
My 'official' plan was to take it easy the whole way and just finish without injuring myself. My real goal was to finish in under 7 hours. Since I wasn't planning on setting any records and wanted to take off slow I started towards the back of the pack. After everyone got spread out a little I settled in behind a girl who was running a pretty good pace for me and followed her to the first aid station about 2.6 miles from the start. I filled up my water bottle and headed out to the dreaded Power Line trail.
We got to head north the first trip on Power Line which is the easier, more downhill direction. I quickly caught up with a group of 3 guys, 2 of which (Richard and Kevin) I would run with for the next 18 and 21 miles respectively. Once off power line I settled in behind Richard, an Oklahoma City Resident, because I knew he was a very experienced ultra runner. At 59 years old he is not as fast as he used to be but he runs smart and I really enjoyed getting to know him and hearing all his stories. Kevin is from Denver and ran with us but didn't chat much until I finally got him talking around mile 19. The girl I followed to the first aid station also followed us until she started playing wipeout. Within about two miles she had tripped three times, each time going down hard and flat. She wasn't used to running trails and it showed. We didn't see her after that until the finish line. She did great, finishing 2nd woman with plenty of blood running down her knee to prove that Turkey Mountain is nothing like road running. I bet she is hooked now though.
The rest of the first lap was pretty uneventful. Most of the time I would look at my Garmin to see that our pace was faster than what I had planned on running but since my heart rate was low and I still felt fresh, I just stayed with my group. Having people to talk to makes it much easier than going it alone.
At mile 15.5 we made it back to the start/finish line, restocked our food and quickly headed back out to run the same lap in the opposite direction. After about a mile I looked back and found out we were now a group of five. Wes had joined us again (he was with us off and on for for the first 18 miles), and we now had a new guy whose name I don't know so I'll call him "Yellow Shirt Guy" or YSG for short. YSG ran with us for about a mile and then decided to pass. This was the first and only person to pass me all day and it made me mad. I kept telling myself, "this isn't a race, this isn't a race, this is just a long fun run, this isn't a race". Anyone who knows what it's like to run a long race knows that no matter how much you don't plan on racing, when it comes down to it the competitive juices start flowing and it's hard not to want to beat the person you can see 100 yards ahead of you. "OF COURSE THIS IS A RACE!" I had plans for Mr. YSG.
When we made it to the first aid station of the 2nd lap I knew the next mile and a half was a section that was mostly flat or downhill. I was still feeling good and knew this was a place I could kick up the pace. However, I've never had a race or long run over 15 miles in which I didn't at some point start hurting, aching or at least feeling tired. There is a quote I have saved to my computer that says, "If you start to feel good during an ultra marathon, don't worry, you'll get over it." Every time this would enter my mind it kept me in check. But since I was still feeling fresh and I had confidence that my fueling plan was working I decided to take a chance and speed it up. Fortunately it didn't cause me to Bonk, but unfortunately I ran off from Richard. At mile 20 Kevin mentioned the distance and I was shocked. I honestly felt like I was just warming up. Kevin stayed with me for another 3.5 miles but was having a sharp pain in his foot and had to back it off a little.
So now I was on my own. I was a little nervous because when I run by myself I tend to run at a pace that is faster than I ever plan on running. I did run faster than planned but only because I still wasn't getting tired and I knew if things changed I could just slow down and still finish in under 7 hours. At the last aid station before the return trip on Power Line I asked if there was anyone anywhere ahead of me. The girl said, "a guy is about 10 minutes ahead". It was about 2 miles to Power Line and I was determined to catch him before that. I did. He was at a water stop when I sprinted up. He could tell I was running fast and feeling good and waited until I filled up my bottle to let me go ahead. One more down.
As sadistic as it sounds I was looking forward to the southbound trip on Power Line. It was 3/4 to 1 mile of super steep hills with a little bit of less steepness in between. When I got on the trail I was elated to be able to see three runners ahead of me. One was about 150 yards away, one was about 400-500 yards away and the other was almost to the top of the farthest hill I could see. OF COURSE THIS IS A RACE! Game on! I quickly caught the fist guy and out-walked him on the first hill. The second guy was leaving the aid station at the top of Power Line as came into it. The aid station workers looked at me and said that I looked way better than anyone else who had been through. They told me that I could easily catch the guy who just left and the next guy was about 2 minutes ahead of him.
This last section of the race was about 2.6 miles. I knew it was too late to bonk and it was now time to give it all I had. It took about a minute to pass guy number 2 who heard me coming and just stepped aside. Now I was fishing. The trees were so thick so I couldn't see very far ahead but I knew I had to be reeling the last guy in. With about 1.5 miles to go I saw someone. Behold, it was Yellow Shirt Guy! That's all it took. I passed him at a pace that I have probably never managed at Turkey Mountain and didn't slow down until I crossed the finish line.
This was the third race in a row that I ran negative splits. The first 25k lap was 3:15 and the second was 3:02. Finish time was 6:17, 11th overall and 43 minutes under my goal! I didn't come close to winning The race, but I definitely won My race. I'm not sure how much farther I could have run but I do know that I still had some miles in me. This totally perplexed me and the only thing I can think is that changing my diet up over the last year had a lot to do with how strong I felt. More on the diet thing later. Maybe next year I will shoot for a sub 6:00. Barring any injuries I should be ready for my first 50 miler in March.
Paul
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