In the week prior to the race I had given our church pastor some specific items for prayer. He's a runner and had expressed interest in the race and also noted he would be praying. In cases like these, I don't just say "thanks" - but I give a thoughtful response and request. Here were my specific prayer items:
- Continued overall health so that I arrive at the starting line healthy.
- That I don't take a wrong turn on the course - thus costing me time and also adding distance and distress.
- That I pace myself well and give my best - running the race intelligently.
- That I don't develop a running injury during the race and that I don't break down afterword.
- That I consciously run to the glory of God and not just to/for myself
At this point in the race, all five points seemed to be answered in the positive. Number five is always a bit hard to discern. I have to admit that I like recognition. I like being rewarded and praised for my efforts and performances. However, the goal is to to everything (including every footrace) to the glory of God because He is the giver of all good gifts and the moment-by-moment sustainer of not only me but the entire creation. You know, it is very easy to feel like your giving God the glory and running in oh-so-sanctified a way when your running well! It's harder when that's not the case. So far, all was well, so I was feeling pretty close with God.
In a long race (or a long day for that matter) it helps to break the journey up into segments. Aid stations are a convenient way of doing this. You always look forward to the next aid station. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my habit was take two pre-filled cups of "GuBrew" at each station. I hadn't worked out an optimal amount of fluid or food to take in during the race, but I went by feel. Since the longest run I had done before this race was a 50K (approximately 31 miles) I ran and rested conservatively, staying as much as five minutes at an aid station before starting up again. Looking back on it, I now realize that all those five minute stops could be cut to one or fewer minutes and my overall time would be better. I'll follow this plan of action next year.
There are some fast (and I mean this in the positive, athletic sense!) women out there. Before the race one of my goals was to beat the top woman. For the uninitiated, "beat" means to "run faster than" and NOT a physical beating. I'm not that type of guy. I knew you knew that, but just in case... Well, beating the top woman is often a good goal for someone at my level because beating the top overall finisher (nearly always a male) is beyond the reach of the non-pro recreational runner. Did I say "recreational?" I'm a serious runner, but in a race of this size and at the level of my current fitness I cannot expect to win the race. However, beating the top woman will mean that I'm still very good. There were some true mountain goatish women that day. True harriers. Women have been known to excel at the ultra distances - and this has been true of women in their 40's and 50's as well. In any case, I ran and chatted with a few of these trail runners that day and became less certain that I had a chance of beating the top woman. I was a newbie. I needed to run conservatively. Who knows what my body would do past the 30-something mile mark? This was the uncharted territory for me.
Shortly after the 30-mile mark (wherever that was) - my right knee started to hurt. All the lateral stress had apparently been too much. My upper leg muscles were also very thrashed from the repeated braking action needed in the many, many downhills I had encountered. The knee worried me more than the legs. Decision time.
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