Eric's Running Adventures: Hawk Marathon

What: Hawk Marathon
When: September 14, 2013
Where: Clinton Lake, Lawrence, KS
Finish Time: 5:42:xx

Background:
I decided to run this race back on August 10th. I ran 5 miles in the morning and then ran another 15 miles that night during Coleen's Sweaty Ass Run. I registered for the marathon the following morning. This race was going to be my first official marathon. I made a makeshift plan for getting in long runs and started training for it the following weekend. I ended up with two 16 mile long runs and a half marathon. I also did an 11 mile run and a 9 mile run. My training was definitely what one would call ideal.

Starting about 9 days before the race, the morning after a 9 mile run, my lower back started to cause me problems. It was a struggle to stand up straight and I had issues with sciatica. I stretched it out and used a foam roller nightly. Two days after the back issues and a week before the marathon, I ran a half marathon. At about Mile 7 of the half, my back started hurting and forced me to walk. I had to walk the majority of the remainder of the half, as such, I was in serious doubt concerning being able to run the marathon.

I had three chiropractic appointments in the week leading up to the marathon and it helped. My back felt better after the last appointment on Thursday so I went to the weekly Thursday night trail run. I ran about 3 easy miles and my back was tight, but didn't cause any pain. On Friday morning, the back was once again tight and causing a bit of pain. It was better after a few hours of moving around so I decided to go ahead and run the marathon.

Race Morning:
The marathon was associated with a 50 mile and 100 mile race. The longer races started at 6:00 and since a friend was running the 100 miler, I wanted to get there before they took off. Since the race was about an hour away, that meant I had to leave by 4:30 to ensure I got there on time. I woke up early, drank coffee and ate a bowl of cereal, then headed out after, how should I say this, nature took it's course. I got there in time, wished him luck, then set about preparing for the marathon which started an hour later. My hydration consisted of a Nathan belt with two 10oz containers filled with tailwind endurance fuel drink mix. I also had six small (2"x1") Ziploc bags filled with measured amounts of the tailwind mix for when my bottles needed to be refilled. I planned on eating whatever they had at the aid stations for additional fuel as needed.

Finally, The Race:
Since I was not prepared to actually race, I decided to use this marathon as a long run to see how far off I was from being able to run a 50K. A good friend of mine, Sarah, agreed to let me tag along with her during the race. It made the race a blast and it seemed to go by quickly.

Now I don't remember mile-by-mile details, so this part will be lighter on text, but heavy on pictures. If you just want to see the pictures, just scroll to after the text.

The race started at 7:00 and we were off. I had to keep reminding myself not to go out with everyone as they passed us by on the short pavement section.

The marathon started with a 1.2 mile section and then started on the 25 mile course that the other races were held on. This section was nice and easy which made for a great warm-up section. Toward the end of it, were starting to hit our stride.

The 25 mile course was a different beast with a lot of rocky and rooty technical singletrack, some large boulder hopping, long grassy hills in the open sun, and a few short pavement sections.

The first half of the race went really well. For the first 8ish miles we hung with a group being paced by one of our friends. It was fun and filled with some classic one liners such as "do you want to take some ibuprofen prophylactically?" Naturally, the medical definition was not the first meaning that came to mind. It was quickly followed by "hearing that just made running the marathon worth it."

Somewhere around the 8-9 mile point we broke from the group and started picking it up a bit. Shortly after splitting from the pack we came to a section of trail near the lake that included large rocks/boulders, some could be avoided, for others, we had to do some rock hopping. This was a fun section for me!

In another mile or two we hit our second aid station. From there, we ran along the road and up a grassy path to a section known as bunker hill. This was my least favorite section as it was a 2.5 mile out & back grassy path that was in full sun. Our pace slowed here and we were looking forward to getting back to the aid station. Once there, we would be over half way done. While running on the short pavement section, my back started complaining a bit. With the jarring from each footfall on the pavement, I would feel the pain in my lower back get more intense. I couldn't wait to get back onto the trails.

Upon leaving the aid station, we entered the trails again. Our pace, and our spirits, instantly picked back up. Shortly after re-entering the trails, I took an ibuprofen to see if it would lessen the tightness/soreness of my lower back. It seemed to work because after running for about a mile, my back was no longer complaining.

We soon hit the 17 mile point and I was surprised by how good I was still feeling. We started slowly picking off runners in front of us. Somehow some Elmer Fudd accents started being used as we saw a runner in the distance..."be very very quiet, it's wunner season, I'm hunting wunners." Also, I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not a little "Boom Shake the Room" from the Fresh Prince was sung. It might have been, it might not have been, I'll let you decide.

Somewhere after mile 18, I noted that we finally had single digit mileage remaining until we were finished. That's when Sarah said she saw the 8-mile trail marker a little while ago and that one of the race directors told her that once we reached that, the mile markers matched the remaining mileage.

By Mile 19, my left knee was feeling a little tired. I took one more ibuprofen and kept on truckin. I was enjoying running on the trails. We were both getting tired and looking forward to the next, and last, aid station. We would once again see some friends and were hoping to get a nice energy boost. From the aid station, we only had 6.5 miles remaining.

We arrived at the aid station and I had my water bottles refilled for the last stretch. Upon leaving we were re-energized, but it was short-lived. I started looking forward to seeing the mile markers counting down. I saw the mile 6 marker, but never saw the mile 5 marker. Sarah and I were commenting on how this was the longest mile ever. If the next mile marker was not for mile 4, I would have been deflated. Thankfully, we came up to the next mile marker and it had a 4 on it! That alone seemed to re-energize me. I was still tired and slowing, but my mood had increased. I am certain that if Sarah was not running with me, I would have walked much of the remaining miles. I was thankful for having a friend running the race with me.

Surprisingly, we were still picking off other runners. I lamented that in the second half of the race we have passed quite a few runners and were only passed by one runner. I call that running a successful race. When we reached the mile 3 marker, it finally donned on me that I was actually going to finish running, rather than walking. I was tired, but still feeling pretty good. That alone was quite motivating.

Our goal kept changing throughout the race. At first, it was just to finish. Then after noticing we were on pace for a 6:00 time, that became our goal.Our goal then became under 5:45, was later changed to 5:50 as were became more tired. Then after the mile 3 marker, we changed it back to sub-5:45. We figured we could do it, but it would be close.

We finally reached the mile 1 marker and tried to pick up the pace. It felt like we were moving along well. The final section on the trail seemed to fly by and soon we were out of the trail and just had .2 flat miles to the finish. As soon as we saw the finish, we "kicked" it in.

This was probably the most fun that I had at a race. It was a great way to spend the morning and I finished knowing that I will register for the 50K on October 19th. Now I just need to develop a short training regimen.

The food at the finish was awesome, cookie, burgers, pasta, brownies, cake, they basically had it all. It was great watching friends finish. After finishing, I shot the breeze with friends while watching runners come through. It felt good to relax and even better to take the shoes off. I probably chatted for a couple of hours, then called it a day.

I couldn't have asked for a better race, considering the 10 days I had leading up to it. This was a great experience and just confirmed that I love running the longer distance races. Next up will be a 50K around Lake Perry.

No report would be complete without a huge THANK YOU to all of the volunteers. It was great seeing several of my friends(Bryan, Janee, Wayne) out there on the course and at the aid stations.

Now it's time for a lot of photos. These were taken while out on the course.

Enjoy!