Rose Pedals

Anatomy of A Rose

How My Crazy Analytical Mind Works Sometimes

Here I am two sleeps away from another ultramarathon...my 85th in fact. Just 100 km I say to myself, no sweat, I guess I better start worrying about what I might what to pack tomorrow since the race start is about 36 hours away. I just finished up my daily run this evening, a nice short 3.1 Mi (5 km) run around the neighborhood to loosen up my legs. While out on my run I my mind was wondering about what my game plan for the weekend. I have been through this 84 times before now, heading into my 85th ultramarathon, so I don’t sweat the small things. But as a data geek and a spreadsheet numbers guy I got to thinking how my time might stack up this year.

Now I don’t look ahead at the entrants list, I don’t know whom will be there (Note: Bryan McKenney & Matt Zmolek I know will make an appearance as we are the only 2 other people, besides me searching for the 5th and final white rose since TROT has been in charge of this race. Secondly, I did notice another ultra friend Brad Taylor mentioned something about the race as well on social media last week, so I guess I know 3 other names in total). Honestly though I don’t know the number or people nor anything else about the list.

Having run this race the last 4 years I know the course, I know the park and I know exactly how I need to execute the run itself. But what exactly can I do on the day? Will I be able to continue to improve my times? Can I set another course record or have I peaked out having run a great race last year? Has my build up over this holidays been enough? Did I get enough elevation in during my annual California holiday visit? These are all the thoughts running through my mind as I enjoyed my slow miles and then a post run warm shower. I do not think this is normal way of thinking, but to me this is how it is. My mind is always racing with numbers and ways of tracking things. It has served me well over the years as it is now a good portion of my day job in IT Project Management and the scheduling and active scheduling management of multiple global projects we have juggling right now.

Instead of just looking at my numbers and starring at my screen I thought I’d take the extra few minutes and compile them with this blog post in order to share my thought process. Maybe it will be helpful for some, maybe not….either way. Hopefully at least one person may get a nugget of information out of it. The process itself is more for myself, I just have never written it down per say in this format. But here we go…

In October 2017 I found Trail Racing Over Texas (TROT) in a small park known as Mission Tejas after moving to Texas for work. I became part of the TROT tribe right after that as an ambassador in 2018, and part of Team TROT elite for 2019, 2020, & 2021. Each of those 4 years I have kicked off the calendar year by running the first event: Running The Rose 108 km at Tyler State Park. I have improved my time every year as I have continued to get better overall as an ultrarunner. So here is my breakdown in all the numbers. The the tables and graphs below, I just spent 2 hours peering into my data and then organizing it as such. Why? Well this is how my mind works when I get fixated on something. It can be a curse and a blessing depending on the circumstance.

Breakdown of the 6 loops for each year of Running The Rose, 24 loops in total over the last 4 years.

Yearly Stat Summary

The 24 loops I have run out at Tyler State Park. MIN= 1:32:43, MAX= 2:22:13, AVG= 1:49:58.

Same data different way to visualize it. I often play around with visual representations and different graphs as I worked with infographics and find the visual stimulation of data a great way to represent your story if you can present it neatly and organized.

What about the buildup prior to the event? I wonder how may affect my performance. Lets examine this side of it:

The build up mileage & vertical gain in the prior 10 weeks to Running The Rose.

So as you can see I love to analyze and look over my data. This is just how my mind works. But what does it all mean? Not a a lot really. You can go over the trends and prior numbers which will give you a good idea of what you are capable of. With the sport of ultrarunning though there is so many variables and what happens on race day is a nice surprise mix of everything. So am I aiming for a specific time? Will I be going to lower my own course record again? Can I pull off the 4-peat win out there in Tyler, TX? These are all questions I ponder as I enjoy my warm shower after my short run.

I am heading to Tyler super late after my usual family Friday movie night and dinner with my wife & kids. I'll get a nice little nap, wake up and drive the 4 hours around midnight to the park out in Tyler and then get another short nap (hopefully). I will then be ready to roll nice and early in the Texas cold front winter air. Time to show up and see what I can do. I am there to improve on my own times, but as a competitive person I will be going for the podium spot as my goal. Lets get that sparkling white rose to complete the bouquet.

Hope to see you on the trails in Tyler, if not soon. Let's roll!

Time to get the 5th and final TROT rose: sparkling white.


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Thank you for following along.

Loup Garou Trail Run

Cajun Hospitality

A Long Run in Louisiana | Ultra #070

Pre Race

It was Monday night and I had just discovered that this race was occurring. My local doorstep race of Brazos Bend had been cancelled due to the pandemic concerns as it was such a large race. So when I saw this race was still on, during the same week BB100 would have been, it intrigued me. I casually mentioned it to my wife. Then on Wednesday I investigated it further as was the last hours to sign up for the race. Another quick conversation with my supportive wife and I was signed up, with about 2 hours to spare. I had secured my spot as the last 100 miler entrant into the race, bib #61.

Travel

Heading East to Louisiana all packed with
my Victory Sportdesign bags.

I had booked off early on Friday last minute and had a peer cover for me. I am fortunate this way in the fact this can happen so quickly and with flexibility with little notice. I did do a couple hours work early Friday morning, then enjoyed a family bike ride and time with my kids. Then that afternoon I headed East towards Louisiana. It was about a 4.5 hour drive for me and I only made one stop for fuel & food. I kept away from people, wore my mask, and kept my distance. Just after nightfall I arrived at the Chicot State Park and scouted out the start area of the race. I opted not to pay for park camping and drove 5 miles back into town to camp, in my car, like a true #dirtbagrunner. It was chilly and not the best rest but overall it did the job.

Race Morning

Saturday morning, I was up super early from the cold as I had been slowly adding blankets to myself during the night. As the time crept closer to my alarm of 05:30 I finally got up in the parking lot I was staying in and got dressed and ready in my race gear. A nice brisk 33f was greeting us this December morning. I then drove the few minutes to the park, put my mask on, and checked in for the event.

My WTForecast app telling me how awesome it was outside this morning.

The Course

Due to some of the trail not being fully ready this year the usual full loop around Lake Chicot was not open. There was still a lot of blow downs and damage from the hurricanes, as LA was hit twice this year. Sadly we would not get the full experience of the 20 mile loop. Instead we were doing a full 10 mile out and back (x5) to make up the distance.

The Race

A wave start was part of the protocol for the race, and since I was the last number (#61) in the 100 mile starters I was in the 3^rd and final wave, as they start in spaced out groups of 25 runners. To me this was super advantageous since I always start out to fast. Being forced to be at the back of the pack was a blessing in disguise, and I tried to use this to my advantage. I started off nice and comfortable and took it easy following some of the mini congo lines that had formed due to the nature of some of the trail sections. The morning was a cool crisp south winter day, most people bundled up in a couple layers. I slowly started to pass runners as I settled into the race, but I was not in a hurry like I normally am at the start of 100s. I enjoyed the trail and just simply being out in the woods again. Eventually everyone was very spread out and I found myself alone. Nearing the middle aid station (10 miles) I started to see runners coming back at me, so I knew I was closing in one the turn around. It was a mixture of the 100 mile and 40 mile bibs, so I didn’t really know how many were in front of me at this point, nor did I really care at this point.

Morning sun peaking through as crossing one of the long boardwalk sections.

I completed the first loop (20.8 mi) in about 3:36:43 and by this time the sun was out and the warmth of the day was starting to creep upon us. I even grabbed my sunglasses for this day portion. I really enjoyed the course as it was a mixture of tall pines trees with a combination of swamp type Louisiana style terrain you might expect. The trail itself was basically singletrack, sometimes slightly wider in areas, but very well taken care of and marked with orange trail blazes on the tree. The trail had lots of roots hidden under the fallen leaves so you had to pay attention or you would definitely end up kick testing one of them. Some of my favorite sections of the trail were the long boardwalks that traversed the swamp land. I think there was 4 (maybe 5) larger wooden boardwalks in total on this section of trail.

Follow the orange blazes.

Winter in the south means fallen leaves everywhere on the trails. Makes it tricky to see the roots.

One of the many blow downs around the trails and course. A couple detours on the trail existed around some of these large trees, but you could still see the ruminates of the hurricane season damage.

Running across the swamp sections on the wooden boardwalks. Such a cool feature of this trail. It provided a true Louisiana vibe to the race for sure. It was also neat in the darkness, although never did see any creatures out there in the waters.

After the completion of the second full loop (41.6 mi) I was right behind 3^rd place coming back into the main start/finish. I took my time here as I fueled up before heading back out. I left behind him basically in the exact spacing as we came in. This was maintained all the way to the 10mi midpoint turn around where we arrived essentially at the same time. Night fall was starting to creep up on us, and as I dug around my drop bag I suddenly realized I did not have my head lamp…shit! I had 5 of my headlamps in my main bag but somehow did not place one in my drop bag when I dropped it off. Time to troubleshoot…

Luck would have it that I knew the person in front whom was a Dallas area runner Bryan Mckenney. Since we were now both at the mid-point of the loop I asked him if he had a spare light. Bryan was kind enough to provide one to me. Instead of us taking off separately from the aid station we teamed up and headed out into the low light conditions together. We spent the next couple hours making our way back through the woods chatting about ultra stuff and just passing the time. I tried to be nice and not use his light he had provided me and instead just shadowed Bryan sharing the light he was using. With about 4 miles left to get back to the main start/finish Bryan came upon his wife whom was on her way in finishing up her 40 mile run. He told me to go on as he was going to talk a good long walk break with his wife. At this point I utilized the small light he had provided me and trudged on into the darkness by myself.

Three loops now complete (62.4 mi, ~100 km). I gave Bryan’s light back to him and placed it back into his bag for him, as I had promised. I grabbed my headlamp, and a spare, filled up my Tailwind and headed back out into the night. Very few people were left on the trail now as it was only the 100 milers and even a bunch of those had seemed to have dropped at this point. The last 2 loops were an entirely solo besides the few passing of people due to the nature of the out & back format. I did not get overly sleepy like I normally do but my pace was definitely slowing as I went. The short choppy climbs were starting to get to my knees and I was taking my time and just trying to keep my position in the race. The night was not as cold as forecasted but it was chilly enough to encourage me to keep moving. With a full hour until sunrise I was on the way back to the finish. I crossed in 2^nd place, hours behind the winner (he had us outclassed a lot today), in just over 23 hours. I am made it back before true sunrise and obtained the sub-24 hour buckle. Bryan came in about half an hour behind me securing 3^rd place on the podium and also going under 24 hours.

100 Miles in one day.

Sub 24 buckle and my 2nd place award.

Gear

• Gear Bags: Victory Sportdesign Grizzly backpack (Main Start/Finish aid station)
• Drop bags: Victory Sportdesign Coyote II (halfway aid station)
• Jackets: rabbit elements vest
• Shirts: Team TROT long sleeve, rabbit long sleeve rabbitELITEtrail team jersey
• Shorts: rabbit 5" FKT
• Shoes: HOKA ONE ONE Stinson ATR 6 (test pair)
• Socks: DrymaxSocks
• Headwear: rabbit (BOCO) rabbitELITEtrail cap
• Sunglasses: goodr (A Ginger’s Soul)
• Watch: Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition
• Headlamp: NathanSports Halo Fire
• Hydration: Nathan Sports VaporKrar 4L Race Pack with x2 20oz Nathan soft flasks, TrailRacing Over Texas collapsible cup
• Other: rabbit (BOCO) gloves, rabbit (BOCO) beanie
• Anti Friction: Trail Toes - applied once at beginning

Results & Statistics

I managed to hold on and finish 2^nd overall, even though we were severely outclassed by the front runner in this race.

• Mileage: 104.15 mi
• Time: 23:12:38
• Elevation (+): 8,176 ft

My detailed loop data from my post race data.

• STRAVA activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/4438635220
• UltraSignup Results: https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=74296

This was my 70^th ultramarathon and my 20^th ultra at a distance of 100 miles or more. I secured my 18^th completion of the 100mi or greater distance.

My updated 100mi (+) buckle collection with Loup Garou Trail Run added in place.
Custom display case built by my dad.

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