Rocks
& Roots & Running & Racing & (c)Rapping
Running an ultra is never easy…not for me, anyway. I
don’t succumb to that old adage which declares, “If it was easy, everyone would
do it.” Take a look around you at almost any time and you’ll spot at least two
and a half lazy bastards content to recline on their couch, drinking Mountain
Dew and making fun of those of us doing ridiculous things like having jobs and
taking our kids to the park. I do agree, however, that the sense of accomplishment I feel at the
completion of an ultra lies deeply embedded in the depths of how fucking hard it
is. So maybe I would edit the above statement to something like, “If it was
easy, I wouldn’t do it.”
For the January installment of the 3rd
annual Rocks & Roots Trail Race at Alum Creek State Park, I was feeling
prepared and, yes, let me just say it, fucking psyched! My training has gone
well over the past few months, leaving me feeling as strong and self-assured as
ever in my running career. I have maintained my program of CrossFit + a little
less mileage at higher intensity. My nutrition has continued to revolve around
a Paleo based diet, and it continues to work for me. I feel stronger, faster
and all around twinklier on my toes. My recovery is speedier and my energy
levels higher.
After much success with developing a race plan- and
then sticking with it- at the Montour 24-Hour back in July, I figured it would
be fun to try that approach again. I developed a pace chart with four options,
varying from a 4.5 to 5.5 hour finish. My previous PR at the 50k distance is
5:39. That was on a very flat (though sandy) course in Florida, at the Guana
50k in 2013. The Guana course was quite a bit long, putting my time at the
actual 31 mile mark 5:25-ish. Based on
my current training and fitness levels, I felt- and continue to believe- that a
sub-5 hour 50k finish can be mine, given the right course and conditions.
I went into Rocks & Roots knowing that the
weather could seriously fuck-up my plans. It is winter in Ohio, after all.
Weather aside, the course is relatively flat compared to the trails I typically
run, lending itself to fast times, though it does offer a few challenging
rollers that work you over in the late miles. On race day, much to my glee,
course conditions were as near to perfect as anyone could have hoped for! Yay!
A couple days out, I began my pre-race rituals. This
starts with the printing of a sacred document: Rob’s Race Essentials. This spreadsheet began as a list of shit I
didn’t want to forget prior to my first 100-miler. It served its purpose well,
and has since grown into the ever-changing and adaptable list of shit I can’t
live without at races. Garmin, Ipod, bottles, vest, pedialyte, audiobooks,
extra socks, lube, and on and on.
Next came the drop bags. My giant pink tote which
has also served me well over the years, was stuffed past full as always. An
extra duffel bag on top because its fucking winter in Ohio and I never know how
many layers or exactly what type of layers will work for the many small or
large variations in temperature, precipitation and wind.
The night before the race we had planned to go to
visit a couple of our friends who have children close to the same age as Xander
and Izabella. We had a great dinner, made some arts-n-crafts and then had an
epic Nerf-gun battle! We were all enjoying ourselves so much that none of us
wanted to leave. Alas, dad had to wake up at 4am the following morning, so
around 9pm, we headed home. By the time my gear was readied it was after 10pm.
Whoops! As I prepared to climb into bed I found a sweet little note on my pillow,
with a tiny purple barrette attached. Both were from my awesome daughter
Izabella. She wanted to wish me luck at my adventure and the barrette was
something for me to wear as a good luck charm. I went over to her room to thank
her and she told me she wanted to see if the barrette would stay attached all
day, or fall off in the woods. I told her it had no choice but to stay on!
The 50k distance at Rocks & Roots kicked off at
8am, but offered an early start option at 7am. I love early starts because they
allow me to go enjoy my day in the woods with all my crazy compadres, and have
an extra hour of the day with my kiddos when I’m finished. There were several others
who opted for the early start as well. We huddled around the fire for a few
minutes as Jeff Henderson, the RD (and all-around cool dude), gave us a brief
run-down of the course and sent us on our way, right on time.
The first loop went by swimmingly. My night vision
is currently akin to a 90-year-old man with an eye-patch, but I muddled through
with my trusty flashlight, navigating the very well-marked course through some
great single-track trails. The light snow was tramped down, but the ground was
still soft in most places. I rarely felt like I was running on hard-packed snow
and ice. During this first trip around there were just a couple of sneaky,
slippery downhill spots which could be easily navigated around.
My pace chart:
Cummulative Miles
|
Loops
|
Loop Miles
|
Split
|
Time
|
Clock Time
|
1
|
1
|
9:30
|
0:09:30
|
||
2
|
9:00
|
0:18:30
|
|||
3
|
8:30
|
0:28:00
|
|||
4
|
9:30
|
0:37:30
|
|||
5
|
9:00
|
0:46:30
|
|||
6
|
8:30
|
0:55:00
|
|||
7
|
2
|
9:30
|
8:04 AM
|
1:04:30
|
|
8
|
9:00
|
1:13:30
|
|||
9
|
8:30
|
1:22:00
|
|||
10
|
9:30
|
1:31:30
|
|||
11
|
9:00
|
1:40:30
|
|||
12
|
8:30
|
1:49:00
|
|||
13
|
3
|
9:15
|
8:58 AM
|
1:58:15
|
|
14
|
8:45
|
2:05:00
|
|||
15
|
8:30
|
2:13:30
|
|||
16
|
9:15
|
2:22:45
|
|||
17
|
8:45
|
2:31:30
|
|||
18
|
8:30
|
2:40:00
|
|||
19
|
4
|
9:15
|
9:49 AM
|
2:49:15
|
|
20
|
8:45
|
2:58:00
|
|||
21
|
8:30
|
3:06:30
|
|||
22
|
9:15
|
3:15:45
|
|||
23
|
8:45
|
3:24:30
|
|||
24
|
8:30
|
3:33:00
|
|||
25
|
5
|
9:15
|
10:42 AM
|
3:42:15
|
|
26
|
8:45
|
3:51:00
|
|||
27
|
8:30
|
3:59:30
|
|||
28
|
9:00
|
4:07:30
|
|||
29
|
8:30
|
4:16:00
|
|||
30
|
8:15
|
4:24:15
|
|||
31
|
Finish
|
8:00
|
11:32 AM
|
4:32:15
|
This was my best-case-scenario plan, and does not
factor in my aid station stops. I have been working hard to manage my time at
aid stations better. After having my ass handed to me a few times, I have
learned that I need to make scheduled
stops frequently to eat real food at distances of 50k or longer. I need to do
this from very early on to keep enough calories in my system. To that end, I
have tried to organize my drop bag in a way that I can quickly and efficiently
grab-n-go. I am proud to report that this worked out extremely well at Rocks
& Roots! At the start/finish area my stops were only 2-3 minutes long, with
the exception of the last one….which I’ll discuss in much-too-much detail
later. At the 2.5 mile aid station I simply walked through, thanking the
volunteers, downing a couple of electrolytes and chugging an applesauce pouch
and some water. The nozzle on my handheld had started to freeze, so I employed
a tip I read online just the day before…turn it upside down! Simple and totally
effective!
The sun began to rise two miles from the end of the
first loop. It was absolutely breath-taking. Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets are
pretty much the only cool thing about winter in Ohio. This one was no exception.
Brilliant pink flooded the horizon and sprung out in a half circle for miles
and miles up and up. I immediately thought of my babies; we all love this kind
of sunrise, and my daughter and I share a love of bright pink :) I desperately
wanted to snap a picture, but my fingers were still frozen little sausage
links, even under layers of gloves and
mittens. The thought of shedding the mittens for a minute sent a shudder
through me. So I simply gazed from the sunrise, to my purple barrette, and back
again, smiling as my mind conjured up pictures of Xander and Izabella.
The loop ended with three-quarters of a mile of
nice, windy, root-filled trail, culminating in a small hill to the start/finish
area. I came in to cheers, cowbells and Jeff announcing my name and plugging
our Yo Momma’s events. Told ya…cool dude!
My race plan had me in at 1:04. I came it at 1:01. A
little fast. Wow! Didn’t feel like it at all. If anything, I expected to be a
little behind pace. My Garmin was having trouble updating fast enough to keep me
more finely tuned pace-wise. Not sure if it was the cold or the cloud-cover,
but say la vie. Amazingly, it had warmed
up just enough to ditch a layer of clothes at this point. I dropped my vest and
felt so free at the thought of being able to use my fingers again! I was in and
out of my drop bag in about two minutes.
After sucking down two applesauces and half a liter
of Pedialyte, I grabbed an AngieBar (my wife’s homemade better-than-a-LaraBar bar),
and headed out on loop #2.
I enjoyed the simple pleasure of being able to see
where the hell I was going on this loop, as well as the beauty of the course.
Jeff and the all his volunteers have done an outstanding job putting this trail
together!
I was able to stick to my pace goals very closely
this loop, with the exception of two times I got behind long lines of runners.
This is something that, of course, can’t be avoided on single-track sections. I
went out on this loop about three minutes after the regular 50k start, so this
situation was inevitable. In order to maintain my projected pace, I had to do a
little passing. As I made my way politely ahead, passing a couple of runners at
a time, in areas that were as passable as possible, I was greeted with several,
“Hey, Rob”, salutations. It’s always awesome to run into friends on the trail!
The trails were packed down nicely, but the snow was light and fluffy off to
the sides. With plenty of rocks, roots and leaves hidden underneath, I passed
with extreme caution!
At the second aid station…everyone knew me! This is
one of the great joy’s of being a Race Director myself. I typically have a
cheering section at every one of the great trail events I attend in Ohio! You
can’t put a value on having volunteers call you by name as they wish you well
and help you out.
Coming in from loop two at 2:07, I was about nine
minutes slower than my projected pace. This was most likely due to the couple
of slowdowns for passing, so I considered it a very successful loop!
Once again I sped through my aid station stop,
chowing down and refilling. This time I took one of the mini-burgers my wife
had prepared for me (isn’t she awesome?), wolfing down the burger as I walked
out onto loop #3.
The third loop was not my fastest but probably my
best overall. I knew the course well by now, got behind no long lines, and just
enjoyed my day in the woods, glancing with a smile every once-in-a-while at the
purple barrette clipped to my vest.
On and off throughout this loop I was feeling the
call of nature…I had “a big shit abrewin’”, as my dad would say. No surprise,
since I was eating plenty. The urge passed by the time I got back to the
start/finish area, at 3:12- now 23 mins
behind schedule- and could not be summoned up again- of course.
About two miles into loop #4 the urge came back…with
a vengeance! There’s nothing like shit cramps while you’re in the middle of a
trail race. I am not at all averse to shitting in the woods. In fact, my kids
thoroughly enjoy my tales of those incidents. However, when it is but-ass cold
and there is no cover because, you know, it’s fucking winter time and every
leaf on every tree is buried under a foot of snow, I like to avoid dumping
outside. Unfortunately, I was still a good four miles from the port-a-johns
when the cramps came on. Fortunately,
they sort-of hit me on and off, like contractions, except totally irregular :)
Also on this loop, my energy level really dropped.
Strange since I was eating so much that I was about to drop trow in the
ice-cold woods. At any rate, my Garmin picked this loop to function the
poorest, so I couldn’t keep track of my pace. This led me to run what I believe
was a bit too fast for a mile or so. I opted to do the smart thing and slow
down.
Observing the no headphones race policy, I turned my
I-Pod on and sang along. Rapping along to Insane Clown Posse during a 50k trail
run just seems like the height of perfection to me! I also tried to evaluate
why my energy was dropping, and what I could do to pep myself up again. Just as
these thoughts raced through my tired brain, a country tune began playing that
mentioned coffee! Ding-ding-ding! Can’t believe I forgot. I drink very little
caffeine normally- no pop at all, and only an occasional cup of decaf coffee.
The week before a race I drink none at all- specifically for this reason!
I still had three miles to go, but I pushed through
the caffeine cravings and shit cramps, coming in at 4:25, for a 1:12 loop,
holding at 23 minutess behind schedule.
As I came in to the start/finish area, I headed
straight to the porta-johns. Three more steps and I’d have been freezing my
balls off while crapping in the woods! While I sometimes enjoy a nice healthy
dump, this joyless pit-stop added a good 8-10 minutes to my finish time.
At this point I knew that sub-5 hours was out, but I
could still PR. After my boom-boom break, I headed to the aid station for the
first time. Even with my trusty list, I had forgotten to bring a pop with me!
The combo of sugar and caffeine in my paleo-friendly body seems to really do
the trick! I asked two very nice volunteers if they had pop, while another
super nice volunteer filled my water bottle for me. They replied that they did
not, with a frown. :( How about coffee? Yes? Perfect! I headed out with my
pockets full of fuel and my cup full of coffee!
Downing my sweet, brown nectar of the Gods as I
walked out on my final loop, I ran into a running pal, Brendon O’Ryan, for the
second time that day. The company was welcome on both our parts, and we chatted
as we picked up our pace.
Good Lord, caffeine is the bomb! The effect was damn
near instant! Before long I was chattering away and keeping a close eye on my
pace so as not to fuck up all the hard work of the day by sprinting off for a
mile in a caffeine-induced frenzy!
I was still buzzed and feeling fantastic at the
midway aid station, but thought it wise to cash in on one more dose of
stimulants. The awesome crew at this
stop never seemed to lose anyone throughout the day; they just kept adding
helpers! Honeslty, it looked like the most fun being had anywhere at that
moment! Lots of smiles and offers of help greeted us as we scampered in. My
request for coffee was met with the same disappointed frowns as my request for
pop had illicited at the s/f aid station. No worries! How about pop? Yes!!
Three shots of Pepsi and two applesauce pouches later, and I was dashing through the snow again.
After catching up to Brendan , I settled in to a
pace that was comfortable, while still challenging. I wasn’t able to maintain
my goal pace rotation, but I did manage a 9:20-9:40 pace for those last 4
miles. Brendan and I chatted as the miles sailed by. Thank goodness we ran into
each other out there! Thanks again for the company, brotha!
With a mile to go, Brendan read my mind. He said,
“Don’t feel like you need to stick with me if you wanna take off for the
finish, man.” I had been watching my Garmin and evaluating my situation for a
while. I wasn’t going to get my PR, but I could get really close with a nice
push to the Finish. I felt great, and decided to see what I had left in the old
tank. I picked up my pace, giving it all I had left to give….and immediately
fell straight on my ass! Wham-Bam-ThankYa-Ma’am! One of the last down-hills of
the course and it took me down hard. After a minute of whining, I sucked it up
like a true buttercup, and pushed it to the Finish.
My kiddos were waiting for me with huge smiles and
even huger hugs! I quickly pointed out to Izabella that my purple barette
survived and was a huge help to me throughout the day!
After refueling myself on hugs and kisses, and
posing for all the classic runner, family and friends flanked by the finish
line photos, my incredible family helped me pack up my gear. I am the luckiest
dude ever!
Finish time- 5:46. Wouldn’t ya just know it? Those
turds that just had to come out
probably cost me a PR :)
Oh! I got one more thing from this adventure.
Something totally unexpected, that I have never had before… a black toenail :/
After an ultra, I ditch the Paleo and all healthy
eating, and refuel with lots of really, really bad for me eats! Long John
Silvers is me and the kids fave!
My kiddos were stoked for two days about our trip to LJS, so we sailed the seven seas until we found one! I ordered the family meal, which included 12 crispy, delicious, golden chicken planks of love, hush puppies, and three sides. We don’t really care for any of the sides, except the little corn cobbettes, which are a bit messy for the car. I opted for three orders of fries. Holy monkey poop! That was a lot of fries! The three of us stuffed ourselves full of greasy goodness, laughing as we enjoyed each other’s company and conversation.
I learned a ton during this event, which was my
objective; puch myself hard enough to learn what I was capable of, but not so
much to fall apart. I feel like a took a big step towards that sub-5 hour 50k
goal.
I now know that I need to get some bigger, real-food
calories that are lighter on my stomach. Beef broth has worked well in the
past, so I’ll be adding that to my Race Essentials list. I need to plan for a
caffeine/sugar boost around the 20 mile mark, when pushing the pace for a 50k.
Also, taking the extra time pre-race to get my drop stuff laid out so I can be
even more efficient at aid station stops is crucial. I would like to get those
stops down to under a minute each.
Finally, I need to get over my reluctance to pass other runners when
necessary.
I really can’t say enough positive things about this
event. There were so many freaking amazing volunteers, shivering in the cold
but still smiling and cheering and supporting. The RD asked me every time I
came through if he could get me anything.
The aid stations were stocked with lots of choices and awesome people.
The course was gorgeous, extremely well-marked and very runnable, even with the
snow.
The trail running package for this race is awesome,
and a total bargain. For a price that we are used to seeing for just one 50k,
you get both the Jan and Feb Rocks & Roots 50ks, two kick-ass tec shirts, a
cool-as-hell sweatshirt, a Nathan handheld bottle, a pair of tec socks, and
finisher’s medals. If you complete both 50ks you also get a freaking BUCKLE!
Now that’s a deal!
If you are looking for a couple of great races to
keep you training through the winter, check out Rocks & Roots!
