Pocatello 50 Another successful race! Great day to enjoy the trails. 7th overall. Just over a minute faster than last year. Consistency is my middle name. T- 9:21:15 (by my watch) 9:19:37 (Ultrasignup) (10:35) ~12,000 feet vert Photo of the kids nearing the finish line - Ways this year's race was a success - I got to take the family and camp out with them
- "Trail Running" with them the night before the race on part of the course (see pic below)
- No IV necessary at the finish. Sure, I wanted one, but I didn't need one!
- Weather was awesome. High of 75. No blizzard ruining the race. No 85+ degrees like last year. Course records fell all over the place. Good thing the weather was so nice. It made up for my lack of training.
- PR is a PR
- Felt better than at Zion Traverse. Body is getting used to the training load finally.
- Learned how to cool my body down better this time to not get heat stroke. Arm warmers filled with Ice feels amazing!
- Course knowledge is king. At least 3 of the top guys got lost. Not me.
- I had fun. Painful fun, but still fun.
- I can bomb the downhills still. I passed so many 50K and 20 mile racers on the downhills. The decent off Scout was unreal. Dropping 3000' in a few miles of rocky trail is insane. Especially at mile 45.
- I still have all my toenails (unlike last year)
- I got to lead the race for the first mile as we jogged down the road. That was fun.
- I beat Joe (dropped out), Ty Draney (dropped out), Jared Campbell (ran 26 hours last weekend in Zion NP), Greg Norrander (beat me last year, wore #1 bib for the race). Sure most had some excuse but tough. I still win. Ha!
- I got to wear bib #2 (as 2nd fastest returning runner). Too bad I didn't finish 2nd.
- I didn't die
Ways this year's race wasn't perfect - I didn't win the $500 prize money
- I got chicked. Joelle is amazing. She beat her course record by 23 mins. How do you compete with that?
- I have liver pain. I thought it was just a side-ache coming down off scout mountain but it was my inflamed liver. Not sure what to do about that. Its almost gone now 48 hours after finishing but it was pretty tender even yesterday.
- I didn't get in the training necessary to take a serious attempt at breaking 9 hours.
- Joe had to drop. Ty had to drop. Bad days for them. I wish them well.
- I forgot to get the Wolf Man to sign my shoes.
- In fact, no one even asked for my signature.
Other nerdy facts - I had 3 target paces printed that I carried. 9:00, 9:23 (last years splits), 10:00. The 9 hour was a dream pace. The 10 was a 'B' goal. Breaking 9:23 was the 'A' goal.
- I was within 1 minute of last year's splits at all aid stations but 1.
Aid 1 Gibson - 1:11 (last year) - This year (1:11:22) Aid 2 City Creek - 2:40 - This year (2:39:12) Aid 3 Midnight - 4:25 - This year (4:24) Aid 4 Mink - 5:27 - This year (5:23:55 in) (5:26 out) Aid 5 S. Scout - 6:37 - This year (6:34) Aid 6 Big Fur - 8:28 - This year (8:27) Finish - 9:22:38 (last year) - This year(9:21:15) I suppose that if I expect different results I must train differently. No time to do that, and I don't really care that much. Not likely to happen. I just love being out there and doing these kind of runs. What a life! Elevation Profile Trail Running with the Kids the Day before the race.
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