Big Woods Half Marathon Race Report

I had deferred my registration to Big Woods last year when it conflicted with Rabid Raccoon 100. I finally got a chance to race with Team EYB Runners. We are a group of guys who meet at the Wissahickon most Saturday mornings. Led by John Sullivan, this group has been taking on Big Woods for several years, and I was excited to join them this past weekend. We had 10 runners registered for the team, but then the race director deleted all the teams. I’m not sure why, but I’m sure the team would have come out on top. Here is my list of three points regarding how this race went: what went right, what went wrong, and how I would do things differently next time.

What went right?

First off, since the start of the year, I have been following my own training plan. I haven’t posted all runs or workouts on Strava, but regardless, I have been heading out there even when I didn’t want to, holding myself accountable to the training and consistency. I cycle three weeks on, one week off, with about two key workouts each week and race-specific training. Recovery might be a 2-to-1 ratio if higher intensity efforts like intervals are involved. As we got close to Big Woods, I ramped up climbing most weeks. I have a route that has the same amount of vert as Big Woods—2K—but in only 9 miles of running. If I go all out, I can do it in an hour and a half. It was more demanding than Big Woods would be, and it helped to mentally prepare me for the amount of climbing that day. The route is saved on Garmin here called Tedy Mothers Meadows Challenge, click here for GPX.

Training:

Legit training and following my own plan. I’m not only the president; I am also a client of UltraRunCoach.com. Consistency was key here. Avoiding injury and sickness is never easy as you come off the transition season that is December/January. I made it through and tried to maintain fitness to the best of my ability.

Gear:

I tried a new “super shoe” that I got for Christmas for this race, and I will say that I do think it made a difference. It was very light and bouncy, which helped a lot with the number of rocks on this course.

Nutrition:

SIS gels were ON POINT. They hit well and kept energy levels high. What’s great about them is their size and speed at which you can consume them. If you have a scoop of Tailwind, that’s an entire bottle you need to down to get the 25 grams of carbs. These things I can fire down my gullet in about 5 seconds. No chewing, just slam it down and go. The difference between bonking and sustained output is nutrition. If intensity is high, so are nutritional demands. You can’t have one without the other because something has to fuel that performance. That’s just what I have found with myself as I do these events. Your mileage may vary.

Mindset and Pace:

My mantra for this season is: “Feet over finish”, and I detailed a post why. I was also thinking, how fortunate I am to have the privilege to worry about race times. This is a luxury of life, and I am aware of that. What I don’t worry about in races is what place I will come in. Someone said to me, “Do you think you can win?” That’s a lethal thought, because that puts an emphasis on the podium versus my feet. I can control my feet and my per mile times, but not who who shows up on race day. Controlling the controllables here.

We had perfect cool weather come race morning. When the race started, I had set a PacePro plan of 8:50 a mile. This was conservative, but I knew I could hit that with relative ease. I was checking my HR during the start, and the mix of cold weather, getting a good night’s sleep, and not being stressed led to a very low HR. I realized I was able to keep a much faster pace and increased the effort after the first few miles. I had great traction with the conditions, so I was able to move fast and keep my cadence high. It was only the “secret forest” section that slowed me down. A lot of that had to do with the inability to see the rocks under fallen leaves. After two rolled ankles I was done. I said, “STOP,” you cannot and should not try to blast through this area. Garmin’s PacePro kept informing me I was 3-4 minutes over pace; which I lost that in the secret forest. Once past the secret forest, I gain back some time with the help of Matt.

The key point here in my training has been recovery weeks. In my recovery weeks, I am doing very light to no running. I am using three secret weapons: cycling and yoga as substitutes for running. What that does is keep me fresh and going hard on the weeks when it’s time to run. I heard it said that relationships in life cycle through three states: harmony, disharmony, repair. That’s kind of what training blocks are. In the beginning, there is harmony; the training starts to create strain, trauma/disharmony; then comes the repair. The recovery weeks also include sauna, either via my gym or the sauna blanket I purchased. High-quality sleep and eating right. This year, I am focusing on the high quality diet than in past years, making sure to hit protein and veggie intakes higher than in years past.

What went wrong?

In the “Secret Woods” section, I went too fast initially. I almost ended my race with a twisted ankle. Being able to quickly realize that going fast in that section would have been a bad idea was critical. I also carried a flask I never needed. This was because of the cold weather, the isotonic gels from SIS provided the small amount of hydration I needed. I had carried the Tailwind with the idea that if things got bad, I would “just add water,” but it never happened. I was cold most of the race, thus lowering hydration needs. I would NEVER do this in an ultra, but a half marathon is the type of race where you can take high-level risks because of the short distance.

On a personal note, I think I played football the day before too hard with my son, and my foot was hurting from some sprinting. Maybe not the best idea before a race, but I can’t say NO to my son/daughter to have a catch. Oh well, I thought it would work itself out on the trail, and it did.  That’s pretty dumb logic, to say that, but you would be surprised how often something “works itself out on the trail”.  

What would I do differently?

With the goal being sub-2 hours and finishing with a time of 1:52, what would I change? Not much. I executed my plan and controlled my mindset. I was sitting at 4-5 place, with 3rd out of reach. I focused on “feet over finish” and only cared about what I could control: pace and foot placement. I ran MY race, MY plan. Nothing pushed me faster than I wanted to run, well, except Matt Lewars. That dude was on fire, and I followed; he helped keep me on target. Thank you very much, Matt!

The training leading up to this has been great. The EYB Runners have been a fun and amazing group to run with, and I am grateful for meeting them. I look forward to running with them in the months ahead as I prepare for the More Miles – Last Man Standing and Eastern States 100.

I made a short virtual run to document the race, to show my kids, and to remind myself there will be a day I can no longer do this, but today was not that day. Enjoy!

Patrick Durante

Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey.  You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.