Army 10 Miler (the race, the experience)

So there we were, no shi_, up to our armpits with 25, 998 other runners... (and some notable 3ID folks)

It was a hot morning, a humid morning at my 3rd Army Ten Mile (ATM) race, and wouldn't you know it... it happened again...

what happened?

I was once again irresistibly drawn to the array of 60 port-o-johns at the start line minutes before the start gun fired. In fact I was more than drawn to them, I was compelled. I was as compelled into that little solitary green smelly vestibule as a Reaver is compelled to close with a non Reaver. The problem was the waiting. 60 port-o-johns for 26k runners means there will be long lines and waiting. And wait I did... but everything worked out ok :) It was my first 'number 1' experience of the day.

After nature called we moved to the start line, we were in wave 2, which means our target complete time was between 80-120 minutes. There are a few pics of us out there. check them out at action sports international. (Or click the link for Rob and Carol) (Notice the GOALS shirt? from my first adventure race, where John and I medal ed, but that is another story :) )

So, when I signed up for the ATM, I thought I would finish somewhere faster than 90 minutes. But, alas, my training program deteriorated after the Hawk Mountain race. In fact, with the exception of one 6 mile run, I had 0 running / riding workouts before this 10 mile race. So I basically woke up and ran 10 miles because I wanted to, not because I was training for it :) That lack of preparation and the heat made for a slow 10.20 min/mile average. YUK. Thanks to Carol for staying with me, I am sure she could have finished in 90 flat or better!

The heat and humidity took their toll on many racers, there even was one death. He almost made it to the finish line. RIP stranger.

The race started great... we ran a 9:05 first mile with Jim and Susan. I felt some internal pain, clearly lack of running was going to slow me down. I finally got away from the pain around mile 2.5 when we headed down hill and into the shade. There were so many runners, I sped up and started picking people off, it felt great, but only lasted about a mile, when the sun blinded me and the heat oppressed me, and the 2-3 gallons of ice cream I ate the previous week started getting me back....

The middle of the race was good, miles 4-6 were fun enough, very scenic, probably my favorite miles of the course, and there was a GO BANANA sign!! You have to realize the significance of this sign... Sure there was a human size banana running with a human size Wheaties cereal box running past me (I think they were really people in costume, but I was probably more than a little delirious) and the sign was ostensibly for that banana, but (And that is a large but) GO BANANA was almost our Adventure Racing Team name. And at that moment, I thought of our fearless (the only thing he fears is a running race for running's sake) team captain, John. You see John likes the Simpson's and nominated GO BANANA for your GOALS team name on more than one occasion. So naturally, when thinking about my team captain, I ran just a little faster for a few miles.

I planned to keep one GU in my pocket. It was a mental thing... after passing the capitol building I would GU up. I did not expect to get any tactical benefit from the nutrients/calories but I was expecting to get some short term mental gains. Sure enough, around mile 6-7 I needed something. We had already passed the guy who played the flute (no kidding there is a runner who plays the flute)... actually he passed us, he was on his way back from the capital building, we were on our way to the capital building. So where was I headed with this part of the rant... Oh yeah, I needed something. So I GU-ed. It was good. It was what I thought I needed, unfortunately it was less than I expected, I was miffed and a little let down, so I actually ran with the empty GU packet in my hand for a mile. what a bummer, I was running out of gas with the hardest 2 miles ahead of me (no shade). I guess GU is not a replacement for training.

So the last 2-3 miles were head of me and I knew it. No pain in my legs, no blisters, no problems to speak of, but no real motivation either. I was looking forward to the last water point, I was planning to drink water at gatorade, and walk a few paces. The water point came and went, it was dominated by the backdrop of a hill of sorts. It was an on ramp to 395 or something, and it represented a 30 foot elevation change. what a wimpy hill, but it was just big enough to take away any mental reprise from the water point. great. So I dug in and made quick work of the hill, then the last stretch of mile and a half was ahead of me, completely open, crossing the river... just will power at this point. I am glad I was not hurt or cramping.

I crossed the finish line, secured a finishers coin for COL Moore and COL Palma, met up with Jim and Susan (finished 4 mins faster than me) and Ron and Jackie (77 mins and 83 mins total).
We parted ways, I headed to my totally cool cousin's place for a shower. Shout out Leigh and Finnigan.

Some of us got back together for lunch. I ate my ceremonial post ATM fish and chips and Guinness lunch and I made my way to union station for my train back to PA.

a great day with great people. next year I will train for the ATM and get a sub 90 min time. maybe my real goal will be to get John to run. (It would be good to get him by his fear of running a race for running's sake :) )

comments?