I recently ran the Finger Lakes Running Club Skunk Cabbage Classic. I have run this race several times in the past. This years race would be different for me. Different from my previous Skunk Cabbage races and different than most half marathons I have run in a while.

2024 is a new year with new experiences on deck.

Road halves and the Skunk

I like running road half marathons. It is the only road distance I race regularly. It is the perfect amount of challenge. Not too hard that training is daunting, but challenging enough that you can’t just coast into a race and expect to feel good when you finish.

Skunk Cabbage has been my one and usually only road half marathon for the last several years. And ever since setting a new half marathon PR at Skunk Cabbage while training for an ultra I return every year with the goal of setting a new PR. And here is the twist.

This year there is no goal of a PR in sight. After two years of struggling with minor injuries that kept my running volume pretty low for me I eventually accrued an injury that required me to take the whole summer off and then with still no recovery getting my ass into PT finally. If you are struggling with an injury don’t be stubborn like me. Get into PT and do the work. That is where the magic is at.

Getting back into running after the long lay off was a struggle and so was building the mileage back up. Over the last several years when I train for a half marathon I routinely run half marathon distance training runs if not longer during my build up. And there is speed work and hill work. There was almost none of that this go around. We did manage to get some hills in though. That was probably a saving grace as this is a hilly course.

The 2024 Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon would end up being my longest run since the 2023 rendition of the event. I was so discouraged with my seeming lack of progress in regaining my fitness that I was strongly considering not running the event this year. I knew there was no shot at a PR so what was the point even. That was my mindset, and I am not proud of it.

Then I saw an announcement that in 2024 the Skunk Cabbage course would be different. This rejuvenated me a little bit. Now I didn’t feel the pressure of trying for a PR since the course was different.

Mindset

I really tried to work on shifting my mindset. Trying not to compare where I was now, to where I was in past years at this event. It was a real struggle. I persisted in thinking that even though I won’t PR and I am not in good shape compared to previous years, I can still go out there and push myself really hard and just see what happens.

But, I knew in the back of my mind, that way lays disaster. I really wanted to just run a half marathon and have fun. No time pressure. Not take it easy, but not run so hard that I was in real discomfort for several miles.

My goal was to run a moderately comfortable pace from beginning to end. I knew that what felt moderately comfortable at the beginning would feel much harder by the end. Consistency was the key, not going out hard. I think we actually executed this plan pretty well.

My plan was to run with one of my friends as much as possible. We stayed together most of the race. running a comfortable pace where we could talk and enjoy ourselves. We even ran and talked with a fellow runner for several miles.

For the first time during a race a non-self inflicted issue popped up during a race. Less than halfway through the 13.1 miles one of my hip flexors began to cramp up. It felt like it wanted to be fully contracted. The only thing I could do was switch my stride to a high step to pull my femur higher and let the muscles in my hip fully contract and rest a little. This would ease the discomfort for a while. But hen the discomfort would return and I would repeat the high stepping routine. And that persisted through the rest of the race. I can only imagine what the runners behind be thought every time I started high stepping. They must have thought I had lost my mind.

Getting to the finish

With 3 miles to go there was a nice downhill and I let that help me accelerate a little. Maybe too much. I got a little bit ahead of my friend. And I was feeling really good. That is until I wasn’t.

The downhill became much more gradual with 2 miles to go. And I was getting tired.

Did I mention that it was a little warm. At least warmer than expected based on what weather had been and what the forecast had been. Based on early forecasts I was preparing for a mild winter day. And I was dressed appropriately.

But come race day it was full sun. And the forecast was for 50 degrees before we would expect to finish. I had not anticipated this and was not prepared. I discarded my vest, hat, and gloves. Luckily my wife was there to take all my unnecessary gear. And I ended up running in long tights and a long sleeve shirt.

I spent most of the race being warm. Not too warm but warmer than I would like. Thankfully out on the country roads there were periods of nice cool breezes blowing through. That really helped regulate my heat. Without that I am not sure what would have happened. Most of the race I was really wishing I had shorts on.

And that all came to a head in the last two miles. I was really feeling the fatigue. I could feel my pace starting to drop off. And then we entered the narrow corridor of a beautiful rail trail. But the slight depression we were running in eliminated all the nice air flow and breeze we had been getting. The heat was making me feel even more tired.

My friend caught back up to me. And she eventually passed me and started to pull away. I tried to stay close so I could make a final push at the very end.

I really had no gas’s left in the tank. The last few miles of this race had in the past been go time for me. Drop the hammer and see what you can get done time. Today it was just hang on for dear life time.

We got to the final block of the race. Now I started to try to pick up the pace. I called out to my friend ahead of me telling her I was going to try and catch her. At the end I sprinted just about as hard as I could for that last block.

I didn’t catch my friend. But I did finish faster than I thought I would. I was completely gassed after that last sprint. But after I caught my breath I felt pretty good. No major problems and I felt like I would recover well.

I think we even managed a negative split by just a little. I didn’t do the actual calculation, because I don’t care that much, but almost all the mile splits for the second half of the race were faster than the first half.

All in all I really had fun. I stopped at two aid stations for Gatorade which I don’t normally do. And I stopped to have a cup of beer, which I have never done at a half marathon before. Who has time to stop when you are chasing a PR.

Insight

I love to read books that give me insight into myself and into life. I am currently reading Do Hard Things by Steve Magness. And I just read a passage that I think will help me reframe my running. He talks about Lowering the Bar and Raising the Floor. Instead of doing the ting we always do as runners, that being chase PRs. Strive to be consistent. Know that you have put in the work so that you will always be able to achieve a certain level of performance. Knowing that we can replicate high performance over and over will allow us to achieve PRs when the time is right instead of being disappointed after every race where we did not PR. And we can feel confident in our ability to perform consistently instead of let down by not setting a new PR. I am only on page 78 of this book, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Photography

On a photography related note: I ran this race carrying a GoPro camera by hand so that I could capture some photos using time lapse mode. I decided to use more newer model of the camera because I like that it has RAW file capabilities. But that is only at the one photo a minute frame rate. And I didn’t want to use a faster frame rate because I really don’t like the quality this camera has at those settings.

So even though I ran the time lapse camera for nearly half of the race I only ended up with around 45 images. Which it hadn’t occurred to me just how few I would get on that mode. I knew it would be fewer than I would get otherwise. Normally 45 photos would be fine, but considering I am running and the time lapse mode just fires off randomly it makes it a lot more challenging to capture actual nice images. If I was stopping and very intentionally taking 45 photos that would be a very different story.

Next time I will try to remember to use my older GoPro that has good quality at a faster frame rate so I will have more images to choose from.

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