This was going to be my third 50K, but first time repeating a race.  I was sure I could beat last years time at Pisgah as last year I went through to just finish (and was happy with that for sure) but I didn’t think I was up to a personal best 50K for this race.  I didn’t do any tapering and in fact had run an all out 5k 3 nights before that left my legs still a bit sore on the start line.  The purpose of this race was a final long workout for 100K race (62 miles) next month.  Short results- finished in 7:37, not a best at 50K by far but a good effort in my mind.

The long version, broken down by stages as the race was clearly three different set of efforts for me.

Miles 1-9
All felt good though the first 8 miles, keeping a relaxed running pace and walking the occasional hill into the 8 mile aid station.  At that point you take a road that goes up and turns a couple of times fairly steeply.  I felt good on the climb, but as soon as we headed back into the woods to run my legs felt dead and crampy.

Miles 10-20
That dead feeling lasted the better part of these middle miles.  I’d try and run and another part of my legs would get ready to cramp, so I’d slow down and walk.  Finally heading up Pisgah Mt., the cramps got worse and I had to stop to stretch and to yell foul words into the air.  Actually, I mumbled them angrily as I didn’t want to sounds like a lunatic to others in the area.  I finally crested Pisgah Mt. and started to feel slightly better, but still had to mix up walking and running into the 20 mile aid station at Kilburn Pond.

Miles 21-31
I arrived at the aid station and realized I had been drinking only Gatorade and didn’t use any Nuun electrolyte tabs during the middle miles so I switched back.  I also waited a minute or two to rest my legs as I knew the next 5 miles were “easy” and I hoped to be able to recover.  Something worked-  I started to run and then ran a bit more and was able to run up some of the shorter hills.  I finished the loop, refilled my bottles with water and Nuun tabs and ran fairly hard along the road to the next trailhead.  I ran all the easy stuff and some of the hills but walked up the steeper sections of Hubbard and Davis Hills.  I was hoping to pass somebody-  I hadn’t seen anybody in hours and felt it would be nice while feeling good to see some results.  After cresting the final hill I let fly and passed a couple of people in the woods, offered some encouragement and ran out to the final road portion.  I ran the whole road until hitting one longer uphill, which started a small cramp.  After reaching the top I started running again and ran through to the finish line, passing a couple of runners (who were walking it in) and a friend of theirs near the final turn.

I was able to finish strong and in fact would not have minded a longer race since I left so much running out of the middle miles.  All in all mission accomplished, a 31 mile workout and session to work through some hydration and nutrition issues.

Next up-  western Pennsylvania and the 62 miles at Oil Creek.

 
Been one of those years.  But it’s always one of those years. Knee pain followed by gall bladder removal surgery put me off the trails for June and July after a personal best at 31 miles in May.  It’s been a scramble to train and recover fitness, let alone try and improve on fitness levels at this time in 2010.  Now, I am 78 days away from looking back on the year. After 8 months the next 78 days will let me know if all those nights on the treadmill and weekends in the park end up  paying dividends, or end up sending me into another year trying to fix the mess.

What’s coming up in the next 78 days??

9/2-9/17         Continue to train and throw in as many long efforts as possible

9/18                Pisgah Mt. Trail Races 50k

9/19-10/7       Taper.   Ride the fine line of working out but not trashing the legs

10/8                Oil Creek 100k

10/9-10/14      Race recovery

10/15-10/30    Final long training for year

11/1-11/18      Taper.   Ride the fine line of working out but not trashing the legs.  Again

11/19               Stone Mill 50 Mile Race

Three Ultra’s a 50k, 100k and 50 Miler.  Pisgah is a training race and my goal is to finish, take it easy and not get hurt.  No personal bests there.  Oil Creek is the big event for the year.  After dropping last year at 53.5 miles, only death is a viable reason for not finishing this year.  And even that’s no excuse.  Stone Mill has its own special meaning, but I am not looking that far until Oil Creek is done.

I wish I had more time to make up for the lost long runs in June and July; I wish it was 9/18 to get the ball rolling already.  Current leg issues have caused a cut back in total running miles, although total miles have not been cut back.  I have run and power hiked alternatively (for those who don’t know, power hike is a fancy stupid term for walking fast). Actually, the last two weeks have averaged around 50+ miles per week and it’s likely I’ll end up the rest of the training year that way.  Unprecedented numbers for me so the chances of finishing are better but….chances of being fast (fat, slow, 48 year old fast) are very low.

When the year is done I am hoping to have completed 4 Ultra’s and set myself up to try for my goals for 2012.  But today is just day one of the final 78 of 2011……..