ATR 25K: A different kind of race, a very humbling one too

The state of MN shutdown affected me in a way I didn't expect.  Yesterday I run the Afton Trail Run 25 KM race.  This race was to be held at the Afton State Park, which since it closed, it was moved across the street to the Afton Alps, a skiing and snowboarding park (i.e. a very hilly course).  Of course the original course was very hilly as well, but I think this move made it even worse.

Green line is elevation, blue is pace

This was a very tough run.  I am really starting to enjoy trail runs.  I am also finding that those running them are a different kind of runner.  A little more hard core.  My placement will tell you that.  On my last 1/2 marathon, I placed on the top 25% of runners.  On this, I was trailing at about 60%.

To top it all, it was a hot day.  Full sun from 7:00 AM and a high of 85 (by the time I finished the temperature had not quite reached there, but it must have been in the high 70's).  The course followed trails running up and down the same hill (see player).  The altitude chart above (one of the two loops) does not make justice to the very, very steep trails both up and down.

That afternoon Sharon and I were co-hosting a party at home featuring cuban sandwiches and I was in charged of roasting a pork shoulder.  I meticulously made a schedule to have the pork cooking while I was running and make sure I'd be back before it was done.  To that effect, I asked Sharon to turn the oven on at 8:30 AM (everything was inside and ready).  Five miles into the race I knew that pork was in trouble.  That early into the race I was already 30 minutes behind my projected pace.  I don;t usually get more than 10 or 15 minutes behind my projections on a full marathon an in just 5 miles I was behind 30 minutes!

Worried about having dry sandwiches added some stress.  Luckily a good samaritan loaned me her phone at the aid station at the end of the first loop and I was able to give Sharon instructions in the likely event that my pace didn't improve remarkably (au contraire, it turned out).

My final time was 3:29:15 or 13:39 per mile.  Towards the end of my second lap I was passed by Patrick Russell, who completed three laps in the time I did two and that was after he had already completed a lap (the 50 KM run he had signed for started an hour earlier and required 4 laps).  He managed a 4:30 finish (8:43 per mile), which in that terrain is outstanding.