Piney Woods Trailfest 50k Race Report

My name is Joshua Pauley and I can run hard for 50 kilometers.

This past weekend I ran my first ultra-marathon.  What a day to remember. First off I have to give thanks and praise to the Lord for giving me an able body and the drive to keep going.  I also want to thank my family for coming out and supporting, participating in the race, and crewing me. Mary had such a servant's heart by crewing me and helping in anyway she could. I also must give a shout-out to the Houston Area Trail Runners who were manning the aid-stations.  They were so welcoming, helpful, cheerful, and loving the entire race.  I always looked forward to running by the aid stations because I knew they would be there to smile and wave (and who doesn’t appreciate a good smile and wave in the middle of a race?). Those guys and gals really kept me moving those final five miles.

My co-pilot Max

Friday afternoon Mary and I headed down to The Woodlands where her family lives to crash for the night.  Her dad and I woke up early and were out the door Saturday morning by 5:40 and arrived at the race site with no problems. 

It was a little chilly upon arrival but there was a buzz in the atmosphere that meant only one thing: race day. After a short four mile warm up I was hot and ready to go. The 50k and 20 mile race started at the same time but the 50k did a one mile add on before getting on course with the 20 milers. The goal was to run below 7 minute pace for the day no matter at what cost. With the one mile add on taking us right back to the start line it was easy to pick up that split for those that were interested (7:30ish). 

After that I was joined by two locals who looked to be just a little bit older than me.  I later found out one was Robert Smith (who coached against me in high school. Funny how small the world is sometimes).  The other I just refer to as Red in honor of his nice red top he was wearing. And the race was on.  We were throwing down sub 7s pretty consistently.  Eventually Robert Smith got dropped somewhere around miles 5-6. Then it was just Red and I rolling along the trails in silence.  He was smooth and natural and it was clear he was good.  I’ve never raced an ultra before – so I wasn’t sure if I should talk or not.  I erred on the side of caution and decided not to talk. Him and I rolled right along and it seemed we were throwing move after move at one another wondering when the other would decide to ease off. I took a sip of my water and moved ahead wondering how he would respond.  And then he began fading back.  I figured he was just biding his time because we were only around 7-8 miles into the race. But little did I know this would be the last time I saw red that day. Before the first loop ended I came through an aid station where I was greeted by Robert Goyen and his HATR crew. That was great getting to shake his hand and make his acquaintance.  As I ran on I heard someone holler after me “Pain Train!”  That was definitely a top three moment of the day!

I came through the first loop in 1:14:xx (that would be 1:07 for ten miles). Well ahead of course record pace from the previous year and well below seven minute pace. But I knew I would pay the price for running 67 for the last ten miles. It was faster than what I was hoping for. But the damage was done and really there was only one thing that made sense to do next. Run faster. 

On the second loop runners going out and coming in on the loop run against one another – but there is a small window where you can finish the first loop and miss a group of people.  So I never saw red or Robert.  But I did get to see everyone else and that was nice.  One of my goals was to lift others up and encourage them. And I really do believe that by doing this it took some of the mental load off of me. 

The second loop I was cruising along mixing hard miles with easy miles 6:18, 6:28, 6:15, 6:20...  It had rained the previous two days at the course so there were some pretty intense muddy areas.  And where it wasn’t muddy the ground was soft- which can really take a toll on the legs.   So that was “interesting” to run through.  Not knowing how far back someone is, is very stressful.  You play the prey when you lead a race, and you have to remain desperate when operating in the front.  Piney Woods has several long straight paths of running, where you can see up to 4 minutes behind you (or in front of you). I tried to get off of these straights as fast I could because that is a good way to get picked off.

The second loop concluded – 1:05 for ten miles (2:19:xx for 21 miles total).  Mary told me that Red had concluded the first loop about four minutes behind me. And that was really all the information we had to go off of. Of course that was over ten miles ago, so who really knew where someone would be at this point in time!

As I rolled through and began the third loop I heard Bob Marley playing around the start/finish aid-station. “Don’t worry. About a thing. Every little thing is gonna be alright…”

Keep Moving Forward.
Joshua 1:9: Be Bold.

This stuck with me as I began to feel the fatigue in my legs from the fast pace.  Thoughts of this song lead me to think of the movie “I Am Legend.” And then thoughts of this lead me to think of German Shepherds. Then I began to wonder what Anna was doing.  And then this reminded me of Anna Frost – boy was I glad she wasn’t behind me. 

I realized about four miles into the last loop that I had gotten lazy with the water intake.  And that was not good. I carried a handheld all day but I had been so focused on running that I had been forgetting to drink regularly.  My calorie intake was great, as I feasted on VI Fuel gels all day. But hydration was no bueno. 

My legs were hurting and I was very thirsty.  From here on out it was just about one mile at a time. Just keep moving just keep moving.  I thought about Geoff Roes in Unbreakable where he says “I told myself just to be patient.” And I took his advice.  Just be patient and let the miles tick away. 

With three miles to go I finished off my water/sports drink mix and came crashing into an aid station hurting for some calories. And they sure hooked me up!  This was my first stop at an aid station all day. And if I looked like a rookie at all on Saturday it was at this station, but it was all in good fun.  They filled me up with some yummy sports drink.  And then in the haste to screw my lid back on I dropped my lid in the dirt.  In a panic I was just going to put that sucker back on but they gladly rinsed it off for me. Thanks guys! As I was taking off I was offered some PB&J – now I was in heaven.  I took a quarter and stuffed the entire thing in my mouth! I’m sure those guys enjoyed that.  The aid station workers said something about “finishing my race so I could have a cookie.” Then that was all I could think about was finishing and cookies.  Spirits renewed I was set to go. 

My only mission now was to finish.  I had done a great job all day but now it was time to finish.  Red could be coming. But he was going to have to work for it.  A mile and half from the finish I came across another aid station.  And I enjoyed the previous stop enough that I decided to take a second at this one and see if they had any cookies. And by golly they sure did have Chips O’Hoy. I took two of them and thanked them for all their service that day. I munched on my cookies for the final mile and a half and soaked it all in.

I picked up the victory and destroyed the course record.  Wins don’t come often. They don’t come easy. So you’ve got to enjoy them while you can get them. I trotted in and was greeted by family and my new friend Robert Goyen. It was a good day. My first ultra and I had succeeded. 

For those interested I faded on the last lap to 1:12 for ten miles bringing my total time for the day to 3:32:40.  Yeah, I went out a little too hard on the first loop.  But that’s why it is called racing – it is not supposed to be easy.  For my 50 miler in March I probably will not go out that hard…ehh we’ll see.

So it turns out that after Mary told me Red was 4:30 back he eventually faded to twelve minutes, and then to seventeen minutes, and dropped out then.  He was a good competitor and I’m sure we will cross paths again.  Robert Smith finished second in 3:58.  Jacqueline O Brien won the women’s race in a total time of 4:41.  My soon to be father in law took second in his age division of the twenty miler – so it was a great day all around! Congratulations to everyone who participated in a race on Saturday. Full results can be found here: http://iaapweb.com/results/14/02_08_14_50k.htm

My treat for running well!

This was just one small step is all.  I tell my friends and myself that it is time to move on and get refocused for the next task ahead.  Grasslands is in five weeks and had I made the same mistakes I made on Saturday – those last nineteen miles would have been pretty bad. 

Before Piney Woods I had been discussing with some people about what to do in the fall.  I was thinking either JFK 50 or TNF 50 Championships.  I was not sure if I would get a qualifying time.  But I did.  So Maryland or San Francisco? Only time will tell.  

Thanks for reading and following me this far. I can't wait to see what the future holds. 

First Race Excitement

My name is Joshua Pauley and I am excited to race.

So I have not written for The Long Run in a couple of weeks but it feels good to be back.  I have been very busy. But as of this post I am all caught up on everything – for the first time in over a month. And it feels good.

Internship over – along with a twenty-five page report assigned with it.  First piece for Endurance Buzz completed. And my homework is complete too!

Running has been going well. It has been consistent.  I ran 35 miles a couple weeks ago. And it was a bit of a slug fest and got sloppy towards the end. But I finished it with my pride held together.

The next week I was not as lucky at forty miles.  Ten miles in the liner of my tights was rubbing my man parts. By mile twenty I had begun to bleed! (How is that for a visual?)  I was so desperate for relief I was about to use peanut butter I had found in my car.  Luckily Mary had gotten my distress call and brought lubricant.  Crisis diverted…momentarily. As usual I had a workout within in the run and managed to smash that out of the park (that took me to mile 31). But after reaching 34 I was hurting.  The week of training was taking its toll and the stress of the run was being felt in my legs.  I continued on. I lost my mind at one point in time. I wondered what I was doing out there. Cried a little bit. Then I picked myself up and got back after it.

Someone had posted signs all around the lake. As I was beginning to catch a second wind I saw a sign that said, “Found the Energy.” I felt like this was oddly appropriate. I finished the run. I blew up over the last nine miles (4:43 total time). So I would say that it did not go great but I survived.

The next day I had 25 miles on the trails. I played it pretty conservative. But had a great run. It was a blast just to get to cruise along on the warm day.

Other exciting news: for the rest of the spring I will be pacing Kelsey Bruce through one of her workouts each week.  Kelsey is a NCAA national qualifier in both the 3000 steeple and cross country.  She has won several NCCCA championships as well. Also go ahead and toss in there a string of conference titles and school records. Needless to say she’s kind of the real deal.  Pacing workouts for her is mutually beneficial. The pacing she needs won’t be ball busting for me – but it will have me running faster than if I just ran by myself that day.  And it gives her someone to workout with – because she does not have anyone that can run with her. So I look forward to contributing to her continued success and mixing things up this spring.

Anna and Me

I also got another dog…well actually Mary got her. But I love her so much.  I also got to name her!  So I named her after one of my favorite trail runners: Anna Frost! Anna is a German Shepard and loves to cause trouble. I know we will have many adventures together!

This Saturday I will be making my ultra-debut at the Piney Woods Trailfest 50k. The course is basically a dirt road in the woods, pancake flat, and 2-3 loops. Pretty simple and very novice. I was originally going to use this as a training simulation and just treat it as a long run. But due to recent stresses in my life I have decided that I need to fight some demons – and there really is no better way than to push yourself to that point where you have to look deep within. I will be training through this race: hitting 120 miles in the process of this 50k. But on Saturday I will be taking the gloves off and hopefully getting a little dirty.

I am not sure what will come of this. Perhaps it will go well.  Maybe I will blow up at 25 miles?Who knows? But I do have some goals:

1) Glorify the Lord – even if this means failing then let it be done.  Win or lose, fast or slow, happy or mad just give Him the thanks and glory.

2) I would like to run quick here. It’s a flat fast course so it does not have the reputation of some of the other great courses like Rocky or Bandera. So if I can run fast then perhaps it will look good on a resume?

3) Lift others up. I would like to have a positive and loving attitude towards everyone I encounter – whether that be runners or aid-station workers.  We are all fighting a battle of some sort, so if I can encourage those that I stumble upon then maybe their battle will go a little better.

4) Enjoy the process

There is a chance of rain on Saturday. So I will be watching this closely and keeping my fingers crossed for no rain! But we shall see. I am very excited though. It is not every day that you get to race!

This past month has been rough.  This past weekend has been probably the worse that my family and I have had in years. But I just keep telling myself to keep moving forward.  And sometimes that’s all we can do. I thought of something on my run this morning and I kind of liked it. If you run long enough a mile is not that far. But if you live long enough a mile is not far enough. It is such a blessing to have a body that allows me to release stress and have quiet time by running. And sometimes running a mile is just not long enough. 

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward.

~Josh

Stepping Forward

My name is Joshua Pauley. And I can take another step.

What a week… early mornings and late nights. You’ve got to love that. This week was a bit of down week for me in terms of mileage. I got to Thursday and was feeling a bit run down so I backed off on Thursday and Friday and ended the week at 108.  I really don’t want to over extend myself in this three week span when there is so much time left before race day. 

Tuesday- Hill circuits. These went better than the last time I ran them. I was pretty happy with the effort and the progression throughout the workout. It was so cold on Monday and it carried over to Tuesday as well. But I toughed it out and lived to fight another day.

Saturday came around and I had 30 miles: 10 miles progressive + 5 miles tempo + 5 easy + 2 hard + 8 easy.  The first ten miles I started out pretty quick (quick for me. I’m usually a slow starter) progressing down to 6:35 ppm. The tempo came and I just put my head down and ran. It went well. I averaged 5:36 for five miles – nothing to crazy. Then the recovery period came. And I ran into some Aztecas.

Aztecas are a running group here in Dallas that started back in the 80s when the creator of the club brought these guys up from Mexico. They used to be really good. But now they just casually come out to White Rock and do a loop or so. Well on Saturday I found one that brought out the competitive side of me. We had an impromptu race. It was interesting and not too smart on my end of things. It was an epic battle of wit and guts. Eventually I dropped him, just in time for me to stop by my car to grab some fuel. Him and his Azteca buddies ran on out of site. I continued to run at a natural pace until it was time to run the two mile blow out. It was not easy; let me put it that way. I ran 10:42 for two miles (passing the Aztecas in the process). I continued on my way feeling good. This lasted until I got to the marathon mark and my legs finally began to feel fatigued. I stopped for a brief second wondering what was wrong. And here is where I had a thought.

Nothing is wrong. I looked at my watch to see how I was doing and I was running much quicker than the previous week. I was killing this run. Pain is natural. Everyone who is working hard is hurting in some way. It just means I’m alive. I embraced the pain this day. So I took one more step forward. And then another one after that. And I ran out the remaining four miles will smile to cover up the agony that was beginning to take its toll on my body. And that’s what I’ll do from now on. One step forward. One step forward. One step forward…

I also got my first blister of the season on Saturday. That was cool. Mary loves me enough that she popped it for me. I don’t know how I convinced her to do that.

Sunday I ran my second long run of the week to give me thirty on the weekend. It was a gorgeous day with temperatures in the 70s – for the first time in a while I did not need to wear an over shirt. I put on my Scott Jurek hydration vest and started my run. The vest was abnormally big though; bouncing up and down all over the place. I had never noticed this because the only times I had ran with the vest I wore a jacket as well.  The vest is a M/L and I assumed this was the size I needed compared to the S/M they sale. I have not been a small anything in a long time. I trotted back to my car to see what I could do with the vest as it was already cinched all the way it would go. As I examined it closer I noticed there were loops all the way down both sides of it. I was lucky to have an extra shoe with me to steal from. I took the shoe lace out and wove it through the loops.  It was a slight modification to the vest but it made it a lot tighter and an enjoyable tool to run with. I was proud of this – it made me feel like MacGyver. And the vest works better now.    

When you get rocked you either step up or you go cry in a corner. It is that fight or flight instinct. What will I do? I found out on Saturday I’m going to keep moving forward. And if I can do this, then I cannot fail.

I am generally happy with the week of work that I put in.  And I have so much to be thankful for. I have truly been blessed. Thanks for sticking with me this far.  I race for the first time in less than a month – it should be a good time. Just keep moving forward.

 

~JP

Busy and Blessed.

My name is Joshua Pauley. And I am busy.

Let me first off take a second to breathe.  Second let me just say that I believe being busy can be such a blessing at times. Being busy is a result of the opportunities that have been put forth before me.  And that is a pretty neat thing to realize.  Being busy has also allowed me to be reminded of the awesome community that is around me. This includes a great fiancé, great family, and so many others that have probably done things for me to help me through this week and I have not even realized it.

So what have I been doing? I’ve been running, working, and sleeping when I can.  I will come back to the running momentarily.  But right now I’m working 65 hours a week. I didn’t even know there was that many hours in a week! I’m not burnt out yet and I feel like I’m picking up steam. So maybe I can hold out?!?!?

Running through this patch has surprisingly gone very well so far. At 115 miles this past week I was stoked to be running a lot. I had my first wipe out of the season on Wednesday. At the beginning of my run (fifteen feet from the trail head) I caught a root and fell flat on my face.  I have never wiped out completely. I’ve stumbled and recovered. But never truly fell…so that was a real world experience.  I had my first back to back LR (or at least I consider them to be long runs). Saturday I ran twenty-eight miles and then on Sunday I turned around and ran twenty miles. I woke up very early Saturday to get my run in because I had work at 11 am, and was not sure how long it would take me.

White Rock Lake on Saturday.

With my supplies loaded up I made my way to the lake. At my “aid station” I had: two waffles, two gels, a mandarin orange, a banana, a gallon of water, a 22 oz handheld, a 26 oz bottle in my waste pack, and a 8 oz handheld that was a gu and water mix. I was not really sure what I would need – so I brought it all. On Saturday I had assigned: 10 miles easy + 4 miles @ tempo + 3 miles recovery + 3 miles tempo + 8 miles easy/progressive. For the first 9 mile loop I just took the water/gu mix bottle. Then I picked up the waste pack and some gu. I went through my tempo (details below) and made it back to my car at roughly 21.5 miles. While there I grabbed my banana and I had it peeled. Then I got distracted with my handheld and dropped my banana on the ground! I stood there looking at it in disbelief and sadness. Then I looked around to see if anyone was watching, and I picked it up and ate it.  Not only did I eat it, but I ate it with a smile on my face very similar to that of a kid who just found where mom hid the cookies.  It was a smile of someone who had just done something that they were proud of. I have no shame! I trotted off to finish a great day.

Sunday rolled around and I could feel the fatigue in my calves. So what better way to flush it out than by running for a long time. I thought a lot while on the trails. I spent a lot of time in prayer about my race in February.  I just prayed that the Lord be glorified no matter how things go.  Back in cross country season a teammate prayed a prayer that was along the lines of “If our Father be glorified at our expense, then let us fail every time.” I’m definitely paraphrasing there. But I really take that to heart. If He is glorified at my expense then I hope I fall flat on my face every time. Because I’m only here to further His kingdom and make His good name known.  The run felt like it took forever. But it was a journey. A peaceful one.

I’m not sure what Piney Woods will have in store for me. I’m using it as a training run and training right through the whole thing.  So that will put me smack dab in the middle of a 120 mile week. But I just don’t believe I should sacrifice my training for my big races later in the season for a tune up race this early.  It is just too soon to start coming off the quality and quantity.  It will be fun though. It sounds like a nice course and nothing too gnarly.  I’m excited for it and a lot of people I have talked to are excited to see me racing soon. 

I have a lot going for me. A week of good running.  A week of good work. I’m doing alright.  I’m just doing what I’ve got to do and that’s putting my head down and grinding away.  I have the opportunity to make a dream become a reality and I’m not going to pass that up.  Bring on week two of three!

Bump the Lamp,

JP

Training for this past week: 115 miles total.

Tuesday- 15x hill repeats. Solid overall workout. I was smooth and I progressed the whole thing. I don’t like doing the same workout back to back weeks, but with being in CA last week I just had to work with what I had. This coming week I have hill circuits, so I will be looking to master those for the first time this training season.

Saturday- 28 miles : 10 miles easy + 4 miles @ tempo + 3 miles recovery + 3 miles tempo + 8 miles easy/progressive. The first ten were pretty slow; likely because of the temps and just trying to loosen up. The 4 mile tempo was not as quick as what I would have had liked, but I think I have to take what my body is going to give me day to day. Not to mention I was trying to run hard after already running ten miles (funny thought). The three mile segment went very well though, and I was pleased with knocking that segment out of the park. I cruised the last 8 miles starting at 6:50 all the way down to finishing at 6:22 ppm. It was nice to finish strong but I was ready for a break. I took in 46 oz of water and roughly 350 calories during the run.  This was my first run playing with food and calories so I expect it to be a lot of trial and error. I felt pretty steady though, with no significant declines in energy level.

Sunday- 20 miles: After 1:30 2x (1’,3’,3’) on a 5 minute rest cycle. Good run. Felt a little fatigue in the calves. But that comes with the territory.