sábado, 3 de enero de 2015

Spirit of Rock 2013

Spirit of Rock 50 Miles

This race was my second 50 miller. I learned in my first 50 miller that the distance itself was conformable and although I had struggle I consider that this was mostly due to the race being a night race. So I decided to give a try to 50 miles during the day. 

I choose this race because I had previously pace a friend in part of the course under the formed name (Rock & River). I enjoyed the sound of the rain the night before but was please when I realized there was not going to be rain on race day. As expected my final time was close to the prior 50 miler I completed,11hrs and 29 minutes. But the route proof to be easier to complete with sunlight. 

My sister agree to be my crew and she drove me to Cool early in morning day. I slept over at her house in order to make the trip easier for her. I had to modify my ritualistic approach to getting ready for a race and slept at her guest room trying not to intrude much with my sister's family. We drove the 45 minutes that take to get from Cool to her house in good spirits and joking.

When we arrived at the race it was still dark. The race participants were already lined up at the starting line and I joined them while the race director joked and gave instructions for the race. The races organized by this group are small with a few aid stations and few volunteers assisting. Is not uncommon to reach a station that has only water and no volunteers. My preparation for this race had been a bit sloppy and unstructured but I made sure to get plenty of miles to be ready and as a result I was confident in finishing and was just looking forward to enjoying the trails.

We started enthusiastically and marched towards the trails in unison.Gradually the sun came out and runners started to spread out along the course according to their pace, unfolding like an irregular sound wave. The first 30 miles were easy. I did not feel like I rushed and focused in conserving my energy. I felt happy with the course, the familiarity with the trails that I love and enjoy allowed me to reach each mile focusing on my favorite spots, a tree, a group of rocks, the different microclimates and its seasonal vegetation. 

I did not feel like I struggle but until I reached mile 30. I took the wrong trail at Cavitt adding 3 miles to the course. I did not realized about it but until I reached the next aid station and I inquire about mileage. I was told that in between the last station and that station there was 5 miles. My body is used by now to estimate distances better than my brain does and my body said it had been 8 miles. I got a chance to verify the distance later on and my body was correct. In Trail running like in life sometimes when we are familiar with a path or a trail we become overconfident in our abilities therefore making mistakes. 

My pace started slowly to decline from that point forward. It took me longer that calculated to reach my pacer at Negro Bar which was mile 40.  He had to wait for me for 1 hour and a half. For this race they calculated the splits the old fashion way, by registering the bib number of each runner when they get to the aid stations. That allowed my pacer to keep track of were I was which was helpful for him.

I was starting to feel tired when I finally reach him. I was self conscious of my performance during the last 10 miles because my pacer was the Director of News at the local Spanish TV station, my brother in law best friend and if I bonk it would be an epic fail they would joke about for a while. Fortunately that did not happen and he turned out to be a good firm pacer and kept me on track allowing me to finish in the predicted time. He told me silly stories from his life from which I have not recollection what so ever but that kept me distracted. Every time I stopped to take a short walk break he would clap loudly a couple of times which caused me to start running again. He would get ahead of me and extend his hand as if offering assistance which cause me to speed up to reach him only to take off putting more distance between us which caused me to forget about my exhaustion and smile. 

When we reach the Nimbus hatchery we became disoriented and confused, there was no markings in the trail anymore and we didn't know what to do. We asked a couple of people for directions with no success. We decided to follow the paved trail since it made the most sense. It turned out to be the right route. The night cough us trying to reach the finishing line. Somehow the last miles of the race feel always as the longest ever. At the last two miles I was starting to become really annoyed about the poor light in the trail and about how lonely it was and a sense of urgency to finish cause me to speed up as much as the exhaustion allowed me. 

We reach the finishing line well after dark. My sister was waiting for us there and was starting to wonder what was taking us so long. In running like in life sometimes people don't realize about the tremendous amount of effort that it takes to go the distance so we have to be patience with their lack of understanding. My pacer was very happy at the end. It was the first time for him being part of a race and he seemed satisfied with the experience so was I for I notice after a while that my body although tired was still strong and standing. My sister thought I looked horrible at the end and she made sure to express how crazy she thought I was for being an endurance runner stating she would never again helped me in a race for she was not willing to participate in myself destructing behaviors, just words born out of love and concern I thought. She said that after she gave me a bouquet of flowers and hugged me proudly. I took her words for what they were because that is exactly the same thing I tell myself while running the last miles of a race, but then I find myself running again. Running has thought me that too, sometimes we speak out of fear but act out of love. 

Spirit of Rock taught me that 50 miles is a comfortable distance for my body. You get to put some miles in but not over stretch yourself if you know how to be patient and pace yourself. It taught me to that you don't have to follow religiously a training plan in order to feel ready. And if your goal is to enjoy the race the best thing you can do is be consistent with training, plan every training run as an experience to be enjoyed by itself, but don't stress if your are unable to stick to the training plan. You don't have to be perfect. You just have do back to back runs with incremental distances and believe in yourself.