Trailbreaker recap

I had the Trailbreaker marathon on my radar as a possible race all winter and spring.  As the April 2nd date approached I kind of adjusted training as if I was going to run this.  I didn’t do all the preparation I would have for a usual target race though.  I did get plenty of miles in.  At the time of the marathon I had over 700 miles under my belt for the year.  One big difference from previous years was the number of miles I put on the treadmill.  I’m not sure of the exact number, but I’m pretty sure more than half of those miles were inside either at home or work.  This kept me very consistent, but in the long run didn’t help me with a difficult marathon.  I was able to get a pretty good 20 miler in a few weeks ahead of the April race date so I had some confidence I could at least run close to what I had done in the past (3:30 – 3:40) range.  I really only took a one week taper period for the race basically using it as a training run for the 50k trail race coming in May.  I took Friday as my off day and only did 4 easy miles on Thursday.  In hind sight I probably should have taken at least one  more day off.

I didn’t sign up for the race ahead of time.  I kept my eye on the weather and training and was up in the air until race morning.   I don’t suppose “carbing up” on pizza Friday night was the best decision I could have made.  I got up at my usual time a little before 5:00am giving me plenty of time to prepare.  I did my usual race morning breakfast of pancakes and banana’s.  Deciding I felt pretty good I made the decision to give it a go.  The morning was crisp and cold with only light winds at the time.  The forecast called for it to stay cold with winds picking up throughout the morning.  Good news the winds were supposed to be Westerly which would be at my back on the return of the out and back.   I made it down to Frame Park in Waukesha  in plenty of time to sign up and get ready.  They had a nice blue technical shirt as a race give away this year.  Right around 8:00 I got myself to the start line in time for the national anthem and then we were off.  I started off easy this time instead of blasting off from the start.  I stayed behind a couple people I had seen at previous Trailbreakers that finished around where I did.  I just tucked in behind them and tried to keep pace right around 7:30 miles.    This worked pretty good through the half marathon turn around point.  It was this early on though  I could feel my legs just weren’t going to have it that day.  I already wished I had only signed up for the half marathon.  I tried to hold the pace, but a group of at least 10 people passed me up in the next few miles while I slowed to the 7:45  range.  I pretty much hung in here as we got to mile 11 water stop.  It was at this stop they provide a place for a drop bag.  I had put a different pair of shoes and socks along with GU and hydration needs in my pack.  I made the decision to change into my trail shoes for the haul up the trail to the Lapham Peak tower turn around.   Even though it cost me some time I was happy to have made that decision.  This was my 3rd Trailbreaker and I never found trail conditions as bad as they were this time.  The ice from the previous week had mostly melted, but that made those areas really muddy.  There were spots where I was up to my ankles in mud.   I made it up to the top of the trail where there is a set of about 50 stairs before you reach the base of  the tower when I started seeing the people I had been running with early.  I would guess 3 or 4 minutes behind them at that point.  The picture of me at the top of these stairs above has me looking pretty defeated already.  I certainly felt that way too and the mental games had already begun for sure.  I fought my way to the top of the tower, gathered myself and headed back down the hill for the return.  On the way back down I slipped and fell.  I had hoped to make up a little ground here, but now had to run cautiously to make sure I didn’t get injured.  I made it back to the drop bag spot at approximately mile 16 and again changed shoes.  Again I think this was a good decision in that the others were very muddy, wet and heavy.  The wind was now at my back, but it didn’t seem to help or make any difference at all.  I had a lot of trouble with the transision from dirt trail back to paved trail this time.  I was kind of in no man’s land here for several miles.  No runners were around me either ahead or behind that I could see.  I just tried to focus and keep moving really fighting off the urge to drop out.  When I got to the half marathon turn around on the way back I knew I was in trouble.  In previous years I had run into masses of mid pack people running the half marathon.  The only people I was running into now were walkers or those struggling to make it through.  No one to try and run with.  I tried to focus on the next runner ahead of me until I caught them which isn’t saying much, but it was something to try and stay in the game.  Finally I got off the trail and back into Waukesha city limits.  I willed myself to complete the last couple miles until finally the finish was in sight.  I tried to give it a little the last couple hundred meters but my legs would have none of it.  It never felt so good to finally cross that finish line in a real slow 3:50:16.   So I did finish, but it was by far the hardest marathon I have ever run.  This was my 18th completed since 2004.  I picked up my medal and made it back to my car where I changed out of some of the wet clothes and put on a warm jacket.  I went inside to view results and have a couple post race beers while I was waiting.  Turns out my time was 30th overall and 5th in my age group. 

For a low key, early race this event is really pretty well run.  Signup on race day is a bonus.  The nice shirt they give away and the post race food and beer are also good things.   The point where the race turns north across highway 18 up toward the Lapham tower is only a few miles from my house so it feels like my home course.  I guess that is one of the reasons it tempts me each year.  I will consider doing it again, but not unless I think I’m more prepared than I was this year.  The only good thing about the race this year for me is I proved I could finish even if I was struggling with both the physical and mental part of running such a long event.