WP 12 Hour - Self Performance Review

You know, I really hate this type of course. Why, because it exposes my laziness. It's all runable and I can run pretty much for 12 hours straight. I was thinking of taking the easy way out by running a 50 miler or doing an "easy" 12 hour - getting a 100K or so. But, I was advised that I should race this weekend for WS training. For me, that meant shooting for at least 70 miles.

I like doing courses with a lot of elevation gain so this race would serve to help strengthen my mental fortitude; concentrating on the middle hours where I normally slack off - getting lazy or loosing focus; then try to make the same push in the final hours that I have done over the previous 3 years here.

I ran the first loop with Kendall, my WS pacer. He left me after the first loop when I took my mandatory bathroom stop. That was also "good" for me since I need to learn to push myself hard with no one around. Alex Swenson, Sam Thompson, Tim Stroh were running in the lead (there were a couple of others there too who were doing a few laps). I was sore for the first 4 loops, about 21 miles. I was ready to give up hopes of really putting in a good effort with the way my hips and glute were feeling. It reminded me also that I can't ease up on doing my stretches and strengthening exercises. Before I knew it, I was cruising right along with no pain in those areas at all. Another indication of how important my stretching is, which reminds me ... OK, I'm back from stretching.

I felt good from somewhere in the 5th loop on and started thinking of when Danielle would be there to run a loop with me. She and a "friend" were supposed to show up at noon, or 5 hours into the run. At the end of 6 loops (32 miles), I looked over at the clock which read 11:55 am. Danielle was not there so I asked Bill Ball to be on the lookout for her and he noted the time. Lap 7, then lap 8 I pushed, still looking for Danielle at the end (she showed up 5 minutes after I completed lap 8). I bonked a couple of miles into lap 9 - just like last year. I had been eating GU and had a Tiger milk bar. Also, after lap 6 I had eaten a LOT of fruit (watermellon, pineapple, banana, etc.). I ate a GU which helped me to make it through that 9th loop without loosing too much time. At the end of that loop, Bill told me that my daughter was there and he called her over. I asked Linda Ripley to please make me a half a ham sandwich while I slammed down some more fruit. Danielle couldn't help but laugh when she saw how fast I was putting food in my mouth. I told her, "You should have seen me the last time I did this. It was worse."

The 10th loop with Danielle and Mike was nice. The sandwich and fruit did the trick and we were able to put in a good loop. I continued on alone again for the 11th loop. During the 8th-11th loop, Tim Stroh was a small loop ahead of me and kept telling me to catch up - but I was really just trying to run what I thought I could. I had passed Sam on the 8th loop but figured he'd be back. Sure enough, after a mile into the 12th loop, I turned a corner and saw Sam not too far behind me. I tried the only tactic I knew which was to pick up the pace fast enough that he would give up the idea of trying to catch me. I cruised along, really pushing it harder than I should have been. Caught Tim S. who said, "It's about time," to which I responded, "Sam's right behind us. Ahhh!" My hair was on fire but not his ;-) After finishing the loop, I slowed some knowing that Sam was back quite a ways by now - NOT! As I approached the end, his wife yells "Go Sam!" I turned and headed back out to see if I could fend him off saying, "You'er killing me Sam!" as I passed by. I managed to stay ahead of him for one small loop - he was too strong for me at that point.

I continued on, wanting to just take it easy until I got to 70 miles but then Tim Englund came around. He had been one small loop behind me pretty much the entire day. I figured, wrongly again, that he'd be a couple of small loops behind me by now but he was still one loop back. So, another good mental test was placed before me. I focussed on staying ahead of Tim E. the rest of the race. As it was, Tim S. also came back to life and was making a go of it. Both Tims finished one small loop behind me with Sam finishing two small loops ahead.

On my last two small loops, I was pushing it so hard to beat the 2 Tims that I thought I was going to puke. I don't know how I kept from puking at the end. Unfortunate that I didn't 'cause you would have had a better picture here - Eric blog

Alex, who was non-existent to me all day (he was way too far out ahead). He had a great day. He "big-looped" everyone at least once - including all of us who ran over 70 miles.


Unofficial Results:
Alex - 79.235 (13 big, 13 small)
Sam - 73.14 (12 big, 12 small)
*tc - 71.7 (12 big, 10 small)
Tim E. - 70.98 (12 big, 9 small)
Tim S. - 70.98 (12 big, 9 small)
Van - 66+ (I think)
Arthur - 64.9