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Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon RR (Why?) (Read 567 times)

TonyP view log posted: 11/26/2008 at 3:09 AM “Even if he can’t put it into words, every man is haunted by the question, “Am I really a man?” “Have I got what it takes…when it counts?” – John Eldredge, Wild at Heart Not long after I started running and set sights on finishing my first marathon, I read about a race that just made me shake my head and say, “Idiots.” As a new runner, the description of the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey marathon “Not flat. Not fast. You have to be crazy to run it.” made me wonder why ANYONE would subject themselves to such a thing. Regardless of what made them do it, I knew for sure I’d never do such a thing, never in a million years… But as they say, time passes quickly, and a million years was compressed into only two. So on a cold November morning, as the sun was rising, I stood shivering in a field in a place called Vaughn’s Gap awaiting my time of testing. Looking around at the small crowd, there were several incredibly talented people I had met earlier – like Jeff, who won his first marathon with a 2:50 on this crazy course two years ago, then ran a 2:38 at the CMM, and another Jeff from MN who has only been running for 2 years and has a 2:33 Marathon PR, and Ben, also from MN who at only 25 has a marathon PR of 2:33, and Phil, a former teammate of Ryan Shay who ran track for Notre Dame, and Mike, who ran a 2:49 marathon a few weeks ago, and at least two guys who have completed an Ironman, several people who have BQd, completed Ultramarathons... I guess my point is – as endurance sports credentials go, the people around me could fill up quite a resume. Easy to see why they were there, but why was I there? It’s not like a normal marathon isn’t enough of a test for me. My first two efforts at completing marathons roughed me up pretty well in the last miles and reduced me to walk/run survival mode. But regardless of how I got there, or why I was there…I was there, and after a blur of pre-race jitters, stressing over how many layers to wear, a few short, random, nervous conversations, checking the time, wondering what the temperature was, we were called to the start line. And as the start horn sounded, I knew that beyond the deceptive beauty of the park was the harsh interrogator I had chosen to ask me the question, “Have I got what it takes?” One of the most surreal sights of the morning was after what seemed to be only 5 steps, looking up in awe as the Marathon Junkie blazed across the field like a wide receiver on a fly pattern in the last seconds of the Super Bowl. Then over the first few miles, the start crowd dispersed and each of us settled into our own personal struggle against the course. At about mile 2 it was still early enough to find humor in the sign that said “200 ft down, 3200 ft to go”. Not long after that I noticed a familiar rhythm in my footstrikes and breathing, and I sang along silently, “I walk along the city streets on the Boulevard of Broken dreams, Where the city sleeps, and I am the only one and I walk alone…” The song made sense. At least the part about walking alone – because once the excitement of the start line is left behind, although you may be running the same course with others, and some may encourage you, it is you alone who has to answer the question, “Have I got what it takes” for this mile…for this hill…for this pain…for this thought? And as the day gets longer, the questions get tougher to answer. Pacing on this course is really hard to track because you are constantly either going uphill or downhill, so I decided to break it into 5 mile sections to keep tabs on how my pace is doing. I had planned on going out at 10 min miles, so my first 5 mile segment was a bit fast at 46:43 (9:20 m/m) In the second 5 miles I was forced to take a bathroom break, so at the 10 mile point, my average pace was slower, and my split was 1:35:34 (9:33 m/m) I planned to take a gel at approximately every 5 miles, and I walked the water stop to make sure I got plenty of water to wash down each gel. I’ve come to realize that for my level, taking care of the “engine” is far more important than trying to gain a few seconds at the water stops, so this seemed to work very well. I think it was somewhere after mile 10 that the course cut back and I met the leader, MJ, who still looked like he was running that fly pattern at mile 16 or 17, with a “strictly business” game face on. Not far behind were Jscovill and Schneider and what amazed me most about the whole day was the look on these guy’s faces. 16 or 17 miles on a brutal course like this, averaging around a 6 or sub6 pace, and THEY LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE TELLING JOKES OR SOMETHING, smiling like they were having FUN! That’s just WRONG! I also saw Jeff not long after that. He said something encouraging, and continued what looked like an easy jog, but ended up a 2:57, and he’s just 6 or 7 weeks off an injury. Pretty confident that I didn’t have enough kick to catch the leaders, I continued to run my race. I hit the half at 2:05, and although my legs were definitely feeling the hills, I wasn’t totally spent and felt pretty good for that point in the race. It occurred to me that a PR was realistic now since my previous best marathon was 4:15. However, I knew too well that the really tough questions wouldn’t come until later in the course, in miles 18 and beyond. So I pressed on. At the 15 mile point, my time was 2:22:35 (9:30 m/m) and I remember thinking about how many 10 and 12 mile runs I have done even when I was tired. And just as a voice was saying,”…but you hadn’t ran 15 miles before those runs…” I noticed that familiar rhythm in my footstrikes and breathing, and my song got louder, and the voice of doubt faded away for a while. Anyone who runs this race will back me up on this…the volunteers are just incredible beyond description. Everyone at the water stops, turns, on the bikes, who supported the race really put their hearts into encouraging the runners and making each one of us feel like we actually belonged there, no matter how near death we looked. So a hearfelt thanks to all the volunteers out there – you’re beyond awesome! Next came the mile 15 to 20 segment of the race. If you’ve ran the 11.2 starting at the Stone Gate, you know that as brutal as the first 10.2 miles are, the last mile feels soooo good because it’s downhill. But if you run the 11.2 in the reverse direction…counterclockwise, and you do this after running 18 brutal miles before heading uphill, only then can you know the pain of what is called the Flying Monkey. So I leaned forward, took short strides, and started the ascent, still doing what would loosely be described as running. I actually passed a couple of people which was surprising. A guy told me “good job” as I passed and I think I was able to manage a very weak, “Thanks”. But after counting down from 100 ten times, I decided that walking was a strategy, not a surrender, so I walked. After walking a bit, the hill got less steep and I could run again, so off I went. I hit the 20 mile point at 3:09:30 (9:28 m/m), and I remember thinking that 10 min miles would still give me a PR…but I knew that in terms of toughness, only half the race was done. Around mile 21 I had the decision to make – gel or no gel – because my body was fatigued and my stomach didn’t feel like it could take another gel. But I knew I needed it, so I compromised. I took half a gel, got 3 cups of water and made sure I drank every drop. I gave myself a 30 second walk break, then started back running. Between mile 22 and 23, I remember feeling fairly good. I passed a couple of people and no one passed me. Somewhere near mile 23 I passed a guy I knew to be a pretty good runner, and it worried me because I fully expected him to blast by me after that…but I didn’t see him again. Another significant memory of the course is Golf Course Hill, which, contrary to popular belief (for those who believe the signs monkeys write), this “hill” is “NOT A HILL”. My strategy for hills that are not hills – call them what you want as you walk up them. The last 2.2 miles of the race seemed like 5. The good feeling I had between miles 22 and 23 was “gone like a freight train”, and the battle I had now was to keep running because my mind wanted to use the slightest of inclines as an excuse to use the “walk strategy”. My answer was a quiet, but firm, “no”. FINALLY I came to the point that you turn left to go into the field where this thing started, and as I shuffled on the grassy trail and crossed mile marker 26, I hear footsteps behind me. A guy passed me in the last 0.2 mile and I had NOTHING for him, no fight, no kick, notta. I looked at the clock and saw 4:08x and quickly forgot about the guy who passed me. I was steps away from a marathon PR on the toughest course by far that I’ve ran, with a 2 min negative split. I crossed the line to cheers and congratulations, someone put the medal around my neck and gave me a mylar blanket, and I stumbled along and found a place to recover. I expected 4:22 – 4:30. My tough interrogator’s question for the day was, “Do you have what it takes to run a PR on the toughest course you've ever ran?” My answer was the personalized prophetic message that someone wrote on my race packet…an emphatic Yes – ”YES, WE CAN!” What a fun race and a great weekend!!!

DrewEOB view log Undertrained. LAME. posted: 11/26/2008 at 3:42 AM Awesome job, Tony. It was great to meet you this weekend, you're unfailingly nice. No wonder everybody here speaks so glowingly of you. Congrats on your PR, you know you earned it! Drew So much for my brilliance.

MrPHinNJ view log Potato Grower posted: 11/26/2008 at 3:45 AM Nice work getting that PR at the monkey. Congrats! The glass is half full.

Ileneforward view log posted: 11/26/2008 at 3:49 AM Holy Cow Tony! Great Job, congratulations!

jscovill view log posted: 11/26/2008 at 4:00 AM modified: 11/26/2008 at 5:16 AM a class report by a class person. Congrats Tony. It was just a pleasure to meet you. MTA: grammar.

ʇuǝɹʇ view log ʎǝʞuoɯ ʎʞunɟ posted: 11/26/2008 at 4:06 AM Tony, it has been great fun watching you go over the past couple years from a timid newbie to a monkey veteran. Awesome job and great report. Recover well and go out and smash that PR! You ran the monkey Yes you did! noʎ ɥʇıʍ ǝq ʎǝʞuoɯ ǝɥʇ ʎɐɯ

Mississippi view log posted: 11/26/2008 at 4:08 AM Congratulations on your PR, I can't believe you PR'd on that course, how awesome!! It was nice meeting you! "You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times so take a good look around. You may not know it now but you're gonna miss this" ~ Trace Adkins RunningAhead.com Texas Independence Relay Team

Crabby view log AK girls on the Beach posted: 11/26/2008 at 6:25 AM What a great writer and runner you are! I love reading these reports! I might have to try this one before I don't have any marathons left in me. Run like you are on fire! 5K goal 24:00 or less (PR 24:34) 10K goal 50:00 or less (PR 52:45) HM goal 1:55:00 or less (PR 2:03:02) Marathon Goal...Less than my PR (PR 4:33:23)

Purdey view log 2012? posted: 11/26/2008 at 7:50 AM Tony what can I say? An amazing performance to PR on that stupid course, you are truly an idiot. (Oh, and a great writer). Very, very well done. 24hrs 100miles £10,000

AmoresPerros view log "Idiot" posted: 11/26/2008 at 9:24 AM Great job -- and a great race report read! RA calculator

JVol44 view log Running Man posted: 11/26/2008 at 12:12 PM Congratulations on your race and PR! Well run race, great report. Awesome job!! "You can't have everything. Where would you put it?" - Steven Wright

mikeymike view log posted: 11/26/2008 at 1:07 PM It was great to meet you Tony. Congrats on a nice race!

thinbyxmas Queen LeftRightRepeat posted: 11/26/2008 at 1:18 PM Fantastic! 10K PR 1:02:41 =>10:07 min per mile

Jeff view log posted: 11/26/2008 at 2:22 PM Awesome race and report Tony. It's been fun tracking your progress. Keep on running! a vagabond,..highway-beater; a rolling stone, one that does nought but runne here and there. ~Cotgrave, Randle A dictionarie of the French and English tongues, 1611

wanderingoutlaw view log Pre-Dawn Alarm Clock posted: 11/26/2008 at 2:39 PM Terrific job. Congratulations on the PR! Great race report, too. John

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