Tri Indy and Howl at the Moon

The bast two weekends I have been racing instead of doing regular training runs. Tri Indy This was one of my A races for this year. I really wanted to finish an Olympic Distance triathlon. It was a great day for it. the swim went well, with the time matching my pool training times. I had a few moments of panic, as I usually do in murky water, then I was fine. The plant life on the bottom of the canal was pretty tall this year so I kept "catching" plants or having them freak me out a bit, but it was mostly funny. I was able to swim the whole thing freestyle, the first time I have done 1,500m in "open water" without sidestroke. The bike was pretty good, mostly because I had trained on the course and knew what to expect. I was MUCH faster than I expected though, averaging 15.6 mph. The volunteers seemed to be saying I was the last person out on the bike course (I wish they wouldn't do that, it's demoralizing), but I am not completely sure about that. Both of my transition times were decent. Under 3:00 which isn't bad for me since I actually put on socks and change shoes and need to take nutrition in transition. The run was pretty comfortable, also glad I had trained it in a few BRIC workouts. It was more like easy pace than tempo, but still pretty good. During the run I checked the watch and it looked like I might have a chance of breaking 4:00. Since I had planned on a 4:20-4:30 race I was pretty stoked. I managed to cross the finish line at 3:58:06. When the results were posted online I found out that I wasn't last and that I had finished 3rd in the Athena division. Most of the Athenas were in the sprint distance race. Overall I was super excited about my performance in this race. I was pretty disappointed that the professional photographers caught ZERO pictures of me. Fast forward to... Howl at the Moon This was one of those races that happened because a bunch of friends were posting that they were doing it and trying to get other people to sign up before the race sold out. Howl at the Moon is the largest timed ultra in the country and is in Danville, IL put on by Kennekuk Road and Trail Runners (I am now a member too). This is an 8:00 trail race with a 3.29 mile loop course. Standings are determined by who finishes the most distance in the 8:00 time. The course is not technical. It is 1/3 grass, 1/3 dirt/gravel, and 1/3 pavement with a short steep hill. Still doesn't make it as easy as road running. I went to Danville on Friday afternoon and stayed at a hotel. When I got to the hotel the hospitality was great, the staff even had directions from the hotel to the park printed for those of us doing the race. My room had a fridge so I could unload my cooler rather than stocking it with ice and then needing to drain and refill in the morning. I headed out to the park to pick up my packet and that went well. The bags are nice, they had pins in there already, and our shirt was already in the bag too. I stopped at the Country Market in downtown Danville for a Greek yogurt for morning and a bagel. Let's just say I was underwhelmed by the selections. Outside it seems that the Country Market parking lot is where the Danville wanna be thugs hang out on Friday night. Whatever. I went back to the hotel. Since I didn't know where anyone else was having dinner I walked to Pizza Hut, forgetting that the buffet is only for lunch. I had a salad and a PizOne (sp?). Walked back and found out that the Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics were going to Monical's Pizza. So I headed up there and had a cookie and enjoyed conversation with Jeff, Lawna (sp?), Michael, AJ, Ryan, and Rick. When I got back to the hotel I figured out that they had no security doors, anyone could walk on to the floors from the outside without going through the lobby. Good thing I am not easily creeped out. The sleep button on the remote didn't work, so that was annoying too. In the morning I figured out that the fridge was too cold and had turned my yogurt into a brick of ice. I had left my almond butter down in the car, so I just had a bagel and some water. Packed up and headed out at 5:30 AM. At Kennekuk Cove County Park (which is HUGE and nice) I parked and eventually found where the Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics tent was (thanks Jeff for having a tent for us). Unloaded my stuff and started getting ready. I had tons of food and everything in case I needed it. Sprayed myself with bug spray and sunscreen, put sunscreen on my face and went to check in with my scorer (the person who keeps track of your laps completed). Not too long after that the race started. I was in the walker division which meant I would be disqualified if I ran. I started out pretty decent pace and did well on the first loop. I was taking to someone and other than a painful horse fly bite the first loop went well. I grabbed my water bottle to carry for the second loop and headed out. I used a gel and was maintaining a good clip. My walking partner needed a pit stop and I didn't see her again. Sometime on the second loop or early in the third loop I decided that I was going to use the grapes at the rest stops/aid stations for nutrition. Bad choice in the end, I wasn't able to grab and eat while walking enough grapes to maintain my blood sugar. When I started the 5th loop I was slowing down and was talking myself through it knowing that I had planned to rest for a bit after that loop. I made it to the rest area on the back side of the loop and I needed to sit down. I started blacking out. Volunteers were bringing me Gatorade. Eventually they decided to transport me back to the start/finish area and my tent. When I was back at the tent I ate a bunch and started feeling better. I decided to go out again, knowing that it would be slower and I would need to be careful. I checked in with my scorer and started my second attempt at loop 5. It was slower but I felt ok. I decided to do a 6th loop and used a gel. When I finished the 6th loop I decided I was done. It was quite warm and the sun was very direct. I technically had enough time to do one more loop, but I really wasn't sure it was a good idea. Officially I finished 19.74 miles because the half loop didn't count. Unofficially I was a little over 21 miles. I had stopped my Garmin when I was having a problem and then started it again when I went back out. I was just over 5:55:00 for the distance I did. The low blood sugar incident had cost me a little over an hour. My plan had been 15 miles and anything over that was great. So I met my expectations. I had hoped to maybe get in 26.2 miles and call it my first trail marathon. Maybe a little extra to call it an "ultra." But in the end I was happy to have 6 official loops. Awards go 20 deep for each division in this race, and I came in 19th in the walker division so I got a medal. That was cool. Some people would think I should be concerned for Monumental since it took almost 6 hours to do 21 miles. I am not concerned: A) I will be running at least most of Monumental, not walking, B) it will not be in the 80s on 11/2, and C) I will not be tempted to use alternate source of nutrition that I haven't trained with. I still have lots of training to go and I am confident that I will #BeMonumental.