I had begun working out again this past fall in an attempt to become a stronger runner and decided that I wanted to attempt my first 100 miler next year. So, when I was asked to run a 50 miler in Maryland, I quickly agreed. I didn't have much of a race strategy except to take a day or 2 off before. I had surprised myself with a 35:10 at the Peace Race last month and also at the Hilloween Half Marathon with a 1:20:04 on an upset stomach, so I knew I was in good shape for shorter distances, but wasn't sure about anything over a marathon. I had also paced 5 marathons this fall in 3:24, 3:09, and 3(3:04) marathons and felt very good for all of them, but running over twice as long is a whole different ball game as you typically run out of glycogen and begin burning fat cells.
When I got to Erin's, he made us steak salads for lunch before we drove down. We arrived at the hotel(which also had packet pick-up) to meet up with Heather and Donnie(her husband was crewing). We went got to our room, Heather surprised us with an inspirational sign and a mug for both of us :)
We woke up around 4:30am as the race started at 6am. I ate 3 bananas and a cup of coffee with some butter and coconut oil inside. I saw fellow pacer Josh at the starting line as I was trying to think of where to start. I like to go out a bit slower. It was still dark out and I ended up starting several rows back running the first 1.5 mile road section with Erin, then the out and back on trail with Erin also. We were moving at a good pace... around 8:30 pace. We counted runners on the out and back and I was somewhere around 37-40.
I just love running somewhere different and on different terrain. I was trying to figure out a game plan on when I should fuel and make pit stops if needed. I took my first gu on the 9th mile, so around 1hr 15min. I ended up taking my 1st bathroom break right around then too. I kept the pace simple and steady and continued picking off runners little by little. I ran the first 20 miles with a group of 4-5 others or at least around them as I took a bathroom break every hr or so and stopped at some aid stations and would get passed and then passed them back up later. I caught the same guys several times, which was kinda fun.
There was a nice aid station with porta potties on mile 25 and I took advantage of both. We made a u-turn there and ran on the other side of the canal for 4 miles. It was completely flat and after a couple miles, the Potamac River ran along the left side of us. Large boulders were scattered about in that section of the Potamac; which seemed to be almost close enough that you could hop from rock to rock across the river that spanded about 50 yards wide, but if you slipped, you'd sink in over your head. For those miles I ran 7:58 7:43 7:32 7:56 catching and passing a couple more runners.
When we went back onto the trail, I slowed the pace down a little, but back to the 8:45-9:15 range for a few more miles. I was still passing runners and a walker who started early told me that I was in 13th place. I passed 3 more by mile 39 and moved into top 10. I was starting to hit the wall at this point as I continued slowing. A couple more good hills were coming up and I slowed down to just under 10:00 per mile until I hit mile 40, then I was averaging just over 10/mile. I looked at my watch and it said 40 in 5:44... I thought, if i slow and keep a 10 minute pace I will finish around 7:44. After 42 miles, I officially hit "the wall" and ended up walking a good portion of it and mile 43 was 14:18. A couple runers that I passed a few miles prior had now passed me again. I did what I could and kept trying to motivate myself.
The mile 43 aid station was actually mile 42. My watch said I was early at all of the aid stations for some reason and another runner that I was with had nearly the exact same distance as me which was surprising. I was happy to see Keith and his wife there aiding me. I met them at Boston this year as we stayed at the same hostel. I also saw Allison there too who I haven't seen all year, such a wonderful surprise! As I was leaving, Keith told me there were only 7 miles to go and his wife said 8 since it's really 51 miles.. I thought maybe since my Garmin was a mile early for each aid station that it would say mile 50 at the finish line and they would think it was mile 51, but that wasn't the case.
I ran again for about all of mile 44 in 10:32, then miles 45-46 were 13:52 & 13:07 as I ended up walking most of it. I decided to run the downhills and walk the uphills to save energy. At this point, I had taken 5 gu's, maybe 3 full bananas and had my waterbottle filled 4 times total and it was never drained completely. My stomach felt sick and I no longer wanted anything to eat or drink, but once in awhile i'd take a small swig anyways. Another couple runners passed me as I was walking and one of them told me I had only 5 more to go and I could just walk the rest since I was only bonking. I ran with one more runner for a few minutes but it didn't last long as I couldn't keep that pace. Mile 47 was 10:32.
Now the last 7 miles were suppose to be the same. They were as i remembered, same trails, bridges, creek crossing, and that long straighaway on road. I didn't know where the road was but I wanted to be on it more than ever as I knew it was just over a mile when I hit the pavement. I looked at my watch and realized that i could still run sub 8hrs if i ran the last couple miles faster... so i did.. Mile 48 & 49 were 10:00 & 11:49 as i was still doing a walk/run combo... mile 50 was 8:18 and there were some good uphills on it. Then I saw the road straight ahead and turned on it. I tried to keep the pace but the hills were a killer... 3 more rolling hills like hilloween were ahead of me. I kept the pace easy finishing mile 51 in 9:10 and the last 0.3 miles at 8:35 pace. My official time was 8 hrs 7 min 13 seconds. I had beat Erin's prediction of 8:20 and even hit the 50 mile mark just under 7:57. Erin finished in 10:34 & Heather in 12:08 as she got lost in the dark and ran extra.
Overall, this race surprised me with how well organized it was. The aid stations rocked with bananas, chips, soup broths, pb&j sandwiches, grilled cheese, meatmalls, etc. The post race party was also very good with pastries, both meat and veggie lasagna, several types of pizza, i had the one with broccoli and veggies, yum! I would definitely add this to next year's race as it was only $40 to register, there's no shirt or finisher's medal but hey, i don't mind a bit! If i place in the top I'll get something, the way a race should be!
I was quite please with how well I did on just base miles, solid marathon pacing runs and races. I am hoping to run many more longer runs to improve both my nutrition and running efficiency. I think i'll have to start eating more often also when I do long runs as it should help my stomach learn to digest quicker and easier fuel better. I'll have to learn what works for me and I am getting excited about 100 miler training :) I plan to run my first 100 miler next year and possibly 3 total, but I will have to see.
