Race Report -- 2018 Trailmixer's Fall Fling 400 -- Post #2

If you'd like some context for this post...click here.

In May of 2018 I started researching to find my first trail race and came across the Trailmixer's Fall Fling 400. I ignored it at first because with a group name like Trailmixers, and an event named the Fall Fling, I thought it was some kind of singles get together.  After learning that running on a single track was a type of trail and not a slang description of one's current relationship status, I went back and did more reading about it.  By June I thought it would be the perfect race to enter because you could run the 2 mile loop as many times as you’d like. You get to create your own end.  A race ending which could be personally tailored to a runner’s own needs...and the price was perfect at $40.  In July I decided to do it...trust that my knees were back in business, train for the Fall Fling and become an Ultra-runner(insert echo here). Yes, when you are new, and nervous, it could take months of staring at that little green registration button on UltraSignup before deciding to even click on it, but I finally did. I found a website from some lady who gives free advice to new runners and printed off one of her training plans because I knew this random person on the internet truly believed in me and my dreams.  My only goal was to skip the marathon distance and go straight to Ultra.  I wanted to run 15 loops for 30 miles.  I am positive that was exactly the advice a coach would have given me. 

My wife did sign us up for a couple 5Ks in early fall.  Compared to running trails the 5Ks were brutal and I learned that running long slow distances on the trail did not equate to short fast times on the road. I wanted to give up after leaving the starting line of each. How could these people run so fast? Especially those 10 year olds? Is tripping them legal in 5ks? I could find no comfort in finishing, and no comfort in doing the best I could after only a couple months of running.  No matter how you think you will age, you can't imagine how much harder things are when you get older.  A couple months of running when you are 49 does not yield the same results as running a couple months when you are 19.  I did learn so much from the 5Ks.  I learned that you need to actually be in a race to learn pacing, shake out the jitters, train for the course or type of running you will be doing, and pacing, pacing, and pacing.  That is what I thought made the Fall Fling perfect.  A supportive place to learn those before entering some Ultra that just smelled a lot more like a race. (edit-I wrote that line when I started writing this post two months ago, I see now that all ultras are supportive events...it's just part of the deal)

Training for an ultra was tougher than I thought.  Running a few miles a day a few times a weeks is easy to schedule in, trying to get in 10 and 15 mile runs listed on my internet raining sheet was tougher.  As the race was getting closer I was in the best running shape of my life and had done up to a 16 mile trail run.  All those 18 and 20+ mile runs on my schedule just never happened.  So the question became, could I turn my regular 10-15 mile long runs on a tougher local trail into a 30 mile performance and become an ultra runner(insert echo here)?

I went to the trail at Camp Sloper a week before the Fall Fling. I ran it a couple times and filmed it.  Posted the video to the Trailmixer Facebook group with a short report attached.  That is when I realized that posting to a group in which no one knows you could be iffy.  One podcast host on the Cultra Trail Running podcast called it "whiny," and some other respondents left sort of "suck it up" responses, I realized that maybe I should not have applied my dry sense of humor in a report about a soaking wet course. (In my post I was joking about building a bridge, but not about bringing flotation devices in order to survive).  The 2+ mile course had a little bit of everything.  There was the water traverse at the beginning, followed by a steep uphill, long downhill section that went into a fairly flat crushed stone rolling section back to the beginning.  So every two mile loop went up, down, flat(ish), aid station.  I figured looking at the first water crossing that lead to the first hill that once the race started that there would be a long train of runners going up so it might be best to be in the front third to not get stuck behind lots of other people in a congo line. 

I took the week before the Fall Fling off and only did maybe 10 miles total...is that a taper?  The anticipation of the run kept me pumped up for months and in the days leading up to it I was so excited. For many attendees this was just a fun run, for me it was my UTSB (only cool trail runners know what that means, so I included it to give you a sense of my trail running cool level). It snowed 6+ inches before the event, so that would now add another layer of excitement along with the mud from the above freezing race day temperatures and the herd that would be churning the trails for 6 hours.  The conditions actually added another layer of excitement for me.  The more misery the better.  I have no problem embracing the suck of trail running.  The tougher the trail the more I enjoy it.  I know how that sounds, but put me on a level easy trail and all I start doing is thinking about how tired I am or how I should stop.  Running on a rail trail or the road--ah!  All I want to do is quit for mile after mile. 

The day of the race was just a little scary.  I had zero idea what to expect.  When I showed up I walked in behind a guy with a NYC Marathon jacket, and was surrounded by people who were obviously "runners." How long do you have to run before you consider yourself a runner? Is it connected to finally purchasing real running clothes instead of pillaging Goodwill for knock-offs? To many people there, seeing the marathon jackets and other shirts from various races would be normal, to me it was a jab to my ego.  I am very competitive, and hate doing things which I know I could do better if I had just trained longer and harder.  While excited to be there, I had wished that I had become a runner at 29 not 49, been running for 6 years and not 6 months.  But I talked myself down and told myself to just run, this is a test, use it to learn about pacing, nutrition, enjoy the community spirit, and geez...just have fun.  That actually did not happen.  I did try telling myself that, but my ego knew that my heart was lying.  Some inner vulgarities were exchanged and interrupted by a call to the starting line.

When we were asked to get to the starting line I wanted to just settle into the middle of the group.  I got into the starting area and all of a sudden realized that I was not in the middle.  I was right up in the front...maybe within the first 10-15 people.  O….No.      Not where I wanted to be.  Every single piece of advice I read and watched said DO NOT START OFF TOO FAST.  Now just to not be trampled, I would have to go faster than I expected.  We started and it was faster than I wanted to go, but so much slower than expected (my only other start experience was a local 5K), and I quickly realized that if I just keep up I can get across the first water crossing and up the first hill without standing in the congo line. 

Water crossing done.  Bring on the Hill.

Actually before I get to the hill...

At some point I started feeling guilty every time I approached the water crossing.  Everyone would go trough the water splashing and getting all muddy.  I just jumped from log to log, rock to rock.  At some point I wondered if that was somehow against trail running etiquette.  Back to the hill...

When we got to the hill I am pretty sure everyone in front of me was walking which made me feel awesome that I was not going to fry my glycogen supplies within the first 5 minutes (that was written to prove I know the difference between glycogen and glucose).  However, because everyone walked, that meant that no one passed me so I was still towards the front.  Once we go over the hill it is kind of level and then downhill.  I was still in the frontish.  And that is when it happened...

I decided to stay in the front group on the downhill.  The thought of pulling over and letting everyone by was too much for me.  I'd rather do one loop and done!  So without looking back I decided to open up going down the hill.  I was going faster than I ever have downhill.  Loving the feeling.  Look at me! Forgetting about how I can't run fast downhill, forgetting about knees, and all of a sudden realizing that forgetting about the hill, and just letting gravity take me down put my body in a more natural position and actually made the running easier.  I was not breaking on every step.  My knees have been painful for so many years that I never realized that somewhere in the back of my head I was changing how I ran downhill to be safe, when all it was doing was making me run with so much caution that it was like I was driving with the emergency break on.  Before the race running downhill frightened me, the Fall Fling tore that band aid right off.

After the downhill section there was a fairly flatish rolling section on crushed stone.  On one lap I decided to start walking the flattest section by the lake because to me running in that section with a little bit of snow was like running on beach sand. In the final part of the lap the course literally passed right by the bathroom.  How convenient! The only problem was that as someone who immediately has to pee when I start running seeing the bathroom every lap lead to several pit stops during the day.  If I do the race again I would leave my bag over at the bathroom.  I noticed other people did and I think it would lead to me be more likely to dump my coat or grab something I need.  You can leave your bag near the start of the race, but somehow that 30 second walk to get to it seemed to much to me. 

The race went for over 6 hours and flew by.  At first I thought that I would hate the 2 mile loops, but then settled in and found them to be so comforting because mentally the end was always near, and you could always just do one more for 2 miles.  The mud, water, and snow was awesome.  I love that sort of environment and truly love embracing the suck of trail running. I think that also made the running mentally easier because you just had to think a little more as you traveled and that left less time to think about being tired.  I ended up finding the flat sections the hardest to complete with nothing to think about except those gummi bears at the end.

Things I learned...

All those bathroom breaks add up.  Four+ pit stops multiplied by 3-4 mins each...that could mean an extra lap.

Using the aid station for fuel.  I just don't think I can control myself once I start grabbing sweets from an aid station.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE junk food.  If I open a bag of gummy bears or Oreos I finish it which is why I never buy them.  I finally broke down and grabbed some gummies about half way through, the next time a few more, the next time some twizzlers, some gummies, some oreos...yea.  Too many calories does lead your stomach to rebel.  I spent two laps with very, very unhappy gummi bears expanding in my stomach. 

It's ok to walk.  I know this is basic ultra advice.  But I really did not believe it until I saw people do it.  It really is ok to walk. Everyone did it. About half-way through I started to walk anything that smelled like a hill, even some that would just qualify as bumps.  What is that walk-run method called?  I am a believer in it now.

Pacing. For a timed race like this have a finishing time in your head near the end of the race when you know you just won't be able to complete another lap.  I wish I was paying closer attention to the time and then I would have ran my last couple of laps a little faster and then would have been able to run one more lap at the end. 

It is ok to be passed by people.  As someone who is competitive but not yet able to compete with the top finishers (someday!! argh!) it messed with my head when faster people came up behind me and then passed me.  That lead to me running faster on some stretches that I should have been walking...still processing this.  Maybe in the long run it helped? Who was that guy that was grunting in orange who passed me TWICE at the end of the day?  Man that made me mad, but I am so happy you did because that is how I want to finish next time.  I learned from you that my last laps should not be run like my first.  I need to learn to empty my tank at the end of the day. 

It will take many races to learn how to pace myself.  I am not sure of my splits, but I kind of feel like I ran at the end nearly the same speed as I did at the beginning (no way that is true but let me believe it).  I know that that is not necessarily a bad thing, but I need to figure out when I can start running at the end, give it more and trust that I will not die in the bushes somewhere.  I do not know my limits, how fast, how slow, how much effort I need to give at any point.  I did learn that I could start faster than I thought I could, and especially walk more than I thought, and still actually finish with an acceptable time.

It’s ok to have volunteers help you.  I don’t have a life in which I can afford many people to hire to help me out.  I paint my own house, mow my own lawn, do my own repairs.  I am not used to asking someone for help and having them just smile and be glad to do it.  I have watched many, many YouTube videos where people have gone out of the way to thank the volunteers and now I get it.  The people working the race were just simply awesome.  You really can just pull up to the aid station and ask someone to fill your bottle and it just happens.  I really felt guilty the first couple times.  Like aren’t they just thinking “why doesn’t he fill his own bottle?”  I just found it to be incredible that I could drop off my empty bottle with the guy just past the starting line and when I came back around it was filled and waiting on the table at the aid station when I needed it.  The volunteers really were awesome and kind and supportive.  I want to get a little more experience under my laces and then do the same to return the favor some day to other runners.  If you were a volunteer at the Fall Fling and you somehow get to read this, thank you for your support and cheers.  It’s means so much to a first timer.

When the day was over I was sore.  I had run 30 miles.  Farther than I had ever run before.  I found out about that whole blowing your quads on downhills thing I heard about in videos.  It took me a couple days before I was able to walk down stairs and not squint on every step. If you notice the title of this blog, I have changed my training and working to prevent that from happening again. For some people there I am sure it was just another day running, a day of training for a future race, just another chance to log 10, 20, 30 miles.  I will forever savor it as the day I ran farther than I ever had before.  The day I became an Ultra Runner (insert echo here).