• Originally published November 23, 2009 at 12:18 a.m., updated November 23, 2009 at 12:20 a.m.

Troy Lischka has been running since his high school years when he ran cross country for three years. Most recently he had been competing in local 5Ks, but had never competed in a distance longer than a 5K until he competed in a 25K (15-miler) in Bandera in January of 2009.

He had been consistently running two to three times per week in the fall of 2008, and decided the 25K would be a good challenge. It was only after running the 25K that Troy set his sights on a longer distance race, a much longer one.

"I needed a goal and decided on a 50-mile trail race after enjoying the trail race in Bandera so much. I love trail running, and feel that trail running is mentally and physically easier for me than running on the road."

I first met Troy in March of 2009 when he approached me about coaching him in his athletic endeavor. I told him at that time that he would be my trail racing "guinea pig". Even though I have coached numerous endurance athletes, I have never coached one who trail races.

Troy began training in March of 2009 with a program that was focused on building his base for endurance running, mixed with cross-training cardio days, strength work, and flexibility sessions. His longest run over the course of his training was a 27-miler, with his peak mileage week hitting 45-miles per week.

Troy feels that his numerous trips to Austin for trail running sessions, paired with a trail running series he did in August, worked to his benefit, "I did a series of three, 18-milers over the course of five weeks up in Austin on the trails. It helped that I was able to do some of my running on the same course that I would be racing on." I asked him if he felt prepared going into the race that took place on October, 31st,

"I felt confident going into the race knowing that I had good preparation and training, as well as the structure provided by my program with Fit4U".

When I asked Troy what the most difficult part of the race was for him, he replied, "I started having GI issues around mile twenty-five, and couldn't take in some of my nutrition. I felt good physically, but mentally it was a let down to not stay on pace like I wanted to." Troy would continue to struggle the last 25 miles of the race, "I had to stop at several aid stations for ten to fifteen minutes. I was concerned because I couldn't take anything in, but mentally I knew I didn't want to quit".

Troy would finish his 50-mile race with a time of 13 hours and 19 minutes, approximately an hour off his goal finish time of 12 hours. However, this will not be Troy's last endurance trail run, he is already planning for more of the same in 2010, "I am planning to do another trail race in Bandera in January, and am going to focus on doing the 100-mile trail race in October of next year." With what Troy overcame in October's race, this looks to be one athlete who is up for the challenge.

More San Antonio Marathon

When I wrote the article last week, I mistakenly left out some of the area finishers. Here they are, and congratulations to all the area finishers in the San Antonio Marathon and Half Marathon!

Half-Marathon finisher results (last page results that were left out): Doreen Simmang, 2:27:05; Jeff Smith, 1:51:07; Kelly Stotler, 2:18:49; Chrissy Wagner, 2:55:00; Carol West, 2:41:54; Tanya Willis, 3:15:28.

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