Body Atoms

2005 Runtex 20-Miler

With each race, in my rookie season, I learn something new. Little tidbits of information that can shave a minute here or there, or make me feel more comfortable during the run. This week my diet worked just right. No stomach problems to speak of from morning oatmeal, with blueberries and strawberries with coffee and an Emergen-C. In the days prior to the race, I had carb loaded with pasta, corn, beans, grilled chicken and no wine. A change for this race with the no wine. When I started the race, my body felt better than it had on any race day.

The only hiccup at the start was a lack of porto-potties or actually too many that needed to pee. The line with five minutes to race was too long for me to get a cabana. I decided to break from the line and do it in the woods, as many had chosen to do, men and women alike.

The first ten miles of the race was a breeze. Even with the wind, there was enough energy stored to make the first ten miles quite comfortable. I had printed a wrist band with target times I wanted to achieve. Those numbers quickly went out the window with the first mile as the congestion was too much and I decided not sprint around others and save the energy for the second half of the race. Most were using this as a training session and not as a race. At least those far back from the starting line. I went with the flow.

Coming into the end of the first loop we separated from the ten-milers. They went right to finish, we went left and back on the course. At this point the wind was at our backs and it seemed like the second ten would be a comfortable run, going at a constant pace of 9:30 to 10:00 minute miles. When we turned the corner at mile 13.5, everything changed. Swirling winds, wind gusts and the stinch of cow manure made for a bad omen.

Since I had bonked on mile ten in the last race drinking Powerade, or maybe as a result of something else, I decided to take my own sports drink this time. I filled a water bottle with 16 ounces of Enlive!, apple flavor. This proved to be a wise decision as I wouldn't know what I was going to drink besides water, during the race, and seen as I was about to burn about 2000 calories over three-plus hours, I needed to control the replenishment of my system. Enlive provides 300 calories with 10 g of protein and 65 g of carbs, per 8 ounce serving. By my rookie calculations, I should end up with just enough gas in the tank. Looking back on the race, I think I drank it too slow though. I took too few sips thinking I didn't want to get stomach sloshing or a side stitch. The end result by not taking enough in was I didn't get enough sodium which caused my quads to cramp up in the latter part of the race. It should be easy enough to convert sips to ounces and plan better for the Freescale Marathon.

Yesterday, I prepped my new Asics shoes by cutting out part of the design from the outside of the shoe. It was the part causing a blister on the side of my foot. In running yesterday it was a night and day difference from before. This morning I picked up some Johnson & Johnson Coaches tape and wrapped the foot and it felt fine. That was until mile eight. I felt a twinge at that part of the foot but ran through it and it subsided by mile ten. What became more of a problem were blisters in other places on the foot. By taping the foot I created some problem on the top of the foot. Removing the tape post-race revealed a quarter-size blister. The tape had adhered to the skin and so all of the skin came off as well. Ouch! Two other blood blisters appeared underneat the foot on the fourth toe. Both swelled during the race and burst at some point. So needless to say the last five miles were uncomfortable. The Asics will be retired to short distances or track shoes. They work fine for the shorter distances but I can afford the downtime for the feet to heal, nor the pain during the race. I would have run in the old New Balance pair but they've lost their cusshioning and wouldn't hold up for the distance. I have five weeks to get a new pair and break them in. This is also probably why I never experienced an endorphin rush during this race. To much to battle against.

One thing I noticed during the race was my breathing. Seen as I forgot to check the MP3 battery beforehand, it was dead at the start. With no tunes, there was plenty of time to think about breathing. Breathing, as in whiffs of cow manure, whiffs of EMS and Constable's motorcycle exhaust, whiffs of 30-mph gusts of wind. But what I noticed was that I was breathing shallow. Very shallow. Even in the later miles I was doing this. I felt a lactic acid buildup in the legs and experimented with heavier breathing during my walk breaks. As I started again the dead legs were alive again. Part of this was due to the walking, which should made them feel better, but I also think it was due to the increased oxygen intake. Another thing to work on.

I'm a rookie. It's my first season to get back into shape and at the same time, run some races. I had high expectations coming into the Distance Challenge and have now become a little more realistic. There's still more to learn and experiment with. The realization this year is to complete without injury, not necessarily compete. I'll be patient.

Splits

First Ten [1:45:9] - 10:55, 10:32, 10:31, 9:55, 9:37, 10:06, 9:56, 10:53, 11:01, 11:43

Second Ten [2:10:17] - 11:47, 10:35, 10:55, 12:03, 11:21, 12:58, 16:58, 13:13, 16:06, 14:21

Average - 11:45 minutes/mile

Total Time 3:55:05

Austin Distance Challenge Standings

• Position: 317
• Cumulative Time (5 races)10:30:09
• Points: 4389

Runtex Review of the Race

Permanent Link: 1/08/2006 08:40:00 PM