Race Report: Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon (my Austin “make-up” marathon)
Background:
I was signed up for the Austin Distance Challenge (a 6 race series: 10K, 10 mller, 2 half marathons, a 30k, and culminating in the Austin Marathon), I’d completed the first 5 races, but then was unable to run in the Austin Marathon. In short, my dog got sick, and kept me up all night, and when my alarm went off at 5am I’d only been asleep for about an hour. I’ve heard that the sleep the night before a marathon doesn’t matter that much, and it’s the two night two days before the marathon that counts. However, I felt like I was drunk when that alarm went off, and just couldn’t face it. I was pretty gutted. However, when I phoned by wife (who is somewhat ironically currently studying in London at the moment), she said that I should go out and cheer people on. I really didn’t want to, and felt pretty humiliated as I walked to 34th and Duval to see runners. However, I am glad I did as I saw Michael, Jonathan, Karen and Ivi. I then headed home to lick my wounds, and take care of the dog. She is now fine, but she had to get some fun pills and potions to get her back to 100%. Before the Austin Marathon I had promised myself a 6 month break from hard running, and I decided to stick to this plan despite the setback. As such I didn’t run for a week. Then on the following Saturday I planned a few fun activities for my birthday. During the festivities Jonathan passed me a card which said something to effect of “you owe me a marathon in the next 60 days”. I thought it was a joke at first, but it soon became apparent that he wasn’t joking. The next day he emailed me a couple of possibilities for races. I opted for the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon for a few reasons. First it was close to an area that Jonathan lived while he was in high school, and I thought running on the trail would be fun.
The Day Before Race Day: It was a pretty full day of travelling to Houston as the traffic was pretty horrific, I think it took about 5 hours to get down there. Jonathan has also been assigned the task of fixing the garbage disposal. I’m not much a handyman so I was in charge of passing tools etc. He managed to remove the existing unit, but it became apparent that it was beyond repair. So it was off to Home Depot to buy a replacement. We got lost a couple of times, but eventually got there right around 9pm. We were then misdirected a couple of times while in the store, but eventually we were able to locate the requisite aisle. Fortunately, they had the exact unit…the Badger 500…so we made out purchase, and headed back to his Mum’s. The good part about all of this is that it prevented me from dwelling on the race, and I got a good nights sleep.
Race Day:
When the alarm went off, I felt pretty good. However, when I checked the latest weather forecast it showed that while the temperatures were the same as previously predicted, the sun would be coming out much sooner than previously expected ;o(. That wasn’t good news, but it reinforced in my mind the need to take it easy, and not worry about times. It was about 64/65 degrees at the start and 90+ humidity. By the time I finished it was it was probably getting close to about 75 degrees, and still pretty humid. So it wasn't Boston 2012, but no walk in the park either.
The race consisted of four 6.5 mile loops. Each loop was about 80% on a town lake type trail surface with about 20% on the road/concrete. Parts of loop were alongside a road, but there were also some very picturesque sections through little wooded areas, alongside a river/canal, and my favorite stretch along by the sea front. Not only did the sea front section have great views, but a nice cooling sea breeze….and a well situated water stop. There were 4 aid stations on the loop, so you were never far from water/Gatorade. In this respect the race was very well organized. The parking situation was easy, course signs were very clear. There were also lots of volunteers, and probably the best free food/drink selection I’ve ever seen at a race. They also had signs with questions like “which film won best picture at the Oscars”, and then a hundred yards after there would be the answer. The one that made me laugh the most was “runners don’t die they just smell like they did”. Perhaps one area where the signage was almost too good was that each mile was marked. So on the first couple of laps when you passed “mile 25” you knew that wasn’t you, but by the 3rd lap the mind mind starts to play tricks on you ;o).
This was the 10th running of the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon. There were a few hardy souls who have run each and every one of them. So before the start those brave souls were inaugurated into the Leprechaun Hall of Fame. Is there a greater honor that a runner can aspire too? Next it was the US anthem, and then it was time to go. Jonathan and I started nice and easy at around 8:30 pace. We felt good, and for the first lap the temperature didn’t feel too bad. However, the sun was not yet out. We were both very surprised at how nice the course was. However, I did get a little nervous when we went over a swampy section that said “beware alligators and snakes”…that was close to the “runners don’t die they just smell like they did” sign…maybe they were trying to tell us something?!?!
On the second lap the sun came out, and you could feel a pretty instant difference in the temperature. I realized that I was going to chug more water/Gatorade at each stop. However, I still felt pretty ok. By this point there were lots of folks on the trail. The half marathon (2 laps) had started 15 minutes after us, and the course involved lots of double backs so you’d see runners coming/going all the time. As such while there wasn’t much crowd support there was a great deal of camaraderie amongst the runners. You would hear everyone offering words of encouragement…from the guy who won the race to the slowest walker/runner who’d started at hour or so before the regular runners. We were also in awe of this girl who probably about 10 who had an amazing stride and must have run something like a 1:30-1:35 for a half marathon on the trail in that heat…amazing!
The third loop is where I really started to struggle. I had to slow down more and more, and then really take my time at the water stops as I was getting hot. I also thought for a moment about jumping in the alligator swamp ;o). This was also the lap when my brain would get a little fuzzy about which mile marker applied to me. Was I really at mile 22 or mile 16…deep down I knew it was 16, but you can’t blame me for the wishful thinking. I thought about quitting a few times, but I thought about how I didn’t want to end my season that way, all the help and support people had shown me to get me to this point, and I also didn’t want to have to explain to folks why I didn’t finish. (I’d had to recount the story of my dog about a hundred times ;o). Long story short is that I got myself out of the funk within a mile or two, and I had renewed focus to finish, and to stay under 4 hours.
At the start of the final lap I had a few words with Jonathan. He’d pulled me a long for almost 20 miles. How it did that 4 after Austin I will never know, but I am very grateful. Now I had just one lap left. While I was tired, I felt relaxed and ready to do battle with one more lap. However the sun was now getting pretty strong. About 2 miles into the loop, I suddenly got very hot, and my heart rate got very high. I immediately stopped running, and walked for 2-3 minutes. Fortunately I then entered the short shaded wooded area, and I felt much better. I started back up running albeit slowly until the water stop on the sea front. I drank 3 or 4 cups of water, took a couple of the cold towels, and I felt much better. I walked along the stretch by the sea. It was grassy, the clouds rolled in, and there was a beautiful breeze. I wished that I could just have sat there all day as the view was wonderful. However, I was less than 3 ½ miles from home. So I gathered myself and started back up. I felt pretty good for about 1 ½ miles, and then I felt hot again, I walked a little, and soon after I started up there was the mile 25 mile marker. I put my head down, and put on a “kick” of about an 8 min/mile. The last mile was along by the river/canal, and then you turn a corner and you can see the finish. You had to go round a couple of turns to get to the finish, but I could see it. A couple of corners, and I was home. My reward for finishing the race…quite possibly the ugliest medal I’ve ever received. I crossed the line in 3:57 and change. That’s the slowest of the 9 marathons I’ve completed. However, I am pleased as I really enjoyed the course, and the support from the runners long the way. I also got to finish my season off the right way. I was also proud of the way that I didn’t panic when I knew my time wouldn’t be what I hoped for. I was sensible, and I made sure that I made it round in one piece. The proof is always in the pudding…and while my legs aren’t 100% today, they feel a lot better than they normally do after a marathon. Part of that is from running on the trail, but running with joy and listening to your body also helps ;o).
After the race:
I grabbed some food, we drank some green beer (it was St Patrick’s day after all), and then headed back to base. While I slowly sorted myself out, showered, and got changed, Jonathan then had the fun task of installing the badger 500 garbage disposal unit. The idea of bending and contorting myself after running 20 miles seemed pretty bad, I don’t know how he did it. After everything was installed, and we’d tidied up we headed back towards Austin. However, first we needed some lunch. I fancied pizza, and Jonathan was obliging enough to agree. We’d read some good reviews for “pizza king”. However, let me just say that the food was not fit for a king ;o)….although it was cheap. I guess it just goes to show that you get what you pay for!.
Takeaways from this experience:
I am very fortunate to have such great friends. Jonathan provided me with the opportunity to finish my season the right way. He set the challenge, he drove me to/from Houston, we stayed at his Mum’s house, and he ran nigh on 20 miles for me just 4 weeks after he’d run a BQ time in the Austin marathon. You really couldn’t ask for a better friend. In addition, I’d like to thank David who looked after my dog while I was in Houston. I’m hoping that his cat will recovery from the trauma in the coming days. Needless to say I owe these two gentlemen a few drinks ;o).
What’s next: I am pretty confident that I will sign up to the distance challenge next year. While it will be tough, and Austin isn’t the easiest course, it will be nice not to have to travel to a race. I also feel confident that I can run a good time. I just need to work on my core (a lot), and find a way to get to mid-week Gazelle workouts while my wife is out of town. I also hope that a bearded Gazelle will be joining me in the distance challenge, and trying to BQ at Austin.
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