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October 31, 2006
This Was Not That Hard
That is not to say that my first 50K was a walk in the park. But it wasn't that hard. Here are some notes about this race:
1. I didn't sleep much the night before. We camped out in a c-c-cold night in the Utah desert. I never got really warm all night long. It didn't seem to bother me during the race, though I fell asleep in the car immediately afterwards.
2. Utah is beautiful. I forget this even though I've been there several times. There is something about that red slickrock that I just love. Though you could see the course in front of you (and behind you) for miles and miles, the scenery was just awesome.
3. I went out too fast. I tried to keep the eventual female race winner in sight, and I did until a little over the half-way point. Then my pace dropped off while hers stayed steady. Had I just run my own race, I would have finished several minutes faster (I wouldn't have won.). I knew I was running faster than my goal pace, but I consciously decided to use this strategy on the off chance that I could maintain that pace. I failed, but I'm okay with it.
4. I finished third. Early on, I thought there was only 1 woman in front of me. However, the course is an out-and-back so I got to see everyone in front of me at the turnaround. I was surprised to see 2 women in front of me at that point. The woman I was chasing was actually in second place, and another woman was in front of both of us. She ended up passing the woman in front of her, and I never did.
5. I had 2 low points. One was shortly after the turnaround, perhaps around mile 17, when my pace wasn't coming easily anymore. I was starting to fight to maintain it. I felt somewhat low knowing that I was going to have to slow down in order for things to feel smooth and fluid again. The other was at about mile 27. I didn't die like I thought I might, but I was fighting a mental battle. I was on a steady, not steep, but grinding uphill section. I was fatigued and ready to slow down even more. There was a guy about 50 meters in front of me, so I vowed to pace off him. Once I stopped whining internally and started focusing on staying with that guy, all systems were go again.
6. I became fatigued, but I never bonked. Between the start and the half-way turnaround, I drank 24 ounces of Gatorade and 3 Gus. At the half-way point, I took 2 ibuprofen and 2 Endurolytes. Between the turnaround and the finish, I drank 24 ounces of Gatorade, about 6 ounces of Heed (I took this from the last aid station as I thought I would run out of Gatorade between there and the finish. I did run out, and I appreciated the Heed. Notably, it tasted like bubble gum.), 3 Gus, and 4 more Endurolytes.
7. I had a lot of high points. I was very pleased with the way I ran the hills. I succeeded with my nutrition, just the right amount at the right times. I recall topping out on one hill along the way and new view of the desert that stretched for dozens of miles came into view. It was breathtaking, and I rode that high for a while. Ultrarunners are so danged friendly, and I had a great time chatting along the way.
8. My aching feet issues have dissappeared completely. And, I didn't ignite any new feet issues either. I debated steadily until about 15 minutes before the race started as to what shoes I would wear, road or trail shoes. The course wasn't that technical, but there were supposed to be traction issues in some long stretches of mud and goop. I opted for the road shoes and it was a perfect decision. My feet got wet and muddy through a few sections, but by far the road shoes were lighter and faster for the rest of the course.
9. I was miraculously not too sore after-the-fact. I took 2 days off from running, but I really felt like I could have run well on the second day off. Today I ran 40 minutes easy, and it felt awesome.
10. Overall, I had a great time. This race was well done, the people were fantastic, the location was amazing, and my personal experience was outstanding.
What I'm thinking about now:
1. My long run schedule worked well. I've eased into doing long runs every 10 or so days, rather than once per week. I felt I had good endurance in this department. Continue at this level.
2. Continue with hill workouts and mile repeats. Add more volume to both of these staple workouts. With the hill workouts, I was previously alternating between shorter, faster intervals and longer, steadier intervals. If I am to succeed at these longer distances, I think I need to focus more on the longer, steadier intervals.
3. Add more at-race pace running. This is pretty cut and dry, no need to elaborate.
4. Work on nutrition stuff. Learn about Heed, and perhaps try training with it. Learn to carry a water bottle in my right hand (For the life of me, I cannot do this!). Experiment with other nutrition stuff in training.
5. Get mentally prepared to battle training in a nasty winter. My training wasn't that great last winter because I was scared of the cold and snow. Buck up mentally and get out there.
6. Work on the feet thing. I think the source of my feet pain from weeks ago were my street shoes. If you know me in person, you know that I only wear running shoes and sandals. When it started to snow, I had to start wearing closed-toe street shoes. This seemed to coincide with the beginning of my sore feet. Once I made this connection, I stopped wearing these shoes. However, there's snow on the ground and I'm wearing sandals, so I can't continue this. I need to find some good street shoes that treat my feet well.
Posted by Meghan at October 31, 2006 6:24 PM
Comments
... did she "GO" or what? She went alright, boy did she went...Nice running... :)
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at October 31, 2006 11:46 PM
Great job Meghan! 3rd is incredibly awesome. I'm glad you're recovering quickly and are already thinking about next time. As for the water bottle thing, I was like you before I tried a marathon. I think you just get used to carrying a water bottle, but it was hard at first. I just tried to carry it a little longer on each long run. I also made an effort to do sort of a loop in the middle of the run, so that I could put the water bottle down for a little to give me a break. I found more success with filling up skinnier water bottles (really empty bottled water containers). I find them easier to hold than your standard wide water bottle. That stretches out my hand too much.
Posted by: Caitlin at November 1, 2006 10:20 AM
Meghan that is so awesome!!!! Great job!! Third in your first ultra is pretty amazing.
The only other thing I can say is that bubble gum flavored sports drink = Ick!!
Posted by: barb at November 1, 2006 10:50 AM
And this is so weird, but I just looked at the results I work with the female winner. She narrowly beat me in the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile a few years ago. I had no idea she was running ultras now. What a small world!
Posted by: barb at November 1, 2006 10:53 AM
Just hit refresh page = ) Congrats on a great race! Have fun training for the next one!
Keep on running and blogging!
Posted by: Ryan at November 1, 2006 12:12 PM
hi!
yeah!!! that is super FAR!!! i can't believe you're an ultrarunner now! okay, well yes, i can believe it!
Posted by: Audrey at November 1, 2006 6:12 PM
Hi Meghan,
On my blog, if someone comments, I get an email, no matter how old. Since we're not supposed to post our email on the Internet, lest we get spammed into the stoneage, etc. I've refrained. But there's ways. So if you ever want the "skinny" on anything, and either your blog or mine isn't adequate (plus there's things we don't say Publicly), just email me.
yahoo email
jeffo93y
Figured if I went back a year, not many people would see it. We first met at Goblin Valley - we just didn't know it at the time.
Hoping you get this.
Seeya!
Posted by: JeffO at August 25, 2007 10:04 AM
Hi Meghan,
On my blog, if someone comments, I get an email, no matter how old. Since we're not supposed to post our email on the Internet, lest we get spammed into the stoneage, etc. I've refrained. But there's ways. So if you ever want the skinny on anything, and either your blog or mine isn't adequate (plus there's things we don't say Publicly), just email me.
yahoo email
jeffo93y
Figured if I went back a year, not many people would see it. We first met at Goblin Valley - we just didn't know it at the time.
Hoping you get this.
Seeya!
Posted by: JeffO at August 25, 2007 10:05 AM
Hi Meghan,
On my blog, if someone comments, I get an email, no matter how old. Since we're not supposed to post our email on the Internet, lest we get spammed into the stoneage, etc. I've refrained. But there's ways. So if you ever want the skinny on anything, and either your blog or mine isn't adequate (plus there's things we don't say Publicly), just email me.
yahoo email
jeffo93y
Figured if I went back a year, not many people would see it. We first met at Goblin Valley - we just didn't know it at the time.
Hoping you get this.
Seeya!
Posted by: JeffO at August 25, 2007 10:06 AM