In The Moment Running: Parkwood Lake Heron Marathon

OK, I am making it up! Parkwood Lake exists. I live on it. Herons exist. I watch them everyday fishing from the banks. What doesn't exist is the Parkwood Lake Heron Marathon. Or, does it? It does now, at least for one day, because I ran it - solo. The perimeter of the lake located in the southern part of the city of Durham, NC is 1.5 miles. Four roads make for a relatively flat (30 feet elevation gain per loop) traverse through the neighborhood of Parkwood. Parkwood was one of the first communities to house the ever-expanding Research Triangle Park in the late 1960s. My house was built in 1968 after IBM and RTI moved into the park. The Triangle is what the area is known by due to the proximity of Duke in Durham, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and NC State in Raleigh. Parkwood sits within the Triangle, which now makes me wonder what a true Triangle ultra would be like traversing the endpoints from city to city.

Parkwood Lake

I have run 106 marathons and 8 ultras but I have never run a marathon solo for the 'fun' of it. Certainly, I never imagined running a marathon solo in the middle of the summer in NC. Yes, I could run it as slow as I wanted since I was both going to win and come in last. I didn't really mean for it to be a training run, just a run to do while Cindy was visiting her grandson in Boston. Doing loops, with my house on the loop, meant that I could set up my own aid station, have access to a bathroom, and let the dogs out half-way. To get to 26.2 miles, I calculated that I needed to run 18 loops which would also be a challenge. The most loops I have ever run in a single race or run of any kind is 4, each being 12.5 miles (Umstead 50 miler). I have also never run 26.2 miles without someone, even one person, saying "you're almost there" or "the last hill" or "you look great". Frankly, I was afraid that someone was going to call the police.

Durham 911: Hello, what are you reporting?

Neighbor: There is a man running around the neighborhood. I think he is casing the houses.

Durham 911: Mam, people run in neighborhoods all the time, what makes you think he is casing houses?

Neighbor: This is the 12th time he has passed my house and it is still dark.

Durham 911: What is he wearing?

Neighbor: For the first few times, it was normal running attire but now he has no shirt on. I have kids and I think he is a predator.

Durham 911: So a shirtless man wearing just running shorts, shoes and socks is running multiple times around your neighborhood in the dark?

Neighbor: Yes

Durham 911: Don't worry mam, I think he is training for an ultra!

Doh! The community does take "see something, say something" to heart as well they should in this day and age. But, the reality was, nobody called the police. I set my alarm for 3 AM and that is just mental right there! I got up, had my coffee, let the dogs out and got my aid station together. I pulled my pickup to the edge of the driveway and set-up my aid station just inside the tailgate. It was actually probably a better aid station than most marathons but not as good as the smorgasbord at ultras. I had water, no sugar Gatorade, mini blueberry bagels, Gu (including birthday cake flavor), Gu chews, and bananas. For the first half-marathon, I only stopped every 3 miles or 2 loops because I did not want to gorge myself. The humidity (actually the dew point) was quite high as it always is in NC in the summer. I listened to Training for Ultra podcasts with Bart Yasso, Karl Meltzer, and Amelia Boone/Maggie Guterl. Halfway, I was soaked so I took a short break to change clothes including shoes and let the dogs out for their morning potty break. The first half was run in 2:17, way off my normal split but hey, it's solo, it's summer and it was dark the entire time.

The course - 18 loops

Aid Station

I started running again after about 15 minutes. It was getting light and I started to see a few people and cars out and about. I saw two cars in the first 9 loops. Although there are street lights, I wore my Noxgear Tracer 360 to be illuminated just in case of errant drivers or wild beasts roaming around. It is still a bit eery running at night with noises and movements that are not yours. I know ultra runners experience this often especially at night. I experienced it at Rocky Raccoon. It is quite surreal and maybe part of the allure.

Completing 26.2 miles was going to give me 43 miles for the week, not out of the ordinary in total milage but cramming most of it into one day was going to be the challenge. I really wasn't sure I was going to make the second 13.1 miles. I had run a 17.68 (gosh, I am anal) miler the Saturday prior and I was spent just running that distance, ironically on the Research Triangle Park loops. So, I just ran what I could with the goal of completing loops, moving forward with relentless forward progress. Part of my motivation for the agony of 18 loops is the fact that I registered for the Tideland 24 hour race in November. Run as many loops as possible on a 1.377 mile packed sand and wooden bridge loop over the marshlands of cedar point natural area. Running or I should say moving for 24 hours is a new challenge for me. I have never run farther than 50 miles. I have never run overnight. I have never done more than 18 loops (now that I have done this.)

Claremont

Newhall

Sedwick

As I continued the loops, I began to walk strategic (hah, that sound so ridiculous) parts of the course. As I mentioned, it is mostly flat but there are two small hills that deserved to be admired as I walked those stretches. I also drank a little bit on each loop, had a few bites of banana and a couple of chews. The sky luckily remained cloudy which kept the sun away from me. I removed my shirt and ran semi-naked for the last 5 loops. Although I don't make a habit of it being self-conscious, I feel a bit more comfortable these days running without a shirt and it was much cooler.

I finally made it to the last loop but the 26.2 ended on the other side of the lake. I stopped my watch right on 26.2 but I still had a half-mile to walk back to my house. My final time was 5:07 an hour and 6 minutes slower than my last marathon in Cincinnati. It was a rewarding adventure that I would recommend to everyone. It was also a humbling experience as every one of my marathons and ultras has been. These distances strip you to the core and that is what I like and need. I really enjoy the half-marathon distance as well.

The marathon will humble you - Bill Rodgers

I know some runners, particularly ultra runners do these kinds of runs all the time. Mentally, I needed to prepare for 3 AM wakeup call, the 4 AM start, summer running in humidity, the distance, being by myself. Even at a slower pace, it gives confidence and mental fortitude for other races. Maybe I will make this an annual event, run it for charity, have others join, either running or walking and making it the Parkwood Lake Heron Marathon.

Postscript

On Sunday I contemplated what distance and where I was going to run. In the Karl Meltzer podcast, he said go for a good walk the day after so I thought going to Umstead and doing a hike would work out the stiffness. To my surprise, once I got on the single track trails, my legs felt great and I ran most of the single-track on Loblolly. Overall I ran/hiked the single-track and the bridle trail for another 10.2 miles. The hills at Umstead are special. When I say that, I mean challenging. The day before I had only done 660 feet of elevation gain over 26.2 miles. At Umstead, I did over 1,000 feet in 10.2 miles.

Sunday morning sunrise

It was a good weekend of running and the most miles I have run on a weekend except for the 50 milers I have done. Later, I made some strawberry popsicles in the mamscicles molds.

After a day off, I ran 4 miles at 8:43 pace and was happy with my recovery...

Some photos from my 10.2 miles run at Umstead on Sunday, mostly on the Loblolly Trail.