McKay Hollow Madness 25K

 McKay Hollow Madness 25K - 3/24/2012

I went with my friend Dave Truitt who had got me into this race back in 2009.  The course was wet and slick as usual, but this year I had my Inov8 Roclite 295s and they have not disappointed me. We started together but I eased ahead on the roads. Larry Dickerson and Dave ran together and passed me on the first downhill descent. The descents are my undoing and the weakest part of my game. I thought I would probably not see either of them until the end of the race.

I tried to run the downhills better this year but it is not my strength.  I am better running uphill and that is what I did. I ran the downhills to survive and tried to run the uphill sections stronger then in years past.  I could pass people going uphill and yielded right of way on the downhills. The shoes dealt with the mud and rocks very well and I have no complaints with them. I ran alone a lot of the time but sometimes I would run with a group as they passed me.  After the last aid station I passed a group and got in the lead position about the time the trail left a fire road and went downhill. It was kind of awkward to yield after I had just passed them so I stayed in front and ran downhill as fast as I could. Having runners behind me really pushed my technical skills and it was exhilarating. It was a rather long rambling downhill. I did ask if they wanted to pass and they were not interested. So I was stuck in the front on this long rambling downhill.  I would run with this group for most of the rest of the race until I finished ahead of most of them.

After the trail leveled out I noticed a familiar figure ahead. It was Dave Truitt and he looked finished. He had gotten some cramps and was walking. It was several miles from the finish and as I passed him  I acknowledged him. He mentioned cramps and one of the group offered him some S-caps. So as I ran now I was thinking I had Dave beat, but did I. He looked finish and I was rolling. I kept running and one by one I lost most of the group. As I got closer to Death Trail the 600 foot ascent I heard a familiar voice behind me. I was not sure but it sounded like Dave. By the time I started up the ascent I saw him about a hundred yards back. I was not about to let him pass me. He had been finished and now he was back and had gained a lot of ground on me.

I ran that ascent like I was being chased with a gun. I passed people who had passed me on the trail and I kept pushing it up the hill. Dave was actually driving me up that hill. It was a very good thing because I would of settle for a slower pace and not gotten close to a sub 3 hour finish. The hill was my ally and Dave could not keep up his pace. I really was impressed with Dave and his comeback. It really helped motivate me on the final ascent.


I hoped to break 3 hours and missed it by 26 seconds and in 52nd place. My average pace was 11:39 and it was an improvement over 2009's 11:51 and 2010's 12:00. I will take an improvement in pace any day, but I really need to get better on the downhills.


McKay Hollow Madness 25K Garmin Connect

Beyond McKay Hollow

Assessing where I am.

McKay Hollow was canceled last Saturday. I had used McKay as an excuse to not run fast. I was content to run hills instead of pushing my pace. I do regret the race being canceled. I did show up and received a great shirt, but I am a little reluctant to wear it. This is the kind of shirt that you earn by finishing. Some people did run it the next day unofficially. I was unable to run it Sunday and it was not convenient to run it later in the week. Some like Eric ran it that day and Dana ran it Monday. Check out their posts. My hat is off to those individuals. By now the markers are gone and I might run the risk of getting lost. Take a look at Trent's post about getting turned around.

With McKay behind me I have started to force myself to run faster and harder. My motivation has been hard to summon for several weeks. Even running seems to be hard for me to find motivation. I would have to promise myself an easy run and I would throw some hills in to make me feel like I was really getting in a useful workout.

This week I turned a small corner on the way back. I worked on a quicker cadence, shortening my stride, and breathing. I have had some really good runs this week. Next week I will continue to work on being more consistent in the areas of cadence, stride and breathing. If I have a good week I may run the River City 10K on Saturday.

I have been working on my swimming . Because I am a drowner I swim like the sharks are nipping at my toes. Just get me across the pool as fast as possible. I realize now that I can swim slower without getting panicky. I have started swimming the last 200 to 500 yards at a slower relaxed pace. This will give me more confidence in the fact that I can slow down and rest and not drown.

My weight has been edging up for the last 6 months. I really would like to lose 7 to 8 pounds before summer. My metabolism has slowed down a little and I think I will need to compensate for that. Eating everything I see has not helped. Holidays and family birthdays are over and it is time to get focused on the food I consume.

So next week I will be focusing on completing some solid runs and improving my swimming. Hopefully I will feel strong enough to enter the River City 10K..

Last week by the numbers:

4/03/2011 2:30 PM, Cross training on the infernal spin bike (52 min)

4/2/2011, Took the day off to go to a math tournament with my daughter

4/01/2011 8:10 AM, Long run, 15.02 miles, 1 hr 57 min 23 secs, pace: 7:49 min/miles
8:10, 7:59,7:47, 7:45, 7:44, 7:53, 7:53, 7:46, 7:43, 7:42, 7:46, 7:52, 7:49, 7:46, 7:33, :09,

3/31/2011 7:45 AM, Swim (Pool), 1.42 miles, 54 min 42 secs, pace: 38:31 min/miles

3/30/2011 11:40 AM, Hill tempo, 8.08 miles, 57 min 32 secs, pace: 7:07 min/miles
7:14, 7:03, 7:08, 6:55, 7:05, 7:15, 7:14, 7:05, 423'=6:13,

3/29/2011 7:50 AM, Swim (Pool), 1.36 miles, 52 min 52 secs
Average pace: 38:52 min/miles

3/28/2011 5:30 AM, Tempo run, 7.4 miles, 52 min 26 secs, pace: 7:05 min/miles
6:57, 7:11, 7:01, 7:02, 7:01, 7:05, 7:00, .49=6:21

Keep your mouth closed at the finish

I never seem to know where the cameras are. So as usually there are pictures with my big mouth wide open.

Barely swam 800 yards.
Feel really good after bike ride Sunday and swimming Monday.

See McKay Recap

McKay - Plus 5 - Soreness Gone and Back to Speed

Ran my usually hill workout with just a loss of a few seconds per mile. Soreness is mostly gone. Rode the infernal stationary Wednesday. Will be swimming tomorrow. And for Saturday I am looking forward to my 12 mile (walking trail) run. This is not even close to a technical trail run. After McKay it should be very enjoyable. Might even get a real bike out and ride this weekend.

McKay - Plus 3 – Hair of the dog

Very sore Monday but managed 600 yards of swimming. Today still stiff and sore so I ran 5 miles and I feel less stiff and sore tonight. A little hair of the dog that bit me.

McKay Hollow - Plus 1

Ouch, I am very sore and wondering if I will be able to swim tomorrow.

For a more detailed description of Mckay Hollow see the March 28th post.

McKay Hollow - Mud, Crud, and Vomit

McKay Hollow Madness Trail Half Marathon

62F Degrees

42nd Overall

5th in age group
Time 2:35:18

56 Miniutes second aid station.

2 hours 7 minutes Last Aid station

I played the “go, no go” game I always play before a race. I always seem to choose go. Picked up the race bib and thought about just packing it in. Ran into a friend who had been doubtful about running the race. He was there and going to race and that tipped the balance for me. I had to run the race now. We had done some training runs together. Rain stopped at race time.

McKay Hollow is run on Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville, AL. Mountains are a relative term for Alabama. The race traverses up and down and around the sides of the mountain. The trails, well that is also relative.

They are trails in a very broad sense. After the over night rains they were muddy rock strewn paths with large rocks to scramble over for a little change of pace. Slick and muddy ascents and descents were particularly interesting. Early on I moved up trails energetically and the down hills were controlled falls or fast joints. In the latter stages of the race I was a lot more deliberate on the descents and walked the ascents. My fatigue made me more cautious. Many places were just climbable and I could not imagine anyone running them.

Started the race at a sane pace and for the first 20 or 30 minutes ran close to some friends. They finished the race 15 full minutes ahead of me. Before the first aid station I ran through mud, rocks, puddles, and vomit. I encountered what resembled vomit several times before the first aid station. I had initially been concerned about the water crossings with all the rain, however the trail itself was a water crossings in many places.

The slower pace of the race allowed for conversations when there was somebody closed. After the second aid station I was by myself for some distance. Eventually a commercial pilot caught up with me and we ran close together for about 45 minutes. Some extreme conditions bring out camaraderie or at least a feeling that we are all in this together. The conversation on occupations and hometowns passed the time and helped me endure my waning physical reserves. He finished over 6 minute ahead of me.

The water crossings I had been so concerned about turned out to be traversable. I waded across most choosing not to balance on the slippery rocks. Immersing my ankles into the cool cold water was soothing to my ankles and feet. The water helped removed some of the caked mud from the shoe treads to improve traction on the trail. I passed the last aid station at about 2 hours and 7 minute into the race. The last and longest ascent was ahead. I tried to take it easy and be cautious. I had come to far to break something or really sprain an ankle. Before the last ascent, I was greeted by the race winner who had hiked back down and was sitting in the stream relaxing in a the cool water. He yelled encouragements and how far we were from the finish. He said we were around 12 minutes from the finish.

The last part of the trail was slow going. It would of been very hard to run even if I still had any energy left. I did manage a trot when a photographer emerged about half way up. After scrambling up the so-called trail, I trotted to the finish with a time of 2 hours 35 minutes and 18 seconds. I finished 42nd overall and 5th in my age group. I was happy to be finished and gladly accepted the coveted McKay Race Shirt.

Great race and I plan to run it next year.

Here are great recaps of the McKay Madness Half Marathon:

McKay Recap by reachdown

McKay Recap by Eric Charette