Stonewall Jackson 20-Mile Ambulance Run, 2008 edition THE NAME: In May of 1863, Confederate General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally shot three times by his own troops at Virginia’s Battle of Chancellorsville. His arm was amputated in a field hospital after which he was accidentally dropped off of a stretcher, creating new medical problems. Jackson was then moved by military ambulance 27 miles down rough roads to a house that was serving as a hospital. A week later, he was dead. A big chunk of this race follows the road Jackson’s ambulance traveled; thus the name. THE COURSE: I ran this race with AJ two years ago (for those who remember her from B&B) and this is the third time I’ve done it. In many ways it has become my favorite race of all. It’s convenient, I like the distance, the course is nice, and they have great locally-baked cookies. Yum. It’s a nice flat/rolling hills course through some very pretty woods, farmland, and small town/suburban areas. A 4-mile stretch is a dirt road through the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. It’s a low-key local race that typically has lots of folks training for either the Richmond Marathon or the Marine Corps Marathon; no running newbies. This year, though, the schedule fell in such a way that this race was just two weeks before the Marine Corps Marathon, so there was a noticeably smaller field of runners this year. THE WEATHER: Last year we had unseasonably warm weather for this race and I failed to adjust my pace accordingly, overheating and doing terribly. This year, we had nice cooler temps and lower humidity so I’d have no excuse on this front. It was a clear sunny day and near-IRC conditions. THE PLAN: My weak point has always been my very sensitive stomach. I can’t have sports drinks and if I overwork or it’s too hot and humid, I gag/dry-heave very easily without warning. Fueling and pace is therefore a constant learning process. Picking up on RCG’s recent tip, this time I planned to supplement some gels with “Fig Newmans” to sop up excess gel: gel @ 8, 14, 18 + a “Fig Newman” at 10 and 16. That last gel wouldn’t do me much good but I wanted to see if I could tolerate more gels than I usually use. I’ve had some good long runs recently and I decided to target this as an MP-pace run, aiming for a 2:45 (8:15 pace). This plan was in jeopardy midweek when I found myself fighting off some unknown illness and just feeling generally lousy. As late as mid-day Friday, I felt poorly. But, remarkably, by 6 or 7 in the evening on Friday I started feeling better. It was similar to when a fever breaks and all of a sudden that foggy-headed feeling is gone. By the time I went to bed I was psyched and ready to go. Also, I happened to have rented “The Spirit of the Marathon” from Netflix this week, so I had to watch this the night before a race! I’m not a big fan of sports films, but I thought this was well done and DW and I enjoyed it thoroughly. THE RACE: The hilliest part of the course is the middle third, so I thought I’d bank a little time up front, run comfortably through the hills and then see what I had left for the remainder. After the first two miles I had an 8:12 pace and felt very good. I met up with a young woman using this as a training run for her second marathon and a 30-something guy who was still recovering from an ultra he’d done 3 weeks earlier. We more or less hung out together through about mile 15, which was nice. By mile 7, I had banked about a minute and a half. I worked through the modest hills in the middle section, climbing comfortably and picking up the pace on the downhills, and by mile 14 I was still a little ahead of pace. A little later the woman I was running with took off for her “fast finish” miles and the 30-something guy starting fading and dropped behind. I was on my own for the rest. Fortunately, I felt consistently strong and passed a few folks, but was also passed by a couple other “fast finish” trainers. I was working hard but my stomach was behaving and I felt relaxed and under control. That was a great relief and helped me to push on through the final couple of miles as I started to feel the mileage. My Garmin measured 20.34, so the mile paces are off but you can see that in running by effort my paces pretty well followed the terrain. (With the exception of the pee break at mile 13, my slowest.) Official time: 2:43:31, 8:11 pace, AHR 148, 79% HRR (max 165). A big 7-minute PR for me. It doesn’t get better than that…except for the bonus: after the race, I discovered I had won a raffle and got a certificate for a free pair of Mizuno shoes from my local running store. Two years ago I had won a Nathan’s water belt. Another reason why this has become my favorite race. NOW WHAT? I’m looking ahead to Richmond next month and thinking that the 8:15 pace would be a good one to stay with. If I can hang on it would bring me well under 3:40, my goal; if not, I've still got a little cushion to reach my sub-3:40 goal. If I get decent weather and can keep my stomach under control, I should be able to work through that last 10K. Maintaining that pace today did not require suffering; but I know to do so for another 10K will be a whole other story. We’ll see.

In all the time we have been posting together, I have never seen you running so well, so it's no surprise yoiu nailed this one. Stick with your plan for Richmond and don't change anything, with the exception of "banking time." Congratulations on this outstanding race. I am very happy for you. Spareribs

A good RR; a very well-run race; and a terrific PR - congratulations Tramps! You're looking fantastic for Richmond next month. Fig Newmans are your secret to good fueling and stomach control, eh? Maybe I'll have to give that a try too. Jay

Good going, Tramps. You were well prepared, had a good plan (including fig newmans), and followed it. Your PR was impressive and you got free shoes on top of it. I remember aj from CR. She's the first boomer I met in person other than brother Dave. Congratulations. TomS

Great run today, Tramps! Glad your stomach was well-behaved. I think you're ready...

TRAMPS! High five on running a smart PR race with great strength and success. I am so glad the day worked in your favor as far as temperatures and such, but it's your talent and training that got you to the finish line with success. The 20 mile race distance isn't offered much and it's a great test just before a marathon. I am so happy for you and think this lines you up well for Richmond. Congratulations! Karin

You won free shoes?!!! Too cool! 7 minute PR, awesome running Tramps! You are really doing well. Congratulations!

Dude!!! Cookies!!! Sweet!!!! A nice sized PR!!!!