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.