Umstead 100 Race Reflections

It's been about a week and a half since the 2014 Umstead 100. During my initial race report I had started to write about some of my reflections and insights I gained from the race. I'm sure some is still there, but a lot of it I thought complicated the reading, and I also wanted it separated out, kind of for my own benefit.

I guess first things first. Did I reach my goal? Well, my "soft" goal was sub-17 hour, and my "hard" goal was sub-16 hour. I made the first, but not the second. Still, like most people, I'm both very satisfied with my PR, but frustrated not to break 16 hours. I had set a goal and didn't meet it. And I don't like to give/make excuses for not having the discipline to follow through.

BUT, I also look at what I was actually aiming for. Sub-16 was really the means to the end. I knew sub-16 was a perfect weather, perfect day goal. Everything had to be going right for it to be "easy" to reach. The purpose was to set a goal that was well beyond my known capabilities, so that I would see how hard I would make myself try.

So, did I reach THAT goal? Overall, I would say yes. At least twice, maybe three times, I had terrible low points. During those instances, I was hurting and told myself that I'd worked hard enough, and could take it easy the rest of the way. Yet somehow I was able to say NO, and keep going.

On of the biggest revelations from this struggle was what I was fighting. I've also supported the idea that our physical limits are really based on the "central governor." Without too many details, it's the belief that our limits are all in our nervous system; receiving physiological cues from our body, and stopping it before we exhaust ourselves to our grave. For me, that mental limit was always manifested in physiological limits. That is, I just felt like I couldn't go any harder. However, during and after this race, I realized a lot is NOT subconscious. I was rationalizing to myself that I didn't need to run harder. I was consciously thinking that "reaching my goal isn't really that big a deal." If you think about it, it's really scary. It makes "mind over matter" seem easy compared to what boils down to "mind over mind." Or, put another way: it's not like this third person experience. You always seem like you're fighting this "other" person. But in the moment, it's just you, and and you are totally in control of your thoughts and decisions.


With that, a few of nitty-gritty analysis comes out.

1. I need to talk more to my crew about how I'm feeling, both good and bad. If I'm feeling bad, I need time to ease up to collect myself. But then when I'm feeling good, if I say things like above "I've worked hard enough... I just want to take it easy the rest of the way" then they know it's time to pick up the pace again.
2. I still have gotten the nutrition down just right. I did a better job of forcing down gels and stuff. But I wasn't as good about sipping my HEED later in the race. I think I want to experiment more with the handheld, because it was easier to get water that was cooler. The problem is carrying enough gels, particularly when I move toward more remote trails/races
1. I will say that having experienced the GI discomfort last year made me at ease with it this year. I was't freaking out as much about what the hell was going on.
3. Some of it may be learning to eat more frequently. During training I stick pretty much to 100 cal (either in gel, blocks, sports beans) per hour. That's meant to get me to keep going on less. And that's usually just enough to keep from bonking on the longer runs. But I'm guessing the big jump in calories/hour in the hundred is what's getting to me.

So what to now? I don't want to sign up for any fall races until June or July. I want several weeks of unstructured base building. It never really feels like training. I first experienced this around New Years, when I postponed my buildup for Umstead, and I think it gave me several weeks for good mileage, but without the stress of trying to hit training goals.

My recovery is going GREAT so far. The first few days were of course painful. I've got a good regiment of using The Stick in the morning, and using the foam roller in the evening. Last Thursday I started some easy spinning on a stationary bike. Saturday I went for a easy three mile run. I know I may be flirting with disaster: last year, two weeks out it was PAINFUL and I wasn't finally good to go until four week out. But I PROMISE I'm listening to my body (really, if I think about it, I didn't even want to for those first two weeks). And my body told me "RUN." I alternate days of spinning and easy 3 milers. I'm fully prepared to stop at the first sign of trouble.

Even though I'm not going to register, I have to admit I am looking at races. There's so many cool ones out there. I've got some pressure to go for the Grindstone 100, which is just up near Lynchburg. It's tempting because, though I haven't done it, I know a fair bit about the race and the group that organizes it so it's somewhat familiar territory. But then, that's what would be challenging about going to a race that isn't so well-known [to me].

I also do NOT want to run any looped courses.

Soundtrack:
David has got me hooked on movie theme songs. So far:
Thor 2
Man of Steel
Iron Man 3
Captain America 2