Saturday, September 13, 2014

Watchung Training Run (50K)

This weekend was planned to be my big training weekend before my 50K.  I wanted to try to run a 50K today and considered a 30K race or another long run for Sunday.  This is definitely out of my comfort zone.

I set up a group run at the Watchung Reservation for this morning.  It is an easy place to run and perfect to do loops.  The response wasn't very good.  I rushed there, as I was running late.  A buck jumped out in the road in front of me. 

I got there a few minutes late.  Christina was the only one that committed to the run and the only one to show.  At least I had some company, even though I would've like it for the entire run.  She was planning 10 miles or two loops.

It was a very chilly morning, when we started at 8 AM.  I put on a singlet because it was too cold to go shirtless.  It took me awhile to get everything ready.  At times, I was a bit chilly and after the first loop, I was already soaked.  It was kind of an odd day.

We began with a counterclockwise loop.  It was a little tricky finding the pink loop, but we managed.  The plan was to run just the pink loop, which is about 6 miles.  It starts off with a nice flat section next to the lake.

On the other side of the lake, we ended up missing a turn and were on the white trail.  That was no big deal, as we were just lower along the lake.  Eventually, we followed that out and headed up on a road.  That climb led us to the parking lot on the back side and up to the pink trail.

We were running nice and comfortable.  I run alone so often, so it was nice to have company.  The conversation made the run fly by.  We were 3 and 4 miles into the run in no time.  There was a washed out section that was tough to get through. 

We continued to follow the pink trail and every now and then had to check and make sure we were going the right way.  It is well marked.  On the turn that I screwed up in the spring, we headed the correct way this time.

After a rocky part, we went over a bridge.  Then, it was a short climb.  Christina walked up it and took a gel.  I rested briefly at the top.  We then had some fun singletrack high along the ridge. 

This trail was busy, as we came across a number of runners, plenty of hikers and even a few mountain bikers.  Often, we had to move out of the way.  One guy was just flying as he ran down the trail.  He had to be in double digit miles too, because we saw him often.

Toward the end of the first loop, somehow we lost the pink trail.  We came out just below it.  We ran up the parking lot and I refueled and dried off after the first loop.  My Nip Guards fell off and my nipples were chafing.  I put Vaseline on every trip and that helped a ton.

We headed back out for a second loop.  As we went down the road, I suggested that we run the loop in the opposite direction.  Christina liked the idea.  It changed things up and the trail looked different.  We found the section we missed this time.

We went around the singletrack and were running most of the time.  We were down the hill and over the bridge and through the rocky section again.  Time was just flying by with great conversation.  We talked about training and racing and all sorts of things.

In no time, we were through the washed out section and then the back parking area.  There's an open field section after that too.  Then, it was back to the lake.  Christina only wanted to do 10 miles, but decided to keep it up to finish the loop.  There were volunteers out on the other side of the lake.  We had a some tough, climbing to get back the parking area. 

We were now done with 12 miles.  I was thrilled to have company and it made this part of the run so smooth.  Being on my own would be tough, but I was feeling pretty good and still running well.  I quickly refueled and headed back out there.

This time, I ran counterclockwise again.  It was good to get through the half marathon distance.  I had a lot of energy.  I kept trying to focus just on a few miles at a time.  That made things more manageable.  Getting to the middle of the loop and around mile 15 was big for me.  However, I still had a long way to go.

I probably didn't eat or drink enough with Christina.  On my own, I was more careful with that stuff.  I felt like crap for awhile during this loop.  The quads were getting sore.  I don't know if it was the GU Chomps that I ate or just a change of terrain, but the last 2 miles or so of this 3rd loop went great.  The quads felt better.

Again, I was back at my car and over 18 miles into the run.  I knew by now that I'd definitely do a 4th and was still hoping for a 5th loop.  I started off the next loop clockwise.  That made for a fun and easy beginning.  I ran with a portable charger for my watch.  That took some getting used to, but it wasn't bad.  It did work well.  I'll have to figure out how to use it in my race.

Getting to mile 21 was both a high point and low point.  I was thrilled to be through 3.5 loops.  However, thinking that I still had 10 miles left was daunting.  I simply focused on the remainder of the loop and I kept running.

Every now and then, I'd walk a hill or walk briefly, but those times were few and far between.  I ran almost the whole time.  Most of the end of this loop was downhill, but there would be an uphill finish.  I enjoyed the flat part by the lake while I could.

I did walk some uphill back to the parking lot.  I continued to run a lot too though.  I needed to keep moving.  I was doing well as I refueled before the final loop.  I was taking S-Caps too.

It was cloudy all day and seemed to be raining a bit in the parking lot.  However, I never felt that in the woods.  I took three GU Chomps early in this next loop.  I wanted to get my energy high.  My legs were getting a little sore again, but it wasn't too bad.

Climbing after the lake was tough.  Getting to mile 25 and then of course 26.2 was a big boost.  I tried to focus on mile 27 and then of course 28.  I was slowing a bit now, but still running and chipping away.

One thing that was nice was that I was running easy and going to crush my time from my first 50K last year.  Things were getting tough though, because this was now my longest training run ever (25 miles had been my longest).  The only time I've run as much or more were my two ultra races.

Running downhill was nice.  I tripped on a root one time, but I was going too slow to fall down.  I had to walk most of the uphills now, as I got to mile 28.

I focused on each upcoming mile.  After going over the bridge and climbing, I was to mile 29.  It was good to be getting closer and closer.  My legs were losing it though and physically I was exhausted.  One short climb was a struggle to even hike. 

For the most part, I was able to keep running.  I took some more calories in and felt a little better.  I was moving so slowly though.  After coasting along, I came to the parking lot around 30.25 miles.  I need .75 miles yet.

I ran on the road for a bit.  That was tricky, as it was slightly uphill.  I then came back downhill and went around the parking lot.  I finished up at mile 31, 44 minutes faster than my 50K race last year.  It was great to be done and I'm hoping that I can run a 50K here early in the winter.  I should be able to post an even faster time.

Having someone to run with was a huge boost.  I need to do that more often.  It would really be great if I had someone to run the whole time.  Maybe in the future.

I was happy to run almost the whole time.  I felt much better than I ever have at anything near this distance on trails.  However, I want runs like this to be comfortable and even easy in the future.  I have a long way to go.  Eventually, I want to be able to run back to back 50Ks.

This allowed me to see where I'm at.  For my upcoming 50K, I was hoping to run a 5:30.  I could probably do that on a flat course like this.  However, it probably isn't very realistic on a mountain course.  At least I also have a better idea of how hard to run too.

I was hoping to run a race tomorrow, but that's not realistic.  I'm too sore.  I'd love to run double digit mileage tomorrow, but that's probably not likely either.  I might run with Gary and a group at Jacobsburg in the morning.  Then I can just do as much as I can handle.  I do have a lot of chafing to keep an eye on too.

31 miles - 5:48:05 (11:14 pace)

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