Bel Monte 50 Mile 03/26/11

This race report could be filed under the heading, "What the hell was I thinking?"  This 50 mile race boasted over 11,000 feet of elevation change in the 50 mile and just over 7,000 feet for the 50K.  I thought this would be a good way to get some mountain miles in while not dealing with the altitude issues. I was certainly right about that.

Since I was complaining about my last race at Seneca Creek being a 'flat' course-- I had nothing to complain about in this race.  I did the 50 mile race and Bruce did the 50K.  The time limit for the 50 mile was 13 hours (changed the week of the race to 13.5) and the 50K had a 9 hour cut off.  This alone should have been a clue.

The course was the same for 50K and 50 mile people for about 17 miles, but Bruce and I were doing our own thing on race day, so after a quick kiss at the start we were on our way. I started the race with my buddy Casey, but I knew that he would be leaving me soon. (Casey chose this as his 50 mile debut-- what a freaking animal.)  We started out on the top of the dam. We headed out into the woods and I knew from reading the elevation chart that .78 miles in we would hit the first significant climb.  It was definitely significant. I determined that although I had done some other "difficult" races, I would be in for a new experience with this one.

There were times that the hills lasted over 4+ miles.  That is right, 4+ miles of walking straight uphill!  Some of the grades were as much as 7%!  Yikes, this was one tough race.  But the views, my God the views were iincredible-- so worth the effort.  This time, instead of wishing for more walking, I could not wait to get some good downhills going and get a break from walking.  I was amazed after so many miles of trudging up a mountain, that I could start running again and even run at a decent pace!   There were actually times in the later stages of the race that I was keeping a sub 10 minute mile.  I would have been able to keep a better pace if the trail was not so technical. Of all of the trail races that I have completed, I would have to say that this was definitely the most technical.  There were areas where you should have been able to run, but it was not runnable, there were so many rocks.  I learned to tackle some of these technical downhills - I was passing a lot of people on the downhills.  I could not believe it- I am a flat-lander!

The weather was another issue to overcome.  It was very cold in the morning (30s) and it warmed up quite a bit during the day.  I wore tights, a L/S tech shirt and S/S tech shirt, gloves, and a BB hat.  I felt perfectly dressed until much later in the afternoon/evening.  One of the last aid stations was at the top of a mountain.  I had placed a light jacket in my drop bag.  I picked it up on my way to the finish line (7 miles away).  What a great move- it got so cold, then it started sleeting, then it started snowing! Snowing....I decided it was time to kick it in gear and get off of this mountain, so I took off for the finish.

This was my slowest 50 mile finish at 12:19- but I was well within the 13.5 cut off and the 5th female overall. I was happy with my performance- plus this was a training run and I treated it as such.  I was also very happy to see that Bruce was waiting for me at the finish line (with his finisher medal around his neck!).  He finished the 50K in 8:30, which is incredible for the difficulty of the course.  Casey finished strong at 11:45- quite a feat for your first 50.  It was a great day, beautiful course, well-marked course, well-stocked aid stations and well organized. We enjoyed it so much, we are thinking of returning for the 100K in September!

Course: Mountainous, hilly, technical
Weather: Very cold at start, mild in afternoon, very cold in evening
Nutrition: No issues- but did not take in a lot of calories considering the length of the race
Hydration: No issues- but probably dehydrated due to minimal intake of fluid
Aches/Pains/Injuries: none 

Sencea Creek Trail 50K 03/05/11

So, when you are training for the biggest 100 miler of your life, running two 50Ks on back-to-back weekends does not sound like a bad idea.  In fact, it sounds like a pretty darn good idea--- at the time. We headed out for another local race, this time in Damascus, MD.  This is the same trail that I ran the Stone Mill 50 on back in November 2010.  I remember that when I ran Stone Mill people were commenting that the course was flat.  I thought that it was anything but flat.  What a difference a few months make!

I ran the race with Bob the whole time.  All I kept thinking is "WHY is this so flat? Where are the hills? Are we ever going to get to walk?"  This course was killing me.  I think it really is a flat course and there are not a lot of opportunities for walking.  The first time that I did this course, I used a run/walk plan and I do not do that anymore, so it seemed like we were never getting a chance to walk.  Bob and I ran along grumbling as we would switch off leading and following.  We finished in a respectable 6:23.  We were not trying to "race" just going along and chatting.  Casey finished in 5:20; Rob in 6:00 and Sara 6:14.  We stayed around for some after race snacks and headed back to Virginia.

Certainly a different experience than the first time I ran this race, but an enjoyable "training run" none-the-less. No injuries, no hydration or nutrition issues.