Holy shit. I’m running 50 miles this weekend.
[tl;dr] I’ve had a great training block; I’m healthy, confident & excited. I’m also super nervous and am slightly questioning my training. I can’t wait to see how it goes.
No backing out now. Time for my first 50 mile race at The North Face Endurance Challenge San Francisco. 50.7 miles. 10,400 feet of climbing.
The Why.
I’ve heard you need a good reason to continue running for when your legs feel like death.
Curiosity seems like as good of a reason as any. Curious how my body responds and I guess more importantly, how my mind responds. I have no idea what happens after mile 31.
Abe’s 100 at Rio Del Lago was so awesome and definitely removed some of the self-imposed barriers in my mind about what is possible. Seeing him run so strong for 21 hours makes me feel like I better tough it out if I want to look myself in the mirror the next day.
The Block.
Honestly, this has been one of the most fun stretches of running I have ever had. I’m super grateful for the health and motivation [read: fear] to stick with the training and strength work the last few months.
I definitely feel confident and strong.
Buuuuut I probably didn’t run enough miles or long enough long runs to do really well at 50 miles. Too late to go back now.
I feel fit and ready to see what happens.
I got a little boost this weekend as I am fresh off a victory at Livermore’s Race To The Flagpole 10k where I surprised myself and ran 36:15 on mostly dirt trails without dipping too deep into the well. That is hopefully a good indicator of fitness and translates to the additional 44 miles next weekend [Shit. That sounds far].
The Plan
I have a very fancy google sheet with several scenarios but they are all admittedly optimistic. The best laid plans, am I right? I can easily end up sitting on a log for an hour.
Bottom line: Stay fueled and stay moving.
I’m planning on alternating tailwind & water in my bottle, trying to take a gel between aid stations and grub on some snacks at each aid. I’ll sprinkle in salt tabs and we’ll see if that is enough and my stomach holds out.
If it works out to have Nick pace at mile 27 that would make for a super fun day. But I am prepared either way depending on the status of his Achilles and more importantly, his hall pass. (But seriously, if Nick doesn’t end up coming that is immediately moving to the top of my excuse list).
Goals. Got to have goals.
If all goes well, legit, A+ day. 8ish hours (9:30ish pace). Based on my one training run on the course which was an absolute death march, this feels like it could be a stretch.
In doing an ungodly amount of stalking of past results, comparable runners seem to end up around 8:30 (10:00ish pace). That is my realistic B+ goal. I would be very happy with that.
I would say a C goal would be a, keep-moving-well 10:30 pace which brings me in just under 9 hours.
But if all else fails and things are shifted to survival mode, just finishing is the “Learn the most about yourself” goal.
I just saw the forecast has rain scheduled for Saturday. That should add another layer of fun to the proceedings.
‘Eff yeah!’ goal.
If you don’t have an eff yeah goal, what is the point? Sub 8.
I’m sure I won’t have many choices to make out there. I’ll try to keep the pace sustainable, limit the time at zero miles per hour and see what the day gives me.
I’m prepared to know a lot more about myself on Saturday night than I do today. But mostly, I should just be prepared to be really, really sore on Sunday.
