Last year, I signed up for this race with a bit of that well-known twenty-something arrogance. "I've run Cactus Rose 50M. I certainly can run Rocky Raccoon. Please, bother me with something more challenging." Even without taking into account every other stressor affecting my performance last year, had all conditions been perfect, I'm not sure it would have been a finish then.
This year, I signed up in the middle of the Texas Bar Exam, scared the race would fill up before I finished the three-day exam. Unfortunately, this meant I didn't think too much on what I might be asking of myself to run Rocky Raccoon 50M. My training to that point had been stellar, but I was training for Cactus Rose. Being an incredibly grueling race, Cactus Rose takes quite a bit of bite out of a runner. It seems I'd already forgotten this. Further, I signed up for Rocky Raccoon out of a need for vengeance: no race bests me and gets away with it! Well, as we'll see, this isn't the best motivation for me and tends to wear on me more than the race itself. Mistake Number 1: Allowing negative emotions to motivate a race finish.
Regardless, I found myself at race week having told maybe a handful of people, as opposed to dozens (a strategy I have to keep me honest). I hadn't planned my aid station strategy, nutrition strategy, or much less packed at all. In fact, I hadn't even been tracking the weather obsessively. As the days ticked by, it looked like it would be a game day decision kind of race. Mistake Number 2: Inadequate planning in preparation for the race.
Finally, up until race day I'd continued running through IT band issues. I believe these resurfaced after being dormant for a year or so due to a number of factors. With about a week of wind, rain, and colder weather, I'd begun running on a treadmill at the gym, which tends to change a runner's form if the runner isn't careful. I was not careful. Unfortunately, this meant the last two weeks or so before Rocky were spent logging miles on the elliptical and with little weight training or stretching designed to stabilize the knees and hips as necessary to alleviate IT band problems. Mistake Number 3: Not listening to my body or watching form in all conditions.
So, we arrived at Huntsville State Park and knew it would be beautiful weather and essentially perfect race conditions. If there was a finish in me today, I was certain it would be a Western States 100 qualifying time. The conditions were that perfect. Unfortunately, such was not in the cards for me. My need for vengeance simply didn't last through even a single loop. Then, I felt a slight twinge in my IT band and began thinking about my race season. In the next two months, I had planned on running the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon, the Nueces 50K (my favorite race of the season), and the Army Marathon in Temple, Texas. Throw in the necessary training miles and the next few months were running heavy. Moreover, these three races, I realized, meant more to me than any vengeance finish at Rocky Raccoon. At bottom, I lawyer'd myself: rational thought and reasonableness won the day.
In short: by the time I came into Park Road Aid Station, I'd made the decision to drop from the race again. I wasn't willing to risk blowing out my knee on an additional thirty seven however easy miles just to say I'd bested the beast of Rocky Raccoon, the most underestimated of Joe's races.
Who knows if I'll ever get a finish at Rocky Raccoon. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I care. It is not my personality of a race. It is a fast course, a flat course, and a smooth course. There are no peaks, no climbs, no cacti, and no obvious challenges. Perhaps this is the kind of challenge I need to overcome: doing something for the sake of doing it, rather than "proving" something by the act of it all. Again, who knows. At the end of the day, I am confident with the fact that I DNF'd at Rocky Raccoon with my eye on the real prizes of this race season:
Running 26.2 miles in honor of Kate Voth at the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon. Running with my closest of trail buddies at my most favorite of trail races, the Nueces 50K. Running another 26.2 with my Mom in honor of my Dad, Gordy McQuire, at the Army Marathon.
There are better things in life than proving one can "just do it." Sometimes those things are knowing when to say "when" and focus on what's really important. I think I learned that lesson rather easily today. However, knowing me, I'll need to learn it again, and again, and again. Thankfully, this is why I run, and run, and run...
Happy trails.
This year, I signed up in the middle of the Texas Bar Exam, scared the race would fill up before I finished the three-day exam. Unfortunately, this meant I didn't think too much on what I might be asking of myself to run Rocky Raccoon 50M. My training to that point had been stellar, but I was training for Cactus Rose. Being an incredibly grueling race, Cactus Rose takes quite a bit of bite out of a runner. It seems I'd already forgotten this. Further, I signed up for Rocky Raccoon out of a need for vengeance: no race bests me and gets away with it! Well, as we'll see, this isn't the best motivation for me and tends to wear on me more than the race itself. Mistake Number 1: Allowing negative emotions to motivate a race finish.
Regardless, I found myself at race week having told maybe a handful of people, as opposed to dozens (a strategy I have to keep me honest). I hadn't planned my aid station strategy, nutrition strategy, or much less packed at all. In fact, I hadn't even been tracking the weather obsessively. As the days ticked by, it looked like it would be a game day decision kind of race. Mistake Number 2: Inadequate planning in preparation for the race.
Finally, up until race day I'd continued running through IT band issues. I believe these resurfaced after being dormant for a year or so due to a number of factors. With about a week of wind, rain, and colder weather, I'd begun running on a treadmill at the gym, which tends to change a runner's form if the runner isn't careful. I was not careful. Unfortunately, this meant the last two weeks or so before Rocky were spent logging miles on the elliptical and with little weight training or stretching designed to stabilize the knees and hips as necessary to alleviate IT band problems. Mistake Number 3: Not listening to my body or watching form in all conditions.
So, we arrived at Huntsville State Park and knew it would be beautiful weather and essentially perfect race conditions. If there was a finish in me today, I was certain it would be a Western States 100 qualifying time. The conditions were that perfect. Unfortunately, such was not in the cards for me. My need for vengeance simply didn't last through even a single loop. Then, I felt a slight twinge in my IT band and began thinking about my race season. In the next two months, I had planned on running the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon, the Nueces 50K (my favorite race of the season), and the Army Marathon in Temple, Texas. Throw in the necessary training miles and the next few months were running heavy. Moreover, these three races, I realized, meant more to me than any vengeance finish at Rocky Raccoon. At bottom, I lawyer'd myself: rational thought and reasonableness won the day.
In short: by the time I came into Park Road Aid Station, I'd made the decision to drop from the race again. I wasn't willing to risk blowing out my knee on an additional thirty seven however easy miles just to say I'd bested the beast of Rocky Raccoon, the most underestimated of Joe's races.
Who knows if I'll ever get a finish at Rocky Raccoon. Quite frankly, I'm not sure I care. It is not my personality of a race. It is a fast course, a flat course, and a smooth course. There are no peaks, no climbs, no cacti, and no obvious challenges. Perhaps this is the kind of challenge I need to overcome: doing something for the sake of doing it, rather than "proving" something by the act of it all. Again, who knows. At the end of the day, I am confident with the fact that I DNF'd at Rocky Raccoon with my eye on the real prizes of this race season:
Running 26.2 miles in honor of Kate Voth at the LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon. Running with my closest of trail buddies at my most favorite of trail races, the Nueces 50K. Running another 26.2 with my Mom in honor of my Dad, Gordy McQuire, at the Army Marathon.
There are better things in life than proving one can "just do it." Sometimes those things are knowing when to say "when" and focus on what's really important. I think I learned that lesson rather easily today. However, knowing me, I'll need to learn it again, and again, and again. Thankfully, this is why I run, and run, and run...
Happy trails.
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