xulf
Footballguy
Triple Lakes Trail Race 40 Mile Race Report(2 of 2)
The Race (broken into sections between aid stations)
Miles 0-6.6 (11:37/mi)
After an initial section on the greenway the course quickly moved to single track. Because the half marathon shares the course for the first 6 miles or so, things were very crowded here. I wasn’t too upset about this because going out too fast has always been a big failure mode for me. Not knowing the course, I was surprised that it was much more technical than I had anticipated. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing crazy and it’s almost all eminently runnable if one is so inclined, but there were way more roots than I expected, and that would end up putting a lot of stress on my feet. I guess the finishing times in the past versus the elevation profile should have clued me in. The plus side versus expectation is that the course is almost entirely shaded, which was important with temperatures nearing 80 in the middle of the race. The downside of technical + crowded is that it was hard to see up ahead, and 80% of my tripping occurred in the first ¼ of the race. The gnarlier sections also made my “don’t run for more than 15 minutes straight” plan moot, as there were always at least little sections where walking was clearly the right play for me.
Incidentally, while prerace I was worried about heat, after running the course what I really should have been worried about was rain. There were extended sections that would have been a slippery nightmare if it was wet, so I dodged that weather whammy in hindsight.
Miles 6.6-11.9 (11:15/mi)
Less up and downs here, which between that and thinning out had me moving a little faster. I did trip and fall during mile 9, bruising and scraping my hands a bit. Somewhere during this section, either due to that trip or an earlier trip, my right IT band started acting up. I had issues with this probably a decade ago but it’s been totally fine for years, so I have to assume it was a bad step or two. It was tender but manageable, but having 30 miles to go and already being in some pain was pretty ominous. My right toes were also feeling blistery which confused me, until I got to the aid station and realized that shoe had somehow come untied. Oops.
Miles 11.9-18.9 (11:26/mi)
The wife and daughter met me at this aid station, so I stopped for a bit to chat. I also pounded a fair amount of water here as I realized I was a bit behind. This is a pretty easy stretch, but I knew I should hold back as I already had a large amount of fatigue and wear.
Miles 18.9-24.4 (12:10/mi)
Out and back to and from the turnaround here. Halfway is always a big milestone for me, and somewhere before halfway the thought of dropping popped into my head as I knew a wall of pain was eventually coming, but if I quit I’d have to sign up for another one of these to actually finish, plus my family had come with me, and I pushed it out of my mind and didn’t really think about it again. I was surprised that I was intermittently passing people in this section, because I didn’t feel like I was moving all that well.
Miles 24.4-32 (14:17/mi)
This was the other easier stretch, but I was really feeling it and not taking good advantage of it. My wife walked a bit with me from an aid station in the middle of the section, and I snacked and used a portable massager during that time. The visit slowed me down a bit but was very welcome for a mental boost. Shortly after that I came across a friendly young lady, and we ran a nice 4 miles together in the 11:00-12:00 range. I would have loved to stay with her, but the muscles in my feet as well as my right IT band were really unhappy by this point, and I warned her before the aid station that I was going to walk the first 5 minutes out of there and that she should keep running her race. I wouldn’t see her again until the finish. Surprisingly I’m pretty sure she’s the only person that passed me in the last 25 miles.
Miles 32-37.4 (14:45/mi)
This was the nadir for me, with a lot of walking and pain and a seemingly interminable distance ahead of me. I met my wife again during this stretch, and I think sensing my mood she passed along messages from my kids, siblings, and other family members. The encouragement and support definitely helped keep me going. Towards the end of this section I came to the startling realization that running and taking biggish strides was actually slightly less painful than walking, so I started moving better. The problem was that I would run for a few minutes and then take a goofy step, leading to a flash of pain that would push me back to walking. This cycle would basically repeat for the last 5 miles.
Miles 37.4-41.4 (12:56/mi)
I was now moving pretty decently here doing the long strides then walk thing, especially considering that we were back to the rolling hills with lots of roots. I held back a bit though because I didn’t actually know +/- a mile where the finish was. I passed two guys in rough shape with a mile or so to go. Soon I could hear the finish line, and when I was certain it was indeed shortly ahead went back to running, made the final turn waving to my wife and daughter, then did a sort of long hop over the timing mat that the photographer somehow caught perfectly and gave me a nice finishing photo for once. I then hobbled over to the picnic tables and had my wife get me some bacon and a coke.
Final Time : 9:08:44 (13:14/mi), 27th out of 52 finishers.
Avg moving pace 12:28/mi. 5:25:16 running, 3:17:27 walking, 26:01 idle according to Garmin
Post-race thoughts
When I signed up, I had to enter a time, so I swagged 8:30. I came in substantially slower than that, but I would describe myself as content with my time as I didn’t have any firm expectations and I knew realistically the whole ordeal was a stretch for my training. I would have been mildly disappointed to be over 10 hours, and I would have considered missing the 12 hour cutoff or any other DNF as a failure.
Interestingly, out of the things I was worried about, most were manageable. I drank enough, as evidenced by a few pit stops in the woods. I was able to get enough calories down, and apart from a sour burp or two my stomach held up. My feet were a bit blistered and painful but not enough to really slow me down, and I had absolutely no chafing anywhere else. The IT was a bummer and a hindrance, and part of me wonders what a different race day without that issue would have yielded, as it definitely wasn’t my aerobic fitness that held me back. On the other hand, what I think ultimately would have still limited me was the muscles in my feet not being conditioned to take the pounding required, which would have required a lot more mileage from me to mitigate. The day after every step was agonizing due to the muscles on the bottom of my feet being absolutely trashed. Fortunately that abated pretty quickly, and I walked with my coworkers Monday afternoon with some discomfort but at my usual pace.
I went into this race viewing it as probably being a bucket list, one time thing, and I think that’s where I’m still at. I’m extremely glad I did it, as it was a race experience unlike anything else I’ve ever done, and it will definitely be a fond memory once the short term pain fades. Which speaking of, 6 days later things are pretty good : some minor feet complaints yet, and the hips are still surprisingly tender, but other than that I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve got my Thanksgiving weekend and New Year’s 5Ks coming up, but other than those no future plans, so I’ll have to think about that as the year closes out.
Great race and report. So happy for you to be able to knock this off you bucket list.
With so many unknowns with this race -- new distance, new trail, temps, having to travel -- you had a plan and stuck to it. That says a lot about your mental toughness, because I can only imagine how brutal this length of a race is on your mind and body.
Excellent job. You're a total badass
It’s small, but if I understand it right, it could be an undesirable glioma. Surgery will probably be the week after Thanksgiving. Then my BMF recovery training begins. If things go well, the doc says I can get back to regular routines. If things go well, doc says I should be able to compete in Boston 2026. But life has definitely become a new normal for me.
