Wednesday, April 15, 2009

2009 McNaughton Park

A direct quote from my race report last year: "Would I run another race in Pekin in the mud - NO." Well 6 days after that post, I signed up for the 150 miler at McNaughton. Yes, I had a complete memory lapse! Apparently I recovered from the race after that time & had only remembered the good times. Maybe I thought I'd get lucky & there wouldn't be any mud - Nah! Well, anyway, the short of it is this year I DNF'd after 100 miles. I honestly believe if the weather had halfway cooperated, I had a good chance of completing the distance. But with 12 hours of steady rain before the race started, the chances of finishing were close to zero. Hats off to Ryan Dexter who ran a SUPER race and also congrats to all those who toughed it out the entire 150 miles.

prerace:

I arrived in Pekin & set up a tent at the start/finish. At that time, I decided to stay in a motel as the forecast was for wind & rain. My old tent leaked last time, so I decided to use it just as a staging area.

I took a room on the top floor of the Holiday Inn after my experience with thin floors at the Super 8 last year. Of course my luck was not any better: the top floor was being renovated & my room smelled like formaldehyde! I didn't sleep well either because of the whistling wind & rain pelting my window all night.

I picked up my packet & prepared for the race in my car as it was raining steadily & it was very windy. As it turns out, in the cramped quarters, I missed lubricating all my critical areas . . .

rainy packet pickup:
race:

I was hoping to follow the same game plan as last year: start very slow & walk ALL the inclines the 1st loop. I didn't have trouble doing that on the splishy splashy trails. It did stop raining about halfway thru the loop. The 1st creek crossing was almost at my waist & the current was fairly strong. I thought if the creek was up another foot with a stronger current, it would be a dangerous crossing without a rope. For the 1st loop, I finished a couple minutes slower than last year, but felt I had used quite a bit more energy this time.

The course conditions really deteriorated by the time the 2nd loop began. The runners had worked the surface water into the trail & it became very slippery. In my opinion, this was the worst condition that the trail would ever be in. I slipped down several times (the only times I did so the entire race) & strained a muscle on my inner thigh. I also stumbled & fell in the 1st creek crossing with my knee finding the only big rock in the creek! The creek had gone down about 6 inches since the 1st loop, but I still managed to get everything below my neck wet! Somehow the S-caps I kept in a capsule on my waist stayed dry & my watches were both still working. By the end of this loop, I felt like I had used twice the energy I should have used.


Halfway thru the 2nd loop, the clouds cleared off & the sun came out. All my 3rd loop was in the bright sun -- nice! With the wind & sun, I noticed a difference in the course conditions immediately. The biggest surprise of the entire race was "where" the course was the most difficult to run. Last year, the hilly 1st half had a layer of "peanut butter" mud that made it like a mud ski resort -- this year I only noted ONE small downhill like this!! Also last year, the 2nd half was a good place to make up some time -- this year it had a few extra mud holes.

It became dark on my 4th loop. Ever since my stumble in the creek earlier, I seemed to have a chill that I couldn't quite shake. Normally I would run with less clothes but not this race. The fact that I was hardly moving fast enough to generate any heat was probably the cause for keeping a long sleeve on most of the race.

There were the usual numerous deer sightings here from late evening to early morning just as last year & I had a couple close encounters: one deer just casually walked off the trail to let me by & stood just 15 feet off the trail; another jumped out of the woods & crossed in front of me & "snorted" -- the snorting is what startled me!



The night was cool & as I was running I was thinking if it would just continue to dry up & with a sunny day, I would get some good miles in. But the drying wind stopped during the night & I noticed the course drying only very slowly each loop. As I had noted before, the hills on the 1st half were not like last year -- most of them were already dry by morning! I think if the hills were peanut buttery, my race would have ended in less than 50 miles.

When morning came, I was ready for the 50 & 100 milers to pass me. Last year I was 5.5 miles into the loop when they started, this year only a couple miles. I saw Bill, Paige, Brian & several others I recognized cruise on by, all looking so strong!

Nearing the finish of the 8th loop is when my legs decided they would not cooperate anymore. My shoes felt like 5 pound weights. The trail was in it's best condition & improving, but it was all too late for me at that point. I did not like the thought of only completing half of the race though, so I decided to just walk it in the 2+ loops (to 100 miles). I thought, at least in my mind, I would have then completed 100 miles within the specified time limit (34 hours) so I did complete a race -- much like I did when I dropped down from 50 miles to 60k or marathon at LBL a couple years back. Official finish time 32:53 (last year 29:25).

other notes:

I did have a couple issues during the race that kind of reduced my fun this year:

I developed a strange & scary looking "rash" on the back of my legs -- I noticed some pain when I got mud on them & it felt better when I washed it off at the creeks. It was like small stickers were rubbing against my legs. I did not have this problem last year.

diseased/corroded/McNaughton legs:


Also, I developed some chafing. The best medicine for chafing? -- don't let it get started!! No matter how much vaseline I used (tons) once it started, I was never able to stop the pain completely. My shorts soaked up so much vaseline they may have looked like I peed in them, but believe me, with that chafing, that was the last thing I wanted to do!

The Heaven's Gate aid station is second to none! Brian, Ellen, Gregg, Bill, Jeff and EVERYONE ELSE there -- you're the best! I felt like I had my own personal attendant each & every visit. Brian & Gregg -- Thanks so much for going the "extra mile" with my drop bags -- you guys are SUPER! Ellen -- I don't have the words to express all my appreciation -- Thanks so much!

Also I would like to give Thanks to Andy for his dedication to this event for so many years. It's incredible to think about the logistics for such a long event. I've heard rumors -- maybe someone will be able to take on the monumental task next year.

Next up -- I'm going to see how I feel later this week. Right now I'm tentatively planning to go back & re-trying the John Bryan 50k, a race which I was disappointed in the way I ran last year. However, if I'm still in recovery mode this weekend, I will likely point to the Dances with Dirt (DWD) 50 miler next month in Gnawbone, Indiana -- a race that I've already registered for.


9 comments:

Unknown said...

Dude, I had the same rash on my calves! Looked just like yours.... a bunch of horizontal red ditto marks. Never experienced that before. Maybe it was something in the mud?

Kelly Gaines said...

Ed,

Congrats on 100 miles -- that is a pretty big accomplishment, especially considering the sloppy conditions out there. Yikes! Hope your recovery is going well!

-Kelly

Jeffro said...

Normally I would consider completing only 2/3 of a race to be a failure, but in this case I have to make a huge exception. Way to go Ed.

This injured calf is still hindering my training and is giving me a bad attitude. I hope to be ready for DWD. I'm whimping out and only doing the 50k there.

Alan Jaques said...

Well done Ed.
I called it quits at 50. Felt real good until the fifth lap. Funny, I also had a strange post race rash. I thought that I had burned the back of my legs at heaven's gate too close to the fire but see that my legs looked very similar to yours. Oh well. Onward to flying pig to knock out an early May marathon even though it is on the road. Should be a fun trip for the family.
Have a half ironman tri in May and then plan on going to the Indian/Celina race that I just discovered. Looks like fun!
I've been checking out the new Ozark Trail 100 in November, what do you think!

ed said...

Joe,

Congrats on your finish!

Yeah, that rash had me worried -- it had to be in the mud. Flesh eating bacteria? Toxic chemicals? Parasites? I'd like to get answers before running there again.


Thanks Kelly!

A pleasant surprise & a real pleasure to talk to you and Brian during the race! Always great to see familiar faces & get so much encouragement at a race far away from home.

Your scheduled back to back long training runs will help you at the TransRockies run -- Good luck!


Jeffro,

The course conditions were a disappointment, but not unexpected. My year long goal has went by the wayside -- I hope to re-direct all that pre-McNaughton training into completing several 100 milers later this year. Maybe I'll see you at one?

Sorry to hear about the continuing calf problem. The more relaxed pace of the 50k will be a change from the 15k DINO sprints -- that is, if you take it easy -- Get well!


Alan,

I didn't know what to think when you let me pass by on the 1st loop -- way to hang in there & get 50! Those 1st few loops were the toughest.

Ozark Trail looks pretty nice, but it's a direct conflict with Pinhoti -- don't you & I have unfinished business in Alabama?

Good Luck at Flying Pig!

Jerry Davison said...

Ed
I curious ... what kind of watch/GPS do you own that made the awesome maps?
Jerry

ed said...

Congrats on your 50 mile finish!

I have a Garmin 405 watch. Any device (not necessarily Garmin) which records data in standard GPS files can be viewed in Google Earth. Google Earth 5.0 is free at http://earth.google.com -- I highly recommend this program -- alot of fun even if you do not have a GPS device! The map pictures I've posted are screen captures of the GPS data that has been exported to Google Earth and to the Garmin Training Center programs. The Garmin Training Center program ships with the watch or it can be downloaded at http://www8.garmin.com/products/trainingcenter/.

Sue said...

Hi Ed

I got the same rash at McNaughton this year, my calves swelled like crazy and the rash thing was so bad and red. Finally it's almost better today and I might be able to run again today. Did you ever hear anything else about it. I was starting to worry I was the only one but the more I read race reports the more I hear other people have it. I have a picture of my legs on my blog.

Sue

ed said...

WO! Your legs looked pretty rough!

No one I've asked has been able to figure it out, but I'll continue to pursue this until someone can give me an answer. I saved some of the mud off my shoes in case there's a need to get it analyzed.

Congrats on your run -- you did very well!