Race report: the trail marathon

The day began in a fog. We had oatmeal at the Bigboy near the hotel and headed north to Silver lake in the Pinkney State recreation area Northwest of Ann Arbor Mi.

My first thought when we arrived was,"this would be a great place for a triathlon". We sauntered about. I took care of the morning personal mission to encourage intestinal comfort. I readied my race belt and cloths. packaged up the ipod Nike+. No headphones, just to record data. I was ready. As a triathlete, I was itching to adjust any piece of gear I could. But this set up was a simple one. With a chip on each shoe Mary wished me well and I headed to the starting line.

The marathon was a small field of maybe 250. The 1/2 drew a much bigger group of runners that left an hour after us. Everyone just sort of calmly waited for the start. An old hippie climbed up on a stump and made some announcements, and started the race. I hit the face of my Timex and the center button of the ipod and began running.

The first loop went smoothly. I ran without issue and felt strong. The fog was lifting, but the air was still heavy. The rising temperatures were also awakening zillions and zillions of little bugs. Many of them wanted me not to be a vegetarian as they flew into my mouth. Aside from bugs and humidity, the first 13 just consisted of me following a runner up and down hills along a single track path through the woods. the group slowly spread out, but we all remained within site of other runners.

At the half hay point we passed the start/finish and the only spectators along the course. This was welcome. I searched for Mary and announced to her and the crowd that I was no longer a veg as I had swallowed many an insect. I grabbed some food, talked for a moment with an aid worker about The Cleveland marathon. Mary walked with me as I gobbled down some food, and I ran off and onto the second loop.

Everything was going well and runners ahead of me were beginning to fall back. I began targeting folks and making my move. I had just over taken one runner and was cresting a hill ready to shoot down the other side when my right foot failed to clear a small obstacle. I tried to stabilize for one moment before preparing for an emergency landing. I got my arms in, tucked my chin, and rotated to my side. I landed evenly with light impact to my shoulder and a little scrape of the knee. The fall was a thing of beauty. The many years I have spent falling down paid off. I was a little dirty and scraped, but I was more then fine. I climbed to my feet, assured the runner who was now retaking his position that I was in good shape. and continued on with the race. At the next aid station I cleaned my wounds.
One volunteer asked, "Are you having fun?".
I told him, " I was doing somersault out there".
He assured me I was looking better then a lot of others.

Within a mile and a half, the wheels started to come loose. My stomach was not behaving and the heat was taking it's toll. I was not at all prepared for 85 degrees. Most of the rest of the run was spent walking the climbs, descending with care, and jogging the flats. At one point around 23 I paused to regroup when my heart rate seemed a bit to high.

I maintained a rhythm and finally crossed the finish line at 5:58.14. I had beaten 6hrs. I felt this was something to celebrate.
I don't recall my IMKY run time, but I think this was a personal worst. This was a tough day. I sat down and began my recovery. I looked over at a guy holding a hand full of finisher medals and asked. "Do I get one of those?"
He said, "Yep."
I crashed on the ground for a bit and took a cold shower of sorts before Mary and I headed into Ann Arbor to Watch the Cavs play. We missed the first half as the the locals were more interested int the Bulls/Boston game and the Tigers.

Final thoughts:
This race kicked my ass.
I have absolutely no complaints about the race itself. I will likely return.
I plan to run Cleveland now. My training went well and I think I can run better then I did.
I have a new respect for ultra racing. This was a tough race. I can not fathom 50k, 50, or 100 miles. This still boggles my mind. This usually means I can't shake the idea of trying.