Race Report: MadCity 100K Relay

My first 'official' race since Ironman took place last Saturday in Madison, WI. I was part of a 100K relay team in the MadCity 100K. I ran the third lap of the relay - a 10K. You would think that the 2nd Saturday in April would bring pleasant temperatures, sunshine and green grass. Then again, this is Wisconsin and in the year of the Never-ending winter we raced in true Wisconsin style.

Race morning brought temperatures in the low 30's, a wet and constant snow, with some pretty brutal winds. I got in the morning prepared to run, but definitely not looking forward to it. I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to run well since my calves were tight and my stomach was rumbling from the previous night's meal of nachos and ice cream. Not kidding - that was indeed my dinner.

I arrived at the race site and was greeted by many familiar faces. It was truly a pleasure to be back in the 'racing' scene since my post-Ironman hiatus. I arrived just in time to see Peter cruise through on his first lap. He was making great time and looked fresh and focused. I ran out, cheered like an idiot and then went back in the Fleet Feet tent to stay out of the wind. There were some fairly nasty gusts on that side of the lake. Brrrrr!

I got my number and somehow managed to forget my race belt. A few bathroom trips later and utterly convinced I was going to run terribly, I needed to start warming up. I planned to warm-up for 20 minutes before I would start my loop. I pleaded with several others to join me in a warm-up and finally my friend Gus agreed. We ran out for about 4 minutes when we saw Gus's teammate and the person he was taking the hand-off from, we had to hustle back to beat her in. Moments later Gus took off successfully and I scrambled back into the tent.

One of my friends brought her adorable 7 month old son to hang out with us in the tent while we waited to run. He was sooooo cute in his blue bear snow suit. And, he was an additional source of heat. He kept me nice and warm while I waited for my runner to come in. While holding Cooper, my runner was coming. I quickly handed off Cooper to his mom, ran to meet my runner, put the chip on and I was off.

Mile 1 - I started out even on the first mile. I was trying not to go too hard, but to find a pace I could do without pain or feeling like I was going to lose my nachos. I sensed that I was running strongly, but wouldn't know it until I passed the first mile marker. Peter was several minutes ahead of me and I had no hope of catching him. Also, this is a long/relay style race. I had no one to run with or pace against, so I was pretty much going by feel until the first mile marker. My time read 8:31. Really? That was 8:31! It felt a lot harder than that....I was going to be in trouble, if I couldn't at least hold that pace.

Mile 2 - Trying not to get too disappointed by my first mile, I just kept running as steady and strong as possible. Maybe I'd at least finish around 52.5 minutes. That would be good for me given the circumstances. It's worth noting too that once you turned away from the lake in Mile 1, the wind was no longer a factor. Running conditions were far more comfortable. Mile 2 is pretty flat and seemed to go by fairly quickly. I arrived at the Mile 2 marker at 16:15. This means my 2nd mile was 7:44! I don't think I picked up that much speed, so I just assumed Mile 1 may have been a little bit long.

Mile 3 - At this point one of the solo runners had passed me and was about 20 yards in front of me. Finally I had someone to pace against. It was interesting to pace behind this solo runner. He always picked the shortest distance between every corner, turn, etc...I was so used to running on the left on this course that I never thought about running the shortest distance between points during a race. I employed the solo runner's strategy for the rest of the race. Mile 3 includes a long, steady hill. I slowed down a bit to try and not exhaust my legs on the hills. I hit the Mile 3 marker at 24:20. 8:05 for Mile 3....good considering the fun hill I just ran.

Mile 4 - More rolling hills and still following my solo runner until the aid station about 3/4 of the way through the mile. My solo runner made his way to a port-o-potty and I kept right on trucking. I hit Mile 4 at 32:05. Another 7:45 mile....At this point it was decision time. I only had 2 more miles to go. If I could hang on to this pace, I would break 50 minutes. This was something I had not thought I could do today and was surprised by my steady running. I decided to go for it. What's another 16-18 minutes of running?

Mile 5 - Overall, a pretty uneventful mile. It included a few small hills, but mostly flats. The worst part was coming out of the tree cover and into the open. You could see up ahead that the wind was just whipping across the lake and that you were going to get hammered as you came out of the trees and turned towards the lake. Sure enough, the wind was strong and cold. It felt like you were running into a wall. I feared I would slow down, but just tried to fight the wind as best I could. I hit the mile 5 marker at 39:51. 7:46 for that mile and right on target.

Mile 6 - I was tired at this point and sick of fighting the wind, but I forced myself to hang on. I knew that once I exited the Arb and turned towards the finish line that I had roughly 4 minutes of running left. That final 4 minutes feels pretty long though. You can see the finish line and it looks so close, but really is fairly far yet. I cruised on in and finished in 48:58! It was awesome to hear all the cheers from my fellow runners and friends.

I am absolutely thrilled with how I did and my overall contribution to the relay. I wasn't feeling the best that morning, I didn't eat well the night before, my running has been less than stellar since the beginning of the year and somehow I still managed to run a solid race. Sometimes I wonder what I could if I did everything 'right'? :)

Peter - What happened to Peter you ask? After 50K, Peter handed in his chip. He ran strong and steady for half the race, but ultimately decided it was in his best interests to hand in his chip. I'm guessing he'll write his own race re-cap on his blog. Check it out at: http://lostcobber.blogspot.com

The racing juices have been renewed and I am now ready to get back into the game. Next race - Crazy Legs Classic, Saturday April 26th