Buffalo Run 50K - I have so many mixed feelings about this race. It was a disaster and I feel really proud that I was able to finish the thing. Period. It was a combination of things that lead to my demise. It was ugly, but I am getting ahead of myself. Lets start at the beginning. The race is put on by Jim (ultrajim) and was a well run 25K, 50K, 50Miler and even had Davy running the 50Miler 2x's for an even 100. I have been planning on the 50K for some time and really was looking forward to this race. It would be the longest run in my life and also the toughest. I really didn't want to die a miserable death so my plan was to take it easy the first lap of the 2 lap course and save some for later. More on that later... The race started out fine with me settling into the second pack. The top 3 guys all took off together and there were about 6 of us that ran more or less together for the whole 1st lap. I chatted with Karl Jarvis and Taha M. for entertainment. I was comfortable running with them but was a bit alarmed at the pace we were going. 6:45-7 min pace on the flats and 6 min pace jogging down the hills. The uphills were even sub 8:30 pace. It was hard but not "race effort" yet so I went with it. BIG MISTAKE!!! I am now looking at my Heart Rate data my watch logged (I didn't look at my HR even 1 time during the race) and I was over 170 and even 180+ for the entire first 2 hours. The course is basically a large figure 8 for each 25K and the 50K runners do it twice. I really enjoyed the course and thought it was difficult but not overly sadistic. Very runnable if you have the strength. I loved it during the first lap and really enjoyed myself. For a while... As I was nearing the halfway point of the course, I started to slow down a bit and dropped from 4th place overall to 5th place overall (when the faceless ghost passed me then proceeded to take a wrong turn). I was ok with having him pass me and instead focused on conserving what little strength I had left. I was only .25 of a mile from the end of my loop 1 when the 25K runners began. Not good. That meant there were 300+ runners all running on the trail the opposite direction as me all excited and full of energy. They were not paying attention and I had to run 10 feet off the trail and yell at people to watch out as they were not looking up and didn't see me coming. I was only 2 mins from being ahead of all of them but since I was not, I had to pass them all going the opposite direction then turn around at the aid station and pass most of them again. Not fun at all. I spent a min at the aid station swapping my waterbottle and taking off my warmer clothes. I was back running again at 2:03 min into it. I knew that I would slow down this lap but figured that a 2:30 lap was reasonable to reach my 4:30 goal. Things went ok for about 1 mile before I realized I was in trouble. I was in the middle of the 25K runners and as I started to slow, I was getting passed by the same people I had just passed a quarter mile earlier. Trying not to panic I tried to keep moving as fast as possible. My stomach violently cramped up at this point. I could not get it to relax. It hurt to touch it with my hand and it felt like a side ache that took over my whole torso. That brought me to a crippling walk. It hurt to even walk. What am I supposed to do now? I tried everything from massage to hunching over to burping and even had some vomiting/dry heaving. I felt dizzy and was losing all motivation to continue. I had been taking 1 S! cap every hour and keeping up on my fluids (I thought) and I also took some energy gel (1-2 oz per hour). I think that some combination of that really messed me up. I was able to talk myself out of quitting and finally made it to the aid station at mile 21.5 at the 3 hour mark. I had to do a lot of walking on the downhills as well as the uphills to even make it there. From that point on, it was pure misery. There was nothing that was good about this time in the race. I was getting passed by everyone and I had given up on racing miles ago. It was purely a mission to finish. It was a battle to maintain 11 min miles on the flats. Seriously! I loaded up on water at the last aid and tried to flush out my stomach of the gu and stuck to pure water and S! caps for salt. I think it finally started to work as I sped up to a sub 9 min mile on the downhill after the aid at mile 27. The final 3 miles were the best of my second lap and I was able to actually run the whole time and was again passing people. The final 3 miles were 8:38, 8:29, and 7:48. Yes there was a large amount of downhill, but at least I was running. The finish line has never looked so good. I had just completed the hardest thing I have ever done and lived to tell the tale. I was the most miserable I have ever been in my life, ever. Luckily Jon was there to fetch my clothes and keep me from curling up in a ball and whimpering like a baby.
Mistake 1: Went out at a pace that felt ok. Don't do that. It should be EASY, not moderate to hard, even if you feel like you belong in that group. It will come back to haunt you in a bad way. Use the heart rate monitor to give you feedback. Mistake 2: Energy Gel + S! caps + gatoraide + running hard = stomach cramps Find another fueling solution if running beyond 2 hours. Other than those 2 major issues, the rest of the execution went well. I am proud of my 2:02 min first lap. I know I could have shaved 10 mins off that lap if I went all out. I am not proud of my 3 mins per mile slowdown I had the second lap. That is sad. T-4:47:25 (8:58) 32.08 miles 166 ave 186 max (did 1 mile warmup as well)
- Aid 1 - 42:22 (mile 5.55) (overall pace = 7:38)
- Aid 2 - 1:21:55 (mile 10.71) (overall pace = 7:39)
- Aid 3 - 2:01:28 (mile 15.96) (overall pace = 7:37)
- Aid 4 - 2:59:00 (mile 21.45) (overall pace = 8:21)
- Aid 5 - 3:57:43 (mile 26.63) (overall pace = 8:56)
- Finish - 4:47:25 (mile 32) (overall pace = 8:58)
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