Carl Touchstone Memorial Mississippi 50 Trail Run - Run20k


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Laurel, Mississippi
United States
60F / 16C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 2h 30m 24s
Overall Rank = 35/65
Age Group = 0-100
Age Group Rank = 11/23
Pre-race routine:

(No age groups. Just overall male/female awards.) This year, to avoid getting up at 4am, we decided to spend the night in Laurel about 30 minutes from the race site. I had a trail run pre-race meal: wings and beer. Perfect. Tried to go to bed at a reasonable time, but my afternoon swim had left me congested and unhappy, so it was a while before I was able to fall asleep. We were up at 6a, partook of the free breakfast (oatmeal and coffee), and at the race site by 7:15ish.
Event warmup:

None. Decided it would be an easy, long run day. Still, I hoped to run a bit faster than I had 3 years ago because I was in better shape and lighter. Alas. Not in the cards.
Run
  • 2h 30m 24s
  • 12.43 miles
  • 12m 06s  min/mile
Comments:

The goal was to have fun. I am not a fast trail runner under good conditions, and this trail had me walking quite a bit as I navigated the deep, sticky, chunked-up muddy sections. Not sure how people just traipse over that stuff. When we had clean, dry sections of trail, I tried to make up time, but it didn't help much...there just weren't enough clear, dry stretches. The stream crossings cleaned my shoes, which was a good thing since they were getting heavy with the mud. One stream was up to my things. And cold. But that's trail running.

I really started to fade at the end. It was getting harder and harder to get around the mud because my legs were tired and not as stable. I ended up running it 2 minutes slower than 3 years ago. I was not happy about that, but the course was definitely harder.

Someday, I may tackle the 50k. After a dry winter.
What would you do differently?:

Find more trails to practice on. Run through mud with more confidence.
Post race
Warm down:

Taking off muddy shoes and socks.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Trail mojo

Event comments:

I only say this course was "too hard" because it wasn't "just right," but it's not as if it was beyond my reach. It's a great event that's well run in a beautiful location.


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Last updated: 2009-12-02 12:00 AM
Running
02:30:24 | 12.43 miles | 12m 06s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/23
Overall: 35/65
Performance: Average
Altho billed as a 20k, the race map shows the loop as 12.5 miles, and my Garmin gave a generous 12.6 (all the mud muck dodging). Low HR througout because of so much walking (see below), but I spiked to 220 toward the end. Yeah. Right. My HRM lies to me.
Course: The 3 races covered 2 different loops of a multi-use trail system at the DeSoto National Forest. 20k runners did the long loop (12.5 miles) once; 50k runners did the long loop twice plus one lap of the short loop (6.1+ miles); and 50-mile runners did the long loop three time and the short loop twice. Oof. The trails are open to hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and horses. Mostly horseback riders use it. The RD's email early in the week encouragingly said the trails were "relatively" dry. Well, they were significantly wetter and muddier than when I ran it 3 years ago, so I would hate to see what he thinks wet trails look like. Anyway, while in general the trail is wide and smooth and, when dry, pretty easy to navigate, because of the chunky, deep mud from beginning to end, it was pretty tough going. I can't imagine having to go around again (and again).
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5