Mini-Race Report: 31.1 Mile Texas Trail Run

I am absolutely beat and need a nap something fierce so I am going to give a quick recap and then I will do a more detailed Race Report tomorrow. Sorry! But to start off the picture above is what I found when I got home and took of my shoes and socks! Good Times!

The temperature at start time was 24 degrees. My HR was 160 BPM because of my shivering. The course was a 6.5 mile loop which we did once and a 12.3 mile loop which we did twice. The first 22 miles were a lot of fun and I was running along nice and strong. Legs felt great and I had a lot left in the tank. Then around mile 22 I slipped and my right foot slid off of a tree root and sent a stinging pain all the way up to my shoulder. IT Band ... hurt like hell! It probably would have been better to have just have fallen hit the ground because I think the awkwardness of me trying to keep my balance is what contributed to the injury. It probably didn't help either that my IT band had been a little tender anyways.

I dragged myself to the aid station which was luckily only about a 1/2 mile away. A volunteer (Thanks Dude - very cool of you!) helped stretch me out and it felt much better - for about a mile. Then it tightened up and I was in pain again. I just could not get it to loosen up and the fact that the temp only reached 44 degrees didn't help with that either. My pace dropped dramatically when this happened for the next 4 or so miles. Then right around mile 26 my left quad became so stiff from favoring the right leg that it started to hurt. At this point I tried to walk some but it was even more painful than running so I ran, if that is what you call it! Picture me as one of those fast walkers that go to the local malls every morning because that is what I looked like!

The last 5 miles were excruciatingly painful. I was not going to quit so I hardened up and tried to shuffle my beat up self to the finish. Long story short: I made it (-: . I feel like I have been hit by a truck. I took an ice bath (thanks for the suggestion Todd) when I got home and I have ice on my knees, quads, and IT band right now. And I can't wait to do another Trail Race. Seriously, aside from the injury I had an awesome time. The scenery was beautiful and I met a bunch of really cool people. I'll detail all the good tomorrow. Hell, the injury builds character - that's how I see it! When you see my numbers below you will understand why I might need to do this again!

My Garmin is in the car and I cannot drag myself out to get it but here are some of the split numbers I remember from the Garmin (I'll link up the splits in tomorrow's post):

First 6.5 Mile Loop - 1 hr 5 minutes

13.1 Miles (Half Mary) - 2 hr 8 minutes

15.5 Miles (halfway point) - 2 hr 30 minutes

26.2 Miles (Marathon) - 4 hr 44 minutes

Last 5 miles - 1 hr 26 minutes

Total Time to Finish - 6 hr 10 minutes

Now, I forgot to turn the auto-pause off on the Garmin and it paused every time I used the porta-potty (4), stopped at Aid Station (5), and stopped to stretch (2). I am guessing that will add another 20-25 minutes will be added to the time.

If I would not have got banged up I think I would have finished under 5:30 and probably under 5:15.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff