Allison's Big Toe

Gödöllő Trail Half Marathon Review: Part II of II

Gödöllő Trail Half Marathon 6.25.11

                                That look says, “What the hell was that?!”

Official times and distance: 2:42:03 / 11th of 17 women See All Results by clicking “competition results->2011->half marathon” to the left.

Check out a map with kilometer markings of the race course and also the elevation profile.

Background:

My husband and I are two weeks in to a summer vacation in Hungary visiting family here. While we were planning the trip from the US, we thought it would be fun to add in a race or two, just for the novelty of it. My husband found a half marathon event that winds through the forests of Gödöllő, about 30 minutes outside of Budapest. Interestingly, the event includes both a bike race and a running race over the same course and 21 kilometer distance. The bike race started at 10:30am, and the running race started at 11:00am (late, but it was actually really nice to wake up at a decent hour and have time to digest a full breakfast). My husband registered for the cycling, I registered for the run.

                           Husband starting the race (front left)

While viewing the elevation profile online from our cozy apartment in CA, I remember saying “oh, it looks like some rolling hills…not even a big elevation change throughout”. I guess I failed to notice the more than five times the course inclines over 100 meters in less than 2 kilometers. For my last half marathon review on this blog back in October 2010, I did a mile-by-mile breakdown of the event. The race was over familiar roads of my hometown, and while writing the review, I could go back to the map and remember how I felt at various points. That race course was also so flat that I kept myself entertained by looking at my Garmin constantly to check my pace, distance, and time.

The Race:

Last Saturday’s trail half marathon in Gödöllő was different than the Camarillo half marathon in both respects; it was not over familiar territory, and it definitely was not terrain that I could space out on or let my mind wander. Instead of remembering how I felt at specific mile markers, the big hills are what stand out in my memory, and everything between is a memory mush of continuous right and left turns that always led to another stretch of forest for another .5 mile or so. While running, I had the sense that I was just meandering, constantly focused on the here and now, lest I make a misstep that would cause me to twist my ankle and forfeit the race (thank goodness that didn’t happen). I didn’t even look at my watch very much, because after about mile 5, I realized there was no sense in trying to make a certain time goal. I just wanted to finish without hurting myself or having to stop to rest for any extended period of time.

The weather was perfect for running; cool and sunny with a light breeze, and didn’t feel too humid. At the beginning I tried to keep my pace slow, but people just took off around me and I went with the flow, especially because most of the trails were single track and there wasn’t a lot of room to pass, so I didn’t want to hold a bunch of people up. I walked the first time when we hit a big mud puddle and everyone stopped to wade around it. On one of the first big hills a woman passed me who I had passed earlier, and I ended up following her and another lady in front of us for at least 3-4 miles. When they walked, I walked, and we kept pace together pretty well. I had to use my ChiRunning “non-runnable uphill” focuses while walking up the hills just so I didn’t stop or fall backwards. At one point, I groaned out loud when a downhill was really steep and hurting my knees, and the lady in front of me turned around with a smile and said something to me. I said, “Nem beszél magyarul” (I don’t speak Hungarian) and she apologized. On a course like that, it would have been really nice to be able to say a few words of encouragement and keep each other’s spirits up, but oh well.

A man walking using walking sticks and a backpack passed me walking up one of the hills, and at that point I started to worry that I was in last place, because I thought he had been walking the whole race.  But then I saw him tuck his poles under his arms and start running at the top of the hill. Eventually the two ladies I was with started going slower on the downhills than I wanted to, so on a more gradual downhill section I passed them and tried to keep up with walking stick man. I saw him here and there for the rest of the race, but I was pretty much by myself after that.

One of the best parts about the race was the awesome organization of the race coordinators. All parts of this crazy course were incredibly well marked, with arrows taped to trees or long white tape cordoning off the paths we weren’t supposed to take. There were race volunteers at every potentially confusing trail junction, pointing the correct path to take. And, there were tables with water and volunteers spaced well throughout the course. I drank at those stations just so I could conserve the water I carried with me. It was so nice, with all the other things I had to concentrate on, to not have to worry if I was going the right way through this forest, especially because I ran alone for probably half the race and didn”t have the words to stop anyone to ask for directions even if I could find someone to talk to. Many of the volunteers said things to me as I went past, and all I could say back was “köszönöm szépen!” (thank you very much). Each time I hoped they were telling me that it was all flat from here on out, but I knew that was unlikely :)

Just once I tried to commit to memory by focusing on my watch that 2 hours in, I was at 9.84 miles (.64?). I knew I was on the home stretch, and was actually pretty surprised to be nearing the end of the race. I felt like it was going to go on forever! Meanwhile, my husband had finished his race in 15th place out of 36 riders, and he said he was the first one in who wasn’t part of a cycling club, or a professional rider. I am very proud of him! After cooling off, he came looking for me and was able to get some pictures as I came in. My forward lean and ChiRunning form are all off because I’m just so tired, but I was running!

When I got to the finish line the volunteers stopped me right then to put a medal around my neck and give me my t-shirt and goodie bag, and I almost knocked them over. In Hungary, they don’t give you all the goodies until after you finish!

Then I started crying from exhaustion and hyperventilating.  Soon though, I calmed down enough for some more non-perky pictures:

Recap and improvements for next time:

1. I was feeling a little bummed that I hadn’t been able to run the whole race, even though I knew it would have been impossible to have done so; my body rebelled at anything uphill after about mile 5 and forced me to walk. But my attitude changed when I read this helpful article by a man who ran an uphill race and had this to say: “To clarify what I mean by “running” when I talk about uphill running, I would like to underscore that many times in a ‘running’ race, it is to a runner’s advantage to walk parts of the uphills. As I noted in my recent article about a hilly, 50K, trail run in the ChiLiving eNewsletter, the “marriage” between ChiRunning and ChiWalking is an efficient and successful one whenever hills are involved.” Thanks Coach Keith, I feel better now :)

2. The raw honey and Salt Stick capsules that I carried with me for calories and electrolytes worked really well. I didn’t get any cramping, and I never felt hungry or shaky. Yay for natural fuel!

3. Vibram KSO Treks with the Injinji base layer toe socks were awesome for this course. I hadn’t had time to try out the KSO Treks with those toe socks before the race, and I know that wearing something new on race day is a big no-no, but I thought it was worth the risk to minimize blisters or rubbing. The 4mm tread on the bottom of the shoe was just enough to give me the traction and protection that I neeed from the trail. I recovered so well that I was able to go for a mountain bike ride two days after the race, and ran 4 miles or so yesterday, no soreness.

4. Based on this experience, I would do another trail half marathon, but I would make sure to train intensely for hills, and remember that walking does not equal failure. Perhaps something in the Xterra series would be worth a go.

Any questions, just comment below. Thanks for reading!