TARC Spring Thaw Report

This is not a race report.

I did not go into this event intending to race. In fact, I did not go into this event even planning to finish the event - a 6 hour run. I signed up a bit on a whim, slightly goaded on by Amy ;)

Then, the winter kind of got away from me in terms of distance. Before this weekend, my longs have been 16, 15.3, 10, 12, 14.7, no long run (snowshoe race), 12 (working back to the beginning of January). So, while it might have sounded good on paper to go the distance, it really would have been foolish on my part to think about trying to run all 6 hours today, especially when I want to be able to do well in 6 weeks at the TARC Spring Classic. So, I went into it thinking I would run 6 laps or 4 hours, and then possibly run more if I felt up for it. That would get me 20+ miles and be a solid long run.

And that's just what I did... except I stopped right after 6 laps with no desire to keep going :-)

Yesterday was a bit of a tease in terms of the weather. Winter came roaring back this morning, bringing with it a lovely cold breeze. Brrr! We got to the school around 8:15, I got my number, stood in line at the port-a-potty and got right back in the car :-) The start was a 1/2 mile back up the road, and we all walked up as a group and then stood around shivering until the race director said a few words and then said, "We thought we might start a few minutes early... Anyone have any objections?" There was a collective "no" from the group, and then we were off. I ran the road with Amy, catching up with her for a few minutes, before we hit the entrance to the singletrack. And then, I was caught up in the crowd and it was each man for himself. Things were pretty crowded for the first loop, with someone always in front and behind. I was glad to get back to the school after the first loop, as I had to use the port-a-potty, and because once I headed back out for loop #2, I had the space on the trail to myself... Ahhh....

With the extra road portion on the first loop, loop #1 was 4 miles. All other loops were 3.5 miles. The loop was a nice one, well, it had a nice rhythm anyway, but conditions were challenging to say the least. I'd say the loop was about 1 mile of nicely packed solid trail, with the rest being a wide range of conditions, all of which made for some rough running. The loop had us (or me at least!) sliding and slipping and maneuvered our way across snow, ice, mud, an icy sidehill, a cold slushy pool that spanned the trail, a few stretches of nasty sugary snow, corn snow, one or two steps of bare ground, and a big section that was somehow both sugary and postholed at the same time. I tried to take advantage of the stretches that were the most runnable, and conditions were different each loop based on traffic and how strong things were getting hit by the sun, but it was not a loop that I ran entirely with confidence. I didn't fall during my run, but saw many who did. Instead, I just slipped around a lot :-0

Anyway, I felt pretty good out there, despite the conditions, and although I wasn't going very quickly, I felt like I was moving well. I was fairly consistent with my fueling and it seemed to work pretty well, although I was hungry by the end of loop #4. I stopped and ate two donut holes and had some coke (ummm, that's nutrition!?!) before heading on, which helped. It was fun to see people on the first portion of each loop, which was an out-and-back. Came across Michael Wade each loop and George, saw Amy once, ran a bit with Blaine and saw Ann a few times too. Although the two-way traffic was a bit tricky, everyone was nice and there was a lot of cameraderie as we passed each other.

I definitely slowed down on the final lap, more due to the fact that my hip flexors were beginning to get pissed at me due to the conditions than anything else. But you know, that's OK. I planned to get in 6 laps, and that's just what I did. Got in a nice 21.8 miles in 4:14 total time (Strava said 4:07 moving time), and am totally cool with that. Today's event was a fun way to get in a long run, and it was very well organized with great volunteers. Thank you, TARC! I really did think the run was on a good loop, but I think I'd much prefer it when it was nice packed dirt ;)

Many thanks to Irene and Dana for watching Sam while we ran too! (Ryan got out for his back-to-back run of 10 miles on some of the other trails in the area during the first part of the run, and then sat at the turn-around spot, coaxing me to eat whenever I came through and in general being a good sport about sitting in a cold and windy parking lot for a few hours. What a guy! ;) )