Tallahassee Ultradistance Classic 50 miler (Dec. 8, 2007)

Temps 51 to 78, some sun, humid.

I gained 12 lbs since my injury in October. My right quad had atrophied after I decided to stay in the San Fran 24 hour race despite the shutdown of my right leg 94 miles in. I stuck it out for another 23 miles to earn 2nd place when it would have been wise to quit.(it was supposed to be a training run for the 48 hour event but my competitiveness kicked in) The trigger was a calf strain from running a 6:16 mile PR 4 days before. But the cumulative trauma of running a 3:25 marathon PR on a quad burning downhill course with tight calfs and shins in St George followed by a 4:04 marathon the next day in Chicago in 88 degree heat, probably left me with few healthy muscle fibers in reserve. I ran 2 100 milers in 2 weeks in Feburary, coming in 1st place in the 2nd 100 miler --- so high race mileage in itself wasn't the culprit.

If you do the same thing all the time, you won't learn anything - either from you successes or failures. You really don't know what's going to happen unless you try whether intentionally or from a arbitrarily packed schedule.

Some of that weight gain is from eating more carbs - oatmeal, brown rice and gluten free bread. It all becomes bodyfat if you don't use it.

Since my injury, I've made attempts to run 100 meters to see how my recovery is coming along. I limped my way through the OUC 1/2 marathon last week. My healthy leg buckled, perhaps to give the injured leg more time to stride.

As I have gotten defensive about running while injured (RWI?), I was very quiet about signing up for this 50 miler. Only 3 people knew. There was a 50k option, but if I am going to drive 4 1/2 hours, I may as well run 50 miles. The prevailing wisdom is to wait till I am back to 100% strength before going though the process of learning to run again. It generally takes about 4 months to run with a normal gait. Then I would still need more months to work on recovering my speed and endurance.

My immediate concern is weight gain, the lost of cardiovascular fitness as well as running specific muscular fitness. I already missed the 48 hour race. I still wanted to finish the year with 8 marathons and 8 ultras totaling 842 miles for 2007, about 340 miles further than last year. My original goal was to double my race mileage to 1000 miles.

This is my 2nd run since October -- so I have lost much of my aerobic fitness. Since this was an easy run with no time goal other than making the 10 hour cutoff at mile 48, I did not follow any particular nutrition plan. As an easy run, I didn't bother to get my hips aligned by my chiropractor.These shorter distances are more of a challenge in patience.

My physical therapist emailed me last week and suggested that I shouldn't run until I am back at full strength. I was up to 60% last week up from 30%. I should be getting close enough to sufficient strength for a normal gait. She is right, that I would run the risk of developing overuse injuries on the good leg. My good leg and lower back have been getting tight.

I need to email her back my compromise. Except for a few races (1/2, 2 fulls, 2 50s, 1 100), I am giving my right quads 5 months to regain its strength. I won't be running for 5 months but I will be crosstraining at the gym.

On Thurs, I asked Ruth to observe me while I attempted to run 20-30 feet. She came up with a great idea. Instead of trying to make the injured leg run like the uninjured leg, I should try to mimic the injured leg. I was running with a horrible gait that I developed to take the load off the injured leg even though the injured leg is now stronger. I needed to learn to incorporate the new strength into my gait.

I tried speeding up my heathly leg and not bending as much. It worked! My gait was much more balanced and I could go faster. I acquired new confidence about running a good 50 miler. Thanks Ruth!

In 50 miles. I will plenty of time to work on running form. When I started, a fast walker, asked me whether my limp is something that worked itself out during the first few miles. By mile 12, I was running with a decent form. The volunteers said I was running with a better gait toward the end of the race.

I passed the marathon mark around 5:15 averaging a 12:00 pace. It was 44 seconds per mile faster than my time at the OUC 1/2 last week. It was 85 seconds per mile faster than my Marine Corps time - one week after my injury. But it is still 53% slower than my best marathon.

It was hot and humid by noon and I started running slower. My forearms were encrusted in salt.

I needed to make the cutoff -- I had to be at the 48 mile mark in 10 hours. I starting getting nervous around 8 and 1/2 hours. I hyperventilated. I wasn't totally sure that the mileage on my GPS was exact. I ran a little harder and made the cutoff in 9:59:33. A good 27 seconds early.

After making the 48 mile cutoff, I lost all motivation and finished the 50 miler leisurely. I apologized to the timekeeper for taking an extra 2 minutes. I finished in 10hrs 29mins. averaging a 12:35 pace.

The race fee was only $35 including a t-shirt and a plaque - the best value for marathons and ultras. The volunteers and runners were friendly. I would do this one again despite the short distance. When my legs are healthy, I would still be too slow to place well at this distance.

This is my 7th ultra this year with an average distance of 83 miles. One more to go.