General Discussion Race Reports! » Twisted Ankle Marathon Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Twisted Ankle Marathon - RunMarathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Summerville, Georgia
United States
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 55m 31s
Overall Rank = 17/175
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 6/15
Pre-race routine:

We loaded the kids in the car and drove up to Summerville Georgia. Once we exited I-75 I started noticing we were in the mountains and the tops of the mountains were in the clouds.
Event warmup:

I stood around and listened to the announcements.
Run
  • 4h 55m 31s
  • 28 miles
  • 10m 33s  min/mile
Comments:

"It's worse than you fear"

That was the advice I recieved from a fellow BT'er and North Atlanta Multisporter. It was the truth! The trail runners are a different breed and they revel in a brutal course and doing odd stuff. Here are some examples of odd stuff: They gave me a cheap plastic pink flowered necklace at sign in. There were inflatable monkeyes and pink flamingos hanging from trees over the trail periodically through out the race. There are hand made signs also posted through out the course too. Some of them are nice and some say things like "you think this is bad? this is just a little hill!" Here are some examples of their love for making it hard: They yelled with excitement when the RD mentioned it was a bit muddy on the way up the mountain. They refer to a climb up a billy goat trail as a hill. There are no mileage markers because "that would take the fun out of it." They went up on the mountain and cleared MOST of the logs off the trail. The first 2 miles you run through some tall grass to "get your shoes good and wet."

The course starts with 2 miles of fairly flat running around two different lakes and then up to a camp ground and then into the woods. At about mile 3 you start up "the hill." It's pretty steep, but not too bad until you get to the waterfall. Not far after that it is straight up. Everybody is walking in single file through here and you have to grab trees every once in a while. At 4 miles you reach the top and the halfers go left and the marathoners go right. From there it is rollers for 2 miles and then predominately down hill for 2 miles to the 8 mile rest stop and turn around. You then go back up the 2 miles and it's tough. After that it's 2 miles of rollers back to where you split from the halfers and then you run the half course. Form there it was about 3 miles of rollers with a couple of really tough climbs thrown in, but they are shorter. At about 17 miles you pop out on to a fire road and go up and down (mostly down) to the aid station at 18 miles. You turn around there and go back the way you came. Then it's the rollers for about 2 miles and then you head down the mountain at about mile 22 or 23. You don't go down the really steep climb you went up earlier, but it's still pretty steep. You pop out near the lake again and you have about 2 miles of flat running back to the finish. My garmin said 26.5 miles, but I'd estimate it is around 28 since garmins lose accuracy on really hilly runs in the woods. The rollers are similar to the red top rumble course if that helps.

Now for the race! I started out nice and easy and jogged with my now soaked running shoes. I started to wonder if wearing road shoes was a mistake, but I figured I couldn't change that now. As we ran around the second lake the trail was mushy mud. Like I sank 1 to 2 inches with every step. Great! Now my shoes were getting a bit heavy. After the lake we climbed up to the camp ground and it was pretty steep. This was the first time I saw zone 5 on my heart rate monitor. I knew that zone 5 at mile 3 in a marathon was a big problem, but I just promised myself not to do it again. I walked some of the steep part upto the waterfall and kept my HR in zone 4. I began to think there was a problem with racing by HR on this course since I was WALKING up a hill in zone 4. I thought "maybe the HR monitor is screwed up, but I realized I was breathing like Darth Vader while WALKING up a hill. I navigated the billy goat section OK and went pretty slow because of the folks in front of me, but that ws probably a good thing. I started running at the top and noticed that my legs were already feeling a little bit of fatigue. Great! I've only got 24 miles to go! I tried to release on the down hills and take it easy on the short uphills and it seemed to be working. At about mile 6 I saw the leader coming towards me and he was hauling butt. The leader did the race in 3:30. I can't undersatnd how that is possible. Anyway, I ran down to the turn around and realized I was in 35th place. I saw natalie and she was in 20th overall and the 3rd chic. She looked better than I felt. I didn't stop for water and I left in 31st place. The uphill from there was brutal! I did the next mile at 13.5 min/mile pace with an average HR one beat below zone 5. Basically, I'm walking up a hill with the effort of sprinting. Great! and I only have 19 miles to go. I passed a couple people and started to develope a habit of dropping my water bottle and going back to get it. One time I decided to drop it three straight times just for kicks and was passed by my new nemesis: purple shirt boy. I didn't like being passed and to be honest with you he looked like he was running strong. I settled in behind him and sucked it up when he ran up a hill and walked when he did. We eventually caught a guy and a girl and we all ran in a group for the next six miles. I'm not gonna lie. I was starting to question my race strategy at this point. I was running the downhills in zone 3 and the uphills were zones 4 and 5 and I was starting to feel it. This is the part of the race where I needed to get focussed. I remebered why I decided to run this race. I ran the Thanksgiving Marathon poorly and didn't finish strong. I had been carrying that around for six moths and I wanted a redemption. There is that saying that pain is temporary and quiting is forever and that sums it up. I signed up for this race to prove I wasn't going to give up and limp in. I told myself "not today" over and over and I found a second wind. I ran down the fire road to the turn around and rest stop and was dreading the climb back out, but I knew I would make the best of it. As I ran into the rest stop Natalie was heading out and her calves were killing her. I gave her what little encouragement I had as she headed back out. I spent way to much time at this stop chatting with the old lady there and eating a piece of water melon. It's like I forgot what I was doing. I snapped out of it and realized I had let purple shirt boy get away. I caught him at the top of the fire road and followed him into the woods. His form was looking rough and I knew he was in trouble. I passed him and never saw him again. I caught Natalie and ran with her for a while, but she stopped to get water and I kept running. I passed a couple people more and realized that nobody had passed me in about ten miles and I decided that if I was going to finish strong I was going to hold off all challengers and hold my position. I passed 2 more guys and ran all alone for about a mile until I caught up to two guys as we entered the last rest stop at mile 22ish. I filled up to water bottles and followed them down the mountain. They took off like jack rabbits and I couldn't keep up. It was muddy, rocky, and steep and my legs were trashed. I felt like I was running on the edge and could bite it at any moment. I rounded a corner and there was about 30 feet of slick mud back down to the water fall I had passed earlier. I could see all the footprints of the other runners as the skied down to the bottom and I thought oh sh!t! I made it, but not with out a couple of close calls and headed down the hill. The rest was pretty uneventful. It was relatively flat and I ran about 9 min miles for about 2 miles to the finish. The finish is the coolest I've ever done. You come back across the lake on a 400' long wooden footbridge to the finish line. As you are crossing you can see all the folks on the other side and then the PA announcer says "now on the bridge is Doug Bachman from Roswell" and the crowd starts cheering. It was a blast. I finished in 17th place and nobody passed me. I walked over to the cold beverages and quickly drank a coke and two powerades. Steph and the girls were there and gave me some hugs which made my day. I was pretty stoked because I felt like I ran hard and crushed that bad memory from the Thanksgiving marathon. I sat down and Steph told me about Annika's kids fun run. Annika twisted her ankle and started to cry and fell back with Steph who was with Dagny and walking the run. Annika said something about how she was never going to catch the other kids now between sobs. Steph gave her a great speech about how you have to go and chase them down if you want to be in the race and that crying will just get you last place. Steph finished with suckit up buttercup. Annika took off and caught them and had a great race. I was so proud of her! She faced the same option as me of quiting and hobbling in, but she picked to run hard.

Here is some fun data:
average HR was 166 which is right between zone 3 and 4
I spent only 14 mins in zone 1
Over half the race I was in zone 4 or 5
my worst mile was 17 min/mile up "the hill"
my best mile was 9:12 and that was the first mile.
What would you do differently?:

Do my long runs as hill repeats on sweat mountain.
Post race
Warm down:

I did 30 minutes of yoga and deep breathing excercises. ;)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The fact that the course was hard.

I think my legs held up fine, but my cardio wasn't strong enough to handle the constant hill repeats.

Event comments:

This is a great race for anyone who is looking for a challenge or wants to start building up for 50k ultra.




Last updated: 2009-05-12 12:00 AM
Running
04:55:31 | 28 miles | 10m 33s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/15
Overall: 0/175
Performance: Good
Course: A couple of hills here and there. ;)
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

{postbutton}
2009-05-17 7:11 AM

User image

Elite
3658
200010005001002525
Roswell, GA
Subject: Twisted Ankle Marathon


2009-05-17 8:08 AM
in reply to: #2155646

User image

Expert
910
500100100100100
North Metro ATL
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon

Doug you did so AWESOME!

I had you in my sight till about a half mile before the turn off for the down hill to the finish. I was in so much pain I kept thinking if I can just run faster and catch up to Doug he will hold my hand and tell me it will be okay. I totally knew that this was not true but even still it was what I thought. Then I kept thinking that maybe all those other guys that would peridoically catch up to me might want to hold my hand too but most of them seemed like they needed more hand holding than I did as it turned out.

Ugh! That was sooo hard. I did not have a good attitude at all after the 4 hour mark passed--even though I had planned and knew I would be running for 5 hours. Definitely hardest marathon ever! Even that ING where I had to go to the medical tent for heat exhaustion.

My ankle is so sore but at least it looks like it is not sprained so that is a positive. At the end there I thought I was going to break it.

2009-05-17 8:29 AM
in reply to: #2155646

User image

Master
1888
1000500100100100252525
Winder, GA
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon
Great job, Doug! Sounds like a really, really tough course! Congrats on finishing!
2009-05-17 8:54 AM
in reply to: #2155646

User image

Veteran
119
100
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon
Awesome job Doug.  Sounds brutal!
2009-05-17 12:11 PM
in reply to: #2155718

User image

Master
1201
1000100100
Woodstock, GA
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon

Great job.  That does not sound like fun to me.  I guess that is one of those BADA$$ things people do.  I am impresssed.  Great report.  It was like reading a good book.

2009-05-17 12:34 PM
in reply to: #2155896

User image

Master
1432
100010010010010025
Woodstock
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon
amazing race Doug! You showed some real mental toughness, and that I'd what it's all about. Sounds like a great day (once you finished!).


2009-05-17 1:37 PM
in reply to: #2155646

User image

Master
2125
200010025
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon
Sounds like a crazy race and sounds like you kicked .
2009-05-17 2:28 PM
in reply to: #2155646

User image

Extreme Veteran
590
500252525
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon
Awesome, awesome job!  Have you picked out your next trail marathon yet?
2009-05-20 8:01 AM
in reply to: #2155646

User image

Elite
3683
20001000500100252525
Whispering Pines, North Carolina
Subject: RE: Twisted Ankle Marathon

wow, sounds brutal, for sure.

sounds like it was a real challenge.

great job hanging in there and finishing!

BTW, 17th OA? Not too shabby, bro!

up next, ultras, baby!



Edited by tri_d00d 2009-05-20 8:01 AM
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Twisted Ankle Marathon Rss Feed