Race Report: Black Cat 20-miler

Black Cat 20-miler
March 2, 2013
Salem, MA
Start time 8am
Temp at start, 36 degrees, clear skies & sunny
Chip time 3:54:30

There aren't many road races over the half marathon distance, and certainly even fewer that align well with a specific marathon training program. The Black Cat 20-miler is 6-weeks out from the Boston Marathon and so it is geared toward that crowd. They also have a 10-mile race which is more popular. The 10-mile race had 681 finishers, while the 20-mile race only had 267 (I came in 260th - woo! Not last!)

There was lots of Liver Love at this race. My teammates Lisa, Connie, Billy, and Dayna all ran the 20-miler. Billy, our resident fastie, suggested that we all go out to Brunch after the race. We reminded him that he would be done 2 hours before us, so he brought a snack and we renamed "Brunch" to "Lunch". It was great to have Run for Research Teammates there -- both for support on the course, and for camaraderie after the race.

All of the 10-milers and 20-milers start at the same time and both run a 10-mile loop. The big difference being that the 10-milers stop after one loop and the 20-milers continue on for a second loop. This is both good and bad, depending on where on the course you are. The course is more of an out & back than a loop. The loop is really only at the very end, where you run parallel to the course a few blocks over so that you can cross the start line again to start the 2nd loop. The good thing about this being mostly an out & back is that you can see the lead runners as they head back toward you. This is great when you have a lot of friends running, as we did, because you get to cheer each other on during the race.

The toughest part of this course is mile 9-10, with mile 10-11 being only slightly less miserable. When I got to mile 9, I felt good. I was cruising at a pretty comfortable pace the entire race, just under an 11:30 pace which was my goal. I didn't really feel tired, which was good considering I had to run the entire course again.  Just after the 9 mile mark, I spotted flashing blue lights coming up behind me. It was the police escort for the lead runner. I got lapped! The winner ran a 5:34/mile pace. For TWENTY MILES. I guess if I'm going to get lapped, it might as well be by someone who is clearly not human. Getting lapped wasn't the worst part though. At about mile 9.25, the course turns back toward the start/finish line. At this point, there are hundreds of runners who have already finished the 10-mile race who are now walking back to their cars, finisher's medals around their necks and water bottles and bagels in their hands. Now don't get me wrong, I love cheerleaders, and I appreciate kind words. But when I have over 10 miles to go, it's really hard to hear people yelling, "You're almost there, just over that hill and you're done!" And it wasn't just one or two people, it was a steady stream of runners. As I got closer to the start of my second 10-mile loop, the encouragement was even tougher to hear. "You're there! Great race! Strong finish!" What made the situation a little tougher was the few runners around me who really were running the 10-miler, who quickly veered off to the left toward the finish line, while I continued on straight ahead into the silence. At first I was glad to be out of the faux cheering section, until I realized there was suddenly NO ONE left. Mile 10-11 was a ghost town. No spectators, no other runners in sight. It was going to be a long, lonely second loop.

After reaching mile 11, the course matched up again on the out & back loop, so I could finally see other runners, even if they were nearing mile 19 while I was only on 11. I could see my friend Lisa on the horizon, and ended up catching up to her at a water stop around mile 13. We ran together (within ear shot) for the next 2 miles and basically together (just out of ear shot) for the last couple of miles. From mile 13 to the turnaround, we were able to see a steady stream of runners heading back until we turned around at mile 14.5. Considering I finished in 6th to last place, the turnaround was pretty much the end of our spectating, although we did see our friend Connie who was maybe a 1/2 mile behind us. She wasn't happy, and she let us know. We kind of just smiled and waved at her in response, which probably wasn't the most helpful thing, but shouting, "We're miserable too!" may not have been much better.

The last 5.5 miles back to the finish were tough. Mentally I was fine -- Sylvia did not show up at this race at all, which is incredible. Nutritionally I was fine -- my coach tweaked my fueling plan a few weeks ago after a tough 18 mile run, when we determined that I wasn't getting enough carbs/calories before and during my run. Physically I was not fine -- specifically the muscles in my left hip and quad. My muscles were so tight that I could feel myself running with a limp. At one point I stopped, thinking I would try to stretch it out, but as soon as I stopped I could feel all the muscles in both legs seize up and I nearly keeled over. I decided that my patented "Slowanski Shuffle" was my best bet for ending this pain, otherwise I would just drag it out. My first 10 miles were an 11:27 pace, and these last couple of miles were in the low 12:00's, but I kept moving. Mile 19-20 was back down to 11:37, so it was nice to know I still had energy left after 19 miles to push it a little at the end. I think the faster pace made my leg feel a little better to because the limp wasn't as noticeable at the faster pace. My average pace for the race was 11:44, which was about 20 seconds per mile slower than this same race last year, but I'm still happy with my time.

I'm also so proud of my teammates! Billy finished in the top 20. Dayna was freshly dressed and happy as a clam by the time we finished. This was Connie's longest run ever by 3 miles. Lisa ran faster than her fastest half marathon pace. It was a great day for the Liver Team!