The Longest Day



 After testing my fitness at a local half marathon at the end of April, my disappointment with not hitting my 2 hour benchmark left me concerned with how ready I would be in six weeks for a trail marathon. I re-read my March 24th post where I laid out this craziness and was pleased to discover I had written that "my ultimate objective was to be fit and race ready allowing myself to enjoy the process."

 So I focused on just that, being as ready as I could be while enjoying the process. Six weeks flew by and as I prepared physically, I found my biggest concern to be the heat or at least the potential for it.  The course which began in Virginia's Algonkian Region Park was described as not very technical, runnable and fast. It was also said that "the first half was flat and fast, matter of fact, so is the second half." I felt that if a course was described as flat and fast I could at least run it, so I did not give much credence to the"3 star" rating given to the Overall Difficulty of the course. My biggest concern was the heat and I felt that would be my challenge. My sister had been providing regular DC temperature reports and they had been variable. It had not been to hot but I knew it could be.
 On race day, the temperature and humidity rose as quickly as the sun. My brother-n-law graciously shuttled me to Sterling, Va where I caught a school bus to Algonkian Park and the start/finish festival area. The North Face has nailed the festival atmosphere! The music isn't so overbearing that you want to run away, everything is easy to find and everyone so helpful. I arrived early enough to make sure I was not rushing to check in, checked my bag and had some time to meet and greet prior to the start. The common thread of concern with fellow racers that morning was the heat and its effect on performances. These concerns where reinforced by the events MC who periodically reminded us of the importance of hydration as the mercury rose and the start time approached.
 The terrain didn't vary much at the start, we headed out into an open grassy field, then meandered over some paved cart paths before turning onto a long, shaded, straight, flat gravel road as long as the eye could see. There was a hum of pleasant chatter everywhere and my pace felt good. Eventually, I found myself running and chatting with none other than the patriarch of The Endurance Challenge himself Dean Karnazas.
  

Sugarland

The courses narrow single track meandered along the Potomac's flood plane allowing random glimpses of the rivers beauty through dense foliage..

The Potomac

 There where a few stretches were the once swollen waters of the Potomac had obliterated the shore line trail forcing detours away from the river into steep, short climbs that flattened briefly at the top only to shoot straight back to the river and back up again in succession. As I came to the top of one of these climbs, I met Mike Wardian, (winner of the 50 mile event) seemingly unaffected by the heat, blazing towards the finish.

Charlie

 Unfortunately, it took me longer than I had intended to reach the turn around but I was so grateful to replenish my water and see my wife it really didn't matter. It was fun to have the aid station manned by Charlie Engle of "Running the Sahara", he was providing runners with much appreciated ice water dousing and electrolite drink. Admittedly, I had underestimated the difficulty of the course. The flat and fast start combined with the hills and the heat had slowed my pace considerably. I could not guess how long it would take me to finish.
 As the next aid station came into view at around mile16, it appeared to be as busy as a Metro entrance. Racers 3 deep grazed at the feed table, others waited to be dosed with ice water for a brief reprieve from the heat, others layed off to the side of the trail in the care of the EMS staff who were visibly concerned with the state of some of there charge. It was here I made the decision to finish under my own power, to finish smart, without suffering long term effects of the heat.
  I executed a methodical run, walk, hydrate drive to the finish.  Somehow, the hills seemed to have gotten steeper since I had past over them earlier in the day. I ran as often and as far as I could but continued to feel the effects of the heat. At one point, my mouth felt extremely uncomfortable and pasty so I removed my tooth plate and took a swig of my water bottle. Instantly, I experienced a cooling I hadn't expected. I took another drink with the same affect and slowly increased my pace to the finish grateful for what I had discovered and thrilled to cross under the red arch at the Finish.

The Finish

Cooling the feet