Held in the 7IL Ranch, Night Moves on the surface should not be a grueling race. No climbing to speak of, starting at 8pm so the Texas heat in August plays a minor role. But think about this. You know the slow-motion heaviness of running on the beach? You know when there's no more sidewalk and you trudge along the grassy shoulder of a road? These feelings to me sum up Night Moves, which travels over sandy horse trails and open fields.
I had finally gotten in some consistent training for this race. After running a couple off-the-couch half marathons to motivate myself to get back into running, I had experienced some sharp calf pain at the Pandora's Box of Rox Marathon which forced me to drop halfway. Then, this July I had the best month of training since my injury in January 2015.
The evening started off hot but with a pleasant breeze. I had had some twinges on my knee and right foot earlier in the day and was weak from the start. The plodding pace quickly drained me through the short purple loop (the course consists of short purple loop of less than six miles, red loop 7.9 miles, orange 7.5 miles, long purple 6.3 miles).
I've suffered from back pain off and on since my mid-twenties and early in the race my back seized up. It probably didn't help that before the race I was hunched over pumping air into the inflatable mattress in the tent for ten minutes. My posture was impaired for the race and aid station workers asked me if I'd injured my hip. Each step hurt.
The course was well-marked but in the dark with the open-field running I took a wrong turn on the red loop and ended up at the start well ahead of time. The race director Rob gave good directions to get back on course. I moved pretty slowly through the first half of the race.
I always get jitters early in a race, thinking about the long hours ahead. Will I make it? On the orange loop things started clicking and I settled into a groove, picking up the pace a bit and making steady progress. Still, on the back half of the orange seemed interminable. Round the corner and there's another long open field. And another. And another.
Finally making it back to the start I fueled up. I hadn't used Tailwind before and drank it exclusively during the race; I think it really helped keep up the energy. I chugged a Red Bull as it was past one am at this point and I've suffered sleep deprivation in past events, though it never came this night.
On the long purple I suddenly decided to run hard, for my midpack abilities anyway. By this point I knew the grass fields were unpleasant but way more runnable than the sand. I charged ahead. Though my legs and back hurt, I had energy and it felt like a regular jog after work almost. Arriving at the final aid station, I asked how far it was to the finish. Less than three miles. I had knocked out half the loop.
I hiked most of the sandy sections, eased by the thought that no matter what I'd be done in less than an hour. Again, I picked up the pace on the runnable stuff and finished in a sprint.
Interesting wildlife encounters: three snakes, a rabbit, and a handful of cows on the trail in the middle of the night.
It's been a year since I finished a marathon and it is always a wonderful feeling to finish a long race. Rob, Rachel, and all the volunteers put on a great race and thanks to all!
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