Cubihatcha Training Run

I was really hoping this would be a successful 50K. I felt like I needed to prove to Pravin (my husband) and myself that I was progressing in my running. I decided to try to tackle the Cubihatcha Challenge, four, eight-mile loops around the reservoir at the Cubihatcha Outdoor Center in Locust Grove, GA.  This was a race run pre-pandemic by Revolution Running, and I was able to find the historic leaderboard on the Ultrarunner Magazine Website. I even complied the entire 3 year history of finish times, and did the computing to find the mean, which gave me a time goal for this challenge. Well, the short version is this run got demoted to a "Training Run" rather than a successful "Challenge", but it was still a 24 mile training run with useful feedback for my training moving forward. More specifically, it gives me an idea of where I need to go before I reach the Mental Health Ultra 50K coming up in November.

So, the Cubihatcha training run.

I started late, at about 8:31 am. But that extra half hour of sleep in the morning was worth it. The first two laps went ok. I was able to jog about half the time. The trails are really beautiful, mostly under trees, which really help with cover from the sun (my nemesis). If you took out my stoppage time at the car, the lap times were very similar, about 1:45 per loop. If I had been able to maintain that average longer than two loops, I would have been successful today. Alas, that was not the story. By the end of the first loop I was soaking wet from humidity and sweat, and decided to change into the skorts instead of the long pants, and leave the long sleeve sunshirt at the car. That extra air to aid evaporation was noticeable, and I never felt like I was in danger of overheating, which is a win!

On the third lap, one mile in (Mile 17), I felt really tired. So tired I even sent that a text to Pravin saying that same thing. I had just stopped for a 15 minute lunch, but the lunch was not enough. I bonked on that third lap. (Actually, looking back at the charts, I think the bonk started around the 3 hour or half marathon mark). I had no pep in my step. I basically hiked the whole third lap and it took up way too much time (2hr, 16 minutes, which is still faster than the AllTrails estimate of how long it would take to walk the trail. Hooray for small victories!). This meant I didn't have enough time left in the day to finish a whole 4th loop. I thought about trying to get a new PR for the marathon, but I was so tired that I couldn't even run for another 4 miles. So it ends up i did 2 extra for a total of a 24 mile training run! That's still a huge milestone for my running, and it was good time on feet, and maintaining forward momentum even when I was tired.

After the run:
I didn't feel brain fatigued until 3-4 hours after I finished the run. I grabbed a coffee from Dunkin on my way home, and that's helping keep the sleepiness at bay, hopefully until bedtime tonight. At supper time I started to feel my muscles stiffening up, and it's a different set of muscles than normal, so the strength training and mobility work is doing something. Just need to do more and target new areas.

I can feel a touch of exercise-induced asthma in my lungs, but I'm not actively coughing unless I yawn or take in a really deep breath. That's an improvement from January. Oh, another good thing: NO BLISTERS! I changed my socks and shoes after the second lap. However, the way my big toes feel right now, I'm a little nervous about the future of the toenails. I know it's a rite of passage as a runner to lose your toenails, but I would rather not lose them in the middle of sandal weather.

On this run, the hydration went perfectly. I had two 500ml flasks per loop. (Plus an extra 500ml of water in my pack to be safe). First loop I had them filled with just water. The other loops I did one with Gatorade and one with water, and that worked out great.

Nutrition is definitely something I need to work out a little more. Because that 3rd loop was most definitely a bonk that my standard gel and pouch plan was not sufficient to break through. I need to practice with some cost effective calories. Being self-supported is a challenge. It felt like I was spending way too much time at the car between loops.

Moving forward, I think more 3 and 4 hour long runs will be the order of the day, plus the strength and mobility work as always. Also, tackling longer hikes with the kids so we all get to build up our time on feet. I hope trying to be more aware of what I'm eating, and being able to get my weight down into a healthier range will help my running in all kinds of areas. Including, but not limited to, reducing some of the chafing issues I had today.

My run today was roughly equivalent to the marathon in January. Similar time and energy expenditure (but much nicer weather). It's disappointing to feel like all the 20+ miles per week of training hasn't really improved my actual running. I guess my beginner gains have petered out and it's time to dig deep!