40K Race Recap

Whew!  Done!

Well, that was fun!  The national 40K was last Sunday.  The other way to think of it in it's orientation in time and space, is two weeks after I completed the 100 mile Centurion race.  And while I'll definitely go over how my race went, I first want to go over how my athletes did, because I'm so incredibly proud of them!

So proud of Katie!

Katie's training has been a bit spotty lately because sometimes life just gets in the way.  But she has been stubborn and focused and has goals and isn't giving up!  Last year she rocked the national 30K, so this year moved up to the 40K.  At the Centurion race she did a 32K workout, her longest ever, so she was racing off not the most ideal training, but she was ready and excited for the race, and boy did she do awesome.  The race conditions were awful.  The park has deteriorated every year since I've first been racing there.  About 500 meters of the course has tree roots poking up through the pavement, in places as much as 4-5 inches.  The temperature continually dropped as the race went on, getting down to around 47 degrees with a very bitter wind that made the wind chill factor something to take notice of.  And the rain...  It rained the entire time, so by the end of the race there were about 5 places where the course was under 1-2 inches of water.  Dave considers it the second worst race conditions he's ever raced in.  I put it in my top five.  One thing that made it difficult too was since the temperature started off okay people dressed differently than if it had been that cold at the start. That made for the end of the race to get harder and harder.

Leaving a surprise on my camera

Katie's first 20K was like a machine, strong and steady!  Then the first dip in temperature hit and from looking at splits a lot of people slowed down some around that time.  Even though you could tell she was getting colder and colder she just kept pushing.  She ended up with a time of 4:44:42 (honestly I probably would've waited two seconds to cross the line, just so I could have a time of 4:44:44, but I'm totally a dork that way) and walked straight into a waiting blanket and straight to the bathrooms to change.  Her second place finish is also her highest at a national championship.  So very proud of her!

Next on to AJ.  AJ has goals and is super focused on them.  He's just started college and has such a supportive coach who is helping him succeed.  AJ has gotten in some good long walks, but we weren't exactly sure what he'd be capable of.  He started off right on pace and was doing awesome.  He also hit a spot where he slowed down a bit, right around two hours into the race (temperature dip).  But what makes me so proud was he rallied back.  In fact, with less than 10K to go he saw that second place was starting to falter and charged after him, making up 1:30 in one 2K loop!  And he did catch 2nd place!  But he rallied back and ended up getting back in front, but what an exciting race!  I know because I stopped to watch it :)   AJ's time of 3:46:24 is full of promise.  His last 5K was his fastest, so his ability to push at the end is awesome.  I'm super proud of this kid and am so honored to be coaching him.

Maryanne Daniel, race walker and official extraordinaire!  

I went into the race with one goal; to finish.  I felt like my recovery was going well, and I was taking it really easy.  I hate recovery, I tend to want to just get going again, but I think I was really smart.  I did a 5K fartlek the Thursday before the 40K and did one of my fastest times of the year and felt solid at it, so I was feeling hopeful for the race.  My thought was to go out at a decent pace and see how long it held.  I didn't want to push hard as I didn't want to have to spend a lot more time recovering.  I came through 10K in 56:40, and it felt really nice and relaxed.  But then my body started complaining.  I think a number of things came into play.  First all the tree roots normally wouldn't have been too much of an issue, but with legs still a bit heavy from the 100 miler that extra effort was apparent.  Second, I definitely felt the cold seeping into my legs and my hammies got a bit cranky at me.  Third I just wasn't all the way recovered yet!

At 26K I was just so cold.  Luckily I had a second long shirt so I stopped and changed my top.  Not being in a wet, soggy top was really nice, while it lasted.  But changing tops and my numbers over took a bit of time, and then of course I had to get going again, because stopping made me very cold.   Near the end of the race I felt fairly confident in my win, so I was just focusing on finishing.  Since the men's race was so exciting and I did the math, I knew I could wait at one point to cheer for AJ, cheer for him, and then make it to the finish line before he got there.  That took me about 3 minutes of waiting.  Dave unfortunately had to stop due to cramps so I stopped one lap to make sure he was doing okay.  And my last lap I stopped to hug the aid station lady who was out there in the rain and cold the entire time smiling and being encouraging.  So while my time of 4:16:26 doesn't look very good, I probably stopped for various reasons for 6 minutes, plus or minus.

So I'm quite happy for everyone.  Happy to get my 40K title back, happy that I survived two weeks after doing a 100 mile race, happy for my athletes.  Even though I slowed down and took it easy I'm sure this race will extend my recovery period a little, but hopefully not too much.  And I know that myself and my athletes are super tough and can compete in horrible conditions and push and stay tough.  

Recovery meal from Wegmen's.  All gluten free and all yummy!

And finally, people have been asking how they can help, which I really appreciate!  I'm not big on asking for money, but this I think is something that can help me and help others!  Especially with Christmas time coming up and people needing to do lots of shopping, sometimes online shopping really works the best.  Athletebiz, who has been amazing with helping athletes reach their goals, has helped create a flipgive campaign.  Basically when you need to shop online if you do it via my online portal I will get a percentage back on what you spend.  Some of the stores you can shop at include:  Jet.com, Walmart, Macy's, Lands End, PetCo, Brookstone, and many others.  You don't have to do anything differently than you normally would, just make sure you get to those websites through my page.  Then I get a percentage back to help with training, race fees, travel and all the other things that cost money!  Feel free to share the link with friends and family!  If they're going to be ordering online anyway, why not do it so that they can support someone at the same time :)  Here's the link:

https://athletebiz.flipgive.com/campaigns/44081-erin-taylor-talcott-us-race-walker

And if you know you just want running/training stuff you can go to Runner's Warehouse.  Thank you to those who shopped and supported me last quarter.  It was so great to get the check in the mail, and the money was put to very good use!

https://www.athletebiz.us/athletes/erin-taylor-talcott/store

Thanks!  And happy training!