As mentioned in a previous blog post I am running the Savage 100 mile race in October. As I prepare to take on this challenge, I will be providing monthly updates on my progress. This is as much to hold me accountable to my training as it is for anything else, but I’m hoping others find this interesting and maybe inspirational as well.
For this update (the last before race day), I’m going to recap my experience at the Twin Cities marathon on October 6th and then talk a little about prepping for the 100 mile race on October 19th. Here it goes!
The surprising results of the Twin Cities marathon
Coming into 2019, I wasn’t planning on running the Twin Cities marathon since it took place less than two weeks prior to the 100 mile run. I didn’t want anything to derail my progress toward that end goal.
However, my running buddy convinced me to sign up since Twin Cities is a “can’t miss” race for him. I figured I’d be running long that weekend anyway so I might as well complete the course. But I had no intention on running my hardest, rather I would use this purely as a training run.
The week before the race
The week prior to Twin Cities I planned to run a 30 mile training run at our cabin in Alexandria as the final super long training run prior to the 100 mile. I set out on that run and felt great! I felt so great in fact that I figured I had a decent shot at a personal record (PR) marathon time.
You just don’t get that many shots at a PR so take them if you get them was my thought process. So I cut my run to 18 miles to save my legs a little and decided to go for a PR at Twin Cities.
Race day
The weather on race day was perfect: upper 40s, slightly overcast, little wind, low humidity. I thought I had a good shot at beating my previous marathon best time at Fargo of 3 hours 27 minutes. Talking to my running buddy at the start line, I predicted a time of “3:20 something”. As it turns out my prediction was wrong.
I decided to start moderately hard and see how I was feeling halfway through. If I didn’t run the first half in under 1:42 I was unlikely to beat my PR so I would just ease up during the second half. My pace started a bit slow as I weaved through the crowds but soon I was consistently running sub 7:30 miles (my PR average 7:55 miles).
I crossed the halfway point in 1:39 and I felt great! I began pushing harder and zoning out everything happening around me. Then I saw the 3:20 pace group a few hundred yards ahead of me. This motivated me to push even harder. At mile 20 I passed the pace group and vowed not to get passed again. I crossed the finish line in 3:18:06, beating my personal best by over 9 minutes!
Somehow I managed to run the second half faster than the first half which is extra crazy considering there is a fairly substantial hill from mile 21 to 23. It seems as though all of my hard work over the summer paid off. After running so many hills on my long runs, I barely noticed most of the hills on the course. I was in a zone that I have rarely felt before during the second half (maybe this is “runner’s high”). This race gave me the last bit of confidence I needed to confirm I was ready for the 100 mile run.
Final race preparations
The 100 mile run starts on October 19th at 5 am with a 32 hour cutoff time (hopefully I finish well before this). I’ve been tapering in these final weeks, running far fewer miles. This is always an uneasy feeling for runners. You’re balancing getting to race day as fresh as possible but also maintaining fitness levels. But I had a great final trail run last weekend (in the snow no less) so I feel as ready as possible.
Prepping for something you’ve never attempted before is an interesting experience. Everything after 50 miles for me is a complete unknown. Luckily the weather forecast looks good. But once darkness hits, I’ll officially be in uncharted waters.
So what should I bring on race day? The advice I’ve been told is to bring everything you own. There are too many wildcards and you want to prepare for anything. I am mostly heeding this advice.
I’ve done everything I can to prepare at this point. Now it comes down to executing and overcoming any physical and mental hurdles I encounter. At the very least, I’ll have an interesting story to share. Check back next week for the final update on the race day experience!
