camaker
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing
- Joined
- May 8, 2015
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Race Report - Weymouth Woods 50k Trail Race
"I fought the trail and the trail won"
What has gone before
I ran this race last year and had a litany of issues. I forgot my Garmin and my Apple Watch died with 6 miles to go. The course was mismarked, resulting in an ad hoc out and back being added on the fly to make up the distance. It was hot & humid and I wasn't happy with my performance, a personal worst for a 50k. So I decided to run it again thinking it couldn't possibly go any worse. Could it? I'll pause to let that ham-handed foreshadowing sink in and the course to chuckle and ask you to "hold its beer".
Today's race
I remembered my Garmin! Already going better than last year before it even started. It wasn't too hot at the start with a T+D of 134 (Temp 67, Dew Point 67), but the humidity was very high. The course is set up as a 7.75 mile loop through a park in the NC sandhills featuring lots of sand, pine needles, roots and hills. As far as trail racing goes, I wouldn't call it too challenging, but I'm also not a trail runner.
The first lap was largely uneventful, with no marking issues on the course this year. The only issue was a rapidly advancing T+D as the sun came out. On the plus side, the trees largely kept us in shade, but on the downside they also screened off most of the breeze. As I started the 2nd loop, it was rapidly coming apparent that this wasn't going to be a day for a peak performance, but that didn't mean a good one was out of the question. The course started sending warning shots across my bow with the roots grabbing at my toes. I didn't fall, but I kicked one root so hard I knew I'd done damage to my big toe. After the race I found that I'd pretty much torn off the big toenail, with pressure from the sock and shoe combining with the blood to keep it in place. It wasn't even half way.
The third lap started well. I wasn't setting any speed records, but I was walking the hills and running the flats and downhills and ticking off the miles. About two miles into the loop, though, I was running a straightaway and apparently caught my toe on a root. The first indication I had of it was the side of my head slamming into the ground as the point of first contact. I was dazed and fuzzy and all I could do was try to crawl off to the side of the trail to get my wits back. It was probably the closest to being knocked unconscious I've ever been in my sporting career. It was a hard hit. Two guys behind me saw it happen and stopped to check me out. Miraculously, I was fine. No signs of a concussion, although it's very tender and going to bruise.
I was able to get mostly back into my groove, but after a couple of miles I looked down and I had swelling the size of a racquetball expanding out of the top of my knee. I have no memory of hitting my knee during the fall. I was worried that might end my race prematurely but somehow the swelling never caused any discomfort during running or walking. It slowly subsided as the race went on, but is still pretty significantly swollen and turning funny colors as I sit here writing this. Lap 3 wasn't done with me, though. I fell again a little later on, but it was at least a controlled descent this time and I was able to twist so I didn't land on anything tender. At the end of the lap, the race officials were waiting to check me out, having been told about my fall and head impact. I appreciated that.
By the start of the 4th lap the T+D was up near its peak of 158 (Temp 91, Dew Point 67) and my main complaint about the race came to the fore. There's just one aid station at the start/finish line for the entirety of the 7.75 mile course. That meant I was having to ration the liter of fluids I could carry across roughly 8 miles. At those T+Ds, I really need to drink more. After the beating I took in lap 3 I was mentally done with the race and I spent lap 4 mostly walking in an attempt to prevent any further falls or mishaps. I really didn't care about my time at that point and I crossed the finish line 45 minutes slower than last year's personal worst finish. As a parting gift from the course, the walking allowed sand to get into my socks and blister the bottom of both feet to add insult to injury.
Despite all the adversity and feeling like I took a professional beating from the course I'm pretty happy with finishing. This was my 7th ultra and pretty much any I can get through count as positives for me. Ultimately, I set myself up for a lot of the problems I faced with a terrible summer of training along with the fact that I only run trails during races so I'm sure there are techniques and tricks I haven't developed. When you get right down to it, I love road running and dislike trail running. I signed up for this one because the timing gave me something to train for over the summer.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Just for fun, here are a couple of pictures showing the "simple" lap layout of the course and an elevation profile for it.
"I fought the trail and the trail won"
What has gone before
I ran this race last year and had a litany of issues. I forgot my Garmin and my Apple Watch died with 6 miles to go. The course was mismarked, resulting in an ad hoc out and back being added on the fly to make up the distance. It was hot & humid and I wasn't happy with my performance, a personal worst for a 50k. So I decided to run it again thinking it couldn't possibly go any worse. Could it? I'll pause to let that ham-handed foreshadowing sink in and the course to chuckle and ask you to "hold its beer".
Today's race
I remembered my Garmin! Already going better than last year before it even started. It wasn't too hot at the start with a T+D of 134 (Temp 67, Dew Point 67), but the humidity was very high. The course is set up as a 7.75 mile loop through a park in the NC sandhills featuring lots of sand, pine needles, roots and hills. As far as trail racing goes, I wouldn't call it too challenging, but I'm also not a trail runner.
The first lap was largely uneventful, with no marking issues on the course this year. The only issue was a rapidly advancing T+D as the sun came out. On the plus side, the trees largely kept us in shade, but on the downside they also screened off most of the breeze. As I started the 2nd loop, it was rapidly coming apparent that this wasn't going to be a day for a peak performance, but that didn't mean a good one was out of the question. The course started sending warning shots across my bow with the roots grabbing at my toes. I didn't fall, but I kicked one root so hard I knew I'd done damage to my big toe. After the race I found that I'd pretty much torn off the big toenail, with pressure from the sock and shoe combining with the blood to keep it in place. It wasn't even half way.
The third lap started well. I wasn't setting any speed records, but I was walking the hills and running the flats and downhills and ticking off the miles. About two miles into the loop, though, I was running a straightaway and apparently caught my toe on a root. The first indication I had of it was the side of my head slamming into the ground as the point of first contact. I was dazed and fuzzy and all I could do was try to crawl off to the side of the trail to get my wits back. It was probably the closest to being knocked unconscious I've ever been in my sporting career. It was a hard hit. Two guys behind me saw it happen and stopped to check me out. Miraculously, I was fine. No signs of a concussion, although it's very tender and going to bruise.
I was able to get mostly back into my groove, but after a couple of miles I looked down and I had swelling the size of a racquetball expanding out of the top of my knee. I have no memory of hitting my knee during the fall. I was worried that might end my race prematurely but somehow the swelling never caused any discomfort during running or walking. It slowly subsided as the race went on, but is still pretty significantly swollen and turning funny colors as I sit here writing this. Lap 3 wasn't done with me, though. I fell again a little later on, but it was at least a controlled descent this time and I was able to twist so I didn't land on anything tender. At the end of the lap, the race officials were waiting to check me out, having been told about my fall and head impact. I appreciated that.
By the start of the 4th lap the T+D was up near its peak of 158 (Temp 91, Dew Point 67) and my main complaint about the race came to the fore. There's just one aid station at the start/finish line for the entirety of the 7.75 mile course. That meant I was having to ration the liter of fluids I could carry across roughly 8 miles. At those T+Ds, I really need to drink more. After the beating I took in lap 3 I was mentally done with the race and I spent lap 4 mostly walking in an attempt to prevent any further falls or mishaps. I really didn't care about my time at that point and I crossed the finish line 45 minutes slower than last year's personal worst finish. As a parting gift from the course, the walking allowed sand to get into my socks and blister the bottom of both feet to add insult to injury.
Despite all the adversity and feeling like I took a professional beating from the course I'm pretty happy with finishing. This was my 7th ultra and pretty much any I can get through count as positives for me. Ultimately, I set myself up for a lot of the problems I faced with a terrible summer of training along with the fact that I only run trails during races so I'm sure there are techniques and tricks I haven't developed. When you get right down to it, I love road running and dislike trail running. I signed up for this one because the timing gave me something to train for over the summer.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Just for fun, here are a couple of pictures showing the "simple" lap layout of the course and an elevation profile for it.
I’m very glad you are all right and suffering no serious after effects.
