The 2nd part of the plan for the day, aside from getting in the mileage, was to go at a pace I could maintain. I knew it was unlikely I would run at the 11:00 to 12:00 minute (or more) pace I'm likely to be running at the TARC 50. I wasn't worried about that. This loop isn't really meant to be run that slow. I figured I would shoot for between 10:00 and 10:30 average pace for the loop, which would take into account the slower miles on the singletrack out in the Cathance and the faster miles on the dirt road/pavement portions. What I really wanted was to not run the first loop so fast that I couldn't maintain a similar pace for all four laps. I wasn't hoping for perfect symmetry between all four laps, just to keep things fairly even.
I left the house under the overcast skies. The thermometer read 50 degrees but it seemed colder than that to me. I wondered if I had made the right choice to just wear shorts and TMR t-shirt with no gloves or arm sleeves. The first hill warmed me right up though :-)
I fell into a good rhythm, but was distracted on loop #1 by all the trail crud in my shoes. It was driving me nuts! I was wearing the 268s I wore at the Spring Classic, and while they looked squeaky clean on the outside (Ryan hosed them off after the race), there was still a lot of shit on the inside. I actually stopped back at the house at the end of the first loop and took off my shoes to get the crap out. Turns out, I had a hole in my sock and so some of the crap was IN my socks. I took the time to run inside and change socks, and went to the bathroom too while I was there. I had left a bag outside with extra gels and a few real food snacks. I ate a few dried strawberries and a fig newton, and took back off for loop #2.
Ah! So much better without the junk in my shoes :-) I stuck to my plan of eating every 1/2 hour and drinking when the watch beeped each mile. I also took a SaltStick tab at mile 10, although it was cool enough that I didn't feel like I was sweating too much. Loop #2 went by fairly quickly and uneventfully and an hour+ later, I was back at the house. 2 laps down; 2 to go. I was happy to be feeling pretty good, and just stopped quickly to grab a few strawberries, a newton and two new gels before heading back out.
On loop #3, I started to have the feeling that I needed to go to the bathroom. Darn. I am used to pooping in the woods, but I had hoped I wouldn't need to today, and at mile 15 too. Sheesh! Then I remembered that I had seen a group of school kids out on the trails by the ecology center during the last lap and had also noticed that because of that the outhouse was unlocked and open. Perfect! Just past the ecology center I stopped in the outhouse. Much quicker and easier than going in the woods! A bit of sanitizer and I was back running.
Still feeling solid, but having to focus a bit more on moving forward without slowing down. I had managed mid-9:00s on the dirt road portion for loops 1 and 2, and wanted to do the same on this loop, so I put my head down and went. Then in no time, back to the house for the final aid station stop. Had a SaltStick tab, emptied my pocket and pack of trash and extras, keeping just two gels for the final loop. Ended up walking out to the parking lot, as the fig newton did not want to go down, but then I was off again. I hadn't refilled my water (the bladder was filled to the 50 oz line while holding it up under the tap, which is pretty much as heavy as I want it to be without it getting uncomfortable) but that was a mistake. Approximately two miles in, right after gagging down a gel at 3:30, I was out of water. Damn. When will I ever learn. Gotta refill the darn bladder! OK, no big deal. It was cool, it was windy, I was on my last loop. Just keeping moving forward. I did deviate from the course ever so slightly on this last loop, and instead of climbing the short hill to the dirt road, I took a left out onto the cart path at hole #7 where I knew there was a water cooler. Thankfully there were no golfers there, and I quickly gulped 4 little triangle cups of water before taking the walkers route back up to the road. Ah. That was better. Then, determined to keep the streak of 9:00s on the dirt, I picked up the pace. Interestingly, while it was work for sure, it wasn't as rough as I would have thought to pull off what ended up being a 9:10 for mile 24. Hmm. Then just one final mile, just a few rain drops began to fall, and ta da! 25 miles done.
I'm really happy with how solid I felt on this run. During last year's Snowplug 50k, loop #4 was really tough for me. I remember feeling off from the start that day, and was ready to quit after loop #4. Today, I feel certain I could have kept going without too much trouble if I'd needed to and I'm really glad I was able to keep the pace fairly steady throughout the loops. I'm taking it as a good sign.
Interesting data from the day:
Garmin Connect says:
25.02 mi
Time: 4:17:53
Avg Pace: 10:19 min/mi
Moving Time: 4:15:42
Elapsed Time: 4:26:55
Strava says: (based on exported Garmin Connect data. Having trouble with getting Strava to actually connect wirelessly like it should with the Garmin 310. Grrr. Otherwise, I really like Strava.)
24.9 mi*
Time: 4:12:52
Avg Pace: 10:09 min/mi
Elapsed Time: 4:26:44
*Why would Strava take 0.1 miles off the final mileage? The watch beeped 25.0 miles, showed me a mile split and then I ran another 0.02. Weird.
Rough splits using Garmin Connect player:
1st loop - 1:04:16
2nd loop - 1:03:34 (2:07:50 total time)
3rd loop - 1:05:47 (3:13:37 total time)
4th loop -1:04:14 (4:17:51 total time for watch to read 25.0 miles)
Last year's Snowplug 50k splits:
1st loop - 1:08:32
2nd loop - 2:14:01 total time
3rd loop - 3:18:55 total time
4th loop: 4:34:29
Time: 5:49:49
Moving Time: 5:30:08
Elapsed Time: 5:57:32
I was hoping for some good wildflower sightings today, but so far things are coming up slowly. I did see some wild oats blooming, but not much else other than plant leaves and the white flowers of the trailing arbutus. I did have a few wildlife sightings along the way - a gopher, a grouse, mallards in the Heath, catbird, phoebe, two hawks - plus numerous deer prints in the mud. I ran into a older fellow out on the trails who told me he had seen a number of warblers and a veery, but those escaped my view today. I was noticing the world around me, but only to an extent. Definitely focused today on running. Also focused on not constantly having part of the chorus of The Magic School Bus going on repeat through my head - "Come on now, don't be shy. Just to make the day complete, we might get baked into a pie, on the Magic School Bus. Step inside, it's a wild ride! Ride on the Magic School Bus. Yeah." Damn these kid show songs! They are the worst :-)
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