I haven't been posting miles for weeks but thought I would post this race. Ran the Bone to Back 40 mile relay race solo. I must admit I enjoyed it. My son and one of his buddies drove support. I'll remember that for ever. The course is an out and back with 3,700 feet of cumulative climb, the vast majority of it on leg 2, miles 5-10. Leg 1. Flat 5 miles. Ran the first couple of miles with my friend Marlin, a very strong runner so I made my mind up early to just let him go. Tried to keep the pace between 8:30 and 9:00. No walking. Started fueling early. Leg 2. 1,200 feet of climb. I ran (slowly), until I felt the hart rate pick up then started to mix in 50/50 walking. Got to the top and felt OK. Continued to fuel and hydrate according to plan. Leg 3 Rolling hills. Tried to hold myself back and keep the pace down. Continued to fuel and hydrate according to plan. Leg 4 More rolling hills with a good climb at the end. Mixed in the walking 50/50 on the uphills. Turn around at the Bone Store. Started to feel my stomach so decided to back off on the fuel and changed to 100% water. Leg 5 Felt good, only 20 miles to go. Probably worked a little too hard with not enough walking. More mild stomach complaints so started to skip fuel and stayed with 100% water. Leg 6 This leg has a lot of climb. I mixed in a lot of walking, but probably worked too hard. The end of leg 6 takes you back to the high spot of the race. I figured if I could get there without overdoing it I was home free for the last 10 miles. No fuel, 100% water. Leg 7 This leg is a steep long down hill. Felt the first cramps as soon as I started down the hill. Managed to work my way through the calf cramps and worked a pretty good 5 miles down the hill. Leg 8 The last leg was tough. Legs, calves, and thighs shot. Calves keep cramping, but was able to walk them out. At mile 38 I was feeling bad. Chugged a 12 oz coke. Mile 38 I could not walk off the calf cramps. Stopped and massaged them. A nice young man on an 8 man team patted me on the back and encouraged me. It was either the Coke or the encouragement but I was able to run the last 1.5 miles in pretty good fashion. Made my goal of < 7 hrs, < 10 min miles. The legs were spent, but I have felt worse at the end of marathons. Had a lot of fun. I enjoyed the challenge and the doubts and fears of a DNF. I will be doing the ulta thing again.
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