Mountain Goat Hell

Well I ran the "Mountain Goat Run" yesterday morning in Syracuse, NY. In retrospect, it was a major mistake. Other than the fact that I got a pretty nice T-Shirt and felt kind of cool beforehand, it was a mistake. Here are 10 reasons as to why:

1. It is a 10, yes 10 mile race. That is 16K or so. That is about 2 miles longer than I have ever run in my life. Granted I do cardio every day, this is not something I am prepared for.

2. It is the hilliest course I have ever run. There is an uphill on Colvin Ave. that does not seem bad at a glance but NEVER ends. It killed me. The worst 2 hills ever.

3. I went to New York City on a bus Friday morning through Saturday night. I slept 4 hours Friday night.

4. I did not take the pre-race day off. As a matter of fact, I beat my legs on the recumbent bike for an hour and then walked the streets of Manhattan all day.

5. I ate more poorly in the last few days then I have since I started losing weight/exercising. Alfredo's best Fetticini Alfredo in the world from 49th Street, a HUGE shredded beef burrito from Chipotle's (best ever), tons of Pretzel M&M's (new) and all sorts of other junk including onion rings, root beer floats, french fries and on and on. Not great in your stomach before your longest race ever.

6. It was 84 degrees and wicked humid. People were dropping all over the course.

7. Did I mention the hills? The downhill sucked as much as the uphill did, by the way. What a nightmare course. Perhaps I should have done a training run beforehand like the other participants to see the course. Perhaps I should have stretched a run beyond 6 miles which I hadn't since last summer.

8. I had nowhere to put my keys so I carried them in my hand the entire run! Disaster right there.

9. I did not drink nearly enough water in NYC like I typically do each day.

10. My right arch has been killing me. Not a time for a run of that length. I have only run for cardio once in the past 7 days prior too. Not a good training move. I either walked the incline on the treadmill or rode the bike. Stupid!

HERE IS A LOG of EACH MILE
Mile 0-1: Flying with my friend Mark (he ran 10 miles in 70 minutes last year-he is a warrior.) Kept with him until a half mile when he looked and said we were running a 6:20 mile pace. That is ABSURD! Finished mile 1 @ 6:50. SO DUMB-terribly fast.

Mile 1-2: Darn it, I am not feeling good already-I looked at my stopwatch at 11:40 and thought that it seemed long. It was all of the food in my tummy. 7:50 mile and 14:40- back on pace (sort of-still fast).

Mile 2-3: People are passing me still, you know you came out too fast when people are passing you in substantial numbers. Finished 8:00 and 22:40 after three-heck, I would be running a killer 5K and this is with some pacing in this heat. I should be sticking to those!

Mile 3-4: I am in hell now. Or on the way there. It is soooooo long between miles now. I guess it is mental because I run 5 milers 5 times a week on average. 8:30 (hill) and 31:10 after 4.

Mile 4-5: This is officially a disaster. I just keep slowing down because of the above factor list and the fast start. I basically screwed myself here. Crappy mile of pacing around 8:50 or so. I am at 40 minutes and angry.

Mile 5-6: I have to tell you- there is a hill here that was constructed by the devil. This was a mountain and must be a name for the title of the race. I crept up it because it was a disaster. It still took me freaking way to long and I ran an 10 minute mile or so-now I am 50 after 6.

Mile 6-7: A second wind of sorts. I ditched the stopwatch from one hand in the grass. It was a burden. Carrying the keys for 10 miles in my palm was horrible enough. I finished this one in 7:50! I was feeling a little better. 57:50 after seven. 3 miles left-I have a real shot here to break 1:20-1:25 which is all that I wanted.

Mile 7-8: I was running pretty well considering the hills and I finished at 8 or so minutes and 1:05 after 8.

Mile 8-9: DISASTER! I HIT A WALL and GOT A CRAMP at once under my right rib cage. I basically could not longer run. I never thought I would reach this point in a race. I had reached my limit. I rationalized and told myself that it was fine. I was a little delirious. I watched two people collapse and it looked good to me. Seriously. I almost just went to the EMT and said "call my wife" because I had it. Finally I made the horrible runner decision to walk. There was no other choice. It was over. I was willing to walk to the end. I was having trouble even walking at this point. I did this walking mile in 16 minutes and was now at 1:21! I was done. What a mess.

Mile 9-10: I considered quitting and turning and finding someone to call Joanna and go to my car and home but I was embarrassed. I was walking and I saw a cop who said "just one more mile" and I was like "nope-I am done and fine with it". Then I finally decided that I could run slowly and I did. I ran (jogged) to the finish weak and ill. I finished like 1:32:20 (782 of over 2000 runners-not too bad) or something and was apparently white as a ghost. I staggered to a table and drank 15 dixie cups of water and Powerade and was angry and ill for twenty minutes. What a crappy time and experience.

Oh well, every race that I run this summer (and forever) will be better. I will be rested, more prepared, and it will be shorter. I am actually looking forward to 6.2 mile 10K's! They seem easy and I could shoot for under 50:00-48:00. Anything will be better than Mountain Goat hell.

I went from 6:50 miles to 8 minute mile pace to finish in 9:15 mile pace because of the darn walking mile 8-9! I guess there is only up from here!