Shorter night at Inks Lake

As I posted the other day, I headed back to Inks Lake State yesterday for the Capt'n Karl's run.  As always, Joe Prusaitis and Tejas Trails put on a great race.  This one has really grown since I ran 2 years ago.  That race had 51 starters; last night there were 106 registered for the 60K and 144 registered for the 30K.  It made for a traffic jam at the park entry, and some parking issues, but the race organizers, park officials, and runners all handled it well.  

And, they're off!

I started out fully intending to go the distance for the 60K, knowing I would be slower than my last effort here, but ready to tough it out.  I did OK for 2 loops, but 1/2 way through the third 10K loop, I took a walking break that ended up being way too long, and I never really got going again.  After walking for while, I decided I was too hot, too lazy, too tired, too out of shape, too bored, and too under-committed to go 60K.  So I got to the start-finish and told Joe I was satisfied with 30K tonight.

The highlight was getting to meet Trey.  Last Sunday, when I ran with Don, he told me to look for his friend Trey.  "You can't miss him--he's the one with one arm."  Sure enough, just after the start, I saw him and introduced myself as Don's friend.  We ended up running together most of my race.  He's about as nice a guy as you'll ever meet, which isn't surprising, since the same could describe Don.  Once I started walking on loop 3, he took off.  I think he had held back for me a couple times, but he had a lot more in the tank than I did.

I tried to keep up with Trey but ultimately I couldn't do it.

Born with one arm, Trey is well accustomed to doing things with one hand (how about this: He played football at Sam Houston State and holds the school record for career blocked kicks!), but here's one he may not have encountered before.  At one point, his hand somehow had a collision with a cactus.  I helped him out, but I know next time I get a hand full of cactus, I'll be grateful for that second hand!

Even though things didn't play out as I had hoped, it wasn't a bad run.  The trails at Inks Lake are fun and challenging.  The moon, just a couple days past full, was beautiful.  It was hot (according to my car thermometer, 101 when I arrived at the park at 6, a cool 87 when I left shortly after midnight), but it could have been much hotter, and there was a bit of a breeze from time to time.  I don't know that I'll sign up for this race again, but I would love to come back and run these trails or hike them with my boys--only I think I'll wait until it's 40-50 degrees cooler. . . .

Looking ahead to Inks Lake

It's hard to believe, but I have been maintaining this blog for nearly 2 years.  My first race report was for the Capt'n Carl's 60K at Inks Lake, August of 2009.  That was the longest race I had ever run (race report here).  I just read over that race report, and I fear I am not as fit as I was then.  Since I've been working days, I haven't been getting in the volume that I was at that time, and I've put on a few pounds.  I'm going back to Inks Lake this weekend, but I'm not sure I'll be able to match my time from 2009.  I am looking forward to it, though.  Look for a race report here in a few days!

On the road again

Slowly but surely, I've been getting back into my running groove.  I had 3 decent runs last week, and, although I was slow getting started this week (still getting in some O.T.), I should get 3 runs in this week.  Getting up early, running in my neighborhood, even though I struggle to get out of bed, is a great way to start my day.

However, I was struck this morning that summer is around the corner.  Since I missed the chance to register for Jemez (which I'm sort of glad of now; I'm in no shape to run a 50Kin the mountains!), my next race is Capt'n Karl's at Inks Lake on July 16.  This is where I ran my first real trail ultramarathon in 2009 (report here).

Late July sounds like it's ages away, but the race is only 10 weeks away!  It's definitely time to put together a training plan and get on some trails.  It's certainly easy to step out the front door and run on the flat streets of my neighborhood, but Inks Lake is rugged and a bit hilly.  As always, I'm in that place of preferring trail running but stuck doing most of my training on roads, just because that's where I am.  Come race day, we'll see how ready I am to hit the trails!

Long Night at Inks Lake

On August 29-30, I ran the longest, slowest race of my life and had a great time. It was a 60K trail run at Inks Lake State Park. I finished in about 8:36.

Now for a bit more detail.

I went to the doctor Thursday for my well child check up. She said my blood pressure was terrific, and she bragged about how I was 20 pounds lighter than when I saw her 2 years ago. My EKG looked great. Its alarm went off because my resting heart rate was so low--47 bpm. It was gratifying to have my improved health, resulting from running, objectively affirmed.

On to the race. I left FW a little before 2 Saturday. I was tired already, and hoping I was not sick. I started getting a sore throat on Thursday, and was congested Thurs and Fri. I never had fever but thought I was getting a cold. I was still congested a little for a time on Sat, but figured I'd be OK. I was tired, but then I'm tired most of the time.

I got to Inks Lake in plenty of time to get registered, changed, warm up, and check out the terrain. The race started at 7.

Lap 1
About 60 runners started the race, which was 6 10K laps. It's a rugged trail, with lots of rocky sections, and some climbing. Not as much elevation change as I expected, though. It may have just been me, but it seems like the nice, smooth sections were uphill, and the downhills were mostly rocky, so there weren't too many places where you could cruise downhill without worrying about rocks and ledges. On this first lap, I did decide to let gravity pull me down the hills while I stepped with my mountain goat-like dexterity, making pretty good time. After a few minutes I fell in with Charlie, a hotel manager from Houston, who is good friends with Dean "The Ultramarathon Man" Karnazes. They used to run together frequently when Charlie lived in California. We kept a good pace together and enjoyed chatting.
This is a beautiful trail with some pretty views of the lakes and surrounding hill country.

Lap 2
For this lap, we had to strap on our head lamps. The downhills became much more tricky to navigate in the dark, slowing me down. Charlie and I stuck together the whole second lap after a break at the start/finish line. We kept up a good pace. I had my one fall on this lap. I tripped but caught myself with my hands, and my knees didn't hit the ground. Lucky. So much for the views. From here on out, the only view is what my headlamp lights up in front of me.

Lap 3
Charlie spent a bit longer at the s/f aid station, so I took off without him. I should have stuck with him, I guess, because this was a hard lap. I did run for a while with a guy with a long ponytail. We kept passing each other up. For some reason I was really tired on this lap. I wondered if I would finish. There was one section of the loop with an out and back (if the course was a circle, at that point in the circle you would run toward the center for a few minutes, go around a yellow stake, and run back to the same point on the circle. There was an aid station at the stake.) I wouldn't do this, but I did wonder what would stop me from only going partway to the stake. . . . I got ahead of ponytail and went on to the s/f aid station.

Lap 4
Shortly after I started this lap, I ate some Jelly Belly Extreme Sport Beans with Caffeine. That gave me a good boost. This felt like my best lap. I ran mostly alone, but stayed on pace. I became much more confident on the rocky downhills, which was encouraging. I stumbled a few times, but didn't fall again.
I finished lap 4 a little under 5:20. So now this is the longest I have ever run, time wise. I finished El Scorcho 50K in 5:19, and the Grasslands trail marathon in 4:50.

Lap 5
This was another good lap. I did start to feel some cramping, so I took some Endurolytes Electrolyte Replenishment Capsules which seemed to help. Still by myself, for the most part, I lapped a couple of people, which felt good!
After this lap, this is now the longest I have ever run at once. (El Scorcho 50K was the longest before now.)

Lap 6
Charlie and another guy came into the s/f aid station a couple minutes behind me; they had been gaining on me late in lap 5. I left just before them, with the determination that I was going to run hard this last lap. I wanted a negative split, where the last lap is faster than the first few. I started out well, lapping a couple more people, then I passed a couple who were also on their last lap. I started getting the big head, thinking, "I'm going to beat Charlie-who-trains-with-Dean-Karnazes." Then here come two people behind me--Charlie and his friend. They passed me, and I tried to pace with them for a couple minutes, but couldn't do it. They clearly saved more for the end than I did! I figured I wouldn't be able to catch them, but that my standing wasn't going to change because I couldn't tell that anyone was anywhere close behind me. I decided I would still finish strong, and at least run on the smoother parts. Well, I started walking more, running out of gas. One more guy passed me, but I did run the last half mile or so to the end.
By the way, one nice thing about a looped course is that you can take note of any trail hazards and avoid them on subsequent loops. So on laps 1-5, I carefully ducked under the low-hanging branch over the trail just after you cross the park road. You'd think by lap 6 I'd have that one figured out. Nope. That scab at my hairline, plus a modest collection of blisters, is the only injury from the night. Oh, one more funny thing--Zippy told me today "Daddy, your feet are all ripped up."

Results, 14th out of 51 starters, 31 finishers. I don't know yet how many dropped out. I know one guy I met dropped out b/c he had eye surgery this week and that was bothering him. There was also a pack of women who dropped out after being freaked out by a howling pack of coyotes.

I was tired, but probably could have/should have pushed more on the final lap. Some of the guys at the end told me this trail is much tougher than the one at Palo Duro Canyon, which is where I am going to run a 50 mile race in October. That was encouraging. Even though it's slower and harder, trail running is definitely more enjoyable than road races. I'm not ready to be completely done with road racing, but trail racing is my favorite.