ENDURrun 2017 Stage 4: Hilly 10 Miler

Evening stage. That's always tough for me. What to do all day? What to eat? When to eat?

• I mowed the lawn...
• Did a bit of housework...
• Wrote yesterday's blog...
• And waited for it to be time to get ready to leave.

I arrived at the race site about an hour before start time, chatted with some other runners, hit the bathroom a couple of times, ran around in some sort of super short warm-up of sorts.... and then it was time to walk down the hill to the start. 

Shortly after the race started, I found myself in a pack with Dave, Merzi, Mark Meyers, Stefan, and a few others, including Catherine, who I didn't actually realize was also in this pack until I happened to catch a glimpse of a white shirt out of the corner of my eye (all the guys were shirtless). We stuck together along Conservation, and then thinned out a bit once we were into the hills on Wilmot. 

I don't quite know who ended up where (I wasn't looking), but I know I was with Mark for a bit, Mark and Dave for a bit... Then.... Catherine passed me around 8 or 9 km into the race. So... for the second half of the race, I was chasing her. I never caught her, but at least I didn't give up too much. She got me by 43 seconds on this stage. I am still in the gold going into Stage 5, with an even 6 minute lead.

My finish time for stage 4 was 1:11:02. My first time actually running a decent race on this stage. It's always been a horrible one for me in the past, with my previous best time on this course well over 1:19. I felt good, in control, breathing was normal, etc. I'm very happy to have finally run a decent time on this stage. Of course, I would have preferred to take the win, but I can't be upset with the improvement I made over previous years... I'm also happy that it's done.

I'll add some photos to this later. Right now it's time to head out to meet people for lunch!

ENDURrun Stage 4 - Hilly 10 Miler

Last night, in whatever hot temperature it was, we ran the 10 mile stage of the ENDURrun. Even though it was not going to be overly fun due to the heat, I knew it would be better than last year.

With the heat and humidity, it was not the stage to try to hit the goal time that I had set for myself months ago. That was a good weather goal, not a heat and humidity goal. So, I ran it, walked through most of the aid stations, getting in lots of fluids, getting sprayed by volunteers, and getting water dumped on my head.

Photos by Jeff Wemp

In the end, I did actually come close to my best on this stage. I was only 9 seconds slower than my 2014 time on this course.

Nothing changed in the top three tonight on either side, either in the stage or the cumulative. Rob now has a lead of 52:01 over Mark, and Angela has a 22:27 lead over me.

Tomorrow, we take to the ski hills and trails. It's a tough, but fun, 16 miles of up down and around Chicopee Ski Park and I am most definitely looking forward to it.

ENDURrun Stage 4: Hilly 10 Miler

Photo by Jeff Wemp

I don't have a lot to say about last night's stage. My head wasn't in it and then the body followed suit.

Me trying to look like I wasn't in pain. Photo by Jeff Wemp.

It happened. It's done. Moving on to Chicopee tomorrow (drink up, Sebastian!)

I almost forgot to include this photo.

Stage recap and results.

ENDURrun Stage 4: The Hilly 10 Miler

Stage 4 is the only evening stage of the ENDURrun. The start is at 6pm, which is tough in itself. It’s nice to have the extra recovery time after the previous day’s 30K, but prepping for an evening race is very different. What to eat? When to eat? Do anything during the day or just take it super easy? I ate a fairly normal breakfast and lunch and then a snack around 4pm.

I arrived at Camp Heidelberg about half an hour before race start. I got myself ready, chatted with others, and then whacked myself in the knee with the vehicle door when I went to throw my extra stuff inside. Crap. Why am I such a klutz? It felt like it was going to bruise, but at least wasn’t right on muscle, so it didn’t feel like it was going to affect running too much.

Just before 6pm, Lloyd took attendance and we walked as a group down the hill to the start. This death march is done so that the race starts and finishes on an uphill.

The beginning of the race is pretty quick because after the short uphill, it is a gradual downhill for the first 3ish km. Once the course throws the runners back onto Wilmot Line, it is a steady series of large hills with one monster of a hill around the 5K mark. I ran the first bit while chatting with a couple of other runners so that I would keep myself from going out too fast, but when I glanced at my watch I did notice that I was going a lot faster than I felt I *should* be. I realize that it was because of the downhill and I wasn’t doing anything crazy, but it made me think about it a bit.

I tried to run by feel again today, wearing the watch, but not paying attention to the watch. I did look at it a few times throughout the stage, but not much at all. On the up hills, I ran up each of them quite steady (mind you a bit slow) with the exception of one around the 14K mark when my knee decided to act up a bit, so I walked for a chunk of that hill to give it a break. On the down hills, I let myself go as fast as I could while still feeling in control. This helped to get myself partway up the next hill without having to feel like I had to put out too much effort. While doing this, I did pass a couple of runners pretty much on each ‘down’ and then they’d pass me half way up the next ‘up’. It was kind of fun to keep switching positions with them. They pulled away from me in the last 3rd, but it was good while it lasted.

I finished today’s stage in 1 hour 22 minutes and a few seconds, finishing 3rd ultimate female. This was another PB for me as I came in 3 minutes faster than my previous best.

Tomorrow is Rest Day, so I will not have a race stage to report on. There may or may not be a Stage 4.5 post, depending on what goes on during the day.

Great run tonight everyone! It was great to see a lot of PBs again tonight. It’s now time for lots of rest and recovery before we tackle Chicopee on Friday morning.

Good night.

My post-race platter of food. It’s 11:30pm and I still feel full.

ENDURrun Stage 4: 10 mile (16.1 km) Hill Run

Since today’s stage started at 6:00 pm, there was an opportunity to sleep in. I was able to enjoy at least 8 hours of sleep last night (without going to bed really early), which was wonderful. I got out of bed shortly before Ryan wanted to leave for work so that I could give him a ride. I dropped him off at work and then I headed to Williams Fresh Cafe with a book to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. I enjoyed having the opportunity to sit and take my time eating my breakfast, sipping my coffee, and reading my book.

Back at home, I enjoyed a quiet day of lounging, reading, watching a little TV, and doing minimal housework. Even though today’s stage is a strenuous one, I still consider Day 4 a relative rest day.

After getting ready for tonight’s race, I drove up to Ryan’s work to pick him up and head to the starting area at Camp Heidelberg. On the way to the start, I realized that I forgot to bring my shot blocks and didn’t have any gels, either. I knew that the race director normally has boxes of them for the aid stations, so I wasn’t too worried, but it was still a little frustrating to not use what I’m used to. I asked if they had any, and yes, they did, so I took two (one for 15 minutes before the start and another for the half-way point).

Just before the start of the race, all of the competitors walked down the hill so that the race both starts and finishes on an uphill (just to torture us, I’m sure). After the first uphill, we turn left for a bit of a detour, then back onto the hilly road we started on. We continue up and down, up and down the hills and then arrive at a turn-around point, which is a little more than half-way through the whole course. I really like the fact that it’s past the half point because it makes the second “half” of the race seem much shorter.

I was running fairly well today, but I felt tired, and as I passed the 10K marker, I knew there was no way I was going to meet or beat last year’s time on this course. I finished in 1:25:39 last year and at the 10K mark I was at 56 minutes, which meant I had to run the last 6 K in less than 30 minutes. On a flat course, sure, but on this hilly course that was not going to happen. I ended up coming in at 1:30 and change (not sure of the official time right now).

If I want to have a chance at beating my 2011 time and potentially coming in under 16 hours for the week, I have my work cut out for me. Let’s see what Chicopee has in store.