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JFK 50 Mile<br>
November 17, 2007<br><br>
Executive Summary:<br><br>
Goal: 9:15-9:30, reach 9<br>
Result: Ultraslow 10:40:58<br><br>
The Really Boring Details:<br><br>
I was checking into the hotel Friday afternoon while Meri and her friend E attempted to sneak in without me seeing them <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> . As we were checking in we bumped into altoids and SGH as they wandered downstairs. We finished checking in then I went down the street and picked up my packet and a JFK hat (hopefully I would earn the right to wear it). On my way back into the hotel I heard someone callout, “Hey dg1!” It was DEturtle and durt. The party was on. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"><br><br>
We carpooled it to Ledo’s Pizza shortly after 5 P.M. and then pretty much commandeered the back room as we met up with roots and his party, meri’s friends AnthonyP and Bob from the Tetons, runsdangerously, and CTmarathoner to name a few. A good time was had by all and 4 hours later we had wished each other well and left reluctantly knowing that we all had an early appointment the next day.<br><br>
The morning dawned frosty and dry. The temperature at race start was hovering around 30 degrees with a forecast high in the mid forties, perfect. After the half mile hike and a couple of minutes of milling about we were off with no fanfare. I ran with meri and durt for the first half mile then we hit the big uphill to the AT and we walked. Fast. Meri set a good pace as I attempted to keep up with her without having to go into a slow run. We reached the top of the hill, ran a little ways to the AT and then walked again as we confronted the first big up on the AT. I pulled ahead of meri and durt at this point and tried to take advantage of this paved portion of the AT because I had been warned that it would be get harder. It got harder. After a lot of walking I finally reached the AT trail in its raw unpaved state. For a lousy trail runner like me, it was hard. You run on sharp spiky chunks of granite. It makes up the entire width of the trail. I rolled each ankle at least 3 or 4 times, hyper extended my left calf muscle, and banged my right shin at some point. I beat the hell out of my quads as I tried to make up for the slowness of the climbs as I blasted 13 minute downhill miles. At one point, while careening down a particularly gnarly section, I remember remarking to a lady that I was running with that I had never run a harder 13 minute mile. She said that she would have yelled at her kids if she ever saw them screwing around on the rocks like we were, “You’re gonna’ crack your head open.” <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"> I got to the end of the AT at 3:17 into the race. Over three hours to go a little over 15 miles. Yikes. So much for nine hours….<br><br>
After resigning myself to my sub par performance on the AT I decided to finish the run in the best shape possible and use it as just another long training run. Now I got to experience the mind numbing 26 miles that is the towpath or as a few of the locals I was running with called it, the Cowpath. I run on towpath 5 days a week and thought I would be ready, but it was mind numbing. This is the first ultra I have run without my trusted and faithful crew (DW) and I really missed her ass kicking. I needed it. I just slogged through it. The only high point came when I got to see altoids and DEturtle. They cheered me on and told me I looked great (even though I know they were fibbing <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> ). I stopped and chatted for a few minutes, time be damned. It was worth it because it lifted my spirits for several miles. The only other moment of note on the canal came when a guy with a sound system strapped to his bike rode along beside our group for a couple of miles and I got to run to the “Marine’s Hymn”. After a few more monotonous miles the Cowpath came to an end. I was never so glad to see pavement and hills in my life.<br><br>
The last 9 miles of the race were my fastest as I promised myself to end this as quickly as possible. After walking the initial steep uphill from the Cowpath I ran the rest of the race. I caught my second wind and started passing people which was a mental boost. Just before the 46 mile aid station I could feel my energy flagging. I had abandoned my usual ultra fare of Perpetuem, shot blocks, and pretzels and was drinking Gatorade, sucking on oranges, and eating bananas by the pound. At the M46 aid station I tried chicken broth for the first time. It tasted and felt like The Elixir of Life. I felt rejuvenated as I took off for the final four miles. I kicked it into gear and passed dozens of people on the way to the final aid station around mile 48ish. I drank some beef broth on the move as I had finally stopped lollygagging at the aid stations and finally gotten down to business. I passed other runners in groups of 4 or 5 at a time and would estimate I passed somewhere near a hundred runners in the last four miles of the race and I was not passed by a single runner the last 9 miles of the race. The final four miles were the fastest of the run at 9:36, 9:39, 9:38 and 9:35. I crossed the finish line at 10:40:58. A full hour and six minutes slower on what I thought was an easier course than the Canandaigua 50 a month before. The AT was the beginning of the end as I suck on trails and for me it was very technical. The towpath is indeed mind numbing and humbling with its 26 miles of extreme sameness. The final 9 mile stretch of road I thoroughly enjoyed but it was too little to late…<br><br>
It was a fantastic get together and I would do this race again just for the camaraderie. Next time (if there is a next time <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> ) I will be wearing trail shoes and will do a lot more trail running in preparation. A great trail runner can run fine on roads but a good road runner does not a good trail runner make.<br><br>
After having a really enjoyable breakfast with runsdangerously and CTmarathoner Sunday morning I hit the road for the 5 hour drive back to Syracuse with the memories of an enjoyable weekend to keep me company…
November 17, 2007<br><br>
Executive Summary:<br><br>
Goal: 9:15-9:30, reach 9<br>
Result: Ultraslow 10:40:58<br><br>
The Really Boring Details:<br><br>
I was checking into the hotel Friday afternoon while Meri and her friend E attempted to sneak in without me seeing them <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> . As we were checking in we bumped into altoids and SGH as they wandered downstairs. We finished checking in then I went down the street and picked up my packet and a JFK hat (hopefully I would earn the right to wear it). On my way back into the hotel I heard someone callout, “Hey dg1!” It was DEturtle and durt. The party was on. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"><br><br>
We carpooled it to Ledo’s Pizza shortly after 5 P.M. and then pretty much commandeered the back room as we met up with roots and his party, meri’s friends AnthonyP and Bob from the Tetons, runsdangerously, and CTmarathoner to name a few. A good time was had by all and 4 hours later we had wished each other well and left reluctantly knowing that we all had an early appointment the next day.<br><br>
The morning dawned frosty and dry. The temperature at race start was hovering around 30 degrees with a forecast high in the mid forties, perfect. After the half mile hike and a couple of minutes of milling about we were off with no fanfare. I ran with meri and durt for the first half mile then we hit the big uphill to the AT and we walked. Fast. Meri set a good pace as I attempted to keep up with her without having to go into a slow run. We reached the top of the hill, ran a little ways to the AT and then walked again as we confronted the first big up on the AT. I pulled ahead of meri and durt at this point and tried to take advantage of this paved portion of the AT because I had been warned that it would be get harder. It got harder. After a lot of walking I finally reached the AT trail in its raw unpaved state. For a lousy trail runner like me, it was hard. You run on sharp spiky chunks of granite. It makes up the entire width of the trail. I rolled each ankle at least 3 or 4 times, hyper extended my left calf muscle, and banged my right shin at some point. I beat the hell out of my quads as I tried to make up for the slowness of the climbs as I blasted 13 minute downhill miles. At one point, while careening down a particularly gnarly section, I remember remarking to a lady that I was running with that I had never run a harder 13 minute mile. She said that she would have yelled at her kids if she ever saw them screwing around on the rocks like we were, “You’re gonna’ crack your head open.” <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Very Happy"> I got to the end of the AT at 3:17 into the race. Over three hours to go a little over 15 miles. Yikes. So much for nine hours….<br><br>
After resigning myself to my sub par performance on the AT I decided to finish the run in the best shape possible and use it as just another long training run. Now I got to experience the mind numbing 26 miles that is the towpath or as a few of the locals I was running with called it, the Cowpath. I run on towpath 5 days a week and thought I would be ready, but it was mind numbing. This is the first ultra I have run without my trusted and faithful crew (DW) and I really missed her ass kicking. I needed it. I just slogged through it. The only high point came when I got to see altoids and DEturtle. They cheered me on and told me I looked great (even though I know they were fibbing <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> ). I stopped and chatted for a few minutes, time be damned. It was worth it because it lifted my spirits for several miles. The only other moment of note on the canal came when a guy with a sound system strapped to his bike rode along beside our group for a couple of miles and I got to run to the “Marine’s Hymn”. After a few more monotonous miles the Cowpath came to an end. I was never so glad to see pavement and hills in my life.<br><br>
The last 9 miles of the race were my fastest as I promised myself to end this as quickly as possible. After walking the initial steep uphill from the Cowpath I ran the rest of the race. I caught my second wind and started passing people which was a mental boost. Just before the 46 mile aid station I could feel my energy flagging. I had abandoned my usual ultra fare of Perpetuem, shot blocks, and pretzels and was drinking Gatorade, sucking on oranges, and eating bananas by the pound. At the M46 aid station I tried chicken broth for the first time. It tasted and felt like The Elixir of Life. I felt rejuvenated as I took off for the final four miles. I kicked it into gear and passed dozens of people on the way to the final aid station around mile 48ish. I drank some beef broth on the move as I had finally stopped lollygagging at the aid stations and finally gotten down to business. I passed other runners in groups of 4 or 5 at a time and would estimate I passed somewhere near a hundred runners in the last four miles of the race and I was not passed by a single runner the last 9 miles of the race. The final four miles were the fastest of the run at 9:36, 9:39, 9:38 and 9:35. I crossed the finish line at 10:40:58. A full hour and six minutes slower on what I thought was an easier course than the Canandaigua 50 a month before. The AT was the beginning of the end as I suck on trails and for me it was very technical. The towpath is indeed mind numbing and humbling with its 26 miles of extreme sameness. The final 9 mile stretch of road I thoroughly enjoyed but it was too little to late…<br><br>
It was a fantastic get together and I would do this race again just for the camaraderie. Next time (if there is a next time <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> ) I will be wearing trail shoes and will do a lot more trail running in preparation. A great trail runner can run fine on roads but a good road runner does not a good trail runner make.<br><br>
After having a really enjoyable breakfast with runsdangerously and CTmarathoner Sunday morning I hit the road for the 5 hour drive back to Syracuse with the memories of an enjoyable weekend to keep me company…
