The Fox Cities Marathon is one of my favorite races. It is organized, it runs through my hometown and the entire fox valley, and it's run in the late summer/early fall, which is my favorite time of year. It's been 8 years since I've last run the Fox Cities Marathon. The Fox Cities Marathon was my first ever marathon back in 2007 and it is also the course I've run my marathon PR on, in 2010 of 3:03:46. For all of these reasons, the Fox Cities Marathon holds a special place in my heart. Coming off of a 3:04:58 marathon at the Oshkosh Marathon this past spring, I wanted to push all my hypothetical chips into the middle of the table and work my ass off and finally break the 3 hour threshold.
After recovering from the Oshkosh Marathon someone recommended I check out the Hanson's Marathon Method. After they read my Race Report from the Oshkosh Marathon and heard me describe my late race struggles of feeling weak and drained the final 10k, he felt I could benefit from the Hanson's Marathon Method. I figured I really had nothing to lose and could possibly benefit from a change in my training strategies. So I purchased the Hanson's Marathon Method book and followed the Advance Plan while running an additional 2 miles for each scheduled "easy" training run. The book recommended upping weekly mileage by running these additional 2 miles if you were looking to run a marathon under 3 hours. Below are my print offs of my training schedule I followed leading up to the marathon. The only changes I made, were instead of having my off day scheduled on Wednesdays, I bumped Friday's easy training run to Wednesday and bumped Saturday and Sunday's run to Friday and Saturday, then had my off days on Sundays. This just made my life easier for family and personal reasons. Essentially my week was broken down as follows:
Monday: Easy
Tuesday: Speed/Strength Day
Wednesday: Easy
Thursday: Tempo
Friday: Easy
Saturday: Easy/Long Run
Sunday: Off
Prerace
Heading into race week, I was skeptical and had no real idea how the race was going to go for me. Since June, I had been struggling with some achilles tendonitis and a soft tissue injury to my hip. I was pretty sure I would be able to push through the full race, but truly didn't know. I modified the training schedule the final week, to include 3 total off days, opposed to the scheduled one day off the training plan called for. Weather-wise, you couldn't ask for a better forecast. At race time the forecasted temperatures were in the middle-to-upper 40's increasing into the upper 50's by 10:00am. I chose to wear a new pair of shorts I bought at the race expo, which I know is a text book no-no, but I felt comfortable with the shorts and myself that it wouldn't be an issue.
Saturday night was a relaxing evening, and had a filet of Ahi tuna, some wild rice, and a sweat potato. Sarah and I dropped the girls off at my parents house for the night as Sarah was running the half marathon on Sunday too. We got to bed early and eventually woke up at 4:15am. We picked up Tessa and my dad and parked our vehicle in Neenah near the finish line and took a bus to the start line. We got to the start line about an hour before race start. I took care of some business and started warming up around 6:30. Throughout my training, I had been experimenting with Rock Tape and used Rock Tape on both calves with hope that it would help prevent any potential issues throughout the race.
Nutrition Plan
If you have read any of my past race reports, you'd know I like to keep things consistent and simple. So, with about an hour to go before the race, I took a couple Tissue Rejuvenator capsules, Mito Caps, and Race Caps Supreme. Normally, I also take a couple Anti-Fatigue Caps, but because I was a total procrastinator, I never ordered a new bottle after running out. With about 15 minutes to go until race time, I took a serving of Hammer Fully Charged, which is a phenomenal preworkout booster which I don't ever go without. During the race, I planned on taking a Hammer Gel about every 6 miles with the first at about mile 8, and then miles 14 and 20 respectively.
Miles 0-13.1
This entire season, I bought into the Hanson's Marathon Method. With that being said, part of their philosophy is to race with even splits. So that was my goal. I trained all summer to race at a 6:40/mile pace. I know that a 2:59:59 marathon equates to a 6:52/mile pace. Knowing this, my strategy throughout the race was to have every mile fall between a 6:40-6:50 split. As the race started I really wanted to judge how things were going to play out throughout the first 10k. Everything was feeling pretty good after the first few miles. My calves were feeling good, my hip was a non-issue, and simply put, I felt good. Then, around mile 5 or so, I started to notice a pain on the outside of my left foot. It felt like a shoe issue and was debating changing shoes when I next saw my mom. As I continued, the pain slowly just went away. It was weird and hard to describe, but like I said, it felt like a shoe issue, but just disappeared later on as I continued running. I continued pushing forward and feeling good. I crossed the half way point at about 1:28, which was basically right on track for what I had hoped.
Miles 13.1-20
It was around miles 15 or so, where I started to get some minor side stitches. I got really concerned and worried that my day was going to completely become unraveled. Throughout my training, following the Hanson's Marathon Method, I never ran further than 16 miles in a single training run. Typically, I go at least 20 miles, multiple times, if not up to 22 or 24 miles. I started wondering if my training was failing me and I was just going to fall apart by the time I hit mile 18+. I knew that I had a couple of options, one, I could worry about my training and the side stitches, or I could focus on what I can control and just keep pushing forward. Eventually, the side stitches went away, and I was right back to turning out splits all within my goal target range of 6:40-6:50.
Miles 20-26.2
As soon as I hit the 20 mile mark, I checked my watch to see how things were going and what the chances were of my FINALLY getting my sub 3 hour marathon. At mile 20, I was at 2:15:05, so I knew all I had to do was run 7:00 miles for the final 10k and I would be right were I needed to be to set myself up for success. Only problem was, I was hurting. I kept pushing hard, knowing that I had a chance. Around miles 23/24, my hamstrings started cramping. I knew that if I just kept pushing they would lock up on me good, so I took short stretching breaks to loosen up my hamstrings. I did my best to do this while continuing to move forward. I ended up coming down the homestretch and saw the race clock just break 3:00:00. I pushed as hard as I could to try and put up a 3:00:XX finish time. I crossed the finish line in 3:01:05, missing my ultimate goal by 66 seconds. 66 F#*king seconds. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to set a new PR. A PR that has been in place for 8 years. It leaves me motivated for next year and excited to have a great race. It also confirms that the Hanson's Marathon Method is legit and without a doubt, I will be following their training plan next year with the goal of again, a sub 3 hour marathon.
Post Race
I finished the race in 8th place and 1st in my age group (technically 2nd, but the 1st overall finisher was also in my age group). I am thrilled with my race and my time, I am also bummed to come so close to the goal I have been chasing for over 8 years. After the race, I hung out with Sarah, my dad, and my kids. It was an awesome day. A damn near perfect day for a marathon. After taking in some water and moving around to loosen up, I got to ring my first ever PR bell. I have never gotten to ring a PR bell, since there never really was a "PR bell" when I set my last PR 8 years ago. We then let the girls play on the playground while we all waited for Tessa to cross the finish line after her first ever marathon.
What's on Tap
Since finishing the Fox Cities Marathon, I haven't even run a single mile...and quite honestly, it's been pretty nice. I worked my ass of the past 4 months training for this race. I have run the most miles throughout those 4 miles ever during training and made a lot of sacrifices throughout those months. Mentally and physically, I just need a break from training. My achilles need to heal up and so does my hip. Also, I mentioned the pain I felt in my left foot early on in the race that eventually just went away. Turns out that after the race, later in the day, I started feeling a tingly pain every time my foot plants. It's strange. It's not painful, but just a weird sensation in my feet. It has now been a couple weeks since the race, and I'm still dealing with the apparent nerve issue. I'm hoping the issue eventually goes away, but we'll have to wait and see. I have also been working on a new table and bench set for our house which has taken up pretty much all my free time the past couple weeks. I'll get a blog post up soon about that build later on.
The Festival Foods Turkey Trot is a race my entire family has participated in since 2009. The race itself has only been going on since 2008. Now in its 10th year, I have only missed 2008, 2010, and 2014. Not to bad actually. In 2009, there were only 771 finishers, when in 2013 the race saw 2,839 finishers! This year there was 2,447 finishers. The race has become not only a tradition for my family and I, but for our entire community. Its a well organized event on a day in which pretty much everyone is around and has no plans. The race doesn't have many "frills," with a reasonable entry fee, you get a long sleeve t-shirt, a small pumpkin pie, and a chip timed race bib. After the race, they offer donut holes, bananas, and water. You can choose from three different events on race morning, a 5 mile timed run, a 2 mile walk, or a two mile "dog jog," which is (obviously) dog friendly. This year was Sarah's first year ever doing the 5 mile run, now that she has been consistently running for about the past year.
Training For This Race
I feel like I should just take this paragraph out of my race reports, until I actually run an event in which I follow a specific training plan for.
Prerace
Sarah and I woke up around 5:45ish with the goal of leaving our house by 6:45. The race started at 8am and with an expected crowd of over 7,000 total participants, so I wanted to get there early enough for a decent parking spot and ample time to warm up. We ended up leaving around 6:50 (I can handle that) and were parked by 7:10. After getting the stroller set up and kids all bundled up, we headed out to the start area to meet up with my parents. Around 7:30 or so, I was able to break away to start my usual warm up. I ended up cutting it too close for my liking, but ended up ditching my warmup outfit to my mom, who was in charge of the stroller and the kids while Sarah, my dad, and I all ran. I made it to the front of the start line literally seconds before the National Anthem was sang.
Nutrition Plan
An hour before the race, I took my usual Anti-Fatigue Caps, Endurance
Aminos, and then took my Fully Charged about 10 minutes before the start
of the race.
Miles 0-5
With a race this size, the start line can be pretty crowded. And with that comes the wanna-be sprinters, who are more of a hindrance than anything else. They usually take off faster than a sprinter at the start of a 100m race, only to fade into a brisk walk after the first 100 yards or so. Keeping this in mind, I kept to my normal race strategy and just started slow and easy and found my grove by the first mile marker. I had no real chance of placing overall, nor a chance of winning a Festival Foods gift card, which are awarded to the Top 5 overall males and females, respectively. So, my goals were pretty simple, set a new Personal Record. My current best time for a 5 mile race was 29:57. I wasn't completely sold on the idea of running a sub 30 minute race, especially with how little I've been training. But, what the heck, lets go for it. After the first mile, I checked my watch and saw a 5:52 mile, perfect, under 6 minutes and I'm on pace for a PR! I felt great at that point, so I just tried my best to keep focused and stay comfortable at that pace. I continued to tick off miles and pass most of the guys who go out unrealistically fast. By far the toughest part of the race is a steep hill that goes up from the river at about mile 4. First off, you're already tired and want to be done, but now you still have a mile to go and a steep short hill in front of you. I took it easy up it, with the hopes that once I was to the top, I would still have a bit in the tank to make a strong push at the final mile. I felt good once at the top and just continued to focus on making at least one more pass before crossing the finish line. I ended up passing the guy who was just in front of me doing the final kick within the last 25 yards or so. I ended up placing 19th overall out of 2, 447 finishers and 2nd in my age group with a final time of 29:40.
Post Race
Immediately after the race, I began to jog the course backwards to find Sarah and maybe run with her during the final mile or so. I ended up getting to mile marker 4 and never saw her. I have no idea why or how I missed it, but I did. I ended up just jogging back to the finish line and found her, along with my parents and kids. We didn't stick around long at all and just headed home to shower up and start enjoying the holiday!
What's on Tap
I've got some big ambitious goals for next year and and tentatively going to start training for these goals in early January. So my plan now is to finish running through November and then take it a little easier in December before taking on my 2018 goals. My plans for December are to run 1-3 days a week with a day of cycling or swimming mixed in and maybe even some strength training....and of course some days off.
I knew immediately after last year's Bellin 10k, that I would be back again this year. The event is a huge run (nearly 14,000 participants), it is extremely organized and runs super smooth, and literally some of the world's fastest/best runners run it. Last year Meb ran it and he again was scheduled to be there. Last year, after Meb finished, he turned around and ran back down the course to give high fives to the finishing runners. It was one of my greatest memories as a runner.
Training for This Race
This year, I really wanted to PR in the 10k and ultimately finish in under 37 minutes. If I were to do this, I would have to take a full minute off my current PR of (37:59) and run 1:15 off of last year's Bellin time. In order to attempt to achieve that lofty goal, I needed to change my approach to training. In past years, I have always been in the middle of another training plan for some longer event and then always participated in shorter (5k and 10k) races as lower priority races for training. This year, I was focusing on the 10k and would be training specifically for this distance. My training, which I just found online, included a lot of track workouts and very specific paced runs. Below is what I did leading up to the Bellin 10k.
Prerace
The cool thing about this race is that not only was I doing it, but my wife was doing it and so were our friends, Jake and Tessa. This was Jake's first ever race, which is awesome. So, they picked us up shortly after 6:00 so we could park in the Pine Street Parking Ramp and take the shuttle over to the starting area. This is exactly what I did last year and it just seemed to work really well and in my opinion, you would be foolish to drive your car to the starting area and try to find a spot to park. We got to the starting area right around 7 which left me plenty of time to get a good warm up in and make my way to the first corral to get ready to start.
Nutrition Plan
My plan was simple and my usual plan. I took two Anti-Fatigue Caps and two Endurance Aminos an hour before the start of the race. I also drank a 16oz bottle of water with a Endurolytes Fizz tablet in it to top off my electrolytes for the race since it was supposed to be another warm race. I was pissed that I completely forgot to bring my Fully Charged....
Miles 0-6.2
When I was lining up in my corral, I tried to make my way as close to the front as possible, but I just couldn't squeeze through the crowds to get as close as I would have liked. That was my one mistake all day. Once the gun went off, it took me probably about 400-1200 meters to finally get into some open air. The entire first area I was stuck trying to dodge slower runners that shouldn't have been so far towards the front. I felt like the frog in Frogger. I was jumping from side to side and at times on the curb just to get past people. I don't know what the ultimate impact was on my time, but It sure did get frustrating. But once I got into some open space, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the way. At around mile 2 I started getting side stitches. Not sure why I got them, but I decided to keep pushing my pace with hopes that they would just slowly disappear. They never really did and around the half way point, I realized that I probably wouldn't be finishing in under 37 minutes. I continued to push and try my best to pass more people than the number of runners who pass me. Around mile 4, there were 4 Green Bay Packer players on the side giving high fives and offering their encouragement. It's kind of a neat dynamic. Normally, I'm sitting in front of my TV or at Lambeau cheering on them and now here we are with the roles reversed. After passing them, I knew I had only about a little over a mile or so to go. Shortly after mile 6, I again got to give Meb a high five as he was running the course in reverse after finishing his race to cheer on the normal guys like me. I finished this years Bellin in 37:33, in 43rd place overall, and 9th in my age group. Last year, I finished in 38:15, 50th overall, and 13th in my age group. So made some definite improvements and that's all I can ask for!
Post Race
After the race, we caught the next bus back to the parking ramp and stopped for some coffee on the way home. Both of families had baby sitters watching our girls, so we decided to take advantage of that and we went back to our house and sat in the back yard and had a couple of beers to celebrate a great race by all 4 of us!
What's on Tap
I really don't have a clue what's on tap at this point. I do not have any specific events on my calendar, nor do I have an upcoming big "A" race on my schedule to look forward to. I think my plans at this point are to just enjoy summer, keep my running mileage up and take races as they come.
Coming off last year's racing season which included my first ultramarathon, I wasn't 100% how I was going to structure my 2017 race season. I knew what goals were still on my proverbial bucket list, but was I going to address those goals this year? I decided that I would take a different approach after focusing on long, slow, distances last year and focus on shorter distances, at least in the first half of the year. After deciding this, I picked out the Oshkosh Half Marathon. I picked this for a few reasons, it is a cheap race, its close to home, early in the year, and my wife was already registered to run this race. After over 10 years of swearing off running, she has found a new love of running, which is awesome. It has been fun watching her progress and find a joy in a previously dreaded activity.
Training for This Race
I had the best of intentions when I originally signed up for this race. The only stipulation with my training, is that if there were ever a day where only either my wife or I could run, I had to cede the time to her. That seemed a little price to pay after the countless years of her ceding time to me for my endless hours of training. But once February and March rolled in and we got deeper and deeper into our home remodel project, my training took a serious back seat to our home. And honestly, I had no issues with it. I enjoyed the work and would have felt guilty if I would have not dedicated the time to the project and focused on running. So my training took a serious hit from mid-February to mid-March. I followed a "cookie cutter" training program from Hal Higdon. I chose his advanced 13.1 training plan. The mileage was rather conservative (from what I have grown used to) and in reality, had more off days than I was also used to. Below is the training plan I attempted to follow.
Prerace
With my wife, her friend, and my dad running the race, we all met down at the packet pick-up the day before the race. Now, the company that puts on the race (DuTriRun) also runs numerous other events, including triathlons and duathlons. I have participated in pretty much all of their events over the past 10 years and have learned that you get what you pay for. And with DuTriRun events, they are cheap, but that's what you get. The race "expo" was outside during a wet, cold, and windy weekend. There was nothing special and nothing to really do, other than pick up your race packet, which consisted of a cheap "technical" fabric t-shirt, a cheap cinch bag (which was immediately thrown into the garbage upon returning home), your race bib, and a bunch of flyers for various things. My main concern after picking up my packet was what was the morning going to look like at the race site. Most of the marathons I have attended have some form of an indoor shelter provided for participants to stay warm and out of the potential weather. That was exactly my concern, because the weather for race morning was being forecasted as pretty much terrible. It was supposed to be very windy (15-25 mph winds), rain, and cold (20-30*). I am notoriously an early arriver to races. I like getting a good parking spot and leaving plenty of time for using the bathrooms before the long lines form and leaving plenty of time for warming up. In past years, the Oshkosh Marathon offered indoor access at the Oshkosh Convention Center, but it appeared as this was no longer available to runners. So this year, we would be banished to sitting in our cars until the race start. Even knowing this, I opted to leave early and leave plenty of time for my usual prerace rituals. We left at 4:50am and picked up Sarah's friend and my father. Once at the race site, we remained in the car for a while, but had a damn good parking spot :)
Nutrition Plan
As usual, one hour prior to the race, I took Hammer Nutrition's Anti-Fatigue Caps, Tissue Rejuvenator, and Endurance Amino. As far as during the race, I opted to try a different approach from my normal half marathon plan. I opted to carry a small 12 ounce bottle with me with Hammer Nutrition's Heed in it. Normally I opt for 1-2 gels during the event, but wanted to try a simpler approach and just use a liquid based fuel.
Once the race started, the weather wasn't as bad was what was originally forecasted. Don't get me wrong, it was still cold and windy, but it seemed the rain was going to hold off. My original goal was to try and run even splits throughout the race and average about a 6:20/mile pace. But with the wind and the lack of training, I was just going to go out and run based on feel and just adjust my pace throughout the race. I feel like I started rather conservative, but was fine with it at the time. I finished the first half of the race feeling pretty good. I tried my best to not over think my pace or race time and just run the best race I could that day and see what happens. I had a feeling though, I was off my goal pace and was on the slower end of it.
Miles 7-13.1
By about mile 8 or 9 I finally felt as though I was in a groove and running a decent pace. Granted, this was the portion of the race that the wind was predominantly at my back. At about mile 12, you made a sharp turn onto the final stretch of the race and were immediately hit with a demoralizing head wind. Simply put, it sucked ass. I felt any confidence someone may have had, would have been immediately ripped out of their grasps. I continued to push hard knowing I only had about a mile left to go. I ended up finishing in 1:26:13 with a pace of 6:35/mile and placing 11th overall and 3rd in my age group.
Post Race
As soon as I finished, I quickly stopped back at my car and put on some warmer clothes. Then I returned to the finish line to watch my wife and her friend finish their race. I was easily more excited to watch her finish than I was excited to finish my own race. She put a lot of hard work into her training and preparations for her race and she was so close to her very aggressive goal of finishing under 2 hours. After watching her finish, we hung around to wait for my dad to finish his full marathon, which was allegedly his last marathon ever.
What's on Tap
This race was originally my "A" race for the spring, but after a lot of missed workouts during our remodel project, I just accepted the race for what it was. I also registered for a couple more races, a 5k a couple weeks after the half marathon and a 10k in June. I am now focusing my training on a 10k, the Bellin Run 10k, which I first ran last year and immediately fell in love with. I honestly have no idea what to expect in the 10k in June since I have never focused my training on an event that length. I have only ever just thrown in 5k's and 10k's into my training as a training race for a longer race later in the year. So, needless to say, I am pretty excited to see what I can do in a 10k after 8 weeks of focused training.
Since finishing the Ironman over 3 years ago, I haven't found something to truly drive me or motivate me to the extent that the Ironman did. When I trained for the IM it consumed me (whether that's good or bad). It became my lifestyle, it was me. I was so focused on achieving my goal that a moment never passed in which the thought of the race didn't cross my mind. It was always in the back of my mind. There's an allure in a race of that distance. In order to be successful at that distance, it takes a certain level of commitment, sacrifice, and devotion. It's easy to see how those types of events consume you. It's also easy to see what the draw is to them. After taking two years with relatively no clear defined goal, I convinced Sarah to let me commit to another intense event...a 50 mile ultramarathon. Ultramarathons have always had a special draw to them for me. But, I was never willing to give up racing triathlon in order to focus solely on a running race. But, 3 year post Ironman, I was ready for a new challenge. I was ready to train for a 50 miler. In April, I made the commitment and registered for the Fall 50; a point-to-point, 50 mile trek from the tip of the Door Peninsula down to the city of Sturgeon Bay. In addition to setting my goal of running a 50 mile ultra, I have always wanted to "run the year." Basically, you run an annual mileage totaling the year. So this year, I figured was year was a better time as ever to run 2,016 total miles.
The concept is simple. Start at the most northern point of Door County (Gills Rock) and run south, along the west shoreline, to Sunset Park in Sturgeon Bay. The race itself is most popular for its relay race. It actually was originally intended to be a relay race, but after a surprisingly large amount of interest in a solo event, they added a solo event. This year, the relay event sold out in under 20 minutes! For those not familiar with Wisconsin, Door County is considered one of the most beautiful areas in the state. Plus, the race is run during the peak fall colors in Wisconsin, which just adds to the natural beauty of the area. Door County is also known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. So, when you couple all of that with the large all you can eat and all you can drink after party, its very easy to see why the event is so popular.
Training for This Race
Prior to officially committing to the Fall 50, I began to plan out my 2016 race calendar. I knew that if I were to run a 50 miler this year, I needed to put triathlons on the back burner for a year to focus on building a strong running base and build my weekly running mileage. Not only did I want to simply increase my weekly running mileage, but I wanted to do it safely and run this year injury free. As I began to structure my year, I planned out an early spring marathon, prior to traveling to Florida in May with my family. I also wanted to race the Bellin 10k in June. Other than that, I really wanted to focus on training. After getting back from Florida, I focused on gradually increasing my weekly long run. I still didn't have a specific training plan that I was following, I was just running based on feel. I ran an 8k race on Memorial Day and then ran the Bellin 10k in June. I continued to run based on feel throughout June and ended the month with a 20 mile long run. I didn't start following a training plan until July 14th. In preparations my first ultramarathon, I picked up a copy of Hal Koerner's Field Guide to Ultrarunning, by Hal Koerner with Adam W. Chase. The book had several training plans for various distances, but I took the plan for 50 miles to 100k and tweaked it to fit my work schedule. The main focal point of the training plan were back-to-back long runs on the weekends. They start out pretty modest (relatively speaking, obviously), with distances ranging from 15/9 to 20/11. Towards the final peak weeks before the taper starts the back-to-backs top out with a 25/20, 25/25, and a 30/7. Below is my actual training plan. You might be able to see some of the slight changes I made as I progressed, but I tried to stick to it as close as I could...but when you're a father of 3 daughters and are as busy as us, you NEED to make adjustments to survive. All of my training runs were done at a MAFF pace. I won't dive into Phil Maffetone and his training philosophies, but basically, he advocates for all training to be done below your MAFF heart rate (180-age). I didn't do any speed work, tempo runs, track workouts, or fartlek runs. All of my runs were done at a comfortable pace for that given distance. All of my long runs were done at an easy sustainable pace.
As you can see my training weeks consisted of 8 and 10 day "weeks." But for a point of reference, my biggest training week (Monday-Sunday), was a 92 mile week. My biggest training month was in August with a total mileage of 320.68, by far a personal record. Most of my scheduled days were prescribed in ranges, with no real hard number for a given day. I did this on purpose to allow myself some wiggle room depending on my personal schedule and/or how I was feeling on a given day. I don't recall ever running the shorter mileage on any given day, but maybe I did on a day or two.
Throughout the entire year, other than a minor neck issue/injury I dealt with in late January, early February, I stayed very healthy all year. I never needed to take any significant time away from running or training. I credit this to me devoting the entire year to gradually increasing my mileage, staying committed to foam rolling, listening to my body and never over pushing, and regular use of Hammer Nutrition's Tissue Rejuvenator.
Prerace
The weeks leading up to the race, I was mentally ready for the race to be over with. I've never really felt like that before. It's not that I was getting sick of running or didn't want to race...don't get me wrong, I was still excited and couldn't wait to toe the start line, but I was just getting sick of the ridiculous amount of running I was doing. It was getting to be routine for me to wake up at 3, 4 or 5 in the morning on my off days to get my run in before Sarah would leave for work. I remember a couple days were I had my alarm set for 3am to get out the door and run 25 miles before 7:30 so Sarah could leave for work on time. I was running 8-12 miles every day after work. It was getting to me, I'll be honest. It was getting mentally difficult to justify why I was doing it. I stayed home from a family trip to a local farm with the kids so I could run 30 miles. Yup, when you're busy taking care of 3 kids, 2 dogs, maintaining our house and yard, working 3rd shift with a difficult work schedule, jamming in 100 mile weeks on top of it all gets to be just a little much after a while.
During my last "long run" (16 miles), my right foot developed a minor ache in the tendon that connects the big toe to the heel. I finished the run, but it definitely put a fear in the back of my mind during the final two weeks. Luckily, as I continued to progress through my taper, I gradually felt better and better, not just in my foot, but overall. I don't know if it was the drastic decrease in mileage or if my taper was just perfect, but I don't recall ever feeling so good in the final few days before a race. During the final four days before the race, I took Hammer Nutrition's Race Day Boost as prescribed. We left to head up to Sturgeon Bay around noon. We booked a room at the local Super 8 Motel, which ended up being exactly what you'd expect from a cheap hotel...a roof over your head and a place to sleep. The hotel had a pool which the kids loved, and let them swim pretty much all afternoon. I went to the evening packet pick up at the host hotel and then we went out to Sonny's Pizzeria for dinner. Evidently we were not the only one's who had this idea, as it was packed and it seemed like 95% of the crowd was running the relay. The food was extremely good and would totally recommend going there for dinner when you're in the area, but probably not the night before the Fall 50, as we waited nearly 2 hours from the time we walked in to the time we got our food. I ended up getting back to the hotel room later than I would have liked (8:30PM), but there really wasn't anything I could have done about it at that point. My parents were also staying at the same hotel and had agreed to take two of our girls to allow them to sleep in there room to allow me to hopefully get a decent night's sleep. I laid out my race outfit and finished off packing my hydration pack with the necessary nutrition and incidentals and was in bed shortly after 9. The entire day before the race, I was extremely nervous/anxious. More than I have been for any other race. I'm not completely sure why, but I was. My guess is that I was starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer distance I would be tackling the next day. I have never run more than 32 miles, which is a long way to run, but still leaves another 18 miles to go. I guess, the unknown of what lays ahead of me was mentally eating at my confidence.
When I registered for the event, I purchased the optional transportation from the finish line to the start line, which cost $15. I would recommend taking advantage of this opportunity as it was a comfortable bus, which also had a bathroom on it. The bus left at 5:30AM and made a brief stop at the host hotel to pick up additional runners. We ended up getting to the race start around 6:40AM. Only the solo runners started at 7AM to maximize day light and we had a total of 11 hours to finish the race. Relay runners had wave starts assigned to them based on their projected finish times. The first relay teams started running at 8AM and the last of the relay runners started at 10AM.
As far as my personal goals, I really wasn't sure what to think would be realistic. I've always thought that an 8 hour 50 mile race was the line between "elite age grouper" and just finishing. So immediately, I set a goal of under 8 hours. As my training continued, the more realistic a sub 8 hour 50 miler seemed. Understanding that the race was long and so many things can happen throughout 50 miles, I had an overall goal of simply finishing.
Nutrition Plan
Throughout my training, I practiced finding a nutrition plan that would work for 7+ hours. It's no secret that I'm sponsored for Hammer Nutrition. I've been running for Hammer for 3 years now, not for their support, but because I truly believe they have the best endurance nutrition products available to athletes. I've been using Hammer products ever since I got started in racing and their products work...period. So over the past 4 months of training, I regularly used Hammer Perpetuem and Hammer Gels, with the idea that I would using them in the race. Over my years of racing, I have dialed in my nutrition to know that I need about 125-130 calories per hour. When developing my nutrition plan, I anticipated running for 8 hours, so with a little simple math (8 x 130 = 1,040) I figured I needed about 1,040 calories. I knew I wanted to have some variety in my plan to keep my stomach from getting sick of taking in the same type of nutrition. I planned on taking in Hammer Perpetuem, Hammer Gels, and Hammer Bars throughout the race. Below, you can see my scheduled nutrition plan.
In addition to the calories taken, I planed on taking Endurance Aminos (2 capsules), Race Caps Supreme (1 capsule), Mito Caps (1 capsule), and Anti-Fatigue Caps (1 capsule), every hour starting at the two hour mark. I also took, the same combination of capsules one hour prior to the race. While traveling to the race start, I sipped on a water bottle with an Endurolytes Fizz tablet, to top off my electrolyte stores.
I would like to say a quick word about Injinji socks. I have never really worn Injinji socks, but this year, I bought a pair and wore them on a few of my long runs. I ended up loving them and wearing them during the Fall 50. I finished the race with not a single blister or hot spot on my feet. Normally, when I wear normal running socks during a marathon, my toes usually get a blister or two. Nothing that prevents me from finishing or running, but they make their usual post race appearances. And that is always with the addition of Vaseline. During the Fall 50, I wore Injinji socks and I didn't have one issue with my feet or toes. I finished the race without a single blister or even a sign of chaffing. I will forever wear Injinji socks during my long distance (half marathon on up) racing!
Miles 0-25
I often talk about the Endurance Planet podcast that I regularly listen to for training advice. On their "Ask the Coaches" show, Lucho (an ex-pro triathlete and elite ultrarunner) has said, numerous times, that during the start of an ultramarathon, if you think you're running slow....slow down. So that was the mind set that I started with. Start slow...then slow down. I knew that there was absolutely NO benefit to saving a couple of minutes during the first half of the race. My plan was to run super easy for the first 30 miles and focus on watching my heart rate. My strategy was to keep my heart rate in the 120's for the first 10 or so and then keep it in the 130's through mile 30. As the race started, I felt as though I was the only one running easy. It seemed that 75% of the runners, started running easy, but considerably faster than me. I did my best to ignore them, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't wonder if I was running too easy. I just kept telling myself that 50 miles is a long fucking way to run and to stick to the plan.
As the race started, I quickly learned that it would be pretty easy to keep my mind occupied on the scenery. On Friday, I saw a social media post from the local Door County newspaper, claiming that the fall colors in Door County were just hitting their peak. They were spot on. You couldn't ask for prettier colors. The combination of the beautiful colors and the shoreline of the Bay of Green Bay made the race course absolutely gorgeous. As I continued to pass mile markers, I had only one rule during the race...to walk up all hills. The first real hill came just before the 5 mile mark, just before first aid station. The first 5 miles went by in the blink of an eye. I first saw Sarah, the girls, and my parents at the 5 mile mark, as this was the first aid station/relay exchange point. It was refreshing to see the girls, but I kept the fact that I still had a long day ahead of me in the back of my head.
The next leg of the race was a 6 mile stretch from Ellison Bay to Sister Bay. As the race reached the 10 mile mark, the race had become super spread out. It got to the point where I could only see one or two runners ahead of me and only another one or two runners behind me. There was no one around me and so began the mind games. I continued to focus on the scenery and the joy of being out on the road. After leaving Sister Bay, we were faced with one of more steeper hills on the course. I gladly walked up the hill and treated it as a nice break. The next leg was a 7 mile leg that led us into Peninsula State Park, a part of the race, I was looking forward to.
From the start of the race, I had been wearing thin knit gloves. The weather was actually really nice. The temperatures were in the mid 30's at the start of the race and forecasted to reach the mid 50's during the afternoon. There was a slight headwind, out of the south. While in the state park, I official became cold. The cool temperatures compounded with being in the shaded forest and the headwinds, my hands officially became cold. My hands and feet are always first to get cold. I seem to have poor circulation, which seems to make it that much worse. After coming out of the state park, the sun began to come out more, which helped warm me up. My hydration backpack allows me to rotate the mount piece to an on and off position. The constant manipulation of the mouthpiece made my gloves wet, which didn't help at all keep my hands warm. I decided to take my gloves off with hopes that taking a pair of wet gloves off would help warm up my hands. I ended up being right. With the sun out, my hands warmed up. At this point, the miles continued to pass by without me even realizing it. My nutrition plan seemed to be working great, and personally, I couldn't have felt better!
I continued to press forward and reached the half way mark around the 3:30 mark, right on track for where I wanted to be.
Miles 26-50
It was kind of neat passing the marathon mark of 26.2. I found it to be ironic. The 26.2 mark is generally seen as a huge deal. Normally there is a large finish line, large crowds, bleachers, and a ton of hoopla. In this race, there was a sign. That was it, no line in the road, no people (I mean not a soul...no runners, no crowd, no no one), and definitely no hoopla. It was refreshing to know that I was now over half way, less than a marathon to go....I could do this. I took my first real break at aid station just after mile 28. I needed to refill my hydration pack and refill my water bottle of Perpetuem. It was a nice break. My dad and a volunteer helped to refill my water bladder, while I was able to chat with Maya, Delaney, Harper, and Sarah. After leaving the aid station, I felt rejuvenated and refreshed. I felt like I did at mile 5. I was super positive and motivated to finish the final 22 miles.
As I continued, it was around mile 30ish, that my hands began to get cold again....much colder than before. The sun went away and the headwind became more definitive. I continued to press on and told my dad that I needed the extra pair of gloves I had packed in my gear bag. Unfortunately, I knew I would have to wait until the next aid station for the gloves. The next aid station was at mile 36. My dad gave me the gloves, but I literally couldn't put them on. My hands were so cold that I had no dexterity in my fingers to even grasp the gloves and pull them on. My dad attempted to help pull the gloves on, but I had no control over my fingers. Every time he would try to pull the gloves onto my fingers, my pinkie and ring finger would involuntarily fold over. It was frustrating beyond belief. It was roughly at mile 35 that I officially wanted to quit. Miles 35-45 were mentally the most difficult stretch I've had in any race. It was at this point were every foot strike was painful. I felt every single push off in my hamstrings. It felt as though I was flirting with the line that divided failure and success. It felt like I was so close to cramping up. It was miserable. My hands were numb, my legs hurt, and I just wanted to be done. I've never felt this negative in a race before. I've never been pushed so far to my physical limits. The thought of quitting has never crossed my mind during a race before. There were moments I honestly felt like just curling up in a ball and crying. But I pushed on. About a mile after getting my new pair of gloves, my dad found me and purchased a pack of hand warmers. Those hand warmers made such a huge difference in my race. My hands slowly warmed up and I started to feel "normal" again.
At roughly mile 44, I reached Monument Hill. To quote the event guide, "Monument Point Road climbs 230 vertical feet in just over half a mile with a maximum grade of 14%. No Kidding. Sorry, it's the only way to get from point A to point B. No shame in walking up it!" I will admit, the hill was tougher than they described. It was long, it was steep, and it was at the worst point in the race, mile 44...What. The. Hell. As if we weren't tired enough as it was. The hill seemed to never end. There was a slight left hand curve and I thought the hill would level out after the turn, but oh was I wrong. It continued. It sucked and I walked it all, and I still struggled. After getting to the top of the climb, my mood changed. I made it to the final aid station. Aid station #9. I was now at mile 45.7. Only 4.3 miles to go. Leading up to this point, my strategy was to walk every 2 miles. But by the time I got to this mile 45, I was pretty much walking at every mile marker. At the final aid station, I opted to stop and take advantage of the nutrition they were offering. I grabbed a cup of flat coke and a couple of cherry Jolly Rancher hard candies. I remember how well my body handled coke during the Ironman, so I knew my body could handle it. As far as the Jolly Ranchers, I was really craving something sweet and those hit the spot. After leaving the aid station, I tried my best to keep my pace going and run to each mile marker and then take a short walking break. But, I just couldn't. Every time I would start running, my legs ached, my lungs hurt, and my heart rate sky rocketed. I did my best to run as much as possible. I would arbitrarily pick out a landmark and tell myself to run to that point. After reaching that point, I'd "earn" my walk break. I did this until mile marker 49. Once I reached mile 49, I told myself, "there was no way I was going to walk the final mile, no matter how slow of a pace I could manage. I did it. I was able to "run" the final mile. As I came into Sunset Park, I saw my dad with Maya and Delaney, who were ready to run across the finish line with me. We had this planned ahead of time and it was so worth it. It was probably the highlight of my day. The three of us ran the final 100 yards of the race together and crossed the finish line hand-in-hand. I crossed the finish line in 7:40:08 (9:13/mile pace) and I had no idea what place I finished in, I only knew that two people finished ahead of me, as they passed me during the final 2 miles and I just didn't have the energy to stick to their heels.
Post Race
After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher's medal, which was the "Fall 50" logo with gold chain. The hole of the zero was conveniently a bottle opener. I had my entire support crew at the finish line waiting for me; my parents, Sarah and Harper, and my brother and his wife. I immediately needed to get some warm clothes on, but I honestly didn't pack anything warm enough. Just a pair of sweatpants and a thin cycling jacket. It was better than nothing, but I would have loved a stocking cap and a warm hooded sweatshirt. After I was able to catch my breath and we took some photos, I hit up the party tent, which was available to runners and the general public could enter for a small fee. Once inside the tent (which was heated), you could take advantage of all you can eat pizza and all you can drink soda and beer....and the beer they offered was great beer. Several craft breweries, many from Wisconsin. The party tent really gets rocking toward the evening after many of the relay runners finish. I don't imagine too many of the solo runners take advantage of the party atmosphere after trucking for 50 miles. I know I couldn't. I did have a couple of hard earned brews, however. After drinking a few great craft beers, I met back up with my family, who figured out that I finished 13th overall and 3rd in my age group. I was pumped! I finished much higher than I anticipated and even placed in my age group! I, by far, exceeded my expectations for my first ever ultramarathon!
After finishing, my brother asked me what was harder, this or the Ironman. To me, it was a no brainer...the 50 miler was much tougher than the Ironman. It was tougher to train for the Ironman just based purely on the amount of training volume necessary, but the event itself was easier. See, during an Ironman, your day is broken up with 3 separate disciplines, swimming, biking, and running. I was never doing one event for more than five and half hours. But, in an ultramarathon, your stuck running for a long time....a very long time. The constant pounding on your body adds up, it just continues to compound. Each foot strike becomes harder and more painful than the last. It gets to the point were you just want to lay down, but you know if you stop and lay down, you won't be able to get up. It was, no doubt, the most mentally challenging thing I have ever attempted...and finished. I was also asked if I would ever do it again. Right then and there, without hesitation, said, "No fucking way!" I even ruled out ever even thinking of doing a 100 miler. I told my family that I was thrilled and happy and had no regrets of training for, and finishing the Fall 50, but was happy to never do it, or another ultramarathon again.
What's on Tap
Well, were do I go from here. After finishing the Ironman, I had a similar void. In endurance sports, the natural progression is to go longer. Most people stop at the marathon, but I kept going. I went up to 50 miles. So now what, a 100k (62 miles)? 100 miles? I really don't know. I know I was adamant that I would never do another ultramarathon. But similar to someone who swears off drinking the morning after a day long bender....the hangover eventual wears off and you are right back at it. I don't know if I will ever run another 50 miler, or ever try my hand at a 100 miler. But I know I'm open to thinking about it. But it won't be for a few years.
This past year, I was reminded what it was like to be a parent of 3 kids and the amount of stress training for an event like this puts on my family. I promised Sarah that 2017 would be a training plan free year and I would not compete in any events lasting longer than an hour (no marathons). But, here I sit. Part of me really wants to capitalize on my current running fitness and try to break 3 hours (a life long goal of mine) in a spring marathon. The other part of me wants to do what I did in 2015 and just train as my life dictates and run a bunch of 5k's and 10k's with a sprint triathlon sprinkled into the mix. But as for right now, I'm enjoying the time off from long runs and am enjoying the extra time with my kids. Sarah and I are now devoting our spare time to working on our home and finishing our basement and replacing the flooring on the first floor.
So much like I did in the Fall 50, I'm taking my life, one mile at a time, by putting one foot in front of the other!
