Folsom South Side Trail Run - Race Recap // First Trail Race!

TLDR; "Inwardly, I was so happy to 'win' my distance - and overall to boot, despite it being a smaller field. But most of all, I was happy that I lasted the full distance while feeling like I could have gone longer. I was happy that I could maintain 160bpm for nearly 3 and a half hours. I was happy to be confident that I could, with almost 100% certainty, break 4 hours at Big Sur in 6 weeks. I was happy that all of my training so far has not been in vain and that my endurance has definitely improved over the past 6 months."

The numbers game:

Longest run before race: 19mi
Number of miles ran: 21mi (course distance), 20.7mi (GPS)
Number of steps taken: 34282
Number of bugs inhaled: 4
Number of bugs consumed: 1
Number of aid stations stopped at: 3
Number of times I refilled my 8oz handheld water bottle: 4
Number of gels consumed: 4

The race:

Folsom Lake South Side Trail Run is hosted by Troy's California Trail Runs and is an out and back course for the 10K, half marathon, 21 mile, 50K, and 38 mile distance. It runs along the south side of Folsom Lake on 95% single track dirt roads and 5% gravel. The views can be quite wonderful. The trails are peaceful, wooded, and varied! $50 for the 21 mile race, less for shorter, and more for longer. Sign up for more TCT Runs at: http://www.tctruns.com/

Out (miles 1-10):

Since this was a training run, I hoped to take the first few miles as a warm-up so I would not go out too hard as I tend to do. I found my place behind Gordy Ainsleigh for the first half mile, shuffling along, trying to keep my heart rate down. After he let some of us runners pass, I tried to keep it easy again and tried to make conversation with another red-bibbed lady (red bibs meant longer distances: 13.1, 21, 50k, and 38mi). It was her first half marathon distance ever! We knew today would be a gorgeous trail - green, along the lakeside, in wooded areas.... I was more and more convinced that this was going to be an amazing first trail race experience.

After a while, we took to the single-track trails and just kind of found a groove. The first aid station was at the 10K turnaround point and aid station, at which point I decided it might be smart to take some electrolytes (Gu hydration drink mix provided by TCT). At this point, I was following two men and the red-bib lady. I didn't want to lose the men I was following, so I quickly downed the Gu and took off (after thanking the volunteer of course). The race was feeling easy up to this point and I felt like I was cruising. My heart rate was settling at about 160bpm the entire time and I tried to make sure I never went past 165bpm. In order to keep myself relaxed, I recited my running mantra to myself over and over:

Quick, Smooth, Relaxed.

Quick, Smooth, Relaxed.

At some point, the half-marathon girl dropped her pace behind me and I made it a point to make sure I didn't lose the two men in front of me. Finally, I ended up passing one of the guys, and then it was just me and Bionic Shorts. I refused to let him leave my line of sight so I didn't have to worry too much about staying on course. Interestingly, I really think that staying behind Bionic really helped me keep in a perfect "push but pace" zone.

Still cruising, and occasionally power-hiking up very steep sections, we reached the half marathon turn around point and aid station where Bionic stopped to greet Troy and for aid. I took one of my own gels and decided I was ok so I forged on ahead with only about 4 miles to go until the 21 mile turnaround (and water jug!). Bionic followed closely. After some time, we came across a tree completely blocking the path and had to climb around it - which opened the door for conversation between us. He was doing the 50K and he had just done another one 2-3 weeks ago (What a beast.)! I wanted him to take the trail but I think he was perfectly content with letting me pace him - and then I felt kind of pressured to stay in my "push but pace" zone.... Mid-run, I changed my mantra to:

Strong, Smooth, Relaxed.

Strong, Smooth, Relaxed.

...which really helped me get up some of the hills. There was never really a significant hill out there... it was mostly rolling terrain with very easy creek hopping, mud/puddle jumping, and rock dodging. It wasn't like I could just motor through the whole time, but I would say it was ever slightly more technical than the marin headlands/ninja loop (the ninja loop being a more challenging elevation profile).


Back (10.4-21):

Finally, we reached my turnaround point, I refilled my water, and bid goodbye to Bionic Shorts and wished him a good run. I wasn't looking forward to the loneliness of the next 10.5 miles but I was looking forward to finishing!

While taking a gel shortly after the turnaround, I could feel the fatigue creeping in on my legs so I decided to take the next 5 miles relatively easy. My heart rate kept the same (~160bpm), but my pacing slowed down a bit and I allowed myself more power-walking. After all, there was no one to chase and I wasn't sure how far back anyone else was...

At about mile 11.4, I saw another red-bibbed lady on her way to the turnaround point. At this point, it occurred to me, that no other 21-milers had passed me on my way to the turnaround point... which meant... I might be in first place?! Overall?? I was kind of miffed. I didn't want to let the thought of that ruin my pacing though, so I tried to tell myself that she was > 2 miles back and I would be okay as long as I unleash myself in the last 5 miles.

I returned to the half marathon turnaround point and decided to refill my water and eat some of the food provided: I took a banana slice and a slice of cantaloupe. Refreshing! I was drinking a lot more than I usually do on my runs, which was important because I was also sweating a lot more and working a lot harder than I usually do (I usually run at a 150bpm effort). I also found it helpful to drink water while I was sucking on the shot bloks since it helped dilute the carb density in my stomach.

I started on my way down and then it occurred to me to yell back a question to the aid station volunteer: "Am I first?!" to which he promptly said "Yep! You are!!" and I continued to barrel down the hill away. Holy crap. Less than 7 miles to go. 4 miles to the next aid station.

I still wanted to control my pace up until five miles to go. At five miles to go, I was feeling tired and knowing I had built a safe lead gave me no impetus to push harder. So I told myself that I would push harder after I hit the final aid station. I took two more gels between then. At this point, I was just chugging along. Strong, smooth, relaxed. Quick, smooth, relaxed. And starting to pass some of the straggling half marathoners.

I kept looking back. Maybe somebody was chasing me? Nope.

It seemed to take forever until I hit the next aid station.

And then finally, I was there. A little over 5K to go! Woohoo! It was time to give myself a little push up the mini-hills.

Chug, chug, chug....

And then finally. I saw the dike, which meant the 1-mile home stretch to the finish! I was still pushing past half-marathoners till the very end... and I ran the last mile at about 8:30-8:40 pace.

What. A. Run.

I think there was some confusion when I ran across the finish because I was finishing with a lot of other half marathoners. They had no idea that I was the 21-mile winner... which was kind of hilarious, actually. And I had no idea that I was supposed to get an award certificate. But in the end, I got one!

Inwardly, I was so happy to "win" my distance - and overall to boot, despite it being a smaller field. But most of all, I was happy that I lasted the full distance while feeling like I could have gone longer. I was happy that I could maintain 160bpm for nearly 3 and a half hours. I was happy to be confident that I could, with almost 100% certainty, break 4 hours at Big Sur in 6 weeks. I was happy that all of my training so far has not been in vain and that my endurance has definitely improved over the past 6 months.

This was a very nice confidence boost for me.

And an amazing first trail race experience!


Important takeaways:

• Mantras work.
• Pacing works.
• Shot Blok gels and Gu drink mix sit well with my stomach. No stomach issues.
• Might need to experiment with a bigger handheld water bottle. (Current one is 8oz and I refilled it 4 times.)

Training Updates

It's been a tough four weeks of hill training and easing into tempo runs! But I hope they will have been worth it.... Now that this training block is over, it's time to reflect before going into the stamina phase:

• MPW peak: 56.3
• Average MPW over hillz/strength training block: ~51
• Peak long run: 17 miles
• Long run quality: 
• week 1 | 13.6 (progression) + 3.6 extra cooldown miles
• week 2 | 17 (LSD, mostly flat)
• week 3 | 12 (run tour of lower Manhattan, mostly flat, day after a steady state run in Central Park)
• week 4 | 13.2 (very hilly/marin headlands trails -> 2.25 hr)
• Tempo run progression:
• week 1 | 20 minutes (track)
• week 2 | 30 minutes (track)
• week 3 | uptempo intervals w/ UCSF tri team: 2x400m, 1x800m, 1x1600m, 1x800m @ 5K pace, 2x400m @ 1-mile pace
• week 4 | 20 minutes (track) / 25 minutes (road)

A few things I've noticed:

• Recovery days have slowed down significantly. I can't get my stride length up to get faster than 10:30min/mile, which is okay with me. But man, does that look bad on my Strava. (hah)
• Easy days have begun to feel like a chore. Where I used to love running easy every day, I now don't feel like going on easy 90 minute runs. I know they are necessary in order to balance my higher intensity days. But knowing they are necessary probably just makes it harder for me to execute. It could also be because I feel more fatigued from my hard days... it almost feels like my aerobic fitness is at a decline? Is it just in my head?
• Stretch yoga! <3
• The high volume approach is having it's effect on me. I can feel the accumulated fatigue - it makes me tired. But I feel that my body is also making the appropriate adaptations for the marathon.
• Despite high volume, I haven't gotten sick since November. Maybe a little more tired if I've been around someone who's had a bad cold but no sign of the sniffles. I'll take this as a sign that my aerobic system is very strong. And that I've been getting enough sleep.

Things I didn't execute so well:

• Long run length was inconsistent. Due to fear of injury, I limited my long runs to considerably shorter to what I'd built up to.... I had meant to keep my long runs between 14-17 miles this cycle. Hopefully, my endurance adaptations did not decline over this training period.
• Neglected strength training. At the outset of this block, I decided I should also do a significant amount of core work and resistance band work on my legs/hip flexors. Not only did I neglect that part of this training block, I had no idea when to do it. After my hard days? On my easy days? When?! I think having a coach would have helped nicely with this. At the very least, I should have stuck with my core work schedule (which consists mostly of planks..). I would also like to get back into doing more upper body stuff (push-ups, reverse pull-ups).
• Occasionally skipped an ice session. Icing my knees and shins has been pretty important to help relieve inflammation. I've skipped it occasionally due to not having ice packs around.
• Nutrition. For some reason, I've been craving more carbs and sugars. It seems I eat a lot to compensate for the high intensity :(. It didn't help that all I did was EAT while I was on vacation in Boston/New York.
• Disregarded recovery week. I think one mistake I made before this training block was try to incorporate more cycling cross training on a recovery week. If it's a recovery week, treat it as such!

Going forward, 8 weeks out from the marathon, I feel confident that I can finish it. I hope my body holds up! Here is my training plan:

If I were to tweak my training in the future, I would spend a longer amount of time building up easy mileage to about 60-70 miles per week (minimum 9 hours per week)... possibly four full months of low intensity stuff (but being okay with a good cycling workout here and there).... I would try to build up to where I could comfortably run 8:30/mile at heart rate under 150bpm. And I definitely wouldn't run Big Sur for a serious go at qualifying for Boston...

If not training for a marathon, I'd probably just run and bike at whatever pace. Man, am I looking forward to a few months (after Big Sur) of trying to get faster on the bike...