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El Scorcho-Dos. Midnight 25K. Fort Worth, Texas
Since this is the running forum, figured I would post up my RR from my 25K this past weekend!
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El Scorcho- Dos
Fort Worth, Texas
7-20-08
12:00 AM (midnight) Start time
25 K
15.53 miles
Total run time: 2:55:00
Pace was a 11:16 minute mile
Pre-race routine:
Well, I had a 2.5 hour bike ride in the morning. It was a pretty easy ride, because my body refused to go fast. I was done riding by 11:30 AM which was really nice.
Then I went to shop for living room furniture. I wasn't done with that until 2:30 PM. I was hungry, and my feet hurt. Not good.
I then headed over to CiCi's Pizza and pigged out. Once I was completely stuffed, I went home and took a 2-hour nap. Woke up, got ready and went to Jonny's.
The plan was to leave his place around 10:00 PM. Fort Worth is about an hour from where we live and the race started at midnight. We also had to pick up around race packet.
I was hungry around 9:30 PM (I had not eaten since CiCi's). So I ate 2 pieces of bread with PB. It held me for like a hour.
Event Warmup:
We got to Fort Worth, parked the car like a mile from the start (it was a long walk), and then went to pick up our packet.
The packet was a nice bag with a sleeveless tech shirt. Nice shirt! Nothing else was in the bag. No advertisements, nothing. Whatever. The shirt was cool.
We then waited around until the start time. The 25K was due to start around 12:10 AM, and the 50K was staring at midnight.
I was hungry at this point. Never good to start a 3 hour run on an empty stomach. Although, I do that when I run Sunday mornings. Jonny offered up a Mojo bar (200 calories) and I ate that 30 minutes before the run. I knew that wouldn't be great for my stomach on the run, but I was hungry.
After the 50K runners took off, our group got in line. I kissed Jonny and wished him luck. He was going to run the entire distance, and since I was walk/running I seated myself at the very back.
Race:
WOW! This race was FUN! I found my heaven! Running at night, with my music playing in my ears. I LOVED IT! I felt amazing. It wasn't torture like running in the morning is. I wish I could do night time runs in training all the time.
The first lap I went out a little fast. I felt that Mojo bar in my tummy and it cramped. I could feel it cramping. Didn't slow me down, but it didn't feel good. My plan was to take in a gel every 25 minutes like I do on my training runs, but I decided I better not do that with my tummy cramping.
I had not brought my hand held water bottle, because I left it at home. Ugh. I did bring a regular water bottle though, in case I needed it. I figured I would just get water at the aid stations. There was an aid station at 1.68 miles and at 3 miles. That wasn't going to work. I picked up my regular water bottle after the first loop.
Second lap was good. Tummy settled down. I finally took in a gel around 1:25. The second lap was pretty uneventful. I had a headlamp on, but as time went on I used it less and less. We were running on a packed white surface (what is that called? Kind of like gravel?) for the most part. Talk about DUST! The head lamp just showed all the dust I was sucking in. So I tried to use it as little as possible.
After the second lap I stopped at my bag to put some body glide on under my left armpit. I have this place that always chafes. It doesn't matter how much body glide I put on when I start. After an hour it chafes. So I have to constantly dry off the area and reapply. During my IM will need to carry a travel body glide and keep putting it on.
The third lap was pretty uneventful too. I just kept moving. I was really in a zone. I was listening to this set by Paul Van Dyk. One of my favorite DJ's! Being out there, with my music reminded me of the days when I use to party all night long in fields! Took me back to those amazing times! I remembered when I went to Ibiza, Spain and saw Paul Van Dyk play like a 4-hour set at Amnesia. We partied till the sun came up! So it was a nice reminder of the good 'ol days.
The fourth lap was just me still going. Walking/running. Just going and going. I was in a zone.
I caught Jonny towards the end of the fourth lap. He was walking and he looked pretty miserable. I said hello and he said that he broke down. I just said, "Gotta keep moving, gotta finish"... and off I went. I didn't even break stride. Once I got further down the path I felt bad for not stopping and talking. I thought about waiting for him or going back but I was in this zone. Thus, I didn't even break stride when I saw him. I told him I was sorry later.
I had told myself I was going to run as much of the fifth/last lap as possible. I was going to blow it out! I ran most of the way and worked hard to come in under 3 hours!
Note: I ended up taking in 3 gels total.
Crossed the finish line (the time mat/start) and they took off my chip and gave me a medal. I was wobbly and it hurt to walk. I was not walking straight anymore, that's for sure! I went and got some water and waited for Jonny to finish. He came in about 20 minutes after me.
With all of that said, that walk/run hurt. It hurt bad. I'm pretty sore today (Sunday and Monday!). Hurt more than my morning runs. When I stopped I was done moving. I have to go 11 more miles in Kentucky, 8-31-08. It's going to be 11 miles of sucking it up and moving slower.
What would you do differently?
The only thing I would have done differently would have been my nutrition that night prior to racing. I should have eaten dinner. Even though it didn't affect my race, and my pace was exactly what I expected, it was stupid of me not to eat.
Warm-Down:
My warm-down was waiting for Jonny to come across the line. Once he was done I got him something to drink. Then I ate a burrito while he rested. After that I went and got the car and drove it down to Jonny so he wouldn't have to walk that far.
We left the race site at 4:15 AM and got home around 5:00 AM. Finally fell into bed at 5:30 AM.
Event Comments:
I have to say, if you like being up at night, this is the race for you! Tons of fun. I can't say enough about how great it was. Sure, I hated running on a gravel path part of the loop, but overall fun times.
This is only the second year they have done this race, but it was organized nicely. Lots of wonderful volunteers. As I came through each lap they would write down my number. They did have a timing map though.
The story about how this race came about is funny. Basically a bunch of friends wanted to do a race at night, versus the early morning, and this race was born.
I hope I am able to do this again next year. I really enjoyed it! My shoes will never be the same again after all the dust they collected, but it was a good time!
Here is a picture of Jonny and I before the race!
