Boston Strong

Atlanta Fat Ass 50k

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Location:

Naples,FL,

Member Since:

Mar 29, 2011

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

400m - ATC:  1:08   May '11

800m - ATC:  2:32   May '11

1600m - self-timed:  5:?? 

5k- Vinings Downhill 5k:  18:34  Sept, '11

10.k - Mardis Gras 10k:  39:15   Feb '12

Half - The Scream:  1:23:59  Jul '11

Marathon - Ridge to Bridge:  3:06:23   Oct '11

Completed 13 Marathons & 2 50k & 1 Century ride

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run injury free

Upcoming Races:

Sept. 14: - Erie Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

Sprint down Boylston Street once per year

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
ST-6 Racer Lifetime Miles: 223.50
Boston Adizero Red Lifetime Miles: 607.00
Boston Adizero White Lifetime Miles: 430.00
Nike Free Lifetime Miles: 362.00
Nike Trail Lifetime Miles: 327.20
Boston Classic Lifetime Miles: 362.50
Adidas Marathon TR Lifetime Miles: 155.90
Vertical Feet Climbed - 2011 Lifetime Miles: 75701.00
Kinvara 2 Lifetime Miles: 31.80
Adios Lifetime Miles: 277.90
Ghost GTX Lifetime Miles: 328.00
Karhu Flow Formula One Lifetime Miles: 166.30
Brooks PureFlow 2 Lifetime Miles: 153.70
Adios II Lifetime Miles: 147.40
Adios 2 Lifetime Miles: 150.20
Race: Atlanta Fat Ass 50k (31 Miles) 05:10:00, Place overall: 8
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
34.000.000.000.0034.00

Today I ran a 50k trail race ... which ended up being 55k ... not cool!  It was a 5 loop course.

Anyway, my time at 31 miles was 5:10:00, at which point I was pretty much mentally checked out &  and my legs were trashed.  This is where the course also enters a pretty tecnical rocky section & a big climb, which includes about 50 steps.  I made an acquaintance with a nice girl who was on her 4th lap that I was passing right at the 50k mark.  We talked going up the steps & then she was kind enough to pull me along the last 3 miles, which was pretty much a death march for me.  She invited me to pace her on the last loop, and as much as I wanted to, I had to decline, don't think I could have made it!

I ran the first 3 loops with TimP from the blog, as he had invited me to join him on this run, it is his birthday.  Great company for 3 loops, it really helps to run Ultra races with a friend!  Unfortunately, his ankle was bothering him, so he made a wise decision to pull out after 3 loops ... no shame in a strong 20 mile trail run, and as much as I know he wanted to finish, it is not worth aggravating an injury.

As I figured, each loop was a little slower than the last, but stayed pretty steady ... at least until I hit the 50k mark!  Probably could have kept pushing, but there was no one to chase & no one close behind me on their last loop.  So, I was content to just try to keep moving, as long as that would suffice to hold onto 8th place overall.  No sense in extending my recovery period by pushing hard on the last 3 miles.

Loop 1 was 7 miles as we did a short extra loop on the road to let people space out a little, all other loops were 6.8 miles.  Loop Splits were:

Loop 1 - 1:03

Loop 2 - 1:04

Loop 3 - 1:13

Loop 4 - 1:14

Loop 5 - 1:18

Grand Total:  34.2 miles in 5:52:00

It was fun & I am glad I did it ... but I am not big on ultra running at this point in my life!  If I am going to run over 20 miles ... 26.2 is plenty!  The good news is that with the slower pace & soft surface running, my recovery will be much quicker than if I had raced a marathon on the road ... so it served as a great long training run.

There was 2,700' of climb ... and descent.


Comments
From Andrea on Sun, Jan 08, 2012 at 20:35:31 from 67.177.21.60

Nice race today! I agree with you about the marathon being plenty long :) How come trail races always seem to be much longer than the distance advertised?

From Rob Murphy on Sun, Jan 08, 2012 at 21:54:56 from 76.27.122.13

Congratulations.... I guess.

Seriously, that's pretty impressive.

From I Just Run on Sun, Jan 08, 2012 at 22:11:41 from 12.162.141.2

Way to go JG, Glad you finished without any injury! In my mind I'm not sure this race falls into your Long-Term Running Goal of "Run because it is fun" :-) But seriously, I bet it feels like an accomplishment...Congradulations!!!

From Jon on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 10:13:16 from 98.71.175.203

Sounds like a challenging yet good race. Nice job toughing it out.

From derhammer on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 10:56:17 from 192.156.110.40

Wow - nice - if you run a few of these the marathon will feel short in comparison. Well, that's the theory anyway.

Sorry about the Falcons. Hopefully, you at least got to enjoy a couple of cold ones. :-)

From timp on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 11:41:22 from 144.188.24.32

Great job out there yesterday!

It was a blast running with you.

How are your legs feeling today?

From JG on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 12:17:59 from 71.59.27.33

Andrea, I think it is a because of the sadistic sense of humor of Ultra race Directors! Oh, and they had to alter the course last minute due to a section of trail being closed to tree thinning.

Thanks Rob & Jon!

David, that is my thinking, although I do not think I will be doing another one anytime soon ... & the good news is I am a Giants fan too, so all is good.

IJR - Good point, it was fun, but the main purpose was a long training run.

Tim, was great running with you too! Legs aren't too bad, no comparison to recovery from racing a marathon, but still have to navigate stairs a little gingerly!

From Kelli on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 19:37:08 from 71.219.84.120

AMEN to the quicker recovery on the 50k! And I feel your pain about having to go longer than you planned, that is mentally tough!

Congrats on the race. ;o) Hope you had some good eats afterwards.

From Steam8 on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 19:37:42 from 166.70.55.77

It was hurting me to even read this blog! I can't imagine running 3 more extra miles after already running 31. It hurts my body to think of it! ha! Nice job. I can't imagine the mental push you had to give yourself. Congrats!!

From rAtTLeTrAp on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 19:49:42 from 24.18.125.122

Way to go! That should make Boston feel like a walk in the park. I hope I never get bit by that ultra bug. I don't know how you guys do it. I've never even considered running more than 26.2.

From Kelli on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 21:21:57 from 71.219.84.120

Funny, Mike, cause I think you would be very good at it. VERY.

From JG on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 21:34:15 from 71.59.27.33

Kelli, there was a chili cook-off ... a bunch of runners brought there best secret recipe for all to enjoy! Along with a bunch of other good eats! :)

Steam, trust me, there was nothing fun about the last 3 miles! Well, other than my new found friend!!

Mike, clearly I think it was beneficial for Boston, or I would not have done it. But there are little similarities to running 9 to 11 minute miles on a trail, as compared to sub 7 minute miles on the road! And I agree with Kelli ... I think you would be awesome in Ultras! Just think about how many books of the bible you could feed off of in one run! :)

From SlowJoe on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 21:40:15 from 74.195.74.62

Wow, grueling day. Not many people can say they've run over 30 miles at once. Sounds like you did pretty well too, even if it felt bad at the time -- great job.

From Dan on Mon, Jan 09, 2012 at 21:55:27 from 24.209.83.20

Heck of a job man. I once got the idea of running an ultra. Then I finished my marathon and said no way :)

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