Hella

On a whim, I decided early one morning (4am, couldn’t sleep) I’d enter The Grasslands Run near Decatur, TX. I’d been wanting to run this race for a couple of years so I figured now was as good a time as any. I also had to travel to the area to take care of some business so it was a good excuse to get a race in.My training was simply not there. Really. I’d run only once since the Philadelphia Marathon in November and here it was the third week of March. With a whopping 8 miles of base, I expected it to be nasty. Race morning was pretty chilly but I figured it would warm up pretty quickly. It turned out to be an absoultely perfect day with great running conditions. The sky was clear, the sun was out, and it wasn’t too hot.

The course itself consists of 2 loops and a short out-and-back in the beginning. There is some overlap and one part of the course is run 4 times. Given that it was at the end and I knew exactly how much I had left, that was actually a positive thing.

My first loop went pretty well. I wasn’t tired, I felt like I was saving enough energy, my legs weren’t sore, and the cramps weren’t there yet. With about 15 miles down, I stopped to talk for a while before heading back out on my second loop. I had been giving updates on my progress via text messaging (yeah, trail running while using a cell phone is kinda of dumb, but it helped encourage me to keep pushing). So my spectators knew pretty well when I’d be coming through the start/finish area.

By the start of the second loop, I was beginning to question why I’d entered. I was a little more encouraged when the first aid station rolled up pretty quickly. I used that little mental boost to keep me going for a good while and I was making decent time even if my jog was pretty slow. I was coming up on the 18 mile mark and I fully expected cramps to get me. I’d never run more than 20 miles before without terrible calf cramps making it really tough. But I had been taking electrolyte replacement pills all along the course at each aid station and was optimistic it’d actually work. I was also downing soda, cookies, and brownies whenever I didn’t feel too heavy. I had my hydration pack on my back for the first time in a long race. I definitely didn’t want to fill up on fluids and food and feel lethargic.

But I made it to the 20 mile mark and no cramps where to be had. I just kept going, though my feet were really tired and hurting by this point. I was already heading back in the general direction of the start/finish so I knew the worst scenario would be to walk to the finish. The runners were pretty spread out by this point so it was pretty much a solitary experience. I soon got to the point where 3 or 4 trails merged and knew I was on a section I’d run before. This was a big mental boost since I could remember how much longer I had to go. With cramps still not appearing, I was also excited that my pills were doing a good job.

I got to where I knew I had just about half a mile to go and knew I had it in the bag. I still had decent energy and didn’t feel like I was going to crash. My head was still clear and I was grateful that I didn’t injure my knees or muscles given my complete lack of training. I got to the end of the loop and was unsure of how to finish the race. A few people at the finish line waived at me as a signal that I was just supposed to run up the small incline. Finally, 5 and a half hours later, my 5th marathon was done.

My biggest accomplishment at this race was definitely conquering the cramping. I’ve been discouraged to enter longer races and now I feel like it might be something I can actually consider. Maybe I’ll get in some good training this summer and be able to pull off another 50K before too long.

[tags]trail running[/tags]

Filed under: Running