Surf the Murph
25K/50K/50 mile
Savage, MN 8/25/2014
Oy, I'm an idiot. Everything was telling me to skip this run, but I really had my heart set on it.
Since the Burnsville 10K, I had been slowly adding distance to my runs. By mid October, I was over 20 miles a week, and my longest run was just over 11 miles. I remember commenting to my wife that my left knee felt hollow after one of long runs. That probably should have been a hint to pull back, but I thought it was just a quirk of a long run. About two weeks before the Murph, I jazzed my left knee after a 6 mile run. It didn't happen during the run. I felt fine that night, but the next day I could barely walk. I tried one more 6 mile a few days later, but I was in trouble. The side of my knee was killing me, and it felt like I had a bruises behind knee cap. I took the whole week off before the Murph run.
The Friday before Surf the Murph (Saturday run), I concussed myself. I hit my head on a cabinet. I was dizzy and couldn't stand up with my eyes closed. I took the day off work and slept. I didn't see the doc because I didn't want her to tell me to skip the race. Like I said, I'm an idiot.
In September and October, I was averaging runs of 6 miles with an average pace of 9:11. My long run was 11.2 miles in about 1:43:00. I did not do a single trail run practice before Surf the Murph. I had hoped to break three hours, but mostly I wasn't concerned about time. The temp was in the 40°s, no rain in sight, not much wind. It was a beautiful day for a long run.
Pre-Race
By the morning of the race I felt pretty good. I wasn't dizzy anymore, and the vertigo was gone. My knee didn't even hurt. I thought it was going to be a good day.
The run takes place about two miles from my house. So, I figured I could just run to the site in the morning and walk back when I was done. Idiot.
The run there actually went pretty well. I was testing out my knee and things were going pretty well. I got there about 10 minutes before the start. I picked up my bib, stashed my shirt and was ready to go.
Trail Run
Goal: Have fun, don't get hurt.
Actual: Got it half right.
The three races each start an hour apart with the 50 mile group going off at 6:00am. At 8:00am, at least we didn't need the head lamps for the 25K.
My Garmin had the elevation change on the course as 900ft. The website for the race says it's 2000 ft of uphill. Hard to say which is correct, but it's definitely a hilly course. The first third of the course is in the trees and all hills. The second third is in the open and much flatter. The last third is back in the trees and hilly, but not as many hills as the beginning.
The first 5 miles didn't hurt. Over the next 7 miles my knee started hurting pretty bad. I walked the majority of the last three miles with periodic stops to stretch out my legs.
It's a beautiful course, and I loved running through the trees. But, I should have walked off the course at the aid station around mile 12. I felt terrible after the race, and then I still had a two mile walk home. It was brutal.
I finished at 3:43:25. Many people finished after me, so not a total failure. Hard to say how much damage I did. I can still barely walk, and I can't even lay on my left side at night because of knee pain.
I'm Doing a 5K with my sis on 11/15/14. We'll see how that goes, but I'm thinking the half marathon on 11/29/14 is probably out.
The Friday before Surf the Murph (Saturday run), I concussed myself. I hit my head on a cabinet. I was dizzy and couldn't stand up with my eyes closed. I took the day off work and slept. I didn't see the doc because I didn't want her to tell me to skip the race. Like I said, I'm an idiot.
In September and October, I was averaging runs of 6 miles with an average pace of 9:11. My long run was 11.2 miles in about 1:43:00. I did not do a single trail run practice before Surf the Murph. I had hoped to break three hours, but mostly I wasn't concerned about time. The temp was in the 40°s, no rain in sight, not much wind. It was a beautiful day for a long run.
Pre-Race
By the morning of the race I felt pretty good. I wasn't dizzy anymore, and the vertigo was gone. My knee didn't even hurt. I thought it was going to be a good day.
The run takes place about two miles from my house. So, I figured I could just run to the site in the morning and walk back when I was done. Idiot.
The run there actually went pretty well. I was testing out my knee and things were going pretty well. I got there about 10 minutes before the start. I picked up my bib, stashed my shirt and was ready to go.
Trail Run
Goal: Have fun, don't get hurt.
Actual: Got it half right.
The three races each start an hour apart with the 50 mile group going off at 6:00am. At 8:00am, at least we didn't need the head lamps for the 25K.
My Garmin had the elevation change on the course as 900ft. The website for the race says it's 2000 ft of uphill. Hard to say which is correct, but it's definitely a hilly course. The first third of the course is in the trees and all hills. The second third is in the open and much flatter. The last third is back in the trees and hilly, but not as many hills as the beginning.
The first 5 miles didn't hurt. Over the next 7 miles my knee started hurting pretty bad. I walked the majority of the last three miles with periodic stops to stretch out my legs.
It's a beautiful course, and I loved running through the trees. But, I should have walked off the course at the aid station around mile 12. I felt terrible after the race, and then I still had a two mile walk home. It was brutal.
I finished at 3:43:25. Many people finished after me, so not a total failure. Hard to say how much damage I did. I can still barely walk, and I can't even lay on my left side at night because of knee pain.
I'm Doing a 5K with my sis on 11/15/14. We'll see how that goes, but I'm thinking the half marathon on 11/29/14 is probably out.
